Two Albums, One Winner: Episode One - The Astonishing Similitude

I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while; take two albums that I love, that are in some way similar, and sort of compare the two, and see which one I like the most. Now, before I start I want to say that music is highly subjective, and just because I favor one over the other, does not mean that I believe my opinion to be the correct opinion. So before you attack me in the comments, remember that these are my opinions, and while you may not agree with them, I'm still fully allowed to have them.

For this first outing, I thought I would start very simple, and compare to epic, 2 disc, concept albums. Piece of cake, right? For this I've decided to call forth Dream Theater's "The Astonishing", and The Neal Morse Band's "The Similitude of A Dream". What could possibly go wrong here? There is certainly no controversy surrounding this comparison, right? Right?! Okay, there may be a little. So, wish me luck, as I venture into "The Astonishing Similitude".

2016 was quite the exciting year for prog fans. There were so many great releases that it was hard for me to keep up with everything. But the two releases that I looked most forward to was the newest Dream Theater outing, and the new Neal Morse Band album. I remember reading so much hype leading up to the release of each one, but right off the bat, it was the Neal Morse Band album that I was most looking forward to. The way that drummer Mike Portnoy was talking about the album, I knew it was going to be a monster of an album.

First I want to mention the obvious similarities between these two albums:

Number one: They are both two discs.

Number two: They are both concept albums (if you don't know what a concept album is: it's an album that, throughout the course of the entire disc, tells a story)

Number three: Both have had drummer Mike Portnoy in the band at one point. He was in Dream Theater until 2010, and he's been recording with Neal Morse since the first Transatlantic album ("SMPT:e").

Let's start at the beginning here. Dream Theater released "The Astonishing" in January of 2016. The hype leading up to the album's release was mostly in the form of spoilers about the story, if I remember correctly. To be honest, I can't even recall if there were any pre-release videos. The snippets about the story were cool, but things got a bit confusing with the email campaign that they were running. I wasn't sure, and still am not, what the point was. Still, it was different, and definitely kept me interested.

When I first heard the album, I was struck by how melodically breath-taking it was to my ears. The music, and the vocals were married beautifully. And the way that James was able to invoke a different emotion for each character was really cool. I wore the album out. There were some good songs, there were some great songs, and I just loved them all.

However, as the year wore on I found myself coming back to it less, and less. I started to notice how the album wasn't exactly seamless. It felt a bit off to me. The songs didn't really work together at all, they just sort of existed on their own. Like any one of these songs could be lifted from the album, have different lyrics written, and they would stand on their own. If you're a fan of concept albums, that just doesn't work.

I love "The Astonishing". It's a fantastic album. The musicians turn in a great performance, and the story, though a bit cheesy, and played out, is still a good story. But, as a concept album, at least as far as the music goes, I'm not sure that it works, necessarily. That's not to say that all concept albums follow a musical theme, but for me, the better ones often have the same feel. "The Astonishing" sort of lacks that.

"The Similitude of A Dream" was released in November of 2016, and was preceded by several videos, and each video had me getting more excited about this release. Couple that with Mike Portnoy saying that this was the best album of his career, and I was sufficiently intrigued.

Loosely based on "The Pilgrim's Progress" by John Bunyan, the story here is a very entertaining one, even if Neal didn't exactly write it, he did adapt it very expertly. So much so, that I have added the original book to my already long reading list.

rom the first time I started my epic journey through this two disc set, I was hooked. The music flowed amazingly well, as has come to be expected from anything that Neal Morse has written. The band play astonishingly well, and really manage to convey the emotion of the lyrics through the instruments. In my opinion, this is how a concept album should be written: the songs feel as if they sort of carry each other, and work together with the words to tell the story. I love how this band are able to tie instrumental passages together so well.

More than a year after its release, and "The Similitude of A Dream" is an album that I come back to quite often. And with each listen, I find something more to love about it. The vocal harmonies, the instrumentation, the vocals, the lyrics... everything about this album is just absolutely perfect, and if I were have to pick a favorite concept album of all time, "The Similitude of A Dream" would be that album.

It's hard to say which album is better, but I can say which album that I prefer, and while I love "The Astonishing", and it has many high points, "The Similitude of A Dream" is, in my opinion, a complete work of art. Every note, every nuance, each and every fill seems so well planned, thought out, and expertly written. I love everything about the album.

Still, I don't want any of you to take my word for it. Go out, and buy these two albums now, and form your own opinion. Because that's all that music really is: your own opinion. Remember, one man's Kenny G is another man's Iron Maiden.