![]() Again, I still enjoy the song and rank it as one of the better tracks of the album, but I can’t help but feel like I’ve heard this exact melody and style from them plenty of times before… While this is certainly a well-crafted and enjoyable song, it’s… not really a unique one for this group in the slightest. Despite all of this, I actually have a bit of a gripe. If you ever needed a quick song to show this band off to your friends with, you’d be hard pressed to find something better. Right off the heels of this track, we’re thrown into the first of the album’s singles, “The Gift of Music.” Clearly made to set the stage, this song tries to come in all guns blazing, and it’s just as powerful and technical as ever. This soon leads into the album’s overture, “Dystopian Overture.” If you’ve heard any of Dream Theater’s overtures in the past, then this intro won’t really surprise you, but it’s certainly not bad either, as it does give you a glimpse into some of the finer points of the album. The album begins with some robotic sounds, clearly the NOMACS referenced in the album’s plot earlier. It’s the way the music plays out and sounds that matters, right? So let’s get into what we hear. Either way, story is only one aspect of this album. To be fair, Neil Peart’s inspiration behind 2112 was Ayn Rand’s novella, Anthem, but he was still willing to cite his source, even at the cost of Rush being falsely labeled as “right-wing extremists” by the media afterward. I’m not saying John Petrucci is lying to us of course, but I find it kind of hard to believe that it had no involvement in this story whatsoever. While these sources also make sense in the grand scheme of the story, I think others will also quickly realize that Rush has been a large inspiration for the group from the start ( 2112 included), and it’d be very difficult to not make comparisons to the two major projects. Instead, he cited Star Wars and Game of Thrones. Does it sound like 2112? Yes, ridiculously so, and I’m kind of shocked that guitarist and songwriter John Petrucci did not list it as one of the inspirations behind this album. It tells a dystopian story, involving an oppressive empire, entertainment provided by noise machines (called NOMACS), and a boy named Gabriel, given the gift of music in this otherwise dulled and controlled world. With that said, let’s delve into The Astonishing.Īs you are likely aware, The Astonishing is a concept album, done in the style of a rock opera/theater production. I understand the sensitivity behind how important this group is to many (as they are certainly important to me), so I promise to keep this review as objective as possible, and really examine the things people are claiming to love and hate about this new release, while adding in my own personal thoughts throughout. The band has also garnered one of the most critical fanbases I’ve seen in recent memory, likely due to their technical ability and desire to experiment. Being called the world’s most technically proficient band is not a title to be taken lightly. This encapsulated everything I loved about Dream Theater, all in one amazing concept-album. The high mark of their career for me was Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory. I found things to love about nearly every release to come from this band, and they were my next gateway into the progressive rock world (following my love of Rush, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Kanas, Yes, King Crimson, Gabriel/Hackett-era Genesis, and some early Queen releases). When I had first discovered them, their newest release at the time was Octavarium (their 8th studio album by that point), and I had a great bit of catching up to do. It’s hard to imagine a band like Dream Theater having already released 13 albums over the course of their run.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |