A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS

At this point, the band's shtick is really getting old. At what point can we admit that the band has finally gone past the point where adding notes to the music doesn't make it better? Personally, It would have been anything after Six Degrees, for me. It's just gotten worse since Train of Thought. After listening to A Dramatic Turn of Events a few times, whatever whiff of a "return to form" album I got from pre-release hype has shattered. Most of the album seems like riff after riff with out-of-place (presumably) iPad app synth lines, though I'll grant that they could simply be terrible-sounding patches from an expensive workstation. (Which is worse?). And when the band happens to stumble on a good melody that actually elicits an emotional response other than old-hat boredom, they quickly forget it and go back to chugging and headbanging. Roadrunner Records execs must be proud. I think there are only so many ridiculous guitar- synth solo interludes that actually sound interesting, and the band used them up somewhere around Scenes from a Memory. A lot of the songs here have neat choruses (Bridges in the Sky, Breaking All Illusions, On the Backs of Angels) but almost without exception that's all they really offer. I do think Beneath the Surface is a somewhat commendable attempt at tastefulness and holding back. It's a shame I don't really like it, though. I will say one thing: the lyrics are miles better here than their last few albums. I'm not exactly sure who buys progressive rock/metal for the lyrics, though...