*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

[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

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

Thats why we need more song in disc 2, to explain everything. I agree with them who said Disc 2 end quickly 
Hope someone ask petrucci about end the story in reddit, remember he make the story

[Benedettosoxfan]

Long time lurker that really only posts when new albums come out here.
Wow what an adventure! This is something you definitely need to have an open mind about. I normally look at albums as just collections of songs rather than one unit so it's a little different digesting this especially on the first go around. As a 2 hour work of music, not necessarily as a collection of songs, I think it's excellent. I've only heard the whole thing once so I'm sure that the whole clump of ballad type songs will start to distinguish themselves in no time because I cannot remember which song is which at all right now  There are obviously standouts as many have said like Three Days, the "I'm Waking Up" one, and A New Beginning. Also, Dystopian Overture makes a serious bid as their best instrumental for me. REALLY strong way to open the album and had me super pumped for what's to come.
A couple funny things to point out-
Why is there a song called "A New Beginning" and a song called "Begin Again?"
This is maybe the first time that I actually listened to the final 15 seconds of a Dream Theater song.
I love how there is no clear best song on the album or even a tier of 2 or 3 that stand head and shoulders above the rest. There's like 12 that I've seen people absolutely rave about exclusively and I just think that's really cool.
I think that the coolest thing about this album is that it's obvious the band had a lot of fun doing something completely different and my goodness did they give it their all. Say what you will about the album, you can't say they didn't give it 110% and pull out all the stops. I love the goofy parts and I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when they were discussing whether or not to do bagpipes, tangos, ragtime, etc.
For a band that has such a distinguished resume of music, I'm really glad they did The Astonishing. The worst case scenario is that there is a HUGE catalogue of outstanding music to go back to even if you don't like it. Luckily, I don't just like it, I love it.

[Art]

Paying attention to The X Aspect for the first time here. Some Pink Floyd feelings in the acoustic part.

PS: A New Beginning just kicked in, DAT RIFF 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

JLB is such a beast.

[MirrorMask]

So happy to finally hold this in my hands!

Must confess the package is a bit of a letdown; white on white on the internal cover, the booklet is stuck to the case and the lyrics (in plain Arial?) are a bit hard to read... anyway, the music will the the only thing that will matter, looking forward to hear it tomorrow since tonight I go out! feels so good to finally have it 

[mike099]

I am starting to think that JP may actually have bigger plans for this one because one does not just write a real rock opera if there is no intention for it to be staged as one.

We're still yet to see how it's presented live. For all we know, JLB will have 56 costume changes during the show.

So the costume changes it what takes up the remaining time.  I would rather have the encore.

Anticipating the first fan reviews on the concert.  Kind of nervous since I already have tickets to a later show. 

[TAC]

PS: A New Beginning just kicked in, DAT RIFF 

DAT OUTRO SOLO 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

JLB is such a beast.

Quoted for unseasoned truth.

He's the MVP on this album.

[YtseJohn]

looks like https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing is finally updating (places, 2nd video)

I got to it from the Tour dates.

[pringkaarwanda]

New update from Website !!
Place are unlocked !!

But why second video is the same trailer from first video !?? 

[Cream theater]

I don't post much and I'm one of the few fans who don't play an instrument but this album is really really good.  I couldn't care less about time signatures, drum sound or mixing etc. I just want a great experience and this album gives it like Santa Claus on Christmas Day. For the detractors ... Well they're just NOMACS.  Fav songs so far are tracks 1 to 34

[MirrorMask]

New update from Website !!
Place are unlocked !!

And there's also the other video... but it looks like the same as the first trailer? 

[V_R11]

I'm disappointed that the NOMAC eyes still do nothing

[thosava]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

[pringkaarwanda]

New update from Website !!
Place are unlocked !!

And there's also the other video... but it looks like the same as the first trailer? 

Yeah, I dont know what happen, but it like there's a mistake. look like wrong youtube link they put there 
I keep my eye both in DT website and their youtube channel, to see if something new is coming

[TAC]

So is Bug a former musician?

[pringkaarwanda]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

Wow !!! It also have clearer GNEA map !!

[LCArenas]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

The very soul of what was once real music is now lost in a digital quagmire of emotionless sonic madness.

OOOOOOH SHOTS FIRED

[RoeDent]

I've just begun my first listen. I prefer to wait until the early evening and settle down to the whole thing, for my first go at an album. This moment. I have been waiting months for this, and now it's happening. Loving reading everyone's first impressions here. 

[Calvin6s]

Calvin?

yes?

[MirrorMask]

I've just begun my first listen. I prefer to wait until the early evening and settle down to the whole thing, for my first go at an album. This moment. I have been waiting months for this, and now it's happening. Loving reading everyone's first impressions here. 

Same thing I was aiming for, savoring the moment, the wait, and finally enjoy it the way I like it. For me it will happen tomorrow, but it's cool to see that also other people can enjoy the wait and especially its end!

Cool to see the website is indeed developing with the songs explanations!

[thosava]

Interesting part in the end:
"Peace has at last been restored to The Empire and the people now pledge their allegiance to a new way of life; A better life where art and creative individualism are celebrated and the astonishing power of music made by humans is treasured and enjoyed by all once again, and so it shall be forever."

So The Astonishing refers to the astonishing power of music!

[Jinx]

The other video is also up. Same video though??

[Hanz Gruber]

Need to give it another spin but I am a little underwhelmed.  Don;t get me wrong...I like it...just not quite what I hoped it would be.   

I wish they would simply go back and make an album with 9 to 12 good songs (like Awake, Falling into Infinity, or even Octavarium...even though it only had 8 songs) 

I appreciate the band taking big risks and doing something different...I just would rather hear songs that stand on their own that aren't part of a concept.  This is coming from a guy that loved Scenes, Six Degrees, and Savatage albums like Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan.

I suspect that I will like it more more on the 2nd listen but I still wish they would go back to an Awake format.  I appreciate it any time Dream Theater releases music though. 

[Kotowboy]

PLACES TAB IS NOW OPEN.


NOMAC EYES CLICKABLE..


THIS IS NOT A DRILL.. 



EDIT : Spoke too soon. Nomac eyes still do diddly squat

[Anguyen92]

All right, just bought the album at Best Buy, going to listen to it soon.  I have very high hopes for this one.

[7enderbender]

I was right. Or actually not: this is even worse than expected. The issue with this "concept" was already clear. and now there is the music to go with it. Yikes.
I never liked Scenes from a Memory because of the ridiculous concept/movie theme, but it had at least a few good songs. This thing however? Somebody please tell Petrucci to get off his high horse. And please send Jordan Rudass packing.
I'll happily be listening to Awake on my way home from work today instead of hitting the record store. This band is done it seems. At least artistically.

[MacClaus]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

[Sir Walrus Cauliflower]

So far: I love this album. I've actually been enjoying it more with every listen. I'm on my 4th listen through, and I've also done a lot of skipping around to the standout tracks (Which happens to be almost half of them).

The good:
This album sounds very refreshing to me, even as someone who ranks DT12 and ADTOE consistently in the top half of their catalogue. This to me sounds like a band that's enjoying themselves, and in return, I'm enjoying listening to it basically constantly the whole time I've been awake since the album dropped (I skipped school for this release  ). They've completely committed to this huge concept, and it works out very well in my opinion. It doesn't sound like they've held back from anything on this album. From the pre-release build up, to the story, characters, places, and to the music itself; the strings, brass, woodwinds, bagpipes, electronic stuff, ballads, metal, and all the other little things (The rock tango as someone called, and the 20s music straight into the blast beats  ). And astonishingly, I generally enjoy all of it.

I'm glad to have more piano, and JLB does such an excellent job portraying the characters, especially Nafaryus. I'm a particular fan of what Mangini has done on this album. There are so many great grooves, fills, and little intricacies too. Plus the drum sound is better than the last 5 albums imo. So far, I haven't dived into the actually story, but I have a general idea of whats going on. I already bought the MP3s on Amazon, and I'm gonna go pick up a CD in an hour or so so I can read along the lyrics booklet. Overall I'm just happy that the music and the concept fit well together, because I was really worried about that. I tend to like themed/concept/rock opera albums less because the lyrics feel shoehorned in, but that isn't the case here. Big fan of what the band has accomplished with this album.

Standout tracks:
Dystopian Overture
The Gift Of Music
A Better Life
Lord Nafaryus
A Savior In The Square
Act Of Faythe
Three Days
Ravenskill
A tempting Offer
A New Beginning
Moment Of Betrayal
Heaven's Cove
The Walking Shadow
Our New World

(These are the ones I tend to skip around to)

The bad:
Many people have pointed out that sometimes the songs lack an individual identity, too many piano intros, etc., and I agree. Obviously this will be the case to a certain extent with any album of this scope I would imagine, but I feel it could've been done a bit better without compromised the flow or story. Of course, they will probably develop their own identity as I listen more. A decent number have done that already.
Another complaint I have is about the ballads. I have no problem with the number of ballads, but rather the placement in a couple places. Sometimes they seem to run together, and it messed with the pacing a lot on my first listen.
Minor things: Not a fan of sound effects, but I don't mind them enough to care.
Sometimes lyrics are just flat out cheesy, but that isn't to extreme, or in too many places, so it's also not a big deal.

Honestly, none of these things is a major problem for me. It hardly detracts from my enjoyment of this album.

Misc.
- Everyone is talking about the vibes the get from songs. I'm getting a MAJOR James Bond vibes from 3:12 to 3:30
- Hate the clapping sound in Hymn of a Thousand Voices with a passion
- There's a melody somewhere that remind me very closely of War Inside My Head, but I forgot where it was. I think one of Nafaryus's songs.
- This will probably sit at a solid 4th in my rankings once all the hype is gone

[jjfumbly]

The opening guitar in Heaven's Cove sounds a LOT like the opening guitar in On the Backs of Angels.

[darkshade]

My local record shop had the new album stocked last night. Went out and bought it, but haven't had a chance to listen yet. Going for a run soon, likely going to put it on headphones. Is it good running music?

[Kotowboy]

ACT II

2285 Entr'acte.

Well it's like another overture. An underture  But definitely not an over CHORE

[TAC]

The opening guitar in Heaven's Cove sounds a LOT like the opening guitar in On the Backs of Angels.

Yes it does.

[Train of Naught]

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...

I noticed it but I figured I wouldn't spoil it for anyone else, guess it's too late for that, can't unhear it either.

[Kotowboy]

A Moment Of Betrayal.

Well we all know this one probably

Like a better version of a DT12 song.