John Extall's Study

I have given a fair amount of listens to this album.

Suppose I am doing some work while listening to music. There are two possible scenarios; I either enjoy it as a whole and it helps me to concentrate on the task at hand, or I am waiting for those few songs that really do it for me, and that suspense keeps me motivated. With the most recent efforts of the band, my criterion was rather this: Something is playing in the background. And then something beautiful comes forth (rarely an entire track) and requests my full attention.

This happened to me twice while I was listening to Side A of “The Astonishing”.

The first minute of The X Aspect. What a deeply touching piano part! I cannot believe that the keyboard player can still let go his over-the-top roller-coaster playing habits in favor of a truly emotional intro. Excellent job and a very welcome playing style!

The ending of A New Beginning. Wow. The guitar player just lets the music flow. This is why I love progressive music—you just let it flow. No rules, no obstacles. Pure inspiration¹.

Combined, these highly inspiring pieces of music last about 2 minutes or maybe slightly longer. They feature no vocals.

To me there is no difference, whether the length of “The Astonishing” is 2 hours or 2 minutes. I enjoy it for the reasons mentioned above.

Behold the world behind the mind
I saw her there, I saw her shine
And then I noticed in her eyes,
Akin to a caressing breeze,
Reflection of a distant star

These hollow spaces do not exist
Inside the gloomy realities mist
And no one can travel the distance between
The state now uncertain and future unseen
I followed the signs seen so far

You are not real but you are here
What is this anguish lurking near?
Where does the half-lit road begin?
While lights were shining in the sky
I came to an enchanted place

I remember the way that they’ve smiled
Looking at me, a million eyes belonging to one
From beyond the galaxy one can imagine, one can see
The light I thought belonging to a distant star

As the sun sets, the mood quickly changes to reflect the fading intensity of light. The world is coming to an end. Thoughts are breaking against a wall of despair; yet the deadly, life-wiping effect is nowhere to be seen. As panic slowly begins to take over the empty vessels, we look up at the sky. The stars are visibly shining.