hate

Post-Jordanism: noun- The artistic (cultural?) movement which began in late 2011. Works within this deal with themes of existential crisis, identity crisis, posttraumatic stress disorder, the state of being broken, intrusive thoughts of (non)existent(?) memory, the morbid preoccupation with suicide, grief, uncontrollable emotion, and darkness as a simple abstract concept. ex. 1: "Kill me."

Thursday, September 22, 2011

A Dramatic First Impression of Events

On Dream Theater's newest release, A Dramatic Turn of Events, I have a few first impressions to give.

On the Backs of Angels is an interesting opener. I had heard this so many times before thanks to its release as a single back in June, and the structure is remarkably like "Pull Me Under." The vocals are catchy and the solo is memorable.

Build Me Up, Break Me Down should have been the single. Goddamn, this song has enough balls to make former drummer Mike Portnoy proud. The song reminds me a lot of "You Not Me" off of Falling into Infinity, which I loved. The instrumental section was beautiful. One of my favourites.

Lost Not Forgotten is everything that is right about Dream Theater. I adore every element of this song except for the abrupt ending. But really, that's a small price to pay for the utter beauty surrounding the rest of the piece. Easily one of my favourites.

This is the Life kinda... dragged on a little. But I'm certain this is entirely because it was just my first listen of the album. The sound, itself, was fantastic, and the time signature was catchy as hell.

Bridges in the Sky, on my first listen, was hard to follow and hard to judge. On my second, I found its rhythms pleasantly fun and its chorus amazing. The instrumental section deserves a lot of praise, as well. One of my favourites.

Outcry features one of the greatest proggasms I've had since "The Dark Eternal Night" and "Octavarium" before that. It lasts forever, and I love that. This song reminds me a lot of "Metropolis, pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" off of Images & Words. Except better. The sound is crisp and beautiful, the melodies catchy, the lyrics sublime. Easily one of my favourites off the album.

Far From Heaven is beauty. I'd say it's like Train of Thought's "Vacant" in spirit but with more expansion. Depressing lyrics juxtaposed quite effectively by a seemingly-positive piece. Loved it.

Breaking All Illusions gave off a huge "Learning to Live" vibe from the start. The instrumental section's gorgeous. I need to listen to this more to be able to appreciate it fully. Loved the reprisal of "Far From Heaven's" melody.

Beneath the Surface is a peculiar closer. Very pretty all around, stunning vocals, definitely something I want to listen more to.

All in all, the album is promising at worst. There's at least two Grade A proggasms to be found just to be found from my first listening alone, and I could easily tell the rest of the album has many hidden secrets requiring multiple listens. Hell, simply listening to "Bridges in the Sky" for a second time made that song ten times better.

I look so forward to seeing what this album will look like in retrospect.

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