Are there any bad/unlistenable DT studio albums?

[jakepriest]

Yes.

Systematic Chaos 

 

[bosk1]

Yes.

Systematic Chaos 

I agree with the , but only in connection with your statement that Systematic Chaos is somehow bad or unlistenable. 

[Darkstarshades]

Systematic Chaos is easily the most Pornoy DT album.

[BlackInk]

I'd say BC&SL is the most Portnoy.

[King Postwhore]

SC isn't unlistenable, it's just one I don't gravitate too. Not as "wow" as their other albums.

[bosk1]

Systematic Chaos is easily the most Pornoy DT album.

That's interesting.  To me, it is really a JP-dominated album.  And I don't mean that it just sounds guitar heavy, but rather that JP's writing really dominated that album.

[Mosh]

Yes. The fantasy lyrics are really a call back to the first two albums too. Portnoy only really dominates 1 song. I think the perception of it being a Portnoy album comes from the documentary that came with it.

[bosk1]

Right.  But even that, if you get away from who is doing all the talking and look at who is guiding the music itself, it is totally JP.

[Mosh]

As it has probably always been.

[bosk1]

Yeah.  I talked to JP about the writing process and some of the details.  Kinda the thumbnail, as I understand it, is that JP and Jordan typically come in with the lion's share of ideas, as you might expect since the two of them play compositional instruments.  When they would come together to jam those ideas out in the studio, Mike, and to a lesser extent, JM or, to an even lesser extent, James might throw out an idea here or there, or one of them would make comments about taking a riff, melody, or whatever and changing it up, or rearranging a part to go elsewhere.  Mike was big on those changes and variations, and on the arrangement suggestions.  John has always been the primary, with Jordan being the second.  And their percentages of contributions fluctuate a bit from album to album.

That has generally stayed about the same with Mangini in the band, except that he makes fewer compositional or arrangement suggestions.  But otherwise, it is still basically the same process it always was.

[Prog Snob]

And I like it that way.

[Mosh]

That's pretty much what I assumed. I do miss some of Portnoy's structural/arrangement ideas on some of the newer albums. They seem better at writing shorter songs without him (see the last two albums) but there are a few moments in some of the longer songs where I think a revised arrangement could've helped the song. Even Illumination Theory, as much as I loved that song, a lot of people seemed to criticize it for being disjointed or whatever. It's a minor qualm, but I hope they work on that in the future.

On topic: The only DT albums I find unlistenable are the ones with way too loud production. Systematic Chaos literally gives me a headache. On the other hand, a lot of people criticized DT12 for the same reasons and it never bugged me. I actually thought it sounded really good. 

[ytsejam58]

Maybe not so much as albums themselves but there are plenty of Songs I can point out that just set my teeth on edge. Mostly, these are Petrucci songs.
1. The Ministry of Lost Souls: There is a cool breakdown section in the middle but it's so out of place in this slow ballad esque song. It should have been condensed to 4 minutes and maybe upped the tempo a bit but it's just too slow to justify the instrumental in the middle.
2. Half the songs in The Astonishing: Act of Faythe, Chosen, and Losing Faythe to name a few. Ravenskill has good music but the lyrics are God aweful
3. Beneath the Surface is just a personal grievance. Objectionally it is a very beautiful song! but the lyrics is way to close to home for me and it brings up things I wish to forget.
4. I don't know why but I just can't get into Disappear. They made it the last song on their "Greatest Hit" album and on the Light Side even but it is just a dark slow depressing song. If anything they should have put that on the end of the Dark side but why on the Greatest Hit(s) at all? Such an off choice.
5. You not Me has grown on me over multiple listens but that ending Crunchy guitar riff repeating so many times just irritates me.

The rest I can tolerate but those are just the 5 that came to mind.

[BlackInk]

3. Beneath the Surface is just a personal grievance. Objectionally it is a very beautiful song! but the lyrics is way to close to home for me and it brings up things I wish to forget.

Exactly the same for me actually. I forgot about this one. I think it's a pretty good song, but I haven't managed to get through all of it in years because I just can't.

So yeah, BtS is unlistenable for me, but not because it's bad.

[Darkstarshades]

I think it's one of DT's best mellow songs, however, it does manage to summon a very sad feeling on me.

DT is sometimes very good at this, I once read somewhere a person who couldn't get through Sacrificed Sons because it reminded him so so much of seeing the towers fall with his own eyes.

[matthewmatt]

There are no really "bad" or "unlistenable" DT albums as far as I'm concerned, there are merely "hard to listen to" albums and those are The Astonishing, IaW and Awake, the former because it requires a certain mood from the listener, it's that long and that different, the latter two because those are the only DT albums I find rather uneven, so they allow my mind to wander too much...

[FsF]

Systematic Chaos and The Astonishing are by far my least favourite DT albums, so they might be unlistenable if I'm grading on a curve, but not in by general standards. Voted no.

[don_waka]

Ever since Train of Thought I have been unable to listen to a whole DT album without skipping tracks. In this very same album there are such great songs like Stream of Consciousness but it makes me wanna cut my balls and just skip it when Rudess starts playing his silly little notes, similar to what he did in A Change of Seasons from LSFNY (shit, I wanted to kill him). Very hard for me to listen to the whole album from first to last songs.

Octavarium is the same. What is Panic Attack doing there? Never Enough? Sacrificed Sons? Looks like they're just there to use up some space on the record.

Systematic Chaos. Don't even get me started. I think I signed my divorce papers with DT after listening to Constant Motion and Dark Eternal Crap.

[jakepriest]

Octavarium is the same. What is Panic Attack doing there? Never Enough? Sacrificed Sons? Looks like they're just there to use up some space on the record.

Systematic Chaos. Don't even get me started. I think I signed my divorce papers with DT after listening to Constant Motion and Dark Eternal Crap.

Yeah fuck those songs. I don't like them so they're utter crap worthless waste of time music. 

[Kotowboy]

I'm biased because Octavarium is my favourite Dream Theater album - but I love Sacrificed Sons & Panic Attack. Yes - "even" I Walk Beside You & The Answer Lies Within.

I also think that The Astonishing is their best album since Octavarium.

[don_waka]

Octavarium is the same. What is Panic Attack doing there? Never Enough? Sacrificed Sons? Looks like they're just there to use up some space on the record.

Systematic Chaos. Don't even get me started. I think I signed my divorce papers with DT after listening to Constant Motion and Dark Eternal Crap.

Yeah fuck those songs. I don't like them so they're utter crap worthless waste of time music. 

You said so, sir 

[Darkstarshades]

Wtf is ACOS EP doing but taking space at my local music store? Space that could be used by a far better record.

[KevShmev]

Octavarium is the same. What is Panic Attack doing there? Never Enough? Sacrificed Sons? Looks like they're just there to use up some space on the record.
 

None of those three are favorites of mine, but saying they are there just to take up space doesn't make a lot of sense.  The flow of the record wouldn't be nearly as good if you took out any of those songs (and that album is not a favorite of mine). 

Systematic Chaos. Don't even get me started. I think I signed my divorce papers with DT after listening to Constant Motion and Dark Eternal Crap.

I thought the same thing at first, too, but while Constant Motion still sounds mostly bad to my ears, The Dark Eternal Night grew on me; it's basically the band's only "big dumb" metal song.  They needed one of those. 

[Outcrier]

Though they aren't unlistenable, both WDADU and CD 2 of The Astonishing fits the bill.

[Zantera]

Even though I haven't loved a DT album since SDOIT, it wasn't an obvious "yes" at first because most of the albums after have some redeemable qualities for me. But I still went with yes mostly because of the last 2. DT12 was incredibly hard for me to get through and I found no positives personally. The Astonishing - not so much for the quality of the music (which was a step up from DT12), it's just that I don't think I could sit through those 130 minutes again.

But hey, DT are hardly alone in being a band with 13 albums where you avoid 1 or 2 of them.

[jammindude]

I voted yes on the basis of Systematic Chaos....but that might be a bit of an exaggeration.    Only half or so is totally unlistenable.   The other half ranges from pretty good to "meh".    That's the only album that would even be close to the running for that label.   

[MHStrawn]

Until 2009 there were no unlistenable DT albums for me.  Black Clouds & Silver Linings, however, is something I never listen to.  You can now add The Astonishing to that list...though TA is worse than BC&SL IMO. 

Honestly, it's pretty impressive that out of the band's nearly 20 hours of studio material most of it has held up very well. 

[Kotowboy]

I voted yes on the basis of Systematic Chaos....but that might be a bit of an exaggeration.    Only half or so is totally unlistenable.   The other half ranges from pretty good to "meh".    That's the only album that would even be close to the running for that label.   

Unlistenable as in sound quality ? Even then i'd say Death Magnetic is way worse.

Unlistenable as in you don't like the songs on half the album ? That's a bit hyperbolic. Saying the songs are so BAD - it's actually impossible to sit through them.


Not when Surrounded exists

[Mosh]

I find SC unlistenable on both fronts.

[Art]

SC is almost unlistenable for me.

I like WDADU just fine, on the other hand.

[FLEEBS]

I voted no, but I have a REALLY hard time with DT12.

[Kotowboy]

I voted no, but I have a REALLY hard time with DT12.

It's only that horrible snare that bothers me.

[FLEEBS]

I voted no, but I have a REALLY hard time with DT12.

It's only that horrible snare that bothers me.

I've got a lot of reasons, but what bothers me the most is the overall production and the drum sounds as a whole.

[toro]

I have a weird relationship with Black Clouds:

Also, as much as I love A Nightmare to Remember, I think it's an exhausting song. Every time I listen to it I love it and I headbang and air-drum like a crazed gorilla, but I feel the urge of putting something that's not DT afterwards. It always leaves me on need on a break. Also, speaking of the album flow, it doesn't help when it's followed by one of DT's worst songs ever lol.

Same here. I have a weird releationship with it too. I love, like a lot, really specific bits of the album. Like Beautiful Agony for example, which at the time gave me hope. I was getting kind of tired of their whole trade-off structure and on my first listen to the album back in 2009, when that section started I got really excited for the album. I couldn't wait to hear the rest of the song! and the album too... and then... the most exhausting trade-off they have ever done happened. And I know you said it was one of their best but it killed the song for me.
And it was all downhill with some really high ups here and there with BC&SL.

AROP? Hate it.
Wither? Kinda ok I guess.
The Shattered Fortress? Found it really repetitive, the Jordan solo got really exhausting to towards the end. BUT THAT FRANKENSTEIN RIFF BENEATH IT HOLY SHIT!
The Best Of Times? Great, great solo. Nothing else.
TCOT? I like it musically, but the lyrics...

BC&SL is the only album where I see that cheesy-ness a lot of people point out with DT.

but it makes me wanna cut my balls and just skip it when Rudess starts playing his silly little notes

And this is one of my biggest problems with recent DT. The album I almost never ever ever go back to is DT12. Like BC&SL all went south from the first track. I was loving TEI and then, silly Jordan notes that really feel our of place.
What is really funny is that I don't find any song on that album bad, but it's really lackluster and kinda boring.

And to answer to the topic, a couple of months ago I would have said The Astonishing was unlistenable, But now it grew on me, and it grew even more when I saw it live. Like I said, I had grown tired of the little trade-offs and silly little sounds from Rudess and this album avoids that. It reeks of a vanity project (Something I had started believing DT was to Rudess thanks to the already mentioned Rudess antics) but it worked.
And don't get me wrong, I really thing Rudess is great, and it shows in TA.

So TL;DR
No, every album has something to listen.

[soupytwist]

The Astonishing is by far my least fav album.   I'd said I'd class it as unlistenable for me as I've only managed to listen to it all the way though in one sitting once.  I have however made an abridged version which removes the songs I dislike (and the fucking Nomacs crap) that is roughly half the original length that I enjoy - but the story no longer makes sense.   So yeah in it's proper format The Astonishing is unlistenable for me, but it is salvageable with some editing.