Dream Theater Survivor 2021 - The Astonishing - Round 3 (VOTE FOR FOUR!!!!)

[The Letter M]

The Astonishing
Dystopian Overture
The Gift Of Music
A Better Life
Lord Nafaryus
A Savior In The Square
When Your Time Has Come
Act Of Faythe
Three Days
A Life Left Behind
Ravenskill
Chosen
A Tempting Offer
The X Aspect
A New Beginning

Moment Of Betrayal
Heaven's Cove
The Path That Divides
The Walking Shadow
Our New World

Round 2's Results
Dystopian Overture 4 (2.8%)
The Gift Of Music 1 (0.7%)
A Better Life 6 (4.1%)
Lord Nafaryus 2 (1.4%)
A Savior In The Square 4 (2.8%)
When Your Time Has Come 6 (4.1%)
Act Of Faythe 9 (6.2%)
Three Days 4 (2.8%)
A Life Left Behind 2 (1.4%)
Ravenskill 2 (1.4%)
Chosen 7 (4.8%)
A Tempting Offer 7 (4.8%)
The X Aspect 4 (2.8%)
Road To Revolution 11 (7.6%)
2285 Entr'acte 17 (11.7%)
Moment Of Betrayal 1 (0.7%)
Heaven's Cove 7 (4.8%)
The Walking Shadow 6 (4.1%)
My Last Farewell 10 (6.9%)
Hymn Of A Thousand Voices 15 (10.3%)
Our New World 7 (4.8%)
Astonishing 13 (9%)
Total Members Voted: 29

20. My Last Farewell
21. The Road To Revolution
22. Astonishing
23. Hymn Of A Thousand Voices
24. 2285 Entr'acte
25. The Answer
      Brother, Can You Hear Me?
      Begin Again
28. Losing Faythe
      Whispers On The Wind
30. Descent Of The Nomacs
      The Hovering Sojourn
      Digital Discord
      Machine Chatter
      Power Down

PLEASE VOTE FOR FOUR TRACKS!

I've eliminated the five songs with the most votes from Round 2 (all of which received double-digit votes) so we are now down to 19 songs to pick from here. Looks like we lost a few voters from the first round, hopefully they return this round!

-Marc.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

My Rankings

...

13. My Last Farewell
14.
15. 2285 Entr’acte
16. Whispers on the Wind
17. Road to Revolution
18.
19.
20. Astonishing
21. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
22. Ravenskill
23. When Your Time Has Come
24. Hymn of a Thousand Voices
25. Our New World
26. Begin Again
27. Chosen
28. The Answer
29. Losing Faythe

[hefdaddy42]

Can't believe Astonishing was voted out. 

A Better Life
Act of Faythe
A Tempting Offer
Heaven's Cove

[MirrorMask]

Can't believe Astonishing was voted out. 

People are insane.

[pg1067]

Can't believe Astonishing was voted out. 

People are insane.

Or, more likely, don't care all that much about the bottom feeders on this album.

[Setlist Scotty]

Can't believe Astonishing was voted out. 

People are insane.

Or, more likely, don't care all that much about the bottom feeders on this album.

And it is an awful way to end the whole album. I remember the first time I heard I was like "that's it?!? *That's* how they're ending this whole thing?"

What I can't understand are the votes for Heaven's Cove - it's one of the more unique sounding songs on the album. The first part just absolutely beautiful and creates a great atmosphere, and then you have the bombastic contrast and tension of the rest of the song. One of the best songs on the album, IMO.

[425]

Strategic vote in a desperate attempt to protect Chosen:

A Better Life
Act of Faythe
Heaven's Cove
Our New World

That said, I agree that Heaven's Cove is nowhere near the bottom, definitely in the top half of the album. People's opinions on this album are really weird. The Road to Revolution and My Last Farewell definitely did not deserve to go out this early.

[IDontNotDoThings]

#1.
#2.
#3.
#4.
#5.
#6.
#7.
#8.
#9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.

15. The Answer
16.
17. Act Of Faythe
18. My Last Farewell
19. Brother, Can You Hear Me?
20. The Road To Revolution
21. 2285 Entr'acte

22. Hymn Of A Thousand Voices
23. Lord Nafaryus
24. Heaven's Cove
25. The Walking Shadow
26. Begin Again
27. Whispers On The Wind
28. Astonishing
29. Losing Faythe

30. Descent Of The NOMACs
31. Digital Discord
32. Machine Chatter
33. Power Down
34. The Hovering Sojourn

[MirrorMask]

Can't believe Astonishing was voted out. 

People are insane.

Or, more likely, don't care all that much about the bottom feeders on this album.

And it is an awful way to end the whole album. I remember the first time I heard I was like "that's it?!? *That's* how they're ending this whole thing?"

Serious question: is the ending of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence THAT much different?

Of course one it's a 42 minutes song / suite and the other is a two discs concept album, and of course the two songs are different, but Losing Time / Grand Finale and Astonishing (the  song) are both bombastic, larger than life grandiose endings full of drama, why Grand Finale is a nice way to close Six Degrees, but Astonishing is a meh way to sum up and close off the whole album?

[hefdaddy42]

Astonishing is certainly not a perfect song by any means, but that chord progression at the end under these lyrics is just GLORIOUS.

We sing the song of freedom
Together we are bound
People, we shall never hold you down
We will build a world on common ground
And we'll live once more
Eternally in harmony
Our lives will be astonishing again

[Mladen]

A Better Life
A Savior In The Square
When Your Time Has Come
The Walking Shadow

If A Tempting Offer goes out already, I will lose my shit. 

[425]

A Tempting Offer also definitely does not deserve to go out this early. One of the best songs here.

[Setlist Scotty]

Serious question: is the ending of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence THAT much different?

Of course one it's a 42 minutes song / suite and the other is a two discs concept album, and of course the two songs are different, but Losing Time / Grand Finale and Astonishing (the  song) are both bombastic, larger than life grandiose endings full of drama, why Grand Finale is a nice way to close Six Degrees, but Astonishing is a meh way to sum up and close off the whole album?

That's a fair question. Before I say anything more, it should be noted that I'm not that big of a fan of the title track to SDoIT - for me it weighs down the first disc.

Anyway, I went back to listen to both just to compare, and I *do* feel that the SDoIT Grand Finale is much better. To me it feels much more anthemic both in terms of the melody and orchestration, as well as in JL's vocals. The ending of Astonishing is more bombastic than I remember but still the song as a whole feels plodding to me and feels like a bit of a letdown.

[MirrorMask]

I see. Uh well, that falls within the personal tastes category and of course I'm not gonna try to change your mind about that. As for me, I think that Astonishing is quite satisfying and falls in line with the other "big endings" the band has done - Gran Finale, the last part of In the presence of Enemies, Octavarium etc....  they're not all the same but in every case they aimed for the bombastic and dramatic ending, also Astonishing has a nice way to pick up on all the themes and giving one last farewell to all the  characters before bursting into the "people can you hear us" big ending.