free download mp3 dream theater the astonishing full album Dream Theater «The Astonishing» Compact-Disc 1 – Act I: 1. Descent of the NOMACS 01:10 2. Dystopian Overture 04:50 3. The Gift of Music 04:08 4. The Answer 01:52 5. A Better Life 04:39 6. Lord Nafaryus 03:28 7. A Savior in the Square 04:13 8. When Your Time Has Come 04:19 9. Act of Faythe 05:00 10. Three Days 03:44 11. The Hovering Sojourn 00:27 12. Brother, Can You Hear Me? 05:11 13. A Life Left Behind 05:49 14. Ravenskill 06:01 15. Chosen 04:31 16. A Tempting Offer 04:19 17. Digital Discord 00:47 18. The X Aspect 04:13 19. A New Beginning 07:41 20. The Road to Revolution 03:35. Compact-Disc 2 – Act II: 1. 2285 Entr’acte 02:20 2. Moment of Betrayal 06:11 3. Heaven’s Cove 04:19 4. Begin Again 03:54 5. The Path That Divides 05:09 6. Machine Chatter 01:03 7. The Walking Shadow 02:58 8. My Last Farewell 03:44 9. Losing Faythe 04:13 10. Whispers on the Wind 01:37 11. Hymn of a Thousand Voices 03:38 12. Our New World 04:12 13. Power Down 01:25 14. Astonishing 05:51. Free download mp3 dream theater the astonishing full album. May 5, 2009, 12 years ago. hot flashes news mp dream theater. Starting on May 5th at 12AM EST go here to download a free MP3 of 'A Rite Of Passage', the first track from DREAM THEATER's upcoming album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, in stores June 23rd. The free MP3 will be available for 24 hours. After that, the track will stream on RoadrunnerRecords.com. In addition to the standard version CD of Black Clouds & Silver Linings, the album will also be available on vinyl LP, as well as a three-disc Special Edition CD that will include the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs, the titles of which will be revealed at a later date. Six weeks prior to the June 23rd street date, Roadrunner will release one cover song per week through digital retailers. Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again at the helm as producers, while Paul Northfield (RUSH) mixed the record. The band will embark on a world tour in support of the album beginning in Europe throughout June which will be followed by the second edition of the band's Progressive Nation tour featuring ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH throughout North America in July/August. The tracklisting for Black Clouds & Silver Linings is as follows: 'A Nightmare To Remember', 'A Rite Of Passage', 'Wither', 'The Shattered Fortress', 'The Best Of Times', 'The Count Of Tuscany'. Pre-order details for the release can be found at this location. Progressive Nation North American updated tour dates incluide: 24 - Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theater - Miami, FL 25 - Rock Hard Live - Orlando, FL 28 - The Tabernacle - Atlanta, GA 29 - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium - Ashville, NC 31 - Philadelphia, PA - Tower Theater ** 1 - Merriweather Post - Washington DC * 2 - Bank Of America Pavillion - Boston, MA 4 - The Palace Theater - Albany, NY 5 - Wallingford, CT - Oakdale Theater ** 7 - Asbury Park, NJ - Convention Hall ** 11 - The Agora - Quebec City, QUE 12 - Bell Center - Montreal, QUE 14 - Molson Amphitheater - Toronto, ONT 16 - The Burton Cummings Theater - Winnipeg, MAN 18 - MacEwan Hall - Calgary, AB 19 - Shaw Conference Center - Edmonton, AB 21 - The Orpheum Theater - Minneapolis, MN 22 - Riverside Theater - Milwaukee, WI 23 - Chicago Theater - Chicago, IL 25 - Temple Hoyne Buell Theater - Denver, CO 27 - San Jose, CA - Event Center ** 28 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint ** 29 - The Greek Theater - Los Angeles, CA. Free download mp3 dream theater the astonishing full album. In a not so distant future, our world has returned to the ugliness of feudalism. Only this time, those in power control the servant class with the very thing that once inspired men to rise up and take back their lives—music. But it is not the music of old. That music is forgotten. No, this new music is engineered entirely by machines. This music suppresses that part of humanity which might be inspired. This music suppresses hope. But what is old will be made new again. In the village of Ravenskill lives a young man, Gabriel, who comes with a gift of power. A gift of music. As a human expression. Gabriel’s brother, Arhys, leads a rebel militia that is trying to liberate the people. And he believes Gabriel’s gift is the key; a key he hopes will help him keep a promise he made his wife on her deathbed. But the emperor and his son have different plans–to maintain control. Those plans may find an unlikely challenger in their own family. And the resulting conflict may yield lasting consequences. For them all. With music as a moving force, the choices each player must make will bring them to a shared moment of pain. And perhaps redemption. THE ASTONISHING THE GAME. Dream Theater and Turbo Tape Games have worked close together to create this signature board-game, a reenactment of Dream Theater’s epic rock opera The Astonishing. It enables players to unfold and untangle the original story from the perspectives of both The Ravenskill Rebel Militia and The Great Northern Empire of the Americas. The full story is not grasped before completing the game from both sides of the conflict, during which players’ battle for influence and control over the will of the people. THE ASTONISHING PROMO VIDEOS. INSIDE THE ASTONISHING. with Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci. THE ASTONISHING TOUR. Photos by Lucion Media. ABOUT THE ASTONISHING. The Astonishing is Dream Theater’s second concept album after 1999’s Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory . Described as an “honest-to- God rock opera” by Rolling Stone, it has been compared to The Who’s Tommy (1969), Rush’s 2112 (1976), Pink Floyd’s The Wall (1979), and Queensrÿche’s Operation: Mindcrime (1988). 2112 also revolves around music being used to achieve freedom in a futuristic setting. The album’s story was inspired by Petrucci’s love of fantasy and science fiction franchises such as Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, as well as his observations on the role of technology in modern-day society. In an interview with Billboard, he explained, “I was thinking of all of the things now that people used to do that they don’t do anymore because they’re automated or done by robots: lots of jobs, self-driving cars coming right around the corner … My thought was, ‘What would happen if … music became all artificial?’” Clocking in at over two hours in length and containing 34 tracks, The Astonishing was planned as an immersive experience that would be best enjoyed as a full album as opposed to a collection of singles. The album plays out similarly to a film, with Loudwire observing, “It’s an enormous amount of music to absorb in one sitting, but when you think about it, most movies are around two hours in length, and The Astonishing is very much like a movie in the way it delivers the storyline.” Certain songs, such as “A Savior in the Square” and “Our New World” , have reoccurring themes, while others stand more on their own in order to move the plot along. In writing music to match The Astonishing ‘s narrative, Dream Theater ended up playing in a wide variety of styles, from cinematic instrumentals to mellow ballads to the band’s more conventional progressive metal. Compared to previous Dream Theater albums, there is more acoustic playing, both in terms of guitar and piano. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Petrucci specifically mentioned the song “A Life Left Behind” , recalling, “It starts with an acoustic, kind of proggy riff, which is something we’ve never done and has a very Yes sort of feel.” Several songs introduced new elements to the band’s music, such as “The X Aspect” , which is the first Dream Theater song to use bagpipes, and “Three Days” , which features a saloon-style swing section that was written as a juxtaposition to the bleaker aspects of the album’s story. Five of the album’s tracks are short, electronic songs that represent the music of NOMACS. DREAM THEATER. Standouts would be Fatal Tragedy, Beyond This Life, Home, The Spirit Carries On and Finally Free. An absolute masterpiece, unlike Images And Words, I don't think this is objectively essential, but it's still a masterwork. Standouts would be Take The Time, Metropolis Pt. I (that name's familiar right?), Under A Glass Moon and Learning To Live. One of my favorite progressive metal records, and OBJECTIVELY essential. "Metropolis part 2: Scenes From a Memory" takes up in the title the grandiloquent "Part 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper", a masterpiece of "Images and words", to which the epithet "part 1" was given almost as a joke . Nothing more wrong! Fans all over the world start a war of words, clamoring for the sequel to the small 1992 masterpiece, and Dream Theater satisfied them with an entire concept album, which only partially takes up and amplifies the story, the vocal lines and the leading riffs of the first chapter. A story built to perfection, and based on the strange night visions and nightmares of Nicholas, a young man who, thanks to hypnotherapy sessions, will discover that he is the reincarnation of Victoria, a girl who lived in the 1920s and died in mysterious circumstances precisely in 1928. During the course of the album, Nicholas will be able to reconstruct the turbulent love story of Victoria, divided between two brothers as different as they are similar in their lucid madness, until a dramatic epilogue for her, and not devoid of consequences for Nicholas himself, who will be indelibly affected by what he discovered . final is as assured as unexpected! From the musical point of view, the Dreat Theater recover their roots: this album is a riot of prog-metal in its purest form, and ours seem to find the lost compositional vein, reconnecting the musical discourse to the glories of "Images and Words" and "Awake", while maintaining a certain amount of improvisation in the scores, certainly the result of the experience in the Liquid Tension Experiment. A working method in which, apparently, Petrucci, Rudess and Portnoy fit perfectly, given that the album releases a charge, an intensity and an expertise never felt before. Since the opener "Overture 1928", we will be sucked into a vortex of music with a very high technical and compositional content, not devoid of references to part 1, but filled with precious moments of high inspiration, as we have not heard for a long time. James LaBrie will interpret the various roles of the story, with different nuances in the use of the voice, leading the listener by the hand within a real film in music. Stupendous and essential prog- metal pearls such as "Strange Deja-Vu", "Fatal Tragedy", the powerful "Beyond this Life", the bombastic "Home", a true ideal sequel to Metropolis pt.1. There is no lack of instrumental track, and it is something inhuman: "The Dance of Eternity" leaves you astonished as to skill, in a composition so intricate that you lose your head?. Like any self- respecting masterpiece, we also find two soft tracks, and they are two small pearls: "Through her Eyes", which narrates Victoria's death seen through Nicholas' eyes, is full of poignant melancholy; "The Spirit Carries On" is universally recognized as one of DT's most beautiful songs, with its PinkFloydian gait, and a thrilling chorus, not to mention Petrucci's solo, literally moving in terms of intensity. The masterpiece closes with a simply fantastic song, namely "Finally Free", in which the DT resume and conclude the threads of the plot, complete with a final twist, and with a lot of creative culmination, truly leaving the unwary listener speechless. , who, like myself, will be forced to start listening again, at least two - three times, before being able to find out in the midst of all this good things . Most of the Dream Theater fans are torn by not knowing which one to elevate as the best work of the band between this and Images And Words, but for me there is no doubt, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory represents a magical moment, unique and unfortunately unrepeatable in the history of this great group, although the other is also a work, like almost everything that is part of the Dream Theater discography, far above average. Wonderful melodies, flawless virtuosity and instrumental technique, poetic and theatrical texts, and only one adjective: masterpiece. They cover many things in this album. From momentary rag-times, to Pink Floyd-ish ballads, to technical Iron-Maiden-Inspired guitars. they basically wanted to prove everyone that they can do everything. And this was probably the first (and last) time Dream Theater managed to make technical wanking very fun. It is an essential album within its genre, so I'm giving it five stars. Pull Me Under is the most overrated track, pretty much. Another Day is another single type of track with a sax solo. Take The Time has lyrics written from each Dream Theater member, which is interesting. Surrounded is a very up-beat ballad with a nice bridge. Metropolis Pt. I became so popular that Dream Theater released an entire album as its continuation, it's a very technical song and the wanky side of Dream Theater. Under A Glass Moon has John Petrucci's first great guitar solo. Wait For Sleep is a nice and short track that works as the first part of Learning To Live. Learning To Live is a pretty good song, but one of their least interesting epics. So, yeah, essential for prog metal, but that's it. This is one fat album. Many people say that Train Of Thought is Dream Theater's heaviest release. For me, it's Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, which is one of the band's greatest efforts to date. It only features six tracks but they cover a runtime of an hour and a half, this is because it features a 42-Minute suite, which is the title track. After an album like Metropolis Pt. II it was going to be hard for the band to impress their fans, but Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence manages things that its predecessor couldn't. Those things are extreme consistency and more focused works. Unlike Metropolis which had a good amount of one and two minute tracks, the shortest track in this album is 6:40, and the majority of the songs are +10 minutes long. However, these songs are not stretched out on purpose, they're as long as they deserve to be, with many small sections composing them that still manage a cohesive work with surprises. For example, The Glass Prison. It feels like a 13-minute song because of its reprises of previous parts within itself while also managing to surprise the listener with what everyone likes to call "Technical Wanking". Blind Faith features, in my opinion, Jordan Rudess' best solos, and one of the best solo duels (in this case, guitar vs keyboard) I've ever heard! The Great Debate has some of the band's best drum work to date, and the Tool influence is very strong in this one too. The closing epic is a 42-Minute track, with eight sections. The sound of the sections are different, going from soft ballads (Goodnight Kiss, Solitary Shell, Losing Time), to classic-DT-sounding tracks (About To Crash, Overture, Grand Finale) and hard-hitting works (War Inside My Head, The Test That Stumped Them All, About To Crash (reprise)). It works amazingly when listened from beginning to end, and it's one of my favorite Dream Theater Suites. Although I can't say this is my favorite Dream Theater album, it's without a doubt one of the best, not only of their discography, but of progressive metal too. Five Stars for me. Awake can be perfectly described as the dark side of Images And Words. It's not as commercial or poppy as I&W but it maintains its heaviness (and even amplifies it) while making constant use of moody, mellow and melancholic melodies. Honestly? I like it much more than Images And Words! But it's up to you to decide which one's better. Being their last album with founding keyboardist Kevin Moore, Awake was released just two years after its considerably popular predecessor. It's also the first Dream Theater album with their average album length, 75 minutes. Something worth mentioning is that this album is slightly more technical than Images And Words. You could tell they were starting to flex their technicality much more, for example with Scarred's instrumental section or The Mirror/Lie. Maybe this can be a tough nut to crack, but if you enjoyed I&W then you should give it a try. You will find out that it's just as good (If not better) than I&W. It's a five star album to be honest, one of the best Dream Theater albums. I'm gonna say once and for all that if you're a progressive metal fan then this is essential. It basically established the main sound not only of Dream Theater, but of hundreds and hundreds of bands too. If you don't think that's an essential album then I don't know what else is. After their odd debut, When Dream And Day Unite, the band decided to do some changes. Pretty much everyone in the band, Charlie Dominici himself, thought that he had to go since his vocals were very restricting to the music that they intended to make. After a good amount of vocalist auditions, the winner was chosen: James LaBrie. The loved and hated Canadian singer that to this day remains in the band. His wide vocal range was exactly what the instrumentalists in Dream Theater were looking for, and chemistry between the band and James happened. This chemistry was part of the reason why creativity in Dream Theater blew up. They were still young, and had to mature a lot musically, but you could tell that they had a very strong energy for revolutionizing their genre inside. And this is what happened when they released Images And Words. Images And Words isn't a very big album, in fact, it's their second shortest album. But the amount of things that Dream Theater explores in just those fifty-six minutes is truly outstanding. Technical Passages (Under A Glass Moon, Metropolis Pt. I), melodic ballads (Another Day, Surrounded, Wait For Sleep), dynamic and balanced tracks (Pull Me Under, Take The Time, Learning To Live) are very present in this album. And it's all around a very fun listening experience that never gets boring. Like I said in the beginning: If you're a progressive metal fan, it's essential. If you're not into metal then I still recommend you to give it a try. Five stars, Dream Theater's first milestone. Dream Theater The Astonishing. And so it begins…our new album is entitled The Astonishing, and we cannot wait to share it with you early next year! Petrucci, Myung, Mangini and company, finally revealed the tittle of the new upcoming album. It seems to be, that two songs are named The Great Northern Empire and The Ravenskill Rebel Militia. Release Date, Tour and partial Tracklist. Dream Theater will promote The Astonishing with a headlining European tour, where they will perform the album in its entirety. The tour will kick off on February 18, 2016 at the London Palladium.[2] On November 5, 2015, the band revealed a new section of their official website at http://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing which shows incomplete characters, maps, tracklisting and "nomacs". It´s expected to be released in early 2016. Aparently, It 've two Acts. The Tracklist of the first one, was revealed: 1. Descent of the NOMACS. 2. Dystopian Overture. 3. The Gift of Music. 5. A Better Life. 2016 Tour and Other official data. DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE MOMENTOUS 2016 EUROPEAN TOUR. DEBUTING NEW ALBUM LIVE IN ITS ENTIRETY. DATES BEGIN FEBRUARY 18TH AT LONDON’S PALLADIUM. NEW ALBUM SET TO ARRIVE EARLY 2016. Roadrunner Records’ group Dream Theater has announced new tour dates for a momentous European headline run which is set to kickoff February 18th at the Palladium in London, England. The winter run will see the prog-titans delivering a one-of-a-kind set in which they will be debuting their forthcoming album live in its entirety. The unique tour is set to make stops at prestigious theaters around Europe including Amsterdam’s Carre Theater, Oslo’s Konserthus, Stockholm’s Cirkus, Paris’ Palais des Congres and Milan’s Teatro Degli Arcimboldi with additional dates to be announced (see attached itinerary). Presale tickets for select dates will be available on Wednesday, November 4th with general onsale for all dates beginning on Friday, November 6th. For up-to-the-minute news and ticket information, please visit http://www.dreamtheater.net/tour. The European tour comes in anticipation of Dream Theater’s forthcoming album which is expected to arrive in early 2016. The new material will follow 2013’s worldwide smash album “DREAM THEATER,” which earned a second Grammy nomination for the band, topping Billboard’s “Hard Rock Albums” while simultaneously entering at #7 on the Billboard 200. The extraordinary chart position marked the group’s third consecutive top 10 debut, and also saw "DREAM THEATER" making top 5 chart debuts in Japan, Germany, Italy, Canada, Argentina, Switzerland, Holland, and Finland, as well as top 10 debuts in Denmark, Austria, and Norway, with career high debuts in the United Kingdom and Australia. Rolling Stone touted the legendary collection as “…the birth of a new era in the band’s career.” EUROPEAN TOUR 2016. February 18th – March 18th. ADDITIONAL DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED. 18 London, England Palladium. 22 Amsterdam, Holland Carre Theater. 28 Oslo, Norway Konserthus. 2 Stockholm, Sweden Cirkus. 5 Paris, France Palais des Congres. 6 Paris, France Palais des Congres. 18 Milan, Italy Teatro Degli Arcimboldi. Track list (Standard CD1 Confirmed): ACT I 1. Descent of the NOMACS 2. Dystopian Overture 3. The Gift of Music 4. The Answer 5. A Better Life 6. Lord Nafaryus 7. A Savior in the Square 8. When Your Time Has Come 9. Act of Faythe 10. Three Days 11. The Hovering Sojourn. Track list (Cd1 confirmed): 1. Descent of the NOMACS 2. Dystopian Overture 3. The Gift of Music 4. The Answer 5. A Better Life 6. Lord Nafaryus 7. A Savior in the Square 8. When Your Time Has Come 9. Act of Faythe 10. Three Days 11. The Hovering Sojourn 12. Brother, Can You Hear Me? 13. A Life Left Behind 14. Ravenskill 15. Chosen 16. A Tempting Offer 17. Digital Discord. Track list (Standard CD1 & 2): 1. Descent of the NOMACS 2. Dystopian Overture 3. The Gift of Music 4. The Answer 5. A Better Life 6. Lord Nafaryus 7. A Savior in the Square 8. When Your Time Has Come 9. Act of Faythe 10. Three Days 11. The Hovering Sojourn 12. Brother, Can You Hear Me? 13. A Life Left Behind 14. Ravenskill 15. Chosen 16. A Tempting Offer 17. Digital Discord 18. The X Aspect 19. A New Beginning 20. The Road to Revolution. ACT II 1. 2285 Entr'acte 2. Moment of Betrayal 3. Heaven's Cove 4. Begin Again 5. The Path That Divides 6. Machine Chatter 7. The Walking Shadow 8. My Last Farewell 9. Losing Faythe 10. Whispers on the Wind 11. Hymn of a Thousand Voices 12. Our New World 13. Power Down 14. Astonishing. The Gift of Music. Trailer. Moment Of Betrayal. stream. stream. Days to release. Add News & Media Report Leak or stream. Album details. Hype: 253 Artist: Dream Theater Album: The Astonishing Official Release: Jan 29, 2016 Genre: Heavy Progressive, Metal, Progressive Metal. Visit Has it Leaked but for movies, Where You Watch. Kanye West : DONDA Iron Maiden : Senjutsu Between The Buried And. The Killers : Pressure. Lorde : Solar Power Dream Theater : A View. Foxing : Draw Down The. Lingua Ignota : Sinner. Slaughter To Prevail . Lana Del Rey : Blue Ban. Download & Stream. Album download leak: See leak report at the top of the page. Album stream: Yes, see stream link above. Album pre-order: No pre-order link added. Add News & Media Report Leak or stream Report. Despite my undivided love for basically everything Dream Theater have ever produced… They finally lived up to their name and have put on a true theatrical production. I simply cannot wait to be at the opening night on the 18th February. Yup, they should have John Cleese on the cover with nomacs flying in the background, subtitled “and now for something completely different”. When I got to the ending of Three Days, I kept rewinding and rewinding, couldn’t get enough of it. Can’t believe they’re gonna play the whole thing live. This album seems to me like a bizarre mix of Queen and Pink Floyd – good for them. I’m glad they moved on and created something fresh and demanding of their fans instead of playing same shit over and over again. And for those who prefer the latter, I have the perfect album for you: Megadeth – Dystopia. See you at the Palladium! Superb summary of my very thoughts :) Are you going on the 18th or 19th? We are having pre show drinks in the pub next to the Palladium. I’ll be going 18th, just waiting for the tickets – how long before the show should they arrive anyway? (Bought through ticketmaster) They can arrive as little as one week before the event. Don’t worry they will turn up. Guys look for youtube, under John Petrucci, they have been uploading them for the last hour. Wasted my money on ordering the CD. We knew it before it was gonna be a concept album, I myself adore DT – still need some time absorb it in a shape like this. The only reason I bought this CD is John Petrucci. Hes my one & only guitar GOD… Well, it is indeed Dream Theater and they are saying loud and clear that they don’t give AFUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu what people think, they’re gonna do what they do. I love it. Love the music too. It’s not what I’m used to from them, but I don’t expect them to deliver what I want, so it’s always a nice surprise, unlike many people who are going to be pissed off something fierce because DT didn’t give them the album they wanted. lol. Boy are they gonna be upset with what DT delivered. lol. album stream on bandcamp. Finally got through this beast of an album. For those who are unhappy, they told people this would be completely different. I think they finally shook off the remnants of Portnoy in their writing style and did something unique for them. The live shows are going to be incredible to hear this played out. Too bad they aren’t touring with an orchestra and choir. This is the definition of a concept album. Revisited themes tied together over two hours telling a story rather than pieces hopefully tied together like a typical album. I wish they had mixed this in 5.1 Surround, maybe a Bluray of the tour? One of the best things that I heard in the lastest years. Superb! This album is garbaaaaage. If you force yourself to compose 30 something songs for a single conceptual album, you risk quality over quality BIG TIME, and that’s exactly what happened, Octavarium, for example, has 8 songs, and it’s overall good, now you want me to quote Image and Words or Awake?, classic masterpieces with the right amount of tracks. Michael Jackson wanted to do it with the Bad album, Quincy Jones told him NO. 34 songs for album is and WAS overkill, they tried, yes, BUT THEY FAILED SO HARD I feel bad for those who preordered the album. This is not Prog Metal, is it Rock perhaps? I guess, and BEFORE YOU CALL ME CLOSE MINDED, consider than DT saying “This album will be different”, isn’t the same that “This album will be good and shame on you if you don’t like it” Yes, they deserved the right to do whatever they want, but boy oh boy, I know you can’t ask for another Metropolis, or Scenes of a Memory, of SDOIT (A lot of examples), but when doing this, you realize they grew up from their own tastes, which is ok because they are the composers, not their own fans, but it’s just awful. Gift of Music – Moment of Betrayal – Lord Nefarious (I guess) – Our new World -Astonishing . (I guess??) If you wanted reasons to buy an album from indie prog metal bands, instead of buying this album, look somebody’s band on Soundcloud or something, and buy their music. I was actually gonna go see DT perform this new album live, but I WON’T. You can’t beat Metropolis, Take the Time, ETC ETC ETC. I agree… 3rd time listen to it & it trash. Maybe its what they wana do but it doesnt hit me at all. Going to sell the CD. Agree too ! 4th listen and i cant still dig this album ! Too saaad. I’m sorry but I’ve listened to this three times and I’ve been a fan since Scenes came out and I have to say this is the best DT album ever made. Yes the album is completely different, but it moves like an actual Opera. This isn’t exactly a straight forward prog metal album. Surrounding this whole album is a concept of emotionless, electronic, machine-made music having a negative impact on society and is practically promoting the great concept albums that defined a generation. While this will never be The Wall, let’s look at that album: There are plenty of tracks on that record that transition the story and aren’t actual songs. Same with this one. It has recurring themes that pop up across the entire record and they all relate to eachother. It’s as if the album is – in the most intricate way imaginable – saying up yours, Skrillex, go back and listen to 2112, Thick as a Brick, The Wall, and Tales From Topographic Oceans. This album, like Awake was when it came out and was attacked by die hard fans of that time, a grower. It isn’t just a pop in your car, and jam to record. If they wanted to make an album like that, they could, but I applaud them for actually doing something different and, for once, I cannot predict where a newer DT album is gonna go. Will it be everyone’s cup of tea? No, but for those willing to give it a shot, there’s emotionally driven movements that drive the message home of the need for actual musicians to be heralded again as they once were. its not as heavy as others but its still awesome, its a masterpiece in its own right. “I feel bad for those who preordered the album.” LMFAO that’s the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever read. Just because you fail to see the genius that this album is doesn’t mean others will be as ignorant. I’ve been a DT fan for 20 years…. and I am not impressed. Yes, it’s a beast. But it all sounds so similar, very little experimentation and most songs are piano intro , then vocals then full band. Not even gonna make into the top 8 DT albums for me. I agree… I don’t understand why people say it’s so different. Only the number and lenght of songs is different for me… I’d say it’s definitely better than their last two albums. But yeah, it’s not very memorable and not much stands out. Lana Del Rei is better ! It souds like a Dream Theater parody… A concept album for the sake of being conceptual? Lame. Whats next a soundtrack to Avatar? DT can play with their Star Wars figures and stick to just good Prog. Sadly, this just isn’t going to be very memorable. I was all excited for this, but I’m disappointed. Maybe it will grow on me. I will say that disc 2 is way better than disc 1. How anybody that claims to be a DT fan can listen to Dystopian Overture and fail to be blown away is completely and utterly beyond me. Been DT fan for 16 years, this is not even close to what they have done in the past, yet it’s a great album, I loved it. I’ve listened the album at least 20 times (working / gym / driving) and it only gets better and better. Can’t stop listening. This is an album I’ll definitely buy and most definitely one of a hell show I don’t have any plans to miss. Okay, so no one has to agree with my opinion, but I think this is one of the best albums Dream Theater has put out in recent memory. I am not jumping ship and saying that this defeats Metropolis Part 2 or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, as it is way too early to say something like that, and it wouldn’t be true…yet. However, if those two albums are in your top 3 or top 5 dream theater albums, I believe that you will love The Astonishing. You have to come with an open mind, and understand that they wanted to do something completely different. I’m not saying everyone will love it or even like it. This album does not contain 34 songs of pure Dream Theater metal or epic long songs, but it contains songs that all work together in a cohesive, emotional harmony. This album has a lot of piano, and they even said they wrote it around Jordan. In my opinion, some songs are a bit of filler (good filler I might add as there is some interesting aspect even to the filler type songs), but I feel that they are stepping stones for the greater songs of the album, and help the story flow. Like its all on the opinion of the listener. Some may find all of those songs completely useless. Some others, like me, appreciate the rock opera concept and listen to all of them with open ears, and they just all have interesting songs. For example, the song Ravenskill could have been excluded, but it wasn’t, and it has a sort of spiritual feel that I wasn’t fond of, but on second listen, listen to it quite often, and its not even in my list of the best songs on this album. The story is great, it helps to understand it because it makes the album even better. James Labrie, like everyone is saying, is the real MVP of this album. He uses different tones and voices to portray the different characters, and this is probably the best vocal performance he has put out since he hurt his voice. John Petrruci did a fantastic job of putting this together, and his guitar work on here is spectacular, always keeping it interesting, but not being bombastic like other albums. Jordan Rudess has some of the best piano work he has done on here in a while, absolutely beautiful. John Myung and Mike Mangini are more of backups this time around, but I feel for a concept album, they didn’t have to be anymore than a strong foundation, which they are this time around. More interesting licks from both could have been there, but it can be forgiven. Honestly, regardless of what others choose to think of my opinion, I will cherish this great effort they have done. They did this without making it overly stale (IMO), creating a full story to follow, keeping it emotional and giving all the fans bits and pieces of Dream Theater thorughout the years of their career, a truly fan dedicated type album. They have finally broke out of the Portnoy shell and created something very unique, and while it would be virtually impossible to put this as my favorite Dream Theater album ever, it is one that could certainly be in the top list overtime. I only have a handful of songs on here that I wouldn’t listen to often unless I was listening to the album again, but here are my favorites from the album. The Gift of Music, Dystopian Overture, Lord Nafaryus, A Savior in the Square, A Tempting Offer, The X Aspect, A New Beginning, Moment of Betrayal, Hymn of A Thousand Voices, Our New World and Astonishing. I do have other songs I like, but these are my absolute favorites. It’ s an excellent album! I love it! People, what do you hear. It´s the best since “Six degrees..”. Emotive, well-telled, excellent music and LaBrie’s voice complements perfectly with the sound. I repeat, I love it. I feel the album is a little long winded but the writing is still decent. It seems a lot of people just want old – mid career dream theater back and that is a shame because they probably wont get it. Overall I thought the album was pretty good and provides an enjoyable listen which for me Dream Theater has always done.