I'm sure I've asked this before

[Super Dude]

But I forgot how people answered, so here we go again!

To all the seasoned DT fans (sorry TOX), when you heard Six Degrees for the first time, were you surprised when you spun the first disc and all this metal was coming out?  Because I've been doing my pre-release album marathon and aside from some hints on Awake, I still don't see how anyone could've seen that coming, and even that was grungy metal, not like true metal.

[Edan the Man]

I'm not the kind of long time fan you're pointing this question at, but I feel its worth saying I started on Train of Thought, and eventually got to SDOIT after being fully acquainted with teh metal.

That said, it was the start of the second disc that made me go WTF??

[hefdaddy42]

But I forgot how people answered, so here we go again!

To all the seasoned DT fans (sorry TOX), when you heard Six Degrees for the first time, were you surprised when you spun the first disc and all this metal was coming out?  Because I've been doing my pre-release album marathon and aside from some hints on Awake, I still don't see how anyone could've seen that coming, and even that was grungy metal, not like true metal.

I was surprised when I first heard The Glass Prison.  It was amazing.  It physically affected me.  And then came Blind Faith and I was like, this sounds more like DT.

But what do you mean, "all this metal"?  I mean, TGP was (and still is) the heaviest thing they've ever done, but other than TGD, where is the rest of the metal that should shock us?

[Super Dude]

But I forgot how people answered, so here we go again!

To all the seasoned DT fans (sorry TOX), when you heard Six Degrees for the first time, were you surprised when you spun the first disc and all this metal was coming out?  Because I've been doing my pre-release album marathon and aside from some hints on Awake, I still don't see how anyone could've seen that coming, and even that was grungy metal, not like true metal.

I was surprised when I first heard The Glass Prison.  It was amazing.  It physically affected me.  And then came Blind Faith and I was like, this sounds more like DT.

But what do you mean, "all this metal"?  I mean, TGP was (and still is) the heaviest thing they've ever done, but other than TGD, where is the rest of the metal that should shock us?

Also Panic Attack.

[hefdaddy42]

WTF, you said specifically the first disc of 6DOIT.

[Super Dude]

Oh, well in that case what about Misunderstood? And The War Inside My Head?

I didn't mean the first disc by itself, just insofar as it was the introduction to this new sound.

[PowerSlave]

I was more surprised by the ending of misunderstood.

War Inside My Head was pretty damn heavy and ofcourse TGP but, the rest of the album didn't come off that heavy to me. I remember thinking that About to Crash sounded like a Steve Vai riff.


edit: ninja'd

[hefdaddy42]

Oh, well in that case what about Misunderstood? And The War Inside My Head?

I didn't mean the first disc by itself, just insofar as it was the introduction to this new sound.

WTF Super Jew

But I forgot how people answered, so here we go again!

To all the seasoned DT fans (sorry TOX), when you heard Six Degrees for the first time, were you surprised when you spun the first disc and all this metal was coming out?  Because I've been doing my pre-release album marathon and aside from some hints on Awake, I still don't see how anyone could've seen that coming, and even that was grungy metal, not like true metal.

Say what you mean. 

Now please restate the question you would actually like answered.   

[Super Dude]

The first disc introduced you to said metal sound (or more metal than previous stuff).  The album from there on generally carries that vibe beyond the first disc, even if by and large the SDOIT suite itself is *considered* more like DT's proggy side.  I don't think it's that hard to understand.

And y'know what?  Many of the songs themselves may still be what's considered proggy, but even within those already we have dropped tuning on the guitar, those guitar-keyboard tradeoff solos people have come to loath in recent years, and MP banging away like a motherfucker.  That sounds a lot like metal to me.

[hefdaddy42]

What's hard to understand is Train of Thought and Systematic Chaos.

Having said that, 6DOIT had some stuff that was heavier than normal, but only TGP stood out in that regard.  The album was more experimental than heading in an overall metal direction.

[reo73]

It didn't phase me.  I remember thinking 'Home' was heavy at the time but TGP seemed a natural step and was such a good song.  Interestingly, it is the only song on 6D where Petrucci uses a Recto instead of the MIIC+ just to give it that heavier feeling.

[ResultsMayVary]

I was more thinking 'wtf!' at the beginning of the second disc after listening to the onslaught of metal that is disc 1. But, that makes it awesome and my favorite DT album.

[aXygnus]

Whoa... I had never noticed the Majesty logo in this cover before, damn...

[JediKnight1969]

Whoa... I had never noticed the Majesty logo in this cover before, damn...

I saw the logo at first look and didn't like it. I still think they should have put it carved on one of the tunnel bricks: the big one on the left.

[duncan3dc]

It didn't phase me.  I remember thinking 'Home' was heavy at the time but TGP seemed a natural step and was such a good song.  Interestingly, it is the only song on 6D where Petrucci uses a Recto instead of the MIIC+ just to give it that heavier feeling.

Exactly, there's heavy moments on Scenes, and certainly previous albums. It just felt like a natural progression from there.
And as many have mentioned, it's not exactly 120 minutes of in your face metal, they still blend the elements as with previous albums.

Maybe you should have targeted your question at Train of Thought first listens, I can imagine spinning that disc without being aware of the contents would be a bit of a shock.

[johncal]

But I forgot how people answered, so here we go again!

To all the seasoned DT fans (sorry TOX), when you heard Six Degrees for the first time, were you surprised when you spun the first disc and all this metal was coming out?  Because I've been doing my pre-release album marathon and aside from some hints on Awake, I still don't see how anyone could've seen that coming, and even that was grungy metal, not like true metal.

I was surprised when I first heard The Glass Prison.  It was amazing.  It physically affected me.  And then came Blind Faith and I was like, this sounds more like DT.

But what do you mean, "all this metal"?  I mean, TGP was (and still is) the heaviest thing they've ever done, but other than TGD, where is the rest of the metal that should shock us?

Glass Prison affected me the same way. Even after listening to it for weeks it still amazed me. It was the first Dream Theatrer song I had ever heard. What an introduction!

[Mebert78]

Yes, I was a little taken aback by the metalness of "The Glass Prison."  That song was not my thing, and still isn't.  I think that song I'm one of the few DT fans that don't rate that song highly.

[Cool Chris]

That said, it was the start of the second disc that made me go WTF??

It wasn't the start for me, but about half way through, where I thought "Is this song/suite/whatever going to get interesting at all?" I was pumped from the start of disc 1, aside from being put off by some of the rapping, and the news reports at the start of TGD. Otherwise I could not have been more pleased with SDoiT after my first listen. I didn't think it was all solid metal.

What's hard to understand is Train of Thought and Systematic Chaos.

ToT isn't hard to understand if you think about them wanting to write songs with live performance in mind, as they have stated, since they all come across as sounding better live. I still don't understand CM and TDEN.

[Icebear]

Yes, I was a little taken aback by the metalness of "The Glass Prison."  That song was not my thing, and still isn't.  I think that song I'm one of the few DT fans that don't rate that song highly.

Even though I've come to appreciate TGP a bit more lately, I'm definitely with you this one. I just never got the chills everyone else seems to get when listening to this song. The intro is cool, the arppegios fantastic, the heavy riff after that is tasty and then... I'm about ready to move on to the next track.

But, like I said. It's grown on me recently.

[Madman Shepherd]

I was actually a casual fan of DT until probably 2005 so I have a slightly different perspective.  I was put off by a lot of the prog stuff on SFAM and wished the album would have been 40 minutes of just the strongest riffs and melodies (I have since gotten over that view).  Even though I love the metal elements, I was put off by disc 1, except for Blind Faith and Misunderstood.  I loved the second disc minus War Inside My Head and The Question That Stumped Them All.   In retrospect I can't really listen to the second disc except for About to Crash. 

Until Octavarium I always had trouble getting into about half the songs on any given DT album.  Now it doesn't take much. 

[MasterShakezula]

I was surprised that 6 Degrees was lighter than I thought it'd be.  It was the last 00s DT album I had heard and had a good deal less metal than TOT, SC, and probably BC. 

I was more surprised when I first heard Awake (it was my 2nd after I&W), because I had heard many hype it as being one of DT's heaviest.  It turned out to be a mix of some heavy and a lot more light stuff. 

[Dr. DTVT]

Coming off of SFaM, it kind of kept me off guard, but at the same time it wasn't completely unexpected based on the teaser videos the band was releasing during the recording process.

This post was inspired by The Great Debate.

[bss4life15]

TGP was the first Dream Theater song i ever heard.  I was more taken aback when i listened to Metropolis pt.1 (it was a mix cd that my friend sent me, saying they were the best DT songs) after that.

[EuropaEndlos]

Well, I became a fan in 04/05ish so Octavarium was what was coming out, but I checked out SFAM, I&W, Awake, FII before I checked out Octavarium.  Then I checked out ToT and 6DOIT.

I am still not a huge fan of 6DOIT to be honest...  It's on my 2nd or 3rd tier according to that tier post.

Love Glass Prison.  Great Debate FINALLY started growing on me...  Everything else on disc 1, doesn't do much for me.  Really enjoy disc 2 though, especially some of the least favorites like The Test That Stumped Them All...

I got chills when they performed that at Radio City on April 1st 2006...  Taht and the "trapped inside this" part were the two parts I was like "holy hell this rules!"