Quote from: brakkum on October 14, 2024, 08:29:49 AMThis is one thing that really bugs me about NT, I hate intros to intros
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Quote from: Kyo on October 13, 2024, 02:46:10 AMThe Alien is a far more interesting song musically.

It also hits you in the face right away while NT wastes a minute and a half stretching about five seconds of musical content to the max before it actually gets going.

Yeah that's probably my biggest gripe with the NT intro aside from the fact it is extremely similar to As I Am. The intro consumers a lot of time while not going anywhere.

Quote from: Magic on October 12, 2024, 11:46:22 AMNo, I don't think it's too early for a poll. 

I'll start with an obvious observance, two completely different paced songs.  So I won't critique each song.  Just so everyone knows I don't listen to a 1st single over and over, I want an album experience.  Obviously, I have had several listens to The Alien & the whole album.

I am assuming since MP was mentioned in the actual poll, that my thoughts on his performance is what is being assessed.  MP is bringing his magic to the game.  I am pleased with his performance.

I feel that The Alien is MM's shining beacon.

My choice for the better 1st single is The Alien.

Up until the last two lines, I was with you.  I've heard Night Terrors twice, on shitting speakers on a computer.  I've heard The Alien many times in my car (the second best stereo system I have) and I've heard it live.   Not really fair.

I'm still picking Night Terrors, though, because right now, I WANT to hear that more.

EDIT: Two quick confessions: one, I don't really dig singles generally, and two, I don't hear "As I Am", so there's that.

Quote from: gzarruk on October 12, 2024, 02:48:09 PMThe Alien managed to do a lot more in less time.

Not you gzarruk, because I'm referring to many other posts besides yours, including one that said "I saw it's length and figured it'd be awesome" (more or less; that's a paraphrase) but this is what makes me laugh out loud about DT fans.  "Oh my GOD!!! It's nine minutes and 55 seconds!!!!  Third longest on the record!!!! It's got to be the third best song on the record!!!  Oh My GOD!!! NINE MINUTES! Almost TEN MINUTES!  TEN MINUTES!  That's a lot of minutes!!! Minutes, minutes, minutes!!!"   Now it's out, and "eh, bloated.  The Alien is so much better because it's more concise." 

All the speculation is so... not just wasteful, but it's so BAD.  It's like picking the Jets for the Super Bowl each year.

"Night Terror," and it's not even close to me.

"The Alien" is one of my least favorite MM-era tracks.

Quote from: Stadler on October 15, 2024, 05:21:21 AMNot you gzarruk, because I'm referring to many other posts besides yours, including one that said "I saw it's length and figured it'd be awesome" (more or less; that's a paraphrase) but this is what makes me laugh out loud about DT fans.  "Oh my GOD!!! It's nine minutes and 55 seconds!!!!  Third longest on the record!!!! It's got to be the third best song on the record!!!  Oh My GOD!!! NINE MINUTES! Almost TEN MINUTES!  TEN MINUTES!  That's a lot of minutes!!! Minutes, minutes, minutes!!!"  Now it's out, and "eh, bloated.  The Alien is so much better because it's more concise." 

All the speculation is so... not just wasteful, but it's so BAD.  It's like picking the Jets for the Super Bowl each year.

Taking advantage of your comment.

At times they did much more with less time (I understand "much more" as musical diversity, structures, time signatures changes, layers, etc.).

For example: Metropolis (9:32); The Ministry of Lost Souls (14:57); A Nightmare to Remember (16:10).

With less time, Metropolis seems to me to be much more interesting, diverse, and creative. The other songs seem to me to be long for the sake of being long. Which is a problem that became more pronounced with the SC and BCSL albums.

The new track seems to suffer from this problem. So much so that, unusually, many who liked the track said they preferred the edited version.

Quote from: Stadler on October 15, 2024, 05:21:21 AMNot you gzarruk, because I'm referring to many other posts besides yours, including one that said "I saw it's length and figured it'd be awesome" (more or less; that's a paraphrase) but this is what makes me laugh out loud about DT fans.  "Oh my GOD!!! It's nine minutes and 55 seconds!!!!  Third longest on the record!!!! It's got to be the third best song on the record!!!  Oh My GOD!!! NINE MINUTES! Almost TEN MINUTES!  TEN MINUTES!  That's a lot of minutes!!! Minutes, minutes, minutes!!!"  Now it's out, and "eh, bloated.  The Alien is so much better because it's more concise." 

All the speculation is so... not just wasteful, but it's so BAD.  It's like picking the Jets for the Super Bowl each year.

I'm not that way, but people are saying that because of past experience with DT, not because bigger equals better BY DEFAULT.

Also, you overexaggerate how many people there are like that.

Also, no one has ever accused The Alien of being "concise".

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on October 15, 2024, 07:41:35 AMI'm not that way, but people are saying that because of past experience with DT, not because bigger equals better BY DEFAULT.

Also, you overexaggerate how many people there are like that.

Also, no one has ever accused The Alien of being "concise".

Fair points, except for the bold. There are entire threads on that.  I've frequently related the time when Flying Colors released the songs and times, before the album itself, and almost to a PERSON it was "Infinite Fire is AWESOME MAN!" and we hadn't even HEARD it yet. I mean, it WAS awesome, but even now, it's barely the fifth best song on the album for me.

Quote from: Stadler on October 15, 2024, 07:44:59 AMFair points, except for the bold. There are entire threads on that.  I've frequently related the time when Flying Colors released the songs and times, before the album itself, and almost to a PERSON it was "Infinite Fire is AWESOME MAN!" and we hadn't even HEARD it yet. I mean, it WAS awesome, but even now, it's barely the fifth best song on the album for me.

FOR YOU

Isn't that what you tell people all the time lol

Neither song is a favorite as of now, but I find The Alien to be meh and Night Terror to at least be solid.

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on October 15, 2024, 07:55:18 AMFOR YOU

Isn't that what you tell people all the time lol

Of course.  For me.  The point was, though, that LENGTH MATTERS to some.  That's all.

Quote from: Stadler on October 15, 2024, 08:32:56 AMThe point was, though, that LENGTH MATTERS to some.

That's not what my gf told me 

Quote from: brakkum on October 15, 2024, 08:34:51 AMThat's not what my gf told me 

Beat me to it...

Quote from: brakkum on October 15, 2024, 08:34:51 AMThat's not what my gf told me 

I wish I knew you better.

(Because the right response is "That IS what she told ME!" but... )

My comment was that TA covers more ground than NT and it does so in a little less time. There's only about 30 seconds of difference between both, yet the latter feels like it is a lot longer than the former. I'm not saying one is better than the other because of the length, only that it makes better use of its runtime. NT meanders for a minute and a half before it actually goes somewhere.

Both have their ups and downs...

I like the song Structure, and riffing in night terror. Portnoy sounds great, and I think the vocals overall sound much better. The instrumental and Solo section is great. A solid 8/10 for me.

The Alien has some truly INSANE drum playing by MM, and JP's guitar solo and lead sections may be a bit more memorable. At least at this stage of comparison. Good chorus, but I never liked the verses vocals, very oddly arranged... maybe that time signature is just not good for vocals.. still an amazing very memorable song. A solid 7.5 from me...

So Night Terror by a very slim margin

Another thing that might factor in here is how "Night Terror" sounds live (which we will soon find out).

"The Alien" was 'fine' to my ears, but I have yet to hear a live performance where JLB didn't struggle mightily with the song.

I suspect (hope?) that the opposite is true with "Night Terror," which, to my ears, is much more in James' comfort zone.

Too early for me to make a 'definitive' judgement of Night Terror. First impressions are about 7/10. The Alien is 9/10.

Since ranking stuff is what a lot of us like to do around here, here is where it tentatively falls in the 'first singles' league since the Mangini era began (I'm starting there because that's when I started paying attention to DT singles):

1. On The Backs of Angels
2. The Alien
3. Night Terror
4. Untethered Angel
5. The Enemy Inside
6. The Gift of Music

All good songs though.

Question: were any singles released for WDADU, Six Degrees, ToT or Octavarium? Wikipedia suggests not but it's not the most reliable source.

Quote from: Stadler on October 15, 2024, 05:21:21 AMNot you gzarruk, because I'm referring to many other posts besides yours, including one that said "I saw it's length and figured it'd be awesome" (more or less; that's a paraphrase) but this is what makes me laugh out loud about DT fans.  "Oh my GOD!!! It's nine minutes and 55 seconds!!!!  Third longest on the record!!!! It's got to be the third best song on the record!!!  Oh My GOD!!! NINE MINUTES! Almost TEN MINUTES!  TEN MINUTES!  That's a lot of minutes!!! Minutes, minutes, minutes!!!"   Now it's out, and "eh, bloated.  The Alien is so much better because it's more concise." 

All the speculation is so... not just wasteful, but it's so BAD.  It's like picking the Jets for the Super Bowl each year.

I've said I was expecting more because shorter singles (As I Am, Gift of Music) tends to be more concise and straightforward. Historically they have released as singles songs with certain commercial approach. Not necessary something very representative of the album (for example Forsaken)

So, when I saw they released a lengthy single I was expecting that they were showing us what they think it's a showcase of the album and the energy of reunite with Portnoy.

Then I heard the single and find it uninspired, reminds me to As I Am and have a random solo part (like other songs in SC and BC&SL, two of their worst albums in my opinion), and the pre-chorus sounds like A Rite of Passage, I can't help to feel disappointed.

I wish the problem would be the length of the song.

So, taking everything into account, for me, Night Terror is a big step back compared to The Alien.