Dream Theater for the rest of your life. The 90's vs the 00's vs the 10's

[BeardedGentlemanHistorian]

Three bundles. One choice. You can only listen to one of them for the rest of your life. Which decade of DT music will get your pick?

[hefdaddy42]

90s, any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[lovethedrake]

I suspect this will be a very lopsided poll.

The 90’s by far. 

Typically when a best album poll is done on here the top 4 are I&W, SFAM, SDOIT, and Awake not in any order.   So considering 3 of those 4 are 90’s it won’t be close.

Those also happen to be my top 4 sfam, I&w, Sdoit, awake in that order.  DoT made a serious run at it but not quite there.

[hefdaddy42]

I suspect this will be a very lopsided poll.

[darkshade]

I would miss SDoIT, Octavarium the song, a few songs from the remaining albums and the general JP heaviness of the 00s, but I couldn't stand to not be able to listen to IaW or Awake again, and FII and Scenes are good enough. I assume we'd also get ACOS with the 90s selections. Plus you get all 3 DT keyboardists, so nice variety.
I wouldn't miss any Mangini-era albums/songs.

[Ben_Jamin]

The 00's for me. I actually enjoy a lot of songs from these albums. And 6DOIT is my favorite album as well.

[WildRanger]

90s, any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[HOF]

The 90s albums are pretty much the only ones I listen to anyway, so 90s easily. I would miss bits of SDOIT but that's about it.

[Revenge319]

2000s. SDOIT, Octavarium, and BC&SL are all top-tier for me, and TOT and SC are great as well.

[pg1067]

The '90s:  Three of my top four DT albums (including the top two) and one bottom four album.

The '00s:  One of my top four albums and two of my bottom four.

The '10s:  No top four albums and one bottom four album.

Easiest choice ever.

One question, though:  What about WDADU?  Do we all get that one?

[hefdaddy42]

One question, though:  What about WDADU?  Do we all get that one?

You can have mine.

[bosk1]

I have to go with the '10s.  That '90s run is extremely strong.  But they are just such a better band now than they ever were, and their albums are so much more consistent.

[Peter Mc]

Amazed that anyone is saying anything but the 90’s here but DT have been so consistent over the years that I probably shouldn’t be.  It’s the 90’s for me though, no contest.  DT are still making good albums but, in the 90’s, they made great albums and Falling Into Infinity.

[TAC]

90's easily.
I&W and SFAM are my two favorite DT albums. Awake is Top 4.

[The Letter M]

Running with the '90s, no question, especially with IAW and SFAM, and Awake is no slouch either, and FII has some good stuff too. If we toss in ACOS and the Cleaning Out The Closet B-Sides, it's a no-brainer.

-Marc.

[Buddyhunter1]

Dream Theater's golden era for me was SFAM to Octavarium, so I'm going with the 00's.

[krands85]

Each has one of my top 3 DT albums, but the 90s has my #1 and #4, so it's an easy call for me.

[Nekov]

This is not even a contest. I hate losing 6DOIT, but the 90's catalogue is just perfect.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Once again, can’t lose Scenes From a Memory but also can’t lose Octavarium.

[Cool Chris]

I&W and Awake are alternately my #1 and #1a favorite albums. They are also ones I do not listen to often, but would also feel the worst about never listening to again. They will never be given "retired favorites" status. Still... the 00s have a ton of material I would miss as well. I enjoy the 10s output, but they aren't in the running here.

This is closer than I would have thought. I will go against my instinct and say 00s.

[axeman90210]

90s in a heartbeat.

[wolfking]

TOT is my fav DT album but even I can't go past the 90's.

[GasparXR]

90s: One top four, one bottom four.
00s: Two top four, two bottom four.
10s: One top four, no bottom four.

This was actually really hard lol. I went with 00s because I think the greatness of SDOIT or 8VM far outshine what I dislike about SC and BCSL which are still good albums imo. The 10s having no bottom four albums might make more sense for me to pick, but DOT, even as a top four, I don't think quite makes it to SDOIT and 8VM levels. Plus, the 00s actually has 5 albums instead of just 4 (or 4.5 in the case of the 90s), and more DT is just better regardless.

[Stadler]

This is one of those weird things where if I ranked them it would be:

'90s
'00s
'10s

which implies that my interest is waning over time, but that's not the case.  It's just that there is an album or two in the first groups that set them apart (I&W, SFAM, 8V). 



EDIT:  Corrected apostrophe abuse.

[Lax]

Same as everyone, even if SDOIT changed my life, I can't imagine not listening to I&W and SFAM etc

[DTA]

90’s DT is some of the most stunning music I’ve ever heard. 20+ years later and I’m still amazed when I hear some of the songs from that decade. 00’s is pretty spotty and only 6DOIT would rank high for me. The 10’s have produced 4 high quality albums that rival a lot of the 90’s work but just fall short due to the 90’s being so strong.

[OpenYourEyes311]

I just went through the catalog this month (chronologically backwards), and was EASILY most impressed with the staying power of Six Degrees and Octavarium. It had been a long time since listening to those albums, and I enjoyed them immensely. Train and Systematic are also very, VERY fun albums. As much as Images had 8 top notch songs (probably the best collection of 8 songs in the catalog), and Scenes started off the best run for the band (1999-2006)... the best decade was the '00s.

[XJDenton]

90s without a doubt.

Also, public service announcement: 90s is plural, not possessive, so don't f-ing add an apostrophe.

[bosk1]

Yes and no.  "90s" is short for "1990s," so there actually should be an apostrophe, but just not where most people mistakenly put it.  Correct:  '90s.

[TAC]

Yes and no.  "90s" is short for "1990s," so there actually should be an apostrophe, but just not where most people mistakenly put it.  Correct:  '90s.

True!

[emtee]

90s, any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

Yep.

[Stadler]

90s without a doubt.

Also, public service announcement: 90s is plural, not possessive, so don't f-ing add an apostrophe.

If I can't use a comma, I'ma going to use the apostrophe.  I'm not running for Chief Of Grammar Police. 


(Seriously, thanks for the insight.)

[Willthescout7]

I spent the first year of being a fan listening solely to Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Octavarium, and Black Clouds and Silver Linings (which remains my favorite album), so I have to go 00's

[ZirconBlue]

90s without a doubt.

Also, public service announcement: 90s is plural, not possessive, so don't f-ing add an apostrophe.

Eh, this is one of those things that's technically incorrect, but generally done anyway for readability.

[Trav86]

90’s DT is some of the most stunning music I’ve ever heard. 20+ years later and I’m still amazed when I hear some of the songs from that decade. 00’s is pretty spotty and only 6DOIT would rank high for me. The 10’s have produced 4 high quality albums that rival a lot of the 90’s work but just fall short due to the 90’s being so strong.

This. Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds & Silver Linings are the low points of their catalog, for me.