Your two favorite DT albums from the last 10 years (Poll included)

[TheOutlawXanadu]

The two newest. I would rank the albums as follows:

Train of Thought: Good
Octavarium: Good
Systematic Chaos: Decent
Black Clouds and Silver Linings: Decent
A Dramatic Turn of Events: Very Good
Dream Theater: Borderline Masterpiece

[wasteland]

To this moment, 70 out of 104 voters see DT12 as a top 2 album of the last decade.

[cyberdrummer]

An interesting exercise will be to do this poll again in a few months.

[The Letter M]

To this moment, 70 out of 104 voters see DT12 as a top 2 album of the last decade.

Not too terribly hard considering the majority of fans and casual listeners rank IAW, Awake, SFAM and SDOIT as the band's top 4 albums, any of the last 6 albums wouldn't normally make it to the top-half of the band's catalog...normally. So it's a nice testament to the band's last two albums that they're ranked so highly amongst the last 6. I guess it means they're only getting better since their hey-day and their first 6 albums.

I know DT12 *just* came out (or is about to), but the positive reactions make me wonder how DT13 will end up being received if/when it comes out.

-Marc.

[Elite]

Until 10 minutes ago I was the only one who voted SC & s/t. Who's the other? REVEAL YOURSELF!!

[wolven74]

ADTOE and DT12

TOT is close behind though.

This.

[MetropolisDLX]

8V and DT

SC I have to be in the right mood for this one. It's definitely near the bottom of my top DT albums list. ITPOE is the strongest track for me and one of my favorite epics from the band. If that song wasn't on the album I would rank it lower. I hate the 'Repentance' song.

TOT is probably the DT album I've listened to the least. I only really like 'As I Am'. 'Vacant', and 'In the Name of God'. I love the heavier stuff from DT, but this album just doesn't interest me much for some reason.

BC&SL is meh. I loved it when I first got it because DT was still very new to me. Now I only listen to the first half of ANTR and then skip the rest because it's boring. Then I only listen to 'A Rite of Passage', 'Wither', and 'TCOT', and it's not very often. TCOT is my favorite song on from the album, but I think it's one of the weaker of longer DT songs.

ADTOE I like much, much more than SC, TOT, and BC&SL. It feels like a true DT album to me. They aren't trying to be an Opeth rip off or be balls to the wall now that MP is gone. I was sad that he left the band at first, but it's pretty obvious he isn't a fit for DT anymore. He's definitely a musician that needs to be involved in multiple projects of varying styles and genres, rather than be dedicated to one big band. All the other DT members have room to breathe and bring their creative ideas to the table now. It shows a lot on this album. The only song I think is really weak is 'This is the Life'.



8V was my first Dream Theater album and I've listened to it a fuckton. I love all the songs and can listen to the album anytime. 'The Root of All Evil' is one of the best openings and gets me super pumped! And 'Panic Attack' is a real ass kicker! Octavarium alone makes the album a huge step above other DT albums. Gives me goosebumps still to this day. 

DT12 I think has the best lyrical content the band has had in a while. Much more poetic and I can really relate to them. This album sounds like classic IAW, 6DOIT, with new modern DT. I think it has a perfect balance that shows all sides of DT very strongly. Every band member really shines, especially JM. We can actually hear him! I also really love the vocals on this one.

The 'False Awakening Suite' starts the album off perfectly. It's awesome that DT finally decided to make their own opening song. I get really pumped up for the album when I listen to it and 'The Enemy Inside' continues to really keep me hyped up. 'Illumination Theory' is fucking fantastic and makes the album worth getting alone. I'm so moved by it that it almost brings me to tears every time I listen to it. It ends the album epically and peacefully. I feel like I just listened to a soundtrack for a huge epic movie every time the album ends.  The placement of the songs are perfect and the production is a great step above ADTOE. I hope Richard Chycki continues to work with DT on future albums.

I could go on longer about how wild I am for DT12, but I made my main points. It's definitely my most favorite DT album since 8V and has exceeded my expectations. This is how I would rank all the DT albums as of now.

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

[jammindude]

Octavarium an Dream Theater....  without hesitation.

[Lucien]

Octavarium an Dream Theater....  without hesitation.

[Jaffa]

Train of Thought is my second favorite Dream Theater album, so that's definitely one of my picks.

As for my second pick, I'm not really sure.  Probably ADTOE. 

[mikeyd23]

Kind of surprised by my own answer, but honestly it would be the last two albums, ADTOE and DT.

[Kotowboy]

Octavarium and Dream Theater....  without hesitation.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

The lopsided result of this poll speaks volumes.

[romdrums]

I voted Train of Thought and the self-titled.  I listened to Train of Thought a ton when it came out, and to this day I still have ITNOG in my all time DT top ten.  However, the self titled has blown me away since they decided to stream it.  I can't wait for Tuesday!  Also, I'd have ADTOE in third place.

[theseoafs]

The two newest blow any of the other post-SDOIT albums out of the water.

[Jaq]

The last two, by the length of a football field. At least.

[adamack]

ADTOE and DT12

TOT is close behind though.

This.

This again.   

[eviljust]

I went with Octavarium and Dream Theater. I have to say ADTOE is pretty much more solid than Octavarium in its entirety, but I was definitely more emotionally involved in the 2005 work. Actually, something really similar is happening on DT12 as well, but I think I can say even Dream Theater is more consistent than Octavarium.

[Zydar]

Interesting to see that ToT is so well regarded by many fans. Personally I find it to be too metal-oriented for my taste, only ITNOG would rank high on my song list.

[jammindude]

I was just thinking how happy I am that Octavarium seems to get more and more love as time goes on... 

[Ruba]

Systematic Chaos is the best, definately. Then either Octavarium or ADTOE. Both have high highs, low lows, and some mehs.

I'll go with Octavarium.

To this moment, 70 out of 104 voters see DT12 as a top 2 album of the last decade.

I think it's the "new car smell". I remember ADTOE being more highly regarded at the time when I registered.

[aprilethereal]

TOT and 8VM. DT12 might eventually replace TOT, but I don't really see that coming any time soon.

[Jarzombek]

Train of Thought and Systematic Chaos

[Polarbear]

This was a tough one! Octavarium was a instant pick but between ADTOE and SC was hard. I went with Octavarium and SC but the latter could change between the two each day.

The worst two are TOT and DT12 easily. TOT has one really good song (ES) and two pretty good (TDS,ITNOG). DT12 has absolutely nothing going for it IMO.

[Ultimetalhead]

Definitely ADTOE and DT12. Both albums have the band sounding as invigorated and inspired as they did on SDOIT. While TOT-BC&SL are great albums, they don't have that same creative spark that's at play here.

[TAC]

ADTOE and DT12.

[hefdaddy42]

I agree as well Kev.

[Shine]

Really bad time to ask this sort of question. A lot of people are still infatuated with the new album for no other reason than it being new. Would've gotten better responses a few weeks ago, or if you ask again in a few months once the honeymoon period for the new album wheres out.

Think about it this way: when SC or BCSL came out, people really much more positive towards them than they are now. While I don't think DT12 with be seen nearly as poorly in the future as either of those albums, it's impossible to know at this point. There's no reason to try and rank it against the other albums other than to look back on this poll in a few months or years and see how naive we were.

For the record, I completely ignored the options with DT12 and went with TOT and ADTOE.

[DeanTheater]

The 2 latest releases also for me Kev.

[The Letter M]

As it stands right now, 68.5% of the people who have voted have chosen the newest album as one of the band's strongest among their past 6 albums. That's pretty impressive!

-Marc.

[BlobVanDam]

As it stands right now, 68.5% of the people who have voted have chosen the newest album as one of the band's strongest among their past 6 albums. That's pretty impressive!

-Marc.

That's not a surprise considering it JUST came out.

I'm not saying it will change, but it's still not really the most accurate indicator at this point.

[j]

ToT, Octavarium, SC, and BC&SL are all very, very similar in quality (not good).  ADTOE was a step up in a lot of ways, but I still have to withhold judgment on this new album, since I've still only listened to it 3 or 4 times.  But it won't take much staying power for it to surpass the first four albums.

So gun to my head, ADTOE and DT12.

-J

TOT has one really good song (ES) and one pretty good (TDS).

Ouch, your high points are what I consider probably the two worst songs on a weak album.

[BlobVanDam]

ToT, Octavarium, SC, and BC&SL are all very, very similar in quality (not good).

I disagree. There's definitely a difference in quality between those albums, and if anything I'd put the RR era albums into the same category (latest two included, although I wouldn't consider any of them "not good"). ToT and Octavarium are still a smidge above everything since for me.

[Outcrier]

ToT and 8V.

[LCArenas]

Octavarium has gotta be one of them, such a great album. I'm torn between ADToE and DT12 in the other two, but then again, I only listened to DT12 once in the stream and I'm waiting until I buy my copy to hear it again and make a decision.

PD. Please notice how SC and BC&SL have aged over time. I was here when BC&SL was released (Not as a member, but as a lurker) and people really loved it (Me included). I find it fascinating since they're not quite their most popular albums nowadays.