Failures:
Six Degrees
Scenes from a Memory
Dream Theater
So why those last three? Like I said above - the faux symphonies on Six Degrees and DT are intolerable for me. Scenes is just a bad scene for me all around. The story, people, the story! I remember actually when that movie came out and laughing hysterically because it was just so bad. Anyone remember the scissors scene? I wasn't honestly sure if that was some kind of spoof or if that was serious. I still can't believe that one of my favorite bands, who seems to be comprised of reasonable and smart people, actually took that material and turned it into a concept album of all things. Plus I'm just allergic to religious/spiritual/superstitious themes (and I would include Freudian "therapy" with that). Hair raising - in a bad way.
Now THIS is how you make an entrance! I should've learned from this guy
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My turn!
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TIER 1: Nearly flawless.
Awake: An instant favourite for me, from the dark grooviness of 6:00 'till the last note of the haunting Space Dye Vest, this album is as close to perfection as it gets.
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence: From Moore masterwork to Rudess masterwork, experimental, crazy, but really strong all around. Took me 2 years to get into this album, but when it clicked, it became a masterpiece of the second classic DT lineup.
Falling Into Infinity: Yes, there are some clunkers here, but replace them with the really great B Sides and it soars as high as the others, even on the regular album, the high points of this album greatly overshadows any of its flaws. Strong, solid, really different from everything else they've done.
Images and Words: The naivety of WDADU combined with the maturity of the experience of failure but with an optimistic view, this is pure magic. I wished they added Don't Look Past Me and To Live Forever to make it an even more piece of awesomeness.
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TIER 2: Excellent.
Dream Theater: Their self titled effort combines the classic sound of the band and gives it a new spin. Not so new that it can cross the Tier 2 barrier though, even if it's consistent all the way through, it doesn't have as much spine tingling moments as the Tier 1 do, but still a great album.
Scenes From a Memory: There's some seriously good music here, and a perfectly constructed album, so why not Tier 1? The story is not that great. Other than that, it's a classic.
Train of Thought: One dimensional, it suffers from having seven great songs that don't make up for a that great album when you put them all together, but still it's an awesome heavy album, and I love the wackiness of it
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Cleaning Out The Closet: Yep, it's probably one of my favourites DT albums on its own, and if it hadn't B Sides production it would be a serious candidate for Tier 1. Everything here is so pure gold that I can't believe I'm listening to a B Sides compilation. They should have released this as an album with A Change of Seasons to make for another Tier 1 masterpiece!
Octavarium: Dream Theater lesser brother in a way, concise, to the point, and with some GREAT songs in there, but also some clunkers. The opener, These Walls and the title track are nothing short of amazing, but the others don't live up to the heights, with SS being good-not-great, IWBY and Panic Attack ok and the rest I just don't like them very much. Still, the highs of this album are VERY high, so that grants them a position on Tier 2.
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Tier 3: Strong, but with flaws.
Systematic Chaos: The outcast, the weirdo, the non serious of the family. This is a really good album, yes, it's flawed and it has some WTF moments all over it, but once you understand it, it becomes really good. Forget about the usual DT reflexive or emotional moments, just spin it and have fun singing along the silly lyrics!
A Dramatic Turn Of Events: If SC is the fun, weirdo, I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me of the family, ADTOE is the conservative, safe and serious guy, and that is this album flaw for me. While it has Breaking All Illusions, the masterpiece of the album, the rest is... well... too safe, everything is good, but it's missing something. No element of surprise, no "wow, this is definetly different". I should cut it some slack considering it was the right album to do at that moment for the band, but judging by the music alone, it fails where Systematic Chaos triumph, and viceversa.
Black Clouds And Silver Linings: I seriously don't know what to say about this album. It should be on Tier 2 but for some reasons it's missing something. The Shattered Fortress is a perfect way to close the 12SS but on its own it reveals it's flaws, The Count Of Tuscany is really solid long sort of epic but the lyrics don't do much for me, A Nightmare To Remember has the overlong tradeoff solos... and the other three are good but they lack something.
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Tier 4:When Days And Dream Unite: The first album I listened from Dream Theater, and I never considered listening to them again for two years. Yes, that bad was my first impression. But, it has grown on me since and I can say it's not a bad album, and it has some moments of pure brillance paired with moments of pure failure, which actually somehow elevates the album in a weird way, and I actually enjoy it more than some of the Tier 3, but still, Dream Theater needed an extra 10 minutes in the oven when they released this.
Topic: DT album ranking (Read 210958 times)
