Capz1990

Dream Theater's first album following the departure of Mike Portnoy, one of the greatest drummers to ever step behind. I think anybody anticipating this album would expect something that just didn't sound like Dream Theater or just flat out wasn't as good, but i believe anybody who listens to this album will be a little suprised at how good this album is, and how Dream Theater manages to pretty much not a skip a beat despite losing one of it's founding members, it really is a testament to the other members in the band.

There's a good balance between the songs of the album, a mixture between the long, heavy escapades, and the slightly less long, ballad type songs.

Petrucci and Rudess are the guys who really stick out throughout the album. Drummer Mangini doesnt really stick out at any point, but at the same time he doesnt do anything that messes songs up or is unpleasant , overall he does a good job supporting the rest of the band.

The songs that really stuck out to me were
on the backs of angels
build me up break me down
lost not forgotten
outcry
breaking all illusions
beneath the surface

Overall the album is well balanced, it kicks ass at some parts, wows you at some parts, its beautiful at some points, excellent musicanship and it keeps you interested throughout. Dream Theater telling Portnoy WE DONT MISS YOU !

7.5/10

Key

Quite a well written review. I've listened to this album a number of times and always tend to forget that Portnoy is no longer involved. I like the album a lot, a much better release than the previous Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Not going to say that album was bad, but it had like...2 songs that were great and the others felt like filler. A Dramatic Turn of Events seemed to flow better and only felt like it had 1 or 2 fillers, if that. I saw them during this albums tour and they performed far beyond what I would expect. Mangini did a pretty stellar drum solo, and LaBrie sounded better than he ever has.

I give two thumbs up for this album and hope to hear more from DT soon.

Capz1990

i always hear people talking about how labrie isn't a good vocalist, or maybe isn't good for this band, i think he does a really good job, and i think hes an excellent vocalist, he does a good job with all types of a songs

Key

Some people don't like that he tries to push himself to the highest note, which I can understand because in some previous albums, he has had some issues hitting the notes that he can hit now. Hell, there was a whole album (forget the name atm) that he wasn't himself because of how bad his voice was acting. However, seeing him live changed my perspective on him completely.

Capz1990

i know there was a period in time when he had ruptured his vocal chords because of food poisoning and that his voice wasnt peak during that period of time

RMR

Their best album since Metropolis Part II, in my opinion; however, I recently saw them live at a fairly small venue, and their sound was way too big for it... the notes were barely discernible from each other; it was very muddy.

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RMR
My music reivew site: RMR Music Reviews