(This is gonna be short cuz I'm tired)
Dream Theater's A Dramatic Turn of Events
DT's first album without Portnoy was pretty interesting when it was released just after Black Clouds & Silver Linings, and it's even more of an odd one now that Dream Theater is a thing. Deliberately retro and full of little nuggets, it's a bit more consistent than Systematic Chaos or even Octavarium but sometimes I don't think that's a good thing: this is one of those CD's I really need to be "in the mood" for.
The biggest change is obviously Mangini replacing Portnoy on the skins. Even before Dream Theater everyone knew Mangini had monster chops, but on this record his playing is pretty subdued. Part of that is due to him being kind of buried in the mix (John Myung is somewhere down in there too, if you can find him), but some of it is also because of the newness of the situation.
The songs on this album are also part of it -- they're much more prog than metal, with a heavier emphasis on melody and catchy choruses than usual. It's honestly pretty impressive how well the album flows, but I guess it isn't surprising since they were going for that "Images and Words 2.0" vibe. Also, I find it funny that that fact is considered controversial or a "nugget" - upon hearing the first 20 seconds of the first track, you'll probably get reminded of "Pull Me Under". Some people love that, some don't - personally, I think it's a nice nod to the fans.
That said, the song quality here is definitely a mixed bag. There are some real ear-worms in there - the choruses to "Bridges in the Sky" and "Lost Not Forgotten" are crazy catchy. "On the Backs of Angels" is a solid opener, but it drags a little bit towards the end, but pseudo-epics "Bridges in the Sky" and "Lost Not Forgotten" are not only excellent in the context of this album, but just in DT-land in general, and the latter is one of the band's best songs period.
What's more surprising, though, is how good the ballads are here. "This Is The Life" is simply sublime, with some of the best orchestration and composition on the disc, and the other two examples, "Far From Heaven" and "Beneath The Surface" are excellent as well. Yup, the cheesy ballads really do some good work here.
Of course, there are some stinkers. "Build Me Up, Break Me Down" is boring as hell and has shit lyrics, "Outcry" is far too long and far too boring -- they honestly ruined this song's good riffs and chorus with another Dream Theater© instrumental section that goes on for about 4 minutes too many. "Breaking All Illusions" has some nice atmosphere (especially with the samples! Use them more often, guys!) but it's also just too damn long.
In conclusion: a solid album, and a nice throwback to that "classic" DT sound (even though they only sounded like that for one album). A couple of awesome songs (especially the ballads) and a couple of real lame ones -- definitely worth a spin if you've got a hankering for more melodic DT stuff.
PS all those long songs = great road trip music
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