Probably some have (partially) been said before, but:
OK, I'll bite:
-I find WDADU to be a better album (lyrically and musically) than SFAM, which is in the bottom 4 fav. albums for me.
That's a bold statement. I think WDADU is an overlooked album, it's certainly better than it gets credit for, but SFAM is a top-tier DT album for me, and WDADU kind of... isn't.
-I find SFAM incredibly overrated as a concept album ("best concept album ever" claims make no sense to me)
Yeah, it's certainly not the best concept album ever, but it is a serious effort.
-I don't like the Metal albums (BC&SL, TOT and SC) as much as the other albums
I actually agree with this. I'd rather have metal songs or songs with a metal section on a diverse album than an entire metal album. I've never really thought of SC as a metal album, mind.
-About BC&SL, TCOT is in my top 3 DT songs, specially the Happy Holidays version
I also love that song. It's stunning.
-TA is my 3rd favourite album by DT, after Awake and I&W
Yeah, people either love it or hate it. Personally I hate it, but I can see why others love it, and I respect your opinion.
-OK, this is the most heavily loaded one: I don't think that Mike Portnoy is a good drummer. He's influential, and I respect that, and he added cool things to the songs (and some really bad things), but, he tends to overplay everything, and add the same fills whenever there's a chance; that's cool the first three times, then it becomes tiresome. Some people like that, and fine, but I just... don't.
I've said this before - MP was a great drummer when the band started. One of the best. But he got lazy, especially by the time of his last 2 albums, and his drumming went from being exciting and fresh to being often sloppy, uninspired and boring to listen to. Plus, of course, younger and better drummers came up and he just failed to raise his game. I just wish the band had employed MM to play drums and kept MP on in a management role to deal with the fans.
-Petrucci and Portnoy aren't good producers. Petrucci makes everything loud and muddy, and Portnoy made everything LOUD and dry.
Kind of agree, but as I've said before, this "everything louder than everything else" thing is a plague on modern music, and not just restricted to DT. Given the nature of their music and their fanbase, I do wish we could get a proper audiophile production out of the band. TA was actually the closest they've come, despite the fact I don't like that album, the production is first rate.