TOT-General Opinions/Consensus?

[The Presence of Frenemies]

I can see how some could consider this one-dimensional, but I rather think of it as an album that sticks to a musical theme. Just like how Awake is the angsty, angry album, ToT is the dark, aggressive one. Nobody here complains about I&W being too bright and exuberant with its sound, even in songs that delve on relatively dark material (Surrounded, for instance).

I think the I&W comparison is more on point than Awake, which has LSOAD, IF, TSM, and of course SDV to break up the supposed "theme." But sure, each album has a dominant sound. None more so than TOT, though.

SDV I think fits the Awake sound very well, adding a dose of lethargy defusing the angriness of the album (which makes it a very good closer). LSOAD is uplifting, but in a measured sense, not like the uplifting songs in I&W.

IF does seem very bright upon initial listen, but once I became aware of the angriness of the lyrics, the music took on a different meaning. It started to sound conflicted, as if an I&W bright song that realized that it is fucking angry at Kevin Moore.  So it fits the Awake theme.

For The Silent Man, it was a breather between the despair of Voices and the harshness of The Mirror, so I think it's not out of place. It's not even a bright cheerful song, just a relatively quiet one.

I'm not saying the Awake songs are discontiguous. But on TOT, the only remotely different thing you have is Vacant. Let's say that's equal to TSM. With the remaining TOT songs, no two songs are anywhere near as dissimilar as SDV, IF, or LSOAD are to The Mirror and Lie. That doesn't mean there aren't lyrical/thematic similarities on Awake that make it sound like a whole, because there are. But it's undeniably a more diverse album than TOT (despite this, I easily prefer TOT).

[Outcrier]

No problem but i don't think my opinion is so funny given what their most loved albums are.

I see where you're coming from, funny might not be the right word but, it's just like: TOT was DTs last good album... lol? okay.

Hm... I didn't meant every album after ToT is bad or anything, just that they aren't as good as it or any of the big four.

[erwinrafael]

The Presence of Frenemies: OK, got what you are saying.  I would contend that SoC is still quite different from the other songs because it is not riff-heavy. And ITNOG + ES is not really similar to TDS + HTF. As I Am is in a place of its own as well, as the only non-ten + minute song outside Vacant.

I am playing ToT now as I am doing an encoding template for a survey. This is really the perfect work music. 

[hefdaddy42]

i might be biased because i have 3 ToT songs in my top 20 and 0 DT12 songs in my top 50
because DT12 is ungodly boring
and one-dimensional
and homogenous

That bias should have nothing to do with reacting heavily against TOT being described as one-dimensional (which it is, for the most part) or in saying that DT12 is one-dimensional (which it most certainly is not).

[Stadler]

Least favorite of the LaBrie-era DT albums.   I am a melody guy, though, so I tend to like the material that draws on more diverse influences (my top five albums are I&W, SFAM, A, O8, 6DOIT).

[?]

I think it's good, but it's too one-dimensional for me to be placed among the top tier of DT albums.

[ariich]

Their last really good album.

That's what I was going to say.  The last great DT album for me too.

Really, i didn't get what was so funny.

I think probably the fact that OP was asking for the general opinion/consensus. Getting such a consensus on ANYTHING from the DT fanbase is pretty much impossible, but if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be that.

[Dublagent66]

I rank it at #6.  Middle of the road. 

[The Presence of Frenemies]

Their last really good album.

That's what I was going to say.  The last great DT album for me too.

Really, i didn't get what was so funny.

I think probably the fact that OP was asking for the general opinion/consensus. Getting such a consensus on ANYTHING from the DT fanbase is pretty much impossible, but if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be that.

Probably the closest thing you could get to a consensus is "It's generally agreed to be one of DT's more consistent and compelling forays into the metal realm, though it still rarely comes up in discussions of their true best work, ITNOG excepted."

[Outcrier]

Album Rankings

1.   Images & Words (129-29-2, .813)
2.   Six Degree of Inner Turbulence (92-25-3, .779)
3.   Awake (148-67-5, .684)   
4.   Scenes From a Memory (145-73-2, .664)
5.   Train of Thought (80-57-3, .582) 
6.   A Dramatic Turn of Events (96-80-4, .544)
7.   Octavarium (82-77-1, .516)   
8.   Black Clouds and Silver Linings (53-64-3, .454)
9.   Dream Theater (76-99-5, .436)
10.   Falling Into Infinity (82-136-2, .378)   
11.   Systematic Chaos (48-86-6, .364)   
12.   When Dream & Day Unite (29-129-2, .188)

I know these rankings aren't very indicative but still, going by that, no album after ToT reaches the top 5, which is what i was trying to say.

I think probably the fact that OP was asking for the general opinion/consensus. Getting such a consensus on ANYTHING from the DT fanbase is pretty much impossible, but if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be that.

Ah, now i get it 

When i said "Their last really good album", it was just my opinion, not what i think the general consensus is.

In that case, it would probably be between Octavarium, ADTOE or even DT12.

[TheCountOfNYC]

It's in the bottom half of my rankings, but it's still a great album.

[mikeyd23]

It would probably land somewhere near the middle in my DT album rankings. It really is a great album though, and it was the first DT album I heard, so it has a special place in my heart.

[Prog Snob]

Least favorite of the LaBrie-era DT albums.   I am a melody guy, though, so I tend to like the material that draws on more diverse influences (my top five albums are I&W, SFAM, A, O8, 6DOIT).

Almost the same as my top 5 except replace O8 with ADTOE.

[Phoenix87x]

Love it today and I've always loved it.

[Cable]

Love it. It falls within my middle ground DT favorites. Which is not bad, it is just none really jump up or down from my middle pack.

They did what they wanted to mostly with the album, and a lot of the songs hit so hard live. Endless Sacrifice really is killer in person live.

The album also has my favourite JP tone. I am a sucker for Rectifier tone, for better of for worse.

[Kotowboy]

Their last really good album.

Not really. They followed it up with a better album IMO.

Dunno why people don't approve of Octavarium's lighter more commercial approach..

I <3 These Walls, Root Of All Evil, The Answer Lies Within, I Walk Beside You, Sacrificed Sons & Octavarium.

Plus I love the big, wide production. Basically the exact opposite of Systematic Chaos' production.

[erwinrafael]

The only misstep of the Octavarium album for me is the extreme Muse influence on Never Enough that it's bordering on ripoff territory.

[Outcrier]

Their last really good album.

Not really. They followed it up with a better album IMO.

That was just my opinion, nothing to do with the consensus.

[Kotowboy]

The only misstep of the Octavarium album for me is the extreme Muse influence on Never Enough that it's bordering on ripoff territory.

I can quite happily listen to the entire album from beginning to end.

[hefdaddy42]

Dunno why people don't approve of Octavarium's lighter more commercial approach..

I don't have a problem with the approach per se.  I just think that most of the songs produced by that approach are average to forgettable.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

Dunno why people don't approve of Octavarium's lighter more commercial approach..

I don't have a problem with the approach per se.  I just think that most of the songs produced by that approach are average to forgettable.

Agreed. Though the production admittedly is very good.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Their last really good album.

Not really. They followed it up with a better album IMO.

Dunno why people don't approve of Octavarium's lighter more commercial approach..

I <3 These Walls, Root Of All Evil, The Answer Lies Within, I Walk Beside You, Sacrificed Sons & Octavarium.

Plus I love the big, wide production. Basically the exact opposite of Systematic Chaos' production.

I persiabbly think that Dream Theater is at their best when they focus more on prog than metal but remain diverse with some heavjet stuff and more ballady stuff. My top four (SFaM, IaW, 8VM, and ADToE) all do this perfectly.