Official Distance Over Time discussion thread

[425]

Hey, good to hear from some folks who share my FitL love and R137/S2N wariness.

I like Viper King a lot, more than a good half of the songs on the album at least, but I refuse to include it in an album ranking because it's not part of the album.

Very tentative ranking:
1. Fall Into the Light
2. Barstool Warrior
3. At Wit's End
4. Paralyzed
5. Untethered Angel
6. Pale Blue Dot
7. Out of Reach
8. S2N
9. Room 137

PBD and OoR are the two that I really don't know what to do with yet.

[DTA]

My ranking:

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

There's no song I dislike but UA and BW just fall below the others.

[fadetoblackdude7]

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

[krands85]

1. At Wit's End
2. Pale Blue Dot
3. Untethered Angel
4. Fall Into the Light

These top 4 are easy and clearly a level above the rest for me. After this, I find it a little more difficult to rank, because the songs are all fairly evenly matched. It's one of their most consistent albums - I don't dislike any of the songs. Even some of the albums I prefer overall to D/T have a song or two I don't care for that much.

5. Barstool Warrior
6. Paralyzed
7. S2N
8. Out of Reach
9. Room 137
10. Viper King

[RoeDent]

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

[Cool Chris]

At Wit's End
Fall Into the Light

Paralyzed
Barstool Warrior

Out of Reach

Untethered Angel
Pale Blue Dot

Viper King


S2N
Room 137

[JLa]

Can't do a full ranking (it's impossible for me to say "this song is 4th best and this is 7th) but I listen to Pale Blue Dot and Barstool Warrior the most. Brilliant songs both of them.

[geeeemo]

It's hard to rank but:

PBD - I love this song more everytime and really turn it up.
AWE - Just so good.

S2N------------
Room 137 -       any one of these 4 next
Paralyzed --
BW ----‐--------

UA
FItL

OoR
VK

I enjoy the ones at the bottom nearly as much as the others, but there really is no bottom for me.

[IDontNotDoThings]

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

[the_silent_man]

1. Barstool Warrior - just a perfect DT song with a classic 90s vibe in places. Some of Petrucci best lead/solo work ever.
2. At wits end - another amazing song, powerful but brings the riffs big time! Great solo at the end. Still don't like fade ours (in any song) though and it makes it sound unfinished.
3. Pale blue dot - So epic and so heavy at point, I love all of it but it leaves me wanting more/slightly unsatisfied! Wish it were 2 or 3 mins longer with another verse. Still awesome though!
4. Fall into the light - Riffs so hard at the start, and the break is both beautiful and unique for DT. Love the keyboard solo and the shreddy guitar/drums at the end too.
5. S2N - Groovy and fun as hell, love it. Love the key shred at the end. Sounds like it could be on FII.
6. Untethered Angel - Good song if a bit DT by numbers. Instrumental /solo is ace. Rest is good but not great.
7. Paralyzed - One of the better mainstream tracks of late. Really solid and good fun.
8. Room 137 - Heavy and something different. I dig it, but it's not something I gravitate towards.
9. Out of reach - yeah not a big fan of modern DT ballads (usually just overtly saccharine). I like the solo and the piano at the start, once the guitar kicks in proper it's a bit meh for me. Not bad though. I know even before hearing a note of this it would probably be my least favourite.

- Viper king - probably sit around 6/7 if I was to rank. Really good fun, great solo, vocals don't 100% fit the style however and sometimes work/sometimes do not

[Lonk]

Alright, it has been long enough that I think it's safe to rank the songs again.

1) At Wits End
2) S2N
3) Vyper King
4) Pale Blue Dot
5) Paralyzed
6) Bartstool Warrior
7) Room 137
8) Untethered Angel
9) Out of Reach
10) Fall Into The Light

The only song I don't revisit, and I skip it every time is FITL. Barstool Warrior did not do anything for me at first, but it's grown on me a lot.

[goo-goo]

There's a CD/Bluray edition coming up for d/t

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/distance-over-time-cdblu-ray-preorder

[TheOutlawXanadu]

My rankings would probably be:

Tier One: Untethered Angel, Barstool Warrior, S2N, At Wit's End
Tier Two: Paralyzed, Fall into the Light, Pale Blue Dot
Tier Three: Room 137, Out of Reach

I think it's an awesome album with a mix that puts most other metal albums to shame. Seriously... It sounds so good!

[DoctorAction]

Been back on DoT this week. Still loving it. UA is my least favourite but the rest is all pretty much equal for me.

The songs i was less enthusiastic about to start with have levelled up (S2N, OOR, R137) and the rest has stood up great.

The lyrics are really good. The vocal melodies are totally singable. Cracking record.

[vtgrad]

My rankings would probably be:

Tier One: Untethered Angel, Barstool Warrior, S2N, At Wit's End
Tier Two: Paralyzed, Fall into the Light, Pale Blue Dot
Tier Three: Room 137, Out of Reach

I think it's an awesome album with a mix that puts most other metal albums to shame. Seriously... It sounds so good!

A big second to that... the mix/master is incredible in my opinion, it breathes so well!  Sounds killer in my car system (Pioneer deck, Kappa tweets, and four Kappa 6x9s), punch without the rawmpt sound of over-punch and deep breathing, swelling bass (almost like the explosion effect).

PBD has really, really grown on me; it's my go-to to hype-up for my two weekly b-ball games (right behind FiTL and Paralyzed). 

[goo-goo]

There's a CD/Bluray edition coming up for d/t

https://www.lasercd.com/cd/distance-over-time-cdblu-ray-preorder

I've ninja'd myself since the last couple of posts have been about the mix/master of the album. If you think the CD version of the mix was good, the BR is even better. I would recommend in getting this version and ripping the BR audio. It sounds even better.

[RoeDent]

It's way too early to determine this, but I feel like At Wit's End has a good chance of eventually entering the Pantheon of established all-time DT classics. Give it a few seasons of DT the League or whatever tournaments come in the future...if it can hold its own against the likes of ACOS, Metropolis, Octavarium, BAI and LTL, then it will earn its rightful place among the gods. But the reaction to the song so far suggests that it might be heading that way.

[Architeuthis]

Good grief, I just lost my d/t cd!   I went to a friend's to play music and when I was loading my guitar and amp back into my car afterwards, I left the CD with the cover on top of my car and forgot about it. It likely blew off onto the road or into a ditch somewhere about 15 miles away and probably destroyed. Hopefully, some passerby will find it and it will still work and cause them to become a DT fan. 

[bosk1]

Good grief, I just lost my d/t cd!   I went to a friend's to play music and when I was loading my guitar and amp back into my car afterwards, I left the CD with the cover on top of my car and forgot about it. It likely blew off onto the road or into a ditch somewhere about 15 miles away and probably destroyed. Hopefully, some passerby will find it and it will still work and cause them to become a DT fan. 

Oh no!    Well, luckily, CDs are relatively inexpensive.  I "lost" mine too and had to replace it, but it was intentional.  I found out literally the day of the concert on the first tour leg that a friend of my son's was a BIG JP fan, so I had JP sign my copy that night and gave it to my son's friend.  Had to go buy a new one, but it was well worth it.

[Architeuthis]

Wow, that's awesome you did that for him bosk!  I bet he was pretty stoked, I know I would be..

[Architeuthis]

And here's my........... 2112th post!!!   This post is only relevant until my next post. I savor the moment. I HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL!! 

[Orbert]

Congratulations!

Hold the Red Star proudly, high in hand!

[MirrorMask]

Just listened to the album.... and once again it just flies by!

It's probably the "fastest" album to listen to, the easiest one, you put in on and bam, you're listening to Viper King and you're like "did an hour already pass by?" (I feel it most particularly at the end of S2N - "holy shit are we already unto one of the two final epics?")

It's not that the other albums are difficult to get through, it's always a pleasure to listen to them, but you can't "wing" some albums... you have to be in the mood for it, you just can't go "Eh, I have some spare time, guess I'll listen to Octavarium or The Astonishing". With d/t instead you put it on, enjoy it, and it's already finished.

[NoFred]

Definitely an easy listen, I appreciate that each song is different and short, like you said don’t need to be in the frame of mind to listen to it.

[Northern Lion]

I love they way the albums sounds, especailly the guitar sound.  Also, I think James knocks it out of the park.  My only issue is the lack of epics.  At Wits End is an epic, but for me only barely (by DT's normal standard).

And just to clarify, I consider a DT epic as any song longer than 9 minutes.

But, man does this album have a lot of good songs! 

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I personally consider AWE an epic by its own merits, in that it has all the bearings of your classic DT epic, regardless of length. I feel the same with Metropolis Pt. 1 and BAI.

On the flipside, there's songs like TMOLS and ANTR, which are certainly long enough, but just don't deliver the same experience.

I think that's why I enjoy AWE so much, it's concise and doesn't suffer from being overlong and drawn out, the way some DT songs tend to do.

[425]

Out of curiosity:

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

It strikes me that the album was designed as a cohesive unit ending with Pale Blue Dot, and that Viper King is an extra, standalone thing. To me, it only feels right to finish a listen to this album with Pale Blue Dot.

[MirrorMask]

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Because it's there!

[bosk1]

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Pretty simple:  Because the band arranged the album with Viper King as the final track. 

[cramx3]

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Pretty simple:  Because the band arranged the album with Viper King as the final track.

Yup, but if you are talking about how you internally interpret the albums ending, then sure I mentally know it's over at PBD, but when VK kicks on, I'm not turning it off.

[Northern Lion]

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Pretty simple:  Because the band arranged the album with Viper King as the final track.

Yup, but if you are talking about how you internally interpret the albums ending, then sure I mentally know it's over at PBD, but when VK kicks on, I'm not turning it off.

Here, here!

[Orbert]

Where, where?

[Podaar]

 

[pg1067]

Out of curiosity:

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Yes, for the same reason that, when I listen to Moving Pictures, I listen to Vital Signs as the final track and, when I listen to Train of Thought, I listen to In the Name of God as the final track and, when I listen to The Number of the Beast, I listen to Hallowed Be Thy Name as the final track.

It strikes me that the album was designed as a cohesive unit ending with Pale Blue Dot, and that Viper King is an extra, standalone thing. To me, it only feels right to finish a listen to this album with Pale Blue Dot.

Please feel to think and do as you please in this regard.

[425]

When y'all are listening to this album, are you typically really listening to it with Viper King as the final track? If so, why?

Pretty simple:  Because the band arranged the album with Viper King as the final track.

Uhh, what is the source on this? It's listed as a bonus track. I have literally never heard of a listed bonus track being considered part of the album proper. Not every edition of the album even includes it!

I find this absolutely perplexing, because my understanding of the very meaning of the term "bonus" in "bonus track" is "extra, not part of the core album." If they meant for it to be part of the core album, why on earth would they give it that label?