1. View, DT12 and Dramatic Turn.
Technical difficulty, precision and musicality at DT's peak in their history (in all three of them, possibly barring James during View, but that doesn't detract from the album being among their three best) Them being the most athletic. All these aspects are interlinked to me and absolutely important. Not music to me otherwise.
4. The Astonishing: Well executed (musically speaking), not on the level of what I would call the eternal three. James having done a great job especially here.
5. D/T: Underdeveloped, imprecise (for their standards at the time). Still more listenable than any MP era album (to me).
Or in other words: I always go back to the three. I rarely ever go back to the other two.
I know they are your triumvirate, but if you had to rank ADToE, the s/t and AVFtTotW, what would the order be?
And thanks for your explanation about the drums - lots of in-depth details. This is why it's good to have you here! 
But I am curious, how do you feel about the way the drums are mixed on each of the MM-era albums, because I would imagine that would have some effect on your enjoyment. Both ADToE and the s/t are often panned because of the way the drums are mixed, and yet you love those albums. OTOH, generally fans feel that the drums on TA, d/t and AVFtTotW all sound much better, yet two out of those three are not interesting to you.
For that matter, what are your feelings on their live releases - both normal and official bootlegs? How would you rank them (at least the MM-era ones)?
No, The Astonishing still is very interesting, they did a great job of it (since they wanted to use a full on musical theatre approach and it largely worked for them. I would have wished for every character to have been sung by a different person, but otherwise, great. Imagine Faythe being sung by Floor Jansen (or Sharon Den Adel, pick one of them
) and Nafaryus by Alice Cooper. Yes. Would have been brilliant IMHO.)
D/T is probably the least interesting of the 5 to me because of it being less developed than we were accustomed to (and by extension, this is their album that got banged out quickly as it were). Still a good album. (Out Of Reach is one of my favourite ballads by them actually) Had they taken as long for it to be finished as DT12, Dramatic Turn and especially View, I'd like it a lot more.
Ok so: If I had to rank the three, I'd have gone: View, DT12 and Dramatic Turn, in that order. The production aspect is the most uneven of the five (and btw, I have 4 of the 5 in 24 bit audio with significantly less compression, so it's easier on the ears, doesn't hurt when listening. I like it like that.) Dramatic Turn is fairly dry sounding (which again I have no issue with, but I can see why people would), DT12 is a bit of a weird case in that what annoys most poeple (the snare sound, much slacker tuning on the top head, and so, lower and far less attack, but even) is actually very similar to that of the first four Toto albums (listen to Toto 4 and you'll notice, was just a sound that was hip at the time) and believe it or not, MM actually wanted the crack sound (which is on Dramatic Turn and The Astonishing and onwards), but he mentioned during his instructional DVD (which is great), that it apparently was a production choice by John and Rich and Jimmy T, so I belive MM here btw. I guess it's a contextual thing why some people think the snare sound doesn't work on DT12 but then in their opinion it does on Toto 4 and others. It's just strange sometimes.)
I like all the mixes of the drums on the albums (they are all different) but my personal favourite actually is that of View. Very well balanced, great tuning, MM having a very easy time to get a good sound out of the kit, great, what more could we want.
Now for the live releases (I don't own Distant Memories, but I've listened to it), that is (strangely enough) a much more consistent affair in that all of the official live albums are all far more evenly balanced in their tuning (you won't hear the DT12 snare sound in Boston, easier to play for MM too, because he doesn't have to work as hard to play evenly, but it translates just as well and) The official live releases (and including the 2013 Christmas album) all sound similarly *engaging* (if that word makes sense), people like that (and I do as well), because of the crack sound on the snares and open sound on everything else, goes through the entire body, so it engages people. So, in other words, had DT used all the drum sounds they got on the MM era live albums, literally everyone would have been able to at least appreciate them more (so, combining his live drum sound with all the great parts on the albums)
I can see why people love the D/T sound because not only do we hear a well tuned kit but also because we can hear the room sound (that is also what engages people, if it's used well. It is on the live albums and majorly so on D/T and View. Think Led Zeppelin 4 for D/T, very similar in that aspect (other than of course Bonham having an entirely different setup than MM
and being an entirely different type of musician, actually more in line with MP in some ways
)
The Astonishing is also nothing I have issues with btw. But I do think that they hit a massive home run production wise (especially concerning MM) on D/T and View. And then they are on a high in every aspect with View and then MM leaves.
And also: IMHO John does a much better job (overall) in producing the DT albums alone than he did when MP co produced with him. (although I guess we could plot that down to MP having been very strong willed at the time and less mellow than he seems to be these days)
Another not entirely related aside: Dramatic Turn and DT12 saved me from taking my own life. View is as personal to me for different reasons. Thanks DT.
That's my dissertation for today
Topic: Now that the MM era is finished, how would you rank those five albums? (Read 9840 times)