It was actually pretty easy for me
1. Falling into Infinity - Underrated album. Hell's Kitchen alone puts it on top, not to mention Trial of Tears, Anna Lee, Peruvian Skies...
2. The Astonishing - Its only downside: To fully appreciate it you need to listen to the whole album. This doesn't happen to SFAM, where you can listen to every song apart and still see why that album is so great.
3. Dream Theater - In my experience, it's The Astonishing's polar opposite: I came to like it more when I heard each song apart and less when you hear it from start to finish
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4. Systematic Chaos - Its standouts are better than the ones from DT12 (ITPoE I, TMoLS, Forsaken) but boy its lower moments are waaay worse. Grotesque creatures battle.
5. BC&SL - Like Systematic Chaos, but worse. There are great moments here and there but... Well... Wither is its most consistent song, and that says something. That being said, I just love to remember how memeable the lyrics of the whole album were. So many laughs 10 years ago in the forum... I guess DT made the lyrics Memorable in their own way
6. WDADU - If this album was produced the way I&W was produced + LaBrie in 1989, this would be number one by a MILE. Light Fuse and Get Away, The Killing Hand, Afterlife! All bangers. But this is what we got.