I get that it's Dream Theater, but does it have to sound so "Dream Theatery"?

Enjoyed this very much! Glad they didn't complete screw up the drum production, and Mangini went off in this song. Can say I'm pretty excited for this!

I liked this, has a bit of Black Clouds-vibe here and there but I'm also a major DT fanboy so take my reaction with a grain of salt.

i quite like it, good flow.....and of course at 9 minutes, parts of it will have to digest

That part from 5:35 to 7:10 is fucking great.

Holy shit this cover art ayy lmao

They outdid themselves with this one

The whole melodic section near the end is sooooo goooood. Vocal writing is meh overall but otherwise this is pretty killer. One of the fastest 9 minutes songs I've listened to, went by so quick haha.

Intro is a bit too typical DT but it picks up.

This is the craziest this band has sounded in 8+ years, pretty hype for this album

Sweet!

This was actually really enjoyable, and ye that melodic section was the freshest they've sounded in a while

Between how this is shaping up and Distance Over Time DT really seem like they're hitting a late-career vein of inspiration.

First time I actually enjoy Mangini's drum work since he joined DT.

This is amazing. Was surprised, but now very excited for this record

Also really happy to finally have a decent sounding DT album after the Richard Chycki era. DOT was an improvement but the vocal production was so overdone. This is the best production they've had in a loooong time.

Distance Over Time was Dream Theater’s best album since Octavarium. If they continue to drop material that good then I’m fucking here for it.

really does sound like the most Dream Theater track of all time, but yeah didn't cringe while listening to it which I can't say the same for their more recent output

Mangini's drums actually sound....... really good?

Already know it's gonna be the best post-portnoy album don't even need to hear the rest

Andy Sneap is a beast so I would've been really surprised if this sounded anything less than decent. Really happy they chose him for this one.

Andy Sneap is indeed the fucking man

this is what should have came after ADTOE

The album art compared to this artwork is even more laughable now. WHY ISN’T THIS THE ALBUM ART???

Song is alright, very in line with everything Dream Theater have done since the 90s, but still glad they're finding renewed inspiration after those disappointing mid 2010s releases. 16-year-old me would've eaten this up. I should give Distance Over Time more listens, think I only heard it once or twice.

DOT lacks a bit of ambition but it's mega solid. Really was an answer to the response The Astonishing got. Barstool Warrior, S2N, At Wits End and Pale Blue Dot are all you need pretty much.

Production sounds real good. Solid track indeed.

Really liked the instrumentation, but Labrie takes it down a notch.

LaBrie is fine on this. Vocal lines are pretty basic but at least the production on the vocals is wayyy better than on DOT where they sounded like dogshit.

LaBrie is fine on every album. Getting older for sure, but that's part of the game. Have any of you seen a Rush concert during Rush's final few tours? LaBrie struggled for awhile in the live show as well, but has recovered a bit.

Last I checked, it's the same guy that sings on I&W, Awake, Scenes, and 6 Degrees that everyone raves about.

He's definitely regressed over the years but I still don't mind him, he's part of the Dream Theater equation for me. Saw them live just before the pandemic and he was as solid as one could really expect as far as pitch goes. Intonation nowadays is a bit weird but he was definitely good enough.

Also yeah Geddy Lee kind of the same deal on the last few tours. Hit the notes mostly but it wasn't always pretty haha. Can't blame these guys too much their live sets are so long.

Song Manginis for days! LaBrie sounds definitely better than the single I had heard before the last album, he was basically a robot in that one

This song fucking rips. They're definitely embracing some more heavier shit here, and LaBrie complements it very well. Color me impressed.

"Last I checked, it's the same guy that sings on I&W, Awake, Scenes, and 6 Degrees that everyone raves about."
Not even close tbh, LaBrie's voice is ass nowdays. But they can mitigate it in the studio and that's fine with me

Same voice just 20+ years older....get over it. Almost no vocals sound the same live as they do on the record, so all vocalists benefit from the mitigation that you mentioned. All of them.

Titan, bro, of course singers age, but LaBrie is a pretty extreme case. And it's easy to see in his live performances. I don't blame him, DT's material is brutal to sing. But damn, it's not the same voice.

Like, LaBrie on Six Degrees already declined significantly from LaBrie on Images and Words

As usual with this band I find the beginning interesting, then the guy starts singing and I go oh ok, not too bad, then he remains the same the entire song. It's like the guy has no emotion whatsoever. One single mode of singing. Lame. But I know fans love him though I'm not a fan of the band in general fwiw

Maybe I'm not articulating my point properly. The steady degradation is expected. And as a DT fan, I openly admit that LaBrie was awful for a period there in the live show, and he will never be Awake-era again. My point was more focused at the folks who think this would be a better band if they had a different singer, which is utter nonsense to me.

And I will say, after 5 spins or so, I really like The Alien

But I do wish there was less Jordan wankery and maybe more Jordan piano throughout

I would say, in rock detoriation is kind of expected, because a certain amount of pushing is expected. It's a dangerous genre, broadly speaking.
James has a very distinctive voice and I think he fits them very well. They can't ditch him just like that, and I'm sure they won't. It's fine with me

Song was decent, kind of reminiscent of Systematic Chaos. I still loathe Mangini as a drummer though, he's so unpassionate.

"Song was decent, kind of reminiscent of Systematic Chaos. I still loathe Mangini as a drummer though, he's so unpassionate."

Normally, I would wholeheartedly agree with you (I'm in the camp that they should've picked Dr. Marco Minnemann as their drummer), but honestly I think he sounds really good here. He's actually doing some hard shit here as opposed to the previous albums he's played on. Illumination Theory aside.

I don't think Minnemann actually wanted to join tbh

Yeah Minnemann is apparently not a fan of what Dream Theater writes very much. He just did it for fun.

My favorite from the auditions was actually Tomas Lang. I loved what little we saw of him being creative with the older songs. I think he would've been a great fit. Peter Wildoer was also really impressive to watch with them.

Mangini is a beast but there's often something missing with his drum parts. Although I will say he had some fun stuff in Distance over Time and I really liked what he did here. So fingers crossed for the new album. Definitely the best produced drums he's had so that's a really good sign.

labrie sounds better nowadays than he did in the early/mid 2000s cause of the food poisoning thing

in fact the food poisoning thing is why the definitive change of seasons is the live version from 93 :D

HAHA ok i laughed when labrie opened his flapper, this is like count of tuscany except aliens

The biggest problem is that they relentlessly tour and don't give the vocals a break. It's really taken its toll on Labrie. Most bands take periodic breaks to reinvigorate themselves and Dream Theater always refused to do that.

pretty cool artwork

unlike whatever that hell that crap they used for the album cover is

This definitely sounds like something that could have easily been on BC&SL. If the rest of the album is as solid as this song, this will end up being the best thing that the band has done in over a decade. Sounds on par with and even better than a lot of the 2000s DT output, and that's all that I could ask for, after four records that were largely forgettable. I could have even mistaken the drums for being Portnoy's honestly.

'Most bands take periodic breaks to reinvigorate themselves and Dream Theater always refused to do that.'

One of the reasons why Portnoy left...

Portnoy didn't want a break from music. He wanted to go off and play with A7x while DT hung out waiting for him. Like, I miss him in DT and look forward to the day they're reunited, but he's 100% in the wrong.

And fwiw DTs touring recording and touring schedule isn't the issue with Labries voice. He even had time to record solo albums between DT albums and tour in support of those, so it's pretty clear to me he's not being overworked. It's just the ravages of time and wear and tear.

Title and artwork reminds me of Manchester Orchestra

Now that's a heavy insult to MO

"Portnoy didn't want a break from music. He wanted go off and play with A7x while DT hung out waiting for him. Like, I miss him in DT and look forward to the day they're reunited but he's 100% in the wrong."

Wasn't the story something like he randomly decided to break up with DT to be in A7X and the latter was like "uh... dude you were just a temporary hired gun... wait did you just leave DT?! well this is awkward"

Idk, from what I got Portnoy wanted a break to do something else for a while and then come back. The other member didn't want a break at all and so they moved on without him

Admittedly it's all from memory but I remember reading that one day Portnoy entered the studio saying "hey I'm free now, I can stay with you guys!" and the dudes in Sevenfold responded they weren't actually ready to move on and find a new stable drummer yet

I remember that one too tbh. It's all a bit muddy somehow. Anyway, he has a big ego and it probably hard to work with

'Portnoy wanted a break to do something else for a while and then come back. The other member didn't want a break at all and so they moved on without him'

Fact. The Avenged Sevenfold stint coincidentally happened at that time. Portnoy was suggesting that the band take a little time off well before any of that materialized, as early as the conclusion of the Black Clouds recording sessions. At that time, he thought Dream Theater needed the break and I think we can all agree with that.

Ha! Dude got himself a hot little sidepiece and wanted an open relationship. It turned out that the side piece didn't want any kind of relationship and the wife found herself another man in the meantime. But I'm glad they mended their fences and reconnected and put out LTE3.

Hell yea, LTE3 rules

but cmon man, can you guys really listen to that for more than 15 minutes?

whoa...colour me surprised this was decent

"but cmon man, can you guys really listen to that for more than 15 minutes?"
Yep

Very boring. Better than the astonishing I guess.

This is cool as fuck, thank god they have got better since the astonishing days. If you hate this you are a sjw or an antivaxxer with no brain

Really enjoyed this! felt very much black clouds esque, which i am fully on board with.

Vocal melodies drag this down though. The wankery is really good though

for those of you planning on seeing them on this upcoming tour, I can pretty much guarantee that The Alien will be the opener

Enjoyed this tbh, some really cool riffs.
Band seems like they're on a comeback of sorts after the Astonishing.

This fucking rips! Drumming is monstrous.

"If you hate this you are a sjw or an antivaxxer with no brain"

This comment didn't age well.