I miss the effect Portnoy has on DT. A while back, I thought Kevin Moore was their soul. It took them a while after Awake to get back on track like 5 years. Falling into Infinity to me was their worst Post Kevin Moore album. Scene from a Memory is one of my favorite albums of all time.
Since MP left, most of their music, while highly technical, is uninspired. Nothing is grabbing me. The edge and life is gone. I had hopes because the album Dream Theater, had glimpses but The Astonishing, it is missing everything SFAM has. There are no real songs that stand on their own. There isn't a melody that flows through the album that helps tie it all together.
With SFAM, I can listen to a song out of sequence and I feel like, man I want to hear the whole album again. I don't get this from Astonishing. And with it's length, without that draw, I just never want to go back on the journey and would rather listen to SFAM.
I know MP will never go back while JLB is still there. I have always thought the weakest part of DT was their vocals. They could have just about any singer they want and they keep him. Never understood it.