*Official* The Astonishing discussion thread

[scythe]

Up to two full listens and much skipping around.

This record is simply unreal.

I don't think I've ever been moved so much and in so many directions by one album.

Can't stop grinning like an idiot at the choir on The Gift Of Music. Or Nafaryus' arrogant swagger. Or the chorus and key change in Moment Of Betrayal.
A New Beginning. What a piece of music. Dat groove.
The intro to Ravenskill reminds me of The Girl Who Stole The Stars from Chrono Cross.
Our New World is a hit. Seriously, Roadrunner needs to be blanketing radio with it.

One of the things I most appreciate about this album is the return to upbeat/major songwriting in the vein of Only A Matter Of Time, Under A Glass Moon or Innocence Faded. It's been missing from the DT sound for a while.

JLB's best performance to date. Utterly sublime.

Hoping against hope they bring the show to Australia.

[V_R11]

Alright. First full listen done. I think this one's a grower. Here are some thoughts

Lord Nafaryus is probably my favorite song. That rock tango is just so cool

Act of Faythe - Nice song, but "My music player"? LOL

I dislike all NOMAC tracks

Brother, Can You Hear Me? sounds like a national anthem

A New Beginning - Pirates of Caribbean, anyone?

2285 Entr'acte could be a Christmas song

Heaven's Cove gives a strong OTBOA vibe

Some other notes:
Some tracks float into each other nicely
Hats off to LaBrie. Really strong performance. He rocks.
Some WTF sound effects. The screams sound like someone throwing up
So many ballads. I was expecting a little bit more of the heavy side of DT. I'd give this album a strong 8/10

[chego_voice]

About the best I could do.

https://www.blobvandam.com/link/JLB_HAHA.mp3

hahahahahahaha awesome!

[Montsegur97]

The more I listen to this thing, the better it gets.  I keep hearing new things, it's definitely got some phenomenal songs on it.  Definitely beats ADToE and DT12 hands down for me, those two albums never get any listens from me...minus maybe the first 6-7 minutes of Illumination Theory.

I feel you almost have to listen to 5-6 songs at a time, a few times over, then move on to the next block (after you've listened to the whole thing obviously).  Maybe it's just me doing that...

[YtseJohn]

So far, almost perfect ratings scores on Google Play and Canadian ITunes stores for ratings. It's also higher up than Bieber and Megadeth, and one position below Adele in Top Albums.

Wow!

[jakepriest]

Act of Faythe - Nice song, but "My music player"? LOL

That's my favourite part of the song. 

[Chino]

Lucky for me, traffic was crazy going to work today. I got to listen through A Temping Offer.

I'm really digging this album so far. It's super refreshing. I must say, I really am enjoying the short songs.

When Your Time Has Come is my favorite track so far and Ravenskill gets an honorable mention. I don't have the slightest clue what's going on in the story, or who is who, but I'm enjoying it. This is going to make for a hello of a live show, and I can't wait to see them play Dystopian Overture.

[RoeDent]

(POSSIBLE) SPOILER ALERT:








Re. the Places tab: Most of the CD booklet is given over to the lyrics (the addition of locations and "Day/Night" is a nice touch). The only pictures are one of the Emperor's Palace (different angle of the front cover scene), and fuller pictures of the characters. So as of now I have no idea, for example, what Heaven's Cove looks like. Maybe (hopefully) the Places tab will give us more pictures of the key scenery and locations of the story, to help bring it further to life.

[King Postwhore]

I am starting to think that JP may actually have bigger plans for this one because one does not just write a real rock opera if there is no intention for it to be staged as one.

We're still yet to see how it's presented live. For all we know, JLB will have 56 costume changes during the show.

As Rumbo would say, 56 Metal T-Shirts with leather pants.


I checked out a few songs on Spotify.  Going to get it out of work.  Jacked and Pumped!!

[Zydar]

I don't have the slightest clue what's going on in the story, or who is who, but I'm enjoying it.

Me neither Hopefully we can get a full breakdown of the story and characters for us who hasn't "gotten it" yet.

[dream416]

Anybody receive the download link from Roadrunner yet ?

[V_R11]

I don't have the slightest clue what's going on in the story, or who is who, but I'm enjoying it.

Me neither Hopefully we can get a full breakdown of the story and characters for us who hasn't "gotten it" yet.

I'd like this very much too

Also I like how there's a dominant theme, that appears in at least five songs. It's a very nice melody too

[craig1928]

can anyone give a tl;dr breakdown of the story? I've listened to it 6~ times now and following the lyrics and I still don't have a clue what it's about

[MacClaus]

I would fire the guy who have overseen the artwork. The credits at the back of the CD-set are impossible to read!

Artwork 0/10

[ariich]

can anyone give a tl;dr breakdown of the story? I've listened to it 6~ times now and following the lyrics and I still don't have a clue what it's about

Really? If you've followed along with the full lyrics (including who is speaking at each point) then I would say it's actually pretty easy to follow. If anything, I can understand why some people would find a lot of the lyrics too blatant/obvious, especially those who have felt that way about a lot of DT's lyrics (which doesn't include me by the way).

[RoeDent]

So you give the entire artwork 0/10 just because you can't read the credits? Oy vey...

[Moor]

I would fire the guy who have overseen the artwork. The credits at the back of the CD-set are impossible to read!

Artwork 0/10

This means that you are in a position to totally destroy and shred that artwork, since it is zero anyway  will you ??

[craig1928]

can anyone give a tl;dr breakdown of the story? I've listened to it 6~ times now and following the lyrics and I still don't have a clue what it's about

Really? If you've followed along with the full lyrics (including who is speaking at each point) then I would say it's actually pretty easy to follow. If anything, I can understand why some people would find a lot of the lyrics too blatant/obvious, especially those who have felt that way about a lot of DT's lyrics (which doesn't include me by the way).

it's one of my weaknesses, don't go to the cinema with me 

[CoT67]

Act of Faythe - Nice song, but "My music player"? LOL

What about the "How music makes me feel!" part of A New Beginning? 

[rab7]

Indeed. It is what I like to call "the love theme". You hear it the first time at the end of A Savior in the Square when Gabriel first sees Faythe.

Technically, you first hear it in Dystopian Overture with the french horns 

But also, it's actually first heard in Lord Nafaryus ("Arabelle who means the world to me...")

[Lowdz]

Is it just me, or does the melody, most prominently featured in "Brother Can You Hear Me?" remind anyone of the vocal melody from the middle of Rush's "Hemispheres, Part IV: Cygnus, Bringer Of Balance"? The lyrics in that song go -
."I have memory and awareness
But I have no shape or form
As a disembodied spirit
I am dead and yet unborn
I have passed into Olympus
As was told in tales of old
To the city of Immortals
Marble white and purest gold..."

The melody in BCYHM is VERY reminiscent of that verse for me, and I'm hoping I'm not the only one who felt that way...it also reminds me of parts of "The Wall", too. There's tons of Rush and Pink Floyd all over this album, at least to me.

-Marc.

Yes!!!!!!!!!!

[rumborak]

Act of Faythe - Nice song, but "My music player"? LOL

What about the "How music makes me feel!" part of A New Beginning? 

Or "i will treat them to sonic ecstasy"!

[DoctorAction]

Like it so far. Nice to hear the boys being light hearted, not very metal, major key and silly. So much of it is hilariously camp. Snare sound is better, still sounds shamefully triggered though. Mastering and general production great. At last. Some lovely new styles of music being created. James rules. JP solos wonderful.

I have a feeling they've really abandoned what's expected of a prog METAL band and are writing free here. About time. Cheers!

[pringkaarwanda]

(POSSIBLE) SPOILER ALERT:








Re. the Places tab: Most of the CD booklet is given over to the lyrics (the addition of locations and "Day/Night" is a nice touch). The only pictures are one of the Emperor's Palace (different angle of the front cover scene), and fuller pictures of the characters. So as of now I have no idea, for example, what Heaven's Cove looks like. Maybe (hopefully) the Places tab will give us more pictures of the key scenery and locations of the story, to help bring it further to life.

Never think of that !! It would be great if DT give us Hi Res Picture for any place taken in the story !!!
I agree with your opinion !!! 

By the way, nice new bakcground for DTF !!! It's like dark turning into light 

[Stef1]

I have now listened to the album 5 times and I am amazed to read how many people are saying they don't like it after one listen???
There is so much to take in, I would imagine I will still be picking out new "wow" moments 20 to 30 listens down the line.
The drums on most tracks are very much in the background,I think it has already been mentioned that the Gift of Music and Moment Of Betrayal have the most up front drum sound.
Love James singing as Fayth and her music machine, awesome.
Only disappointments for me are I expected it to be MORE orchestral after reading the pre release interviews and would have thought that The Astonishing being the last track would have been more uplifting, like the ending of IL.
Unless of cause this is NOT the end, might just be the beginning?

[Marion Crane]

Three Days and The Gift of Music are amazing. The rest is gonna take a lot of getting used to. Still not a fan of Mangini's playing and they really need to stop putting that heavy chorus effect on James' voice all the time.

[theaterdream]

Wow, I haven't posted here in a while. Been still following the happenings around here and I plan to pick up my album at the store on the way home from work. Love reading everyones opinions thus far. Very anxious to start listening to the album this weekend.

Happy "The Astonishing" release day to everyone!

[Kilgore Trout]

I think my Dream Theater days are over. I didn't care about the last two albums, but this one takes the cake. Although the album clearly shows that they tried to do something else (kudos to that, even if it's nothing "progressive", it's just the musical formula applied to generic Dream Theater), it is simply not for me. The cheesiness, the amount of Disney-sounding songs and parts, the blandness of the melodic material which sound half  the time like late 90's radio rock and the other half like a sanitized version of some old DT material, are overwhelming.
But what strikes me the most is the overall absence of anything harsh, dissonant or intense. I was expecting at least some remains of metal/rock intensity, not radio-friendly material or musical-like intensity (let's not forget that musicals are mostly made for general public, and are full of easy melodies and sentimentality). They are pretty much nowhere to be find. The few metal parts are laughable. Do they actually know what is metal or prog rock these days ? Steven Wilson most gentle songs sound hardcore compared to this album. Not that I expect DT to write extreme metal, but I would like them to sound at least like modern rock. Late Portnoy's albums were cheesy and over-the-top but FUN. This is cheesy and pompous rock for women in their 50's or kids. The album sounds so outdaded, pretty, childish in its aspirations and audience-friendly, the work of a band ready for their reconversion as a Broadway act or a backing band for some near-retirement pop singer. If I want to listen to a musical, I would listen to one, especially that there are quite a lot of musical that are not only better but grittier than that. The album sounds like it was written by 15 years old.

I could go on the technical aspect of it (which is fine, except the terrible orchestral writing and MM drumming, but let's not tackle this subject).

Well, I'm now ready to accept that the band that wrote the dance of eternity is dead and buried...

PS : I tried again writing this. I think I find the whole thing embarassing. Like A new beginning... Until the instrumental bridge, it sounds like the Disney channel music my nephews listen to (especially at 3:29, probably one of the most embarassing moment in DT history, on par with the organ at the beginning of a life left behind, that destroys one of the few cool guitar riffs on the album).

[genome]

I still can't stop laughing at the end of My Last Farewell.


"AAAAARRRRGGHHH!!!!"

[TK]

Stupid question maybe, but what does 'Int.' and 'Ext. in the booklet mean?

For example:

Int. Emperor's Palace - Night
Ext. Ravenskill Town Square - Day

[Zydar]

Interior and exterior (Inside and outside).

[MacClaus]

Great review.... compared to 2112 or Operation Mindcrime this album is so weak. The worst DT release IMO

[BlobVanDam]

Stupid question maybe, but what does 'Int.' and 'Ext. in the booklet mean?

For example:

Int. Emperor's Palace - Night
Ext. Ravenskill Town Square - Day

Interior / Exterior


Myung'd by Zydar.

[thosava]

Just finished listening for the first time. What an album. I am speechless.

[emtee]

What an accomplishment! Incredible from beginning to end.

My favorite JR recorded performance by a long ways. Love what he did on this album. JLB also.

This was risky for sure and as a fan I appreciate the hell out of that. My biggest one word description after about 5 spins is
BEAUTIFUL!

They really created something special here. And finally...the sound is GREAT!