[EDIT: And, yeah, sorry the thread title and poll question are slightly different. There is a character limit for thread titles, so I couldn't make it say what I really wanted it to say.]
Just curious what people would think. Let's imagine we can erase history and there was NOTHING from DT prior to A Dramatic Turn of Events. So either ADTOE, DT12, or The Astonishing would have been the first time you heard DT. If that were the case, would you be a fan? Or is your fandom contingent upon the band's back catalog? Tell me why. And please do NOT take this as an opportunity to bash either era of the band or otherwise break forum rules.
I know for me, the answer is easily "yes." I love the back catalog. But I love the new albums as well. If the Mangini era of the band was all that existed, I would still be all over this band. Would they still be my favorite? That's a tougher question. There is enough strong material that they would definitely be a contender, that's for sure. I guess the point is, for me, this era is easily strong enough to stand on its own. Curious how many agree and how many disagree.
But to maybe look at it a little differently, if the first think I ever heard from the band was ADTOE or DT12, I would have for sure picked up the albums and followed the band to see what else they had. If The Astonishing was the first thing I ever heard, it gets a bit trickier. If I wasn't prepped for it, I'm not sure I would have given the entire thing a chance. And I'm not sure it would have immediately grabbed me after one listen. And even if it did, I'm not sure it would have grabbed me hard enough to make me keep coming back to sit through the entire thing for enough repeat listens to really "get it," or that it would have grabbed me enough to make me want to check out some of their other stuff. I think a lot of my enjoyment of that album derives from my understanding of what I was in for going in, and its context within the band's history. But if, say, ADTOE was my first experience, and then DT12, and then they released TA, I think I would be mostly as prepared and as on board as I am now.