A Dramatic Turn of Events tied with Six Degrees for my favorite Dream Theater album. I think Dramatic Turn is an undercover concept album about the Portnoy Divorce.
The way you described Outcry is how I feel with all the recent DT albums. They really haven't stopped having great musical ideas, but I feel they always seem to end songs before fully developing them, or they change to a new idea while in the same song. They kind of just stitch ideas together, but they don't combine them or evolve them much. It's frustrating. I understand why people do like the new albums. They still sound like DT and still have good songs, but that's the thing, they sound too much like DT. I grew listening to these guys change and evolve with every album while retaining their core, but now I feel that their core is the only thing remaining. They are obviously comfortable with this, and a lot of fans are too, but it doesn't do it for me. Their music doesn't make me feel like I'm going on a trip anymore. I'm completely fine with a band like Metallica always sounding like Metallica. I even feel that that's the point. But to me, DT is different, because trying new and interesting ideas is one of the things that made me like them so much. A Dramatic Turn of Events is the last DT album I liked, but I gotta say, I do respect The Astonishing, because it was the last time DT tried something weird. It was terrible, yes, but I respect it.
I feel the same about the new albums. When I first discovered DT I only listened one album at a time because each one of them was it's own trip. I felt the right way of listening every album was to fully go from start to finish, but newer albums are more single focused and I feel they follow the same formula. I like Astonishing a lot but it has some very cringy moments.
I've always liked, but never quite loved this album the same way a lot of fans seem to. That being said, every time I go back to it, I find something new to enjoy about it, maybe one day it will accumulate to the point where I love it.
Dream Theater was my favorite band from 1996 until this album. This is where they kind of lost me. Before this, they incorporated so many styles and every album was so unpredictable and had its own personality. This album I feel was the start of the band falling into a rut where all the songs and albums started sounding very similar. I'm still a huge fan of their earlier work but I feel the magic has been gone for a while. I still have hope and still see them live once in a while.
For me, Dream Theater has 3 masterpieces: Images and Words, Scenes from a Memory and A Dramatic Turn of Events. Three amazing albums and all songs are completely masterpieces.
"This Is The Life" is one of their most underrated songs of all time. It's so beautiful and ethereal, and somehow it is technical but avoids the typical Dream Theater wankery. Even the lyrics are great.
Quite late for the review but there's always some good stuff to say about this piece. I still can't comprehend how Lost Not Forgotten flies by like a pop banger despite being 10 frickin minutes long XD
This was my introduction to Dream Theater. Tbh I was never really big on On The Backs of Angels or Bring me Up, Break me Down, so I agree the first high point is Lost Not Forgotten. I don't mind the similarities to IAW, because the songs are still distinct imo, but I definitely see your point, it's a bit redundant overall. Condensing the album into an EP or mini album would be my approach: Lost Not Forgotten, Bridges In The Sky, Breaking All Illusions, Beneath The Surface (a really good cool down track, the best kind of really cheesy cheese).
This album has aged well for me but it does come off as a “modern” revisit of Images & Words. I think the official bio book says that the band wanted to release an album that would send a message to fans that *paraphrase* “we are still Dream Theater”. I think this was a “safe” album to release but MP’s absence is SO clear here. Drum production is a bit drone-like and the songwriting is glaring with JP energy but not enough of that contrasting energy that we have normally seen with MP’s songwriting influence. Mangini performs my favs off this album SO well but no one in the band has a contrasting yet strong songwriting presence to balance with JP. I’m glad that the most recent two albums have seen more songwriting from the rest of the band. On a tier grading scale, ADTOE gets a B+ really close to A- for me.
Mangini didn’t actually composed the drums for this album, Petrucci did using a drum machine, and just gave the lines for Mangini to put his own spin on it, so that may be the reason why it sounds a bit drone-y.
I dig a few songs on this album, but I never have any reason to come back to the whole thing. Of the Mike Mangini albums, I'd say Distance Over Time is the strongest, but I don't revisit it much either honestly.
I think he was a perfect fit for the band. I was abit worried when Mike Portnoy left the band. But when I listened to this on release I was so impressed with the drums and songwriting. A great replacement in my opinion.
In my case, I differ with the affirmation that "this is the last great album" of Dream Theater. In my opinion suffers a lot from the same symptoms as the Iron Maiden albums of the new era, too lengthy developments and except for 2 or 3 songs of the album I don't feel the special magic that I can hear on other DT albums. It's not their worst, but for example the album of 2013 has more melodic connection to the classic sound but also gives a new perspective. Distance Over Time also in my opinion is their best since Black Clouds, being shorter but with better decisions in melodies and structure (Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End, S2N, Pale Blue Dot). A View is an album that for me, it's a direct follow-up to Distance but less concise but with really nice highlights (The Alien, Transcending Time, Awaken the Master). And finally, The Astonishing in my sincere opinion is the worst album from the band, sounding too "Disney's musical" and really naive. Even with my own opinions, great video. I really respect your opinions and you are very concise with your points
Boy.. where do I start.. 1. 'on the back of angels' sounds totally different than 'pull me under'. they are similar structure wise but that is more like an ester egg than a replica. 2. Mangini didn't play on the album, so can't really blame him. 3. No diversity? 'Bridges in the sky' is heavy metal, 'lost not forgotten' is prog rock, 'this is the life' is a ballad, 'Build me up' is a pop metal and the list goes on. every song sounds different. 4. many funs including myself love 'distance over time' and 'a view...', please don't dismiss them. 5. The short songs in this album are beautiful! Would you really like an album of 6 10 min long tracks and that's it? 'this is the life' has one of the best bridges ever, 'beneath the surface' what a keyboard solo and in general what a song.. Sorry man, for me this review is way off
I agree. I haven’t liked the past 3 albums of this band. I don’t like where they are musically at and I would rather listen to Black Clouds. I appreciate Turn of Events but I don’t care for their new direction. The drums aren’t fun to listen to anymore like they were before.
I believe that Distance Over Time and View From The Top of The World were worthy of the setup that Dramatic Turn of Events laid out, but the self titled and The Astonishing were just sad.
@@MarceloZ2 I agree, although I give Astonishing some credit for at least making the effort to be different and unique, a bummer that it's rough to actually sit through lol.
A Dramatic Turn of Events tied with Six Degrees for my favorite Dream Theater album. I think Dramatic Turn is an undercover concept album about the Portnoy Divorce.
The way you described Outcry is how I feel with all the recent DT albums. They really haven't stopped having great musical ideas, but I feel they always seem to end songs before fully developing them, or they change to a new idea while in the same song. They kind of just stitch ideas together, but they don't combine them or evolve them much. It's frustrating.
I understand why people do like the new albums. They still sound like DT and still have good songs, but that's the thing, they sound too much like DT. I grew listening to these guys change and evolve with every album while retaining their core, but now I feel that their core is the only thing remaining. They are obviously comfortable with this, and a lot of fans are too, but it doesn't do it for me. Their music doesn't make me feel like I'm going on a trip anymore. I'm completely fine with a band like Metallica always sounding like Metallica. I even feel that that's the point. But to me, DT is different, because trying new and interesting ideas is one of the things that made me like them so much.
A Dramatic Turn of Events is the last DT album I liked, but I gotta say, I do respect The Astonishing, because it was the last time DT tried something weird. It was terrible, yes, but I respect it.
I feel the same about the new albums. When I first discovered DT I only listened one album at a time because each one of them was it's own trip. I felt the right way of listening every album was to fully go from start to finish, but newer albums are more single focused and I feel they follow the same formula. I like Astonishing a lot but it has some very cringy moments.
I've always liked, but never quite loved this album the same way a lot of fans seem to. That being said, every time I go back to it, I find something new to enjoy about it, maybe one day it will accumulate to the point where I love it.
Dream Theater was my favorite band from 1996 until this album. This is where they kind of lost me. Before this, they incorporated so many styles and every album was so unpredictable and had its own personality. This album I feel was the start of the band falling into a rut where all the songs and albums started sounding very similar. I'm still a huge fan of their earlier work but I feel the magic has been gone for a while. I still have hope and still see them live once in a while.
I find myself listening to this album more than any other DT album. I love it. I also like Distance Over Time, ⌚
Has a very light athmosphere while being on a supersonic ride
For me, Dream Theater has 3 masterpieces: Images and Words, Scenes from a Memory and A Dramatic Turn of Events. Three amazing albums and all songs are completely masterpieces.
"This Is The Life" is one of their most underrated songs of all time. It's so beautiful and ethereal, and somehow it is technical but avoids the typical Dream Theater wankery. Even the lyrics are great.
I love that song to death
I se your point about Breaking All Illusions but I still adore that track
breaking all illusions is magic to me. The rest ranges from good to ok
Quite late for the review but there's always some good stuff to say about this piece. I still can't comprehend how Lost Not Forgotten flies by like a pop banger despite being 10 frickin minutes long XD
This was my introduction to Dream Theater. Tbh I was never really big on On The Backs of Angels or Bring me Up, Break me Down, so I agree the first high point is Lost Not Forgotten.
I don't mind the similarities to IAW, because the songs are still distinct imo, but I definitely see your point, it's a bit redundant overall. Condensing the album into an EP or mini album would be my approach: Lost Not Forgotten, Bridges In The Sky, Breaking All Illusions, Beneath The Surface (a really good cool down track, the best kind of really cheesy cheese).
Please review the self-titled Happy the Man first record or their second album "Crafty Hands".
Thanks!
This album has aged well for me but it does come off as a “modern” revisit of Images & Words. I think the official bio book says that the band wanted to release an album that would send a message to fans that *paraphrase* “we are still Dream Theater”.
I think this was a “safe” album to release but MP’s absence is SO clear here. Drum production is a bit drone-like and the songwriting is glaring with JP energy but not enough of that contrasting energy that we have normally seen with MP’s songwriting influence. Mangini performs my favs off this album SO well but no one in the band has a contrasting yet strong songwriting presence to balance with JP. I’m glad that the most recent two albums have seen more songwriting from the rest of the band. On a tier grading scale, ADTOE gets a B+ really close to A- for me.
Mangini didn’t actually composed the drums for this album, Petrucci did using a drum machine, and just gave the lines for Mangini to put his own spin on it, so that may be the reason why it sounds a bit drone-y.
I like how this video length is the average length of a song on this album lmao
This one is controversailly one of my favorites by theirs. Interested to see your take on it.
I dig a few songs on this album, but I never have any reason to come back to the whole thing. Of the Mike Mangini albums, I'd say Distance Over Time is the strongest, but I don't revisit it much either honestly.
I love this album.
I think he was a perfect fit for the band. I was abit worried when Mike Portnoy left the band. But when I listened to this on release I was so impressed with the drums and songwriting. A great replacement in my opinion.
In my case, I differ with the affirmation that "this is the last great album" of Dream Theater. In my opinion suffers a lot from the same symptoms as the Iron Maiden albums of the new era, too lengthy developments and except for 2 or 3 songs of the album I don't feel the special magic that I can hear on other DT albums.
It's not their worst, but for example the album of 2013 has more melodic connection to the classic sound but also gives a new perspective. Distance Over Time also in my opinion is their best since Black Clouds, being shorter but with better decisions in melodies and structure (Barstool Warrior, At Wit's End, S2N, Pale Blue Dot).
A View is an album that for me, it's a direct follow-up to Distance but less concise but with really nice highlights (The Alien, Transcending Time, Awaken the Master). And finally, The Astonishing in my sincere opinion is the worst album from the band, sounding too "Disney's musical" and really naive.
Even with my own opinions, great video. I really respect your opinions and you are very concise with your points
This is definitly their best album. It would have been recieved better if it hadn't been Mangini's first album.
Boy.. where do I start..
1. 'on the back of angels' sounds totally different than 'pull me under'. they are similar structure wise but that is more like an ester egg than a replica.
2. Mangini didn't play on the album, so can't really blame him.
3. No diversity? 'Bridges in the sky' is heavy metal, 'lost not forgotten' is prog rock, 'this is the life' is a ballad, 'Build me up' is a pop metal and the list goes on. every song sounds different.
4. many funs including myself love 'distance over time' and 'a view...', please don't dismiss them.
5. The short songs in this album are beautiful! Would you really like an album of 6 10 min long tracks and that's it? 'this is the life' has one of the best bridges ever, 'beneath the surface' what a keyboard solo and in general what a song..
Sorry man, for me this review is way off
I agree. I haven’t liked the past 3 albums of this band. I don’t like where they are musically at and I would rather listen to Black Clouds. I appreciate Turn of Events but I don’t care for their new direction. The drums aren’t fun to listen to anymore like they were before.
I love this album!!! I was so worried when Portnoy left, but this album gave me hope. Then every album since then has been pretty meh for me.
I believe that Distance Over Time and View From The Top of The World were worthy of the setup that Dramatic Turn of Events laid out, but the self titled and The Astonishing were just sad.
@@MarceloZ2 I agree, although I give Astonishing some credit for at least making the effort to be different and unique, a bummer that it's rough to actually sit through lol.
"Classic"
lol