Your Controversial Opinions on DT

[adastra]

You're all lightweights. There's nothing wrong with the outro!

Yeah, I've always liked the outro! What a cool guitar work by Petrucci!

Someone was talking about Dream Theater's cover of Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding!  I think it is their best cover so far. 
And because of that cover I started to pay more attention Elton John's work.

[Ruba]

Misunderstood is their best song.

Don't agree completely, but a great choice. 

The outro is great. I'd like DT to more noise.

[Enlil36]

The Shattered Fortress is the best part of the TSS for me.

[emtee]

I guess I don't really have any controversial opinions. I liked KM in DT better than any other keyboardist. This is a fairly common
opinion. I started skipping sections of songs and full songs a little bit on SFaM and quite a bit from 8V forward. I always thought
JLB was the weakest link, especially live and that DT could really have been bigger with someone akin to Dickenson. But all in all
I've enjoyed most of DT's work and they have been a top tier band for me since I&W.

[Siddhartha]

I really like The Count of Tuscany lyrics.

[Onno]

I really like The Count of Tuscany lyrics.

Welcome! I like them too, only the way they're sung is sometimes a bit of a let down. Of course I don't mean I don't like the vocals, but lyrics like "All the finest wines improve with age" shouldn't be sung so angrily IMO. It just doesn't fit.

[The Stray Seed]

I guess I don't really have any controversial opinions. I liked KM in DT better than any other keyboardist. This is a fairly common
opinion. I started skipping sections of songs and full songs a little bit on SFaM and quite a bit from 8V forward. I always thought
JLB was the weakest link, especially live and that DT could really have been bigger with someone akin to Dickenson. But all in all
I've enjoyed most of DT's work and they have been a top tier band for me since I&W.

And don't forget that JLB performances have been improving consistently in the last years. I have high hopes on him for the next tour.

[RoeDent]

I feel like this belongs here, so...

I don't like all these "fan polls" that DT are involved in these days. It's like the fans are trying to force DT into the mainstream. The whole thing where you can vote every hour is ridiculous! Maybe it shows the fans have too much time on their hands. And I don't feel comfortable at all with the band themselves endorsing these polls. Just stick to making awesome music. You don't need these polls to tell you you're one of the best bands ever. We all know that. It seems like we're losing focus on what really matters ahead of this album release.

[aprilethereal]

I feel like this belongs here, so...

I don't like all these "fan polls" that DT are involved in these days. It's like the fans are trying to force DT into the mainstream. The whole thing where you can vote every hour is ridiculous! Maybe it shows the fans have too much time on their hands. And I don't feel comfortable at all with the band themselves endorsing these polls. Just stick to making awesome music. You don't need these polls to tell you you're one of the best bands ever. We all know that. It seems like we're losing focus on what really matters ahead of this album release.

I can kind of see your point, but let's face it, the polls hurt nobody and it's some nice promotion for the band after all.

[RoeDent]

Yes, I know. But it's the exact reason why Rolling Stone give them a hard time, and I hate seeing any criticism of DT. It may be terribly shallow or whatever, but I think everything DT do is pretty much perfect.

[eviljust]

I guess I don't really have any controversial opinions. I liked KM in DT better than any other keyboardist. This is a fairly common
opinion. I started skipping sections of songs and full songs a little bit on SFaM and quite a bit from 8V forward. I always thought
JLB was the weakest link, especially live and that DT could really have been bigger with someone akin to Dickenson. But all in all
I've enjoyed most of DT's work and they have been a top tier band for me since I&W.

And don't forget that JLB performances have been improving consistently in the last years. I have high hopes on him for the next tour.

I was a lot worried when I heard him on 2008 though...that was a real disappointment to me.

My controversial opinion, uhm, I still don't like Scarred 

[m0hawk]

A Change of Seasons is easily the weakest of the mega-sized epics they've made. There are 2 amazing sections (Carpe Diem + Another World), but the rest of the song doesn't capture my interest, attention, or evokes any sort of emotion from me. But, for a band's first foray into the realm of 20mins-ish epics, they did a good job 

[Lucien]

Illumination Theory is their best epic.

[XB0BX]

The past 4 albums (including DT12) is the best 4 album run in Dream Theater history.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Illumination Theory is their best epic.

I think it's a bit early to judge that with any real accuracy.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't even consider IT an epic. Take out the easter egg, which isn't part of the song, and it's the same length as TCOT. And it feels very disjointed with that ambient section, and the breaks.

That's not a knock on the song though, as most of it is great, but its length is very artificial to me.

Octavarium is still easily the best of the ~20 minute epics imo (SDOIT is in a league of its own).

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Octavarium is the most cohesive Dream Theater epic, and I doubt they will do anything that will come close to that song. Illumination Theory is fantastic, but it's another type of "epic", to say something.

[Lucidity]

I don't even consider IT an epic. Take out the easter egg, which isn't part of the song, and it's the same length as TCOT. And it feels very disjointed with that ambient section, and the breaks.

That's not a knock on the song though, as most of it is great, but its length is very artificial to me.

Octavarium is still easily the best of the ~20 minute epics imo (SDOIT is in a league of its own).

I agree with every word of this.

[?]

A Change of Seasons is easily the weakest of the mega-sized epics they've made. There are 2 amazing sections (Carpe Diem + Another World), but the rest of the song doesn't capture my interest, attention, or evokes any sort of emotion from me. But, for a band's first foray into the realm of 20mins-ish epics, they did a good job 

My opinion is the opposite: ACOS is the only 20+ minute DT song I actually care about.

*hides*

[wasteland]

ACOS is awesome and 8V is too. ITPOE, meh. But I don't think anyone will be comparing those with Illumination Theory. Not because either is far stronger, but just because they don't feel like they are song that can be compared. They are entirely different structure and purpose-wise.

[SeRoX]

I don't even consider IT as an epic. All sections are highly disjointed but that doesn't mean this song is bad. I think it's the best on the album but when I think all sections in each their own I enjoy them even more.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't even consider IT as an epic. All sections are highly disjointed but that doesn't mean this song is bad. I think it's the best on the album but when I think all sections in each their own I enjoy them even more.

I agree. I think most of the sections are excellent, and includes many high points for the album (and even for their career in some parts), but overall as a song it does feel a bit too disjointed to me.
But yeah, it doesn't mean the song is bad at all. It just doesn't feel too cohesive as one unit to me.

[BlackInk]

ACOS is awesome and 8V is too. ITPOE, meh. But I don't think anyone will be comparing those with Illumination Theory. Not because either is far stronger, but just because they don't feel like they are song that can be compared. They are entirely different structure and purpose-wise.

I will be comparing them. I will compare Illumination Theory to every other song by a lot of bands in order to truly rank it.

[aprilethereal]

I don't even consider IT as an epic.

Agreed. The lenght is more TCOT-like, and I don't consider TCOT to be one of their "epics" either.

[SeRoX]

I don't even consider IT as an epic.

Agreed. The lenght is more TCOT-like, and I don't consider TCOT to be one of their "epics" either.

The lenght is not the reason for that matter for me. TCOT's sections are at least somewhat connected whereas IS's are not.

[farsight]

After listening to the new album, IMO Dream Theater took a five year hiatus in 2006 and reformed in 2011 with an album named A Dramatic Turn of Events.

[BlobVanDam]

After listening to the new album, IMO Dream Theater took a five year hiatus in 2006 and reformed in 2011 with an album named A Dramatic Turn of Events.

That's not an opinion. That just doesn't even make sense.

[farsight]

After listening to the new album, IMO Dream Theater took a five year hiatus in 2006 and reformed in 2011 with an album named A Dramatic Turn of Events.

That's not an opinion. That just doesn't even make sense.

Sorry for the poor english. If you want me to rephrase it, then if DT took a hiatus instead of making Systematic Chaos and BCaSL, I'd be totally cool with it.

[BlobVanDam]

After listening to the new album, IMO Dream Theater took a five year hiatus in 2006 and reformed in 2011 with an album named A Dramatic Turn of Events.

That's not an opinion. That just doesn't even make sense.

Sorry for the poor english. If you want me to rephrase it, then if DT took a hiatus instead of making Systematic Chaos and BCaSL, I'd be totally cool with it.

I wouldn't. I was disappointed enough with ADTOE, so I can only imagine how it would have felt waiting that long for it instead of 2 years, and SC and BCASL have some amazing stuff on them. I'd rather have both of those than ADTOE.

I'll tell you what. You can have custody of ADTOE, and I'll take SC and BCASL. Then everyone's happy.

[Viking of the Sagas]

I rank SC into the top third.

[Lucidity]

I think DT12 is for me what BC&SL is for most others 

[eviljust]

ACOS is awesome and 8V is too. ITPOE, meh. But I don't think anyone will be comparing those with Illumination Theory. Not because either is far stronger, but just because they don't feel like they are song that can be compared. They are entirely different structure and purpose-wise.

Totally agree with this.

[Lucidity]

Octavarium > A Change of Seasons > In the Presence of Enemies >>>>> Illumination Theory

If we're not counting TCoT as an epic, we shouldn't count IT either in my opinion. And it's simply not on the same god-tier level.

[Daso]

I absolutely loved Illumination Theory and I'm pretty sure it will rank at least in my Top 5 Dream Theater (band  ) songs, but I agree in that IT didn't feel like an epic. The ambient section cuts a whole part off the song and makes it feel a lot shorter than what the average epic does. Take 8VM and ACoS for example. Both of those feel like long songs (godly as they are, of course). IT doesn't.

On the other hand, my new unpopular opinion would be that I think IT flows very well, if that is the argument with the "it's not cohesive" thing 

[aXygnus]

BC&SL only has three good parts in all the album for me: The Best of Times' outro and solo (best Petrucci solo EVER), The Count of Tuscany's last part after the melancholic break, and Beautiful Agony.

SC has The Ministry of Lost Souls (Top 10 song for me probably), everything from ITPOE Pt. 1's 7 minutes onwards, and some parts here and there in Pt. 2.


That's good enough for them to exist IMO... But they're still below average albums DT wise.