Notes of a new fan

[ori.elias5]

Well, its been a while since i shared with u my first excitement with DT. (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=40069.0)

So far i've heard Awake, ADTOE, DT12, WADADU and BCSL plus live at luna park and the number of the beast cover. (i'm a diehard Maiden fan) + read the Lifting Shadows bio. Boy, i love these guys. it is like ur in love....i'm so thrilled to hear more but i do it in my pace in order to enjoy it as much as i can.

1. Awake is an UNREAL album- already in my top 20 alltime. gotta love every bit of it. probably my top tracks will be 6:00, IF, AMBI, LSOAD and Scarred but it is all awesome as one unit. i even bought it again after my car system ruined the first 2 songs....

2.ADTOE- i was surprised how good the band sounds even after almost 20 years!! it is a very consistant album with BAI guitar solo drives me crazy... I even more appreciate it after watching the Luna dvd.

3.DT12- IDK, something about it makes me love it even more than ADTOE. much more poppy, but hell good. TLG is such energetic and IT is the first epic i heard by them, i start crying in the orchestra part untill the great climax at the end.

4.WADADU- whoooooo. bad production but huge surprise! every song is classic, still not in top of the others 'cause of the production and JLB not in this one but i love it! just bought the reunite dvd so it gotta be great watching it with james. my fav is only a matter of time.

5. BCSL- I came with very low expectations after reading the negative reviews here ... oh man i was wrong again. i got a fucking erection during the first time i heard the intro of TCOT. this record really grew on me, another highlight is the beautiful agony part of ANTR and the beautiful TBOT.

So....... my next on the list is SC. cant wait folks. DT-

Btw: from what i read here most of the fans consider SFAM top 3 album if not the best so how come when ppl posting their fav DT songs none of the SFAM songs appears to be on the list ?...

[bl5150]

Very cool -  keep some pseudoephedrine on hand just in case those erections get out of control   

Oh - and get Images and Words next.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I love When And Dream And Day Unite.

Personally, I don't rank SFAM that high. Most people who do, though, would probably say it's strength is as an entire album, not individual songs.

Glad you enjoyed BCSL, by the way, I love it as well.

[Jaffa]

Btw: from what i read here most of the fans consider SFAM top 3 album if not the best so how come when ppl posting their fav DT songs none of the SFAM songs appears to be on the list ?...

Shadow Ninja pretty much already covered this, but for me, I love listening to SFAM from start to finish, but most of the songs aren't as strong out of context.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

[Daso]

You should really listen to SFaM and Images and Words. Perhaps Falling Into Infinity and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence after than. Octavarium or A Change of Seasons (although it's an EP, so you'd only be listening to the 23 minutes song and some covers) if you really like Illumination Theory, entirely different beasts altogether, but an amazing epic tracks nonetheless.

Anyways, since you like the recent albums, you should check out SC next. In the Presence of Enemies is one epic track divided into two, just so you keep that in mind.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Btw: from what i read here most of the fans consider SFAM top 3 album if not the best so how come when ppl posting their fav DT songs none of the SFAM songs appears to be on the list ?...

Shadow Ninja pretty much already covered this, but for me, I love listening to SFAM from start to finish, but most of the songs aren't as strong out of context.  The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Pretty much this. SFAM is my absolute #1 from DT. Though there are superb stand out tracks (Beyond This Life, Home, The Spirit Carries On, and Finally Free come to mind). Even so, it just works so well as a whole and ultimately that's what makes the experience so much greater for me.

[energythief]

And for Gods sake don't listen to SFAM until you memorize Metropolis Part 1 from Images and Words.

[2Timer]

Yes, get Images next. And get very, very familiar with the track Metropolis Pt.1. Then...get SFAM and prepare for a near religious experience.

[Outcrier]

You're saving the best for the end eh?

[425]

Guys, this is the guy/gal wants to listen from least best to best. Which means (s)he should do Images->Scenes last (I'd argue Images is better, but agree with those who say that you should know Metropolis Pt. 1 first). (S)He should do FII and SC next, then 8VM, then SDOIT, then Images, then Scenes, since (s)he wants to go from least best to best in terms of popular opinion.

[Outcrier]

ToT too, forgotten but not lost 

[425]

Thought I was forgetting something; must have counted wrong. I would put it around the same as Octavarium in terms of fan popularity, but that's just my approximation.

[Rodni Demental]

Obviously you'll get lots of different opinions on this, but I would say, If you're up to Systematic Chaos, go backwards from there. (seeing as you've more or less been looking at newer stuff). Next up Octavarium? Then Train of Thought, Six Degrees, Scenes, Falling into Infinity, then Images. I wouldn't save scenes for last, nor would I save Images, they're great but still might not be what you expect if you build them up too much. I don't think I&W is necessary to listen to before Scenes From a Memory at all either. I think A Change of Seasons is a pretty solid one to listen to last after everything else, just to finish the whole experience off with that first true 'epic'.

[ori.elias5]

thanks for the suggestions. im gonna hear for the first time SC now!!! after that i probably will go FII-ToT-8V-SDOIT-I&W-SFAM-ACOS

like Rodni said, this way i will save the "best" epic for the end. Im still not sure whether to leave I&W for last cause thats DT most popular album and consider the best or its a must to hear Metropolis part 1 before? another thought i had is to leave 8V for the last 3 cause it contains the title track which is also one of the fav tracks...

Btw, 425 i'm a he  cant wait to see your final list of ur top 50!!!

[SuperTaco]

thanks for the suggestions. im gonna hear for the first time SC now!!! after that i probably will go FII-ToT-8V-SDOIT-I&W-SFAM-ACOS

like Rodni said, this way i will save the "best" epic for the end. Im still not sure whether to leave I&W for last cause thats DT most popular album and consider the best or its a must to hear Metropolis part 1 before? another thought i had is to leave 8V for the last 3 cause it contains the title track which is also one of the fav tracks...

Btw, 425 i'm a he  cant wait to see your final list of ur top 50!!!

I would strongly advise listening to I&W and especially Metropolis Pt.1 before you get to SFAM. If you do, you'll understand why it's important. It just creates the best listening experience, to put it simply.

[ori.elias5]

thanks for the suggestions. im gonna hear for the first time SC now!!! after that i probably will go FII-ToT-8V-SDOIT-I&W-SFAM-ACOS

like Rodni said, this way i will save the "best" epic for the end. Im still not sure whether to leave I&W for last cause thats DT most popular album and consider the best or its a must to hear Metropolis part 1 before? another thought i had is to leave 8V for the last 3 cause it contains the title track which is also one of the fav tracks...

Btw, 425 i'm a he  cant wait to see your final list of ur top 50!!!

I would strongly advise listening to I&W and especially Metropolis Pt.1 before you get to SFAM. If you do, you'll understand why it's important. It just creates the best listening experience, to put it simply.

I will.

[sneakyblueberry]

Being a Maiden fan, check out DT's cover of To Tame a Land, which was released with BC&SL, if you haven't already.  They've taken it down to Drop D (I think, from memory) to compensate for LaBries voice but its an awesome rendition.  There's also a cover album of NOTB... which I'd stay away from   Otherwise, coming from another lifelong Maiden fan, listen to TOT and SDOIT and then just listen to Awake on repeat; it doesn't get much better than that

[KevShmev]

Welcome!

Enjoy the rest of the incredible ride you have only just begun!

Also, I don't think hearing I&W before SFAM is necessary. 

[sneakyblueberry]

Welcome!

Enjoy the rest of the incredible ride you have only just begun!

Also, I don't think hearing I&W before SFAM is necessary. 

I don't think hearing SFAM is necessary.  At all. 

[Rodni Demental]

Alternatively if it's not too late, you could listen to the meta-album sequence (the ones that transition into one another) as you haven't touched any of those albums. Starting at Scenes, then follow through Six Degrees then Train of Thought, finishing up with Octavarium which not only ends that album sequence, but 8vm is also their 'full circle' album, and is mostly comprised of musical statements and references to everything they'd done up until that point (although DT12 seems like a bit of a full circle album aswell).

Decisions...  But at this point you're probably the kinda fan who'll enjoy it all either way. 

[425]

thanks for the suggestions. im gonna hear for the first time SC now!!! after that i probably will go FII-ToT-8V-SDOIT-I&W-SFAM-ACOS

like Rodni said, this way i will save the "best" epic for the end. Im still not sure whether to leave I&W for last cause thats DT most popular album and consider the best or its a must to hear Metropolis part 1 before? another thought i had is to leave 8V for the last 3 cause it contains the title track which is also one of the fav tracks...

Btw, 425 i'm a he  cant wait to see your final list of ur top 50!!!

That looks like a good order. I would say SFAM is nearly as popular as IAW so it wouldn't be a travesty to do them out of order and it definitely benefits you to know Metropolis 1 before hearing Scenes.

As for the gender thing, I tend to assume so, but I was just making sure not to offend. 

And thanks, glad to hear compliments on my top 50! I'm actually doing a write up as I type this that should be posted tonight, it's for... shall I say... the big one (not to hijack your thread with a top 50 teaser or anything).

[OsMosis2259]

thanks for the suggestions. im gonna hear for the first time SC now!!! after that i probably will go FII-ToT-8V-SDOIT-I&W-SFAM-ACOS

That's a great order! You should def stick with this 

[TheGreatPretender]

I'm one of the minority of people who thinks SC is a phenomenal album. Looking forward to reading your impressions.

[Ravenfoul]

I'm one of the minority of people who thinks SC is a phenomenal album. Looking forward to reading your impressions.

You're not alone. I don't like Prophets of War or Repentence anymore though, which is weird because i used to really like PoW, now i loathe it. But ITPOE 1/2, CM, TDEN and Ministry are all amazing to me still.

[ori.elias5]

well..... just heard Systematic Chaos!!!

Notes after just 1st listen: the environment of the album is very different, kind of OPETish. there's an ominus feeling throughout the album kind of super natural. i guess that is what the band wanted the album to sounds like with the lyrics and themes.

Gotta say that i admire that fact that they sound different in their own way every album and yet, straight up DT elements. It will probably take me a long time to dig this one untill i move on as i want to "suck" every bit of it.

I'll be a fool if i state my first favorites right off the first listen cause imo it takes few takes and more to appreciate any kind of music especially prog music but i can say that i wasn't blown away by a specific song (like i did with parts of TCOT) with the exception of Ministry and parts of ITPOE which stoood up a bit but- again still very early...

Regardless of SC,  i've read in different occasions here that ADTOE is reminiscent I&W a lot and its like they took a lot of parts and remake them into a new album. I got very upset  when a band trying to sound the same like they did in an X album and by doing so they literally take songs stracture and copying it. i already heard ADTOE a tons of times and i'm afraid when i hear I&W with all the expectations to enjoy it at least like i enjoyed Awake, then to discover i've already heard these notes in a different form...i'm interested to hear your take.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

ADTOE has only vague resemblances to I&W. While some song structures are similar, the songs themselves are totally different.

[425]

Don't worry about IAW reminding you too much of ADTOE. The two are similar but not close to being the same as each other. You might note a couple of times something like "oh, that part of PMU is a little like that part of OTBOA" or "there's a bass-only section, kinda like in BAI." But the mood, I think, is pretty different.

Images and Words is an album with an atmosphere and mood like no other. It's got the optimism of WDADU, but with a lot more of a mature outlook and a lot better songwriting. What you're going to find with IAW is that this an album that could only be made by a group of brilliant young musicians. ADTOE can be seen as revisiting the general ideas of IAW, but definitely looking at them from an older perspective. Learning to Live, the epic of IAW, is like a song that takes place 20 years before Breaking All Illusions. It's full of blinding, youthful optimism. IAW is an entirely different album. And it's the best album. Don't worry, you're going to love it.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I never got why the song structure would matter to anybody. There's thousands of unique songs that have used the same verse-chorus format (sure, there are songs that use that format that are totally derivative, but that doesn't diminish the main point).

[sneakyblueberry]

Images and Words is an album with an atmosphere and mood like no other. It's got the optimism of WDADU, but with a lot more of a mature outlook and a lot better songwriting. What you're going to find with IAW is that this an album that could only be made by a group of brilliant young musicians. ADTOE can be seen as revisiting the general ideas of IAW, but definitely looking at them from an older perspective. Learning to Live, the epic of IAW, is like a song that takes place 20 years before Breaking All Illusions. It's full of blinding, youthful optimism. IAW is an entirely different album. And it's the best album. Don't worry, you're going to love it.

Jesus.  Your command of the English language is astounding.  Are you Morgan Freeman?  I feel like you could tell me my whole family just died in the same freak gardening accident and it wouldn't even care. 

Oh, and yeah.  I&W is the best them

[425]

Aww, I'm blushing! 

No, I'm not Morgan Freeman. But I really enjoy writing and I'm rather proud of my ability to write, so I really appreciate the compliment! 

[BlobVanDam]

Aside from some very minor surface similarities, ADTOE is absolutely nothing at all like IaW. That's an insult to IaW.

[ori.elias5]

I'm glad to hear that. thanks for the clarification

[Zydar]

Aside from some very minor surface similarities, ADTOE is absolutely nothing at all like IaW. That's an insult to IaW.

[OsMosis2259]

I never got why the song structure would matter to anybody. There's thousands of unique songs that have used the same verse-chorus format (sure, there are songs that use that format that are totally derivative, but that doesn't diminish the main point).

[jakepriest]

Aside from some very minor surface similarities, ADTOE is absolutely nothing at all like IaW. That's an insult to IaW.

Hey, I prefer ADTOE to IaW.