ADTOE album title

[Ħ]

I was just thinking, what does it have to do with anything?  I mean, I guess that idea of abrupt change is inherent is the album's title, but that can only really be related to OTBOA and Outcry.


I dunno, after all this time, I still don't think the title is any better. :/

[hefdaddy42]

I was just thinking, what does it have to do with anything?  I mean, I guess that idea of abrupt change is inherent is the album's title, but that can only really be related to OTBOA and Outcry.


I dunno, after all this time, I still don't think the title is any better. :/

I think it could be applied to almost all of the songs.

[Mladen]

Yeah, I still don't really like the title and can't see the connection with the songs. Are all the topics that dramatic featuring some events? Maybe dramatic wasn't the right word...

[Mebert78]

Maybe DT is kinda being funny in a subtle way and intentionally being dramatic in using the word "dramatic" in the album title.  Like, they're being sarcastic a little bit.  Hence, the clown.  It's supposed to not be entirely serious.

[Aramatheis]

or maybe it's just a shout out to the break-up with Portnoy

[energythief]

It's probably because every song practically has that dramatic choir keyboard element to it.

[The Letter M]

I was just thinking, what does it have to do with anything?  I mean, I guess that idea of abrupt change is inherent is the album's title, but that can only really be related to OTBOA and Outcry.


I dunno, after all this time, I still don't think the title is any better. :/

Something musically dramatic in each song, maybe?
OTBOA - Piano break comes out of nowhere
BMUBMD - Screaming Vocals in the chorus
LNF - The 'tickle section'
TITL - JP's solo is pretty dramatic to me
BITS - EVERYTHING...really
Outcry - The Instrumental section is way out there
FFH - I'd say the whole song is pretty dramatic
BAI - The 'La Villa Strangiato'-esque JP solo in the middle, to the end
BTS - When JLB jumps an octave in the last chorus

I'd say there's at LEAST one thing dramatic in each song that is unique to itself on the album, and perhaps, unique to the song in the band's entire catalog!

Lyrically speaking, I'd say the topics reference SOME kind of dramatic change, except for maybe LNF.

-Marc.

[Orbert]

or maybe it's just a shout out to the break-up with Portnoy

That was my first thought upon hearing the title, and I still can't help but think that that's what it's about.  Mike Portnoy, the one who you never, ever thought would leave the band, left.  This is most definitely a dramatic turn of events.  Then the title of the new album is revealed...

[reneranucci]

What about the clown?

[Orbert]

That's the artwork, not the title.  Remember that the original title was "Bridges in the Sky".  The clown was just typical Hugh Syme wimsy.

[Marion Crane]

What do "Train of Thought", "Falling Into Infinity"  or "Awake" have to do with their respective albums?  Album title has never really mattered to me.  Unless it's called Reload or St. Anger.

[Ħ]

What do "Train of Thought", "Falling Into Infinity"  or "Awake" have to do with their respective albums?  Album title has never really mattered to me.  Unless it's called Reload or St. Anger.

I guess you're right.  Actually, the only album title I can think of that truly relates to the lyrics is SFAM.  Octavarium and SDOIT are the names of the title track and also have a thematic element to them, but aren't really embedded into the lyrics of the non-epics.

[reneranucci]

That's the artwork, not the title.  Remember that the original title was "Bridges in the Sky".  The clown was just typical Hugh Syme wimsy.

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't clear, I was asking if somebody has found a connection between the artwork and the contents of the album.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

What do "Train of Thought", "Falling Into Infinity"  or "Awake" have to do with their respective albums?  Album title has never really mattered to me.  Unless it's called Reload or St. Anger.

Reload is a good album.


And I'm madly in anger with you-ah.

[BlobVanDam]

What do "Train of Thought", "Falling Into Infinity"  or "Awake" have to do with their respective albums?  Album title has never really mattered to me.  Unless it's called Reload or St. Anger.

I thought Falling Into Infinity referred to the whole situation with the record company.
No idea if there's any story behind Awake. I think Train of Thought was probably just a name they chose because they liked the sound of it, rather than any relation to the album.

[Ħ]

Awake is lyrically lifted from Innocence Faded.

[The Letter M]

What do "Train of Thought", "Falling Into Infinity"  or "Awake" have to do with their respective albums?  Album title has never really mattered to me.  Unless it's called Reload or St. Anger.

I thought Falling Into Infinity referred to the whole situation with the record company.
No idea if there's any story behind Awake. I think Train of Thought was probably just a name they chose because they liked the sound of it, rather than any relation to the album.

Train Of Thought, I believe, was either MP's or JP's idea as it's a phrase semi-related to "Stream Of Consciousness", and because of that song title (which itself is lifted from a lyric in "Lines In The Sand") they came up with the album title, so it sort of relates to it that way.

Also - https://www.mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/31.aspx#342

How did the album title for Falling Into Infinity come about? faq id: 342
MP: Having sat with "Stream of Consciousness" (the original title) for a whole year, it gave everyone a chance to second guess themselves. John Petrucci and myself still wanted to call it Stream of Consciousness, but the other guys were starting to think it was too pompous. So we had to rethink an album title, and we did the usual method of going through all the lyrics, but nothing really knocked us out. This was the first time that an album title didn't stem from any of the lyrics. We actually toyed with the idea of just calling it "Dream Theater" because of the many changes and different approach, but we figured that was a cop-out. Actually John P brought in the idea "Falling Into Infinity" and we all liked it.

-Marc.

[Orbert]

That's the artwork, not the title.  Remember that the original title was "Bridges in the Sky".  The clown was just typical Hugh Syme wimsy.

Yeah, sorry, I wasn't clear, I was asking if somebody has found a connection between the artwork and the contents of the album.

No problem.  But as has been pointed out, there isn't usually a strong connection between the artwork and the contents, if there is one at all.  The cover art in this case depicts a bridge in the sky (of sorts), and thus fits the working title of the album.  The fact that it's a rope about to break, even as a guy rides across it, is just the artist getting a little wacky.  Why a clown?  I dunno.  Maybe because the rope "bridge" made him think of a circus, and a clown riding a unicycle across a tightrope fit the image he had in his head.

I think Train of Thought was probably just a name they chose because they liked the sound of it, rather than any relation to the album.

Train of Thought ~ Stream of Consciousness

Edit: ninja'd.  Whatever.

[ZirconBlue]

or maybe it's just a shout out to the break-up with Portnoy

That was my first thought upon hearing the title, and I still can't help but think that that's what it's about.  Mike Portnoy, the one who you never, ever thought would leave the band, left.  This is most definitely a dramatic turn of events.  Then the title of the new album is revealed...

Even though JP has specifically denied that the MP situation was not the basis for the album title?

[Jaffa]

or maybe it's just a shout out to the break-up with Portnoy

That was my first thought upon hearing the title, and I still can't help but think that that's what it's about.  Mike Portnoy, the one who you never, ever thought would leave the band, left.  This is most definitely a dramatic turn of events.  Then the title of the new album is revealed...

Even though JP has specifically denied that the MP situation was not the basis for the album title?

I think for a lot of us it's a matter of wondering if maybe they were subconsciously influenced by the whole situation.  Like, maybe they honestly didn't think of the MP situation at all while coming up with that title, but I'd still find it a pretty big coincidence that they came up with that title during the situation they were in without the title having anything to do with the situation.  So maybe they didn't explicitly say 'hey guys, let's have a title that reflects the situation,' but the situation was on their minds and clouding their ideas while they brainstormed titles. 

Or maybe not.  But it does seem like a pretty big coincidence to me.

[Orbert]

I'm just saying that I heard the album title and thought "You have got to be kidding!"  I was sure it was a joke.  It had to be. 

Whatever JP said after that can't really shake that first impression from my mind.  They can deny it all they want, but considering the situation the band was in, they can hardly blame anyone for coming to the same conclusion.

[Cranky]

I read in a couple interviews that the title, A Dramatic Turn of Events encompasses all the songs on the album,
in which the subject matters relate to the album title in one way or another.

Don't quote me on this, but I am pretty sure that I remember correctly.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Awake is lyrically lifted from Innocence Faded.

I think the title Awake might be more referenced to the lyric in The Silent Man. At least that's how I've always thought of it, it seems a lot more fitting to me for some reason.

[Ħ]

Awake is lyrically lifted from Innocence Faded.

I think the title Awake might be more referenced to the lyric in The Silent Man. At least that's how I've always thought of it, it seems a lot more fitting to me for some reason.

Oh yeah, that too.

[SystematicThought]

I can only imagine the conversations about the album.

"Okay Hugh, the album is called Bridges in the Sky. Make the album artwork...

2 days later

"Wait, we are changing the name of the album."
"But I already took the clown from Circus Maximus and photoshopped it onto a rope in the sky."
"Well, we want to name the album "A Dramatic Turn of Events"
"Won't people interpret that as an MP reference?"
"No, each song is lyrically about a dramatic turn of events... Why? Do you think it's too obvious?"
......


In all seriousness, I peg the two themes of the album as: Repression of the true self and political unrest and scandal. Rather dramatic in my opinion and the music feels dramatic to me, it really does. I like the title