Buying Dream Theater Albums From WDADU to Self-Titled

[DTFANATIC]

I'm thinking about forming a DT collection, and I want to start by owning all the studio albums. Just CDs not Vinyl or Cassette or anything else.
Also perfect condition, or near perfect condition old CDs would be nice. Or brand new. IF anyone can help, and wants to sell, put them on Ebay and PM me. Thanks.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

You know you can find all the albums on Amazon, right?

[rumborak]

This is a bizarre thread.

[Zook]

Yeah, you don't need ebay. All their albums are still in print. The major chains* don't carry them anymore simply because they keep shrinking their CD section, and only carry the mainstream stuff, but you can still get them off Amazon and the like. The major chains might still sell their albums on their website so take a gander.

*Walmart, Best Buy, Target, etc

[hefdaddy42]

You know you can find all the albums on Amazon, right?

Every single one.

Even some of the CD singles.

[DTFANATIC]

You know you can find all the albums on Amazon, right?

I looked, and to be honest, all are very expensive, even the older albums. Not trying to sound like a stingy person, but I'm looking for albums of cheaper price. Images and Words is like 10 dollars when it's over 20 years old. The DT collection called the studio albums: 1992-2011 is very cheap. Only CDs and paper sleeves.

[Prog Snob]

You know you can find all the albums on Amazon, right?

I looked, and to be honest, all are very expensive, even the older albums. Not trying to sound like a stingy person, but I'm looking for albums of cheaper price. Images and Words is like 10 dollars when it's over 20 years old. The DT collection called the studio albums: 1992-2011 is very cheap. Only CDs and paper sleeves.

You can usually find them used on Amazon or eBay for even cheaper than that sometimes but you still need to do the actual searching for them. 

[Zook]

$10 is cheap. I wouldn't want to see DT's albums in a $5 dump bin. I mean, sure if I didn't have them all, yeah I'd snatch 'em up, but $10 isn't bad at all.

[DTFANATIC]

You know you can find all the albums on Amazon, right?

I looked, and to be honest, all are very expensive, even the older albums. Not trying to sound like a stingy person, but I'm looking for albums of cheaper price. Images and Words is like 10 dollars when it's over 20 years old. The DT collection called the studio albums: 1992-2011 is very cheap. Only CDs and paper sleeves.

You can usually find them used on Amazon or eBay for even cheaper than that sometimes but you still need to do the actual searching for them.

I've searched everything a few weeks ago. Everything used, has something wrong with it. Such as scratches on the cd, and so forth. I calculated the cost of buying all the studio albums from Amazon and Ebay beforehand, and it's close to a hundred. I mean if I have to I'll definitely buy them all for a hundred, but I would like to get a better deal. I just think the price for older albums is too high, no offense to albums themselves as they're my favorite ones.

[Prog Snob]

$100 for 12 studio albums is a pretty damn good price actually.

[DTFANATIC]

$10 is cheap. I wouldn't want to see DT's albums in a $5 dump bin. I mean, sure if I didn't have them all, yeah I'd snatch 'em up, but $10 isn't bad at all.

No I totally agree, but it's still a little absurd, considering any album over twenty years old is 10 or more. If it's a special collectors or something then I wouldn't argue the price at all.
Like I said, I would buy them for 10 if no other deals are made.

[DTFANATIC]

$100 for 12 studio albums is a pretty damn good price actually.

Depends. But the older albums from DT's golden age are over 10 years old, some 15. I think as a whole it would be a good deal to have all studio albums at 50 dollars.

[DTFANATIC]

Another reason I ask for a low amount is because I'm running out of money and I'm looking for work again.

[hefdaddy42]

$100 for 12 studio albums is a pretty damn good price actually.

Depends. But the older albums from DT's golden age are over 10 years old, some 15.

I'm not sure why that has anything to do with it.  $10.00 is a fair price for a new copy of a CD.

[rumborak]

$10 for a new IAW is pretty damn cheap. Anything below that that claims to be new you should probably double-check whether it isn't an illegal pressing.

And, let me state the somewhat obvious: Why do you find yourself wanting to acquire a whole discography of a band when you're strapped for money?

And also, how does a person with the handle "DTFANATIC" not have a single one of their CDs? Hell, even in the early days when I was still a "MILQUETOASTDTFAN" I had several of their CDs.

[DTFANATIC]

$10 for a new IAW is pretty damn cheap. Anything below that that claims to be new you should probably double-check whether it isn't an illegal pressing.

And, let me state the somewhat obvious: Why do you find yourself wanting to acquire a whole discography of a band when you're strapped for money?

And also, how does a person with the handle "DTFANATIC" not have a single one of their CDs? Hell, even in the early days when I was still a "MILQUETOASTDTFAN" I had several of their CDs.

I've listened to them compulsively.

[DTFANATIC]

$10 for a new IAW is pretty damn cheap. Anything below that that claims to be new you should probably double-check whether it isn't an illegal pressing.

And, let me state the somewhat obvious: Why do you find yourself wanting to acquire a whole discography of a band when you're strapped for money?

And also, how does a person with the handle "DTFANATIC" not have a single one of their CDs? Hell, even in the early days when I was still a "MILQUETOASTDTFAN" I had several of their CDs.

Besides, my personal concern is none of your business, and being a fanatic to a band doesn't mean owning their albums. That's your opinion.

[rumborak]

Reasonably sure it's not just my personal opinion that one should recompense the artist whose fanatic one is of. I mean, it's pretty obvious how you will have listened to them up to this point.

[BlobVanDam]

No true DT fanatic would complain about spending 10 bucks on Images and Words!

[ProgressiveIce]

You could also buy the "The Studio Albums" box, which contains IAW to ADTOE, and then get WDADU + S/T separately, if you're ok with such boxes (I think it's missing the booklets). The box is available on Amazon, but you can probably find it cheaper (even in new condition) on eBay.
There are also DT CD lots popping up on eBay regularly, just search for "dream theater CD lot". You might not be able to buy all albums at once, but it's an option.

[theseoafs]

$10 is cheap. I wouldn't want to see DT's albums in a $5 dump bin. I mean, sure if I didn't have them all, yeah I'd snatch 'em up, but $10 isn't bad at all.

No I totally agree, but it's still a little absurd, considering any album over twenty years old is 10 or more.

... that's not how album pricing works.  If CD's are still in print and still in demand, they'll be priced at around 10 dollars, maybe up to 15.  Because that's how much we sell CD's for.

What were you expecting, us to find you a secret website with cheaper prices than Amazon?

EDIT: Also.  All of DT's albums, except I think for the debut, are on Spotify.  While you're out of work and strapped for cash you can listen online, and then you can splurge(?) on the $10 CD's when you're working again.

[bosk1]

Besides, my personal concern is none of your business, and being a fanatic to a band doesn't mean owning their albums. That's your opinion.

Although this is 100% true, when you come onto a forum like this and make what many consider to be a "strange" request and you seem to have a very different point of view, saying "that's none of your business" when someone questions that is rude and isn't going to garner you much support in finding what you are looking for.  Please reconsider your tone.

[ZirconBlue]

Were I wanting to get all of the albums, but also strapped for cash, I'd probably just pick them up a couple at a time.

[Setlist Scotty]

Were I wanting to get all of the albums, but also strapped for cash, I'd probably just pick them up a couple at a time.

Agreed - that's what most of us did when we didn't have the cash. For some bands like Rush, I bought only one or two cassettes when I had the money for them, and slowly built up my collection. In fact, I grew up with the DT library, so I only got a new CD each time one was released! So why the need to get them all at one time?

And regarding the prices, honestly, be glad they're the price they are now. In the past, CDs were more likely to cost $15 to $20 a piece (keeping in mind that the dollar was worth more than it is now) whether older or newer releases, so $10 per CD is not an unreasonable cost.

[Zook]

You should probably hold out until you have a steady job. Buying CDs in bulk while you don't have the money to do so is not a good idea. Trust me, I know. I was a CD buying fiend back in the day, blowing off bills, and well, now I'm paying for it. I had the easiest payment plan ever for my computer, but instead of making payments on time, I was blowing my money on CDs and toys and whatever else. Now I'm paying twice as much or more for it as it's in in collections. The CDs aren't going anywhere. Focus on what's important.

 I still buy CDs, but not as fiendishly.

[The Letter M]

Back in 2003/2004 when I was getting in to prog, starting with Rush, I limited myself to only 1 or 2 albums a MONTH, until I knew I had more money from my dad. College was a rough time then, so I slowly got in to music but after 2006 when I got my first college job, I splurged more and more on CDs because I didn't have much else to spend money on.

If you don't have a job, just get them one at a time, maybe one a month or so, and just pace yourself. It'll also allow you to really get into the album (especially as a physical product) with the CD and the liner notes, and just absorb the whole album for a few weeks. With things like Spotify these days, discovering music is easy and quick, but slowly absorbing and appreciating music is few and far between for most people.

Trust me - slowly getting these albums will only benefit your love for the band (or any band for that matter). Listen, learn, and love, all at a leisurely pace. If you start now and get one album every 2-4 weeks, you'll have all the studio albums before the end of the year, and that's not bad. It took me over a year to get all of the Rush albums (before Snakes & Arrows came out), and the same for Dream Theater too.

-Marc.

[Dublagent66]

I never had a problem paying for CD's.  Back in the day when I was collecting Rush, it was a matter of availability at the record stores.  I had a hard time finding the ones I was looking for.  You couldn't just order them from Amazon.  If you truely want to support the band then you'll buy all the material at retail price.  10 bucks for a CD back then was a lot compared to now.  You're lucky the price didn't go up.

[Calvin6s]

I just think the price for older albums is too high, no offense to albums themselves as they're my favorite ones.

This is true.  After their expiration date, they start to go sour.

[The Trooper]

$10 is cheap. I wouldn't want to see DT's albums in a $5 dump bin. I mean, sure if I didn't have them all, yeah I'd snatch 'em up, but $10 isn't bad at all.

No I totally agree, but it's still a little absurd, considering any album over twenty years old is 10 or more. If it's a special collectors or something then I wouldn't argue the price at all.
Like I said, I would buy them for 10 if no other deals are made.

Go try and get Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon on cd for $5. and that ages any DT album by oh.........................15 years or so. I hear ya but age has nothing to do with price,

[The Letter M]

I just think the price for older albums is too high, no offense to albums themselves as they're my favorite ones.

This is true.  After their expiration date, they start to go sour.

 

So out of curiousity, I've gone back through my Amazon account to track down how much I paid for each studio album when I bought them, and how much they go for now (cheapest NEW) and here's what I've got:

Ordered on February 25, 2004 - When Dream And Day Unite (LE Digibook) - $12.16 then, $48.95 now (Regular edition at $4.13)
Ordered on March 7, 2004 - Awake - $8.49 then, $3.78 now
Ordered on March 16, 2004 - A Change Of Seasons - $8.49 then, $3.84 now
Ordered on April 8, 2004  - Scenes From A Memory - $9.99 then, $3.74 now
Ordered on April 8, 2004 - Images And Words - $4.99 then, $3.84 now
Ordered on May 25, 2004 - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence - $18.19 then, $5.56 now

I couldn't find my order for Falling Into Infinity (which I may have bought at a brick-and-mortar), but it goes for $3.84

After I became a fan in 2004, I bought Train Of Thought in stores with Live At Budokan (their first NEW release to me), and have ordered or pre-ordered every new release since then. If you think buying the new albums when they come out is cheap, then you're probably kidding yourself because if you wait some years, they'll GO DOWN in price!

On Amazon, you can find A Dramatic Turn Of Events Special Edition (CD/DVD) for only $5.84 and the regular edition of their 12th and self-titled album for only $5.43.

*NOTE - All prices exclude shipping. Shipping rates on Amazon have gone up from $2.49 to $2.98, eventually to $3.99 since 2004/2005.

And A LOT Of these albums are still available new, at those low Low LOW prices from the same sellers on Amazon (like musicshop780), which means you can bulk-order from them all at once and it won't be so expensive, even AFTER shipping, which would make the albums come out to no more than $8 each.

Many of these albums cost a LOT more when they were new, and a clear indicator of that was how expensive SDOIT was when it was only 2 years old. Granted, it was a double album, but it cost me over $20 after shipping, and now you can get it for less than $9 after shipping. Albums don't get more expensive with age if they're still in print and circulation, and a band as "big" as Dream Theater definitely keeps their back catalog in print. I go into FYEs and Best Buys and still see IAW, Awake, ACOS, FII and SFAM on the shelves for $10 or even $15, so buying them for under $10 on Amazon or even eBay isn't a huge deal, and is probably the cheapest way to get the physical albums.

Either way, best of luck with your album-buying. It's really nice to be able to have a complete collection of something and enjoy the band's music and their albums' packaging, especially since a LOT of thought gets put into the booklets and liner notes (especially with something like Octavarium).

-Marc.

[The Trooper]

Go buy a new car the day it comes out. Lets say it is a $30,000 car.  Go back a day later and sell it back to the dealer. He will give you ...................

[Prog Snob]

Go buy a new car the day it comes out. Lets say it is a $30,000 car.  Go back a day later and sell it back to the dealer. He will give you ...................

A swift kick in the ass on the way out.

[The Trooper]

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

[Anguyen92]

Go buy a new car the day it comes out. Lets say it is a $30,000 car.  Go back a day later and sell it back to the dealer. He will give you ...................

A swift kick in the ass on the way out.

And a huge laugh by him and his co-workers.  They point harshly at you, as well.

[Stadler]

I'm sure you all understand that pricing cars and pricing CDs (both used and new) are two wholly different exercises.

I'm not sure what the point is of the OP, and they have the "age" aspect of this all wrong - as has been noted before - but there is one point that bears mention:  regardless of whether I like the band or not, I don't usually pay over $10 for ANY CD unless it is something of note (multi-disk set, out of print, special edition, etc.).   If there is a new release, I get it from Best Buy or Amazon on sale, if it is an older release I get it from eBay or Amazon (or when I lived in Philly I would occasionally make an "AKA" run or a "Long In The Tooth" run.  Both are record shops that cater to the new and used CD and vinyl markets).  For a major label, major release, there is really no reason to pay more than $5.00 for a CD these days.   

There are exceptions:  the Ytsejam releases (and I have them all) I only bought from Mike's site directly; Fish's stuff; some of the stuff with Mike and Neal. 

He's going about it all wrong, but the general premise of the thread isn't THAT far off base.