Favorite/Least Favorite DT record and......

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Awake.... widely accessible?   

[jammindude]

I thought the same thing.   NEVER heard Awake described that way.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Yeah, I&W is much more catchy and accessible.

[BlobVanDam]

I can see it. 6:00, CIAW, IF, TSM, The Mirror, Lie, LSOAD, are all as accessible as anything on IaW imo, especially when you consider that PMU is the "hit".
I think the less mainstream songs on Awake are less accessible than IaW (except maybe LTL), but overall the restraint of Awake does make it more accessible imo.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I can't speak for everyone, but the first time I listened to Awake, almost nothing stood out to me out all.

Well, that's not entirely true. 6:00 and Caught In A Web stood out to me as being particularly tedious listens, with unpleasant vocal melodies.

Awake is now my favorite DT album, and those are some of my favorite songs from it. I obviously can't speak for everyone, but I feel like if you give average Joe I&W, he's going to find it a lot more relatable than Awake (though he'd probably forget both and go back to listening to Maroon 5). That's just me, though.

[BlobVanDam]

I can't speak for everyone, but the first time I listened to Awake, almost nothing stood out to me out all.

That's still my reaction to Awake.
But structurally I think it is overall more accessible than IaW. Anything else I think more comes down to personal taste.

[NotePad]

Well i guess i don't mean WIDELY accessible. I was being too vague. But just taking into account things like song structure, song length, it fits that mold better then I&W. I realize Pull Me Under was a hit and I have an idea of the impact I&W had on the rock/metal scene when it was released. But inspired by Shadow Ninja comment above, I'll put it this way: I think if you gave Average Joe I&W and Awake, he would NOT find I&W more relatable. Or, if he might be taken in by something straightforward like Wait For Sleep, maybe Surrounded. But if Average Joe had a little more time to digest them both, he'd probably end up liking Awake more.

But now that i think about it, this analogy isn't worth much. Everyone has different opinions, but as i was getting at, i think the majority of people on planet Earth, given time to digest each, would significantly favor one over the other. Not everyone one though, im sure many would like both a lot. But for me, Awake represents a kind of DT i prefer. But i do like I&W. There's some good stuff on it, i just really prefer Awake. It has songs that are more straight forward musically. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Awake was the result of DT trying to be a little more commercially friendly. To me, Awake is just the right balance of that for DT.

[Outcrier]

Still, the songwriting in Awake isn't memorable as Images and Words and that plays a large part in what you're saying about which album would be more relatable (which the majority says is IW). Well, it has their greatest hit, a catchy ballad, one of their signature songs (Metropolis), etc.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

I&W - 10
8VM - .05

I was unsure of which I thought was worse, 8VM or SC, but gave 8VM the nod since the worst there is the worse than the worst of SC.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I&W - 10
8VM - .05

I was unsure of which I thought was worse, 8VM or SC, but gave 8VM the nod since the worst there is the worse than the worst of SC.

There should be more "worses" in that sentence

[NotePad]

I really really want to see them do another acoustic song like Silent Man. In fact, there are so many songs on Awake that stand out as being unique for DT. I simply cannot say the same for I&W.

[Dark Castle]

I&W - 9.5
ToT - I just don't enjoy this album at all.

[GasparXR]

I&W - 9.5
ToT - I just don't enjoy this album at all.

...Out of 10?

"I just don't enjoy this album at all./10"

As opposed to

"AWESOME!!!/10"

[Dark Castle]

I didn't feel like I could give it an actual rating, as 0/10 is a little overboard, but I don't think I could give it anything higher 

[Sacul]

In fact, there are so many songs on Awake that stand out as being unique for DT. I simply cannot say the same for I&W.

This.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I&W - 9.5
ToT - I just don't enjoy this album at all.

...Out of 10?

"I just don't enjoy this album at all./10"

As opposed to

"AWESOME!!!/10"

There are two kinds of DT fans in this world...

[Tis BOOLsheet]

In fact, there are so many songs on Awake that stand out as being unique for DT. I simply cannot say the same for I&W.

This.

Well...when something works, you tend to go back to it.

[paulpetrucci]

I&W = 10

DT (Latest) = 5

[erwinrafael]

So, with an open mind, in my second run through this year of listening to all DT albums from the oldest to the newest, I listened to WDADU. And this time around, I think it's not a bad album at all. DATED is what I would describe it, but it's not bad at all. Heck I can even listen to Status Seeker now, although images of people with big hair and outrageous outfits still play in my mind while listening to it.