A Dramatic Turn of Events, my review

I'm really pumped up about this album...  liked what i'm hearing... here is my review if anyone is interested...

JJLehto wrote: IMHO it suffers from the same problem of many DT albums: inconsistency. I liked some songs, others put me to sleep.

Thanks StoneBoard, just wanted to share my review... feel free to cut and paste, if you want....   

JJLehto wrote: IMHO it suffers from the same problem of many DT albums: inconsistency. I liked some songs, others put me to sleep. Did like it better than their last 3 albums but I didn't really those so that's not a big accomplishment Good review though, I will disagree about Mangini not being able to fill the hole of MP's absence. He is a good drummer but really nothing spectacular and the cult like DT fans can't realize that. I wish they would. Mangini does just as fine as Portnoy.

I realize that.

juanvalverde wrote: Thanks StoneBoard, just wanted to share my review... feel free to cut and paste, if you want....

I do!

Dream Theater has been one of the most influential progressive hard rock bands in the last 20 years sometimes shifting how Prog Metal should sound and breaking the barriers of complexity within musical boundaries. With the recent departure of fan favorite and band leader a man that needs no introduction and the modern day Neal Peart Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater seemed on the verge of collapsing. Now with new drummer Mike Mangini, they enter unknown territory. Without their leader, Jordan and Petrucci have taken the role and given new form to the future of Dream Theater. A Dramatic Turn of Events is an album that sounds very different from their previous catalog. It clearly shows that they don’t need Portnoy to continue and that Mangini is a good enough talent to fill his shoes until he decides to come back. On the back of Angels: What a way to start the new album. The introductory song is an awesome piece of Dream Theater material. A riff that begs to be played, with pretty awesome keyboard arpeggios on the back. The lyrics are ok, nothing different that we can expect from these guys. Drumming is good, won’t miss Portnoy that much, but nothing to cry home about. LaBrie sounds as good as he’s ever sounded so won’t need to worry about that. Song has interesting structure, very powerful, and a very good way to start out the new album. Build me up, Bring me Down: This song starts out in a strange way, synth drums. It then builds up in to a heavy interesting riff. This must be one of the more different songs Dream Theater has made, sounds very fresh, very new, and might turn down some old school fans. I for one, welcome change, and really like the implementation of the voice effects and more keyboard build in to the mix. I must say it’s a really good song in the lines of Burning My Soul. Not overly complicated but very solid in the way it’s structured. The strings in the end sound awesome with the Vienna Symphonic Cube in use. Love it. Lost Not Forgotten: The piano introduction is very classic Jordan Rudess, a good melody that has lots of improvisation mixed in (never liked that). When the guitar comes in, it goes in to a very epic like melody with some chorus abuse in the background leaning towards a very metal-ish riff, LTE stuff. They really let themselves go on this one, doing some unison fast melodies then entering the main riff of the song. When James LaBrie starts singing things really go in to a slow paced heavy lyrical song. The chorus is heavy fast, with some fast changes and very progressive musical lines. The instrumental part is reminiscent of Under a Glass Moon, the bass lines are really interesting and we can hear them! Love the guitar solo on this one, Petrucci, Rudess and Myung really shine. Even though it’s typical DT, it still very interesting. Impressed. This is the Life: A ballad. Some people don’t like DT ballads because they sound overly made. This one sounds pretty good to me. I really like the freshness in the harmonic structure. The main lyrical melody is pretty good, James sounds as if he is in his best form. The song is a combination of all the ballads done ever since Jordan was introduced in the band. I like how Mangini never interferes with the song, he only does what he needs to do. It’s a ballad remember Portnoy? Bridges in the Sky: A heavyweight of a song. It starts out with some tribal ethnic stuff here. He mixes this with some Enya-ish choirs reminiscent of some of Lord of the Rings best. It then goes to a very powerful riff with some double bass drum. Mike Mangini seems to dominate his instrument never sounding out of place but never dominating. He doesn’t impress like Portnoy, but does keep it complicated enough to fit in to the Dream Theater scene. BITS is a very powerful song with great keyboards, strong guitar work and great singing by James. It’s the typical Dream Theater song that blows your brain away; complicated yet simple to understand. A good chorus stands out too as the rest of the melody for LaBrie. The instrumental part goes everywhere leaving you wondering if there is more these guys can do in a song. Sometimes i don’t know if this is good or bad. Great work by Myung. Outcry: Dream Theater’s members say this is probably the most complicated song in this album. I wouldn’t disagree, how could i after listening to the crazy solos in the instrumental part? Craziness is the name of this song when it gets to the unison solos, combining the best skills from all the instrumentalists in this band making other groups wonder how they do it. The son itself is good, somewhat slow paced and again with some strong melodic passages for the lyrics. It then works some arabic scales here and there before entering the crazy parts. The instrumental section is not only working with fast stuff, it also has some weird experimental things going on that is a fresh addition to their Repertoire. The last part of the song is majestic. I love how they return to the lyrics in a very clean sounding way, ending the song very strongly. Far from Heaven: The second ballad in the album is also a pretty good one. I like this song mostly because of the musical arrangement done by Jordan Rudess. The piano and use of the Vienna Symphonic Library is masterful. I wonder if he also wrote the lyrics which are also something else. James LaBrie also does a good job in singing them in one of his best moments of the album. I know i will skip this song to listen to the next song most of the time, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t good. Breaking all illusions: The best song of the album. I can’t write good enough things about this song. Everything is solid, a true masterpiece in every sense of the word. Even the length of the song is perfect. We don’t need a 20 minute song to make it epic. The bass work is awesome and it shows how much it really helps when you bring Myung to the front of the mix. Jordan Rudess again is at his best when he makes use of all his knowledge. The background pads in the beginning of the lyrics make everything sound larger, good job. Everything goes bananas at the 3 and a half minute mark. Petrucci makes use of all his skills in this awesome riff leaving us pumped up and never failing to impress from this point on. The chorus comes in, and is quickly memorable. Mike Mangini again does a pretty good job in not interfering with the flow of the song. The song continues with some experimental keyboard sounds, exchanging jabs continually with the guitar. It gives me the same sensation Metropolis part 1 gave me the first time i listened to it. It’s all over the place. No way you can end an album in a better way than this. But hey, it’s Dream Theater, they still have something left for us. Beneath The Surface: A beautiful song. Perfect way to end a great album. Just loved the lyrics, very emotional. I feel totally connected to this song. It couldn’t come at a better time in my life. After the bomb that was Breaking all Illusions, it was a relief to listen to this ballad and end the album in l calm way. Great song. Overall i have to say that the absence of Mike Portnoy is felt throughout the album. Everything sounds very different yet familiar. It’s obvious this has become Jordan and Petrucci’s band. Mangini isn’t Portnoy obviously and will never be able to fit that empty space but at least he doesn’t obstruct the rest of the music, he fits well and makes the music more listenable. Myung still shows his talent here and there, and i’m glad to hear that he contributed on the best song of the album, Breaking all Illusions, meaning that maybe we can hear a little bit more of him in the lyrics department on the next album. It is obvious Mike Portnoy was in control of the band and that the direction it was taking was just too monotonous, which is why all the albums after 6DOIT sound almost exactly the same (Octavarium might be the exception). With A dramatic turn of Events we get a fresh look to a familiar face, the limitations put to the band by Portnoy have been laid to rest and now it’s Petrucci’s show and we are proud to say it’s a pretty good one.

It used to be my favorite band, but i outgrew them ,   i still look forward to every album, and i consider myself a fanboy.   Train of thought, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds are the worst dt albums, i like some of the songs but they are lame efforts clearly leading the band towards dark metal.  Octavarium and A Dramatic Turn of Events are way better efforts in my book.   More experimental, but never leaving their original metal sound.   I like the mix and love the way they always try to push themselves. 

An exceptional album - quite easily the best  recent  release eclipsing the Pendragon and Sean Filkins releases which I love as well.