Breaking All Illusions

Now that I've had a chance to give A Dramatic Turn of Events a listen through in its entirety, I must say that I'm impressed.  I love how Jordan is increasingly featured on the albums as they come out.  He was fantastic, James sounded better than usual, John and John were their normal amazing selves, and New Mike was on his game.  Yes, we are all on a first name basis...Although, that is not necessarily a two way street.
Anyway, as with most Dream Theater albums (Black Clouds and Silver Linings being the only exception), I was not terribly enthralled by the first listen.  I think it's because there is so much intracacy in the music that I can't comprehend it all on just one listen.  The album got off to a fantastic start with On the Backs of Angels.  After that, I wasn't too thrilled with the next two songs (although they've since grown on me a bit).  I don't think my dog enjoyed the start of Bridges in the Sky very much, as he kept tilting his head in complete bewilderment with the opening noises.  I'm not going to lie, I too was confused, but I put up a stoic front for him.

As the album progressed away from the second and third songs, I really enjoyed what I was hearing.  I was delighted to hear undertones of Images and Words, and I was pleasantly surprised with John Petrucci's lyrics.  I wasn't sure what to expect from either a sound or lyrical standpoint since this is the first album released by the band without their main influence, leader, and lyracist, Mike Portnoy.

Anyway, without further ado, I'd like to just let you listen to two songs from the album.  The first is a beautiful song that flows very well and is easy to listen to.  The second is probably my favourite on the album to this point.  It showcases all that DT is about, and it flows extremely well from one passage to the next.  Enjoy:

Beneath the Surface




Breaking all Illusions




-FSG