First of all, a big FU to Century Media. I'm still waiting for my artbook while it seems that almost everybody that ordered it from a 3rd party seller got it a week ago. I typically like to sit down with the lyrics and the art to let myself absorb it but I settled for the free download that came with my non-existent album. Nevertheless, I've had some time to digest it and I think I'm sold!
I peg this album as the most mainstream sounding album they can manage while still remaining apologetically prog-metal.
Here's my breakdown:
The Alien - On my first listen I felt like DT just wanted to throw everything at the wall and I wasn't sure if I could get into the flow. It didn't take too long for it to click with me. I love the subject. Kind of out of left field to be honest but a lot of this album is. I generally like this song better than I do most lead singles but it's not my favorite. It has a mini epic vibe and in some ways sounds kind of reminiscent of the structure of other epics, albeit shrunk. I'm ok with that.
Answer the Call - Whoa. First of all I'm ecstatic that James has contributed a second set of lyrics and I feel that this might be his finest contribution. From the get go this song shows that DT is going to experiment with lots of different vibes and by the end of the album I felt it paid off in dividends. The intro and outro of this song is so....cool....and unusual. Very cool of James to go from an otherworldly subject to a universal anthemic theme. Speaking of which, there really aren't any "holy shit" moments from James. A lot has been said about his vocal limitations but I think he compensates for that by some pretty cool and catchy vocal melodies.
Invisible Monster - Honestly this is the perfect mid-tempo song. Despite being different from a lot of the rest of the album I really feel like this fits perfectly. Some really haunting melodies here which they introduce in other songs too.
Sleeping Giant - I need some more time to digest this but I feel that this also falls into the perfect mini-epic category. Kind of cool to have a song similar to A Nightmare to Remember in length and epicness, but having the lyrics to actually match the mood.
Transcending Time - Without a doubt, the low point of this album. In fact, I don't think it fits with the rest of the songs. There's nothing "wrong" with this song and it is quite good, but I'm getting a bit tired of their Rush tributes.
Awaken the Master - Dude, this....is....AWESOME. I was psyched to hear some JM lyrics and being cognizant of how he writes them, more in poetic form where others need to work to get them to fit, I felt the first few lines were kind of, I don't know, off putting? Yet as the vocals continue, they start to blend easier, they began to really fit the song, and we get some beautiful harmonies. While the first line was just James sing somewhat plainly, the flow of the lyrics and the harmonies really build in an awesome way. The weird riff about 6 minutes into the song really shows that DT has a lot of fun doing some different stuff without going too far off the path that fans want. Felt the same way about another riff during Answer the Call
A View From the Top of the World - Really need to digest this one more but it may end up being my favorite epic. I was a bit let down by similarities to the "structure" of Illumination Theory at points (oh god, should I delete that comment? I Really don't want this to turn into another "structure" debate
). It was different enough to not detract but after 10 minutes having a really mellow moment was just too reminiscent for me and kind of killed the momentum. I loved that in IT though and I think I'll get over it with this one especially since they reintroduce more haunting melodies. I mean, the section after this is HAUNTING as hell. Holy crap. In fact, just typing it out, I think I am over it.
Final verdict: A Dramatic Turn of Events is one of my three favorite albums along with Distance Over Time. Because of my generally tepid feelings about Transcending Time, I don't think this album will match those....but just barely.
BTW, did I mention FU to Century Media?!