*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

[Polarbear]

There is really no way to form a verdict for this album, after just one listen. I need to spin the album couple more times first.

First Impressions:

There are some pretty forgettable moments, but as a whole it's really solid! And it goes without saying that it completely destroys the self titled album.

Early favorites are Ravenskill, A Life Left Behind, and of course a little gem called A New Beginning.

I was ready to throw in the towel for DT after the last album, they pulled me right back with this one! 

[Viking of the Sagas]

Ravenskill is an amazing song! Some parts reminded me of Billy Talent just a tiny bit xD

[MikeDavis67]

I have to agree... these songs put the previous album to shame.

Wow, that is saying alot! I love DT 12 probably more than most on this forum.  I have to wait another week to hear TA, my local record store forgot to order it and I requested it a week ago..

I reccommend getting it on HDtracks.com!

Thanks for the heads up..  I don't have a computer at the moment, just a Android phone. I have to wait for the cd next Friday. There are no best buys in my area and I seriously doubt Wal-Mart will have it. My local record store is only open Thursday through Saturday..lame!

If you are Jonesing for it... get a Spotify Premium subscription.  its how I am listening to it right now.

[MikeDavis67]

Lord Nafaryus. I am in love with this song. This is new DT, a sound I haven't ever heard from them. I absolutely adore it.

I'm not sure why but I get a Queen vibe in parts...  Bohemian Rhapsodyesque? Combined with something else...  Definitely sounds very good

[The Letter M]

The band has the whole album up on youtube if anyone is interested.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLToa5JuFMsXR7S5f8Ti0IWHYFOU5WclqA

And yes, it IS a verified official DT youtube page, and the whole album was uploaded yesterday. So enjoy, especially for those of you who are still waiting for their physical order to come in!

-Marc.

[V_R11]

Was anyone else surprise Daryus is Nafaryus' son, not brother? He looks so old. Wonder what's the age difference between him and Faythe

[Progmetty]

Somebody is slacking the living shit out of putting the lyrics on the website..

[Architeuthis]

I have to agree... these songs put the previous album to shame.

Wow, that is saying alot! I love DT 12 probably more than most on this forum.  I have to wait another week to hear TA, my local record store forgot to order it and I requested it a week ago..

I reccommend getting it on HDtracks.com!

Thanks for the heads up..  I don't have a computer at the moment, just a Android phone. I have to wait for the cd next Friday. There are no best buys in my area and I seriously doubt Wal-Mart will have it. My local record store is only open Thursday through Saturday..lame!

If you are Jonesing for it... get a Spotify Premium subscription.  its how I am listening to it right now.

Thanks, but my phone plan has limited Data and would send my bill through the roof with an alb7m this long, lol!  I'll just have to wait. I made it 43 years of my life without hearing it, I guess I can go for another week. I better stay away from the burgers and fries to increase my odds of survival during the wait..

[aurorablind]

Story question/critisism:

Okey, correct me if Im wrong.
So, Daryus kidnapped Xander and threatened to kill him if Arhys didn`t bring him Gabriel. Daryus kills Arhys and almost kills his sister.

In "Astonishing", Arabelle sings:
" My prince, my son
You got lost along the way
In light of this new burden that you face
you are forgiven on this day"

He got off quite easily, dont ya think? 

[LCArenas]

Finished it!

My expectatives for this album were really different from what I got, since I pretty much expected another Scenes from a Memory.

I mean.. No songs longer than 10 minutes, no long, trade-off solo sections, a lot of ballads and songs in 4/4...

AND I REALLY LIKE THAT! They tried something different and it really worked. They don't really have to prove that they can do all the stuff I mentioned before. We already have ToT for heavy songs, BC&SL for long trade-off solos, TDoE, Raw Dog and Enigma Machine, a shitload of songs that last more than 10 minutes (Not to mention they can do that again in the next albums if they wanted to)... Why not trying something different this time?

Liked the orchestral arrangements, ABSOLUTELY LOVED the choir sections, really good melodies here and there, but the thing that I appreciate the most is that I felt James was the best part of this album. Let's be honest with ourselves: Ever since SFAM the protagonists of the band have been JP, JR, and ocasionally JM and MP/MM, at least in my opinion. James has had stand-outs here and there, but I've always felt the focus has been more on the instrumental parts of the songs rather than on the vocals of them. Not this time! James rocked the fucking album from beginning to end. It really showed how versatile his voice can be and how quintessential he is to DT.

It also surprised me to see that a lot of people are liking Act I more than Act II though. I liked Act II a lot more! I listened to Act I last night and Act II this morning, so I guess it might be because of that.

I'll need to give it a couple of listens before I rank it, but I really, really liked it.

[Ben_Jamin]

Let's hope The Astonishing website is fully unlocked....

[thosava]

I can hear something weird in the end of the vocals on A Tempting Offer. What is that sound James is making? Is it some weird editing? Sound like he's saying: take the evening to decide... ivdsh

Did anyone else hear this?

[pdurbin22]

Somebody is slacking the living shit out of putting the lyrics on the website..

Seriously! I'd really like to have that before my next listen. I ordered on iTunes which didn't come with a digital booklet, so I unfortunately have nothing to go on right now.

[V_R11]

I can hear something weird in the end of the vocals on A Tempting Offer. What is that sound James is making? Is it some weird editing? Sound like he's saying: take the evening to decide... ivdsh

Did anyone else hear this?

Yes. It was even asked about from Petrucci in his AMA. He didn't know what it was

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

The band has the whole album up on youtube if anyone is interested.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLToa5JuFMsXR7S5f8Ti0IWHYFOU5WclqA

And yes, it IS a verified official DT youtube page, and the whole album was uploaded yesterday. So enjoy, especially for those of you who are still waiting for their physical order to come in!

-Marc.

Very smart on their behalf, given people upload DT songs to youtube every day.

[Lucien]

Astonishing (the song) sounds like The Spirit Carries On then Beneath the Surface

[pringkaarwanda]

Do you really put Descent of the NOMACs as a highlight? Bring that one to the controversial opinions thread 

Me too, I love All NOMACS Track, Descent of NOMACS is the best NOMACS Track for me
I never play Dystopian Overture directly, I always play Descent of NOMACS first before listening Dystopian Overture.
NOMACS Track raising up my fantasy about the story and atmosphere 

[thosava]

I can hear something weird in the end of the vocals on A Tempting Offer. What is that sound James is making? Is it some weird editing? Sound like he's saying: take the evening to decide... ivdsh

Did anyone else hear this?

Yes. It was even asked about from Petrucci in his AMA. He didn't know what it was

I don't care about the "mistake" people said was in A Gift of Music. But in A Tempting Offer it sounds like they cut the word in half, adding a swallowing sound in the middle of it?

[JMSE]

The end of Descent of the NOMACs is going to be epic live.Hans Zimmer meets Robots

[RuRoRul]

In my lyric book, during The Walking Shadow, (spoilers ahead I suppose) it attributes the part threatening Arhys' son ("Confront your death, like father like son") to Arhys himself (who has just been killed) rather than Daryus. Does everyone else's have this mistake? :

Apologies if it has been mentioned before.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Lord Bug.

[Zydar]

Lord Bug.

Remember Bug?

[Jinx]

In my lyric book, during The Walking Shadow, (spoilers ahead I suppose) it attributes the part threatening Arhys' son ("Confront your death, like father like son") to Arhys himself (who has just been killed) rather than Daryus. Does everyone else's have this mistake? :

Apologies if it has been mentioned before.

I was going to mention this earlier, then thought maybe it was Ahrys saying it with his dying breath for Xander to just accept his fate like Father like son.

Also what happens to Daryus in the end? He never gets his comeuppance!!

[MikeDavis67]

Somebody is slacking the living shit out of putting the lyrics on the website..

This

[pringkaarwanda]

Story question/critisism:

Okey, correct me if Im wrong.
So, Daryus kidnapped Xander and threatened to kill him if Arhys didn`t bring him Gabriel. Daryus kills Arhys and almost kills his sister.

In "Astonishing", Arabelle sings:
" My prince, my son
You got lost along the way
In light of this new burden that you face
you are forgiven on this day"

He got off quite easily, dont ya think? 

Yes, almost not making sense at all. One thing that disappoint me about the story in The Astonishing
There is no an actual fight and war between The Great Northern Empire and Ravenskill Rebel Militia. From the begining, they made us think there will be a big war between TGNEA and Ravenskill, you can see it in trailer, but then what we got?
I think it will be great if there is a war between Empire Guards and Ravenskill troop before finally story of Walking Shadow Start.
Disc 2 must have more song to tell story about war, The Astonishing must have 20 track each Disk, hahaha 

Sorry for my bad english

[Kotowboy]

My CD is " On The Way ! " 

[metrojam]

First off I would like to thank Amazon for delivering this YESTERDAY!!!


I have been begging for two things from a DT album:
1. Way more piano
2. Allowing James to go off


This album does both!

I totally agree with number 2, but for number 1...
I'm more of a Petrucci person. I wish their were more guitar solos than piano. My opinion though.

Agree 100% with that...after about what seemed like the 8th (at least) piano introduction to a song, I was beginning to wish someone had shoved that Piano somewhere where the sun don't shine!!!!
Agree that James is the MVP on the album but that damn piano after only about 2/3rds the way through Act 1, wins the award for the most annoying thing on it!!

[LCArenas]

Story question/critisism:

Okey, correct me if Im wrong.
So, Daryus kidnapped Xander and threatened to kill him if Arhys didn`t bring him Gabriel. Daryus kills Arhys and almost kills his sister.

In "Astonishing", Arabelle sings:
" My prince, my son
You got lost along the way
In light of this new burden that you face
you are forgiven on this day"

He got off quite easily, dont ya think? 

Yes, almost not making sense at all. One thing that disappoint me about the story in The Astonishing
There is no an actual fight and war between The Great Northern Empire and Ravenskill Rebel Militia. From the begining, they made us think there will be a big war between TGNEA and Ravenskill, you can see it in trailer, but then what we got?
I think it will be great if there is a war between Empire Guards and Ravenskill troop before finally story of Walking Shadow Start.
Disc 2 must have more song to tell story about war, The Astonishing must have 20 track each Disk, hahaha 

Sorry for my bad english

That's true. Also whatever happened to Nafaryus anyway? Did he die? I didn't really understand what happened to him at the end.

[Dreamer]

I like it a lot more on a 2nd listen. Am I the only one to spot a direct melodic similarity to Rush's Cygnus Bringer Of Balance (from Hemispheres) on disc 1?

[TioJorge]

Story question/critisism:

Okey, correct me if Im wrong.
So, Daryus kidnapped Xander and threatened to kill him if Arhys didn`t bring him Gabriel. Daryus kills Arhys and almost kills his sister.

In "Astonishing", Arabelle sings:
" My prince, my son
You got lost along the way
In light of this new burden that you face
you are forgiven on this day"

He got off quite easily, dont ya think? 

Yes, almost not making sense at all. One thing that disappoint me about the story in The Astonishing
There is no an actual fight and war between The Great Northern Empire and Ravenskill Rebel Militia. From the begining, they made us think there will be a big war between TGNEA and Ravenskill, you can see it in trailer, but then what we got?
I think it will be great if there is a war between Empire Guards and Ravenskill troop before finally story of Walking Shadow Start.
Disc 2 must have more song to tell story about war, The Astonishing must have 20 track each Disk, hahaha 

Sorry for my bad english

That's true. Also whatever happened to Nafaryus anyway? Did he die? I didn't really understand what happened to him at the end.

I think he becomes astonished or something.

[pringkaarwanda]

Okay what is this "gift" Gabriel has? Am I dumb?

He can ressurect people by singing 

Since that, all people who gonna die, come to gabriel for more life. And Gabriel become a magic doctor rather than a Savior
Welcome immortal life

[Kotowboy]

Written by Bob Orci & Alex Kurtzman.

[Jinx]

I like that when you heard those crickets chirping at the start of a song you just know you're in Heaven's Cove 

[Panar]

I can hear something weird in the end of the vocals on A Tempting Offer. What is that sound James is making? Is it some weird editing? Sound like he's saying: take the evening to decide... ivdsh

Did anyone else hear this?

Sounds like a serious mistake in the editing stage. How didn't anyone noticed this?

[thosava]

I can hear something weird in the end of the vocals on A Tempting Offer. What is that sound James is making? Is it some weird editing? Sound like he's saying: take the evening to decide... ivdsh

Did anyone else hear this?

Sounds like a serious mistake in the editing stage. How didn't anyone noticed this?

It's so sad to know that such a big mistake will be there forever...