DT15: A View From The Top Of The World (Timeline for DT15)

[RodrigoAltaf]

The initial riff of the title track appears to be Morse code. I'm not versed in that language, but I hope someone is able to crack what it means.

[Pettor]

It's insane, there are actually different sounds on the high res versions. I'm hearing a big difference in Labrie's effects on barstool warrior. The song sounds totally different

Yeah I remember this with the hi-def version of ADTOE, DT12 etc. Usually the whole "MP3 is worthless and FLAC master race is the only way" is quite silly to me but these actually sound different and better. I guess clues / evidence can even be found in HD database:

https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=dream+theater&album=a+dramatic+turn+of+events

Check out how much better dynamic range you get with the HDTrack version!

Interesting. For Distance over Time, the dynamic ranges are great for Amazon Mp3 version, and awful for 96/24 Hi Res version. What am I missing?

Distance over Time is a really strange one here, I agree. Could it be that someone actually posted incorrect info? The normal mp3 320kbps download version shows pretty bad numbers (which is normal btw) and then suddenly an almost identical one at 266kbps shows pretty good numbers. No way to tell them apart since comments have been disabled as well.

[Pettor]

Yeah I remember this with the hi-def version of ADTOE, DT12 etc. Usually the whole "MP3 is worthless and FLAC master race is the only way" is quite silly to me but these actually sound different and better.

This has little to do with MP3 vs FLAC, though. You can convert these files to MP3s and still have them sound much better than the CD because the underlying master just isn't as brickwalled.

Yes, but this is exactly what the versions are right? The master is usually what's different on the HDtracks with better dynamic range. So just like you say if you take the "good" HDtrack version and bring it down to 320kbps mp3 it will sound better than normal release at FLAC overall. ADTOE is one of these that I can hear good improvement on.

[Kotowboy]

I'm somewhat of an Audiophile. I like to buy music in the highest physical quality if i can.

But - for background listening or out and about - Streaming or iPod in earphones ( NOT Earpods ) is 100% fine. i'm not listening to all the nuances when i'm

just walking around outside. Vinyl and CD are for indoor / headphone / good speakers only to really listen to the music

and read the lyrics from the artwork.

It's a shame that kids now literally use YouTube as their CD player. They don't even think of purchasing their fave music at the best quality available.

it's just sound to play on their ( i assume mono ) phone speakers.

[CDrice]

The initial riff of the title track appears to be Morse code. I'm not versed in that language, but I hope someone is able to crack what it means.

Hopefully it's something a bit more meaningful than the code from In the Name of God 

[Kotowboy]

LOL PORTNOY

[Kotowboy]

I don't know how so many of you seem to have heard the album already but i'm not willing to venture into those waters. 

[rab7]

The initial riff of the title track appears to be Morse code. I'm not versed in that language, but I hope someone is able to crack what it means.

Was this suggested to you by the band, or did it just feel that way from the riff? I feel like there's a lot of riffs that could sound like morse code (Pale Blue Dot for example) but unless it's explicitly stated like YYZ, it's probably just coincidence.

I think the hardest part is determining whether something is a dash, or just a break between letters/words

[WilliamMunny]

Couple of new reviews

Metal Symphony - 9/10 - https://www-metalsymphony-com.translate.goog/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-inside-out-music/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc
Rock Progresivo - 6.5/10 - https://www-rock--progresivo-com.translate.goog/critica-disco-dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world/2021/10/amp/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

I enjoy reading candid opinions—I'm not sure that Blabbermouth has ever given a record lower than a '7.'

That being said, I tend to take reviews with a grain of salt. It's interesting to read descriptions of songs I've yet to hear, but the interpretation is always going to be subjective.

And as someone who has penned hundreds of reviews, if I feel like I'm going to cite an album as potentially  "the band's worst album to date," I give it an expra spin or three, just to be sure. Not saying this reviewer isn't entitled to his opinion, but setting aside the 'lost in translation' effect, I'd be curious to see if his opinon changes in the coming months.

[lovethedrake]

That wasn't very positive. I don't think it will be an issue for me, but a bit of a buzzkill. 

I wouldn't put too much weight on the second review. He says a few things that don't make a whole lot of sense, unless Google translate is messing with me.

He says the two singles were almost 'pure self-plagarism'. Invisible Monster is not my favorite song but I don't hear the alleged self-plagarism. He may have a point on the Alien, but I think that term is a bit excessive. Then later he says ADTOE was an example in which the band wanted to 'do something different or explore a secondary route'. How is ADTOE exploring a secondary route? lol.

Ha also references several songs as being innovative and magic and none of the songs mentioned are from my favorite era of the band.  So definitely not putting much stock into that review. 

[RodrigoAltaf]

That wasn't very positive. I don't think it will be an issue for me, but a bit of a buzzkill. 

I wouldn't put too much weight on the second review. He says a few things that don't make a whole lot of sense, unless Google translate is messing with me.

He says the two singles were almost 'pure self-plagarism'. Invisible Monster is not my favorite song but I don't hear the alleged self-plagarism. He may have a point on the Alien, but I think that term is a bit excessive. Then later he says ADTOE was an example in which the band wanted to 'do something different or explore a secondary route'. How is ADTOE exploring a secondary route? lol.

Ha also references several songs as being innovative and magic and none of the songs mentioned are from my favorite era of the band.  So definitely not putting much stock into that review.

I disagree with this review on almost EVERYTHING.

[ariich]

I don't know how so many of you seem to have heard the album already but i'm not willing to venture into those waters. 

Rodrigo and a few others are music journalists, so they get advance copies. I used to enjoy that in the brief period when I wrote music reviews too.

[jonny108]

Another review

The Dark Melody - 8.5/10 - https://thedarkmelody.com/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-album-review/

[LKap13]

Lukewarm reviews that don't match my impression of Alien and def not the snippets which were melodic as hell and just what the doctor ordered. We shall see!

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

That wasn't very positive. I don't think it will be an issue for me, but a bit of a buzzkill. 

I wouldn't put too much weight on the second review. He says a few things that don't make a whole lot of sense, unless Google translate is messing with me.

He says the two singles were almost 'pure self-plagarism'. Invisible Monster is not my favorite song but I don't hear the alleged self-plagiarism. He may have a point on the Alien, but I think that term is a bit excessive. Anyway, the fact that these songs are allegedly copies of older material does not seem to bother him if you read his description of them (though this is a bad thing about the rest of the album apparently). Then later he says ADTOE was an example in which the band wanted to 'do something different or explore a secondary route'. How is ADTOE exploring a secondary route? lol.

Ha also references several songs as being innovative and magic and none of the songs mentioned are from my favorite era of the band.  So definitely not putting much stock into that review.

I disagree with this review on almost EVERYTHING.

The opinions about DT are so wild and all over the place sometimes. To make things more confusing, the way people connect to music is pretty mysterious and difficult to put into words. A person may say he loves X about a song, but when X is presented in another song in a very similar way, it's described as a weakness. For example:

This reviewers says the new epic shows 'lack of originality and strength in composition' but in the same paragraph contrasts it with BAI, which he describes as 'beautiful'. Apparently the fact that BAI has been shown to be eerily similar to LTL is irrelevant to his fondness of THAT epic.

When he reviews Sleeping Giant, one of two songs he describes as trying to be 'fresh', he then paradoxically says it lacks the originality (so it tried to be fresh but it wasn't? Unless he was in on the writing sessions, how does he know this was an attempt at being fresh? Is the author struggling internally to decide whether the song felt fresh or not?) of The Best of Times. I am not sure why The Best of Times is in his mind fresh/original. I like the song, but not sure what about it was new at the time. Sounds very much like DT to me!

He says Answering the Call is a fresh composition but in almost the very next sentence says that it's very LTE in style. Since LTE has been around for over 20 years and has 3 albums, and has a distinctive sound, how is does that fit with the description of ATC as fresh?

Lastly, in his review of Transcending Time he says MM should 'contribute to his own style and create a school, something he has not done in 5 albums...' - I am not even sure what this means. Perhaps something is getting lost in translation. Is he saying MM doesn't have his own style? That would be an absurd thing to say, with no basis in fact. He very clearly has his own style, and his own vocabulary, which, by the very nature of his technical style, is different from MP's. You may not like it, but it literally makes no sense to say he doesn't have his own style.

All a longwinded way of saying, take these reviews with a grain of salt! Most of the time people are just trying to say 'I didn't connect with this music' but end up saying things that sound contradictory or just flat out don't make any sense (i.e., MM should contribute to his own style' because presumably he doesn't have one that is distinct from MP's). Describing what you are hearing is difficult when it's more than 'this is a guitar' or 'this is the chorus' and we have no idea who this reviewer is or if he has any musical proclivity or is just a prog fan. Even if we assume we would experience the same tedium that this guy did, he all but says it's the band's worst album to-date. Well, for me personally, even if DT15 is just the same ol' DT we heard on DoT or DT12, I can confidently say that this fact alone would probably make it a top 10 DT album lol.

Anyway, it's fun to read the reviews but all will be clear soon 

[the_silent_man]

Not sure if it's a translation issue, but some of the writing in these "reviews" is horrendous....

[MustActFastToCoverUp]

I got a delivery notice from Century Media - for tomorrow. Are they already sending out the preorders?

[RodrigoAltaf]

Not sure if it's a translation issue, but some of the writing in these "reviews" is horrendous....

It's a combination of both.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Another review

The Dark Melody - 8.5/10 - https://thedarkmelody.com/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-album-review/

And another perfect example of what I was talking about in my prior post.  This guy says ""Dream Theater" (2013) and "The Astonishing" (2016) , without being mediocre, showed a lack of spirit and ambition"

Really? The Astonishing lacked ambition? I have many negative things to say about that album...missing ambition is not one of them.

[LKap13]

I got a delivery notice from Century Media - for tomorrow. Are they already sending out the preorders?

There's no way this can be true can it

[The Letter M]

I got a delivery notice from Century Media - for tomorrow. Are they already sending out the preorders?

There's no way this can be true can it

They're probably just printing out your shipping label. There's no way they're shipping actual products yet.

-Marc.

[MustActFastToCoverUp]

I got a delivery notice from Century Media - for tomorrow. Are they already sending out the preorders?

There's no way this can be true can it

I guess we'll see.
Gonna report tomorrow.

[Groundhog]

I say vinyl is needed in these days of brickwalling and mixing for iTunes.

I agree brickwalling and over compression is horrible but that's why you can buy 24/96 high res files that are much better dynamically (much more breathing room, much warmer sounding). HD Tracks and Qobuz sell them.

If only it were that easy. Unfortunately 24/96 high res file does not guarantee better dynamics. See Distance over Time for example. Though in many cases that is true, but you cannot be sure as the dynamic range information is not available officially. DR database is the only source where you can find this information if someone has uploaded the album there.

It's insane, there are actually different sounds on the high res versions. I'm hearing a big difference in Labrie's effects on barstool warrior. The song sounds totally different

Yeah I remember this with the hi-def version of ADTOE, DT12 etc. Usually the whole "MP3 is worthless and FLAC master race is the only way" is quite silly to me but these actually sound different and better. I guess clues / evidence can even be found in HD database:

https://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=dream+theater&album=a+dramatic+turn+of+events

Check out how much better dynamic range you get with the HDTrack version!

Interesting. For Distance over Time, the dynamic ranges are great for Amazon Mp3 version, and awful for 96/24 Hi Res version. What am I missing?

Distance over Time is a really strange one here, I agree. Could it be that someone actually posted incorrect info? The normal mp3 320kbps download version shows pretty bad numbers (which is normal btw) and then suddenly an almost identical one at 266kbps shows pretty good numbers. No way to tell them apart since comments have been disabled as well.

It's the correct information. I remember when Distance over Time was released and people were disappointed by the HDTracks release having the same dynamic range as the CD and digital streaming version. I asked HDTracks about this back then and their response was that they are using the file that label send them. So Blu-ray and vinyl are the only sources with good dynamic range.

I suspect that it will be same with A View From Top Of The World. At least to me The Alien sounds the same dynamic wise on Qobuz as the flac (CD quality) version on Deezer. Youtube music video on the other hand sounds more dynamic to my ears.

I've pre-ordered the Blu-ray and vinyl versions as I expect those to have the best chance get better dynamics.

As far as HDTracks go I would wait and see how it is before buying it.

[lovethedrake]

Another review

The Dark Melody - 8.5/10 - https://thedarkmelody.com/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-album-review/

And another perfect example of what I was talking about in my prior post.  This guy says ""Dream Theater" (2013) and "The Astonishing" (2016) , without being mediocre, showed a lack of spirit and ambition"

Really? The Astonishing lacked ambition? I have many negative things to say about that album...missing ambition is not one of them.

I had the same reaction... the astonishing is a lot of things, but lacking ambition is certainly not one of them.

[Ben_Jamin]

Couple of new reviews

Metal Symphony - 9/10 - https://www-metalsymphony-com.translate.goog/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-inside-out-music/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc
Rock Progresivo - 6.5/10 - https://www-rock--progresivo-com.translate.goog/critica-disco-dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world/2021/10/amp/?_x_tr_sl=es&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui,sc

I enjoy reading candid opinions—I'm not sure that Blabbermouth has ever given a record lower than a '7.'

That being said, I tend to take reviews with a grain of salt. It's interesting to read descriptions of songs I've yet to hear, but the interpretation is always going to be subjective.

And as someone who has penned hundreds of reviews, if I feel like I'm going to cite an album as potentially  "the band's worst album to date," I give it an expra spin or three, just to be sure. Not saying this reviewer isn't entitled to his opinion, but setting aside the 'lost in translation' effect, I'd be curious to see if his opinon changes in the coming months.

Would a reviewer try and see the negative aspects over the positive and review that?

I think negative reviews are helpful as well. But also, that's a very thin rope to walk across as it's easy to be too negative and end up trash talking the album rather than respectfully presenting the bad, as the reader may see it as just talking smack.

[Kotowboy]

I don't care about reviews. As I said - i've seen terrible reviews for albums I LOVE. Bryan Adams 18 til I Die being one of those.

Also - the critics hated Oasis' Morning Glory. Then it went on to sell 22 million copies and they all praised their next album - the actually disappointing Be Here Now.

[SeRoX]

Another review

The Dark Melody - 8.5/10 - https://thedarkmelody.com/dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world-album-review/

This review doesn't say any good things about LaBrie. Plus, they warn the band about LaBrie's position for the future. They think the only big problem about the album is James. Wow. I mean having opinion about albums is one thing but this one is just harsh.

[LKap13]

I disagree that it's harsh. It's a perfectly valid opinion - he didn't like the vocals and or vocal melodies on the new album. Good thing for us the alien and snippets suggest that to be false but I still see nothing wrong with it

[Glasser]

James sounds amazing on the new album (melodies and execution). I love everything he did on it.

[devieira73]

Do we already know for sure who wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the album, besides TA (LaBrie) and IM (Petrucci)?

[rab7]

Do we already know for sure who wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the album, besides TA (LaBrie) and IM (Petrucci)?

From interviews and screen captures we have:

SG, TT, AVFTTOTW: Petrucci

ATM: Myung

So far ATC is unknown

[RodrigoAltaf]

James sounds amazing on the new album (melodies and execution). I love everything he did on it.

I absolutely love his performance on this album... he's playing to his strengths, and there are some amazing vocal melodies here, even though his voice is not "in the stratosphere". I actually prefer him this way - his voice in the mid range is incredible. Also Worth saying is how tasteful Jordan's solos and tones are this time - this hasn't always been my opinion in his albums with the band.

[Kotowboy]

.

[Kyo]

Also Worth saying is how tasteful Jordan's solos and tones are this time - this hasn't always been my opinion in his albums with the band.

The great thing about most of Jordan's solos on the new album is that he has finally learned from JP and written some memorable solos with interesting development and phrasing rather than just just improvise something and go with that. The songs are so much better for it.

[Kotowboy]

Maybe The Astonishing pushed him more in that direction.