Oh, what the heck... Okay, here is the correct ranking:
1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: Wonderful album. It does have one song I don't care for at all and skip every time. So from the standpoint of consistency, part of me feels like I should rank the much more consistent ADTOE or s/t above this one. But the title song is a wonderful beast of a masterpiece. And every song that is not named Blind Faith is up there among my favorites. With such a huge quantity of music that is so, so good, I can't not rank this one at the top.
2. Scenes from a Memory: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, although plenty of songs by themselves would be just "okay" by DT standards, this is definitely a case where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The band hit it out of the park with this album.
3. A Dramatic Turn of Events: So consistently good from start to finish. Hardly a moment on this entire album that I don't thoroughly enjoy. I could easily rank this as my #1 for the consistent high quality. It's just that its highs don't reach quite as high as those from Six Degrees. But I am still astonished that the band could put out something this good so late in their career.
4. Dream Theater: And continuing my thoughts from ADTOE, this one is right behind it, and there are some days where I might like it just a bit more. Outstanding continuation. If only the drums were mixed better on these two albums.
5. Images & Words: This album is SO inconsistent. But more than half of it is amazing. And the highs on this album are among the best the band has ever done. This is the album that made me a fan back in 1992, and for good reason.
6. Awake: This one is close behind Images & Words, despite sounding so different. The band's heavier, darker side suited them well for this album. Scarred, The Mirror, and Lie are some of the best things the band has done.
7. Octavarium: Song for song, there are better albums that are ranked lower. But the title track is gorgeous. That, the overall concept, and strong songs TROAE, Panic Attack, and Sacrificed Sons really carry this album.
8. Systematic Chaos: Like Images & Words and Octavarium, a very inconsistent album. It is about 2/3 an album of amazing, and about 1/3 of an album that I never listen to. But the amazing parts get this album (in its abbreviated form) a LOT of spins from me.
9. Falling Into Infinity: This album was a slow grower. Songs like LITS and ToT take it over the top. Also has one of my favorite ballads, TAMP. Rounding that out with other quality songs like New Millennium, Peruvian Skies, Just Let Me Breathe, and Anna Lee, this is a fine album, even if it takes awhile to appreciate.
10. Black Clouds: So much promise. But, really, the only songs I can say I truly "love" and listen to with any regularity, ANTR, TSF, and TCOT, which is only half of the six songs on the album. That drags it down a bit. I still like it. And the covers disk is quite good as well. But having so much of the album be skipable drags this one down near the bottom of the discography.
11. Train of Thought: On any given day, this could rank ahead of BCSL and maybe even FII and SC as well. Lots to like here. But I just don't connect as strongly with this album as I do with others. And there are long musical passages in some of the songs that do not hold my interest. Still a solid album. But since I tend to favor dark and heavy, it is interesting that DT's two darkest and heaviest albums rank near the bottom of their discography.
12. WDADU: I'll give the standard criticisms: The production and the vocals really drag this one down for me. But just because the criticisms are standard doesn't mean they are wrong. Still, this album shows a lot of promise. There are some really good songs. And there are some really good moments in others. In a way, this album is typical of debut albums: It really shows a lot of the seeds of what would later make the band great, but it also shows that they were young and had not yet matured in the songwriting process. Still, good initial effort. I am thankful we have live versions of all these songs with James so that I can truly enjoy them.
Unranked: The Astonishing. Really hard to rank. I like it. A lot. But I don't love it. And the length alone makes it an album that will likely start to fall off in terms of number/frequency of listening once the next album drops. As much as I am currently still enjoying it, my gut tells me it will not have strong staying power. I could see it being somewhere in the 7-10 range. Definitely above Black Clouds. But other than that, only time will tell.
Topic: Dream Theater Album Ranking by Loudwire (Read 7202 times)
