DT album ranking

[EPIC Outro]

Much like Breaking All Illusions to Beneath the Surface, I consider Scarred to be the closer of its album, with Space Dye Vest serving as a haunting epilogue.

[Lonk]

I don't think I've ever done an album ranking here. Guess I'll give it a try

1. Scenes from a Memory
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2. Images and Words
3. Awake
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
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5. A Dramatic Turn of Events
6. Distance Over Time
7. Octavarium
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8. The Astonishing
9. Train of Thoughts
10. Falling Into Infinity
11. Systematic Chaos
12. When Dream and Day Unite
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13. Black Clouds and Silver Lining
14. Dream Theater

I can't rank AVFTTOTW yet. On the first week, I would have put it at #6 or #7, now I think it is closer to #10. I still enjoy all their albums. #1-7 are in the great-amazing category (for me of course). After that is good albums, but something keeps them from being great. #13 and #14 just don't do it for me. Some great tracks but overall, just don't do much for me.

I think it's still too early to rank AVFTTOTW with 100% certainty, but as of right now, I would say it lands at #9 (I still don't get Transcending Time). Also, SDOIT and Awake swapped places. Been listening to SDOIT suite a lot more lately and I forgot how great it is. The only song in this entire album that I would consider "not great" is Misunderstood.

1. Scenes from a Memory
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2. Images and Words
3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4. Awake
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5. A Dramatic Turn of Events
6. Distance Over Time
7. Octavarium
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8. The Astonishing
9. A View From the Top of the World
10. Train of Thoughts
11. Falling Into Infinity
12. Systematic Chaos
13. When Dream and Day Unite
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14. Black Clouds and Silver Lining
15. Dream Theater

[DoctorAction]

Played SFAM in the car today for the first time in a long time and it was amazing. I've played the shit out of the DT catalogue over the last couple of decades so only tend to play D/T and AVFTTOTW these days but yeah, the energy, composition and sound on SFAM still hits hard. I'm biased as it was my first proper DT exposure but the solos, the chugs, the vocal melodies, the drums. Scorcher.

Quick ranking - based purely on how likely I am to listen to the album all the way through:

AVFTTOTW
D/T
SFAM/I&W/SDOIT
FII/Awake

I sometimes listen to parts of these:

Octavarium
ADTOE
ACOS

And never listen to these at all:

DT12
TOT
TA
SC
BCSL
WDADU

[Deadeye21]

Much like Breaking All Illusions to Beneath the Surface, I consider Scarred to be the closer of its album, with Space Dye Vest serving as a haunting epilogue.

It’s more of a bonus track than an album track.

[Cool Chris]

Much like Breaking All Illusions to Beneath the Surface, I consider Scarred to be the closer of its album, with Space Dye Vest serving as a haunting epilogue.

I used to hate this take about Beneath the Surface, and to a lesser extend SDV, much of it was based on how strongly I felt about them. But I can accept them as an epilogue, and not an 'after the credits scene, and not part of the album proper' as I have also seen it described as. A story's epilogue is just as integral to the story as the rest of the narrative.

[EPIC Outro]

They are most definitely parts of their albums, and among my favorite tracks from their respective releases. I think Symphony X had a similar thing going on with their Divine Wings of Tragedy album, with Candlelight Fantasia acting as the epilogue after the big epic title track.

The one similar instance I maybe feel a little differently about is the Easter egg at the end of Illumination Theory. I think having it on the same track as the rest of the song leads a lot of folks to consider it a part of the song itself, but I have always considered it a coda to DT12 as a whole, and not an actual part of Illumination Theory, which I feel ended around the 19 minute mark.

[Dublagent66]

Haven't done this in a while.

1  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2  Images and Words
3  Scenes from a Memory
4  Awake
5  A Dramatic Turn of Events
6  Train of Thought
7  Octavarium
8  Systematic Chaos
9  Falling Into Infinity
10  Distance over Time
11  A View from the Top of the World
12  Black Clouds & Silver Linings
11  Dream Theater
14  The Astonishing
15  When Dream and Day Unite

[Trav86]

This is what it is today…

Images and Words
Scenes From a Memory
The Astonishing
A Dramatic Turn of Events
A View From the Top of the World
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Awake
Distance Over Time
Dream Theater
Falling Into Infinity
Train of Thought
When Dream and Day Unite
Octavarium
Systematic Chaos
Black Clouds and Silver Linings

[Deadeye21]

Today’s ranking:
Scenes From a Memory
Images & Words
Awake
Six Degrees
Distance Over Time
Systematic Chaos
Falling Into Infinity
A Dramatic Turn of Events
A View From the Top of the World
Octavarium
Dream Theater
Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Train of Thought
When Dream and Day Unite
Astonishing

[KevShmev]

A View... will likely get a little bump from me compared to the last time I did this (cannot remember when that was). I gave it a listen last week and it sounded great. Even the moments I previously thought were underwhelming (most of Invisible Monster, the end of the title track) were a lot more enjoyable this time around, so even though the album is still less than a year old, it is aging well already.  The fact that it sounds so good really helps.  I still think A Dramatic Turn of Events would be a top 5 DT album for me if the mix was as good as View's, rather than being so muddy. 

[Dream Team]

Yes, albums like A View tend to age well because the band rarely anymore will include an obvious stinker track in an album (Prophets of War, Never Enough,) that would continue to drag down an album's perception as time passes. Plus they didn't do any weird out-of-the-box stuff on A View; they played to their strengths and reined in Jordan and gave Labrie easy vocal melodies.

[WilliamMunny]

I'm in the midst of a DT listen-through, only I'm working backwards through the catalog, which means I began AVFTOTW.

Sadly, this album drops for me with every listen. Yes, it sounds amazing, and yes, there are a handful of super-interesting moments, but it otherwise lacks that one 'anchor' track that I often find on my favorite albums.

Conversely, I initially dismissed D/T only to eventually fall in love with the album, thanks (in small part to) "At Wits End" and "Barstool Warrior."

On one level, A View... might actually be a stronger album—it certainly sounds better—but there's nothing on there that even comes close to comparing to "At Wits End."

That said, lacking an emotional anchor in no way takes away from the enjoyment, it just relegates it to an album that I need to be in a specific mood for.

Like, when I am in a certain mood, I listen to Meshuggah's Nothing—not because it's an all time favorite album, but because it scratches a very specific musical itch.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I guess it’s time to update my list since I haven’t posted my ranking with AVFtTotW.

01) Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
02) Octavarium
03) Images and Words
04) A Dramatic Turn of Events
05) A View From the Top of the World
06) Awake
07) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
08) The Astonishing
09) Train of Thought
10) Distance over Time
11) Black Clouds & Silver Linings
12) Dream Theater
13) Systematic Chaos
14) When Dream and Day Unite
15) Falling Into Infinity

[Deadeye21]

Yes, albums like A View tend to age well because the band rarely anymore will include an obvious stinker track in an album (Prophets of War, Never Enough,) that would continue to drag down an album's perception as time passes.

I like both of those songs way more than Invisible Monster, which was the second single, so I have to disagree with this point.

[Dublagent66]

Well, I think ADTOE has a couple clunkers (FFH, BTS), but BAI and the other tracks save the album.  I can skip the clunkers and still be fine with it.

[Dream Team]

Yes, albums like A View tend to age well because the band rarely anymore will include an obvious stinker track in an album (Prophets of War, Never Enough,) that would continue to drag down an album's perception as time passes.

I like both of those songs way more than Invisible Monster, which was the second single, so I have to disagree with this point.

I kinda agree except I don’t think IM stinks out loud like Prophets of War, it’s just boring.

[JediKnight1969]

01) Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
02) Images and Words
03) A Dramatic Turn of Events
04) Awake
05) Systematic Chaos
06) Falling Into Infinity
07) Train of Thought
08) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
09) Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10) Octavarium
11) A View From the Top of the World
12) Distance over Time
13) The Astonishing
14) Dream Theater
15) When Dream and Day Unite

[marztacy]

01) Images and Words
02) Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
03) Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
04) Train of Thought
05) A Dramatic Turn of Events
06) The Astonishing
07) Awake
08) Distance over Time
09) A View From the Top of the World
10) Dream Theater
11) Octavarium
12) Black Clouds & Silver Linings
13) Systematic Chaos
14) When Dream and Day Unite
15) Falling Into Infinity

[KevShmev]

Yes, albums like A View tend to age well because the band rarely anymore will include an obvious stinker track in an album (Prophets of War, Never Enough,) that would continue to drag down an album's perception as time passes.

I like both of those songs way more than Invisible Monster, which was the second single, so I have to disagree with this point.

I kinda agree except I don’t think IM stinks out loud like Prophets of War, it’s just boring.

I think it is fair to say that A View... was pretty safe, just like Distance over Time was.  And I am okay with that.  Not many bands even make it to the studio albums number 14 and 15, so if they want to play if safe now to the end, who can blame them? 

[Trav86]

Yes, albums like A View tend to age well because the band rarely anymore will include an obvious stinker track in an album (Prophets of War, Never Enough,) that would continue to drag down an album's perception as time passes.

I like both of those songs way more than Invisible Monster, which was the second single, so I have to disagree with this point.

I kinda agree except I don’t think IM stinks out loud like Prophets of War, it’s just boring.

I think it is fair to say that A View... was pretty safe, just like Distance over Time was.  And I am okay with that.  Not many bands even make it to the studio albums number 14 and 15, so if they want to play if safe now to the end, who can blame them?

Well, ADTOE and DT were pretty safe as well. Then they went all out with The Astonishing (nothing too crazy as far as song arrangements, but the overall piece) and it really wasn’t that well received. I don’t really blame them for playing it safe here on out.