*Official* A View from the Top of the World discussion thread

[wolfking]

I'm with you, man.

Yea, I just listened to images and words and I think the new album might be better. Never thought I'd say those words. Okay am I crazy? Lol

The album has been out for 4 days as opposed to I&W which has been out for almost 30 years.  Think about that when comparing them.

[erwinrafael]

So...Images and Words is dated and caters to the taste of the older crowd? jk

[ThatOneGuy2112]

.

[erwinrafael]

Personally, given how much I sing along to this record, even my 5 and 8 year old kids, I can not wrap around my head this claim that the vocal melodies are lackluster. It's like some are looking for something very specific that they fail to see the beautiful thing that is actually there.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

.

[The Letter M]

Finally got around to opening my deluxe box set. It's a beauty! I also pulled out my other deluxe sets for a collection shot.



I really like that these sets have improved with each album and the new one is probably the best one yet!

-Marc.

[Dedalus]

I just watched the documentary.

Nice to see the guys having fun like a teenage band playing in the garage .

Playing the instruments, songwriting, laughing, making fun of each other

Very enjoyable to watch.

[Outcrier]

Wow, really enjoyed the new album. I didn't expect this from them after DT12 and TA. Dream Theater used to be me favorite band back in the Black Clouds era so i'm happy that they're putting out some nice albums as of late but this last one surprised me because of the amount of passages that i enjoyed here (and keep in mind i don't even listen to prog metal nowadays).

I imagine it's getting a lot of praise here in the forums.

[lovethedrake]

Title track is finally clicking for me… wow I love it.  JP and Mangini absolutely crush this song. 

The first half especially is some of the best music DT has done in ages and JLB does sound amazing.

The album just keeps on growing!! 

[erwinrafael]

Interesting streaming figures from Spotify as of today.

The Alien - 1,145,243
Answering The Call - 140,825
Invisible Monster - 634,413
Sleeping Giant - 118,051
Transcending Time - 104,161
Awaken The Master - 143,440
A View From The Top Of The World - 106,009

The casual DT listener is really more into the metal, riff-driven songs.

[Pettor]

Anyone got the HDtracks version? Since it did improve the quality quite a lot on ADTOE and DT12 I am curious to see if Views gets any improvements. Not that I think it needs it but still always nice with more dynamic range.

[Zydar]

Wow, really enjoyed the new album. I didn't expect this from them after DT12 and TA. Dream Theater used to be me favorite band back in the Black Clouds era so i'm happy that they're putting out some nice albums as of late but this last one surprised me because of the amount of passages that i enjoyed here (and keep in mind i don't even listen to prog metal nowadays).

I agree with this. I am surprised that I enjoy the new album as much as I do. I totally lost interest in the band a couple of years ago, and moved on to other bands/genres. They lost me completely with TA, and won me back a bit with D/T. This one seems like a continuation from D/T, but with a much better sound/mix. I listened to both singles as they were released and just thought "meh, nothing special here". But in the context of the album, I quite enjoy them now. My favourite track so far is Transcending Time.

I'm not blown away by the album, and it won't touch anything from the 1992-2005 era for me, but yeah I was pleasantly surprised.

[Tomislav95]

Really solid album, better than the previous one IMO. Between the two, D/T has my favorite song (Barstool Warrior) but I like pretty much everything else more on the latest. The only one I can't get into so far is sadly Awaken the Master, it seems everyone loves it. It's not bad though.
Answering the call is my favorite so far. Also love Transcending time, it reminds me of 80s era Rush. I hope both will be on setlist for European tour

Does anyone else feel like album's not that long despite being 70 minutes it's not hard at all to sit through it in one listen (there are albums shorter that it that I enjoy more but feel tedious after some time).

[genome]

I noticed the verses are very similar on this album.

JP chugging a string with Rudess playing shifting chords while JLB sings over the top - happens on The Alien, Answering the Call, Invisible Monster and Sleeping Giant and Awaken the Master 

[Kotowboy]

They do that a lot anyway....

[Peter Mc]

Interesting streaming figures from Spotify as of today.

The Alien - 1,145,243
Answering The Call - 140,825
Invisible Monster - 634,413
Sleeping Giant - 118,051
Transcending Time - 104,161
Awaken The Master - 143,440
A View From The Top Of The World - 106,009

The casual DT listener is really more into the metal, riff-driven songs.

Taking out the two singles which obviously have an advantage, the rest are all fairly even with ATC and ATM ahead of the rest.  ATC is not what I’d class as one of their most metal, riff driven songs.

[RoeDent]

The album's OK but I feel like it's lacking variety, mainly in regard to softer sections. The album is lacking a proper ballad, like Out of Reach or Far from Heaven. I was hoping that the middle section of Sleeping Giant might provide something a bit softer, perhaps like Barstool Warrior's middle section, but it goes into another technical instrumental.

[Wim Kruithof]

Marc, that's a heck of a collection, very nice! When I've collected all the vinyl available (still need Marquee, Images & Words and Octavarium), I consider buying those artbooks as well. They look beautiful, I have Luna Park already. But only Distance Over Time, Distant Memories and a View are available right, at this point? Is there any box / book available of Chaos in Motion or Breaking the Fourth Wall?

Meanwhile, a View is still growing with each listening and I do consider it to be one of the very best Dream Theater albums ever made. A Dramatic Turn is also being loved by me but althought their highs are really, really high, it also brought me Build Me Up, Break Me Down and Lost Not Forgotten, which made the lows very low also.

A View however does not have a single low for me and that's something I hardly can say 'bout any album this far. This View might be reaching the Top after all.

[KevShmev]

Personally, given how much I sing along to this record, even my 5 and 8 year old kids, I can not wrap around my head this claim that the vocal melodies are lackluster. It's like some are looking for something very specific that they fail to see the beautiful thing that is actually there.

That doesn't even make sense.  That basically implies that Dream Theater fans are going out of their way to not like the new Dream Theater album. 

It could just be that...wait for it...some fans do not hear it the same way you do.  Crazy concept, right?

[erciccio]

Will, I have just finished my first two listens of the album, and my overall impression is not that positive.

Of course the level of quality and musicianship is super-high as usual, but I am totally missing the "magic" of the Dream Theater I love.

My favorite songs so far are the two singles (I had not listened to them before today, so they are pretty fresh for me) and The Sleeping Giant; the ATC, TT and ATM are okish, while I found the epic just boring.

The main issues I have with this disc are:
 - JP's background work on the verses; he is basically chugga-chugging all time, he never plays chords, harmony or just keeps silent for a while...
 - JP solos are not memorable at all, none of them.
 - the lack of any real highlight in the whole album (and I am not talking about a full song, there is not even a 2-minutes section that really stands out)
 - the "flatness" of the composition approach; yes, there is TT that is upbeat and major, but all the rest of the album has basically the same flavour
 - the mix: it's true that the drums and bass are great this time, but all the rest is quite muddled for my ears. James in particular is really low and his voice never stands out.

After 2 hours with AVFTTOTW I switched to Breaking all Illusions for just a couple of minutes, and it was a musical relief..

I am sorry to say that, but the new album is well below my expectations (same as D/T).

Hope it will get better with time, but I feel like I'm not going back to it many more times...

 

[Kotowboy]

That doesn't even make sense.  That basically implies that Dream Theater fans are going out of their way to not like the new Dream Theater album. 

Given how some people react to The Astonishing on the forum i'd say yes.

[erwinrafael]

Personally, given how much I sing along to this record, even my 5 and 8 year old kids, I can not wrap around my head this claim that the vocal melodies are lackluster. It's like some are looking for something very specific that they fail to see the beautiful thing that is actually there.

That doesn't even make sense.  That basically implies that Dream Theater fans are going out of their way to not like the new Dream Theater album. 

It could just be that...wait for it...some fans do not hear it the same way you do.  Crazy concept, right?

Not that they are going out of their way to not like the album. Instead, that they keep on looking for Images and Words or some glorified album, and when they do not see it, then it fails expectations. This happened before, actually up to this day, with people insisting to look for Portnoy in the drums when we have a Mangini, who is his own unique personality.

[Stadler]

Personally, given how much I sing along to this record, even my 5 and 8 year old kids, I can not wrap around my head this claim that the vocal melodies are lackluster. It's like some are looking for something very specific that they fail to see the beautiful thing that is actually there.

That doesn't even make sense.  That basically implies that Dream Theater fans are going out of their way to not like the new Dream Theater album. 

It could just be that...wait for it...some fans do not hear it the same way you do.  Crazy concept, right?

I'm with you, Kev; my copy is in transit - I should get it today, I think - and I'm going to either like it or I'm not, and I won't know until I hear it, but I don't get why people care so much that someone else has a different take on things.   If I like it and someone doesn't, my day doesn't change even one little bit (and vice versa). 

[LKap13]

Personally, given how much I sing along to this record, even my 5 and 8 year old kids, I can not wrap around my head this claim that the vocal melodies are lackluster. It's like some are looking for something very specific that they fail to see the beautiful thing that is actually there.

That doesn't even make sense.  That basically implies that Dream Theater fans are going out of their way to not like the new Dream Theater album. 

It could just be that...wait for it...some fans do not hear it the same way you do.  Crazy concept, right?

I'm with you, Kev; my copy is in transit - I should get it today, I think - and I'm going to either like it or I'm not, and I won't know until I hear it, but I don't get why people care so much that someone else has a different take on things.   If I like it and someone doesn't, my day doesn't change even one little bit (and vice versa).

You're gonna love it!

[Stadler]

I don't think FII was a great performance if I rank it against other albums.

I wouldn't put it as high as Images, Scenes, Awake or The Astonishing (which, to me, is easily his best overall performance of the last 15+ years), but FII was still JLB in his prime, despite the food poisoning incident.  The fact that he still did such a great job on both A Change of Seasons (for the EP) and FII is a major credit to him.

I just don't think much of FII on the whole.

Hell yes, he's great on The Astonishing.

My usual complaint about every DT album is the fact that I consider James to be underutilized. I feel that way about the new album as well.

He's fucking nails on the BC&SL covers disc. If only they could've written those vocals into the album proper.

I noted above that I still have to listen to the new album, and I will (I'm excited to do so) but there seems to be a theme here.  I don't know if this is the thread to bring it up, but does that "underutilization" have to do with the methods and processes for recording?  How does the writing actually happen to get to that point?

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Have only listened to it once but my initial impressions are very positive. Of all the Mangini albums, it feels the most like a Portnoy album, if that makes sense. There are a lot of moments where the band just kind of lets loose in a way that they have generally avoided lately, and I love that! I'd also be remiss if I didn't comment on the production. The album is a sonic experience from start to finish! My favorite track thus far is Transcending Time, but I also think that's a somewhat predictable choice right now as some of the other songs will clearly take many listens to get a hang of (Sleeping Giant in particular is just wild with only one listen).

I find myself feeling very grateful that Dream Theater are still releasing quality music and that certain aspects of their craft (in this case, the production) continue to improve over time.

[Elite]

My biggest problem with this album is the relatively uninspiring solo sections. Dream Theater seem to have a habit of writing completely unrelated circular riffs to solo over. Compare the solo sections in Answering the Call and Transcending Time to (for example) Outcry, Beyond This Life or Metropolis. The last three songs have flowing, interesting instrumental sections with solos, that actually somewhere, instead of repeating the same thing over again, whereas the two tracks on the new album randomly insert a circular riff that doesn't make any sense with regards to the rest of the song to solo over. To boot, these two solo sections are very similar as well. It's a shame, because on this album DT show they are still perfectly capable of writing interesting music (The Alien, Sleeping Giant, for example) and to then fall back on repeating the same riff for a solo feels like they're phoning it in. 'Let's do a solo here, because that's probably what people expect here'. At least that's how I see it.

Still I enjoy the new album, having heard it only twice so far.

[LKap13]

Have only listened to it once but my initial impressions are very positive. Of all the Mangini albums, it feels the most like a Portnoy album, if that makes sense. There are a lot of moments where the band just kind of lets loose in a way that they have generally avoided lately, and I love that! I'd also be remiss if I didn't comment on the production. The album is a sonic experience from start to finish! My favorite track thus far is Transcending Time, but I also think that's a somewhat predictable choice right now as some of the other songs will clearly take many listens to get a hang of (Sleeping Giant in particular is just wild with only one listen).

I find myself feeling very grateful that Dream Theater are still releasing quality music and that certain aspects of their craft (in this case, the production) continue to improve over time.

I echo this 100%

[romdrums]

After getting a few listens in this weekend, I'm digging the record.  Like D/T, it sounds like they had fun making the record, and I'm glad that translates.  The mix is fantastic, and it's great to hear Mangini sound more and more integrated with the band.  There are plenty of moments that make me smile, a few that make me say "holy shit, how did they do that?" and a few that just blow me away.  I don't need them to reinvent the wheel.  I just want to hear them sound like they're having fun and making the music they want to make.  If I can feel that sense of joy and purpose, then I'm happy!

[kaos2900]

It has taken 3 quality listens for this to click with me. Haven't formed a solid opinion yet but I'm enjoying the album. Probably the best sounding DT album since Octavarium. I would say for me that Jordan is really low in the mix and isn't as present as other albums.

[Anxiety35]

I wanted to wait until after the weekend to give my opinion.

I think this is a stellar album. It's a DT album that doesn't sound like another DT album. It sounds modern and fresh. The guys seemed really inspired.

There is a lot to digest. One thing I have noticed in listening - the vocal harmonies by LaBrie. They are excellent throughout the album. It adds a great touch.

[jayvee3]

Still need to digest more only being a few days in and too early to rank things yet, but some more random thoughts:

- I really like this album and the way it sounds is kind of grand and epic.
- TT is still my fave. Love it. And I love the solo. Some saying that the solo ruins the song makes me chuckle, but sucks for them, as I think it’s terrific.
- Sleeping Giant is so good. Love the second chorus variation and that riff that is prominent and the song ends with is groovy AF and rocks…
- ATC is great. Such a good song.
- The Alien is getting forgotten about while everyone is getting used to the new tracks, but really is a great and solid song. I think it will climb again in peoples minds once the new album feel has worn off down the track.
- I like Awaken the Master, but it hasn’t fully clicked with me yet.
- I enjoy the title track immensely, but don’t really care for the decision to end it on the “life of legacy note”. Still feels a bit weird and abrupt to me.
- I like the soloing and think there are some memorable sections, particularly in TA, SG, TT and the title track. But as there are some similar sounding riffs and a similar frenetic pace throughout, I actually think they could have connected a couple of the tracks with similar motifs. Not a concept album, but in the way a couple of songs connected on Awake. There is a riff in Awaken The Master which sounds like it is going to be the same riff as The Alien, until JP changes the last note. I think it would have been a great way for more cohesiveness to sprinkle a couple of the same riffs rather than just being similar…
- I wouldn’t have hated a short ballad between ATM and the Title track a la wait for sleep for a breather when listening to the album as a whole.

Anyway, just randomness after 4 days, so carry on…

[Ben_Jamin]

I don't think FII was a great performance if I rank it against other albums.

I wouldn't put it as high as Images, Scenes, Awake or The Astonishing (which, to me, is easily his best overall performance of the last 15+ years), but FII was still JLB in his prime, despite the food poisoning incident.  The fact that he still did such a great job on both A Change of Seasons (for the EP) and FII is a major credit to him.

I just don't think much of FII on the whole.

Hell yes, he's great on The Astonishing.

My usual complaint about every DT album is the fact that I consider James to be underutilized. I feel that way about the new album as well.

He's fucking nails on the BC&SL covers disc. If only they could've written those vocals into the album proper.

I noted above that I still have to listen to the new album, and I will (I'm excited to do so) but there seems to be a theme here.  I don't know if this is the thread to bring it up, but does that "underutilization" have to do with the methods and processes for recording?  How does the writing actually happen to get to that point?

I have no problem with the effects on the vocals. I think they add to the songs and are there to add effect. 

I myself am accepting that this is just how JLB is choosing to sing with Dream Theater, and it's likely to do with being concerned about singing not only these songs, but will be be able to sing the next song, or sing a new album song after an intense vocal song. He needs his rest as a vocalist as well and it needs more to heal the more you age. Look at Geddy Lee's vocals, they also toured long tours and had long nights and it shows in the tour releases.

[Ben_Jamin]

Will, I have just finished my first two listens of the album, and my overall impression is not that positive.

Of course the level of quality and musicianship is super-high as usual, but I am totally missing the "magic" of the Dream Theater I love.

My favorite songs so far are the two singles (I had not listened to them before today, so they are pretty fresh for me) and The Sleeping Giant; the ATC, TT and ATM are okish, while I found the epic just boring.

The main issues I have with this disc are:
 - JP's background work on the verses; he is basically chugga-chugging all time, he never plays chords, harmony or just keeps silent for a while...
 - JP solos are not memorable at all, none of them.
 - the lack of any real highlight in the whole album (and I am not talking about a full song, there is not even a 2-minutes section that really stands out)
 - the "flatness" of the composition approach; yes, there is TT that is upbeat and major, but all the rest of the album has basically the same flavour
 - the mix: it's true that the drums and bass are great this time, but all the rest is quite muddled for my ears. James in particular is really low and his voice never stands out.

After 2 hours with AVFTTOTW I switched to Breaking all Illusions for just a couple of minutes, and it was a musical relief..

I am sorry to say that, but the new album is well below my expectations (same as D/T).

Hope it will get better with time, but I feel like I'm not going back to it many more times...

 

I don't think you will either if it doesn't meet your expectations you set for a new Dream Theater music. What exactly were you expecting from this new album?

I only ask as I don't have any expectations for new Dream Theater music. If they want to do a poppy song, great for them, if they want to release a true Canadian Rap song, I'll be there for that.

For myself, I am just along for the ride on the Dream Theater train of thought of music.

[WilliamMunny]

I don't think FII was a great performance if I rank it against other albums.

I wouldn't put it as high as Images, Scenes, Awake or The Astonishing (which, to me, is easily his best overall performance of the last 15+ years), but FII was still JLB in his prime, despite the food poisoning incident.  The fact that he still did such a great job on both A Change of Seasons (for the EP) and FII is a major credit to him.

I just don't think much of FII on the whole.

Hell yes, he's great on The Astonishing.

My usual complaint about every DT album is the fact that I consider James to be underutilized. I feel that way about the new album as well.

He's fucking nails on the BC&SL covers disc. If only they could've written those vocals into the album proper.

I noted above that I still have to listen to the new album, and I will (I'm excited to do so) but there seems to be a theme here.  I don't know if this is the thread to bring it up, but does that "underutilization" have to do with the methods and processes for recording?  How does the writing actually happen to get to that point?

I have no problem with the effects on the vocals. I think they add to the songs and are there to add effect. 

I myself am accepting that this is just how JLB is choosing to sing with Dream Theater, and it's likely to do with being concerned about singing not only these songs, but will be be able to sing the next song, or sing a new album song after an intense vocal song. He needs his rest as a vocalist as well and it needs more to heal the more you age. Look at Geddy Lee's vocals, they also toured long tours and had long nights and it shows in the tour releases.

This is something I think about a lot—I LOVE "Snakes & Arrows" and "Clockwork Angels," and I think Geddy's gracefully aged vocals have a lot to do with that. He clearly has limited range when compared to the mid-70s, but as with Robert Plant, I don't think that diminishes anything. In fact, I think his continued progression as a vocalist is something that's often overlooked. James has, in his own way, done the same thing.

The screams and wails are no longer there, but man oh man does his voice sound rich and full on this new album. It's simply a pleasure to listen to. The whole middle part in the title track gives me the same sort of goosebumps that the middle section of Voices used to, and in that way, he hasn't lost a step.

Also, James is still going strong as my favorite lyricist