The Astonishing

I feel sorry for Dream Theater. In my opinion this album could be a huge comeback for them after a series of unfocused and uninspired albums. I highly doubt if they could create a concept album as monumental as 'Scenes From A Memory', but this album could be a solid concept album from start to end if some changes were made.

So what this album is all about? 'The Astonishing' follows a storyline describing futuristic dystopia located in the United States, where apparently no form of entertainment is allowed. Without spoiling too much of the plot, the story mainly revolves around a hero named 'Gabriel' which possesses a unique ability to sing and create music in a region ruled by an oppressive emperor named 'Nafaryus' who sees 'Gabriel' as threat for his regime. There are approximately eight different characters in this story, and while it could be interesting to follow such a story, something was very problematic with the implementation of this concept.

First of all, eight characters are way too much for a sole vocalist to handle. If you don't read the lyrics strictly while listening to the song, it can be a confusing task to distinguish between the different characters, mainly because most of the lyrics are written in a form of first person and also because 'Labrie' just can't change his timbre enough to sound like a separate character. If there were more vocalists in this album, females and males, each for their character, this album could sound much more authentic and you could really feel the emotions and personalities of each character. Don't get me wrong, 'Labrie' did an amazing job in this album, his voice sounds crystal clear and powerful at times, shifting between registers at ease, but it still doesn't enough to carry eight different personalities for 130 minutes.

Secondly, this album is way too long and there are too many tracks which has no interesting musical ideas at all and just fill the void for the continuity of the plot. There are moments in this album where I really got the feeling that the music serves as a background for the story, and not vice versa as would expected from a music album! Honestly, I am sure that 'Dream Theater' went way too far in this aspect, there's just no excuse to drag such an album for that period of time. The storyline is quite simple and could be delivered in half of the exaggerated length of this album and nothing justifies recording such a long album, except for the sake of doing it!

So you probably ask, what is still good about this album? Actually, quite a bit. While not as inspiring as before, 'Petrucci' composed some really sophisticated and mesmerizing guitar solos and there are some catchy guitar riffs here and there. 'Labrie', while has his limits with varying his vocal timbre enough, still carries out some beautiful melodies. There are probably more ballads in this album than aggressive tracks, which sometimes makes the songs sounds quite alike, and after multiple listenings you'll probably chose to skip some of the songs.

I must add that there were some surprising moments in this album. For example the track 'Three Days'. It has a really dynamic structure and ends with something that sounds like a Broadway's segment combined with short black metal blast beats, quite surprising to say the least. 'Dystopian Overture' is also a nice instrumental piece with some catchy sections and a lot of variation. Overall, throughout the album there are some themes that repeat themselves and gives this album a decent sense of continuity and that it is a concept album.

To sum up, 'The Astonishing' had the potential to be a much better album than how it came out eventually. If it was shorter in probably fifty percent, it could be a much more focused album with less fillers and was overall a more enjoyable experience. Also, multiple vocalists could enhance the expirence and really make the different characters in the story more 'alive', so to speak. If you never found anything interesting in their classic albums ('Scenes From A Memory', 'Images & Words, 'Awake', etc.), this album probably won't change anything for you. However, if you have some appreciation for this band, definitely check this one out. But, consider that this album requires quite a bit of attention and time, which make it tiresome at points and can't be listened offhandedly.

I mainly feel disappointed after hearing this album, simply because I know it could really be astonishing if it was a little less ambitious.