Dream Theater album ranking and rating score

[Mladen]

Don't be harsh, the guy simply lost his train of thought for a minute.

[Zydar]

Don't be harsh, the guy simply lost his train of thought for a minute.

You can say that there's a Vacant spot at #10.

[Pettor]

Diamond
===========
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - 10
Scenes From A Memory - 10

Gold
===========
Train of Thought - 9.5
Images & Words - 9
Awake - 9

Silver
===========
Black Cloud & Silver Linings - 8.5
Distance Over Time - 8
A Dramatic Turn of Events - 8
Octavarium - 8

Bronze
===========
Systematic Chaos - 7.5
Falling Into Infinity - 7
A View From The Top of The World - 6.5
The Astonishing - 6.5

Gravel
===========
Dream Theater - 5.5
When Dream and Day Unite - 5

[PixelDream]

1. Awake - 10
2. Images & Words - 10
3. Scenes From A Memory - 9.5
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - 9
5. Train of Thought - 9
6. Octavarium - 8.5
7. Black Clouds & Silver Linings - 8
8. Falling Into Infinity - 8
9. Systematic Chaos - 7.5
10. A Dramatic Turn of Events - 7.5
11. Distance Over Time - 7
12. When Dream And Day Unite - 7
13. Dream Theater - 6.5
14. A View From The Top Of The World - 6

Not ranking The Astonishing, it's not for me and I can't bring myself to listen to it anymore.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Haven't done this exercise in a while!

S-Tier (10s): Images and Words, Scenes from a Memory
A-Tier (9s): Awake, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
B-Tier (8s): Octavarium, A Dramatic Turn of Events, Distance over Time, A View from the Top of the World
C-Tier (7s): Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Dream Theater
D-Tier (6s): Falling into Infinity, Train of Thought
F-Tier (5s or less): When Dream and Day Unite

I really struggled with the 6s. Those albums have some of the best Dream Theater songs ever, but also a lot of songs I hard skip each time. I also didn't even include The Astonishing as it's either a great album or a below average album for me depending on my mood.

[MarkFitDT]

What did the number 10 ever do to you?

not sure what happened there! Obviously a senior moment!

[Stadler]

1   Images And Words - 10
2   Scenes From A Memory - 9, maybe a 10
3   Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence - 9
4   Awake - 9
5   Octavarium - 8
6   Dream Theater - 7
7   Systematic Chaos - 7
8   A View From The Top Of The World - 6
9   A Dramatic Turn Of Events - 6
10   Black Clouds And Silver Linings - 6
11   Train Of Thought - 5
12   Falling Into Infinity - 5
13   Distance Over Time - 4, maybe a three, since it WAS disappointing, but not in a bad way, if that makes sense
14   The Astonishing - 3, since it WAS disappointing, but I like it.
15   When Dream And Day Unite - 4

I feel like that's where I am at this moment.

[nobloodyname]

Bloody Brilliant
1 Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence 10
2 Octavarium 10
3 Train Of Thought 10
4 Scenes From A Memory 9

Brilliant
5 Images And Words 8.5

Bloody Good
6 A Dramatic Turn Of Events 8
7 Black Clouds And Silver Linings 7.5
8 A View From The Top Of The World 7
9 Systematic Chaos 7

Good
10 Falling Into Infinity 6.5
11 Distance Over Time 6
12 Awake 5.5

Yeah, Not Bad
13 When Dream And Day Unite 5

What Were They Thinking?
14 The Astonishing 2
15 Dream Theater 2

Edit: Representative scale added because, ya know... sometimes humans are humans.

[hefdaddy42]

OP posts thread idea, gives clear instructions on how to rank and what the rankings signify

DTF members immediately respond by disregarding OP's thread concept and each using their own ranking system


FFS people

[Adami]

OP posts thread idea, gives clear instructions on how to rank and what the rankings signify

DTF members immediately respond by disregarding OP's thread concept and each using their own ranking system


FFS people

Welcome to the forums!

[pg1067]

FTFY   

Damn...

I rank SDOIT as my #3 DT album.  With only disc 1, it probably wouldn't rank higher than #10.

[Jamesman42]

OP posts thread idea, gives clear instructions on how to rank and what the rankings signify

DTF members immediately respond by disregarding OP's thread concept and each using their own ranking system


FFS people

I swear I followed his directions, please don't ground me!

[hefdaddy42]

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

[BlackInk]

Quick gut rankings:

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbilence - 8.5
2. Train of Thought - 8
3. Scenes From a Memory - 7.9
4. Octavarium - 7.2
5. Awake - 6.7
6. Images & Words - 6.5
7. Systematic Chaos - 6.3
8. A Dramatic Turn of Events - 6
9. Falling Into Infinity - 5.8
10. Black Clouds & Silver Linings - 5
11. Distance Over Time - 4.9
12. A View From the Top of the World - 4.8
13. Dream Theater - 4.2
14. When Dream & Day Unite - 3
15. The Astonishing - 2.5

[nobloodyname]

OP posts thread idea, gives clear instructions on how to rank and what the rankings signify

DTF members immediately respond by disregarding OP's thread concept and each using their own ranking system


FFS people

Oh, the irony!

[Dittomist]

My album rankings and scores

1. Awake  10/10
2. Images and Words  10/10
3. Metropolis Part II  10/10
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence  10/10
5. Octavarium  9/10
6. Falling Into Infinity 9/10
7. Black Clouds & Silver Linings  9/10
8. A Dramatic Turn of Events 9/10
9. The Astonishing  9/10
10. Dream Theater  8/10
11. Train of Thought  8/10
12. Systematic Chaos  7/10
13. Distance Over Time  7/10
14. A View from the Top of the World  5/10
15. When Day and Dream Unite  5/10

[Dream Team]

They're too scrunched together on a 10 point scale.

10.0 Images
  9.8 Scenes
  9.5 ADToE
  9.2 Dream Theater
  9.0 Six Degrees
  8.6 WDaDU
  8.1 View
  7.9 DoT
  7.7 Black Clouds
  7.5 Awake
  7.3 Octavarium
  6.9 Train of Thought
  5.9 Systematic Chaos
  4.8 Falling into Infinity

I left The Astonishing off because it's so different, it could be anywhere from 85 to 100 for me.

Sorry OP I fixed my list per your intent.

[Trav]

Based on your rating system, and trying to be completely honest with myself...

Scenes from a Memory 10
Images and Words 10
Awake 9
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence 8
Train of Thought 8
A Dramatic Turn of Events 7
A View from the Top of the World 7
Falling Into Infinity 7
Octavarium 6
Black Clouds and Silver Linings 6
Distance Over Time 6
When Dream and Day Unite 5
Systematic Chaos 4
Dream Theater 4
The Astonishing 3

[brakkum]

Finally used my brain to try and get a list together

01. 10.0 - Scenes from a Memory
    Basically a perfect album for me. Can listen to it all the way through any time.
02. 9.50 - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
    Very close to perfect. Misunderstood is mostly a miss for me.
03. 9.00 - Images and Words
    This should be a 10, but the production is distracting for me.
04. 8.50 - Octavarium
    Great variety and production.
05. 8.00 - Train of Thought
    Love the production and heavier theme.
06. 8.00 - Awake
    Solid album, just has a bit of clunky tracklist and some songs that aren't my favorite.
07. 7.50 - A Dramatic Turn of Events
    Solid overall. Mostly great songs and a few that are meh.
08. 7.00 - The Astonishing
    A big undertaking that has a lot of misses but has some incredible playing and themes. Too long, but very under-appreciated.
09. 7.00 - Distance Over Time
    Solid, but not the most memorable.
10. 7.00 - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
    A big step up in production from Systematic Chaos, but can be hard to swallow in one sitting.
11. 6.50 - Falling Into Infinity
    Has probably 2 of my favorite DT tracks (Lines and Trial), but a bunch of misses.
12. 6.50 - Dream Theater
    Production is lacking, but has some cool songs and my favorite Mangini-era single. Not very memorable overall.
13. 6.00 - A View from the Top of the World
    Fine, but not very memorable.
14. 5.00 - Systematic Chaos
    Not great production, and some songs I really don't gel with, but In the Presence of Enemies and The Ministry of Lost Souls make it worth it.
15. 2.00 - When Dream and Day Unite
    I can barely listen to this album, it just sounds so bad. The songs are ok, but nothing I would ever listen to more than once every few years.

[Mladen]

I'll give it a shot.

1. Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes from a memory - 10
2. Images and words - 10
3. Awake - 9
4. A Dramatic turn of events - 9
5. Six degrees of inner turbulence - 9
6. The Astonishing - 8
7. Systematic chaos - 8
8. Black clouds & silver linings - 7
9. Octavarium - 7
10. Train of thought - 7
11. Dream Theater - 7
12. When dream and day unite - 7
13. Distance over time - 6
14. A View from the top of the world - 6
15. Falling into infinity - 5

[CharlesPL]

.

[HOF]

1. Awake - 10
2. FII - 9
3. I&W - 8
4. ACOS - 7
5. SFAM - 6
6. SDOIT - 5
7. WDADU - 4
8. TOT - 3
9. 8V - 2
10. SC - 1

Don't know the others well enough to rank.

Totally forgot WDADU the other day. Fixed.

[Dream Team]

1. IaW - 10
2. Awake - 10
3. FII - 9
4. When 8.3
5. Six 8.1
6. SFAM 7.2
_______________
7. Systematic 4.8
8.  OV 4.5
9. Black - 4
10. DT12 - 3.8
11. Dramatic - 3.8
12. Train - 3
13. Astonishing - 1.8
14. Distance - 1.5
15. View - 1.3

The 21st century has not been your favorite era of the band it would seem  .

[crystalstars17]

giving it a score from 1 to 10. 1 being unlistenable, 2 bad album, 3 disappointing, 4 below average, 5 average, 6 above average, 7 good, 8 great, 9 amazing, 10 masterpiece

I think if I did this honestly here I'd be strung up by my ear 🙀 but I should try it.

[TAC]

The 21st century has not been your favorite era of the band it would seem  .

[naimad]

3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - 8.5 (it would be an easy 10 if TGD and Disappear were removed)

Really? I always thought that TGD progress in a very creative way, unlike any other song in DT catalog. Mostly thanks to MP work.

Anyway, here is my ranking:

1. I&W 10
2. SFAM 9.5
3. Awake 9
4. SDOIT 8
5. BC&SL 8
6. TOT 8
7. FII 7
8. 8V 7
9. SC 7
10. D/T 6.5
11. AWFTTOTW 6
12. WD&DU 5
13. ADTOE 5
14. DT12 4
15. TA 1

[Adami]

Also giving it a score from 1 to 10. 1 being unlistenable, 2 bad album, 3 disappointing, 4 below average, 5 average, 6 above average, 7 good, 8 great, 9 amazing, 10 masterpiece

1. Awake - 10
2. Scenes - 9
3. Six Degrees - 8
4. IAW - 7
5. Falling into Infinity - 7
6. A Dramatic Turn of Events - 7
7. 8vm - 6
8. ToT - 5
9. SC - 5
10. Black Clouds - 5
11. WDADU - 4
12. The Astonishing - 3
13. DT12 - 3
14. D/T - 3
15. AVFTTOTW - 3

[pg1067]

3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - 8.5 (it would be an easy 10 if TGD and Disappear were removed)

Really? I always thought that TGD progress in a very creative way, unlike any other song in DT catalog. Mostly thanks to MP work.

It's been a while since I've listened to TGD.  I vaguely recall it has a couple of moments, but I regard it as a mostly disorganized jumble of uninteresting ideas.  In any event, I rank music based on how much I enjoy listening to it, not based on my perception of how creative the song is.

[WilliamMunny]

Love this thread idea...happy I remembered to circle back.

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) - 10/10
Their magnum opus, showcasing all facets of their sound.

2. Octavarium (2005) - 9/10
Diverse and cohesive with an incredible title track.

3. Scenes From a Memory (1999) - 9/10
Masterful concept album that revitalized their career.

4. Awake (1994) - 9/10
Darker and heavier follow-up to Images & Words.

5. Falling Into Infinity (1997) - 8/10
Underappreciated gem with prog influences.

6. A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011) - 8/10
Strong comeback after Portnoy's departure.

7. Images & Words (1992) - 8/10
Classic debut that put them on the map.

8. A View From The Top Of The World (2021) - 7/10
Solid late-career effort showcasing their strengths.

9. Distance Over Time (2019) - 7/10
Welcome return to form with great production.

10. Train Of Thought (2003) - 7/10
Their heaviest album, punishing but lacks variety.

11. Dream Theater (2013) - 6/10
Consistent but plays it safe.

12. Systematic Chaos (2007) - 6/10
Solid but unremarkable, saved by "In the Presence of Enemies."

13. The Astonishing (2016) - 6/10
Ambitious concept album that divides fans.

14. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009) - 5/10
Uninspired effort with a few standout moments.

15. When Dream and Day Unite (1989) - 5/10
Raw and unrefined, but shows potential.

[Dream Team]

Nice job, DT is too good at their craft to release "bad" albums.

[WilliamMunny]

Nice job, DT is too good at their craft to release "bad" albums.

Yeah, I mean, if 'average' is a 5, I personally feel that their 'worst' album is, well, 'average.'

I probably wouldn't use the scale posed in the OP, but I wanted to keep my reply in the spirit of the thread.

[CraftyCaleb2483]

Probably the most controversial list here but here goes....
1:FII   10/10
2:I&W   10/10
3:SFAM   9/10
4:8va    8/10
5:DT12   8/10
6:6DOIT  8/10
7:SC     7/10
8:BC&SL  7/10
9:TA     7/10
10:TOT   6/10
11:DOT   6/10
12:Awake 5/10
13:View  5/10
14:WD&DU 5/10
15:ADTOE 4/10 (Only reason why it isn't 1/10 is BAI)

[WilliamMunny]

Probably the most controversial list here but here goes....
1:FII   10/10
2:I&W   10/10
3:SFAM   9/10
4:8va    8/10
5:DT12   8/10
6:6DOIT  8/10
7:SC     7/10
8:BC&SL  7/10
9:TA     7/10
10:TOT   6/10
11:DOT   6/10
12:Awake 5/10
13:View  5/10
14:WD&DU 5/10
15:ADTOE 4/10 (Only reason why it isn't 1/10 is BAI)

Nah, man, I'm with you on the love for FII...I only gave it an 8, but I think I was low. Gave it re-listen this past weekend and I can honestly say that after nearly 30 years, it has grown into a top-tier album for me. I miss 'this' version of DT (and hope we get a taste of it on DT16)

[CraftyCaleb2483]

Nah, man, I'm with you on the love for FII...I only gave it an 8, but I think I was low. Gave it re-listen this past weekend and I can honestly say that after nearly 30 years, it has grown into a top-tier album for me. I miss 'this' version of DT (and hope we get a taste of it on DT16)

Yeah, same, I much prefer their older stuff than their latest tracks.

[Lax]

Ranking :
1a SDOIT 10/10
1b MPT2 SFAM 10/10
3 I&W 9,5/10
* change of season 9,5/10
4 AVFTTOTW 8,5/10
5 ADTOE 7/10
6 Falling into affinity 7/10
7 Awake 7/10
8 Octavarium 6/10
9 TOT 6/10
10 BCSL 6/10
11 WDADU 6/10
12 D/T 6/10
13 DT 5/10
14 SC 5/10
15 The astonishing 4/10

WDADU 6/10
The roots of prog metal are there and undenyable gems riffs and solos. I guess people dislike it because it's too hairy or iron maiden ?

I&W 9,5/10
The blueprint of how you do it (lost ,5 because of snare trigger, some lenghts and a little cheesy).

A change of season 9,5/10
Not really an album but fantastic epic and cool other tracks

Awake 7/10
I'd say it doesn't age well, compared to how much I loved it in 1999.
Roots of modern DT chug chug heavy are there, probably because of the period with no keyboardist.
Some weak songs I skip.

Falling into affinity 7/10
I know the commercial side of it doomed the album.
I like the big sound, I love how prog it is from new millennium to lines in the sand.
Lots of gems riffs and solos, but lot of cheese too...

MPT2 SFAM 10/10
No commentary

SDOIT 10/10
My fav, I love every second of it. Only LTE reached this quality to me.

TOT 6/10
Modern DT and pretty prog weak, except for honor thy father and stream of consciousness that are gems.

Octavarium 6/10
Overall medium, because there are weak songs and gems.

SC 5/10
Apart ITPOE 1/2 and the dark eternal night, it's just a big nope.

BCSL 6/10
It could have been one of their best, but not crazy enough for me, first part of tuscany is great.

ADTOE 7/10
Cheese and prog, but bridges in the sky and breaking all illusions were songs quality I was expecting since SDOIT.

DT 5/10
Very average, a pair of gems.

The astonishing 4/10
Went from adoration on day one to 95% skip nowadays. too cheesy, too long, the pair of sparkles of progressive fury isn't enough.

D/T 6/10
Solid modern DT album, the note is dragged down only because of the pair of forgettable songs.

AVFTTOTW 8,5/10
The best modern DT could do, with MM's talent all over the place, ranging from rush to metal, lots of prog, fantastic mixing.