The Best Mangini Era Album? #3 will ASTONISH YOU!!

[Architeuthis]

I was torn between TA & D/T, but went with TA to spite people.

I'm with you on that. TA is my favorite in the Mangini era.  As far as concept albums go, I'll take it over Scenes any day.  If that doesn't spite people, I don't know what will.

I really like all five albums of this era though!

[lovethedrake]

DOT

TA






Self Titled





AVFTTOTW









ADTOE

[lovethedrake]

I was torn between TA & D/T, but went with TA to spite people.

I'm with you on that. TA is my favorite in the Mangini era.  As far as concept albums go, I'll take it over Scenes any day.  If that doesn't spite people, I don't know what will.

I really like all five albums of this era though!

I love TA but still find this to be crazy as SFAM is my #1 DT and probably top 5 all time.   But respect your conviction!

[DoctorAction]

Does anyone know why the album is called "The Astonishing", btw?

(Probably a really dumb question but I don't recall ever hearing what it is.)

[Kotowboy]

It's like " THE AMAZING ! " or more like a verb " The DISAPPEARING ! "

It's like The Astonishing is the verb of Gabriel's music freeing Ravenskill or whatever from the NOMACs and Nefaryus.

Like - The Astonishing has been foretold. One day we will all see The Astonishing.

" Behold ! The Astonishing ! "

It's a verb not an adjective.

[KevShmev]

Does anyone know why the album is called "The Astonishing", btw?

(Probably a really dumb question but I don't recall ever hearing what it is.)

I honestly think a lot of fans would have been more accepting of the album and/or given it more chances if the name hadn't been so silly.  I mean, I am a big fan of the album, but the title "The Astonishing" is just begging for mockery.  Maybe JP wanted to take a little bit of the heat off of The Count of Tuscany.

[Kotowboy]

I like the title.

It sounds silly if you think of it like " THE INCREDIBLE ! " rather than " THE EVENT ! " which is closer to what it means.

[darkshade]

They may as well have called it "The Big Gigantic"

[ThatOneGuy2112]

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[Cool Chris]

This is a bit below ADToE, higher by a bigger margin than both DT12 and DoT. When DoT came out I put it above DT12, mainly on the fact I didn't care for IT. Now those positions might be swapped as I have warmed to DT12 and cooled on DoT.

I still have no idea how to rank TA.

[DoctorAction]

It's like " THE AMAZING ! " or more like a verb " The DISAPPEARING ! "

It's like The Astonishing is the verb of Gabriel's music freeing Ravenskill or whatever from the NOMACs and Nefaryus.

Like - The Astonishing has been foretold. One day we will all see The Astonishing.

" Behold ! The Astonishing ! "

It's a verb not an adjective.

Ah, yeah. I can see that. Ta.

[7enderbender]

I honestly don't get the outright hatred for The Astonishing.

It's not like it's their St. Anger.

No, it's their "The Elder" (which is still way better than the Astonishing)

[Trav]

I honestly don't get the outright hatred for The Astonishing.

It's not like it's their St. Anger.

No, it's their "The Elder" (which is still way better than the Astonishing)

[Kotowboy]

The Astonishing is better than anything RUSH ever did.

[Wim Kruithof]

1. View
2. Distance Over Time
3. Astonishing
4. Self-Titled
5. ADToE

Looks like you got a hard time appreciating the past. Does this backwardchronolic order goes all the way back to When Dream and Day Unite?

I've got the hardcover of the book Astonishing already, but am ordering the paperback as well. So I can read it again totally any time soon. For anyone having a hard time with the album, reading the book will certainly bring a new layer of appreciation on it. The story, as well as the album is still growing and aging well on me.

[OpenYourEyes311]

After two full listens of the album... I don't get it.

1. Dream Theater
2. Distance Over Time
3. The Astonishing
4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. The New Thing

[erciccio]

A dramatic turn of events
The astonishing



DT12

A view from the top of the world
D/T

A view might even get below D/T, unless something positive clicks soon .

[Kotowboy]

After two full listens of the album... I don't get it.

1. Dream Theater
2. Distance Over Time
3. The Astonishing
4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. The New Thing

So you just refuse to acknowledge it ?

[Elite]

ADTOE easily, based on just the first four. The amount of votes for the newest albums IS actually Astonishing. There's no way you can accurate rank an album 3 days after its release date.

[OpenYourEyes311]

After two full listens of the album... I don't get it.

1. Dream Theater
2. Distance Over Time
3. The Astonishing
4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. The New Thing

So you just refuse to acknowledge it ?

Did you not read #5?

It's #5. The New Thing. That means the new album. I didn't want to type out A View From The Top Of The World at the time I wrote it. But now you made me do it. So there you go. I typed it out for you. Consider it acknowledged.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

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[Kotowboy]

Well I just listened to the new album in full on my monitors and I really love it

[Wim Kruithof]

It's not surprising at all actually. Recency bias. I feel this has happened anytime a poll like this is posted right after a new album release—the new album getting the most votes by fans still coming off the hype and high of a new release. Truthfully, only time will tell if it stays the course.

The hype can also turned out to be disappointing, as was Distance Over Time on me. I struggled a lot during the first couple of months to start liking it and due to its better aging, I turned out liking it more and more. As was the case with the Astonishing as well. This release is actually the opposite to me and I am overwhelmed, totally.

So, I know for sure this will turn out to be high in the ranking. But having said that, I do not rank those albums anymore, 'cause its rediculous. It changes so often I feel like being involved in the Six Degrees-track.

[pg1067]

I honestly don't see how it's "An abomination LMAO"....

Just cause every song isn't the Dance Of Eternity ?

The problem isn't that every song isn't TDOE.  That would be awful.  The problem (for me) is that (almost) every song sounds like (almost) every other song.  For an album that has 29 songs (not counting the NOMAC tracks), you ought to get some variety, but you don't.  There's one that has a bit of a Dixie Dregs feel (and I can never remember which one it is, and it's too hard to find), there are a couple of relatively bland instrumentals, there are about 22 songs that are virtually indistinguishable from each other, and maybe a couple that sound a bit different.

It's not even that.

" I don't care for the Astonishing " is one thing

" LMAO WORST ALBUM EVER MADED. AN ABSOLUTE ASS POLISHING ABOMINATION  " is quite another. As if it was Dream Theater's Metal Machine Music or something.

You're starting to sound like WildRanger:  setting up strawman points so that you can knock them down.  No one (at least not anyone here) has ever called it "an absolute ass-polishing abomination" (although, yes, someone did say "abomination" without the additional adjectives).

As I've said many times, I applaud them for trying it, and it's not "bad," but it is, IMO, so boring that it ought to come with a sticker warning not to listen while driving or operating heavy machinery.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

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[Kotowboy]

D/T
AVFTTOTW
ADTOE
DT12
The Ass-polishing

[LCArenas]

No way I'm putting the new one in the list yet, I don't even know what to think about it!

1. A Dramatic Turn of Events
2. Distance Over Time
3. The Astonishing
4. Dream Theater

[Laughingplace56]

I'm very disappointed by the lack of love for DT12. Maybe it's because it was my first "new" album from them after becoming a fan, but I've adored it since it came out and StR, BtV, TBP, TEI and IT are (IMO) all strong enough DT songs that I would assume they connect with more people than they seemingly do 

I thought DoT would have much stronger staying power when it came out, but I barely listen to anything on that record anymore. So it's too early for me to definitively say if View beats DT12 for my favorite of the bunch, but for right now it is.

[Lonk]

I'm very disappointed by the lack of love for DT12. Maybe it's because it was my first "new" album from them after becoming a fan, but I've adored it since it came out and StR, BtV, TBP, TEI and IT are (IMO) all strong enough DT songs that I would assume they connect with more people than they seemingly do 

I thought DoT would have much stronger staying power when it came out, but I barely listen to anything on that record anymore. So it's too early for me to definitively say if View beats DT12 for my favorite of the bunch, but for right now it is.

Personally, I think DT12 has a some of good moments, but nothing that I consider great. I think TAC mentioned a few days ago the way I feel about it.

To me the problem with DT12 isn't the amount of lows, but the lack of highs.

[Dublagent66]

Does anyone know why the album is called "The Astonishing", btw?

(Probably a really dumb question but I don't recall ever hearing what it is.)

I honestly think a lot of fans would have been more accepting of the album and/or given it more chances if the name hadn't been so silly.  I mean, I am a big fan of the album, but the title "The Astonishing" is just begging for mockery.  Maybe JP wanted to take a little bit of the heat off of The Count of Tuscany.

Well, the title AVFTTOTW isn't much better, but just from listening to the title track of the new album, it's already better than TA.

I’m very disappointed by the lack of love for DT12. Maybe it’s because it was my first “new” album from them after becoming a fan

It's probably because new fans have no expectations based on previous releases.  Not much of DT12 held up against anything that preceded it.  Disappointing to say the least.

[Dellers]

I'm very disappointed by the lack of love for DT12. Maybe it's because it was my first "new" album from them after becoming a fan, but I've adored it since it came out and StR, BtV, TBP, TEI and IT are (IMO) all strong enough DT songs that I would assume they connect with more people than they seemingly do 

I thought DoT would have much stronger staying power when it came out, but I barely listen to anything on that record anymore. So it's too early for me to definitively say if View beats DT12 for my favorite of the bunch, but for right now it is.

I just never connected with it, even at launch. It doesn't help that the mix is awful, and the CD release is downright ear torture with audible distortion and what not. I had to buy it from HDTracks to be able to listen to it. Anyway, I think Surrender To Reason is the only song I've listened to the last five years. Maybe IT once or so. I really don't care for the rest of the album and haven't really heard it since 2013, and The Enemy Inside is bottom 3 for me along with Raw Dog and Burning My Soul. I don't even think the song is ok, I dislike it a lot. I was super disappointed with the single and album after ADTOE, which is among my top four DT albums. They've slowly been making better songs again since, and the new one is not far behind ADTOE for me.

[pg1067]

I'm very disappointed by the lack of love for DT12. Maybe it's because it was my first "new" album from them after becoming a fan, but I've adored it since it came out and StR, BtV, TBP, TEI and IT are (IMO) all strong enough DT songs that I would assume they connect with more people than they seemingly do 

I'm with you.  I think it beats out ADTOE.  For me, the standout songs are The Looking Glass, Along for the Ride and Illumination Theory.  Probably the weakest track is Enigma Machine.  It doesn't have anything that rises to the level of BAI, but it also doesn't have the several low points that ADTOE has.

DOT is similar in not having any true low points, but, while it's consistent, its level of consistency is much lower than that of DT12.  And we don't need to talk about TA.

[Kotowboy]

The Astonishing pisses all over A Change Of Seasons.

[Kyo]

I just never connected with it, even at launch. It doesn't help that the mix is awful, and the CD release is downright ear torture with audible distortion and what not. I had to buy it from HDTracks to be able to listen to it.

Yeah, I think people underestimate how much the bad sound of the regular (CD/download) edition played into the poor reception for the album. I'm pretty sure most people don't even consciously make the connection, at least it certainly was that way for me - I just thought the songs were dull and not a lot of fun to listen to. It's only after I heard the HDtracks edition that I actually found the access to the actual music buried underneath the brickwalled mastering job. These days I think it's a perfectly fine album with no duds, though I will absolutely say that the highs here aren't nearly as high as they were on ADToE (or as high as they are on the new album). So I enjoy it all the way through when it's playing, which I can't say for any of the post-SfaM Portnoy-era albums, but at the same time it doesn't have any really outstanding songs that would raise it to "personal favorite" status for me.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

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