Listening to it on Spotify instead, where it became available at 0:00, as it should be. So far I'm liking it. Thoughts?

A fair bit to digest might take me a few more plays before I know how good it is, sounds pretty decent though so far.

About to give it a spin today or tomorrow! On a side note: How did you like those BTBAM records, Mike? The two parts of Automata that come up in your "Listened to" signature from AP.

I think collectively there's some great stuff on both parts but most people tend to be more negative towards the albums, never understood why.

Considering the many years and albums by this band, there are some thoughts, and ideas of things that we would like to hear from the band ... and in many ways this album is not exactly the greatest of their work, it's still good, but it has some really poor choices in my book.

The mix ... continues to keep the bass and keyboards in the background, buried by a guitar that doesn't need to be so loud and so far up top. The drumming, all things considered, is not as good as Mike is supposed to be and is grossly repeated and sometimes adding things that are not necessary, and I'm not sure that Mike has added that much to DT since he left ... he's still just an over blown time keeper. In a band that supposedly has superior musicianship it's still just about keeping time?

I'll listen to it again, although I doubt it will add to the experience. It's not a bad album and it is good in parts, but I think the band has no idea how to color the parts in between, and always goes back to the metal-guitar at the top.

Lyric wise, I did not pay as much attention to it, as I thought that they were also a bit on the background, as dreams and those kinds of thoughts usually are ... but all in all, I can't say that I heard anything special in them ... I'll recheck though.

I think that for the ProgRock fans this album will be very good, but for the Progressive fans, this will not exactly be that great an album. I don't live in those definitions at all ... thus the album gets a B from me. It's not great and it's not bad ... it's just another DT album!

Edit: And I think it's a little insulting to call Portnoy a mere "timekeeper", considering that he is very involved with the writing. And considering the back catalog of the band, I think it is obvious that they know how to compose less heavy tracks (or parts of tracks), it's just that on this occasion they chose not to. If you don't like it, fine, but deducing that they're incapable of doing what you want them to just shows your immaturity as a reviewer.

Hi,

It was said, not as something bad ... there are good timekeepers and bad timekeepers, and the good ones? You don't even notice the drumming at all ... but I was brought up with John Bonham, Keith Moon and Nick Mason, and later Bill Bruford, and while Mike's work is nice in a lot of things, in the end, I felt that after all that, his work here was not as special as has been in the past. And you could easily say that Bonzo and Moonie, even got better on the last album they played ... and we enjoyed it senselessly! And still do when the majority of drummers these days can only use the snare drum, and fill in between the chord changes ... that's high school drumming Mike!

Reminds me of a moment in the film about KC ... when the three drummers are together discussing a moment in the music ... and you knew right away it was not about time keeping ... it was about making sure that the touches were right and proper, that made what they did impressive and far out. And later RF explains that it is not exactly about the timing at all ... it's about being attentive enough that you automatically follow the others and together you create something special ... that is a rarity in music, and the most details you can get on this psychic attitude is, certainly, not in rock music in general. But, often, these are the far out moments that we go ... wow!!!

I'm thinking that Mike did not have enough time with the new material to be able to help make it better, and as such he sounds "average" in most of the album, complete with the double drumming thing (don't know what it is called) ... and the same details used in so much metal music ... which Mike may have been one of the folks that helped develop it, but the use is still in the same place and part in the music, thus not necessarily making it better ... reminds me of Hollywood, in close up shots ... make it better ... get the camera closer!!!! CLOSER ... not 5 feet out!

IMO, this is because we can hear him coming a mile away. I am not discounting his talent and skill level at all. But after 30 years of hearing him play in many different bands, he has several key "moves" and "licks" that repeat themselves across many different albums. You can always tell it's him playing and I can always tell where he's going and can usually anticipate the kind of fill or lick he's about to play.

IMO, again, I think that the band as a whole lost a significant amount of "magic" when Moore left. His creative choices created distinct moods and, I believe, challenged them all more.

Rudess, for whatever reason on this record is also low in the mix, I'm not complaining too much as I have grown tired of his synth w**king all over previous records.

Portnoy's drums are mixed a bit weird in places, I agree the cymbals don't sound good. Also too much volume on his octobans, and of course Petrucci's guitar is high in the mix, ala Eddie Van Halen.

I wish they would use the same mix/mastering engineers that Riverside use (Serakos Studio), as their records always sound excellent. 

As far as the songs, they are growing on me more and more. But that is from a very low level. I actually like Deep Asleep, even though I don't like the topic, a husband killing his wife is beyond dark.

Shadow Man Incident has grown on me as well......I've read some are comparing the album to ToT due to its dark tone, that's fine but ToT is a much better album by far. 

I would not call Parasomnia a master piece, very good yes. The production is really standing in the way of it being better than very good IMO.

ToT for me was welcomed, as at that time more metal DT was very good DT. I needed that break from the traditional prog symphonic laid back material from like TFK, love TFK, but I do like metal as well.

For sure, ToT is a blood pressure raising listen. I remember one car ride many years ago with my wife and This Dying Soul came on and her comment was "wow Mike is tearing up the drums"....then after the song was over she was like "I feel stressed and hyper..." 

We listened to Nora Jones the rest of the day......LOL

There is on the toob, a special i which Mike talks about DT and the new album, and by the time, they were through at the end of an hour, I came to the conclusion that I do not think that Mike is a good drummer ... he looks good because he has so much stuff around him that it makes it look like he is better than most, but he is still way too time conscious and mechanical to be considered a good drummer, and he does not really know how to get off the snare drum that is his metronome.

Some of the fills and changes are nice, only to return to the same thing ... is really disappointing. Not a sign of a master drummer, but in this case just a sign of a famous goon with all the equipment that makes it look like he is better than everyone else ... and I'm not really sure that he made the new album look and sound, better ... I kinda think that the only thing he did is bring back the old sound and touch to the band, that helped them sell millions of albums ... 

DT is good, not great. I think we would want a lot more than just "the same old ... " all over again, with different lyrics. And the worst part ... the production of the whole thing is really poor and I'm not sure that they know how to downplay the guitar and add a keyboard or bass to the whole thing ... I kinda think that they are convinced that the guitar is what makes them great ... !

His las "amazing" drum album, IMO, was 'Awake'. 

I'm glad they don't. 

MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ production quality is a highly subjective topic..

^^ That's why.

No! Pedro did, on the previous page 

So is the whole topic of music.......Music is 100% subjective. Much less than production quality is. Where do you think all this Loudness Wars originates from??.....The ENGINEERS who mix/master music, that's not subjective.

The loudness can be measured objectively, but that measurement does not correlate with how much listeners like the music. Opeth - Blackwater Park is an obvious example. Some really don't like it because of the loudness, for (many) others it's no issue at all. Personally I love it - and when I listen to it, I hear the loudness and think "yes, they wanted this to be loud all the time". 

For Parasomnia, it's obvious that those responsible for the mix wanted the guitar to dominate things. What seems ludicrous to me is to suggest that they didn't know how to do it otherwise. Of course they did, they chose not to.

A typical "rating" can include any of those criteria, but my guess is that most ratings are indicative of the subjective assessment.

This has been a common theme with DT, mixing Myung's bass very low and in many cases giving the feeling of a 3 pc band and not a 4pc. On any forum that discusses DT albums and production its always mentioned "where is Myung??". What most music listeners understand is bass is a part of the foundation of music, that's what gives you feeling and sustenance, it's part of the rhythm section that is key to music. I don't expect thumping bass, but with DT I do expect to hear and feel Myung in more of their music and especially where it needs it.

Again, listen to PT, SW, Riverside, Marillion, TPT and their bass players are very evident in the mix and it gives such great body to the music. I get that it seems Petrucci is not considering what Myung contributes and that is a shame. It's not always what we hear is exactly what the band wanted us to hear......There are loads of much better mix/master engineers than Andy Sneap.

I am liking the album more but I know for sure it would be more engaging to me had there been more attention to Myung, for a change. The album does also have too much compression, some dynamics are missing due to this.....I still say the production is mediocre, subpar and could be much better.

Hi,

That depends on many things ... if the person smokes heavily, the food (often) has more salt. A non-smoker is likely to use less salt. Another example is the person that runs a hospital, is not a doctor more often than not. But in the world of DT by Mike, we're not allowed to disagree because he is the lord of the numbers and the grunge. 

IDC about "loudness wars". 

I realized a long time ago, after doing reviews myself for 10+ years, that they don't ultimately matter.

As for music being subjective, of course it is. 100%

I just have a hard time with folks critiquing "production" when most of the time they don't really know what "production" is.

Just a pet peeve.

Agreed. It's when it goes beyond this and attempts to critique things the average listener knows little to nothing about where it becomes pointless to me. "To me..." and "I don't like..." are perfectly subjective and acceptable. 

Average listeners complaining about "production" and "the mix" and from the angle of the producer/engineer/mixing engineer/band not knowing what they're doing is laughable.

It's like walking into a new house, not liking the hardware on the cabinets and the paint color in the bathroom and saying "The construction of this house is sh*t." Zero perspective and pointless opinionating.

moshkito wrote:  Another example is the person that runs a hospital, is not a doctor more often than not. But in the world of DT by Mike, we're not allowed to disagree because he is the lord of the numbers and the grunge.

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