DT album ranking

[Dreamer]

I haven't worked out mine yet but I'm sure that Train Of Thought and When Dream And Day would be at the bottom and A Dramatic Turn and DT12 would be at the top.

[Grizz]

BlackInk, can you explain your ranking system?

[BlackInk]

I rank all the songs from best to worst (along with some other bands as well, which is why the score can get so high), then add their positions to each other and devide them by how many songs there are on the album to get the "album average".

So Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence would be #9 + #16 + #30 + #84 + #90 + #126 = 355
And then 355/6 songs = 59,17 points 

A bit imperfect, since the length of the songs aren't taken into consideration, but I'll probably fix that when I do them over again in a few years.

[Dream Team]

1. Images & Words (always)
2. A Dramatic Turn of Events
3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4. Scenes From a Memory (used to vie for #1)
5. Dream Theater (for now)
6. Awake
7. When Dream & Day Unite (grossly underrated)
8. Train of Thought
9. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (had the potential to be amazing)
10. Octavarium (tracks 1 & 8 loom far above the rest)
11. Systematic Chaos
12. Falling Into Infinity (last always)

[tiagodon]

No, I'm not crazy!

1. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (deep and beautiful)
2. A Dramatic Turn of Events (powerful melodies)
3. Systematic Chaos (simple and musically rich)
4. Scenes From a Memory (very Pink Floydish)
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (daring!)
6. Images & Words (youth boiling)
7. Train of Thought (heavy!)
8. Octavarium (coffee with milk)
9. Dream Theater (the least progressive)
10. Falling into Infinity (at ease!)
11. Awake (vocals a little bit over the top; reckless)
12. When Dream & Day Unite (bad mastering)

[Grizz]

I'm all for some BC&SL love, but Awake is sex. says it right here on my crucifix

[Kotowboy]

Octavarium
Scenes From A Memory
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence


- Everything Else -




Systematic Chaos
Awake
When Dream And Day Unite.

[BlackInk]

No, I'm not crazy!

1. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (deep and beautiful)

I get how someone would think it's beautiful at times. But the meaning of the word "deep" is pretty much everything that BC&SL isn't.

[jakepriest]

No, I'm not crazy!

1. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (deep and beautiful)

I get how someone would think it's beautiful at times. But the meaning of the word "deep" is pretty much everything that BC&SL isn't.

You want to say that "Day after day, and night after night" is not deep? 

[robwebster]

BCSL's mega profound, it's all about the big questions. "Did they ever see the red light?"

"Did they," indeed, John. "Did they," indeed.

[Grizz]

One thing I don't get was WHO THE FUCK WAS THE STRANGER AND WHY WAS HE RELEVANT?

[BlackInk]

One thing I don't get was WHO THE FUCK WAS THE STRANGER AND WHY WAS HE RELEVANT?

And what the hell happened to his face? And why?

[ThatOneGuy2112]

One thing I don't get was WHO THE FUCK WAS THE STRANGER AND WHY WAS HE RELEVANT?

And what the hell happened to his face? And why?

I always thought of it as some buzzed dude who showed up at the wedding. Which is a stretch but for the life of me I honestly don't know.

[jakepriest]

Wait, what wedding?

[robwebster]

ANTR is set on the way home from a wedding. "A flawless new beginning eclipsed by tragedy," "Said goodbye to the glowing bride and made our way back home," etc. etc.

[Nearmyth]

The first four are ones with amazing moments that changed the way I looked at music, or were just extremely well put together, balanced albums. I often see these as the top four and hate being part of the majority usually, but I can't really deny my love for these albums.

DT's Best - Interchangeable Places

   1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (Incredible variety that actually works, atmospheric, dynamic, strange and haunting at times.)

   2. Awake (Probably DT's most structurally balanced album, fantastic contrasts, raw and atmospheric sound, great follow up from...)

   3. Images And Words (Features some of DT's best songwriting abilities; TTT, Metrop., and LTL stand out in that respect. Also, THE ENDING!)

   4. Scenes From A Memory (only put it on the 4th spot because it hasn't aged too well for me, but I am reminded of its greatness every time I listen to it. Rough, heavy, emotional, and just outright badass. Another well balanced album, great beginning and ending.)

Great listens but not too spectacular:

   5. A Dramatic Turn of Events (Very emotional and dramatic, very proggy. Though the shorter songs on the album are pretty dull to me, the longer ones make up for it and pack a huge punch.)

   6. Train of Thought (It is very hard for me to pick out anything directly wrong with this album. I simply can't find anything! There are only a couple songs that do not interest me in the slightest, but minus those this album is really great; heavy as shit, great ending, great transitions).

   7. Dream Theater (Very melodic, probably DT's most dynamic album music-wise, but the songs got old fast and didn't live up to the hype for me. This place is bound to change but at the moment this spot feels comfortable.)

Albums that I enjoy, but only a few songs. These placements are interchangeable as well:

   8. Systematic Chaos (Fantastic intro and ending, hindered by its so-so middle songs.)

   9. Octavarium (Really the only thing this album's got going for me is the title track.)

   10. Black Clouds and Silver Linings (About 2/3 of this album are good as individual songs, but as a whole the album falls pretty flat.)

Albums I really just don't listen to:

   11. Falling Into Infinity (Fantastic production, but only 1-2 songs I like, with another few I consider "okay." Not very listenable for me.)

   12. WDADU (Honestly, haven't even listened to the thing in full. The production always turned me off, and the songwriting never stuck.)

[Grizz]

One thing I don't get was WHO THE FUCK WAS THE STRANGER AND WHY WAS HE RELEVANT?

And what the hell happened to his face? And why?

I thought that stranger was a doctor wearing a face mask. I'm talking about the uninvited stranger that started dancing on his own, scaring the shit out of the Petruccis.

But then what were the elephants in the hospital? Were they anything more than blob trying to animate Hugh Syme's acid trip?

[BlackInk]

I'm talking about the uninvited stranger that started dancing on his own, scaring the shit out of the Petruccis.

Yeah that just seems strange. And like something out of some comedy sketch.

[Clancy Wiggum]

New member, first post, yadda, yadda, yadda...

1.   Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - Quality, consistency, epicness and great production. I am a very picky listener who rarely listens to albums right the way through but, possibly aside from Disappear, I could happily listen to the whole of Six Degrees every time I play it.

2.   Falling Into Infinity - An inconsistent album but its high points are so good it’s right up there. New Millennium, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears are all in my top 10 while Hell’s Kitchen might be my favourite DT instrumental along with SoC. Only You Not Me, Peruvian Skies and to a lesser extent Burning My Soul bring the album down. If they were replaced with Raise the Knife, You or Me and The Way It Used to Be this would be my favourite DT album. I enjoy Take Away My Pain more than other DT ballads like Another Day and The Spirit Carries On.

3.   Black Clouds & Silver Linings - Don’t understand why this album isn’t liked more. The Count of Tuscany is one of my favourite DT epics and only The Best of Times stands out to me as being inferior to the rest. Along with Six Degrees this album has my favourite production/mix of any of DT’s records.

4.   Images & Words - Very close to being number 3 in my list, but the better production on Black Clouds puts it ahead. Great balance between proggyness and more mainstream (Another Day) or metal (Pull Me Under) tracks. Learning to Live is my favourite DT song and Wait For Sleep is a top 10 too.

5.   Dream Theater - Has consistency. I like the mix/production, which was a relief after A Dramatic Turn of Events. Enigma Machine is a let-down, and I don’t enjoy Illumination Theory as much as other people (though it’s still good). There isn’t really a song I dislike on the album.

6.   Octavarium - Pretty consistent and I could listen to this all the way through, but lacks more standout tracks. These Walls and Panic Attack are class, title track is good but overrated for me. The rest are all solid and enjoyable. I Walk Beside You proves they can write a catchy, melodic, commercial song at the drop of a hat.

7.   Scenes from A Memory - Don’t quite agree with how much people love this album, but I do like it. Rarely listen to it because all the songs are on the same story (obviously). It was the first DT album I heard - it blew my mind at the time. Spirit Carries On is nothing more than a soppy ballad for me, but asides from that I enjoy the album.

8.   Train of Thought - Need to return to this. Stream of Consciousness is a top 10 track and my joint favourite instrumental with Hell’s Kitchen. Vacant is good. All the songs have something I enjoy but things I don’t, e.g. the solo in In the Name of God. Actually, just decided to move this below Scenes.

9.   A Dramatic Turn of Events - A good album full of songs I like, but which are let down by paper-thin production: where is the bite and weight behind the guitars and drums? Listen to Six Degrees then this and the lack of power in the mix really comes through. Some forgettable songs (This is the Life and Far From Heaven) but a greater number of enjoyable ones. Beneath the Surface is underrated.

10.   Awake - Overrated for me. I like 6:00 but it would be more enjoyable were it not for the silly, irritating speech samples. A Mind Beside Itself is a bit “meh” for me (I prefer the Live Scenes versions, particular of The Silent Man). Caught in a Web and Innocence Faded are class though. My favourite DT album cover.

11.   Systematic Chaos - Recently went back to this and enjoy it more than I initially did. In The Presence of Enemies is great (better than Octavarium and Illumination Theory for me). As a one-off experimental song, I enjoy The Dark Eternal Night, and also Prophets of War. Ministry of Souls is way overrated for me: the whole song sounds like one long outro, except for the proggy bit which sounds out of place. Repentance is boring and too long.

12.   When Dream and Day Unite - I don’t dislike this album, but almost don’t regard it as a DT record, probably because it didn’t have James on vocals. The quality of most of the songs shines through despite the poor production, as the Reunite live show confirms.

[Sacul]

Peruvian Skies [...] bring the album down.

lol that's my fav FII song. It's even on my DT top 5.

[Nearmyth]

-snip-

Welcome to the forum!

Also, love the list  Original and different from what you usually see.

[Shine]

1. A Dramatic Turn of Events
2. Images and Words
3. Octavarium
4. Scenes from a Memory
5. Awake
6. Dream Theater
7. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
8. Falling Into Infinity
9. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10. Train of Thought
11. Systematic Chaos
12. When Dream & Day Unite

I'm going to use this paragraph to compare their two most recent efforts. I really like DT12, don't get me wrong, but its ranking is based on the fact it only really contains two genuine "goosebumps" moments for me. The ending of The Bigger Picture, and the ending of Illumination Theory (plus the subsequent hidden track). On the other hand, ADTOE is absolutely full of those moments. The chorus of BMUBMD, most of This is the Life, Bridges, Outcry, Far From Heaven, Breaking All Illusions. Just, a stunning effort, and that's why I've ranked it top.

Absolutely agree with this. Those two moments (although I would narrow down Illumination Theory to just the minute or two immediately following The Embracing Circle (drum/bass solo and "Mothers for their children...").  The rest of the album is just kind of meh, and then there's the shitty mixing and production that drags it down even further for me.

[Shine]

Mine:

1. Awake

2. Images and Words

3. Train of Thought

4. Falling into Infinity

5. Octavarium

6. A Dramatic Turn of Events

7. Scenes from a Memory

8. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

9. Black Clouds and Silver Linings

10. Systematic Chaos

11. Dream Theater

12. When Dream and Day Unite





Awake is amazing. Images and Words is equally amazing, but I like the production and sound of Awake better. Train of Thought is really cool, and the second half of the album is on the same level as Awake and I&W. Falling Into Infinity has some bad eggs, but has songs that are just as good as Awake and I&W. No other album gets to the same level, except perhaps Octavarium, but it's not quite there.

Everything from 6 down is still good, and they all have their moments, but that's it. Moments.

[Cygnus17]

Scenes From a Memory
A Dramatic Turn of Events
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance
Train of Thought
Dream Theater
Octavarium
Images and WOrds
Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Awake
Systematic Chaos
Falling into Infinity
When Dream and Day Unite

[KevShmev]

New member, first post, yadda, yadda, yadda...
 

Welcome!

Feel free to dive right into the discussions!

[Grizz]

2.5 month bump because Tick finally got me to revise (even though it fluctuates like my weight)

Old ranking in parenthesis

Music done right
.5 A Change of Seasons
1. Scenes From a Memory (1)
2. Awake (6)
3. Images & Wots (2)

Pretty sweet
4. Train of Thought (3)
5. Black Clouds & Silver Linings (4)
6. Octavarium (8)
7. A Dramatic Turn of Events (5)
8. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (7)

Eh.
9. Dream Theater
10. Falling Into Infinity (11)

Eh???
11. When Dream & Day Unite (9)
12. Systematic Chaos (10)

No.
12.5 Raw Dog

[Yoshi Yogurt]

Here's Mine:

Didn't include "A Change of Seasons" since it's sort of a single w/ covers. No Raw Dog either cuz lol

1. Images and Words (No surprise here, probably my all time favorite album too)

2. Awake ( Love this album, some people have it so low, Space dye vest is my least favorite track on here...)

3. Cleaning Out the Closet (Surprise, I love every song on this album(?), blows FiI out of the water...what were they thinking? This should be on everyon's list)

4. Octavarium

5. Scenes from a Memory (I think this albums highly overrated, but it still made #5!)

6.  Six Degrees

7. Dramatic Turn of Events

8. Dream Theater

9. Train of Thought

10 Black Clouds and Silver Linings

11. Falling into Infinity(This could be higher, but eh)

12. Systematic Chaos

13. WDADU

[Grizz]

CotC should be on everyone's list because it should be rereleased by YJR.
The band must have copies of those songs if they're still releasing the Falling into Infinity demos and I believe the rest are available as B-sides of singles, correct?

[?]

COTC has some awesome stuff, but it's really hard to rank it as part of the discography, as it's a collection of songs from different sessions with varying production quality and lacks the flow that the real albums have.

[bl5150]

My current rankings

Images and Words




DT12
ADTOE
Awake



WDADU
FII
SDOIT
8VM

BCSL
SFAM

SC
ToT


 

[Dublagent66]

Edit:  Updated rankings on 3/3/15.

1.  SDOIT
2.  I&W
3.  SFAM
4.  Awake
5.  FII
6.  ToT
7.  ADTOE
8.  8VM
9.  SC
10.  BC&SL
11.  DT12
12.  WDADU

[George Eliot]

New member, first post, yadda, yadda, yadda...

Welcome!  I'm fairly new myself.  I haven't been boiled in oil or burned at the stake yet, so I figure things are going pretty well.  And, if it is of any comfort, I hope your experience is just as good as mine...

My ranking changes fairly often, but that seems to be a trend among many DT fans.  So here it goes:

SDoIT, for me this is what DT is all about, long, emotional and interesting songs.

SFAM, I am a liturature buff, I love stories, and this one is just really good.

ADToE, beautiful and stunning album both musically and lyrically. Very misunderstood by critics when it first came out, but time has aged it like fine wine (if you can call 3 years aged  )

Awake, this album has a lot of variety and that is what makes it awesome, and having AMBI in the middle makes it unique.

DT12, really liking this one (except TLG, just not a Rush fan.  Yeah I know, I can hear the jeers, smell the torches and see the pitch forks already, I appologize for the blasphemy in advance and please spare me I have 5 children  ), very dynamic, some of the best lyrics of any DT album, and the only 3 minute, multi-part, instrumental epic in existence.

SC, It seems this is an iffy one for a lot of fans.  I have a few issues as well.  1. the songs are so unique that they seem to not belong together on the same album.  2. I'm not sure the song order really works.  3. WHY DID YOU CUT ITPoE IN HALF DT?!!!!  WHY?  Did it do something bad to you?  I see a vision of King Soloman hacking this thing in half while the mothers are pulling on its arms and legs!  IMO it is the single greatest DT epic, but because of the slaughter, DT fans pass over it and ignore it a lot of the time.

OV8, I like all the songs but the first 6 songs just don't grab me as much as most other DT material except for the last two which are masterpieces.

BC&SL, Beautiful dark and deep music, mostly subpar lyrical ideas.

I&W, I think this is actually a really great album with a strong beginning and masterful end, but it really sounds dated to me, even by early ninties standards, it's kid sister ADToE, is superior in most ways I think.

ToT, love it! Heavy, complex, arranged very well.  ItNoG is one of my favorite DT songs.  But, I'm not a fan of all the cussing.  I hear it at work, at the store, online, and just about everywhere else - I just don't need it in my music as well.  In that area, I like having a break.  Granted it is contained in only two songs, but those are really good songs otherwise, and it just ruins it for me.

WD&DU, don't own it, and can't find it.  Hear it only on YouTube. And I don't like CD's voice and singing, but if DT ever releases it on MP3 I'd buy it.

My list ends here.  I didn't include FII because I got the demos not too long ago and I am in the middle of creating a mesh/edit of the two.  So I'm not ready to rate it in their catalog yet.  The studio release is towards the bottom, but, mixed with the demos, I think it will end up being much higher.

[PwnsomeWin]

Can't remember if I posted here, but if so, my list has definitely changed.

Tier I (Masterpieces)
1. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence - Disc 1 is probably the best disc Dream Theater will ever release. All these songs are in my top 40, and if you take out Blind Faith, the rest are in my top 25. With the exception of Overture and Losing Time/Grand Finale, everything on Disc 2 is in my top 40. Overture is 48, and Losing Time/Grand Finale is, IMO, the only weak song on both discs, at 80.
2. Scenes From A Memory - To be completely honest, there are still a few songs on this album I haven't listened to very much (not out of dislike). But anyways, probably Dream Theater's most consistent album. Regression has the lowest spot on my list, but that's just because it's short. If I listen to some of the songs I haven't really listened to more (Beyond This Life, Home, Strange Deja Vu) this might have a chance of taking #1.
3. Train Of Thought - Another really consistent album. Dream Theater's heaviest album, but ironically, my two favorite songs from it are at least partly ballads (Vacant, Endless Sacrifice).
4. Systematic Chaos - (Got lazy so not doing any more descriptions lol)

Tier II (Awesome albums)
5. Falling Into Infinity
6. Awake
7. Octavarium
8. Dream Theater
9. Images And Words

Tier III (Great albums)
10. Black Clouds And Silver Linings
11. When Dream And Day Unite
12. A Dramatic Turn Of Events

[noahl]

Images and Words
Scenes from a Memory
Octavarium
Train of Thought
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Systematic Chaos'
Falling into Infinity
When Dream and Day Unite
Awake -least favorite album

[Grizz]

First you lie about MP and now you lie about Awake. There's no bottom with you.