Are You More Of A "Pre-JR" Or A "Post-JR" DT Fan?

[adamack]

A lot of DT fans prefer either DT's older, pre-JR work (WDaDU, I&W, Awake, FII) or their "next generation", post-JR stuff (SFaM and beyond).

I realize that most of us probably enjoy DT's entire body of work, but do you prefer one era even slightly better than the other?

If you like both eras exactly the same, you can choose Both.

[rumborak]

JR was part of SFAM and SDOIT, which I really enjoy. But overall, pre-JR I think. IAW, Awake, ACOS and FII are just too strong a package.

[fischermasamune]

If I weigh my favorites, it's I&W and Awake against SFAM, SDOIT, BC&SL and DT12. But since there are 4 albums pre-JR and 8 after, I declare it a tie.

[RoeDent]

I'd say it's the same.

You're the 2nd person I've seen today abbreviate Falling Into Infinity as FIF. Is that how it's done now? For years it's been FII.

[rumborak]

Unless the album is really called Falling Into Finiteness, I think FII is the correct abbreviation.
Alternatively, FI∞.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I would say that I love both eras the same, but as a matter of fact my top 2 albums (Scenes and Six Degrees) are post-JR, so I went with that option.

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, my favorite album is from the post JR era, my second favorite is from the pre-JR era, and the few next ones down the line are from the post JR era as well, so I definitely prefer DT's post-JR era overall.
But honestly, with pre-JR era, I mean, what did we get? We got Images and Words, where the keyboard and piano were pretty great. But then we got Awake, where the keyboards were awful, but at the same time, considering that Moore didn't seem to give a crap at that point, it's not surprising.
And then we got FII, where the keyboards were tastefully minimalist, which was nice, but nothing that impressive.
WDADU keyboards were okay, but nothing special.
So yeah, easy choice. I&W was great, but it doesn't just trump everything else all by itself.

[adamack]

I'd say it's the same.

You're the 2nd person I've seen today abbreviate Falling Into Infinity as FIF. Is that how it's done now? For years it's been FII.

Fixed. Something about the syllabic flow of "Into InFinity" makes my brain default to "FIF" when it's in subconscious mode.

[adamack]

Just voted myself...Post-JR.

This next statement belongs in the "Controversial DT Opinions" thread, and is perhaps the most controversial thing ever said about DT:

I voted Post-JR because my top 8 DT albums all come from the Post-JR era.

*Changes government name, moves to Boca Raton, gets dynamic IP*

[Nearmyth]

Both exactly the same is what I voted for. Awake & IaW as well as SFAM & SDOIT are my top 4 albums.

[JiM-Xtreme]

Difficult for me to say. I like what both bring/brought to the band, but as strange as I might sound I don't think the change of keyboardist massively impacted their sound over the years.

My favourite songs/albums are scattered all over the band's long career, so I can't say I definitively prefer one era over the other.

[The Letter M]

I love ALL DT equally...from IAW to DT12.

-Marc.

[Another_Won]

I love ALL DT equally...from IAW to DT12.

-Marc.

Amen brother!  Every time a poll comes up, this is my first reaction.  It usually ends up being something very minor (or stupid) that swings it to be able to pick an option.  I went with "Post-JR" just because there is more content with that option.

[adamack]

I love ALL DT equally...from IAW to DT12.

-Marc.

Amen brother!  Every time a poll comes up, this is my first reaction.  It usually ends up being something very minor (or stupid) that swings it to be able to pick an option.  I went with "Post-JR" just because there is more content with that option.

Huh? Sorry I may be confused, but there is indeed an option for both.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Jordan has done nothing but invigorate new life into a once dying band. He is the first keyboardist to actually challenge the rest of the band with how skilled he is at his instrument. From Scenes all the way to the present, Dream Theater has been riding a wave of momentum that doesn't appear ready to crash anytime soon. Jordan is a huge part of that success. I don't think it can be stated enough just how important the addition of Jordan Rudess has been to Dream Theater.

[TheGreatPretender]

Jordan has done nothing but invigorate new life into a once dying band. He is the first keyboardist to actually challenge the rest of the band with how skilled he is at his instrument. From Scenes all the way to the present, Dream Theater has been riding a wave of momentum that doesn't appear ready to crash anytime soon. Jordan is a huge part of that success. I don't think it can be stated enough just how important the addition of Jordan Rudess has been to Dream Theater.

Amen! Very well said!
Although I was disappointed that you said "ready to crash" and not "about to crash." 

[rosepetaljelly]

JR was part of SFAM and SDOIT, which I really enjoy. But overall, pre-JR I think. IAW, Awake, ACOS and FII are just too strong a package.

That's so accurately me. Also, your sig 

[7StringedBeast]

I'm more of a pre-roadrunner DT fan.

[nikatapi]

I voted for pre-JR, just because i think that the band has never reached the sentimental levels of I&W, Awake and FII (with a few exceptions).
The post-JR era is full of amazing songs, but there's just something special about those first albums.

[efx]

There's plenty of stuff on the Post-JR albums that I love and I'm glad the band is still around doing their thing but for me personally the pre-jr area was better from a complete-album perspective.

[BlobVanDam]

Even just on SFAM+SDOIT alone, I'd have to go with JR era without hesitation, although IaW and FII are my #3 and #4. But aside from those two, the pre-JR era doesn't have much else, whereas the JR era still has a ton of other great stuff, so that's an easy choice.

[Another_Won]

I love ALL DT equally...from IAW to DT12.

-Marc.

Amen brother!  Every time a poll comes up, this is my first reaction.  It usually ends up being something very minor (or stupid) that swings it to be able to pick an option.  I went with "Post-JR" just because there is more content with that option.

Huh? Sorry I may be confused, but there is indeed an option for both.

I guess it's the "exactly the same" part of the option.  It just threw me off.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

I'll let you know if and when we ever had a "Post-JR" DT.

[KevShmev]

Jordan has done nothing but invigorate new life into a once dying band. 

DT was never a dying band.  I think he definitely instilled them with renewed enthusiasm and energy, which resulted in Scenes, but even though they've said Scenes was make or break for them, that's easy to say in hindsight.  They can't really know if the band would have been done had Scenes not done well.

[TheGreatPretender]

DT was never a dying band.  I think he definitely instilled them with renewed enthusiasm and energy, which resulted in Scenes, but even though they've said Scenes was make or break for them, that's easy to say in hindsight.  They can't really know if the band would have been done had Scenes not done well.

They were very fragile at that point though. Between internal disagreements and rifts between the members, and the shit the record company put them through, they were dangerously close to falling apart. And of course, none of that was Derek's fault, and even if they did keep Derek, the circumstances regarding Scenes, with them being given new freedom and all that would have probably kept the band together, assuming Scenes would've turned out well. But still, around that time, they were in a very volatile situation.

[Fredo96993]

post-JR for me. Awake is stunning but I find that Images is in my bottom quarter of DT albums, WDADU would be near the top with JLB singing and FII has a few sound issues and some weak tracks whereas JR joining onwards I feel that the albums have had few weak tracks. I want them to something quite ballsy and do the next tour's setlists with a maximum of 5 pre SDOIT songs! The seem to be ignoring a lot of their recent albums (BC&SL in particular) recently and I would love to see a great mixture of all the post Scenes albums with little else.

[Madman Shepherd]

Not sure why the vast majority seem to break it down into one camp or the other (not trashing the poll which I do think is interesting).  For me, if I like a band I almost always find stuff to like about all eras.  I just love hearing what they come out with.  I love Tony Martin era Black Sabbath as much as Ozzy or Dio era.  It just depend on the mood that is striking me at the moment. 

[rumborak]

DT was never a dying band.  I think he definitely instilled them with renewed enthusiasm and energy, which resulted in Scenes, but even though they've said Scenes was make or break for them, that's easy to say in hindsight.  They can't really know if the band would have been done had Scenes not done well.

They were very fragile at that point though. Between internal disagreements and rifts between the members, and the shit the record company put them through, they were dangerously close to falling apart. And of course, none of that was Derek's fault, and even if they did keep Derek, the circumstances regarding Scenes, with them being given new freedom and all that would have probably kept the band together, assuming Scenes would've turned out well. But still, around that time, they were in a very volatile situation.

Eh. Don't put too much stock into the Lifting Shadows dramatizations. FII wasn't the first time DT struggled and reemerged from successfully, and they were doing international tours for FII. It's not that everybody turned their backs on DT after that album; they still had a large fan base that showed up to their gigs, and I'm 100% certain they wouldn't have dropped all that only because MP once again didn't get his way in all things.
In fact, when you compare JP's comments to MP's in Lifting Shadows, the matter looks very different. And, didn't JP make a comment regarding the FII times just recently, essentially saying "some people have this idea it was terrible, but it wasn't really"?

[Rodni Demental]

At this point DT is more post JR than pre JR so I lend towards post. But really, I never really think about the Dream Theater entity being all that different, just having a different creative component at that point, so I picked "exactly the same". Makes me wonder why we get our panties in such a twist over pre and post MP. Just a different element, not like it's a different band.

[bosk1]

Rudess era, hands down.  Derek was only with the band for one album. For the songs during the Moore era, I can definitely say that, for the most part, I like the songs despite Moore rather than because of Moore. 

Jordan has done nothing but invigorate new life into a once dying band. 

DT was never a dying band.  I think he definitely instilled them with renewed enthusiasm and energy, which resulted in Scenes, but even though they've said Scenes was make or break for them, that's easy to say in hindsight.  They can't really know if the band would have been done had Scenes not done well.

Exactly.  Thank you.

[Art]

JR was part of SFAM and SDOIT, which I really enjoy. But overall, pre-JR I think. IAW, Awake, ACOS and FII are just too strong a package.

thatīs exactly my opinion.

[XB0BX]

I've gotta go with post-JR.

[TheGreatPretender]

Technically, it's not a "Post-JR" era, it's just the JR era, since he hasn't left or anything... If anything, I'd call it post-DS.

[The Letter M]

Technically, it's not a "Post-JR" era, it's just the JR era, since he hasn't left or anything... If anything, I'd call it post-DS.

I was wondering if anyone would point this out...LOL. Really it should be "Pre-JR" VS "JR-Era".

-Marc.

[Mosh]

JR was part of SFAM and SDOIT, which I really enjoy. But overall, pre-JR I think. IAW, Awake, ACOS and FII are just too strong a package.

Pretty much this. JR brought a lot of potential into DT and especially with an album like Six Degrees they could've continued on a really great experimental path, but that never really happened. Don't get me wrong, I love the albums afterwards for the most part, but I think DT kinda missed the boat in the 00s on some really special music.