*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

Started by bosk1, January 28, 2016, 05:44:54 PM

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Kotowboy


DragonAttack

Now I've got visions of the earless chocolate Easter bunny running through my head.........
Quote from: frogprog on January 05, 2023, 05:45:48 PM...going along with Dragon Attack's Queen discography thread has been like taking a free class in Queen knowledge. Where else are you gonna find info like that?!
QUEEN DISCOGRAPHY      "www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php/topic,57201.0.html"

Zydar


hefdaddy42

I always thought that the chorus of Status Seeker sounded like 7800 Degrees Farenheit - era Bon Jovi.
Quote from: BlobVanDam on December 11, 2014, 08:19:46 PMHef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Kotowboy

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on March 11, 2016, 07:05:32 AM
I always thought that the chorus of Status Seeker sounded like 7800 Degrees Farenheit - era Bon Jovi.

That's a very specific album title :lol

What's your new album title , Jon ?

7800 Degrees Farenheit.

:P Not 7000 ?

:angry: 7800 !!

Logain Ablar

The ever-reliable Wikipedia tells us:

"The album's title was a reference to the supposed melting point of rock"


DarkLord_Lalinc

Quote from: RoeDent on March 11, 2016, 01:19:10 AM
I keep imagining the life of the characters after the album ends. Just think: Nafaryus (through Faythe) becomes Xander's step-grandfather. (Gabriel: "We're going to visit Grampa Nafaryus today!") Also, he's stuck with that name long after he turned "good". Someone's bound to ask him "Why are you called Nafaryus?" at some point down the line.
'It was prettier than Bug'

BlobVanDam

Quote from: Logain Ablar on March 11, 2016, 08:27:39 AM
The ever-reliable Wikipedia tells us:

"The album's title was a reference to the supposed melting point of rock"



So the title is a reference to the point at which it's no longer hard rock? :neverusethis:

hefdaddy42

Quote from: BlobVanDam on December 11, 2014, 08:19:46 PMHef is right on all things. Except for when I disagree with him. In which case he's probably still right.

Thoughtspart3

TA keeps getting better for me.  I think that doing concept pieces really brings out the best in DT. 

One thing I didn't notice until someone mentioned it is that the cymbals are really low in the mix.  You can barely hear them.   

Kotowboy

Labrie confirmed in Twitter that Rich doesn't speak on the album at all. He was supposed to do an intro to the album but it got dropped.

Luoto

Quote from: Kotowboy on March 12, 2016, 08:56:33 AM
Labrie confirmed in Twitter that Rich doesn't speak on the album at all. He was supposed to do an intro to the album but it got dropped.

Which apparently serves as the intro tape to The Astonishing live shows.

Prog Snob

Quote from: Luoto on March 12, 2016, 11:23:45 AM
Quote from: Kotowboy on March 12, 2016, 08:56:33 AM
Labrie confirmed in Twitter that Rich doesn't speak on the album at all. He was supposed to do an intro to the album but it got dropped.

Which apparently serves as the intro tape to The Astonishing live shows.

That's pretty much it, as far as I know.

Logain Ablar

Quote from: Prog Snob on March 12, 2016, 11:54:00 AM
Quote from: Luoto on March 12, 2016, 11:23:45 AM
Quote from: Kotowboy on March 12, 2016, 08:56:33 AM
Labrie confirmed in Twitter that Rich doesn't speak on the album at all. He was supposed to do an intro to the album but it got dropped.

Which apparently serves as the intro tape to The Astonishing live shows.

That's pretty much it, as far as I know.

Yip. IIRC, the spoken intro was similar to the 'trailer' video that was released just before the album was. It may even be the same dialogue, but I'm happy to be corrected.

Kotowboy

So it's James doing "Attention Batallion!" ??

SebastianPratesi

Quote from: Kotowboy on March 12, 2016, 01:14:25 PM
So it's James doing "Attention Batallion!" ??

Mm, there's always the chance that it is a sample/stock sound (maybe from a movie?). There are many parts in the album which I'd bet are sample/stock sounds:

  • Many different sounds in "A Savior In The Square"/"When Your Time Has Come" (horses, cheering/clapping)
  • The young Princess laughing in "Act Of Faythe"
  • The door and screams by Xander/Daryus in "A Tempting Offer"
  • Arhys/Daryus fighting in "The Path That Divides"
  • Faythe/Daryus at the end of "The Walking Shadow"
  • Nafaryus/Arabelle crying in "Losing Faythe"

That said, I googled the "Attention battalion!" complete phrase, but every result was about DT, so if it is a sample, it probably isn't from a movie or TV.

SystematicThought

I think that same voice though said Arhys' Introduction on that DT Spotify playlist thing.

rumborak

Here's a question: Why would Nafaryus tolerate a fully-fledged paramilitary battalion that operates in the open? A battalion is 500-1000 people.

wasteland

Quote from: rumborak on March 12, 2016, 04:24:56 PM
Here's a question: Why would Nafaryus tolerate a fully-fledged paramilitary battalion that operates in the open? A battalion is 500-1000 people.

To be fair Nefaryus, despite being by far my favourite character in the story, didn't strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed.  :lol

BlobVanDam

Quote from: rumborak on March 12, 2016, 04:24:56 PM
Here's a question: Why would Nafaryus tolerate a fully-fledged paramilitary battalion that operates in the open? A battalion is 500-1000 people.

Maybe he wanted to allow it to grow a bit to weed out everyone in the rebellion.

Or maybe the story isn't well thought out.

DarkLord_Lalinc

A friend just described the fighting samples in 'The Path that Divides' as Age of Empires sounds.

I was not disappointed.

MirrorMask

Quote from: rumborak on March 12, 2016, 04:24:56 PM
Here's a question: Why would Nafaryus tolerate a fully-fledged paramilitary battalion that operates in the open? A battalion is 500-1000 people.

Who said they were that many? he would still address them as a battalion even if they were scarcely prepared and numbered, it doesn't help morale to call a battalion "you hundred people who think that can hold a gun but has still so much to learn".

rumborak

Unless you are suggesting he was using the term in jest as a nickname ("my little battalion") ... no. Military is super anal about using correct nomenclature.
It's just thrown-together samples, sadly. As someone else pointed out, he asks his battalion to march when they are already marching.

BlobVanDam

It's a rebel militia in a dystopian future. These peasants presumably have little knowledge of a real military as we know it.

And it's probably a stock sample that happened to best fit along with the marching stock sample.

erwinrafael

Or maybe the story of a dystopian future where music is what makes life astonishing and human suffering is caused by the lack of music should be taken as a bunch of metaphors, rather than judged with realistic logic.

Kotowboy

Quote from: erwinrafael on March 13, 2016, 07:52:20 AM
Or maybe the story of a dystopian future where music is what makes life astonishing and human suffering is caused by the lack of music should be taken as a bunch of metaphors, rather than judged with realistic logic.

:getoffmylawn: we don't like your logical type round here boy !

TheOutlawXanadu

Quote from: erwinrafael on March 13, 2016, 07:52:20 AM
Or maybe the story of a dystopian future where music is what makes life astonishing and human suffering is caused by the lack of music should be taken as a bunch of metaphors, rather than judged with realistic logic.

:tup

ariich

Quote from: BlobVanDam on March 13, 2016, 07:39:39 AM
It's a rebel militia in a dystopian future. These peasants presumably have little knowledge of a real military as we know it.

And it's probably a stock sample that happened to best fit along with the marching stock sample.
Both of these, but especially the first. Think you're being a bit too literal, Rumby.

Quote from: Buddyhunter1 on May 10, 2023, 05:59:19 PMAriich is a freak, or somehow has more hours in the day than everyone else.
Quote from: TAC on December 21, 2023, 06:05:15 AMI be am boner inducing.

Zook

I love The Astonishing, but hate that invisible blanket covering the speakers.

Kotowboy

Quote from: Zook on March 13, 2016, 01:50:43 PM
I love The Astonishing, but hate that invisible blanket covering the speakers.

It's *slightly* muddy but not THAT bad.

vazquez

Quote from: Zook on March 13, 2016, 01:50:43 PM
I love The Astonishing, but hate that invisible blanket covering the speakers.

WHAT?

Do I have an amazing sound system? The Astonishing is one of the best albums I have ever heard, sound-wise!

That makes no sense to me. Even today I was listening to a lot of great bands and thinking - the sound of this cd is not as clear as The Astonishing.

I admit that comment left me almost confused - my sound system is not cheap, but it´s not state-of-the-art... I guess.

erwinrafael

My only complaint with TA's sound production is that the cymbals should be higher in the mix. A lot of details were lost. I am guessing maybe it's because the higher frequencies were already competing with each other, with the orchestra and stuff, so they had to compromise.

The kick drum as rumbo said may sound like a typewriter sometimes. It works in many of the songs, not so good in some. Maybe they prioritize being consistent.

For Myung, he sounds a bit low in the mix. BUT when I think of the soundscape they are trying to create, with a musical and orchestra-like atmosphere, the mixing makes sense.

I also think that's the reason why the band as a whole are less playful and show-offish than the usual. They were not going for "prog" soundscape. They were going for "musical".

Zook

Quote from: vazquez on March 13, 2016, 07:33:02 PM
Quote from: Zook on March 13, 2016, 01:50:43 PM
I love The Astonishing, but hate that invisible blanket covering the speakers.

WHAT?

Do I have an amazing sound system? The Astonishing is one of the best albums I have ever heard, sound-wise!

That makes no sense to me. Even today I was listening to a lot of great bands and thinking - the sound of this cd is not as clear as The Astonishing.

I admit that comment left me almost confused - my sound system is not cheap, but it´s not state-of-the-art... I guess.

It sounds the worst in my car. Not so bad on my headphones plugged into the computer, but in the car it kind of bothers me.

Prog Snob

I've only listened to it a couple of times on CD; I usually listen on Spotify. However, I've never heard it sounding anything like an invisible blanket is covering the speakers.

cramx3

I really enjoy the mix overall.  Definitely one of their best sounding albums IMO and easily the best in awhile although I don't have the complaints that are typical on DTF regarding the sound/mix.