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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: RoeDent on October 01, 2014, 03:23:40 PM
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A thread for observations, reflections and whatnot as Dream Theater's 3rd studio album, Awake, reaches its 20th anniversary.
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Amazing album! The first DT album I've ever heard, and still my fav to this day. It also made me a lifelong fan of Kevin Moore. I'm so happy DT included "Space-Dye Vest" on this tour, because frankly their performance of the song is stunning on the new DVD. Gives me chills.
A band's first album after a breakthrough album (I&W, in this case) is a big challenge and DT came through in a big way. Awake is hauntingly beautiful. I've never gotten tired of it, even after two decades.
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The first album I was not introduced to after-the-fact. I remember driving with the accordion player of my band back then, screaming "CAUGHT IN A WEEEEBBB!!" at the top of our lungs in the car :lol
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Appreciates :tup
Definitely one of my favorite DT albums. It was always my #2, but sometimes based on how I feel SFAM or ADTOE can steal that spot, but I always come back to it. The Awake songs from the past tour were AMAZING live and I am so glad they performed them. I've now seen them play almost the entire album in person (CiaW and IF - I hope you are played in the coming tours!)
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Amazing album! The first DT album I've ever heard, and still my fav to this day. It also made me a lifelong fan of Kevin Moore. I'm so happy DT included "Space-Dye Vest" on this tour, because frankly their performance of the song is stunning on the new DVD. Gives me chills.
A band's first album after a breakthrough album (I&W, in this case) is a big challenge and DT came through in a big way. Awake is hauntingly beautiful. I've never gotten tired of it, even after two decades.
Pretty much all of this. It's my favorite DT album. Love the heaviness and darkness of it while still maintaining their original progressive sound that they had from Images and words.
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Awake is my favorite DT album. It's an album that I came to appreciate when I got older.
I am very happy that DT made a definitive live recording of the songs from this album in Breaking the Fourth Wall.
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Erotomania was the first DT song I ever heard, back in the Napster days. That song will always have a special place in my heart.
The rest of the album I'm pretty so-so about, even to this day. Perhaps with it's 20th anniversary here, I should give it another listen. Unfortunately, I felt Scarred was definitely the weak link in their most recent live release. Just slowed the pacing of the show to a crawl.
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20 years of awesome! :2metal:
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Greatest album ever made
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Ranks No 3 for me in the DT catalogue - top notch album and for me they didn't get close to it or I&W again until ADTOE. On the whole I prefer the first half of Awake to the second which is the exact opposite of what they're doing live , but I'll just be glad to see them again in a few weeks for the first time since '08.
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I'm not sure where exactly to rank it but it is a great album.
It was the first DT album that came out after I became a fan, so it was the first album by them I was actually waiting for and the following tour was my first DT concert. So it holds a lot of nostalgia.
Also: Scarred is one of the best songs ever made!
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Ranks very high for me, the only letdown for me is Voices as I dislike almost every aspect of that song and for me it stands as the most uncomfortable thing I've ever heard JLB sing. But apart from that song it's a fantastic album with a very different mode to the one that preceeded it and I remember it taking some time getting used to the dark nature of it when I bought it in 94.
My favorite tracks have to be 6:00, Scarred and SDV.
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I've now seen them play almost the entire album in person (TSM and IF - I hope you are played in the coming tours!)
Fixed. ;D
Great album. Took me quite a while to get into it, though. :metal
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Scarred is a great song, but I will admit it was the moment I chose to sit down and rest my legs. The version on the 6DOIT tour where they played the end of IF as an outro, and the version on Chaos In Motion with the extended intro are both better than the current version IMO.
Anyway, I love Awake. I've said it before, I&W made me fall in love with DT, but Awake was the point I knew this was a marriage to last a lifetime.
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I was floored with I&W and when Awake came out I remember not connecting well with the album. I'd spin I&W and occasionally
throw Awake on but it wasnt't making the deep connection that I&W did. Well...I remember distinctly one day in the car the
album hit me like a ton of bricks. Owned me. From that day forward Awake has been my favorite DT album and not only that but
it would be in my top 5 albums of all time. Aside from SDV, which I sometimes finish and sometimes skip, the album is perfect.
And after all this time I still enjoy every single minute of it and have never grown tired of it. It's DT's pinnacle for me.
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Fantastic album, stunning follow-up to I&W. Everything from the song writing to the recorded performances to the haunting vibe almost every song brings to the table; this album really delivers. I didn't discovery DT until years later, around the ToT album release, but I still remember the joy of going through their back catalog and discovering gems like this record.
There's nothing like a good head banging session rocking out to The Mirror/Lie! :metal
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Great album! Lifting - Scarred - Space-dye vest are my favourites on it .
Only thing I don't like the album is... Don't kill me for saying this...
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But I think that some of KM's keyboard parts are just painful to listen :) For example, Chorus in Lie , Beginning of Caught in a web.
But yeah,Those are the only things i don't like in the album!
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I always remember it took me a little while to get into Scarred. It just wouldn't connect with me for the first few listens, but then at some point it just clicked. I can't explain how or why, but it did.
The guitar solo in Voices is my favourite John Petrucci solo.
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Scarred is my favorite on the album and always has been. I dont know why, I just love it.
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Like many others, this was the first DT album I was able to anticipate and buy on the release date. Unlike many others, I bought it on cassette tape (I didn't own a CD player yet) so I didn't hear Scarred for many years. When I did buy the CD (in 2001) it was fun to have a bonus song, but Scarred has always felt like the odd song out for me. I almost always end the CD at Scarred. Blame KevMo.
While I did love I&W, Awake immediately hit harder since I'm more of a metal guy. I rank it just below SDOIT for the top spot of my favorite DT albums.
Happy Birthday Awake! It's been fun.
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Not just my favorite DT album. It is my favorite album.
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Great album! Lifting - Scarred - Space-dye vest are my favourites on it .
Only thing I don't like the album is... Don't kill me for saying this...
...
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But I think that some of KM's keyboard parts are just painful to listen :) For example, Chorus in Lie , Beginning of Caught in a web.
But yeah,Those are the only things i don't like in the album!
Yeah, I agree, but for me JP's tone is an even worse offender, I just can't stand the overly distorted guitar of Mirror/Lie/Caught in a Web. The production is neat, but the sound is dark (guitar, keys, gritty James) and the mood of the album just doesn't sit well with me for the most part. Overall, I'd put Awake somewhere in my bottom 3.
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Great album and incredibly consistent - there aren't any songs on Awake that I'm 'meh' about. But at the same time, it never really reaches the same highs as most of the other DT albums do, none of the songs are top tier DT for me. Voices is my favourite track, but even it only just about scrapes into my top 20 DT songs. Though that's really just testament to how many incredible songs DT have recorded over their career ;D
So I only rank it about 6th as a DT album, but it's still a great listen. :metal
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Awake has been my favorite DT album ever since it clicked with me, and after 5 years my opinion hasn't changed. Hearing the second half of the album live at my first DT concert in February was a mindblowing experience to say the least. :hefdaddy
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I became a fan during the I&W surge, so Awake was the first new album to come out after I was a fan. I was blown away. One of my favorite albums from anyone. Simply glorious.
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Best and most authentic DT alb by quite a margin for me. It also sounds really nice.
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Scarred is my favorite on the album and always has been. I dont know why, I just love it.
I would have to agree with you there. :tup
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Scarred is my favorite on the album and always has been. I dont know why, I just love it.
I would have to agree with you there. :tup
Yup, no question.
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Great album.
I wonder if it would be higher up in my list of all time faves if I had got it when it first come out instead of nearly 12 years later. :smiley:
A lot of you guys seem to have been into DT since the beginning which is great, I was too busy following Vai & Satch! :smiley:
I might put it on now while I am on the boards...
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As it is now 6:00 here:
HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY, AWAKE!
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BIDyHpV_b4
Wither Off a Dream :D
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Love the album as it was when I was first introduced to DT, but now I think it needs a remastering as to me it sounds dated at least the drums do.
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Love the album as it was when I was first introduced to DT, but now I think it needs a remastering as to me it sounds dated at least the drums do.
If by "dated" you mean "This 20-year old album sounds much better than things recorded now" then I agree with you.
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Best DT album, even though TSM, LSOAD and IF drag it down.
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Love the album as it was when I was first introduced to DT, but now I think it needs a remastering as to me it sounds dated at least the drums do.
absolutely. after I&W, Awake is the most dated-sounding of the non-WDADU albums, and the drums are the primary issue (although JP's tone doesn't cut like it does on every other record either). remastering wouldn't fix it, though; it'd need to be re-mixed with the big gated snare reverb turned off.