Your favorite 3 back to back to back DT studio albums

[son_ov_hades]

Sepultura - Schizophrenia, Beneath The Remains, Arise

I prefer Chaos A.D. to Schizophrenia, but  .

I hate everything after Arise  One of the best metal bands ever though based on their early career who threw it all away sadly. 

[kirksnosehair]

This really isn't easy for Dream Theater.  For a ton of other bands, no problem.  But for Dream Theater?  hmmm  The problem is, they don't have three albums back to back to back (3) that blow me away.  They've got several back to back (2) that are killer, but 3?


I'd probably have to go with:


Black Clouds and Silver Linings >> A Dramatic Turn of Events >> Dream Theater

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I'd go for When Dream And Day Unite - Images And Words - Awake

The latter two are my top two for DT, and I like WDADU better than FII.

As for all time, there's a lot of good ones, but the first one I thought of was Devin Townsend, Ki-Addicted-Deconstruction.

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

Probably either SFAM, SDOIT, & TOT, or BC&SL, ADTOE, DT12.

[kirksnosehair]

Probably either SFAM, SDOIT, & TOT, or BC&SL, ADTOE, DT12.

I went back and forth for a while on this question and it was your first three that I almost chose.

[yorost]

Really should add a poll option.

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=36427.0

In case anyone missed what this was...

WD&DU/I&W/Awake
10 (5.6%)
I&W/Awake/FII
39 (21.7%)
Awake/FII/SFAM
11 (6.1%)
FII/SFAM/6DOIT
22 (12.2%)
SFAM/6DOIT/TOT
67 (37.2%)
6DOIT/TOT/8V
17 (9.4%)
TOT/8V/SC
3 (1.7%)
8V/SC/BC&SL
2 (1.1%)
SC/BC&SL/ADTOE
7 (3.9%)
BC&SL/ADTOE/DT12
2 (1.1%)

For me it's easily SFAM/6DOIT/TOT. SFaM, ToT, and disc 1 of SDoIT are all top notch Dream Theater.

[Ruba]

Sepultura - Schizophrenia, Beneath The Remains, Arise

I prefer Chaos A.D. to Schizophrenia, but  .

I hate everything after Arise  One of the best metal bands ever though based on their early career who threw it all away sadly. 

Well I don't care about their post-Chaos material pretty much at all. Roots is one of the worst records I've ever heard. About half of Against was OK, but there is a lot of trash too. Andreas Kisser can't write a solo anymore, his solos on Beneath the Remains and Arise are amazing, and now Igor Cavalera is gone. But if they enjoy making the music they make nowadays, well I'm OK with that.

[Dark Castle]

Dream Theater - I&W, Awake, FII
Exodus - Shovel Headed Killing Machine, Exhibit A, Exhibit B
Grimes - Geidi Prime, Halfaxa, Visions
Death - Individual Thought Patterns, Symbolic, The Sound of Perseverance
Baroness - Red Album, Blue Record, Yellow & Green
Between the Buried and Me - Colors, The Great Misdirect, Parallax 2: Future Sequence


That's all I got off the top of my head for now. Dream Theater was tough, because their last two are both in my top 5, with DT12 being ahead of Awake, but BC&SL is mid tier, but then again so is FII so it kind of splits evenly, but Images & Words is still no.1 so I give this trio the edge.

[son_ov_hades]

You seriously think nu Exodus is better than Bonded By Blood, Pleasures Of The Flesh, and Fabulous Disaster?  I thought everyone hated those albums as much as me. 

[Dark Castle]

Rob Dukes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zetro, Bailoff

I appreciate older Exodus, but Rob Dukes fits Exodus's sound like a fucking glove, and really finishes off their sound into the death/thrash band they really are. And as far as I've come across, most people seem to agree from what I see.

[Lucien]

Probably SDOIT - 8VM, if only so I can have 8VM without SC included. Other than that probably BC/SL - DT12

[son_ov_hades]

Rob Dukes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zetro, Bailoff

I appreciate older Exodus, but Rob Dukes fits Exodus's sound like a fucking glove, and really finishes off their sound into the death/thrash band they really are. And as far as I've come across, most people seem to agree from what I see.

Yeah I hate Rob Dukes. Paul Baloff was the quintessential thrash front man, everything he did was perfect and Bonded By Blood is easily top 5 thrash albums ever made. I was a huge Exodus fan and when they reunited I went crazy. Tempo Of The Damned was absolutely brilliant, but then Zetro left and they've been nothing but shit since in my opinion. You're the first person I've ever talked to that likes the Rob Dukes era.   

[Zydar]

I'd go for Images - Awake - Infinity.

[Dark Castle]

Rob Dukes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zetro, Bailoff

I appreciate older Exodus, but Rob Dukes fits Exodus's sound like a fucking glove, and really finishes off their sound into the death/thrash band they really are. And as far as I've come across, most people seem to agree from what I see.

Yeah I hate Rob Dukes. Paul Baloff was the quintessential thrash front man, everything he did was perfect and Bonded By Blood is easily top 5 thrash albums ever made. I was a huge Exodus fan and when they reunited I went crazy. Tempo Of The Damned was absolutely brilliant, but then Zetro left and they've been nothing but shit since in my opinion. You're the first person I've ever talked to that likes the Rob Dukes era.

I've only ever see people in Blabbermouth or Metalsucks comments dislike the Dukes era, and even then they were a very minuscule minority 
I mean, Exodus are doing better than ever, and I think that speaks for itself. I know a lot of people me included who find Zetro's voice to be the most annoying thing ever. I can listen to The Fabulous Disaster, Tempo of the Damned, and I actually prefer the original bonded by blood(more so for the guitar, I like Duke's performance on the rerecording more than Baloff's) but Dukes voice is just fantastic, and he can cover all of the old Zetro stuff without sounding like a big nasally nostril.

[CrimsonSunrise]

I&W-Awake-FII



Alltime it's a tie....

Floyd - DSOTM - WYWH - Animals

Zeppelin - IV - HOTH - PG

[Vivace]

WDADU/Images and Words/Awake

This really wasn't very hard for me to pick apart as I really like Dream Theater's older catalog more than their later stuff.

[wolfking]

Scenes, Six and Train.

[Outcrier]

Scenes, Six and Train.

[Outcrier]

Rob Dukes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Zetro, Bailoff

I appreciate older Exodus, but Rob Dukes fits Exodus's sound like a fucking glove, and really finishes off their sound into the death/thrash band they really are. And as far as I've come across, most people seem to agree from what I see.

Yeah I hate Rob Dukes. Paul Baloff was the quintessential thrash front man, everything he did was perfect and Bonded By Blood is easily top 5 thrash albums ever made. I was a huge Exodus fan and when they reunited I went crazy. Tempo Of The Damned was absolutely brilliant, but then Zetro left and they've been nothing but shit since in my opinion. You're the first person I've ever talked to that likes the Rob Dukes era.

What's Rob Dukes fault if it is Gary Holt who write the songs?

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

...Maybe he doesn't like his voice?

[son_ov_hades]

...Maybe he doesn't like his voice?

Yep. That abomination of a rerecording of Bonded By Blood with him butchering Paul Baloff's vocals is the worst thing ever. Total discredit to their legacy. Gary Holt deserves much blame for writing bad songs, but that's something else all together.

[Ben_Jamin]

Scenes - ToT

[Outcrier]

...Maybe he doesn't like his voice?

The way he says it sounds more like he don't like the albums with Dukes rather than his voice.

[ozzy554]

Option 1 : Scenes From A Memory  - - > Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - - > Train Of Thought.

Option 2 : Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence - - > Train Of Thought - - > Octavarium.

I would say either one of these for DT

For all time  I can think of a few
Black sabbth: Vol.4,SBS,sabotage
Deep purple: In rock, Fireball, Machine head
ozzy:blizzard,diary,bark
King diamond:Abigail, THEM, the eye
Queensryche: Warning, RFO, Mindcrime

[GentlemanofDread]

FII -- > Metropolis Pt 2 --> SDOIT.

Such a varied and awesome three album run through.

[5thofwhiskey]

ADTOE, DT12, DT13

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

...Maybe he doesn't like his voice?

The way he says it sounds more like he don't like the albums with Dukes rather than his voice.

Well yeah.   He doesn't like those albums because of his voice.

[rickhawk80]

I'd have to go with SFAM/6DOIT/TOT ..... although it leaves out Octavarium, my second favorite release after 6DOIT.

As for a few other favorite bands:

KISS:  Hotter than Hell/Dressed to Kill/Destroyer
Ozzy:  Blizzard of Ozz/Diary of a Madman/Bark At the Moon
Metallica:  Kill 'Em All/Ride the Lightning/Master of Puppets
Cult:  Dreamtime/Love/Electric
Rush:  2112/Farewell to Kings/Hemispheres
Iron Maiden:  Iron Maiden/Killers/Number of the Beast
U2:  War/Unforgettable Fire/Joshua Tree
Rolling Stones:  Beggars Banquet/Let It Bleed/Sticky Fingers
Prince:  Controversy/1999/Purple Rain

[krands85]

I'd have to go with SFAM/6DOIT/TOT ..... although it leaves out Octavarium, my second favorite release after 6DOIT.

Surely if your top 2 albums are 6DOIT and 8VM, your choice would be 6DOIT/TOT/8VM? Or am I reading that wrong? 

It's a really tricky question for me, there's no obvious answer - since my top 3 albums are all spaced out (I&W, TOT, ADTOE). TOT and SFAM are my #2 and #4, but I've never been a fan of 6DOIT. It doesn't matter which combination I go for, there is always one album out of the three I'm not too keen on I guess it would have to be between Scenes/6DOIT/TOT, I&W/Awake/FII and TOT/8VM/SC

[rickhawk80]

I'd have to go with SFAM/6DOIT/TOT ..... although it leaves out Octavarium, my second favorite release after 6DOIT.

Surely if your top 2 albums are 6DOIT and 8VM, your choice would be 6DOIT/TOT/8VM? Or am I reading that wrong? 

Well, almost, but I like SFAM much more than TOT.  So, meh......

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, but you get TOT either way.