Since I just recently updated my pinned Index Of Albums & Songs thread and added some entries for d/t, I realized there wasn't a dedicated thread for PBD yet, so I decided to start it here!
I've been enjoying this song since day one, and there's a LOT to love about it. The atmospheric opening complete with radio chatter really sets the mood for the idea of the song. Then we get that blistering riff in 19/16, with some tasty druMMing and a crunchy guitar riff from JP. The whole intro sounds like it could've been a LOT long if this were a 15-minute epic, but it's cut down quite nicely and flows well.
The verse and chorus area pretty strong, too, especially the last line of the chorus, which really makes us ponder our place in the universe, if we are truly alone, are we then doomed to our own failures? Then we move into the bridge and instrumental break, which is probably some of the best on the album! They dive back into the 19/16 riff before going into a 5/4 in triplets, which transforms into 3 groups of triplets as quintuplets in 3 (gotta love metric modulation), a trick they used before in the middle of "In The Name Of God". Then we get the jarring, but awesome climbing riff that then has a weird slow-down riff followed by it, with Mangini doing some fills around the tempo and time, very spacey stuff! The rest of the instrumental break continues with another fast climbing riff before heading back into familiar grooves before the final chorus!
Ahhh what a song, the closing epic this album deserves, especially with that closing guitar solo! Those near eight-and-a-half minutes are something special, and I'm sure it'll be a real treat if/when it's played live! I hope this one becomes a concert staple, and that we get one good live release of it!
So, who else wants to gush about this song?
-Marc.