Which Album Defines Each Member's Role.

[SystematicThought]

In an interview with Music Radar, JR said that DTXII is Mangini's album:

"That's right. And you can tell. He's totally dialed in. People will be smiling when they hear this. There's so much Mangini on this album. [Laughs] To me, in a lot of ways, this is his album, because he's now a total member of this group – the shining star."

So my question is which albums define each member's role in the band. Much like Van Halen's Fair Warning defined Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing, each DT album has a shining star.

JR: ADTOE. He doesn't really overdo it on the soloing and strikes up a pretty good balance and really shines on this album.

JP: I&W: Kinda for similar reasons, this album has JP with some really great solos and some great riffs. On their second album, Petrucci really comes into his own. I'm between this album and ToT

JM: Awake: This is an album where I can really hear him and he has some groove on here that doesn't always appear on each album.

JLB: Awake: Strong vocal presence, great melodies. This album showcases his skills

MM: DTXIII- According to JR.

MP: 6DOIT- Once he got the shipment of new cymbals in from Sabian, he really came up with creative parts. To me, it's the last great Portnoy album as he kinda stopped being innovative after this.

I apologize if this is kinda confusing.

[traben182]

I agree with you on all of the members except JM. In my opinion falling to infinity was were he had some of his most creative parts hes ever come up with. Plus he sounds amazing on that album.

[TheGreatPretender]

Okay, I have to say, great idea for a thread.

MP: SC - I just feel like he really allowed himself to let loose on it. It's similar to ToT, but in this one, if you listen to his parts, especially on ITPOE, he really does some cool stuff there. And hey, he also did some vocals on the album that actually sounded kind of cool. His back and forth rap in Constant Motion was fun, and his little rap on POW is pretty cool too.

JLB: Awake - I'm not the biggest fan of Awake, but as a vocalist, I have a hell of a lot of appreciation for it. It's got a couple of songs that are pretty good, and then James starts singing and turns them into amazing rockers. 

JR: SFAM - It's interesting that they kept MM out of ATDOE writing sessions, because clearly, putting their newest member (at the time) into the SFAM writing sessions really paid off. Jordan contributed so much awesomeness to SFAM that I can't even describe it. He turned what they originally had for Metropolis Pt. 2, and made it into sweet, sweet candy. As well as conducting the choir in TSCO.

JP: SC - Like it or not, Systematic Chaos had a ton of Metal elements in it, and really allowed JP to shine not just in terms of badass riffs like on CM and TDEN, but also more melodic, NWOBHM and Symphonic Metal inspired riffs like in ITPOE and Forsaken.

JM: I&W - To be honest, I'm not the first person to spot a bass line, I really have to listen carefully to pick it out in a piece of music. But maybe it's because of the way it was mixed, I&W really shined with the Metropolis bass solo, as well as the parts on Learning To Live.

KM: I&W - Kevin Moore did some interesting things on Awake, but personally, I think he was always best at just composing and playing beautiful melodies. And while Awake had SDV, I&W had Wait For Sleep AND Surrounded AND Metropolis, and pretty much every song with some great, beautiful melodic keyboard parts to it.

[SystematicThought]

Okay, I have to say, great idea for a thread.

I'm glad someone thought so 

I like your choices. I did forget about KM though. For him, oddly enough I have to go with WDADU. I like his playing on that album, especially OAMOT. For the two CDs that DS appears on, no doubt it would be FII

[wolven74]

You got one thing wrong though....

According to JR, MM defining role will be in DTXII, not DTXIII

[SystematicThought]

Nah, I'm just predicting the future. He'll have two albums that define his place in the band 

[Shadow2222]

JLB - I&W

JM - 8VM

JP - SFAM

JR - SDOIT

MM - DTXII

MP - TOT

[wolven74]

JLB - I&W

JM - 8VM

JP - SFAM

JR - SDOIT

MM - DTXII

MP - TOT

This. Except I'd switch MP and JP around.

[Unlegit]

Interesting.

JLB: Images and Words

JM: Images and Words

JP: Train of Thought

JR: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

MP: Scenes from a Memory

[LCArenas]

JP: I&W
MP: SFAM
JR: SDoIT
JLB: I&W
KM: I&W
JM: Awake

[YtseJamittaja]

MM: DTXIII- According to JR.

You know already DT13??

[SystematicThought]

You know already DT13??

You don't?

[BlobVanDam]

JLB: IAW or Awake
JP: TOT or SDOIT
MP: IAW or SDOIT
JM: IAW
JR: SFAM or SDOIT


I'm seeing a trend.....

[SystematicThought]

Yeah, it's definitely very telling.

[BlobVanDam]

I just meant in my own list, forget anyone else's.

[SystematicThought]

Most everybody seems to have similar results though 

[JRuivo]

JLB: Awake
JP: Awake
JR: ADTOE
MP: SFAM
JM: I&W
MM: DTXII I suppose 

[KevShmev]

JLB: I&W
JP: Awake
JM: WDADU
MP: 6DOIT
KM: Awake
JR: SFAM

[Shadow2222]

JLB: I&W
JP: Awake
JM: WDADU
MP: 6DOIT
KM: Awake
JR: SFAM

Oooh, that's a good one. I didn't even think about that. I may have to agree with you there.

[Lolzeez]

JLB: Awake
JP: ToT
JM: I&W
MP: SDOIT
JR: SFAM

[KevShmev]

JLB: I&W
JP: Awake
JM: WDADU
MP: 6DOIT
KM: Awake
JR: SFAM

Oooh, that's a good one. I didn't even think about that. I may have to agree with you there.

Sad bass lines FTW!

[Lucien]

JLB- I&W
JR- SDOIT
JP- BC&SL
JM- FII
MM- DTXII

A little bit of controversy there. 

[lyfeternl]

JLB- I&W
JR- SDOIT
JP- BC&SL
JM- FII
MM- DTXII

A little bit of controversy there. 

No, this would...

JLB - ADTOE
JP - ADTOE
JM - ADTOE
JR - I&W
MM - ADTOE

MP - ADTOE     

[GasparXR]

CD: WDADU (WHO DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING LOL)

KM: I&W (really beautiful keyboard parts)

JP: BC&SL (amazing guitar tone)

JM: WDADU (AMAZING bass parts that can be heard really well), also FII (chapman stick usage)

MP: ToT (his most complex parts to date)

DS: FII (he shone more here than ACOS)

JR: SDOIT (his writing of Overture and presence all over the album

JLB: Awake & SDOIT (use of both clean and gritty styles, really awesome and dynamic singing throughout both)

MM: We have yet to see!

[Dellers]

JM: FII, really tasty bass on this album
JLB: I&W
JP: I&W & SDOIT
JR: SDOIT & ADTOE
MP: SFAM & SDOIT

[Dream Team]

JM: WDADU - a lot of great basslines that can actually be HEARD
MP: Six Degrees
JLB: Images & Words
JP: Scenes I think, though he is my far the most consistent member; you couldn't pick wrong no matter which album you chose
JR: Six Degrees
MM: DT12 hopefully

[Scorpion]

JP: Six Degrees. He has some of his best stuff there as a player, but he also brings his A-game as a lyricist, which I find pretty important to consider. Misunderstood might be my favourite Petrucci lyric, and a strong contender for best DT lyric overall. His playing is awesome as well and shows all of his sides: the metal assault of TGP, the airy tone of Blind Faith, the creepy vibe of Misunderstood... plus, Goodnight Kiss is definitely up there with the best JP solos, and the riffs in WIMH, TTTSTA and ATC/R are some of his best, in my opinion.

JM: Falling Into Infinity. His best lyrics and some of his best and most audible bass lines (especially in the two epics of the album) make this an easy choice, and one that I don't have to write another half novel about.

MP: Six Degrees. I'm not really someone who focuses a lot on the drums, but Six Degrees is on of the few albums that I have ever heard where the drumming really made me go "wow", especially in TGD, so that gets the nod.

JR: Scenes. I don't really love the album as much as others do, but Rudess is on fire here. I love his leads in Home and Overture 1928, to only name two examples. It was pretty close between this and SDOIT, and while I love the latter more, the Overture to the title track is still one of DT's most needlessly long pieces ever recorded, and that's largely JR's work, so Scenes it is.

JLB: Awake. Nothing really to be added here. While I'm not the biggest fan of IF as it is, that vocal performance is absolutely ridiculous. Oh, and MOTHERFUCKING SCARRED.

KM: Awake, largely due to three points: his best lyrics, his most varied key work throughout, and Space-Dye Vest.

[ronnibran]

JP - Awake (some of my favorite lyrics from him here, and classic DT)
JLB - SDOIT (great vocals as usual and love the lyrics to blind faith and disappear)
JM - FII (the bass really stood out on this album, and lyrics to trial of tears)
JR - SFAM (really was blown away on first listen, couldn't believe the keys I was hearing)
MM - DT12 (obviously an assumption at this point)

[SuperTaco]

JP - SDOIT - Tough decision, but Six Degrees has such a strong variety of guitar tones and textures that I have to go with it. Very tough choice.
JM - WDADU - John Myung is loud and proud on their debut, providing strong and clearly audible bass lines that rarely fall underneath the rest of the music.
JR - SFAM - This album brought Rudess to another level. I don't think I need to say more.
JLB - I&W - His voice is fresh, his range is awesome, and he's at his best. I suppose you could say the same thing about Awake, but I prefer the songs on Images.
MM - Need more albums to pick from.

MP - SDOIT - Mike goes into many different "modes" on this album and shows a ton of versatility (as he usually does). The difference is the completeness of the end result. It shows every side of DT and, thus, every side of Mike's drumming.
KM - WDADU - I am biased towards WDADU and especially the keyboard/guitar combo of KM/JP. The way KM's symphonic-like keys blend with JP's chords is a very special thing to me. I understand nobody else picking it, but I'm picking it because this is what I think of when I think of Kevin Moore.

[Tom Bombadil]

JP- I&W- the guitar work on this album is nothing short of fantastic. While that can be said about most DT albums, JP seems to really come into his own here.
JLB- Awake- in my opinion the pinnacle of labrie's career. From the soft ballads to the gritty metal songs, labrie nails it all.
MP- SDOIT- while maybe not his most complex drumming, portnoy brings so much power and energy to this album. The drums really stand out here.
JM- FII- unlike in most albums you don't have to search for the bass to find it on this one. Lines in the sand has some of my favorite DT bass tracks.
JR- ADTOE- just in my honest opinion, the previous albums all seemed like JR was still trying to prove that he was really talented. Here he settles down and just makes good music, no overplaying or anything.
KM- Awake- the whole atmosphere created by kevin moore on this album is truly excellent. It makes everything come together nicely.

Nice idea for a thread by the way. Quite enjoyable to think about.

[Lucidity]

I can't decide whether Six Degrees is Jordan's or Mike's.