Dream Theater, one of the most prolific and iconic progressive rock bands of the last thirty years, are set to release their eagerly awaited double concept album, THE ASTONISHING. Recently the band premiered the album’s lead single, ‘The Gift of Music,’ in an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone in which founding guitarist John Petrucci discussed the origins of the conceptual double album.
Recorded at Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, with John Petrucci producing, studio luminary Richard Chycki (Aerosmith, Rush) engineering/mixing and legendary arranger, composer and conductor David Campbell orchestrating, THE ASTONISHING paints a tale of a retro-futurist post-apocalyptic dystopia ruled by medieval style feudalism. It’s a place aching for a Chosen One to rise above the noise and defeat an Empire defined by the endless drone of noise machines and the illusion of safety in bland conformity.