A Dramatic Turn of Events
| A Dramatic Turn of Events | ||||
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Publication |
September 9, 2011 |
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admission |
January – May 2011 |
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| Label (s) | Roadrunner Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, download |
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Title (number) |
9 |
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running time |
77:05 |
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John Petrucci |
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Studio (s) |
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A Dramatic Turn of Events (English for: " A dramatic turn of events ") is the eleventh studio album by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater . The album was released on September 9, 2011 in Germany and on September 13 in the USA. It is the first album with the new drummer Mike Mangini after the departure of the longtime drummer Mike Portnoy .
background
Mike Portnoy leaves
On September 8, 2010 it was announced that Portnoy would be leaving the band. The reasons later revealed that the drummer originally did not want to quit the group. However, Portnoy wanted to take a 5 year hiatus due to the increased efforts of the band and its side projects and the fear of burnout syndrome. The rest of the band did not agree with Portnoy's plans to let the band rest for the time being and so he decided to leave the group. In the same interview in which guitarist Petrucci commented, he called the longtime drummer's exit "one of the toughest things Dream Theater has ever had to face".
Looking for a new drummer
Not much later than a month after Portnoy left, the first rehearsals with new drummers began in New York. The invited drummers were Mike Mangini, Derek Roddy, Thomas Lang, Virgil Donati, Marco Minnemann, Aquiles Priester and Peter Wildoer. The candidates were given the three songs "A Nightmare to Remember", "The Dance of Eternity" and "The Spirit Carries On" for practice and with only a few weeks of preparation time. About three hours were spent with each of the candidates, the decision on the new drummer was made at the beginning of November 2010, but it was not made public until April 2011 via the Internet platform YouTube . The same month Mike Mangini was hired as the new drummer, Portnoy emailed the band saying he would like to rejoin Dream Theater. However, this was rejected by the band.
Origin and PhD
On January 3, 2011, the band went to Cove City Sound Studios in New York without Mangini to begin recording a new album. The album was mainly shaped by guitarist John Petrucci, who already brought some demos and riffs into the studio, but the album was almost exclusively created in the studio. James LaBrie and John Myung were also more involved in the writing process than in previous years. On March 2, 2011, the writing process ended without Mike Mangini.
LaBrie began recording the vocal tracks on April 14th, and mixing and mastering of the album was completed on June 28th by Andy Wallace and Ted Jensen respectively. The album title and track list as well as the release date in the USA were announced on June 8th. Even if the title might suggest, according to Jordan Rudess the album title is in no way due to Portnoy's departure. A little later, the cover, designed by Hugh Syme again, was published, which is the sixth collaboration between the Canadian and the band. On June 29th, the album's first single, "On the Backs of Angels", was released, which was followed by a music video for the song on September 14th. Before the album was released, the band also provided various 60-second excerpts from the songs "Bridges in the Sky", "Breaking all Illusions", "Beneath the Surface", "This Is the Life", "Lost Not Forgotten" and " Far from Heaven ”.
Versions
The album was released in four different versions. Once as a normal CD, as a Special Edition with the 60-minute documentary The Spirit Carries On , about the search for the new drummer, and a Deluxe Edition, in which the Special Edition with a vinyl double LP, an instrumental version of the entire album and other gimmicks is included. The album was also released as a high-resolution 24-bit studio master, which is significantly less compressed than the CD and regular download versions.
Track list
- On the Backs of Angels (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung / John Petrucci) - 8:42
- Build Me Up, Break Me Down (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung, James LaBrie / John Petrucci) - 6:59
- Lost Not Forgotten (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung, James LaBrie / John Petrucci) - 10:11
- This Is the Life (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess / John Petrucci) - 6:57
- Bridges in the Sky (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung / John Petrucci) - 11:01
- Outcry (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung / John Petrucci) - 11:24
- Far from Heaven (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, James LaBrie / James LaBrie) - 3:56
- Breaking All Illusions (John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung / John Myung, John Petrucci) - 12:25
- Beneath the Surface (John Petrucci) - 5:26
reception
The album was mostly positively received by fans and critics. Michael Rensen from Rock Hard magazine gave 9 out of 10 points and thus the magazine's best rating for an album by the band in 10 years. In his review, he praised the “great atmosphere” and noted that Portnoy's exit “was audibly good for the band”. Mangini could “easily hold a candle” to his predecessor and “mastermind” Petrucci delivered “some of the most soulful licks of his career”. Yan Vogel from laut.de also expressed himself positively and remarked that the band would “take a step backwards towards old deeds”, which was mainly due to the “reduced hardness” that Portnoy was responsible for in the past.
The album also achieved the best placements for the band in the respective country in many cases. For example, it was the second Dream Theater album in a row, which rose to number 3 in the German album charts, and it was also the group’s second album to reach the top position in Finland. In the United Kingdom, the quintet achieved their best position there with position 17, only in the USA it was placed two positions behind its previous album with position 8.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b A Dramatic Turn Of Events. Dream theater. In: www.roadrunner.de. Roadrunner Records, accessed July 6, 2013 .
- ↑ Roadrunner Records USA ( Memento from June 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Facebook entry: Mike Portnoy leaves Dream Theater
- ↑ Musicradar interview: John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess on the future of Dream Theater . Retrieved May 27, 2018
- ↑ Blabbermouth interview with Mike Portnoy ( Memento of March 10, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Twitter message from John Petrucci
- ↑ Interview with James LaBrie
- ^ Twitter message from John Petrucci
- ↑ Roadrunner Records : Dream Theater announces new album ( Memento from June 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Stormbringer : Review "A Dramatic Turn of Events"
- ↑ Dream Theater - Music Video "On the Backs of Angels" . Published by Roadrunner Records on YouTube on June 28, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2018
- ↑ Album details - Dynamic Range Database. Retrieved April 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Album details - Dynamic Range Database. Retrieved April 9, 2020 .
- ↑ Rock Hard : Review archive Dream Theater
- ↑ laut.de : Review "A Dramatic Turn of Events"