For SDOIT Era Fans

[SystematicThought]

(Anyone is free to comment on this of course, not just SDOIT era fans )

When you first popped in the disc back in 2002 and the heaviness of The Glass Prison played, was it somewhat of a shock to hear this from the band?

This might sound stupid, but the intro alone just is so heavy compared to previous efforts that I thought it might have been a shock to some.

[Lowdz]

It kind of was for me. I'm still not a huge fan of the first disc, though I know many are and that's due to the modern metal sound. I don't hate it and love bits of it, but I'm not often drawn to playing it. My love for the album is for disc 2 and I will play that anytime.

[Dublagent66]

It wasn't really a shock.  I just flatout didn't like it.  I had too much SFAM on the brain and SDOIT didn't really register right away.  Not that I don't like metal but I was expecting something else I guess.  It ended up being my favorite DT album.  Go figure...

[theGonz]

My love for the album is for disc 2 and I will play that anytime.

[Cable]

Yes, it was. As 6DOIT was my first new DT album, I was overbearing with my listening. So when I first played TGP with a friend in the car, I told him to listen, and lied by saying it's not DT. He didn't think it sounded like them either. Not until the vocals kicked in did of course I say it was.

That whole entire intro still rules. Thinking about it, I wish they would have reprised at least the riff from 1:40ish again at some point in the suite, if not the infamous arpeggios for a third time. Or maybe they did in some variation that I have no idea about.

[Plasmastrike]

@CableX - At 4:25 of The Shattered Fortress I think JR is playing the TGP intro arpeggios.

[Madman Shepherd]

When I got this album I was still very much a "casual" fan.  I didn't really like the fast elements of DT, I much rather preferred the melodic and the heavy.  Once I because a hardcore fan, after Train of Though was released and I saw them for a second time, I went back and fell in love with the album.  TGP still took a long time to grow on me...sme with TGD.  BF and Misunderstood grew on me almost immediately upon my first listen.  I also dug half of the title track, though now Disc 2 is definitely my least favorite of that release. 

[SeRoX]

I heard Home before from SFAM, so it wasn't that shocking. But still one of their thrashy-heavy piece.

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah, it was a shock, but in a good way.

[TAC]

I can still remember hearing TGP for the first time. I was already long a huge fan. When TGP ended, I was like whoa WTF! I literally played it a second time before I moved onto the rest of the album.

Unfortunately, TGP has not really aged that well for me.

[Cool Chris]

I can still remember hearing TGP for the first time. I was already long a huge fan. When TGP ended, I was like whoa WTF! I literally played it a second time before I moved onto the rest of the album.

Unfortunately, TGP has not really aged that well for me.

All of this, pretty much. After TGP, I thought "damn, what other awesomeness does this album have in store for me?" After BF, Misunderstood and Disappear, I couldn't believe 4 songs could hold so much greatness. And I still had one whole disc to get through.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in disc 2 after being so amped from getting through disc 1.

[TAC]

Unfortunately, I was disappointed in disc 2 after being so amped from getting through disc 1.

Oh, absolutely!

[DreamerTV]

I seriously thought i had the wrong cd. I was relatively new to DT, and in that year and a half i was listening to everything they had done since then. I was focusing on I&W and Awake, and to me the main difference between those albums and SDOIT was JLB voice. I mean, i knew he had his throat problem but he sounded too different. It took a couple of weeks before i realised it was their best work, and after 10 years i do think that it still is.

[7thHanyou]

I probably don't qualify for this thread, but...

This was probably the third Dream Theater album I heard, after SFAM (first) and I&W (second), and the heaviness just annoyed me.  I liked Home, for example, but I didn't think any of the heavy songs on SDoIT were that good (I like ToT much more, by the way).

Wasn't a fan.  Misunderstood and Disappear were good, but I really just like the second disc of this album.  It had been hyped up to me, especially the first disc, but I've never ranked it among Dream Theater's best and I didn't then, either.  The other two albums had set an exceptionally high bar, and only the second disc came close to meeting it for me.

[Super Dude]

I swear I just made this thread a year ago...

[SystematicThought]

I even did a search! Oh well, this wouldn't be the first time it's happened 

[BlobVanDam]

I swear I just made this thread a year ago...

I definitely recall a similar thread a little while ago.

For me SDOIT was my first DT album, so TGP was a life changing musical experience that kicked my ass.

[El Barto]

Not shocked at all, but definitely noted it's heaviness and thoroughly dug the hell out of it.  The ending is still one of my favorite things they've done.

[Jaq]

Is there a corner for "didn't think it was really THAT heavy, but didn't care since DT has been billed as a progressive metal band for ages"?

Cause I'll be sitting over there if there is.

[wolfking]

At the time, I thought it was the greatest thing I was ever hearing from Dream Theater.

[Ryzee]

Yeah, it was a shock, but in a good way.

[Ben_Jamin]

I don't know how its be a shock with Awake being heavy.

[Progmetty]

I always thought people who said that were basically talking about The Glass Prison, cause nothing else on SDoIT exceeds previous albums heaviness wise.

[Ben_Jamin]

I always thought people who said that were basically talking about The Glass Prison, cause nothing else on SDoIT exceeds previous albums heaviness wise.

Yeah, that's their Pantera influence.