Dream Theater - A View from the Top of the World Release
Friday release # 115
On October 22, 2021, prog-metal giants "Dream Theater" released their fifteenth studio album, "A View from the Top of the World".
This is the band's first album recorded in its private studios - "DTHQ (Dream Theater Headquarters)".
Work began during the pandemic pause in touring. The US-based musicians worked at the newly completed DTHQ, while James LaBrie joined them from Canada via Zoom. In March 2021, he flew to New York, quarantined, and then recorded his vocals there with John Petrucci.
The album was produced by guitarist John Petrucci and was mixed and mastered by the almighty producer Andy Sneap.
Petrucci makes his first recorded use of an eight-string guitar with the band on "Awaken the Master". In an August 2020 interview with "Ultimate Guitar", he discussed developing the instrument with Ernie Ball Music Man and his hope of using it on the next album.
In the promotion surrounding the album, the band promised to push its limits, explore a new path and dare to take risks.
The song list reveals 7 songs that spread over 70 minutes and perhaps this indicates the band's intention in the words: "to stretch beyond our borders ..
To tell the truth, on first listening we did not hear any more extreme music or new tricks that we have not already heard from this virtuoso bunch. "Dream Theater" has long succumbed to creative stagnation and would rather stay in its comfort zone than challenge itself and its fans.
It started with the first single released from the album - "The Alien". A classic prog-metal piece with all the long-familiar clichés of the band, which did not innovate anything, and it continued with the second single "Invisible Monster", so we did not come with great expectation to get something different on this album.
And yet, we must say that we really have no problem with that. We just love everything this virtuoso bunch releases. For us, "Dream" is a symbol of perfectionism. A different level of musicians, precision, synchronization, technique, production, so we feel that this album is far beyond what we are able to discover on first hearing
Song List:
1) "The Alien" (9:32)
2) "Answering The Call" (7:35)
3) "Invisible Monster" (6:31)
4) "Sleeping Giant" (10:05)
5) "Transcending Time" (6:25)
6) "Awaken The Master" (9:47)
7) "A View From The Top Of The World" (20:24)
In retrospect, this was the band’s last studio album with drummer Mike Mangini. "The Alien" earned its first Grammy, for Best Metal Performance in 2022. Mike Portnoy’s return was announced on October 25, 2023, and "Parasomnia", the sixteenth studio album and the first after his return, followed on February 7, 2025.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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