DT album ranking

[jakepriest]

1. Train of Thought
2. ADToE
3. Images and Words

4. Octavarium
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. Scenes From a Memory
7. Systematic Chaos

8. Awake
9. BC&SL
10. Falling Into Infinity

[Viking of the Sagas]

1. I&W - I feel it to be their most consistent album up to date, save for maybe SDOIT. It contains five phenomenal, energetic tracks, and the rest of them don't fall that short either. It's not as matured as their later production, but I feel this to be the most inspired.

2. SDOIT - Arguably the second most consistent or the most consistent of their albums. Blind Faith, entire 2nd disc, TGP, Misunderstood; some of their most solid work up to date and rocking drumwork. Mixing is right up there.

3. Systematic Chaos - the controversial bet. But I really feel this album to be a consistent one. ITPOE pt.1 starts it off very nicely, then Forsaken kicks in with the rocking guitar riff. Also contains POW, which I don't like at all however. Repentance is boring as well.

4. FII - Peruvian Skies, Hell's Kitchen and Trial of Tears. Especially Peruvian Skies. Lines in the Sand as well. It's not one of the most consistent ones - New Millennium is a little boring, and Take Away My Pain too cheesy-feeling for me - but phenomenal where they get it really right.

5. SFAM - Very consistent. I placed this at 5th because very few of the songs, I feel, aren't their top notch. They're consistent and fit the concept extremely well, but on their own they're a little queer. Overture 1928 is a nice rocking tune, A Strange Deja Vu contains one interesting bit and then it's just cheesytown for me. Only exception for phenomenal songs is Home. I love the eastern guitar influence and the wah-wah theme riff.

6. ADTOE - Breaking All Illusions, Lost Not Forgotten and Bridges in the Sky made this album for me and deserved place 6.

7. Awake - Contains some great stuff but is very inconsistent and I dislike the sound world. It's somehow very raw.

8. ToT - Stream of Consciousness and Endless Sacrifice.

9. Octavarium - Octavarium and These Walls make it for me.

10. BC&SL - A Nightmare to Remember has the most beatiful DT moment of all time in my opinion, in the form of "Beautiful Agony". TCOT is, simplified, half great half lame.

11. WDADU - Afterlife, basically. The Killing Hand is kind of cool as well.

Just off the top of my head, not really set in stone.

[Nearmyth]

Updated a bit here, except I actually have two lists, the albums I believe are their best to worst efforts, and my personal favorites from best to worst.

Agree or disagree, the first list is what I think is best based on songwriting, album feel, atmosphere, etc. In other words, I don't have to necessarily enjoy the album, for example: "I like SC, but I know it isn't a good album." The second list simply includes the albums I enjoy the most.

Unbiased opinion: (What I think is the best DT album, best to worst.)

1. I&W
2. Awake
3. SDIOT
4. Scenes
5. Train Of Thought
6. Octavarium
7. ADTOE
8. FII
9. Black Clouds
10. Systematic Choas
11. WDADU

Biased Opinion: (My personal favorite DT album, favorite to least favorite.)

1. Awake
2. I&W
3. SDIOT
4. Scenes
5. ADTOE
6. Train Of Thought
7. Octavarium
8. Black Clouds
9. Systematic Chaos
10. FII
11. WDADU

The lists are only slightly different, but I just felt like noting. Apologies for the semi-long post.

[aXygnus]

1.) Images & Words
2.) A Dramatic Turn of Events
3.) Scenes from a Memory
4.) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5.) Awake
6.) Octavarium
7.) Falling into Infinity
8.) Systematic Chaos
9.) When Dream and Day Unite
10.) Train of Thought
11.) Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Some people would kill me for having ToT so low... And ADTOE so high 

[GasparXR]

It's not that uncommon for ADTOE to be higher on one's list, although it more frequently seems to appear towards the middle. Same deal with your placement of ToT.

[Outcrier]

1-7 all have the real 'Dream Theater' feeling for me. The ranking is there, but I love 'em all pretty much equally. 8-11 are albums I like, but are missing something severely.

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

2. Images & Words

3. Awake

4. Scenes from a Memory

5. Train of Thought

6. Falling Into Infinity

7. Octavarium

-------------------------------------------

8. Black Clouds & Silver Linings

9. A Dramatic Turn of Events

10. Systematic Chaos

11. When Dream and Day Unite

Exactly ("1-7 all have the real 'Dream Theater' feeling for me")

[m0hawk]

1. Scenes From A Memory
2. Images & Words
3. Train Of Thought
4. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
---
5. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
6. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
7. Octavarium
8. Systematic Chaos
9. Awake
---
10. Falling Into Infinity
11. When Dream & Day Unite

[Outcrier]

Interesting...There are various people here that put Scenes, Images and SDOIT in the top 5 but have Awake near the bottom... very interesting (the four of them are in my top 5)

[Enlil36]

1-BC&SL
2-SC
3-SDOIT
4-ADTOE
5-I&W
6-SFAM
7-FII
8-TOT
9-Awake
10-8V
11-WDADU

[aprilethereal]

SDOIT in the top 5 but have Awake near the bottom...

It should be the other way round obviously

[Meatrose]

I'm not good at ranking things I love but I'll give it a go. I think that this is what it would look like.

1. Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory
2. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
3. Images And Words
4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. Awake
6. Octavarium
7. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
8. Falling Into Infinity
9. Systematic Chaos
10. Train of Thought
11. When Dream And Day Unite


And, having heard Dream Theater once, I'm expecting it to end up in my top 5.

[Kotowboy]

1. Octavarium
2. Scenes From A Memory
3. Six Degrees

Yadda Yadda Yadda

9. Black Clouds
10. Systematic Chaos
11. When Dream And Day Unite.



The middle are all so interchangeable that it's impossible to rank them.

[PixelDream]

If I would rank now, Train of Thought might be top 3 for me. I've revisited it, and it sounds as fresh as the first time I listened to it. The first four tracks are high energy metal tracks (with Endless Sacrifice being the standout), and then there's Vacant, maybe one of their most beautiful, authentic compositions that paves the way for my favorite DT instrumental and ofcourse the great ITNG.

It's so much more than just a metal record, has so muh balls AND beauty! The only complaint I have is that some parts of TDS are a bit too all over the place.

[maximumrocker]

1. 6DoIT
2. I&W
3. ADTOI
-----
4. TOT
5. SFAM
6. 8va
7. BC&SL
8. Awake
9. SC
-----
10. FII
11. WDADU

The middle 6 are basically on constant move up and down

[Kotowboy]

A Dramatic Turn Of Ivents ?

[matte.braso]

List based on the average votes among every song of an album:

I&W 8.3
SFAM 8
SDOIT 7.8
AWAKE 7.6
WDADU 7.25
ADTOE 7.2
TOT 7.1
FII 6.9
BC&SL, Octavarium 6.8
SC 6.6

More specifically, my votes comprehend songwriting complexity (structure-wise, melody-wise, rythm and chords changes), emotion, longevity (after thousands listenings )
 
WDADU
A Fortune in Lies 8/10
Status Seeker 7/10
Ytse Jam 7/10
TKH 8/10
LFAGA 7/10
Afterlife 7/10
TOWHTSTS 7/10
OAMOT 7/10

I&W

PMU 7/10
AD 8/10
TTT 9/10
Surrounded 8/10
Metropolis pt.1 9/10
UAGM 9/10
WFS 7/10
LTL 9/10

Awake
6 o'clock 7/10
CIAW 7/10
IF 8/10
Erotomania 9/10
Voices 8/10
Silent Man 7/10
The Mirror 8/10
Lie 7/10
LSOAD 7/10
Scarred 9/10
SDV 7/10

FII
NM 8/10
YNM 6/10
PS 6/10
HY 6/10
BMS 5/10
HK 8/10
LITS 8/10
TAMP 7/10
JLMB 7/10
AL 7/10
TOT 8/10

SFAM

[I won't give a vote to Regression because I don't count it as a stand alone song]

O1928 8/10
SDV 8/10
TMW/FT:  9/10
BTL: 9/10
THE: 6/10
H:7/10
TdoE: 9/10
OLT: 8/10
TSCO: 7/10
FF: 9/10

SDOIT

TGP: 8/10
BF: 8/10
Misunderstood: 7/10
TGD 9/10
Disappear: 7/10
Sdoit suite:
-Overture: 8/10
-ATC 8/10
-WIMH 7/10
-TTTSTA 8/10
-GK 7/10
-SS 7/10
-ATCreprise 8/10
-LT/Grand Finale 9/10

ToT
AIA 6/10
TDS 7/10
ES 7/10
HTF 7/10
Vacant 7/10
SoC 7/10
ITNOG 8/10


Octavarium

TROAE 7/10
TALW 6/10
TW 6/10
IWBY 5/10
PA 7/10
NE 6/10
SS 8/10
Octavarium 9/10

SC

ITPOEpt.1 8/10
Forsaken 6/10
CM 6/10
TDEN 8/10
Repentance 6/10
POW 5/10
TMOLS 6/10
ITPOE pt.2 8/10

BC&SL

ANTR 7/10
AROP 5/10
Wither 6/10
TSF 7/10
TBOT 7/10
TCOT 9/10

ADTOE

OTBA 7/10
BMUBMD 5/10
LNF 8/10
TITL 7/10
BITS 8/10
Outcry 8/10
FFH 7/10
BAI  9/10
BTS 6/10

[docsp76]

SDOIT
TOT
OCT
SFAM
ADTOE
FII
BC&SL
AWAKE
I&W
SC
WDADU

This may be a bit odd to some especially since I've been a fan since 93 and most of you who have been fans that long like the earlier albums more. I love their earlier albums but they haven't aged so well for me. I rarely listen to them anymore. SDOIT and after sound much more modern and fresh to my ears. Maybe I overplayed the first few albums and got bored with them.

[Outcrier]

I officially prefer SDOIT over SFAM now.
For me, SFAM is the best DT album if you're more of a METAL and PROGRESSIVE lover.
And SDOIT is the best DT album if you're more of a guy that listens to music in general, don't matter the genre (just the quality).

[CharlesPL]

As for today

11.SC
10.BC&SL
9.TOT
8.FII
7.ADTOE
6.SDOIT
5/4.WDADU/8V
3.A
2.SFAM
1.IAW

[JiM-Xtreme]

Subject to change at any given moment in time:

1) SFAM
2) BC&SL
3) I&W
4) SDoIT
5) ToT
6) Awake
7) 8V
8) WD&DU
9) FII
10) ADToE
11) SC

[Shine]

How I've been feeling recently:

1. Images and Words
2. Awake
3. Train of Thought

4. A Dramatic Turn of Events
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. Octavarium
7. Scenes from a Memory
8. Systematic Chaos
9. Falling Into Infinity

10. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
11. When Dream and Day Unite

Sorry, Scenes just hasn't really "clicked" for me. The first half is pretty cool, but after Fatal Tragedy it just drags. And I love the sound of I&W & Awake, they just have such a great "ear experience". Then there are albums like 8VM and FII where there are amazing songs on each of them and I wish I could rank them higher, but the rest of the album just weighs it down.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

1.) Images & Words
2.) A Dramatic Turn of Events
3.) Scenes from a Memory
4.) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5.) Awake
6.) Octavarium
7.) Falling into Infinity
8.) Systematic Chaos
9.) When Dream and Day Unite
10.) Train of Thought
11.) Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Some people would kill me for having ToT so low... And ADTOE so high 

Your top five is perfect 

I think it's not surprising to have ADToE so high if you also have Images up there. It makes perfect sense

[j]

*revised*

[theseoafs]

I did this the last time this thread rolled around, but maybe it's changed since then.

1.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2.  Images and Words
3.  Scenes from a Memory


4.  A Dramatic Turn of Events
5.  Train of Thought
6.  Falling Into Infinity
7.  Octavarium
8.  Awake


9.  Black Clouds and Silver Linings
10.  Systematic Chaos

[Outcrier]

Mine changed:


1. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
2. Scenes From a Memory
3. Images and Words
4. Awake


5. Train Of Thought
6. Octavarium
7. A Dramatic Turn Of Events


8. Falling Into Infinity
9. When Dream And Day Unite (Reunite version)


10. Systematic Chaos
11. Black Clouds & Silver Linings

[JiM-Xtreme]

I did this the last time this thread rolled around, but maybe it's changed since then.

1.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2.  Images and Words
3.  Scenes from a Memory


4.  A Dramatic Turn of Events
5.  Train of Thought
6.  Falling Into Infinity
7.  Octavarium
8.  Awake


9.  Black Clouds and Silver Linings
10.  Systematic Chaos

Did you exclude WD&DU on purpose? 

[nicbor87]

it would be interesting to see how nostalgia affects these ratings. are people prone to giving an album a higher rating because it was their first DT album? That might be the case for me as BCSL was my first and is my second favorite album after SFAM, which was my second album.

conversely, my two most recent ones are SC (which i find unremarkable) and ADTOE (cant connect to it).

[?]

it would be interesting to see how nostalgia affects these ratings. are people prone to giving an album a higher rating because it was their first DT album? That might be the case for me as BCSL was my first and is my second favorite album after SFAM, which was my second album.

BC&SL was my first album and it's #9 in my ranking

[BlobVanDam]

it would be interesting to see how nostalgia affects these ratings. are people prone to giving an album a higher rating because it was their first DT album? That might be the case for me as BCSL was my first and is my second favorite album after SFAM, which was my second album.

I'm not sure it's nostalgia per se (although it might play into it for some people, especially those who have been into the band the longest), but perhaps more that the album that got someone into a band is sort of what defined the band's sound for them?
My first DT album was SDOIT, which is my favourite, and I think IaW was the second album I got, which I rank third, but beyond that, there's no strong correlation for me. I'm not sure if SDOIT being my first DT album is part of why I rank it so highly, or if it's just the fact that it's fucking amazing.

[JiM-Xtreme]

it would be interesting to see how nostalgia affects these ratings. are people prone to giving an album a higher rating because it was their first DT album? That might be the case for me as BCSL was my first and is my second favorite album after SFAM, which was my second album.

Not so much in my case. Although SFAM was indeed my first taste of DT, I legitimately believe it is their best album. BC&SL was second on my list, despite being a huge fan for 5 years at the point I listened to it for the first time and having previously listened extensively to the entirety of their back catalogue (as well as seen them live on 3 prior occasions).

The rest of my list does not in any way reflect feelings of nostalgia connected with certain albums, only the musical enjoyment I get from these days. SC is at the bottom of my list, despite having a lot of nostalgia and memories associated with the music and the time it came out.

[hefdaddy42]

1A: Image & Words
1B: Awake
3: Scenes From A Memory
4: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5. A Dramatic Turn of Events
6: Train of Thought
7: Falling Into Infinity
8: Systematic Chaos
9: Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10: Octavarium
11: When Dream And Day Unite

[themkr]

1 - Scenes From A Memory
2 - Awake
3 - Falling Into Infinity
4 - Images and Words
5 - Train of Thought 
6 - Octavarium
7 - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
8 - A Dramatic Turn of Events 
9 - Systematic Chaos
10 - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
11 - When Dream And Day Unite

[hauswife]

i rated every song by its own and then i got this list:

1. Images & Words
2. Scenes from a memory
3. Octavarium
4. Awake
5. Six degrees of inner turbulence
6. Falling into infinity
7. Train of thought
8. Black clouds and silver linings
9. Systematic Chaos
10. When dream and day unite
11. A dramatic turn of events

[devieira73]

All right, it's my fav band since 93 and I REALLY think/feel no cd deserves less than the 8 rate (0 to 10 scale):

I&W - 11   

Sfam/ACoS (song) - 10

Awake/FII/ 6D - 9,5

ToT/8V/ADToE - 9,0

WDaDU/SC - 8,5

Black Clouds - 8,0 (IMO the only cd that deserves some edition/cut from an outsider producer in all the songs, except for Wither and TCoT)

DT12 (I have a feelling it will be a 9,5 rate...)

[devieira73]

Just to include every official studio recording: Raw Dog - 8,0