THE ASTONISHING

Broadway meets Disney meets Dream Theater = Epic!!! Well, almost. First things first unlike many other people I wasn't skeptical at all that Dream Theater could pull off such a bold undertaking such as 'The Astonishing.' The scale and scope of this album is simply mind blowing and that cannot be disputed. This is the most organic and melodic album the band has ever produced, yet it still maintains that progressive nature that fans have grown accustomed to. Another word that can describe this album, aside from epic is....overwhelming. 34 tracks could've easily been broken down into 25 had they just segmented certain individual tracks making them longer. This would've created a nicer fluidity to the album which seems disjointed at times due to the fact that just as you're rocking out to a track it simply just ends, too abruptly for my taste. DT fans love the fact that Dream Theater is known for writing lengthy tracks so why they didn't stick to their formula and make the album more seamless bugs me a bit. Another gripe I have is poor John Myung gets hidden in the mix that he's hardly even noticeable on the album unless you're fine tuning your hearing specifically for him. This man is a prodigy on bass and was severely underutilized on this album. Now it sounds like I'm completely bashing this album, however that couldn't be farther from the truth. This album, while flawed is easily Dream Theater's most grandiose and beautifully rendered work of all time. My ears were ringing with joy throughout the 2+ hours of eargasmic experience.. And that is e actor what this album is, an epic experience. It's essentially Star Wars meets Les Miserables....but for your ears. The story is loosely recycled from Rush's 2112 yet has an original and fresh take on the concept that in the year 2285 human beings no longer created heir own original music but are dealt with artificial renderings of so called music from machines called NOMACS (Noise Machines). The music on this album will leave you humming along, clapping and possibly crying as well. The more I've listened the more I've enjoyed the experience. It's definitely an album that grows with each listen. This was a daring statement by Dream Theater in the sense that just because they've been around for 30+ years doesn't mean they can't create something 'Astonishing.' Well, they most certainly have. 9/10