Are DT albums too long?

[Ħ]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

[Jaffa]

I'd like to say I understand, but I truly don't.  If the music is good, no amount of it will be unpalatable for me.  If it's not good, I'll just skip the songs I don't like. 

[senecadawg2]

nah

[j]

I think any album that isn't perfect in my own opinion (i.e. almost every album by every band) is technically "too long," because there is weaker stuff that could have been left out if not changed.

As for DT specifically, I'm not strictly an "album guy" anyway, so it doesn't bother me if I only have time to listen to a song or two here and there.  So yeah I guess their albums can run a little long, but if they were shorter, I don't think it would really change how I listen to them.  Which I haven't in quite some time.

-J

[Vivace]

when it comes to Dream Theater I tend to think they often write songs that are too long and this does cause a bit of inflation to the album however if the songs weren't so meandering in my opinion and were more solid such as what we had with Awake, SFAM and now ADTOE length wouldn't matter. But songs like Octavarium where the intro in my mind is just way too long. In a concert setting the intro suits the song well given that its a great solo op for Jordan and it works well in Score, but on the album it really does slow the song down. This brings up an interesting side comment. Most of the material post SFAM that I find long and meandering on the albums I don't find long and meandering live. I guess when it came to their early career they really nailed the format of the album and gave us some surprises during the concert. But with the last 5 albums there is material that really could have been edited for the album but restored for the concert. I dunno I guess I just an album and a live album differently. On an album I much prefer songs to be straight to the point with the noodling, cover ideas, and meandering instrumentals to be more suited for a live album. But that's just me.

[Super Dude]

I think the issue shouldn't be whether they're too long or short, but how well they're utilizing the vast amount of time available to them. I don't think having 30 minutes of good stuff is better than having 70 minutes of crap, but I would prefer good music to bad.

[Another_Won]

Why is your post count only 1?  At first I thought this thread was your first post.

[DebraKadabra]

This thread is blasphemy plain and simple.  I'd like a double album with one instumental song.

I would too, but... JLB?  He's the main reason I'm a DT fan in the first place.

[hefdaddy42]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

Why?  How?

[wasteland]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

You could split a new coming album and listen to the second half one year later, if 80 minutes every two years overwhelm to your palate 

[Kwyjibo]

If it's filled with great music, no album can be too long.

When I think an album is too long, it's mostly because of some songs that i don't connect with or that i find outright boring, not that there's too much music (timewise) on an album.

[darkshade]

All Dream Theater albums should be the length of a Flower Kings double album. (avg. 2 1/2 hours)

[Ħ]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

Why?  How?

Train of Thought, for example. I think the songs range from average to incredible. Nothing is bad on its own. But when you try to run through it front to back, you lose interest around Stream of Consciousness.


This is only a problem because DT is an album-oriented band, so they should be concerned with things like flow.

[hefdaddy42]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

Why?  How?

Train of Thought, for example. I think the songs range from average to incredible. Nothing is bad on its own. But when you try to run through it front to back, you lose interest around Stream of Consciousness.


This is only a problem because DT is an album-oriented band, so they should be concerned with things like flow.

I don't lose interest at Stream of Consciousness. 

For the most part, their albums flow fine.

[johncal]

No, actually they are about 5" and round.

[DebraKadabra]

[seasonsinthesky]

Train of Thought, for example. I think the songs range from average to incredible. Nothing is bad on its own. But when you try to run through it front to back, you lose interest around Stream of Consciousness.

This is only a problem because DT is an album-oriented band, so they should be concerned with things like flow.

i agree fully with this. TOT is a big blob of crushed-to-the-ceiling metal compared to every other DT album, and because that's the measuring stick, the relative lack of dynamics makes it difficult to sit through for the whole hour. obviously, there are dynamics, just not on the level of most of the other records. without that contrast, it's waaaaay more fatiguing to listen to in total (which is why i don't!). i get that this was the very thing the band were going for, but it made for a pretty blah album imo, especially compared to the highlights surrounding it in the discography.

[Vivace]

My biggest issue with TOT is that the same tricks are used over and over again. But I do find the first half that album better than the last half.

[fadetoblackdude7]

As I've said before, I love how DT fills up the disc with each album, it's one of the million things I value from them, as most bands barely break an hour with albums these days. Do I want DT to write shorter songs? Sure, but we need epics here and there. As long as they keep filling them though.

[jsem]

Album length is where it should be at. So I voted no.

[zach]

Longs good, shorts good, its all good. Longs better though.

[orcus116]

i dont understand how an album can be too long.

I don't believe for a second that you've listened to an album and never thought "man they should've chopped a song or two off". Maybe I'm tough to please but I rarely find an album that's north of 60 minutes that has 100% worthwhile material on it. There's almost always at least a song or a lengthy section or handful of sections that feel like they should've been edited out of the final product. There is definitely such thing as too much material on an album because it can ruin the flow of an otherwise great listening experience.

[Ruba]

Yes.

DT albums, that aren't too long:

When Dream and Day Unite
Images and Words
Awake
Falling into Infinity
Metropolis pt.2: Scenes from a Memory.

So there are six albums, that are too long.

I'd ditch Disappear and Overture from SDOIT, As I Am from TOT and I'd make ITNOG shorter, I Walk Beside You from Octavarium, Constant Motion from SC, Wither from BC&SL and I'd make ANTR shorter and BMU,BMD from ADTOE.

[obscure]

Definitely opposite. I even think I want them make longer albums. DT is one the bands I can listen the album from the begining to the end, track by track. So I don't want this magic go away.

NO.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I'd ditch Disappear and Overture from SDOIT, As I Am from TOT and I'd make ITNOG shorter, I Walk Beside You from Octavarium, Constant Motion from SC, Wither from BC&SL and I'd make ANTR shorter and BMU,BMD from ADTOE.

Wat? I love that song, it´s so atmospheric! And also: I don´t see the point of this thread?

[Ruba]

I'd ditch Disappear and Overture from SDOIT, As I Am from TOT and I'd make ITNOG shorter, I Walk Beside You from Octavarium, Constant Motion from SC, Wither from BC&SL and I'd make ANTR shorter and BMU,BMD from ADTOE.

Wat? I love that song, it´s so atmospheric! And also: I don´t see the point of this thread?

I don't. It's OK, but the other four songs on CD 1 are just  and Disappear is far from it. And I hate that "A day like today"-part.

[zach]

Yeah well the polls show that the nos have by more than a 100 to 1. So shut it.

[Scorpion]

I'd ditch Disappear and Overture from SDOIT, As I Am from TOT and I'd make ITNOG shorter, I Walk Beside You from Octavarium, Constant Motion from SC, Wither from BC&SL and I'd make ANTR shorter and BMU,BMD from ADTOE.

Wat? I love that song, it´s so atmospheric! And also: I don´t see the point of this thread?

This. Disappear is the second best song from SDOIT, after Blind Faith (yes, above the title track), I can't fathom how anyone can dislike this song, especially the "day like today" part, which is incredibly moving.

[SeRoX]

Disappear is the second best song from SDOIT, after Blind Faith (yes, above the title track), I can't fathom how anyone can dislike this song, especially the "day like today" part, which is incredibly moving.

You got it right, mate. For me it's the best ballad DT has done. Actually, JLB's written DT's best lyrics so far. Blind Faith and Disappear are two of them.

[Orion1967]

yes 11 (8.7%)

no 116 (91.3%)

This poll shows that there are 8.7% of the people on this forum, at this time....


... are simply wrong.

[Jaffa]

i dont understand how an album can be too long.

I don't believe for a second that you've listened to an album and never thought "man they should've chopped a song or two off". Maybe I'm tough to please but I rarely find an album that's north of 60 minutes that has 100% worthwhile material on it. There's almost always at least a song or a lengthy section or handful of sections that feel like they should've been edited out of the final product. There is definitely such thing as too much material on an album because it can ruin the flow of an otherwise great listening experience.

What's you're describing sounds to me like an issue of consistency in quality, not length.  There may be a correlation between length and consistency, but it still seems me that albums are ruined by the presence of weaker songs, not by the presence of too many good songs. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

I voted no, just because I rarely listen to complete DT albums anymore. I usually listen the songs sporadically, but not Images and Words from Pull Me Under to Learning to Live, per se. Even though, I never felt it was hard to go through the 70+ minutes of music, except maybe for Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds and Silver Linings. Systematic Chaos is very hard to listen in one take, and Black Clouds feels too disjointed in my opinion.

[bosk1]

i dont understand how an album can be too long.

I don't believe for a second that you've listened to an album and never thought "man they should've chopped a song or two off". Maybe I'm tough to please but I rarely find an album that's north of 60 minutes that has 100% worthwhile material on it. There's almost always at least a song or a lengthy section or handful of sections that feel like they should've been edited out of the final product. There is definitely such thing as too much material on an album because it can ruin the flow of an otherwise great listening experience.

What's you're describing sounds to me like an issue of consistency in quality, not length.  There may be a correlation between length and consistency, but it still seems me that albums are ruined by the presence of weaker songs, not by the presence of too many good songs. 

This.  I can DEFINITELY say I have never listed to any album and thought it was too long.  Ever.  If it's good, I want more of it.  If it's not good, I wish it were better, not shorter.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I can DEFINITELY say I have never listed to any album and thought it was too long.  Ever.  If it's good, I want more of it.  If it's not good, I wish it were better, not shorter.

[senecadawg2]

Don't get me wrong - having more music is nice, but too much is unpalatable.

You could split a new coming album and listen to the second half one year later, if 80 minutes every two years overwhelm to your palate 

What is this 'Breaking All Illusions' I keep hearing about???