I still like The Astonishing. I probably rate it as my 3rd favorite DT album. If anything whether or not I enjoyed the songs or not, I would have still praise DT for being this ambitious which I feel like should be the spirit of any kind of progressive music. I feel like when fans want "this and that" and they want at a certain way and bands deliver "this and that" on the fans' whims, especially if they are a progressive band, I feel like that band is no longer progressive or ambitious.
I would always prefer bands with a long-enduring fanbase that takes fans on their journey, their vision without any outside influences (labels, managers, fans, whatever) and the fans is willing to bite on it and is along for the ride (pun intended). I was listening to Owl City's Cinematic album that came out this year and this dude that created Fireflies and the Ocean Eyes album and people wanted him to go back to doing the Ocean Eyes sound. Instead, with Owl City's Cinematic album, Adam Young talked about the stories and events of his personal life and had a sound that is still him, but interpreted in many different ways and it is still Owl City. It isn't Ocean Eyes, but seeing Owl City live, his fans still like it enough, and he played 10 songs from the new album in his shows and everyone still love those songs and sang along with it (included the song All My Friends, which everyone hated on first listen and they probably still hate the studio version).
I hoped that the same effect happened regarding The Astonishing. Imagine what would have happened if a lot more people went along for the ride regarding The Astonishing and not have this rather unnecessary vocal backlash. The ambition that went into The Astonishing can be translated into future works. I don't know if Distance Over Time can carry on with the same ambition that went into The Astonishing, but I'm not feeling that ambition so far with Untethered Angel (it's still a good song though, but I feel it lacks something) in comparison to The Gift of Music which had that sort of music whimsicalness that can take you on an adventure. I prefer whimsicalness over dark and broody sounds at times (which is why I'm listening to Owl City more often in comparison to other music).
I would like to be proven wrong as always, but it's a "we'll see what happens" like many things.
One more thought about a particular song from The Astonishing. Hymn of A Thousand Voices made me have a tear in my eye when I read the actual meaning to it in relation to the story. Heck, it makes me want to try to find some way to sing it at my local church (very few songs I like in life has that sort of effect where I want to sing it out loud at a local church and feel proud of it).
Topic: - " The Astonishing " - One Year -- er, SEVEN YEARS On. (Read 174677 times)
