Wow, we're really speeding through these. OK, to get caught up:
WDADU: Yeah, this had to be #15. Anyone saying otherwise is either Scotty or engaging in some revisionist history. I am grateful to the band for issuing the live recording of this with James for the 15th anniversary. I think it exposed a lot of fans, myself included, who hadn't really given a lot of these songs the time of day. There is some really good material that often gets overlooked. The problems with Charlie singing these songs are (1) they were not written to his strengths as a singer, and it shows; (2) Charlie just wasn't a metal singer at the time; and (3) the production does not do the vocals any favors. Hearing Charlie on his solo material years later when he recorded the O trilogy, he really shines singing progressive metal that he is comfortable with. The overall album production really hurts the album as well, although it would probably be overlooked more if the vocals weren't as offputting to some. But again coming back to its strengths, there are some really good songs on here. If it was a 4-5 song EP of The Killing Hand, OAMOT, LFAGA, A Fortune in Lies, and maybe Status Seeker, with James singing those songs and better production, it would be a fantastic EP.
Constant Motion: I expected it to finish relatively low, but 14 surprises me. Lots of great stuff on this album, but lots of stuff that I don't find very interesting either. As I've said before, it's VERY comparable to I&W for me in terms of having some of DT's best stuff and some of my least favorite stuff, and being very inconsistent in that regard. It is one of the few albums where I only listen to an edited playlist. But interestingly, that edited playlist has had significant stretches of time where it has gotten just as much, or more, play time than any other DT album. ITPOE, Forsaken, and Constant Motion are easily top 20 songs, and TDEN isn't half bad either. I can take or leave (mostly leave) the rest.
The Astonishing: Given the response since release here on the forums, neither the overall ranking nor the adoration from a select few surprise me. I am surprised that Black Clouds didn't finish at #14 and bump TA and SC up a rank. But I think that's probably largely a function of so fewer fans posting on the forum these days, and thus fewer voting in this contest. Anyhow, I love this album. I rank it higher than it placed, but still not in the top half. Some really good stuff on here, and some ideas that I think could have taken it up a notch if given more time and reworked a bit. I'm not one to criticize the way JP and the band write, especially since it typically results in such great material. But for a concept as ambitious a this one, I think it could have benefitted even more from giving it more time to settle in and flesh out before getting it to release. But I love that this is part of the DT discography, and to this day, when I am going to be going out on a 20+ mile bike ride, I love popping this one on and just enjoying the ride.