Stratovarius Community

Didn't see a topic about this here yet so I thought I'd start one.

Anyone else looking forward to this? When they first announced it was going to be a concept album I was very sceptical, but now I've heard the first single I'm ready for this to be released.

"This album cover extends an ominous invitation into the retro-futurist dystopian setting of The Astonishing. The deceptively beautiful yet chillingly totalitarian image is a bold harbinger of the visual components and ideas presented by the sonic story that is our most ambitious creative work to date. We are very proud to soon bring you…The Astonishing."

Here's the single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdPn1mCmqoE

More info:
http://www.dreamtheater.net/theastonishing
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... p-20151203

The language in the emails is horrible and obnoxious so I hope whatever they have going on in the physical booklet is actually professional, otherwise this band whose native language is English is going to end up sounding like fucking Rhapsody. No disrespect to Rhapsody, they're just corny as fuck but get a pass because of a tenuous grasp on English.

The first single is not bad although I just don't like James LaBrie's voice anymore, even in studio. He needs to be kept away from the higher end, he sounds bad to me, and honestly I wish DT would get a new vocalist, but that probably isn't going to happen, so he's what I'm stuck with.

Can't stand the thick Christian overtones to this whole thing though. It's not even subtle. Characters named Gabriel, Faythe, Evangeline, lines about 'our savior' and 'the chosen one' give me a break. As long as the music is kickass I can get over it but otherwise it's going to make me grind me teeth.

The first two songs that they released.
It's really hard for me to have any opinion about them yet because the albums' concept. I want to hear the whole thing before I really rate the music.

But for now I can say I do like these songs quite a lot.

The Gift of Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdPn1mCmqoE
Moment of Betrayal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BTQaENnY4

Just listened through the whole album in one go. My god. This album is everything it should be.

I'm without words right now. Will reflect on it at a later time.

The album was on a convincing fake DT bandcamp page this morning. I got through like 5 songs but I was barely awake and I already forgot what most of them sounded like. I remember the overture being very tasty, kind of similar to the Six Degrees overture but more... nightmarish.

I can't wait to hear this full thing.

The last few Dream Theater albums have been garbage. I'm extremely skeptical ....

AAAAAAAAAA wrote:The last few Dream Theater albums have been garbage. I'm extremely skeptical ....

I didn't really like ADToE. I liked DT a bit more. But this album is something completely different. Give it a (unbiased) shot. It's really a masterpiece.

(And no I'm not a DT fanboy)

This review described the album best I believe. It's quite a read, but at the end you know exactly what you get.

http://dreamtheater.club/blog/2016/01/1 ... tonishing/

Wow. Best album since Six Degrees. I have not felt so giddy listening to a Dream Theater album since then. This one actually sounds inspired and fresh. I am so happy with it. Going to take many spins to sink in, but I am very pleased and can't wait to see them play it live!!

Empathica1928 wrote:Wow. Best album since Six Degrees. I have not felt so giddy listening to a Dream Theater album since then. This one actually sounds inspired and fresh. I am so happy with it. Going to take many spins to sink in, but I am very pleased and can't wait to see them play it live!!

Agree again!

Empathica1928 wrote:Wow. Best album since Six Degrees. I have not felt so giddy listening to a Dream Theater album since then. This one actually sounds inspired and fresh. I am so happy with it. Going to take many spins to sink in, but I am very pleased and can't wait to see them play it live!!

wait a sec. you didnt like train of tought? that was amazing
I wasnt a fan of octavarium or what came after.
I didnt like too much the gift of music, is a little bit to much like the newest rush for me.
i might give it another try later.

adrian9 wrote:

Empathica1928 wrote:Wow. Best album since Six Degrees. I have not felt so giddy listening to a Dream Theater album since then. This one actually sounds inspired and fresh. I am so happy with it. Going to take many spins to sink in, but I am very pleased and can't wait to see them play it live!!

wait a sec. you didnt like train of tought? that was amazing
I wasnt a fan of octavarium or what came after.
I didnt like too much the gift of music, is a little bit to much like the newest rush for me.
i might give it another try later.

I like Train of Thought well enough for a DT album, but I do not enjoy it anywhere near as much as I like Six Degrees. I can't recall the last time I listened to anything off Train of Thought besides Vacant - just too much wanking, too much 'metal', I don't particularly enjoy that side of DT.

A truly jewel. thats how I see it. Its true that sometimes the album gets a bit dense. But the first half of both cds are just fantastic. An album that needs time to comprehend. If you like DT of course. With time this gonna be a cult album. Its like an I&W meets 6degrees and Octavarium plus something new. Labrie shines more than ever maybe.

I guess they will come with something ala ToT for the next album. More in your face and more "metal".

I refuse to listen to this. Dream Theater doesn't get those 2 hours of my life just because they sat down and recorded 50 ballads.

Rebel wrote:I refuse to listen to this. Dream Theater doesn't get those 2 hours of my life just because they sat down and recorded 50 ballads.

This is a dumb fucking post. "I won't listen to this album, but let me make a judgment on the content of said album."

There's a whole lot of tasty music on these discs. If you can only view it as "HEAVY!" or "BALLAD!" then you're dumb. Harsh but true.