ToT vs. Mangini -- Which album do you prefer AND since when have you been a fan?

[LKap13]

Just a curiosity -- wondering if older fans have different feeling about this question than newer fans

[Lonk]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54360.0

[LKap13]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54360.0

Yea that's why I made the poll. Curious whether the responses are affected by older/newer fan status

[bosk1]

In either thread, I would vote for ANY Mangini-era album over TOT.  And I have been a fan since 1992.  And I generally prefer metal to other forms of music, for what it's worth.

[geeeemo]

I am a fan since TA came out. I found DT looking for heavy and metal. I really like TOT (and all the other albums except WDADU), but there is something about ADToE that is just so great. It has all the elements.  Heavy, melodic, progressive, epic and of course shred 

[Volante99]

I've been a fan since about 2003. I'd rank ToT above anything in the Mangini era, although AToE comes really REALLY close. ADToE might have higher highs, but ToT is a much more consistent album. I would say, overall, there's been a definite downtrend in quality in DT releases but IMO it started with Systematic Chaos. Even Octavarium has some "warning signs" of things to come. So while I may not be as enthusiastic about the current direction of the band as some members of the forum, I don't blame that solely on the lineup change.

[Max Kuehnau]

I've been a fan ever since 1998 (age 8) and I'm a diehard MM guy. (even before he joined DT, when he was with Steve Vai in the 90s)
My musical taste is very broad and as long as the notes are clean, I'm satisfied.

[SwedishGoose]

Been a fan since Images and Words came out.

Train of thought is to me in the bottom third of the discography.

My favorite is The Astonishing.

I'm a predominantley prog fan. Prog Metal is part of that.

Not so much a fan of pure Metal.

[krands85]

Train of Thought is a little ahead of ADTOE for me and I became a fan before 2008, though not that much before - around the time Systematic Chaos came out.

[bl5150]

In either thread, I would vote for ANY Mangini-era album over TOT.  And I have been a fan since 1992.  And I generally prefer metal to other forms of music, for what it's worth.

What bosk said.....to the letter.

[Indiscipline]

1992, any Mangini era album.

I rank ToT fourth to last in DT discography and fifth to last in Metallica's one.

[hefdaddy42]

In either thread, I would vote for ANY Mangini-era album over TOT.  And I have been a fan since 1992. 

This

[Volante99]

... and fifth to last in Metallica's one.

Huh?

[Nachtmerrie]

Fan since Awake.

I rank ToT above any of the Mangini albums. I love the raw energy of that album.
None of the Mangini albums are among my favorite albums. ADTOE and DOT are somewhere in the middle while DT and TA are in the bottom.

It doesn't have anything to do with Mangini. I guess DT just isn't aging very well for me.

[RoeDent]

What if you became a fan during 2008?

I heard my first DT song on December 25, 2008. So Mangini/after.

[pg1067]

I voted for TOT in the other thread and have been a fan since 1992.

[jammindude]

I don't feel like I'm represented by any of these choices.

Fan since 1992.   Octavarium is my favorite album.   ToT is mid-tier and I would probably put two of the MM albums over it.

EDIT - Never mind.  I saw the other thread, and now this one makes more sense.   

[NoFred]

I'll mention what I noted in the other thread, for a 4 v 1 challenge TOT is polling really well.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I've been a fan since around the release of ADTOE, but would rank TOT above any of the Mangini-era stuff. TOT is more or less in the high of the mid tier, and the MM albums in the low of the mid tier.

[Northern Lion]

I became a fan just after ADToE came out.  Before that I was a Metallica/Megadeth fan almost exclusively.  ToT is great and I really like it and it has some of my favorite DT songs, but I still like all of the Mangini era more with the exception of DT12 which I rank even with ToT.

[Herrick]

I've been a fan since 2001 and I like A Dramatic Turn of Events more than Train of Thought.

What is the significance of 2008?

[ytserush]

As I  may have said in the other thread. Pick a Mangini album, any Mangini album, and I'd prefer that to Train Of Thought.  Been a fan since 1989 for what it's worth. The same applies for Systematic Chaos too.  Choice is more difficult for any other album.

[MoraWintersoul]

I was talking about this with ? (man your nickname is confusing to insert into convos). We both just about make the cutoff - metalheads, got into DT around post Sys Chaos as teens and now we're in our mid-20's and DT isn't our faaaavorite band anymore, but we still follow them and give the new albums a fair shake as they come out. For us, Train Of Thought is a classic DT album and a mandatory listen, better than a lot of what came after it. For multiple people I know in the metal scene who have also followed DT and then dipped out a little bit before 2008, Train Of Thought is already one or two albums deep into the pile of "those newfangled DT albums that I listened to once and forgot about them." So maybe some teens getting into DT now consider ADTOE a classic album and a mandatory listen! While I listen to it maybe once every few years.

[hefdaddy42]

I was talking about this with ? (man your nickname is confusing to insert into convos). We both just about make the cutoff - metalheads, got into DT around post Sys Chaos as teens and now we're in our mid-20's and DT isn't our faaaavorite band anymore, but we still follow them and give the new albums a fair shake as they come out. For us, Train Of Thought is a classic DT album and a mandatory listen, better than a lot of what came after it. For multiple people I know in the metal scene who have also followed DT and then dipped out a little bit before 2008, Train Of Thought is already one or two albums deep into the pile of "those newfangled DT albums that I listened to once and forgot about them." So maybe some teens getting into DT now consider ADTOE a classic album and a mandatory listen! While I listen to it maybe once every few years.

My youngest is 16.  Favorite album?  A Dramatic Turn of Events.  First new release after they became a fan, still a special album.

[MoraWintersoul]

My youngest is 16.  Favorite album?  A Dramatic Turn of Events.  First new release after they became a fan, still a special album.

There it is, it's already started 
For contrast, my husband is just six years older, and most of his circle of friends barely made it over Octavarium. Don't know if he could name the albums that came after. Even though he likes the 90's albums almost as much as I like them, the interest never persevered.

[hefdaddy42]

My youngest is 16.  Favorite album?  A Dramatic Turn of Events.  First new release after they became a fan, still a special album.

There it is, it's already started 
For contrast, my husband is just six years older, and most of his circle of friends barely made it over Octavarium. Don't know if he could name the albums that came after. Even though he likes the 90's albums almost as much as I like them, the interest never persevered.

My kids collectively love I&W, SFAM, TOT, SC, ADTOE, DT, and D/T.

[MoraWintersoul]

Prog is in good hands.

I never managed to pass on my love for prog metal to a single person (everyone around me just likes what they like and won't touch prog with a ten foot pole), so if I have children, the line still dies with me 

[Northern Lion]

My youngest is 16.  Favorite album?  A Dramatic Turn of Events.  First new release after they became a fan, still a special album.

There it is, it's already started 
For contrast, my husband is just six years older, and most of his circle of friends barely made it over Octavarium. Don't know if he could name the albums that came after. Even though he likes the 90's albums almost as much as I like them, the interest never persevered.

My kids collectively love I&W, SFAM, TOT, SC, ADTOE, DT, and D/T.

I have 7 children, and I intend to make ALL of them DT fans.  My oldest is 16 and so far I have been successful 

[Stadler]

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but for me, I have zero interest in "making" my kid like anything.  I've played my kid - she's 18 - "This Is The Life", because I think the words might be meaningful to her (and me) but it hasn't stuck.  She's more a Queen/Van Halen/Fleetwood Mac girl.

In any event, to answer the question:
I got into Dream Theater with Images and Words, when it came out in '92.   I liked everything that they did to one degree or another (I&W is still the holy grail for me; I love Awake, like FII, LOVE SFAM, love Six Degrees... Train Of Thought took a long time to grow on me but grow it has, and I like it today.   It's still in the bottom third of the catalog for me, but I like it.   It's hard for me to say that "I like this better than that", because it's all relative, but generally, if I'm going to put on a DT record, it's not going to be ToT, nor is it going to be any of the Mangini-era records.  They just haven't clicked with me much.

I'd probably rate them like this:

1. Dream Theater
2a. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
2b. Train Of Thought
3. Distance Over Time
4. The Astonishing

But all of them are well below the crown jewels, which as I said, are Images And Words, SFAM, Octavarium, Awake, and Six Degrees. 

[Northern Lion]

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but for me, I have zero interest in "making" my kid like anything.  I've played my kid - she's 18 - "This Is The Life", because I think the words might be meaningful to her (and me) but it hasn't stuck.  She's more a Queen/Van Halen/Fleetwood Mac girl.

I was joking about the "make" comment but not about the 7 kids.  But Dream Theater is played often in my home and most of my kids have grown up with it, so they all like the band.  Besides they think their dad is cool because I like metal 

[Stadler]

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but for me, I have zero interest in "making" my kid like anything.  I've played my kid - she's 18 - "This Is The Life", because I think the words might be meaningful to her (and me) but it hasn't stuck.  She's more a Queen/Van Halen/Fleetwood Mac girl.

I was joking about the "make" comment but not about the 7 kids.  But Dream Theater is played often in my home and most of my kids have grown up with it, so they all like the band.  Besides they think their dad is cool because I like metal 

I get all of that.  It's Maiden for me, but I get all of that. 

[Northern Lion]

I can't tell if you're joking or not, but for me, I have zero interest in "making" my kid like anything.  I've played my kid - she's 18 - "This Is The Life", because I think the words might be meaningful to her (and me) but it hasn't stuck.  She's more a Queen/Van Halen/Fleetwood Mac girl.

I was joking about the "make" comment but not about the 7 kids.  But Dream Theater is played often in my home and most of my kids have grown up with it, so they all like the band.  Besides they think their dad is cool because I like metal 

I get all of that.  It's Maiden for me, but I get all of that. 

I like Iron Maiden a lot too and I do play them around my kids also, just not quite as often as DT.  My oldest son really likes Iron Maiden a lot.

At any rate, it looks like we are both exposing our kids to proper music