Dream Theater – ‘The Astonishing’ [Review]
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Update 2: Since writing the review below, I’ve fallen in love with The Astonishing. It took a few months, but I finally got there. In terms of sheer scope, it was absolutely overwhelming, something that required more time and attention than I’d been able to give it at the time of writing.
I’ve kept my initial reaction unchanged for the sake of posterity – but were I to rewrite it from scratch now, the tone taken would be very different indeed, and the score would stand at about 96%.
Dream Theater have always been an ambitious band. Over the past three decades, they’ve attained and maintained an enviable position at the absolute peak of the prog metal mountain.
They have never slacked off.
Now, progheads across the world are coming face to face with Dream Theater’s most ambitious project to date. The Astonishing is a concept double album, totalling 34 tracks and 130 minutes of music. Just listening to the thing is an overwhelming task in itself.
The Astonishing is essentially Dream Theater’s answer to Pink Floyd’s The Wall – one of the most immersive albums of all time. Beyond the music lies a complex tale told in full on Dream Theater’s website, clearly inspired by the likes of The Hunger Games, Star Wars, Game Of Thrones and their ilk. Rival factions, a full cast of characters, a detailed map – all the components needed to expand The Astonishing beyond the realm of sound waves and into everything from novels to movies and even a Broadway stage show are present and correct.
Above all else, The Astonishing is deliberately intended as a multimedia experience. Listening to the album alone, the nagging sense that Dream Theater are sticking to their tried-and-tested tricks is likely to spoil it for some listeners from the disappointingly predictable Dystopian Overture onwards, and as a reading experience, the plot explanation frequently feels corny and forced. That said, The Astonishing is absolutely James Labrie’s album, the Pirate punching out a whole slew of career-best vocal performances – and when you put music and story together, things do improve. But only slightly.
Even as its presentation currently stands, The Astonishing still leaves a lot to the imagination. It’s a work in progress – and what we currently have, as dense as it all is, is only the tip of the iceberg. The single-minded determination and focus required to make The Astonishing a reality is respectable in itself, but the question of whether or not Dream Theater have conclusively nailed it still hangs unanswerable in the air.
Is The Astonishing a “die-hard fans only” release, or an undeniable triumph? Right now, it feels like things could tip either way.
TMMP RATING: 80%
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