The Astonishing

Same old, same old. Try a new concept, a concept album, yet it comes out sounding like the same stuff you always do and the same exact sounds, nothing new....snore.

Now, first off, with 34 tracks naturally not everything is going to be good, and inconsistency therefore can be expected. Indeed, as many people have said, The Astonishing sounds a lot like Broadway, not really much of the prog-metal DT is known for, but with so many tracks quite a few songs work in this vein. However there are others that are just. so. annoying (Brother Can You Hear Me, I’m looking at you). There are some great songs, some terrible ones and some inbetweeners. I do agree, Mike Mangini does not shine on this; he’s too simple here, which is a letdown because he’s probably the best drummer alive right now, a million times better than Portnoy (which is impossible to do). The main problem with his membership, even today, is that they don’t let him have enough songwriting presence like Portnoy had, otherwise he is mesmerizingly amazing. I never thought James LaBrie’s voice was bad, I certainly can’t imagine DT without him; he overreaches a bit on Astonishing but otherwise is the same as he ever was after the shrimp hurt his voice in 1998. Many people claim that Jordan Rudess went off the rails with Astonishing, making it his album along with LaBrie; however, you’ve got to understand that Rudess was not responsible for the conception, it was John Petrucci. Rudess is only guilty here of writing what Petrucci wanted, which was to fill it with sounds and orchestration and keys. John Petrucci strangely hasn’t a very strong guitar presence, but that’s understandable because of the Broadway sounds. And now to what is my biggest beef with the whole album: the concept itself. This concept, rebels against an oppressive empire with music as a weapon, is nothing new and is stupid every time it’s done. But with Astonishing the stupidity gets upped a notch. There’s elements of fantasy mixed with the sci-fi elements, Star Wars was mentioned as an influence but I can’t see it in the least. The story and lyrics are some of the silliest, most ridiculous stuff I’ve ever heard. The characters’ names are atrocious: Princess Faythe, Lord Nafaryus? Gabriel? Really, guys? And the story isn’t even captivating in all its silliness, it’s too bumpy. Metropolis Pt. 2 was endlessly fascinating in its psychological thriller tale, and each song on that album conveyed the story well, getting dark and disturbing at times. Astonishing is too all over the place story-wise, the songs don’t blend well enough to convey the corny plot which again is bumpy at best. Perhaps they wanted to make a rather silly concept for the fun of it, I cannot fathom them taking this seriously as they wrote it. So, in conclusion, is Astonishing pompous? Yes. Totally absurd? Yes. Bad album? No not really, just too much is all. A few songs are good, especially the X Aspect with its bagpipe (which I love). But on the whole the backlash from the fans is very understandable and sympathetic even. I appreciate the effort they put into this, but next concept album don’t go to the 2112/Kilroy territory, make something dark and haunting like Metropolis Pt. 2 and above all, original and a lot more metallic. Broadway isn’t the worst thing to do, but if you’re a frighteningly talented prog-metal outfit with a notoriously picky fanbase you need to be more careful. Even on an off-day like this DT still shows talent and some good music, especially in this day and age where Grammys are given to extremely pornographic music and programmed autotuned talentless trash that is nearly noise, not to mention nihilistic vulgar rap. No I’m not a racist, hip-hop is far too vulgar and that’s just a fact.

I never accepted Mangily joining the band (and never will) but, I was surprised with A Dramatic Turn of Events it sounded like they were going a little old school and I enjoyed it. Post Metropolis Pt. 2 Dream Theater have lost it for the most part. Most of there songs sound the same and to composed Portnoy was right, they need to take 5 years to recollect and refocus. This sounds like a Heavy Metal Cheese Glee Musical. I will always love DT but this is the worst. Please take a few years off and please bring Mike Portnoy back

This isn’t an album you can judge on a song by song basis. The pet project of John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, this 34 track monster, a rather thin and lightweight concept album, is the product of original vision and startling ambition. Now that doesn’t mean just because it’s original that it’s perfect, but still I think it a better, more worthwhile listen than the crushingly disappointing self-titled album. Oddly enough it still has the overly mellow tone of the self titled, but given the framework of a concept album with some harder material thrown in it works quite well. The decision to make this album knowing full well the risk of displeasing long term fans is an incredibly brave one, and you can tell that Petrucci had fun coming up with this stuff even if it’s not technically proficient. Still, since this is Dream Theater we’re talking about The Astonishing remains the misfit album in the band’s output for several reasons. 1. It’s not concert material thanks to the 34 tracks being glued together, and the run time is 2 hours 11 minutes. 2. Unlike the relatively sinister Metropolis Pt. 2, the Astonishing is light and sunny by comparison and at times uncharacteristically cheesy. 3. James LaBrie pulls out a wide array of bizarre voices to distinguish each character in the musical drama. To some ears, it comes off as grody, to others it shows his best vocal capabilities since Awake. 4. It is so unlike Dream Theater that it deprives any hope of the record attaining the status of albums like Images and Words, Octavarium, and/or Metropolis Pt. 2 Given all these objections, that it still comes across as listenable campy fun is to the credit of Rudess and Petrucci. They made an album they wanted to make, for better or worse. Overall rating: 3.5/5 stars

They haven’t lost it the are still great yes I miss Portony but mike is still awesome and the album over all is great

This album is one which you will wish to put in the time it takes to understand its scope, not only sonically, but it’s relationship to the story being told. I’ve personally saw two shows in support of this gem! Awesome doesn’t do it justice, I’ve been a fan for many years, they never cease to amaze me for their sheer musicianship. Bands don’t get any better than this.

I love all there albums except... errr this one...

If you like Rock Opera...you'll love this album. Honestly, I've had to listen to this album a few times to TRULY apprecitate this...that and seeing them perform it live (it was amazing btw) was definitely a deciding factor for me. It may not be anything crazy in terms of tone, but sometimes...you have to tone that stuff down...and it works in this case...very well I might add.

I seriously don’t get the hate, sure it’s not as good as dream theaters other albums, but it’s still pretty good.

I love Dream Theatre or should I say loved! Because after listening to this double album of boredom I don't think I will ever feel the same about em again. This is what you get when you let the lead singer and keyboardist drive the bus, where is the guitar did Petrucci take a vacation because it's keyboard driven boredom!!!! Do us all a favor and bring Mike Portnoy back that is if he will come back now after you fools destroyed his ship!! All the 4 star reviews just what are you guys listening to it sure ain't this crap stop giving reviews for material that isn't even out yet!!