The Alien Listening Party ! ALL SPOILERS !

[Bertie_Wooster]

No I didnt. It snuck up on me

[Laughingplace56]

Posting on this forum for the first time in years to say hooooly SHIT that was amazing. Far and beyond the best DT song since DT12. I understand the criticisms stated previously in this thread, but this song (for me) just works. Super energetic, amazing instrumentation, feels very fresh and surprised me quite a few times with where the song went. I think JLB sounds great but agree that the verses/chorus aren't memorable vocal melodies. The drumming though....gotta be in the top 5 best drum tracks in DT history, and definitely my favorite from Mangini so far. Fucking outstanding. I am very very excited for this album, and after 2 really good but not amazing albums, I am incredibly happy to feel this excited about a DT album again. Bring on the rest!!!

(And yes I know I sound like an overly-positive fanboi but he'll that song got me going haha)

[porcacultor]

Thoroughly enjoying this! Wonder if LaBrie wrote it thinking about the TV show Raised By Wolves...

[DTiwbwMP]

"meh". Nothing new on the table, same melodies, same arrangement.
- Song feels so disjointed between sections. Intro- middle - outro and even passages sound like so different and patched into one. I can't feel the connection.
- Rudess' playing, melodies so out of place for me.
- It's like they wrote this song to be instrumental but then they force themselves write the lyrics. So, vocals don't fit. Vocals melodies are out of place. Not that
I hope this song is album's worst.

Gotta agree with this. I think it started out GREAT and then once the vocals & especially the lyrics kicked in, the song became very "samey" to DOT. Not a bad song at all, just not great or memorable. Oh well. Nice to hear JM & MM more proficient in the mix though.

[Revenge319]

WOW. 15 albums and they're still making music that's THIS good. My plan is still to only have listened to this single once before the full album comes out, but considering how much I like this after just one listen, it might be hard to abstain from listening to it more. James LaBrie is probably my favorite singer ever, and I've always liked his performances, but in this song, he sounds exceptionally great. He sounds like he did around the Metropolis Part 2 era, and his singing on this song is just so pleasing to the ears.

Really great song overall. I wasn't worried at all that they'd release something subpar, but with this song, I'm more excited than ever for this album to come out.

[zappafrank2112]

Flat snare drum sound

Again

*sigh*

I'm listening to a YT link, so maybe it's that but, still...

[DTiwbwMP]

It reminds me of Dream Theater crossed with Distance Over Time and a pinch of The Astonishing.

SPOT ON.

[Dedalus]

So far I've only heard it once.

I agree it sounds pretty generic (at least on a first listen). But Beatrice is right, some of the rhythmic stuff is really cool!
Mike Mangini totally badass   

Replace Mike Mangini with Mike Portnoy and this song would be completely DT by numbers.

But I don't usually trust the first auditions since I listened to SDOIT for the first time and hated the whole disc 1.   

Great drum sound and great bass sound (which is what really matters  )

[Bacong]

how did labrie's voice decline this much in 5 years? he was one of the better things about the astonishing, and then on DOT he sounds awful, and it seems even worse somehow, on this album. I know it's only one song but his voice just sounds so flat and so much quieter in the mix than it was a few albums ago (DoT suffered from the same problems)

The song is pretty decent. Intro has some cool ideas (the half time riff is awesome but it's painfully short) and the outro is good but really sounds like razor's edge.

[Ben_Jamin]

Some parts were awesome, and some parts were meh. But overall, It was great and can't wait to hear this one live.

Love that Solo before the first verse, and that ending.

[NoFred]

First listen, like it a lot. Could have more going on vocally given the length, but the end was cool. Was a fun listen and should be great live.

Haha cover of the single has nothing to do with the lyrical content wth

[zappafrank2112]

Great drum sound and great bass sound (which is what really matters  )

The drum sound is too much of the same flat muffled "hitting a towel" sound they've had for too long in the MM era, IMO.  Thought it did get better during the solo breakdowns.

And I do like how busy MM was on the cymbals.

Yes to the bass sound.  Nice farty tone.

[YtseJamittaja]

For the first time in my DT history (15 years) I have to say I was not impressed at all. The whole song was bad and let me explain why.

DT has always been clever to keep things complicated but they have always done the transitions smootly or somehow that it fits to the song. In The Alien transitions were too odd. It's like "oh, another riff and time signature. Oh, where did that riff came from." It feels to me that they pushed some time signature change there for no reason. There's some good moments but they destroy the build up with another feel and riff.

DT has also always been good to build good vocals melodies even the verse melody can be hard. In The Alien it feels like LaBrie is just singing something and there's too much odd transitions on vocal melodies too. It feels like they haven't thought enough how the vocals are fit to the song.

On overall this fells like it could have been song from some new progressive metal band from university but I don't expect this from DT. I have been a really big fan boy over the years but my DT fandom has slowly dropped that these new songs just doesn't get that same hype for me than 10 years ago.

EDIT: okay, 5th listen and now I get few vocals melodies and they are okay. Maybe this will grow. Hopefully!

[BlacklistJones]

I think a music video of the guys grilling meat in a spaceship would get lots of views

Hilarious. John with his smoker, serving quality burgers and BBQ chicken to extraterrestrial friends. I love it.

I'm three listens in so far. Like most of you, it didn't capture me entirely through the first listen. I am happy with Mangini's and Myung's mix improvements. Myung sounds wonderful, and Mangini sounds like an absolute monster on this track. There are things that he is doing with the hi-hats that are just borderline alien themselves.

I actually like Jordan's feel here. It's elegant, and settled into the rest of the groove appropriately. A little meedly-meedly action that I thought I had grown tired of, but it brings back memories of Six Degrees for me, so I really can't complain.

The outro had a Finally Free thing going on with it, but I don't mind that.

That's the thing though. My ears didn't walk into this expecting absurdly different. The production is beautiful and sonically, this is our Dream Theater playing their fucking dicks off. You get your gritty riffs, your highs, your lows, and if you find yourself feeling an urgency or desire to listen multiple times in order to dissect everything that is happening, then that's a victory not only for us fans, for the boys as well.

Speaking of expectations, I think it's insane to think that you're going to hear something absurdly different in terms of James' range at this point. He is 58 years old and the fact that he bring forth the energy that is displayed here is more than enough for me. Is it safe for the most part? Probably, but I'm also of the opinion that some songs don't require dangerous maneuvers off the diving board. That said, I think James' approach here works well. Is he, or the lyrics for that matter, a highlight? No, absolutely not. The way everything strings together, the way that only Dream Theater can pull off, is the true highlight.

This, to me, is their strongest single since "On The Backs of Angels".

TREMENDOUS unison by John and Jordan too. A showstopper moment for this song.

[bosk1]

First impression:  reminds me a lot of TCOT and PBD, in a good way.  Not sure what problem folks are having with the vocals.  James and the vocal melodies sound great to me.

[Dedalus]

For the first time in my DT history (15 years) I have to say I was not impressed at all. The whole song was bad and let me explain why.

DT has always been clever to keep things complicated but they have always done the transitions smootly or somehow that it fits to the song. In The Alien transitions were too odd. It's like "oh, another riff and time signature. Oh, where did that riff came from." It feels to me that they pushed some time signature change there for no reason. There's some good moments but they destroy the build up with another feel and riff.

DT has also always been good to build good vocals melodies even the verse melody can be hard. In The Alien it feels like LaBrie is just singing something and there's too much odd transitions on vocal melodies too. It feels like they haven't thought enough how the vocals are fit to the song.

On overall this fells like it could have been song from some new progressive metal band from university but I don't expect this from DT. I have been a really big fan boy over the years but my DT fandom has slowly dropped that these new songs just doesn't get that same hype for me than 10 years ago.

Well... Metropolis 07:14.

Metropolis is by far my favorite DT song, but that part is fucking weird. 

[jayvee3]

3 listens for me now, and that's where I'll keep it until the album drops. I really, really like this single. For me, while a few songs have been growers over the years, I also generally know after a couple of listens, if it's something I'll revisit. I remember when OTBOA came out, and UA, I was like "they're cool enough", but almost overplayed them to see if I was missing out on something. They just never fully gelled. And truth is, I rarely revisit them. Fall into the light was one I loved - and still love to this day, where I'm excited to hear it again if it pops up on a playlist etc. The Alien has a similar vibe for me. I don't need to overplay it, as I already know I genuinely enjoy it and will be excited to hear it again. Just a great intro, the outro is even better, awesome soloing and tight production.

I'm honestly fine with James too. I don't think he's overstated in this song and that's fine - he doesn't need to be in every track. My first listen I just sat back and took it all in, the next listen I put the lyrics up (got the Apple Music version), and everything started to take more shape and become familiar. Third listen was this morning in my car, and it all sounded great - coherent, solid and rocked my way to work 

[zappafrank2112]

Another thought I had during Jordan's solo: dude really needs some new tones for his solo.  He's done the phased "wzzzzzzzzzz" thing to death

[YtseJamittaja]

For the first time in my DT history (15 years) I have to say I was not impressed at all. The whole song was bad and let me explain why.

DT has always been clever to keep things complicated but they have always done the transitions smootly or somehow that it fits to the song. In The Alien transitions were too odd. It's like "oh, another riff and time signature. Oh, where did that riff came from." It feels to me that they pushed some time signature change there for no reason. There's some good moments but they destroy the build up with another feel and riff.

Well... Metropolis 07:14.

Metropolis is by far my favorite DT song, but that part is fucking weird. 

Haha, I think that crazy part just have to be there for no reason Metropolis is a crazy song overall but still the transitions and build ups are thought well.

[Sir Walrus Cauliflower]

I'm really happy about this song, especially for what it indicates as a single.

I do agree that it sounds a little disjointed, but so are so many other classic DT songs. Scarred, The Dark Eternal Night, and Metropolis Pt. 1 are disjointed as hell. I get that some songs do disjointed better than others, but DT is sporadic and jarring fairly often. It's intentional, and I think it's a ton of fun - not to mention how sick the instrumentation is that they're switching between.

The vocal melodies aren't DT's most memorable. But the super hopeful sounding bridge toward the end stood out as fresh on my first listen and I think that section is memorable at least in terms of vocal melodies. James sounds comfortable in this range too and I'm happy about that. There aren't any obnoxiously cheesy lyrics like on SC or Black Clouds either imo.

The riffing is insane and I think JM distinguishes his bass line from the guitar part better than usual, especially in a single. Drums are absolutely nuts but still super fun and intuitive to groove too since they weave those common motifs in there. Good lord I absolutely love the drum part and the rhythmic wankery, and paired with the improvement in mix its even better. Cool variety of moods, more space to help my ears rest temporally throughout and to provide contrast. Cool tone changes and really dynamic soloing from JP that doesn't just morph into relentless shredding.   

This stuff is discusting with a C. Holy stank face batman. This is my favorite DT single is OTBOA easily. Minor complaints I get but for me, it's just really really sick DT music.

[metropofreak]

I love it so much. I don't think I've ever been more delighted with one of their singles.

[ReaPsTA]

It could be because I'm a Sci-Fi dork, but I think this song is, in spite of some real flaws, kind of great.

Obviously the song's twist is that "the alien" is us. It turns out this was actually hiding in plain sight. In the preview version of the artwork we just see a human being tractor beamed into a UFO, presumably being captured. But, in the full art, we see a homeless looking alien sitting on the street, recontextualizing the human as a rich conquerer going back to base. It's a great concept and Huge Syme should get credit where it's due.

What's cool about the lyrics is they synthesize space-faring with transhumanism. "Digital man, alien, changed forever." We're aliens both to the worlds we conquered and to some fundamental aspect of human nature we're leaving behind in order to to achieve a grander purpose. "Our Holy Grail, Ready between the lines... A far better world, for our human race, and beyond". Humanity's spreading not just itself but the products of its technology.

All of that's very art school, but what makes it work is the musical presentation. Most of the song is relentless and dark riffing. It's evocative not of wonder and exploration but of conquest. Yet, there *are* hints of exploration in the lyrics. The alien talks about how there *is* a grander purpose to it. Musically you get a hint of that with melodic guitar solo at the beginning. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but DT sort of borrows the musical language of Cygnus and 2112 by Rush and makes it their own by adding the metal element. Those are songs about epic battles for the stars and this is a song about setting the stage for one.

Everything comes together perfectly in the final minute and 45 seconds. The final "I'm the alien" section is such a resolute statement of purpose, which goes into a soaring JP solo with MM/JM in double time bringing the hype over the top. Now hear us truly, we are humans on a grand adventure into the stars! But then, the dark riffs return, inescapably. No matter what story we tell ourselves, we are here to unleash ourselves.

I'd really be down for this to be a concept album. Even if it doesn't end up being that way, still a cool piece of storytelling.

[jayvee3]

For the first time in my DT history (15 years) I have to say I was not impressed at all. The whole song was bad and let me explain why.

DT has always been clever to keep things complicated but they have always done the transitions smootly or somehow that it fits to the song. In The Alien transitions were too odd. It's like "oh, another riff and time signature. Oh, where did that riff came from." It feels to me that they pushed some time signature change there for no reason. There's some good moments but they destroy the build up with another feel and riff.

DT has also always been good to build good vocals melodies even the verse melody can be hard. In The Alien it feels like LaBrie is just singing something and there's too much odd transitions on vocal melodies too. It feels like they haven't thought enough how the vocals are fit to the song.

On overall this fells like it could have been song from some new progressive metal band from university but I don't expect this from DT. I have been a really big fan boy over the years but my DT fandom has slowly dropped that these new songs just doesn't get that same hype for me than 10 years ago.

EDIT: okay, 5th listen and now I get few vocals melodies and they are okay. Maybe this will grow. Hopefully!

All due respect, as people will completely have their own opinions (I also just noticed your edit). But I will say, I feel the transitions are fine. Perhaps it could seem that way, as its new music and takes time to become more familiar - particularly in a track that isn't just standard and has a fair few ideas going on.

But overall, it starts frantic with some great solos and then a more melodic solo piece, hits the verses and choruses which are similar and tie in, gets a nice unison solo, then goes back to an awesome retake of the chorus to see the song out in a crescendo with the same melodic solo piece from the intro (with MM just killing it at the same time). I dunno - it all seems really coherent and well put together to me...

[geeeemo]

This really is different, weird, yet Dream Theater. Not like any of their other songs at all. Some have mentioned PBD, but it's different. Eerie. Heavy. In your face and then peeling it off... With each listen it grows exponentially better .

[ReaPsTA]

First impression:  reminds me a lot of TCOT and PBD, in a good way.  Not sure what problem folks are having with the vocals.  James and the vocal melodies sound great to me.

I hope it's just Youtube,

EDIT: If you can listen on Spotify or some higher quality streaming service I recommend doing so. Youtube's compression is not kind to JLB on this song. It takes the problems listed below from an unfortunate flaw that can overlooked to distractingly weird sounding

The vocal mix could be a bit better. The de-essing (to make the hiss in "S"s less harsh) is way too strong, and it makes all the intonation sound worse than it probably actually is. It also sounds like some of the higher end of his voice was shelved out or something. It's like they played JLB's vocal track through a speaker with a blanket covering it, recorded that, then used it as the vocal track. It's not too bad, but it's odd how the vocals are the least bright element in the mix.

Overall, still easily the best mixed product DT's put out since FII. The bass mix in particular is god tier.

The riffing is insane and I think JM distinguishes his bass line from the guitar part better than usual, especially in a single. Drums are absolutely nuts but still super fun and intuitive to groove too since they weave those common motifs in there. Good lord I absolutely love the drum part and the rhythmic wankery, and paired with the improvement in mix its even better.

What I love about the drumming is, if you pay attention to it, it has more going on and is more interesting than most actual songs. But if you're not into drumming, it never gets in the way inappropriately and you don't notice any of the little things.

And there's just so much creativity, like the double hi-hat splashes and the octobons at the start of the guitar solo. Mangini is insane in this song.

I do agree that it sounds a little disjointed, but so are so many other classic DT songs. Scarred, The Dark Eternal Night, and Metropolis Pt. 1 are disjointed as hell. I get that some songs do disjointed better than others, but DT is sporadic and jarring fairly often. It's intentional, and I think it's a ton of fun - not to mention how sick the instrumentation is that they're switching between.

The one big criticism I have is that the overall songwriting is a step back from the rest of the Mangini era. It's not as bad as it was on, say BCSL, but like a minute or two of riffs and solos could have been cut without being missed. During the intro, I was ready for the vocals to come in at a couple different points but there were more riffs to be played. And I think I hear JR play one full keyboard solo and then another with a different patch???

Most of the other songs on this album are shorter though so I'm not super worried.

[BeatriceNB]

For the first time in my DT history (15 years) I have to say I was not impressed at all. The whole song was bad and let me explain why.

DT has always been clever to keep things complicated but they have always done the transitions smootly or somehow that it fits to the song. In The Alien transitions were too odd. It's like "oh, another riff and time signature. Oh, where did that riff came from." It feels to me that they pushed some time signature change there for no reason. There's some good moments but they destroy the build up with another feel and riff.

DT has also always been good to build good vocals melodies even the verse melody can be hard. In The Alien it feels like LaBrie is just singing something and there's too much odd transitions on vocal melodies too. It feels like they haven't thought enough how the vocals are fit to the song.

On overall this fells like it could have been song from some new progressive metal band from university but I don't expect this from DT. I have been a really big fan boy over the years but my DT fandom has slowly dropped that these new songs just doesn't get that same hype for me than 10 years ago.

Well... Metropolis 07:14.

Metropolis is by far my favorite DT song, but that part is fucking weird. 

Huge disagree, that whole section is smooth af

[Dedalus]

Haha, I think that crazy part just have to be there for no reason Metropolis is a crazy song overall but still the transitions and build ups are thought well.

Huge disagree, that whole section is smooth af

I've been trying to get 100% used to that part for 25 years.

But a love Metropolis. No complaint.

[Pettor]

Well look at reaction videos of Metropolis 1 and I think most will say it feels disjointed when the instrumental break comes. I don't mind it but it's easy to see why.

Anyyyyyyway. Kinda thought this song was really cool. Got really scared when people started mentioning Raw Dog as a comparison, something I can happily disagree with  For a long time I have wanted something really chaotic from DT. Most singles plays it very safe but sometimes manages to get my interest (Gift of Music). PBD I thought was going to be that chaotic song but in the end it was just a bit chaotic within the instrumental breaks but played it safe with the overall structure. This one is way more all over the place. Not sure I have a problem with the breaks either, quite the opposite. I keeps the song going and interesting all the way through.

This could go down as one of the best singles they ever released in my book.

[erwinrafael]

I always find comments of disjointedness amusing given that Dream Theater defined their musical style with Metropolis Pt. 1.

Anyway, one could only imagine how good the past-MM DT albums would have sounded if we actually heard his cymbal work like in this song. I remember watching Youtube videos of live performances of Illumination Theory and man, a lot of amazing cymbal work was not audible in the studio version.

I find myself smiling in Mangini's "drum solo" with the octobans / cannon drums from 5:25 to 5:35. He is still keeping time with his snare!

[Dedalus]

The one big criticism I have is that the overall songwriting is a step back from the rest of the Mangini era. It's not as bad as it was on, say BCSL, but like a minute or two of riffs and solos could have been cut without being missed. During the intro, I was ready for the vocals to come in at a couple different points but there were more riffs to be played. And I think I hear JR play one full keyboard solo and then another with a different patch???

Most of the other songs on this album are shorter though so I'm not super worried.

I heard you.

[Pettor]

Most of the other songs on this album are shorter though so I'm not super worried.

Haha well AcTuaalLY there are 3 songs that are shorter and 3 that are longer 🤓

[Pettor]

I will stop spamming now but at around 6:02 there's this JP riff that sounds so similar. Is it Lost Not Forgotten?

[Dedalus]

I always find comments of disjointedness amusing given that Dream Theater defined their musical style with Metropolis Pt. 1.

Anyway, one could only imagine how good the past-MM DT albums would have sounded if we actually heard his cymbal work like in this song. I remember watching Youtube videos of live performances of Illumination Theory and man, a lot of amazing cymbal work was not audible in the studio version.

I find myself smiling in Mangini's "drum solo" with the octobans / cannon drums from 5:25 to 5:35. He is still keeping time with his snare!

I used to use the disjointedness argument  to criticize some songs/suites until recently (eg Haken's Messiah Complex - which I really don't like). But I realized that there are a lot of prog music that I love that can be called disjointed too. So..... 

[ReaPsTA]

I will stop spamming now but at around 6:02 there's this JP riff that sounds so similar. Is it Lost Not Forgotten?

https://youtu.be/GlhLcewMORY?t=432

[Zook]

Andy Sneap needs to remix the other Mangini albums pronto, starting with DT12.