Pettor's ranking of Dream Theater albums

[Pettor]

Hello there.

I was gonna do my own ranking of the albums in the active thread meant for that, but realized I had several pages of text after starting to summarize my thoughts. It was simply a bit too much.

Since Distance over Time is nearly here I would just like to share my thoughts about DT and their albums. Everything is already written but thought I would post from bottom to top over the upcoming days, at least to keep my mind distracted until the new album is released

Anyway hope someone will you enjoy it! If not at least it was nice to do for my own sake

[Pettor]

I thought it would be fun to rate the art a bit, it doesn't affect at all where to albums are placed. It can of course impact the overall concept or theme, but the music is worth so much more for me that it wouldn't affect the order.

ALBUM 13 - 9: THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

These are the albums that has highlights but just don't come across as reaching their goals or doing what DT does best for me. I can still listen to parts of them quite often, but seldom the entirety of the full albums.


=== 13. When Day and Dream Unite ===
Art: 3/10
This feels as budget as the production to be honest. It comes of as boring to me and I don't like the color palette or the illustration in itself.
MVP: -

This is sadly not DT for me and the rating becomes a bit unfair because of this. I have not been able to truly give this album the necessary amount of spins but the general sound is just not my fit. Charlie is a good singer and once again not my fit. If this was to become the sound for DT I would never have gotten into the band, I am pretty certain of that.


=== 12. Dream Theater ===
Art: 6/10
Pretty cool artwork actually. Generic in some way but still quite effective and clean. For an album called DT I think it kinda works as well.
MVP: -

Such a disappointment for me. I had huge expectations for this album since it was the first true one with Mangini and fresh start. It was even called DT to symbolize how it represents their sound. It had an instrumental. It had an epic. What could go wrong. Well for starters it doesn't represent the sound of DT for me. Also the sound is muffled, lack spark and simply has few colors to it. The songs never do anything for me on this album. They just start and pretty ends with out to much fuzz or excitement inbetween. The systematic chaos, emotional or just overall heavy metal sections from other albums are not there. The exception is Illumination Theory that is a strong epic and parts of The Bigger Picture.

I could go on and on how I am still so very disappointed about this album, but let's keep it at that. Illumination Theory wasn't a favorite until 4th Wall came out and finally gave the song the sound it deserved.


=== 11. Falling Into Infinity ===
Art: 6/10
This artwork is good but just don't hit my personal taste that much. It's creative but comes of as a bit ugly with the rings. I really would have liked if they skipped them even if I get the point.
MVP: -

A strange album for me. People keep saying they love the production and Derek's sound, sadly I am not into either. I actually think New Millenium is a cool song, Peruvian Skies is a nice change of sound, Hollow Years is fantastic on Budokan, Hell's Kitchen is great, Lines in The Sand is great and Trail of Tears quite fantastic. The rest of the songs are instant skip for me. Some I can't even stand. But it's LITS and ToT that stands out.

It has the same problems as the DT album for me, it's DT not doing what the are best at. But compared to the DT album this one at least has one more really strong song.


=== 10. Systematic Chaos ===
Art: 6/10
This is a strange one. Looks very 3d generated (which it ofc is) and the whole part with the ants is strange, but it's still kinda cool all in all. I personally like paintings or photoshopped artwork so this one is just a bit outside of my personal taste. I catches the eye nonetheless.
MVP: -

What a strange and fun album this is. I actually feel I should listen to it more often than I do, but I guess the stronger albums just gets in the way. ITPOE Part 1 is such a great opener. Makes me happy an it's rockin! Constant Motion and The Dark Eternal Night doesn't fully work for me, but the rest is damn catchy and well written. I even like Prophets of War and the weird Fresh Prince of Bell Air rap it has … .

MOLS has a lot of discussions and is a split among fans, I personally love it. The finishing part of ITPOE is not as good as Part 1 but a fun and cool closer.

It's not the perfect DT album but it's doing a lot of things right. It's not doing anything wrong, it just isn't my preferred cup of tea I guess.


=== 9. The Astonishing ===
Art: 6/10
Same problem as Systematic Chaos for me. Has the strong CGI look and I personally just don't like that very much. Is interesting from the albums pov to get some idea of how the Nomacs looks etc.
MVP: JR / James

Damit, 9th place. It deservers to be at top 5 easily … but I just can't. I love epic piano driven rock journeys, so how can't this be one of the best? Well there is just so much mellow songs here that I just can't avoid skipping. James and Rudess is on fire on the whole album. Weirdly the album starts of in a way where I think "I will love  this album".

A Gift of Music and The Answer is soooo good but then it looses it's spark and doesn't get up in energy again until Lord Nafaryus. The energy comes back AAAAND … nope, the energy is gone and not until Three Days will it be back. And Three Days is one of those songs I just love and have a lot of fun with. It's different and DT adds a lot of interesting textures. But after Three Days the energy goes away again to my disappointment. For every 1 song with energy there will be 4 without it.

A lot of the mellow moments are awesome, like Savior in The Square, Ravenskill (faaaaaantastic) and The X Aspect, but it's just too many that doesn't stand out. A New Beginning is one of their best songs and that solo killed live. Cd 2, as most fans already discussed, is not as strong but does have some really awesome moments like The Path That Divides. But once again the moments comes shortly and quickly degenerates into slower mellow moments I don't appreciate as much.

In general it just needed a better flow and some trimming and maybe the overall feeling would have been better. I also have this weird feeling when I listen to it that it doesn't fit. A Gift of Music, A new Beginning, Moment of Betrayal are examples of more standard songs with a certain sound. They kinda fit together and deciding to use two of them as singles is a bit unfair to the overall sound tbh. The other songs feels a bit like a different album.Also I want to make an ending note that the story is highly uninteresting to me. Couldn't care less about the characters and it just doesn't go anywhere. Most of the time it's just Faythe (omg that name) and Gabriel (ofc that is the male hero name) telling each other how much they love each other for some unknown reason. It takes 1½ hour to get anywhere and then it's quickly over without any exciting drama. The universe is interesting enough and the Nomacs part is fun and creative, just not very well utilized. It feels like there is an alternate universe where this album became amazing and one of DTs best

[adamack]

I’ll be keeping an eye out for the rest! I like how you are grading the artwork too, an often underlooked aspect of an album.

So far your taste seems to be generally in line with my own. WDADU, DT12 and FIF are definitely 3 of my 5 least fav, with TA and SC not too far behind. I’d really need to think about it and may make one of these someday!

Excited for the rest of yours

[jayvee3]

Also looking forward to hearing the rest! Definitely a bit different to mine, BC&SL is one of my very least faves, and WDADU would be ahead of it for me if it wasn’t for Charlie’s vocals, asi think it’s musically solid. I also love FII, and even on your list, you’ve listed 6 songs to enjoy with two of them the longer tracks - so that’s a fair chunk of quality music to land in 11th spot! It’s these sorts of discussions which makes the DT boards so enjoyable though, so looking forward to the rest! 

[Pettor]

Thank you! Nice some appreciated it and I would love to discuss differences in taste! I think there will be some reactions to some of the choices coming next

DT has such a varied sound and to be honest the hardest part with rating some of the albums is that they change order depending on time and feeling. The upcoming ones were really hard to decide but I am satisfied with the final ordering. Still I can feel some albums get even stronger when different aspects of life changes, or maybe even such a simple thing as rain vs sun outside. Sometimes I also want to rate because I feel the album is objectively better in sense of overall quality. But I am going fully on what I want to listen to even if it's a bit flawed in some aspects.

[Pettor]

ALBUM 8 - 6: THE SOLID, THE DARK AND THE JOKER

I am a bit surprised myself to see where some of these albums turned up in the list. Sometimes it just comes down to how much I enjoy the best parts. Two are very good overall but lack the tops and one have high tops but more lows.

To be clear, we are entering the albums by DT I find to be gems already. Ordering of albums between 8-3 was quite difficult since I do like different aspects of them and find a lot of wonderful material on all of them.


=== 8. A Dramatic Turn of Events ===
Art: 9/10
Really like this one! Love the colors and it fits the album so well. People many times complain about Hugh Syme but I personally like when he does this type of artwork. Ofc he uses stock photos, but this is an awesome example when he takes individually created stock photos to make something really creative imo.
MVP: JP

This album could easily be placed higher if some songs was more interesting. OTBOA is the best single they released and I loved what Mangini did there. They brought back a more pure progressive metal sound that I enjoy and overall strong song writing and good variation. BMU, BMD is not my type of song really. Dragging on for 7 minutes doens't make it easier for me either.

LNF start of very entertaining but never elevates for me. It feels like DT by numbers without any exciting hook or epic build up. Outcry is very much the same. This is the Life is a nice song but lacks a bit of spark. I loved it when the album was released but it has not stood the test of time as well as I hoped. Bridges in The sky is really fun and a favorite. Love that strange opening and great heavy riff going. Nice epic chorus and just overall solid song.

However the ending trio that start with To Far From Heaven is a pure homerun. Fantastic songs that all do some of the best for each category in the DT catalog. I love James more breathy and emotional singing in TFFH. BAI is one of the best songs ever written by DT and still of the main highlights live. I appreciate the lyrics of BAI. When I feel low it can lift me up and get over what is troubling me. Really empowering song! I actually realized on the last tour that BAI works better live than any song on I&W does for me. BTS is a fantastic song, maybe the most underappreciated one. This is the one song I can use on people who aren't into prog metal and they will often be amazed of how good it is.

All in all a good comeback album that could have been placed higher if the songs elevated or maybe worked a bit on the grooves. The album comes of as a bit dry.


=== 7. Awake ===
Art: 7/10
Remind me very much of I&W. Really have the same strength and issues as well. It's nice but not a favorite.
MVP: James

Awake can be the album I would objectively be able to say it's one of the best, just not the one I tend to listen to as often. It opens up quite nice with 6:00 and Caught in a Web Innocent Faded is James song and the main reason it stands out. Erotomania doesn't stand out very much as instrumental for me but is good every time I hear it. Get really good after 3 min mark when some themes from Silent Man etc. is played.

Voices is a fantastic song and my main highlight for the album. The emotions James deliver is heartbreaking and even if I have no damn idea what JP wrote the lyrics about it sounds poetic in a great way. The Silent Man is a nice interlude and good song. Actually it starts of by sounding kinda boring but quickly picks up. The Mirror is a fantastic heavy song. LOOOOVE that opening and the groove. LSOAD made me unexpectedly cry during 4th Wall tour because of the overwhelming sound, didn't even know I loved that song that much.

Scarred is a PITA. How can a song be so damn fantastic half of it and then meh for the rest of it? It's a song that gets few plays just because I don't like the ending part of it and I don't like skipping in the middle of a song. I wish they could rewrite that whole ending and maybe this would be among the best. Space-Dye Vest is the first song I learnt on the piano after I had a 10 year hiatus. Still love it. Playing on piano is very emotional and the whole "I will never be open again" section gets me every time. I loved the 4th Wall version they did.

This is a very solid album with a dark nice vibe. James is on fire during the whole album and does maybe the best vocal delivery he has ever done. It doesn't get as many plays as other albums mainly because it lacks a bit of variation to that dark vibe. I think I generally like this kind of songs but can only enjoy them from time to time.


=== 6. Black Clouds & Silver Linings ===
Art: 8/10
This is a better version of the I&W or Awake concept for me. It uses the artwork to give hints for the album in a interesting way. The door is really my favorite part here. Specially since I imagine ADTOE artwork being on the other side. I own the LP of this album and find it very enjoyable to watch at. Stands out from other albums.
MVP: JP

I guess it's strange that this one is this high up, but it really is the best roller coaster they have done. And what a roller coaster it is! It has some of the best tops and some of the lowest lows from the band. It makes me crazy but I can't stop going back to it. And what song better represents this than A Nightmare to Remember. Even the song title is ironically representative. Awesome dramatic beginning and then a fantastic mellow part where James sings his heart out. WOW! Aaand … what! What the hell did just happen. Did the band just decide that was awesome enough so the rest can just be improvised? It's basically going from 9 out of 10 down to 5 of out 10 in seconds. Weird!

Rite of Passage is pretty average but also quit fun. The instrumental section feels generic sadly. Wither is one of the best hits they have. Not sure why I like it this much but it has a certain feel that is unique and special. A Shattered Fortress seems to be something fans not appreciate as much as I do in general. I have been running to this one more times than I can count and still love it. It's chaotic, it's thematically perfect and I couldn't have asked for a cooler ending to AA-saga. The Best of Times is fantastic. People complain about the lyrics from time to time, but I actually like Portnoy writing a bit less poetic and more raw and down to the core emotions. The solo is one of Petruccis best! GOOSEBUMPS!

The Count of Tuscany. Starting a new paragraph just for this one. I remember being hyped for this one even when the album details was released because it was such a strange title. What the hell was it about? Well, haha, we now know and it's silly, but it lived up to the hype and beyond musically. The intro is amazing. It sounds like an exciting journey. The riffing + chorus part isn't the best but good enough. Then. Yes. That part. OMG. That spacey emotional part that gets me excited just from writing about it. The spacey part combined with the climax ending is larger than life experience for me. Fantastic and sorta an enlightenment musically for me. Wow!

As ending note I kind of want to have a meeting with the DT guys and ask them to remake parts of this album. All those parts that didn't live up to the best parts of the album, could you redo them? If they did I think this could be top 3 for me.

[Pettor]

ALBUM 5 - 3: RED, BLUE AND BLACK
These albums are a bit special. They are very solid from start to finish and have some ridiculous tops. All of them tend to have some dragged out part I don't appreciate but they tend to be smaller issues overall. I love playing any of these albums and just enjoy the crazy ride.


=== 5. Images & Words ===
Art: 7/10
Interesting artwork with really cool ideas. You can kinda see a bit of issues here and there where pieces doesn't fit and that is a partly irritating. Highly creative nonetheless and interesting to watch 🙂
MVP: James, JP, MP, Kevin

If any album should be called Dream Theater it's this one. It represent everything great about DT. It was highly important to the band and set what was to become their sound. The songs are varied, flows great and it starts to show of the amazing instrumental virtuous combined with strong song writing this band delivers.

Another Day and Under a Glass Moon are the only skip material I have here, it's just not the sound I like that much but I understand why others would. I even get a bit annoyed whenever DT is presented in a list of "top solos of all time" and Under a Glass Moon gets to represent the band. I guess I don't understand what a great solo is but for me there is a list of 20 other solos I would rather choose. It's complicated and varied (I guess?) but not the best sounding.

Anyway, Pull Me Under really stands out as a solid catchy song and I never understood the greatness until the I&W Anniversary tour. It was just one of the most fun songs live. Metropolis is a great musical journey and James is on FIRE. I love pieces like Wait For Sleep from DT with strong piano driven melodies, and it works so well before getting into Learning To Live, which we all know is a lovely piece of art. It feels mature, honest, well written and just represents what this band can delivers. I even like the disjoint nature of it.

But, it's actually Surrounded that makes me go back to I&W. I mean, why in the name of everything that is holy is this not the single that made it to MTV and blew everyone away? It's sooooo good! The build up, the singing, the joy, the lyrics, the instrumental, the climax, the honesty in James singing "I know it's easier to walk away, than look it in the eye" … it's just perfect.

Still with all that praise it's not the perfect album from DT for me. It just represent a great layout for what they can do. And it's gonna get even better …


=== 4. Octavarium ===
Art: 6/10
I like it for it's nuggets but it's WAY to flat for me. Colors are nice but overall it just comes of as uninteresting for me. Kinda of a missed opportunity in my eyes.
MVP: JR

This is the first album I had to wait for since becoming a DT fan. I knew they were going "back to the roots" but didn't even know what that was at the time. However, a teaser was released and I was hyped as hell. I remember them playing a small part of the Full Circle section just after the keyboard solo and I thought it was very special. Literally replayed that small section over and over again until the release of the album.

Awesome opener with Root of All Evil. It's a very fun song with an interesting song structure. TALW is not a favorite of the mellow songs but a nice piece that lifted with Score. These Walls is a fantastic rocker. Actually the whole album isn't really doing the longer songs but somehow gets away with it because of the excellent energy and songwriting. Panic Attack was on repeat when released and Never Enough came at a time where I was into Muse. Sacrificed Sons is a song I don't listen to that often but appreciate. It's very dramatic and the symphonic orchestra is utilized in a great way. Very full song that I don't need to hear that often but appreciate when I do.

New paragraph! Octavarium. This song was the first time I ever listened to a 24 minute epic. I didn't know what I could expect from a song that long. The teaser was brilliant and finally I would hear the real thing. I remember I was quite confused of what to think after first listen. Was it even to mellow? Well one more spin. Hrmmm wow, some impressive parts in this one. One more spin. Yeah ok, it's getting there. So after about 1000 spins more I can finally say I fully get it and still finds new stuff. This is a song that never stops giving and the best thing ever released, period. Ok a bit more. This is like a smaller Dark Side of The Moon. It has colors and is a musical journey to it's fullest. Every aspect makes me impressed. Jordan Rudess is doing some of his finest work here and everything sounds really good. Not sure what people think about Someone Like Him and Medicate, but I love those parts. If those were individual songs I would hold them as some of the best by DT. It's beautiful, well written, well sung. And the keyboard solo, omg! And the ending where it just builds and explodes. How did everything go so right for 24 minutes? How could they just not screw up one of the parts here? Not sure, but damn impressed. It's a song that makes other musicians songs feel less exciting, because somehow they set the bar for what one could do with instruments for me.


=== 3. Train of Thought ===
Art: 9/10
This is obviously cheating since it's reused pictures from another creator but damn they are cool. The eye is so striking and it gives that dark feeling the whole album is about.
MVP: JP

This is the first album I bought from DT. I was getting into metal and liked heavier stuff. I understood I was more into songs that was structurally different and with strange time signature changes etc. but never heard of DT. Then this came. OMG. My parents thought I went crazy. I was listening to Queen, then Blind Guardian … but this? The chaotic feeling and the heaviness was just what I wanted and needed.

As I Am start of with a heavy attitude and boom! This Dying Soul starts and everything goes crazy. Still fantastic song. It's insane. Mental! Never heard anything like this at the time and still find it very unique and get exciting just hearing the intro. I want more like this from DT; pure madness.

Endless Sacrifice is really beautiful and the ending climax with James screaming his lungs out is just pure bliss. The lyrics is touching and quite personal for being JP. Honor Thy Father actually works really well even if being a bit dragged out. Kinda like the nu-metal sound in combination with that chaotic DT prog metal sound.

Vacant is one of the most emotional moments of DT. I often reply the section when James sings this on Score. Suddenly all the epic orchestral pieces becomes so close and personal and you can really feel it's James words coming out. Wow! Stream of Consciousness is a perfect instrumental from DT. Groovy as hell and just a very fun listen. Everyone is one fire and seeing it being played live on Budokan is one of the big "O M G" moments musically of my life.

In The Name of God is still the highlight that once blew me away and still does. The riffs, those instrumentals and the aggressive character is fantastic. Even small nuggets like the choir singing to the ending climax makes improves the overall feeling. But it's also the lyrics and subject. That very dark aggressive vibe in combination with the religious subjects creates a great vibe.

Overall an album I love coming back to. I am not a Metallica or Death Metal dude in general, but I do love when DT does their take on it. The shredding works all in the albums favor. It just adds more of the chaos to the sound.

[erciccio]

Very nice reviews!

I basically disagree with everything you say, but they are anyway very nice to read and give me a different perspective!

E.g. I love Metallica, and I think Dream Theater were really bad in "mimic-ing" them like they did in Train of Thoughts, and all the wankery they added in that album is mainly useless and "unthought", IMHO...(In the name of god being a beautiful exception)

But stilll...nice reviews

[Pettor]

Very nice reviews!

I basically disagree with everything you say, but they are anyway very nice to read and give me a different perspective!

E.g. I love Metallica, and I think Dream Theater were really bad in "mimic-ing" them like they did in Train of Thoughts, and all the wankery they added in that album is mainly useless and "unthought", IMHO...(In the name of god being a beautiful exception)

But stilll...nice reviews

Haha I actually really love that with Dream Theater. I guess you can come from so many different places musically and still find interest in Dream Theater. Personally I am not a musician and don't like DT because of that, it surely enhances their music but in the end I just like what they do.

TOT is once of those albums where I kinda understand the complaints about it and sometimes even think I've changed my mind, but every time I listen I just dig it so much. The strange part is that I generally don't like nu-metal, death metal etc. but the chaotic but still very controlled sound is just my cup of tea. The wankery is kinda adding to that for me. I get adrenaline boosts from it basically

[adamack]

Yes, it's confirmed that our tastes are very similar. Swap ADToE With Octavarium, and Awake with Systematic Chaos, and this would be very close to mine.

That is assuming I know the order of your final 2 of course. The good thing is - those 2 remaining albums are so good, that either one is a deserved #1 choice. At any rate, our top 3 will contain the same albums - the prime of DT imo!

[Pettor]

ALBUM 2 - 1: REACHING DIVINITY

Yes, the two masterpieces. Actually it's crystal clear what order they should be in and that this is my top 2. There isn't a single second I don't enjoy on these albums, something that is truly remarkable. These are legendary in my book!

=== 2. Scenes From a Memory ===
Art: 9/10
Well this is a really cool one. Fits the album perfectly and the whole idea of creating an ghostly image of a person using "memories", clues and pictures are just perfect. This one stands out, looks great and is highly creative.
MVP: JR because O M G, but all members shine like stars

Just the background to this album is amazing. Portnoy not wanting to work anymore, FII being partly a product of the record company controlling them and finally being able to say "screw this, let's do what we want". Jordan joins and they write a concept album on their own terms.

This is perfection. Nothing stands out to me as unnecessary or uninspired. The way the album flows is most likely their best and the overall concept feels special and well made. You can literally feel how fun they had making this one and how much they enjoyed having JR in the team. Actually, let's give some huge credit to JR here. Coming in as a new member (sure LTE, but still) and just being able to deliver like this … wow! He elevates the band for me. His piano driven sections and symphonic expertise enlightens this album. Very creative and vibrant keyboard patches!

I have to talk a bit about the flow between Regression to Fatal Tragedy. If I don't have enough time to play the full SFAM album I can still just play that little suite. From the wonderful intro into one of the best instrumentals into one of their best power rockers into a wonderful piano piece and finally ending with the band going full force on what could be soundtrack for the worlds most epic boss fight. Puh! And there is still 7 songs remaining just as good!

I love albums that knows what they want and where the concept is clear, creative and flows well. This album has all that for me. It enlightened me to what an album could be and brought the concept of an concept album (heh) to my attention.


=== 1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence ===
Art: 8/10
Ever since I bought the LP the artwork has been growing on me. The artwork doesn't say much at first glance but the colors, crooked letters and the scribbles are effective for the whole concept. Love the overall look of this one. Maybe a bit because I identify it with my favorite album
MVP: JR & Mike Portnoy

Nom nom nom. Just thinking of this album makes me excited. The first DT song I ever heard is The Glass Prison. I honestly didn't know what to think initially. I didn't even like it that much. It was weird. But I couldn't stop listening to it either. The Glass Prison was on repeat and TOT was finally released. I didn't even give this album any spins for a long time after that, it was just very demanding. I finally gave it a more focused listen and Blind Faith and Disappear came out as awesome tracks I would regularly listen to. But the album was still demanding. Took me until after Octavarium where the concept of a 24 minute track wasn't the biggest challenge and that 43 minute suite had to be given a fair chance. After years and years this album has been growing and growing to finally become a phenom of it's own. Never has it taken that long to grasp an album, but also has there never been as much to digest and love for me. Just like SFAM it feels like DT was free from any mindset for whom to please.

The Glass Prison is a favorite of mine. I honestly think this is their greatest progressive metal hits that represents what this band ultimately can do that others can't. It's heavy, groovy and fun as hell. The intro is killer! It ends with a nice transition into Blind Faith starts with it's dreamy intro. JR really have some fantastic patches on this album! It's catchy and the unison is pure bliss. Misunderstood and The Great Debate are so expressive. It's like a musical where the music moves with the singing and describes the context in itself.

BTW, I am not a drummer (amateur pianist at best) but this album makes me enjoy and focus more on the drumming! Portnoy is really fantastic here!

Disappear is all about JR and James with strong emotional impact. Amazing patches once again. I which Rudess would do more of this!

Then comes the big one. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. The title track. The epic. Just the Overture itself is filled with top class melodies and perfectly gives an idea of what to come. Then it's just a journey from that point on perfectly fulfilling the concept it was meant to do. I love every individual piece. The flow, the variation and this masterclass of beautiful melodies is just something I haven't heard before. Really every form of DT can be represented here in the best possible way.


Summary:
I believe SDOIT and SFAM shows exactly what Dream Theaters strength is. What sets them apart from others. I don't believe they will ever do any album as good as those two since having just one of them should be better than most other artists.

I am forever grateful to the contribution Dream Theater have done to music and my life. Very much looking forward to Distance over Time that sounds great so far. Just one more day!

I am hoping to update this thread some time after D/T to see where the new album fits

[KevShmev]

Nice write-ups! 

[(nothing)]

SDOIT is my personal favorite as well and possibly my favorite album of all time. I love how diverse and complete it is, everything that they are about is present in this album.

That being said, TGP is probably my least favorite track... ... but I find it works great as a first song.

My ranking would be:

title track
Blind Faith
Misunderstood
Disappear
The Great Debate
The Glass Prison

Also I'd say that sonically Rudess is the MVP on this album but Portnoy gets full credit for the direction they took after the massive success SFAM was. I love how they took so many risks in the first disc and then balanced that decision with the title track.

Finally, although the rest of the song sounds incredible on Score, I wish there was a better live version of Overture, the one they have there just isn't nearly as good as the studio version. They've done the orchestra thing already a couple of times so it doesn't look very likely but with the 20-year mark down the line, we can still hope...

[lilces19]

14. TA
13. DT12
12. WDADU
11. BC&SL
10. ADTOE
09. SC
08. FII
07. 8VM
06. ToT
05. DoT
04. SDOIT
03. Awake
02. I&W
01. SFAM

[Lonk]

too late

[Pettor]

Thought I would update this thread with mini review of DoT and where it will placed

Pre release
First of some thoughts about what I was craving from the new album before release. I am always a sucker for highly melodic albums with heavier moments. The type of progressive metal they play in SFAM and SDOIT is perfect for me. Some superb musicianship combined with great melodies. Mangini era hasn't been my favorite so far and I really wanted something different for the drumming. A bit more melodic like Portnoy. Also a lot more grooves! Sound wise I think TA was a big improvement from DT12 so something more like that. Also, I wanted something crazy from DT. Something that made my brain melt.

The singles
Because I couldn't hold myself from listening to the new stuff I did hear the three songs released prior to the album. Untethered Angel felt like a quite classic single from DT. It's solid song and nice listen but doesn't do anything unexpected. I was a bit disappointed when released since my hype was quite high. Falling Into Inifinity was a huge improvement for me. A fantastic Metallica song in the vein of DT. The grooves combined with the riffs and bass is  This really got me excited since I haven't heard DT play in that way for a long time. Stuff is happening and cool details everywhere! Paralyzed is a really good solid song. The drum intro really gets me every time and the hook is good. Somehow it doesn't do much new but still the song is perfect in length and delivery for what it is. Usually the second song is the worst part on every album for me. The Looking Glass (well second REAL song), BMU, BMD, TALW etc. This is my favorite in a long time!

The other songs
The level of excitement when this album finally was released can't really be described. I went up 5am in the morning and hooked up my best headphones. Eagerly listening through the first three song just waiting for Barstool Warrior to go on. This is a song that I never got excited about BEFORE the album release. Reviews said it was a good song but usually it was all about PBD or AWE. I knew the intro since it was part of the snippets before release and that is had this Genesis vibe. I remember so clearly when I listened to this song for the first time. Instant love. The vibe is fantastic and the progression of the hook gets me. LaBrie's delivery of the verses and hook just gets me. It has this bitter sweet sound. Then there's the solo part. I am a sucker for Rudess piano and this one is so very beautiful. Ofc the piano is just there to lean into the guitar solo. This is the reason I love Petrucci. FUUUUUU it's good! I don't know how many times I have listened to this one now but it still as fantastic as the first time. One of the best songs DT have done in years! I love this songs in the same way I love Surrounded and that is big words for me.

Du du dum, du du du dum etc. Room 137 is a really fun and different song. Usually the songs where DT sounds like some other more mainstream type of metal I can find it cringy. This works. Mangini's groove with the cool riff is the highlight and the strange lyrics are strangely enjoyable  It's a song that works very well for the flow of the album. I don't usually listen to the song by itself but always enjoy it after BW. Not too much to say about this song but once again it's solid.

S2N compensates for the lack of awesome Myung riffs over the last albums. Intro riff is so cool! Once again the groove is in focus. There's notes everywhere, there's changes, there's Mangini going freaking crazy. The hook is great! This song really verified that this album totally changed my mind about Mangini. It's wasn't bad before or anything, just that now it's some of the best I heard! "WOW". Have to mention that the TDEN ending works so good in this song!

At Wit's End. It's hard to get the right words for this song. To start it's one of the best song they have ever created. Period. LaBrie has written some of the best lyrics for both him and DT. The subject is difficult and emotional and you know that just from the chaotic intro. The way the song starts aggressive, goes into frenetic mode and then ends in this beautiful soaring section is what really makes the song so strong. Second vers has some really cool changes with the "You feel I'm asking too much of you but can't let go" followed by the crushing "Deafening, deafening, Shout it out, shout it out". It feels like everything good with DT is somewhere to find in this song and every member delivers 100%. The change from "Walked inside, it's never ending turn" into "Don't leave me now, don't leave me now" and at the same time going from dark riffs into the guitar is genius! Majestic!

One song that no one talked about in reviews really was Out of Reach. I am kind of a sucker for cheesy LaBrie ballads. He has this great 80s hair ballad voice that isn't used very often. I get tons of that here. The song is really breathy, has that great Petrucci solo part. "She's without a care, electrified and hell-bent" and "The waves crash over me, far below but I breach" has some really cool vocal delivery. Overall I think this is the most underappreciated song on the album. It's perfect between AWE and ...

Pale Blue Dot. The brain melter. YES! Haha that intro is crazy cool! This is where any disbelief to Mangini for anyone just has to be forever gone. It has some Fatal Tragedy combined with Dance of Eternity stuff going on. Choosing to make a song with focus on space and making it this really dark, chaotic and in the hook majestic tune is brilliant. Nightwish and similar would have tons of orchestration to make it big and grand, but this is somehow more fitting imo. My only complaint would be that the song is a bit short and could have a chaotic song structure to follow the chaotic nature of the instrumentation. But I have been craving a song like this for a long time.

My Viper King actually grew quite a lot. I am not a fan of Highway Star type of songs but this one is a lot more fun. Queen has I Am in Love With My Car and it's fun to see DT going a bit crazy on the subjects as well. LaBrie seems to have a lot of fun here.

+ Great flow between songs!
+ Mangini shows he is a perfect fit for the band.
+ Every member gets to shine over and over again.
+ Groooooooves!
+ Best sounding record since SDOIT.
+ Some of the best lyrics in a long time.
+ The length of the album feels perfect!
+ LaBrie still sounds awesome!
- PBD could have been longer and have a more memorable ending.
- The single are always very by the numbers.
- Mixing is sometimes a bit strange. Could increase keyboard/LaBrie at times.

Some final thoughts
A lot of my wishes for the album actually came through. That almost never happens!  Whatever they did when recording this album they should do it again. Petrucci said it sounded organic before release and he is right! It does. It sounds like a band having a blast! And the sound is back! Just listen to DT12 Looking Glass and then switch over to Barstool Warrior. The change is HUGE!

So after giving it month of listening this album actually is my 3rd favorite album from DT pushing down TOT to a 4th. It's not in the divine section with SFAM and SDOIT but actually quite close.