Official Distance Over Time discussion thread

[Peter Mc]

If they play The Astonishing at one of those shows I will be happy... not otherwise

There's zero chance of this. Tickets are being sold for the 2nd night on the basis of this being the DOT tour and celebrating SFAM. If people buy tickets to see that and then get The Astonishing instead, they'll be royally pissed off and justifiably so. If 2nd night was going to be The Astonishing, they would have to advertise it as such.

[bosk1]

I wouldn't say zero percent.  It's probably more along the lines of...um...well, yeah, actually zero sounds about right.

[SeRoX]

Now Petrucci has a chance to redeem himself with 'there can be no turning baaaaaaaaack' 

And James can finally correct "we're laring one eternity" 

He should do it again -- just for the sake of nostalgia.

And the closing quote is: Sorry for the short set.

[EPIC Outro]

Maybe they will finally fix "Please never forget, let your memory of me dissappear!" (Still a beautiful moment from that album.)

[Cool Chris]

Listened to the album in full after taking an extended break. Thoughts:

The first four songs, while not including any 5-star songs, is a solid run, definitely one of their strongest opening 4-song runs to start an album.

R137 wasn't as skippable as I remembered it being. It's not great, but I made it through with some enjoyment. I feel like if this song was written in the late 00s it would be 10 minutes long and annoyingly repetitive.

S2N was better than I remembered, though that instrumental section in the middle is my least favorite on the album. A bit of a wasted effort.

AWE is still awesome, though [controversial opinion?] the instrumental break before the "Asked me to listen..." part is weak and keeps it from being one of my top 5 DT songs.

Out of Reach: Good song and a bridges the AWE-PBD gap nicely. I don't like the "Ahhh-ahhhs" at the end, but small detail, otherwise no complaints.

PBD: I still think there is something missing that keeps this from being an instant classic. It is a great song, just a feeling there it's a bit of a missed opportunity. Love the subject matter/theme.

VK: Still not sure what to make of this song. I wonder how I would feel about it if it didn't have that silly "Bonus Track" label. It's not bad, but it doesn't stand out in any way. Chorus is pretty rocking though.

Solid album, some highs though nothing legendary, a few lows that don't bring it down significantly.

[MirrorMask]

PBD: I still think there is something missing that keeps this from being an instant classic. It is a great song, just a feeling there it's a bit of a missed opportunity. Love the subject matter/theme.

I think the subject matter would have been better suited for the music of Illumination Theory. Not that the actual lyrics of that song are bad or out of place, but a speech about the immensity of the universe and the urge to togetherness in face of our insignificant little spot in the universe would have made wonders for IT, especially the ending part.

[Max Kuehnau]

Did D/T grow on you or did you like it right away? (I know this may have made sense as a thread of its own, but I'm interested to know)

[bosk1]

Did D/T grow on you or did you like it right away? (I know this may have made sense as a thread of its own, but I'm interested to know)

Are you asking somebody specifically, or is this aimed at everybody?  If the latter, I'll go ahead and answer:  I liked it right away.  But not really for the singles (other than Paralyzed).  Untethered and FITL actually took me a bit to appreciate.  But the deep cuts grabbed me right away.  The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

[Max Kuehnau]

Did D/T grow on you or did you like it right away? (I know this may have made sense as a thread of its own, but I'm interested to know)

Are you asking somebody specifically, or is this aimed at everybody?  If the latter, I'll go ahead and answer:  I liked it right away.  But not really for the singles (other than Paralyzed).  Untethered and FITL actually took me a bit to appreciate.  But the deep cuts grabbed me right away.  The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

yes, the latter. Forgot to mention that originally.

[gzarruk]

The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

It definitely feels "short" (by DT standards), but that's probably because the songs fly by, there's no unnecesary noodling or longer sections for the sake of it.

Having said that, I really want a 30 minute epic on the next album

[Max Kuehnau]

The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

It definitely feels "short" (by DT standards), but that's probably because the songs fly by, there's no unnecesary noodling or longer sections for the sake of it.

Having said that, I really want a 30 minute epic on the next album

now that would be fun I'm sure

[gzarruk]

The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

It definitely feels "short" (by DT standards), but that's probably because the songs fly by, there's no unnecesary noodling or longer sections for the sake of it.

Having said that, I really want a 30 minute epic on the next album

now that would be fun I'm sure

[sylentman]

Did D/T grow on you or did you like it right away? (I know this may have made sense as a thread of its own, but I'm interested to know)

Are you asking somebody specifically, or is this aimed at everybody?  If the latter, I'll go ahead and answer:  I liked it right away.  But not really for the singles (other than Paralyzed).  Untethered and FITL actually took me a bit to appreciate.  But the deep cuts grabbed me right away.  The one thing that felt "off" initially was that the album felt too short.  It doesn't anymore, but I remember feeling that way the first few listens.

I felt similar, also on the "short" comment.  At some point thought that if an Instrumental song was the thing missing so it wouldn't feel "short"...But think making it longer or an instrumental were things the band was not looking forward on this album. I would have loved at least a short instrumental song on D/T .

[IDontNotDoThings]

I think the album has grown on me a lot over the past few months. I couldn't be happier that they went with the more concise approach to the song structures, & the album (or at least the playlist I made of it ) flows really well. The album as a whole isn't quite as good as TA, but it's really close, & far above ADTOE & DT12.

That said, I'm going to reiterate what many people have already said: I think Room 137 should've been the bonus track instead of Viper King.

[Peter Mc]

I liked it straight away and it grew on me with time also, particularly PBD. I respectfully disagree with the above post regarding Room 137 and Viper King. I'm not saying one is a better song than the other but, to me at least, Room 137 fits on the album sonically and stylistically. Viper King, whilst I enjoy it a lot, screams bonus track to me. Not because it's bad but just because it doesn't sound like it fits on the album, it sounds like a fun homage to Deep Purple on an album of fairly dark, modern sounding metal songs. Just my opinion though, it's an awesome album that stands up 8 months on.

[MirrorMask]

Yeah, I agree with you, Viper King definitively is the bonus track. And if you take out Room 137 off the album, the number on the android's hand has no meaning 

[bosk1]

I liked it straight away and it grew on me with time also, particularly PBD. I respectfully disagree with the above post regarding Room 137 and Viper King. I'm not saying one is a better song than the other but, to me at least, Room 137 fits on the album sonically and stylistically. Viper King, whilst I enjoy it a lot, screams bonus track to me. Not because it's bad but just because it doesn't sound like it fits on the album, it sounds like a fun homage to Deep Purple on an album of fairly dark, modern sounding metal songs. Just my opinion though, it's an awesome album that stands up 8 months on.

I don't disagree with that at all.

[Northern Lion]

I liked it straight away and it grew on me with time also, particularly PBD. I respectfully disagree with the above post regarding Room 137 and Viper King. I'm not saying one is a better song than the other but, to me at least, Room 137 fits on the album sonically and stylistically. Viper King, whilst I enjoy it a lot, screams bonus track to me. Not because it's bad but just because it doesn't sound like it fits on the album, it sounds like a fun homage to Deep Purple on an album of fairly dark, modern sounding metal songs. Just my opinion though, it's an awesome album that stands up 8 months on.

Based on the track by track interview that was the subject of another thread, it sounds to me that DT intended Viper King to be just a fun off-the-cuff song.  And it sits nicley as labeled as a bonus track, but I still listen to the album all the way through as if it was intended to be part of the album proper even though I know that was not the case. 

[Peter Mc]

Me too, it's a fun song with some killer JP playing.

[hefdaddy42]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

[bosk1]

[King Postwhore]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

[hunnus2000]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

VK reminds me more of Extreme then VH.

BTW - LOVE JP's solo on this track!

[Northern Lion]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

Lol, I agree!

[Max Kuehnau]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

VK reminds me more of Extreme then VH.

BTW - LOVE JP's solo on this track!

and Led Zeppelin too IMHO (think Black Dog but with cleaner execution)

[hefdaddy42]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

1984

[gzarruk]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

VK reminds me more of Extreme then VH.

BTW - LOVE JP's solo on this track!

Mike was in Extreme after all...

[King Postwhore]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

What VH album should it be on?

1984

I'm going to make a 1984 playlist and sneak that song in somewhere.

[ReaperKK]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

Viper King is the best Sons of Apollo song ever

[hefdaddy42]

Viper King is the best Van Halen song in the last 20 years.

Viper King is the best Sons of Apollo song ever

Well, so is Out of Reach.

[Zook]

The new digipaks have the correct logo font.

[SeRoX]

At Wit's End live from Tivoli Theater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTFbusGkjdY

I think At Wit's End is the second Breaking All Illusions where James shines live considering his age and limits.

[emtee]

Love that song on the album, but that video seems to
lack energy. Also could not hear MM's kick. Watching him
reach so high makes my traps and upper back hurt.

[Herrick]

Did D/T grow on you or did you like it right away? (I know this may have made sense as a thread of its own, but I'm interested to know)

I like it just as much as when I first heard it. I think it's a good solid album but I haven't listened to it that much since the first month it came out.

[Rallyfinnen]

So, this is my first post. Have been a fan since Images and words, liked most of the albums, but not all.
I heard DoT on Spotify first, and liked the music, but not so much the sound. Since I'm a bit of a hifi-enthusiast, I bought the album in high resolution online, and to my surprise the sound was just as bad. I was shocked!

I think this must be the worst album so far when it comes to mastering. The sound totally lacks dynamics, and sounds like limiters are working overtime in more intense tracks (opening track is a good example). Drums are compressed and kick drum sounds really odd with a low range boost. Fat sound, but no dynamics and really tiring to listen to. Digital audio can do so much more, we are not using cassettes any more (the sound reminds me a little of a tape with the recording level set too high).

Other albums have been varying in sound quality(WDADU comes to mind , but in this case is seems the input (recorded tracks) was ok, but the dynamics where lost in the mixing/mastering.
Too bad, since the music is top notch (best in the MM-era IMO), but sound quality makes me want to turn it off..

Has nobody else noticed this?