34 songs. Wow. Not sure what to make of that.

Meh

The Gift of Music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdPn1mCmqoE

I'm not ready!

Excellent track.

Oh I love the amount of songs/tracks. It could turn out to be a very diverse record. We'll see. Anyways, it's Dream Theater, so I'm definitely excited.

Can't wait.

Leaked.

People expecting a heavy album will be disappointed.

Written by Nicko's Nose on 26.01.2016 at 03:37

People expecting a heavy album will be disappointed.

People expecting a good album will be disappointed too
The album should be re-named to "Sailing the Try-hard Seas of Cheese""

Written by Daniell on 26.01.2016 at 15:13

Written by Nicko's Nose on 26.01.2016 at 03:37

People expecting a heavy album will be disappointed.

People expecting a good album will be disappointed too
The album should be re-named to "Sailing the Try-hard Seas of Cheese""

It's not bad, but it has too many ballads. Didn't pay attention to the lyrics.

This album sure has it's Disney/musical-ish moments, which I guess I didn't expect to this degree. Still, I really appreciate the album as a whole. I tend to like dramatic music, seeing as I'm a fan of a good deal of musicals, such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney Todd, and the like.

The chorus in Three Days sounds really really familiar. Anyone?

Written by Nicko's Nose on 27.01.2016 at 03:45

The chorus in Three Days sounds really really familiar. Anyone?

Perhaps a bit Kamelot ish?

I listened to half of it and gave up; too theatrical but not in a good way, like a musical as someone previously said.
Don't know when I'm gonna finish listening to it, so far, I'm disappointed.

Easily the worst Dream Theater album yet.

I didn't really like it at first, but after 4 listens I can say I really like it. It's a grower. But you can't really expect a 2 hour long progressive album to be the kind of album you truly get into straight away, can you?

Bad. The worst DT album. A Walt Disney musical, only orchestra, piano and Rudess swallowing the others.
Nothing emotional like Lifting Shadows Of a Dream, Another Day, or Take Away My Pain.
Nothing heavy like A Nightmare To Remember, The Mirror, or Panick Attack.
Nothing virtuous like Stream Of Consciousness, Dance Of Eternity, or Ytse Jam.
Nothing epic like Octavarium, A Change Of Seasons, or The Count Of Tuscany.
This is Astonishing.

Everyone said the same things about the new Dark Moor album, too. "Too theatrical, too disney-ish," etc. And I ended up quite liking that album.

Written by Nicko's Nose on 28.01.2016 at 02:27

I didn't really like it at first, but after 4 listens I can say I really like it. It's a grower. But you can't really expect a 2 hour long progressive album to be the kind of album you truly get into straight away, can you?

Length has got nothing to do with it, there are many long or double albums in progressive rock (just some well known examples - Pink Floyd - Ummagumma, The Wall, Yes - Tales from the Topographic Oceans, Genesis - The Lamb..., The Flower Kings have some long albums etc). It's the content that matters. Finished listening to the whole Astonishing, I hoped the second half would be better (I was so naive).

Album cover is sick tho...

Written by tea[m]ster on 28.01.2016 at 10:48

Album cover is sick tho...

You mean the same generic sci-fi picture that I see when I look at the cover?

Written by Daniell on 28.01.2016 at 11:04

Written by tea[m]ster on 28.01.2016 at 10:48

Album cover is sick tho...

You mean the same generic sci-fi picture that I see when I look at the cover?

Which is quite like a lot of their album covers.
But then again Dream Theater are not known for their great covers when it comes to artwork

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 28.01.2016 at 12:17

Which is quite like a lot of their album covers.
But then again Dream Theater are not known for their great covers when it comes to artwork

I agree. Most of their covers are either cheesy or pretentious. Or both.
Even their arguably best album has a terrible cover:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Mh3c0eys-8o/maxresdefault.jpg

Written by MrEdu3 on 28.01.2016 at 06:38

Bad. The worst DT album. A Walt Disney musical, only orchestra, piano and Rudess swallowing the others.
Nothing emotional like Lifting Shadows Of a Dream, Another Day, or Take Away My Pain.
Nothing heavy like A Nightmare To Remember, The Mirror, or Panick Attack.
Nothing virtuous like Stream Of Consciousness, Dance Of Eternity, or Ytse Jam.
Nothing epic like Octavarium, A Change Of Seasons, or The Count Of Tuscany.
This is Astonishing.

Our new world worths the place in that list. And Moments of betrayal, Gift Of Music, Better Life

DT needed to become simple! In trying to fill too many places with their music, it simply created a problem for the person who hears it. I think DT has lost a lot of technique and bring their ideas to the public. For too long I have not heard an album with a clear idea (no matter whether it is heavier, melodic, epic). I have not heard these new album, but it looks bad (the cover, too many songs), still I need to listen it to make a full judgement. When Mike Portnoy left the band, I thought the band was going to change 360 degrees, been more influenced bytheir music from the 90's, but on the contrary, they became too experimental to the point that listen to their songs and is clearly generic, less original. Mike created something as leader, and that was to give his music as an idea, a pattern. The best progressive band in the world is now gone. Now only a living memory. I saw them 2 times with Mike and were just a total show. RIP DT.

Hey guys I haven't listened to DT's new album but based on its cover art I can definitely say RIP DT.

DT get worse and worse since Black Clouds & Silver Linings. And here we are, The Astonishing...I only heard it twice but DT took the wrong direction. Releasing a double album with that level will consume a part of their old fans. I am one of them and even if I'll listen The Astonishing again just to proove myself DT is dead, I don't think I'll do the same for the next one in two years.

Give it a few goes before attacking this album, you'll grow to like it

FLAC download = 855mb ... largest album file I've seen in a while.