Which album got you into DT

[King Postwhore]

I&W.  Heard Pull Me Under and went out and got the cd right away.

[YtseJamittaja]

I found Train of Thought from my brother's shelf and rest of it is history 

[ytserush]

Here's my often repeated tale:


"The Spirit Of Rush Fanzine Number 8 which I bought in New York City about August 1989. On the back inside cover was a Dream Theater feature and When Dream and Day Unite album review that was reprinted from an issue of Kerrang (Never found out what issue it was).

There weren't too many recent bands recording music that I liked in the late 80s save for maybe Kings X, Queensryche, Faith No More and Living Colour.

The feature and review mentioned influences such as Rush, The Dixie Dregs, Kansas, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and at that time it didn't seem like anyone new was recording music with those influences so I was easily suckered in.
I couldn't find the CD anywhere and was forced to spend $17 at a mall chain store for it. I listened to it constantly for about 3 solid months until Presto came out. I never heard another word about them until I stumbled on their mispelled name on the marquee at the Ritz November 14, 1989 opening for the Hogarth-fronted Marillion's debut in New York City.

Yes, I was lucky.

Never heard a word about them again until I found a promo copy of Images and Words for $5 at a spring 1992 record show. It took me a while to get used to James' voice since I'd been listening to Charlie for about 3 years, but I got used to it. James has improved SO much since then.

Anyway, I'll leave you with this amusing quote (I'm not sure who is responsible for it but I think it was the editor) regarding When Dream And Day Unite from The Spirit Of Rush Number 9 (Fall 1989)

"The aforementioned opener (A Fortune In Lies) sums up the album completely--a dense hard rockers paradise with more time changes than the entire Rush and Yes back catalogs put together. A drummer who puts Neil Peart to shame, a vocalist fully capable of holding his own and a sound so full that it actually takes 20 plays to hear everything that's going on in the mix, and all this perfectly crafted and laid down on tape in just four weeks.

Quite frankly, this album rubbishes at least three Rush albums, and the entire Yes series, Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery being the only album I can think of in the same league. I never thought it would happen, but this album makes something like Signals sound resolutely boring; I know I'm going to get hate mail for saying so, but I have to be honest...

If Geddy, Neil and Alex have heard this album, then they probably reacted in one of two ways--become blubbering nervous wrecks, in the knowledge they have some serious young competition, or (hopefully) they have pulled out their fingers in order to show that they can indeed rise to the occasion. This album will either bring out the best in our friends or finish them off..."

That quote was what sold me being a Rush fan."

[jcmistat]

Scenes From a Memory was my first Dream Theater album, I'm glad to say that people consider it to be their best.

[Global Laziness]

"The aforementioned opener (A Fortune In Lies) sums up the album completely--a dense hard rockers paradise with more time changes than the entire Rush and Yes back catalogs put together. A drummer who puts Neil Peart to shame, a vocalist fully capable of holding his own and a sound so full that it actually takes 20 plays to hear everything that's going on in the mix, and all this perfectly crafted and laid down on tape in just four weeks.

Quite frankly, this album rubbishes at least three Rush albums, and the entire Yes series, Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery being the only album I can think of in the same league. I never thought it would happen, but this album makes something like Signals sound resolutely boring; I know I'm going to get hate mail for saying so, but I have to be honest...

If Geddy, Neil and Alex have heard this album, then they probably reacted in one of two ways--become blubbering nervous wrecks, in the knowledge they have some serious young competition, or (hopefully) they have pulled out their fingers in order to show that they can indeed rise to the occasion. This album will either bring out the best in our friends or finish them off..."

Awesome!

[ScioPath]

"The aforementioned opener (A Fortune In Lies) sums up the album completely--a dense hard rockers paradise with more time changes than the entire Rush and Yes back catalogs put together. A drummer who puts Neil Peart to shame, a vocalist fully capable of holding his own and a sound so full that it actually takes 20 plays to hear everything that's going on in the mix, and all this perfectly crafted and laid down on tape in just four weeks.

Quite frankly, this album rubbishes at least three Rush albums, and the entire Yes series, Emerson, Lake and Palmer's Brain Salad Surgery being the only album I can think of in the same league. I never thought it would happen, but this album makes something like Signals sound resolutely boring; I know I'm going to get hate mail for saying so, but I have to be honest..."

[contest_sanity]

Awake, when, knowing I was a huge Rush fan, a friend played Dream Theater for me in 1995.  I was immediately captivated by the mixture of technicality and heaviness on that record, having heard nothing quite like it before.  From thereafter I was hooked.

[Metropolis Pt. II]

In 2004 I was watching Dragonball Z: The History of Trunks, and I was blown away by the music. It was all off of SFAM, so I consider that album to be the one that got me hooked.

[sfam2112]

Falling Into Infinity. Heard "Burning My Soul" on the radio.

[Rina]

Octavarium.

[Global Laziness]

In 2004 I was watching Dragonball Z: The History of Trunks, and I was blown away by the music. It was all off of SFAM, so I consider that album to be the one that got me hooked.

You got into Dream Theater from Dragonball Z? Wow, that's a new one.

[2Timer]

I voted for Awake, even though I owned I&W first. I loved the first two tracks, but none of it clicked with me until after I got Awake.

[BRGM]

Octavarium

[Dublagent66]

I&W 

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I heard Pull Me Under and decided to get I&W, which I hated. I then decided to give them another chance after hearing Constant Motion and bought SC. I loved it. It then opened my mind to the rest. So SC is my answer.

[toro]

AWAKE. DAT SCARRED OUTRO.

[pmahoney1337]

There definitely was not one album that got me into DT. It started with Panic Attack, then Home, then The Glass Prison, and just went all over the place from there. It wasn't for a month or so till I realized how much I&W kicked ass, which is when I really started to get into them.

[lonestar]

I&W.  Heard Pull Me Under and went out and got the cd right away.

Damn fogie ninja'd me.


Course, these damn younglings don't know the joy of randomly hearing a DT song on the radio.

[ZirconBlue]

Images & Words.  I heard Pull My Under on ZRock (on my way home from a summer of Drum & Bugle Corps) and picked up I&W shortly thereafter. 

[Tick]

Octavarium was my intro to Dream Theater!

[Daso]

Greatest Hit... and 21 Other Really Cool Songs

100% honest. Then I heard I&W.

[antigoon]

Scenes. It absolutely blew my mind at the time. I remember just listening to Overture 1928 on repeat in awe. I was literally beside myself...I had no idea music could sound that amazing. Part of me wishes I could go back to then and experience it for the first time again.

[Rina]

Scenes. It absolutely blew my mind at the time. I remember just listening to Overture 1928 on repeat in awe. I was literally beside myself...I had no idea music could sound that amazing. Part of me wishes I could go back to then and experience it for the first time again.

Overture... -reminisces-   

[Sam]

ToT was the first album I heard by DT. I thought it was great, but I didn't get 'into' them until I heard I&W. That was when I fell in love with them

[skydivingninja]

Scenes From a Memory in 2006.  Overture 1928 and Fatal Tragedy impressed me music-wise, TSCO was a great ballad for my classic-rock loving self at the time, and Home finally made me delve more into metal, gradual as it was.

[Kosmo]

I voted for the chili fries one.

[Ħ]

Friend showed me TGP.  I then checked out all of SDOIT.  The amazing variety and modern sound of that record made it the best record to get me into DT.

[Selkies]

ToT. I was big into metallicas MoP and everything Pantera. Also alot of death metal... Especially Deaths "symbolic"  at the time. I then went to SDOIT and SFAM. Then backward. It was an amazing musical journey for sure!

[kartmaze2]

In 2005: mainly SFAM spearheaded by Overture 1928, Strange Déjà Vu and Fatal Tragedy, quickly followed by Images & Words with Metropolis pt 1. The other albums didn't attract my attention until later.

[CrimsonE]

I put down Scenes from a Memory, as it was the first time I started listening consistently to DT, especially after the impressive live album that came before it.  However, I really didn't get into DT until I got broadband in 2004 and started torrenting bootlegs and I heard how amazing their live show really was. 

[fsh3702]

awake，when i listened to 6:00 for the first time, i know that day will be one of the most significant days of my life.

when i listened to caught in a web i felt an exhilaration.

after i finished innocence faded i felt almost crazy.

[RoeDent]

Octavarium

[jcmoorehead]

I was heavily into Pink Floyd at the time and a friend I used to play Matrix Online were talking about music and she mentioned this band called Dream Theater and how they had a new album coming out. She started sending me small snippets of the title track using AIM and I was blown away. So I quickly went out and bought the actual album and haven't looked back since, they quickly became my favourite band.

[PixelDream]

Started with I&W, because I saw 'Pull Me Under' on a metal TV show. Note that this was around 1999/2000.

Didn't like I&W that much (didn't give it much of a chance either), but I tried SFAM when I saw it in the library.

I was absolutely floored with it, and it remained my favorite DT album even while discovering the rest.

Now SFAM is my least favorite DT album. It's probably the best, but I just can't really stand it anymore apart from the mellower tracks. The vocals seem off.. I don't know.

[Kosmo]

I think it was Train of Thought when it was released in '03.