With seamless storytelling through its 34 songs, magical moments of intricate instrumental interplay abound, magnified by an orchestra and massed choirs, while a template for the staging of a musical production sees the principals realising a grandiose next-step in their creative development.
As demanding as it is, the story and music are worth the effort. Dream Theater have invested in the "album" concept (and in listeners' attention spans) even as the music biz doubles down on the notion that long-players are merely envelopes to hold singles.
Not just vast in musical scope, The Astonishing offers an entire Dystopian world of its own, not to mention exhibiting the potential to be an overblown Broadway rock opera, eye-frazzling sci-fi movie and nerd-delighting video game into the bargain.
The results won't please every Dream Theater partisan, nor will they convert the skeptical. But it would take a hard heart to deny Petrucci, co-composer and keyboardist Jordan Rudess and their mates credit for the boldness of their aspirations and the assurance with which they achieve them.
You might want to laugh at points, because a good deal of it is very silly, but somewhere within the second half, you’ll become just a little invested. By the grand finale, you might even feel inspired.
I had never registered for Metacritic before, nor am I even a lifelong Dream Theater fan, but I am aware of their music since their earlyI had never registered for Metacritic before, nor am I even a lifelong Dream Theater fan, but I am aware of their music since their early days. I have seen many people wanting something heavy and metal-y for a project like this, and I felt I had to speak up. This is art-- and amazing feat of music to merge the metal world with that of the operatic. I heard they did it before, but this one I have found oh so much more captivating. Yes, at times it seems cheezy if/when put to graphics, but to me it is (or better be) just in its infancy as to how to build it out better for visual presentation. I recommend you check out their website for a deeper explanation of the story-line to better understand how the lyrics and music are progressing, but if you want to simply apprehend the whole thing by listening, I spent time doing that myself for the first act and it took several listens. Once it becomes clear, it is crystal clear, and it is awesome. After seeing the Green Day production, I would love to see this come to Broadway or some equivalent. To everyone that thinks that metal music is just noise, you should have a listen to this work of art.…Expand
This is my first review on Metacritic, I registered to share my opinion on the album, and to make a long story short - this album is simplyThis is my first review on Metacritic, I registered to share my opinion on the album, and to make a long story short - this album is simply excellent.
I've been into progressive music for years and in my opinion this album is among the 3 best prog albums ever composed. Both music-wise and lyric-wise - incredibly great.
Listening to it is like watching an epic movie, it's so compelling and immersive.
I couldn't recommend it more.…Expand
If you are a longtime DT fan, who really enjoyed the more reserved sense portrayed in earlier DT work, then you will enjoy this album!If you are a longtime DT fan, who really enjoyed the more reserved sense portrayed in earlier DT work, then you will enjoy this album! Combining the conveyed emotion alike to Scenes From A Memory, The Astonishing really draws emotion from the listener and makes you remember that one loves music because of the way it makes them feel, not because of how fast or crazy the band can play. A true epic, The Astonishing really pleased me and put Dream Theater back in the spotlight, making me want to go see them live for the U.S. tour.…Expand
As a long-standing DT fan my first reaction on listening to this album was Hmm.... I found it very long and somewhat cheesy. I struggled withAs a long-standing DT fan my first reaction on listening to this album was Hmm.... I found it very long and somewhat cheesy. I struggled with the linking songs and some of the lyrics "remember Bug?" WTF! However, I don't give up easily and already had a ticket to see the first live performance at The London Palladium. So, I determined to give it several more runs-through. This is a rock opera and really benefited from being seen as a live performance. By the time I came away from The Palladium I was totally on board with it and often have the music in my head! There are some brilliant ballads( good old James!) and plenty of virtuoso instrumental moments from Petrucci and Rudess. If it doesn't make it as a theatre production at the very least it'll be another great live DVD.…Expand
Dream Theater performs in over two hours through a complete fairy tale, in which both the musical patterns and singing are completelyDream Theater performs in over two hours through a complete fairy tale, in which both the musical patterns and singing are completely dominated by the story. Musically the quintet looks, with the support of David Campbell and his orchestra, for various ways to give depth and emotion to the characters and developments in the story. How far the musical passages are drifting away from each other sometimes, there is always the basic piano and orchestra sounds from which the story is constructed. However, this is applied to a production-and melodious high level that it never affect the qualities of the band members. The role of John Myung may be somewhat limited at all, and the drumming of Mike Mangini does occasional sounds mechanically, the story is worn with devotion by the applied instrumentation. James LaBrie impersonates the eight characters in a successfully way in his various voices and emotions. The solos of John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess are shorter in length than we are used to by some of their classics, but perfectly responding to the passages of the story. The message conveyed in the power of the music can easily be translated to today's society and the technological developments that are taking place. John Petrucci does not only proves to be highly responsive to the changing world, but he also knows how to wrap this up in an intriguing way in a powerful story. Dream Theater thus creates a fairytale rock opera of high class, supported by the story and resulting in a compelling musical spectacle.
Full Review: https://www.platendraaier.nl/albumrecensies/dream-theater-the-astonishing/…Expand
If you're expecting a Dream Theater album up there with "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" or "Scenes from a Memory", don't listen to thisIf you're expecting a Dream Theater album up there with "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" or "Scenes from a Memory", don't listen to this album. The album is good, but doesn't rank in the top tier of Dream Theater albums. The band's ambition can't be ignored here, nor can their talent as instrumentalists, but the album's length is also a tad bit unnecessary. Certain tracks seemed to continue on much longer than necessary, and others seemed completely unnecessary. However, the story line, while arguably not the most original, nor the most touching, is fun to follow. as long as you go in expecting a fun (almost a bit silly, but in a positive way) story with some great music, you'll enjoy the album.
Low Lights: length, tempo (some songs are just far too slow), lack of variety (not that it had none, but could have used more to compensate for the length)…Expand
I've been listening to Dream Theater since the debut album and this is seriously one of the worst things this band has ever done. It's awful.I've been listening to Dream Theater since the debut album and this is seriously one of the worst things this band has ever done. It's awful. For some reason James LeBrie has been given full reign to sigh/whimper into the microphone every chance he gets and it's relentless throughout the entire double cd. If you can stomach his constant sighing, there's Jordan Rudess plunking away at the keys making noises akin to that of a robot having a seizure in a junkyard. The guy can actually play so I'm not sure why he decided to go with the robot seizure template. My only guess is that he's being told what to play at this point by LeBrie. Where's John Petrucci on this cd? I have no idea. He's barely present, at all. There's an occasional riff tossed in here and there but they are so few and far between that they are irrelevant. He obviously didn't have much say in this double cd mess or somehow knew it was going to suck and didn't give it much of his attention. Where's Myung? No idea. You can barely hear him and when you do he's not doing much at all. The drums are also pretty ho hum considering the theme and content. This is without any doubt the worst thing Dream Theater has done since the beginning and a giant waste of your money and or download time. There's a lot of other better prog out there to enjoy. Dream Theater has pretty much given up at this point and I know I've completely given up on Dream Theater.…Expand
