Dream Theater

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Well, I am not a fan of the many recent DT albums so it's really no surprise that the new album doesn't sit well with me. Six Degrees, Train and Scenes From a Memory will always be great albums to me though.
 
The first time I heard the new album I thought that most of it was "meh," but now I enjoy pretty much all of it. The opening instrumental has some neat stuff in it, and I like the orchestrated background. The Enemy Inside is catchy, as is the Rush-inspired Looking Glass. I absolutely love Enigma Machine, but I understand why many wouldn't (it's great how one of the riffs references Erotomania).

Behind the Veil may be my favorite on the whole album, although the quiet intro wasn't really necessary (I edited it out, actually). The riffs in this one are simple, but the timing isn't, which combines for what is catchiness in my mind. Surrender to Reason is awesome and another favorite of mine; the first solo (2:32) is incredibly emotive, and the orchestrated "riff" that comes after it (3:02) is probably my favorite part of the whole album. Then you have Myung Myunging up the solo section and a feeling-filled outro-chorus that admittedly took a few listens to grow on me.

Along for the Ride is standard poppy DT but with some chunkiness thrown in for good measure. Illumination Theory is awesome, and definitely the best "epic" they've done in a long time. I'm not a fan of the first movement of the third section with the ambient stuff going on (I thought it sucked in Octavarium and the same is true here) but luckily it picks up a bit when the symphony comes in and then BAM! Myunged! Then you have DT getting "bluesy" with the vocals which sounds fresh for them.

The only song that has yet to click with me is The Bigger Picture. The song seems to go nowhere and remains simple, dull, and pretty boring throughout. I don't find much feeling in any of it, and since it's clear that the song is supposed to be emotive, there isn't much left for me to appreciate.

The guitars sound great, but I think they're a bit too loud overall. Still, it's a much better mix than the previous album, and I like that Jordan's masturbating space monkey sounds have been used sparingly.
 
Loved it. Not gonna make any real comments on it until I've digested it a bit, but so far I like it so much more than ADTOE. Really harkens back to I&W and Awake. Also their most cinematic album by far, which I love.

Also, Illumination Theory holy shit. I got goosebumps. The ambient/orchestral breakdown might be the most chillingly beautiful thing Dream Theater has ever done.
 
Heard the album for the third time today. Nothing changed. I'd give it 1/5 or 1,5/5. Heard the much praised songs like Illumination Theory, Enigma Machine and Behind the Veil twice just in case. Don't like all three of them, Enigma Machine and Behind the Veil are just painful to listen to.

Only song on the album that can get listenings from me over the long term is The Looking Glass.
 
That was one reason I liked the album so much. Jordan's keyboards mostly acted as texture rather than all these weird lead sounds. Also like how often he uses a normal piano sound. The keyboards were getting really ridiculous on ADTOE.
 
I'll never forgive Jordan for butchering the Take The Time solo on that DVD.
 
Still enjoying the new album, only song that hasn't clicked is Surrender To Reason. It's not bad but it has a lot going on and is harder to digest than some of the others. Along For The Ride is meh, pretty much a heavier Beneath The Surface, Jordan's solo is the same patch and even recycles licks. Really the only clunker though. My 3 favorites so far would have to be The Looking Glass, The Bigger Picture, and of course Illumination Theory.

Also learned TEI and Illumination on guitar. Both are pretty easy except for some of the more technical bits. Especially the latter isn't as involved as far as guitar is concerned, in fact the guitar might be one of the least interesting parts. JLB, JM, and Mangini really shine on that track. Not to mention the amazing orchestral parts.
 
Mosh said:
Still enjoying the new album, only song that hasn't clicked is Surrender To Reason. It's not bad but it has a lot going on and is harder to digest than some of the others.
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It's probably the most progressive track on there, and apparently it was the first song they wrote for the album. It took a while to grow on me, too, since it switches tonalities often and contains melodies that don't go where you think they will. It's also confusing because the song's style and format is something they would normally use for a 12-15 minute epic, but crammed into only six minutes or so.

I really like the lyrics to the song, though. I remember the first time I heard the "restless angels" part and I thought it wasn't all that catchy; now I can't stop listening to it. In fact, this whole album is quite good lyrically; the only ones I don't think fit are those in the fourth part of Illumination Theory (even though that section is awesome). The Bigger Picture and Looking Glass also have some well-crafted lyrics.

The Bigger Picture is the one song that I didn't care for much at first, but now I love it in the right mood. There's a lot of epic, grandiose moments on this album that some may believe are overdone but that I really enjoy. Among them are the pre-chorus of Looking Glass (which reminds me a bit of Innocence Faded), the chugga-chugga bridge of Along for the Ride, and of course the massive conclusion to Illumination Theory. They always tend to have some epic, emotional closing section to their long songs, but this one really hit the spot for me. The whole song makes Octavarium, for example, flat and boring by comparison.
 
After a few listens the new album has grown on me after initially failing to make much of an impact. I'm still pissed about the album title but at least the music is decent.
 
The album is still meh to me. The 3 that really stand out to me, are Enemy Inside, Behind the Veil, and Illumination Theory
 
So I've listened to all the Dream Theater albums, here's the rankings.
Frickin Amazing Albums
1. Train of Thought 9.6
2. Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory 9.4
3. A Dramatic Turn of Events 9.3
4. Images and Words 9
Great Albums
5. Octavarium 8.8
6. Awake 8.7
7. Systematic Chaos 8.4
8. Dream Theater 8.2
Meh Albums
9. (TIE) 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Black Clouds and Silver Linings Both 7.8
Not very good
10. Falling Into Infinity 6.8
11. When Day and Dream Unite 5.1
 
I actually just did the very same thing, Collin. Here's how mine compare:

Frickin Amazing Albums
1. Train of Thought 9.1
2. Images & Words 8.5
Great Albums
3. Dream Theater 8.0
4. Scenes from a Memory 7.8
5. Awake 7.5
6. A Dramatic Turn of Events 7.3
Meh Albums
7. Falling Into Infinity 6.9
Not very good
8. Systematic Chaos 5.9
9. TIE: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence & Octavarium 5.5
10. Black Clouds & Silver Linings 5.0

I don't have When Dream and Day Unite, so it's not included.

Too bad about Six Degrees, I really enjoy most of the first disc. If I divided them up, Disc 1 of 6DOIT gets a 7.2 and Disc 2 gets a 4.5
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Too bad about Six Degrees, I really enjoy most of the first disc. If I divided them up, Disc 1 of 6DOIT gets a 7.2 and Disc 2 gets a 4.5
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Yeah I also don't enjoy 6 degrees of Inner Turbulence the song, its just way too overdone. Misunderstood is meh, I don't really get Disappear because they had just done a song about death on the previous album, The Spirit Carries On, but other than that the rest is brilliant. It's also nice to see someone else with Train of Thought at #1, every song is just mind blowing.
 
What these rankings prove is the VAST range of Dream Theater fandom. For example, I used to HATE Octaviarium and it is now in my top 5, absolutely love it, it just grew on me. Also, I am SHOCKED at the high ratings for Train of Thought. It is a good album and I really liked it when it first came out, but upon repeated listens it is pretty boring and unimaginative except for Stream of Consciousness. The line between "tribute" and "copycat" are very blurred and it is not enough Dream Theater and too Metallica/Megadeth for my taste. I think Systematic Chaos is one of their more solid efforts, but agree more or less with the rest of the rankings.
 
Onhell said:
What these rankings prove is the VAST range of Dream Theater fandom. For example, I used to HATE Octaviarium and it is now in my top 5, absolutely love it, it just grew on me. Also, I am SHOCKED at the high ratings for Train of Thought. It is a good album and I really liked it when it first came out, but upon repeated listens it is pretty boring and unimaginative except for Stream of Consciousness. The line between "tribute" and "copycat" are very blurred and it is not enough Dream Theater and too Metallica/Megadeth for my taste. I think Systematic Chaos is one of their more solid efforts, but agree more or less with the rest of the rankings.
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I find Train of Thought to be their masterpiece. Yes, it's much heavier than most DT albums, but the songs are amazing. Not many Dream Theater songs are "catchy" and I find almost everything on ToT to be memorable and catchy.

Octavarium...is just boring and lifeless to me. If we're talking copycatting, I'd say that Octavarium through BC&SL are the most overtly copycat albums. The number of times I hear different U2, Muse, Metallica, and Megadeth songs on those albums is shocking.

Also, everything post Train of Thought really overuses Portnoy's incredibly obnoxious tough guy grunt backing vocals, spoken word sections, and clips from film/tv/media/voice actors. Honestly, I think my ranking for A Dramatic Turn of Events is so high just because it's the first of four albums that doesn't sound like mathletes reciting equations while getting beat up by some college bro's in a locker room while CNN plays in the background.
 
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