Peter Kalkavage makes an important observation about “the musical universe”:

We love music because of how it makes us feel. We listen to some works more than others because we want to experience the feelings they stir in us. But feeling is not primary in music, nor is it always the reason why we listen. Most of the time we listen to a piece of music because, well, we want to hear it. We take pleasure in the hearing. But the pleasure is not in the pleasure, as though music were a drug used only to produce a “rush.” The pleasure is in what we are hearing, in the distinctive aisthêton or object of perception. Sometimes we listen to a musical work because we wish to hear a quality or perfection that is present in it. We listen for the sake of an active, even strenuous, contemplation in which we participate in, are one with, the life and shape of the musical object. To be sure, feelings are aroused, but these are grounded in, and prompted by, what we perceive in the tones, in what is there in the phenomenon we call music. We might say that in responding to music we perceive feelingly and feel perceptively. But in saying this, we must bear in mind that perception is primary. We do not, except incidentally, hear musical sounds and associate them with various feelings, images, or experiences. On the contrary, we perceive what is there and take on the condition that rhythms and tones communicate to us. [See Victor Zuckerkandl, “Words and Tones in Song,” Chapter 3 of Man, the Musician, Bollingen Series, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973, pp. 31-43.]

Kalkavage then quotes Paul Valery, from whose lecture (“Poetry and Abstract Thought”) he took the phrase:

The musician is … in possession of a perfect system of well-defined means which exactly match sensations with acts. From this it results that music has formed a domain absolutely its own. The world of the art of music, a world of sounds, is distinct from the world of noises. Whereas a noise merely rouses in us some isolated event—a dog, a door, a motor car—a sound evokes, of itself, the musical universe. If, in this hall, where I am speaking to you and where you hear the noise of my voice, a tuning fork or a well-tempered instrument began to vibrate, you would at once, as soon as you were affected by this pure and exceptional noise that cannot be confused with others, have the sensation of a beginning, the beginning of a world; a quite different atmosphere would immediately be created, a new order would arise, and you yourselves would unconsciously organize yourselves to receive it. [The lecture can be found in Paul Valéry, An Anthology, Bollingen Series, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977, pp. 136-165.]

I find this highly interesting because of the uncanny way that the musical universe of Rush is evoked for me at many points whenever I listen to the new Dream Theater album.

When I hear the interplay between guitar and drums on “The Looking Glass,” for example, the world of “Limelight” is evoked for me; or when I hear “Surrender to Reason,” the world of “Natural Science” is evoked for me. Either way, I enter into a Rush-like universe.

Kalkavage describes the experience well when he says that what gives me please is “the distinctive aisthêton or object of perception”, because what is happening is that I am not feeling certain things created by Rush-like noises. Instead, I perceive a Rush-like “musical universe” that is only indirectly evoked by some musical activity that takes my perception there—which then brings about certain magical feelings.

There are no direct quotations of Rush; there is only a display of a highly refined musical sensibility (all hail the gentlemen of Dream Theater!) that is able to perceive a certain musical universe of meaning, and then to take me there—me, along for the ride.

John Petrucci has a great track-by-track commentary on the new Dream Theater album over at Music Radar.

Here are some highlights for the Rush-minded amongst us.

Here’s Petrucci on “The Looking Glass”:

“The song is definitely a tip of the hat to Rush. We’re such fans – they’ve been a huge influence on us, and we continue to admire and look up to them. One of the great things about them is how they write really uplifting songs with positive messages, but they always sound cool.

“It’s really interesting. The Spirit Of Radio, Limelight – those are big, big songs with big arena-rock riffs in a major key. Even Free Will has that. The songs aren’t dark, but they’re tough. It’s really hard to write something that can cut both ways like that, but that was my goal.

“The Looking Glass has a few different stylistic changes: There’s the Rush arena-rock major riff, but the verses are tricky as far as time signatures, and the style is a little darker. The pre-choruses are very pretty and flowing – they’re in half-time – and the choruses open up and get really hooky. From verse to pre-chorus to chorus to riff, you’ve got a lot of musical styles, and that helps to keep things interesting.”

And on “Surrender to Reason”:

“This was the first song that we wrote together for the album, so it’s really special to us. You know, we had our discussions, and we even had a meeting in the studio, but then it finally came down to us standing there with our instruments and looking at one another: ‘OK, let’s go!’

“I had the idea for an acoustic in the opener, but on the initial scratch versions I played a clean-sounding electric. Rich was a big fan of the electric, but I told him, ‘I really hear a 12-string there. Trust me, it’ll be cool.’ It almost went the other way, but in the end I put a Taylor 12-string on it.

“It has one of my favorite moments on the album, where John digs into a bass part. He has so much attitude and aggression – it’s great. Once the guitar solo starts, we’re back to trio land – again, harkening back to Rush. It reminds me of something like Working Man off their first album, just that raw bass, drums and guitar, with everybody going for it. The guitar has no delay and no reverb – it’s just dry, in your face, with a flanger on it. It’s one of the more aggressive, fun moments on the album.”

The new Dream Theater is officially out today. So let’s celebrate! This digital wonder is chock-full of mind-blowing prog virtuosity.

I’ve had it on the playlist all day (after downloading it last night, when I was first alerted that my pre-order was ready). Oh man, it is excellent.

Yet I must admit that “False Awakening Suite” sounded to me like a musical practical joke. It’s so overblown it’s hilarious. An intentionally head-fake false start? Oh well, great fun, however it was intended.

And then “The Enemy Inside” was already familiar, and much enjoyed, ever since it was first available for download back in August.

But finally, as of track three, I was irrevocably won over to this awesome album. “The Looking Glass” will thrill every Rush-loving prog soul out there. The guitar riff and faster-than-light drum fills, for example, are reminiscent of “Limelight” in the best possible way. What we have here is a tribute to musical geniuses by other musical geniuses. Simply superb…

Dude, it doesn’t get any better than this!

(Song of the Year, anyone? I will not argue with you; I simply direct you to the face-melting guitar soloing.)

Dude, it’s like “Limelight” multiplied to the power of five!

Yes, “The Looking Glass” has become an instant favorite of mine, along with “Along for the Ride.”

So… calling all Rush fans: I hereby put you on red alert. There are so many awesome shout-outs on this disc for you to get ecstatic over. (I love the invocation of the Peart Muse at the opening of “Surrender to Reason, for example.) Further, above and beyond paying stunning tribute to their masters, they are doing their own righteous thing and delivering all the prog goods you could ever ask for.

Go enjoy this solid slice of excellence, my prog metal-minded friends. You can’t go wrong with this album, especially if you were raised righteously—on Rush!

But if you need further testimony to convince you, here’s Simon Ramsey:

Closing colossus Illumination Theory is a conceptual 22 minute roller coaster delivered in five movements.  A feast of thrilling sequences hurl from the speakers one after the next before an existential narrative unfurls. After eight minutes of head-spinning riffs, the band fade out as ambient electronic soundscapes give way to a sweeping symphonic section that’s beauty and grace incarnate.

It then lifts off again as feisty soloing from Jordan Rudess and John Petrucci leads to a grandstanding climax rich in personal epiphany. It’s a telling finale that sends out a clear message — Dream Theater are a band creatively reborn, thriving in the here and now without relying on trusted formulas and past glories.