Systematic Chaos Revisited....

[bl5150]

1. DT12
2. ADToE


3. BC&SL





4. SC

[pcs90]

1. DT12
2. ADTOE



3. BCSL







4. SC

[BlobVanDam]

Now that it's been 2 years since DT12 - rank the RoadRunner albums ( again ).

1. Systematic Chaos
2. Black Clouds & Silver Linings / 2. A Dramatic Turn of Events.











4. DT12

[BlackInk]

3. Systematic Chaos
5. A Dramatic Turn of Events
9. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
11. Dream Theater

[Kotowboy]

1. Systematic Chaos
2. Black Clouds & Silver Linings / 2. A Dramatic Turn of Events.

I can never decide between SC and BCSL. I think i go for Black Clouds as it has The Count of Tuscany and The Best of Times, Shattered Fortress and Wither and sounds better overall.

SC is quite boring in the second  half.

But they both have much better production than DT12

But ADTOE wins for me for the songs and consistency throughout.

[AboutToCrash]

1 - A Dramatic Turn of Events (3th Overall)
2 - Systematic Chaos (6th Overall)
3 - Dream Theater (7th Overall)
4 - Black Clouds & Silver Linings (9th Overall)

[Zydar]

1. Dream Theater
2. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
3. Systematic Chaos
4. Black Clouds & Silver Linings

[Implode]

1. ADTOE  7/10
2. BC&SL 6/10
3. DT12 4/10
4. SC 3/10

[darkshade]

Ok 

There's a lot of bands out there...

[Rodni Demental]

1. BC&SL

2. DT12

3. 4. ADTOE = SC

The last one says more about how much I enjoy SC rather than how much I don't enjoy ADTOE. I actually really like the 'modern' era DT though as it's the era that represents when I was discovering the band so it's hard to rate or rank and I'd probably change my mind tomorrow.

[reneranucci]

1. Black Clouds (an overall favorite of mine, I'd rank it on DT's top 5)
2. SC (good, some weak spots here and there but with some truly great moments. They did some very remarkable things in this album that don't get enough praise)

3. A Dramatic (at least it has 2 good songs)



4. DT12 (a complete stinker, worst DT album by far for me. Come on, even the epic sucks! what happened to the guys?). I care so little about the last album that I don't even know the song names or how many songs are on the album.

I think I'm in the minority but I really liked the direction they were taking with SC and BC&SL, so having that progression coming to a sudden halt was a big blow for me.

[TheCountOfNYC]

04- ADToE
06- BC&SL
09- DT12
11-SC

[Rodni Demental]

I think I'm in the minority but I really liked the direction they were taking with SC and BC&SL, so having that progression coming to a sudden halt was a big blow for me.

I would kind of agree with this. I was never put off by that direction like some seem to have been (considering it's what go me into the band), and I would have liked to see the progression of where that style was going. But at the same time I guess I don't find DT12 to be as much of a stinker as you do lol. I've found it quite interesting that the band sort of made a bit of a U-turn and these unexpected changes seem to keep the album cycles interesting.

[IDontNotDoThings]

1 - A Dramatic Turn of Events (3th Overall)

Anyway, IMO the Roadrunner albums got worse as they went on, hopefully their next album breaks the chain.

1. Black Clouds (an overall favorite of mine, I'd rank it on DT's top 5)
2. SC (good, some weak spots here and there but with some truly great moments. They did some very remarkable things in this album that don't get enough praise)
3. A Dramatic (at least it has 2 good songs)
4. DT12 (a complete stinker, worst DT album by far for me. Come on, even the epic sucks! what happened to the guys?). I care so little about the last album that I don't even know the song names or how many songs are on the album.

I think I'm in the minority but I really liked the direction they were taking with SC and BC&SL, so having that progression coming to a sudden halt was a big blow for me.

Pretty much this except switching the top 2, SC & BC&SL are amazing (even if BC&SL wasn't their best), perfect amount of heaviness mixed with progression.

[FLEEBS]

I personally love this album. ITPOE is awesome, and POW is probably my favorite song on the album. I've seen a lot of hate for POW, but I love everything about it. Pumps me up every time.

[Train of Naught]

and POW is probably my favorite song on the album.

Awesome, I would personally not go as far as saying favorite on the album, but yeah, the chorus riff pumps me up everytime, this was also an example of Portnoy vocals done right IMO.

[XB0BX]

An unbelievable album, I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why it isn't DT's second best album behind only I&W. The following songs from the album are 10/10 classics that belong right up there with the Metropolis, Change of Seasons and Learning to Lives of the world:

ItPoE Pt. 1
Forsaken
Constant Motion
TDEN
Repentance
PoW
TMoLS
ItPoE Pt. 2

[IDontNotDoThings]

An unbelievable album, I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why it isn't DT's second best album behind only I&W.

Because I though ToT mixed the heaviness & progression better, which is one of the main things SC has going for it. Also because 6DOIT crafts such a complete & well-thought-out collection of songs that they feel like you're actually in the world of whatever it's describing, as opposed to (as someone else in the forum said) SC, which feels more like you're watching a good movie: you may not consider it a masterpiece, but it's still interesting & entertaining enough (in fact I'd call SC epic even though it doesn't necessarily "move me" in the way that some of their others do).

So I stand by what I said before, SC is 4th (& Awake is a close 5th).




Also Repentance kinda sucks plzdntkilmi

[hefdaddy42]

An unbelievable album, I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why it isn't DT's second best album behind only I&W.

The explanation is that no one else likes it as much as you do. 

[TAC]

An unbelievable album, I have yet to hear a plausible explanation for why it isn't DT's second best album behind only I&W.

The explanation is that no one else likes it as much as you do.

 

[IDontNotDoThings]

SC & BC&SL are amazing, perfect amount of heaviness mixed with progression.

Because I though ToT mixed the heaviness & progression better.

Didn't realise this contradiction before, shit.

Just to clear it up: I think ToT did a lot more on its metal side compared to its progressive side (at least a lot more than other DT albums at the time), so ToT was still able to keep its progression it tact while its took on new forms, so while I think SC & BC&SL mix the two sides better, ToT was able to explore new boundaries without sacrificing DT's signature style (at least I didn't think so, but I know a few other people do), which is why I like it more than SC. That's my explanation.