a 3,5 avg only? that's kinda underwhelming, though predictable. I might check this out

Album Rating: 3.0

well, are you okay with 34 tracks/2 hours 10 minutes of Dream Theater wankary?

Album Rating: 3.0

I believe if SFAM or SDOIT were released today, it would score about a 3.5 on this site.



This album is the freshest DT has sounded since the early 2000's. It's a shame too many people write them off now and won't give this the four or five spins something this long needs for it to actually sink in and leave an impression.

Album Rating: 2.5

This album is probably the weakest DT album I've heard tbh

Album Rating: 2.3

Some of these songs are so cheesy they could soundtrack a Gary Marshall movie. But when the band do well on this record, they do REALLY well. I think this will land around 3.5/5 for me

Album Rating: 2.0

I think by track 14 I got fucking tired of all this balladry

I'm not sure I'll ever have the determination to get through the massive amount of music - and the fact that it is typically generic. I mean, so far I'm not actually disappointed, my expectations having been so low.

The songs seem at first to at least benefit from a certain focus granted by the concept, however laughable, which their music had been lacking very much on the self-titled.

Things rapidly get confounded; Mangini's terribly monotonic performance makes every single moment seem so annoyingly calculated

I'm the guy who actually listened to all 24 hours of that Flaming Lips song and this is still too long for me

Album Rating: 1.5

No Mike Portney= no Dream Theater

Dream Theater needs Mike Portnoy badly agreed.

I wasn't particularly fond of Portnoy either, but his drumming did have an immensely more creative quality

The music does achieve to render its cinematic pretentions in an effective way, though.

Album Rating: 2.5

I'm still really struggling with this album as a whole. It has it's moments for sure. Actually, I can count about 8 songs that really stand out. The problem is that 2 hours is so much material to listen to, and the album is FULL of ballads which honestly all sound the same. I really wish they had stepped outside the box a little more consistently. During the rare moments that they do, it sounds amazing!

Album Rating: 3.5

4 to 5 spins is roughly ten hours. If you need ten hours to appreciate the album then its clear you merely have Stockholm syndrome.

Dream Theater needs Mike Portnoy badly agreed.

Not for his lyrics, fufufu

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

Deserves higher than a 3.5. Haters will hate so this isn't for them, but give this album multiple listens and pull out the liner notes for at least one of those. Then listen again, and let the musical themes wash over you. This is their best work since SFAM easily. For the people that say there are "too many ballads", it's just not true. It's a rock opera and those sections are used to convey emotion. It's also worth noting that the production on this album is phenomenal. Myung is very prevalent in the mix, the drums sound great, the guitars, keys, and vocals are perfectly balanced. Which brings me to my final point. James Labrie. Once again, haters will hate, but this might be his greatest performance from start to finish, at least in the post vocal chord rupture era. Dream Theater fans, you will love this, anyone else, give it a fair shake

Album Rating: 2.5 | Sound Off

This album just would have been a lot better if they cut some songs. I think we can all agree that that's the biggest issue with The Astonishing, too many boring/bad tracks

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

@Raven49 Exactly what I'm trying to say with my comments too! Just seems like people WANT to hate everything these days almost. This is great stuff

"It's a rock opera and those sections are used to convey emotion"

these guys have never been able convey any sort of emotion apart from a few cuts on awake

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

I usually need at least 5 spins to let an album sink in. Sometimes even 10. Why do you think "classic" albums like Master of Puppets or Dark Side of the Moon got such high ratings here? They were long before you had rating sites so people had years and years to let an album sink in before they would rate it on a site like this. A lot of people who gave 5s and 4.5s have probably heard them AT LEAST 10 times. Now people judge 2 hours and 10 minutes of music because it didn't grab them in the first 1 to 3 listens. Now that is rediculous. If the style doesn't immediately click with you, you can impossibly expect 130 minutes to sink in immediately.