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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: Kotowboy on September 01, 2021, 07:16:44 AM
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:metal The album is TEN years old this month!! In Eleven Days.
• What were your initial thoughts on the album ?
• How do you like the album now ?
I might give it a spin in full later. But I remember liking it - even if the drums were a bit quiet. Sounded like classic DT to me and I think I preferred it to the previous two albums.
I LOVE This Is The Life.
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It's not bad. Music is mostly pretty good and the last album I really connected with musically. Lyrically it's not fantastic, especially Outcry. Production is mostly meh but it's not bad once you lean into it and accept it.
This is the Life is one of the worst DT songs I've heard. I just cannot stand that song. In my own personal opinion of course.
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On a good day, the album reaches top-5 for me. I remember my first reaction to OTBOA was "the structure is similar to PMU" and I liked that. From the beginning I liked most of the songs (Yes, including BMU,BMD). Over time, I do not listen to Outcry or BAI as much as I did for the first few years the album was out. I still listen to Bridges (the reason why I bought a 7string guitar) and TITL fairly frequent. OTBOA, BMUBMD, LNF are songs that I play every now and then. FFH and BTS are nice, If they come on, I'll listen.
Overall a great album.
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It's not bad. Music is mostly pretty good and the last album I really connected with musically. Lyrically it's not fantastic, especially Outcry. Production is mostly meh but it's not bad once you lean into it and accept it.
This is the Life is one of the worst DT songs I've heard. I just cannot stand that song. In my own personal opinion of course.
You're wrong of course. This Is The Life is a top ten DT song for me (and the only Mangini-era song that breaks into that group).
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It's not bad. Music is mostly pretty good and the last album I really connected with musically. Lyrically it's not fantastic, especially Outcry. Production is mostly meh but it's not bad once you lean into it and accept it.
This is the Life is one of the worst DT songs I've heard. I just cannot stand that song. In my own personal opinion of course.
You're wrong of course. This Is The Life is a top ten DT song for me (and the only Mangini-era song that breaks into that group).
I am correct that it is one of their worst songs for me. Which obviously means it's top for you. :biggrin:
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Good thread...this one snuck up on me (has it really been ten years already?)
My intial thoughts? I 'liked' the album, but wished it had a bit more, well, for lack of a better word, I wished it had more 'oomph.'
My thoughts now? I LOVE this album, and over the past ten years, it is one of the few DT albums I consistently revisit.
I've made my peace with the production, and I now appreciate it for what it is.
As for the record itself, I now consider it to possess the following:
—some of JP's best lyrics
—a top-3 'rocker' (Bridges in the Sky)
—my favorite 'ballad' (This is the Life)
—one of JLB's best vocal performances (Breaking All Illusions)
—a top-3 'epic' (Breaking All Illusions)
So yeah, I think this one has aged incredibly well for me.
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Oh yea, Breaking All Illusions is top notch stuff, even if I don't dig the lyrics very much.
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Really great album, had the classic DT sound, was very melodic and was full of adventurous proggy structures and instrumental sections, something I feel was lost a bit on the following albums in favour of being "concise".
My only complaints are that the production is weak and saps the energy out of songs such as "Bridges", and even though I really like all the ballads, the album didn't need 3 of them. I would have saved 1 of them back for another album and replaced it with a shorter "rock" track.
Strongest overall album since TOT in my opinion. Probably my 6th favourite overall. I can remember clearly how excited I was back when it came out.
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My initial thoughts were that I was happy they finally changed directions back to a more proggy sound a little bit.
Over time though I found the album forgettable and it’s the album I listen to least now. The production just ruins it. Aside from the one part in lost not forgotten there’s not a vocal melody on the album that excites me.
Holds its place firmly as my least favorite Dream Theater album. It’s still a fine recording overall, just the worst of all their albums imo.
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It's still my favorite album from the Post-Portnoy era, although DOT is close behind it. I don't listen to DT as much as I used to anymore, but I still find myself reaching for this one whenever I'm in a DT mood. The last three tracks are probably some of my favorites on the whole album.
-Marc.
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It's not bad. Music is mostly pretty good and the last album I really connected with musically. Lyrically it's not fantastic, especially Outcry. Production is mostly meh but it's not bad once you lean into it and accept it.
This is the Life is one of the worst DT songs I've heard. I just cannot stand that song. In my own personal opinion of course.
You're wrong of course. This Is The Life is a top ten DT song for me (and the only Mangini-era song that breaks into that group).
I am correct that it is one of their worst songs for me. Which obviously means it's top for you. :biggrin:
No :P You're wrong. And I'm now going to insult you personally for your taste in music which doesn't affect me in any way because Internet.
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My opinion hasn't changed: top 3 album.
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My opinion hasn't changed: top 3 album.
I think it's JUST outside my top 5. A lot of Dt albums are so good it's actually hard to pick a top 5.
Plus : This Is The Life > > > Breaking All Illusions.
Breaking All Illusions has a nice opening riff but after that it's pretty boring to me.
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I think This Is The Life is one of the best written sings in the DT catalog. I'm not saying it's a favorite (I do really like it), but I think it's impeccably written.
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A lot of Dt albums are so good it's actually hard to pick a top 5.
Agreed.
Plus : This Is The Life > > > Breaking All Illusions.
Breaking All Illusions has a nice opening riff but after that it's pretty boring to me.
This is the first album in a long time where I significantly liked all the ballads and would put them on the same level as the non-ballads. And with BAI being my least favorite on the album (and one of my least favorites in the Mangini era), I would certainly put it behind This is the Live by a pretty big margin. But I have a hard time calling it "boring."
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Bridges in The Sky is the only song that hooked my interest for more than a spin or three and that song consistently makes my DT playlists and probably is a top 20 for me
The rest of the album has a hastily thrown together sound about it
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I wonder if we will get 1-2 tracks from this album on the new tour :huh:
They played BAI during Images and Worlds tour, Bridges in 2015 European tour leg and OTBOA during the self titled tour. Maybe we will get LNF or TITL :angel:
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Maybe one. I wouldn't expect 2, just because they have a somewhat shorter set since they have an opener, and there is a 20+ minute song on the new album, which I am guessing they will play, along with a good portion of the "shorter" songs. That isn't going to leave a ton of space in the set.
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When the TOT discussion came up, TOT also came up on my playlist and right after that, ADTOE. I love ADFTOE for the melodic nature of the album and indeed I love the MM era catalog for the same reason.
TOT on the other hand is almost void of vocal hooks and indeed half of the band's catalog is really void of vocals hooks during the MP era.
ADTOE really is a fine album and shows JLB and JR stretching out. Don't get me wrong, I love TOT, it still gets my horns up! :metal
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A lot of Dt albums are so good it's actually hard to pick a top 5.
Agreed.
Plus : This Is The Life > > > Breaking All Illusions.
Breaking All Illusions has a nice opening riff but after that it's pretty boring to me.
This is the first album in a long time where I significantly liked all the ballads and would put them on the same level as the non-ballads. And with BAI being my least favorite on the album (and one of my least favorites in the Mangini era), I would certainly put it behind This is the Live by a pretty big margin. But I have a hard time calling it "boring."
It's definitely better than Along For The Ride.
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Maybe one. I wouldn't expect 2, just because they have a somewhat shorter set since they have an opener, and there is a 20+ minute song on the new album, which I am guessing they will play, along with a good portion of the "shorter" songs. That isn't going to leave a ton of space in the set.
They could do A Dramatic Medley of Events. ;D
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A lot of Dt albums are so good it's actually hard to pick a top 5.
Agreed.
Plus : This Is The Life > > > Breaking All Illusions.
Breaking All Illusions has a nice opening riff but after that it's pretty boring to me.
This is the first album in a long time where I significantly liked all the ballads and would put them on the same level as the non-ballads. And with BAI being my least favorite on the album (and one of my least favorites in the Mangini era), I would certainly put it behind This is the Live by a pretty big margin. But I have a hard time calling it "boring."
It's definitely better than Along For The Ride.
You should have quit while you were ahead.
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It's a great album. My favorite of the Mangini era.
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??? Along For The Ride is possibly the worst MM era ballad.
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That's a weird typo. I think you meant to say "Along for the Ride is possibly the best ballad DT have ever written."
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I generally liked it when it came out. It was surpassed by DT12, but it's a close second among the four MM-era albums. I don't have any issues with the supposed production issue mentioned by many and, while the structural similarity of BAI to LTL was evident almost from the first listen, I've never really noticed any of the other purported analogs.
Nowadays, I think OTBOA is just OK. I really like/love BITS, Outcry and BAI (BAI is a top 10-15 DT song for me). Not a fan at all of LNF, and BMUBMD is a bit meh (although it's fun live). TITL and FFH are quite meh, and I like BTS, although I don't really spend any time listening to it.
That's a weird typo. I think you meant to say "Along for the Ride is possibly the best ballad DT have ever written."
:tup
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It was a refreshing return after (what to me is) the worst few years of the band. My fandom really waned with BC&SL. The Portnoy drama, drummer search, all of that got me back into the band. Hearing ADTOE for the first time was like this glorious emotional experience.It reminded of the first time I played one of their albums, I was so enthralled. I still love it to this day. I don’t go back to it as much, but when I do, all of those feelings come rushing back.
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??? Along For The Ride is possibly the worst MM era ballad.
I dig that one a lot more, oddly, though none of their modern ballads have been terribly interesting to me.
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AFTR is a fine song. No issues with it. But Out Of Reach is...I think it might be the worst song of the MM Era.
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??? Along For The Ride is possibly the worst MM era ballad.
Kind of an odd category. I can't think of any Mangini-era ballads that are bad.
Certainly nothing to compare to the assery of The Answer Lies Within.
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September 12th is the big day in UK/EU, 13th in USA. This was 4 years prior to New Music Friday becoming a thing.
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Top 5 certainly. Some elements of it I would put up with IAW and Awake.
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That's a weird typo. I think you meant to say "Along for the Ride is possibly one of the best ballad DT have ever written - until the keyboard solo kicks in"
Fixed :P
It didn't age well with me, i think a couple of songs are really weird (Build Me Up Break Me Down being the weirdest of them all). I've never get all the excitement about On the Backs of Angels, while i do think This is the Life is absolutely awesome. Yeah, and of course there's Breaking all Illusions, which alone slays preatty much the 2 previous albums.
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This is the first album in a long time where I significantly liked all the ballads and would put them on the same level as the non-ballads. And with BAI being my least favorite on the album (and one of my least favorites in the Mangini era), I would certainly put it behind This is the Live by a pretty big margin. But I have a hard time calling it "boring."
This is quite surprising to me - Do you not particularly like the song, or is it just in relative terms? I LOVE the song - and not just automatically because "it's long, it has JM lyrics" ;D I find it's great melodically and there are moments that truly bring me back to my favorite DT. Yes, there are some throwbacks to Learning to Live's structure, but the song comfortably stands on its own. Long story short, it's one of my favorites of the Mangini era. So, just curious about your drastically different view on it :)
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By the way - not to revisit a topic that I'm pretty sure was extensively discussed already - but if we are thinking about inspiration from I&W song structures, the one song where it really jumped at me was Lost Not Forgotten/Under a Glass Moon...
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IMO it's an amazing album and made me feel AT THE TIME that all would be fine.....since then....not so much. :'(
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By the way - not to revisit a topic that I'm pretty sure was extensively discussed already - but if we are thinking about inspiration from I&W song structures, the one song where it really jumped at me was Lost Not Forgotten/Under a Glass Moon...
Oh boy..here we go! :lol
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This is the first album in a long time where I significantly liked all the ballads and would put them on the same level as the non-ballads. And with BAI being my least favorite on the album (and one of my least favorites in the Mangini era), I would certainly put it behind This is the Live by a pretty big margin. But I have a hard time calling it "boring."
This is quite surprising to me - Do you not particularly like the song, or is it just in relative terms? I LOVE the song - and not just automatically because "it's long, it has JM lyrics" ;D I find it's great melodically and there are moments that truly bring me back to my favorite DT. Yes, there are some throwbacks to Learning to Live's structure, but the song comfortably stands on its own. Long story short, it's one of my favorites of the Mangini era. So, just curious about your drastically different view on it :)
My initial reaction to it is that it is one of the few truly "bad" songs DT have written, that despite some cool moments, the song overall just isn't very good, the lyrics are tripe, and that people were just drawn in by the fact that it is reminiscent of LTL and has lyrics by Myung. But despite the lyrics, I've warmed up to the music quite a bit over time, and find that it's actually a pretty good song overall (even if it is still one of the least good of the Mangini era).
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Definitely a top 5 album for me. I think this is better as a whole than everything they did from Train of Thought to Black clouds. Actually, I like the "airy" and "light" (if that makes sense) production. The ballads are part of my favourites from them, especially 'This is the Life' and 'Far from Heaven' that are both very touching (James' interpretation in FFH is awesome). The longer songs are all epic while managing to seem shorter than they actually are. Unfortunately, I just can't get into 'Build me Up...', and I can't explain why
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By the way - not to revisit a topic that I'm pretty sure was extensively discussed already - but if we are thinking about inspiration from I&W song structures, the one song where it really jumped at me was Lost Not Forgotten/Under a Glass Moon...
Oh boy..here we go! :lol
Ruh-Roh :biggrin:
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Put me in the camp of " So what if they copied the STRUCTURE of an album ? " :lolpalm: and why is it such a big deal ?
Every pop song on the radio has the exact same structure.
Copying an entire album right down to the form of every song would actually be very impressive and very on-brand for a band like Dream Theater.
Also - I agree that Myung lyrics are really nothing special and generally just well-meaning platitudes that rhyme. I think people get excited as
he doesn't write many so when he does - it's worth mentioning. I actually think Room 137 has better lyrics than any Myung penned song.
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This album is a weird one for me. The highs are super high and the lows are super low. I liked OTBOA when I first heard it, but it doesn't do much for me now. BMU, LNF, and TITL are all snoozers, so it takes way too long to get going. But the rest of the album is pretty amazing. BITS is arguably the best Mangini track, Outcry is really great, FFH and BTS are both AMAZING ballads. The only only I'm not high on in the second half is the one most fans seem to love, and the band has played it on 4 separate tours since releasing it. BAI is fine. Nothing more, nothing less.
And the song structure thing never bothered me. What bothered me was the people who a) made a huge deal about it (MP included) and b) said it didn't happen when obviously it did (JP included)
B- overall. Good, not great. I'd say it's at the bottom of the current lineup's output.
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I'm "case by case" when it comes to anyone's lyrics. Myung has written some very poignant lyrics, some that make me roll my eyes, and some that are in between. :dunno:
And I have no idea why some seem to react so strongly to the song structure discussion.
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This album is a weird one for me. The highs are super high and the lows are super low.
I think you mistakenly clicked on this thread when you were trying to find the SC or I&W threads.
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Really good album, liked it on release and like it now. It may end up being the best MM album so far.
BAI is, to me, top DT with MM.
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Put me in the camp of " So what if they copied the STRUCTURE of an album ? " :lolpalm: and why is it such a big deal ?
Every pop song on the radio has the exact same structure.
Copying an entire album right down to the form of every song would actually be very impressive and very on-brand for a band like Dream Theater.
Oh, I would agree with this sentiment entirely. And to the extent it's actually there, I always viewed it as a series of cool nuggets...
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I like the album. I think my enjoyment of it might have waned a bit over time - when it came out, there was a plenty of excitement and a sense of a new chapter in DT's history. Listening to it recently, I still found plenty to enjoy, but it's probably bottom half DT for me. It's very good, "classic" DT. It battles D/T every other day for a second spot in my Mangini-era rankings ;) (my favorite is DT12)
I'm definitely in the camp liking This is The Life - it's my favorite ballad-y track on the album. As for the other ballads, I like Beneath the Surface, while Far From Heaven doesn't do much for me (although I get that it's more of an interlude/intro).
As stated a few posts above, Breaking All Illusions is my favorite song on the album. Bridges in the Sky and Outcry are the songs that have grown on me the most - I actually like them much more now than I did at the beginning. The latter, especially - it has such a good chorus (both do, really!). On the Backs of Angels was a perfect single for DT to come back with. Lost Not Forgotten has its moments, but I'm not crazy about it. I don't love Build Me Up..., I do however really enjoy JLB's vocal melody in the chorus (not so much the screaming)
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...the song structure discussion.
I'm quoting you, Bosk, because I think you'll answer the question for what it is - fact-based, yes-no-maybe, and no judgment - but is it the concensus of the group that it DID follow the blueprint, or is it more along the lines of "Dark Side Of The Moon/The Wizard of Oz", where you have to ignore a whole lot that doesn't fit in order to find that which does fit?
(For the record, since I said "no judgement", I really don't care one way or the other. Bands do this - or similar, recapturing vibes - all the time, and "song structure" is perhaps the last thing I think of when I'm listening to a song/band.)
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There are definitely some similarities - more than would seem to be random.
But it's definitely not a 1:1 comparison, and there are definitely things that have to be ignored to make it fit.
For the record, JP has denied it.
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This album is a weird one for me. The highs are super high and the lows are super low.
I think you mistakenly clicked on this thread when you were trying to find the SC or I&W threads.
Both of those albums are much more consistently good. Not a bad song on I&W (obviously... not sure why that's even in this discussion), and SC has its moments but the only song that is consistently dull is Repentance.
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I wouldn't be shocked if they TRIED emulating Images and Words then abandoned it mid way through so some songs have the same structure whilst others dont.
One of the lows of the album for me is the very very last acoustic guitar high e.
It sounds just a HAIR out of tune. It might not be and I might be imagining ( and words ) it but there we go.
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There are definitely some similarities - more than would seem to be random.
But it's definitely not a 1:1 comparison, and there are definitely things that have to be ignored to make it fit.
For the record, JP has denied it.
I agree with all of that. And as for the last sentence...
*takes a deep breath* Here we go...
I even asked him about it directly, and did so WAY after the fact when there was no controversy (it was on the D/T tour, in fact). For context, my opinion is this: I think the idea that they "copied song structures" or "copied the album structure" from I&W is wrong and kinda silly. But, as Hef said, there are some obvious similarities in places. I wouldn't call those "structural" though. To me, they are much more "feel" kinds of things. To try to draw parallels between actual song structures, I think you have to reach too far and dumb down what constitutes "structure." But there are definite parts of songs that have similar sounds, feels, or structures to songs on I&W. A lot of us have felt this way. A lot of parts of OTBOA have similar feels to PMU, and if you really take a VERY basic view of song structure, there are a lot of similarities one can notice. To me, the similarities between those two tracks are so similar that it was a distraction when the album was new. The intro to LNF has a very similar feel to the intro to UAGM. On a very basic level, the structure of Outcry seems similar to that of Metropolis. And there are some similarities between the instrumental sections of those two songs. The relative song lengths, album placement, and feel of FFH>BAI is somewhat similar to WFS>LTL.
For the record, I do NOT think that they "ripped off" those prior songs." Or that they tried to "copy" them or parts of them, either intentionally or unintentionally. But at least a small handful of those things seemed to be a conscious effort to capture the feeling of some of those I&W songs, kind of like how they used to use "inspiration corner" to try to capture the feeling of other bands' classic albums in their own writing.
I have often asked myself, essentially, two questions: (1) How much of that is an actual, intentional thing, and how much of it is imaginary? (2) If intentional, are there connections that I am not seeing between 3 of the 4 other songs from ADTOE and the remaining 3 songs from I&W?
With that in mind, I essentially tried to ask those two questions of JP. I phrased it as nonconfrontationally and nonaccusatorily as I could. His response was to outright deny any similarity whatsoever. I'm not saying I don't believe him--as far as I know, the man has never lied to me, and he has referred to me as a "friend" on more than one occasion. But--I dunno--it just kind of felt like he was dismissive and just wanted to waive the discussion away without at least acknowledging that there are similarities. And maybe he's right. Maybe the similarities really are completely coincidental and not intentional. Or maybe there really are only a VERY small number of similarities, and he is just sensitive to how a certain person tried to spin that into a more ugly narrative all those years ago, and is somewhat overcompensating by not wanting to give it any credence whatsoever.
But bottom line: JP's official position, both publicly, and to me behind the scenes is: Nothing to see here. And while I subjectively might feel that there could potentially be a little more to it than that, I think that's probably the right answer. Keep in mind a couple of things: First off, the man (and the rest of the band as well, for that matter) has a HUGE musical vocabulary that he has built into his mind, and a HUGE number of musical influences, both external and internal. He subconsciously draws from a number of sources. And even when he isn't doing that, it can sometimes sound to the fans like he is. And that leads into the second point, which is that there are a number of times when fans hear something in the music or lyrics that is not really there or not intentional. I have mentioned a few instances where I shared some musical or lyrical analysis that either I or some other fans have come up with that I thought was cool, and JP's response is along the lines of, "Wow, that is really cool. I wish we had thought of that while writing. But that is really just a complete coincidence." Sometimes, that's just what happens in music.
I wouldn't be shocked if they TRIED emulating Images and Words then abandoned it mid way through so some songs have the same structure whilst others dont.
We'll never know. But for what my opinion is worth: I highly doubt that.
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I never really liked this album truthfully. Still don't. I never understood the hype and felt I was always must have been missing something.
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I think I prefer Dream Theater as an album - snare sound aside. But It's close. But there's no Mangini album I disliked ( yet ).
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That's a weird typo. I think you meant to say "Along for the Ride is possibly the best ballad DT have ever written."
:rollin
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:metal The album is TEN years old this month!! In Eleven Days.
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But I remember liking it - even if the drums were a bit quiet. Sounded like classic DT to me and I think I preferred it to the previous two albums.
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This summed up pretty well my feelings about the album when it came out and I really liked it a lot on first listen. My only complain until this day is the lack of punch in the production and the "small" drum sound of it.
My faves songs are well established nowadays and they are: Lost Not Forgotten and Bridges in the Sky!
I know that the discussion about the similarities with I&W got old and tired, but, despite the obvious negative aswers from Petrucci, personally I never could change my mind that DT took I&W as a general template for ADTOE. DT was in a delicate point of its career and I think they did this to (kind of) secure the album could be sucessfull and they could move forward. Honestly, I think the result they achieved was really impressive, because of the quality of ADTOE and the fact that the album doesn't sound like self-plagiarism at all.
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Easily my favorite MM album. It does have that classic DT feel to it. Sounds fresh and like they were definitely out to prove something for obvious reasons. Great mix of prog, rock and ballads. Even and odd one in BMUBMD that I really like for it is.
4 great 10-13 minute epics in BAI, BiTS, Outcry and LnF.
Easily top 5 DT album for me, probably my 3rd favorite.
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Great album. A minute or two in to my first listen of On the Backs of Angels, I knew as a DT fan everything was going to be alright. There are no "skippable" songs for me. The only song I consider just good is This is the Life. Beneath the Surface is a masterful way to end the album, a song that gave me goosebumps, a song I remember listening to as I rocked my newborn to sleep since both the album and my elder daughter dropped around the same time.
I have no idea what similarities there are to I&W and I don't care.
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I am with Cool Chris. It's my number 2 album after Scenes. When I discovered DT they had all their discography up to The Astonishing. So I bounced around a lot and OtBoA was one of the first 4 or 5 songs I heard. I am not super knowledgable about different music, so I was just so blown away by metal mixed with either beautiful piano sounds or awesome atmospheric keyboards. I had been wanting to hear that for the longest time. I remember listening and then telling my son - my rock buddy - check this out! To this day, when he's messing around on the acoustic guitar, I hear him play the intro.
BMUBMD is one I really dig. When I am at the gym, or riding up a mountain, it's perfect for the grind. And the every once-in-a-while screams by James add a great texture.
I cry with the ballads, get the feelies BitS and BAI (that is one of my favorite solos by JP) and Outcry is a perfect mix of James style of story telling, DT prog noodlery and cool sounds. I'd say ADToE is perfect, but then what would Scenes be?
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It is the album that brought me back to Dream Theater. I rarely listen to this in one run through anymore. But Breaking All Illusions still remain my favorite Dream Theater song to this day. It is just perfect.
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I wish I could hear what people love about Breaking All Illusions. I mean the intro is very nice but after that it's nothing special to my ears.
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What Breaking All Illusions has is an epic "feel" :p
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Perhaps but what about Breaking all illusions ? :hat
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My initial thoughts doesn't go back 'till 2011 because I wasn't aware of Dream Theater back then (which is aweful). But the first time I listened to it, I was well-impressed. And still am. To me this is a top-3 Dream Theater album and without a doubt the best of the Mangini-era.
Bridges in the Sky and Outcry is the best one-two punch they have I'll think and even the ballads are so beautiful written. Breaking All Illusions is the best track ever written by Myung. On top of that I think LaBrie's voice is brilliant and Live at Luna Park is in my honest opinion the best live production this far.
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I wish I could hear what people love about Breaking All Illusions. I mean the intro is very nice but after that it's nothing special to my ears.
I really love BAI so I can try :)
To begin with I think someone said it was popular because of the LTL similarities. I can quite quickly debunk that myself since if it wasn't for DTF I would never even have known people compared this album to I&W. I don't get it at all actually. Structure, sure. But they sound way different in my view. I never think about I&W when listening to ADTOE.
Anyway, back to topic. I think it has a pretty fantastic energy and creativity to it. It's a very vibrant and colorful song that feels like DT was really inspired to make. There's so many fun twists and melodies everywhere. To compare I think a song like LNF is nearly the opposite of BAI. LNF is DT by numbers where stuff just follow a structure without ever feeling fun or for better word, lack of personality.
Just listening to the intro of BAI really hits me with that great chorus melody. Then the song begins to nicely to build the mood with some great changes and backup melodies. Love the soaring guitar and bass playing to build some mood here. I think that "live in the moment" before finally going to the chorus feels like a perfect build up. Setting the emotional stage in a way. Maybe people dislike the lyrics but honestly when I need to get myself together hearing that part, which I can relate to, and then transitioning into the wonderful chorus helps me many times. The chorus is for me one of the best they have ever done. Period. That "searching out, reaching in" melody is both beautiful and powerful. Then you have a superfun back and forth between JP and JR before finally getting to one of the best guitar solos EVER. If you don't like BAI, surely you can't miss how great that solo is? Holy mother of! That build up, that feeling, that climax. Ohhhhh gooooose bumps (I am listening to it now).
Then some transitions back into the great chorus with some additional power.
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And the song is an example of composing a vocal melody that fits James Labrie's range at his age.
Also, as somebody who teaches and tries to practice stoicism, the lyrics is inspiring. 😁
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To begin with I think someone said it was popular because of the LTL similarities. I can quite quickly debunk that myself since if it wasn't for DTF I would never even have known people compared this album to I&W. I don't get it at all actually. Structure, sure. But they sound way different in my view. I never think about I&W when listening to ADTOE.
As I've said earlier in the thread, for me, BAI is the only one that really grabbed me as being similar to an I&W song. But the similarities are purely structural. It struck me from pretty much the first time I heard BAI.
I posted in more detail about it a few months ago (with time stamps), but it's pretty obvious. Both songs start with a syncopated, odd-time lick (on LTL, it's keys; on BAI, it's guitar). The drums join, and then the whole band joins. At the conclusion of the section, the main verse riff starts. In both songs, that riff is played on bass. It's mellow, and the drums are low key. The guitar and keys join in with atmosphere. The vocals are mid-range and mellow. Etc., etc.
But again, it is just structure. The opening riffs don't sound the same. The bass riffs in the verse aren't the same (although they're more similar than the opening riffs).
And I agree with your summary of what's great about the song.
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One of my two alltime favourite albums by them, has always been and will always be. (DT12 is the other one)
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Initial thoughts?
-Wow, that's a bad album title
-Man, that's a weird album cover.
-That is a really good first single!
-Every other song is amazing!
Present thoughts?
-Man, that's a weird album title but I love it!
-Man, that's a weird album cover but I love it!
-OTBOA hasn't really held up but it's still a good song.
-Every other song is amazing!
-This Is The Life was enjoyable at first but maybe my second least favorite from the album and now I may consider it the best.
-I loved Outcry immediately but never got to hear it live thanks to the rotating setlist BS.
-I loved Bridges in the Sky but after seeing it live I think it's epic.
-I'll defend BMUBMD til the day I die.
-Breaking All Illusions deserves all the accolades it gets but it's never been my favorite
-Far From Heaven is really cool but I never listen to it. James keeps it up with writing about fascinating material.
-Lost Not Forgotten proves that John can write excellent lyrics about subject in reality and have it not suck (like on the last album).
-Beneath the Surface is the absolute coolest way to end the album. Outstanding performances from everyone. Special props to James and probably my favorite Jordan solo.
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I feel this is one of those album you can truly appreciate after a few years. I had many emotions heading into it with MP exiting the band, and not knowing what to expect. I also remember being a bit turned off by MM not being part of the writing process. Even then, I thought it was a strong albeit safe album from DT at the time. Now I think it's up there with my fav albums. The ballads here are top notch and among the best DT has ever done. TITL is one that I continue to look forward to listen, and BTS is not far behind.
I think what I like the most about this album is that it broke the streak of heavy albums. As much as I like SC and BCSL I didn't really feel much difference between the two.
Also, James was the MVP of this album for me. I could feel a lot of emotions in his phrasing.
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You just nailed exactly why I was so lukewarm on this album for a long time. It just felt “safe”. As in extremely safe. To the point of retreading past glories and give them a fresh coat of paint.
In retrospect, they did a very good job. I still think the follow up was even better. The feeling of “I’ve heard this before” really bothered me at first, but 10 years on, I am able to except the album for what it was at the time.
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Happy 10th Anniversary to A Dramatic Turn of Events!
This being prior to the 2015 advent of New Music Friday, it was released on September 12, 2011 in the UK and Europe (maybe elsewhere too) and the following day in the USA
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:metal The album is TEN years old this month!! In Eleven Days.
• What were your initial thoughts on the album ?
• How do you like the album now ?
I might give it a spin in full later. But I remember liking it - even if the drums were a bit quiet. Sounded like classic DT to me and I think I preferred it to the previous two albums.
I LOVE This Is The Life.
Wow that is mindblowing, ten years just go by in the blink of an eye.
I actually won my copy for free off a metal radio station just before it was publicly released (like two weeks or something) ;D
At first I loved it, then I hated it, then it aged and I think it's their best album since SDOIT (speaking relatively of their discography in 2011, not 2021). It holds up really well even if it it them being nostalgic over I&W in some aspects.
There are "filler" IMHO but most of the album is really strong. Mangini gets the role of a drum machine (instead of the creative freedom he has now) and the mix isn't perfect, but those aside it's better than some of their flops prior to 2011.