Scenes vs I&W

[LKap13]

Any strong opinions about one's superiority over the other. I'm in camp Image at the moment

[Trav86]

I'm going to go with Images and Words.

[EPIC Outro]

Scenes From A Memory literally changed me as a person, so that one gets my vote.

[Mladen]

Scenes. By a hair.

[The Letter M]

Thought this was a poll but was deceived. Ah well...

Going with SFAM, but IAW is pretty good too.

-Marc.

[pg1067]

There were lots of opinions (strong and otherwise) expressed in the recent DT album countdown thread:

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=57682.0

For me, SFAM is #1 by a hair over I&W.

[Trav86]

I think for me what puts Images and Words above is the fact that every song is a masterpiece all on it's own.  I love every song on Scenes from a Memory, but "Through My Words" doesn't work without "Fatal Tragedy". And "One Last Time", outside the context of the album, doesn't have the same impact. I guess that makes sense.

[axeman90210]

Images and Words is the better collection of songs, Scenes is the better album as a whole.

[LKap13]

Images and Words is the better collection of songs, Scenes is the better album as a whole.

This may or may not be fallacious but I'll take it

[wolfking]

Was always Images but over the last month.......it might now be Scenes.

[gzarruk]

Scenes was my introduction to DT, prog and this whole new level of musicality/writing I'd never heard before. That says it all

[don_waka]

For me:

Images and Words
Awake
Six Degrees
SFAM

[goo-goo]

Scenes was my introduction to DT, prog and this whole new level of musicality/writing I'd never heard before. That says it all

For me it was Images and Words but SFAM took to a new /different level. Both albums were very influential in my musical discoveries further down in life. Having said that, I tend to gravitate to SFAM more than I&W due to the level of musicianship and heaviness.

[Kram]

Scenes - but it's close. I&W is absolutely amazing!  Both are on my Top 10 all-time album list

[Animal]

Definitely Scenes. But I like Awake even more than Scenes. Images has strongest songs if ranked individually but doesn't do much for me as an album experience, at least compared to the former two (I almost never listen to IaW as a whole, though each of its songs makes my playlist quite often. With Scenes, it's almost the opposite, with Awake, something in the middle).

[The Letter M]

Not counting axeman's post, of the 12 unique responses so far, 3 are for IAW while 9 are for SFAM. Looks like, as of this reply, DT Fans prefer SFAM over IAW 3-to-1. Not at all surprising, considering a lot of fans got their start with DT with SFAM (myself included, though it wasn't their newest album at the time I discovered them, it was definitely one of their most praised).

-Marc.

[pg1067]

Not counting axeman's post, of the 12 unique responses so far, 3 are for IAW while 9 are for SFAM. Looks like, as of this reply, DT Fans prefer SFAM over IAW 3-to-1. Not at all surprising, considering a lot of fans got their start with DT with SFAM (myself included, though it wasn't their newest album at the time I discovered them, it was definitely one of their most praised).

If you review the album ranking thread to which I linked, you'll see the following:

Number of lists submitted:  65
Lists with I&W as #1:  18
Lists with SFAM as #1:  14
Average rank for I&W:  3.4
Average rank for SFAM:  2.7

Nearly half of the lists had one of these two albums as the #1 album (and neither had any last place finishes).  I&W got more #1 votes (as did SDOIT, by the way), but SFAM fared better in the aggregate.  Kev noted that SFAM was in the top 5 on 59/65 lists but didn't mention how many had I&W in the top 5.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Aw man. Two absolute giants. I consider both to be in my top tier of DT albums, along with Awake and SDOIT. I don't have a strong opinion either way. If I had to choose, I would probably go with I&W.

[Dream Team]

Not counting axeman's post, of the 12 unique responses so far, 3 are for IAW while 9 are for SFAM. Looks like, as of this reply, DT Fans prefer SFAM over IAW 3-to-1. Not at all surprising, considering a lot of fans got their start with DT with SFAM (myself included, though it wasn't their newest album at the time I discovered them, it was definitely one of their most praised).

If you review the album ranking thread to which I linked, you'll see the following:

Number of lists submitted:  65
Lists with I&W as #1:  18
Lists with SFAM as #1:  14
Average rank for I&W:  3.4
Average rank for SFAM:  2.7

Nearly half of the lists had one of these two albums as the #1 album (and neither had any last place finishes).  I&W got more #1 votes (as did SDOIT, by the way), but SFAM fared better in the aggregate.  Kev noted that SFAM was in the top 5 on 59/65 lists but didn't mention how many had I&W in the top 5.

I love facts.

[tofee35]

Not counting axeman's post, of the 12 unique responses so far, 3 are for IAW while 9 are for SFAM. Looks like, as of this reply, DT Fans prefer SFAM over IAW 3-to-1. Not at all surprising, considering a lot of fans got their start with DT with SFAM (myself included, though it wasn't their newest album at the time I discovered them, it was definitely one of their most praised).

If you review the album ranking thread to which I linked, you'll see the following:

Number of lists submitted:  65
Lists with I&W as #1:  18
Lists with SFAM as #1:  14
Average rank for I&W:  3.4
Average rank for SFAM:  2.7

Nearly half of the lists had one of these two albums as the #1 album (and neither had any last place finishes).  I&W got more #1 votes (as did SDOIT, by the way), but SFAM fared better in the aggregate.  Kev noted that SFAM was in the top 5 on 59/65 lists but didn't mention how many had I&W in the top 5.

I love facts.

Me too. I wish we had a stat for average age of people who voted for SFAM vs. IAW. I'm willing to bet >45ish crowd is majority IAW and <45ish majority SFAM. Basically my theory is that those who were fans of the band pre-SFAM would favor I&W. I'm 38 and favor SFAM myself.
-Tof

[Samsara]

Both great records, but Images and Words, for me, is clearly superior.

I go Images, Awake, SFAM my top-3 from DT.

[gzarruk]

What's interesting to me is that judging by this thread and the results of that album ranking mentioned before, it seems "most" of us agree that Images, Awake, Scenes and Six Degrees are four of their best albums. Definitely the "big four" of the MP-era albums for me.

[The Letter M]

What's interesting to me is that judging by this thread and the results of that album ranking mentioned before, it seems "most" of us agree that Images, Awake, Scenes and Six Degrees are four of their best albums. Definitely the "big four" of the MP-era albums for me.

I think that's been the consensus SINCE SDOIT came out, if not more so up til MP left the band. Even for fans who rate the Mangini-era albums highly, they may still consider those four the band's four best albums (in some order).

Personally speaking, I know that I've rated at least SFAM, SDOIT, and IAW as my top three for quite some time, but albums like DOT and AVFTTOTW have crept up in the top half of their albums.

-Marc.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

[Stadler]

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

That's funny; I've never been there.

[TAC]

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

That's funny; I've never been there.

Really? 

[Stadler]

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

That's funny; I've never been there.

Really? 

But I'm young and hip, no?   

[Dublagent66]

My album ranking has I&W at #2 and SFAM at #3.  They are very close but the main factor for me is that there is no SFAM without I&W coming before it.  Giving I&W a slight advantage IMO.

[pg1067]

Me too. I wish we had a stat for average age of people who voted for SFAM vs. IAW. I'm willing to bet >45ish crowd is majority IAW and <45ish majority SFAM. Basically my theory is that those who were fans of the band pre-SFAM would favor I&W. I'm 38 and favor SFAM myself.
-Tof

I think it has less to do with age than with when you got into DT.  I think if you didn't get into DT until the 21st century, you're more likely to prefer SFAM.  I'm the opposite, though.  I'm 55 and got into DT when I&W was released, but I rank SFAM SLIGHTLY higher.

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

A HUGE amount of love for TOT on that sub.  There's a poll running currently asking about preference among DT's "heavy" albums (which, to whomever posted the poll, means Awake, TOT and DOT.  As of right now, TOT has 115 votes to Awake's 67 (and 18 for DOT).

But I'm young and hip, no?   

I believe the question mark should go after "hip" and a period after "no."   

[Lethean]

Scenes from a Memory for me.

[Kram]

Not counting axeman's post, of the 12 unique responses so far, 3 are for IAW while 9 are for SFAM. Looks like, as of this reply, DT Fans prefer SFAM over IAW 3-to-1. Not at all surprising, considering a lot of fans got their start with DT with SFAM (myself included, though it wasn't their newest album at the time I discovered them, it was definitely one of their most praised).

If you review the album ranking thread to which I linked, you'll see the following:

Number of lists submitted:  65
Lists with I&W as #1:  18
Lists with SFAM as #1:  14
Average rank for I&W:  3.4
Average rank for SFAM:  2.7

Nearly half of the lists had one of these two albums as the #1 album (and neither had any last place finishes).  I&W got more #1 votes (as did SDOIT, by the way), but SFAM fared better in the aggregate.  Kev noted that SFAM was in the top 5 on 59/65 lists but didn't mention how many had I&W in the top 5.

I love facts.

Me too. I wish we had a stat for average age of people who voted for SFAM vs. IAW. I'm willing to bet >45ish crowd is majority IAW and <45ish majority SFAM. Basically my theory is that those who were fans of the band pre-SFAM would favor I&W. I'm 38 and favor SFAM myself.
-Tof

I'm an old 53, and got into them pre I&W, but I prefer SFAM.

[Kram]

I occasionally drop by the DT subreddit, which is probably where the young and hip fans go nowadays. It doesn't seem to me as though "The Big Four" is as frequently cited over there. I see a lot more love for some of the later Portnoy albums, which I feel like are not as praised over here. Just kind of a random observation that I found interesting.

That's funny; I've never been there.

Really? 

But I'm young and hip, no?   

I'm guessing you're old and hip like me.  50's is the new 20's right!?

[Volante99]

Gotta go with Images.

There's something about Images and Awake...I don't want to give Kevin Moore ALL the credit but there is just an atmosphere, mojo of that era (along with A Change of Seasons, and I kind of sense shadows of it in the FII demos, but was lost in the final product).

Scenes is a great album but it just feels like a different band at that point (keyword being different, not necessarily inferior)

[LKap13]

Well said

[Trav86]

Gotta go with Images.

There's something about Images and Awake...I don't want to give Kevin Moore ALL the credit but there is just an atmosphere, mojo of that era (along with A Change of Seasons, and I kind of sense shadows of it in the FII demos, but was lost in the final product).

Scenes is a great album but it just feels like a different band at that point (keyword being different, not necessarily inferior)

I feel the same way. 100%. And I’ll add that things seem to feel different again starting with Six Degrees.