Dream Theater

I think Portnoy should be back too, but they did manage to create an amazing album without him in ADTOE. Of course Illumination Theory is good too.
 
Ok, ADTOE is pretty good actually. I like 5 of the songs. DT12 is still boring and The Asstonishing is the worst album I've ever listened to more than once. Distance Over Time might be a bit better than ADTOE.
 
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It’s silly to suggest that Portnoy being in the band has had that much of an effect when he wasn’t the one writing the songs (aside from occasional lyrics). Sure he had a lot of creative input but the main writers are JP and JR. Bringing MP back would change very little in terms of quality of music.
 
The other obvious thing that happened after BC&SL is that JLB started to lose not only the last bits of his live voice but also his studio voice.
 
KidInTheDark666 said:
Really? I thought he was the Steve Harris of the band. Then it's just a coincidence.
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At a certain point he was de facto leader of the band in the sense that he made a lot of decisions with set lists/album art/etc mostly because he was more invested in that sort of thing than other members. He also had the loudest voice which meant he usually got his way in disputes. As far as the songwriting process itself, he mostly contributed structural and conceptual ideas but he is not a songwriter.
Collin said:
The Astonishing does not happen with him in the band.
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Or ADTOE. Portnoy has said that there were plans to follow Black clouds with another concept album. Who’s to say it wouldn’t be something similar to The Astonishing. I agree that the execution and various elements of the album may have been different, but the music itself is still coming primarily from the same people.
 
James has been inconsistent since 97. I would actually say post BC&SL was a bit of a step up for him until they did I&W revisited. His voice has fallen off quite a bit since then. Another low point was 2007-2010.
 
I think James sounds really good on Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds. Or maybe it was just because of Mike's backing vocals...
He obviously sounds horrible on Chaos in Motion though.
 
James has been in decline for years, partially due to age, partially due to vocal damage, and partially due to the demanding nature of most Dream Theater material. He's 56 years old and still trying to sing like he's 25, it's virtually impossible. We're all spoiled because Bruce Dickinson is super human.

Also here's a tier cause that's a thing?

9623
 
Not to mention the vocal parts they write really don’t flatter his voice. I strongly believe he would sound better if he wrote his own vocal parts. The ones he wrote on the latest album are by far his best moments.
 
Mosh said:
Not to mention the vocal parts they write really don’t flatter his voice. I strongly believe he would sound better if he wrote his own vocal parts. The ones he wrote on the latest album are by far his best moments.
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What parts did he write? I can't wait to disagree again...:D
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Absolutely. It always boggles my mind when singers don't write their own parts.
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Yea I don’t get that either. As an instrumentalist I would prefer to come up with my own parts. I imagine a singer would care even more about this considering the physical limitations and comfort zones.

I don’t have twitter so I can’t log on and share my tier list, but here’s what mine would be:

S: Awake, Six Degrees, I&W, Metropolos
A: train of thought
B: DT12, Octavarium
C: Falling Into Infinity, Distance Over Time, Black Clouds, ADTOE, The Astonishing
D: WDADU
F: Systematic Chaos
 
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