DT15: A View From The Top Of The World (Timeline for DT15)

[devieira73]

Do we already know for sure who wrote the lyrics for all the songs in the album, besides TA (LaBrie) and IM (Petrucci)?

From interviews and screen captures we have:

SG, TT, AVFTTOTW: Petrucci

ATM: Myung

So far ATC is unknown

[geeeemo]

I can't count how many times JP's solos make my heart melt, sing or simply feel an emotion that has no name...just the JPguitar emotion.

[Pettor]

BTW, don't forget that the album isn't officially out yet. We are plenty who will wait one more week to hear it and don't want to know more about the actual music. The ones that does can most likely go to another thread or read reviews.

[ariich]

BTW, don't forget that the album isn't officially out yet. We are plenty who will wait one more week to hear it and don't want to know more about the actual music. The ones that does can most likely go to another thread or read reviews.

Thanks for the reminder, I know some people get advance copies and others find ways of hearing things early, but you're right that the album is not out yet. I've deleted some of the spoilery discussion - can we please keep it that way until the album is out?

Thanks everyone!

[Max Kuehnau]

BTW, don't forget that the album isn't officially out yet. We are plenty who will wait one more week to hear it and don't want to know more about the actual music. The ones that does can most likely go to another thread or read reviews.

Thanks for the reminder, I know some people get advance copies and others find ways of hearing things early, but you're right that the album is not out yet. I've deleted some of the spoilery discussion - can we please keep it that way until the album is out?

Thanks everyone!

and with that, I'd love to mention that I really love all the art for the album (that we could see in one of the trailers)

[MirrorMask]

Actually the album art made me think of a more mellow album, kinda like Octavarium (especially in comparison to the previous Train of Thought and the following Systematic Chaos). The Alien and the reviews read here and there seem however to point out to a darker and heavier album, continuing on the path that d/t set.

[Kyo]

I've had the album for weeks to prepare a review for a local (German) magazine. In addition to that, here's my personal take on it in English. I wrote this a month ago and after listening to the album a lot more, I stand by it more than ever:

The upcoming Dream Theater album "A View from the Top of the World" is easily the best thing they have done in ages. It may well be the best one since Images and Words. The nice thing about this is that it essentially confirms my long-held opinion that while I enjoyed a lot of their output, they were always staying way behind their full potential. Because they were rushing the creative process. Or because they were chasing trends. Or pandering to certain target groups. But this new album is different. It is wonderfully uncompromising without feeling excessive. It is focused in a way they haven't been since, well - see above! It is heavy without feeling forced or monochromatic. It has melody, catchy choruses and mellower moments, but no ballads and no obvious singles. What it does have is lots of little details, sounds, and rhythmic patterns that feel decidedly fresh for them without giving up their musical identity. It has songs with unusual song structures that feel carefully and organically developed. It (finally!) has impeccable sound courtesy of Andy Sneap. And it has Mike Mangini at last delivering the standout performance I'd been waiting for ever since he joined the band - powerful, inventive, multi-layered, full of attitude and always 100% in the moment. 35 years into their career, Dream Theater have indeed created the late masterpiece I always thought they still had in them - if only they approached a new album with the right mindset and enough time for songwriting. And make no mistake: This is as far from "old men's rock" as it gets!

[pfillion]

New review

https://tuonelamagazine.com/review-dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the-world/

[Max Kuehnau]

and a new interview with Jordan as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopbuQHnuGc

[erciccio]

I've just received confirmation that my Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World (Ltd. Deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook) has been shipped..
I will receive it on Thursday

[LKap13]

Where did you buy from?

[rab7]

Actually the album art made me think of a more mellow album, kinda like Octavarium (especially in comparison to the previous Train of Thought and the following Systematic Chaos). The Alien and the reviews read here and there seem however to point out to a darker and heavier album, continuing on the path that d/t set.

From the track by track reviews, I actually get the impression that it's heavier, but not darker, if that makes sense

[erciccio]

Where did you buy from?

Insideout shop

[RoeDent]

Have the reviews started coming out yet? I'm not seeing any from the usual reputable sources yet, which is surprising given it's coming out next week.

[RoeDent]

It literally blows my mind that vinyl made a “comeback” during a time when people are like “come on man, everyone streams music now”. I grew up with vinyl now there’s a shortage? I buy digital and cds for certain releases. The industry needs to make up its mind, vinyl, mp3, streams? 

Porque no los cuatros? Also it's not the industry that's doing this, it's you, the consumers.

[KevShmev]

Kyo,

With all due respect, the minute you said, "It may well be the best one since Images and Words," in your review, you lost me.  It would be like David Gilmour releasing a new album and a reviewer saying at the start, "This might be the best album he has been a part of since The Dark Side of the Moon!"  Throwing out stuff like that simply puts unrealistic expectations in the heads of those who have not heard the album yet.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel there are ways to write a glowingly positive review without feeling the need for that kind of hyperbole.

[Kyo]

Kyo,

With all due respect, the minute you said, "It may well be the best one since Images and Words," in your review, you lost me.  It would be like David Gilmour releasing a new album and a reviewer saying at the start, "This might be the best album he has been a part of since The Dark Side of the Moon!"  Throwing out stuff like that simply puts unrealistic expectations in the heads of those who have not heard the album yet.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel there are ways to write a glowingly positive review without feeling the need for that kind of hyperbole.

It's a personal view and it's certainly not hyperbole from my point of view. Everyone's top albums will be different. For me, Awake has always been mostly weak and FII has been very uneven. That leaves SfaM and Six Degrees as the main towering classics from the post-I&W years. I don't think any of the later Portnoy albums are great. My personal top 5 would probably be I&W, SfaM, 6DOIT, ADToE and (yes!) The Astonishing. Compared to these, the new album is significantly more focused and more fun than TA. It is significantly fresher and better sounding than ADToE. It is significantly more focused than 6DOIT and while it's a close call with SfaM, I prefer the new one because - again - it is more focused (musically, where SfaM sometimes sacrifices that for conceptual reasons) and the lack of sappy ballads makes it more fun overall. So no hyperbole at all needed to say that yes, I do like this album better than my personal favorites, with I&W being the lone exception (an album that I consider damn near perfect and almost impossible to top anyway). Hence, "It may well be the best one since Images and Words" is ultimately just a matter-of-fact realization from my point of view. You may not agree, but you may also completely disagree with me about Awake or ToT being weak albums where the new one being better in my opinion is just not much of a feat. That's just how it goes.

[LKap13]

Great analysis. Very exciting

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Kyo,

With all due respect, the minute you said, "It may well be the best one since Images and Words," in your review, you lost me.  It would be like David Gilmour releasing a new album and a reviewer saying at the start, "This might be the best album he has been a part of since The Dark Side of the Moon!"  Throwing out stuff like that simply puts unrealistic expectations in the heads of those who have not heard the album yet.  Maybe it's just me, but I feel there are ways to write a glowingly positive review without feeling the need for that kind of hyperbole.

I don't think he is being hyperbolic. As we discussed on another thread, and has he just pointed out, he (and many others) finds both Awake and FII to be inconsistent and sorta meh (as do I). He doesn't think that SFAM or SDOIT are untouchable, and neither do I. So it's entirely realistic that he and many other fans could think DT15 is the best album since I&W. I think ADTOE is a better and more consistent than SDOIT and maybe even SFAM. I also enjoy DoT more than those two...so why can't DT15 be like that too?

[nobloodyname]

[...]and the lack of sappy ballads makes it more fun overall.

I think there's only one emoji necessary here:

[Kotowboy]

I'm not the biggest fan of the albums pre-Falling Into Infinity either.

Images sounds really dated now and Awake is quite sterile and boring to me.

[Pettor]

I'm not the biggest fan of the albums pre-Falling Into Infinity either.

Images sounds really dated now and Awake is quite sterile and boring to me.

As I said in another thread, Pull me Under has weirdly aged best of the tracks for me 😁 Awake has good stuff still but I&W sounds dated in a way. It's still damn good however.

[LKap13]

Images is a 10/10

[Kotowboy]

I love the first 3 songs on Awake but then I just lose interest after that.

[Kotowboy]

Images is a 10/10

I don't think any of their albums are a 10/10.

Images loses points for the drum sound alone.

[LKap13]

It's a magical album. What amazes me is they wrote it when they were teens/early 20s. It's like.. What happened?!

Just bought the album from insideout. Wondering if I'll get it shipped early too

[Dream Team]

I love the first 3 songs on Awake but then I just lose interest after that.

Opposite for me, I mostly only listen to tracks 9 and 10.

[Fritzinger]

I really don't understand some reviewers. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, but... The Astonishing? Not ambitious? Come on.

Some random thoughts about the reviews, without exactly differentiating what reviewer wrote what (and trying not to spoil anything):
The band finally writes melodies that suit JLBs range/voice nowadays. That's a very good thing. He sounds great.
MM DOES incorporate his very own style and is off the leash over the whole course of the album. AND he sounds nothing like MP.
The title track and Illumination Theory do not have a similar structure in my opinion.

[JRuless]

Where did you buy from?

Insideout shop

[Dellers]

I've just received confirmation that my Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World (Ltd. Deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray Artbook) has been shipped..
I will receive it on Thursday

This makes me envious. With my luck I'm sure the local shop doesn't take into account that the mail service isn't a daily happening anymore, and if so that instantly means a four day delay from the actual date next week. There's no way they would send anything for a while yet.

[MustActFastToCoverUp]

I got a delivery notice from Century Media - for tomorrow. Are they already sending out the preorders?

There's no way this can be true can it

They're probably just printing out your shipping label. There's no way they're shipping actual products yet.

-Marc.

Just for the record: They switched the status back to "pending".

[hipodilski]

Mine is still at "Please check again later for scheduled delivery. "

[ledlemos08]

Is that pic from Qobuz? Looks pretty cool and I've been buying the hi-def versions of DT since some releases back which sounded really good! Not only higher bitrate, but actual difference in the sound.

Actually this is Audirvana, an "audiophile media player" that improves the sound and you can import your qobuz account and enjoy everything.

[LKap13]

So kyo's review is about as exciting as it can get. I wonder if DoT got any similar reviews, I doubt it. Gonna be a fun few weeks of listening after we get the album

[Kyo]

So kyo's review is about as exciting as it can get. I wonder if DoT got any similar reviews, I doubt it.

I know quite a few people who saw DoT as a "return to form" and among their best in a long time. Not being an Astonishing hater, I didn't see it that way at all.

I think my own DoT review was something along the lines of "on the one hand, it's an album with no duds where even the obligatory radio single and ballad don't overstay their welcome, and At Wit's End is among the best things they have done. On the other hand, it's hard to see many of these songs becoming future live classics. A solid album, but also a strangely complacent and unambitious work."