ADTOE and IAW strongest tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8

[deslock]

Mods, if you think it doesn't deserve its own thread, feel free to move it to an existing topic (I looked for one, but this didn't quite match with open threads that I found).

There have been many comparisons between IAW and ADTOE tracks, but here are a couple observations about strongest tracks and track order (all IMO, of course):

1. After several listens, I found that the strong tracks are 1, 3, 5, 6, 8.

2. Of those, even my (current) ranking is similar:

   8. Breaking All Illusions
   5. Bridges in the Sky
   6. Outcry
   1. On the Backs of Angels
   3. Lost Not Forgotten

   8. Learning to Live
   5. Metropolis Pt 1
   1. Pull Me Under
   6. Under A Glass Moon
   3. Take The Time

3. The best songs are the five longest ones on both albums.

4. Each album has one additional honorable mention, both of which are kept out of my playlist because of vocals (On ADTOE, it's 2. Build Me Up, Break Me Down; On IAW, it's 7. Wait For Sleep).

5. As mentioned by others, Breaking All Illusions has a very similar structure and vibe to Learning to Live.  The same is true to a certain extent for the albums overall.

6. LaBrie's singing style works very well on the strong tracks (and there's none of Mike Portnoy's silly, deep, angry vocals).

[namgalsipsclar]

Well if i think about my favourite tracks from Images and Words, it would be tracks 3,4,5,8. So:
Take the Time
Surrounded
Metropolis
Learning to Live

On ADTOE this would be:
Lost Not Forgotten
This Is the Life
Bridges in the Sky
Breaking all illusions

When I think about it I love these 4 tracks, but also I think several songs on the album are equal to them. I honestly dont have a favourite on ADTOE and I reckon most of the album would be my favourite songs

[BlobVanDam]

Kinda disagreed on what are the strong tracks, for both albums. The interesting comparison is that in both cases you've only excluded the ballads and "commercial" songs (which are often among my favourites), and the rest are strong just because the albums are both so consistent. Because of this, for both albums I'd say any of the "weaker" tracks can be considered "honorable mentions".

(and there's none of Mike Portnoy's silly, deep, angry vocals).

That was completely irrelevant to the topic, especially as neither album has any MP vocals. 




Sorry, the whole IaW/ADTOE thing was vague to begin with, but this is just a really strange comparison.

[deslock]

Kinda disagreed on what are the strong tracks, for both albums. The interesting comparison is that in both cases you've only excluded the ballads and "commercial" songs (which are often among my favourites), and the rest are strong just because the albums are both so consistent. Because of this, for both albums I'd say any of the "weaker" tracks can be considered "honorable mentions".

(and there's none of Mike Portnoy's silly, deep, angry vocals).

That was completely irrelevant to the topic, especially as neither album has any MP vocals. 




Sorry, the whole IaW/ADTOE thing was vague to begin with, but this is just a really strange comparison.

I find LaBrie's voice too melodramatic on the ballads on these albums.  To me, Portnoy's voice is a tangential topic since (again IMO) his singing/speaking detracts from a lot of good songs on other albums... that it's missing is one of the reasons I like so many songs on these albums.

This comparison is less of a song analysis and more of an observation of coincidences (which is why I didn't post it at https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=27684.0).  It's in the vein of how it used to be that only even numbered Star Trek movies were good (before 10 sucked and 11 rocked)

[BlobVanDam]

It's in the vein of how it used to be that only even numbered Star Trek movies were good (before 10 sucked and 11 rocked)

Hehe, speaking of which, you really want to hear a real Trek comparison - DT's album covers follow a dark/light theme in the same way that Trek follows the good/bad thing.

ST1 - bad. WDADU - dark
ST2 - good. IaW - light
ST3 - bad (I still like it, but generally it's a worse one). Awake - dark
ST4 - good. FII - light
ST5 - bad. SFAM - dark
ST6 - good. SDOIT - light
ST7 - bad. ToT - dark
ST8 - good. Octavarium - light
ST9 - bad. SC - dark
ST10 - bad. BCASL - dark BREAKS THE TREND
ST11 - good. ADTOE - light CONTINUES FROM THE NEW TREND. ZOMG

I guess you could say they go from light to dark, dark to light.

[KevShmev]

Surrounded is better than both Pull Me Under and Under a Glass Moon.

This is the Life is better than both Lost Not Forgotten and On the Backs of Angels (and Outcry). 

So, yeah.

[senecadawg2]

Surrounded definitely deserves a spot in the 'strongest 5' category.

[Jaffa]

I suppose it's an interesting comparison.  Kinda comes down to tastes though, doesn't it? I'd personally rank both This is the Life and Beneath the Surface over Lost Not Forgotten and Outcry. 

[ariich]

This is one of the most bizarre threads I've ever seen. Can't you just post your opinions in one of the existing threads like everyone else?

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

That's what hipsters do, punk.