Official Distance Over Time discussion thread

[rab7]

Furthermore, what is he actually trying to say in this song? "Yeah, listen, I know you have some problems with anxiety that make you kinda live in agony, so, I just wanna tell you that your fear is severely limiting yourself"? It seems like most people who suffer from such fears already know that and it makes them even more frustrated to know that there is this huge burden keeping them from being what they want to be. It seems kind of "thanks, I'm cured"-like.

Anybody with me or able to share some additional context / discussion for the lyrics?

It's not about anxiety in general, but the anxiety you get when you want to do something extraordinary, but decide it's either too hard or the risk is too high, so you back out and never fulfill your true potential.

It's saying "if you have a dream, go out and chase it".

[Herrick]

Jordan is all over this record but he's difficult to hear unfortunately.

Agreed. Maybe his parts are more subtle but...I listened to the album with a good pair of earphones and Ruddess didn't really stand out. His part in S2N at around 2:09 is the only thing that really stood out for me. I love that part but it's very short.

[silentmac6]

So finally after many years of lurking, I decided to open an account.
Just to introduce myself I have been into DT since I&W, when at the time almost no one in UK knew who they were. This album became one of my favourites, only to be topped a couple of years later... Awake was a dark revelation over time and has been my all time favourite album ever since really (I don't get out as much as I did 😂). I like/love all DT albums to varying degrees although DT12 requires a little effort, and TA still leaves me a little cold thinking about the effort required for it's attention.
As I have got older I found the excitement level dropping on each release, since 8V really, although ADTOE was better. But now they're back.....
For me this takes me back to the 90s for energy and focus, and is the album I thought DT12 should have been (Enigma Machine is terrific though). Initially the first three singles seemed ok (same old...) but in the context of the whole album, have improved their standing to the point that I can listen to UA in particular as a stand alone. And then those centrepiece four songs, each a standout on their own but complementing each other when played as a whole. BW brought memories of days gone by, R137 a jaunty, slightly unusual piece for DT but still terrific. S2N has great instrumentation led by JM (yes with a great chorus), and the heaven that is AWE where JP proves that he's still the master of tugging heartstrings.
Due to time constrictions, I have only listened to D/T 5 or 6 times so PBD has still not completely worked its way into my psyche yet, but it's happening. VK is just a fun blast and a perfect coda. The first time I listened to the album as a whole was on bus journey to a different city (I live in Shanghai now) and as soon as I could I get in touch with my UK friends, saying DT have their balls back, go buy the album, you will not be disappointed. I kid you not.
So it was D/T that persuaded me to finally join this group, to rave after 25 years about my fave group. Currently although the new car smell is still there, I would put D/T in my top 5, but I doubt it will go out of there. It is certainly the most consistent album since SFAM, IMHO, and they still had a couple of great releases after that.
Hope the guys can keep it up for DT15 😎
I'm sure I have trod on a few guys toes here, but isn't that the DTF way?

[Logain Ablar]

..snip..

Good first post. Welcome sir!

[ytserush]

Maybe the instrumental disc which I have not yet explored will be different.

Anyone try that yet?

I did, it's pretty great.

D/T just hit a milestone on Spotify, with 10 million streams!

Very cool

Cool yes, but the band isn't making any money off of that unfortunately.

[ytserush]

Maybe the instrumental disc which I have not yet explored will be different.

Anyone try that yet?

I did, it's pretty great.

D/T just hit a milestone on Spotify, with 10 million streams!

Very cool

Awesome!
I have something else to look forward to then. 

[Podaar]

I've taken my time with D/T and ultimately have decided that it's a damned fine record!

My first spin, a few weeks ago, brought to mind that time I tried on my second wife's bra. A little loose at the top (hey, she had broad shoulders. She always told me her name was Tammy but I suspect she started life as Tommy), kinda tight around the middle, and twisted toward the bottom. I was tempted to drag the album down to the DT Custom Shops™ for some modifications, but as the weeks wore on I found that my first impressions faded. Now the album fits me to a tee.

Untethered Angel, Paralyzed, and Fall into the Light are all great rockers that are subtle in their complexity while still providing great sing-along moments. On my first few listens, I was anxious to get through these opening tunes (I'd heard them before) but pleasantly, the more I listen the more I savor them.

Unintuitive to its title, Barstool Warrior is a stellar throwback the softer side of DT prog that always seems much grander than its concise 6:43. Without a doubt, one of the real standouts on the album.

I really got into Room 137 from the start. The beautiful people, the beautiful people...sorry, could help it. Quite a different tune for DT and enjoyable. I really like that it's very rhythmic...all the instruments and even the vocals stay locked into a percussive theme throughout.

S2N (I find it funny that the band preempted DTF to give this song an acronym from the start) is my favorite type of DT metal. I like it when the band uses the heavy "chugging" as accents rather than the focus. The chorus demands that I sing along at top volume (when I'm in the car only). Great riffs and JMX really steals the show on this tune but JP and JR aren't far behind. Fantastic solos.

My favorite of the album, At Wit's End is (to me) the best thing DT has done in a very long time. This is the only song on the album that the lyrics really stand out and grab me. Of course, JLB's performance of them is quite evocative which helps a great deal. The frenetic opening really sets the stage and provides a nice contrast with the verses and chorus. MM really brings the thunder in this tune and without a doubt this is my favorite performance of his since he joined the band. The last half of the song, from 4:45 on just leaves me speechless. The piano, the vocal melody, the introduction of the chugging riff, the synth as it harmonizes with James, the build-up to JP's mountain top lead, James haunting "don't leave me now" that harmonizes with the afore mentioned guitar. All, sublime.

It took a while for Out of Reach to hit me. It's maybe not fair that it was placed after WE...that's just a hard act to follow. I like it though... and holy Satriani, does JP channel his G3 friend in that first lead break or what. The tone and performance sounds like a Satch guest spot.

I get the impression that I should like Pale Blue Dot more than I do. It's great and all, a true showcase for DT's angular proggy writing style, but to me it suffers because of my preconceived notions of the message of Sagan's words. My bias keeps getting in the way. I tend to enjoy this song a lot more if I zone out and get more in Cygnus X1 frame of mind then Carl Sagan's humanist poetry.

I absolutely love that DT wrote a Van Halenesque swinging-shuffle just for fun. I had a huge smile on my face the first time I heard it. It's a great performance and all, but over time I've found that I prefer the album without listening to Viper King. Dozens of listens later, I tend to skip it now. I guess that's why it's a bonus song.

Anyway, what an accomplishment for the band. It's astonishing that this far into their careers, and all these years later, they can still put out albums chock full of thrills. Overall, a consistently stellar record that feels ageless from this end. I guess we'll find out...over time.

[Duke59]

I did a search in the forum and it seems to me that this good Petrucci/LaBrie interview in Italy for the new album has not been posted.

So I 'm posting it now.

Kudos to Barbara Caserta for the smart and interesting questions. Petrucci with his hair and beard seems like a indian Guru now.

https://youtu.be/ilIFuCe7TuY

[erwinrafael]

Maybe the instrumental disc which I have not yet explored will be different.

Anyone try that yet?

I did, it's pretty great.

D/T just hit a milestone on Spotify, with 10 million streams!

Very cool

Cool yes, but the band isn't making any money off of that unfortunately.

Uhm...no. Artists do get paid on Spotify based on the number of streams.

[Dream Team]

It was posted.

[TheGreatPretender]

Uhm...no. Artists do get paid on Spotify based on the number of streams.

Not nearly as much as they deserve to. Spotify are crooks.

Ironically enough, based on what I've read, the one streaming service that pays the biggest cut of royalties to the artists is Napster.

[erwinrafael]

^ whether Spotify pays as much as the artist deserves is another story.

[CodyWanKenobi]

Uhm...no. Artists do get paid on Spotify based on the number of streams.

Not nearly as much as they deserve to. Spotify are crooks.

Ironically enough, based on what I've read, the one streaming service that pays the biggest cut of royalties to the artists is Napster.

DT maybe made $600 off those streams. MAYBE.

[erwinrafael]

Uhm...no. Artists do get paid on Spotify based on the number of streams.

Not nearly as much as they deserve to. Spotify are crooks.

Ironically enough, based on what I've read, the one streaming service that pays the biggest cut of royalties to the artists is Napster.

DT maybe made $600 off those streams. MAYBE.

I have been looking at different Spotify online calculators, and that figure is severely below all the estimates I have seen so far.

[TheGreatPretender]

I have been looking at different Spotify online calculators, and that figure is severely below all the estimates I have seen so far.

Yeah, I don't think it's quite that low, but considering that whatever Spotify ends up paying for the plays has to be divided between the label AND the band, and that the labels usually take the majority cut, and that there are 5 guys in the band, it's still not going to be nearly as much as they should be getting for 10 million plays.

[emtee]

I gave the album a few days rest and when I spun it again
it was even stronger! That's a good indicator that it will
age well.

[Bertielee]

I gave the album a few days rest and when I spun it again
it was even stronger! That's a good indicator that it will
age well.

Did the same and listened twice in a row and man was it fantastic! Geez, I LOVE that album!

B.Lee

[Trav]

So, Paralyzed and Fall Into the Light, are hitting harder. 

[goo-goo]

In my opinion,  At Wit's End is DT's most perfect song. Song is full of emotion, JP's solo is amazing, the lyrics are deep...I just don't see any flaw in this song.

[Trav]

So, Paralyzed and Fall Into the Light, are hitting me harder.

[Bertielee]

So, Paralyzed and Fall Into the Light, are hitting me harder.

Self-quote?

[Orbert]

For emphasis.

[bill1971]

As people say new car smell is still there but I would easily put it top 3 or top 4 if I put I and W behind it. Awake and SFAM I like a bit better than D/T but it's close.

Highlights after MANY MANY listens

-The guitar solo in Bar stool Warrior
-Mangini's playing on the entire album, but on Pale Blue Dot is just incredible
-Myung's Bass, I can hear him throughout and his playing is so solid
-AWE, the emotional "Don't leave me now" That song goes from heavy playing to such emotional highs
-How there is no bloat on the album, everything is so tight and concise without sacrificing technicality, in fact I feel the compositions are more intricate without the  "middle of metropolis" moments, except for Pale Blue Dot which it works exceptionally well.

I gave the album a few days break and when I came back to it, I listened back to back

[MirrorMask]

What I like is that some moments where you can "fear" the bloat, gets resolved pretty quickly; see for example the ending of Fall Into the Light or S2N, they're to the point while still allowing some shredding, in previous albums maybe those sections would have laster 2-3 minutes longer (and that would have been 2-3 minutes too many).

[bosk1]

What I like is that some moments where you can "fear" the bloat, gets resolved pretty quickly; see for example the ending of Fall Into the Light or S2N, they're to the point while still allowing some shredding, in previous albums maybe those sections would have laster 2-3 minutes longer (and that would have been 2-3 minutes too many).

Yeah, although I don't suffer from the "fear of the bloat" problem as much as some, in that I don't think most of their long songs are "bloated," that's a pretty good description.  The songs are concise and don't stray TOO far down the rabbit hole for very long before coming back.  Everything feels concise and well-placed.  Even the "long" songs don't really feel long, for the most part.  In many ways, I feel like this album is very similar to Awake.  It still has those DT signature "prog" moments, but, again, it just feels very focused and concise.

[Orbert]

A long time ago, Dream Theater was compared to Yes, and a lot of people thought that that was stupid because they don't sound anything alike, but I immediately saw the parallels in their approach to writing and recording, and also the trajectory their writing styles have taken.  At one point, Yes songs were getting longer and longer until they released a double album of all "side-long epics".  Dream Theater seemed to get a bit epic-crazy in the mid-2000s, seemingly with more emphasis placed on instrumentals than the songs of which they were a part (hopefully that makes sense).  "Bloated" to me is an accurate way to describe some of Black Clouds & Silver Linings and also Six Degrees.

But eventually Yes came back to albums with shorter, more "regular" songs, and Distance Over Time feels like DT kinda getting back into that.  Remembering that it still comes down to the song.  The instrumentals should serve the song, not the other way around.

[erwinrafael]

They started the process of removing the bloat with the self-titled album. Which is why for all that album's faults, it was an important step for them to take.

[Max Kuehnau]

It's mostly not something I hate actually. I'm fine with it. The notes matter and they are right IMHO.

[bosk1]

But eventually Yes came back to albums with shorter, more "regular" songs, and Distance Over Time feels like DT kinda getting back into that.  Remembering that it still comes down to the song.  The instrumentals should serve the song, not the other way around.

Yeah, and I actually think it started earlier than that.  To me, even though there are longer songs, I think the "course correction," if you want to call it that, started with ADTOE.  Then, the songwriting is even more focused on DT12, save for Illumination Theory, and then we get d/t being even more focused.  And you can say TA fits right into that evolution as well, but it is a different animal that has shorter songs for a different reason.

[Samsara]

But eventually Yes came back to albums with shorter, more "regular" songs, and Distance Over Time feels like DT kinda getting back into that.  Remembering that it still comes down to the song.  The instrumentals should serve the song, not the other way around.

Yeah, and I actually think it started earlier than that.  To me, even though there are longer songs, I think the "course correction," if you want to call it that, started with ADTOE.  Then, the songwriting is even more focused on DT12, save for Illumination Theory, and then we get d/t being even more focused.  And you can say TA fits right into that evolution as well, but it is a different animal that has shorter songs for a different reason.

Agreed completely. I really noticed it on ADTOE and DT12, and obviously, while TA is its own thing, the songs are shorter on that as well.

I know all the progheads and musicians love all long stuff, but there needs to be a balance. I LOVE long songs, relatively speaking. But the longer instrumental pieces within the songs need to (for me), as was said above, SERVE THE SONG, as opposed to being a wankfest to just show how technically brilliant the band is. The easier thing is to write complex, long stuff. But its brilliant when you can still be complex, but get the idea across in a way that the song is immediately gratifying without losing its integrity. IMO, of course.

[gzarruk]

I have no issues with long songs, but only if the song calls for it. A few examples:

Songs like The Great Debate and The Count of Tuscany, which are long(er) songs, feel like a journey to me. There's a story being told, and I'm not even talking about the lyrics, the music flows in a way that I really enjoy and have no problems listening to the whole song. These songs I mentioned (and a lot others) don't feel like a 10+ minute song, they feel just right.

On the other hand, one of the biggest examples, for me, of a song that's unnecessarily long is The Best of Times. And while it doesn't have the typical "crazy instrumental wank prog section", it definitely feels like they stretched it to fit more of Mike's super personal lyrics and the song ultimately suffers from it. It has a great start (the Rush-like intro) and is solid for the first couple minutes, but then just loses its way and the only thing that saves it at the end is THAT solo.

[KevShmev]

But eventually Yes came back to albums with shorter, more "regular" songs, and Distance Over Time feels like DT kinda getting back into that.  Remembering that it still comes down to the song.  The instrumentals should serve the song, not the other way around.

Yeah, and I actually think it started earlier than that.  To me, even though there are longer songs, I think the "course correction," if you want to call it that, started with ADTOE.  Then, the songwriting is even more focused on DT12, save for Illumination Theory, and then we get d/t being even more focused.  And you can say TA fits right into that evolution as well, but it is a different animal that has shorter songs for a different reason.

Agreed.  I remember when ADTOE came out, when a lot of fans were happy to see four songs in the 10-13 minute range, none of which sounded overcooked or bloated.  Had those songs been recorded years earlier, they might have mushroomed into 18-20 minute slogfests, but in 2012, it was clear that the band was focused on tightening up the songwriting. Like Orbert said, they went through that "the longer, the better" phase, and now it would seem to be over.

[jammindude]

I did finally get the boxed set. Here's my unboxing video...

https://youtu.be/Erlg0fWsOdk

[Rob24]

To add to the discussion about song lengths, I don't think there is a "correct" song length at all. At this point in time, Petrucci could envision a song to be 13 or 6 minutes long and it will turn out different, but not in a way that the one is better than the other. It's just a different course.

Like, I agree that they applied a more concise approach over the years, which can be viewed as "wrong" in the way that lots of people complained about sections not being fleshed-out, just visited shortly and then left. Longer songs give more room to either let the whole thing breathe or fill it with jamming, adding a more hypnotic feel.
Neither is better than the other. They are merely different ways the piece can develop and in the end one can like it or prefer it to be different, but it's not a measure of quality.

Petrucci always tries to listen to all voices and to give everyone what they want, which is incredibly hard not to say impossible concerning DT's fanbase.
I think if you put faith in him and just take the final composition for what it is, analyzing it's length and structure in the context of what he was trying to do with it, instead of what could have been done with it, it's not only much more fair to JP, it opens a whole new world of enjoyment.

[CrimsonSunrise]

I'm starting to think that my Dream Theater "Life" has run it's course.  Been listening since '94, and have made every show in my area that I could since 2001 (about 12 shows).  I missed last weeks shows, and I could have ponied up and went. I've done the meet and greet 3 times, and even have a DT Tattoo.  This new album is enjoyable, but it doesn't really move me, so to speak.  Which again to me is indicative of my current DT state.  I will always be a DT fan and enjoy the music, just not as passionately as I did for 20 plus years.

The highlights of the new album for me are PBD, Room 137, S2N and At Wit's End.