*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

[Kotowboy]

[V_R11]

Get out

[Anguyen92]

Eight songs in so far.  It's really hard to pick out a stand-alone favorite song above all of the stuff I heard, at this point, but this has been an very enjoyable listen thus far.

[Kotowboy]

Yeah it's a lot to take in but I was never bored.

[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?

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

No, but we have full body of them along with the explanation about who are they. Just click character in website astonishing 

[RuRoRul]

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.

This is how I feel as well, and one of the reasons I had some trepidation about this album. SFAM for example, while it has a couple of tracks basically useless as stand alones (Regression, Through My Words) and a couple I'd probably only listen to as part of the full album (One Last Time, Through Her Eyes), it also has songs that are perfectly great to listen to on their own. Strange Deja Vu and Fatal Tragedy at worst have endings that lead into the next song but are still standouts on their own, and Beyond This Life and Home stand up among DT's best songs whether you listen to them alone or in the album. With so many tracks, including such short songs and songs very much there to provide information about the story, I wasn't sure whether there would be many songs that would hold up well on their own. A 2+ hour continuous listen with a story is good too, but I'd love it if the songs worked in both contexts.

Hearing the album, I think my concerns were definitely warranted, but there are definitely some good songs there so it will take a lot more listens to see where the album stands.

[Scorpion]

I doubt that I've ever heard anything as cheesy as the story behind The Astonishing.

It's pretty good musically though, only a little too ballad-heavy for me. A New Beginning, Three Days, Moment of Betrayal and Our New World are tentative favourites, but I'm sure that will change with subsequent listens.

The story though... not a big fan of it.

THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC AND LOVE CAN MAKE EVERYTHING ALL RIGHT AGAIN AND NOBODY WILL EVER SUFFER AGAIN, EVER, FOR ETERNITY, YEAH.

[V_R11]

I doubt that I've ever heard anything as cheesy as the story behind The Astonishing.

It's pretty good musically though, only a little too ballad-heavy for me. A New Beginning, Three Days, Moment of Betrayal and Our New World are tentative favourites, but I'm sure that will change with subsequent listens.

The story though... not a big fan of it.

I'll second that

[RaasMah]

My Last Farewell - A SHREDDING RUDESS SPOTTED \m/

Im glad we saw SOME Rudess shred at some point. I always liked his solos, but I think in this album even their haters will admit they are in good taste, and not too wankery.

[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.

*snip*
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?

No, but we have full body of them along with the explanation about who are they. Just click character in website astonishing 

Yup.  Those were helpful in understanding the characters and their relationships to others.

I know there must be hi-res pictures of the characters because when they were revealed on their Instagram, they were just a small snippet of the larger one.

Hopefully, they'll show up soon, along with the places - (Although we do have one of Heaven's Cove - didn't know that is what it's called at the time)

[Kotowboy]

I don't want to sound like a teenager on twitter ...but Our New World is actually perfect

Oh My Gosh. 

[SchecterShredder]

I've only listened once so far, but I'm lukewarm on the album. From a 'rock opera' point of view, it's very well arranged and the story explanations by track on the Astonishing website make it easy to follow the story. I just feel as though there aren't many great songs that stick out musically, in my opinion, except for maybe "Moment of Betrayal" and "Three Days".

[Bertielee]

I don't want to sound like a teenager on twitter ...but Our New World is actually perfect

Oh My Gosh. 

One of my faves as well.

B.Lee

[pringkaarwanda]

https://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishingtracks


The song explanations are up!

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

Where?  I'm not seeing it.

*snip*
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?

No, but we have full body of them along with the explanation about who are they. Just click character in website astonishing 

Yup.  Those were helpful in understanding the characters and their relationships to others.

I know there must be hi-res pictures of the characters because when they were revealed on their Instagram, they were just a small snippet of the larger one.

Hopefully, they'll show up soon, along with the places - (Although we do have one of Heaven's Cove - didn't know that is what it's called at the time)

Yes, they have it, but not upload it, or yet
But, of course they give us Hi Res pic of the place, here it is

GNEA


Ravenskill


Heavens Cove


NOMACS


Sketch NOMACS


Emblem



Sorry if my post too long, I dont know how to make spoiler 

[SchecterShredder]

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.

This is how I feel as well, and one of the reasons I had some trepidation about this album. SFAM for example, while it has a couple of tracks basically useless as stand alones (Regression, Through My Words) and a couple I'd probably only listen to as part of the full album (One Last Time, Through Her Eyes), it also has songs that are perfectly great to listen to on their own. Strange Deja Vu and Fatal Tragedy at worst have endings that lead into the next song but are still standouts on their own, and Beyond This Life and Home stand up among DT's best songs whether you listen to them alone or in the album. With so many tracks, including such short songs and songs very much there to provide information about the story, I wasn't sure whether there would be many songs that would hold up well on their own. A 2+ hour continuous listen with a story is good too, but I'd love it if the songs worked in both contexts.

Hearing the album, I think my concerns were definitely warranted, but there are definitely some good songs there so it will take a lot more listens to see where the album stands.

I agree. It seems like you need to listen to the whole album in it's entirety, a rather daunting task at a run time of 2+ hours

[54_diplomats]

I've only listened once so far, but I'm lukewarm on the album. From a 'rock opera' point of view, it's very well arranged and the story explanations by track on the Astonishing website make it easy to follow the story. I just feel as though there aren't many great songs that stick out musically, in my opinion, except for maybe "Moment of Betrayal" and "Three Days".

Agreed. It's definitely enjoyable, but nothing really stands out to me aside from about 3 or 4 tracks.

[RoadTrain_of Thought]

lol I was just trying to get that last image myself and I came here to see it. How did you get it ?

[ariich]

I definitely don't love Our New World as much as a lot of people seem to. I mean, it's a really nice, upbeat song, but I don't find it anything special. I think for me, part of the reason the ending loses steam is that the last few songs are all kind of middle-of-the-road (tonally, not in terms of quality) upbeat songs. It makes the ending just feel really drawn out - as I said in the survey that Implode is running, very Peter Jackson esque!

That said, I don't really get the "too many ballads" complaint that a small number of people are making, but then I can only assume people include upbeat pop rock songs as ballads when they aren't. Apart from the drawn out ending, I think the pacing is actually really good.

[Another_Won]

Thanks a bunch, pringkaarwanda!  That is awesome.  I know there are others here that appreciate this too.

[RoadTrain_of Thought]

I definitely don't love Our New World as much as a lot of people seem to.

Same. I mean, it is cool but nothing groundbreaking. I don't even think it will get in my top 10 songs from the album. Still, to each their own.

[RoeDent]

Halfway through Act 2 now (just past a major dramatic point). It's occurred to me during Machine Chatter that the NOMAC tracks remind me of the interlude between Panic Attack and Never Enough on Octavarium.

[me7]

Our new World reminds me a lot of Rush, more so than any other single DT song. I'm surprised that nobody made that remark yet.

[Kotowboy]

Not getting much sleep last night didn't help but I was in bits listening to that song. AND I'M NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT IT 

[gm5k]

Just for fun and apart from the enjoying the album straight through, it's kinda cool to end "Savior In The Square" at around 1:30 and start "Our New World"    Surprised I didn't notice the similarity until right now.

[Kotowboy]

hey guys what if the astonishising was one cd ?!?!

[gm5k]

   I know it's a theme/motif. 

[mike099]

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!

Just an FYI.  When the last DT cd came out, our Walmart had copies.  Of course it may depend on what part of the country you are located and they may not have it right away.

[GandL]

So far I listened to it 3 times, each time a better experience than the preceding one, and I really enjoyed the first listen. I cannot say yet which one I like most, looks like it's changing after each listening. For me it is a great album that will rank with my top ones.

[ariich]

Our new World reminds me a lot of Rush, more so than any other single DT song. I'm surprised that nobody made that remark yet.

No way, not as much as The Best of Times or The Looking Glass.

OH AND ALSO, I remember the other thing that bugs me. **SPOILERS** The placement of Machine Chatter is really bizarre. I need to read those detailed explanations on the official website, but it seems really weird how Daryus kills Arhys, then there's a minute of NOMAC noise, and *then* Xander gets angry at Daryus.

[Shooters1221]

Our new World reminds me a lot of Rush, more so than any other single DT song. I'm surprised that nobody made that remark yet.

Ok, first post...Yes, I agree. It almost "feels"(not sounds) like The Analog kid of the CD. So, my music store here in Cleveland had this in on Wed.  sitting there on the counter...SWEET and I've done nothing but listen over and over and over...This might end up waaaaaay up there on my list of favs, but that won't be decided until every note is covered and it settles through the listening process.

Greetings ALL!!

[pringkaarwanda]

lol I was just trying to get that last image myself and I came here to see it. How did you get it ?

All you have to do is playing with page source 

Thanks a bunch, pringkaarwanda!  That is awesome.  I know there are others here that appreciate this too.

You're welcome my brother !! 
I'll post here again if I found something interesting in web page 

[RoadTrain_of Thought]

I tried that way. But I couldn't quite make it :d Thanks man!

[Kotowboy]

Our new World reminds me a lot of Rush, more so than any other single DT song. I'm surprised that nobody made that remark yet.

No way, not as much as The Best of Times or The Looking Glass.

OH AND ALSO, I remember the other thing that bugs me. **SPOILERS** The placement of Machine Chatter is really bizarre. I need to read those detailed explanations on the official website, but it seems really weird how Daryus kills Arhys, then there's a minute of NOMAC noise, and *then* Xander gets angry at Daryus.

Since the album is not quite gapless - you could almost re-sequence the album in a playlist to your liking

[ariich]

Since the album is not quite gapless - you could almost re-sequence the album in a playlist to your liking

Oh for sure - I also considered whether I should just scrap the title track and have it as a separate song. But I do prefer to listen to albums as the artist intends them, so I don't think I will.

[T-ski]

Systematic Chaos now has a friend on my "rarely listened to DT albums".

I hoped it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought, but no.  What a disappointment.