THE ASTONISHING

Dream Theater's final release with Roadrunner records is a bloated uninspired dud. A concept album with a run time of just over one and a half hours, The Astonishing served to reinforce for long time DT fans just how tone deaf the band had become in the 2010's. Dream Theater haters have long criticized the group for mechanical song writing and putting the flash and flair before substance. Although an obvious complete mischaracterization of the band's music, on The Astonishing, the criticism actually holds water. A broken clock is right twice a day I suppose.

The real tragedy of this album is a wasted potentially career defining performance by vocalist James Labrie. Ever the nimble work house, James successfully manages to bring to life through his singing roughly half a dozen characters throughout the record. Its too bad the music just happens to suck.