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

[devieira73]

3.   Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence  (#4); grade (9.5/10)

Top 3 songs:    6 Degrees, The Glass Prision and Blind Faith

It's a monster of a double album!! Perfect? Maybe TGP could have a little edition, maybe I would like (even more) Misunderstood without that fade out/fade in at the end (I hate this effect in ANY song since I've heard KISS's I Love it Loud for the first time!) or maybe I'm not superfan of Disappear. Or maybe, at the end of the day, I just think that DT will never surpass its Top 2 albums and it's not 6D's fault at all.

[Lethean]

Six Degrees is #2 for me.  I love this album, and I love both discs equally.  Like I mentioned before, I remember a lot of negativity about it on the MP forum about it and I'm so glad that seems to have changed over the years.  This album is an incredible ride and it has it all.

[SwedishGoose]

I had SDOIT at number 3. Fantastic album with a great collection of songs on disc 1 and a title song/suite that ticks all of the boxes for me.

How can this not end up as a top 3....

15. Distance Over Time
14. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
13. When Dream and Day Unite
12. Systematic Chaos
11. Dream Theater
10.  A Dramatic Turn of Events
9. Falling Into Infinity
8.Train of Thought
7. A View From the Top Of the World
6. Octavarium
5. Awake
4.
3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2.
1. The Astonishing

[Mladen]

Number six for me. The reason it's not higher is probably that I do not listen to the second disc too often. I prefer the Score version. But man, those songs on disc one! The Great debate, Disappear, The Glass prison... 

[Stadler]

Two for two on the top four! 

I love this record. I think this is perhaps James' finest hour (Misunderstood is a GREAT vocal, in my opinion).   I think he also sings the shit out of the title track.  This is the first time I've noticed the sort of esoteric nature of John's story telling, but it works.  I think on a double record with all that new material, and so much that is fresh, the more obvious inspiration corner moments - Goodnight Kiss (BoRhap) and Solitary Shell (Solsbury Hill) - fit right in nicely.

1.
2.
3. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
4. Awake
5. Octavarium
6. Dream Theater
7. Systematic Chaos
8. Distance Over Time
9. A View From The Top Of The World
10. Falling Into Infinity
11. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
12. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
13. Train Of Thought
14. The Astonishing
15. When Dream And Day Unite

[Deadeye21]

What? This is number 3 over Awake? Nah.

Six Degrees is the album they wanted to make for a while, I guess. But it isn’t that good. Production is up there, some of the tones are pretty great, but idk. There’s something in the writing that doesn’t do it for me. Six Degrees is way too long (there’s a 1 3/4 minute sustained chord ffs!) and then there are songs like Misunderstood that decide to go weird just for the sake of going weird it seems. On the flip side, Glass Prison and Great Debate are epic bangers, with Blind Faith being up the top of the entire catalogue for me!

There was a time when I thought this may be better than Scenes and Images. I now believe it’s a fair bit overrated.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
My rank: (fittingly) 6th of 15

Top 5
Blind Faith
The Glass Prison
The Great Debate
Misunderstood
Disappear

My current standing
1.
2. Awake
3.
4. Falling Into Infinity
5. Octavarium
6. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
7. A Dramatic Turn of Events
8. Distance Over Time
9. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
10. A View From the Top of the World
11. Systematic Chaos
12. Train of Thought
13. When Dream And Day Unite
14. Dream Theater
15. The Astonishing

[T-ski]

#4

I surprised myself when I finished my list and this was #4. This is the one album that continued to get better every single time I listened to it. Absolutely love disc 2.

15. Astonishing
14. Systematic Chaos
13. View From the Top of the World
12. Falling Into Infinity
11. Train of Thought
10. Distance Over Time
9. When Dream and Day Unite
8. Dramatic Turn of Events
7. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
6. Dream Theater
5. Octavarium
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
3.
2.Awake
1.

[javidt]

My #1

I became a fan just after SFAM, I can remember a tape that a friend of mine recorded for me. I was blown away by Overture 1928 and then I bought the CD and listen to it over and over.

I couldn't wait to hear a new album and the day one I've bought SDOIT. I was expecting some kind of SFAM PT 2 so I felt a little bit disappointed with SDOIT (what the hell were they trying with Misunderstood?!)

But as the years have passed by I've realised that this is, for me, their best effort, very different from the rest but yet you can hear is a DT album.

Never get tired of it. First CD is perfect and the title track is very good. Lots of brilliant moments in Glass Prison, Blind Faith, etc... And, 20 years after, it still sounds fresh.

[nick_z]

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - I ranked it #9

Well, I kinda knew SDOIT was highly regarded within the DT community, but I did not expect a top 3 spot when we started the ranking!

I certainly had mixed feelings when I first listened to it. Enjoyed Disc 1 a ton, had plenty going on, some slightly more experimental stuff (not all of it 100% successful but still)...made me eager to go back to it. As for Disc 2 - I distinctly remember thinking, after it ended, it was probably my least favorite thing DT had done up to that point. Especially some of the more "orchestral" stuff - I mean, great work by Jordan and all - it just wasn't for me. It had a certain "cheese" factor (to my ears) that just didn't connect. I thought then (and still think now) Solitary Shell is absolutely lovely, and I've come to appreciate the suite more over the years (some good riffage and great moments, for sure), but it still is a relatively weak point for me.

As for Disc 1 - my favorite here is Blind Faith. Some of my favorite JLB vocal melodies in the pre-chorus, and Jordan's work on this track is brilliant (the piano break almost has a Tori Amos feel to it). MP overplays a bit in certain spots, but that's ok  Speaking of vocal melodies, great ones in Misunderstood too - again, fantastic performance by James on that one. I don't mind the industrial-sounding weirdness in the middle of the song, but the coda does go way longer than it needs to. The Glass Prison is an absolute blast (although I could do without the shredfest of trading solos roughly between the 10 and 11-minute mark). The Great Debate loses a bit of steam somewhere in the middle, but musically there's lots of interesting stuff going on. Disappear is my least favorite, but it has a haunting quality to it, and the arrangement is cool.

Anyhoo...overall good and certainly interesting album...but, as a whole, flawed enough to prevent it from reaching true greatness in my book...

15. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
14. Systematic Chaos
13. The Astonishing
12. A Dramatic Turn of Events
11.  Distance Over Time
10. A View From The Top Of The World
9.  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
8.  Octavarium
7.  Dream Theater
6.
5. Train of Thought
4. Falling Into Infinity
3. When Dream and Day Unite   
2. Awake
1.   

[TAC]

03. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

Number 1 finishes: 16
Last place finishes: 0
Average finish: 4.2

I had Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence at #13.

I simply do not understand why this album is so loved.

If I could separate the two discs, I'd put Disc 1 somewhere around 11-ish and Disc 2 LAST.

I remember getting it and being blown away by The Glass Prison. I literally played it again before moving on to the next song. I rate The Glass Prison, from where I started from, to where it is now, as their WORST aging song. It's really a slog to get through.

Blind Faith is awesome.
Misunderstood is cool. I like it, and I'm glad it's in their catalog, but it's never a song I look for.
The Great Debate...I should like it more than I should. I think it's really good.
Disappear is one of my favorite songs by DT. James is amazing and and the atmosphere of the song is gripping.

Disc 2..Oh boy. I think only FII met me with more disappointment, and I'd take FII over these 8 songs any day of the week. And The Astonishing gets accused of being Disney music...well, they must've skipped the 6 D's Overture.
About To Crash has actually aged pretty wel.
War...eh..it's ok
Test..not great
Goodnight Kiss...can we just skip to the solo
Shell..the third best song on the album after Disappear and Blind Faith. Love it!
Reprise and Losing Time....they're fine enough but I'd have to rationalize to say what I liked about them.

Actually, Disc 2 is good for something...






15. Falling Into Infinity
14. Dream Theater
13. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
12. Distance Over Time
11. Systematic Chaos
10. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
9. Octavarium
8. Train Of Thought
7. The Astonishing
6. A View From The Top Of The World
5. When Dream and Day Unite
4. Awake
3. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
2.   
1.

[Dublagent66]

I had Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence at #13.

I simply do not understand why this album is so loved.

No surprise there Tim.  SDOIT is even better than Power Windows.    However, to be fair, I didn't like it that much at first.  Never thought back then it would end up being my fav.


15  When Dream and Day Unite
14  Dream Theater
13  The Astonishing
12  A View from the Top of the World
11  Distance over Time
10  Black Clouds and Silver Linings
  9  Systematic Chaos
  8  Falling into Infinity
  7  Octavarium
  6  Train of Thought
  5  A Dramatic Turn of Events
  4  Awake
  3   
  2   
  1  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

[The Letter M]

01. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
02.
03.
04. Octavarium
05. Awake
06. A View From The Top Of The World
07. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
08. Train Of Thought
09. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10. Distance Over Time
11. Falling Into Infinity
12. Systematic Chaos
13. Dream Theater
14. When Dream And Day Unite
15. The Astonishing

I had SDOIT as my number one. It's been in my Top 3 since I discovered DT, but it took awhile to become number one. The whole album is pretty much perfect, a great balance of music and lyrics. I absolutely fell in love with the title track, and the songs before it all have some greatness to them.

I sometimes wish 100-minute CDs were a thing because then there wouldn't be this mindless debate about "disc 1 vs disc 2" or anything like that. It's one album - the constraints of the physical media shouldn't be a make-or-break point for the album. Digitally, for me at least, it's one album with six songs, and I think the band (or at least MP) sees it that way as well. I guess this is how folks might have felt when vinyl transitioned to CD and CD folks saw albums as one whole thing rather than two sides of vinyl (as I'm sure there were plenty of Side A vs Side B debates during the height of vinyl).

At any rate, I'm happy to see so many 1st place finishes for SDOIT! Honestly, my 1st and 2nd place albums could swap and I'd still be happy, but SDOIT just felt right at the top for me.

-Marc.

[mariner]

#4 for me.

Top songs are The Glass Prison, About to Crash, and Solitary Shell.

Contrary to a previous poster, this albums DOES connect with me, and the Six Degrees in particular is something I am attuned to with two children with mental illness and one currently in an adolescent treatment unit.

Love the live version of 6DOIT on Score (I was there!) as well.

First disc aside from TGP is less high on my list, but I view 6DOIT as one of their peaks (revealing my other peaks will come with the remaining 2 album reveals    )

[Adami]

1. Awake
2.
3.
4. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5. Octavarium
6. Falling Into Infinity
7. A Dramatic Turn of Events
8. Train of Thought
9. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
10. The Astonishing
11. Systematic Chaos
12. When Dream and Day Unite
13. Dream Theater
14. Distance Over Time
15. A View From the Top of the World

Amazing album. Glad to see DT doing some real exploration and experimentation. Sadly the fake strings on the title track are distracting and I never really connected to Disappear, and TGP goes on a bit too long, but beyond that it's just a stellar album. Not nearly as good as Awake, but I love it.

[pg1067]

03. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

...

Number 1 finishes: 16
Last place finishes: 0
Average finish: 4.2

My rankings:

1.
2.
3. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4. Awake
5. Octavarium
6. Train of Thought
7. Dream Theater
8. A Dramatic Turn of Events
9. When Dream and Day Unite
10. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
11. Distance over Time
12. Falling Into Infinity
13. A View from the Top of the World
14. Systematic Chaos
15. The Astonishing

Lots to say about SDOIT.  I had been a little out of the loop with DT since FII came out.  I didn't go to any shows on the FII tour or SFAM tour (for reasons I don't recall).  But I was for sure into SFAM.  SDOIT came out just a few months after I started my post-law school job.  I had a hellish commute, and I have memories of listening to SDOIT while crossing the Vincent Thomas Bridge over the Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor.

Disc 2 was an IMMEDIATE home run for me.  If we were still in the era for 40 minute albums, disc 2 by itself would have been an amazing album.  So well constructed and has everything that makes DT DT.  Disc 1, on the other hand, did not click with me.  I think the initial heaviness of TGP was a bit off-putting.  I don't know.  Or maybe it was just that disc 2 was SO GOOD that I didn't bother switching discs.  It took a good 5-6 years before anything on disc 1 really clicked for me.  At first, there was a "DT misheard lyrics" video that played the "and still life pushes on" section of Blind Faith.  I thought it was great but didn't recognize it.  Clearly, I hadn't dug into the album sufficiently because I was newly blown away by the song half a decade after it was released.  I then gave disc 1 a more in depth listen.  TGP still isn't a favorite, but I love the intro and outro and a bunch of stuff in between.  Misunderstood is really well done and relatively atypical for me.  On the negative side, TGD is still a gigantic ball of garbled blech (right down there with New Millennium, Repentance and The Mirror).  I initially felt similarly about Disappear, but now I just think it's boring AF.  If they had dropped TGD and Disappear and made this a single CD, it quite possibly would be my #1 DT album.

Disc 2..Oh boy. I think only FII met me with more disappointment, and I'd take FII over these 8 songs any day of the week. And The Astonishing gets accused of being Disney music...well, they must've skipped the 6 D's Overture.

I will grant you that there are aspects of the Overture that have movie score feel, but it's anything but Disney.  I think it's FANTASIC, but I can understand why it doesn't resonate for some.  I wonder...what do you think of the Score version that's performed entirely by the orchestra?  Better?  Worse?  Same?

[TAC]

I will grant you that there are aspects of the Overture that have movie score feel, but it's anything but Disney.  I think it's FANTASIC, but I can understand why it doesn't resonate for some.  I wonder...what do you think of the Score version that's performed entirely by the orchestra?  Better?  Worse?  Same?

There is nothing that I find less interesting than when bands play with an orchestra. And nothing pisses me off more than it being ONE track on Score. I've heard it through maybe a couple of times, but for me, as with the 6 D's album, I only listen to the first disc of Score.

[Adami]

I actually just listened to the Score version of the entire song yesterday.

The band themselves sound great, but the orchestra is just awful on this. They're out of tune, off time, just playing really poorly. This is one I really wish got a great orchestra/symphony to play instead. They didn't sound nearly as bad on the other songs, but on this one? Eesh.

[Shalev Amir]

Awake - #4, the stretch from Erotomania to Lie is one of their best ever, and the last three songs are great too. The first three haven't aged for me that well though.

6DOIT - #1. Somewhen along the way I realized it's one of the most perfect DT albums. TGP is one of my favourite songs ever, the next four tracks offer great variety, and the title track is very fun to listen to.

[Samsara]

I had Six Degrees, ironically, at #6.

It's an ambitious album and one I felt was a bit pompous. I really enjoyed the tour. I saw the warm-up show at BB Kings, which was awesome. Then I saw the headline show at Jones Beach with Satriani and King's X.

Favorite tunes:

The Great Debate
The Glass Prison
About to Crash
Solitary Shell

I really felt this record should have been two separate albums. Disc One is its own thing, entirely, as is Disc Two. Maybe a five-track album scared the label or DT off? I don't know. But I just feel like both discs should have been independent releases.

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

Anyway, a good release that I don't have nearly as high as others. As I said at the outset, I thought it was a bit pompous of the band following up SFAM with this.

[Dublagent66]

SDOIT is perfect as a double album. 

[Lethean]

SDOIT is perfect as a double album. 

Agreed.

[Stadler]

I believe the song "Misunderstood" is, well, misunderstood.

[Dublagent66]

Love Misunderstood until the "finger nails on the chalkboard" ending.    Still, great song.

[TAC]

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

I'm not familiar with this..

[Stadler]

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

I'm not familiar with this..

What was the show?

[TAC]

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

I'm not familiar with this..

What was the show?

I don't know. I said I wasn't familiar with it.



 

[Samsara]

lol. I can't remember. Some of the DT historians here HAVE to remember this though. There was a big to-do about it at the time, or at least I thought so. Maybe Setlist Scotty recalls?

[jammindude]

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

I'm not familiar with this..

What was the show?

It was The Today Show and I remember that MP specifically sited what happened to Extreme when More Than Words and Hole Hearted became hits. The band was typecast, and MP was of the opinion (as many people are) that having a ballad hit from a metal band is a career killer.

[Elite]

Poor Awake.

Here's my full list. Would it have helped Awake had I actually sent it?

1   Images and Words
2   Awake
3   Scenes from a Memory
4   Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
5   Falling into Infinity
6   Systematic Chaos
7   A Dramatic Turn of Events
8   Train of Thought
9   A View from the Top of the World
10   The Astonishing
11   Octavarium
12   When Dream and Day Unite
13   Distance over Time
14   Dream Theater
15   Black Clouds and Silver Linings

[Samsara]

It was The Today Show and I remember that MP specifically sited what happened to Extreme when More Than Words and Hole Hearted became hits. The band was typecast, and MP was of the opinion (as many people are) that having a ballad hit from a metal band is a career killer.

Thanks JD. Appreciate that. And it wasn't a career killer at all for Extreme. They exploded in popularity. Mr. Big experienced the same thing. Queensryche experienced the same thing. It did wonders for all of them and more.

To this day, that was a very, very poor decision by DT/MP, IMO. it would never have hurt them. it would have exposed their music to a wider audience. They've done great, obviously, but IMO, that was a huge mistake. A pompous mistake.

[TAC]

I wonder if the FII experience scared MP off from doing it. Perhaps it may have been shortsighted, but you (not you personally Sam) gotta respect MP's vision for DT.

[jammindude]

It was The Today Show and I remember that MP specifically sited what happened to Extreme when More Than Words and Hole Hearted became hits. The band was typecast, and MP was of the opinion (as many people are) that having a ballad hit from a metal band is a career killer.

Thanks JD. Appreciate that. And it wasn't a career killer at all for Extreme. They exploded in popularity. Mr. Big experienced the same thing. Queensryche experienced the same thing. It did wonders for all of them and more.

To this day, that was a very, very poor decision by DT/MP, IMO. it would never have hurt them. it would have exposed their music to a wider audience. They've done great, obviously, but IMO, that was a huge mistake. A pompous mistake.

I disagree on Extreme. I think the entire thought process is, “Yes. You get explosive popularity IN THE SHORT TERM. But if your next album doesn’t have ‘Solitary Shell Part 2’ then the album flops and you’re done. Because the people listening to the radio just want you to make songs for radio.”

EDIT - and Extreme’s follow up album DID flop in comparison to Pornograffiti, and part of the reason was it didn’t have a follow up single on the radio like More Than Words.

[Samsara]

Extreme's follow up to Pornograffiti only fell short of those sales because the music climate shifted. That's the ONLY reason.

Your argument "You get explosive popularity IN THE SHORT TERM. But if your next album doesn’t have ‘Solitary Shell Part 2’ then the album flops and you’re done" doesn't hold water, because the follow-up record is going to have all those crossover fans BUYING IT first week, along with the rest of the diehards. So that's not really accurate.

In the end, it's about exposing the band to a potential wider audience. MP and company decided to sit pat, and it didn't hurt them. But those that take advantage of those opportunities are a lot wiser, IMO.

*edited to correct spelling.

[Stadler]

I'm kind of with Samsara here. 

And bear in mind, it's not like they didn't have exposure before; "Pull Me Under" and MTV.  I get protecting your baby, but even the greatest acts have had albums to live up to - Bruce Springsteen is still chasing "Born In The USA" from 1985, REM was chasing "Man On The Moon" up until they called it a day, U2 has been chasing "One" for the better part of 30 years... and all three were or are touring stadiums.  Does Motley have anything as big as "Home Sweet Home"?  They're doing okay.   Fuck, Extreme just opened for Aerosmith at Fenway; their issues are not chasing "More Than Words", as Samsara indicated.

[devieira73]

One of the other mistakes I felt the band made during this cycle was refusing to be a on nationally broadcast talk show because they wanted "Solitary Shell" played. My memory could be fuzzy, but I believe MP said that the band didn't want to "compromise who they were" by playing that track live. Which made no sense to me, because one, that song was very much a part of who DT was and is, and two, why in the world would you stupidly turn down that marketing? If I was the label, I would have been HOT. Talk about a missed crossover opportunity.

I'm not familiar with this..

Maybe I'm wrong, but from what I remember by memory, the real problem wasn't to play a ballad, but that the show wanted DT to play only as an acoustic trio (guitar, piano and vocals)?