Dream Theater - The Astonishing
Style: Prog Rock, Prog Metal, Rock Opera
Release: Jan. 29, 2016
Length: 130 Minutes.
I've been waiting for The Astonishing for a long time. This is my seventh DT album. From a fan who knows how the late-2000's and early 2010's have not been kind to them, I can safely say I am pleased with this album and that my longing for more good Dream Theater music has been appeased. I never bothered with Dramatic Turn or Black Clouds and Silver Linings. I plan to listen to Systematic Chaos, though. And I'm sure any other Dream Theater fan can say this is their first legit good album since 2007's Systematic Chaos. I mean, in the 2000's we had Octavarium. Overused same-old techniques. And then Dream Theater had the unfortunate streak of Black Clouds, Dramatic Turn, and their self-titled. It seemed apparent that Dream Theater lost their touch. However, Dream Theater's time for reinvention had come. With more usage of piano to bring a slight dramatic turn away from constant metal and into some rock, and occasional choir singing, not to mention the science fiction robotic moises that own Skrillex, The Astonishing really is a dramatic turn of events.
The strange thing about the intro is that it clearly gives of a sci-fi vibe, denoting the album's a concept or a rock opera. After a long drum solo, the album shows off the band's ability to play metal like a symphonic prog band like Kansas or Genesis. Afterwards, we hear some modernized metal, showing that Dream Theater knows how to keep up with the times. But after a slight choral work, they play as if they literally were Kansas, going back to the 70's. The band also uses the occasional guitar technique similar to the same reverb-laced Wagnerian motorcycle sounds of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell albums. So, the point of this into is possibly to show off a tribute to rock music in general or to show off Dream Theater's “diversity” as a prog band. This makes up the firs ttwo tracks.
We then hit the story as the operatic overture is done and the audience is grabbed. The story is similar to 2112 or the children's book The Worst Band in the Universe, where a dystopian government rules and music is the central form of rebellion. It is an original, but still interesting, concept. “The setting is outside of the dystopian cities and in the village of Ravenskill. The music itself continues to use a gospel choir to help emphasize the “opera” aspect of the album. However, it is still a modern Dream Theater album where many of the same techniques from previous works are used. However, the sci-fi production and gospel choir are different, so they're improving from their self-titled. However, “The Gift of Music” is the first track of the story, and it is shorter than necessary, mainting a “prog epic” feel but lasting 4 minutes. The first track tells of how music is a form of rebellion that must be used. The second track, “The Answer,” seems to be about the hero realizing his calling. It's a softer piano-rock track that transcends into the next. “A Better Life, uses the music to emphasize the hero's brother's adoration of his the hero's apparent destiny. I could go through the whole story, but Dream Theater has a link. It's quite a complicated story. Know this. The album does a great job at emphasizing the emotion. Songs about tyranny and the lead antagonist, the Emperor, are often dark or rebellious, leading to a vibe that the emperor is not a fun man to be around. The music is alsi heavy when the emperor sings. This denotes his power and dominion over the land. The album also has short musical numbers that act as intros to their track, such as the sounds of trumpets and horses denoting the arrival of the Emperor in Rasenskill. The whole album does this. Obviously, Dream Theater can still tell a story. Songs about the hero make the listener feel good, confident. And the hero's unsurity of his ability is denoted by a strange, uplifting form of rock bordering on alternative which gets louder as the hero gains confidence. Whenever the robots in this sci-fi realm come, robotic sounds and guitar riffs are born and Skrillex gets owned. Dream Theater. They can do soundtracks if they tried.
Dream Theater has made their best album since Train of Throught. That's not much to say, but it's something since Dream Theater's past albums weren't that good. Dream Theater has managed to get decent ratings with whatecer they put out, but they seemed to lose their spark. You can only combine Pink Floyd with Queensryche for so long. Still, Dream Theater did manage to make it their sound.
However, I think their next album should be shorter. 2 hours of Dream Theater is great, but not every time. This is Dream Theater's longest studio album. And it wasn't even tiring. Overall, I'd say this is good. It's a success, and it's brought DT back on track. Good work.
81/100