Author Topic: UPDATED w/Distance Over Time- Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album  (Read 15510 times)

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Offline Sebastián Pratesi

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #70 on: August 08, 2018, 12:00:49 PM »
The self-titled is my fourth favorite from them, and I like every single song on it very much.
That's so cool! The self-titled album is my favourite.

What are your first 3 favourites then, and why?
My best friend thinks that our favourite albums are that way because of nostalgic reasons, or the ones we discovered first, but I disagree.

Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #71 on: August 08, 2018, 12:36:41 PM »
The self-titled is my fourth favorite from them, and I like every single song on it very much.
That's so cool! The self-titled album is my favourite.

What are your first 3 favourites then, and why?
My best friend thinks that our favourite albums are that way because of nostalgic reasons, or the ones we discovered first, but I disagree.

My top 3 are, in order:
1.  Six Degrees:  Although it is not a "perfect" album, and there are parts that I don't care for as much, it just comes down to there are far MORE minutes of music that I enjoy intensely on this double album than on any other album.  Sometimes, more is just more.  :D

2.  SFAM:  The whole is greater than the sum of the parts on this one, and the whole story and its execution are phenomenal.

3.  ADTOE:  Along with the s/t, this is one of the most consistent albums they have ever done.  The highs may not reach quite as high as those in my top 2, but it is just so consistently good from start to finish.

Incidentally, as far as "nostalgia" and the first album I discovered, that would be I&W, which I discovered in 1992 not long after its release.  Notice that that album is NOT in my top 4.  So I agree with you that that is not necessarily determinative (although I do acknowledge that it can often be a strong reason for liking a particular album from a band). 
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Offline Sebastián Pratesi

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #72 on: August 08, 2018, 05:21:18 PM »
My top 3 are, in order:
1.  Six Degrees:  Although it is not a "perfect" album, and there are parts that I don't care for as much, it just comes down to there are far MORE minutes of music that I enjoy intensely on this double album than on any other album.  Sometimes, more is just more.  :D

2.  SFAM:  The whole is greater than the sum of the parts on this one, and the whole story and its execution are phenomenal.

3.  ADTOE:  Along with the s/t, this is one of the most consistent albums they have ever done.  The highs may not reach quite as high as those in my top 2, but it is just so consistently good from start to finish.

Incidentally, as far as "nostalgia" and the first album I discovered, that would be I&W, which I discovered in 1992 not long after its release.  Notice that that album is NOT in my top 4.  So I agree with you that that is not necessarily determinative (although I do acknowledge that it can often be a strong reason for liking a particular album from a band).
Thanks!

Wow! So, you've been a witness of almost the whole of the band's career. :hefdaddy

Whatsmore: you've experienced the changes in album cycles, right?
Do you miss the classic format of not having a clue what your favourite bands/musicians were working on (and suddenly discovering the new album in a store)? Or do you prefer the modern approach, of being constantly updated throughout many months?

By the way: I started buying records in the year 2000, so I was fortunate enough to experience the older format as well.

Offline Lethean

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #73 on: August 08, 2018, 06:58:40 PM »


Yeah, to each their own.. Everyone has an opinion, but I'll never get how anyone can criticize so much a work of art that she/he "enjoys".. Is art, a thing some people do for the rest of mankind; some ignore it, some don't like it, and some do.. Yet you (as many others also like to do) couldn't just concentrate in the things you like and love about ToT (which is what I naively expected to find in the article), but had to point out the negative - and almost only the negative - aspects of the albums from your point of view..

On the general topic of criticism, the bolded is where I find myself in agreement with ToT-147's sentiment.  I'm not saying that it applies to anyone in this thread, not even the OP because I haven't read that whole post.  But in general, there are certain people who only, or almost only, focus on the negative and that's what gets tiresome to me.  If I love something, but at the same time don't like certain things about it, I have no problem saying what it is that I don't like so long as I do so in a respectful way and with the understanding that the thing that I don't like could be what someone else likes most.  I'd also want to talk about what I like about it too though. (Again, not directed at the OP). 

Offline Indiscipline

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #74 on: August 09, 2018, 06:55:19 AM »
Do you miss the classic format of not having a clue what your favourite bands/musicians were working on (and suddenly discovering the new album in a store)?

The question wasn't addressed to me, but boy I DO miss that.

Offline TheOutlawXanadu

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #75 on: August 09, 2018, 07:18:28 AM »
Train of Thought is not my favorite album, but I think it is a very memorable one. The approach of dark, relentless, shreddy metal for a full 80 minutes really stands out. Even after the releases of Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds, Train of Thought feels like its own beast. I haven't listened to the whole thing in years, but I revisit As I Am / Vacant / Stream of Consciousness often. Those are great tracks. In the Name of God is epic too, but not as easy to simply pop in, at least for me.
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #76 on: August 09, 2018, 08:26:01 AM »
Do you miss the classic format of not having a clue what your favourite bands/musicians were working on (and suddenly discovering the new album in a store)? Or do you prefer the modern approach, of being constantly updated throughout many months?

They both have their merits.  But I like getting bits of information that tell us what they are up to.  To me, it's more fun.  But I also kind of limit what I know.  I mean, I could probably get a lot more info directly from the band if I wanted to.  But I don't.  Part of that is out of respect for their privacy.  But part of it is also that I don't want to know too much.  Even getting an album promo before release sometimes feels like more than I would like sometimes.  But I'm not complaining.  :biggrin:
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Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #77 on: August 09, 2018, 08:28:06 AM »
Says the one who probably "has" to hear the album beforehand in order to shut down potential leaks when the release date is closer  :D you're in a tough place, not wanting to know as any of us but having to know before anyone else certain details...
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #78 on: August 09, 2018, 08:39:23 AM »
Exactly.  I have mixed feelings about it. 
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #79 on: August 09, 2018, 09:34:56 AM »
Quote
Train of Thought was Dream Theater’s best selling album since 1997s Falling Into Infinity.
The figure for TOT is from 2005, while the ones for Scenes and Six Degrees are from 2002, so they aren't comparable.

While TOT is not one of my favorites, it's the best post-6D album besides ADTOE IMO.

Offline pg1067

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #80 on: August 09, 2018, 10:27:18 AM »
Wow! So, you've been a witness of almost the whole of the band's career. :hefdaddy

Whatsmore: you've experienced the changes in album cycles, right?
Do you miss the classic format of not having a clue what your favourite bands/musicians were working on (and suddenly discovering the new album in a store)? Or do you prefer the modern approach, of being constantly updated throughout many months?

From what I can ascertain, Bosk and I got into DT around the same time (although there are obviously folks here who have been fans longer than that).  I first heard "Pull Me Under" on a local hard rock/metal station in Southern California shortly after it was released in late summer 1992.  I bought I&W and immediately became a huge fan.  I saw my first DT show on the first American leg of the I&W tour on November 12, 1992.  As far as your question, I've never really paid much attention to the build up for any band's new album.  Obviously, in the pre-internet era, most bands would release an album and then tour and then go back into the studio almost immediately go back into the studio.  You'd get some news via magazines like Circus and Hit Parader, but for the most part, you'd hear someone say, "hey, the new Maiden album is out" or "comes out next week," and you'd go to the record store and buy it.  Keep in mind that, in the pre-internet era, I was in my early teens to mid-20s and had few responsibilities outside of school, so I had a lot of time to immerse myself into new albums.  I was also getting into back catalogs of established bands, so that filled the void when there were no new albums coming out that I was interested in.  It's also worth pointing out that I'm a very picky music fan, whereas back in the pre-internet era, there were a LOT of bands regularly releasing new material that I liked.

I was never on the old Ytse Jam mailing list and the early versions of things on the internet.  I recall joining MP's forum in the early 2000s but never really paid much attention.  In large part, that's probably because I started a job with a very long commute in 2001 and started having kids in 2002, so my free time was minimal to non-existent.  I don't think I new that SFAM and 6DOIT and maybe even ToT had come out until after the release days.  I vaguely recall hearing about the "Stream of Consciousness" contest, but I'm not sure if that was before or after it was done.  It wasn't really until after 8VA that I really became aware of the build up to new albums, but I only vaguely paid attention to what was going on with SC and BC&SL.  After MP left the band, I didn't really have a source for info; I didn't start posting on DTF until around the middle of last year.  So...this is the first album cycle where I've really been following the build up.  I have to say it's fun, but it is, at times, a bit much, and a lot of that has to do with how much rampant speculation occurs based on the most scant bit of info (e.g., based on a four second clip of drums, folks conclude that the drums on this album will "suck again," or a four second guitar riff will result in speculation that this album will be "SUPER HEAVY!!!!").  The stuff that has come directly from the band, however, has been awesome!
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #81 on: August 09, 2018, 10:45:56 AM »
Yeah, I think we're fairly close in age and career, from what I have gathered from your posts.  (I think you are just a bit younger, based on the fact that I took a detour between HS and college) 

Although I discovered DT and became a fan in 1992, I wasn't a HUGE fan until several years later.  Some of the songs on I&W quickly became some of my favorites.  But others, I just didn't care for.  And JLB became one of my favorite vocalists.  The album got a fair amount of play for me somewhat regularly through 2000, despite that I didn't buy anything else from the band during that time period.  I was aware of Awake and ACOS.  There was a music store up the street from where I lived for a lot of that time that had used CDs, and you could listen before buying.  I liked what I heard on that album and EP, but just never bought them for some reason.  I heard Burning My Soul on radio after FII came out and didn't care for it, so I never bought that album.  But for some reason, I often would check the DT section whenever I was in a music store to keep tabs on what the band was releasing.  And there were several times when I almost bought Awake or ACOS, but for some reason never did.  When I saw SFAM, I bought it, and then quickly became that HUGE fan of the band.  LSFNY sealed the deal.

In 2001, I joined the official DT forum.  From there, I followed the album release cycles more closely because the info was readily available. 

Then, as far as my more official relationship with the band, I guess that started around 2007.  After Itchy closed the official DT forums in November 2006, we formed DTF.com, and I became one of the moderators sometime in 2007.  My relationship with some of the DT staff began at that time, and this place officially formed in May of that year.  (see this thread:  https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=39518.0)

It wasn't until after MP left the band that I developed a direct and more official line to the band and management, which is what we have now.
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Offline pg1067

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #82 on: August 09, 2018, 11:05:47 AM »
Yeah, I think we're fairly close in age and career, from what I have gathered from your posts.  (I think you are just a bit younger, based on the fact that I took a detour between HS and college) 

Well...not so sure about you being older.  I'm just a few months younger than JP.  I got my bachelor's degree nearly 12 years after graduating high school (numerous changes in major, loss of focus, etc.).  I graduated law school and was admitted to the bar in 2001 (about 8 years older than most of my classmates).
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Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #83 on: August 09, 2018, 11:29:03 AM »
Oh, okay.  That was an assumption based on the usual path.  I am 6 years "behind" the typical path, so...
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Offline The Walrus

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #84 on: August 09, 2018, 12:13:26 PM »
I like Dream Theater
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Offline Sebastián Pratesi

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #85 on: August 09, 2018, 02:17:12 PM »
When I saw SFAM, I bought it, and then quickly became that HUGE fan of the band.
What was it about Scenes from a memory that you were instantly drawn to? Was it the artwork? The "Metropolis pt. 2" thing? The details on the back, with "Acts" and "Scenes"?

Also: cool stories, everyone! I was first aware of Dream Theater's existence when my mom and aunt bought me a Train of thought T-shirt. I had no idea who they were, but my uncle told me I'd like them because I was into Metallica. Six months later, I found a copy of the album during one of my weekly visits to a local store, and immediately bought it. Most songs were way too dark/bleak to me, but I really loved "Vacant/Stream of consciousness". And here I am.

Offline nicmos

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #86 on: August 10, 2018, 07:31:07 AM »

  I first heard "Pull Me Under" on a local hard rock/metal station in Southern California shortly after it was released in late summer 1992. 

me too!  I think it was the relatively new station at that point, 100.3, which focused on hard rock and metal.  I don't think it even went by its call letters like KLOS or whatever.

Offline bosk1

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #87 on: August 10, 2018, 07:42:17 AM »
When I saw SFAM, I bought it, and then quickly became that HUGE fan of the band.
What was it about Scenes from a memory that you were instantly drawn to? Was it the artwork? The "Metropolis pt. 2" thing? The details on the back, with "Acts" and "Scenes"?

Well, I already loved I&W, and Metropolis was one of the definite highlights.  So when I saw that there was actually a Metropolis pt. II, and it wasn't even just a song--it was an entire album--I was sold instantly.
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Offline Sebastián Pratesi

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #88 on: August 10, 2018, 08:29:17 AM »
Well, I already loved I&W, and Metropolis was one of the definite highlights.  So when I saw that there was actually a Metropolis pt. II, and it wasn't even just a song--it was an entire album--I was sold instantly.
So was the CD.  :biggrin:

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #89 on: August 10, 2018, 08:40:05 AM »
That was for me the pre-internet era, and I had just became a fan in the months prior, so I walked to the store knowing exactly that it was the release date of the "new DT album" and nothing else at all.

Imagine my surprise in seeing only right there and then in the store that it was Metropolis pt 2.
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Offline pg1067

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #90 on: August 10, 2018, 01:06:25 PM »

  I first heard "Pull Me Under" on a local hard rock/metal station in Southern California shortly after it was released in late summer 1992. 

me too!  I think it was the relatively new station at that point, 100.3, which focused on hard rock and metal.  I don't think it even went by its call letters like KLOS or whatever.

In 1992, 100.3 (KLQZ) was operating as "Pirate Radio" and was playing a hard rock/metal format (which it abandoned by the end of 1992), so it's possible they also played PMU.  That station has been through a shload of format changes since then and is now a classic rock station.  However, KNAC (105.5 - "Pure Rock") was still on the air in 1992 (it didn't "Fade to Black" until 1995), so I think that's where I heard it.
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Offline nicmos

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #91 on: August 11, 2018, 07:09:15 AM »
I"m pretty sure I remember when they (100.3) started playing Perry Mason from Ozzy, and I think that came out in 1995.  so yeah they weren't Pirate Radio at that point, but they were still playing hard rock.

Offline CrimsonSunrise

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #92 on: August 11, 2018, 08:43:34 AM »
Bottom line is there isn't a DT album I don't love.  That being said, when I think about it the album I revisit the least is probably ToT. I think Octavarium is a MUCH better album.

Offline ytserush

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #93 on: August 11, 2018, 10:20:26 AM »
I do not agree at all that The Astonishing is a "movie score". It owes so much to musical theatre it's insane. The influences are shining through very clearly - with JCS and Les Mis being the two most obvious ones, but there's a bunch of others too. And yes, it comes from two creators who love that genre too - JP has been very clear about his source for inspiration in interviews:
"I was always so impressed with rock musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy or American Idiot and it was like 'We´re like the perfect band to do something like this. We´re called Dream Theater.'"
And it's easy to see - stuff like Three Days and A New Beginning is very JCS-like.

I mean, both JP and JR family members have strong ties to the musical theatre. When I last spoke to JP in person, most of the time we spent chatting was about broadway musicals :P

Ever talk about lyrics?

Offline noxon

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #94 on: August 11, 2018, 01:13:28 PM »
Many times - anything in particular you were thinking of?

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #95 on: August 11, 2018, 01:16:20 PM »
So you dismiss the last 15 years of DT's output...half their career at this point...as worthless?  :facepalm:

DT's last great album was The Astonishing...and their next great album will be DT14. Everything they do is amazing. And no one will ever tell me otherwise.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #96 on: August 11, 2018, 05:47:26 PM »
So you dismiss the last 15 years of DT's output...half their career at this point...as worthless?  :facepalm:

DT's last great album was The Astonishing...and their next great album will be DT14. Everything they do is amazing. And no one will ever tell me otherwise.

That's cool but don't try to mock his opinion when you then adopt the "everything is and will always be amazing" view. Blind fandom is unhealthy.
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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #97 on: August 11, 2018, 05:53:31 PM »
So you dismiss the last 15 years of DT's output...half their career at this point...as worthless?  :facepalm:

DT's last great album was The Astonishing...and their next great album will be DT14. Everything they do is amazing. And no one will ever tell me otherwise.

Not everything they do is amazing.

Boom. I wish we had a bet on whether someone would tell you otherwise, I'd have some more money now then.
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Offline Lethean

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #98 on: August 11, 2018, 06:10:30 PM »
So you dismiss the last 15 years of DT's output...half their career at this point...as worthless?  :facepalm:

DT's last great album was The Astonishing...and their next great album will be DT14. Everything they do is amazing. And no one will ever tell me otherwise.

Not everything they do is amazing.

Boom. I wish we had a bet on whether someone would tell you otherwise, I'd have some more money now then.
:lol

But RoeDent, while there have been some things here or there that I didn't like, I mostly agree with you.

Offline Silent Man

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #99 on: August 13, 2018, 02:57:26 AM »
Train Of Thought was GREAT. MP's drumming was excellent, at it's highest I guess. For me, Octavarium was their last great album. Actually, I think that I've played that one the most, maybe about the same as with I&W. Even a ballad as 'Walk Beside Me' had an inner spirit and a very delicate elegant guitar track that I liked and still like today. After Octavarium, the song writing got downhill IMO. Not that it went bad, but the former high standards set the expectations. The Astonishing hit the bottom for me. A bunch of ballads, cheesy song writing and a storyline consisting of...nothing. So from now on, it can only get better  ;)

Offline MirrorMask

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #100 on: August 13, 2018, 03:29:28 AM »
The Astonishing hit the bottom for me. A bunch of ballads, cheesy song writing and a storyline consisting of...nothing. So from now on, it can only get better  ;)

You didn't really pay that much attention, did you?
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Offline OptionalPlayer

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #101 on: August 13, 2018, 05:19:44 AM »
I am, however, intrigued why Black Clouds is "good" in your eyes over say their self-titled or Octavarium.

The short answer is, I just don't feel an emotional connection to much of Black Clouds...
Thanks for that answer, Bosk! We'll definitely agree on a lot of points about that album, but I find it's still a bit stronger than Octavarium. But I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.  ;D

And before I continue on with the next batch of comments, I'll mention, because of this thread I've re-listened to The Astonishing based on the suggestions on what to listen to here.

While I'm not going to go whole-hog about the album, I will concede the point that the album does not really feel like a movie score as so much a theatrical production. While I still dislike the story, I think the reasoning to why I felt it was a score was because - and wait for it - it struggles to be a theatrical production.

I listened to the album on Thursday giving me a few days to think about this. My main idea is that, unlike say, a theatrical play (or let's take Pain of Salvation's BE since we've brought it up before), there's little variation in emotion or story from LaBrie. It's not that he did a bad job at singing - but unlike a production playing out or being performed, I feel like The Astonishing is more narrated. There's little hints of emotion and conveying of the story through LaBrie and as such, takes me out of the "theatrical production" mindset.

And I'm not ragging on LaBrie. I KNOW he can convey emotion and storytelling properly. See: The Human Equation album, Vacant, Beneath the Surface, A Nightmare to Remember, et al. Either his direction or the material wasn't good enough for him to tell it properly.

That being said, thematically, the album works. I hear the music less like a soundtrack and more like a production. I still don't think it's a great job at it, but if I had given The Astonishing a 3/10, I'd bump it now to a 5/10 (I really haven't thought about ranking the album out of 10. I'm just giving you folks an idea to what listening to an album again with open ears can do).

Anyway, this thread was supposed to be about Train of Thought so. . .

Offline OptionalPlayer

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #102 on: August 13, 2018, 05:31:47 AM »
Train of Thought is not my favorite album, but I think it is a very memorable one. The approach of dark, relentless, shreddy metal for a full 80 minutes really stands out. Even after the releases of Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds, Train of Thought feels like its own beast. I haven't listened to the whole thing in years, but I revisit As I Am / Vacant / Stream of Consciousness often. Those are great tracks. In the Name of God is epic too, but not as easy to simply pop in, at least for me.
And that's something which I applaud the album for. Like I mentioned in my blog post, I definitely forgot a few songs off of albums. ToT nails everything on the head. The album is simply built properly.

Quote
Train of Thought was Dream Theater’s best selling album since 1997s Falling Into Infinity.
The figure for TOT is from 2005, while the ones for Scenes and Six Degrees are from 2002, so they aren't comparable.
That's absolutely fair to point out. However, CDs don't usually uptick in sales after the first year unless something tragic to the band happens. 6DoIT had 32k in sales. ToT had 125k. I doubt 6D has come even close to tightening the gap. SFaM maybe.

I like Dream Theater
Me too!

I do not agree at all that The Astonishing is a "movie score". It owes so much to musical theatre it's insane. The influences are shining through very clearly - with JCS and Les Mis being the two most obvious ones, but there's a bunch of others too. And yes, it comes from two creators who love that genre too - JP has been very clear about his source for inspiration in interviews:
"I was always so impressed with rock musicals like Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy or American Idiot and it was like 'We´re like the perfect band to do something like this. We´re called Dream Theater.'"
And it's easy to see - stuff like Three Days and A New Beginning is very JCS-like.

I mean, both JP and JR family members have strong ties to the musical theatre. When I last spoke to JP in person, most of the time we spent chatting was about broadway musicals :P

Ever talk about lyrics?
Yeah! Ask him about the source material for the title song from 6DoIT. Had they ever addressed that?

So you dismiss the last 15 years of DT's output...half their career at this point...as worthless?  :facepalm:

DT's last great album was The Astonishing...and their next great album will be DT14. Everything they do is amazing. And no one will ever tell me otherwise.
I never said it they were worthless. I certainly rag on parts of the albums and a ton of songs, but they're all special to me in certain ways. When comparing directly to Train of Thought, I don't feel as if they're as strong. If I thought Dream Theater's output post-2003  was worthless, I wouldn't be seeing them on the next tour for the thirteenth time.

As mentioned above, I feel it's good to have opinions that are different - even about your most favourite things. As mentioned right after your post, blind fandom can be unhealthy and not everything they do is amazing. But damn, it's sure great to debate about.

Train Of Thought was GREAT. MP's drumming was excellent, at it's highest I guess. For me, Octavarium was their last great album. Actually, I think that I've played that one the most, maybe about the same as with I&W. Even a ballad as 'Walk Beside Me' had an inner spirit and a very delicate elegant guitar track that I liked and still like today. After Octavarium, the song writing got downhill IMO. Not that it went bad, but the former high standards set the expectations. The Astonishing hit the bottom for me. A bunch of ballads, cheesy song writing and a storyline consisting of...nothing. So from now on, it can only get better  ;)
I can appreciate this take (obviously), but I'd still say that it's good to give the albums another shot (as I did with The Astonishing). The storyline doesn't consist of nothing: IMO, it's just boring. But having those opinions are a-okay, just as long as you can back 'em up. Maybe make a blog post about it.  ;)

I don't feel like the songwriting went entirely downhill. Obviously the band has some great songs post-TOT and 8VM. Just as a whole, they sometimes feel like misses. As I mentioned in the blog, ADToE was certainly a renaissance for the band. I would definitely suggest giving that album another listen to, if any.
« Last Edit: August 13, 2018, 08:26:42 AM by OptionalPlayer »

Offline Silent Man

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #103 on: August 13, 2018, 06:25:52 AM »
The Astonishing hit the bottom for me. A bunch of ballads, cheesy song writing and a storyline consisting of...nothing. So from now on, it can only get better  ;)

You didn't really pay that much attention, did you?

Yes, I did. I bought it and listened to it, many times. It's just not my sort of thing. Uninteresting and uninspiring from beginning to end.

Train Of Thought was GREAT. MP's drumming was excellent, at it's highest I guess. For me, Octavarium was their last great album. Actually, I think that I've played that one the most, maybe about the same as with I&W. Even a ballad as 'Walk Beside Me' had an inner spirit and a very delicate elegant guitar track that I liked and still like today. After Octavarium, the song writing got downhill IMO. Not that it went bad, but the former high standards set the expectations. The Astonishing hit the bottom for me. A bunch of ballads, cheesy song writing and a storyline consisting of...nothing. So from now on, it can only get better  ;)
I can appreciate this take (obviously), but I'd still say that it's good to give the albums another shot (as I did with The Astonishing). The storyline doesn't consist of nothing: IMO, it's just boring. But having those opinions are a-okay, just as long as you can back 'em up. Maybe make a blog post about it.  ;)

I don't feel like the songwriting went entirely downhill. Obviously the band has some great songs post-TOT and 8VM. Just as a whole, they sometimes feel like misses. As I mentioned in the blog, ADToE was certainly a renaissance for the band. I would definitely suggest giving that album another listen to, if any.
[/quote]

Maybe I confuse nothing with boring  ;) ..but same outcome, it didn't attract me. And I don't wrote that the songwriting went entirely downhill - just that it didn't reach the heights of former recordings.

Offline ToT-147

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Re: Train of Thought: Dream Theater's Last Great Album
« Reply #104 on: August 13, 2018, 11:04:33 AM »
If I thought Dream Theater's output post-2003  was worthless, I wouldn't be seeing them on the next tour for the thirteenth time.

Unfortunately, that's precisely the case for many people I know.. Some even go to see them only having listened to (or vaguely known about) one or two albums, to not say even less than that... which is OK if you ask me.. Then some go with their bf/gf, friends, etc... These are in fact some of the most usual ways to start listening to a band you don't know that well, or don't know at all (thus considering it worthless as a whole)..

UTÓPICA 'Symphonic Progressive Metal' band - First album's now out
iTunes goo.gl/z5kl9d Amazon goo.gl/bWTwMF
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRKNqEH1rxo (Videoclip from Second album)