Ross Jennings, Jordan Rudess comments

Dream Theater, ‘The Astonishing’

Ross Jennings of Haken said...

I have huge admiration for Dream Theater’s 13th album, The Astonishing not least for its hugely ambitious nature of fusing music, theater and science fiction literature, but indeed by inviting the listener into a whole universe of multimedia in order to consume their story, it is suddenly so much more than your average rock ‘n’ roll concept album.

As someone who also writes music and lyrics through a very visual perspective, I truly appreciated the layers that were packed into forming the concept, and anyone who cared to explore this world in details that transcend the music and lyrics were truly rewarded.

After all, The Astonishing is a difficult record to appreciate casually, and while it’s not devoid of many signature Dream Theater musical traits, and contains a handful of really strong stand alone singles, it is, and must be approached as, a fully-fledged piece of musical theater that demands the listener’s time, effort and close attention. I always appreciate the record more with this in mind.

“People just don’t have the time for music any more” was the ultimate statement here about how music is consumed in a modern age and with an album as involved and epic as The Astonishing, I feel it proved its own case in point.

I’ve always wondered if The Astonishing may have polarized the hardcore fanbase less had this been approached as a more collaborative project a la Ayreon or even if the focus had been steered more toward an elaborate stage production with a variety of actors, singers, props and pyro? Having said this, James LaBrie gets a special mention from me for his truly admirable performance and portrayal of various characters.

And as for the legacy this album will leave, I guess time will really tell. I still return to this album and discover new things to take away from the experience, and while at the point of release we all may have been expecting another Scenes From a Memory, time has allowed us to reflect upon and appreciate the versatility this band has at communicating concept albums in unique ways.

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Genesis, ‘Invisible Touch’

Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater said...

As a huge Genesis fan and prog rock/metal musician, I was quite shocked when Invisible Touch was released! After all, Genesis were heroes of the Prog rock genre in the ‘70s and having them move into the pop world was a frightening reality.

It was difficult enough for me to hear Phil Collins’ voice on all his top hits. I felt almost abandoned by his prog departure because his voice meant so much to me on some of my most favorite albums like Trick of The Tail. That said – the talent in this band came together and delivered an album full of immense catchy melodies, well-crafted orchestration, tight songs and all the while maintaining many of the elements that made them unique. Cool synths, creative bass lines and that unmistakable Collins voice.

At this point in Genesis’ career, Collins has had his immense success, Mike Rutherford also had commercial success with Mike and the Mechanics and Banks had started doing scores for films. Some of the music, like the song “In Too Deep,” definitely borders on cheesy pop (especially to these more prog type ears) but at the same time it’s got a great hooky melody and I’m sure the boys hummed it all the way to the bank...

It was interesting to hear elements like funky horns on a Genesis album as well, like on the tune “Anything She Does.” Big brass was never a trademark Genesis sound in their prog heyday. Although they were definitely more in the pop space, they were still innovating and deserve a lot of credit for creating new stylistic fusions and trying out fresh ideas. Also amazing is that this was their 13th studio album and their most successful!