Dream Theater > Dream Theater

My ranking of the Dream Theater albums

(1/28) > >>

npiazza91:
I started listening to DT a lot again lately after a really bad breakup (we're both in our mid 20s, I was close friends with her for two years, we had the greatest connection, nothing even slightly romantic between us, then one night something "happened", we lasted for three months before we self imploded.  It might not sound like a big deal because "only 3 months", but you might as well say it was a two year relationship because I lost so much more than romance when we broke up, I didn't think my heart was going to survive it, I'm still not sure if it did).  Dream Theater is such good therapy you have no idea, it's helped me so much.  Anyway, after listening to pretty much all their albums and songs again I decided to think about how I would rank them, since they are all fresh in my mind.  Keep in mind that my list is entirely subjective and will differ from yours.  In fact, I hope our lists are as different as possible so we can get some good discussions going.  So without further ado, here we go.

13. The Astonishing- The only DT album that I actively have no interest to listen to anymore.  It's way too long, it's bloated, and it's so pretentious that it comes off as cheesy and makes me wanna roll my eyes.  And worst of all, it's just boring.  Dream Theater is so good at writing deep, emotional and intellectual songs that really resonate with you, so the story on this album just doesn't pull me in at all.  There's a few tracks I like on here but the package as a whole is a stinker.  The Gift of Music is the only song I go back to, it's a pretty good song.

12. When Dream and Day Unite- Dare I call this album...underrated?  It's not great by any means, but it's good for a debut and pretty decent overall.  This is an album that, in my opinion, is held back by Charlie Dominici's vocals.  He just doesn't have the charisma or the passion that James Labrie has in my opinion, and his vocals sound too echoey and tinny, almost like he's in a tunnel far away.  Vocals aside, it's clear that Dream Theater hadn't fully come into their own yet.  The songs are solid, but they lack the tight writing and tight playing of what comes after.  As a prog rock album, it's pretty good, it's just that Dream Theater hits such a high standard after it that it's hard to appreciate their "ok" debut album.  For those of you that hate it, go back and give it a listen, it's really not that bad.  A Fortune in Lies is king here in my opinion, great song, and The Ytse Jam is a great instrumental.  The rest of the album is ok, but nothing else really stands out to me too much.

11. Systematic Chaos- A dark album that seems to lack a lot of focus and direction.  This is an album that I do enjoy in short bursts, but it's hard for me to keep my attention throughout the whole thing.  There's a few great songs on here, but there's also some weak stuff, and with not too many tracks on the album to begin with, the weak tracks really do hold it back.  This album has always sounded muddy to me, as if it's moving in slow motion the entire time.  I don't know, this one's not bad, but it's one of them that I go back to the least.  It just doesn't have that signature Dream Theater charm to it.  Constant Motion is my personal favorite song on this album, it sounds like Metallica and I love Metallica.  Plus that solo is amazing.  Forsaken is another standout.  Kind of cheesy with the lyrics, but I love the piano and James sounds great here.  Plus that second verse is just kickass.  In the Presence of Enemies can be a bit long winded at times, but overall it's a pretty good epic.  The rest of the songs are just ok to me.

10. Images and Word- Ok guys, let the flaming begin.  Yes, I have Images and Words at number 10 in my ranking.  Here's the thing.  From a musical standpoint, this album is written extremely well.  Musically, it's a near perfect album from beginning to end.  But do I enjoy going back and listening to it?  Yes, but not nearly as much as some of the other ones.  The tone on this album is extremely light.  It has a very 80s sort of synth sound to it, from the way the instruments sound to the way Labrie sings the lyrics.  Half of this album I like a lot and I do go back and listen to, but the other half is kind of "meh" to me, and doesn't really do much for me.  Overall, it's really the lighthearted tone of this album that doesn't do it for me.  I'm a metal guy, I like my heavy tracks to be dark and heavy. I love ballads too though and thankfully the ballds on this album are standouts and it's one part that this album gets really right for me.  A heavy song like Take the Time...yeah it's heavy, but it just sounds so fun and upbeat, and that has to do with the lighthearted sound of the instruments.  This album is a but too Rush-esque, it lacks that ambient atmosphere that Dream Theater does so well.  I like Rush, but they're not my first choice when I wanna listen to music.  And yes, Metropolis is the most overrated Dream Theater song of all time.  I agree 100% with Lost in Vegas' review, go watch their reaction, they say it better than I could.  The song just doesn't work for me at all.  Surrounded is a top tier Dream Theater song to me.  It's the best way you can write a simple song in my opinion.  It's so simple, yet so effective, and it I really do love the solo and how fast it is.  Also James hits some insanely high notes and sounds great here.  Another Day is one of James' best vocal performances ever.  This song is emotional, sounds beautiful and really takes you on a journey.  Take the Time is a great song.  Yeah I wish it had a darker tone, but it's still a great tune and a lot of fun.  Under a Glass Moon is another great track that has an awesome groove.  The rest of the album is kind of "meh" to me.  Pull me Under is boring and generic, Learning to Live feels like it's 30 minutes long despite being 11 minutes, and Wait For Sleep is forgettable.  Overall, I do like this album, but I respect it much more than I actually enjoy it.  It just doesn't "click" with me all that much.  In my opinion, Dream Theater is at their best when they're dark, heavy, emotional, and deep.

9. Dream Theater- It was tough deciding between this one and Images and Words.  But in the end I went with this album as an album that I enjoy more.  The songwriting on here is...not the greatest.  It's not terrible, but it's rather formulaic and a bit bland at times.  However, I really like the darker atmospheric tone on this album, and there's a few tracks on here that are just outstanding in my opinion.  Yeah there's some filler stuff there in the middle and overall the album doesn't really work as a whole package, but the tracks I do like a lot, I REALLY like a lot, so that's why it beat out Images and Words for me.  The Bigger Picture was an instant classic for me.  I love how the keyboard and guitar work together to make a sound that's both emotional and really heavy, love the atmopshere there.  The verses are beautiful and the chorus is catchy as hell.  Behind the Veil just sounds like Megadeth and Megadeth is my favorite band of all time.  Plus the chorus is so catchy.  The Looking Glass is a darker, heavier version of Limelight, and honestly it's catchier too.  So it makes an already great song even better (though sorry Mangini, you can't beat Peart).  The Enemy Inside is pretty standard, but I love the main riff and the chorus is really catchy, so I enjoy going back to this one.  The rest of the album is pretty much filler to me, with some good moments, but also some "meh" moments.  Illumination Theory is a waste of time in my opinion.

8. Falling Into Infinity- The most underrated Dream Theater album ever.  I get why people have problems with this album, but if you look at it as something really unique in the band's lineup, and kind of just listen to it for what it is, it's a really good album.  Yes there's some filler on here, but the highs are REALLY high for me.  I'm not at all a fan of the poppy sounding production, but it is what it is.  It doesn't ruin the album for me.  Peruvian Skies might be a top 10 Dream Theater song for me.  It's just so good.  It has everything.  Slow, dark first half, and a kickass thrashy sounding second half.  The riffs in this song are some of the heaviest they've ever done, this song makes me feel like a complete badass.  Hollow Years is a beautiful little ballad that really makes you feel good.  I've always connected with that song.  Anna Lee is in the same ballpark, but I really don't like when James sings high here in the second half of the song, I don't think he sounds good at all.  But this was the first album where his voice got messed up, so I get it.  Take Away My Pain is great as well.  All three of these songs pretty much have the same effect on me, they're all emotional and sound good, I just prefer Hollow Years the most out of the three.  New Millenium is a weird song at first, it has a very odd flow to it, but it grows on you, and I find it interesting because it's so unique sounding.  Has a grunge feel to it too, which is cool.  The rest of the album has a few decent spots, Burning My Soul isn't too bad.  But I'm not a fan of the two epics on here, they sound awkward to me and never stuck with me.  I can listen to Lines in the Sand 100 times and never remember how the song goes.  Trail of Tears is better...but still not that great to me.  Overall a bit of a mixed bag, but the highs are really high for me.

7. Octavarium- A very "middle of the road" album.  It's got some really high highs, but also some filler there too.  The production here is solid and the I think album does a good job at having a mix of softer songs and heavier songs.  The title track is one of their best songs, easily, I don't even have to comment on that one.  The Root of All Evil is a personal favorite of mine, it's just so damn good.  So dark, so heavy, and James sounds great here.  Panic Attack is a classic, not much to say there.  It captures the feeling of anxiety perfectly.  Sacrificed Sons is so underrated.  It's a slow build up at first, but once it gets there you realize how much of a great song it is.  I LOVE that last verse, and the chorus is really emotional, it's just a great song.  I Walk Beside You is a very catchy song.  The other three songs are decent, but not ones I go back to that much really.  A very solid album, I want to call it a great album, but I think it falls JUST SHORT of greatness.

6. A Dramatic Turn of Events- The one issue I have with this album is the guitar tone.  It sounds a bit dry to me, like it just needs a LITTLE BIT more oomph to make it sound really awesome.  That being said, this is a great album.  Lost Not Forgotten and Far From Heaven are really the only two tracks that I don't care for too much.  The rest ranges from absolutely amazing to great.  All three mini epics I can listen to from beginning to end and love every minute of them (maybe not the first minute of Bridges in the Sky lol), and the other two ballads on here hit me emotionally more than pretty much any other Dream Theater song, I can get lost in those songs and just feel the moment (Beneath the Surface and This is the Life helped me so much with my breakup it's not even funny).  I hate putting this album in this spot, because it really is a great album.  I just feel like it's slightly bloated at times, and that dry guitar tone on the heavier tracks...it bothers me slightly.

5. Metropolis Pr. 2: Scenes From a Memory- This is an album that I really do love, but it's also an album that I have to be in the mood for.  It's a very deep album, and it's very story driven, so if I'm not in that specific state of mind I won't come back to this one as much.  That being said, it's still a phenomenally written album.  Fatal Tragedy is an absolute classic, so well written, so good.  Strange Dejavu is a lot of fun and James sounds great on that one.  Finally Free is a fantastic album closer.  One Last Time is very underrated, and while it's not an epic song, James is at his best here post food poisoning.  Home is great, Through Her Eyes is great, and who can forget The Dance Of Eternity?  The rest of the album is still really good.  Honestly, there's not a weak track on here.  Every song ranges from good to incredible.  It's just an album that I don't go back to as much as the four above it.

4. Black Clouds and Silver Linings- Man, this is such an amazing album.  I really wanted to put this at number 3, but after thinking about it for so long, I decided against it.  As amazing as this album is, it's just soooooo long winded, and it's hard for me to get through at times.  That's why even though I had trouble deciding how to order numbers 2-4 on my list, I ended up putting this one at number 4.  I'm just gonna say right now, there isn't a bad song on here.  I guess the weakest might be The Shattered Fortress, but I even enjoy that one from time to time.  The other five songs range from great to phenomenal.  A Nightmare to Remember is one of my favorite Dream Theater songs of all time.  A Rite of Passage is so good, so heavy, so catchy, and that breakdown thrash riff is so badass.  Plus I love the solo section.  I just love that song.  Wither is just great, nothing outstanding about it, but nothing bad about it at all.  I relate a lot to The Best of Times, seeing as how much my life has changed since I was a kid, and what I wouldn't give to be a kid again and have that innocence.  Even though it's about Portnoy's father, I still relate to the "amazing moments I will never get back" aspect to it.  Even though my dad didn't die, I still relate a lot to that song, and it's just such a beautiful song from beginning to end.  The Count of Tuscany is really long winded, but it's still a great tune.  So yeah...amazing album.

3. Awake- This album ALMOST made it to fourth place, but I decided to put it at third place instead.  The reason why I was struggling with where to put this album is because I really don't like the first two songs at all.  6:00 is one of the worst Dream Theater songs in their discography, and Caught in a Web is generic and boring.  That being said, can we all just take a moment to appreciate how good the atmosphere is on this album?  This album is so dark sounding, it's incredible how they were able to achieve that sound, especially coming right off of Images and Words, because the two next to each other is literally like night and day.  But it's not a dirty or harsh kind of dark, it's a beautiful, emotional kind of dark.  Even songs like Lie or Lifting Shadows off a Dream...they're good but not great, but the atmosphere just carries them so well and makes them better than they should be.  The main reason why this album is so high is because of the trifecta of greatness which is Voices, The Mirror and Scarred.  Wow, just wow.  Three songs that are so incredible that I'm almost sure they'd all make my top 10.  From the vocals to the lyrics to the riffs, they're just really amazing.  They're amazing songs already, but the atmosphere of the album just brings them up to God tier levels.  Innocence Faded is a fun song (and a great example of a song that would have been "meh" on Images and Words, but because of the atmosphere becomes really good here), Erotomania is a ton of fun, The Silent Man is so calming and relaxing, and I've always had a special place in my heart for Space-Dye Vest.  It can be a little boring, and I almost never listen to it all the way through, but I still really like that song a lot.  The vibe in that song is just great.  So yeah if you go song by song, this album actually has more flaws than a few of the albums below it.  Other than the three songs I mentioned, another reason why this album is up so high for me is the atmosphere.  It makes the songs that I don't like as much actually become enjoyable to listen to, and it brings the amazing songs up even higher.  Sadly, it can't save 6:00 or Caught in a Web.  Especially 6:00.  God I hate that song.

2. Train of Thought- Now we're at the top two.  Quite honestly, my number 1 pick was very easy for me, it wasn't even close.  However, from spots 2-4, the albums were pretty close for me and I had a hard time choosing the order that I wanted to go with them.  Train of Thought is Dream Theater's heaviest album, and like I said I'm a metal guy, so naturally I'm drawn to this one right off the bat.  This Dying Soul, Endless Sacrifice and In the Name of God are top tier Dream Theater for me.  Probably top 10, and ITNOG is top 5, maybe even top 3 for me.  As I Am is great, a little bit standard, but still great.  Honor Thy Father I really like a lot, but that Labrie rap section in the second verse is so cringey that it does distract from the song for me.  Vacant is ok, but it never really hooked me.  I never got pulled in by Stream of Counsciousness either.  But honestly it's the high of those three songs that brings this album up to number 2 for me.  ITNOG alone is better than anything off of Awake, and the other two songs are on Voices/The Mirror/Scarred levels of Dream Theater.  This album is very close to Awake for me, but Awake has 6:00.  This album doesn't.

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- And...it wasn't even close.  This album is so close to perfection that it hurts my brain.  It's SO CLOSE to being a perfect album, there's just one song that I don't care for and that's Disappear.  The rest is utterly phenomenal from beginning to end.  In fact, I'm gonna put on Blind Faith right now, I'm craving that song.  Disc one doesn't have a bad or even "good" song on it except for Disappear, and the second disc is a pure work of art, it's simply a masterpiece.  The tone of this album, the way they balance the heavy with the emotional.  The psychological themes, the passion that James sings with, the almost schizophrenic ambience that plagues this album, it's just a masterpiece.  I'm not gonna go through every song individually because there's no reason to, I seriously love them all (except Disappear), but this is far and away my favorite Dream Theater album and a complete and utter masterpiece.  And the girl I was just with...she suffered from bi-polar disorder.  It's why we didn't last.  So I connect to About to Crash so damn well right now.  I mean I loved the song before that, but it's really high for me now.  I went through heaven and hell with her and I was with her every step of the way until the end.  SDOIT as a whole is my favorite song of all time, and it's the closest thing to perfect a song has ever gotten for me.  And with an amazing first disc that comes before it, there was no way any other album was gonna take this spot, and I don't think any other Dream Theater album ever will.

Darkstarshades:
So that's why you hate TA

TAC:
Following...





Oh wait, you're done. :lol

Lonk:
Sorry about the break up. It’s not about the length of the relationship but the connection you have to the person. With that said, I don’t agree with your rankings.

I recently listen to every Dream Theater, beginning to end, no songs or sections skipped. However I started with the astonishing and made my way back to WDADU. I know it’s a matter of opinion, but The Astonishing is a better album than most people give it credit for. I was one of the first ones to say the album was too keyboard oriented and the story was too cheesy(the ending at least). But besides that, the whole album was written very well.

Plus you haves Images and words lower than Self Titled.

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

Yay contrasts!

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page