Awake is still better than every other Dream Theater record

[hefdaddy42]

Lyrics don't really make or break a song depending on the quality of music. 

Sure they can.

Nah, only if you let it.  Songs can still be good with subpar lyrics. 

They can't be great with shitty lyrics.  And good songs can become great with great lyrics.

Besides, "only if you let it" can be used for anything.

[King Postwhore]

"That's like when you see that product, I Can't Believe it's not Butter.  You can say that about a lawn chair. 

"I can't believe it's not butter." I think someone called it that to avoid a lawsuit." --Richard Jeni.

[TheGreatPretender]

They can't be great with shitty lyrics.

The Ministry of Lost Souls and The Count of Tuscany are both great songs.

[hefdaddy42]

They can't be great with shitty lyrics.

The Ministry of Lost Souls and The Count of Tuscany are both great songs.

No they aren't, although TCOT could have been, and I don't think that TMOLS has shitty lyrics, anyway.

[Dublagent66]

Lyrics don't really make or break a song depending on the quality of music. 

Sure they can.

Nah, only if you let it.  Songs can still be good with subpar lyrics. 

They can't be great with shitty lyrics.  And good songs can become great with great lyrics.

True, but I never said a song could be great with shitty lyrics.  I said a song can still be good with subpar lyrics.  That's two different things.

Besides, "only if you let it" can be used for anything.

Well, that's arguable depending on what you're talking about but really not worth discussing.  I was refering more to a state of mind about something that's entirely subjective anyway.  If it works, use it.  If it doesn't then don't.  Entirely up to you.

"That's like when you see that product, I Can't Believe it's not Butter.  You can say that about a lawn chair. 

Only if someone was stupid enough to think a lawn chair tastes like butter and then can't believe it isn't.    Otherwise, why would anybody say that?  Not a good analogy.


Thanks for the amusing comments guys but this is getting a little off topic.  I was talking about lyrics vs music, not shit, butter or lawn chairs.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

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.

Agreed.  I'll never understand the criticisms. One of the better songs on the album. This seems to be the only place that gives it hate too it seems.

[bosk1]

Wow.  Just noticed that Awake has 4 songs in my DT bottom 20. 

But still, that being said...

Awake is such an incredibly amazing album

[AngelBack]

They can't be great with shitty lyrics.

The Ministry of Lost Souls and The Count of Tuscany are both great songs.

I agree with you on this.

[Cable]

I dislike the production/mix on the album. The tones are good on each instrument, but there is a sterile feeling to the album that I have always disliked.

[King Postwhore]

Dublagent66, you are missing the punchline when Richard Jeni said, " I think someone called it that to avoid a lawsuit."  Not an analogy at all.  I just thought it was a funny line.

[silentman81]

Awake was the first DT cd I purchased when it came out.  They were recommended to me and this album holds a special place with me and always will for that fact.

[Rattlehead]

Just wanted to say that this thread has encouraged me to go back and listen to Awake more, it's definitely an awesome album    Still wouldn't say it's my favorite, but it would probably be #4 in my DT album rankings, right behind I&W, SFAM and SDOIT.

[wasteland]

Well, it was a good thread, then

I think it's my #2, or #3 when ADTOE is on a really good day. Usually #2, though!

[The Stray Seed]

Actually, I think Awake is the deepest and most profound album DT has ever done.

[sylvinception]

For me the answer is a yes, BUT...

"Awake" is the first DT album that I listened, so it will always be a bit special to me.
But I love "6 degrees...", "ToT" or "I&W" the same way!!

[kjg308429]

Yeah, I prefer SDOIT too. Whenever I talk to a new DT fan and when I mention that fact to them, they get awfully confused, and then they re-listen to SDOIT and go "holy fuck Milena you are 100% right about this album."
Well, okay, that happened only three times but that's enough to make a case!

I agree with you. SDOIT, especially CD2, is the most awesome album in dT's albums. I can't forget the first time I listend it. Its play time shocked me, but what shocked me most was that it was not bored, and didn't make me lose concentration despite of its greatly long long playtime. If someone asks me to recomand just one song of DT, I will recommand SDOIT without hesitation.

[Jarzombek]

Images & Words and Scenes From A Memory are better than Awake.

[MetropolisWatches]

To summarize my feelings succinctly: Awake is fucking amazing. It's an album that has only improved with repeated listens through the years.

[reneranucci]

I dislike the production/mix on the album. The tones are good on each instrument, but there is a sterile feeling to the album that I have always disliked.

This, too. The word 'sterile' fits very well with my opinion on Awake.

[Bolsters]

To summarize my feelings succinctly: Awake is fucking amazing. It's an album that has only improved with repeated listens through the years.

I've actually had the opposite reaction to Awake. I still think it's a great album, but it hasn't held up as well as most other DT albums for me over the years.

[Rattlehead]

I dislike the production/mix on the album. The tones are good on each instrument, but there is a sterile feeling to the album that I have always disliked.

This, too. The word 'sterile' fits very well with my opinion on Awake.

Interesting... that's actually my complaint about most of ADToE. I find Awake to be raw, emotional, exciting... anything but sterile really.

[Ħ]

Yup, Awake is sterile.

So is ADTOE.

[GasparXR]

The only time Awake is sterile is when I'm not hearing it.

[Vahvahenki]

The only complaint I can think of is that it's too long. After I&W clocking in at just under one hour, I feel they went overboard with 75 minutes and it hurts the flow. In hindsight, I wish they'd done something like this:

Awake:

6:00
Caught In A Web
Innocence Faded
Erotomania
Voices
The Silent Man
The Mirror
Lie
Space-Dye Vest

This way you get three distinct sections (3 standalone songs, AMBI and the three songs with the darkest feel). As for the rest of the tracks, a mini-EP would've solved that.

Scarred EP:

Scarred
To Live Forever
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
Eve

[Rattlehead]

Yup, Awake is sterile.

So is ADTOE.

Thanks man, glad you cleared that up for me.

[GasparXR]

The only complaint I can think of is that it's too long. After I&W clocking in at just under one hour, I feel they went overboard with 75 minutes and it hurts the flow. In hindsight, I wish they'd done something like this:

Awake:

6:00
Caught In A Web
Innocence Faded
Erotomania
Voices
The Silent Man
The Mirror
Lie
Space-Dye Vest

This way you get three distinct sections (3 standalone songs, AMBI and the three songs with the darkest feel). As for the rest of the tracks, a mini-EP would've solved that.

Scarred EP:

Scarred
To Live Forever
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
Eve

You realize every album after Awake is roughly the same length right? Barring SDOIT which is 96 minutes.

[Vahvahenki]

You realize every album after Awake is roughly the same length right? Barring SDOIT which is 96 minutes.

Oh absolutely, but I'd say Awake and Falling Into Infinity, to me, are the only albums that suffer from their length. Scenes feels like a whole, SDOIT's length feels balanced because of it having two discs, ToT and 8VM feel like they're albums with an idea behind them (no matter if one likes what the idea was). I won't comment on the albums after that but I'll just say that Awake has the potential to be a shorter album with a better flow. Maybe I phrased it poorly by referring to just the length.

[GasparXR]

You realize every album after Awake is roughly the same length right? Barring SDOIT which is 96 minutes.

Oh absolutely, but I'd say Awake and Falling Into Infinity, to me, are the only albums that suffer from their length. Scenes feels like a whole, SDOIT's length feels balanced because of it having two discs, ToT and 8VM feel like they're albums with an idea behind them (no matter if one likes what the idea was). I won't comment on the albums after that but I'll just say that Awake has the potential to be a shorter album with a better flow. Maybe I phrased it poorly by referring to just the length.

Oh okay, I see what you mean. It does seem like they wrote an Images-ish album, which I find is more song-oriented than album-oriented, but much longer. Same with FII. Everything since Scenes works better as an album than any album before it.

[PixelDream]

Awake just has a certain charm, it sounds very different from all their other albums, the vocals are quite off key sometimes BUT full of life and passion etc.

I listened to the album today, and after that to post-SFAM DT songs and what's really obvious is how much more professional JLB has become in his approach to recording vocals. And as a vocalist for that matter. He might not get the highest notes anymore, but his singing has become more refined and tasteful in my opinion. That said, Awake still has an utterly impressive vocal performance.

[TheGreatPretender]

Awake just has a certain charm, it sounds very different from all their other albums, the vocals are quite off key sometimes BUT full of life and passion etc.

I'm by far not the biggest fan of Awake, but I'll be the first person to defend its vocals. And even though you're praising them, I don't understand how they're off key. Never listening to Awake, have I said, "He just hit the wrong note!"

[BlobVanDam]

I'm the last person to defend Awake, and I can't fault Awake's vocals. It's easily one of JLB's best albums vocally, if not the best.

[Kotowboy]

I listened to Awake again today and frankly - after the first three songs it gets quite boring imo.

Images And Words ftw.

[Kotowboy]

Images & Words and Scenes From A Memory are better than Awake.

[King Postwhore]

For me, a sign of a great album is one that is strong today as it was when I played the crap out if it when it came out.


Awake is not one of those for me.  I do like it, but I gravitate towards other albums in their collection.

[Phoenix87x]

Awake is a strange album with me, where as I love it, but have to be in the right mood for it.

And If I haven't listened to it in a while it takes at least 2 listens to get back into it if that makes any sense. Still a top 3 album for me though.