For years, members of Dream Theater had mentioned they would love to have the opportunity score a movie or a video game. So what did they do? They created their own story to score. The Astonishing is not your traditional concept album. Instead, it is progressive rock opera (Prog-Opera?) more in lines with Pink Floyd’s The Wall or Jesus Christ Superstar. The end result is not music telling a story but rather a story told through music.
Divided in two acts that span across 34 songs, The Astonishing is the most cinematic album Dream Theater has ever written. The band turned to legendary arranger David Campbell to orchestrate the record and give it a rather ethereal feel. The sounds of choirs, violins, trumpets, bagpipes, cello, and more really help elevating this album to epic proportions.
Because of its story-driven nature, there are no dull moments in The Astonishing. Every song serves a purpose either advancing the plot or exploring the psyche of its different characters.
The Music
While the elements that make Dream Theater the band we know and love are still there, this is not their “traditional” album in which you’ll find extended instrumental passages, 20 minute-long songs, or complex unisons. It’s a very different album where the melodies are meant to illustrate the story first and foremost.
There are many recurring themes found throughout The Astonishing, which are cleverly used to connect different parts of the plot. For instance, the melodies of the song “Brother Can You Hear Me” are used at a moment where the relationship between the characters Gabriel and Arhys is explored. Later, in the song “The X Aspect” this melody is played on a bagpipe to evoke a rather somber moment in the plot caused by an internal conflict involving these characters. It’s very cinematic to say the least.
While songs in The Astonishing are good on their own, it is when you listen to them in the context of the story that they really shine. When I first heard their first single “The Gift of Music” back in December I liked it; but I truly appreciated it when I listened to it after its preceding song “Dystopian Overture”.
From a performance point of view, the vocals make this album truly enjoyable. This is the best James Labrie record in his 20+ years career with Dream Theater. He had the massive challenge of bringing 7 different characters to life with his voice, including two females. I’m a big fan of songs where the the antagonist character Daryus is present, as Labrie does a phenomenal job at expressing the frustrations and cruel actions from this character.
With over 2 hours of music, The Astonishing is packed with all types of sounds evoking a wide range of emotions. There is happiness, melancholy, hopefulness, inner conflicts, trust, anger, jealousy and more; all expressed beautifully with nothing but sounds. This is in great part due to the work of keyboard player Jordan Ruddess.
Even guitar player John Petrucci played this album a bit differently. There aren’t many moments of pure shredding but that’s not a bad thing. Instead, Petrucci has written some of his most melodic pieces to date. The intro of the song “A saviour In The Square” will likely be remembered as one of his greatest moments. The same can be said about his solo in “A New Beginning”.
There’s a lot of music packed in this record and all meticulously crafted. I find myself remembering melodies of songs like “Our New World”, “A Life Left Behind”, the ending vocals of “My Last Farewell”, the ending melodies of “Hymn of a Thousand Voices” and many more. There high moments in this album are truly breathtaking and among the best in the band’s 13 album catalogue.
The Story
So I’ve been saying that this album is first and foremost music written to bring a story to life. So what about it? In a quick overview, The Astonishing is the story of a retro-futuristic society in which an emperor rules what’s known as The Great Northern Empire Of The Americas. Set in the year 2285, there’s no music anymore other than the sound made by machines called NOMACs. A man known as Gabriel The Astonishing is born in a distant village with the gift of music, which plays a central role in changing the fate of their world.
John Petrucci spent more than a year crafting the story as well as its 8 characters; all which can be read on their official website. I highly recommend reading it as you listen to the album to truly appreciate the plot of this “Prog-Opera”. The passion found in the crafting of the story is absolutely palpable in the music; this why The Astonishing truly shines in a way the reminds me of The Dear Hunter’s Acts.
Final Thoughts
I read in preliminary reviews that The Astonishing was bound to be a very divisive album and I couldn’t agree more. Fans of the technical virtuoso-driven playing may not be appealed by this record because its complexity lies instrumentation of a story, not the playing. The same can be said about those expecting the so-called “Balls to Walls” heavy metal sounds.
This behemoth of an album will take a long time to truly appreciate. I don’t like ranking albums so I won’t do that. But I will say The Astonishing is very likely to enter what, up until now, I considered my Dream Theater “holy trinity” of albums: Images and Words, Awake, and Scenes From A Memory. I guess I’ll have to call it a “perfect square” from now on to include this one.
To see such an ambitious project from a band that has been around for 30 years is really impressive; especially when you consider they are coming from a streak of 3 top 10 debut albums on Billboards and 2 Grammy nominations. This Prog-Opera known as The Astonishing is not a traditional progressive rock album, nor should it be judged as such. It was a risky move by the band to go this direction; but it is a risk that, in my humble opinion, really paid off. Dream Theater has given fans their most exciting album in over 15 years.
BRAVO!
Other Music Reviews by Jose Miranda-Alvarez:
“Act IV: Rebirth In Reprise” By The Dear Hunter
“Underworld” By Symphony X
“A Light In The Dark” By Next to None
“Hand. Cannot. Erase.” By Steven Wilson
“Thalassas” by In The Presence of Wolves
“Pink Lemonade” by Closure In Moscow
“Second Nature” by Flying Colors
“Into The Maelstrom” by BigElf
“Animals” by Bend Sinister
“Kaleidoscope” by Transatlantic
“Small Fame” by Bend Sinister
“Puzzled” by Bad Salad
“?” by Neal Morse
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