DT album ranking

[2twins]

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

[Marvellous G]

1. Scenes From a Memory
2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
3. Images & Words
4. Octavarium
5. Falling into Infinity
6. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
7. Train of Thought
8. Systematic Chaos
9. Awake

[MykeHavoc]

Alright, so I've been listening to the entire studio discography a lot lately and have revised my list:

Images and Words
Scenes From a Memory
Awake
Octavarium
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Falling into Infinity
A Change of Seasons
Black Clouds & Silver Livings
When Dream and Day Unite
Train of Thought
Systematic Chaos

[Mladen]

Recently updated:

Scenes from a memory
Images and words
Awake
Systematic chaos
Black clouds and silver linings
Six degrees of inner turbulence
Train of thought
When dream and day unite
Octavarium
Falling into infinity

[Xanthul]

Alright, I made a full song list and gave it a 0 to 100 (actually 50 to 100) score and then got the average score for each album. This is what I got:

A Change of Seasons   95 (not including covers)
Scenes from a Memory   91,33
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence   87,5
Images & Words   86,25
Train of Thought   86
Black Clouds & Silver Linings   82,67
Octavarium   79,38
Systematic Chaos   77,38
Falling Into Infinity   76,73
Awake   76,64

Going by gut feeling however (sometimes great songs more than compensate for crappy songs in the same album) this is what I have:

Scenes from a memory
Images and Words
Six degrees of inner turbulence
A change of seasons
Black clouds and silver linings
Awake
Octavarium
Train of Thought
Falling into Infinity
Systematic chaos

[jcmistat]

1. Awake
2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
3. Images and Words
4. Scenes From a Memory
5. Train of Thought
6. Systematic Chaos
7. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
8. Octavarium
9. Falling Into Infinity
10. When Dream and Day Unite*

*Need to listen to the redone live version with the current lineup

[juice]

updated although constantly changing:

1.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2.  Images & Words
3.  Black Clouds & Silver Linings
4.  Awake
5.  Scenes From A Memory
6.  Octavarium
7.  Train of Thought
8.  Systematic Chaos
9.  When Dream and Day Unite

i feel like awake should be higher and still haven't listend to all of FII

[moffatt]

1.  Octavarium
2.  Black Clouds & Silver Linings
3.  Images & Words
4.  Systematic Chaos
5.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6.  Awake
7.  Scenes From A Memory
8.  Train of Thought
9.  A change of seasons
10. When day and dream unite

[YtseJamittaja]

Images & Words
Train of Thought
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Octavarium
Awake
Systematic Chaos
Scenes From A Memory
Falling Into Infinity
When Day And Dream Unite

[Pockets1777]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?
I kinda wish they could/would rerecord it with James, but I don't think they have the rights to it.

[Zook]

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

[MykeHavoc]

WD&DU suffers from the inferior sound quality. If they could get a decent remix/remaster of it, I'm sure it would go up a few notches. I think the song writing and performaces are decent, but there is so many muddy sections where one can't really hear what the hell is going on, there fore it ruins the listening experience. Although plenty of the albums have their flaws, I'm always able to keep my ear tuned. This album sadly loses me from time to time for this reason.

[jcmistat]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?
I kinda wish they could/would rerecord it with James, but I don't think they have the rights to it.

There's a live CD of the whole album made in 2004 When Dream and Day Reunite done with the current lineup. Its only sold through the official DT bootlegs.

So far listening to a few tracks I like it better than Falling Into Infinity my lowest ranked album.

https://www.ytsejamrecords.com/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=20&idcategory=8

[Nic35]

1. SDOIT
2. Awake
3. Images & Words
4. Scenes from a Memory
5. BC&SL
6. Train of Thought
7. Systematic Chaos
8. Octavarium
9. WDADU
10. Falling into Infinity

[Quadrochosis]

Update:

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

[BlobVanDam]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?

Both. Some people like to think it's just because of the poor production and Charlie's vocals, but underneath that, the songwriting wasn't very good regardless, although there are still a few solid tracks in there.

[j]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?

Some people like to think it's just because of the poor production and Charlie's vocals,

That's because those ARE easily the two most cited reasons people give for not liking it or even giving it a chance.

Other than lyrical rhythmic problems or whatever you music people would call them, I don't see many problems with the "songwriting" at all.  The melodies are strong, the structures of most of the songs are coherent, and there are a ton of great ideas on WDADU, not to mention the "youthful energy" that many fans of the album like about it (and rightfully so, IMO).  I rank Octavarium, ToT, and SC below WDADU, with BC&SL about on par with it.  The latter two albums have weaknesses that are very different in nature, but about equal in magnitude.

The mix blows.  Charlie's vocals are fine.  I don't get why lots of people here (many of whom like Rush) can't get past them, but to each his own.

-J

[Quadrochosis]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?

Some people like to think it's just because of the poor production and Charlie's vocals,

That's because those ARE easily the two most cited reasons people give for not liking it or even giving it a chance.

Other than lyrical rhythmic problems or whatever you music people would call them, I don't see many problems with the "songwriting" at all.  The melodies are strong, the structures of most of the songs are coherent, and there are a ton of great ideas on WDADU, not to mention the "youthful energy" that many fans of the album like about it (and rightfully so, IMO).  I rank Octavarium, ToT, and SC below WDADU, with BC&SL about on par with it.  The latter two albums have weaknesses that are very different in nature, but about equal in magnitude.

The mix blows.  Charlie's vocals are fine.  I don't get why lots of people here (many of whom like Rush) can't get past them, but to each his own.

-J

All of this, except I would argue that the mix isn't as bad as most people make it out to be. I only notice a lack of superior production quality when listening with headphones, and even then, it doesn't hamper my listening experience.

For an 80s release debut album, the production is fine.

[BlobVanDam]

Well, it seems that WDADU is so far pretty low on everyone's list. Is it because of the singer, quality of the songs, both, something else?

Some people like to think it's just because of the poor production and Charlie's vocals,

That's because those ARE easily the two most cited reasons people give for not liking it or even giving it a chance.

Other than lyrical rhythmic problems or whatever you music people would call them, I don't see many problems with the "songwriting" at all.  The melodies are strong, the structures of most of the songs are coherent, and there are a ton of great ideas on WDADU, not to mention the "youthful energy" that many fans of the album like about it (and rightfully so, IMO).  I rank Octavarium, ToT, and SC below WDADU, with BC&SL about on par with it.  The latter two albums have weaknesses that are very different in nature, but about equal in magnitude.

The mix blows.  Charlie's vocals are fine.  I don't get why lots of people here (many of whom like Rush) can't get past them, but to each his own.

-J

Charlies vocals are fine on some songs (such as Afterlife and AFIL), but on many songs they are not up to scratch. Aside from a few decent songs, the songwriting is by far DT's worst. Songs like OAMOT and Status Seeker are embarrassingly bad with their poorly thought out melodies and transitions.
Unfortunately there are too many people who discount the album based only on the production and Charlie, but the unanimous low ranking of the album is still entirely justified.

[Infinite Cactus]

Awake
Images and Words
When Dream And Day Unite
Falling Into Infinity
Black Clouds And Silver Linings
Octavarium
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
Systematic Chaos
Scenes From A Memory
Train of Thought

[Raiden]

Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Train of Thought
Systematic Chaos
Octavarium
Images and Words
Awake
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Scenes From A Memory
Falling Into Infinity
When Dream and Day Unite

[LordCaptainMcKlockenstein]

Awake
Octavarium
Images and Words
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Disc 1
Train of Thought
Scenes From A Memory
Falling Into Infinity
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Disc 2
Systematic Chaos
Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Haven't listened to WDaDU enough to properly rank it, but it's pretty low so far.

[?]

Awake
Images & Words
6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Scenes from a Memory
Octavarium
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Train of Thought
When Dream & Day Unite
Falling into Infinity
Systematic Chaos

[zxlkho]

Nice thread revival.

Images & Words
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Scenes From A Memory
Awake
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Octavarium
Falling Into Infinity
Train of Thought
Systematic Chaos
When Dream and Day Unite

[ariich]

Current ranking:

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2. Images and Words
3. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
4. Awake
5. Falling Into Infinity
6. Train of Thought/
-. Octavarium/
-. Systematic Chaos (all three tied, they all have great stuff and average stuff, impossible to decide between them)
9. Scenes From a Memory
10. When Dream and Day Unite

[robwebster]

Yeah, I can't think of any reason not to do a list. So I will.

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

Italic denotes a change of tier. Albums on the same tier are likely to swivel round fairly frequently between themselves.

[LCArenas]

Current list:
1) Awake
2) Images and Words (Is second by a very little margin, though. It's like Awake is 9.999999/10 and I&W is 9.999998/10)
3) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (Sometimes SDOIT is third, sometimes SFAM is third)
4) Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
5) Octavarium
6) Train of Thought
7) Falling into Infinity (Has grown a lot for me the last months)
7) Black Clouds and Silver Linings (Tie. And again, sometimes BC&SL is higher and sometimes FII is higher. Both have their lows and highs)
7.5) A Change of Seasons
8) Systematic Chaos (I don't hate it, it's just the less good)
9) When Dream and Day Unite

[The Letter M]

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - the title track is definitely one of my top favorites, and every song on the first disc is golden

2. Octavarium - again, the title track here does it for me, as well as "Panic Attack" and "The Root of All Evil" (I'm also very partial to "I Walk Beside You")

3. Images And Words - it just had to be up here in the top 3!

4. Awake - in recent months, I have come to love this album EVEN MORE, and it's just structured and composed so well!

5. Scenes From A Memory - I love concept albums, and this is no exception! Gotta give props to ALL of Act 2 - "Home", "The Dance of Eternity", "One Last Time", "The Spirit Carries On" and "Finally Free"...just an amazing sequence of songs!

6. Train of Thought - like Awake, I have recently come to appreciate this album. It's just pretty good for what it is!

7. Falling Into Infinity - the great songs on here make up for the not-so-great songs, and it balances out pretty well!

8. Systematic Chaos - "In The Presence of Enemies", "The Ministry of Lost Souls" and "Repentance"... I probably could live without the rest, but they're good songs too... I just enjoy those three a lot more.

9. When Dream And Day Unite - my least listened to album (mostly due to production and CD's voice) - I listen to WDADR more often... a LOT... Besides, "The Killing Hand" on WDADR is just killer.

-Marc.

Wow, the last time I did a ranking in this thread, BC&SL was yet to be released! Here's an updated ranking then...

1. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
2. Octavarium

3. Images And Words
4. Awake

5. Scenes From A Memory
6. Black Clouds & Silver Linings

7. Train Of Thought
8. Falling Into Infinity

9. Systematic Chaos
10. When Dream And Day Unite

Each pair represents sort of a tie, in that those two albums may switch back and forth for their place, except the last two - SC > WDADU still. On some days, I may consider BC&SL to be top 5 material and take the spot from SFAM, but other days probably not. I do love concept albums so SFAM edges DT's latest by a bit, but songs like "A Nightmare To Remember" and "The Count Of Tuscany" give me my epic-fix in a way that sometimes "Home" and "Finally Free" just don't. Either way, SDOIT and 8VM will stand as my top 2, I believe, for quite some time, with IAW and Awake not far behind them.

-Marc.

[Seventh Son]

1. Images and Words
2. Awake
3. Falling Into Infinity (Its was #4 before, but for some reason songs like Blind Faith and Misunderstood have grown off of me so that bumps FII up to #3)
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5. Scenes From A Memory
6. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
7. When Dream and Day Unite
8. Train of Thought
9. Octavarium
10. A Change of Seasons
11. Systematic Chaos

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

1. Scenes
2. Awake
3. Systematic
4. Images
5. Six Degrees
6. Black Clouds
7. Octavarium
8. Train Of Thought
9. When Dream And Day Unite
10. Falling into Infinity

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

How can Awake be NOT at the top?

Awake
Images and Words
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Scenes From a Memory
Falling Into Infinity
Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Train of Thoughts
Octavarium
Systematic Chaos
When Dream and Day Unite

[moffatt]

How can Awake be NOT at the top?

Easily


A few have changed since my last list so..

1. Octavarium
2. Scenes
3. SDOIT
4. BC&SL
5. Awake
6. Systematic Chaos
7. Train of Thought
8. Images & Words
9. Falling into Infinity
10. WDADU

[yorost]

1. Awake -- Scenes From a Memory -- Train of Thought
4. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
5. Images & Words -- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
7. Systematic Chaos
8. When Dream and Day Unite -- Falling Into Infinity
10. Octavarium

[ScioPath]

SFAM
I&W
Awake
SDOIT
ToT
BC&SL
FiI
8vm
WDADU
SC



Live Albums:

LSFNY
Score
L@Budokan
L@Bucharest
OIALT
WDADRU
Chaos in Motion
Marquee

[BRGM]

Black CLouds and Silver Linings
Systematic Chaos
Octavarium

Train of Thought
Six Derees of Inner Turbulence

Scenes From A Memory


Falling Into Infinity

Awake


Images and Words

When Dream and Day unite


Live releases.

Chaos in Motion
L@B
Score
Tourbulence (We do count bootlegs as well here!)
LSFNY
OIALT
Marquee