*OFFICIAL* A Dramatic Turn Of Events discussion thread -- **SPOILER ALERT!!!**

[hotkey]

Far From Heaven is incredible.  I get chills during the "Not asking you to save me - I'm too far from Heaven".

JM is so present on this album, it's amazing.  I love the piano+bass part after the crazy instrumental stuff in Outcry - it's like "We know we just melted your brain, here take a break and relax"

Breaking All Illusions is my favorite.  That guitar solo part with the organ... speechless.

That's the DT I love.

[BlobVanDam]

I see Far From Heaven at the bottom of pretty much everyone's list, I'm sorry but that song is just gorgeous and needs more appreciating. As far all the other songs, amazing.

I think it's a beautiful song too, but I ranked it lower. The album is so strong, that it's no insult for it to be ranked lower. 

[reneranucci]

Rating: 6.5/10. Position: my 9th favorite DT album above FII and Awake.

1. It has two great songs: Bridges in the Sky and Breaking all illusions. Those could make my top 25. BITS's intro is cringeworthy but it is gone now thanks to Audacity.

2. The rest is kinda meh, at least for now, including Outcry, the quintesential instrumental section that goes nowhere and detracts from a few good moments in the rest of the song. The song is only around 11 minutes long but feels much longer because it is so convoluted and essentially a pointless exercise of copy/paste. Can anybody tell me where the climax of this song is supposed to be? The intro is killer, though.

3. Talking about ruining potentially good songs, Lost not Forgotten 1:54-2:34 is one of the most atrocious pieces of crap they have ever composed. I don't know who was the genius who put it right when you start thinking that the song would be great.

4. DT has consistently written vocal melodies that range from good to great, but this album has almost none of those.However, every song has a very little moment where I think "this is a great meloddd..." and then it disappears.

5. The ballads:This is the life is very good, Beneath the Surface is good (it did not achieve its purpose of being a good closer, though) and Far From Heaven is... there.

6. Build me Up, Break me down was them experimenting with something new and failing hard. Well, at least they tried.

7. Most people won't agree with me but the album is seriously lacking 2 or 3 ubber awesome Petrucci solos.

8. Sadly, the album came out when I am detached from prog metal, and that influenced my opinion about the album  . I don't see myself listening to it much. I could listen to  BIT and BAI on repeat again and again, though  .

[KevShmev]

So far, I am loving this CD.  While I agree that it comes off as mostly safe, they are quite a few new twists and turns, most of which worked well.  

Bridges in the Sky and Breaking All Illusions are instant classics.  The Outrcy instrumental section sounds pretty awesome to me so far.  

Beneath the Surface is utterly gorgeous.

The beginning of Lost Not Forgotten pretty much follows the same pattern as Under a Glass Moon.  That is not a criticism; I am merely pointing out the obvious.  Good song, though!

The chorus to Build Me Up, Break Me Down is easily the worst part of the album.  It reminds me of Forsaken in the sense of them attempting to write a catchy chorus, but missing the mark.  

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE all of the piano on this record.  In fact, this might be JR's best overall work since Scenes.  I can't name one obnoxious solo from memory yet (he usually has several per album).  

Mike Mangini sounds good, but honestly, he sounds like he is channeling Portnoy's style about 95% of the time, but simply mixed a bit lower.  Probably best to play it safe with a change like that on the first album, but I hope they let him loose way more on the next one.

[Dellers]

Damn this album is GOOD! I'm only at This Is The Life, but what I've heard this far is even better than I expected - and my expectations were incredibly high after hearing all the snippets. I haven't been a fan of DT longer than since 2006-ish, so basically the only two albums I have bought on release were SC and BC&SL. This album gives me a completely different feel when hearing it. I'm sitting here almost screaming of excitement! This is the shit, wow!

[BlobVanDam]

Mike Mangini sounds good, but honestly, he sounds like he is channeling Portnoy's style about 95% of the time, but simply mixed a bit lower.  Probably best to play it safe with a change like that on the first album, but I hope they let him loose way more on the next one.

Considering he had JP's programmed drum tracks as a basis, which were probably influences how how he expected MP to play them, this doesn't surprise me at all. The next album I think will have MM a lot more involved from the start of the writing process.

[Millais]

Agreed with what people have said about James (his voice is powerful, multidimensional and generally godly here - plus, those high screams in BMUBMD! ) and Myung, whose moments in Outcry, LNF and BAI are incredible. Jordan owns the album, but that's to be expected, and Petrucci and Mangini, besides serving up some of the coolest heavy parts DT have ever had, both present their own moments of epicness (the solo to TITL, the BAI solo, every damn fill in LNF, the list goes on). It's just got so many amazing contributions from each member, and that's what I think makes it so awesometacular. This isn't the 'MP, JP and friends' that wrote BCSL - this is Dream Theater.

perfect way to conclude it! completely agree with this.

JLB has never sounded as good as this album, seriously. Incredible vocals.

[reneranucci]

OK, song rankings:

Bridges in the sky (without the throat singing) / Breaking all Illusions
On the Back of Angels (I thought this one was horrible but it doesn't sound that bad now)
This is the Life
Beneath the Surface
Far From Heaven
Lolcry
Lost Not Forgotten/Build me up, break me down

[YtseBitsySpider]

*peeks in* .... is this allowed?


Anyone else feel UAGM when listening to Far from Heaven solo?

is that the only one you've heard so far?
listen to the whole thing again...they go right back to the beginning for some of them-nuggetz.

[lordxizor]

Loking this album a lot. I think this is the perfect blend of modern DT sound with the more experimental, proggy side of DT. It reminds me in a lot of ways of SDOIT. Can't say it's up there with the classics, but it's way better than the last three or four efforts and is better than I expected. Still a few cringeworthy lyrics, but I guess we just have to expect that these days.

My two biggest criticisms of the album are:
1) The goofy "shaman" singing about quadruples the cheesiness of that song. I can look past the lyrics because it's basically just a fun song, but that throat singing or whatever just pushes it over the top.
2) The keyboard solo in Beneath the Surface. We go from being all acoustic guitars and vocals to this keyboard solo out of nowhere. Just too abrupt of a change for me.

[KevShmev]

3. Talking about ruining potentially good songs, Lost not Forgotten 1:54-2:34 is one of the most atrocious pieces of crap they have ever composed. I don't know who was the genius who put it right when you start thinking that the song would be great.

I suspect that part is gonna be love or hate for a lot of people.  I don't mind it, but I can see how some will hate it.

7. Most people won't agree with me but the album is seriously lacking 2 or 3 ubber awesome Petrucci solos.

I actually agree with this.  The jazzy breakdown solo in Breaking All Illusions is killer, but that is just as much about how sweet it is that the band is laying a jazzy thing in the background as it is about the actual quality of JP's solo (which is really, really good, but not "uber awesome," to borrow your term).

But it's still early.

[Bacong]

This is the most melody heavy DT album since SFAM, imo. Really baffled that people think there aren't melodies.

[hotkey]

Oh and I forgot to add:  holy shit @ the keyboards on this album.

Only semi-cringeworthy part is the burping.   That's a lot better than on their previous albums (no 'day after day', bebot solo, dude with deep voice, or pipe-sucking, forevermore)

[bosk1]

Well, let me just say it sucks having extremely poor bandwidth at work.  :aargh:

[BlobVanDam]

This is the most melody heavy DT album since SFAM, imo. Really baffled that people think there aren't melodies.

I found none of the melodies distinctive on the first few listens either. It took longer to grow on me, so I can understand people saying that even though I really disagree with it after getting to know the album better.

[Phoenix87x]

I absolutely love this album. It gives me back everything I have been craving over the past 8 years and I truly haven't been blown away like this since SFOAM. Behind Images and Words, this is my favorite DT album.

Now I can't wait for the concert.

[tri.ad]

I really don't mind the Shaman's, uhm, groan at all. I mean, I laughed about it when I heard it, but there are worse things in DT's catalog imo.

[chknptpie]

*peeks in* .... is this allowed?


Anyone else feel UAGM when listening to Far from Heaven solo?

is that the only one you've heard so far?
listen to the whole thing again...they go right back to the beginning for some of them-nuggetz.

I'm missing things? Waaaaaaaahhhhh

[Lotion]

My rankings and and what stood out for me.
Breaking All Illusions - This song is just perfect. Awesome intro, vocals is beautiful all the way trough, and the guitar solo is the definition of epic. MM has done a great job on this aswell. This song really doesn't have any part that you feel is out of place.
Outcry - The almost Linkin Park'ish intro is a really cool introduction to when the song kicks off, and when it kicks off, it's just pure epicness. The chorus is IMO the best on the album, so ENERGY, so POWAH! WAAH! The instrumental section has got a lot of good parts, put can be a bit much, but time will show if it actually is(that section might grow on me).
Bridges in The Sky - I felt the intro was kinda creepy, but it's pretty cool. Not too fond of the main riff in this song, also think it's a bit loud. Nontheless the vocals on this is incredible, the chorus is catchy and the drums on this one is imo the best on the album. The instrumental section is so typical DT, that I feel I've heard it before.
Beneath The Surface Perfect ending on the album, best ballad since Disappear. Love the lyrics, even though I don't know the meaning, I feel I can relate to it. It just makes me want to cry all the way through, and the ending is so powerful, yet so calm(if that makes sense)
Build Me Up, Break Me Down In VG's(Norways biggest newspaper) review they wrote this was the highlight of the album. I do not agree at all! This song sound like a song of JLB's EoP, and the chorus sounds a bit cheesy(I love cheese). What I enjoy most is the transition from the electronic drum beat to MM's drums and the guitar solo.
This is the life The guitar solo is really beautiful, but for some reason I don't love the chorus. The drums on this is also a bit bland.
Lost Not Forgotten Love the intro, beautiful piano, and when the guitar kicks in I get some kind of UAGM vibe. The vocals is awesome until the chorus wich ruins it for me.
Far From Heaven This song is beautiful, but really forgettable. Every time I think of it, I forget how it sounds like. Too little POWAH, perhaps? It feels like a better version of Vacant.

Not going to rank or comment OTBOA

[aXygnus]

Here's some extra thoughts:
- The first riff right after Bridges in the Sky's intro. It kinda felt like Machine Head, to be honest. I like it.
- Is it me, or can I find several song referrences in Breaking All Illusions' lyrics?
- The breakdowns right after the first chorus, AMAZING, just AMAZING. And then there's that funky beat that gets me to wobble my head every single time.

[Metabog]

Rating: 6.5/10. Position: my 9th favorite DT album above FII and Awake.

1. It has two great songs: Bridges in the Sky and Breaking all illusions. Those could make my top 25. BITS's intro is cringeworthy but it is gone now thanks to Audacity.

Damn. I would never do this no matter how bad an intro (and I like the intro).

/edit, my post was probably a bit too bellicose before.

[darkshot]

Why does everyone hate the shaman's voice?  I personally love it... its perfect for the song IMO.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I have now listened to the first five songs off the album a bunch. I am really liking everything; although, there's definitely nothing "daring" about it.*

* Sorry Rumby!

[lordxizor]

Why does everyone hate the shaman's voice?  I personally love it... its perfect for the song IMO.

Because it's cheeseball city. That's why.

[BlobVanDam]

Why does everyone hate the shaman's voice?  I personally love it... its perfect for the song IMO.

I think it's perfect too. Put together with the choir chants, it makes for the perfect calm before the storm of that main riff.

[aXygnus]

There we go... I went and got the lyrics for BAI, but some might be wrong. And I also do the comparison I spoke some posts ago (I should probably format this, but w/e).

With the sun in place -> The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
There's a test of faith
Streams of thought awaken -> Stream of Consciousness

New realities -> Paradigm Shift from LTE (judging from the title >_>)
Singularities
Breaking all illusions -> Self-reference? >_>

Sudden burst of heat
Burning source of life
Masterful destruction -> I get nothing for these lines...

Power's not an act -> Outcry
It's understanding truth
Changing my direction

Live in the moment -> A Change of Seasons
Breathe in a new beginning -> About to Crash (Reprise)
Wisdom revealed
As I unlearn to learn -> Learning to Live (?)

Life's biggest battles
Often are fought alone -> A Change of Seasons again?
My spirit brings me home -> Home / The Spirit Carries On / Scenes from a Memory as an whole?

Emerald (? I have no idea what's this word) thoughts flow through my consciousness -> Stream of Consciousness again
Drawn to curses left behind -> The Dark Eternal Night
Test of will, the threshold to one's faith -> 12-step AA suite (?)
Starts a fire in the mind

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sights remembered
In the light

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sounds remembered
Come alive

Embrace the day -> hey there A Change of Seasons
Don't turn away
Life's true intent needs patience
Karma starts the signal -> Gonna be honest, this last line seems like a start-off point for a sequel...

[reneranucci]

Why does everyone hate the shaman's voice?  I personally love it... its perfect for the song IMO.

I think it sounds ridiculous (childish, extremelly silly, etc.) and out of place, it doesn't add anything to the song. Actually, it is perfect without it. If you chop that part and start the song at :45 it sounds amazing.

And because it reminds me of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-RsB4a4ogc

 

[iamtheeviltwin]

Why does everyone hate the shaman's voice?  I personally love it... its perfect for the song IMO.

I think it's perfect too. Put together with the choir chants, it makes for the perfect calm before the storm of that main riff.

I like it as well....of course I have several albums of these throat chants, so that may color my opinion.

[reneranucci]

There we go... I went and got the lyrics for BAI, but some might be wrong. And I also do the comparison I spoke some posts ago (I should probably format this, but w/e).

With the sun in place -> The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
There's a test of faith -> Blind Faith
Streams of thought awaken -> Stream of Consciousness

New realities -> Paradigm Shift from LTE (judging from the title >_>)
Singularities -> You not me
Breaking all illusions -> Self-reference? >_>

Sudden burst of heat ->Miami Heat/Lebron James
Burning source of life -> Forsaken or Burning mah soul
Masterful destruction -> I get nothing for these lines... Obviously ITPOE

Power's not an act -> Outcry
It's understanding truth -> Too many to mention, mainly POW
Changing my direction

Live in the moment -> A Change of Seasons
Breathe in a new beginning -> About to Crash (Reprise)
Wisdom revealed -> The AA saga
As I unlearn to learn -> Learning to Live (?)

Life's biggest battles -> AA saga
Often are fought alone -> A Change of Seasons again?
My spirit brings me home -> Home / The Spirit Carries On / Scenes from a Memory as an whole?

Emerald (? I have no idea what's this word) thoughts flow through my consciousness -> Stream of Consciousness again
Drawn to curses left behind -> The Dark Eternal Night
Test of will, the threshold to one's faith -> 12-step AA suite (?)
Starts a fire in the mind

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sights remembered
In the light

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sounds remembered
Come alive

Embrace the day -> hey there A Change of Seasons
Don't turn away -> The Ministry of Lost Souls
Life's true intent needs patience -> GNR's
Karma starts the signal -> Gonna be honest, this last line seems like a start-off point for a sequel...

[tgstk2]

look what i got in the mail today!





i'll give my review later on...

[PixelDream]

I was hoping for a trumphiant return, but after hearing this album a couple of times, Systematic Chaos doesn't seem that bad, and BC&SL comes forward as the ultimate swansong for DT with MP. I'm so glad that last record was a strong one.

How any of you guys can even compare this in quality to SDOIT is beyond me, but I'm really happy everyone feels that way. Maybe DT is not for me anymore.

I just think that

1) It was mixed by Andy Wallace. He's a mixing legend. Then why the hell doesn't it sound better than BC&SL? The mix is one of the worst I've heard on a DT album. JMX is mixed ridiculously loud at times (so that fans think: yeah, there he is again! See it, now that MP is gone we can hear JMX!) but at other times you really can't hear him. It's a gimmick, and everyone's buying it.

 And what the hell, in ANTR the bass is mixed perfectly. When the drums, bass and guitar enter in that track, it moves more earth than ANYTHING on this record. They should've make sure the drums sound awesome, even with a new member. Now it all sounds like a drum computer. Bleh.

2) Is it really the mix? Or is it because of the master? When you skip through this record, any random mouse click, it all sounds the same. Terrible sounding cymbals too. It sounds unnatural, and grating to the ears. Give yourself a reality check and play any other DT record (okay except SC maybe) and then this. This sounds flat, and aggressive in a frequency range that I can't imagine will sound good to anyone's ears.

3) I'm a big DT fan. I'm supposed to like this album, what happened? I've liked every album they've put out, except this one. This is the first time for me that a new DT release doesn't do a thing for me, at all. Everytime I try to listen to it I think: there's THAT contrived chorus again, yaay another Rudess/Petrucci snoozefest.

The only conclusion I can draw is that (at least for me) the spirit of the band is gone with MP. Believe me, I didn't have a problem with Mangini, I was 100% open minded and I really liked OTBOA.

But this.. this, I thought I'd never say it. It's kitsch. I don't buy it. And I'm sure as hell not buying it.

[ResultsMayVary]

I was hoping for a trumphiant return, but after hearing this album a couple of times, Systematic Chaos doesn't seem that bad, and BC&SL even better than I already thought it was.

How any of you guys can even compare this in quality to SDOIT is beyond me, but I'm really happy everyone feels that way.

I just think that

1) It was mixed by Andy Wallace. He's a mixing legend. Then why the hell doesn't it sound better than BC&SL? The mix is one of the worst I've heard on a DT album. JMX is mixed ridiculously loud at times (so that fans think: yeah, there he is again! See it, now that MP is gone we can hear JMX!) but at other times you really can't hear him. And what the hell, in ANTR the bass is mixed perfectly. When the drums, bass and guitar enter in that track, it moves more earth than ANYTHING on this record. They should've make sure the drums sound awesome, even with a new member. Now it all sounds like a drum computer. Bleh.

2) Is it really the mix? Or is it because of the master? When you skip through this record, any random mouse click, it all sounds the same. Terrible sounding cymbals too. It sounds unnatural, and grating to the ears.

3) I'm a big DT fan. I'm supposed to like this album, what happened? I've liked every album they've put out, except this one. This is the first time for me that a new DT release doesn't do a thing for me, at all.

The only conclusion I can draw is that (at least for me) the spirit of the band is gone with MP. Believe me, I didn't have a problem with Mangini, I was 100% open minded and I really liked OTBOA.

But this.. this, I thought I'd never say it. It's kitsch. I don't buy it. And I'm sure as hell not buying it.

I could not disagree more. The mix is the best they've had since probably FII. Mangini's drums sound great. And JMX isn't really that loud.

And no offense, but you're coming across as ' "MP not on album, then I'm not buying it" *pout* '

[KevShmev]

PixelDream, don't you think you should wait and see what the actual CD sounds like, as opposed to a stream or even mp3s, before trashing the mix?  I also have concerns about the sound, but I am very hopeful that the CD will sound great.  

[iamtheeviltwin]

3) I'm a big DT fan. I'm supposed to like this album, what happened? I've liked every album they've put out, except this one. This is the first time for me that a new DT release doesn't do a thing for me, at all.

The only conclusion I can draw is that (at least for me) the spirit of the band is gone with MP.

I think you answered your own question

[Chrissalix]

There we go... I went and got the lyrics for BAI, but some might be wrong. And I also do the comparison I spoke some posts ago (I should probably format this, but w/e).

With the sun in place -> The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
There's a test of faith -> Blind Faith
Streams of thought awaken -> Stream of Consciousness

New realities -> Paradigm Shift from LTE (judging from the title >_>)
Singularities -> You not me
Breaking all illusions -> Self-reference? >_>

Sudden burst of heat ->Miami Heat/Lebron James
Burning source of life -> Forsaken or Burning mah soul
Masterful destruction -> I get nothing for these lines... Obviously ITPOE

Power's not an act -> Outcry
It's understanding truth -> Too many to mention, mainly POW
Changing my direction

Live in the moment -> A Change of Seasons
Breathe in a new beginning -> About to Crash (Reprise)
Wisdom revealed -> The AA saga
As I unlearn to learn -> Learning to Live (?)

Life's biggest battles -> AA saga
Often are fought alone -> A Change of Seasons again?
My spirit brings me home -> Home / The Spirit Carries On / Scenes from a Memory as an whole?

Emerald (? I have no idea what's this word) thoughts flow through my consciousness -> Stream of Consciousness again
Drawn to curses left behind -> The Dark Eternal Night
Test of will, the threshold to one's faith -> 12-step AA suite (?)
Starts a fire in the mind

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sights remembered
In the light

Searching out
Reaching in
To arrive where I began -> Octavarium, duh
Sounds remembered
Come alive

Embrace the day -> hey there A Change of Seasons
Don't turn away -> The Ministry of Lost Souls
Life's true intent needs patience -> GNR's
Karma starts the signal -> Gonna be honest, this last line seems like a start-off point for a sequel...

You guys are overanalysing this MAJOR.