The Astonishing

The Astonishing
Studio album by Dream Theater
Released	January 29, 2016
Recorded	January–June, August–September 2015
Studio	Cove City Sound Studios, Glen Cove, New York
Genre	Progressive metal, progressive rock
Length	130:23[1]
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	John Petrucci
Dream Theater chronology
Breaking the Fourth Wall (2014) The Astonishing (2016)
Singles from The Astonishing
"The Gift of Music" Released: December 3, 2015 "Moment of Betrayal" Released: January 22, 2016

The Astonishing is the thirteenth studio album and second concept album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released as a double album on January 29, 2016 through Roadrunner Records. The album's story was conceived by guitarist John Petrucci and its music was written by Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Composer David Campbell was hired to assist with orchestrating the album's string lines and choirs. Recording was completed throughout 2015 at Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island, New York, with the exception of vocals, which were recorded in Canada. Mixing and sound engineering were performed by the band's longtime collaborator, Richard Chycki, with Petrucci producing.

The Astonishing is set in a dystopian United States and follows the Ravenskill Militia, a band of rebels, in their efforts to defy the Great Northern Empire of the Americas using the magical power of music. It was inspired by contemporary fantasy and science fiction franchises such as Game of Thrones and Star Wars, as well as Petrucci's observations on the ubiquity of technological automation in modern-day society. In their effort to match the album's narrative, Dream Theater wrote songs in a wide variety of styles ranging from mellow ballads to their more conventional progressive metal sound.

Leading up to the The Astonishing's release, the band marketed the album with its own website, fan mailing lists, and trailer. It debuted in the top ten of the Norwegian, Hungarian, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Austrian, and Canadian charts, and became the first Dream Theater album to reach number one on the US Billboard Rock Chart. It has received generally favorable reviews and currently holds an average score of 80/100 on the review aggregator Metacritic.

Background

In mid-2013, guitarist John Petrucci began writing a story for a concept album, presenting it to the rest of Dream Theater about a year later. The band and the record label were receptive to the idea, with Petrucci recalling, "Everybody had the 'go for it' mentality. And from the very first meeting that we had with Dave Rath at Roadrunner, when I presented this and even just said the title, he was 100 percent on board. The involvement of everybody at Roadrunner has been absolutely unbelievable, so supportive. It kind of ignited the secret nerd in all of us that loves this sort of stuff, because it's fun, it's different."^[2] From its conception, Petrucci envisioned the story as eventually being re-worked into a film, play, or video game.^[3]

Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess wrote the album's music independently from the rest of Dream Theater by getting together every day, going over ideas in the morning, and then working through the music during the day and night.^[4] As they finished their initial drafts, they presented them to the rest of the band, who worked on writing parts for their own instruments. In an interview with Artisan News, drummer Mike Mangini reflected, "The biggest challenge for me was interpreting the initial music that was given to me, because there were no drums. So [I was like], 'All right, I need to listen to this, really, as a whole piece to understand where I should kind of let loose or I should lay back a lot.' All that. Just to see it as a whole, 'cause I don't wanna play blindly or try to fit too much where it doesn't belong."^[5]

In January 2015, the band entered Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island, New York, where they also recorded their two previous albums, A Dramatic Turn of Events and Dream Theater, to begin recording the new material.^[6] Longtime collaborator Richard Chycki, who Petrucci described as "a sixth member of the band", was again brought in as the album's sound engineer.^[7] As Dream Theater felt that the album needed real string lines and choirs, they enlisted the help of veteran composer David Campbell, who assisted with aspects of the orchestration and conducted the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra from Los Angeles as they recorded their parts for the album.^[4] In July, Dream Theater took a break from the studio to play some shows in Europe,^[8] but continued writing while on the road.^[9] In August, James LaBrie began recording vocals in Canada with Chycki.^[7][10] Singing as multiple characters, he took it upon himself to create unique interpretations of each one, with Petrucci offering him sporadic advice and feedback.^[2] Recording completed in late September,^[11] with mixing beginning the next month and mastering concluding in mid-December.^[12][13]

Synopsis

John Petrucci wrote The Astonishing's story, co-wrote the album's music, and served as its producer.

The following is based on The Astonishing's official synopsis, published by Dream Theater upon the album's release.^[14]

Act I

In 2285, the northeastern region of the United States has turned into a dystopia ruled by the oppressive Great Northern Empire of the Americas. The only resemblance to entertainment that exists is the electronic noise of the NOMACS (Noise Machines). The empire is ruled by Emperor Nafaryus, Empress Arabelle, Crown Prince Daryus, and Princess Faythe. In a distant village called Ravenskill, a man named Gabriel possesses the natural ability to make music and sing ("The Gift of Music"). He has an older brother, Commander Arhys of the Ravenskill Rebel Militia, who has a son, Xander, with his deceased wife, Evangeline ("A Better Life").

Nafaryus hears a rumor about Gabriel being the savior of the people. He and his family travel to Ravenskill to see him for themselves ("Lord Nafaryus"). In the Ravenskill town square, Gabriel is performing for the people when the royal family shows up. He continues playing at the emperor's request ("A Savior in the Square"), nearly bringing them all to tears ("When Your Time Has Come"). As he plays, Faythe remembers how she found a music player when she was a child and kept it a secret all her life, and as she and Gabriel stare at each other they fall in love ("Act of Faythe"). Nafaryus, though briefly moved by Gabriel's song, sees him as a threat to his rule and gives the people of the town three days to deliver their savior to him, or he will destroy the town ("Three Days"). Arhys hides his brother and refuses to give him up ("Brother, Can You Hear Me?").

Back at the Emperor's palace, Faythe decides she must see Gabriel again. Disguising herself, she begins to travel back to Ravenskill. Arabelle, knowing about her daughter's intentions, instructs Daryus to follow and protect her. Daryus feels he has always been overlooked by his father in favor of his sister, so he travels to the town with his own intentions ("A Life Left Behind"). Faythe arrives in the town and finds Xander, who trusts her and leads her to his father Arhys. Faythe convinces Arhys that she can help, so he brings her to Gabriel's hideout. Gabriel and Faythe embrace, and she tells him that she believes she can convince her father to give up his hunt for Gabriel ("Ravenskill"). Gabriel tells her that if he could just meet with the Emperor, he could inspire him to restore peace to the land using his gift of music ("Chosen").

Meanwhile, Daryus finds Arhys' home and takes Xander captive. Daryus promises he will guarantee the safety and wealth of Xander in return for Arhys bringing Gabriel to him. Daryus does this hoping that it will gain him respect from his father ("A Tempting Offer"). Arhys is forced to say yes, remembering the promise he made to Evangeline, to protect their son ("The X Aspect"). Faythe travels back to her father's palace and learns that her music player once belonged to her father. After a while, Nafaryus bows to the pleas of his daughter ("A New Beginning") and agrees to meet with Gabriel at an abandoned amphitheater called Heaven's Cove ("The Road to Revolution").

Act II

Arhys informs Daryus that Gabriel will be at Heaven's Cove that night ("Moment of Betrayal"). As Arhys waits at the amphitheater, he changes his mind, and when Daryus shows up, they start a fight. Daryus overpowers Arhys and kills him ("The Path That Divides"), unaware that Xander followed them and saw the whole scene. As Xander runs to his father's dead body, Daryus sees the silhouette of someone approaching him. Assuming it to be Gabriel, he attempts to kill him, realising too late that it is actually Faythe ("The Walking Shadow"). Gabriel arrives at the scene and sees his dead brother and the dying Faythe. Covering Xander's ears, he unleashes a scream that causes Daryus to go deaf and that is heard by Nafaryus, Arabelle, and the entire town ("My Last Farewell").

Nafaryus and Arabelle arrive and beg Gabriel to use his gift to save Faythe ("Losing Faythe"), but Gabriel is unable to sing after screaming so loud ("Whispers on the Wind"). The people, attracted by the scream, show up and start singing, giving Gabriel hope. He finds his ability to sing and brings Faythe back to life ("Hymn of a Thousand Voices"). Nafaryus, realising what he has done, decides to end the conflict with Gabriel and shuts down the NOMACS for good ("Power Down"). Daryus is forgiven for his actions, and Gabriel and Faythe raise Xander as a family ("Our New World"). Nafaryus promises to govern the empire as a fair leader in a new world where music is appreciated again ("Astonishing").

Composition

The Astonishing is Dream Theater's second concept album after 1999's Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory.^[4] It was inspired by Petrucci's love of fantasy and science fiction franchises such as Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars, as well as his observations on the role of technology in modern-day society. In an interview with Billboard, he explained, “I was thinking of all of the things now that people used to do that they don’t do anymore because they’re automated or done by robots: lots of jobs, self-driving cars coming right around the corner ... My thought was, ‘What would happen if with all the advances in technology in music that music [became] all artificial?’”^[3]

Described as an "honest-to-God rock opera" by Rolling Stone,^[2] The Astonishing has been compared to The Who's Tommy, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Queensrÿche's Operation: Mindcrime, and Rush's 2112, the latter of which also revolves around music being used to achieve freedom in a futuristic setting.^[15][16] In writing music to match the album's narrative, the band ended up playing in a wide variety of styles, with Loudwire observing, "The nearly three-dozen tracks run the gamut from short interludes to cinematic instrumentals to mellow ballads to Dream Theater’s patented prog metal. It’s an enormous amount of music to absorb in one sitting, but when you think about it, most movies are around two hours in length, and The Astonishing is very much like a movie in the way it delivers the storyline."^[17]

The Astonishing features a real orchestra and choir, and is the first Dream Theater album to use bagpipes.^[18] Compared to the band's previous albums, there is more acoustic playing, both in terms of guitar and piano. In an interview with Ultimate Guitar, Petrucci specifically mentioned the song "A Life Left Behind", recalling, "[It] starts with an acoustic, kind of proggy riff, which is something we've never done and has a very Yes sort of feel."^[7]

Release

Dream Theater began their marketing campaign for The Astonishing in October 2015, prompting visitors to their official website to choose between mailing lists for the Great Northern Empire or the Ravenskill Rebel Militia.^[19] Registrants were then notified of updates to their side's Twitter page as they occurred.^[20][21] In early November, the band announced that their thirteenth studio album would be titled The Astonishing and launched a promotional website that suggested it would be a concept album.^[22] The website slowly revealed key elements of the album's story, including its characters, map, and track listing.^[23] That same month, they also announced some European tour dates for early 2016, and that the album would be played in its entirety.^[24] In December, The Astonishing was given an official January 29 release date,^[2] with multiple special editions being made available for pre-sale including a deluxe set with a handmade NOMAC 3D model.^[25] Leading to the album's release, the band released a single, "The Gift of Music",^[26] and premiered another song, "Moment of Betrayal".^[3] They also made an official trailer available via YouTube.^[27]

Upon its release, The Astonishing debuted on many album charts, including top ten placements in Norway, Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Canada.^[28] In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number eleven overall and became Dream Theater's first ever number one debut on the Billboard Rock Chart.^[29] In February, the band released a music video for "The Gift of Music", which mixed live performance footage with CGI animation and was filmed in New Jersey.^[16]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100[30]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[15]
Classic Rock	[31]
Consequence of Sound	B-[32]
Kerrang!	[33]
Metal Hammer	[34]
Record Collector	[35]
Rolling Stone	[36]
RTÉ.ie	[37]
Ultimate Guitar Archive	8/10[38]

The Astonishing has received generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on six reviews.^[30] In its write-up, Record Collector called the album "as grand as anything in the band’s 30-year history" and described the storytelling as "seamless".^[35] Critics were especially complimentary of the band's willingness to write a long, unconventional album, with AllMusic commenting, "Dream Theater have invested in the 'album' concept (and in listeners' attention spans) even as the music biz doubles down on the notion that long-players are merely envelopes to hold singles."^[15] Rolling Stone echoed these sentiments, concluding, "The results won't please every Dream Theater partisan, nor will they convert the skeptical. But it would take a hard heart to deny Petrucci, co-composer and keyboardist Jordan Rudess and their mates credit for the boldness of their aspirations and the assurance with which they achieve them."^[36] Some reviewers were critical of the album's concept, including Consequence of Sound, who described it as "very silly", but ultimately gave the album an overall positive review.^[32]

Track listing

All lyrics written by John Petrucci, all music composed by Petrucci and Jordan Rudess.

Sources:^[1][39]

Personnel

Dream Theater

• James LaBrie – lead vocals
• John Petrucci – guitar, production, story and concept
• Jordan Rudess – keyboards
• John Myung – bass
• Mike Mangini – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Eric Rigler – bagpipes on "The X Aspect"
• City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra^[40]

Production

• Richard Chycki – engineering, mixing, and spoken voice of Nafaryus
• Jiema – cover art
• David Campbell – orchestral and choir arrangements

Charts

References

External links

• Official website