DREAM THEATER SURVIVOR 2016: Results -> A Change Of Seasons wins!

Satisfied with the results?

  • Total voters
    10
MrKnickerbocker said:
Currently relistening to DT12 a lot and I'm honestly shocked: it's a lot more bland than I remember it being. I'm fairly certain that ADTOE and DT12 are going to switch places in my rankings after this listen.
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DT12 is definitely a more mellow and simplistic album; it's as if they actually grew tired of their trademark musical masturbation for a change. There's still wank, like Enigma Machine and part of Illumination Theory, but they dialed it way back. Each song really has its own presence, and it's an album I really enjoy. I definitely find it to be more consistent than ADTOE.

I will probably not vote for The Astonishing -- I simply can't bring myself to find the time to re-listen to its bloated theatrical pompousness. After DT12 I found this album to be incredibly underwhelming.
 
It's the 12th album they did and released in 2013, yes. I can see how it may be somewhat confusing. I mean, before The Astonishing was announced, we called it DT13.
 
I like DT12 simply because it tells me what album I'm talking about. I don't want to type s/t because that's annoying, same goes for just calling it DT (because that's also the band abbreviation), and DT13 is odd because it's not like I say ADTOE11 or I&W92.

Detective Beauregard said:
DT12 is definitely a more mellow and simplistic album; it's as if they actually grew tired of their trademark musical masturbation for a change. There's still wank, like Enigma Machine and part of Illumination Theory, but they dialed it way back. Each song really has its own presence, and it's an album I really enjoy. I definitely find it to be more consistent than ADTOE.
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There's certainly nothing bad on it, but I think those three tracks in the middle feel very similar and ultimately unmemorable. It's all rather consistent, just not great. I don't mind the mellowness, I like mellow Dream Theater, it just hasn't reclicked with me yet. Interesting, because I used to hold this album in much higher regard than ADTOE.
 
Calling the self-titled album DT12 makes just as much sense as calling it DT13, imo. Not that it matters, though. :topicsucks:
 
On the DT forums they always refer to the next album as DT (insert album #). I remember them calling ADTOE DT11 before it got a title. With the next album, they were already calling it DT12 so that just stuck when we learned it would be self titled. I remember there was even a poll on whether to call it DT12, DT13, or the Purple Album. :p

While we're on the topic, I think making it a self titled album was one of the biggest missteps of their career.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
Why do you feel that way? I think the album is a good showcase of all the band's styles, albeit a bit more commercial overall.
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I think it's one of the more one dimensional DT albums. I don't consider that a bad thing in itself, I enjoy the album a lot, but I find it weird that they chose it to be their defining album. It'd be like self titling Train of Thought or (to give a Maiden example) No Prayer For the Dying. In hindsight it honestly feels like they were more just sticking it to Portnoy (the tour setlist was that way too). But it's tough with DT too because every album they do is a different direction, I don't think you could appropriately self title any of their albums really.
 
SURVIVOR_RULES_017.jpg


Eliminated:
A Rite Of Passage - 8 votes
The Best Of Times - 7 votes
Lost Not Forgotten - 7 votes

Promoted:
A Nightmare To Remember
The Shattered Fortress
The Count Of Tuscany

Self-titled album joins the game.
 
This Dying Soul
Stream of Consciousness
Beneath the Surface
False Awakening Suite
The Enemy Inside
Enigma Machine
The Bigger Picture
Surrender to Reason
 
In honor of DT12 joining the game, I present my High School clarinet quartet's rendition of False Awakening Suite from somewhere in 2014:


Never shared this recording publicly as I wasn't totally satisfied with it, but I came across it going through my files and it was fun hearing it again. We performed this live several times during my senior year.
 
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