Listening Parties for The Astonishing ***SPOILERS***

[pcs90]

I have a full breakdown of the tracks in the trailer, not sure I should post it though...

You totally should...

[jonny108]

I have a full breakdown of the tracks in the trailer, not sure I should post it though...

Spoilers are allowed in here Also thanks to Chwik for the Q&A!

[noxon]

I'll just say this; there are a couple of NOMACS tracks - and Moment of Betrayal, Dystopian Overture and My Last Farewell, in addition to the obvious ones.

[Bertie_Wooster]

Send him some metamucil.

[bosk1]

Moment of Betrayal is fairly prominent and shows up in a couple of spots.

[bosk1]

Noxon, I am okay with you posting time stamps and song titles if you want to.

[ericoml]

I'll just say this; there are a couple of NOMACS tracks - and Moment of Betrayal, Dystopian Overture and My Last Farewell, in addition to the obvious ones.

What about the first, with the piano riff? I really enjoyed

[pcs90]

Whatever song the first full band section is from, near the beginning, is epic.
I also have an idea of which are the nomac tracks.

[noxon]

00:00 - 00:12 - Descent of the NOMACS
00:12 - 00:27 - Moment of Betrayal
00:28 - 00:34 - Power Down
00:35 - 00:42 - Dystopian Overture
00:43 - 00.55 - The Gift Of Music
00:56 - 01:08 - Our New World
01:09 - 11:18 - My Last Farewell
01:19 - 01:33 - Moment of Betrayal

[jonny108]

Thanks for that! Now that spoilers are permitted are we allowed track lengths?  Or are those coming with your review Noxon?

[The Presence of Frenemies]

So the epic choir is from the overture. That makes sense, I suppose. I hope that comes up again.

[chwik]

Does JP use wahlibrido pickingant ?

Lots of that!

Speaking about wahlibrido: there is this really groovy wah-sugarcoted solo in act 1 that tickled my tonsils. IMO, JP's solos are so good on this album; but JP kind of always delivers in that department - consistent is the word. Apart from brilliant electrical guitar playing, JP has some outstanding acoustic riffs as well, and acoustic guitar is all over the album - 12 strings and all. Noxon is right when he said that this album has the most clean guitar of all DT albums.

[Vandalism]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Could you make out the nuances of the story well enough from the lyrics just by hearing?

[BlobVanDam]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Isn't the intro to OTBOA a 12 string? It sounds like it to me, although with the phasey thing going on, it's a little hard to tell.

[chwik]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Could you make out the nuances of the story well enough from the lyrics just by hearing?

I could make out parts of the story from a macro perspective. You could "hear" Nefarius when he "spoke" etc. Mainly I focused on the music, but I must say that Labrie impressed me.

[Vandalism]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Isn't the intro to OTBOA a 12 string? It sounds like it to me, although with the phasey thing going on, it's a little hard to tell.

There were 2 clean guitar tracks. One clean on the left and another with phaser on the right. See link

https://www.guitarworld.com/dream-theaters-john-petrucci-how-play-backs-angels

[The Astonished]

Thanks for that! Now that spoilers are permitted are we allowed track lengths?  Or are those coming with your review Noxon?

Petrucci said that it's probably 130 minutes long, and recently i've seen that he thinks it's 135 minutes long so i'm confused. It's a monsterous length either way. I've seen a 130 min tracklist on metal-archives, but I guess it ain't accurate enough.

[BlobVanDam]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Isn't the intro to OTBOA a 12 string? It sounds like it to me, although with the phasey thing going on, it's a little hard to tell.

There were 2 clean guitar tracks. One clean on the left and another with phaser on the right. See link

https://www.guitarworld.com/dream-theaters-john-petrucci-how-play-backs-angels

Cool. Wasn't sure on that one, but it gave a similar sound. So Octavarium was the last time he used a 12 string until now then? I like the full sound of the 12 string, and I'm happy to have more variety of guitars used too.

[noxon]

Tracklengths on RYM are correct...

[chwik]

Any JP solo with a haunting melody like octavarium or at least an extremely beautiful JP solo?

I cannot remember any specific like octavarium, but I think there was one with that type of vibe. But I remember smiling a lot during JP's solos; they were so well constructed with a lot of melody and fast runs to compliment the solo, not to dominate it. I will not be surprised if some of the solos end up as fan favorites.

[chwik]

How do you feel the music will be live assuming no choir and orchestra parts are reproduced?
Hoping the wife loves it since she will be going with me to Cincinnati for the concert.

I think the live experience will be terrific, but of course a live orchestra would take it to a whole new level. I hope DT does a live DVD of this album with choir and orchestra - it is just too good not to do that; would be a musical crime against humanity. 

[Billzo]

Why no UK party 

[ariich]

Chwik, most important question of all: How were the listening panties?

[The Astonished]

Chwik, can you forsee certain tracks of The Astonishing becoming fan favourites/must for setlists?

[Vandalism]

After more than a decade, the 12 string returns!

SUPER HYPED!

Isn't the intro to OTBOA a 12 string? It sounds like it to me, although with the phasey thing going on, it's a little hard to tell.

There were 2 clean guitar tracks. One clean on the left and another with phaser on the right. See link

https://www.guitarworld.com/dream-theaters-john-petrucci-how-play-backs-angels

Cool. Wasn't sure on that one, but it gave a similar sound. So Octavarium was the last time he used a 12 string until now then? I like the full sound of the 12 string, and I'm happy to have more variety of guitars used too.

Yea at first I was about to write 15 years then I remembered 8VM intro    The double neck looks so cool live I always wish they do a song on it since '07. Well wish granted!

[chwik]

Chwik, most important question of all: How were the listening panties?

It was great! It was held at a local pub, so the listening was complimented with beer and some snacks. Before the epic journey started, we got a nice videomessage from JP & JR. A DT montage was playing on a big screen during the album. Some known pictures from the album, pluss different shots of the band and individual members.

Apart from the amazing listening experience, we had a pretty difficult quiz during Act 2 of the album, where the winning team got to choose first between the Ravenskill or The Great Northern badge. All participants were given a badge.

A really cool moment was after the listening, where John Raanes (the coordinator from DTNorway) hooked JR up on his phone via Skype. We all got to individually talk a little and say hello to JR. I didn't know what to say, only thing that entered my mind was to tell him that the album sounds amazing, but that his haircut was even better (pointing to my own bald head) In retrospect it felt like a Walk of shame! moment if you ask me.

All in all, the listening party flew by, the music was astonishing, and the arrangement superb. Will attend at another time if given the chance.

[Woodworker1]

I'm very happy to hear about the increased use of acoustic and clean guitar sounds.  The recent thread on one of my favorite instrumental albums, "Evening With Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci", prompted me to listen to that album again and appreciate even more the chemistry between Jordan and John.

So my question is this: do any songs on "The Astonishing" remind you of "Evening With Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci"?

[noxon]

I'll relay the quiz here:

1. Why was the track Ytse Jam named that?
2. How many people have been members of DT (counting only those that appear on an album)
3. DTs second keyboardist was Derek Sherinian, but someone else was first offered the position, but declined. Who?
4. A song contains a hidden nugget in the form of morse code. Which? Bonus point if you know what the message said.
5. Scenes from a memory consists of many scenes. Which scene is Spirit Carries On?
6. Which island did 4 of the members of Dream Theater grow up on?
7. What's James LaBries first name?
8. Which band did DT "marry"?
9. What's the common thread between Another Day, Take Away My Pain,  A Change of Season, The Best of Times.
10. Before Mike Mangini decided to make a career out of drumming, what did he do for a living?
11. Name all the drummers that auditioned.

[RoeDent]

Tracklengths on RYM are correct...

Hmm. There you go. After all the hoohah and the pie chart overanalysis, these turn out to be the right lengths. Nice to have confirmation though, and we can begin to get some perspective on the album.

[ariich]

I reckon I could answer about 2/3 to 3/4 of those without having to look anything up. Cool.

[chwik]

I'm very happy to hear about the increased use of acoustic and clean guitar sounds.  The recent thread on one of my favorite instrumental albums, "Evening With Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci", prompted me to listen to that album again and appreciate even more the chemistry between Jordan and John.

So my question is this: do any songs on "The Astonishing" remind you of "Evening With Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci"?

Does any of the songs remind me of complete songs from Evening with JP & JR?

Not per se, but there are themes, sections and motives throughout the album with that vibe. You can really feel the chemistry between JR & JP in this album. In my opinion, this album reeks of a relaxed and close relationship between two good friends that also happens to be world class in their respective instrument. It was a clever desicion to write the album on only piano and guitar in a closed environment. For example; if heavy parts sounds good with only piano and with a clean guitar, you can be damn sure it will sound good when distortion is applied.   

[BlobVanDam]

I reckon I could answer about 2/3 to 3/4 of those without having to look anything up. Cool.

I could answer most of them easily, except for 5, and I may forget some names for the last question.

[krands85]

I've no idea about 5 either, even though it feels like it should be one of the easiest questions. Also feel like I'm missing out at least one of the drummers, I can think of 5. Think I got the rest.

[RuRoRul]

I'll relay the quiz here:

1. Why was the track Ytse Jam named that?
2. How many people have been members of DT (counting only those that appear on an album)
3. DTs second keyboardist was Derek Sherinian, but someone else was first offered the position, but declined. Who?
4. A song contains a hidden nugget in the form of morse code. Which? Bonus point if you know what the message said.
5. Scenes from a memory consists of many scenes. Which scene is Spirit Carries On?
6. Which island did 4 of the members of Dream Theater grow up on?
7. What's James LaBries first name?
8. Which band did DT "marry"?
9. What's the common thread between Another Day, Take Away My Pain,  A Change of Season, The Best of Times.
10. Before Mike Mangini decided to make a career out of drumming, what did he do for a living?
11. Name all the drummers that auditioned.

Sweet

My answers (without looking them up):

1. Majesty backwards
2. JP, JM, MP, KM, CD, JLB, DS, JR, MM... So 9? (Majesty demo not included)
3. JR was offered first I believe.
4. In The Name Of God - Eat My Ass And Balls.
5. Scene 8?
6. Long Island
7. Kevin
8. ...
9.  Death of a parent.
10. Music professor? If it's before he ever played drums then no idea.
11. There were 7 I think, I remember some but not all of them, would have to look it up to remind myself of them all.

[Zydar]

8. Meanstreak