Why Do You Listen to Dream Theater?

[Bill Carson]

The simple answer for me would be that they were a cross between Rush & Metalica - my two favourite bands and genres.
But if I think about it a bit more, what I really loved was the fact that they could write complex music but make it so listenable.
So I had all the great solo's, unisons, time changes etc but you also had melody, mood, emotion.

For example - people will probably not agree with this - but if you take an album like Moonbabies by Planet X. The music is very complex and I can take my hat off to the technical accomplishment but...I feel nothing, I'm not even sure if its music.
Compare that to say 'This Dying Soul'. I mean you have an absolute shred fest at the end that has zero musicality to it but, it works, because of the fact that it was proceeded by fantastic melodies & riffs. Its a case of balance and a bit of everything.

I've just not seen anyone that strikes a balance like DT or does it with so much style.

And one of the main reasons why DT works so well.....
Take MP's new band Adrenaline Mob, I'd not heard the guitarist before and the guy can certainly play. But there was not one solo remotely memorable. I remember listening to JP and what I always loved was that he amalgamated all my favourite players, I could hear Satriani, Lifeson, Hetfield like riffs and so on but he would mesh it all into his own style.. He kind of represents how I feel about DT.
The AM guy, well he's just a shredder and i've heard that like a zillion times. Remember watching JP at G3 and unlike Malmsteen, he never once tried to shred Vai & Satch off the stage.
Its almost like he said...right we're on a whole new level here and speed alone is not gonna cut it with these guys so...lets show that I can play as tastefully and interesting as them.
Remember when your at Vai's level, just playing a million notes per second is not really gonna blow him off the stage...... not when he can play one note and make it sound like an Alien being gang raped by a load of Predators !
But seriously that's how I feel about JP's playing, he's up with the best of them. And for me he's the one that makes DT work.

[tofee35]

Honestly, my friend's fanatical excitement about DT interested me. Seeing LSFNY made me an instant fan. I keep listening because there's always something different with each listen; whether it be the way the cymbal work slightly changes from verse to verse or the way the intricacies of the instrumentation evolves within the same song (it took me 4 minutes to wrap my own head around that one). Not to mention they're great guys

[nightmare_cinema]

Their music makes me feel more strongly and more positively than any other music I've heard, basically.

[jcmistat]

I wasn't really into music much growing up didn't really start until late high school I'm in my mid 20's now. My first real band I liked was Symphony X. I was drawn in by technical prowess of the guitars/solos and amount of different sounds I basically only listened to SX for a while and never found a comparable band. When I discovered DT I liked their music but shrugged them off too fast and kept with SX. Overtime DT grew on me and became by far my favorite band.

Some reasons I listen to DT?

Sheer amount of variety that spans throughout their discography.
Tehnical/complex aspect of the music. I get bored with mainstream music.
It doesn't get stale and after so many listens I still learn and hear new things.
Song lengths, making longer songs not drag and sound good are hard.

I know SX was my first band but DT got me into Progressive Metal and music as a whole. I never really dissected songs down like listened to the time sigs, individual instruments, grow emotionally attached to lyrics like this band. I've discovered so many more since becoming a fan. They say your first true love will always be the best and for me its true.

[Ħ]

They aren't the best, but they're still my favorite, mostly because I'm emotionally so invested in them that anything they do thrills me now.

[emindead]

Why? This is the only band I can't get enough. When I was 15 I wanted to listen to the best band (in the sense that they are the best at each instrument, basically a super-group) around. At that time, there were a lot of great bands that I knew existed but I always put them in a pedestal so I never tried to listen to them. This all changed with DT. I have never experienced the same rush like the first time I laid and listened to SFAM. DT opened my eyes and my ears.

[PuffyPat]

I listen to Dream Theater because they're really good and I like their music, and if I like music I'm gonna listen to it whether it's popular or not.

[senecadawg2]

Incredible musicians making interesting/captivating/thought-provoking music. To sum it up in three words: Never gets old.

[Compadre]

Because it rocks my tits off.  End of story.

[Compadre]

Seriously though (Yes, I can be serious), I just realized how much I agree with the previous poster who said that JP was the driving, epherial (spelling?) force behind The Theat'

I mean, dont get me wrong.  KM, JMX, the ever flawless JR and even 'ol Kevin LaBrie have their moments for me....JP has his artistic hands in just about every song except New Millenium (Total Sherinian/Myung piece), Anna Lee, and Finally Free, just to name a few.

Very inciteful post....

But it still comes down to my nipple tits getting melted off by their sheer awesomeness.

[jayvee]

The simple answer for me would be that they were a cross between Rush & Metalica - my two favourite bands and genres.
But if I think about it a bit more, what I really loved was the fact that they could write complex music but make it so listenable.
So I had all the great solo's, unisons, time changes etc but you also had melody, mood, emotion.

Yes.

[lelanddt]

I was 14. I was in an exploration mode really, and I was listening to every radio song and nu metal rock song around. my friend gave me a choice between opeth's blackwater park and the new godsmack album about 5 years ago, and I chose godsmack. obviously that was a very poor decision and opeth is in my life now anyway, albeit 5 years too late. anyway this is dream theater. the first two songs I heard were stream of consciousness and finally free. i got into them because they were a breath of fresh air, from the stale, predictable, frankly immature music and lyrics on the radio at the time (and today). i am big on lyrical writing, therefore I love bands like vanden plas, subsignal, riverside and opeth for their ability to write lyrics and simply play incredible music. when I heard awake and images and words, i was floored by the lyrical creativity (mostly kevin moore's lyrics, but also john petrucci on awake and myung's learning to live). i wanted music that would blow me away with every listen, and with new material that would never repeat itself or sell out for more money. oh and the first time i heard octavarium all the way through I was