Dream Theater
Dream Theater

Very good album! Music is like space saga! Stars War!

In 2013, Dream Theater released an album that they dubbed their name. Probably, the musicians wanted to say by this that they would stay like this for a long time and it would be time for their fans to forget the flight of fantasy of percussion parts from Mike Portnoy and accept the inevitability of the situation that he is no longer a member of the collective. I haven’t been expecting anything special from Dreamov for a long time: there are so many diverse music around that I really want to just Dream Theater and nothing more. The first compositions did not seem to me anything special, except for the unconditional skill of the musicians: just a typical prog metal material with some power coating. Before “Behind the Vail”, listening to the album is boring. However, I was pleased that the material differs from the previous opus of the group in its vivid symphony. And for me this is a big plus, because I just like the classics. And in order to hear something kind of complicated in terms of percussion parts, I probably listen to something from Oxivious or even August Burns Red ... Yes, these groups have nothing to do with prog metal, but in terms of interesting rhythmic making them just a cut above Dream Theater. In fact, I generally think that the last two Dream Theater albums with Mike Portnoy ("Systematic Chaos" and "BC&SL") were the agony of the prog genre as the most “progressive” one. The same metalcore or gent show such an incredibly high level of progressive complexity that the prog metal can not compete with them. Back to the new album. With the fifth composition - “Behind the Vail” - “Dreams” seem to start all over again: as if there were no half of the material behind. On it, they seem to recall that the prog genre can be perfectly combined with hard'n'heavy riffs, and the composition can simply be remembered for its melodic choruses. In short, I liked the second half of the album many times more, and I advise fans of the genre to start listening to "Dream Theater" with "Behind the Vail". The following “Surrender To Reason” and “Along For The Ride” I liked with my arrangements and guitar work. What is there not only: the original solos, and the “slide” that came in handy, and the orchestration made with knowledge. However, the most entertaining composition of Dream Theater was stored for the finale. The Illumination Theory lasts more than 20 minutes and consists of five parts (I, II, III, IV, V), which are performed without pauses. In fact, it turned out the album in the album: the quintessence of Dream Theater! All five parts have dynamics, prog savvy, the necessary share of chaos and madness and, at the same time, pathos. Moreover, this is not just an estimate of the rhythm, but the consistent development of integral compositions. “Illumination Theory” is a concentrated theory of throwing, of eternal search, of falling into the infernal abyss and taking off to heaven. The creation of such a composition in prog metal has long been overdue: the genre has a craving for large musical forms - with overtures, scenes and reprises.

Not the best Dream Theater album, but it's still solid album. You can hear a few very good songs like "The Enemy Inside", "The Bigger Picture" and "The Looking Glass". Overall, not bad.

Very good album. One of your favorite progressive-metal band.

One of the most acclaimed bands of progressive metal shows their virtuosism once again. Heaviest and louder than Dramatic Turn of Events, it's not an easy album for fans of Images & Words or Metropolis pt2

Dream Theater, by my mean, is recent the best prog metal band. New album is not disappointing. I Like it on the first listening. Booklet as usulaly is very good. I reccommend album. Vinyl has much better sound, because dynamic range of CD is aabout 5 dB. So, i am collector only CDs, so I bought CD :-)

Not good like a dramatic turn of events but Always a DT album. They are like Iron Maiden of prog metal, we cannot expect something really new nowaday by them but one thing we can do is enjoying their music with a pure and sincere, "simple" approach. Do you like to listen again to DT music? well, do it. Other new bands can join us in the quest of new experimental sounds, Not here. Mangini joined the band without particular issues. He is not Portnoy but this does not mean he is a less skilled drummer. Anyway, long suites can still touches our emotional chords; as in this passage from the Illumination Theory. "To really feel the joy in life, you must suffer through the pain When you surrender to the light, you can face the darkest days If you open up your eyes and you put your trust in love On those cold and endless nights, you will never be alone Passion glows within your heart like a furnace burning bright Until you struggle through the dark, you’ll never know that you’re alive" ...or we can be pushed to sing in Along for the Ride. Or, again, stand inside the mind of an artist (a painter after a writer...) listening to the well composed Bigger Picture. Problem is the lack of a real best of song but the Whole album at last, in his entire lenght, it's something one can listen again after some time with a sincere pleasure.