Official Dream Theater studio albums countdown thread! (number 1 revealed!)

[TAC]

[Deadeye21]

In the words of Mario, “let’s-a go!”

[RoeDent]

Or, letsa give KevShmev the time and room to calculate all of this without burning out, then letsa go!

[KevShmev]

The submission period is over.

Countdown begins tomorrow. 

[TAC]

I think it should start today.

[Deadeye21]

That’s all good Kev, I submitted late in the game, sorry for holding it up.

[Stadler]

That would be me in the blue shirt, red shorts and knee high white socks.  Thank you very much.

[pg1067]

That would be me in the blue shirt, red shorts and knee high white socks.  Thank you very much.

That actually kinda looks like me at that age.   

[Ben_Jamin]

[KevShmev]

Yep, this will start tomorrow, but a few fun facts from the start:

With 65 accepted lists total:
-Four of the 15 studio albums did not receive a single 1st place vote
-Six of the 15 studio albums did not receive a last place vote
-Five of the 15 studio albums finished at number 1 on at least one list and at last place on at least one list

Also, thanks again to everyone who participated and submitted a list I could use.  Only two were not accepted (because they were submitted without being numbered after I gave the final "warning" ). 

[TAC]

-Five of the 15 studio albums finished at number 1 on at least one list and at last place on at least one list

Wow! 

DTF rules again!

[KevShmev]

And away we go!

15 When Dream and Day Unite

Number 1 finishes: 0
Last place finishes: 24
Average finish: 12.6

I can't say I am surprised to see this finish last, and by a comfortable margin, but I guess I was secretly hoping it would fare a little better.  I ranked it at 10, as I think the songwriting is pretty darn good considering how young they were when they wrote and recorded it, and the skills of all four instrumentalists were already top notch.  The raw production and lack of James do not help its cause, which I get, but I still think it is a good debut album.

Top 5 songs from me from the album:
1 Light Fuse and Get Away
2 Only a Matter of Time
3 A Fortune in Lies
4 Ytse Jam
5 The Killing Hand
(tough to leave off Afterlife)

[Mladen]

Here we go!

 

This one was in my bottom three, due to the production and some songs being rather cute for a young band trying to push boundaries. And yet, it's still a good album. Afterlife, A Fortune in lies and Only a matter of time are fantastic songs. 

[ReaperKK]

Not surprising this is last but it's always felt off to be ranked so low. Don't get me wrong I put this at #14 on my list but it's not a bad album. It just doesn't have any songs that really make me go wow, plus the production really ages it.

[Wim Kruithof]

Was afraid this one should finish last as well. It is in some way their finest, due to it being a debute and their entrance into prog. Lyrically great also, allthough I can’t seem to help the thought that they wrote The One Who Helped To Set the Sun, on a bad (drug)trip. Cannot follow that type of lyrics. My top 5:

- The Killing Hand (one of Dream Theaters best of all)
- Ytse Jam
- A Fortune in Lies
- Status Seeker
- Only a Matter of Time

[CharlesPL]

my top 3 DT album

[nobloodyname]

Number 13 for me. It's a good album, though. Love Afterlife and not just because you can see me jumping and down like an absolute loon just before they played it at the Score show.

[Deadeye21]

When Dream and Day Unite
My rank: 13th of 15


Top 5:
Only A Matter of Time
Afterlife
A Fortune in Lies
Killing Hand
YtseJam

[devieira73]

When Dream and Day Unite: #15 (same ranking to me); grade: 7.0/10

Top 3 songs: A Fortune in Lies/The Ytse Jam/Light Fuse and Get Away   
Less good song: Afterlife

I don’t think DT has released a bad album, my personal ranking and grade are due just because DT has an incredible discography. It’s a great debut and it was the true beginning for modern prog metal.

[wolfking]

Very disappointing this album is in last place.

[Dream Team]

Figured it was inevitable, but I really like this album a lot. Every song has great melodies, riffs, drumming, and Myung's best bass playing. Hard to believe it's 15th when Systematic Chaos exists (or for me, FII). Don't have my list in front of me but I believe I had it 8th or 9th.

[hefdaddy42]

It's terrible, and # 15 is appropriate.

[SwedishGoose]

Had this at number 13. Yeah  it's not a bad album but at the same time the production and lack of LaBrie brings it down.

Reminds me that I should watch the When Dream & Day Reunite DVD...

[Adami]

Had this at number 12. Not at all shocked to see it at last, but I still think it has some great moments that trump my 13-15.

[Deadeye21]

Reminds me that I should watch the When Dream & Day Reunite DVD...

Don’t forget the commentary!

[ReaperKK]

Figured it was inevitable, but I really like this album a lot. Every song has great melodies, riffs, drumming, and Myung's best bass playing. Hard to believe it's 15th when Systematic Chaos exists (or for me, FII). Don't have my list in front of me but I believe I had it 8th or 9th.

I forgot to mention Myung but I agree, some of his best playing is on this album.

[Stadler]

Had this at number 12. Not at all shocked to see it at last, but I still think it has some great moments that trump my 13-15.

Can we keep politics out of this? 

I had this firmly at #15.  The album isn't awful, and Charlie's not a bad singer, but he's not James LaBrie, and considering James is a big reason that I got into (and stayed into) DT in the first place, it's fatal to WDADU being higher on the list.

[Adami]

Had this at number 12. Not at all shocked to see it at last, but I still think it has some great moments that trump my 13-15.

Can we keep politics out of this? 

I bet you were just biden your time to post that, weren't you?

Deplorable.

[Shalev Amir]

Finished last for me too. Bad production and I'm not a fan of any of the songs here, except for The Killing Hand which is top shelf DT.

Figured it was inevitable, but I really like this album a lot. Every song has great melodies, riffs, drumming, and Myung's best bass playing. Hard to believe it's 15th when Systematic Chaos exists (or for me, FII). Don't have my list in front of me but I believe I had it 8th or 9th.

I forgot to mention Myung but I agree, some of his best playing is on this album.

Forgot too  .

[Cool Chris]

If this had been my first experience with DT instead of I&W, I imagine I'd rank it differently. But falling in love with I&W, and then Awake, and then years later discovering this consigns it to 15th.

[T-ski]

Well, I respectfully disagree.

Had it at #9. Sure it’s not polished but there are some moments where you can hear what was to come.

[Stadler]

If this had been my first experience with DT instead of I&W, I imagine I'd rank it differently. But falling in love with I&W, and then Awake, and then years later discovering this consigns it to 15th.

That's a great point; I think that's a part of it for me as well.

[Adami]

I guess I also try to look at it in context. Is the production good? Nah. But is it good for a bunch of kids in their early 20's (Minus Charlie) on a shoestring budget? Yup!

Is the song writing good? Mostly. Is it good for a bunch of teenagers/kids who can barely drink (minus Charlie)? Yup! So that tends to put it higher for me than some of their recent albums that I can't find any excuses for.

[pg1067]

Yeah...I guess I'm not surprised.  My album rankings:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9. When Dream and Day Reunite
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

Yup.  I ranked WDADU, warts and all, ahead of six other albums.  I sometimes wonder how I'd have received this album had I found it before hearing PMU and I&W.  I know it gets a lot of flack for production, but it's probably the best mixed DT album as far as Myung is concerned, and that's important to me.  He's often inaudible on the most recent albums.  My top 3 songs:

1. The Killing Hand
2. Only a Matter of Time
3. Ytse Jam

[geeeemo]

I'm one that has it last. I do think, like others have mentioned, where you come into Dream Theater on the timeline of their catalog can affect your preferences. I prefer the more modern DT as opposed to the beginning DT. For me there sound was solidified with Scenes.

I have tried to like this record. And Charlie is just not good to listen to, so I listen to the other recordings with JLB. Even then, the vocal melodies to me are not good at all.  There are some fantastic musical parts, for a moment or a few minutes in a song. I don't have a ranking for the songs, but AFiL, YtseJam, Afterlife are ones that I remember that have parts that I like. I am sure there are some in the other songs as well, but I don't know them well enough to say.