Amazing Albums Followed Up By Terrible Albums

[Kotowboy]

I love that Noel's albums are both different to each other and also different to what he's done before.

The first Beady Eye album was laughable. It sounded like an oasis album written solely by Liam.

I wonder what he will do next.

I want him to write a solo album because it will be hilariously bad.

Of course he knows this and instead says "solo albums are for wankers" to hide the fact

that he knows it won't even touch the HFB albums.

[Stadler]

I agree with all of that, but would note that I saw Beady Eye live and while it was a weird show (60 minutes on the nose: the entire album and one cover) it was amazing.  I couldn't take my eyes off Liam the entire time, even though he basically just stood there. 

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

6DOIT -> Everything that came after.

[jakepriest]

6DOIT -> Everything that came after.

So every single album after SDOIT is terrible? lol

[Zantera]

6DOIT -> Everything that came after.

So every single album after SDOIT is terrible? lol

Some of them more than others but in general yes

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Obviously my personal opinion and yes it IS odd for a Dream Theater fan forum, but in general, yes.  6DOIT is the last album that I actually enjoyed.  Everything after has left me underwhelmed and aside from a couple songs or so, it is unlikely I'll ever listen to them again.

[jingle.boy]

Obviously my personal opinion and yes it IS odd for a Dream Theater fan forum, but in general, yes.  6DOIT is the last album that I actually enjoyed.  Everything after has left me underwhelmed and aside from a couple songs or so, it is unlikely I'll ever listen to them again.

Good thing you don't hang out here for the DT discussion!   

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I know, right?

[Enigmachine]

Obviously my personal opinion and yes it IS odd for a Dream Theater fan forum, but in general, yes.  6DOIT is the last album that I actually enjoyed.  Everything after has left me underwhelmed and aside from a couple songs or so, it is unlikely I'll ever listen to them again.

btw jakepriest was probably refering to how you didn't specify DT, so you made it seem like you were saying that any band who released anything after Jan 29 2002 made a terrible album.

Do you really mean terrible though, or just that you aren't really into it? I mean, I know it's possible, but I don't quite see how someone who reallly likes SDoIT can heavily dislike Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds and SIlver Linings, A Dramatic Turn of Events and DT12 (though I could understand it with ToT and TA as those were significant departures from the norm). Just sounds a bit strange to me.

[jakepriest]

btw jakepriest was probably refering to how you didn't specify DT, so you made it seem like you were saying that any band who released anything after Jan 29 2002 made a terrible album.

No. That would be me blowing it way out of proportion lol. Don't really know how you could get a message like that out of the post.

I just don't get how a fan of a band can just completely dismiss half of the band's albums and say that he/she won't ever listen to them again. I mean, I don't like FII as an album at all, but I still do spin it from time to time because I like the band and there's still a few songs that make the album worth a listen.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

I'm not much into any of it.  There aren't any of those albums that I would go out of my way to listen to.  Again, there may be a few specific songs I could point to as listenable (TROAE, for example) and I'll listen to those songs individually on my iPod, not as a part of a whole-album listening.  Overall, they started tending towards longer and more involved songs that my attention span just isn't cut out for.  I guess if I'm not into it, in my head, it equates to terrible.  Because if I didn't think it was terrible, I would be listening to it more.  Maybe not, I don't know.  They're just not for me.  I like them to a certain point and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

[Outcrier]

I don't think DT's discography is that great either. They have a couple mediocre albums.

The silver lining is, they also did a couple classic albums, while there bands out there that never did even one.

[Enigmachine]

btw jakepriest was probably refering to how you didn't specify DT, so you made it seem like you were saying that any band who released anything after Jan 29 2002 made a terrible album.

No. That would be me blowing it way out of proportion lol. Don't really know how you could get a message like that out of the post.

I just don't get how a fan of a band can just completely dismiss half of the band's albums and say that he/she won't ever listen to them again. I mean, I don't like FII as an album at all, but I still do spin it from time to time because I like the band and there's still a few songs that make the album worth a listen.

My apologies then. I just thought it may have been an amusing thing to point out that he didn't mention DT (just saying '6DOIT -> Everything that came after.'). I agree with you btw.

I'm not much into any of it.  There aren't any of those albums that I would go out of my way to listen to.  Again, there may be a few specific songs I could point to as listenable (TROAE, for example) and I'll listen to those songs individually on my iPod, not as a part of a whole-album listening.  Overall, they started tending towards longer and more involved songs that my attention span just isn't cut out for.  I guess if I'm not into it, in my head, it equates to terrible.  Because if I didn't think it was terrible, I would be listening to it more.  Maybe not, I don't know.  They're just not for me.  I like them to a certain point and I'm perfectly comfortable with that.

You draw a thin line between good and terrible then. 

Sounds like you just think they're meh. Terrible implies that you hate it, which you don't really.

That almost qualifies for the other thread, with an OK album (Remedy Lane) leading into the much better BE.

i also disagree here, Remedy Lane is definitely better than BE but both are great 

Yeah agreed, except I think both are basically as good.

[Kotowboy]

I don't think DT's discography is that great either. They have a couple black clouds.

The silver lining is, they also did a couple classic albums, while there bands out there that never did even one.

FTFY

[The King in Crimson]

Led Zeppelin - II -> III, Physical Graffiti -> Presence
Anathema - Weather Systems -> Distant Satellites (not a terrible album but not great either)
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son -> No Prayer
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos -> Black Clouds...
Opeth - Watershed -> Heritage
King Crimson - Lizard -> Islands
Megadeth - Peace Sells... -> So Far, So Good, So What, The System Has Failed -> United Abominations
Muse - Black Holes And Revelations -> The Resistance (not a terrible album, but very, very inconsistent)
Nightwish - Once -> Dark Passion Play
Pink Floyd - The Final Cut -> A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Riverside - ADHD -> SoNGS
Rush - Power Windows -> Hold Your Fire, Counterparts -> Test For Echo

Not many of these are Awesome -> Terrible, but more just sudden, precipitous drops in quality.

[pogoowner]

Opeth - Watershed -> Heritage

I know a ton of people feel that way, but I think Heritage kicks all kinds of ass.

[The King in Crimson]

I like a few songs on Heritage, but overall it just struck me as boring prog-worship with some really disjointed song-writing. Pale Communion felt much more cohesive personally.

[wolfking]

DT12 ----> The Astonishing

[jakepriest]

Muse - Black Holes And Revelations -> The Resistance (not a terrible album, but very, very inconsistent)

I love the Resistance. The only dip in quality is Guiding Light, otherwise it's completely amazing start to finish. Exogenesis Symphony as a whole is probably my favourite Muse song.

[Kotowboy]

DT12 ----> The Astonishing

Wrong thread

[BlobVanDam]

Doesn't belong in either thread.

[Kotowboy]

Doesn't belong in either thread.

[Enigmachine]

Doesn't belong in either thread.

Yes, because they're both amazing.

[BlobVanDam]

Doesn't belong in either thread.

Yes, because they're both amazing.

El. Oh. El.

[Outcrier]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

[BlobVanDam]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

I wouldn't call that a drop off at all. My 10th ranked album followed by 3rd favourite.

[Outcrier]

I'm sure you know the opinions about these two albums.

[Prog Snob]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

This is probably the biggest gap between albums as far as I'm concerned.

Actually wait, second biggest. The biggest being WDADU < I & W, but this is the wrong thread for that direction.

[Enigmachine]

Doesn't belong in either thread.

Yes, because they're both amazing.

El. Oh. El.

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

I'd agree with that, though I wouldn't call FiI terrible. Even the worst DT album is pretty good IMO.

[King Postwhore]

I've never been high on Awake. 

[Prog Snob]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

I wouldn't call that a drop off at all. My 10th ranked album followed by 3rd favourite.

You're an anomaly in that aspect, though.    When Portnoy, one of the main forces in DT history, is so disappointed with the direction of a release that he's considering quitting the band, you know that considering the album a favorite is not liking DT for what kind of band they actually are. It's not an insult. I just know the kind of music you prefer and it makes perfect sense that you consider FII a favorite.

[Train of Naught]

I've never been high on Awake. 

Same.

My biggest drop in quality would either be I&W>Awake or ADTOE>DT12

[BlobVanDam]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

I wouldn't call that a drop off at all. My 10th ranked album followed by 3rd favourite.

You're an anomaly in that aspect, though.    When Portnoy, one of the main forces in DT history, is so disappointed with the direction of a release that he's considering quitting the band, you know that considering the album a favorite is not liking DT for what kind of band they actually are. It's not an insult. I just know the kind of music you prefer and it makes perfect sense that you consider FII a favorite.

But it is liking DT for what they are; It displays all of DT's strengths, and is an excellently written album. Since when does DTF care about what MP thinks anyway? (spoiler alert - never ) As far as I know, the rest of the band hasn't really shown negativity towards FII, and its reputation with fans has also improved greatly over the years as fans have become less narrow minded towards what they think DT is about or should do. The album has many fan favourite songs too.
Excluding WDADU, I don't think DT has ever had a huge differential in quality between two albums in a row anyway, as far as these threads go. It's usually gradual. I wouldn't say they have any amazing albums followed up by terrible ones.

[Prog Snob]

The biggest drop off is Awake > Falling into Infinity.

I wouldn't call that a drop off at all. My 10th ranked album followed by 3rd favourite.

You're an anomaly in that aspect, though.    When Portnoy, one of the main forces in DT history, is so disappointed with the direction of a release that he's considering quitting the band, you know that considering the album a favorite is not liking DT for what kind of band they actually are. It's not an insult. I just know the kind of music you prefer and it makes perfect sense that you consider FII a favorite.

But it is liking DT for what they are; It displays DT's strengths, and is an excellently written album. Since when does DTF care about what MP thinks anyway? (spoiler alert - never ) As far as I know, the rest of the band hasn't really shown negativity towards FII, and its reputation with fans has also improved greatly over the years as fans have become less narrow minded towards what they think DT "should" be. The album has many fan favourite songs too.
Excluding WDADU, I don't think DT has ever had a huge differential in quality between two albums anyway. It's always been gradual.

Well as far as no one else expressing negativity towards it, MP is going to be the one to speak up about his true feelings towards something. I don't see anyone else being that outspoken about something they weren't overly thrilled with. They tried to make a more commercial sounding album with songs that might just get radio play. Since when do they care about that? Pressure from the label is what sent them in that direction. There might be a few songs that better reflect them as a band, but there are also songs on that album that I feel the band would have never released if they had their say in everything. I don't think it's narrow-minded to feel that the album was made more under pressure than with the freedom they've had since.

[Outcrier]

For most, the biggest drop would be Awake > FII or Six Degrees > Train of Thought. Awake and SDOIT are generally in the top 4, while FII and ToT aren't that liked.

I rank ToT 5th in my rankings but i'm talking about general opinion here.