THE ASTONISHING

In the weeks after purchasing this album upon release, I remember reading some very negative reviews from a number of reputable sources. At the time I was surprised because I was enjoying the album so much. After about a year and many listens, I can understand the frustration with this album. It's very long, ballad-heavy, relies on a ridiculous concept and has some of the cheesiest lyrics ever from Dream Theater. That said, I played it just last night and enjoyed every minute. You've really got to be in the mood for a long silly epic, but a listen through the whole way is very cool. The best part is the very beginning, "Dystopian Overture" and "The Gift Of Music" are certainly my favorites and probably my favourite start to a Dream Theater album. The playing on the whole album is very strong and Jordan Rudess in particular gets to show enormous range. James LaBrie tries to sing from the perspective of every character, and he does a very good job with it all, but I wish he would have gone along with Petrucci's idea to bring in a female vocalist. It would have added some texture to the vocal performance, as shown in the single for "Our New World" featuring Lizzy Hale.

I still like this album a lot but I get why it received such mixed reviews upon release. This was a bit overboard and I often wonder if the ideas found here had been arranged in a bit more of a traditional Dream Theater style, would people have a different opinion now?