Originally published in Guitar Techniques magazine 255 · April 2016
The Astonishing review
By Dream Theater
Review1 min read
Album of the Month
The Astonishing (Roadrunner)
Rating: 5 out of 5 (Buy it)
Well publicised and much-anticipated, The Astonishing is a truly remarkable piece of work. Heralded as the latest ‘rock opera’ it spans two CDs offering a total running time of over 130 minutes. It’s obviously been conceived with live performance in mind: in fact, Dream Theater are currently touring Europe with it so by the time you read this many of us will have experienced it first hand. The songs are melodic and expansive and while the ‘linking’ pieces are complex and brutal at times, the piece as a whole remains balanced and entertaining. Guitarist John Petrucci is on staggering form. The track ‘The Gift Of Music’ is available as a download and serves as a taster. ‘A New Beginning’ and ‘Our New World’ are typically scary DT, while a softer side comes courtesy of ‘Begin Again’ and even more theatrical moments like ‘A Savior In The Square’ work great as songs. An ‘astonishing’ achievement indeed.