Awake is still better than every other Dream Theater record

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, anybody who knows DT's style will never presume to think that the first few songs will determine the outcome of the album.  It's ok to just say you don't like a song, but don't wrap yourself around the axil trying to explain why.

I like the song NOW. After listening to it dozens of times.
But when I first listened to Awake, I was really disappointed with the overall album and Innocence Faded was one of the reasons. And I still think having CIAW and IF side by side like that really slows the album down. Because after CIAW, I think it's time to hear some classic DT, something long, and intricate, not something simple like IF. And yeah, okay, right after that, we get Erotomania, but don't get me started on that.

[BlobVanDam]

Okay, but saying they are redundant makes no sense since Caught in a Web is full-on metal and Innocence Faded isn't metal at all.

Exactly. Being "straight-forward" doesn't equate to a similarity at all. There's no other song on Awake that sounds like Innocence Faded.

[King Postwhore]

Wow, I never knew one song could ruin so many lives.

[TheGreatPretender]

Exactly. Being "straight-forward" doesn't equate to a similarity at all. There's no other song on Awake that sounds like Innocence Faded.

Like I said, I just think it slows the album down being side by side with CIAW.

Wow, I never knew one song could ruin so many lives.

I'll have you know, Innocence Faded killed my father!

[KevShmev]

Well, anybody who knows DT's style will never presume to think that the first few songs will determine the outcome of the album.  It's ok to just say you don't like a song, but don't wrap yourself around the axil trying to explain why.

I like the song NOW. After listening to it dozens of times.
But when I first listened to Awake, I was really disappointed with the overall album and Innocence Faded was one of the reasons. And I still think having CIAW and IF side by side like that really slows the album down. Because after CIAW, I think it's time to hear some classic DT, something long, and intricate, not something simple like IF. And yeah, okay, right after that, we get Erotomania, but don't get me started on that.

  All at the same time.

Before Awake, DT had only done two albums, so there was no such thing as "classic DT" yet.

Do you want a predictable tracklisting?  "Oh, here is where we would normally put a classic DT song, so let's do it that way again!"

[TheGreatPretender]

  All at the same time.

Before Awake, DT had only done two albums, so there was no such thing as "classic DT" yet.

Do you want a predictable tracklisting?  "Oh, here is where we would normally put a classic DT song, so let's do it that way again!"

Well, I didn't listen to them in chronological order. And Awake was this big hyped up amazing album that all the fans said was absolutely amazing, and I figured, "after Images and Words, I'll bet!" And three songs into it, I just went, "So when is it gonna get to the good part of the album?"

[KevShmev]

Awake is different than every other DT album is that it is their darkest and least wankiest CD they have done, which is a big part of why so many of us like it.  But given how different it is, I wouldn't expect someone who is used to their sound to hear it and be instantly blown away.  Hell, I wasn't sure what to think of it the first several times I heard it (BECAUSE it was so different and not at all what I was expecting).

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, what can I say? I listen to every DT album regularly, including Awake, and while it has grown on me significantly, I still think it's the most overrated DT album. And while songs like Innocence Faded and Lifting Shadows are great in their own right, in the grand scope of this album, I think they drag it down.

[hefdaddy42]

Well, what can I say? I listen to every DT album regularly, including Awake, and while it has grown on me significantly, I still think it's the most overrated DT album. And while songs like Innocence Faded and Lifting Shadows are great in their own right, in the grand scope of this album, I think they drag it down.

Lifting Shadows is amazing, it doesn't drag anything down.

But hey, opinions vary.

[Zook]

I don't remember my first impressions of Awake, but for 75 minutes, the album flies by, and I've already said this, but it's freakin' amazing. I listened to the whole thing last night (I usually leave off SDV) and although that song doesn't really sound like it belongs on the album, it wasn't bad. I think Awake has officially bumped Six Degrees from my #2 spot for DT albums.

[wasteland]

Contrary to most, I never found Space Dye Vest to be out of place in the Awake album, at all. A more than fitting, oblique, conclusion.

[Zook]

It sounds like a bonus track or something.

[Ħ]

Awake is different than every other DT album is that it is their darkest and least wankiest CD they have done, which is a big part of why so many of us like it.  But given how different it is, I wouldn't expect someone who is used to their sound to hear it and be instantly blown away.  Hell, I wasn't sure what to think of it the first several times I heard it (BECAUSE it was so different and not at all what I was expecting).

People always say that Awake is the "darkest" and "moodiest", but to that I have two things to say.

First, dark/moody =/= good. Many of the songs on Awake that go for darkness/moodiness are pretty terrible, IMO.

Second, Train of Thought is darker, and most DT albums are at least on par with Awake's moodiness.

[snapple]

Contrary to most, I never found Space Dye Vest to be out of place in the Awake album, at all. A more than fitting, oblique, conclusion.

+1

[TheGreatPretender]

Second, Train of Thought is darker, and most DT albums are at least on par with Awake's moodiness.

This very much.

[Dublagent66]

Well, anybody who knows DT's style will never presume to think that the first few songs will determine the outcome of the album.  It's ok to just say you don't like a song, but don't wrap yourself around the axil trying to explain why.

I like the song NOW. After listening to it dozens of times.
But when I first listened to Awake, I was really disappointed with the overall album and Innocence Faded was one of the reasons. And I still think having CIAW and IF side by side like that really slows the album down. Because after CIAW, I think it's time to hear some classic DT, something long, and intricate, not something simple like IF. And yeah, okay, right after that, we get Erotomania, but don't get me started on that.

That's cool.  I felt similarly when I first heard it, but it grew on me fast.  IF is still not in my top 5 on the album but I like it more now than I did at first.

[DigitalScreams]

Fact.

Testify!

[DebraKadabra]

It sounds like a bonus track or something.

Agreed.

[hefdaddy42]

Train of Thought is darker

[Zook]

Train of Thought is more angsty if anything. I love it though. Awake has a certain eerieness to it, and genuine anger.

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah, outside of Vacant, I'm not sure that I would characterize anything on TOT as "dark."  There is definitely some "pissed off" in As I Am and Honor Thy Father and some "woe is me" in Endless Sacrifice, but not much that I would call dark.

[SeRoX]

I think the things give the dark atmosphere to the album is, first keyboard then lyrics. Train Of Thought, to me, has no dark theme considering the keyboard wise. Keyboard theme and its arrangements on Awake completely give the dark feeling, plus lyrics are pretty dark too. On the other hand, ToT is just heavy by DT standards.

[TheGreatPretender]

Yes, 6:00, Innocence Faded, The Silent Man and Lifting Shadows are very dark.  Well, I say Mother Mary, quite contrary.

[theanalogkid7]

Awake has a certain eerieness to it, and genuine anger.

This. I have always found Awake to make someone enjoyably uneasy.

I just want to go on record saying I think Awake is one of DTs best albums, and that one of my favorite parts is the use of the motif in The Mirror that is eventually expanded upon to create SDV.  It's not really a big deal, I just always enjoyed that.

Really, though, SDV is the greatest song on Awake.  There.  I said it.

[TheGreatPretender]

one of my favorite parts is the use of the motif in The Mirror that is eventually expanded upon to create SDV.  It's not really a big deal, I just always enjoyed that.

I always liked recurring themes in albums, and that was definitely cool.

[SeRoX]

Yes, 6:00, Innocence Faded, The Silent Man and Lifting Shadows are very dark.  Well, I say Mother Mary, quite contrary.

Oh the irony. But it doesn't change the fact.

[?]

Really, though, SDV is the greatest song on Awake.  There.  I said it.

I like the way you think.

Awake is definitely the most atmospheric and least technical DT album, and I'd also say it's the darkest. All these 3 aspects are exactly the reason why I love it more than any other DT album.

[TheGreatPretender]

Train of Thought is more angsty if anything. I love it though. Awake has a certain eerieness to it, and genuine anger.

I'd actually say the opposite. Terms like, "Dark" obviously mean different things to different people. And SDV especially, is just kind of angsty. It's sad in a pathetic kind of way, in terms of the subject matter, but at the time, it was a very happy time in DT's career, writing it, so I think aside from The Mirror, that darkness was a bit forced. But hey, they all bought into Kev's contrived sincerity, right? 

[MoraWintersoul]

I just want to go on record saying I think Awake is one of DTs best albums, and that one of my favorite parts is the use of the motif in The Mirror that is eventually expanded upon to create SDV.  It's not really a big deal, I just always enjoyed that.

It actually went the other way around, I think. But it's great foreshadowing.

[KevShmev]

  But hey, they all bought into Kev's contrived sincerity, right? 

Riiiight.  I still love Raise the Knife, but some of the lyrics in that song are downright embarrassing, and that line is one of the worst offenders.

[MoraWintersoul]

  But hey, they all bought into Kev's contrived sincerity, right? 

Riiiight.  I still love Raise the Knife, but some of the lyrics in that song are downright embarrassing, and that line is one of the worst offenders.

[Ħ]

Awake is definitely the most atmospheric and least technical DT album, and I'd also say it's the darkest. All these 3 aspects are exactly the reason why I love it more than any other DT album.

Most atmospheric? Eh, I don't think so. It's sort of planar its atmosphere, not much variety. I'd say SFAM and SDOIT are more atmospheric. Least technical? Perhaps, I don't really know; I don't know how difficult the music is at all. Darkest? Again, I think other albums are darker or at least as dark.

Perhaps we ought to define our terms, though. To me, an album is "dark" if it evokes dark emotions within me (which is, of course, subjective to the listener). TOT and FII evoke those feelings much more for me.

[TheGreatPretender]

Riiiight.  I still love Raise the Knife, but some of the lyrics in that song are downright embarrassing, and that line is one of the worst offenders.

I just felt like using it.

Though for the record, as a song, I think Raise The Knife is better than anything on Awake.

[j]

Awake is definitely the most atmospheric and least technical DT album, and I'd also say it's the darkest. All these 3 aspects are exactly the reason why I love it more than any other DT album.

I think it's definitely the darkest DT album.  As for "most atmospheric," I think several of their other albums create an atmosphere at least as effectively.  And "least technical," I have no idea but I'm not sure how that can be determined.

Either way, it's one of their very best releases.

-J

[AngelBack]

If only allowed to own and listen to four DT albums I would have a hard time giving up IAW, SFAM, SDOIT or ADTOE to keep Awake.  But in comparison to my overall collection of music it would rank VERY high.  As to how it stacks up with the rest of DT's discography, well the competitiion is as stiff as it gets.