WDaDU Appreciation

[PlaysLikeMyung]

This board needs moar WDADU appreciation.

Get to it


I have a new affection for this album for some reason. Songs like A Fortune in Lies, Ytse jam, Only a Matter of Time, and Afterlife are fantastic.

I think the only song I don't really like on this album is Status Seeker

Discuss

[MykeHavoc]

I think the songwriting and performances are fine. It just needed to be engineered better.

[j]

I love WDADU and I consider it better as a whole than much of DT's recent work.  Only song I don't care for is Ytse Jam.

-J

[BlobVanDam]

Easily their worst album, but it does have a few good songs that get overlooked because of the poor production and Charlie's vocals. Afterlife is a great rocking song, A Fortune In Lies is a great song too, Ytse Jam is as good as any of their other instrumentals, and although I don't like the studio version of it, The Killing Hand sounds great on Marquee. The rest is throwaway.

[Ultimetalhead]

Only song I don't like is The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun. It beats Systematic Chaos for last place, but just barely.

[Mladen]

The album has it's problems, such as a mediocre performance by Charlie Dominici, weak production, and some childish moments here and there. It's still a pretty damn good record, although it would still end up as my 3rd least favorite.

Highlights: A Fortune in lies, Light fuse and get away, Afterlife.

[Phantasmatron]

Althoughthe time may come when dreamandday unitetonight the only consolation causing himtofight is fearless faithin destiny.

[SilentFox]

The reason I don't like the album is because it has an extremely corny metal vibe to it.  Songs like Afterlife sound like they could be Sonata Arctica (check out 8th Commandment).  Sonata Arctica is fun little power metal band, but DT should never have to sink to their level. 

The melodies on practically the whole album are very poorly constructed, especially the vocal melodies.  The production is terrible.  Dominici is terrible. 

By DT standards, there is little that this album has to offer.  (in real world standards, WDADU dominates, don't get me wrong)

In all honesty, I can understand why a person would like the album, but I cannot see how a person could rank this album above any of the others. 

Don't suffer from the common case of liking the oddball element simply because you think no one else does.  I see this constantly, in people that say WDADU is their favorite album, in people that say Gimli is their favorite character in LOTR, in people that say their "political ideals" are different from the norm, etc.  Stop lying to yourself, and let yourself like what you really like, without thinking about societal consequences.  Remember, you're unique.  Just like everybody else.

[ZeppelinDT]

Sonata Arctica is fun little power metal band, but DT should never have to sink to their level. 

In fairness to DT here, I think this is probably a little backwards.  Most modern power metal bands like Sonata Arctica were probably influenced by early DT stuff, so its not really so much "DT sinking to the level of the average power metal bands" as much as it is "the average power metal band being influencing by a certain side of DT's work".


Also, I was just listening to this album two days ago.  Lots of great stuff on there.  I still love when they break out the occasional WDADU song for live performances (I will ALWAYS regret missing out on a show I was SUPPOSED to go to where they ended up playing "The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun" - but then got stuck in traffic on the way there and completely missed the show).

[Setlist Scotty]

This album rates pretty highly for me, and I'm sure some of the bias is due to it being the first album I got (being it was 1989). Love the album - for me it probably is my third favorite behind SDoIT disc 1 and BCaSL. The only 2 tracks I don't really like are the 2 singles - SS and Afterlife. Would love to hear the album properly remixed and mastered, but I doubt this will ever happen unfortunately. We do have WDaDR (and I'm very happy I attended that show), but it's still not the same.

[LudwigVan]

I love the entire album.  Musically, I don't sense many weaknesses.  *fanboi*

[Perpetual Change]

In fairness to DT here, I think this is probably a little backwards.

This.  People tend to forget how influential Dream Theater were.  Would there be bands like Symphony X and Nightwish without Dream Theater?  I really doubt it, but I guess it's possible.

[KevShmev]

The reason I don't like the album is because it has an extremely corny metal vibe to it.  Songs like Afterlife sound like they could be Sonata Arctica (check out 8th Commandment).  Sonata Arctica is fun little power metal band, but DT should never have to sink to their level. 

The melodies on practically the whole album are very poorly constructed, especially the vocal melodies.  The production is terrible.  Dominici is terrible. 

By DT standards, there is little that this album has to offer.  (in real world standards, WDADU dominates, don't get me wrong)

In all honesty, I can understand why a person would like the album, but I cannot see how a person could rank this album above any of the others. 

Don't suffer from the common case of liking the oddball element simply because you think no one else does.  I see this constantly, in people that say WDADU is their favorite album, in people that say Gimli is their favorite character in LOTR, in people that say their "political ideals" are different from the norm, etc.  Stop lying to yourself, and let yourself like what you really like, without thinking about societal consequences.  Remember, you're unique.  Just like everybody else.

Take this shit somewhere else.  This is an APPRECIATION thread, ya know. 

Anyway, very good record, and a more than worthy debut.  "Status Seeker" is the only weak spot; the other seven songs all range from very good to great.  There is a rawness to this record that gives it a very unique feel.  I get why some don't like it, but I do.  I feel that from a songwriting standpoint, this is one of their strongest records to date.

[ZeppelinDT]

"For the first time in a long time.... its about the music!"

[ytserush]

I LOVE it!

It's in my top 3 for sure. Incredibly groundbreaking....despite the bad production job.

[Dublagent66]

I like it a lot more now than I did at first.

*appreciates*

[glaurung]

JM did such a great job on this album. It makes me with he was still as prominent in DT's sound now days.

[Phantasmatron]

Don't suffer from the common case of liking the oddball element simply because you think no one else does.  I see this constantly, in people that say WDADU is their favorite album, in people that say Gimli is their favorite character in LOTR, in people that say their "political ideals" are different from the norm, etc.  Stop lying to yourself, and let yourself like what you really like, without thinking about societal consequences.  Remember, you're unique.  Just like everybody else.

Dude, who are you preaching to?  We're here to appreciate the album.  As a group.  Clearly we can't be too obsessed with being different from everybody else if we're all saying we like the album.

You, on the other hand....

Just kidding.  But I had to try for the ironic twist.

[wasp2020]

Really, I like all the songs except for The Sun and Ytse Jam.
Only a Matter of Time is fantastic.

[BlobVanDam]

Take this shit somewhere else.  This is an APPRECIATION thread, ya know. 

Has that ever stopped anyone around here?

[SilentFox]

Honestly, I appreciate WDADU and find it to be a very interesting and captivating album, but I still don't like it.  But I appreciate it.  Satisfied?

[Infinite Cactus]

Third favorite DT album. I love the whole damned album. Even though the production is lame, I still enjoy it. IMO, Dominici is great most of the album(sans the end of killing hand). This was the second album I got by them and I still love it. If I where to rank the songs in order from favorite to least, it would go something like this:

Light Fuse and Get Away
Afterlife
Status Seeker
The Ones Who Help to Set The Sun
A Fortune in Lies
The Killing Hand
Only A Matter of Time
Ytse Jam

That being said, most of these songs are some of my favorite all time DT songs. Including Killing Hand and OAMOT

[WDADU]

How touching- a thread dedicated to me *tears up*

[Zydar]

How touching- a thread dedicated to me *tears up*

[jcmistat]

Its better than FII which is my lowest ranked album. It could pass Octavarium with more listens but after that there's zero chance it beats BC&SL or Systematic Chaos.

[ddtonfire]

I have a small contingent of friends convinced that When Dream and Day Unite is the greatest thing DT has done and nothing since then even compares.



PS They actually exist.

[BlobVanDam]

I refuse to believe people like that exist. Not possible

[Shadoshi]

I like the album a lot. I even like most of Charlie's vocals. Key word: Most. Also, I love the patches Kevmo uses. Very 80s synythy styled. I only dislike a handful of sections on the album, but other than that, it's a pretty fun listen. Also, wtf is Status Seeker getting so much hate for? That song is great.

[ddtonfire]

I refuse to believe people like that exist. Not possible

And I quote:

just for the record, i tweet about Dream Theater's debut about a tenth as much as i feel the urge to. it rocks that hard. don't h8.

[Volk9]

I have no problems with the album at all. The production isnt the best, but I love the feel of the songs and the album as a whole. Charlie's voice fit in it just fine, I dont see any problem with his vocals.

[bosk1]

It took WDADRU to get me to finally appreciate this album.  The production and Charlie's vocals were initially a big turnoff for me.  It wasn't until I heard these really solid live renditions that I really learned how good the songs could be (and it wasn't until I heard Charlie's performances on his solo album--songs that were actually written for his voice and his vocal style--that I reallly learned what a good vocalist he can be).  Not my favorite album, but there are definitely a lot of moments to like.

[Shadoshi]

(and it wasn't until I heard Charlie's performances on his solo album--songs that were actually written for his voice and his vocal style--that I reallly learned what a good vocalist he can be).

I approve of this post. 

[yeshaberto]

for me, it is like listening to another band, but it is an album that continues to grow on me.  I am starting to think that I even actually like the original better than the reunite

[splent]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS THREAD!!!!

I HATE when people constantly rate WDADU at the bottom of their lists without actually listening to the music.  They are like "Oh it's not James so it fails."  Which is STUPID.  The vocals were made for Charlie.  Sure, he doesn't ahve the same quality as James and some of it may have been a little high for him.  But he did it and he did it well.  Actually Charlie sounds better on the WDADU demos on some of them.  He NAILS TKH on the demos.  Wish that take was in the actual studio!!  Also the production sucks.  But once you look past that... oh my God.  That raw energy that they had... they can never recapture it.  It's so well done.  The Killing Hand is such a good song both thematically and lyrically.  Only A Matter of Time gets some hate but I LOVE it LOVE it.  Without Ytse Jam, where would the band be?

I hoep someday the band gets their hands back on the masters and remixes the album the way it should have been, without touching the vocals.  I have listened to Reunite and it's good, but it's not the same.  I don't think it's as good even.  It sounds forced and inconsistent, with Jordan's added solos, and you can tell that James' voice is tired on that record. 

[Shadoshi]

I HATE when people constantly rate WDADU at the bottom of their lists without actually listening to the music.  They are like "Oh it's not James so it fails."  Which is STUPID.  The vocals were made for Charlie.  Sure, he doesn't ahve the same quality as James and some of it may have been a little high for him.  But he did it and he did it well.  Actually Charlie sounds better on the WDADU demos on some of them.  He NAILS TKH on the demos.  Wish that take was in the actual studio!!  Also the production sucks.  But once you look past that... oh my God.  That raw energy that they had... they can never recapture it.  It's so well done.  The Killing Hand is such a good song both thematically and lyrically.  Only A Matter of Time gets some hate but I LOVE it LOVE it.  Without Ytse Jam, where would the band be?

I completely agree with all of this. In fact, it was only last year or so that I realized how great this album actually is. Once it hit me, I was all, 'What on Earth have I been missing?'. I can see where people are coming from on disliking Charlie's high-note misses, but his voice and style are both very nice and unique, so the hate he gets around here is a little uncalled for.