What Is The Last DT Album You Loved Front-To-Back?

[NoseofNicko]

SFAM.  Every album after that has at least one "meh" track for me.

Yeah, but SFAM has Home, which naturally meh is an anagram of.

 

[Dublagent66]

I could probably include  ToT there as well.

Same here.  ToT comes really close.

[hefdaddy42]

SFAM.  Every album after that has at least one "meh" track for me.

Yeah, but SFAM has Home, which naturally meh is an anagram of.

You're a crazy person.

[Cool Chris]

Thinking about how I felt about each album at the time I first heard it, I might be A Dramatic Turn of Events. I really wanted that album to knock it out of the park, and it delivered. Before that I would say Awake.

[Max Kuehnau]

SFAM.  Every album after that has at least one "meh" track for me.

Yeah, but SFAM has Home, which naturally meh is an anagram of.

it's actually not, because in order for that to be a given, you'd need every letter of Home and recombine it. (no o in meh.) But back to the question at hand, A View. (DT12 and Dramatic Turn before that)

[emtee]

I spun DOT today and man, I can come very close to saying I love it end to end. Not quite but almost. It might be my favorite overall JP performance though. His tone, riffs and solos are all brilliant.

[TheCountOfNYC]

AVFtTotW

[krands85]

I'm not much of a skipper, if I put on an album, I'll normally listen to it all. If I'm being kind of strict with the definition of 'love', then the answer is probably Train of Thought. I&W and Scenes are probably the only other albums I'd have in the same category and those are 3 of my top 4 DT albums.

If the question was 'like' instead of 'love', then most of their discography would be included 

[The Letter M]

SFAM.  Every album after that has at least one "meh" track for me.

Yeah, but SFAM has Home, which naturally meh is an anagram of.

it's actually not, because in order for that to be a given, you'd need every letter of Home and recombine it. (no o in meh.) But back to the question at hand, A View. (DT12 and Dramatic Turn before that)

TAC probably learned what an anagram is, wrongly, from the Rush song "Anagram (For Mongo)", where Neil uses parts of words to make other words ("There is no safe seat at the feast / Take your best stab at the beast").


As for the topic at hand, I'd say AVFTTOTW was the last one I loved front-to-back. I was really blown away by it, more so than DOT. Before that, I'd say ADTOE comes close, as I really dug into that one when it was released, and up to that point, I really loved pretty much every new DT album since I had discovered them (before Octavarium came out). Yes, I even enjoyed SC and BC&SL, both quite a bit, though I could understand why some fans didn't at the time. In retrospect, there does seem to be a sense of stagnation during that period just up to Portnoy leaving the band, both musically and lyrically, which was a big reason why MP wanted the band to take a break (to recharge their creative batteries).

Then of course, he left and they release ADTOE, which felt like a return to form (though for some fans, they literally returned to the form of songs they had written nearly twenty years prior). Either way, before DT12, I really loved every single new album they released, but then DT12, TA and DOT came out and they didn't blow me away very much, not like they used to. Maybe my tastes had slowly changed and drifted away from Dream Theater's brand of progressive metal, but DT12 didn't really hit me with every song. I'd say I liked most of it, but there were some less-than-stellar moments on it. Then TA came out and I've made it known that I've never really dug that much at all, and rarely ever listen to it. Then DOT came out and I liked it a lot more than their previous two albums, maybe even a bit more than ADTOE, and in the year or two after DOT released, I found myself going back to it quite a bit.

And now with AVFTTOTW and its seven songs, I've gotta say, I really loved it all. Probably their best album in the last 10 years/since Mangini joined.  I really hope they carry this momentum forward as they get set for writing their 16th album. Hard to believe they are this far into their career and are still capable of making amazing music!

-Marc.

[pg1067]

SFAM.  Every album after that has at least one "meh" track for me.

Yeah, but SFAM has Home, which naturally meh is an anagram of.

Ironically so since Home is a top 10-15 DT song.

[Dublagent66]

But, he doesn't like Power Windows, so yeah...

[TAC]

I love power windows. I remember the days when you had to roll them up. Was a bitch to open the passenger side window while driving.

[wolfking]

Probably Train of Thought....but......I possibly could say DT12.  Along for the Ride is the only slight blemish but it's still a decent enough song.

[wolfking]

I love power windows. I remember the days when you had to roll them up. Was a bitch to open the passenger side window while driving.

[sylentman]

AVFTTOTW

[The Curious Orange]

I really really really really liked ADTOE, but the last album I truly loved was 8VM.

[geeeemo]

3 albums have no skips for me.
A View
ADToE
And Scenes - my favorite album ofnall time.

[Laughingplace56]

I would say I love all of their albums as a whole (with the exception of D/T and WDADU), but the only two DT albums I can say I truly love every song on are A View and 6DOIT. A View was a return to greatness for the band imo, reaching highs they haven’t hit for me since ADToE/DT12. On 6DOIT, TGP, BF, TGD, and Misunderstood are all in my top 20, Disappear has a beautifully haunted vibe that I love, and the title track is a great composition with so many high notes. It will forever be one of my biggest disappointments with the band that they don’t play more of disc 1 live.

Albums that come very close to joining 6DOIT:

ToT (my only gripe with this album is SoC. The slower middle section kills the momentum for me and goes on entirely too long)
I&W (Another Day is just not for me)
Awake (Innocence Faded has some great melodies and music, but the overall cheesy feel of the song drags it down for me)

[svisser]

Honestly, it is A View From the Top of the World. They just got it right on every song. Before that, I would have to go with either Octavarium or SDOIT.

[Volante99]

Have to go with Awake.

I might throw in A Dramatic Turn of Events. A very consistent album.

[Dream Team]

Have to go with Awake.

I might throw in A Dramatic Turn of Events. A very consistent album.

That’s definitely perseverance, Awake is 28 years ago but you’re still here  .

[pg1067]

Have to go with Awake.

I might throw in A Dramatic Turn of Events. A very consistent album.

That’s definitely perseverance, Awake is 28 years ago but you’re still here  .

"Love front to back" and "truly loving every song" are extremely high bars.  I consider Rush my favorite band of all time, but in the time since I discovered the band (around 1982), they NEVER put out an album about which I would say those things.

[Volante99]

Have to go with Awake.

I might throw in A Dramatic Turn of Events. A very consistent album.

That’s definitely perseverance, Awake is 28 years ago but you’re still here  .

"Love front to back" and "truly loving every song" are extremely high bars.  I consider Rush my favorite band of all time, but in the time since I discovered the band (around 1982), they NEVER put out an album about which I would say those things.

Exactly- despite my belief that Awake was the creative high water mark of the band they still have MANY worthwhile and enjoyable albums. SFAM through 8VM was an incredible run.

[Mr.Mister]

The last album I listen back to back is: AVFTTOTW - this one is my top 4 DT albums. Even Invisible Monster, which by itself it's still just OK, but in the context of the album it makes perfect sense.

Prior to this album:
- ADTOE:
- Scenes
- I&W

Almost made the list:
- ToT: vacant is not a bad song but still one I skip often as I listen to ToT for the heavy riffs.
- SDOIT: never cared for misunderstoon too much aside from the reverse solo.
- Awake: Lifting Shawdows has never clicked with me in the last 20+ years. Otherwise it's a perfect album. (I know, I know)

[jammindude]

Definitely AVFTTOTW.

Before that it was the self titled, and before that is 8V, which I still consider to be their finest album.

[Trav86]

I hadn’t listened to AVFTTOTW in quite a while and I decided to do a DT discography run through a couple of weeks ago. I gotta be honest. The last five albums haven’t held up for me as well as they have in the past. I’ve said before that they have a consistent quality, but man there just isn’t as much of the excitement in there as in the earlier albums. Even BCSL, which I was never a fan of from the day it was released, now feels refreshing compared to the albums that followed it. That’s something I’ve never thought until recently.

[IgnotusPerIgnotium]

For me it would be Awake, Scenes, 6 Degrees and Black Clouds. Black Clouds has just a few songs but the album really contains the crystallization of DT's music form up to that point. The songs were different enough to offer a diverse experience and they felt epic but not just for the sake of it.

[Chino]

Truthfully, The Astonishing, and then maybe Octavarium.

[LKap13]

View! Even though I skip invisible monster but that's still my answer

[EPIC Outro]

On first listen, there was no DT album where I truly loved every single moment from beginning to end - not even Scenes From a Memory, which has been my favorite album, period, for over 22 years. A lot of that has to do with the fact that, in my early days as a fan, the proggy extended instrumental parts and solos did nothing for me - I was there for the drama, the recurring themes, the story telling (I had never heard a concept album before and was blown away that such a thing existed, and by how the songs all flowed seamlessly from one to the next).

My tastes have matured with time, and now I love all aspects of DT's sound. But there still has never been an album from them where every single moment hit the spot. But it doesn't matter. They are still my favorite band ever, and even with subjective imperfections, their albums are among the best music I have ever heard.

[bosk1]

"Love front to back" and "truly loving every song" are extremely high bars. 

True.  But surprisingly (for me, anyway), DT did that repeatedly.  All of the Mangini-era albums except The Astonishing (which I still love) do that.  But given that fact, equally surprising is the fact that only one of the pre-Mangini albums, SFAM, clears that bar.  Even Six Degrees and I&W, which are my #1 and #4 all-time, have songs I don't care for. 

[pg1067]

"Love front to back" and "truly loving every song" are extremely high bars. 

True.  But surprisingly (for me, anyway), DT did that repeatedly.  All of the Mangini-era albums except The Astonishing (which I still love) do that.  But given that fact, equally surprising is the fact that only one of the pre-Mangini albums, SFAM, clears that bar.  Even Six Degrees and I&W, which are my #1 and #4 all-time, have songs I don't care for.

SFAM is probably the only DT album that clears the bar, and I could probably count on two hands all of the albums by any band that do it.

[JediKnight1969]

A dramatic turn of events.

[Skeever]

A View From The Top Of The World.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Tough ask. Probably no album except I&W do I love front to back but I almost get there with the MM-era albums, minus TA. It is close though-- all these albums just have one maybe two songs that I do not love.

ADTOE would have been there if it weren't for Build Me Up.

DT12 is one of my favorites but I do not like Along for the Ride.

DOT is nearly there but I think FITL is just OK and I almost always skip it.

Maybe View is closest because the songs I thought were just OK at first have all grown on me. It's not my favorite MM era album but I think it just might be the most consistent for me, front to back. I can put View on and not touch the fast forward button though I do not get as much enjoyment from it as I do the other 3.