A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Well, it's finally here. And it's definitely an amazing Dream Theater album.

To be fair, at this point I just wish they could play something different rather than playing the same prog metal they've been playing since Octavarium. This record's great though, probably their best with Mangini.

1. The Alien (7.5/10): The lead single and one of the best tracks from the album too. We've all heard it, fast-paced, diverse, technical, and overly dramatic.

2. Answering The Call (8/10): One of my favorite tracks from the album and very reminiscent of Octavarium's These Walls. The main verse is beautiful, and the chorus' stop-and-go nature is really good. The bridge is where the song shines, the dynamic between Jordan and Petrucci is brilliant.

3. Invisible Monster (6/10): Yeah, I don't like this one. Too generic, a way too made-up chorus and it feels too safe. I like Petrucci's solo for sure.

4. Sleeping Giant (9/10): The best from the album, can definitely say this will go into many of my Dream Theater Playlists. The song begins with a Breaking All Illusions-esque verse, followed up with a chorus of a similar nature. The instrumental section is the best part of the album, it begins with a short solo from Petrucci, followed by a comical ragtime-like piano solo from Jordan and a synth solo. The song closes with a 1-minute epic ending that feels a little too rushed. I really wished they had made it longer.

5. Transcending Time (7/10): This is the Rush-like song from the album and a ballad too. It's good. That's all I can say about it. It has a very cheesy happy vibe that lasts for its full length. For being the ballad song, it's surprisingly lacking in terms of beautiful melodies or choruses.

6. Awaken The Master (7/10): Wasted potential. Instrumental-wise, this is one of the most technical tracks on the album. The first two minutes are just pure instrumental madness, with the band changing riffs at light speed. But the melodies are really un-memorable, which is a shame. At around minute 6:40, your typical Petrucci/Jordan solo section starts. The song ends with the chorus. With a good chorus, this could've easily been one of the best from the album.

7. A View From The Top Of The World (9/10): The track that everyone wanted to know about, the fat-ass epic.

7A: It begins with a fading-in guitar, which then gets accompanied with some cheesy Orchestra from Jordan which then turns slightly into an harp. Very reminiscent of Symphony X's The Divine Wings Of Tragedy. The riff finally takes form into a 15/16. Petrucci then does his typical epic thematic solo.

7B: At around minute three, James finally starts to sing. The chorus is unexpectedly up-beat and fast paced, where the name of the song gets mentioned, it's not very memorable though. A bass & drums section follows, which gets quickly accompanied by another melody James which I don't dig much. At 6:40 the band enters a short instrumental section, where Jordan starts using his silly soundboard. This section ends with Petrucci shredding the hell out of his guitar.

7C: After a moment of atmosphere, a faint and beautiful guitar takes the center of the stage to give the listener a break. A synthetic cello can be heard accompanying the guitar. Jordan then enter with his keyboards to establish the main the of the song. The vocals enter with the drums. The melody feels, once again, lacking and uninspired. As expected, Petrucci does his emotional guitar solo at minute 12:00. James sings for a little and then Petrucci continues his solo.

7D: Release The Wankfest! The instrumental section begins at minute 14:00, it's really good, Petrucci and Jordan make eight billion solos as you could just expect. There's a Mozart-like section at minute 16:30 that's probably the best part of the song, unfortunately it's very short, it only lasts thirty seconds! It closes the instrumental section.

7E: The last three minutes are basically your typical epic closing that you hear in literally every single Dream Theater epic. It gets followed by a riff that reminds me a lot of The Dark Eternal Night's ending riff. A very underwhelming ending.

What's the biggest problem from the album? The melodies, barely any of them are memorable. But the instrumentation is probably the best they've made in decades. Overall, a record that will definitely satisfy any Dream Theater fan, and a very solid and brilliant release. Five Stars.

Dream Theater - A View From The Top Of The World

Their best album since Train Of Thought? There's honestly nothing better than watching one of your favorite bands have a late-term shining moment. Even after Mangini joined back in 2010, you could tell the band was seriously running out of ideas, but that of course didn't stop them from making albums.

A View From The Top Of The World won't really surprise anyone that much. After all, it's still Dream Theater. But their mastery and experience at what they do is what makes this record so good, everything is just where it needs to be. It's not exaggeratedly heavy like Train Of Thought or synthetic and bland like their self-titled, it's some seriously professional progressive metal.

The songs themselves are very well built, featuring the crazy solos of Petrucci and Jordan. The bass is less buried in the mix which makes me very happy, people can finally appreciate Myung. James finally started to sing at lower ranges which is good since his voice is very tired. This is also the best drum work Mangini has done in Dream Theater.

And with such a solid and enjoyable album, I feel forced to give it five stars.

The title says it all. Dream Theater are a band that were once at the top, not only of progressive metal, but of metal in general. It's clear that a band as innovative is going to find it difficult to innovate after thirty three years of music, which is why Dream Theater doesn't try to innovate anymore. Instead, they do what they do as best as they can, and they for sure deliver.

This record is classic Dream Theater, it borrows ideas from Awake, A Change Of Seasons, and at some points Images And Words. The songs each feature very tight playing and a great balance between instrumental madness and soft, light vocal sections. Musicianship is top-notch, just as you would expect from a Dream Theater album. Finally, the mixing is probably the best in the band's entire career, I really hope that sound engineer was paid well!

For sure will become one of my favorite records by them, no weak tracks. Five stars, as bold as it may sound.

Brilliant album. Sure, it's more of the same, but it's some of the best "same" they have ever released. Every song is very solid and there's no weak tracks. The Alien is an amazing all-rounder with some great progressive metal pyrotechnics. Answering The Call is a classic-sounding album that's very fun to listen. Sleeping Giant is an amazing mini-epic with a great chorus. Transcending Time is a Rush-inspired track that works as a nice break. Awaken The Master features the first 8-string on a Dream Theater song and it works great. And the epic is for sure one of their best songs to date.

Five stars.

Dream Theater has really amazed me with their 15th studio album 'A View From Top of the World'. This album consists of an immense amount of incredible melodies. The musicianship here is also top notch. The guitar playing by John Petrucci is out of this world along with Mike Mangini's drumming and Jordan Rudess magic keyboards. I also really loved James LaBries singing here. He's singing is just stunning. The album is an excellent ride from start to finish. No weak songs here. Overall this album is a masterpiece and their best album since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. 5/5

I'm mainly writing this review as a counterpoint to all the baffling praise that's being heaped on this album. The number of five-star reviews came as a big surprise to me after checking in here to hear/read other people's opinions. THIS is what many of you consider to be a five (or even four) star Dream Theater album? Really? Up there with 'Images and Words' and 'Scenes From A Memory'? Never mind the classics from other bands. Surely we have long gone past the point of praising these guys for being world-class musicians. "Their technical ability is beyond reproach - 5 stars." "The production is great - 5 stars." No - the music is, at best, bland and rehashed from the worst moments of their past albums. The recent LTE3 and Petrucci solo albums (although the latter has some really nice moments) solidified for me that they're long spent of great work.

I wanted to like this album, I really did. Dream Theater was for years my favourite band, and some of their earlier work remains among my favourite albums, but they're an empty, hollow shell of what they once were and they have been for 15+ years. There's nothing here - absolutely nothing - that they haven't already done ad nauseam in previous albums. LaBrie has - wisely - decided he isn't going to try to sing high or low notes, and he sounds good at the range he sings, but this means that the vocals are boring to listen to (let's not even talk about the lyrics...). John Myung made a brief appearance for the first time in his career in the last album, but he's vanished into obscurity again. Petrucci and Rudess have both, once again, created an album of random noodling with almost no attempt to create interesting melodies. The few attempts they do make all fail, save for one nice little section from 1:30 to 2:30 on Awaken The Master. The rest of it is so, so tedious and uninteresting that the only track I can listen to from beginning to end is The Alien, but even that I'd only give 3 stars at best.

I get it, they're growing older and their creativity is spent, but they enjoy what they do and want to keep doing it. I'm happy for them, I really am, but the music has suffered for it.

A very nice surprise!

A View From the Top of the World, doesn't offer much new sonically, but the songs itselves are very strong, complex and rich. This demanded multiple listens for me to start appreciating more each song, as it happenend in the past when their released their singles "The Alien" and "Invisible Monster".

It feels like the band decided to smash together their last album Distance Over Time and A Dramatic Turn Of Events to create this groovy like product with larger songs with unique rythmical patterns instead of very remarkable melodies like in DOT.

Mangini is the main star here, his rythmical patterns are his best so far and every song is very creative regarding the way he uses his drum kit. His is followed by Myung, which is louder in the mix, thankfully and makes the difference in complementing the grooves given by the drums, especially in quieter sections.

Petrucci and Rudess also do a great job there, although they go more on jamming side when solo'ing and therefore not being much remarkable. Guitar and keyboard tones, on the other hand, are very on spot, and Ruddess usage of organs is fantastic.

Another positive thing is definitely the mix, very crystal clear and nothing is overbearing. While some songs feels very heavy, especially the 8th string song "Awaken the Master", it doesn't feels like it because everything is tight, on its place.

Some cohesiveness were lost since their last album and the band doesn't try to reach new boundaries, but I still feel there are very strong elements to appreciate here, which makes this one of my favorites releases of 2021.

4.5/5

The name DREAM THEATER is almost synonymous with the genre progressive metal given that this was the band responsible for bringing this hybrid of progressive rock and heavy metal to the world at large with its lauded "Images And Words" album all the way back in 1992. Despite having existed as the kingpin of the genre for almost three decades now, DREAM THEATER has been eclipsed by countless other bands in terms of consistency and innovation however despite this band's on again off again commitment to quality control, there is no doubt that this pioneering band has cranked out some ridiculously brilliant music over the years.

I'm hardly one who chomps at the bit waiting for a new DREAM THEATER album to hit the market but i do like the band enough to keep up with their albums and listen at least once before moving on to the next thing. Well here we are in the year 2021, some 32 years after the band's debut "When Dream And Day Unite" and DREAM THEATER is back with its 15th studio album A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD with its surprisingly stable lineup since 2011's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events." While DT has been on autopilot for a while now simply recycling its past glory and offering okay enough but won't blow you away albums, A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD comes off as a nice surprise.

True this new album isn't reinventing the wheel and could never be mistaken for any other act other than DREAM THEATER but what his album seems to exhibit unlike many of the recent past is a return to the passion that made many of the 90s albums so magical. The tunes seem more inspired, the details seem more ironed out and things don't sound blatantly by the numbers as they have in the past. In fact this album sounds as if it should be inserted into the timeline where "Falling Into Infinity" fell short. Whatever the case, it seems that the cancellation of the 2020 tour due to the pandemic was just the ticket for the band to find the time to rekindle the dwindling mojo and return to the years of yore when DREAM THEATER albums actually were something to get excited about.

A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD is the first album to be recorded in the band's own studio, DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters) so perhaps this return to form is a result of musical independence that had been lacking. The album was mixed and mastered by legendary Sabbath guitarist Andy Sneap and the musical team of John Petrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, James LaBrie and Mike Mangini sounds as if these guys on the top of their game once again with seven instantly lovable tracks that offer everything you could expect from classic DREAM THEATER. The band has experimented over the years with varying degrees of progressiveness, dedication to the metal aspect of its equation as well as the other elements that make up the DREAM THEATER equation.

On album #15, the band employs all of the metal heft that you can hear on the heaviest albums (such as "Awake"), the most knotty prog fueled gymnastics (as heard on most of the 90s albums) along with the fearless exploration of virtuosic soloing. On A VIEW you will not hear any of those ridiculously convoluted ballads, no substandard vanilla dumbing down of the extremities or blatant mining of their past. What you will hear is excellent songwriting fortified with high standard musicianship and a return to the more progressive aspects that put the prog in the metal back in the day. The album Shortest track "Transcending Time" is 6:25 whereas the highlight of the album which is the title track clocks in at 20 1/2 minutes with three distinct parts! The recent Liquid Tension Experiment sessions seem to have carried over on this one :)

Let's face it, DREAM THEATER has peaked and unless the band decides to completely reinvent itself it's going to be simply retreading that which it has already done and A VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE WORLD is no exception. There is nothing on this album that will convert haters and nothing that hasn't already been explored by the band ad nauseam, however at this stage in the DT game, it's all about crafting an album that is actually compelling to experience through the band's tendency to release sprawling albums that defy current attention spans. This one is over 70 minutes long! It's really hard to say why one album works for me and others don't but i am quite surprised that this one keeps me engaged for the entire run! This really does bring me back to the era of "Awake" when the band was firing on all pistons. Somehow the pandemic produced a silver lining and some of the classic bands have had the time to reevaluate and reflect on where they once were and where they have drifted. Whatever the case, this is one of the best DT albums for my ears in a loooooooooong time.

Dream Theater in 2021. What exactly would you expect at this point from a new release by the progressive metal veterans? With the exception of the odd experiment here and there (such as the ill-advised The Astonishing), the band's tried-and-true formula doesn't really get shaken up these days. In fact, their previous album Distance Over Time was one of the safest releases they'd put out in quite a long time; perhaps the more conservative approach was meant to balance out the ambitiousness of a two-hour-long rock opera, but that didn't really change how predictable its songwriting was. So with that in mind, it was hard to have any serious expectations for A View from the Top of the World, even with the prospect of a 20-minute epic to cap it off. But while it doesn't reinvent the wheel in any major way, it does happen to be the band's best record in a decade.

Really, the album title and cover art say it all. Dream Theater don't have anything else to prove from the vantage point of being one of progressive metal's foremost legacy acts, so A View from the Top of the World comes off more as a band writing and playing for the sake of enjoying their craft. Songs like the highly technical barnburner "The Alien" or the off-time chugging of "Answering the Call" aren't doing anything new per se, but the quality lies in how these old ideas are being presented here. Despite the song lengths being pretty long as usual, the more wank- driven bits are surprisingly lean and controlled - solos generally don't last over two minutes, and while they're still pretty masturbatory as one would expect, they're also pretty tasteful compared to a lot of Dream Theater's modern output. "Invisible Monster" is a perfect representation of this, with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess' guitar and keyboard parts interlocking with each other to form some really neat harmonies.

Of course, the band do get more adventurous and crazy during the two epic pieces, "Sleeping Giant" and the mammoth title track. The former features some excellent symphonic bits from Rudess' keyboard parts, as well as some SHOCKINGLY strong singing from James LaBrie. In fact, this album is the best he's sounded in a long time; he doesn't try to stretch himself too much vocally on the record, and I think that's to his benefit. In short, he simply sounds more comfortable here than he has on previous albums. As always, the rest of the band show off their technical acumen very nicely on "Sleeping Giant" with shred solos and off-time licks, with the honky tonk piano of Rudess' solo being a particularly fun highlight. The title track, meanwhile, goes through about as many twists and turns as you'd imagine from a modern Dream Theater epic. It mostly relies on a flurry of technical riffs and solos, but I have to give a nod to the beautiful midsection; the drums drop out, and all that can be heard is Petrucci's clean guitar ringing out before the rest of the band eventually enters back in. Great stuff, and it plays like a leaner version of the symphonic break in "Illumination Theory" from the band's self-titled effort.

The only drawback to all of this is what I've already mentioned: a lot of what's found on A View from the Top of the World is what you would expect from Dream Theater, even if it's executed very well. The only true surprise on the record is the fantastic power-ballad "Transcending Time", which sounds like it could have been pulled straight out of one of the band's 90s albums. It's incredibly emotional and uplifting, giving off similar vibes to "The Looking Glass" but not wearing its influences on its sleeve like that song did. But could there have been more songs like that on the record? Sure, and it would have been nice to hear, but maybe that'd be asking too much of the band. A View from the Top of the World is an incredibly solid album that brings out the best qualities in Dream Theater's current incarnation; it's predictable, yes, but you'll most likely still enjoy it if you keep that caveat in mind. This is the best the band have sounded in a long time, and certainly the best this lineup has sounded; let's just hope they can keep this trajectory going for future records.

Dream Theater hit & missed with this one. Despite the excellent production, clever arrangements, and well-known virtuosity, this is just a collection of the the same recycled movements & musical themes since 2010. Absolutely nothing new, nothing magical or - at least - a solid piece of prog; nothing who can stay with the listener. After the extraordinary The Astonishing - a landmark of progressive rock, even if many say it is long and cheesy - I would have been expected something provocative... Disappointing. Just like LTE3... For provocative, I have to stay with the latest Pain Of Salvation. Yet, I hope for another masterpiece by DT - maybe their swan song. 2 stars, sadly

Was surprised by how good this album is. It may be my favourite album they've released since octavarium, and their best since mangini joined IMO. The mix is really good on this album. You can clearly hear mangini and myung, and it seems they let mangini have a little more creative freedom this time around it's pretty evident as some parts are heavily based off his drum parts. Overall there isn't a BAD song on the album, but my least fav is def "invisible monster". My fav track on the album is definitely the epic 20min title track. Been on repeat all week!

Dream Theater was the band that introduced me to progressive metal and rock around 25 years ago. It was my favorite band thanks to Images and Words, Awake, Metropolis Pt 2. Even I enjoyed Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought a lot because they tried to do something different than in their previous albums. But then, they stopped trying to innovate and returned to the formula that provided them a safe place in the prog metal scene and secured them with a faithful fanbase. And they have stuck to their formula for 8 albums. 8 albums with the same musical ideas, same movements, same recycled themes, same solos again and again...

DREAM THEATER, 100 years I waited to review one, my prog metal masters; how am I going to stay neutral, listening and telling you of course. DREAM THEATER is the discovery in 1992 of one of the best albums, it is the realization at the end of the year of this 15th thanks also to the DTHQ which allows them to go beyond the distances. DREAM THEATER initially tried to recreate a sound from YES, RUSH, PINK FLOYD or IRON MAIDEN and METALLICA, he quickly made DREAM THEATER with care and genius. The cover signed Hugh Syme can represent the bridge between their moving productions of the beginning and the latter very successful, filled with neat melodies where the musical developments integrate effectively with the voice of James.

"The Alien" hits the ground running with Mike's triple pedal, John's bass that lets low notes dripping, keyboards with a sound that comes from Jordan's 3 or 4 hands, a hard heavy riff that announces color; that's it the new Dream Theater has arrived and will wreak havoc. A colorful crystalline solo from John that puts the mood and finally found James' voice on human efforts at alien exploration (would the containment have helped put her down for a bit?). The single that many hastened to listen to this August 13 and which gives each of the instrumentalists his place to the chagrin of his detractors, whom I personally say immediately I support them 100% for this deluge; mention to Jordan and John (and John who seconds them with his 12 fingers) for a long solo of over 4 'and Mike for his various pad escapades! More successful LTE overboosted, phrasing, dynamite. 'Answering the Call' drives the point home, submachine gun in action, meteoric rise of notes, groovy and heavy riff amplifying melodic James' voice; more conventional title with the immense bass cutting the rhythm and leading to a thunderous, tortured synth-guitar fight, yes the synth is also a weapon at the Dream Theater when the guitar solo wants to be felted; tribal final on percussion and bass. "Invisible Monster" starts with a refined register, melodic mid-tempo, text about the confrontation of his fears admirably sung by James, a piece reminiscent of "Forsaken"; halfway through the station wagon highlights Mike and then unleashes a sublime, catchy, fresh, fruity guitar solo in two stages; simple title in my opinion on the certified vein of the group. 'Sleeping Giant' mysterious intro at first, a heavy riff that leaves, S-F BOF atmosphere, a keyboard oozing notes, the main riff brings back the titles of Images And Words 'in memory, concise, focused, perfectible; tortured, variegated, heavy, thunderous, choirs rocking the air, a little synth foolish folklore funfair and the guitar squirting for a pure moment of supercharged progressive metal; track which as an instrumental on CD2 immediately sends me back to LTE's 'When the Water Breaks'.

'Transcending Time' obvious RUSH intro, aerial, melodic prog metal before the hour, here we are on the sound of the agreed group, conventional, not overdone, similar, in short their sound with Jordan leading the dance .. There I understand the annoyance of those who say 'it's the same', but who would shout even more if? it was different! In short, neo-prog metal limit with a divine childish piano just to recover from John's refined and millimeter solo, a soft title that disappoints me a little in view of the feeling of déjà vu despite a flawless harmonic. Heavy 'Awaken the Master'! John and Mike are asking for one thing, to see them in concert for this airy and crystal-clear brutal intro; Jordan comes like an angel to bring emotion, John takes out the grapeshot from his 8-string so that James releases his text and combines it all into a successful tune. When heavy and symphonic complement each other in this dantesque whirling 6 minute solo? listen and you will understand, good nothing to throw here after all. A View from the Top of the World 'in 3 parts for the epic main course, the baby dinosaur that reminds me from the start of' Six Degrees 'for its string and brass suite; good that hits hard, text on the limits of some to want to test and surpass themselves in this sanitized life and place of king for James here; 5 minutes and break with John-bass for the 2nd verse, 7 minutes it heats up then it squirts; 9 minutes already without striking a blow and we catch our breath with a little acoustic guitar then cello synth, divine solo posed, James takes control of a Floydien tune of 'The Greag Gig' for a while, sumptuous voice I insist then that sets out again on the 14 minutes with a solitary tonic surge as one did not dare to imagine, me if and I have for my account; guitar right, left, a Hammond synth and the tune picking up with the last verse; dantesque finale with an imposing groovy riff juggling a neoclassical hint of the 90's; the final riff to rule the time that stopped for 20 minutes.

DREAM THEATER shows its ability to compose evolving, exciting, twirling and joyful pieces. DREAM THEATER releases a high-end musical slap with a packaging of over-boosted notes that will bury the grumpy. Remember to breathe a little before starting to listen to this album suffocating by the quality of the raw, sensual tracks. There are progressive atmospheres, there is art, there is a great album. Simply progressive metal album of the year.

? It tastes bad to say, but this latest CD from Dream Theater doesn't tell me anything at all. From the outset it was already making it difficult for me to digest the rhythm of their editions, but in this one, they have already reached a limit for me. The tired troc-trocotoc-trocotomp, troc-trocotoc-trocotomp, troc-trocotoc-trocotomp of Petrucci, who has become a ridiculous crusher of thick guitar strings, is totally tiresome. The role of LaBrie, which I definitely already see clearly that he made a mistake in his career; the man what it should have been is a crooner in Las Vegas. To the unnecessary and absurd re-doubles of the new drummer, without reaching the feeling and technique of Portnoy, the irrelevant Myung, and Jordan using nineteenth-century keyboards. A stupid work. They have not known how to withdraw in time. Really a CD for completionists of the group. I'm sorry for the automatic translator.

This is definitely among the top DT albums: Images and Words, Awake, Scenes From A Memory & Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence. The A View from the Top of the World is an album of songs - of real songs - with chops! Great melodies and beautiful choruses! With lyrical moments too. It's groovy, it's heavy. It has plenty of instrumental wizardries. It's a very well-rounded release.👌 👌 👌 And the sound! It's one of the stars of this album. It sounds big. The space. It's crystal clear, everyone I can hear! It's "the" best-sounding Dream Theater album in recent years, no contest.

I have already mentioned that one of the few advantages of these turbulent times is the fact that most bands that have been banned from performing do not laze and sit in the studio, writing new material, which they will then present to us live, and we all hope that the future the year will really be better. The progressive metal icon, none other than DREAM THEATER, is not an exception. It can be said that we are used to a relatively regular dose from these giants of the given genre, as they always offer us new material relatively regularly, at intervals of about 2-3 years, and this was not the case now. After the last, very successful album "Distance Over Time" comes the new "A View From The Top Of The World".

The line-up on the album remained unchanged, the quintet LaBrie, Petrucci, Myung, Rudess, Mangini probably don't need anyone to be introduced. What has changed is where they put the album together. During the pandemic, the band completed its DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters), which is a kind of base where they have their own studio, equipment warehouse and everything else the band needs in their format. They brought in the help of the seasoned Andy Sneap (among others the guitarist JUDAS PRIEST) and James Meslin alias Jimmy T, who helped them with the production. A group of top musicians, therefore, sat down in the studio again and put together material that basically accurately characterizes DREAM THEATER in recent years. To write it exactly, apart from such a controversial album, "The Astonishing", which is probably the most divisive part of the band's entire discography, I dare say that he also overtook "Falling Into Infinity". So what is the view from the top of the world?

It is a clear, so significant classic of the band, which has dominated the genre for more than three decades - in both positive and negative senses. It can be said that the novelty is a continuation of its predecessor. The album is fired by the relatively sharp track "The Alien", where we can really find everything so typical for DT, from really unreal instrumental beats, through excellent guitar and keyboard solos, melodic choruses. "Answering The Call" is one of the most significant songs on the album for me, and that's where I'm seeing something new, maybe more old- fashioned and refreshing. An interesting chorus, which is complemented by excellent singing and an interlude in the middle passage, makes this a really nice piece. "Invisible Monster" is a really dark, gloomy, slightly "radio friendly" smirk, probably the easiest to listen to, slightly relieving thing on the album. "Sleeping Giant´ is a really classic DT in full parade, where we find harder passages, melodic lines, an interesting chorus, probably exactly the song that a rock fan expects from the legend." Transcending Time "is RUSH oriented power ballad which serves as a relief before the hit in the form of "Awaken The Master" and the title track, which is really the most colorful example of the mastery of this formation. Excellent arrangements, beautiful, clear sound, up to the grand finale. Excellent, but relatively difficult doctrine of progressive metal, which ends this successful material.The sound is excellent, every tool has its place, especially Mike Mangini really plays more relaxed, more colorful, it's definitely his best record since joining his post. Apparently, the blanket from the entire discussion in the position of drummer, which became a kind of "apple of contention" among the fans, has already fallen from him. LaBrie gives excellent performance, it does not push into high positions, so singing is very pleasant. The others give excellent, standard performance, while really confirming that they are the absolute top instrumental.

In the introduction, I mentioned that the novelty is an accurate, so classic example of DREAM THEATER's work in recent years, both in a positive and in a negative sense. Yes, the downside is the album's moderate predictability. In principle, it can be said that it no longer offers us much new, as yet unexplored. But I ask: is it still possible at all? It's hard to say, in principle, we will know the answer to that in a few years, when some more progeny from this legend will be added to the discography.

"A View From The Top Of The World" is an excellent, precisely played, but relatively difficult to digest material. It is really necessary to listen to it in great detail, to perceive the complexity of the whole album (the 5.1 mix will also help a lot with animations that beautifully complement the overall impression) and to let yourself be carried away on pro-metal waves. The novelty is an album with which DT once again proves who is the master of the given genre, which they basically defined. It will bring you everything that the last decades have presented, except for one: a moment of surprise. This is not enough for someone and this element is already missing in their creation. I belong to a group that is no longer sure whether it is possible to bring something like this to the work and I enjoy the mastery they offer us. If you also belong to this group, you will definitely fall in love with the novelty.

So, is DT looking at other bands from the top of the prog-metal world? There is no clear answer to this, everyone has their own subjective feeling and opinion, for me DREAM THEATER is still rising, and let's not be surprised when some of the other actions reach the "top of the prog world". They are really close to it! 5 stars.

Before writing this review I made sure to listen to the album times so I could truly understand the album. After many listens I have come to the conclusion that this album is one of the best albums they have made for in over a decade. From the first song "The Alien" to the last song "A View From Top Of The World" the album is a incredible ride. The songs are extremely well played and well written. John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess play great here as well. I also really loved James Lanbrie's singing on this album too. Mike Mangini's drumming is the best drumming he has done with Dream Theater. Overall this album is a must hear if you like Dream Theater or progressive metal!

Dream Theater is a band I have a love-hate relationship with. While many people fell off the excitement train a long time ago, I've still maintained some respect for the band, particularly enjoying Distance Over Time and its restrained tendencies. As well as Dramatic Turn of Events which while being plagued by pretty blatantly bad production, still had a lot of really strong tracks despite that. I've always felt that Dream Theater is at their best in the mid range song length of 8-12 minutes, and I think they're also at their best when they're embracing their progressive side over their primarily 2000s metal side. So a View From the Top Of The World excited me when the tracklist and lengths were announced.

The Good:

This is definitely their best sounding album in ages, the production is really on the money with a special nod towards the drum sound. Also, conversely to many other Dream Theater records, the bass is much more audible, however I still think there's room for a few more decibels in there. On the same note as the drum sound, Mike Mangini delivers not only his best performance ever, but the best performance of any member on the album. His parts are so consistently groovy and interesting, even on the lesser tracks. Also, I think this is the first Dream Theater album in ages that hasn't had a blatantly cringe worthy track like Far From Heaven, Out of Reach, Wither etc. There are weaker songs here, but none of them make my skin crawl or keep me up at night, which we take!

The Bad:

I think this album has 3 main drawbacks. For one, the song structures get a little out of hand and cluttered a lot of times on this album, I think the worst offender here is Awaken the Master in particular. Sometimes they'll start up what sounds like a potentially cool riff or passage of music, but then they'll throw in some random Dream Theater jargon fill and never expand on the initial idea. Secondly, while I think it's a good thing James Labrie mostly stays in a comfortable range, the vocal melodies leave a lot to be desired. Many of the verses are indistinguishable from one another and it seems like every hook is reliant on some sort of descending melody. Other times, the actual vocal delivery can come off as clumsy, as if they're writing the words simply to fit an arbitrary meter change going on beneath the vocals. A lot of times the lyrics don't always help the case here, as they just come off a bit silly and hard to take seriously. You know.... Interplanetary Aliens and Invisible Monsters and so forth. Finally, it's the age old complaint but it rings true, you can take pretty much any riff or section of music on this album and trace it back to a preexisting Dream Theater cut that at the very least, strongly resembles what we got here.

The Songs:

1: The Alien (5/10)

This track was dropped as the first single and I was pretty disappointed in it right away. I think The Alien is one of the messier tracks structurally, and lyrically it's pretty goofy as well. I also think the intro is pretty obnoxious and way too busy right out the gate. However, it picks up a little momentum for me after the first couple minutes with a decent albeit somewhat standard solo section for Dream Theater. I actually dig the short little ending playout of this track quite a bit, I only wish it went on longer. Being completely honest, Mangini carries this song for the most part, but outside of the drum sphere it still has redeemable qualities.

2: Answering the Call (8/10)

This track I actually love a lot. It shows off a nice balance between technical prog metal songwriting and structural restraint. It reminds me a bit of At Wits End and the Leprous song Silhouette from earlier this year. Most of all, I like that it sounds modern, part of me could almost see it being a mid 2010s Haken or Leprous song in that respect. This track also has one of the stronger hooks within the album and the solos all properly deliver, coming and going at the right times. Answering the Call does a great job of keeping it's drive and momentum throughout, the ending such a headbanger, however once again, I wish it played out for just a little longer.

3: Invisible Monster (5/10)

A very mid and standard Dream Theater single fare. It opens with a Scenes From a Memory reminiscent riff, before heading into an odd-time chuggy verse. There's nothing offensively wrong with this track, but it's just plain. The solo section falls a little flat and doesn't pack anything memorable enough to distinguish it from any other given JP solo, and I think the ending playout could've used some sort of variation from the intro. I do like the faster and more driving variation they do on the second verse, but overall it's a big shrug for me.

4: Sleeping Giant (8.5/10)

In my opinion, this is the best song on the album and one of the best songs Dream Theater has dropped between these last 5 albums. This takes me back to Dramatic Turn of Events with a real sense of direction and flow (for the most part) in the songwriting while still holding on to that technical identity. It packs some really interesting instrumentals ranging from nice melodic breaks, to some crushing riffs and fiery tradeoffs. The band does a great job of introducing themes, revisiting them and bringing some variations forth of said themes. Also, there's a lot of nice vocal melodies to latch onto contrary to much of the rest of the album. The drumming on this song could be the main event itself, the attention to detail and absurd mastery of groove is insane. 4:26 is a particular passage that caught my ear right away. I think for Dream Theater, this is a really creative and well executed idea, once again giving me strong Haken vibes. In the middle, the music melodically fizzles out before the drums take the band into the solo section through an admittedly pretty clumsy and silly transition, but I can look past it because the jam that follows is easily my favorite on the album. The way the solo section develops and progresses part to part is seamless, however, it hits its peak when Jordan drops a honky tonk piano solo over the main theme of the solo section. I also appreciate how they expand upon the chorus before closing the song off. Certainly the track I will be revisiting the most.

5: Transcending Time (4/10)

This track wears it's Rush influence on it's sleeve, as well as a fair bit of self Images and Words worship. Major key Dream Theater songs in the 2010s are always hit or miss, and this one sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of the album. I feel like this song sounds more like Neal Morse emulating Dream Theater than it does a Dream Theater song. This song might make a little more sense elsewhere in the discography, but the cheesy synth lead and the corny chariots of fire-esque hooks and melodies just don't really cut it. The guitar solo in the second half is actually pretty strong, but when I think of the sound of A View From The Top of the World, this feels too far removed from it.

6: Awaken The Master (5/10)

This one is pretty disappointing, and though I'm okay with Dream Theater sticking to primarily 7-string guitar-led songs, why bother unveiling a whole new 8-string model if it's just going to be restrained to one song? The intro to this song is probably the rock bottom of the album, complete technical musical wallpaper with absolutely no sense of structure, direction or cohesion. They jump around from one unmemorable cock-slinging riff to another. Everytime they lay down something that starts to sound cool, they'll take a random sharp turn into something else that's decidedly worse. They then change the tone into this incredibly cliche and tired uplifting major key Dream Theater-ism with a melodic solo that sounds very similar to the one in The Alien, which already sounds very similar to a multitude of other existing Dream Theater cuts. The song starts to become decent around two and a half minutes in. The verse consists of more chugging, which isn't a creative statement on this album, however I kinda like it. Drawing more parallels to the Alien, I feel like there's an actually decent song here after you get past the disposable intro flexing. There's much more structure, themes are brought up and expanded upon, and there's decent melodies. The hook is very one-note and not the strongest offering, but it's memorable enough. The song hit's its peak with the passage starting at 5:58, this is straight up Haken vibes all around and it's awesome. For a moment here, Dream Theater sounds like they really got their head in the modern prog game, and the wacky solo that follows this is very strong too. The mid intro riff comes back for a sec, but following this, it kicks into a rock solid passage at around 7:15 coming off of another Haken-esque riff. There's a super catchy groove beneath the main keyboard line which smoothly slides into place. This song is a little frustrating, if it were the latter 7 minutes minus the intro, you'd have one of the stronger tracks here. However, the intro leaves me with nothing to cling onto and it's one of the few times on the album where I'm just actively disliking what I'm hearing.

7: A View From the Top of the World (7/10)

Here we are, with the elusive epic-lengthed titular track. It's good, but it would be a better 15 minute song. The first half is a very engaging ride easily making up some of the best music on the album. It opens with a Symphony X esque symphonic metal type of progression that god only knows how to count along to. After that, it's riff time and we're dropped back into the 7-string style of riffage that you'll find on tracks like Bridges in the Sky. Take the once again Haken-esque passage at 3:07 for example, you can't not grin at how stupidly groovy something like this is. The whole band has to know it too! The verse aggressively builds and leads to a very okay hook. I notice here that the vocals sound a little thin and the timbre isn't the most appealing, but I love the nasty organ that kicks in after the first hook. Up to this point, all is well! However, they hit a high peak starting at around 5:09 where it smoothly hops into this sick little bass and drum passage with some nice subtle guitar swells as well. At 7:23 there's a really wacky passage that once again sounds like it could either be the devious schemes of Jordan Rudess, or just Haken again. Either way, the first time I heard it I was kinda cracking up at how silly it sounded, but what it actually develops into is lowkey sick, and I appreciate this little section quite a bit. At around the halfway mark, it kills the momentum and fizzles out into the obligatory soft ambient passage. It certainly doesn't hold a candle to Illumination Theory and the stunning soundscapes that track brought forward, but instead, it's just very'. decent. With headphones on you can pick up some nice textures, and the way the chord progression moves and comes together has grown on me with several listens. Mangini re-enters the picture with a very cool and unique drum fill that I have to point out. Petrucci lays down a full blown melodic solo with the subtle melody they were just working with during the reflective sounding bit in the middle. I think the melodic guitar playing really works here, but the vocals that come in and out feel like a bit of an afterthought. The band once again clumsily transitions into the big instrumental jam section around the 14 minute mark and all in all, it's a pretty solid one. I love the riff at 15:07, just because it reminds me of the album Spheres by Pestilence which is one of my favorites, you should check it out! Anyways, where this track loses the majority of its points is easily in the ending, which sadly falls very flat for me. It kicks into this strange and abrupt classical sounding section that perhaps has a place, but doesn't quite do it for me as it stands. The closing passage of music has very underwhelming vocals, melodies and predictable chord progressions if you're familiar with Dream Theater already. The biggest head scratcher is the way they chose to end the song. I think they were going for a 'Finally Free' type of ending, but here, it sounds like an entirely new song and it has no climactic punch to it. There's rapidly changing time signatures and polyrhythmic stuff flying around, but none of it grooves, and none of it screams 'ending to the 18 minutes of song that came before this.' So this song is tough to approach, it ranges from some of the best material this band has put forward since Six Degrees, to an audible 'huh?' However, this is a good song and I'll be revisiting it the most along with Answering the Call and Sleeping Giant.

It's an okay album, but not one that I can see myself listening to start to finish very frequently. Of the 5 Mangini albums, I would rank this at a solid number 3 under Distance Over Time and Dramatic Turn of Events. It's easily the best in the production and sound department, and frankly it's not close. There's plenty of quality to be found within this album, but there's some clear shortcomings that can't be ignored.

3 Stars

US progressive metal legends Dream Theater's fifteenth studio album is a rampant collection of seven new songs spanning across an hour and a half of playtime. 'A View from the Top of the World' is the last studio album with drummer Mike Mangini, who has now spent more than a decade with the band upon his departure. This record has been entirely recorded at the band's HQ in Long Island, and features lyrical compositions from LaBrie and Myung, apart from the usual predominant lyricist over the last couple of albums, John Petrucci. This time the band decide to go full power into the classic prog metal sound that they are more traditionally associated with.

Now, as is the case with most of the more recent releases by the band, where we could include the self-titled 2013 album, or the 2019 release titled 'Distance over Time', this could be a fascinating introduction to the band for someone who has just discovered them, as they would be amazed by the technicality mixed with the melodrama and the overall intensity of the music of the band. Then comes the reception of the fans and the critics who are well familiar with the back catalogue of the band, which would react more neutrally, declaring this album a great addition to the catalogue, but nothing too inventive or progressive nonetheless. And this is precisely what AVFTTOTW is, a great celebration of what Dream Theater do best.

Here, we can see them returning to the long form composition in the face of the 20-minute long title track, a great epic, not as monumental as something like 'Illumination Theory' from 2013 but still very solid and representative of the band's prog metal prowess. Other great tracks include the stomping 'Sleeping Giant' or the more flamboyant 'Awaken the Master'. 'Answering the Call' is another great song that almost hits the ten-minute mark, but generally, there are no weak entries on this album. Fantastic way for Mangini to say goodbye to the Dream Theater family.

"A View From the Top of the World" is the 15th full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Dream Theater. The album was released through InsideOut Music in October 2021. It´s the successor to "Distance Over Time" from February 2019. Most of the band´s touring plans for "Distance Over Time" (2019) were cancelled as a consequence of the COVID-19 lockdown and travelling restrictions, and therefore the band opted to start writing and recording a new album a bit sooner than they normally would. "A View From the Top of the World" is the first Dream Theater album recorded at the band´s newly constructed DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters). A combined live recording studio, rehearsal space, control room, and equipment storage in New York. The four instrumentalists in the band worked on the new material together at DTHQ with lead vocalist James LaBrie contributing to the songwriting through Zoom from his Canada home. LaBrie flew to New York in March 2021 to record his vocal tracks.

Stylistically "A View From the Top of the World" is unmistakably and through and through the sound of Dream Theater and if you´re familiar with the band´s preceding releases, "A View From the Top of the World" is not an album featuring many surprises. It´s technically well played (often virtuosic) progressive metal with a powerful and creative rhythm section, keyboard- and guitar wizardry of various kinds (heavy riffs, fast-riffs, keyboard/guitar solos and harmonies, and all sorts of keyboard/synth sounds), and LaBrie´s distinct sounding voice and melodic delivery in front. Everything is delivered with great skill and the album features high class performances by all involved. While the band´s incredible skillset shouldn´t be ignored, we´ve come to expect high level musical performances from them, so although it´s maybe a bit unfair, my jaw doesn´t drop as often as it used to when listning to a new Dream Theater release.

"A View From the Top of the World" features 7 tracks and a total playing time of 70:19 minutes, which is a considerably longer playing time than the 56:57 minutes that "Distance Over Time" (2019) lasted. While the musical styles of the two albums are pretty similar, "A View From the Top of the World" generally features more longer tracks than the predecessor, including the 20:24 minutes long closing title track. The title track is among the highlights of the album, but most of the material are the sound of Dream Theater playing it safe. The only standout track where they try something a little different and unexpected is "Transcending Time", which sounds like a track Rush wrote but left off "Hemispheres" (1978). The dominant synths are a nice touch on that one, and Mike Mangini also gets to shine a bit on the drums.

The album features a detailed, powerful, and well sounding production. Guitarist John Petrucci is credited as producer and Andy Sneap (Nevermore, Kreator, Accept, Judas Priest...etc.) is responsible for the mastering and the mixing of the album. Upon conclusion "A View From the Top of the World" is yet another high quality progressive metal release by Dream Theater, and their rights to the progressive metal throne are still not contested, but to my ears it´s all getting a bit too predictable and safe, and while I don´t hope for a new "The Astonishing (2016)", it would still be great to soon hear them try something a bit different. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

The latest Dream Theater album feels a little like business as usual - but unlike their self-titled album, it's a "business as usual" that the band are comfortable with, rather than one they seem tired of. This late in their career, it's perhaps a bit much to expect Dream Theater to reinvent the wheel any time soon; their last attempt to really change their approach was The Astonishing, which can perhaps most charitably be described as well-meaning folly; by comparison, Distance Over Time was a bit of a return of the old Dream Theater, refreshed after that departure.

A View From the Top of the World feels like more of the same, with perhaps more flashes of a sunnier, brighter, optimisitc side of the band's music which has been a feature since at least as far back as Images and Words, but has often flown under the radar (especially when they've been in their darker moods). It's a gradual evolution, not a revolution, but I think it's pretty solid for that.

Well, it's been two years. Time for a new Dream Theater album. A View from the Top of the World is the too-many-th release from these prog metal stalwarts. After the passable but unremarkable Distance over Time, I wasn't really expecting much from these guys. Then again, I didn't get into them until I was in college, after their prime, so I've never really expected much from them.

Dream Theater has their very specific sound, and with the exception of the bafflingly terrible The Astonishing, they have been super consistent and predictable. Everything is always masterful from a technical standpoint. However, it often comes off as soulless, and I frequently point to Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci as some of the most masturbatory musicians in the notoriously onanistic field that is prog metal. Much of their output over the last two decades has been uninspired, but now and again we have gotten the occasional flash of brilliance.

"The Alien" kicks this album off on a bombastic note. It certainly feels Dream Theatrical, but it really feels more like Dream Theater playing a Haken riff. So it's like a Dream Theater song filtered through another, similar band, and then re-filtered by DT again. Once LaBrie's vocals come in, though, it's unquestionably a DT song again. And it's actually pretty good. It's not super-distinctive, but this is honestly the best music I've heard from them in quite a while. The chorus is especially engaging, and it's really helped by the fact that LaBrie isn't overextending himself. The solos go on for a little long, but even those feel more purposeful than usual.

Unfortunately, "Answering the Call" isn't as good. It's not bad, but it's more generic than the first track, and the verses feel too melodramatic. This song isn't helped by its runtime, either. This piece could have been an alright four-minute song, but seven-and-a-half minutes is simply too much. Wearisome runtimes have long been a problem of 21st Century DT, and this song is yet another example of a song that gets bogged down by its own length.

"Invisible Monster" feels like an attempt at a sequel to Metropolis Pt. 2. That happens to be my favorite DT album, so in isolation, this is a pretty solid song. However, I often fault acts for blatantly dipping back into their past sounds, and this is no exception. It feels out of place on this album. 1999 Dream Theater and 2021 Dream Theater are fairly different bands, so this cut feels incongruous after the preceding two songs.

The opening instrumental passage of "Sleeping Giant" is pretty solid, and the verse feels like a better melding of DT's past and current sounds than the preceding cut. This track harkens back to some of DT's earlier works without simply sounding like an outtake from 20-plus years ago.  This could have been a really strong seven-minute song, but like most modern DT songs, it's three minutes too long. Despite that, I enjoyed it overall.

"Transcending Time" is the only song on this album that's under seven minutes, and it's simply way too major-key for my taste. Dream Theater loves to toss in a couple upbeat songs per album, and those are always among the weakest. It's bland and reminds me of recent Yes releases, if Yes were a metal band.

"Awaken the Master" is another song with a strong instrumental opening. The guitar riff is churning and urgent, and Rudess's keyboard tones complement it well. The irregular chug-chug riff and airy piano of the verses make for an odd pairing. I get what they were going for, but it doesn't quite work. At least LaBrie's vocal performance is relatively strong. I feel like I'm repeating myself a lot in this review, but there's a pretty good song buried somewhere in here. You just need to edit this 10-minute behemoth down to maybe five or six minutes. DT's lack of focus keeps tripping what could be an otherwise pretty good record.

The album closes on its 20-minute title track. The intro is too long, again, plain and simple. Not every suite needs to open with an extended instrumental overture. The first verse doesn't impress either. It's more chug-chug riffs, and LaBrie sounds a bit strained. Once it moves beyond this, though, things improve. There's more aimless soloing, but the slow midsection of this cut is a nice breather. As it becomes more bombastic and overblown, it begins to border on self-parody. The third part of this three-part song, though, is one of the best moments on the album. The riff is driving and captivating, and Petrucci's opening solo is his best on the album.

A View from the Top of the World is a better album than I expected. The band sounded like they were having fun playing the music, there were lots of strong riffs, and Dream Theater avoided balladry. This album is still bloated as hell; there's probably a solid 20 minutes you could lop off this thing. As with any DT album, the highs are pretty high, and the lows are pretty low. This is their best album since Octavarium, though, so I'm not too displeased. If you like Dream Theater, you'll probably like this.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/10/28/album-review-dream-theater-a-view-from-the-top-of-the/

It seems that Dream Theater can't get out of their own web, the one they built so carefully over time, referencing themselves and repeating the formula several albums ago. The virtuosity they display seems to be the end in itself, rather than the means to transmit a proposal that can be sustained as its own entity. And it is like this, that since "A Train of Thought" of the very distant 2003, almost as if songs could be interchanged between albums and they would probably fit, beyond some obvious production nuances particular to each work.

And that is also the feeling transmitted by "A View from the Top of the World", an album that maintains the scheme of the sublime and machine-gunned guitars of John Petrucci, the overstimulated keyboards of Jordan Rudess, and the stubborn percussion of Mike Mangini. pacing, all at the speed of light.

But still, it's not a disposable album. In fact, any group in the genre would surely be very satisfied if they ever managed to generate a work like this. Only in the case of Dream Theater, this path has already been traveled back and forth several times. And I think something more can be expected from them, because of their unquestionable quality as musicians, and because they started the path of prog metal precisely by taking elements from different styles to create something different and innovative.

What could we highlight? Well, basically the festive "Transcending Time" and its airs of eighties Rush; the choruses, short but well achieved, of "Sleeping Giant"; and the delicate and deep middle section of the excessive suite that gives the album its title.

Dream Theater continues to be the standard bearer of the genre, without a doubt, but it would be nice to get out of the box to surprise us with something more transgressive from time to time. We are waiting.

3 stars