What if ADTOE was DT's debut album?

[bosk1]

[EDIT:  And, yeah, sorry the thread title and poll question are slightly different.  There is a character limit for thread titles, so I couldn't make it say what I really wanted it to say.]

Just curious what people would think.  Let's imagine we can erase history and there was NOTHING from DT prior to A Dramatic Turn of Events.  So either ADTOE, DT12, or The Astonishing would have been the first time you heard DT.  If that were the case, would you be a fan?  Or is your fandom contingent upon the band's back catalog?  Tell me why.  And please do NOT take this as an opportunity to bash either era of the band or otherwise break forum rules.

I know for me, the answer is easily "yes."  I love the back catalog.  But I love the new albums as well.  If the Mangini era of the band was all that existed, I would still be all over this band.  Would they still be my favorite?  That's a tougher question.  There is enough strong material that they would definitely be a contender, that's for sure.  I guess the point is, for me, this era is easily strong enough to stand on its own.  Curious how many agree and how many disagree. 

But to maybe look at it a little differently, if the first think I ever heard from the band was ADTOE or DT12, I would have for sure picked up the albums and followed the band to see what else they had.  If The Astonishing was the first thing I ever heard, it gets a bit trickier.  If I wasn't prepped for it, I'm not sure I would have given the entire thing a chance.  And I'm not sure it would have immediately grabbed me after one listen.  And even if it did, I'm not sure it would have grabbed me hard enough to make me keep coming back to sit through the entire thing for enough repeat listens to really "get it," or that it would have grabbed me enough to make me want to check out some of their other stuff.  I think a lot of my enjoyment of that album derives from my understanding of what I was in for going in, and its context within the band's history.  But if, say, ADTOE was my first experience, and then DT12, and then they released TA, I think I would be mostly as prepared and as on board as I am now. 

[Zook]

They wouldn't sell me on On The Backs of Angels, that's for sure, but there is some great stuff on ADTOE, so if I stumbled across them, and listened to the whole album, I'd be interested in more. I thought DT12 was a great follow up, so yeah I'd be a fan. The Astonishing is great too, but it took several listens to click, so I might have shelved the band for a bit while I searched for more music.

[TAC]

It feels like I'm reliving the I&W/Awake/FII-SFAM era all over again.

I LOVE ADTOE. I think it's amazing and easily would've drawn me in. It was followed by a heavier/darker album which I liked, but not as much as the previous one. And then TA is a little like FII in that it's divisive, and those that do not care for it find it weak.
Personally, I feel that TA is a combination of FII & SFAM. Epic and accessible.

[Another_Won]

I voted yes. 

So if Pull Me Under is what hooked me then it would have been OtBoA that I first heard?  That might be tough.  PMU has the metal aspect to it that I really love.  Not so much with OtBoA.

Having Awake being the follow up album along with ACoS made me say that I would continue to look for new releases from them.  With DT12 following up their "first album", I might not have decided that.

With TA, I already had SFaM and Six Degrees, so I was ready for what TA brought.  Without those, I'm not sure how I would react.

Sounds like I'm talking myself out of my "yes" answer huh?   Good thing that's not how it actually happened.

[hefdaddy42]

A thousand times Yes.

[Adami]

It would have been a harder sell, and I would have ignored 1/3 of the discography, but I like ADTOE and TA enough to make me at least a casual fan.

[Art]

Probably not.

[rumborak]

It would have been a harder sell, and I would have ignored 1/3 of the discography, but I like ADTOE and TA enough to make me at least a casual fan.

I think I would be a casual fan, yeah. I mean, a lot of elements that these days are considered standard fare for DT would then be new, and it's hard to judge the impact of that.

[LudwigVan]

Absolutely yes.

[wolfking]

Yes, but mainly due to DT12.

[MirrorMask]

It's weird because music has a butterfly effect on your tastes.

Same as Tolkien >>>>>>> 99% of the fantasy out there for me, Dream Theater is my reference for prog metal. I' more a heavy / power / folk kind of guy, sure I like prog metal and I wouldn't mind to listen to it, but the passion, the dedication and the interest for this kind of music comes first and foremost from DT.

So erasing DT from history until 2010 leaves a gaping hole in my musical formation that makes me unsure wether I could be interested in prog metal in the first place.

Still, clean and great singing, nice melodies and theatrical stuff would be still up my alley, so I guess that I would be interested anyway in the latest albums and then DT would still become my gateway to prog, but it's hard to me to think about it because DT for me it's not one of the many prog and prog metal bands I listen to it's *the* prog band. I don't even check out any other prog right now, I'm more into folk and weird not-exactly-metal stuff nowadays.

[Bill]

TA was the first DT album I heard, and I was hooked from that point on. Since then, I've been gradually discovering the back catalogue. ADTOE, DT12 and TA would all probably be in my top five or six DT albums and I know I'm in a very small minority! The fact that these are the more recent albums is coincidence. I don't have any history or nostalgia with this band, and I happen to love their most recent material.

[mikeyd23]

The short answer is yes. Hard to imagine a world without hearing I&W, Awake, etc... Before the MM era stuff, but yeah I'd definitely be into it.

[CDrice]

I'm not sure if they would still be my favorite band, but I'd say probably yes. The self-titled is the strongest one for me (my favorite since Train of Thought) and the other two are not too shabby either. And since this thread wouldn't be complete without ranking of the albums, here's mine:

1. DT12
2. The Astonishing
3. A Dramatic Turn of Events

[bl5150]

Yes.......but the effect over time would be similar.

Images and Words (ADTOE) hooked me ,  Awake (DT12) held my interest and FII (TA) began to lose me.

As it turned out I was fairly ambivalent about most of the new material from FII to SC but ADTOE renewed my interest .............and saw me with a new enthusiasm (and at DTF)

[krands85]

It's weird because music has a butterfly effect on your tastes.

Same as Tolkien >>>>>>> 99% of the fantasy out there for me, Dream Theater is my reference for prog metal. I' more a heavy / power / folk kind of guy, sure I like prog metal and I wouldn't mind to listen to it, but the passion, the dedication and the interest for this kind of music comes first and foremost from DT.

So erasing DT from history until 2010 leaves a gaping hole in my musical formation that makes me unsure wether I could be interested in prog metal in the first place.

Still, clean and great singing, nice melodies and theatrical stuff would be still up my alley, so I guess that I would be interested anyway in the latest albums and then DT would still become my gateway to prog, but it's hard to me to think about it because DT for me it's not one of the many prog and prog metal bands I listen to it's *the* prog band. I don't even check out any other prog right now, I'm more into folk and weird not-exactly-metal stuff nowadays.

This is sort of how I was thinking too. DT led me to lots of different great prog bands, but part of what really allowed me to get into DT in the first place was Train of Thought - a more straightforward metal album - as that was what I was more familiar with at the time. Images and Words is easily my favourite album of all time - but it took me quite a while after first discovering the band to really appreciate it.

If I'd ended up getting interested in this type of music through some other path, then yeah I'm sure I'd be a fan. They wouldn't be my favourite band though - they wouldn't even be my favourite prog metal band I expect. Had I never really been exposed to the genre by the time I heard them for the first time, then I'm not so sure. If a friend played me a track from one of the last 3 albums (as what happened with 8VM when I first heard DT), I might have thought it was quite cool and possibly checked them out a bit. But things wouldn't have progressed the way they did without that 'gateway album' in Train of Thought.

Thinking about it though, even when I was into more straightforward metal and rock, I suppose I always had progressive leanings. Longer songs for example, were usually among my favourites. So I would have eventually ended up down the prog path and towards DT at some point.

[KevShmev]

It's easy to say yes, but like others have already said, On the Backs of Angels wouldn't have sold me at all if it had been the first DT song I had heard, so I might have written them off there and never checked anything else out.

[TAC]

Right, I don't know if OTBOA would've provided a huge hook either, but honestly, if I had just heard PMU, I'm not sure that would've done it either. Both are among my least faves on their respective albums.

My first exposure to DT was actually seeing them live, and even though they opened with PMU, their performance was mind blowing. So today, if my first exposure was them performing OTBOA, I think I can say that the performance would've hooked me as well.

[red barchetta]

I think it's a very good album. There is a good mix of prog and metal and the ballads are great. But I would not necessarely still be a fan by now.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Considering the fact that Panic Attack was my introduction to the band back when I was a full one metal head, I'm not sure if I would have become a fan without the release of Octavarium.

[ChuckSteak]

Hmm no, I wouldn't become a fan. I've been losing interest since after the release of Octavarium. After it is has been getting worse and worse, in my opinion. The albums that made me a fan were I&W, Awake, Scenes, LSFNY, FII and Six Degrees. I don't think they will ever reach that quality again.

[BlobVanDam]

Nope. The only reason I gave ADTOE enough of a chance to sorta like the album is because of being a huge DT fan. DT12 and TA did nothing for me even as a huge fan, so by that point I would have just given up. If not for being an existing fan, DT wouldn't be on my radar from these albums, unfortunately.

[RoeDent]

Absolutely yes!  Even with the rest of their discography, two of my top 3 DT albums are in this trio.

[Zydar]

No. I like ADTOE and DT12, while TA does nothing for me. So I don't think I'd become a fan just on the strength of those three albums.

I'm much more interested in Haken nowadays than DT honestly.

[dtvoices94]

I voted yes.  Breaking All Illusions alone would be enough to get me as a new fan.
The self titled has enough to keep me along for the ride, and The Astonishing would cement the fact that DT are my favorite band.

[shredd]

I voted yes.  Breaking All Illusions alone would be enough to get me as a new fan.
The self titled has enough to keep me along for the ride, and The Astonishing would cement the fact that DT are my favorite band.

I see what you did there, well done sir.

also this is my sentiment as well.
Fun fact: I could have easily ended up discovering ADTOE first as I got into Dream Theater in 2011. However Octavarium was the first song I heard and I was instantly hooked regardless.

Now if we erase history before Octavarium....I would have been so confused when SC came out, even though I love that album, if all I had heard prior was the Octavarium album I don't think they would have held my interest. ITPoE as an opener would have been like false hope coz from Forsaken until TMOLS I would have been really confused. So there's that food for thought

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

A thousand times Yes.

hefbody42 knows his stuff

[Dublagent66]

No.  I&W is what did it for me and everything through SDOIT.  After that, mostly everything through ADTOE is good.  BAI is one of the best things DT ever did, but songs of that caliber ceased to exist afterwards.  DT has lost their identity, sadly.

[Elite]

No.

Whereas Dream Theater are the go-to reference for progressive metal in general and the band I always mention when people ask me what 'progressive metal' is, erasing them from history until 2011 would mean that another band would take up that title. Presuming that 'progressive metal' would actually be a thing by 2011, ADTOE would sound like a rehashed version of that genre, like so many DT clone bands out there that don't get a chance because of how similar to the original they sound. ADTOE is, to me, nothing different. A good album, but nothing new.

[Mindflux]

Well at least we could blame that terrible cover art on "First album, no budget".

[Polarbear]

No.

I can't imagine being a DT fan if someone erased the IaW - Octavarium era from existance. I love all the albums from that period. ADTOE has some great stuff in it, but pretty much nothing after that interests me.

For me the sad reality is, that there are much more interesting prog bands, doing better music than the current DT.

[Adami]

I also think DT would never have become a significant band for me. One of the reasons I fell in love with DT back in 2000 and onward is because MP's drumming really resonated with me and inspired me a hell of a lot, in a way that MM just doesn't. So without that factor, they would have not been as important to me.

[red barchetta]

I also think DT would never have become a significant band for me. One of the reasons I fell in love with DT back in 2000 and onward is because MP's drumming really resonated with me and inspired me a hell of a lot, in a way that MM just doesn't. So without that factor, they would have not been as important to me.

Agree with you about the drumming. Portnoy is the first drummer I find special since Peart. The only thing I did not like is all his spitting lol

[rumborak]

Yeah, one thing that really drew me in was the guitar and the drumming of DT. JP is still as good as ever I think, but the draw of MP's "air drumming" quality would certainly be missing.

[Madman Shepherd]

It took me a long time to get into DT's early stuff.  In fact, for a long time I considered I&W my least favorite album of theirs (I came in with SFAM).  Now I love their whole catalog and can only rank a few towards the bottom while the rest are in an 11 way tie for first place but if I had to pick only a few, ADTOE would be at the very top.  DT12 had enough great moments to keep me engaged and I think TA is a total misfire but I would still be eager to hear what they came up with next.