New Album “Distance Over Time’, First Set of 2019 Tour Dates announced!

[Dedalus]

  I don't hear any similarity.

EDIT:  Never mind.  I know what part you are referring to.  Yes, you are right--it does sound similar.  But in context of the entire song, I don't think you would normally make that connection.

Oh, nice to know that!

I was in doubt if it does sound similar or if I was totally wrong on it. 

[Progmetty]

I gotta drive back to work on the 18th and I'll be gone for 2 weeks, this is gonna be the first time since SC that I don't buy a DT album on release day :/

[jayvee3]

I gotta drive back to work on the 18th and I'll be gone for 2 weeks, this is gonna be the first time since SC that I don't buy a DT album on release day :/

Is it worth a pre order on iTunes? That way you can grab it as soon as available in your region - or is that not doable?

[Progmetty]

Well I still do that anyway since I'm too lazy to rip CD's anymore. It's more of a silly ritual I've been doing where I take a picture with the new DT CD in my car after I pick it up on release day and post the pic here as a celebration of a new album era heh
Speaking of mp3's though, my drive to work is 9 hours long and I was hoping I'd have the album for the drive but leaks seem to have badly regressed the last few years, I think it will be available online after that NY listening party on Thursday but that'll be too late.
Off topic: this is a major win for record companies that I haven't noticed people talking about; leaks have pretty much been defeated or largely subsided at the very least. Throughout the 00's we used to have albums 10 days or so before release date, now it's 2 or 3 days if any.
All this is minor whining of course, the glass is 95% full; I'm excited, THERE'S A NEW DT ALBUM COMING OUT BABY!
I managed to avoid the two other singles and only heard Untethered Angel once, puuuurrrrttyyy proud of myself there heh

[erwinrafael]

My birthday is on the 18th and my mind is stupidly expecting that the iTunes store would notice my birthdate in my settings and make the pre-order early for me.

[SeRoX]

By the way, I listened James live chat.

Nothing important, usual stuff has been told. He thinks the MVP of the album is Mike Mangini.

[abydos]

So if he records the vocals in Canada, does he do all the melodies now or do they demo in the studio while he's there and he just takes that and goes back home for the recording?

[Bertielee]

So if he records the vocals in Canada, does he do all the melodies now or do they demo in the studio while he's there and he just takes that and goes back home for the recording?

From what I understood, but I may be wrong, I think all the melodies were composed while all 5 DT members were in the "secret" studio.

B.Lee

[abydos]

Yeah, probably, but in past studio updates, Portnoy and Petrucci have given him directions not just on the melodies but the delivery as well. Just wondering if now he's in charge of all of that as it would be hard for them to give live feedback over Skype or something like that, while he's recording.

Also, I really enjoyed Paralyzed.

[Peter Mc]

It’s been a while since his vocals were recorded with Petrucci and/or Portnoy looking over his shoulder. I think he’s recorded separately away from the band since at least ADTOE and I think James actually made a point of saying that he doesn’t need someone to tell him how to sing. He has mentioned though that, when he is singing someone else’s lyrics, he will discuss it with them to make sure he understands what they’re aiming to do with the song. As JP is producing, he will send stuff over for him to listen to and tweak things if Petrucci wants something a little different. The impression given these days though is that Petrucci is usually pretty happy with what James and Rich come up with and there will only be fairly small adjustments, if any.

[kiszol]

Let's play some sort of a game.
Based on what you know about D/T so far what do you think will be your three favourite tracks on the album and why?

I will start. I just can't look past At Wit's End. I love longer and more complex DT songs with good and dramatic lyrics and great melodies. At Wit's End seems just that type of a song to me based on all I know. In addition to that both AWE snippets in the trailer are amazing. Another huge contender for the same reasons is Barstool Warrior in close second place. I'm unsure about third place. All of the three singles are pretty solid and I like them. My gut says to me however that the best is yet to come and none of these 3 songs will make it to the podium. So I will go with Pale Blue Dot as there is a lot of praise and some reviewers mention it as an "epic" which is a great compliment. Close fourth would be S/N as I like the snippet in the trailer big time.

1. At Wit's End
2. Barstool Warrior
3. Pale Blue Dot

[MirrorMask]

I haven't heard any songs yet, but I agree with your three picks from the reviews I've seen.

At Wit's End seems to be a very nice epic, Barstool Warrior a more proggy tune that is unusual and refreshing, and I love the subject matter of Pale Blue Dot so that is already an advantage for me.

[Pound4aBrown]

Front runner for favorite song, so far is S2N.

[Pound4aBrown]

By the way, I listened James live chat.

Nothing important, usual stuff has been told. He thinks the MVP of the album is Mike Mangini.

And he would be right.

[jadiggerdt]

Heard 4-5 times. The wits end will probably be nr 1 song at this album. Love James part.

[Red_Queen]

I cant describe my feelings about D/T.
I miss them so f*cking much. They are back in full power.
 

[Red_Queen]

I cant describe my feelings about D/T.
I miss them so f*cking much. They are back in full power.
 

And ..im so happy.
James is awesome.

[Max Kuehnau]

I cant describe my feelings about D/T.
I miss them so f*cking much. They are back in full power.
 

And ..im so happy.
James is awesome.

From what I could listen to already (I'll wait till release date though), I think everyone is awesome on this album. And I was relieved that that's the case. Finally. Long may these trends continue.

Edit: for clarification: I was only referring to tracks 1-3 and the trailer excerpts, so these are things we all could listen to. I wasn't given a promo copy and I'm not into discussing leaks. Never have been, never will be. I always buy my albums, either on CD or in HiRes flac format. No need to ban me I think.

[Pound4aBrown]

not ready to say that I Love this album. But it is really, really good.

[onethousanddays]

Oh man the 22nd can't come fast enough.

From what I could listen to already, it will probably end up being a tie between At Wit’s End and S2N for my top spot.

[MirrorMask]

Lots of promo copies received for reviews I see....

[gzarruk]

Lots of promo copies received for reviews I see....

 

Seriously, though, if you guys don’t want to get banned, don’t discuss leaked material here or Bosk will find you...

[Adami]

Listened to the teaser twice or so. Some stuff is meh, but some of it was definitely better sounding than any of the released songs thus far.

Will definitely give it a listen. Hope it's a good surprise.

[Dedalus]

Lots of promo copies received for reviews I see....

[nobloodyname]

Lots of promo copies received for reviews I see....

Promo copies were given out like sweets at Halloween, though. I think I'll claim to operate a legitimate music website in time for the next album cycle. The majority of 'professional' reviews I've seen for Distance Over Time are so amateur in tone and language, it's laughable.

Now, do I think everyone's got a promo copy? No. Of course not. But still.

[IDontNotDoThings]

Ranking the album without hearing it:

1. At Wit's End
2. S2N
3. Fall Into The Light
4. Barstool Warrior
5. Out Of Reach
6. Untethered Angel
7. Pale Blue Dot
8. Viper King
9. Room 137
10. Paralyzed

Obviously this is baseless assumptions at this point, but let's see how close my actual opinion ends up being.

[EPIC Outro]

So here's a question for you: Without having heard the album yet, how high do you think it could possibly rank among your favorite DT albums? For me, I think if it's really good it could crack the top 5. But beating the likes of SFAM, 6DOIT, IAW, and Awake would be quite a feat.

[MirrorMask]

At a certain point, when you live with an album for many years, and you have so many memories of it, it's basically impossible to surpass it, you can't rationally compare 20 years of knowledge and affection for a record to a new album, no matter how good it is.

Maybe a more realistic comparison would be with the latest albums, the ones since Mangini joined - I could see myself labeling it "the best Mangini album" if I love it, but even the musical equivalent of Van Gogh's Starry Night could never make me say that I prefer it to Scenes from a Memory which is my favorite album since the first time I heard it in 1999.

[jayvee3]

Well I still do that anyway since I'm too lazy to rip CD's anymore. It's more of a silly ritual I've been doing where I take a picture with the new DT CD in my car after I pick it up on release day and post the pic here as a celebration of a new album era heh
Speaking of mp3's though, my drive to work is 9 hours long and I was hoping I'd have the album for the drive but leaks seem to have badly regressed the last few years, I think it will be available online after that NY listening party on Thursday but that'll be too late.
Off topic: this is a major win for record companies that I haven't noticed people talking about; leaks have pretty much been defeated or largely subsided at the very least. Throughout the 00's we used to have albums 10 days or so before release date, now it's 2 or 3 days if any.
All this is minor whining of course, the glass is 95% full; I'm excited, THERE'S A NEW DT ALBUM COMING OUT BABY!
I managed to avoid the two other singles and only heard Untethered Angel once, puuuurrrrttyyy proud of myself there heh

Sweet mate. I always get a digital copy these days so I can have it ASAP, but totally understand the personal want to also have a physical copy. I'll always pick up a physical copy with DT too, as it supports the band, and creates some nostalgia, for when I used to wait patiently for release date before I was much into the internet at my fave, local record store.. 

[Ben_Jamin]

You guys see Manginis Facebook post.

"4 can't be 8 and 10."

[IDontNotDoThings]

So here's a question for you: Without having heard the album yet, how high do you think it could possibly rank among your favorite DT albums? For me, I think if it's really good it could crack the top 5. But beating the likes of SFAM, 6DOIT, IAW, and Awake would be quite a feat.

Well, my current ranking is this:
#1. Images & Words
#2. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
#3. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
#4. The Astonishing
#5. Systematic Chaos
#6. When Dream & Day Unite
#7. Awake
#8. Octavarium
#9. Scenes From A Memory
10. Dream Theater
11. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
12. Train Of Thought
13. Falling Into Infinity

I could see DOT fitting nicely in between TA & SC. We'll see though. 

[EPIC Outro]

So here's a question for you: Without having heard the album yet, how high do you think it could possibly rank among your favorite DT albums? For me, I think if it's really good it could crack the top 5. But beating the likes of SFAM, 6DOIT, IAW, and Awake would be quite a feat.

Well, my current ranking is this:
#1. Images & Words
#2. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
#3. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
#4. The Astonishing
#5. Systematic Chaos
#6. When Dream & Day Unite
#7. Awake
#8. Octavarium
#9. Scenes From A Memory
10. Dream Theater
11. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
12. Train Of Thought
13. Falling Into Infinity

I could see DOT fitting nicely in between TA & SC. We'll see though. 

Glad to see the love for BC&SL!

[erwinrafael]

So here's a question for you: Without having heard the album yet, how high do you think it could possibly rank among your favorite DT albums? For me, I think if it's really good it could crack the top 5. But beating the likes of SFAM, 6DOIT, IAW, and Awake would be quite a feat.

I think it would be at least 2nd. DT12 is already my 2nd and so far I already like the D/T singles over DT12.

[jayvee3]

So here's a question for you: Without having heard the album yet, how high do you think it could possibly rank among your favorite DT albums? For me, I think if it's really good it could crack the top 5. But beating the likes of SFAM, 6DOIT, IAW, and Awake would be quite a feat.

Well, my current ranking is this:
#1. Images & Words
#2. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
#3. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
#4. The Astonishing
#5. Systematic Chaos
#6. When Dream & Day Unite
#7. Awake
#8. Octavarium
#9. Scenes From A Memory
10. Dream Theater
11. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
12. Train Of Thought
13. Falling Into Infinity

I could see DOT fitting nicely in between TA & SC. We'll see though. 

Glad to see the love for BC&SL!

Genuine question for both of you lads, as BC&SL is at the bottom of my list by quite a stretch. I find that amongst only 6 songs, there isn’t a whole lot to come back to, and definitely one of MP’s most tired sounding efforts. COT is cool and a few nice melodies, but overall a bit of a miss in my book. But totally respect crew that like it and just getting some insight to what connects with you guys personally for this album to give it a high ranking or be pretty chuffed with it?

[EPIC Outro]

For me, BC&SL isn't in my top 4, but I still rank it highly. It was epic in every sense of the word. The piano and storm sounds that open the album, followed by those explosive, almost gothic chords by Jordan when everyone kicks in... The album grabbed my attention right away. I even enjoyed the Day After Day growling part and was super excited to see it live. I thought A Rite of Passage had an awesome chorus, and I had a smile on my face from the first reprised 12SS theme in The Shattered Fortress all the way to the epic close - for me, the end of that song was so epic it could have closed the whole album. But I'm glad it didn't, because that honor was left for The Count of Tuscany. The instrumental overture at the start had some really pleasing keyboard parts, and for some reason it reminded me of something I might have heard on WDADU, which I also dig. While the lyrics were a little silly,  I went along for the ride. The chorus was just awesome, and the whole song had an ominous energy and was just a lot of fun, and a super majestic close to the album. BC&SL had an epicness to it that I found to be missing on ADTOE, and while I recognize why a lot of fans appreciated the change, I'll always have a fondness for that last bombastically awesome album before the modern era of DT began - an era which has been awesome in it's own unique ways and only looks to be getting better with D/T.