MR

Anybody listening to this album? I picked it up last Saturday and finally found the time to get through all of it today.

I really think it shows the band is better off without Portnoy. I don't think the album is going to be a classic for me, but they are definitely back on the right path overall. Early favorites for me are:

On The Backs of Angels
This is the Life
Breaking All Illusions ( Awesome! As close to "Learning to Live" as we'll get from Dream Theater in the 21st century)
Beneath the Surface (great emotional piano work and LaBrie's best vocal of perhaps the decade - very heartfelt and balanced. Loses a couple points because I kept waiting for JP to channel his inner David Gilmour ala Spirit Carries On).

I still have to digest some of the other longer tracks. Least favorite so far is Bridges In The Sky even though the weirdass Gregorian monk intro is pretty cool. But this band's stuff simply can't be digested on one listen.

Overall, a fine effort and they're headed in the right direction. Really pleased. Good riddance Portnoy.

Ehwmatt wrote:Anybody listening to this album? I picked it up last Saturday and finally found the time to get through all of it today.

I really think it shows the band is better off without Portnoy. I don't think the album is going to be a classic for me, but they are definitely back on the right path overall. Early favorites for me are:

On The Backs of Angels
This is the Life
Breaking All Illusions ( Awesome! As close to "Learning to Live" as we'll get from Dream Theater in the 21st century)
Beneath the Surface (great emotional piano work and LaBrie's best vocal of perhaps the decade - very heartfelt and balanced. Loses a couple points because I kept waiting for JP to channel his inner David Gilmour ala Spirit Carries On).

I still have to digest some of the other longer tracks. Least favorite so far is Bridges In The Sky even though the weirdass Gregorian monk intro is pretty cool. But this band's stuff simply can't be digested on one listen.

Overall, a fine effort and they're headed in the right direction. Really pleased. Good riddance Portnoy.

I'm loving it and haven't grown a bit tired of it yet. It's one of the few releases in recent years on which I like every track.

I agree with your comments on "Beneath the Surface". It's a very dark and sad song but there's actually something about it despite that that kinda makes me feel better. I guess it's something like not wanting what's described in the lyrics to happen to me, you know?

To me, it's got sort of the atmospheric sound quality that "Images and Words" has and it's my favorite since that album thus far.

conversationpc wrote:

Ehwmatt wrote:Anybody listening to this album? I picked it up last Saturday and finally found the time to get through all of it today.

I really think it shows the band is better off without Portnoy. I don't think the album is going to be a classic for me, but they are definitely back on the right path overall. Early favorites for me are:

On The Backs of Angels
This is the Life
Breaking All Illusions ( Awesome! As close to "Learning to Live" as we'll get from Dream Theater in the 21st century)
Beneath the Surface (great emotional piano work and LaBrie's best vocal of perhaps the decade - very heartfelt and balanced. Loses a couple points because I kept waiting for JP to channel his inner David Gilmour ala Spirit Carries On).

I still have to digest some of the other longer tracks. Least favorite so far is Bridges In The Sky even though the weirdass Gregorian monk intro is pretty cool. But this band's stuff simply can't be digested on one listen.

Overall, a fine effort and they're headed in the right direction. Really pleased. Good riddance Portnoy.

I'm loving it and haven't grown a bit tired of it yet. It's one of the few releases in recent years on which I like every track.

I agree with your comments on "Beneath the Surface". It's a very dark and sad song but there's actually something about it despite that that kinda makes me feel better. I guess it's something like not wanting what's described in the lyrics to happen to me, you know?

To me, it's got sort of the atmospheric sound quality that "Images and Words" has and it's my favorite since that album thus far.

It's definitely got the atmospheric quality that made me love this band so much when I first discovered them. I'm so pleased Rudess is back with more strings, pads, atmosphere-type tones, pianos, and more organic synths instead of the circus-type tones he's been using. That makes a HUGE difference. He's such a great player, but he has really irked me the last few albums and tours with all the weird sounds and parts he has played.

The musicianship goes without saying, but since 2006 (after Octavarium), I've really felt like they were trying too hard to be too "metal." Moreover, the musicianship was for musicianship's sake on the last two albums. There's a few shred section that could have used some more structure here, but for the most part, every instrumental part fits in perfectly.

Just curious, did you like Octavarium? That album seems to be right about when DT fans started getting divided in a big way. I love it and think it was their last great release until now. This album gives me a very similar vibe.

Ehwmatt wrote:Just curious, did you like Octavarium? That album seems to be right about when DT fans started getting divided in a big way. I love it and think it was their last great release until now. This album gives me a very similar vibe.

That album has never really grabbed me and, honestly, I can't name a song from it. I can't think of one I completely dislike, either, though. I really like "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" and "Wither" is my favorite all-time DT song. I'm giving a talk in November at a retreat that I am on the team for and I'm actually using that song at the end of my talk. I really love that song.