Poll

What is, for you, the most overrated album in DT's discography?

When Day and Dream Unite
3 (2.2%)
Images & Words
16 (11.9%)
Awake
24 (17.8%)
Falling into infinity
3 (2.2%)
Scenes from a Memory
16 (11.9%)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
16 (11.9%)
Train of Thought
4 (3%)
Octavarium
18 (13.3%)
Systematic Chaos
4 (3%)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
2 (1.5%)
A Dramatic Turn of Events
11 (8.1%)
Dream Theater
18 (13.3%)

Total Members Voted: 132

Author Topic: Most overrated DT Album?  (Read 10225 times)

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Offline Darkstarshades

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Most overrated DT Album?
« on: February 24, 2015, 05:42:11 PM »
Personally, it's Images & Words
Cool, agree, but not THAT good.
Jatruccyundessgini

Offline CharlesPL

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2015, 05:52:58 PM »
Train of Thought

Offline bl5150

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #2 on: February 24, 2015, 05:53:21 PM »
"I would just like to say that after all these years of heavy drinking, bright lights and late nights, I still don't need glasses. I drink right out of the bottle." - DLR

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Offline bosk1

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #3 on: February 24, 2015, 05:57:40 PM »
There aren't any.
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Offline 425

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #4 on: February 24, 2015, 05:57:55 PM »
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. It's not bad, but it's pretty easily my least favorite Dream Theater album.
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Offline JayOctavarium

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #5 on: February 24, 2015, 06:02:51 PM »
DT12
I just don't understand what they were trying to achieve with any part of the song, either individually or as a whole. You know what? It's the Platypus of Dream Theater songs. That bill doesn't go with that tail, or that strange little furry body, or those webbed feet, and oh god why does it have venomous spurs!? And then you find out it lays eggs too. The difference is that the Platypus is somehow functional despite being a crazy mishmash or leftover animal pieces

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Offline The Presence of Frenemies

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #6 on: February 24, 2015, 06:17:38 PM »
Awake, followed by ADTOE and SDOIT.
Yeah, I have no idea what the cakeless person in that analogy is meant to be eating. If he's got some sort of cake substitute, it should really have been worked into the narrative at some point. As it stands, the options are:

  • Hoard a cake just to stare blankly into its doughy edifice.
  • Make futile chewing motions with your mouth while starving to death.

Offline TAC

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #7 on: February 24, 2015, 06:24:04 PM »
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #8 on: February 24, 2015, 07:20:26 PM »
There aren't any.

Ding ding ding.

I'd argue that every critically-acclaimed DT album deserves its praise.

Offline chaossystem

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2015, 07:34:55 PM »
There are things that I love about ALL of their albums, in fact I love MOST of their songs.

But I think that a lot of people have elevated the status of Awake somewhat higher than what it deserves.
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Offline TheCountOfNYC

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #10 on: February 24, 2015, 07:42:30 PM »
Awake. It's a great album, but not on the same level as IaW and SFaM like most people on here say it is.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #11 on: February 24, 2015, 08:11:57 PM »
This is really tough.  The albums that are rated the best are rated that way because they are amazing.  So Images and Words, Awake, Metropolis 2, Six Degrees, are well deserving of their praise.  I'd actually say that Six Degrees deserves more praise than it gets.  If I were to pick one that I think some people can be overly zealous about it might be Octavarium.  Never Enough and Panic Attack are two of my least favorite DT songs.  The Answer Lies Within, while sweet and inspiring, doesn't always give me the goosebumps a ballad should. The first half of Sacrificed Sons needs to be over quicker. It's a great song after that.

Don't get me wrong. It's still a great CD. The title track is a DT masterpiece.  Overall though, I'd probably rather listen to Train of Thought on some days.

Offline 425

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #12 on: February 24, 2015, 08:14:01 PM »
See, I always thought that ToT was generally held in higher esteem here than 8VM. I think one aspect of that is that most people here put ToT somewhere in the middle of the road while rankings of 8VM vary wildly, but I got the sense that if we did a poll between the two of them ToT would win pretty handily.
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Then it's only a matter of time

Offline wolfking

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #13 on: February 24, 2015, 08:17:09 PM »
A Dramatic Turn of Events
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

Offline Mosh

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2015, 09:11:22 PM »
At least on this forum, ADTOE. I thought it was a decent album and a nice reassurance from the band that they were still the DT we know and love. That's all well and good, but now that we're well past that period the album is sorta useless. It just sounds like DT going through the motions.
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Offline 425

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #15 on: February 24, 2015, 10:01:45 PM »
See, I think ADTOE is just excellent compositionally. It doesn't really do anything new stylistically, which can be seen as a mark against it (and I certainly wouldn't want them bringing the same mindset to future albums), but to me it compensates for that by having a bunch of really well-written songs.
And if spirit's a sign,
Then it's only a matter of time

Offline Mosh

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #16 on: February 24, 2015, 10:25:20 PM »
Well that's the thing for me, I don't think the songs are very well written. Some of the material (TITL and BMUBMD) is some of their worst as far as I'm concerned. The whole thing is just really bland.
New Animal Soup scifi space opera for fans of Porcupine Tree, Mastodon, Iron Maiden: Chariots of the Gods

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Offline ThatOneGuy2112

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #17 on: February 24, 2015, 10:56:03 PM »
Well that's the thing for me, I don't think the songs are very well written. Some of the material (TITL and BMUBMD) is some of their worst as far as I'm concerned. The whole thing is just really bland.

Breaking All Illusions says hi.

Also, BMUBMD has no place being mentioned on the same level of quality as TITL.

Online Zydar

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #18 on: February 24, 2015, 11:25:44 PM »
Train of Thought

It was either this or Octavarium.
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Offline jammindude

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #19 on: February 24, 2015, 11:51:27 PM »
I'm with Six Degrees.     The Glass Prison and the title track are on par with the most amazing things they've ever written...the rest is good...even very good.  But if I had to pick an album that people tend to really slobber all over, and I'm not sure that (as a whole) it really deserves it, it would be SDOIT.
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Offline JiM-Xtreme

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #20 on: February 24, 2015, 11:54:35 PM »
For me, it was a tough call between Awake and ADTOE. I went with the latter, because it just doesn't do anything for me as an album. It's hardly the return to form that some people would make it out to be.

Offline Eldomm

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #21 on: February 25, 2015, 12:04:56 AM »
SDOIT. The first CD is good to very good, but SDOIT - the song - is IMHO highly overrated.

Offline sneakyblueberry

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #22 on: February 25, 2015, 12:31:54 AM »
SCEEEEEENES

Offline BlobVanDam

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #23 on: February 25, 2015, 12:34:01 AM »
AWAKE
I think the last two albums are also a bit overrated here.
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Offline ?

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #24 on: February 25, 2015, 05:56:03 AM »
Either Octavarium or DT12...

Offline hefdaddy42

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #25 on: February 25, 2015, 06:45:14 AM »
There aren't any.
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Offline Dublagent66

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #26 on: February 25, 2015, 08:22:12 AM »
"Two things are infinite; the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." -Albert Einstein
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Offline FLEEBS

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #27 on: February 25, 2015, 08:34:27 AM »
I'd definitely say their most recent release, the self-titled Dream Theater album. I like it well enough, but I honestly don't understand the praise it has received, and I certainly don't feel it is an album worthy of being self-titled, like it's the best thing they've ever done. I feel there is a sameness found in this album that doesn't have anything that truly differentiates it from other well-defined albums, and I hope the band doesn't remain on this path (I feel their next release will really show where the band is headed). The album has grown on me over time, but overall I can't get into it like I can past releases. I am very much a Portnoy fan, though, and I miss his creative input. I'm not knocking Mangini at all; I think he's fantastic, but I feel I will always be a "classic" DT fan (if classic for DT can be defined as the era of DT that consisted of all 3 original members) over their newer material.

Having said that, I've seen DT live six times, and the last show I saw of theirs, in support of the DT self-titled album, surprised me as the best show I've seen from them.

Lastly, I'm also not very into Train of Thought.

Edit: Looks like people refer to it as DT12. I had no idea.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2015, 08:40:29 AM by FLEEBS »
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Offline FLEEBS

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #28 on: February 25, 2015, 08:37:55 AM »
I think the last two albums are also a bit overrated here.

Agreed.
« Last Edit: February 25, 2015, 08:49:34 AM by FLEEBS »
Eat your beets. RECYCLE!!!

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #29 on: February 25, 2015, 01:12:02 PM »
At least on this forum, ADTOE. I thought it was a decent album and a nice reassurance from the band that they were still the DT we know and love. That's all well and good, but now that we're well past that period the album is sorta useless. It just sounds like DT going through the motions.

I picked ADTOE as well for similar reasons.   Kind of a been there, done that album.  If it was the first DT album I had ever heard, then I'd probably love it.  But being a long time fan, it did just seem like a bunch of DT'isms strung together.  I really think it was a test album for Petrucci to revisit the past so he could study an album where all four instrumentalists were working together and bringing out the best in each other and trying to really recapture it all in himself knowing he was about to have even more of the songwriting burden put upon his shoulders.

If there was an inspiration corner during ADTOE, it was a bunch of DT albums.

And there is no way Awake can be overrated  :metal

Offline Rodni Demental

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #30 on: February 25, 2015, 04:34:07 PM »
The only correct answer is I&W. :P Because while it's still pretty amazing, I don't view it as the pinnacle of DTs output.

SFAM almost seems overrated but if anything it deserves the praise a bit more.

But really, most of the albums tend to get rated pretty fairly. And personally, I'm not generally a fan of the term because it has too many implications that are up to interpretation so I try and avoid the term unless it feels accurate or appropriate. And even then it's probably still just my opinion.  ::)

Offline jammindude

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #31 on: February 25, 2015, 05:01:11 PM »
I'm surprised to see Octavarium getting so many votes.   Mostly because I thought it was universally panned.   Sure it's my #1, but I honestly thought I was the only one. 
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Offline jjrock88

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #32 on: February 25, 2015, 05:06:09 PM »

Offline Dave_Manchester

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #33 on: February 25, 2015, 05:13:54 PM »
Given that every DT album is revered by at least some section of the fanbase (I'm not aware of any one album which is roundly disliked by most fans, unlike with many other groups), this question to me can be rephrased as simply the album you least enjoy. And as such, Octavarium gets my vote. Aside from The Answer Lies Within, there's pretty much nothing I enjoy on this one, and yet I know many love it and praise it (Jammindude above for example). Their best cover art, though. 

Offline The Cat Of Tuscany

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Re: Most overrated DT Album?
« Reply #34 on: February 25, 2015, 06:00:16 PM »
Images And Words...

I just don't get why people love it so much, even more than Scenes From A Memory and Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence.  I mean, it's a nice album, but it just doesn't appeal to me as much as their other work.