The Alien Listening Party ! ALL SPOILERS !

[Kotowboy]

When Portnoy left I didn't feel awful.

I clearly remember waking up on the morning of 2009 and reading a text from a friend saying he had quit and I just thought that was funny. And at the time he was my favourite

member of the band. I almost got his drumming DVD course.

[Dream Team]

When Portnoy left I didn't feel awful.

I clearly remember waking up on the morning of 2009 and reading a text from a friend saying he had quit and I just thought that was funny. And at the time he was my favourite

member of the band. I almost got his drumming DVD course.

Then your friend is a prophet, because he didn’t quit until 2010.

[Kotowboy]

I couldnt remember the exact date. I knew it was definitely after 2008 as I was in my new house in 2009 and I moved out 2012.

[425]

Usually bands release as first single the most "accessible" song, so if this is the tip of the iceberg... I think it's gonna be a feast 

I do want to caution people against assuming this. Historically this has been the case, but in recent years I think some prog and metal bands have moved away from this. Presumably the rationale for doing this in the past has been to put forward the song most likely to get mainstream attention, but I think there's starting to be a realization somewhere in the world of prog/metal bands and labels that this is vanishingly unlikely to happen and it's instead a better idea to put forward something that's going to excite your core audience and attract people who are on the fringes of your audience.

See, for example, Avantasia releasing The Raven Child, the longest song on the album at 11 minutes, as the lead single for Moonglow. One of the least accessible songs on the album, but a perfect choice to get Avantasia fans excited, bring in Blind Guardian fans due to Hansi Kursch's prominent guest spot, and potentially appeal to prog metal fans.

[countoftuscany42]

The problem with Avantasia releasing Raven Child in advance was that the rest of the album couldn’t live up to it   
It’s not a bad album, but it’s a case where I felt like the marketing for the album ruined my enjoyment of it by giving me the dessert before the entrèe.  None of DTs singles have done that for me, on their own. But having the first three tracks of D/T out as singles prerelease was a bit much. Speaks more to my lack of restraint, so I’m trying not to over-listen to The Alien.
But yes I agree it is smart for bands in the progsphere to market toward their audience first

[Peter Mc]

It’s funny that most bands release their best songs as singles.  You can’t imagine Bon Jovi for example saying “don’t release Livin On A Prayer, keep the best stuff back for the album”.

With prog bands though it is like the opposite where they treat the single as almost like a teaser for the album but keep the best stuff hidden until the album comes out.  I’m totally ok with it too, I’d be disappointed if all the best stuff on a DT album got released as singles first.

[TAC]

Decomposer Reaction video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNpHV-16AuI

[Kotowboy]

  The one person who's reaction I could not give a sh¡t about is CoverKillerNation ? Is he still a thing ? One of the most irritating YouTubers ever.

[geeeemo]

I like DeuceReacts the best. He has Dream Theater Saturdays.

[Dedalus]

The way I see it, the band are trying new kinds of themes, structures and melodies while still being identifiable as Dream Theater with this track. They've never been the kind of band that'd completely lose that signature in a new release, even if their shifts had previously pushed them outside of their identified genre every once in a blue moon (with Falling Into Infinity, Octavarium and The Astonishing). Sure, maybe the shifts were arguably more drastic before a certain point (that is, if you're only considering variation in style rather than structure, pacing, mood etc. where I think the album shifts are just as prominent as before), but I still don't think the band are on autopilot in that regard, with The Alien very much considered.

I always wonder what people actually want when I see people complaining that this is the same old DT, especially when considering how unusual this is for a single (which has traditionally been one of the more familiar sounding songs of the album like On the Backs of Angels and Untethered Angel). They could do the whole funk-prog thing and get compared to Lines in the Sand, they could do jazz fusiony stuff (which imo the middle JP solo feels like it has elements of) and get compared to Beyond This Life / Take the Time / Surrender to Reason (depending on where they go with it), they could go all orchestral and symphonic and get compared to The Astonishing, they could do another rap section and get compared to Honor Thy Father / This Dying Soul / Prophets of War or the Canadian rap, streamlined alt-metal as in Paralysed or BMUBMD, they could do understated prog rock and get compared to Repentence and Octavarium, they could do full on pop rock and get compared to I Walk Beside You and You Not Me, excursions into extreme metal territory in A Nightmare to Remember, spacey atmospherics in Pale Blue Dot / Octavarium, spaghetti western style in Fall Into the Light's mid-section, folksy stuff in Solitary Shell and Hymn of a Thousand Voices, electronic music elements in Space Dye Vest / Outcry / BMUBMD, avant garde noise weirdness in the NOMAC tracks and the end of Misunderstood, upbeat prog in Surrender to Reason / Barstool Warrior, Deep Purple style hard rock in Viper King, musical theater stuff yet again all over The Astonishing and Scenes... hell, reggae would probably be referenced back to LTE's Ya Mon and Universal Mind.

Sure, there's room to go deeper into some of these but still, I don't think there's really enough of an appreciation sometimes for just how wide the DT stylistic palette can be, with this song included. You got a lot of harmonically off-kilter elements, the aforementioned fusiony middle solo, MM doing that quirky stick rhythm (also worth noting that his performance here is pretty unprecedented overall), that uplifting, double-time solo towards the end, that orchestral, cinematic ending that blends in with elements of that opening riff, the unusual melodic style, a lot of fresh, varied stuff imo, even if not all of it is entirely new in some form. That's just what happens when you get a band that's already done a fair amount of musical exploration. I'm not sure where else they can go without sounding like they're putting novelty over songwriting or doing BtBaM esque weirdness (and even their last few tracks don't seem like they have anything entirely new for them), which has never really been what the band were about.

Very interesting post. Lots to read and think about. 

[BeatriceNB]

[...]
Sure, there's room to go deeper into some of these but still, I don't think there's really enough of an appreciation sometimes for just how wide the DT stylistic palette can be, with this song included. You got a lot of harmonically off-kilter elements, the aforementioned fusiony middle solo, MM doing that quirky stick rhythm (also worth noting that his performance here is pretty unprecedented overall), that uplifting, double-time solo towards the end, that orchestral, cinematic ending that blends in with elements of that opening riff, the unusual melodic style, a lot of fresh, varied stuff imo, even if not all of it is entirely new in some form. That's just what happens when you get a band that's already done a fair amount of musical exploration. I'm not sure where else they can go without sounding like they're putting novelty over songwriting or doing BtBaM esque weirdness (and even their last few tracks don't seem like they have anything entirely new for them), which has never really been what the band were about.

I agree with your overall comment, but I disagree about the BTBAM part. Revolution In Limbo has a 'Bossa Nova' section, and detuned acoustic guitars added to the layers, which are things that BTBAM haven't done in the past. And Fix The Error is a fairly simple Punk-y song with a drum breakdown with 4 drummers playing solos, both new things in their discography.
And judging by some interviews, there's more uncharted territory by the band in Colors II.

[BeatriceNB]

Watching the music video for The Alien and paying attention to it gave me a lot of appreciation for the song. It's way more cohesive and story-driven than I imagined.

[Lonk]

(I It (the song (The alien)) came played on the radio twice as I was driving!) I'm ready to put it down .

For the record, I did not ejaculate on my radio, nor have I ever though of it, nor plan to do it in the future 

Where the hell do you live where they play a 9 minute DT song on the radio?

I heard it on the Liquid Metal Sirius station. The Devils Dozen. The Alien was number 10.

Ah I wasn't even thinking about Sirius...I thought it was just normal ass radio. Last time I heart DT on normal radio was about 10 years ago in Hawaii on a college station.

Yes, I have a (free) subscription to Sirius. My go to stations are Liquid Metal and Octane. The Alien played on Liquid Metal. The only rock station from local radio is 104.3, which they only play classic rock with the occasional Metallica song (Fade to Black or Enter Sandman).

[erwinrafael]

There is already a drum cover in Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1gSDo45Duk

[Chino]

After listening to this song about a dozen times over the weekend, I've determined I really like the last 6 minutes or so.

[Enigmachine]

I agree with your overall comment, but I disagree about the BTBAM part. Revolution In Limbo has a 'Bossa Nova' section, and detuned acoustic guitars added to the layers, which are things that BTBAM haven't done in the past. And Fix The Error is a fairly simple Punk-y song with a drum breakdown with 4 drummers playing solos, both new things in their discography.
And judging by some interviews, there's more uncharted territory by the band in Colors II.

That's fair, I did admittedly forget that those songs offered those things. Makes sense as an analogy too, because while those two songs are both identifiable as the band quite clearly, there are new elements integrated in there, which I would also claim about The Alien (albiet maybe more in the margins which, to be fair, should be expected from a band with considerably more material). Changed the original post to reflect that a bit better.

[hunnus2000]

After listening to this song about a dozen times over the weekend, I've determined I really like the last 6 minutes or so.

If I remember correctly, you were kind of "meh" on the song. Just curious what turned those last six minutes around for you? (Apologies if I am incorrect about your initial reaction to The Alien).

[Chino]

After listening to this song about a dozen times over the weekend, I've determined I really like the last 6 minutes or so.

If I remember correctly, you were kind of "meh" on the song. Just curious what turned those last six minutes around for you? (Apologies if I am incorrect about your initial reaction to The Alien).

Correct. It's hard to say. I do like how the song closes, but I still maintain that it's too chaotic at the start. I think upon initial listen, that opening bit tainted the rest of the track. 

[hefdaddy42]

The way I see it, the band are trying new kinds of themes, structures and melodies while still being identifiable as Dream Theater with this track. They've never been the kind of band that'd completely lose that signature in a new release, even if their shifts had previously pushed them outside of their identified genre every once in a blue moon (with Falling Into Infinity, Octavarium and The Astonishing). Sure, maybe the shifts were arguably more drastic before a certain point (that is, if you're only considering variation in style rather than structure, pacing, mood etc. where I think the album shifts are just as prominent as before), but I still don't think the band are on autopilot in that regard, with The Alien very much considered.

I always wonder what people actually want when I see people complaining that this is the same old DT, especially when considering how unusual this is for a single (which has traditionally been one of the more familiar sounding songs of the album like On the Backs of Angels and Untethered Angel). They could do the whole funk-prog thing and get compared to Lines in the Sand, they could do jazz fusiony stuff (which imo the middle JP solo feels like it has elements of) and get compared to Beyond This Life / Take the Time / Surrender to Reason (depending on where they go with it), they could go all orchestral and symphonic and get compared to The Astonishing, they could do another rap section and get compared to Honor Thy Father / This Dying Soul / Prophets of War or the Canadian rap, streamlined alt-metal as in Paralysed or BMUBMD, they could do understated prog rock and get compared to Repentence and Octavarium, they could do full on pop rock and get compared to I Walk Beside You and You Not Me, excursions into extreme metal territory in A Nightmare to Remember, spacey atmospherics in Pale Blue Dot / Octavarium, spaghetti western style in Fall Into the Light's mid-section, folksy stuff in Solitary Shell and Hymn of a Thousand Voices, electronic music elements in Space Dye Vest / Outcry / BMUBMD, avant garde noise weirdness in the NOMAC tracks and the end of Misunderstood, upbeat prog in Surrender to Reason / Barstool Warrior, Deep Purple style hard rock in Viper King, musical theater stuff yet again all over The Astonishing and Scenes... hell, reggae would probably be referenced back to LTE's Ya Mon and Universal Mind.

Sure, there's room to go deeper into some of these but still, I don't think there's really enough of an appreciation sometimes for just how wide the DT stylistic palette can be, with this song included. You got a lot of harmonically off-kilter elements, the aforementioned fusiony middle solo, MM doing that quirky stick rhythm (also worth noting that his performance here is pretty unprecedented overall), that uplifting, double-time solo towards the end, that orchestral, cinematic ending that blends in with elements of that opening riff, the unusual melodic style, a lot of fresh, varied stuff imo, even if not all of it is entirely new in some form. That's just what happens when you get a band that's already done a fair amount of musical exploration. I'm not sure where else they can go without sounding like they're putting novelty over songwriting or doing BtBaM esque weirdness (and even their last few tracks don't seem like they have anything entirely new for them), which has never really been what the band were about.

Good stuff here.

After my first listen, I thought it was pretty weird.

After multiple listens, I think it's really interesting.  The mix is fantastic, the drums and bass are extremely clear.

For me, the MVP of the track is Mangini by far.  Simply MONSTROUS.

JM's parts are really cool, also.

I love that they chose to start the song with a drum fill, because MM definitely drives this song like a madman.

I mean, there's a lot going on.  I love that they had the balls to put out a 9+minute song as the lead single.  "This is who we are."

Because, I mean, it IS who they are.

Two thumbs up.

[Madman Shepherd]

So I finally got to listen to this a second time. First time was with headphones and my feelings were very conflicting: the good - it was all over the map. the bad - it was all over the map. the good - a lot of interesting vocal phrasing. the bad - odd vocal phrasing

A few days later I had the opportunity to sit down in front of my sound system while watching the video on my tv.

It clicked.

In some ways I feel like this is an LTE song with vocals. I was always less enthusiastic about the prog parts of DT and this seems like that side on overdrive but I dig it because it is a step beyond what they've done before.

I really dig the lyrics and the video drives home the story behind it. LaBrie's vocals don't stand out but that goes along with my thought about this song working well as an instrumental song and I consider the vocals a bonus. A few cool things LaBrie did though, so even the vocals are a steph beyond what we're used to from him.


Speaking of the video, does anybody know if these are clips taken from somewhere or is it all original?

[hunnus2000]

So I finally got to listen to this a second time. First time was with headphones and my feelings were very conflicting: the good - it was all over the map. the bad - it was all over the map. the good - a lot of interesting vocal phrasing. the bad - odd vocal phrasing

A few days later I had the opportunity to sit down in front of my sound system while watching the video on my tv.

It clicked.

In some ways I feel like this is an LTE song with vocals. I was always less enthusiastic about the prog parts of DT and this seems like that side on overdrive but I dig it because it is a step beyond what they've done before.

I really dig the lyrics and the video drives home the story behind it. LaBrie's vocals don't stand out but that goes along with my thought about this song working well as an instrumental song and I consider the vocals a bonus. A few cool things LaBrie did though, so even the vocals are a steph beyond what we're used to from him.


Speaking of the video, does anybody know if these are clips taken from somewhere or is it all original?

I'm curious about this as well.

[ZirconBlue]

It’s funny that most bands release their best songs as singles.  You can’t imagine Bon Jovi for example saying “don’t release Livin On A Prayer, keep the best stuff back for the album”.

Bon Jovi almost didn't include "Livin' on a Prayer" on the album at all! 

[Chino]

It’s funny that most bands release their best songs as singles.  You can’t imagine Bon Jovi for example saying “don’t release Livin On A Prayer, keep the best stuff back for the album”.

Bon Jovi almost didn't include "Livin' on a Prayer" on the album at all!

You guys might get a kick out of this article.

https://www.ranker.com/list/hit-songs-almost-left-off-album/kelly-patrick

[Bertie_Wooster]

Speaking of the video, does anybody know if these are clips taken from somewhere or is it all original?
[/quote]


I think I have seen those Aliens in a coheed and cambria video

[Kram]

So after two listens I think The Alien is pretty kick ass!  The only thing I'm not totally digging is JR lead sounds/patches - just don't care for them.  Everything else sounds great and yes, Mangini is the MVP.  I wonder if he was motivated to kick it up a notch after MP recorded TV and LTE3?

[TM172003]

My only complaint about the song is Jordan’s solo, it’s a bit samey. I love the rest of the song.

[lovethedrake]

I’m really enjoying The Alien… kind of reminds me of the post SFAM portnoy era but with much better production.   The vocal melodies aren’t amazing but the outro melody is great, the energy is high and the petrucci lead is beautiful. 

This song has me very optimistic for the album.

[jsbru]

I approve.  There aren't a ton of hooks, which I usually appreciate, but the twisting, winding, complex rhythms and the guitar melodies/solos are spectacular, and this song is about the turbulence and unpredictability of traveling through space, so it's more a mood/feel song than a sing-along.  The vocal melodies leave something to be desired--DT overuses the diminished scale to the point that it's boring now.

Jordan's solos are more of the same, but then again, Jordan has always been my third-favorite DT keyboardist.  My favorite Rudess solos are all the simpler, more melodic ones, especially when he's on the Moog.  Not every solo has to set the record for number of half-diminished arpeggios in as short of a timeframe as possible, mixed with a section of atonal wailing on the i-Pad continuum.  There are a few short clips where he's using some new sounds though, which are cool.

The highlight of the song is that this is absolutely the best Mangini has sounded with the band to date, both tonally in the mix, and musically.  They are really flowing together here, and there's a ton of cool fills that drive the melody instead of just accompanying it, especially in the slow sections.  The percussion part is also fantastic.  And the opening fill is frickin' awesome.  There's no way Portnoy could have wrote the drum track for this song.  I don't hate Portnoy, of course, but Mangini is and always has been technically superior.  This is the first song where I think he's smoothed the edges of his technical prowess to really musically gel with the band.

[erwinrafael]

So I am playing the song right now then I heard my 8-year old humming the JP outro solo while he's drawing Pokemon. This daddy's heart is filled with joy. 

[gzarruk]

So I am playing the song right now then I heard my 8-year old humming the JP outro solo while he's drawing Pokemon. This daddy's heart is filled with joy. 

Parenting goals

[jayvee3]

So I am playing the song right now then I heard my 8-year old humming the JP outro solo while he's drawing Pokemon. This daddy's heart is filled with joy. 

Man, now that is awesome! 

[DoctorAction]

So I am playing the song right now then I heard my 8-year old humming the JP outro solo while he's drawing Pokemon. This daddy's heart is filled with joy. 

Nice. 

[Progmetty]

It’s funny that most bands release their best songs as singles.  You can’t imagine Bon Jovi for example saying “don’t release Livin On A Prayer, keep the best stuff back for the album”.

Bon Jovi almost didn't include "Livin' on a Prayer" on the album at all!

You guys might get a kick out of this article.

https://www.ranker.com/list/hit-songs-almost-left-off-album/kelly-patrick

Shit Billie Jean! I don't think it's an overstatement to say that would have been a history changing moment 

[genome]

Song clicked with me last night when I sat down and learned it on guitar. Man is it good fun to play!

[evilasiojr]

So I am playing the song right now then I heard my 8-year old humming the JP outro solo while he's drawing Pokemon. This daddy's heart is filled with joy. 

Parenting goals

Indeed!