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

[WilliamMunny]

FII ranked 5 for me, but depending on the day, it could be as high as 2 (or even number 1 if we are talking about my personal mix which includes a handful of demos).

At the time, I appreciated what (to me) felt like an honest departure from Awake. Between I&W, Awake, and FII, I felt like DT had covered a tremendous amount of ground, and at that time, each record fit a specific mood.

As the years have passed, I have come to appreciate FII more and more. The band will likely never return to making albums this way—demoing, trying different recording techniques depending on the song, etc. I've also come to really enjoy the more 'standard' numbers like "You Not Me" and "Burning My Soul." Again, I don't want ever DT song to follow a simple arrangement, but in the context of a record, having a couple of traditional rock songs really adds a sense of balance.

Any band with 15 albums (not named AC/DC) will likely spread its wings at one point or another—just as some people really appreciate The Astonishing for the departure that it is, I appreciate FII. I suspect, as I get older, my connection to the album (and songs like "Take Away My Pain") will only continue to deepen.

Interestingly enough, I looked back at my listening history over the past 5 years, and FII dominates my most listened to DT, so the record has remained relevant to me on a level that other albums have failed to do.

[pg1067]

I consider IPTOE ONE song anyway. I never separate them.

The band did that for us.

10. Falling into Infinity

Number 1 finishes: 1
Last place finishes: 6
Average finish: 9.8

Unlike many fans, I didn't consider this a disappointment at the time of its release.  I knew it wasn't as great as I&W or Awake (few album are), but it was still really good, and it had songs I considered some of their best, ones that have held up as such, for me anyway.  I gave it a couple fresh listens earlier this month and came away realizing it is probably their one album I would call a "rock" record, first and foremost.  The prog and metal elements are still there, but do not seem as prevalent.  A very unique record for the band.  I ranked it 7th.

My top 5 songs from the album:
1. Peruvian Skies
2. Trial of Tears
3. Lines in the Sand
4. Hell's Kitchen
5. Hollow Years

My rankings:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Dream Theater
8.
9. When Dream and Day Unite
10. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
11.
12. Falling Into Infinity
13.
14. Systematic Chaos
15. The Astonishing

I can distinctly recall listening to this for the first time.  In fact, I remember looking at the CD booklet and thinking, "huh..."  It didn't really look like a Dream Theater album.  Where was the logo?  Why would they change that?  "Eh...who cares?  Let's hear it!"  New Millennium started out well enough.  Gonna take me a couple listens to figure out these time signatures.  OK...change coming...and then...dump.  What the hell is this?  After a few minutes, I skipped to song #2.  Really?  And so on.  On first listen, the only thing that was even remotely appealing was Hollow Years.  Eventually, I softened on a few of the songs.  Trial of Tears is solid, but not great.  Anna Lee is awesome (but not really core DT sound).  Hell's Kitchen is great.  Hollow Years is an excellent ballad.  Even You Not Me isn't bad.  Lines in the Sand?  With a better chorus, it could be the best song on the album, but that chorus straight ruins it.  The rest of the songs hold no interest for me, and NM is a bottom 5 DT song.  And no, none of the demo versions or rejected songs have any impact on my opinion.  Raise the Knife is pretty good, but the album would, on the whole, be worse if the rejected songs had been included.  It would have been a double CD drudge into naptime.

[javidt]

#8 for me.

I didn't know DT yet when it was released but Trial of Tears is my favourite DT track and LITS one of my favourites.  Hell's kitchen is fabulous too. I really miss this sound. The guitar turned way more heavy since SFAM onwards.

Unfortunately BMS and JLMB bore me and TAMP (album edit) sounds very artificial.

With the passing of the time I appreciate it more but it's too unbalanced to be higher on my ranking. Maybe it could reach #7 but, for me, are 6 albums clearly better than FII

[Zydar]

I had FII at #5 actually. I really enjoy this album. Great production/sound, it has a unique "feel" in their discography, and plenty of great songs. Favourites are New Millennium, Peruvian Skies, Hollow Years, Take Away My Pain, and Trial Of Tears. Anna Lee is a lovely ballad. I never could get into Lines In The Sand though, it seems to be a fan favourite.

[Lethean]

I had it at 12.  No big complaints - I love the album and just like some of the others more.  Trial of Tears is one of my favorite DT songs.

[geeeemo]

I have it at#4.

For a while, I was influenced (as a new-ish listener of 6 years now) by what others say. FII - meh - as well as SC, and BCSL. But, now that I know the music well, I am really paying attention to what I enjoy. I enjoy the heck of this one. It's groovy, unique and atmospheric. I enjoy all the songs (except YNM, it's ok).  I have listened to it several times recently and its my go-to at the moment.

[Revenge319]

I ranked Falling Into Infinity at #14. Similarly to how I feel about the self-titled album, this album is low mainly because it's inconsistent. The way I see it, there's a really good half (HY, BMS, HK, LitS, TAMP, AL, ToT) and a decent but not particularly interesting half (NM, YNM, PS, JLMB). The first time I heard this album, I thought it was pretty mediocre, but it's really grown on me over the years. The highs aren't as high as the self-titled album, and the lows are a little lower, but overall it's still a pretty good album!

Rankings:
1. Trial of Tears
2. Hell's Kitchen
3. Lines in the Sand
4. Anna Lee
5. Hollow Years
6. Take Away My Pain
7. Burning My Soul
8. Peruvian Skies
9. You Not Me
10. New Millennium
11. Just Let Me Breathe

[DragonAttack]

Falling Into Infinity   #7

A fan for five years, I still didn't own this when I saw DT for the fourth time in '09. Portnoy comes out at the beginning of the encore, and starts messing around in front of the kit, tapping on items, gently flinging through the chimes, etc., and I whisper into my wife's ear " I think they're going to play 'Xanadu'. 

Finally got it around the time of the BC&SL release.  Following my recent purchases of ToT and SC, I needed this more 'soothing' and more melodic offering.  There's a couple of clunkers, but I really enjoy what's on my version:

Burning My Soul / Peruvian Skies / Hollow Years / Hell's Kitchen / Lines In the Sand / Take Away My Pain / Just Let Me Breathe / Trial of Tears

A shame that 'Raise The Knife' and a couple of other 'Closet' tracks weren't part of this album.  And, the older I get, the more I enjoy this. And it has aged rather well (much better than me 😉☹️)

[ZirconBlue]

FII was a bit of a let-down for me when it first came out, but it's really grown on me over the years.  I prefer the demo versions of several of the songs, and I really like the songs that were left off the album.  So, it could easily been my number 1 in an alternate universe.



1   
2   
3   Falling into Infinity
4   
5   
6   
7   
8   
9   Dream Theater
10   Systematic Chaos
11   
12   The Astonishing
13   
14   When Dream and Day Unite
15   Black Clouds and Silver Linings

[jammindude]

I had FII at #9 and I don’t get the hate for NM at all. That instrumental break might be one of the coolest jams the band has ever recorded. And JM rockin the Chapman stick has me dancing around and “slapping da bass” like Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”. I guess some people think the lyrics are bad, but that seems a lame argument when songs like Constant Motion are often praised in spite of the lyrics that feel like something I wrote on a Pee-Chee when I was 12.

Lines in the Sand gets ruined by the terrible chorus.

Most of the rest of the album is pretty good. But I think the album would have benefited from using the original arrangements (leaving HK in BMS) and swapping RTK for LITS.

[nick_z]

I had FII at #9 and I don’t get the hate for NM at all. That instrumental break might be one of the coolest jams the band has ever recorded. And JM rockin the Chapman stick has me dancing around and “slapping da bass” like Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”.

YES!...

Lines in the Sand gets ruined by the terrible chorus.

...and NO 

But I think the album would have benefited from using the original arrangements (leaving HK in BMS)

Hmmm...I personally think separating the two was the single best production decision that was made in these sessions - I'm saying this because I absolutely love HK AND BMS might well be my least favorite song on the album.

[jammindude]

I had FII at #9 and I don’t get the hate for NM at all. That instrumental break might be one of the coolest jams the band has ever recorded. And JM rockin the Chapman stick has me dancing around and “slapping da bass” like Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”.

YES!...

Lines in the Sand gets ruined by the terrible chorus.

...and NO 

But I think the album would have benefited from using the original arrangements (leaving HK in BMS)

Hmmm...I personally think separating the two was the single best production decision that was made in these sessions - I'm saying this because I absolutely love HK AND BMS might well be my least favorite song on the album.

I’m not a fan of BMS the way it turned out, but I really like the ‘96 arrangement and I wish it would have gotten a properly produced recording.

[Samsara]

I had it at #5, and I think depending on the day can flip-flop with my #4 (which has yet to be revealed).

I think Falling Into Infinity is an OUTSTANDING record. I loved it from the moment I heard it. The songs breathed, there was an organic feel to it all (courtesy, I believe, of Kevin Shirley), Derek Sherinian really had his style embedded in the songs and it was just so incredible with Lines in the Sand and Trial of Tears.

I saw the end of this tour...DT opening for ELP and Deep Purple in August 1998 at Jones Beach was my first DT experience. I still visually remember them on stage doing New Millennium.

In the years that followed, and the slights that came out from MP about the album, the process, and all the drama MP went through with this whole writing/recording, I felt his comments really damned this record to fans. I can't remember exactly, but 11 or 12 years ago (could be longer), I remember posting how MP's shitting on this album publicly really just built a herd of sheep against FII. I thought that was wrong. Just because MP had a difficult time and didn't like the direction, didn't mean it wasn't a good one.

In fact, I think FII is one of Dream Theater's finest albums, BECAUSE of the changes made. You Not Me is significantly better and more streamlined in comparison to You Or Me. I remember You Not Me getting a ton of radio airplay on Long Island - something I don't believe You Or Me ever would have. It was a lot easier to listen to, but still maintained DT's sense of prog and high level of musicianship. To me, FII was to Dream Theater what Empire was to Queensryche.

Another great change - lifting "Hell's Kitchen" out of "Burning My Soul." I'm sorry for fans that like the "Metropolis" style of songs, where you plop an instrumental section that has nothing to do with the actual song into the middle, and then resume the song. That's cool once in awhile, but Dream Theater, particularly as they moved into the 2000s, started doing this all the time, and that sucked to me. IMO, "Hell's Kitchen" and "Burning My Soul" were way better separated.

These were SMART decisions. And it helped achieve a few things for the band in terms of being noticed by a wider audience of listeners. Not to a huge degree, because obviously they came back with SFAM and that skyrocketed their career. But FII is a unique piece in the DT catalog that has brilliant moments. Sure, I didn't like JP doing a little writing with Desmond Child - but it made for a better song and a really good single for the band. A one-time thing that resulted in something good.

And here we are now in 2022, and low and behold, the album, while not top tier for MOST Dream Theater fans, is thought of MUCH MORE HIGHLY than it was. I have a feeling that the record will continue to be appreciated more and more as the years go on. Wish the band would have performed a suite of tracks from it this year in honor of 25 years.

I also think the leftover tracks were damn good too. Speak to Me is a gem, and should have been on there. Cover My Eyes was a fun, tune, even if it had a b-side whiff to it, etc. I'm glad I saw these two cuts live.

My top tracks: Trial of Tears, Lines in the Sand, Anna Lee, Hell's Kitchen.

[TAC]

In the years that followed, and the slights that came out from MP about the album, the process, and all the drama MP went through with this whole writing/recording, I felt his comments really damned this record to fans. I can't remember exactly, but 11 or 12 years ago (could be longer), I remember posting how MP's shitting on this album publicly really just built a herd of sheep against FII. I thought that was wrong. Just because MP had a difficult time and didn't like the direction, didn't mean it wasn't a good one.

I don't know. Are DT fans really sheep?

I think going back in time, it's easy to pick out a couple of great tunes, as with any other of their albums, and it simply blends with the rest of the catalog. All I can say is that I thought DT "Sold Out" when I heard it. That was my thought.

And all MP's comments did was confirm my suspicions about the album. They validated my opinion on the album.


I rated this at #15 BTW. Yes it sounds awesome. Yes it has three great tunes...Lines, Trial, and Peruvian Skies. But the rest is so inferior to anything DT had done before it.

[Dream Team]

People can try to ret-conn all they want but FII will NEVER be thought of as a top-tier DT album by the majority no matter how far into an imaginary future you go.

[pg1067]

Hmmm...I personally think separating the two was the single best production decision that was made in these sessions

I agree.  When I first heard them combined I thought it was one of the most out of place things ever - possibly even more out of place than the Erotomania section in Oliver's Twist.

I had FII at #9 and I don’t get the hate for NM at all. That instrumental break might be one of the coolest jams the band has ever recorded. And JM rockin the Chapman stick has me dancing around and “slapping da bass” like Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”. I guess some people think the lyrics are bad, but that seems a lame argument when songs like Constant Motion are often praised in spite of the lyrics that feel like something I wrote on a Pee-Chee when I was 12.

FWIW, I have nothing in particular against the lyrics of NM.  Neil Peart could have written the lyrics and it wouldn't save the meandering musical mess.

In the years that followed, and the slights that came out from MP about the album, the process, and all the drama MP went through with this whole writing/recording, I felt his comments really damned this record to fans. I can't remember exactly, but 11 or 12 years ago (could be longer), I remember posting how MP's shitting on this album publicly really just built a herd of sheep against FII. I thought that was wrong. Just because MP had a difficult time and didn't like the direction, didn't mean it wasn't a good one.

I don't know. Are DT fans really sheep?

"Sheep" is probably a bit of an overstatement, but I agree with Brian's general point.  I FIRMLY believe that the amount of hate that FII gets is greater because of MP's comments than it would have been had he never made those comments or if he had said something like, "Yeah...the process leading up to FII was pretty frustrating, and we wanted to make a double CD, but it wasn't in the cards.  Here are the songs that didn't make the cut.  Hope you enjoy them."  Same with the snare sound on I&W.  If he doesn't make his public comments, I'm guessing 50% or more of the fans don't even notice and only a small fraction would care.

[Samsara]

re: sheep - That was the first and only time I remember DT fans sitting there, and just lapping up stuff, and then defending to the hilt MP's thoughts on the FII process and album. I found it pitiful.

You can like or dislike a record, it really doesn't matter. But I was really surprised people just piled on FII after MP said something. And hey, MP's entitled to his opinion, obviously. The man co-wrote the record and performed on it. If the whole thing was a bad project, I get it. But I felt like his public commentary on it drummed up an incredible amount of hate for a record that doesn't deserve it. And from what I see here...people are finally realizing that FII really wasn't as bad as many claim it to be.

I'm not saying people will think of it as top tier as a whole. *I* do. But I do think as we're seeing here, people don't think it's nearly as bad as was trumpeted for the years following MP's comments.

[TAC]

Well, I piled on on my first listen long before I ever knew what MP thought of it.

[Samsara]

Well, I piled on on my first listen long before I ever knew what MP thought of it.

In B4 the wool, eh, Tim? 

[TAC]

Well, I piled on on my first listen long before I ever knew what MP thought of it.

In B4 the wool, eh, Tim? 

The genesis of my Bah humbug self.

[Shalev Amir]

I'm glad to see it placed higher than done lesser albums, I had it at #7. Lines in the Sand is one of the greatest DT songs, and I honestly like some of the hated tracks like Burning My Soul and JLMB.

[Dublagent66]

People can try to ret-conn all they want but FII will NEVER be thought of as a top-tier DT album by the majority no matter how far into an imaginary future you go.

I think we all pretty much know that, but it doesn't necessarily mean it's bottom-tier either.  My ranking is almost in line with the average.  Just a notch or two back from middle of the road.

[The Realm]

Falling Into Infinity was #6 for me. I really like this album, the sound of it actually means I do listen to it a fair bit, skipping a track here and there as it isn't perfect but still has some great songs.

[Dublagent66]

re: sheep - That was the first and only time I remember DT fans sitting there, and just lapping up stuff, and then defending to the hilt MP's thoughts on the FII process and album. I found it pitiful.

You can like or dislike a record, it really doesn't matter. But I was really surprised people just piled on FII after MP said something. And hey, MP's entitled to his opinion, obviously. The man co-wrote the record and performed on it. If the whole thing was a bad project, I get it. But I felt like his public commentary on it drummed up an incredible amount of hate for a record that doesn't deserve it. And from what I see here...people are finally realizing that FII really wasn't as bad as many claim it to be.

I'm not saying people will think of it as top tier as a whole. *I* do. But I do think as we're seeing here, people don't think it's nearly as bad as was trumpeted for the years following MP's comments.

Totally agree Sam.  It's a shame that so many opinions were affected by just a few comments.  I guess I was fortunate enough listen to album before hearing any such comments, but I'm not normally swayed by other's opinions anyway.  People should listen to the record and form their own opinions of it.

I had FII at #9 and I don’t get the hate for NM at all. That instrumental break might be one of the coolest jams the band has ever recorded. And JM rockin the Chapman stick has me dancing around and “slapping da bass” like Paul Rudd in “I Love You, Man”. I guess some people think the lyrics are bad, but that seems a lame argument when songs like Constant Motion are often praised in spite of the lyrics that feel like something I wrote on a Pee-Chee when I was 12.

FWIW, I have nothing in particular against the lyrics of NM.  Neil Peart could have written the lyrics and it wouldn't save the meandering musical mess.

NM isn't one of my favs either, but never really thought of it as a meandering musical mess. 

[KevShmev]

Along the lines of what has been discussed, it feels like some get too hung up on what the album could have been, rather than focusing on what it is.  We have seen that in some of the chatter today on the record.

[Setlist Scotty]

In the years that followed, and the slights that came out from MP about the album, the process, and all the drama MP went through with this whole writing/recording, I felt his comments really damned this record to fans. I can't remember exactly, but 11 or 12 years ago (could be longer), I remember posting how MP's shitting on this album publicly really just built a herd of sheep against FII. I thought that was wrong. Just because MP had a difficult time and didn't like the direction, didn't mean it wasn't a good one.

I don't know. Are DT fans really sheep?

"Sheep" is probably a bit of an overstatement, but I agree with Brian's general point.  I FIRMLY believe that the amount of hate that FII gets is greater because of MP's comments than it would have been had he never made those comments or if he had said something like, "Yeah...the process leading up to FII was pretty frustrating, and we wanted to make a double CD, but it wasn't in the cards.  Here are the songs that didn't make the cut.  Hope you enjoy them."  Same with the snare sound on I&W.  If he doesn't make his public comments, I'm guessing 50% or more of the fans don't even notice and only a small fraction would care.

I really can't comment regarding anyone who became a fan after 1997, but as someone who was a diehard fan long before that and religiously read every issue of the Ytsejam mailing list, I can say emphatically that I was severely disappointed with FII when I picked it up, especially having had a bootleg from the Fix for 96 tour that I had become intimately familiar with. And I wasn't alone but any stretch of the imagination. Granted, the fanbase has grown exponentially since then, so the majority of the fanbase today was not there when FII was released, but to say that MP's comments tarnished FII rings hollow from my perspective.

[TAC]

I agree Scotty. The first time I heard it I was like "What the hell is this?"

I don't even like listening to bootlegs from this era. It's the equivalent of a kid's gawky pre teen years full of zits and awkwardness.

Although I do love the Christmas '98 shows.

[Ben_Jamin]

#11 - Dream Theater (My Ranking: #11)

Since the album preceding this one had drum parts written by JP, I was highly anticipated to hear Mangini's contributions to the band. This album did not disappoint in regards to his contributions. Where it does disappoint is in the overall production decisions for the tones on the album.

The tone of the snare drum works in certain songs, such as The Enemy Inside, Enigma Machine, False Awakening Suite, and Behind The Veil. But it does not on some of the more light-hearted songs. Since the snare tone is part of the entire albums tone as well, I can sort of bypass it. In regards to the tone of the album, the cover does represent it well, it's dark, cold, metallic, but with a glimpse of light-heartedness.

The production, or more, the sound of the album ended up being a bit too much chocolate on the cake. It's dense and there's sounds that are hard to hear at parts. This is one of the only albums where I ended up buying a Hi-Res version and it does enhance the space a lot more to allow those sounds to breathe and be heard.

I really do enjoy a lot of the songs, The Bigger Picture is my 3rd favorite song by the band and one I feel suffers from the production. The intro of TBP is the best example of that dense, loud sound. Illumination Theory is conceptually a great song, and the structure reflects that concept. The middle ambient and following orchestral section isn't jarring for me because of the concept. Actually, that's another reason why I enjoy this album is because of a theme the songs seem to have a hint of, which is "what are you willing to live/die/kill for?"


Favorite: The Bigger Picture
Least: The Looking Glass

[Lethean]

Re: MP's comments.  I don't think they affected me.  I wasn't familiar with DT when it came out, so I got it a few years later.  This would have been after Six Degrees.  And to me, WDADU was the "worst," and Falling into Infinity was next.  I don't think I had any clue about MP's comments.  And, I loved Take Away My Pain and Hell's Kitchen, and liked Burning My Soul just fine.  I didn't know about any of that.  I thought (and still do) that New Millennium was awesome.  But song for song, it just wasn't as good as the rest.  You Not Me was fine; pleasant.  Just Let Me Breathe was decent.  And since I thought every track on the other albums was way better than decent or fine, Falling into Infinity wasn't quite as good.

Out of curiosity, when did MP's frustrations become public?

[Ben_Jamin]

#10 - Falling Into Infinity (My Ranking: #14)


The songs I first heard from this album were the ones played on Live at Budakon. Then I borrowed my uncles Live in Tokyo/Once In A Livetime dvd and heard some of the other songs. I then saw Just Let Me Breathe Live at Gigantour and I remember that unison part of the instrumental and loving it. The first time I heard the album was when I borrowed my friends cd to rip onto my computer.

Even though I still quite enjoy what the album became. It's hard for me to ignore what could have been, even if the changes were still the same but minimal, like including other songs, but still keeping certain changes like the BMS split. This is the only reason why I rank it this low.

Now, the songs themselves are not bad at all. Even You Not Me is growing on me. The only one I never cared for is Burning My Soul, but it's a conundrum for me because I like how the demo starts but love Hell's Kitchen. With that opening and the JLB's delivery of the lyrics adds more to that song, and If they had just kept that and the rest of the song stayed the same, it would be one I would enjoy more. Take Away My Pain is the same way. I like chorus of the album, but I enjoy the structure of the demo being more somber. My favorite is Trial of Tears, and I like how it sounds on the album. Hollow Years, I enjoy as is, but once I heard the demo, I wish the pre-chorus would've been left in. Of course the definitive version for me now is the live version of Budakon.   

If we would've gotten the double album, with also some changes to the songs, this would be higher up on my list.


Favorite: Trial of Tears
Least: You Not Me (But if they were to have kept the structure of "You or Me" with the chorus of "You Not Me", it would be higher up and another song would take this spot)

[Cool Chris]

Is it as strong as the albums either side of it? No. It wasn’t meant to be.

Well if they were going for an album that wasn't as strong as their previous efforts, this is a massive success! 

Easily the weakest of James' albums. I didn't enjoy it when it was released, that didn't change when I found out about all the drama going on at the time, it didn't change when I heard the demos/tracks that didn't make the cut, it's not going to change in the future.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7. Systematic Chaos
8.
9.
10. Dream Theater
11. The Astonishing
12.
13. Black Clouds and Silver Linings
14. Falling into Infinity
15. When Dream And Day Unite

[Wim Kruithof]

15) Falling Into Infinity
14) When Dream and Day Unite
13)
12) The Astonishing
11) Systematic Chaos
10) Dream Theater
09) Black Clouds and Silver Linings
08)
07)
06)
05)
04)
03)
02)
01)

Falling Into Infinity is just not an album that I revisit often. You Not Me and New Millennium are amongst the weakest of the whole discography if you ask me and Just Let Me Breathe is not that far off. Besides, the artwork is a huge let-down as well (even more so with Once in a LIFEtime, where the logo is missing completely). Although the album has very highs, with Trial of Tears, Peruvian Skies, Lines in the Sand and Hollow Years... somehow I can't rank it any higher than last. And I do believe that Hell's Kitchen should have remained within Burning My Soul.

[KevShmev]

09. Distance over Time

Number 1 finishes: 0
Last place finishes: 2
Average finish: 9.0

I ranked this 8th, so it finishing 9th is just about right if you ask me.  Darn good record, featuring what I feel are the two best songs of the MM era: Fall into the Light and At Wit's End.  I feel that the first two songs are pretty average, but everything else ranges from very good to great (the big two), and the bonus track Viper King is really good as well.  It's a shame that 1/3 of the songs from the proper album have been neglected live thus far, but such is the consequence of the band playing static set lists.

My top 5 songs from the album:
1. Fall into the Light
2. At Wit's End
3. Out of Reach
4. Barstool Warrior
5. Room 137
*Viper King would have been in the 5th spot if it were on the proper album

[Wim Kruithof]

I ranked Distance Over Time as 13th. As being the first album I was aware of releasing since I became a fan, my expectations were so high. Maybe it drowned a little bit by my own making. I love a couple of songs and it still remains a beautiful piece of music, but there is just too much I enjoy more. Barstool Warrior and At Wit's End are the top of this if you ask me.

Room 137 is the rock-bottom. As Mangini's first lyrical input, I hope he'll stick with the drumsticks from now on.

[T-ski]

#10.

Lots of good stuff on this one, just thought other albums were better overall.