The Awake Fanboy Thread

[fsh3702]

it's the last album with kevin moore, KM has displayed his talents to the extreme. awake is milestone, it cemented DT's hard-won reputation built by I&W. the marvellous space-dye vest seems an indication of the termination of an era.

[Seventh Son]

Awake is my favourite DT album! It's the best DT album lyrically, it features some of my favourite songs ever and James is at his best.

I'll agree with this. James never hit the sheer insanity ever again that his vocals hit in a lot of songs showcase. I thought his vocals in Scenes were good, but nothing compared to Awake. Innocence Faded, Scarred, The Silent Man, Voices, Space-Dye Vest, Lie, The Mirror; all of them some of Labrie's best vocals ever.

[hefdaddy42]

Awake is my favourite DT album! It's the best DT album lyrically, it features some of my favourite songs ever and James is at his best.

I'll agree with this. James never hit the sheer insanity ever again that his vocals hit in a lot of songs showcase. I thought his vocals in Scenes were good, but nothing compared to Awake. Innocence Faded, Scarred, The Silent Man, Voices, Space-Dye Vest, Lie, The Mirror; all of them some of Labrie's best vocals ever.

^All of that^

[Darkes7]

While I think Awake indeed is incredible in terms of vocals (Voices...), I still think the ones on SFAM are even more impressive and his best. Awake still feels like if he couldn't entirely control his voice at moments, at least for me.

[Seventh Son]

While I think Awake indeed is incredible in terms of vocals (Voices...), I still think the ones on SFAM are even more impressive and his best. Awake still feels like if he couldn't entirely control his voice at moments, at least for me.

I like that though. It gives a feel of chaos to me, and I really like that. I don't really care for everything to be picture-perfect and controlled 24/7. Go nuts, go crazy!

[Mebert78]

I consider myself the ultimate Awake fanboy.  I love that album passionately.  I would make love to that album if possible.  OK, kidding about that.  But from start to finish, I love every note, every lyric, and everything about the album artwork.  It is perfection in my eyes.

[Plasmastrike]

My second favorite album of all time. Merbert, SeventhSon, and others have really summed it up.

Bow down.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

Awake is the best.

[j]

I generally lean toward ranking Images and Words just higher than Awake, but it's certainly part of DT's golden era, when the things they were doing were fresh, and just plain fantastic. It's an amazing album

This, and...

Awake is an excellent album that was grown DRAMATICALLY over time for me. In my early days as a DT fan i didn't even like that much, but today it is definably top 3 DT albums to me. I think the more you listen to it, the more you get trapped by its atmosphere and once you are in there, you can enjoy all the awesome music craziness and melodies it has.

...this.  Took me awhile to get into, but probably the most rewarding "grower" album experience I've ever had.  And I usually list I&W at number one when it comes down to it, but for all practical purposes I love both of these albums equally.

-J

[Samsara]

The pinnacle of DT. Never again have they reached this level of quality.

I'm not a Kevin Moore fanboy, but Kev Mo was the element in DT that gave the band its sense of ambiance and a great source of lyrics. Those items are sorely missed.

Since Awake, DT has opted for a style that is less ambient, and more virtuoso-oriented. That's fine, but that's not what I loved about DT. Awake, to me, is the essence of what I loved about Dream Theater.

[Adami]

One of the coolest things about Awake is that (with very few exceptions) the writing is completely undated. You don't listen to it and think "dude, this is so early 90's" it's pretty timeless. As opposed to most modern albums where they are very dated.

[Dublagent66]

Awake isn't my #1 album but I still love it to fucking death. 

[Darkes7]

The pinnacle of DT. Never again have they reached this level of quality.

I'm not a Kevin Moore fanboy, but Kev Mo was the element in DT that gave the band its sense of ambiance and a great source of lyrics. Those items are sorely missed.

Since Awake, DT has opted for a style that is less ambient, and more virtuoso-oriented. That's fine, but that's not what I loved about DT. Awake, to me, is the essence of what I loved about Dream Theater.

Not at all. Look at Trial of Tears, Through Her Eyes, Disappear, Vacant, The Answer Lies Within, Repentance, The Best of Times... this will do for starters.

[contest_sanity]

^
That's exactly 1 song per album; Awake is the entire album.

[Darkes7]

These are the most obvious of the most obvious examples. Awake has two songs which could belong into this group.

[pogoowner]

The pinnacle of DT. Never again have they reached this level of quality.

I'm not a Kevin Moore fanboy, but Kev Mo was the element in DT that gave the band its sense of ambiance and a great source of lyrics. Those items are sorely missed.

Since Awake, DT has opted for a style that is less ambient, and more virtuoso-oriented. That's fine, but that's not what I loved about DT. Awake, to me, is the essence of what I loved about Dream Theater.

Well said.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

These are the most obvious of the most obvious examples. Awake has two songs which could belong into this group.

What group are we talking about here?

Because compared to both older and later Dream Theater albums as wholes, Awake as a whole is certainly less* virtuoso-oriented and more ambient.

In regards to viruosity, there are only two keyboard solos through eleven songs. I do not think any other Dream Theater album has that kind of restraint on the part of the keyboardist.

Ambience is less quanitfiable. I will not even take a stab at it.

*Keep in mind that Samsara is not saying Awake is not virtuostic-oriented at all. He is just saying that, overall, it is less viruostic-oriented than later Dream Theater. Like if the least virtuostic later Dream Theater album is Octavarium, and it is a 6/10 on the virtuostic-oriented scale, then Awake is a 4/10.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

Awake is my favorite album, but I&W is the best album.

[Seventh Son]

These are the most obvious of the most obvious examples. Awake has two songs which could belong into this group.

What group are we talking about here?

Because compared to both older and later Dream Theater albums as wholes, Awake as a whole is certainly less* virtuoso-oriented and more ambient.

In regards to viruosity, there are only two keyboard solos through eleven songs. I do not think any other Dream Theater album has that kind of restraint on the part of the keyboardist.

Ambience is less quanitfiable. I will not even take a stab at it.

*Keep in mind that Samsara is not saying Awake is not virtuostic-oriented at all. He is just saying that, overall, it is less viruostic-oriented than later Dream Theater. Like if the least virtuostic later Dream Theater album is Octavarium, and it is a 6/10 on the virtuostic-oriented scale, then Awake is a 4/10.

If DT would cut back on the keyboard solos and showed more restraint, I'd probably like their recent material a lot more than I do.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

The pinnacle of DT. Never again have they reached this level of quality.

I'm not a Kevin Moore fanboy, but Kev Mo was the element in DT that gave the band its sense of ambiance and a great source of lyrics. Those items are sorely missed.

Since Awake, DT has opted for a style that is less ambient, and more virtuoso-oriented. That's fine, but that's not what I loved about DT. Awake, to me, is the essence of what I loved about Dream Theater.

Well said.

I agree completely