Awake is still better than every other Dream Theater record

[Syzzle]

Maybe if SDOIT,SFAM and I&W didn't exist it would be but they do so it's not

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Awake was my favourite, then SFAM, now it's Awake again.

[chrisbDTM]

i fully endorse this thread

[KevShmev]

That was really funny and clever. You know, how you just took the same joke that was already on my image, and simply reiterated it from the opposite side in meme form over the top of the image, as if it negates it. Bonus points for originality.

I wasn't going for originality.

I think most people who worship it have a little too much Nostalgia Goggles going on.

Translation: People like an album more than I do, so there must be some crazy reason why.

[Onno]

Nah. SFAM, I&W and 6DOIT are better.

[TheGreatPretender]

Translation: People like an album more than I do, so there must be some crazy reason why.

It's an overrated album is all.

[Dublagent66]

This looks more like a "Kev is pissed at Blob thread" rather than a best DT album thread.  Had it been the latter, the title would've said SDOIT instead. 

[Lolzeez]

The Silent Man
Scarred
Space Dye Vest
Voices
Innocence Faded
Karina
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
The Mirror
Erotomania
6:00
Lie

[Infinite Cactus]

Awake is my favorite album by anyone ever. Followed very closely by Women and Children First and Fair Warning by Van Halen

[Dublagent66]

The Silent Man
Scarred
Space Dye Vest
Voices
Innocence Faded
Karina
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
The Mirror
Erotomania
6:00
Lie

  bonus track?

[SjundeInseglet]

Translation: People like an album more than I do, so there must be some crazy reason why.

It's an overrated album is all.

Hardly. To my ears, at the very least. Simply put, "Awake" showcases Dream Theater's best blend of proggy and metal-ish influences. They really got it down to a T on "Awake". Nothing sounds forced or contrived and the music just breathes naturally. Like they didn't over think anything and just went with their guts. DT kind of lost this winning recipe in the following years and never really released anything as organic as this record. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed (loved even!) many of the albums they released after Awake (and I absolutely think "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" displays a much improved and re-energized DT) but they all pale in comparison to "Awake".

And I think I misplaced my nostalgia goggles many, many moons ago so that can't be it. 

[KevShmev]

This looks more like a "Kev is pissed at Blob thread" rather than a best DT album thread. 

No, it was more or less mimicking the "Black Clouds & Silver Linings is still better than Systematic Chaos" thread.  BVD and I don't talk to each other enough anymore for either of us to get pissed at the other.

[TheGreatPretender]

Hardly. To my ears, at the very least. Simply put, "Awake" showcases Dream Theater's best blend of proggy and metal-ish influences. They really got it down to a T on "Awake". Nothing sounds forced or contrived and the music just breathes naturally. Like they didn't over think anything and just went with their guts. DT kind of lost this winning recipe in the following years and never really released anything as organic as this record. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed (loved even!) many of the albums they released after Awake (and I absolutely think "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" displays a much improved and re-energized DT) but they all pale in comparison to "Awake".

And I think I misplaced my nostalgia goggles many, many moons ago so that can't be it. 

Well, even if it breathes naturally, that doesn't make the music necessarily better. I'm not gonna list all the ways I think it's not that great. That would undermine the fact that I still think it's a great album. And like I said, I think MOST people experience those nostalgia goggles. I'm not saying all, I think it's entirely possible that Awake's elements happen to appeal to a lot of people in a genuine way, and they actually do love it that much. But I don't think it's that consistent. I think it has its ups and downs, whereas DT has had better albums, not the least of which is the "holy grail of Prog Metal" Images and Words. Which isn't even my favorite DT album, but all the praise that it gets, I think it deserves it.

[rumborak]

Awake has a very special place in my heart. First album that I witnessed the release of, and it was an album still in the DT tradition of "forget what we sounded like last time, here's the new DT!". In short: So energy, power.

[wasteland]

Awake has a very special place in my heart. First album that I witnessed the release of, and it was an album still in the DT tradition of "forget what we sounded like last time, here's the new DT!". In short: So energy, power.

DT was... a strange band to figure out? 

(pun intended)

[Dellers]

It is most certainly not. In fact I do not even own Awake as I don't really like any of the songs on it. 6:00 is ok, the rest is meh.

[Dublagent66]

This looks more like a "Kev is pissed at Blob thread" rather than a best DT album thread. 

No, it was more or less mimicking the "Black Clouds & Silver Linings is still better than Systematic Chaos" thread.  BVD and I don't talk to each other enough anymore for either of us to get pissed at the other.

It was kind of a joke Kev. 

[wolven74]

I love Awake. It wasn't necessarily an improvement over I&W, but it definitely put some balls into the songs. I remember Awake as the album that on first listen I was like, "Yes! This is what I've been waiting for." IIRC the first single was Lie, which I thought was only mediocre, and to this day it's my least favorite song on the album. but I don't really hear a bad song on the album.

Definitely a top 5 for me.

[KevShmev]

This looks more like a "Kev is pissed at Blob thread" rather than a best DT album thread. 

No, it was more or less mimicking the "Black Clouds & Silver Linings is still better than Systematic Chaos" thread.  BVD and I don't talk to each other enough anymore for either of us to get pissed at the other.

It was kind of a joke Kev. 

Heh, okay.  I figure that most people who know me and my posting style know that starting threads to agitate someone is not my style 99.999% of the time.  I have no problem mixing it up in a thread - I love a good discussion/friendly argument - but, again, starting a thread for that sole purpose is not really me (anymore, not that it ever really was, although I probably had my occasional moments back in the dt.net days ).

[Elite]

No, but only Images & Words is slightly better. ALL other DT albums are FAR behind.

[MoraWintersoul]

I think most people who worship it have a little too much Nostalgia Goggles going on.

I was two years old when it got out and it was the last "classic" album I came to like.

MILENA, CRUSHING THEORIES SINCE 1992, WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME.

(I am so sorry, I am drunk on happiness)

[Sycsa]

I absolutely love the organ riff and the drumming in 6:00, but the song doesn't really feel like DT for some reason. The masterpiece which is Innocence Faded is by far the best song on the album and features James' best performance ever. Erotomania and Voices are also among favorites. I dislike the heaviness and sound of both The Mirror and Lie, thankfully no other song in their catalog sounds quite like them. SDV is boring. The rest of the album verges from pretty good to great. I like it, but there are at least 4 albums which I prefer to it(I&W, SFAM, SDOIT, ADTOE).

[Ħ]

Uh Kevin? April 1st is in two weeks from now.

[Pols Voice]

Yeah, Awake is the best.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I think most people who worship it have a little too much Nostalgia Goggles going on.

I was two years old when it got out and it was the last "classic" album I came to like.

MILENA, CRUSHING THEORIES SINCE 1992, WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME.

(I am so sorry, I am drunk on happiness)

It was released the year I was born, so I was likely a fetus. I also don't even like I&W much so I can't have some sort of oldness bias. So yeah.

[robwebster]

Half the songs on Awake are amazing (6:00, Caught In a Web, Voices, Lie, Scarred).
The other half are pretty okay, but have their draw backs. Definitely not their best album. I think most people who worship it have a little too much Nostalgia Goggles going on.

I broadly agree with this - although I'm not sure you can put it down to nostalgia, or else why wouldn't they go for Images and Words?

I think Awake has a very particular style to it - the moodiness and the texture-focused keys are pretty much unique among Dream Theater's catalogue - so if Awake's the kind of thing you like, it's the kind of thing you really like, and it's probably also the kind of thing you'd like to hear DT make more of. For me, while it's generally pleasant throughout, and there are some really cool songs, there are also what I'd describe as some fairly dull ones, which makes it a very hard record for me to get excited about.

Still! People really rate it, and all power to them. If they're getting more out of it than me, that can only be an excellent thing. Would insist the thread title's a little spurious, though.

[King Postwhore]

TASTE GREAT!!!!







LESS FILLING!!!

[Mebert78]

I would marry the Awake album if that was legally possible.  That's how much I love it.

[King Postwhore]

I would marry the Awake album if that was legally possible.  That's how much I love it.

Coming up next on "My Strange Addiction" on TLC.

[TheGreatPretender]

I think most people who worship it have a little too much Nostalgia Goggles going on.

I was two years old when it got out and it was the last "classic" album I came to like.

MILENA, CRUSHING THEORIES SINCE 1992, WHO ELSE WANTS A PIECE OF ME.

(I am so sorry, I am drunk on happiness)

Again, most. The fact that you're so unique is the reason everyone loves you.

I broadly agree with this - although I'm not sure you can put it down to nostalgia, or else why wouldn't they go for Images and Words?

Well, most people's favorite DT album IS Images and Words, so yeah, a lot of them do, and I also think that Nostalgia has a lot to do with it.
I mean, how often do you hear, "I love those trigger snares. They really remind me of the 90's, and have that 90's feel." If that's not Nostalgia, I don't know what is.

I love Images and Words, and I do think it's one of the greatest albums ever, but if it was ever remixed and remastered, and had a little more bass to it, and removed the trigger snares, and stuff, I think I'd enjoy it a lot more. Because I like the songs for the actual compositions, not for how they remind me of the 90's. But that's another discussion entirely.

[Zook]

Amazing album. Simply amazing. I could do without Space-Dye Vest, but it's not horrible.

[wolfking]

Awake is top 3 DT.

[The King in Crimson]

I largely hated the album at first, but since then it's become my favorite.

[snapple]

Awake is my favorite album of all time. My second favorite being Gordian Knot's self-titled debut, followed by Gordian Knot's Emergent, followed by Images and Words.

[wolfking]

Those two Gordian Knot albums are incredible.