Written by nepalski on 27.05.2023 at 22:43

Written by A Real Mönkey on 15.03.2023 at 16:54

I think my main issue with this album is that none of the songs are nearly as good as the first one.

But it's the weakest song on the album...

I've seen people usually complain about the ballad of this album, which is still a good song.

Written by JoHn Doe on 27.05.2023 at 23:59

Written by nepalski on 27.05.2023 at 22:43

Written by A Real Mönkey on 15.03.2023 at 16:54

I think my main issue with this album is that none of the songs are nearly as good as the first one.

But it's the weakest song on the album...

I've seen people usually complain about the ballad of this album, which is still a good song.

That is because people usually don't realise how closely along classic neo-prog scene Dream Theater is playing. If you think about it, an AOR track isn't that much apart from songs like Surrounded, Take The Time or even Learning To Live. I'm not gonna pretend that I am a fan of AOR, because I'm not, but Another Day is a song which greatly executes its concept. Power ballad with great emphasis on warm keyboard soundscapes and smooth jazzy sax? Sure, it sounds a little too much light-weighted and cheap, but isn't completely spineless and insubstantial like the rest of Dream Theater's ballads (especially songs like Wither and Forsaken, whose sole purpose is to lengthen overall running-time of an album).

Written by nepalski on 28.05.2023 at 11:17

That is because people usually don't realise how closely along classic neo-prog scene Dream Theater is playing. If you think about it, an AOR track isn't that much apart from songs like Surrounded, Take The Time or even Learning To Live. I'm not gonna pretend that I am a fan of AOR, because I'm not, but Another Day is a song which greatly executes its concept. Power ballad with great emphasis on warm keyboard soundscapes and smooth jazzy sax? Sure, it sounds a little too much light-weighted and cheap, but isn't completely spineless and insubstantial like the rest of Dream Theater's ballads (especially songs like Wither and Forsaken, whose sole purpose is to lengthen overall running-time of an album).

I don't know if the purpose of ballads is to lengthen the running time, that would be rather dumb, wouldn't it? Nothing wrong with a ballad if they are good, expressive, there are plenty of good ballads (Another day is definitely a good one). Nothing worst than a bad cheesy, corny ballad though, I've unfortunately heard a few of those.
Ballads are usually a breather, a band slowing things down a bit after an intense hard rocking piece of music. Nothing wrong with that.

Written by JoHn Doe on 28.05.2023 at 12:20

Written by nepalski on 28.05.2023 at 11:17

That is because people usually don't realise how closely along classic neo-prog scene Dream Theater is playing. If you think about it, an AOR track isn't that much apart from songs like Surrounded, Take The Time or even Learning To Live. I'm not gonna pretend that I am a fan of AOR, because I'm not, but Another Day is a song which greatly executes its concept. Power ballad with great emphasis on warm keyboard soundscapes and smooth jazzy sax? Sure, it sounds a little too much light-weighted and cheap, but isn't completely spineless and insubstantial like the rest of Dream Theater's ballads (especially songs like Wither and Forsaken, whose sole purpose is to lengthen overall running-time of an album).

I don't know if the purpose of ballads is to lengthen the running time, that would be rather dumb, wouldn't it? Nothing wrong with a ballad if they are good, expressive, there are plenty of good ballads (Another day is definitely a good one). Nothing worst than a bad cheesy, corny ballad though, I've unfortunately heard a few of those.
Ballads are usually a breather, a band slowing things down a bit after an intense hard rocking piece of music. Nothing wrong with that.

I agree, although I didn't imply that. What I said is that later Dream Theater albums are full of purposeless filler ballads, like Wither and Forsaken, and Another Day isn't one of them.

Written by nepalski on 28.05.2023 at 12:53

I agree, although I didn't imply that. What I said is that later Dream Theater albums are full of purposeless filler ballads, like Wither and Forsaken, and Another Day isn't one of them.

People use the word filler for songs they dislike. I'm guilty of that sometimes, too.
I bet there are people that like those two ballads you mentioned. Nothing wrong with that either.

Written by JoHn Doe on 28.05.2023 at 12:56

Written by nepalski on 28.05.2023 at 12:53

I agree, although I didn't imply that. What I said is that later Dream Theater albums are full of purposeless filler ballads, like Wither and Forsaken, and Another Day isn't one of them.

People use the word filler for songs they dislike. I'm guilty of that sometimes, too.
I bet there are people that like those two ballads you mentioned. Nothing wrong with that either.

I'm not gonna deny that people online often misuse that word as another bingo-type of word to use whenever you wanna bash on something, but I think that I can tell the difference between something actively bad and something faceless. I don't even dislike the songs I mentioned, it's just that they leave me completely cold.