DREAM THEATER ALBUMS SURVIVOR 2017: Results -> Images & Words wins!
- Thread starter Night Prowler
- Start date
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Chasing Ponce De Leon's Phantoms
1. A Nightmare to Remember (Good, but too long)
2. A Rite of Passage (Good, but ruined by the middle section)
3. Wither (Possibly the worst DT song ever)
4. The Shattered Fortress (Good. nothing special)
5. The Best of Times (Amazing)
6. The Count of Tuscany (Amazing)
It's a good album but it doesn't have enough amazing stuff on it to justify placing it any higher.
2. A Rite of Passage (Good, but ruined by the middle section)
3. Wither (Possibly the worst DT song ever)
4. The Shattered Fortress (Good. nothing special)
5. The Best of Times (Amazing)
6. The Count of Tuscany (Amazing)
It's a good album but it doesn't have enough amazing stuff on it to justify placing it any higher.
MrKnickerbocker
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Black Clouds has 2 amazing songs with utter garbage lyrics and Portnoy vocals which make them just "very good, but super cheesy" songs (Tuscany and Nightmare), three mediocre-at-best songs also with Portnoyisms that tarnish them (Rite, Wither, Fortress), and one bad song (Times).
Overall it is a highly flawed album, despite having some great musical moments.
Overall it is a highly flawed album, despite having some great musical moments.
BTW, any change in album rankings for you guys since doing this survivor?
I bring it up because one of my big switches was BC&SL. When ADTOE came out I immediately preferred it to Black Clouds. A lot of the flaws of the Roadrunner era seemed to disappear; heavy for the sake of being heavy, bland vocals from JLB, not enough progginess, etc. After that excitement wore off, I started to notice ADTOE's flaws more. I started to notice the bad drum sound, the bloated songs with unimaginative instrumental sections, and the lack of any new ground for the band (which was one thing you could count on for every DT album prior). This was enough for me to prefer Black Clouds. Now coming back to the album again and listening to them pretty much back to back, I prefer ADTOE again. It's still close, but I was reminded of all those things that made ADTOE exciting when it was new. BC&SL has some severely weak moments and there's not a single song that isn't flawed. At its best, it's better than anything on ADOTE (parts of ANTR and The Count mostly), but those moments are too few and far between. But as I said, it had the potential to be great. It feels too much like DT going through the motions though.
While it didn't move in my rankings, I also found that FII isn't as good as I had remembered. It feels extremely long and doesn't flow well at all. MP is insane for thinking it would be better as a double album. Late 90s DT needed trimming, they didn't need to go all out with a long double album. Listening to the demos made it obvious that those songs had problems well before the record company started getting involved. If anything, Kevin Shirley's adjustments were for the better. There's a ton of fat on the demos, and some of it somehow managed to survive into the final cut. I was also less impressed with the production. It's still one of the better sounding DT albums, but it is lacking power. Still, FII is another album that fell short of its potential. They could've gone all out with the experimentation and made an album that didn't rely on the prog tropes for once, maybe even giving them the reputation as a more versatile band than what people give them credit for now. But there was too much infighting and lack of clear direction to make anything happen. Still, it's impressive what came out of that all things considered.
I bring it up because one of my big switches was BC&SL. When ADTOE came out I immediately preferred it to Black Clouds. A lot of the flaws of the Roadrunner era seemed to disappear; heavy for the sake of being heavy, bland vocals from JLB, not enough progginess, etc. After that excitement wore off, I started to notice ADTOE's flaws more. I started to notice the bad drum sound, the bloated songs with unimaginative instrumental sections, and the lack of any new ground for the band (which was one thing you could count on for every DT album prior). This was enough for me to prefer Black Clouds. Now coming back to the album again and listening to them pretty much back to back, I prefer ADTOE again. It's still close, but I was reminded of all those things that made ADTOE exciting when it was new. BC&SL has some severely weak moments and there's not a single song that isn't flawed. At its best, it's better than anything on ADOTE (parts of ANTR and The Count mostly), but those moments are too few and far between. But as I said, it had the potential to be great. It feels too much like DT going through the motions though.
While it didn't move in my rankings, I also found that FII isn't as good as I had remembered. It feels extremely long and doesn't flow well at all. MP is insane for thinking it would be better as a double album. Late 90s DT needed trimming, they didn't need to go all out with a long double album. Listening to the demos made it obvious that those songs had problems well before the record company started getting involved. If anything, Kevin Shirley's adjustments were for the better. There's a ton of fat on the demos, and some of it somehow managed to survive into the final cut. I was also less impressed with the production. It's still one of the better sounding DT albums, but it is lacking power. Still, FII is another album that fell short of its potential. They could've gone all out with the experimentation and made an album that didn't rely on the prog tropes for once, maybe even giving them the reputation as a more versatile band than what people give them credit for now. But there was too much infighting and lack of clear direction to make anything happen. Still, it's impressive what came out of that all things considered.
Top 14
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
09.
10. Dream Theater
11. Systematic Chaos
12. A Change Of Seasons
13. The Astonishing
14. When Dream & Day Unite
Awake, Falling Into Infinity, Octavarium.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Octavarium
BC&SL
SDOIT
All of which are worse than the self-titled.
BC&SL
SDOIT
All of which are worse than the self-titled.
Top 14
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
09. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10. Dream Theater
11. Systematic Chaos
12. A Change Of Seasons
13. The Astonishing
14. When Dream & Day Unite
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Octavarium
SDOIT
FII
SDOIT
FII
Lampwick 43
Barstool Warrior
Deus_Adrian
Prince of the Final Frontier
Octavarium
Infinity
Dramatic
Infinity
Dramatic
Bump.
Top 14
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08. Octavarium
09. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
10. Dream Theater
11. Systematic Chaos
12. A Change Of Seasons
13. The Astonishing
14. When Dream & Day Unite
Awake, Falling Into Infinity, Train Of Thought.