False Awakening Suite - Badass little intro. Love it! It's like Overture 1928's evil twin. Instantly spotted the "MIDI section" on first listen, and it sounds so cool in there. And I believe this is Petrucci's lowest tuning, ending on a low G. If this opener doesn't get you pumped up, you're a lost cause.
The Enemy Inside - We've already heard and discussed this one, but it's still great. Straight ahead metal done well. My only issue here is the slight mixing/mastering issues, but the song itself is one of my favourites off the album, and will kick ass live, as these kinds of songs always do. FAS and TEI as a 1-2 punch please.
The Looking Glass - I like the chorus (really catchy), and there are some nice sections, but I don't like the verses much (mostly the vocal phrasing), and the abrupt ending. A song I might listen to in the context of the album, but not on its own. I don't know what the fuss is about tbh.
Enigma Machine - I quite like it, although I'd probably still consider it their weakest instrumental to tough competition. A bit too much riffing/soloing for my expectations. I would have liked something more melodic like Hell's Kitchen of Erotomania. But hopefully they keep up the trend of including instrumentals again though! And this one certainly isn't a bad return.
The Bigger Picture - Overall I don't like it at all. The chorus has that Outcry sort of vibe, which does nothing for me. Not one I see myself listening to, and a skipper for me.
Behind The Veil - A lot of sections I like, especially the first parts, but overall I'm fairly indifferent to it. I don't dislike it, but I don't see myself wanting to listen to it either.
Surrender To Reason - There's a good reason this keeps getting mentioned as a standout! So many beautiful melodies throughout, and one of the high points of the album for sure. This is the one with JM lyrics, right? Definitely worthy.
Along For The Ride - Don't like it at all. Feels like a cross between TITL and BTS, with too much of the BTS vibe that I don't like.
Illumination Theory - I'm kind of mixed on parts of this one, but overall definitely positive. It feels a bit too disjointed overall to judge as one of the big "epics" imo, but I love most of the song though.
The intro is great, with a main hook melody that's as strong as ever, and some groovy riffage. I love the electronic bit before the drums come in playing a similar pattern, and then the verse riff. Great verses too. Heck, I pretty much love all of up until the break!
The ambient chimey section adds nothing to the song though for me though. I love the idea of an ambient section if it's musical, such as in TCOT, but this just feels like a pointless breather that hinders the momentum of the song up till that point. I know it's not a long section, but it feels too long for what it is, and disjoints it as a song.
But after that, the orchestral section is one of the most beautiful things on any DT album (which hopefully isn't too ironic considering it's the one part of the album they're not even playing!
). I could just listen to that endlessly on its own. It's gorgeous, and full of emotion. It's so suitably cinematic, and it makes me feel like I should be crying. In the good way. I believe JR wrote this section. That man should be writing movie scores in his spare time (if he has any spare time).
The section after that is badass, with the bass/drum groove, and JLB busting out some mad high stuff, including a high F! You go girl! JLB showing off that he's in top form.
That's what I want to hear! Hopefully he can nail it live without busting a nut.
The solo section does have a fair bit of guitar/keyboard soloing, but it's groovy as hell, and I can rock out to it.
But unfortunately the outro section after that doesn't grab me at all, and feels a little cliche, without the real payoff of their other "epics", and almost the exact same drum fill that ends SDOIT, including the gong, and the held chord. A bit of a letdown ending to an otherwise strong song.
I wish the easter egg got turned into a song. It would have made for a nice instrumental section, and I hope it doesn't get forgotten or overlooked because it's just "easter egg". It would make a nice little breather live. Any chance we'll ever hear it live? No idea, but I'd be all for it, maybe leading into another song.
Once you factor in the easter egg, and the filler section, I'm not sure I quite consider this as being included with the ACOS/Octavarium type epics. It sort of bridges the gap between TCOT and Octavarium to me.
Overall, I think I'd rank this album about the same as ADTOE overall. Definitely much higher high points on this one though, but it's hard to compare, because it's definitely different to ADTOE. A step in the right direction after ADTOE too.
Topic: Self Titled Album Discussion thread [Expect Spoilers] (Read 228638 times)
