The Astonishing

The Astonishing is the thirteenth album, on which Dream Theater renders a story set in the near future as a rock opera of thirty-four songs across two acts. It tells of a world where music is ruled by machines and the people who resist, through grand arrangement taking in an orchestra. Songs change their faces with the shifts of character and scene, and keyboards, guitar and rhythm section carefully build the story's backdrop and tension — an extremely ambitious work. From the weighty introduction of "Dystopian Overture" to the lift of "The Gift of Music," the drama of the villain's "Lord Nafaryus," and on to "The Road to Revolution" and "Our New World," fragmentary songs link into a single story. There is of course much virtuoso playing, but the center of the work is building a world in sound. A divisive experiment, its scale comes alive precisely when you want to immerse yourself in one long story.