I was a big fan of the Dreamspace and Fourth Dimension albums (especially the former) - there was an aura of melancholy there that made those records pretty unique. Sure, there was still plenty of cheese, and the more-than-occasional inspiration from Helloween, Queensryche and even Savatage (just listen to Reign of Terror vs. Sirens for proof
![Grin ;D](https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/Smileys/default/grin.gif)
), but enough Nordic spleen to make them stand out.
Then of course they became huge in the European power scene with Episode and Visions. While they are mini-classics in their genre, I didn't like them quite as much, as they were a little too "straight" power for my taste. I remember listening to those a ton when they were released, though.
After that, I kinda lost track, and I recall there was a lot of drama associated with Timo Tolkki leaving and such. I do have one of the post-Tolkki album - Elysium, which I enjoyed (although it's been a while...). I might go over older posts in this thread a bit more, but do you guys have any specific recommendations across the more recent output?