| | Full Review | Ratings (792) |
Give your Rating |
| 4.0 excellent | Ultihelmethead | January 27th 16 |
Sputnik on Dream Theater: Too metal too much wankery slow down write songs
Sputnik on The Astonishing: Not enough metal too many ballads
35 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | sam1oq | January 26th 16 |
Album is great when you can look past the cheese. It's varied and original. Doesn't reach really big heights, but there are some excellent tracks in there like Three Days and Ravenskill.
9 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Whiskers | January 29th 16 |
I'm still trying to digest Disc 1, but I must say, I got my moneys worth already. So far it's been a blast of an album, so whatever is on Disc 2 is pure bonus at this point. I for one have been preferring the ballads because they consist of beautiful melodies and top notch showcases of songwriting. rExtra shoutout to Ruddes who is on point throughout.
7 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.0 awful | TheMoonchild | January 26th 16 |
John. John. Earth to Mr. Petrucci. Wherever you are, you and I need to talk.
Enough of this. Seriously. I appreciate your earnest gusto for trying to lead this band out of a dark age with a founding member leaving. But since then you've been turning Dream Theater into more or less your own little vanity project. Your last two products were dull and uninspired but I'd take dull and uninspired over brash, loud and Spinal Tap any day.
The Astonishing is a joke. It's worse than a joke. It's not even funny. It's sad. This is undoubtedly your "Nostradamus". Overblown choirs and orchestras? Check. Shimmery piano? Check. Uninspired vocals? Check. Every single song drifts through one ear and out the other. What's truly depressing is how great some of the songs could be- "The Answer" could be a truly heartfelt ballad but it's too short and ends before it takes off. "A Savior in the Square" is just cringe worthy and had they reduced the orchestration from it and written actual lyrics it could have been good and that's just the start of it. "A Life LEft Behind" starts off awesomely enough but... yay, another ballad.
Honestly, John, LESS IS MORE. Enough of the shredding. Enough of the orchestras and choirs. Enough of the bombast and samples where not needed. Oh and ENOUGH OF THE PIANOS. I'm running out of fingers to count the amount of times on this album I was ready for some awesome stuff only for MORE PIANO.
7 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | dante1991 | January 31st 16 |
I feel this album is getting very misunderstood. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I hear a lot of complaints about the number of ballads, how cheesy the album is and the overwhelming length. But I've gotta say, what did people expect from a double disc rock opera from DT?? Being a rock opera alone in it's very nature means it'll be cheesier and have a greater reliance on piano and orchestration.rThe key to enjoying this is to view it as a Rock Opera / Musical (not a Prog Metal album) and give it the time it deserves. There's so much going on and it's incredibly overwhelming that it took me 5 - 6 listens to fully understand and everything then falls into place.rYes the lyrics are cheesy, but damn are the melodies gorgeous and the music staggeringly beautiful at times (Ravenskill, The X Aspect) whilst being fun and proggy at others (Lord Nafaryus, Three Days, A Life Left Behind).rIt's not perfect (the aforementioned cheese, plus the drum sound is a still not great and not enough audible bass from Myung), but it's without a doubt their most inspired in years.
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | Underflow | January 29th 16 |
Based on these soundoffs it sounds like this is going to be The Disappointing.
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Djang0 | January 29th 16 |
People complaining about the amount of soft songs vs. heavy songs should just take the album for what it is. This is just after one listen, but it works like a movie, a STORY, with ups and downs, buildups, climaxes, cooldowns, and development that can develop over songs, over the course of the album. It's such a rewarding experience.
6 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | Ligands | February 2nd 16 |
Undeniably epic! Dream Theater definitely write some of their best work with a concept in mind (Metropolis, Six Degrees, so on), and the same appears to be the case for post-Portnoy Dream Theater', with this release being significantly more interesting and engaging than their last two.
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | thebreadlord | January 28th 16 |
Best work they've done since SFAM and Six Degrees. Shame that so many scores will be polluted by DT haters
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | Kars Landman | January 26th 16 |
The new album is pretty different from what you've heard before, there's almost no 'metal' and almost all of the over-the-top solo's are gone. They really focussed on songwriting and orchestration on this record, but the problem is that that makes the record boring in some places. Mangini completely dissapoints in the new album, having no cool beats or fills at all...
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | MorandiV8SH | January 26th 16 |
I knew it was gonna be bad, but I didn't expect it to be THIS bad
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Zeiu | January 26th 16 |
This is beyond cringey. Where did this come from? What the fuck. Can we just get the instrumental mix? I can't stand any of these lyrics. Please no more piano ballads.
Edit: Listened to the whole thing, don't remember a lick of it. That was awful.
5 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | ThePhoEater | January 28th 16 |
Disney Theater the musical. That doesn't make it bad though. Far from it actually. The musicianship is top notch as always, and the orchestration is gorgeous. I'll need a few more listens to fully digest it and its storyline, but I'm impressed after the first listen. Standouts for me are The Gift of Music, Lord Nafaryus, Three Days, A New Beginning, and Moment of Betrayal. However, while there are standouts, the album is much better with a full listen through.
3 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | papachef | December 5th 16 |
I guess this LP is a guilty pleasure for me. The LP is way too long and with a long LP comes bad songs. It sounds like they wrote multiple versions of one song just cause they couldn't choose the right one. I think that if the songs were individual that they would be weak but i can only see them work in this LP because all the songs share some elements. And did John Myung run up to his amp and turn it up when the audio technician wasn't looking, because i think there is way to much low-end to point were it interferes with the mids.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Dovertime16 | February 23rd 16 |
Jesus Christ. This album is a decade long and completely ludicrous. Some of it's quite good, but it's just so damn long. And why so many ballads? None of them are good! If this were cut down to 40 minutes or so it'd probably be pretty decent. But alas. Alas!
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.0 good | Disconnected | February 9th 16 |
Solid album. It's weaknesses lie in lack of standout tracks and sheer length.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Mythodea | January 26th 16 |
Haven't heard it yet, but I believe people judge too quickly... It's a two hour long album and rpeople complain they can't remember anything... No shit Sherlock... Just give it the time you rwould give to any other record. I;m not saying it's great or anything, I have no idea how it rsounds... Just give it a proper amount of attention...EDIT: The first side has some adventurous songs and some never heard before in a DT album relements. The whole attempt ,though ,suffers from the number of ballads. It loses its power and dynamic. I can see they're trying to make a more song-oriented album, that's also something like a musical, but it's not done properly. The second disc is way worse. The power ballad mode fails to put across ''THE ASTONISHING'' story they aimed for. I'm sorry it's a mediocre album because beneath the mire, may be something astonishing indeed.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | kneepel | January 26th 16 |
Ballad Theater really missed the mark on this one. It's almost as if they ran out of ideas while
recording so they went fuck it! More piano!
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | GoldenGuy444 | July 22nd 23 |
This album has a bad stigma around it. Partially deserved. The lyrics and story are at best inoffensive background noise to at worst cringe. There are production errors too, one particular nasty one on "A Tempting Offer" "...To Deeci-----deee!".
And yes, the second disc really begins to lose steam.. however that first half is pretty consistently interesting, heck even some of the lesser 2nd disc tracks really work too.
Where it counts, the melodies, arrangements, and vocal performances, they all are stellar, like some of their best period. Oh yea, true, this album could have been helped a lot by streamlining the album's flow and letting some tracks breathe. Cutting some of the more redundant cuts and expanding existing to have more moments of instrumental ambience like on "Heaven's Cove" or something like the groovy outtro to "A New Beginning".
Regardless! This is the last time I feel Dream Theater really tried something new in writing and thematically ..and I think that inherently makes it more interesting then either of their two recent projects which are both paint by numbers. Beyond that, the freshness to their ambition makes the many melodic highlights shine brighter.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Robinanimate | June 25th 21 |
I thought I liked it to begin with, but a few years later I just can not stand this album. It bores me incredibly.r
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | YRI | August 28th 20 |
Since Mike Portnoy's departure, DT has had a significant lack in songwriting skill, and this is most apparent on The Astonishing. Annoying skits, uninspiring musicianship, and a running time of 130(!) minutes make this one of the most disappointing DT releases, when compared to their other work.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | judasgoat | February 1st 16 |
Look, if you're going to make a cheesy concept album, it has to be FUN. You have to be in on its cheesiness and make it fun. This album takes itself WAY too seriously to be fun, and instead we get a two hour slog through Disney musical piano ballads and a story that falls apart halfway through. For the love of god, AVOID.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Xenorazr | January 31st 16 |
Were it not for the fact LaBrie puts on a good performance, I'd say I hope they released this as an instrumental album.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.3 average | Trey STAFF | January 29th 16 |
There's nothing redeeming about this album. Dream Theater apparently lost the last decent writer in the band when they lost Portnoy. They also lost any semblance of creativity in the percussion department. At the very least, the last two albums had a bit of energy and diversity, but this doesn't even have those two things. It's a double-album full of ballads and semi-energetic songs that are almost certain to end up in ballad territory before ending.... newsflash: Dream Theater have always sucked at ballads.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.0 poor | TooManyFriends | January 26th 16 |
i for one am shocked this underwhelming self indulgent prog rock album with a terrible story that hasn't been out
for a week yet has recieved like fifteen 5s on sputnikmusic dot com
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | Brabiz | December 14th 22 |
This is one of my top DT albums. I cannot understand the hate. I think they can get a bit boring whenever they wank around too much, and I don?t find their exclusively heavy material as interesting as stuff like Images and Words, and this album is like all of their best aspects without the wankery. I never listened to this until recently because of the runtime, but this thing held my attention and I found all of the new sounds and experiments very compelling. The sound is generally more in line with classic prog music as well. Honestly this album is great, and miles better than the two that came before and the two that came after.
Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | Erwann S. STAFF | May 11th 22 |
The boiz prove they got nothing more to add to the genre, and they do so over the course of 130 minutes. Not a good move, even though they gonna tell you it's because they wanna tell a story. idc bout no story - all I want is good music. I fell asleep before hearing a decent song. 1.7
Bump |
| 3.5 great | MaidenUFO | March 1st 22 |
Even the best band ever existed deserves to have a record which dissapoints. However, the record is good and its sound reminds me my childhood Disney songs. Its like a jourmey back to very early innocent years of our childhood and only a band like Dream Theater could manage to transmit these feelings . Maybe does not reach the potential of these legends, but I am not dissapointed by this effort. Favorite songs: Chosen, When your time has come, Act of Faythe, A life left behind, Begin again
Bump |
| 3.0 good | GamamJ | May 7th 20 |
It is ironic that the topic of the album is what makes it so ironic. "People just don't have the time for music anymore" sings LaBrie. Just that seems to be the most common complaint about the album, that it is too long, stretched out and cheesy. Well, it is supposed to be, it is a whole rock opera. Now I will agree that it is way too good for its own good and would do very well being pushed back to at moost 1.5 hrs. Still a good album though even if not among DTs best. Some very cool moments, and the story is well made and woven together.
Bump |
| 1.5 very poor | Kasper | March 29th 19 |
Too long, too many fillers. It's really hard for me to listen to the entire thing without falling asleep.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | MCDEst2001 | March 16th 19 |
Dream Theater Do a Whoopsie: The Overlong Musical.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | forbes72 | April 29th 17 |
This album has some obvious problems, but after giving it a chance, it's better than my initial impression. Sure the album ridiculously long, technically unimpressive, and is built around a melodramatic story with characters that look they were lifted directly from Final Fantasy. But the ambition of the story is kind of charming, and it remains pretty comprehensible and cohesive both musically and in story. Just pulling off a 2+ hour album-opera hybrid is kinda impressive.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | EcoChocolatacchi | March 8th 16 |
Cheese is a food derived from milk that is produced in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, the milk is usually acidified, and adding the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses have molds on the rind or throughout. Most cheeses melt at cooking temperature.rI love the taste of cheese. this just smells like Casu marzu yet tastes like cheddar.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | Alex C. | February 10th 16 |
Astonishing parody of a prog concept album. Oh my god the lyrics. Oh my god
Bump |
| 2.5 average | Jared Floryan | January 29th 16 |
Regarding the general instrumentation of the record, progressive metal ensemble Dream Theater's second rock opera in the form of The Astonishing (keep the album title jokes coming) is definitely passable, and I also appreciate the choir and orchestral arrangements on here. Ambitious as the album may be, however, its concept doesn't really justify a running time of 2 hours; the monotony that surrounds many of the songs also makes the record feel way longer than it truly is. Believe me when I say that DT's thirteenth studio LP is flawed: while not exactly terrible, The Astonishing has quite a lot of problems which could've been simply rectified, but nope. This is one music release that's such a chore to get through, it isn't funny.
Bump |
| 2.0 poor | AlexTM510 | January 29th 16 |
This album would at least be DECENT if they slimmed it to 10-12 tracks. Whatever interesting moments are captured are diluted from the overkill from the piano ballads and generic DT wankery. The Astonishing is Astonishingly bad.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | Ale21 | April 13th 24 |
| 1.5 very poor | EXSCHISM | November 15th 23 |
| 2.5 average | bSmith | October 25th 23 |
| 2.5 average | FunJan | July 17th 23 |
| 2.5 average | Matty CONTRIBUTOR | May 31st 23 |
| 2.5 average | haxxiy | March 4th 23 |
| 2.0 poor | dmnaiz | February 26th 23 |
| 2.0 poor | Timmy | January 23rd 23 |
| 2.0 poor | Shwany | January 13th 23 |
| 1.0 awful | Phasma | December 14th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Samuel | September 27th 22 |
| 2.0 poor | Djokoll | September 14th 22 |
| 3.0 good | NBHC | June 8th 22 |
| 1.5 very poor | Get Low | February 1st 22 |
| 5.0 classic | salnas | January 11th 22 |
| 1.0 awful | Skye09 | January 7th 22 |
| 2.0 poor | JoneHK | December 6th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Zakusz | November 8th 21 |
| 2.0 poor | Halez | November 8th 21 |
| 2.5 average | ftdiwr | October 26th 21 |
| 2.5 average | jsounnd | October 25th 21 |
| 1.5 very poor | Blurbs | August 29th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Merv | August 17th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Jerrad | August 16th 21 |
| 1.5 very poor | Keira | August 14th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Rick64 | May 1st 21 |
| 2.0 poor | Luna | March 29th 21 |
| 1.5 very poor | alcnet | January 4th 21 |
| 2.5 average | Mushan | November 20th 20 |
| 2.0 poor | ipek | October 9th 20 |
| 3.5 great | Wj2006 | September 23rd 20 |
| 1.0 awful | Gazham | August 12th 20 |
| 2.5 average | aalqui | July 20th 20 |
| 3.0 good | Chili | June 25th 20 |
| 2.5 average | remi | May 11th 20 |
| 2.5 average | niglas | April 2nd 20 |
| 2.5 average | AGFoot | March 26th 20 |
| 1.5 very poor | Docky | March 12th 20 |
| 2.0 poor | Suyan | February 24th 20 |
| 2.5 average | Bodivdh | December 4th 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | tellah | October 8th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Adamft | September 27th 19 |
| 2.0 poor | telos | September 13th 19 |
| 2.5 average | HybridF | August 21st 19 |
| 1.0 awful | josh | June 10th 19 |
| 2.5 average | Pale | June 9th 19 |
| 1.0 awful | Josh | May 18th 19 |
| 2.0 poor | itchy | March 14th 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | wrax | March 10th 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | Marci | March 1st 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | Wolfe | February 25th 19 |
| 1.0 awful | Thomm | February 23rd 19 |
| 1.5 very poor | Ikarus14 | February 23rd 19 |
| 2.5 average | ARDCWE | December 30th 18 |
| 1.5 very poor | Secoia | December 7th 18 |
| 1.5 very poor | ryguy | November 30th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | gagedez | October 30th 18 |
| 1.5 very poor | Loveloth | September 23rd 18 |
| 3.0 good | BDoms17 | September 19th 18 |
| 2.0 poor | Prole | September 10th 18 |
| 2.0 poor | igi78 | September 1st 18 |
| 1.5 very poor | kempokid | September 1st 18 |
| 2.0 poor | Leland | August 17th 18 |
| 2.5 average | JTPlays | August 10th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Rosier | February 9th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Baehr52 | February 9th 18 |
| 1.5 very poor | Oreon | January 10th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Awake88 | December 19th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Jokurr | November 6th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | GazAldo | October 28th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | TAN | October 20th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Elevon | October 8th 17 |
| 2.5 average | MrSu | October 3rd 17 |
| 3.0 good | FT427 | September 26th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | Fowo | September 17th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | solrage | August 7th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | gabez | July 18th 17 |
| 3.0 good | Toms | July 13th 17 |
| 1.5 very poor | YeeHaw | July 11th 17 |
| 3.0 good | TY2810 | April 19th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Redlar | March 24th 17 |
| 2.5 average | Terhaa | March 5th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Momos | February 27th 17 |
| 2.0 poor | Cordez | February 3rd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | Roney57 | January 18th 17 |
| 5.0 classic | Humourn | January 17th 17 |
| 2.5 average | ellinho | December 13th 16 |
| 3.5 great | jybt | December 5th 16 |
| 3.5 great | j008 | December 4th 16 |
| 2.5 average | ice47 | November 13th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Xurxo | November 8th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Jetrix | November 4th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | TugaPT | October 31st 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Lalka | October 16th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | disguy | October 14th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | Skrymir | October 8th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Geefawl | October 7th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Voltia | October 4th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | pnh1088 | September 29th 16 |
| 3.5 great | hadriel | September 20th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | LouBreed | September 17th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | BigBlob | September 12th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | KILL | September 6th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gurzgri | September 4th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Kinkou | September 1st 16 |
| 2.0 poor | kark | August 24th 16 |
| 2.5 average | IceMole | August 18th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Divaman | August 18th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | DaveD | August 18th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | yairfg | August 4th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Xinlo | July 21st 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Peeps9 | July 15th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | hsb | July 9th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Rwolf1 | July 5th 16 |
| 3.0 good | mursu | July 1st 16 |
| 2.5 average | Manet | July 1st 16 |
| 2.0 poor | wangz | June 30th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Kalhur | June 15th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | jp6yyz | May 30th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Krimea | May 8th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Mojito | April 26th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Kiwi | April 23rd 16 |
| 2.0 poor | ngk44 | April 4th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Donul | April 2nd 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | deslad | March 24th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Jeejee | March 23rd 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | op3th | March 19th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Thor | March 14th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | loulou | March 11th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Fenix | March 7th 16 |
| 2.5 average | YUJOS | March 5th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | Irving EMERITUS | February 29th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Rakkie | February 22nd 16 |
| 3.0 good | Tib | February 20th 16 |
| 2.5 average | SYL | February 16th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | coopj | February 15th 16 |
| 3.5 great | NirLevy | February 15th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Vynikal | February 14th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | GMBass | February 12th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gmazca | February 10th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | alarm | February 9th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | CutMan | February 9th 16 |
| 2.5 average | ksoflas | February 8th 16 |
| 2.8 good | manosg EMERITUS | February 4th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Edwin12 | February 4th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | hpmk26 | February 2nd 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | RuRoRul | February 2nd 16 |
| 4.5 superb | DTmatic | February 2nd 16 |
| 2.5 average | Phate72 | February 2nd 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Ware | February 1st 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | voodman | February 1st 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | Pavera | February 1st 16 |
| 2.5 average | Gbhill | January 31st 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | MelbCro | January 31st 16 |
| 2.5 average | jayt851 | January 31st 16 |
| 3.0 good | Dmax28 | January 30th 16 |
| 2.5 average | Titan | January 30th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | Tom R. CONTRIBUTOR | January 29th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | Elynna | January 29th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | Since | January 29th 16 |
| 2.5 average | KyleW | January 29th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | advate | January 29th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | RenanN | January 28th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | thosava | January 28th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | MdMoron | January 27th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | ariich | January 27th 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | d93 | January 27th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | jct1121 | January 26th 16 |
| 1.0 awful | zxlkho | January 26th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Elixen | January 26th 16 |
| 2.0 poor | JJKeys | January 26th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | ranur | January 26th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Putinik | January 26th 16 |
| 1.5 very poor | maddin | January 26th 16 |
| 3.5 great | joitp | January 26th 16 |
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Give Your Opinion on The Astonishing
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