How long have you been a fan?

[bl5150]

Just a tad more than 3 years now... I was introduced to them by my girlfriend's dad 

Scary      

[Rattlehead]

Yeah, I wish I had found out about them earlier... I would have liked to have seen a DT show with Portnoy.

[bl5150]

To be clear I was referring drily to how old you're making me feel     "My girlfriend's dad".............that's something I would've said about The Beatles  

Nothing wrong with being late to the party.

[Tiko]

About 10 years... holy shit time flies. My brother was watching Live at Budokan which he had bought at random... Disappear was on when I walked in to the living room, just as the heavy rhythm guitars kicked in. That was it.

[TimmyHiggy]

I got into them when TOT was their newest release, so about '04 so this year is my tenth anniversary.
Given I still spin almost all their albums thats pretty good going for a band!

[Beautiful Agony]

I have been a fan since 2004, I remember Counterparts (the Rush forum) used to stream new albums and the song that caught my
attention was  "As I Am". A couple days later I bought Train of Thought and played the hell out of it, then a year later when I saw that DT were
coming to St.Louis I knew I had to go and see them. So I dragged my poor boyfriend along to the show. It was great (except for the end
when Portnoy was throwing out sticks and some jackass who was in the balcony decided it was a good idea to try and grab one and then
fell, thats probably why they haven't been back since then lol)

[krieger]

Fan since I&W... got it as it was released... 

[TheMunz]

Sometime between when MP left and when ADToE came out, probably around the time OTBOA came out as a single back in June 2011. So I'm a relatively new fan but I'm slowly becoming more acclimated to their earlier material.

[Jamesman42]

Since 2003, right after TOT came out.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Heard of them since 2002 but didn't like them when I was introduced. Got into them in 2005 right before Octavarium came out.

[Zook]

Since mid 2006.

[Dreamer]

That's a good question for me, I just joined up here. The funny thing is I bought DT's first album way back in 1989, but that album put me off the band for years. I only just heard Images and Words for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm now wading through the whole back catalogue. The thing that brought me back after all these years was the new self titled album which is the first DT (and only!) album of theirs where I really like every track. As always some people seem to think its the worst thing they've ever done but I think its the best, its just the perfect combination of instrumental fireworks and vocal melodies - long may they continue!

[commanderbob]

in 1992 I became a Pull Me Under fan

it was the best thing I'd ever heard. I listened to to multiple times a day for weeks.

in 1994 I heard Space Dye vest and it blew me away, then got got Awake and just became hooked.

[Umph1348]

Not long enough...  Approximately one year. Stoked for my first show in Boston!!!!

[Accelerando]

Oh man, for 9-10 years now I think. Someone from the Alter Bridge forum recommended them to me, and posted a YouTube link to "Under A Glass Moon." I was hooked since then!

[mirko_metal_88]

2002

[vtgrad]

Ah... Christmas of 1992.  A 12-yr old home from school on a snow-day watching MTV... I heard that first E in PMU and I've been hooked since!  Was given the album by my girlfriend Nicky in March of 93.  Wow... I've been listening to DT for almost two-thirds of my life! 

It's been a great ride!

Now to quote John Keating... "thank you for this stroll down amnesia lane"

[metallitroy]

A fan since 1993.  Got Images and Words in 1992, didn't like it, so I put it away for almost a year.  Later, I came back to it, listened, and said "what the heck was I thinking?!"  Huge fan ever since.  Seen them live 7 times (next week makes 8), did the meet and greet in '12, I have gotten all their albums since SFAM on first day of availability.

[CodyWanKenobi]

I first heard The Glass Prison around the time Systematic Chaos came out, and I just didn't get it. Didn't get how or why the song had to be that long, didn't really like any of the melodies.. thought the guitar was cool, that was about it. Fast forward three years, and my best friend puts Black Clouds and Silver Linings on in his car, and I fell in love. Holy shit, that was the most incredible thing I had ever heard at the time (I guess by this point, my musical mind had matured and everything kinda made sense and clicked now). I immediately became obsessed, and acquired all of their albums and studied them hard. Funnily enough, TGP quickly became one of my favorites for obvious reasons. I guess I just didn't see it before.

[red barchetta]

Only since about 5 years ago.  Me too it's a young colleage worker in her 20's (I'm 52)with whom I used to talk a lot about music.  She told me about DT, never heard of them before.  I saw Rush 11 times since 1980 and many other bands but DT was a fantastic discovery.  I started to listen to some songs on You tube and bought many albums then.  The departure of MP saddened me but I still love the band and since then they came here 4 times and I was there for each shows.

[icarus4321]

The first time I came across Dream Theater was in 2001.  I was waiting for my guitar lesson to start and another student noticed me playing a Metallica solo in the waiting room.  He asked if I had heard of Dream Theater and said that they had a guitarist that would blow me away.  The next weekend, I was looking at the Best Buy ad and noticed that this Dream Theater had a new live cd coming out that Tuesday.  When I went to pick it up, they had pulled the cd from the shelves and I couldn't find it anywhere (Live Scenes - Sept 11 issue).  Luckily, I was able to find the Metropolis 2000 DVD instead and the rest is history. 

[Invisible]

Luckily, I was able to find the Metropolis 2000 DVD instead and the rest is history.

I know this is off topic and forgive my ignorance, but what's the difference between Scenes from New York and Metropolis 2000?

[GentlemanofDread]

Scenes from New York is the CD, Metropolis 2000 is the DVD. (CD has the whole show and the DVD only Metropolis Part 2, A Mind Beside Itself, Learning To Live and A Change of Seasons)

[Invisible]

Now I feel dumb for not realising that

Thanks!

[phantom]

First time i heard DT was in 2003 when ToT was released.
I was into heavier stuff, so I didn't connect back then.
Took me many more years to appreciate what I missed all that time.
Sadly, for me, when I finally joined the DT family it was when MP left the band.
Anyway, it's been almost 4 years since I officially became a fan and it's fantastic 
Had the luck also to see DT live almost immediately (during the 2011 summer tour).

[gilpdawg]

Since around 1997.

[SuperTaco]

Since summer 2006. Heard ITNOG on an Ipod and it was all uphill from there.

[Cygnus17]

Since seeing them in DC on the 2004 Train of Thought tour. 

[Setlist Scotty]

Scenes from New York is the CD, Metropolis 2000 is the DVD. (CD has the whole show and the DVD only Metropolis Part 2, A Mind Beside Itself, Learning To Live and A Change of Seasons)

You're close, but not correct. Live Scenes From New York is the CD set. Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York is the DVD. 

[GentlemanofDread]

Damn it, I knew I forgot something! 

[icarus4321]

Spot on!

Scenes from New York is the CD, Metropolis 2000 is the DVD. (CD has the whole show and the DVD only Metropolis Part 2, A Mind Beside Itself, Learning To Live and A Change of Seasons)

You're close, but not correct. Live Scenes From New York is the CD set. Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York is the DVD. 

[billybobjoe1881]

I first heard Panic Attack in Rock Band 2 which came out in 2008.  I bought Octavarium, because of that song.  It was an alright album.  Then A Dramatic Turn Of Events came out and I bought it. I liked both albums but didn't go any deeper into their catalogue. Then this February my friend said her boyfriend was going to the show in Vancouver and he had an extra ticket.  I thought to myself, I've heard they are great live, I'll go to say I've been able to see them.  Then I picked up 7 albums since then and am officially a fan.  Can't wait for the show on Saturday.

[T-ski]

been a fan since the time PMU blew up on MTV.   I just remember thinking, "this is the type of music I've been waiting to hear," and I went out and picked up I&W.

[CrimsonSunrise]

1994...WOW, it didn't click that it's been 20 years.  Awake was my first album...I was just floored by it. 

[jjrock88]

Since around 2000 when I read in a magazine that I&W was voted best metal album of the 90s