Where does The Astonishing rank in your list?

[RJ86]

Way too early to rank it. It's just too much to digest. It is different, but it has some good parts. I have a feeling somewhere down the line, I will end up liking a portion of this and the rest becomes filler that I don't bother with. Don't get me wrong, it is good... just some of it is feeling like filler music.
Who knows, my opinion could change over time. I wish I had the time to sit and really listen to 2+ hours of music uninterrupted 

[Dreamer]

Now that I've had time to fully digest it I'd say TA was in my top 3 DT albums. I base this simply on the number of songs liked and how it makes me feel overall.

This is my overall DT ranking

DT12
A Dramatic Turn
The Astonishing
Images & Words
Falling Into Infinity
Awake
A Change Of Seasons
Octavarium
Systematic Chaos
Scenes From A Memory
Six Degrees
When Dream and Day..
Train of Thought
Black Clouds

[ASacrificedSon]

Black Clouds at the bottom? How come?

[ariich]

Ooh, haven't done a DT ranking in a long time! I find it hard to produce a full ranking these days, feels more comfortable to put things into tiers. Where things are in the same tier, I've listed them chronologically.

Winner: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rest of top tier: Images & Words; A Dramatic Turn of Events

Second Tier: Awake; (A Change of Seasons); Falling Into Infinity; Black Clouds & Silver Linings; The Astonishing

Third Tier: Train of Thought; Octavarium; Systematic Chaos; Dream Theater

Fourth Tier: Scenes From a Memory

Bottom Tier: When Dream and Day Unite

[Train of Naught]

Tier 1:

Images & Words
Scenes from a Memory

Tier 2:
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
A Dramatic Turn of Events

Tier 3:
Train of Thought
Octavarium
Systematic Chaos

Tier 4:
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Dream Theater

Tier 5:
Awake
Falling Into Infinity
When Dream and Day Unite


Won't rank TA yet but I guess it'll end up somewhere around BC&SL/SC/8VM, so middle-tier.

[ASacrificedSon]

Tier 1: Black clouds
Tier 2: SC, TOT, SFAM
Tier 3: Awake, SDOIT, Images and Words,
Tier 4: DT12, ADTOE
Tier 5: WDADU

[erciccio]

Tier 1: Images and Words
Tier 2: Awake, SFAM, ADTOE, (A Change of Seasons)
Tier 3: The Astonishing, Dream Theater, SDOIT
Tier 4: Octavarium, ToT, WDAD(re)U
Tier 5: WDADU, SC, BCSL, FiI

[Dreamer]

Black Clouds at the bottom? How come?

That will be because I don't like it 
I even sold my copy, Train of Thought is equally poor so they should share the bottom spot really...

[Mark Levinson Jr.]

This has become my number one DT album. I'd also say that it's my favorite "work of art", in that I enjoy The Astonishing as much or more than any movie, play or album. My whole family loves it.

[ariich]

Cool, I set a new trend!

[Zook]

The Astonishing is #6 in my rankings.

Fuck trends.

[erciccio]

Black Clouds at the bottom? How come?

Same for me.
I even like the CD with the covers more than the one with the new material...
   
A Nightmare To Remember- "beautiful agony" section:  the rest 
A Rite Of Passage: 
Wither: 
The Shattered Fortress: "initial riff"  the rest 
The Best Of Times: "THE solo"  the rest 
The Count Of Tuscany: "the ending"  the rest 

[Scorpion]

Tier 1: Six Degrees
Tier 2: Images and Words, Awake, Falling Into Infinity
Tier 3: Scenes from a Memory, Train of Thought, A Dramatic Turn of Events
Tier 4: The Astonishing (my version that I've cut down to an hour or so)
Tier 4: Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds and Silver Linings, The Astonishing (the actual album as-is)
Tier 5: Dream Theater, When Dream and Day Unite

[hefdaddy42]

Yeah, I still don't know how to compare this to the other albums.

[ASacrificedSon]

Ooh, haven't done a DT ranking in a long time! I find it hard to produce a full ranking these days, feels more comfortable to put things into tiers. Where things are in the same tier, I've listed them chronologically.

Winner: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rest of top tier: Images & Words; A Dramatic Turn of Events

Second Tier: Awake; (A Change of Seasons); Falling Into Infinity; Black Clouds & Silver Linings; The Astonishing

Third Tier: Train of Thought; Octavarium; Systematic Chaos; Dream Theater

Fourth Tier: Scenes From a Memory

Bottom Tier: When Dream and Day Unite

Interesting to see scenes at fourth. How come?

[bosk1]

1.  Six Degrees
2.  SFAM
3.  ADTOE
4.  DT12
5.  I&W
6.  Awake
7.  SC
8.  Octavarium
9.  FII
10.  BCSL
11.  TOT
12.  WDADU

3 weeks or so after release, it is hard to say where I would put The Astonishing.  I still like it a lot.  But it is hard to rank because (1) it is still new, and there is a LOT to take in; (2) it is so different that it almost seems to not fit in a traditional DR ranking; and (3) as much as I am enjoying it, it is hard to say at this stage whether it will truly have staying power. 

That being said, I think I would likely put it somewhere in the middle tier of I&W - Octavarium.  I consider those 4 albums to be great.  They each have some of DT's strongest material that gets repeat listens from me, while also having some "misses" that I do not care for.  (and I should add that that is also true of the third tier of albums from FII on down as well, just with peaks that aren't quite as high, or slightly fewer of them)  As I said, I like this album a lot as a whole, and there are definitely songs that I love, but there are definite peaks and valleys that seem to kinda feel like it fits in that second tier.

[emtee]

I agree with what many have said. Even after 15'ish spins I still can't wrap my head around the vast scope/length of this album.
I don't own any other album that is this long and it has such a different feel to it that it almost deserves it's own category.
My gut tells me that if I were to whittle this down to a single album of my favorite parts (like many have done) it would be solidly
in the upper tier of DT albums.

Additionally what is different about this beast is I have no clue how time will impact it's standing and my relationship with it. I can
see myself loving it more and more and having it become a top 2 album...but I feel equally strong that I might end up liking
it less due to it's length and also because so many songs have that super high epic ending and I'm not sure how that will play out
over time. Again, I don't have any other albums that feel like this. Ask me in a year 

[ariich]

Ooh, haven't done a DT ranking in a long time! I find it hard to produce a full ranking these days, feels more comfortable to put things into tiers. Where things are in the same tier, I've listed them chronologically.

Winner: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rest of top tier: Images & Words; A Dramatic Turn of Events

Second Tier: Awake; (A Change of Seasons); Falling Into Infinity; Black Clouds & Silver Linings; The Astonishing

Third Tier: Train of Thought; Octavarium; Systematic Chaos; Dream Theater

Fourth Tier: Scenes From a Memory

Bottom Tier: When Dream and Day Unite

Interesting to see scenes at fourth. How come?

Just don't find it as interesting or enjoyable as the rest (minus WDADU). Something about it just doesn't quite hang together for me. It comes and goes though, sometimes I'll give it a listen and think it fits solidly along in the third tier.

[NonstopPurpleForce]

At first, I thought half of TA was boring, but now that I've listened to all of the tracks more, I'm starting to like more and more of the album, to the point where I think it is starting to get into my top 3.

Without including TA:

1. SFAM
2. I&W
3. SDOIT
4. Awake
5. Octavarium
6. DT12
7. ADTOE
8. BC&SL
9. FII
10. WDADU
11. TOT
12. SC

[energythief]

It's way too early for me to rank the album, but I know one thing: The Astonishing is absolutely dead last on the list when it comes to lyrics. It's just horrible.

[TheGreatPretender]

It's like, tied for 3rd right now, with Systematic Chaos, and that held its place firmly since I first heard it, so that's saying something.

[Dublagent66]

It's a top 13 album for sure.

If that...

[Clancy Wiggum]

I voted somewhere in my top 3, although that's an initial judgement. If I was to vote in a month or two it could perhaps be at the top. Might have to listen to Six Degrees right through again to make a call for top spot.

[KevShmev]

Ooh, haven't done a DT ranking in a long time! I find it hard to produce a full ranking these days, feels more comfortable to put things into tiers. Where things are in the same tier, I've listed them chronologically.

Winner: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rest of top tier: Images & Words; A Dramatic Turn of Events

Second Tier: Awake; (A Change of Seasons); Falling Into Infinity; Black Clouds & Silver Linings; The Astonishing

Third Tier: Train of Thought; Octavarium; Systematic Chaos; Dream Theater

Fourth Tier: Scenes From a Memory

Bottom Tier: When Dream and Day Unite

Interesting to see scenes at fourth. How come?

Just don't find it as interesting or enjoyable as the rest (minus WDADU). Something about it just doesn't quite hang together for me. It comes and goes though, sometimes I'll give it a listen and think it fits solidly along in the third tier.

Plus, you are clearly a communist.

[ariich]

Ooh, haven't done a DT ranking in a long time! I find it hard to produce a full ranking these days, feels more comfortable to put things into tiers. Where things are in the same tier, I've listed them chronologically.

Winner: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Rest of top tier: Images & Words; A Dramatic Turn of Events

Second Tier: Awake; (A Change of Seasons); Falling Into Infinity; Black Clouds & Silver Linings; The Astonishing

Third Tier: Train of Thought; Octavarium; Systematic Chaos; Dream Theater

Fourth Tier: Scenes From a Memory

Bottom Tier: When Dream and Day Unite

Interesting to see scenes at fourth. How come?

Just don't find it as interesting or enjoyable as the rest (minus WDADU). Something about it just doesn't quite hang together for me. It comes and goes though, sometimes I'll give it a listen and think it fits solidly along in the third tier.

Plus, you are clearly a communist.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I have it ranked fourth currently. I don't think it will go any higher than that though. SFaM, IaW, and 8VM are just too good.

[kirksnosehair]

It's hard to rank an album this new, but there is no doubt it's in the top 3 for me.

[Prog Snob]

I picked "right in the middle".  I'm really glad to see the mostly positive reception for it.  Now the people who complain that everyone complains about everything Dream Theater does can stop their whining. 

[Outcrier]

9th place. Could been a bit higher if not for the lackluster Act 2.

[SwedishGoose]

I would say between middle and top 3 but as that is not a choice I choose top 3.... it is that good to me

Glad I picked top 3... it has risen to secure a place there....

[manticore999]

I'd say 'meh'.  I don't think it's terrible but I still have yet to make it through the whole album without losing interest.  I'd put it above WDADU just because musically I think it's better than that, but I'd even put TOT, BCSL, 8VM and SC above it, and I really didn't care for those.

[JMSE]

I won't rank albums but I will say that up until January my DT "Holy Trinity" was I&W, Awake, and SFAM (listed chronologically). Every day I feel stronger about changing that from the "holy Trinity" to the "Big 4" if you will. If they move in this direction further in the coming releases, this album is bound to be considered as one of the essentials IMO. 

[lucasembarbosa]

1 - Falling Into Infinity
2 - Images and Words
3 - The Astonishing
4 - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
5 - Scenes From A Memory / Awake
6 - Octavarium
7 - A Dramatic Turn of Events
8 - Dream Theater / When Dream And Day Unite
9 - Black Clouds and Silver Linings/Train of Thought
10 - Systematic Chaos

[Zydar]

Too early to tell, but right now it's somewhere in the middle.

I'll have to revise my opinion. I listened to it many times during the first few days, and quite liked it. But I took a breather from it, and now I haven't listened to it since. Haven't even had the urge to listen to it again. So it's unfortunately in the lower half at the moment.

[marillionaire]

In all honesty, after my first listen to the album, I'd have given it a 4-5 (out of ten) score. However, having given it multiple listens (6 to be exact), it has moved up to a solid 7-8 (on a ten scale); it still has some problems/issues but I'm "discovering" more positives with each successive listen.

The poll doesn't have a lot of options, so I voted "right in the middle". I have a ranking for DT studio releases that now looks like this:

* Top 4 (greatest/best releases): SFAM; I&W; Awake; ADToE (in that order)
* Middle 5
* Bottom 4

The Astonishing is, right now, just below my top 4; so, basically, at the top of my middle 5 releases.