Dream Theater - "A Dramatic Turn Of Events"

I just went to Best Buy to pick up the album.  I asked a worker if they had the new Dream Theater album?  He gave me a confused look and then asked, "Is that a band?"  It wasn't even put out on the shelf yet.  I had to have someone go get it for me.  Thankfully I now have it.  Sounds pretty good so far.

The people at Best Buy always make me laugh when they ask if they can help me.  Same general response.  "Not Lady Gaga, I don't know who that is". 

Amazingly enough, there are prog and classical music afficionados who work at Best Buy...

Fantastic album. Very versatile, dramatic. Once again incredible musicianship. I'm happy they have taken time to compose and digest all this through, unlike Systematic Chaos for example. In general it has been quite difficult for me to compare Dream Theater albums on the same scale simply because they tend to be so different from one another. I'd say ADToE is as good as SDOIT for sure, not as perfect in every aspect as SFAM is though.  

I went to HMV today, and they didn't have the new DT album out.  I was there to grab the new Primus and Arch/Matheos anyways, which they did have.

Wha? Nobody's linked this yet: http://https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150771825130184A 

Pekka wrote: Wha? Nobody's linked this yet: http://https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150771825130184A  Comparing the track structures of I&W and the new album. The couple of examples are pretty clear.

I read his analysis a couple of days ago. Got my copy of the album recently and don't know how accurate the analysis is but to be honest - I don't care. These are only song structures he is comparing, there is no way the two albums sound alike. Actually, the new one just sounds like DT at their best. So this analysis cannot diminish the value of the newest release.

Mike Portnoy's comments though have been controversial and created a lot of anger among his (and DT's) fan base. As far as I know, Portnoy "liked" some of the Facebook comments which praised Portnoy and said Labrie was a poor singer (as well as frontman). Mike also commented on Thiago's analysis, saying that he also noticed the resemblance in song structures "first time he heard it" (which was before sept 5, lucky guy ). He added that in case the band used song structures from I&W as a "desperate attempt of secretly re-writing the past", it isn't a good idea.

Nevertheless, I understand Mike's resentment. I imagine leaving DT was a very very big blow for him, especially after he realized how it changed the lives of fans and rejuvenated the band he created and led for so many years.

That's awesome 

Oliverum wrote:  As far as I know, Portnoy "liked" some of the Facebook comments which praised Portnoy and said Labrie was a poor singer (as well as frontman).