Anyone else...?

[Stewie]

Anyone else tired of all the Disney sounding songs? The choruses that are over the top - you know, the larger than life, majestic, grandiose, cinematic / soundtrack sounding tunes? My favorite track off the album is S2n, because it’s a straight ahead rocker. Just a good song, great groove, awesome riffs. But Barstool Warrior, At Wit’s End... just sounds like more of the same stuff we’ve had since the self-titled album. And after The Astonishing...I’m just ready for them to drop the Disney sound.

[Volante99]

Yeah I get what you mean. DT isn’t the only one guilty of this; it seems like every prog metal band is trying to make every song sound as EPIC (!) as possible, that it all gets a bit overbearing. Sometimes you gotta tone it down a notch to make to give things room to breathe

[bill1971]

I guess I haven't seen a Disney movie in a while.

[Mark Levinson Jr.]

For The Astonishing, I can see what you are talking about. But not the new album, not at all.

[The Silent Cody]

For The Astonishing, I can see what you are talking about. But not the new album, not at all.

This. I was very pleased when I heard DOT in it's entirety. The Astonishing was an album that I never ever probably will be able to listen from start to finish. Mainly because of the Disney vibe that is all around there... But on the new album... I don't see any Disney vibe on it

[Architeuthis]

I don't hear any Disney vibe either.  Barstool Warrior has a big full sound with an emotional chorus that just draws me in.. I love it when DT writes stuff like this, and they pull it off better than any band I've heard.  The Bigger Picture is similar to this, which is one of my all time favorite songs.. 

[MirrorMask]

The choruses that are over the top - you know, the larger than life, majestic, grandiose, cinematic / soundtrack sounding tunes?

My only complaint with the new album, which all in all I like quite a lot, is the underwhelming string of choruses. With Fall Into the Light, Room 137 and even Barstool Warrior (even though I warmed up to it by now) the first listenings I was like "Ah, so THAT was the chorus and not a bridge? ok I guess.....", and even songs where obviously there's a chorus feel like the climax is cut short; take for example Paralyzed: "A heart that feels no pain, addicted to the game...", wow, this is good, "Breaking beneath the strain...." and then immediately goes into "I am paralyzed". I understand that the true build up is in the final part of the song where the section is repeated, but to keep it going a bit more wouldn't hurt.

Same with At Wit's End, we reach the chorus and it's bombastic, "Don't leave me now, don't leave me now, I know that it's tearing you apart....", hell yeah, majestic, give me more, "Don't leave me now, don't leave me now" and then almost suddenly a short "Come alive".... please, just a little bit more?

So as has been said before I could understand the complaint aimed at The Astonishing, but this album more than any other DT album cannot be said to have catchy, easy listenings, "hey look at me" choruses.

[Fritzinger]

I'm pretty tired of the Astonishing-bashing and I hope that this doesn't become a thread to do just that.
I can't really hear Disney-moments on Distance Over Time. There are a few on The Astonishing yes (Begin Again). But Disney music is awesome! The ending of Begin Again is one of my absolute favourite parts on the album.

[jayvee3]

No.

[RuRoRul]

Funnily enough one of the few flaws I could point to for S2N (which is a standout on the album, probably my second favourite right now) is that it has a chorus of the type that it seems like (?) you're complaining about - one that seems quite similar to some other choruses on this album and on DT12 - and importantly I don't think it best fits or builds off the strength of S2N and could be supplanted into various other songs and fit just as well or even better there.


At Wit's End has some wonderful "majestic, melodicic" sounding stuff particularly towards the end of that song, but it is well earned, fitting for the song's theme and ultimately helps make that song the best one on the album for me. But that song has a lot of varied material and has some blistering shredding and heavy riffs. I can't imagine listening to the first minute of At Wit's End and thinking "Ugh, so tired of this saccharine Disney sound!"

Which leads to the "Disney" thing itself, I suppose I can get where it's coming from with The Astonishing due to the musical aspect reminding people of Disney musicals and it maybe has quite a lot more songs that lack the heavier edge or more elaborate instrumentation of most other Dream Theater songs. But I don't get the connection to "Disney sound" for "the larger than life, majestic, grandiose, cinematic" - if I hear those descriptors I'm thinking of an element of Dream Theater that's always been there throughout their career and could describe some of their best songs. Maybe I could get on board with some of the critique of DT12 - Distance Over Time in terms of similar choruses or melodic sections, but if there's a legitimate point in there it's lost in this "Disney sound" comparison.

[lovethedrake]

I get what you’re saying and it’s caused them to sound slightly generic at times which never used to be the case.   Been an issue since adtoe imo. 

The too much love part in fall into the light

The cutting the anchor away part in bw

The chorus of s2n


With that being said I’m still loving the new album.  There is a ton of awesome despite a few flaws.

[Moor]

I think you are tired from the genre itself!
If you have an issue with a DT album lacking "the larger than life, majestic, grandiose, cinematic" then IMO you have an issue with DT.
From the beginning those elements were present; to name a few LTL, Hells Kitchen, Spirit, FF, One Last Time, SDOIT, ITNOG, SS, 8V, ITPOE, etc...
This explains your negative opinions all over this forum.

[Trav86]

No.

[lovethedrake]

I’m a diehard dt fan and don’t agree that they always went for big grandiose cinematic moments.  I think the first time they did this was on losing time on six degrees which was the finale of a 42 minute song and it worked incredibly well but that was several albums in.

I think some of the issue is production... in the 90s labrie would be over the top of the music... now he often blends into it.

Again, I think the op is way off in his assessment of D/T but I get where he’s coming from with how dt writes songs these days.   Not a huge issue on this album though imo.   

 

[TAC]

Nothing more Disney than Side 2 of 6 D's.

[RoeDent]

1. Stop with the clickbait thread titles.

2. Tbh, looking through your posts, it's a mystery why you've even decided to join the Dream Theater forum, as you don't seem like much of a Dream Theater fan, with your constant negativity about the albums.

3. What the hell is so bad about Disney? They're among the most popular films and songs of all time, a vital part of our culture as a human race.

[BelichickFan]

Nope.

I wish AWE and PBD were a little longer, other than that I have no critiques of D/T.  For a 14th CD, it's damn near perfect for me.  Very few, if any, bands put out this quality this far down the line.

[Pettor]

Barstool Warrior and At Wit’s End sounding Disney ... what in the what now?! That is not even close at being accurate imo.

If it's the grandiose part of DT you don't like ... ehrmmm, then that makes me just as confused. I&W, Awake, FII, SFAM, SDOIT, TOT etc. all have that and the majestic, symphonic prog metal is part of the "Dream Theater" sound. They do straight rockers now and then but to be fair, I can't imagine the fan base is built on their collection of straight rockers ... There are tons of bands doing that if you want more of it.

[lovethedrake]

Again I would like to preface by saying I LOVE D/T.... but when was symphonic rock present in DT before SDOIT? 

I just simply don't see it at all...     

The whole cinematic vibe came on SDOIT and was super fresh and interesting sounding.   They have brought that back starting with ADTOE and it has become a staple of their sound ever since.   

I personally like it sometimes but would like to see them shelve it for a while.   

It's a production thing really.... Spirit Carries on for example goes into a huge melodic part with the "safe in the light that surrounds me" part and its not a symphonic sound(more like a pink floydy choir sound)  VS Breaking All Illusions where they do these huge majestic parts that sound very symphonic and melodramatic.

To me it makes things sound too "samey" or a tad generic.   

I think that is why Viper King was such a breath of fresh air to people and it almost sounds TOO playful now because the chorus is far more like what they would do on Images and Words vs the melodramatic choruses they often do these days.

Stewie's posts are over the top in their criticism and I personally love the new album (#5 for me on their overall rankings) but this particular point I think holds water and seems to be a theme of the band since Portnoy left...  Mangini slays on this album so I'm not saying anything negative about MM.  I just think a song writing aspect of the band left with MP that was probably more to Stewie's taste.   

[RuRoRul]

I don't know about symphonic rock, but "grandiose, majestic, cinematic" are descriptors that make me think of something like Metropolis Pt. 1. And I don't consider that a bad thing.

[lovethedrake]

I think Metropolis is epic for sure..  top 3 DT song for me.   Maybe its word semantics here but there's not a part of Metropolis pt 1 where the whole band just goes into a huge majestic melody.    Like "live in the moment" part of BAI or "Too much love" part of fall into the light etc...

Take the Time for example... has absolutely none of that.    The entire Awake album has none of that.

Maybe there is someone that is not as laymens on musical theory as me that can explain this better haha.

Stewie mentions At Wits End as having this issue and I don't agree....  I think the "don't leave me now" is exactly they type of thing DT would write in the 90's.     Reminds me of the "it's raining" part of trial of tears.

[Peace and Love]

I think one of the things people are recognizing as a "majestic" or "open" chorus, is JP's increased use of the Alex Lifeson approach during choruses - i.e, playing a power chord immediately followed by some high notes on the E and B strings. This is what happens in the FITL part, during the BW chorus, S2N, etc. - and is very typical of DT nowadays. But then again, he's always liked doing that, maybe the frequency has increased.

It's the same thing that happens in Strange Deja Vu during "Tonight I've been searching for..."

[lovethedrake]

Thanks Peace and Love... that's the type of musical knowledge I most certainly don't have. 

Perhaps if they let the production breath a little more and allow Labrie to come in more clearly than those parts wouldn't sound as samey.   On SFAM it just sounds cool, especially followed by the bone crunching riff of the "back on my feet again" part 

[CDrice]

I think one of the things people are recognizing as a "majestic" or "open" chorus, is JP's increased use of the Alex Lifeson approach during choruses - i.e, playing a power chord immediately followed by some high notes on the E and B strings. This is what happens in the FITL part, during the BW chorus, S2N, etc. - and is very typical of DT nowadays. But then again, he's always liked doing that, maybe the frequency has increased.

I agree with this and I'll also add the vocal melodies also contributes to that effect to an extent. All those choruses uses those long sung notes which I think also contributes to that effect. However, change the arrangement and you lose that ''sameness'' effect. Take the chorus for Untethered Angel. The vocal melody is in a similar vein, but the riff under it is different and the drum beat especially keeps a more rock beat instead of going into an half-time type of feel which gives it a different vibe than all the other parts you mentionned.

[mikeyd23]

Seeing how BW and AWE are two of my favorite tracks off the new album, nah I'm good.

[pg1067]

The only thing remotely "Disney-esque" I've ever heard on a DT album is the middle section of "Illumination Theory," and nothing at all on DOT sounds like that.

[The Walrus]

Really, really sick of "Disney" being used in a derogatory fashion especially when it comes to progressive/power metal.

[bosk1]

Really, really sick of "Disney" being used in a derogatory fashion especially when it comes to progressive/power metal.

Yeah, that too. 

[Anguyen92]

Again, why is people throwing the Disney tag being like it is a bad thing?  Over the course of Disney movies, there's some pretty awesome songs from revered musicians and that you see musicians be inspired at the whimsicalness of it.  What's wrong with incorporating that whimsicalness in metal?  Unless there's a rule that says you can't be majestic, grandiose, cinematic/soundtrack in metal and whoever decided that, what gives them the power to define that?

[rab7]

The only thing remotely "Disney-esque" I've ever heard on a DT album is the middle section of "Illumination Theory," and nothing at all on DOT sounds like that.

I'd argue that "The Answer" sounds very close to "I Can Go the Distance" from Hercules. Not to say that's a bad thing.

In fact, I have no qualms about the "Disney-fication" of Dream Theater

[The Letter M]

Also jumping in on the "Disney-ness isn't a negative" thing, here. I mean, the band was originally called MAJESTY, now known as Dream THEATER, there's going to be some symphonic and theatrical aspects to their music. Sure, they're more prevalent in some cases, but it's as much of their musical DNA as rock and metal are, and it's been there for a long time. If you haven't gotten used to it by now, you're probably not going to. Seems kind of silly to resist it when it's probably never going to go away, and for many, it's one of the best things about DT!

-Marc.

[lovethedrake]

Chosen could be straight off Pocahontas but I love it.

[pg1067]

The only thing remotely "Disney-esque" I've ever heard on a DT album is the middle section of "Illumination Theory," and nothing at all on DOT sounds like that.

I'd argue that "The Answer" sounds very close to "I Can Go the Distance" from Hercules. Not to say that's a bad thing.

In fact, I have no qualms about the "Disney-fication" of Dream Theater

I probably should have given my usual carve-out for The Astonishing and my lack of familiarity with it.  And yeah, even disregarding Fantasia, Disney has had some fantastic music in its movies.

[Rattlehead]

I don't agree with your criticism (or the "Disney" thing), but out of curiosity, what was it that got you into DT in the first place? What was the album that got you into the band? It just sounds like you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you're expecting the band to "drop" something that they've had on basically every album (if you ask me).

[Moor]

I think this thread is absolute nonsense.