![]() ![]() And with fans already sharply split on whether it screams masterpiece or massive failure, Dream Theater’s 13th studio effort sees the band’s reach meet its grasp. With The Astonishing, it’s the music that matters. And I think many listeners will forgo the fantasy for the tunes. Instead, such sci-fi concepts serve as window dressing and are not essential to the story, itself dispensable for those who prefer focusing on the music. In fact, Petrucci could be criticized for not fleshing out the NOMACs. Its timeless themes of forbidden love and societal oppression transcend the dystopian backdrop. In one sense, these songs constitute the band’s most powerful adventure in years, layering actual symphonic instrumentation - even bagpipes! - atop contemporary rock performances.Īs they proved on the Score DVD, the symphony-meets-rock blend can work seamlessly.Īnd despite some initial misgivings, the story works. But don’t worry, there’s still virtuosity aplenty.įans craving Train of Thought heaviness will be disappointed, as The Astonishing favors prog over power. Some solid rockers (“The Gift of Music,” “Moment of Betrayal”) mix with even more ballads (“The Answer,” “When Your Time Has Come”) that rank among the band’s best lighter-waving material (think “Anna Lee,” “Through Her Eyes,” “Surrounded,” “Beneath The Surface,” etc.).įans weary of Petrucci and Rudess’ scalar gymnastics have their wish, as each song serves a purpose with surprisingly few indulgent solos. What we have here is nothing short of greatness, arguably Dream Theater’s best album since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. But not nearly as cheesy as the album’s uber-cringeworthy pre-release emails and Facebook updates made it sound. What amounts to blips and buzzing (no, not the latest Radiohead release) is what constitutes music until Gabriel strums a guitar and raises his voice, which threatens Emperor Nafaryus, charms his daughter Faythe and stirs a Romeo and Juliet subplot.Ĭheesy? Definitely? Echos of 2112, I hear you say? Absolutely. Mechanical orbs called NOMACs (Noise Machines) zip through the skies, showering their own “music” upon the landscape. The world has become a dystopia ruled by an emperor removed from the otherwise impoverished society. The plot is simple: about 300 years in the future, a man named Gabriel stuns his community with music, a luxury that’s been forgotten since his village is more focused on foraging for food than artistic enjoyment. Descent of the NOMACs is out, with the highest majority I’ve ever seen Press J to jump to the feed. Listen to Descent Of The Nomacs by Dream Theater, 297 Shazams, featuring on Dream Theater Essentials Apple Music playlist. Instead, guitarist John Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess have crafted melodies that stick in your head, songs mostly stripped of shred and arrangements meticulously matching the storyline that Petrucci wrote before approaching the band with his concept. What we have here is something to celebrate, a double-disc triumph that could have crumbled beneath the weight of its own ambition. nomacs features semi-transparent widgets that display additional information such as thumbnails, metadata or histogram. With The Astonishing, the dream team has delivered a rock opera pitting musical expression against governmental tyranny, savior against oppressor, iPod against NOMAC. Sometimes I would like to remove, say, only 2px on a border, but the sticky frame won’t let me do that and instead keeps jumping 10px away from the border.RATINGS: A = must own B = buy it C= average D = yawn F = pukeĭream Theater has outdone itself - and that’s saying something for a band known for hourlong epics, symphonic ambition and time changes that would have given the late Cliff Burton whiplash.īut the prog-metal juggernaut has done just that. The only problem I have with the current tool is the stickiness on the borders. Nomacs is one of the few image viewers with a decent cropping tool, it would be a pity to lose that. ![]() Please don’t change working features for the worst. ![]() With the zoom only applying to the picture while the frame stays at the same size, it’s unusable, so you can’t adjust the borders precisely. This works well because both the picture and the frame get zoomed in and out together and it doesn’t affect their relative position. With the current tool, you can draw a loose frame with the whole picture in sight, then zoom in to see details and adjust the frame’s borders accordingly. Moving the picture in the background instead of the frame in the foreground is nonsense.įurthermore it breaks zooming in and out while cropping, which is something I use a lot. I tested the new tool and found it terrible. ![]()
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