What's Everyone's Problem with Systematic Chaos?

[BlobVanDam]

Fuck yeah more SC hate.

I actually much prefer SC to ADTOE, and to BCASL too. My only problem with the album is that some of the songs drag a bit. It's not that the sections are even bad, but they're not really adding to the songs either.
I'm referring specifically to the end of Repentance, and the instrumentals of TMOLS and ITPOE.
Aside from that, it's a pretty solid album, and underrated.

[?]

Constant Motion is cool at first, but gets old fast, TDEN has those annoying distorted vocals and one of my least favorite DT instrumental sections ever, Prophets of War is just meh, TMOLS feels like 2 song glued together, Repentance gets boring after JP's solo, ITPOE1 is great but part 2 goes downhill after Heretic, Forsaken is not bad but not that special either.

tl;dr version: all the songs have certain flaws, except for one (which, however, isn't a great song), and that's why SC is easily DT's weakest album IMO.

[Dreamer81]

Beacuse paired with BC&SL is their worst album you can really hear they were running low on ideas, i only save TMOLS and ITPOE part 1, the rest is really forgettable (well, maybe forsaken can be saved too).

[Sketchy]

I like it, it's just far from my favourite.

[Super Dude]

Fuck yeah more SC hate.

I actually much prefer SC to ADTOE, and to BCASL too. My only problem with the album is that some of the songs drag a bit. It's not that the sections are even bad, but they're not really adding to the songs either.
I'm referring specifically to the end of Repentance, and the instrumentals of TMOLS and ITPOE.
Aside from that, it's a pretty solid album, and underrated.

Do you actively dislike the other two albums or do you just rank SC higher? Jw.

[Ruba]

Constant Motion sucks, but everything else rocks. The whole ITPOE is my favourite DT song and I love the hell out of Repentance and Prophets of War.

[BlobVanDam]

Fuck yeah more SC hate.

I actually much prefer SC to ADTOE, and to BCASL too. My only problem with the album is that some of the songs drag a bit. It's not that the sections are even bad, but they're not really adding to the songs either.
I'm referring specifically to the end of Repentance, and the instrumentals of TMOLS and ITPOE.
Aside from that, it's a pretty solid album, and underrated.

Do you actively dislike the other two albums or do you just rank SC higher? Jw.

I really like BCASL, it's just a less consistent because it has a couple of weaker tracks (and with only 6 tracks, that's more of a problem than it would be for an album with more tracks). And I wouldn't say I dislike ADTOE, but I do rank it as one of my least favourite DT albums.

[Elite]

Systematic Chaos is my favourite album from my least favourite DT era, if that makes any sense. That said, there are only 3 DT album I enjoy less than SC, but I don't think there's much wrong with it. Forsaken is okay, Repentance is rather boring, Prophets of War is forgettable and the instrumental section in TMOLS is just wrong, but the other tracks are awesome, and especially The Dark Eternal Night and ITPOE Pt. II.

[Aquila Chrysaetos]

No problem here with SC!

[Quarter_Cask]

i don't have a problem with SC... I've sold it 

[ricky]

i don't really have a problem with it.

[yorost]

Also, coming after such a good album as Octavarium, it was hard for Systematic Chaos to live up to it, let alone surpass it.

Systematic Chaos might not be great, but it was a welcome recovery from the wreck of Octavarium.

[Elite]

Also, coming after such a good album as Octavarium, it was hard for Systematic Chaos to live up to it, let alone surpass it.

Systematic Chaos might not be great, but it was a welcome recovery from the wreck of Octavarium.

You are absolutely right.

[manticore999]

I love ITPOE pt.1 and the flow into the intro to Forsaken is awesome.  Other than that, though, I skip the rest.  At least it's better than BC&SL - I never listen to anything off of that one.

[theseoafs]

Also, coming after such a good album as Octavarium, it was hard for Systematic Chaos to live up to it, let alone surpass it.

Systematic Chaos might not be great, but it was a welcome recovery from the wreck of Octavarium.

There are so many things wrong with this post.

[King Postwhore]

Also, coming after such a good album as Octavarium, it was hard for Systematic Chaos to live up to it, let alone surpass it.

Systematic Chaos might not be great, but it was a welcome recovery from the wreck of Octavarium.

There are so many things wrong with this post.

Agreed.

[Perpetual Change]

Bad production and terrible sequencing. Tracks 1 through 4 are OK, but after that the album snowballs. The "triple play" that is "Repentance", "Prophets of War", and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is more like a strikeout. It's probably the worst half hour of music on any Dream Theater CD, and it's all back-to-back like that. It's a huge wall that never fails to keep me from enjoying the album as a work from beginning to end. 

Plus, the phoned-in sounding performances from James, John M., and Mike don't really help.

[BlobVanDam]

Bad production and terrible sequencing. Tracks 1 through 4 are OK, but after that the album snowballs. The "triple play" that is "Repentance", "Prophets of War", and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is more like a strikeout. It's probably the worst half hour of music on any Dream Theater CD, and it's all back-to-back like that. It's a huge wall that never fails to keep me from enjoying the album as a work from beginning to end. 

Plus, the phoned-in sounding performances from James, John M., and Mike don't really help.

For me that title easily belongs to the last half hour of Awake.

[bosk1]

Bad production and terrible sequencing. Tracks 1 through 4 are OK, but after that the album snowballs. The "triple play" that is "Repentance", "Prophets of War", and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is more like a strikeout. It's probably the worst half hour of music on any Dream Theater CD, and it's all back-to-back like that. It's a huge wall that never fails to keep me from enjoying the album as a work from beginning to end. 

Plus, the phoned-in sounding performances from James, John M., and Mike don't really help.

Yeah, that's kind of the issue I had as well.  And while ITPOE is pretty good, I just never had the desire to stick with the album long enough to listen to it.  SC is the only album where I almost always skip tracks and have resequenced the album to correct that issue. 

[rumborak]

The album gives me massive ear fatigue.

[Cedar redaC]

Bad production and terrible sequencing. Tracks 1 through 4 are OK, but after that the album snowballs. The "triple play" that is "Repentance", "Prophets of War", and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is more like a strikeout. It's probably the worst half hour of music on any Dream Theater CD, and it's all back-to-back like that. It's a huge wall that never fails to keep me from enjoying the album as a work from beginning to end. 

Plus, the phoned-in sounding performances from James, John M., and Mike don't really help.

Yeah, that's kind of the issue I had as well.  And while ITPOE is pretty good, I just never had the desire to stick with the album long enough to listen to it.  SC is the only album where I almost always skip tracks and have resequenced the album to correct that issue.

Resequenced how?

[bosk1]

Bad production and terrible sequencing. Tracks 1 through 4 are OK, but after that the album snowballs. The "triple play" that is "Repentance", "Prophets of War", and "The Ministry of Lost Souls" is more like a strikeout. It's probably the worst half hour of music on any Dream Theater CD, and it's all back-to-back like that. It's a huge wall that never fails to keep me from enjoying the album as a work from beginning to end. 

Plus, the phoned-in sounding performances from James, John M., and Mike don't really help.

Yeah, that's kind of the issue I had as well.  And while ITPOE is pretty good, I just never had the desire to stick with the album long enough to listen to it.  SC is the only album where I almost always skip tracks and have resequenced the album to correct that issue.

Resequenced how?

1.  ITPOE1
2.  ITPOE2
3.  Forsaken
4.  Constant Motion
5.  TDEN

[Dublagent66]

I never had a problem with SC.  It is what it is.  The only song I didn't care much for was PoW.  Repentance isn't bad because the JP solo pretty much saves it.  The rest is pretty solid work.

Also, coming after such a good album as Octavarium, it was hard for Systematic Chaos to live up to it, let alone surpass it.

Systematic Chaos might not be great, but it was a welcome recovery from the wreck of Octavarium.

There are so many things wrong with this post.

Agreed.

...and on so many levels.

[iamtheeviltwin]

SC is hit and miss for me.  I was disappointed with Constant Motion when they released it as the single, it is one of my least favorite DT songs, and that killed some of my interest in the album.  After getting the album most of that feeling went away with the strong opening of ITPOE pt1 and Forsaken.

Like Bosk mentioned the flow of the album is bad and as an album SC does not hold together as well as some of their other albums.  However, it has some great songs on it...unfortunately it also contains TMOLS and CM. 

[OsMosis2259]

Not a bad album but not great either. I remember I was heavily into it when it first came out but it just didn't age well like ADTOE.

The Repentance solo is flawless and TDEN is a fun song especially live 

[ValentinBk]

I f***ing love that album

[SuperTaco]

I love most of the album and I think it has a lot of good ideas, but the production gets me. It sounds too compressed, too narrow and IMHO the guitar tone is one of JP's worst. The keyboards and especially the bass get drowned out in the mix much of the time. To me it just sounds a step below the rest of their discography because of that.

[Ryzee]

I just listened to this album yesterday for the first time in a while actually.  It's not so bad.  Definitely at the bottom of my DT album rankings but it has it's moments.  Constant Motion, PoW and especially MOLS are the worst tracks on the album, the rest is all right. 

[Kotowboy]

INB4 Robwebster & " fun little album. "

[Implode]

Most of the album is just blah for me. Really stale and boring. ITPOE is okay, and Constant Motion would be much better as an instrumental. Other than that, no excitement from me.

[Mladen]

It's a great album. The shorter songs are my lesser favorites, but even those are pretty damn good. TMOLS and ITPOE are two of the best Dream Theater songs of all time. 

[Yoshi Yogurt]

It's a decent album, but here's my opinion on the songs.

1/8. In the Presence of Enemies - Amazing song, in my top 5 DT songs.
2. Forsaken - Hated for no reason, good song
3. Constant Motion - Great song
4. Dark Eternal Night - Here it is, the absolute WORST DT song IMO, I've even heard it was "joke song." Overuse of the vocal distortion sounds bad and the lyrics just suck.
5. Repentance - Good song, I enjoy all of the parts of the 12 step suite
6. Prophets of War - Not good... as much as I like the message the song is bad. I feel the same way with sacrificed sons too. Outcry was a slightly better "war" song.
7. Ministry of Lost souls - Not so great

[YtseJamittaja]

TMOLS is soooo underrated.

[Scorpion]

TMOLS is soooo underrated.

Agreed. o/

[Dacling]

It's a decent album, but here's my opinion on the songs.

1/8. In the Presence of Enemies - Amazing song, in my top 5 DT songs.
2. Forsaken - Hated for no reason, good song
3. Constant Motion - Great song
4. Dark Eternal Night - Here it is, the absolute WORST DT song IMO, I've even heard it was "joke song." Overuse of the vocal distortion sounds bad and the lyrics just suck.
5. Repentance - Good song, I enjoy all of the parts of the 12 step suite
6. Prophets of War - Not good... as much as I like the message the song is bad. I feel the same way with sacrificed sons too. Outcry was a slightly better "war" song.
7. Ministry of Lost souls - Not so great

About the Dark Eternal Night It is supposed to be just completely cheesy. If you saw them on this tour and they played it they use video clips from black and white B movies including Plan 9 from Outer Space. In fact it made me like the song because when I saw those video clips I understood it. I still hate the distortion on the vocals which is why it is much better live. It's cheesy as hell but it is fun to watch.