*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

[Another_Won]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

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

Where?  I'm not seeing it.

[Bertielee]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

They seem either very high or very low. Not surprising in the least.

B.Lee

[pdurbin22]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

I've been noting those too. It's pretty clear people either love or hate this album, with not much middle ground.

[RoeDent]

Currently at "Brother, Can You Hear Me?"

Wow! This is incredible so far! Following along with the writeups on each track on The Astonishing website, which add considerable extra depth to the story.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Why should they?

[vbrodrigues95]

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?

If you pretend you're Nefaryus and listen to Three Days, then maybe.

[7enderbender]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Yikes. As a guitar player I'm starting to wonder if the good people at Mesa Boogie are starting to regret slapping a JP name tag (first time they ever did an "artist model" endorsement) on what might well be one of the best amps they ever made (I won't get into the technical details).

And while I kept thinking - wow, even harmonicas, whistling or an accordion couldn't make this any worse - on comes bag pipes. Bag pipes! 

[mikeyd23]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Yikes. As a guitar player I'm starting to wonder if the good people at Mesa Boogie are starting to regret slapping a JP name tag (first time they ever did an "artist model" endorsement) on what might well be one of the best amps they ever made (I won't get into the technical details).

And while I kept thinking - wow, even harmonicas, whistling or an accordion couldn't make this any worse - on comes bag pipes. Bag pipes! 

Why would they possibly regret a JP signature model amp after hearing TA? It has some of JP's best guitar work on it ever. Great chord structure, riffs, solos...This album is signature JP stuff.

[Kotowboy]

[Kotowboy]

Why would they possibly regret a JP signature model amp after hearing TA? It has some of JP's best guitar work on it ever. Great chord structure, riffs, solos...This album is signature JP stuff.

Imagine being a TAMA executive and hearing St. Anger.

[RoadTrain_of Thought]

*SPOILERS for the ones who haven't listened to the whole album yet*






Am I the only one who is mildly infuriated that the album doesn't end with "Astonishing", but with "Again"?

[JRuless]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Yikes. As a guitar player I'm starting to wonder if the good people at Mesa Boogie are starting to regret slapping a JP name tag (first time they ever did an "artist model" endorsement) on what might well be one of the best amps they ever made (I won't get into the technical details).

And while I kept thinking - wow, even harmonicas, whistling or an accordion couldn't make this any worse - on comes bag pipes. Bag pipes! 

Are you making fun out of John Petrucci on this fanforum? Sorry I don't like your style... at all

[DragonAttack]

Trivial, but I encountered a 'hiccup' when transferring the download to disc:  Act 1 would not fit ?!?!?   I checked for errors on my part, compared the times, and then used Excel to total the time.  Well, it is not 78:59, but 79:59.  I had to go back through and remove little bits of silence at the end of various tracks.  Then breathed a sigh of relief.  Wish I was younger, I'd have lit one up for the listen.

[Shadow2222]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Yikes. As a guitar player I'm starting to wonder if the good people at Mesa Boogie are starting to regret slapping a JP name tag (first time they ever did an "artist model" endorsement) on what might well be one of the best amps they ever made (I won't get into the technical details).

And while I kept thinking - wow, even harmonicas, whistling or an accordion couldn't make this any worse - on comes bag pipes. Bag pipes! 

I'm pretty sure that Mesa does not regret endorsing one of the world's most respected guitarists.

To your second point, this is actually the most tasteful use of an orchestra and "alternative" instruments that I've ever heard in prog/metal music.

[7enderbender]

The band should read the reviews at Amazon.

Yikes. As a guitar player I'm starting to wonder if the good people at Mesa Boogie are starting to regret slapping a JP name tag (first time they ever did an "artist model" endorsement) on what might well be one of the best amps they ever made (I won't get into the technical details).

And while I kept thinking - wow, even harmonicas, whistling or an accordion couldn't make this any worse - on comes bag pipes. Bag pipes! 

Why would they possibly regret a JP signature model amp after hearing TA? It has some of JP's best guitar work on it ever. Great chord structure, riffs, solos...This album is signature JP stuff.

Just a hunch. This album is going to go down as DT's "The Elder" or "Rock me tonight". And the fact that "Rolling Stone" likes it is more of an indicator since they're almost always wrong about everything.

[7enderbender]

Why would they possibly regret a JP signature model amp after hearing TA? It has some of JP's best guitar work on it ever. Great chord structure, riffs, solos...This album is signature JP stuff.

Imagine being a TAMA executive and hearing St. Anger.

^^^This^^^ - and I actually thought St. Anger was at least a risk well taken.

[pringkaarwanda]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

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

Where?  I'm not seeing it.

The map published by F.E STANHOPE & CO
Who are they?

[Kotowboy]

Begin Again... a sappy little song . Not in a bad way though. In keeping with the album.

The Path That Divides now.....

[genome]

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

It sounds like "Is There Anybody Out There?" from The Wall IMO

[phospheneSOI]

I'm a strong believer that good art divides; stuff that stands the test of time usually causes passion and hatred in equal measure. If I was in Dream Theater I'd actually be much happier with a bunch of 5 and 1 stars rather than a load of 3s or 4s.

Anyway I'm digging this album a lot. It does a lot of things I've wanted DT to do in ages; experiment, broaden their sound, ambitious, proggy.

However it's just too long for me. Whilst it's awesome I can (very) occasionally sit down and take in the whole story, I will be making my own "abridged" version for general listening.

[Kotowboy]

It's not too late...!!!

[mikeyd23]

Why would they possibly regret a JP signature model amp after hearing TA? It has some of JP's best guitar work on it ever. Great chord structure, riffs, solos...This album is signature JP stuff.

Imagine being a TAMA executive and hearing St. Anger.

True

Seriously though, whether you like TA or not, JP sounds great on it and it gives no reason for any endorsement company to regret anything 

[N4Player]

Having had several listens to this point, this album is very much a Rock Opera and not something I can compare to a 'concept album.' Calling it a concept invokes comparison to SFAM and Operation Mindcrime etc. Do that and this album fails miserably. I love the freshness of style in several places, and I applaud any band that does what it wants, but this is the hardest material to enjoy for me personally. This album sounds like the cast and crew of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and members of Symphony X had an ugly lovechild. There are painfully cheesy sections scattered across what sounds like a longwinded ballad. To care about the story I have to care about the songs, and sadly I can't connect to it. Perhaps it will grow in some sections, but for now "Moment of Betrayal" is the only 'song' I enjoy. Looking forward to the next album so I can put this one behind. I hope I like it more live since I already have tickets, but whatever this is just isn't my thing. It's cool that so many here are enjoying it though. A band like DT can't be summed up in a single album or style really so opinions will always be heavily divided. I joined these forums when Mangini joined the band (I am a longtime fan of his), but the last 2 albums really have me missing the Portnoy era of 2003-2009. There is less of a song focus and more of a technical focus that felt more balanced in the past.

[dparrott]

Love the new forum theme!!!   

Another time for my DT tradition: new CD at Best Buy and lunch at Jack In The Box   

The back cover matches this California sky today!

From the samples I've heard, I'm concerned about the number of ballads also, but I've also heard some great heavy parts. 

I had an idea to blend the NOMAC tracks into a full song, maybe loop some of the sounds and add a beat to it.  Don't have the time to do so though.

[pringkaarwanda]

FYI, in astonishing website, if you click the character, it will show full body pic of them and explain something about them 

[Hanz Gruber]

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.

They aren;t done nor should they call it a day.  They took a risk and tried something different.  It didn;t work IMO but they can bounce back in 2-3 years and put out a new album that is hopefully more like Awake.  They put out quality music often enough to recover and have a big enough loyal fanbase to do so.

[Kotowboy]

The Walking Shadow    Evil sounding. And James Low voice... :O


My Last Farewell now....

[dparrott]

I'm going to make my own TA sampler CD of my favorite songs too.  The lead track so far would be TGOM, unless I hear a better one.  Still loving that song though, been in my head all week.

How times have changed when a physical manufactured CD is cheaper than a collection of digital files.

[Kotowboy]

My Last Farewell - A SHREDDING RUDESS SPOTTED \m/

[Kotowboy]

This album is ridiculous ! .

Have they been holding back the last few albums or what ?!

[jjfumbly]

Just finished it for the first time and I love how the record just ends with a fat squealie!  I was hoping for more of a climax like a battle or something and the ending seemed overly happy. Great album though, loved it. A few moments had me going "hell yeah"

[Hanz Gruber]

Having had several listens to this point, this album is very much a Rock Opera and not something I can compare to a 'concept album.' Calling it a concept invokes comparison to SFAM and Operation Mindcrime etc. Do that and this album fails miserably. I love the freshness of style in several places, and I applaud any band that does what it wants, but this is the hardest material to enjoy for me personally. This album sounds like the cast and crew of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and members of Symphony X had an ugly lovechild. There are painfully cheesy sections scattered across what sounds like a longwinded ballad. To care about the story I have to care about the songs, and sadly I can't connect to it. Perhaps it will grow in some sections, but for now "Moment of Betrayal" is the only 'song' I enjoy. Looking forward to the next album so I can put this one behind. I hope I like it more live since I already have tickets, but whatever this is just isn't my thing. It's cool that so many here are enjoying it though. A band like DT can't be summed up in a single album or style really so opinions will always be heavily divided. I joined these forums when Mangini joined the band (I am a longtime fan of his), but the last 2 albums really have me missing the Portnoy era of 2003-2009. There is less of a song focus and more of a technical focus that felt more balanced in the past.

I agree with much of this.  I think the album will grow on me but I do not like how cheesy the lyrics are.  It comes down to personal preference. 

I would prefer that Dream Theater stops doing concept albums and they go back to what they are good at.  Make another album like Awake and just worry about making great individual songs instead of a concept album or story. 

I have been waiting for years for them to put out another album with 10 or so strong songs in which they don't feel that they have to turn a 6 minute song into a 14 minute song with unnecessary jams in every song.  I love when they go all out at times but not every song needs this.  I know this album didn't have that problem...but having to make songs to fit a long story held the quality of many of the songs back

[Another_Won]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

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

Where?  I'm not seeing it.

The map published by F.E STANHOPE & CO
Who are they?

Perfect!  Thanks.  Do we have higher res pictures of the characters and places too?

[RoeDent]

Great guitar solo at the end of A New Beginning, starting with some enjoyable effects similar to those found in the solo to Surrender of Reason. Nice simple backing to it as well; it lets the guitar be the star.

[ariich]

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

I KNEW IT!