Least Favorite 3 Album Stretch?

[darkshade]

Definitely ADTOE -> DT12 -> The Astonishing

I like ADTOE, but their last 2 albums are their weakest besides the debut. I agree, there's a great 45-50 minute album somewhere in TA, and the sound is alright. DT12 suffers from many problems both with composition and sound production, and I don't really care for any of the tunes, Enemy Inside is OK, but still feels rushed and unfinished, like the ideas could have been fleshed out a little more. My favorite part of DT12 is the little Easter egg at the end, I could listen to an album's worth of that stuff all day.

[jammindude]

This one was even easier.   Instantly SC-BCSL-ADTOE.   

ADTOE is actually a pretty decent album.   But SC and BCSL are the two worst by a pretty fair margin and since 8V is my #1 all time favorite, ADTOE becomes the sacrificial lamb.   

[Adami]

Right now, even though I think 8VM is pretty decent, it's 8VM-BCSL-SC

However, based solely on the released songs, that list could change in a few weeks.

[gzarruk]

OV - SC - BC&SL for me as well.

Actually, I enjoy SC much more than most people around here, but the other two aren't too high on my list, so this is my pick.

[nicmos]

Welp, I'm gonna say it now that the trailer's been released:  DT12, TA, DOT.  I don't think DOT will be better than ADTOE, so that seals it.

That doesn't mean DOT doesn't sound some juicy sounding stuff on it.  Who knows, maybe it'll surprise me.  But it's hard to top an album with both BITS and BAI on it.

[Trav86]

8V-SC-BC&SL
2007-2010 were the lowest days for me as a fan.

[bill1971]

Octavarium - SC - BC&SL

Agreed. I remember after Black Clouds I was starting to lose interest. I would never give up on the band completely but I was more interested in James Labrie's solo stuff at the time. Some great songs among those albums but overall very lacking compared to their entire 14 album discography.

[nobloodyname]

Definitely ADTOE -> DT12 -> The Astonishing

I like ADTOE, but their last 2 albums are their weakest besides the debut. I agree, there's a great 45-50 minute album somewhere in TA, and the sound is alright. DT12 suffers from many problems both with composition and sound production, and I don't really care for any of the tunes, Enemy Inside is OK, but still feels rushed and unfinished, like the ideas could have been fleshed out a little more. My favorite part of DT12 is the little Easter egg at the end, I could listen to an album's worth of that stuff all day.

I agree with this order and most of the commentary, too.

For me, DT12 is their weakest album by some distance followed by Awake and The Astonishing. A Dramatic Turn of Events isn't too bad although it's horribly let down by the saccharine ballads.

I'm very hopeful about Distance Over Time, though.

[bill1971]

Definitely ADTOE -> DT12 -> The Astonishing

I like ADTOE, but their last 2 albums are their weakest besides the debut. I agree, there's a great 45-50 minute album somewhere in TA, and the sound is alright. DT12 suffers from many problems both with composition and sound production, and I don't really care for any of the tunes, Enemy Inside is OK, but still feels rushed and unfinished, like the ideas could have been fleshed out a little more. My favorite part of DT12 is the little Easter egg at the end, I could listen to an album's worth of that stuff all day.

I agree with this order and most of the commentary, too.

For me, DT12 is their weakest album by some distance followed by Awake and The Astonishing. A Dramatic Turn of Events isn't too bad although it's horribly let down by the saccharine ballads.

I'm very hopeful about Distance Over Time, though.

That is so interesting to see all the tastes on here. Awake is probably my favorite DT album.

[Architeuthis]

I honestly can't answer that question.  I've tried but I keep running into road blocks, I try to think of three in a row and it gets interrupted by a killer album. Example, I started with FII and instantly ran into a huge road block.
Then I tried ending with FII, that didn't work either...and that doesn't include ACOS since it isn't a full album.
 This topic is difficult,  you ask the impossible! 

[RuRoRul]

It's tough, tends to be that there can be two albums in a row I'd rate towards the lower end of my favourites (Awake and FII, DT12 and The Astonishing) but not three. Depending on how good the new album is, it could complete the trio of my new least favourite album stretch, but it'd not be by much (unless Distance Over Time is really shockingly awful).

I guess that Octavarium - Systematic Chaos - Black Clouds & Silver Linings would be the answer for a lot of people since it's one of the stretches of 3 that doesn't contain an album that loads of people tend to rate extremely highly, and the band was fairly consistent in their style. That's not the case for me though, even if they are not in my top few I rate all those albums around the middle of the discography, am a fan of the overall style, and can't ignore that they contain some of my absolute favourite Dream Theater songs.

Technically the correct answer from my perspective would probably  be WDADU - I&W - Awake, since it contains an album that's extremely far below the rest of the discography in my preferences and that I rarely listen to the studio version (WDADU) and one of the albums that's towards the lower end of the rankings (Awake), but I&W is among my favourite and it just seems a bit stupid as an answer since I'm just punishing it for being near WDADU 

[Herrick]

Falling Into Infinity, Scenes from a Memory, & Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. OR Awake, Falling Into Infinity, & Scenes From a Memory. OR Images & Words, Awake, & Falling Into Infinity.

I was going to choose Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, & Black Clouds & Silver Linings because Octavarium is one of my least favorite albums but then I remembered I like it more than Falling Into Infinity which is my least favorite album.

[KevShmev]

Not surprisingly, SC and Black Clouds are mentioned in a ton of posts, and then it comes to down which album people like more, Octavarium or A Dramatic Turn of Events, in which album becomes the 3rd of their 3-album stretch. 

[gzarruk]

Not surprisingly, SC and Black Clouds are mentioned in a ton of posts, and then it comes to down which album people like more, Octavarium or A Dramatic Turn of Events, in which album becomes the 3rd of their 3-album stretch.

This is only because WDADU has IAW and Awake next to it, and FII has those two or SFAM and SDOIT 

[TAC]

6 D's
Train Of Thought
8V

[Anxiety35]

6 Degrees
Train Of Thought
Systematic Chaos

HERESY! (I agree on Systematic Chaos).

[Anxiety35]

Systematic Chaos - Black Clouds & Silver Linings - A Dramatic Turn of Events

I really like ADTOE but if we're counting 3 in a row, I picked that over 8V.

Are we just limiting this to Dream Theater or can we talk about other bands also?

[TAC]

6 Degrees
Train Of Thought
Systematic Chaos

HERESY! (I agree on Systematic Chaos).

I edited my post. 8V comes after ToT, not SC. 

[bill1971]

Not surprisingly, SC and Black Clouds are mentioned in a ton of posts, and then it comes to down which album people like more, Octavarium or A Dramatic Turn of Events, in which album becomes the 3rd of their 3-album stretch.

This is only because WDADU has IAW and Awake next to it, and FII has those two or SFAM and SDOIT 

It's like a batter being protected in a lineup by two power house hitters.

[ChuckSteak]

ADTOE
DT
TA

[JoSeM90DT]

Definitely their last 3 albums:

- A Dramatic Turn of Events
- Dream Theater
- The Astonishing

I miss MP drumming tho.

[LCArenas]

Octavarium - Systematic Chaos - Black Clouds

Octa is an amazing album, probably my sixth favorite of them, but I honestly pick ADToE over it (Sure Octa has the best song of any of both albums, but ADToE is the better album for me). SC and BC&SL were good, but they make my 2 least favorite album stretch... So Octa has to unfortunately pay for it.

[JLa]

I really hate to say it, but mine is their 3 latest.

Yup. Fingers crossed the negative trend will be broken with tomorrow's release!

[Indiscipline]

Octavarium: Except the title track and TALW, nothing to see here

SC: Actually a fine funny album, unfortunately here by virtue of streak

BC&SL: Four otherwordly musical moments inside a disjointed lazy mess of an album

[TAC]

Octavarium: Except the title track and TALW, nothing to see here

SC: Actually a fine funny album, unfortunately here by virtue of streak

BC&SL: Four otherwordly musical moments inside a disjointed lazy mess of an album

I agree about the bolded part on SC.

We picked the same 3 album run.

[RAIN]

ADTOE (not that bad actually, had huge hopes after this one)
DT12 (Let down)
The Astonishing (Even bigger let down)
and I've got a feeling that
Distance over Time (fingers crossed but there's been nothing to show for years now so no big hopes)

[MasterLomaxus]

Either one of these two:
I&W - Awake - FII
ADToE - DT12 - TA

I love I&W but never listen to Awake or FII.
I love ADToE but never listen to DT12 or TA anymore.

Pretty much nailed it...although I did really enjoy TA.

[CirclesSquared]

For once I seem to be in majority (though the D/T discussion seems to be developing in my favor, too). My least favorite three-album streak is Octavarium - SC - BC&SL

With Octavarium, I like its overall sound and scope, the crisp production and agreeable warmth. A better effort than the two consequent efforts, but lacking in song-writing department (though I like These Walls for its ambiance and a fair share of title track).

For me - and I apologize if someone is distressed by this - SC is the low-point of DT career. The entire band sounds tired and disinterested and going through the motions. Plus the sound is horrid.

BC&SL was an improvement in production department, but again, other than (parts of) TCoT, no songs grab me.

[Trav86]

I agree.  TCOT has great music, but the lyrics...i can't get past those!

[ProfessorPeart]

- A Dramatic Turn of Events
- Dream Theater
- The Astonishing

The 1st and 3rd are just downright terrible. So much so, that they don't even get a spot on my iPod. Probably my 2 least favorite of their albums. I actually really like the self-titled, but it is hampered by terrible sonics and production.

For me, they are adhering to the TOS Star Trek movie format. The even numbers are really good and the odds, not so much.

[BeatriceNB]

We are really going to milk this "3 straight" topic ah.

Favorite stretch of prog metal concept albums where the protagonist is in a coma and travels through worlds representing different parts of his mind

Easy one: Coma Ecliptic, Automata I, Automata II 

[(nothing)]

SC - BC&SL - ADTOE

All these have lots of things I like and some great tracks (The Count of Tuscany's easily a top 5 one for me) but as records they are all in the lower half of the discography in my book. I'd probably rate DT12 higher than SC most days and The Astonishing would be a contender for #7 which leaves me with this streak.

SC is not a weak record per se, it just hasn't aged that great. I'll play it on occasion but I don't go back to it that often. BC&SL falls in the same category although the final 2 tracks for me are in "classic" territory. ANTR is great until it gets too long and I never liked what they opted to do with TSF, I get why they put all these parts in there but I almost felt robbed when I heard it for the first time and it's also just a little longer than it could be IMO. I like AROP and Wither. Wither's one of my favorite mellow songs they've done actually.

I like ADTOE more than those 2, my only complaint about it is that structurally some sections or even whole songs are very similar to things they've done in the past. But given the context at the time, that's fine. Also I wonder what it could've ended up sounding like if Mangini had actual input. Oh well.

[SleeperAwake]

ADTOE - DT12 - TA

[tristl]

I cannot answer, I really like 8V and ADTOE, I like all DT work,
but the least listend to are:
WDADU
FII
SC
BC&SL
DT12

[Max Kuehnau]

tied between the first and last four MP albums, because you had FII and WDADU in the first four and everything after 6D in the last four. (three isn't sufficient enough sometimes given DT's vast scope of material). FII is their worst one ever IMHO though.