What are your FOUR favorite Dream Theater studio albums?

[XJDenton]

Honestly, apart from 1. Awake and 2. Images and Words, I'd struggle to rank the other albums to the point I have a secure 3 and 4.

[gzarruk]

I always struggle to rank all DT albums, but IAW, Awake, SFAM and SDOIT are definitely the best 4 of the MP era for me.

[jammindude]

Given how controversial SDOIT was when it came out, I’m always surprised by its legacy.

I’ll always remember the “disc 1 or disc 2” debates, and it always seemed like the vast majority were always very high on one and pretty meh on the other, but equally divided on which one was better, with everyone saying it was a half great album and no one agreeing on what the better half was.

[jayvee3]

So interesting to see that every once in a while all albums will reach the top 4. Unbelievable how much variety there is in their music. I voted for Black Clouds, Train of Thought, Six Degrees and A Dramatic Turn, but ask me a month from now and it could be different. Mostly, the more I give an album the change of listening to, the more it'll raise in my ranking. There is so much to enjoy and discover.

This all except Falling into Infinity. No matter how hard I'll try, New Millennium, You Not Me and Burning My Soul is too much filth to conquer. I can't get past these, even though there are some pearls as well on the album, Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Hell's Kitchen, Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears. The whole package incl the terrible artwork, is just keeping me off track and make me feel un-Dream Theatered.

I also agree how interesting it is to see all the variety and how many albums are represented. And absolutely all due respect because we all like different things, but I really do feel so opposite to your thoughts of FII which I love. As an example, BCASL is at the very bottom for me, where you have it in your top. No problem at all with that. But you also mention 5 songs you like from FII (I actually really like New millennium as well as Anna Lee and TAMP), while BCASL actually only has 6 tracks. So I’d still prefer the best 6 tracks from FII any day over Black Clouds, which really only has the Count as a redeeming feature for me.

All opinions though, I know and I understand overall album feel, personal preference and any special connection may all be at play. But for me, FII is heavily underrated 

[Architeuthis]

Octavarium
Systematic Chaos
DT12
The Astonishing

[Lowdz]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

[Glasser]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

I LOVE THIS!!!!! WDADU is disgustingly beat on. This is the album that changed music for me!!! I guess you have to be introduced to DT with this album to appreciate it’s impact but it kicks major ass and stands on its own !!!! Good call!!!!! 

[jammindude]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

I LOVE THIS!!!!! WDADU is disgustingly beat on. This is the album that changed music for me!!! I guess you have to be introduced to DT with this album to appreciate it’s impact but it kicks major ass and stands on its own !!!! Good call!!!!! 

I heard an LP copy just a few weeks after I heard IAW in the late 1992. At that time, the album was still out of print, but I found someone who already had a copy on vinyl, and made a cassette for me.

I’d like to think that I really enjoyed it more than most. But it really was the production that killed it. The songs are absolutely amazing! But the production is so thin. There’s no separation at all and it basically sounds like the entire band is playing inside of a cave with a single microphone placed at the mouth of the cave. I’ve heard band demos recorded on a boombox that sound better than that album.

But I do agree that the songs are much stronger than they often get credit for.

[The Letter M]

Given how controversial SDOIT was when it came out, I’m always surprised by its legacy.

I’ll always remember the “disc 1 or disc 2” debates, and it always seemed like the vast majority were always very high on one and pretty meh on the other, but equally divided on which one was better, with everyone saying it was a half great album and no one agreeing on what the better half was.

These kinds of arguments always bother me because people are placing superficial labels on albums based on physical media limitations. Did vinyl double albums under 80 minutes get the "Is LP 1 better than LP 2?" debate back in the day, even though in the CD age the album would fit all on one disc (like The Who's Tommy)?

If CDs held 100 minutes of music, there'd be SO many less debates of "disc 1 vs disc 2" simply because the album, as a whole, would fit on one disc. This is why I like digital media because you can have a whole album of any length and not worry about people comparing two parts of what should be considered a whole album. Granted, sometimes the physical media can be used to further the concept or narrative of a double album, like having an act-break in a rock opera, or using the two discs to separate material (like with NMB's Innocence & Danger), but for something like SDOIT, the album always felt like 6 pieces that just happened to not fit on a single piece of physical media. All my digital rips of the album have been 6 tracks to fit the 6-7-8 meta-concept of their 6th, 7th, and 8th albums.

With regards as to why it's become a very popular and well-loved album, I'd say a part of it probably boils down to being one of the band's longest albums, and having the band's longest single piece in its title track. Also, I think "The Glass Prison" is a fairly well-received song, as are "Disappear" and "The Great Debate".

-Marc.

[Glasser]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

I LOVE THIS!!!!! WDADU is disgustingly beat on. This is the album that changed music for me!!! I guess you have to be introduced to DT with this album to appreciate it’s impact but it kicks major ass and stands on its own !!!! Good call!!!!! 

I heard an LP copy just a few weeks after I heard IAW in the late 1992. At that time, the album was still out of print, but I found someone who already had a copy on vinyl, and made a cassette for me.

I’d like to think that I really enjoyed it more than most. But it really was the production that killed it. The songs are absolutely amazing! But the production is so thin. There’s no separation at all and it basically sounds like the entire band is playing inside of a cave with a single microphone placed at the mouth of the cave. I’ve heard band demos recorded on a boombox that sound better than that album.

But I do agree that the songs are much stronger than they often get credit for.

Agreed on production but like you said it’s the songs that make this one special. I know I say a re-recording would be nice but a total remix/remaster would be best for the album. I would personally pay for a remix and remaster by Andy Sneap!

[gzarruk]

All my digital rips of the album have been 6 tracks to fit the 6-7-8 meta-concept of their 6th, 7th, and 8th albums.

And what's even crazier is that SC and BC&SL continue this trend as well, just in reverse (7 and 6 songs respectively). So, just like with Octavarium and the meta-album thing, the story ends where it began (6 songs).

[pg1067]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

I LOVE THIS!!!!! WDADU is disgustingly beat on. This is the album that changed music for me!!! I guess you have to be introduced to DT with this album to appreciate it’s impact but it kicks major ass and stands on its own !!!! Good call!!!!! 

I've posted about this before, but I first heard OF DT on an MTV new thing around the time that Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime was at its height of popularity.  They were talking about "other bands you might like if you like Queensryche."  They mentioned DT, Fates Warning and Crimson Glory.  I then set about find albums by the three bands.  I found No Exit and fell in love with FW.  I found a Crimson Glory album but thought the mask shtick they had looked dumb, so I didn't buy it.  I never found anything by DT, though, and by the time I&W was released, I had mostly forgotten about the band.  I heard Pull Me Under in the summer of '92 and immediately bought I&W and started hearing about how they had an earlier album with a different singer.  I probably got my hands on WDADU in spring or summer of '93.  I've always liked the album, but Charlie's voice makes it impossible to put anywhere near the top of the rankings.  As far as production, it's probably DT's best sound as far as the bass goes, so I have no problems at all with the production.

[hefdaddy42]

Given how controversial SDOIT was when it came out, I’m always surprised by its legacy.

I’ll always remember the “disc 1 or disc 2” debates, and it always seemed like the vast majority were always very high on one and pretty meh on the other, but equally divided on which one was better, with everyone saying it was a half great album and no one agreeing on what the better half was.

These kinds of arguments always bother me because people are placing superficial labels on albums based on physical media limitations. Did vinyl double albums under 80 minutes get the "Is LP 1 better than LP 2?" debate back in the day, even though in the CD age the album would fit all on one disc (like The Who's Tommy)?

I mean, yeah.  Well, "debate" may be too strong a word, but such discussions were definitely had.  Same with double cassette albums.

It's no more arbitrary than any other classification we have around here (odds vs. even, decade, etc).  Just one more thing to talk about.

[Lowdz]

WDADU

I&W

SFAM

6 degrees

I LOVE THIS!!!!! WDADU is disgustingly beat on. This is the album that changed music for me!!! I guess you have to be introduced to DT with this album to appreciate it’s impact but it kicks major ass and stands on its own !!!! Good call!!!!! 

I got it on import back in 89 and have a huge soft spot for it. These are the albums I’m most likely to go for if I want to listen to DT. I do love all their albums, just some more than others.