Gateway album/Favorite album

[ytserush]

I LOVE Systematic Chaos. Is it my favorite? No, but that doesn't mean that I can't love it!

You can love it for me and I'll love Power Windows and Genesis for you!

[DanLore]

For me, it was Scenes From A Memory.  I've told this story before, but I went to see Spock's Beard in Philly in August of 2000, who were opening for DT.  My brother and I had planned to leave after Spock's Beard, but we ran into a friend of his at the show, who convinced us to stay for DT.  Needless to say, the band blew us away!  Unfortunately, we left just before the encore, A Change of Seasons (sacrilege, I know) but our ears were bleeding by the end of the night, as they were f-ing loud!

I went out the next day and bought their latest recording, which I mistakenly took as Falling Into Infinity.  After a few spins of that, I went out and bought the 'right' disc.  It didn't leave my CD player for 8 weeks, nor did the copy I had ripped for the car.  Six Degrees is a close second for me, but SFAM is my favorite DT recording, and in my personal top 10.

I had the same gateway experience with Genesis, as I found them through A Trick Of The Tail when I was 14.  (And their subsequent record, Wind & Wuthering, is a close #2, probably because that was my first tour seeing them live, but that's another story.)

DanLore

That was a great show. What did you think of The Star People? Never heard of them before or since, but I liked them.

The Star People were on before Spocks's at The Electric Factory on 08/04/2000?  I must have missed them.

[Madman Shepherd]

SFAM was my first album. Liked it a lot but took a while to really get into. The next several albums released all had things I liked and didn't like. It was 8V that really made DT one of my favorite bands which is ironic because it is one of my least favorite albums now.

[Trav]

SFAM was my first album. Liked it a lot but took a while to really get into. The next several albums released all had things I liked and didn't like. It was 8V that really made DT one of my favorite bands which is ironic because it is one of my least favorite albums now.

Same here. At the time I really liked 8V more than now. I think of it more than just the album. It's the album, the tour, just the whole journey the band was on during that golden period. A golden period that really started on SFAM and ended with Score.  It could also be that from 2000-2006 I was obsessed with this band.  That all kind of changed with Systematic Chaos, and they haven't really been the same since.  Part of that is the band, part of that is me. Sure, ADTOE was a breath of fresh air and a rebirth. But...still.  And of course Images and Awake are awesome. But I became a fan in 2000 so there is something special about the albums that came out while I was a fan. Being there for the lead up, going the morning of release day and picking it up. Hearing it for the first time with everyone else. Seeing the tour.

Sorry for the derailment. I had a thought and just needed to go with it.

[DTiwbwMP]

My "gateway" wasn't an album. It was seeing DT (who I had never heard of) opening for Maiden at the Ritz. I could not stop talking about the drummer and guitar player. Then purchased WDADU & I&W and that was all she wrote.

[TAC]

My "gateway" wasn't an album. It was seeing DT (who I had never heard of) opening for Maiden at the Ritz. I could not stop talking about the drummer and guitar player. Then purchased WDADU & I&W and that was all she wrote.

Same here. I just changed my avatar with the new Helloween album release, but I'll go back to my original which is this at some point:




I knew after 30 seconds that I had a new favorite band.

I had two thoughts:
The drummer is incredible, and the bass player is insane.

I really regret not taking any pics, but I didn't want to get bounced for Maiden. You can see my flash going off in the Maiden bootleg video down front.

I managed a few good shots of Maiden..

[jammindude]

My gateway album was IAW. It came out when I was working at Tower Records. I started in Oct 1992, and a coworker turned me on to the album. I immediately fell in love with it, and everyone in the store hated us because we would both play that album anytime we were on the main register.

But every time we played it, we sold a copy. We had to team up on the buyer to force him to buy more to keep in stock. We also hammered the local radio station to play it.

But my favorite...and PERFECT DT album...is Octavarium. Don't get the hate for the supposed "lesser songs" at all, although I will admit to there being a bit of "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts" factor to it.

[DTiwbwMP]

My "gateway" wasn't an album. It was seeing DT (who I had never heard of) opening for Maiden at the Ritz. I could not stop talking about the drummer and guitar player. Then purchased WDADU & I&W and that was all she wrote.

Same here. I just changed my avatar with the new Helloween album release, but I'll go back to my original which is this at some point:




I knew after 30 seconds that I had a new favorite band.

I had two thoughts:
The drummer is incredible, and the bass player is insane.

I really regret not taking any pics, but I didn't want to get bounced for Maiden. You can see my flash going off in the Maiden bootleg video down front.

I managed a few good shots of Maiden..

When I stepped into the Ritz that night, I had NO IDEA that I would see a band that would shape my music listening for the next 20+ years!

[Zoom E]

My gateway album was When Dream and Day Unite when it was released in 89. I liked it a lot, but Images and Words took things to a whole other level and remains my favourite DT album to this day.

[jayvee3]

My gateway album was I&W, when one of my mates lent it to me on cassette. Loved it and geez did it get thrashed. At the time, Awake hadn't been out long, so I went and bought those on CD and loved Awake even more. It just felt a bit darker and more mature. Back in those days, I didn't have much access to the internet which was still fairly new, so I was pleasantly surprised when a while later, I went into the record store and there was a new DT cover, which of course was A Change of Seasons. Those three albums got thrashed. A couple of years later, the local record store would put up on its coming soon board, and while I would constantly check it, I was pumped when I saw FII due soon. Picked that up on day 1, and have loved that album ever since. Seemed to balance Awake's dark tone with this earthy, watery feel and a little bit more accessible. A couple of years later again, the same thing happened on that coming soon board, and this time it was Scenes. I'll never forget putting in that album for the first time and hearing those recurring riffs from Metropolis. I was completely blown away.

To this day, wile Images was my gateway and I still love it, Awake, FII and Scenes are still my favourites. They are sonically varied enough (and interestingly all have different keyboardists). I actually really enjoy the MM era albums too, but those three always remain special to me...