Whats the most disrespected Dream Theater album?

[hefdaddy42]

They are all treated fairly.  The only one I could even see an argument for is WDADU, which gets judged on Charlie's vocals and the production values on the album, and not on the content of the composition.  However, the final product is what it is, and I can't listen to it very often. 

SC gets judged on being a "cheesy fantasy power metal album" (with an insane amount of one out of eight songs actually being that).

Give me a break.  The adjectives "cheesy," "fantasy," and "power metal" taken individually (not as a group, like you are using) can be applied to 7 of the 8 tracks (the exception is Repentance, for which I would use "drawn-out").

[Darkes7]

 

Thanks for support.

[Tick]

Systematic chaos

Amazing piece of work, so much fun, great musicianship, everything is in place except for some lyrics. Certainly one of my favorite albums, I love it so much.

I like you.

me 2

[Seventh Son]

Then you probably hate me

Only Repentance/Ministry of Lost Souls are any good. And yes, that means I don't like In the Presence of Enemies. It has its moments, but as a 25 minute epic its extremely disappointing. Chop it down to 15 minutes or so and it would be a lot better.

[orcus116]

Or just remove the boring, bloated second part.

[Seventh Son]

Or just remove the boring, bloated second part.

That could work. I like the chanting section but that's the only thing in part 2 that I really like at all.

Also, do I really need to say anything about The Dark Eternal Night?

[Darkes7]

Remove the second part, it's not classic prog enough to be good.

[Nick]

Easily When Dream and Day Unite. It is disrespected regularly by those who acknowledge its existence for a variety of reasons and disrespected by many others who pretty much forget it ever happened.

[KevShmev]

I think WDADU is the easy answer here.  Many either dismiss or ignore it, simply because it was their first album with a different singer. 

SC gets about as much as respect as it deserves.  If you don't think it gets that much, well, it probably doesn't deserve it, then.   

[hefdaddy42]

Thanks for support.

You're welcome.

[Seventh Son]

Easily When Dream and Day Unite. It is disrespected regularly by those who acknowledge its existence for a variety of reasons and disrespected by many others who pretty much forget it ever happened.

The Killing Hand is one of DT's best songs, honestly. Its just LaBrie isn't singing on it.

As for SC, I hate to say this about DT given its the major thing they are criticized for, but I honestly think of it being rather wanky. Look at The Dark Eternal Night and Part 2 of In the Presence of Enemies.

[j]

Probably WDADU though pretty much all DT albums are received the way they should except Black Clouds which has been received a little too well IMO. Systematic Chaos deserves everything it gets, though.

Systematic Chaos without any contest.

There have been a lot of SC backers around lately.  At any rate, far more than WDADU has ever had.

SC is probably number two, followed by FII and then maybe ToT.  But there are enough people around that seem to absolutely love ToT that I don't think you can claim that it is overly disrespected.

-J

[pogoowner]

Definitely WDADU. Its existence is almost completely disregarded most of the time.

[Darkes7]

The problem with WDADU is that it lacks some of the elements that make DT stand out and that's why it's often overlooked. Also, it's the only album where I can honestly say the production seriously brings it down, live versions sound way better. Neither is an issue with any other DT album.

[Gadough]

I've heard that the guitar tone in This Dying Soul When JLB first comes in is taken directly from a Mudvayne song.

Say what you want about Mudvayne but LD 50 is god tier.

Mudvayne is easily the best nu-metal band in my opinion. No contest.

[Zantera]

Probably WDADU, i've only listened to it 2-3 times or so, not that i have anything against it, but with another singer it just feels like another band.
I do like the live-versions of the songs, though they're quite spread throughout the discography.

I used to love SC, but it has kinda faded now.
Except for ITPOE1, Constant Motion and Repentance, much of the album 'drags' for me, and it probably deserves a lot of the hate it gets.
Still, ITPOE1 is probably a top10 DT-song for me, at least very high up, doesn't seem like many other fans think so.

[Darkes7]

In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 1 is the only song from the album that seems to be liked a lot.

[fsh3702]

this thread seems not derived from a positive thinking manner. i think even the relative lame albums in the DT discography are much more competitive than other bands. the DT members are all elite musicians, at least they have displayed their unusually good instrumental techniques in all the album including TOT.

so we should learn to appreciate each album. i think the first album is excellent, better than TOT.

there's only one "most" i can designate as to the DT songs, that is "the DT song i most dislike is burning my soul".

[KevShmev]

so we should learn to appreciate each album.

Why?  Just because we are fans does not mean we have to make ourselves like or appreciate every single thing they do.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

so we should learn to appreciate each album.

Why?  Just because we are fans does not mean we have to make ourselves like or appreciate every single thing they do.

That's true. We are not obliged or anything.

I hate fans who "forcefully" gets into certain albums from bands they like. Maybe because they want to be called "hard-core" fan or whatever, but that is just ridiculous. Don't waste your time on something that's mediocre or bad just because it's from a band you like.

[fsh3702]

so we should learn to appreciate each album.

Why?  Just because we are fans does not mean we have to make ourselves like or appreciate every single thing they do.

That's true. We are not obliged or anything.

I hate fans who "forcefully" gets into certain albums from bands they like. Maybe because they want to be called "hard-core" fan or whatever, but that is just ridiculous. Don't waste your time on something that's mediocre or bad just because it's from a band you like.

i don't know, maybe i'm stupid, but i am such a kind of person, i want to appreciate everything DT has. i even want to rationalize MP's bad habits of spit and alcoholism, yeah maybe i'm ridiculous. as a fact when you listen to a really bad song for many times, and you almost can recite every detail of it, this song also becomes much better.  however even though some DT songs are generic and derivative, they still have great techniques.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

Well, sorry if I offended you.

[fsh3702]

Well, sorry if I offended you.

no no, no offend at all. sometimes i grumble to myself for my mistakes or bad choices, so that i can relax myself. good night, i'm going to watch world cup final german vs british.

[?]

When Dream and Day Unite, obviously. It has many great moments but unfortunately many people dismiss it beacause of the vocals and production. I think Train of Thought also gets more criticism than it deserves just because of the heaviness.

[Seventh Son]

When Dream and Day Unite, obviously. It has many great moments but unfortunately many people dismiss it beacause of the vocals and production. I think Train of Thought also gets more criticism than it deserves just because of the heaviness.

I don't mind Train of Thought (Me being one who relentlessly bashes SC). It has This Dying Soul, In the Name of God, and Steam of ****ing Consciousness afterall. But it also has Honor Thy Father, Endless Sacrifice, and As I Am, which in my opinion are songs that go on for far longer than they really need to. Cut back on the lengths of those songs and ToT would be in my top 5. Its about #7 or #8 for me.

[tri.ad]

as a fact when you listen to a really bad song for many times, and you almost can recite every detail of it, this song also becomes much better.

This is not only ridiculous, but also false.

[j]

When Dream and Day Unite, obviously. It has many great moments but unfortunately many people dismiss it beacause of the vocals and production. I think Train of Thought also gets more criticism than it deserves just because of the heaviness.

I don't mind Train of Thought (Me being one who relentlessly bashes SC). It has This Dying Soul, In the Name of God, and Steam of ****ing Consciousness afterall. But it also has Honor Thy Father, Endless Sacrifice, and As I Am, which in my opinion are songs that go on for far longer than they really need to. Cut back on the lengths of those songs and ToT would be in my top 5. Its about #7 or #8 for me.

Honestly I think EVERY song on ToT could have used some trimming down, except maybe As I Am.  TDS is definitely the worst offender, but they all have drawn out weak sections that could be cut or modified.  I rank only SC lower than ToT, although I still enjoy two or three songs from each.

-J

EDIT: vv Oh yeah, I forgot about Vacant.  That one obviously doesn't need cut down.

[pogoowner]

Honestly I think EVERY song on ToT could have used some trimming down, except maybe As I Am.  TDS is definitely the worst offender, but they all have drawn out weak sections that could be cut or modified.

I agree. As I Am and Vacant are the only two songs on the album that aren't bloated, in my opinion. Some are obviously worse offenders than others, but they all could have been edited down. This Dying Soul, Stream of Consciousness, and In the Name of God in particular.

[Adami]

In The Presence of Enemies Pt. 1 is the only song from the album that seems to be liked a lot.

I like that song, but I never find myself having any desire to listen to it. However, if it comes on, I enjoy it. The only song from that CD I ever WANT to listen to is Repentence.

[Plasmastrike]

I believe WDADU is the most 'disrespected,' I guess. As someone stated, it's often judged for things like it's production and Charlie's vocals when most of the music is just downright phenomenal. All the other albums seem to have stronger and ademate 'defenders,' if you will. Who knows, though? That's just the perspective of some random forum user (me).

Off topic-ish

Since yall are talking about SC, it has several songs I love putting on every now and then. For example, ITPOE (both parts), TMOLS, Repentance, and TDEN.

Kind of unrelated, but as a guitar player, I believe I have an interesting take on why I have such an easy time enjoying everything DT does. I just enjoy learning it all. All their songs almost represent a dot on the timeline of my guitar skill progression.

[ariich]

Systematic Chaos deserves everything it gets, though.

That wasn't the question though. The OP asked which is the most disrespected, and regardless of any justification, that is by a long way WDADU and SC.

[orcus116]

But the OP asked which you thought was unfairly disrespected. SC definitely gets disrespected but for good reason.

[Darkes7]

Except that surprisingly 95% of those who see the good reason are "DT has ended after SFAM".

[orcus116]

You know I see you keep mentioning this group of people who think DT ended after SFAM but I can not for the life of me remember anyone here ever saying that.

[King Postwhore]

I always though OV8 gets slagged all the time.  You always read people saying, "Besides the title track
& TROAE ,  meh to the rest", to paraphrase.