Six Degrees. Scenes is a close second, but after that, it gets easy. And since this will inevitably eventually turn into a series of "rank the entire DT discography" thread, I'll just get mine out of the way. I've changed my mind a bit recently, but here it is:
1. Six Degrees - Not a single song I don't like. Despite Blind Faith being FAR down the rankings from everything else on the album due to disjointedness and lyrics, the rest of the album is so strong that it remains my favorite DT album and perhaps my favorite album of all time.
2. Scenes From A Memory - This is the album that finally cemented DT as my #1 band despite Queensryche occupying that spot for a decade beforehand. As I've often said in commenting on the songs, as with a lot of concept or theme albums, the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. Terrific album.
3. A Dramatic Turn Of Events - This album is aging very well. The newness has obviously had time to wear off, and I am finally at a point where I am no longer spinning it nonstop, and it is still just that good. It obviously hearkens back to Images and Words. And while that album scores a lot of points for being groundbreaking and simply being a classic, ADTOE takes everything that was great about I&W, adds two decades of songwriting maturity, and just takes things over the top. The highs may not reach quite as high as the highs on I&W, but unlike I&W, ADTOE is so consistent throughout that it clearly deserves the #3 spot behind two other masterpiece albums.
4. Images & Words - The classic. What else can I say?
5. Octavarium - Tough call whether to put this ahead of Awake, but I will go ahead and do it on the strenght of the title song, Panic Attack, and Sacrificed Sons alone.
6. Awake - Despite some missteps, this album like the one before it has some incredible moments.
7. Systematic Chaos - The only problem with this album is inconsistency. A good half of the album can go toe to toe with anything in the DT catalog. Then a couple of good/decent songs. But then, also a couple of clunkers, one of which is far too long and kills the momentum of the album for me.
8. FII - Fantastic album. Again, some clunkers and some lows. But some terrific songs as well. The band were simply all over the place at this point. They were being pulled in too many different directions, and it showed in their music. Still, a lot of what they did worked, and we have some truly great music coming from this album (as well as from some of the unreleased material). Another winner. Just not as big a winner as some of the other stuff that ranks ahead of it.
9. Train of Thought - Not a bad album by any stretch, but just not as solid as others. I like heavy. I like dark. And there's nothing wrong with that vibe running through an entire album. But here, it does feel samey and gets a bit tiring. And some of the songs just overstay their welcome or go off on tangents that are so extreme that I don't find them enjoyable. But the last three tracks definitely deliver, and I will often listen to the album just for those three. Not only that, but despite some of the flaws in This Dying Soul, that song gave us perhaps one of the most memorable riffs in the entire DT catalog. You know the one.
10. Black Clouds - Also a good album. But it just feels tired and perhaps a bit too formulaic. And the fact that it contains so few songs, and that all of them are long, makes the album feel weaker given that there are a couple of songs I usually don't really want to listen to. But on the strength of A Nightmare To Remember, The Shattered Fortress, and The Count Of Tuscany alone, this album is still better than the vast majority of music by most other bands out there.
11. When Dream And Day Unite - It's flawed. But there are some great ideas and some very good songs. I don't care for Charlie's voice or the production, so I almost never listen to the studio album. But WDADRU still gets spins from me every now and then.
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