Dream Theater - Distance over Time

Dream Theater arguably had their backs against the wall going into this album after the polarized reception of their massive prog metal opera concept album, The Astonishing, in 2016. While initial reviews were positive for the album and the two singles it led with were promising, fans eventually complained of so much of the album not playing to Dream Theater’s strengths. Most notably, fans lamented the ballad-heavy track list, but also the length, the individual songs being too short for a band like Dream Theater to get any momentum going with them, and the forced approach to fit everything into the album’s narrative. And I do agree with all of those main criticisms that have been blown out of proportion by nonfans within prog circles to lambast The Astonishing as proof of Dream Theater’s inherent ineptitude.

But The Astonishing is definitely an enigma of an album. In some ways it is Dream Theater doing something absurd for them, but in many, it’s just  Dream Theater on steroids and no inhibitions. After all, a giant concept album in the vein of 2112 like The Astonishing is exactly the kind of thing Dream Theater would take on (and did take on in 2000). Poetic lyricism has never been Dream Theater’s forte, and the band have always towed the dangerous line between utter cheesiness and cathartisis through well-conveyed simple sentiments, and that’s exactly what The Astonishing was, especially with its many ballads, often blurring that line. I really have quite a strange duality of frustration with that album’s definite flaws and of enthusiasm with its best moments, and depending on the day I listen, sometimes something empowering from last time becomes cheesy this time, and vice versa. It’s a weird album, but for all the strange dynamics of the relationship I have with it that it’s facilitated, the amount of enjoyment I have gleaned from it, I think, has been worth it.

Nevertheless, Dream Theater seemed to be in need of a redemption album based on all the hubbub surrounding their follow-up to The Astonishing. And it seemed that the band had indeed heard the cries of their fans and duly noted their complaints. The three preliminary singles that end up comprising the album’s opening seventeen minutes showed the band going straight for the jugular with more direct hard rock and heavier metal than the previous album, to show that they meant business in their return to their advantageous metallic progressive rock home field. Opening song “Untethered Angel” goes for that heavy, ascendant feeling that Dream Theater have made capturing such a signature strength of theirs with James LaBrie’s fittingly angelic vocal melodies (which seem to take some influence from post-grunge around the bridge), along with the technical flair and instrumental virtuosity that they have also become synonymous with. The crunch of the palm-muted guitar riff of the single “Paralyzed” follows immediately after and kicks into the thickness a rather familiar gritty alternative metal beat as choir samples and echoed vocal layers give LaBrie’s performance just the tasteful hint of urgency it needs. It’s a more chord progrrssion and groove-driven track without time for flash from Petrucci, Myung, or Rudess, which is no problem. The very old-school, hard-rocking metal tune “Fall into the Light”, led by John Petrucci’s tasty guitar lick and Mike Mangini’s gatling gun snare battery, makes up for it. The instrumentalists get their extended section near the end to build a neat little progression to give Jordan Rudess some keyboard solo time and for Petrucci to round it all off with a quick little solo himself.

The first song to come after the album finishes revisiting its promotional singles is the classic prog rocker “Barstool Warrior”, whose subject matter and movements around the subtler instrumentation reminds me a lot of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence; I think it would have fit in well on that album even if it probably wouldn’t stand out there. Moving on from there, the more direct “Room 137” goes straight for some more gritty, down-tuned guitar groove and resumes the album’s commitment to the band’s heavier side, although, this time there’s room for a quick guitar solo to keep it from getting too simplistic on a Dream Theater album. John Myung’s dancing bass line opens the song “S2N”, which is a little more structurally frantic and unsure of itself during LaBrie’s less potent vocal lines than the previous songs, but the flair the band bring to their individual instrumental sections on tje later portions does save the song, especially John Petrucci’s first solo (the second being pretty slick too). Even if he didn’t save it with such a fervent and tasty guitar solo, the song’s progression to a sample of an Owen Wilson “wow” is worth it.

The album’s longest song, “At Wit’s End”, at just forty seconds short of that famous Dream Theater ten-minute mark, is a bit on the formulaic side for Dream Theater for the kind of song it is, save for the kind of post-grunge-y vocal harmonies that aren’t as constructive to the song in this case as they were on the opening track. The song still boasts some excellent guitar soloing, but the piano-led ballads of the bridges feels kind of out of place on the album and it’s not one of Dream Theater’s best. Fortunately, the very next song, “Out of Reach”, is a quicker much more emotive heart-string-pulling power ballad and fulfills the role beautifully and in a manner that makes me believe Dream Theater did take some cues from modern alternative metal and of course old school metal bands. The album’s climax with LaBrie’s soaring melodies is just such a cathartic fulfillment of anticipation. The album’s closing song, “Pale Blue Dot”, goes heavy again, in classically lengthy, yet measured, Dream Theater fashion. Literally every band member makes a phenomenal and notable contribution to the song, with hints of A Dramatic Turn of Events and especially Metropolis, Part 2: Scenes from a Memory lacing throughout the song’s many dynamic shifts (the latter especially during the song’s long instrumental break) to end the album on its strongest foot.

The sole bonus track (“Viper King”) accompanying the main track listing is a very quick (by Dream Theater’s sprawling standards), straightforward rocker with some crunchy low guitar grooves and LaBrie’s classic-rock-influenced highs driving it. It’s a fine extra four minutes and a bit of a bonus in its sonic mouthfeel as well, as the band go so classic heavy metal that it could probably be mistaken for another band’s song if someone else sung it. Still, it’s a cool little piece to show that the band still love to get down to some no-nonsense rock and roll amid all their exhibition.

As much as it seemed at first like Dream Theater wanted to show that they were back to make heavier music again (which they surely did much moreso compared to their last outing), Distance over Time isn’t really as much of a rejection of everything The Astonishing was as it might seem at face value. Though it’s not some grand, conceptual narrative and though it’s not nearly as balld-y, it seems they learned from the less 10-minute-epic-dependent writing of their previous album. The band showcase their talents as much as ever, but they do so more naturally than they often do with the songs focused on hitting hard and fast first and making a proper context for the band to exhibit their skills within second. Not held within and conceptual or narrative confines, the band approach this album rather freely and are allowed to let simply their metallic instincts guide them to where they can best highlight their talents throughout each song. And indeed, some songs keep that signature instrumental showmanship to a minimum so as not to force it or if become a crutch. This is definitely Dream Theater’s most consistently straightforward album to date, and perhaps it’s what they needed to get themselves back on their feet after their two-hour metal opera went mocked and unappreciated. Personally, as much as I do love the heavier side of Dream Theater, what Distance over Time is missing is that theatrical signature of the band’s more adventurous pursuits like on their heaviest album, Train of Thought, and the more straight-shooting they did here also lessened that capacity for eccentricity that they bring to shorter songs as well like those on Octavarium. In that sense this album is Dream Theater going by their usual playbook, but focusing specifically on heaviness and catchy songwriting; so it’s kind of both Dream Theater going through their original formulas as well as going for a more trimmed set of those formulas. And overall, it’s not bad outing at all from them. Fans have seemed to be appreciating being listened to by the band they listen to, and as much as I would have loved a heavier album to capture that grand sense of metallic darkness that Train of Thought did, I understand why the band went the route they did for this one, and I appreciate them doing what they felt they needed to to calibrate themselves. Hopefully this reinstills their usual confidence to be as successfully wild and adventurous as we know they can be on their next effort.