I don't understand all the hate for WDADU

[BlobVanDam]

When the songs suffer that much for it, it's really irrelevant to me how well the lyrics may read on paper. That to me would make it good poetry, but bad lyrics.

I'd much rather a great song with weaker lyrics, than a weak song with great lyrics, because great lyrics don't help a song at all, but lyrics have to be pretty bad before they start to affect a song at all for me.

Obviously you'd ideally want both, but the argued lyrical strength of WDADU is a total moot point imo, given how poor the music is.

[ReaPsTA]

Actually, disregarding for a moment whether one thinks the lyrics fit rhythmically or not, WDADU is lyrically probably in the top 5 of all DT albums. I think on that album they still tried to write interesting, deep lyrics, whereas later they just went for the "let's just write stuff that fits the melody" approach.

Are you suggesting that DT's lyrc writing got lazy?

[rumborak]

Actually, disregarding for a moment whether one thinks the lyrics fit rhythmically or not, WDADU is lyrically probably in the top 5 of all DT albums. I think on that album they still tried to write interesting, deep lyrics, whereas later they just went for the "let's just write stuff that fits the melody" approach.

Are you suggesting that DT's lyrc writing got lazy?

Oh, absolutely. Over the years I've gotten the impression that lyrics are just this afterthought when the music is written and recorded. AROP reads like a Wikipedia article.

[jammindude]

Actually, disregarding for a moment whether one thinks the lyrics fit rhythmically or not, WDADU is lyrically probably in the top 5 of all DT albums. I think on that album they still tried to write interesting, deep lyrics, whereas later they just went for the "let's just write stuff that fits the melody" approach.

Are you suggesting that DT's lyrc writing got lazy?

Oh, absolutely. Over the years I've gotten the impression that lyrics are just this afterthought when the music is written and recorded. AROP reads like a Wikipedia article.

I agree with Rumby....but I think they've stepped it up with the last two releases...and DT12 in particular.   I think this is the best lyrical album since FII...maybe even Awake.

[?]

Actually, disregarding for a moment whether one thinks the lyrics fit rhythmically or not, WDADU is lyrically probably in the top 5 of all DT albums. I think on that album they still tried to write interesting, deep lyrics, whereas later they just went for the "let's just write stuff that fits the melody" approach.

Are you suggesting that DT's lyrc writing got lazy?

Oh, absolutely. Over the years I've gotten the impression that lyrics are just this afterthought when the music is written and recorded. AROP reads like a Wikipedia article.

Agreed.

[54_diplomats]

I love WDADU, though I kinda like all DT albums lol. I personally have it ranked higher than SC, BC&SL, ADToE and DT12.

A Fortune in Lies is a very good song and a great opener for the album. The Killing Hand is fantastic, love the lyrics in this song. Afterlife, Ytse Jam and Only a Matter of Time are also great. Light Fuse and Get Away is decent.

I don't like Status Seeker, and the One with the really long title has a nice chorus but isn't very memorable besides that. And of course the production is very good on the album.

I actually don't mind Dominici's voice (besides the killing _haaaaaaaand). LaBrie's rendition of WDADU songs in the 90's were definitely better, but I really do appreciate Charlies vocals in the studio album. I'm also a big Kevin Moore fan so it's another reason why I like this album a lot.

[jammindude]

Never got the hate for The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun.    DAT INTRO!!!       And the chorus!!   

Absolutely my favorite song from WDADU. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Hate is a strong word.

With a better production and vocalist, this album would have been totally stellar. Not in an I&W-stellar-style, but definitely an album I would come back to and listen from time to time.

[kiwiclapton]

It's Charlie's voice that kills it for me.

This , I don't like his voice at all, 

[Rodni Demental]

Well, I prefer to listen to albums in one go as opposed to choosing random individual songs (unless I've made a playlist, or I'm specifically intending to not have the music playing for very long). So, at this point I practically have a cycle where I just go through all the Dream Theater albums, normally mostly chronologically. After the studio cycle I might cycle through the Live Albums (with a few notable bootlegs included). By the time I've listened to all that (a good 20+ albums worth of stuff over a week or two), I'm ready to start cycling another artists Discog. or I'll be ready to start Dream Theater again which normally starts with the good ol' classic, WDADU. So it actually gets listened to, about as much as any of their other stuff for me these days.

[ReaPsTA]

Re: The thread topic.

This album rules  Does TOWHTSTS start out with a weird 80's guitar lead over a harmonic bassline, followed by an atmospheric keyboard doubled by bass harmonics?  It does!  Are there not one, but two bass solos!?!?  YES!!!!!!  Are there really lyrics about a guy who goes back in time to stop a mass murderer, only to realize that the mass murderer was him.  ABSOLUTELY FUCKING YES!  FUCK!  THIS IS GREAT.

But seriously, most of what's "immature" is actually what makes the album interesting.  In the beginning of LFAGA, before the verses kick in, there's a very spacy part where Myung's playing harmonics as a compliment to the string melody and guitar arpeggio, giving the moment a very atypically harsh sound, which works in an aggressive, intense song.  A lot of the weird moments on this album are things I've never heard done by any other band, which makes them inherently more cool.  I love that little second long guitar and bass tapping transition in The Killing Hand (4:13).  Things are allowed to be in songs because they're cool.

I don't even mind the production that much.  It is what it is.  If there's a problem with the album, and it's a big one, it's CD.  He's not a bad vocalist.  He's great on Status Seeker, but the rest of the material just doesn't fit what his voice is able to do.  He straight up misses notes on The Killing Hand.  I mean, come on.

Also, a conspiracy theory - TOWHTSTS and ANTR are about the same car accident, just wildly different approaches to writing about it.

[Rodni Demental]

This album rules  Does TOWHTSTS start out with a weird 80's guitar lead over a harmonic bassline, followed by an atmospheric keyboard doubled by bass harmonics?  It does!  Are there not one, but two bass solos!?!?  YES!!!!!!  Are there really lyrics about a guy who goes back in time to stop a mass murderer, only to realize that the mass murderer was him.  ABSOLUTELY FUCKING YES!  FUCK!  THIS IS GREAT.

But seriously, most of what's "immature" is actually what makes the album interesting.  In the beginning of LFAGA, before the verses kick in, there's a very spacy part where Myung's playing harmonics as a compliment to the string melody and guitar arpeggio, giving the moment a very atypically harsh sound, which works in an aggressive, intense song.  A lot of the weird moments on this album are things I've never heard done by any other band, which makes them inherently more cool.  I love that little second long guitar and bass tapping transition in The Killing Hand (4:13).  Things are allowed to be in songs because they're cool.

I don't even mind the production that much.  It is what it is.  If there's a problem with the album, and it's a big one, it's CD.  He's not a bad vocalist.  He's great on Status Seeker, but the rest of the material just doesn't fit what his voice is able to do.  He straight up misses notes on The Killing Hand.  I mean, come on.

Also, a conspiracy theory - TOWHTSTS and ANTR are about the same car accident, just wildly different approaches to writing about it.

If I had no idea what When Dream and Day Unite was and I saw your descriptions here, I'd be sold on it, the Charlie Dominici thing might be a bit off putting, but otherwise. 

You might be onto something with TOWHTSTS = ANTR though.. Conspiracy!

[ReaPsTA]

Thank you sir.

[ytserush]

I feel like I've been saying this for years, but here it is again.

Frankly WDaDU captures an energy and feeling in the band that has never been seen since, and it's something special. There are a lot of great songs on the album, including The Killing Hand, which is an all time favorite of mine. While the production is surely not good, thankfully the songs on that album aren't as slaughtered by it as the ones on Images or Awake would have been. And I am one of the people that generally prefers Charlie on those songs to James. Have always loved the album and feel it is criminally overlooked.

Exactly.

It's still a top three album for me.

I listened to it again this past weekend and it's STILL in my head.