DT has been my favorite band for 4 years now and that will probably never change. At a time when I was only listening to thrash and classic rock (and was needlessly elitist about it), DT came around, kicked my ass, and then tore it out and threw it at me. Listening to all of those albums, digging through the bootlegs, I'm not sure I'd be the same person without them. In fact, I think I'd be a lot worse, I don't know why, but a world without DT seems so depressing to me now
. They could release Brokencyde-esque bullshit for the rest of their career and nothing would change for me.
When MP left, while sad, unlike most others it seemed, I was also incredibly optimistic. No friggin' way would DT let their first album after his departure be anything short of amazing. And it totally was. BC&SL was the first band I saw released as a fan, and while it was my least favorite save for WDADU, it was still full of so many highs that being that low still meant "fucking awesome" in my book. So when ADTOE came out, I was pumped. It's easily one of my favorites, and I'd say their best since Six Degrees. It was also their first album since ToT, for me, where I didn't find myself skipping any of the tracks except for BMU, BMD, and that's just because I'm not a Nu Metal fan. The main/intro riff is still pretty badass and for some reason I really like the outro.
So, with all that said, I found DT12 to be a tad disappointing. FAS is awesome as hell and will totally set the mood as an intro. In fact, I'd say FAS is one of my favorites off the album, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I always liked The Enemy Inside, not one of their best, but a pretty good song imo. Getting to The Looking Glass is when my interest started to fade. I think DT12 was the first album that didn't keep my interest the entire way through, except for SDOIT, but the latter is only because of how hard it is to digest a double album as glorious as it is in the first sitting. But anyways - I've always felt like DT was fantastic because it always seemed melody was most important. I'm of the opinion that what is seen as "fluff" and "wankery" are actually ace and necessary because, melodically, it always, again at least to me, felt like it was necessary to take the routes they were going because it flowed so well melodically and structurally. Hell, I can hardly show DT to any of my friends because they're always so adamant in asserting that they've heard most of DT's melodies elsewhere because of how good they are. They combine technicality with melody in a way no other band does. I can't imagine a song like TMOLS or Outcry being any different, even slightly. But, for the first time on DT12, the melodies don't feel as strong. The arrangement of The Looking Glass is neat as hell, but between the "What Would Rush Do" shenanigans, okay vocal lines, and slightly off-putting ending, I just can't find myself appreciating it in the same way others have.
Enigma Machine is pretty awesome, but is also their least interesting instrumental. The amount of highs, and the quality of those highs (and this can be said about the album in general, for me) just don't match their previous efforts. It does have its kickass moments, though. My problems with the songs following are more or less the same as what I have with TLG. Melody seems to take the backseat, none of the vocal lines (except for the chorus in Surrender to Reason) are catchy, and, well, JP guitar arrangements dominate everything. Now, I've always felt like JP's guitar playing has always been consistently fantastic, and, all things considered, he does damn good on DT12 too. But it really does seem to be his album this time around. JR was probably the showiest on ADTOE, and it was a nice change of pace. Everyone shined on it I think, and while JM is audible and JR does do some great stuff on DT12, again, it just doesn't feel as strong. JP's guitar playing on the album is what I generally find myself listening to in the songs following Enigma Machine, as opposed to having an evenly spread interest as to what everyone is doing. It's strange, because following the album's making, it appeared like the guys were putting 120% into the album, and while I'm not saying they didn't, I don't feel the results are an accurate representation of the effort. I simply have no urge to revisit TLG, BTV, STR, and TBP. Another issue, I guess, is the constant switching from heavy to soft and clean. PoS did this a lot with great results. Hell, DT does it a hell of a lot on IaW, Awake, and FII. It works better on those albums - when it goes from heavy to clean in Scarred, it's an emotional section. In Take the Time, it's infectiously funky. But the half-ballady approach just doesn't work too well for me this time around.
Now, with all of THAT said, Along for the Ride is awesome, and surprisingly underrated. One of the few songs on the album that really feels like a true DT song to me, and one of my favorite ballads of the JR era. I guess you could blame some of my disappointment on the fact that, aside from IT, my two favorite songs were the first shown. But yeah, great song.
And then of course, IT. Now, again, the amount of highs and the quality of those highs don't match the other epics in their discography, but damn. I think everything I can say has already been said. Plus - it's the last song on the album and it absolutely goes against all that I found fault with in the other songs - has consistently great and catchy vox (I wish modern DT utilized JLB this way all the time, he gets so much unnecessary shit considering his abilities), everybody shines, the melodies are awesome, etc. I'd say it ends on a higher note than ADTOE does with BTS, at least.
It may seem like I've talked a lot of shit, but if you think about it, I love a majority of the album - 5 out of 9. While it's easily my least favorite album aside from WDADU, it's not a bad album. It's a lot like Octavarium, but severely lacking in the things that still managed to make Octavarium a fantastic album despite a throwaway song here and there. I'm still optimistic for DT's future, it's not like they'll ever put out shit, and they've got the most consistent and greatest discography in the world as far as I've seen. Even if all they make from here on out is objectively shit, they've still got 10 albums back-to-back all a 4 out of 5 or higher to me. One "okay" album isn't going to suddenly throw me off like it seems to have done to others elsewhere on the internet.
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Topic: What are your thoughts on DT12? (Read 154709 times)