Official Distance Over Time discussion thread

[WilliamMunny]

So, I now have a CD-length playlist called DreaMM Theater of Post-Portnoy DT songs.

2 ADTOE + 1 DT + 3 TA + 3 D/T songs.

I've been hesitant to post my thoughts for a couple of reasons:

A. I never want to rain on anyone's parade, and for most of you, this album is a welcomed return to form.

B. I wanted to wait a few days and digest the record.

But...reading through all the comments this morning, erwinrafael's brutally concise post not only made me chuckle to myself, but it pretty much summed up my thoughts on the new album as well.

My numbers vary a bit from his, but the fact remains that if I take the material I actually listen to from these past 4 albums, I might have ten songs.

I've listened to this album six times all the way through. And there will not be seventh. At least, not all the way through.

I felt this way with the Astonishing as well: life is just too short to try and 'get' something. So much music to explore and listen to, I'm not gonna waste my time with something that just doesn't do anything for me.

My points of 'constructive criticism':

-The production is painful at times. Not to my liking at all. (Why is it so hard to re-create the immediacy and clarity of 6 Degrees???)

-JLB's voice wayyyy too low in the mix (what were they thinking???)

-I 'like' a handful of these songs (especially "Barstool Warrior" and "At Wit's End"), but even those two songs I have gripes with (there's a much better arrangement for both IMO)

But "Pale Blue Dot", "R137", and "Out of Reach" are things I never need to hear again. Ever.

And sadly, there is nothing on here that grabs me like "Bridges in the Sky", or "Breaking All Illusions".

Again, I want to reiterate, I am not at all trying to rain on anyone's parade. I am beyond happy that the majority of DT's fanbase seems to dig this album. And to be honest, it bums me out that I'm in the minority here, bc I 'wanted' to love this record. But, as they say, it is what it is.

That being said, my 10 song post-MP playlist is pretty amazing...just a bummer that it took nearly ten years to acquire it.

[erwinrafael]

But...reading through all the comments this morning, erwinrafael's brutally concise post not only made me chuckle to myself, but it pretty much summed up my thoughts on the new album as well.

My numbers vary a bit from his, but the fact remains that if I take the material I actually listen to from these past 4 albums, I might have ten songs.

Err...my playlist is actually my Dream Theater sampler playlist that I intend to share to newbies to get them into DT. I am.perfectly hapoy listening to just post-Portnoy material, like gzarruk. Sorry to rain on your parade. :-P

[Max Kuehnau]

But...reading through all the comments this morning, erwinrafael's brutally concise post not only made me chuckle to myself, but it pretty much summed up my thoughts on the new album as well.

My numbers vary a bit from his, but the fact remains that if I take the material I actually listen to from these past 4 albums, I might have ten songs.

Err...my playlist is actually my Dream Theater sampler playlist that I intend to share to newbies to get them into DT. I am.perfectly hapoy listening to just post-Portnoy material, like gzarruk. Sorry to rain on your parade. :-P

and myself. These are actually the only DT albums I ever listen to nowadays.

[erwinrafael]

After the third listening I'm getting more and more used to the songs.... but I'm afraid my initial impressions about the lack of choruses will stick. Fall into the Light, Barstool Warrior and Room 137's sections which are meant to be choruses feel like bridges to me.

Not every song template has to be the same, but look for comparison at Bridges the Sky - first verse, then the "Sun, come shine my way" part.... second verse, again the "Sun, come shine my way part", and then we climax into the majestic "And at last the time has come" part, which elevates the song even more. When does this happen on Fall into the Light for example? the "Sun, come shine my way" part is quite good, but come on, the "And last the time has come" section is even better, and the song is way better with this part. Maybe with time I'll get used to the new songs, but in the three I mentioned I think a proper chorus is lacking and it's a pity 'cause Fall into the Light and especially Barstool Warrior are so great.

I agree with you on FitL and I feel the same for Paralyzed as well.

R137's equivalent of the section you are looking for would be the psychedelic vocals. Which is why I like how in the final third, Mangini drummed the "chorus" with the triplet feel of the verse leading into the repeat of the psychedelia section.

For Barstool Warrior, though, the chorus really feels complete to me, especially given how the vocals turned in the end where JP went with unconventional vocal transitions.

[WilliamMunny]

But...reading through all the comments this morning, erwinrafael's brutally concise post not only made me chuckle to myself, but it pretty much summed up my thoughts on the new album as well.

My numbers vary a bit from his, but the fact remains that if I take the material I actually listen to from these past 4 albums, I might have ten songs.

Err...my playlist is actually my Dream Theater sampler playlist that I intend to share to newbies to get them into DT. I am.perfectly hapoy listening to just post-Portnoy material, like gzarruk. Sorry to rain on your parade. :-P

No worries. Unintentional or not, it summed up my thoughts perfectly.

[Hanz Gruber]

After the third listening I'm getting more and more used to the songs.... but I'm afraid my initial impressions about the lack of choruses will stick. Fall into the Light, Barstool Warrior and Room 137's sections which are meant to be choruses feel like bridges to me.

Not every song template has to be the same, but look for comparison at Bridges the Sky - first verse, then the "Sun, come shine my way" part.... second verse, again the "Sun, come shine my way part", and then we climax into the majestic "And at last the time has come" part, which elevates the song even more. When does this happen on Fall into the Light for example? the "Sun, come shine my way" part is quite good, but come on, the "And last the time has come" section is even better, and the song is way better with this part. Maybe with time I'll get used to the new songs, but in the three I mentioned I think a proper chorus is lacking and it's a pity 'cause Fall into the Light and especially Barstool Warrior are so great.

And I agree that expectations for Pale Blue Dot were insanely high - the subject matter for me would have been more worthy of the music for Illumination Theory, especially the big ending.

All of this probably makes it sound like I don't like the album, but it's quite the opposite - as said previously, I like basically everything about the approach, the writing and recording process, the collaborative effort, the fact that it's heavy without the mindless wanking (and even when it happens it's to the point and never derails the song), the general appreciation of it all is what probably make the lackluster choruses stand out way more.

But hey, maybe after a week or so I'll eat my words, the nice thing about music is that you don't have a deadline for definite and final opinions  (I hope so at least...)

Agreed. My problem with the album is how most of the vocal parts are written. They seem like an afterthought compared to the quality of the rest of the album.  Hardly any of the choruses are memorable. My favorite tracks are Barstool Warrior, SN2, and At Wit's End but the lack of memorable melodic verses and choruses makes much of the material mediocre to my ears. When I say mediocre I mean as Dream Theater tracks...who I hold to a much high standard than other bands.

Someone pages back mentioned Learning to Live doesn't have melodic verses and choruses and I strongly disagree.  The whole "There was no time for pain no energy for anger" section flows and is instantly memorable. Same with the "I look at the world and see no understanding...." 

The issue that I have been having with there more recent albums is that the vocal sections don;t rise to the quality of the rest of the music (not talking about Jame's voice...just how the parts are written)

I still at least like every album they have done but his one is honestly very disappointing overall to me even though I love the approach of writing together and I think many of the instrumental sections are killer and feel like something new.  I also like that they are not making every song 10 minutes and derailing song that don't need to be derailed.

Glad that the majority of the fanbase is responding so well to it though and I always appreciate when the band puts out an new album because this world needs more quality music now more than ever with the lack of quality out there.  After 5 listens, I like it but hardly any of the vocal parts stick and I couldn't sing them to you except Untethered Angel because I heard it so many times before the release.

[erwinrafael]

I don't know. The first time I heard BW I was already able to hum its melody by the second chorus. Same with S2N's chorus and AWE. I really can not comprehend how LtL's vocal melodies are much more hummable compared to these songs, but hey, maybe I really just hate LtL.

And the hyperbole about vocal melodies being afterthoughts in the past few albums, what is this thing called The Astonishing? Did I listen to a different album?

[Peter Mc]

The first verse of Barstool Warrior reminds me of:

"Brace yourself my brother
I have breaking news"

A lot of that song has overtones of The Astonishing, weird to me that so many love it when The Astonishing is so divisive.  I should say that I also love it but then I love a lot of TA.

[genome]

At Wits End:

Does anyone get a WDADU vibe from 2:07 - 2:34  &  FII 2:47 - 3:04? This is one of the best songs they have ever written IMO but everyone will have their own favourites.

Can anyone else hear the weird tapping at 5:57 to 6:02 (turn it up and you will hear it, sounds like a hollow tapping)? I thought it was originally the click-track coming through JP's pickups when he was recording his solo but when I listened to the instrumental version its not there so I think maybe JLBs reverb/echo on vocal overdubs have picked up something weird? I cant hear it on the spotify or youtube version buts there on the cd, dvd, and bluray versions but not in the instrumental so I think it may be part of the vocal echo or the way its mixed? 

Its driving me crazy so can someone please explain/clear this up this for me!!!

Seen a few people say this. At the end of JLB's held note he makes a little squeaky breath sound and the delay on his voice repeats it, it just so happens it sounds like a click. 

[Shooters1221]

At Wits End:

Does anyone get a WDADU vibe from 2:07 - 2:34  &  FII 2:47 - 3:04? This is one of the best songs they have ever written IMO but everyone will have their own favourites.

Can anyone else hear the weird tapping at 5:57 to 6:02 (turn it up and you will hear it, sounds like a hollow tapping)? I thought it was originally the click-track coming through JP's pickups when he was recording his solo but when I listened to the instrumental version its not there so I think maybe JLBs reverb/echo on vocal overdubs have picked up something weird? I cant hear it on the spotify or youtube version buts there on the cd, dvd, and bluray versions but not in the instrumental so I think it may be part of the vocal echo or the way its mixed? 

Its driving me crazy so can someone please explain/clear this up this for me!!!

Seen a few people say this. At the end of JLB's held note he makes a little squeaky breath sound and the delay on his voice repeats it, it just so happens it sounds like a click. 

Agreed, no click whatsoever on my amazon version or cd version, but the repeating of the the vocals effect is the only thing close.

[adamack]

Not every song template has to be the same, but look for comparison at Bridges the Sky - first verse, then the "Sun, come shine my way" part.... second verse, again the "Sun, come shine my way part", and then we climax into the majestic "And at last the time has come" part, which elevates the song even more. When does this happen on Fall into the Light for example? the "Sun, come shine my way" part is quite good, but come on, the "And last the time has come" section is even better, and the song is way better with this part. Maybe with time I'll get used to the new songs, but in the three I mentioned I think a proper chorus is lacking and it's a pity 'cause Fall into the Light and especially Barstool Warrior are so great.

Great observation. Similarly, take the arrangement of a song like Breaking All Illusions. On the first listen, I thought that the "Live in the moment, breathe in a new beginning" part was the chorus. And what an amazing part by the way.

But then, the song goes into that awesome heavy "verse B" section ("Emerald thoughts..."), only to lead into the REAL chorus ("Searching out, reaching in"....) which is just phenomenal, and my favorite chorus of theirs over the last 4 albums.

So basically, you have:

1. The instrumental intro
2. A soft verse
3. A detached pre-chorus which leads into...
4. A heavy second verse which is totally different from the first (A DT staple, but it really stands out here because EVERYTHING is totally different), which finally leads into...
5. The true chorus
6. An amazing instrumental section, leading back into...
7. The final chorus, and finally....
9. A brand new post-chorus part ("Embrace the days"...) which beautifully closes out this amazing song. Similar to the "And at last the time has come" part

The real magic is that detached pre-chorus (for lack of a better term. Maybe Chorus A?), the totally fresh second verse, and the outro section.  As you mentioned, not every song has to have such a formula. But this kind of varied arrangement is a main reason that I still listen to an album like ADToE to this day, and a reason I fear D/T will not be in rotation for years to come.

I really do not want to bring any negativity, because I am extremely happy that people are loving this album and I am enjoying it quite a bit. I'm not a big fan of FII, but whenever someone says it's one of their favorite DT albums it makes me really happy.

Also, there are indeed some intricate arrangements on DT12. But since the choruses are weaker (IMO), it really limits that sense of climax you'd get form Breaking All Illusions and Bridges In The Sky.

[Phoenix87x]

With a couple more listens, the album is growing more and more on me.

Still Liking UA, Paralyzed, Fall into the light.  LOVE VK    Its such a fun ass song

Barstool Warrior has grown on me much more (but I agree the name is kinda corny)

Room 137:  The beginning is pretty catchy, I will give it that, but it stays too much in that initial territory. It just stays in first gear and
                            doesn't get going musically. By the 2 minute mark I have checked out and At this point I just skip this track.

S2N: Solid song. The chorus sounds a little reminiscent of Through the looking glass's chorus, but what evs. Its a decent song.

At wits end: The clouds parted and this song descended from the heavens     If they released this album
                            and it was just this one song I probably would have been happy 

PBD: Yeah...  Just not that fun to listen to. I don't like any part of this song. Pale blue dot the book is a favorite of mine and I love sagan.
        Thematically when I think of Pale blue dot or sagan in general, I think more optimistic thoughts, more like a learning to live kind of vibe.
        This song goes in the opposite direction. Its dark and dull. If you are gonna give me dark, then give me a Train of thought style song. I
        would have gotten behind that, but I really don't like PBD.

*** So yeah. Pretty decent album. And one thing I will say is that I like that its under an hour. Its pretty lean and I mean and I dig that.

[Hanz Gruber]

I don't know. The first time I heard BW I was already able to hum its melody by the second chorus. Same with S2N's chorus and AWE. I really can not comprehend how LtL's vocal melodies are much more hummable compared to these songs, but hey, maybe I really just hate LtL.

And the hyperbole about vocal melodies being afterthoughts in the past few albums, what is this thing called The Astonishing? Did I listen to a different album?

Funny that you should mention those 3 songs because those are my favorite 3 songs from the album.

The rest of the album I consider mediocre as Dream Theater songs.  Just my opinion  Glad the majority is high on the album

[Architeuthis]

So, I now have a CD-length playlist called DreaMM Theater of Post-Portnoy DT songs.

2 ADTOE + 1 DT + 3 TA + 3 D/T songs.

-JLB's voice wayyyy too low in the mix (what were they thinking???)

I've listened to this album 3× now and the vocals are mixed just right as far as being balanced with the music. I hate it when vocals are too high in the mix no matter how good the singer is especially in this genre. The voice needs to serve as an instrument that doesn't fatigue the ears. I've heard mixes  done by amateurs and I feel like I have to duck when the loud vocals come in.
 
 I really love this new album. I would say the only little thing that I've noticed about the vocals is that some of the enunciating gets a little hard to understand because of the effects used in the production. Other than that, James is great on this record!

[erwinrafael]

Great observation. Similarly, take the arrangement of a song like Breaking All Illusions. On the first listen, I thought that the "Live in the moment, breathe in a new beginning" part was the chorus. And what an amazing part by the way.

But then, the song goes into that awesome heavy "verse B" section ("Emerald thoughts..."), only to lead into the REAL chorus ("Searching out, reaching in"....) which is just phenomenal, and my favorite chorus of theirs over the last 4 albums.

So basically, you have:

1. The instrumental intro
2. A soft verse
3. A detached pre-chorus which leads into...
4. A heavy second verse which is totally different from the first (A DT staple, but it really stands out here because EVERYTHING is totally different), which finally leads into...
5. The true chorus
6. An amazing instrumental section, leading back into...
7. The final chorus, and finally....
9. A brand new post-chorus part ("Embrace the days"...) which beautifully closes out this amazing song. Similar to the "And at last the time has come" part

The real magic is that detached pre-chorus (for lack of a better term. Maybe Chorus A?), the totally fresh second verse, and the outro section.  As you mentioned, not every song has to have such a formula. But this kind of varied arrangement is a main reason that I still listen to an album like ADToE to this day, and a reason I fear D/T will not be in rotation for years to come.

I really do not want to bring any negativity, because I am extremely happy that people are loving this album and I am enjoying it quite a bit. I'm not a big fan of FII, but whenever someone says it's one of their favorite DT albums it makes me really happy.

Also, there are indeed some intricate arrangements on DT12. But since the choruses are weaker (IMO), it really limits that sense of climax you'd get form Breaking All Illusions and Bridges In The Sky.

The structure of Barstool Warrior

1. Rush-like instrumental intro with the instruments entering one by one
2. The lead guitar line
3. Verse 1
4. Chorus
5. Verse 2, of a different tone from verse 1 (actually, it's the same as the instrumental intro)
6. Chorus, but now in double time
7. Lead guitar line, making us think this is the guitar solo
8. Piano break
9. The real guitar solo
10. The chorus but not really the chorus, reflecting the shift in the tone from the guitar solo
11. A new vocal melody (No one can save you...)
12. And yet another variation playing on the cadence of the original chorus but with a different more hopeful tone, hinting at a climax
13. Climax: Now I see where I belong

The way I see it, it's still a complex arrangement, just shorter.

[Lax]

The more I listen to the album, especially loud in the car and the more I like pbd... To me it's dance of eternity level and it has rollercoaster and epic moments

Maybe the fact that I don't really focus on singing makes me love this album, tho there are fantastic emotion singing and catchy choruses to me

[genome]

I've listened to this album 3× now and the vocals are mixed just right as far as being balanced with the music. I hate it when vocals are too high in the mix no matter how good the singer is especially in this genre. The voice needs to serve as an instrument that doesn't fatigue the ears. I've heard mixes  done by amateurs and I feel like I have to duck when the loud vocals come in.

This is the thing. People tend to state opinions as facts about production but the truth is mixes are down to personal preference just as much as the music. Some people like natural sounding drums, some people like in-your-face punchy drums, some like the vocals to sit back, some like them right up-front.

Unless there's obvious issues with the production it's just down to personal preference.

[BelichickFan]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where Viper King would fit well?  I want to keep it but I think PBD is a good ender so I'm wondering if VK would fit well somewhere in the middle.

(love the CD, BTW).

[Adami]

Giving this album a good listen for the first time.

So far, still don't like any of the three songs they released first. Moments here or there, but not much.

Barstool Warrior felt like they said "Let's just throw in ideas that we know fans will approve of" just felt safe and lacking heart.

137 had some pretty awesome moments, but the chorus was just very very meh and uninspired.

S2N...same as Room 137. Cool song, but very boring chorus. I get it, you guys slow down and do a big open epic chorus. Change it up!

At Wit's End was very meh. Really didn't do anything for me other than some very nice piano parts and a tasteful lead from JP.

Out of Reach - Did nothing for me at all. Pleasant, then as soon as it ended, I had totally forgotten a single note or melody.

Pale Blue Dot - Also not a fan. A few cool moments, but overall very predictable, safe, and boring (to me)

On Viper King now, but since it's a bonus track, it looks like the album is just not for me. Felt very boring, safe, predictable (for the most part), and an attempt to "give the fans what they want" which I rarely like much as a mentality.



Dug Viper King actually. Vocals could use some tweaking (especially the mix) but definitely the best song on the album for me.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where Viper King would fit well?  I want to keep it but I think PBD is a good ender so I'm wondering if VK would fit well somewhere in the middle.

(love the CD, BTW).

In between Room 137 and S2N(?)

[robwebster]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where Viper King would fit well?  I want to keep it but I think PBD is a good ender so I'm wondering if VK would fit well somewhere in the middle.

(love the CD, BTW).

I don't think that PBD is a particularly effective closer, so my tracklisting would probably go...

1. Pale Blue Dot
2. Untethered Angel
3. Paralyzed
4. Fall into the Light
5. Out of Reach
6. Viper King
7. Room 137
8. S2N
9. Barstool Warrior
10. At Wit's End

That way you've got Out of Reach and Viper King together as the "old school" songs (both have quite a classic rock vibe, in different ways), then Viper King and Room 137 fit nicely together as the "goofy" section of the album. I feel like S2N, Barstool Warrior and At Wit's End slowly increase in terms of lyrical intensity, too - and that fade back in is perfect to close the album.

Not tried it like that, yet, though. Just riffing! Putting Barstool Warrior so late in the album might be too big a change.

[Architeuthis]

I've listened to this album 3× now and the vocals are mixed just right as far as being balanced with the music. I hate it when vocals are too high in the mix no matter how good the singer is especially in this genre. The voice needs to serve as an instrument that doesn't fatigue the ears. I've heard mixes  done by amateurs and I feel like I have to duck when the loud vocals come in.

This is the thing. People tend to state opinions as facts about production but the truth is mixes are down to personal preference just as much as the music. Some people like natural sounding drums, some people like in-your-face punchy drums, some like the vocals to sit back, some like them right up-front.

Unless there's obvious issues with the production it's just down to personal preference.

 
 That's why it's impossible to please everybody with an album release.

[BelichickFan]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where Viper King would fit well?  I want to keep it but I think PBD is a good ender so I'm wondering if VK would fit well somewhere in the middle.

(love the CD, BTW).

I don't think that PBD is a particularly effective closer, so my tracklisting would probably go...

1. Pale Blue Dot
.
.
.

I may try it between R137 and S2n first and see how that goes.

Regarding PBD, I think that would be a terrific opener live, I'm expecting UA but PBD would work well the same way that BitS did.

[robwebster]

Does anyone have a recommendation for where Viper King would fit well?  I want to keep it but I think PBD is a good ender so I'm wondering if VK would fit well somewhere in the middle.

(love the CD, BTW).

I don't think that PBD is a particularly effective closer, so my tracklisting would probably go...

1. Pale Blue Dot
.
.
.

I may try it between R137 and S2n first and see how that goes.

Regarding PBD, I think that would be a terrific opener live, I'm expecting UA but PBD would work well the same way that BitS did.

I'm all about that intro tape!

[cygnusx1jg]

I've been thinking about that and getting no where, but then again there's still a couple of songs that I don't fully understand their subject. Namely At Paralyzed, Wit's End, S2N and Fall into The Light.

If I remember correctly, John confirmed that S2N is about the idea of not losing yourself (the "signal") in the chaos of the world (the "noise"), while James confirmed that Wit's End is about an abusive relationship & its damaging effects on the woman being abused.

I don't quite remember if they said what Paralyzed & Fall Into The Light were about though.

After reading and re-reading the lyrics to At Wit's End , it seems to me the song is more about a how a woman getting assaulted/raped by someone other than her man/husband affects that man/husband whose trying to help her get through it.

[JRuless]

Giving this album a good listen for the first time.

So far, still don't like...... overall very predictable, safe, and boring (to me)

I feel sorry for you....Yes, I do.
Another 2 or 3 year to wait for something unearthy to happen on planet DT.
Lucky enough there are plenty of bands around able to manage the task.

[Adami]

Why do you feel sorry for me? I’m not upset. I’m cool. No need to be condescending. Everyone else seems to love it. I just don’t. Ah well. I said my peace. This is apparently not a place for negative opinions. Glad you all like the album.   

[geeeemo]

Why do you feel sorry for me? I’m not upset. I’m cool. No need to be condescending. Everyone else seems to love it. I just don’t. Ah well. I said my peace. This is apparently not a place for negative opinions. Glad you all like the album.   

You’re good! Everyone get’s an opinion! hugs

[Bertielee]

Why do you feel sorry for me? I’m not upset. I’m cool. No need to be condescending. Everyone else seems to love it. I just don’t. Ah well. I said my peace. This is apparently not a place for negative opinions. Glad you all like the album.   

There's a Strange air of déjà-vu in your comment. Kidding aside, we already talked about it Adami, but I think DT is not your thing anymore and I'm totally fine with it. Hopefully, I like the album, so I'm not there yet. Btw, there's so much music out there to enjoy.

B.Lee

[SwedishGoose]

First full listen today, with lyrics out and headphones on.

I'm a bit underwhelmed actually. There are some nice parts but overall unless it grows on me a lot with repeated listenes I feel like it will be in the bottom third of DTs albums.

Love them all and put all of them very high against other bands but still....

I did not think it would reach the heights that The Astonishing rose to and stay at for me but I hoped for more than I  currently find.

Glad you all are loving it.... will give it mote spins to hope it rises for me too

[Evai]

I think this album will grow on me  It's easy to be like 'oh I don't like this, the band sucks since blah blah left', but I felt this way about ADToE and DT12 at first, and I enjoy listening to those albums quite a bit now. Astonishing blew me away immediately (well not immediately, just after the first NOMAC track), but I'll probably be giving DoT more repeats, since I don't feel like I need to invest 2 hours every time I wanna listen 

[genome]

Just learned about the first minute of Barstool Warrior on guitar. Fiddly but really fun to play. 

[gzarruk]

But...reading through all the comments this morning, erwinrafael's brutally concise post not only made me chuckle to myself, but it pretty much summed up my thoughts on the new album as well.

My numbers vary a bit from his, but the fact remains that if I take the material I actually listen to from these past 4 albums, I might have ten songs.

Err...my playlist is actually my Dream Theater sampler playlist that I intend to share to newbies to get them into DT. I am.perfectly hapoy listening to just post-Portnoy material, like gzarruk. Sorry to rain on your parade. :-P

and myself. These are actually the only DT albums I ever listen to nowadays.

Looks like I was summoned

For the record, I enjoy all the DT catalog, from the Majesty demos to D/T. Obviously, there's some albums I like more than others, and will post my updated ranking once I've had more time to digest the new album. My top two, at the moment, are SFAM (for sentimental reasons - my first DT album/first prog album) and SDOIT (it still blows my mind every time), even though D/T might send SDOIT to 3rd place...

But, yes, I could live happily only listening to the MM era albums from now on, as I seem to come back to them the most. To me, the last 4 albums are the strongest 4 album streak in their career. If FII never existed and we got IAW - Awake - SFAM - SDOIT, that would be VERY hard to top, but FII ruins it.

[wolfking]

The outro section of At Wit's End is fucking amazing.

[Pound4aBrown]

Barstool Warrior felt like they said "Let's just throw in ideas that we know fans will approve of" just felt safe and lacking heart.

cray-cray