This was a really intriguing idea. I’ve always struggled with album rankings since it’s so subjective and while this is also subjective, it has a somewhat objective anchor. I decided to rank them, not by sheer number of songs, but by the total length of the masterpieces combined. For instance, I put Through My Words in there even though the song doesn’t do much for me aside from being the perfect segue into another perfect song in a string of perfect songs.
Likewise, there are only 3 masterpieces on Train of Thought but that is almost half the album.
I then decided to rank them based on overall percentage of the album that those masterpieces are no. The fact that 6DOIT is so long artificially inflates it’s importance in this ranking so I dividing the length of the masterpieces by total length of the album it gives a different outlook.
This was actually pretty difficult since i suck at math and was constantly being pulled away by a baby, a wife, and a dog that has anxiety, so there may be some mistakes. I’m also surprised how close some of these were.
Edit: I just read through the thread right before posting and saw someone else had this idea. Also, I didn't realize this thread was from years ago.
Masterpiece albums by total length of masterpieces:
1 A Dramatic Turn of Events - Build Me Up, Break Me Down, Lost Not Forgotten, This is the Life, Bridges in the Sky, Outcry, Breaking All Illusions, Beneath the Surface 65:15
2. Systematic Chaos - In the Presence of Enemies, Forsaken, Constant Motion, Prophets of War, Ministry of Lost Souls 59:05
3. Distance Over Time - Untethered Angel, Paralyzed, Fall Into the Light, S2N, At Wit’s End, Out of Reach, Pale Blue Dot 45:45
4. Awake - 6:00, Caught in a Web, Voices, Silent Man, Mirror, Lie, Space Dye Vest 45:20
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Blind Faith, Misunderstood, Great Debate, About to Crash, Solitary Shell 44:16
6. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory - Regression, Overture 1928, Strange Deja Vu, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy, Home, Finally Free 42:39
7. Falling Into Infinity - Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Take Away My Pain, Anna Lee, Trial of Tears 37:35
8. Train of Thought - As I Am, Endless Sacrifice, In the Name of God 33:20
9. A View From the Top of the World - Alien, Answering the Call, Invisible Monster, Awaken the Master 33:15
10. Images & Words - Take the Time, Surrounded, Metropolis, Under a Glass Moon 30:25
11. Octavarium - Root of All Evil, These Walls 16:01
12. Dream Theater - The Bigger Picture, Alone for the Ride 12:10
13. When Dream & Day Unite - The Killing Hand 8:41
14. Black Clouds & Silver Lining - Rite of Passage 8:36
15. The Astonishing - A Life Left Behind 5:49
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Masterpiece albums by percentage of the album that is a masterpiece:
1. A Dramatic Turn of Events - Build Me Up, Break Me Down, Lost Not Forgotten, This is the Life, Bridges in the Sky, Outcry, Breaking All Illusions, Beneath the Surface 84%
2. Distance Over Time - Untethered Angel, Paralyzed, Fall Into the Light, S2N, At Wit’s End, Out of Reach, Pale Blue Dot 80%
3. Systematic Chaos - In the Presence of Enemies, Forsaken, Constant Motion, Prophets of War, Ministry of Lost Souls 76%
4. Awake - 6:00, Caught in a Web, Voices, Silent Man, Mirror, Lie, Space Dye Vest 60%
5. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory - Regression, Overture 1928, Strange Deja Vu, Through My Words, Fatal Tragedy, Home, Finally Free 55%
6. Images & Words - Take the Time, Surrounded, Metropolis, Under a Glass Moon 54%
7. Falling Into Infinity - Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Take Away My Pain, Anna Lee, Trial of Tears 48%
8. Train of Thought - As I Am, Endless Sacrifice, In the Name of God 48%
9. A View From the Top of the World - Alien, Answering the Call, Invisible Monster, Awaken the Master 47%
10. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Blind Faith, Misunderstood, Great Debate, About to Crash, Solitary Shell 46%
11. Octavarium - Root of All Evil, These Walls 21%
12. Dream Theater - The Bigger Picture, Alone for the Ride 18%
13. When Dream & Day Unite - The Killing Hand 17%
14. Black Clouds & Silver Lining - Rite of Passage 11%
15. The Astonishing - A Life Left Behind 4%