Official Parasomnia album discussion thread ***SPOILERS***

[Peter Mc]

Out of curiosity, had anyone compiled the order in which the songs from the album were written? Based on just a couple videos and interviews I've seen, all I know is that "Night Terror" was written first, then "Dead Asleep". The overture "In The Arms Of Morpheus" was written last, but what about the other five tracks? I'd also love to hear what the songs' working titles were as MP mentioned the working title for "The Shadow Man Incident" in the recent Drumeo video.

-Marc.

Mike said Midnight Messiah was number 3 in the YouTube short for that song.

[Peter Mc]

One thing that really hit me today is that this album has settled in for me incredibly quickly.  Sometimes, with new albums, it can feel like "the new album" for months or often years before I can put it on and it feel like it's settled in as just part of their discography like an old friend.

With this one, I'm listening to songs and they already feel like I've known them for years. 

I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing as I'm not sure myself yet and I certainly don't mean that I'm getting tired of the new songs, far from it.  It's just unusual for me to feel this way about a brand new album, that it already feels familiar and like an album I've known forever.

[YtseBitsySpider]

Peter.
It does seem much more "digestible" compared to some of their other works.  A little less complicated and tough to figure out what they're up to.

I'm enjoying so far even though I keep hearing all the pieces that I've heard before in other songs mashed up into this new offering. It doesn't annoy me. It's more of a wistful reminder to their previous times. When I was younger, and so were they.

[NoFred]

Someone earlier described this as having lots of personality, and I think that fits. Parasomnia slid into their discography pretty quickly to my ears too.

[vazquez]

One thing that really hit me today is that this album has settled in for me incredibly quickly.  Sometimes, with new albums, it can feel like "the new album" for months or often years before I can put it on and it feel like it's settled in as just part of their discography like an old friend.

With this one, I'm listening to songs and they already feel like I've known them for years.

I agree completely. I have listened to it a couple of times, and although it didn´t impressed me at all, it is not a bad album. Safe as it can be.

[Mr.Mister]

Jordan did an excellent job creating atmosphere on this album. His lack of up-front presence needs to be appreciated for its impact. He sets the undercurrent tone.

This. He shines at embelishing and there is plenty of that in this album. Not to mentione his piano solo in TSMI is one of my favorite things he's done in the band.

[Peter Mc]

I'm slightly mixed on Jordan.  I feel like he's less present than usual so it feels bad to celebrate that too much but I also feel like what he is doing is more tasteful.  More to my taste is probably more accurate.  Less of the wacky crazy stuff that sometimes feels a little out of place and more straightforward cool solos and stuff.

[Chino]

I've given this album 7 or 8 listens at this point. I'm liking it more than I thought I would.

I find the majority of the album very decent. Dead Asleep is excellent, and Bend The Clock is something else entirely. It's been a minute since I've dug a DT song as much as I do that one. I can't wait to see it live. 

I wish we'd get a bit more classical piano in the mix from Jordan. He absolutely slayed the outro to Hollow Years in Philly (slightly modified LAB version), just wailing away like there was no tomorrow. I'd love just a bit more of that.   

[Metro]

After listening to this many times since Friday, I'm kinda settled in my opinion of it. It's just fine. It doesn't blow me away, and I don't feel like DT is "back" because I don't feel like they ever went away. It's just another DT record, and at this point that's all they need to put out.
I don't love the lyrics to Dead Asleep or Midnight Messiah. With MM, I'm not impressed by MP's references. I just find them forced and they distract from whatever meaning the song is meant to convey. It's great to have him back as a drummer. But if this is what he has to offer lyrically, I'd rather him just leave it to the 3 other lyricists in the band.

Too early to rank it, but it's definitely somewhere in the middle for me.

[Glasser]

The hell have some bacon

Bosk said I was causing a bacon shortage so I gave it up. 

[MirrorMask]

With MM, I'm not impressed by MP's references. I just find them forced and they distract from whatever meaning the song is meant to convey.

It's about a very insecure guy that at night dreams of being a vigilante.

And I have to agree, the references are clunky and feel shoe-horned in. The guy that gave us Full Circle (those lyrics are genius and it's a hill I'm gonna die on) really was rusty on his lyrics-writing skills.

[MinistroRaven]

Interview with JLB by RodrigoAltaf

[MinistroRaven]

66Samus interview with MP

[voncorn]

I whole-heartedly welcome back MP's lyrical contributions and am very glad that the other guys encouraged him to pick up the pen again.

It's kind of interesting how write-ups or interviews with JP always introduce him as the guitar and producer genius of DT, yet his lyrical output is rarely acknowledged despite writing probably 60% to 70% of DT's lyrics. I generally like JP's lyrics just fine, but a lot of the fantasy themed and "story-telling" stuff just isn't for me.

It's nice to have the others guys contribute at least once a while to add some variety.

[SeRoX]

I've complaint about Rudess's been in the foreground on the albums since SDOIT. There is several keyboard passages and solos that unrelated or completely out of place. Not to mention that arcade music is not my cup of tea.

BUT

I really appreciate Parasomnia has balanced keyboard. Yeah there is some overplaying by Rudess but remissible in the context. I like his touch on Parasomnia. I have to admit I miss Kevin Moore sound so much, it was so distinctive and dark. Parasomnia is the only album that gives Moore vibe as a whole and makes me appreciate Rudess since SFAM/SDOIT. I hope this trend contiunes.

[wolfking]

I know we're just being silly here because this has essentially zero chance of ever happening. So, if you'll indulge me... if Kevin Moore, a founding member of Dream Theater, contacted the band and said he wants to come back, I think that at minimum they would take him in and become a six-piece band. Kevin's lyrics and atmospheric keyboard passages, along with occasional leads and unisons involving every combination of keyboards, guitar, and bass, along with everything Jordan does, would create the ultimate version of Dream Theater. 

No chance in hell.

[TAC]

66Samus interview with MP

This is a really cool interview!

[wolfking]

I've spaced out my listening's to this album and have listened to it about 4 times now.  It's definitely improving on each listen and I still need to dive into the lyrics.  I think this is a solid album.  There's nothing groundbreaking here or even tracks that would challenge the rankings as far as DT songs go.  I do think everything here though is pretty decent, making a solid, very consistent and focused album.  It's probably mid to low tier DT at this stage, but that's not really a bad thing.  There's a lot to decipher but at the same time the way the album is written and the songs, there's also not that much either to it, if that makes sense, compared to older albums anyway.  I'm probably selling that aspect short with all the themes running through it but I think that's my thinking because the sound is quite in a similar pocket through the whole thing, plus the more focused heavy style.

Definitely warming to Shadow Man, but I still feel it needed a bigger ending.  It actually builds really well until the last vocal section where I think it falls a little flat when we're talking about an epic.  I don't see this as an album you'd go back to a hell of a lot though to be honest, but time will tell.  It feels like a perfect album for MP to get back in there and blow the cobwebs out and get some momentum again with the band.  Fully expecting this to be the norm from now in terms of style and writing but any new DT this late in the game has to be welcomed, whatever it is.

[Glasser]

I've spaced out my listening's to this album and have listened to it about 4 times now.  It's definitely improving on each listen and I still need to dive into the lyrics.  I think this is a solid album.  There's nothing groundbreaking here or even tracks that would challenge the rankings as far as DT songs go.  I do think everything here though is pretty decent, making a solid, very consistent and focused album.  It's probably mid to low tier DT at this stage, but that's not really a bad thing.  There's a lot to decipher but at the same time the way the album is written and the songs, there's also not that much either to it, if that makes sense, compared to older albums anyway.  I'm probably selling that aspect short with all the themes running through it but I think that's my thinking because the sound is quite in a similar pocket through the whole thing, plus the more focused heavy style.

Definitely warming to Shadow Man, but I still feel it needed a bigger ending.  It actually builds really well until the last vocal section where I think it falls a little flat when we're talking about an epic.  I don't see this as an album you'd go back to a hell of a lot though to be honest, but time will tell.  It feels like a perfect album for MP to get back in there and blow the cobwebs out and get some momentum again with the band.  Fully expecting this to be the norm from now in terms of style and writing but any new DT this late in the game has to be welcomed, whatever it is.

Nice perspective and I agree with all of this. It's a good solid album nothing more nothing less. I personally think the next album will be interesting being the fact that they have settled back in with the first album back together and all the touring. I think Parasomnia was necessary to bridge what they do next.

[wolfking]

Nice perspective and I agree with all of this. It's a good solid album nothing more nothing less. I personally think the next album will be interesting being the fact that they have settled back in with the first album back together and all the touring. I think Parasomnia was necessary to bridge what they do next.

Exactly mate.  My thinking too.  Although I'm not getting my hopes up or expecting for something vastly more different on the next one, but I do think after this cycle MP has settled back in and you never know, we might get some more experimentation, now they're all comfortable together and back in a groove.

[Lax]

Adding to my opinion, there are two things very specific to this album :

-MP said in the drumeo video "we felt that many riffs sounded like old songs and we embraced it rather than scrap it", and it's so true that a good part of the album feels like easter eggs fan service (without adding cringe lyrics easter eggs).
It's debatable, but it can be disappointing for people waiting for fresh ideas.

-Saying parasomnia wasn't a concept album was a mistake to me, it's not a single story, but it's taylored for a full listen in one take, has repeated melodies through songs, and know they tell us it's the listener's dream thanks to the intro etc...
I think the lack of mood changes in the album is because it's a concept album.

I'm going to take a lot of time comparing it to AVFTTOTW that contained many moods, very proggy things, a rush song by DT...

[ariich]

In the broadest sense, it's a concept album for sure. Just not one with a narrative or story which is what a lot of people think of with that term. In my mind I tend to distinguish between thematic concepts and narrative concepts but those aren't recognised terms or anything.

[MirrorMask]

In my mind I tend to distinguish between thematic concepts and narrative concepts but those aren't recognised terms or anything.

Yeah same here. Parasomnia is a themed album for me.

[The Curious Orange]

Saying parasomnia wasn't a concept album was a mistake to me, it's not a single story, but it's taylored for a full listen in one take,

A taylored album would be one that's full of songs about failed relationships and how it's never your fault.


(with apologies if English isn't your first language)

[Zydar]

That was a swift response, I must say. 

[Wim Kruithof]

I love their boxsets, got three of them on my shelf, but this surely 's my favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2IqqH7yhVk

[DoctorAction]

I'm enjoying the album more each day. Love the riffage.

Moans:

The theme is really dull and the lyrics are often poor but it's not killing it for me, somehow. I think the good energy and music is winning the day, thankfully.

Drum sound. Loving having MP back but the drums have been flattened/thinned/compressed a lot and it robs his great performance of a little boom, snap and power to my ears.

Overall:

The metal is of a flavour I love. I hate TOT. Too dull, straight-faced and sludgy. This is more Glass Prison but that's not it either... The 8 string touches bring Meshuggah. The staccato riffs bring thrash. And it's blended with the less metal parts masterfully. Has a lot of the classiness of AVFTTOTW about it.

Exceeded expectations. Wondering if it will equal or beat DOT/VIEW for me in time (I really like those two albums).

I'll try and catch them when they return to Europe, I think. Good work, men.

[Dream Team]

Just gotta say, I'm so blessed to know this band. Imagine a band so good that your least favorite album of the last 6 has songs like Fall Into The Light, Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End, and Pale Blue Dot    .

[Lonk]

Ok, so I listened to the album several times and I think it's starting to settle in.

Overall, a good album. There is something to enjoy in every song, and I like the dark vibe it has. With that said, I really, realllyy do not like Night Terror. It has some of the things from the last two DT albums that I disliked. Fortunately, the rest of the album gets better and better with each song.

[Revenge319]

Listened to Parasomnia four times now. Very good and consistent album, and thankfully it's growing on me a lot quicker compared to AVFTTOTW. Ranking the individual songs, I think this is more or less how I feel right now, it's hard to rank because these songs are all of a similar quality:

1. Dead Asleep
2. Bend the Clock
3. The Shadow Man Incident
4. In the Arms of Morpheus
5. Midnight Messiah
6. A Broken Man
7. Night Terror

[Lax]

A taylored album would be one that's full of songs about failed relationships and how it's never your fault.


(with apologies if English isn't your first language)

Indeed, I'm french, but no offense, I "shake it off"

[YngVai]

Maybe it's a bit of recency bias, but this is the most positively received album here in a good long while, right? I joined in the lead-up to SC and have popped in here around the lease of I think every record but ADTOE and Astonishing and don't recall seeing as much nearly universal positivity.

[Awaken]

Ok, so I listened to the album several times and I think it's starting to settle in.

Overall, a good album. There is something to enjoy in every song, and I like the dark vibe it has. With that said, I really, realllyy do not like Night Terror. It has some of the things from the last two DT albums that I disliked. Fortunately, the rest of the album gets better and better with each song.

Same boat.  It's definitely better in the context of the album vs as a single, but I cannot shake the 'Invisible Monster' vibe of this one.  I think it's the chorus, idk. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I have enough listens of Parasomnia under my belt that I'm starting to form an opinion on it. Basically... It's an awesome, creepy, heavy, relentless ride. I pretty much love it, but I've also loved or at least liked basically all of Dream Theater's output since Mangini joined (and I like BC&SL well enough too), so I'm not exactly a harsh critic at this point. I genuinely just love these guys. More specific thoughts:

- Petrucci's riffing is just filthy here. I don't know that I've ever heard him compose such doomy riffs with so much attitude.
- The vocal hooks are the strongest they've been in a while. I find myself humming lines from almost all of the songs regularly.
- Production is great, following the recent trend (thanks Jimmy T!). I think it would have been cool if JR had more of a presence, but I understand what the band is going for.
- Has both retro and modern vibes. Shadow Man Incident in particular has parts that sound right off older records like Scenes but also parts that sound like something right off The Astonishing or even Illumination Theory.
- The three-album run they're on is probably my favorite of theirs since at least SDOT/TOT/8VM.

[rab7]

Re: concept album



Don't know if this will ever be proven, but given that they wrote the music before any lyrics, and considering the recurring "music box"/broken man theme, it really seemed like they planned to make a story out of it, but changed their mind when it came time to write the lyrics.