Dream Theater
The Astonishing

Talking about Dream Theater is always very difficult: few bands like them divide the audience so distinctly. Either you love them or you hate them. Personally, I've never heard anyone say, "Yes, they're good, I like them, but not too much." Those who adore them (like myself) do so because they know how to perfectly blend songs where technique dominates (I immediately think of "The Dark Eternal Night" from Systematic Chaos) with others where, despite having a good dose of technique, are rich in emotion and feeling (it’s impossible, in this sense, not to mention the famous "The Spirit Carries On" from their greatest masterpiece, along with Images and Words, in my opinion, Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory) and others, much rarer, where the technique is practically absent (like Through Her Eyes, a masterpiece of emotions also from Metropolis pt. 2); those who hate them, hate them because they see in them only useless technicalities for their own sake and plagiarism of other songs. Now, I'm not here to make an apology of their career or their songs BUT even Quentin Tarantino fills his films with citations, yet he is not surrounded by such fierce animosity as the band in question...

However, with this brief introduction out of the way, let's get to the album in question: The Astonishing. The Astonishing is a very complex album. Long (we're over 2 hours) and difficult to listen to in one go, it's a story of hope, love, hate, remorse, freedom. The story is fairly simple: it's 2285, a dystopian future where America is divided into two parts, the Great Northern Empire and the Ravenskill Militia. Emperor Nafaryus has deprived his subjects of the pleasures of music, replacing it with machines that produce aseptic noises devoid of any artistic value, the Nomacs (Noise Machines). The only hope for freedom lies in the gift of Gabriel, brother of Arhys, the commander of the Ravenskill rebels. I don't want to dwell too much on the plot because, on the one hand, those who have already heard it already know it, while on the other hand, I don't want to reveal too much for those who have not yet had the pleasure of being transported by the notes of this album. Suffice it to say that John Petrucci, the sole author of the lyrics and the story, was inspired by some of the most important fantasy and sci-fi sagas, like Game of Thrones and Star Wars (I'll be honest with you: not having a particular sympathy for either fantasy or science fiction, this is a notion I learned by reading news and reviews on the internet).

First of all, it must be said that this is not an album like other Dream Theater products, from a musical point of view: the technicalities are reduced to the minimum, the metal spirit has been partially replaced by a more rock and melodic one, and the progressive is accompanied by sections that verge on the symphonic. Therefore, all their detractors, with this album, have lost the main argument of their attacks on the band. Oops, sorry, I must be objective and not get carried away by my love for this group.

It's unnecessary to emphasize how perfectly curated the musical aspect is. Sophisticated melodies and, why not, at times very simple ones excellently accompany the unfolding of the story without ever seeming boring. Although many of these melodies are reprised over the course of the 2 hours and more of this album (as is obvious and normal in any concept album or opera, rock or not), one never has the sensation of déjà vu or repetitiveness: the songs in which the same melody is present remain extremely recognizable (the first example that comes to mind is "Brother, Can You Hear Me?", which features a frequently recurring theme, and the concluding title track "The Astonishing: despite having a similar start, it's practically impossible to confuse one with the other). The performances of the quintet are all of the highest level. I won't dwell on the performances of each of the members, also because it seems pointless and boring, but I'll just say that I haven't heard a James LaBrie so in shape for a long time: capable of using his voice to characterize each of the characters he plays, he is the member of the group that impressed me the most, especially when he sings the parts of Nafaryus' daughter, Faythe (as the Latins used to say: nomen omen), who falls in love with Gabriel, managing to make his voice very feminine (while remaining, of course, masculine). Despite the exceptional performance of the Canadian, personally, I wouldn't have minded having a different singer for every character, following the lesson of the Dutch project Ayreon. This way, the characterization of the characters would have been even better, and the final result a real masterpiece. Instead, we will have to settle for an almost-masterpiece. A special mention is deserved by the Nomacs' instrumental interludes, very short pieces lasting no more than a minute, which have the merit of recreating the atmosphere that Petrucci had in mind, making the listening extremely immersive. Regarding these "songs" (which are everything but songs), I've read conflicting opinions: some appreciated them, others did not. In my opinion, for the final outcome of the album, they are of fundamental importance. Often the choruses of the songs are very catchy, almost bordering on pop (did someone say "Chosen?"), but this should not be understood, in this specific case of this album, in a negative sense: considering the exceptional duration of the proposed work, having easy-to-memorize choruses is indispensable, since out of 34 songs, 27 have lyrics. Imagine what a mess it would have been if all these 27 songs hadn't had easy-to-memorize choruses with common melodies!

Although greatly reduced compared to past albums, even this The Astonishing presents some technicalities, especially entrusted to the group's leader, Petrucci, who is capable of delivering a solo nothing short of amazing, in my opinion, one of the best in the entire Dream Theater discography, in the penultimate song of the first act, "A New Beginning". And, I assure you, seeing him play live at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, during that solo, is one of the greatest joys life has given me.

I think it might be time to sum things up, so as not to make this review boring and too long. This is not an easy album to assimilate, despite it might seem one of the most "commercial" of the band: it takes more than one listen to grasp the true essence of this theaterian magnum opus and, above all, the listening must be accompanied by reading the lyrics. Without knowing the lyrics, after all, it could result in an album that's just a little more than good. Personally, I would place it among the top positions of a hypothetical Dream Theater album ranking. Is it on the level of the already mentioned Images and Words and Metropolis pt. 2? Absolutely not. But it is surely, along with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and (insult me if you want) Octavarium, among their best albums of the 2000s and THE best of the post-Portnoy era.