Self Titled Album Discussion thread [Expect Spoilers]

[jcmoorehead]

Just a quick question for anyone, is/was there an end date for the streaming of the album? Not seeing one mentioned on the pages or indeed on the first post here. Just I went to the ProgRockMag page today to give it a listen as I've finally got the time to site down and enjoy it and I'm just being told "sound not available for streaming in your location."

[rumborak]

This must be one of the most polarizing albums released by DT in a long time.

[Whatsername]

This must be one of the most polarizing albums released by DT in a long time.

I don't know if I'd say that. The official reviews that are coming out are singing its praises. I wonder if maybe the forum community is larger now than it was for any previous release, so maybe that's why it seems to be like that? I have no idea, so if I'm wrong anyone, please feel free to correct me!

[JPX]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

[chwik]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

I respect you opinion. Mine is that I strongly disagree with everything you wrote. DT12 is fantastic from start to end IMO! 

[BlobVanDam]

With all my respect to all those who do not connect with this album (after all it is a matter of tastes), but are you sure your problem is not with the genre itself? I do not see how a person expecting a DT prog metal album is not liking this one? What were you expecting, what else can they do?
You go to the best 5 stars italian restaurant in town, they serve you the best pasta ever, and you don't like it ! Are you sure you like pasta in general?  Just my thoughts.

Why are people so set on trying to explain away the negative opinions? (that isn't aimed just at you, I'm seeing a lot of this, unfortunately)
We're all DT fans here, so it's a pretty safe bet it's not an issue of genre. Every DT album pretty much falls under the same genre anyway.

Enjoying music is not about genre, or an objective checklist of what they did or didn't do on the album, it just comes down to whether you like it or not.

[jammindude]

This must be one of the most polarizing albums released by DT in a long time.

I don't know if I'd say that.   I mean, in the poll section listed elsewhere...the feedback from this very forum is 80% positive.   That's way beyond "super-majority"...  I would define something "polarizing" as a bit more split down the middle.     The negative feedback is very vocal, but in the extreme minority.  A mile wide and an inch deep.

[KevShmev]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

Considering your use of the words "terrible," "awful," and "horrible," you clearly are an expert at giving constructive criticism.

[wasteland]

I am baffled, JPX! The songs are not perfect, but if anything the "What if caught in a moment" is just a splendid emotional peak of the song (along with the solo).

[PixelDream]

What a great new Dream Theater record! When I get home from work, all I really want is to listen to this record without doing anything else. ADTOE was disappointing to me, so that's a great feeling to have. The record + tour also didn't convince me that much yet, and I still very much missed Mike Portnoy in the band.

All I can say now is: Mangini stepped up to the plate, is musically integrated and just delivers an all around amazing performance. Not my favorite drum sounds, but at least it's got some weight to it that was missing on A Dramatic Turn of Events.

I'll always 'miss' Portnoy, especially when listening to Awake, Falling Into Infinity or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, but the undeniable result this time is (IMO) that Dream Theater is their strongest album since Train of Thought. And it's with Mangini.

[hefdaddy42]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

OK, so since the album obviously has no redeeming value for you, and we all now know your opinion about it, can I expect to see you stop posting in threads about the album?  Just curious.

[cramx3]

This must be one of the most polarizing albums released by DT in a long time.

I don't know if I'd say that. The official reviews that are coming out are singing its praises. I wonder if maybe the forum community is larger now than it was for any previous release, so maybe that's why it seems to be like that? I have no idea, so if I'm wrong anyone, please feel free to correct me!

I'm no expert and I haven't read through the whole thread but it seems like a lot of the negativity comes from some of the newer posters

I gave the album two full listens (mostly while doing stuff so I haven't digested the album at all) but my impressions are this album is fantastic. I won't be able to compare it until the album has been digested by many listens but I'm not sure where the complaints come from.

[serrano]

Don't know if it has been posted anywhere else, but if you follow the qr code in the booklet of the deluxe box edition you will find some nice extra features. Don't know about the other versions.

[mikeyd23]

I was just listening to the album at work and completely stopped working when The Bigger Picture started.  I proceeded to just sit in awe and wonder for the next seven and a half minutes or so.  I had previously listened to this song probably about 7 or 8 times and I thought it was really strong, but for some reason today this song completely clicked for me and took my enjoyment of it to a whole different level.  I literally had goosebumps the entire song! What a great track!!

[theseoafs]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

I imagine it must be hard to find girls you're attracted to, given that if they have just one "terrible section", the entire thing is ruined.

[jammindude]

 

[Ħ]

What the heck? All those "terrible moments" that you mention are some of the high points on the album!

[MarkFitDT]

What the heck? All those "terrible moments" that you mention are some of the high points on the album!

QFT, the pre chorus and chorus of TLG - hate it??!! WTF

[Buddyhunter1]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

I imagine it must be hard to find girls you're attracted to, given that if they have just one "terrible section", the entire thing is ruined.

[snapple]

Do you mean the caught up in your gravity part? That part completely sets the fucking tone for the chorus.

[MarkFitDT]

Do you mean the caught up in your gravity part? That part completely sets the fucking tone for the chorus.

that is what I thought - and it is perfect!

[Prog Snob]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

Your posts have split into two distinct groups for me.  One group is for the insipid posts and the other... okay your posts have split into one distinct group for me. 

[Viking of the Sagas]

The Looking Glass clicked for me, right now it's probably my favourite song of the album. *joins the brainwashed horde*

[Podaar]

 

Ruddy vikings! Welcome.

[toro]

Yep, this album is a grower, everything clicked after my 3rd listen.
It has some little problems here and there but I think it's pretty damn good.

[ResultsMayVary]

JP seems to use a lot of his 7-string on this album. From what I hear, I can hear it on The Enemy Inside, Enigma Machine, The Bigger Picture, Behind The Veil, and Illumination Theory.

[GasparXR]

JP seems to use a lot of his 7-string on this album. From what I hear, I can hear it on The Enemy Inside, Enigma Machine, The Bigger Picture, Behind The Veil, and Illumination Theory.

Yep, although I think IT is just his baritone guitar. It might be 7-string tuned down to A though.

[ResultsMayVary]

JP seems to use a lot of his 7-string on this album. From what I hear, I can hear it on The Enemy Inside, Enigma Machine, The Bigger Picture, Behind The Veil, and Illumination Theory.

Yep, although I think IT is just his baritone guitar. It might be 7-string tuned down to A though.

FAS sounds like it has a lower tuned guitar as well, but I can't figure it out.

[King Postwhore]

So after about 10 more listens, I have determined that the album is split into two distinct groups for me:

1. Songs that I have no desire to ever hear again
- False Awakening Suite
- Enigma Machine
- Along For The Ride
- Illumination Theory

2. Songs that I enjoy that are ruined by a terrible section
- The Enemy Inside - the whole 'I'm a burden' section. Some awful chordal choices here that remind me of Never Enough.
- The Looking Glass - The pre chorus/chorus - i hate it
- The Bigger Picture - the whole 'What if caught in moment' section - more horrible Never Enough chords and vocal melodies.
- Behind The Veil - this one is ok generally but the 1:20 minute intro is a waste of disc space imo
- Surrender To Reason - two words, THE CHORUS. The whole outro is an extension of this.

OK, so since the album obviously has no redeeming value for you, and we all now know your opinion about it, can I expect to see you stop posting in threads about the album?  Just curious.

Come on Hef.  I think you can say worse.  I'm begging you.  

People and there opinions and how important they think they are that they have to say the same things over and over.

[commanderbob]

OK, so since the album obviously has no redeeming value for you, and we all now know your opinion about it, can I expect to see you stop posting in threads about the album?  Just curious.

This.  I don't begrudge your opinion, but you've been griping about the refs, the offensive line play, the turf, the running game and the announcers for the entire 1st quarter.  Can you pretty please let us enjoy the rest of the Super Bowl?

[Whatsername]

This.  I don't begrudge your opinion, but you've been griping about the refs, the offensive line play, the turf, the running game and the announcers for the entire 1st quarter.  Can you pretty please let us enjoy the rest of the Super Bowl?

I appreciate the football reference.

[Thematt202]

It just keeps getting better with every listen.  FAS sounds absolutely amazing when played really loud.

[commanderbob]

caught up in your gravity part

. . . . . . . is going to be a song title if I ever start a rock band, I swear this to you.

[Zydar]

[Podaar]

Does that mean that because I continue to love the album I should stop posting about it? I'm sure you all know my opinion by now.