Recommend me Dream Theater

mayhem-for-all · Post by **mayhem-for-all** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:49 am

I have been getting more progressive with adding Adamantra and Status Minor to my list of future purchases.

Now I have been getting familiar with DT.
I would apreciate album by album lists or top-lists and all kinds of introductions and recommendtaions.

I was planning to get the compilation album first since I could get it for a good price.

Equinox · Post by **Equinox** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:56 pm

If you like prog and heavy, do urself a favor and get Train Of Thought. Out of my library of 2000+ songs, [About 90 albums] This is the only that has 5 stars for each song. It's simply amazing. Except for As I am's ending. I hate it, but the song is so cool it gets 5 stars. If you like prog and oriental look into Orphaned Land, too.

Mormegil · Post by **Mormegil** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:18 pm

Train Of Thought definitely is the way to go, if you want more straight-forward and heavier stuff. Images & Words is considered a classic by many, including me, so getting that would be a safe bet too.

Their debut When Dream and Day Unite while being a bit unpolished is brilliant too, but my personal favourite has to be Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory.

I don't like their last three albums at all.

mayhem-for-all · Post by **mayhem-for-all** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:52 pm

I do like what I am hearing from their latest.

How about the production on their earlier albums?
is it good?

NeonVomit · Post by **NeonVomit** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:00 pm

Images & Words is their real breakthrough album. Definitely worth it.

Awake is their all-round best. Totally killer, and the last one Kevin Moore was involved in.

Metropolis pt. 2 and 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence are probably their best of the later stuff.

Also, if you can get your hands on When Dream and Day Unite, worth a spin to see where it all started.

Kecos · Post by **Kecos** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:33 pm

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:42 pm

For a fan of progressive music
Tier 1: Images and Words, Awake, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Tier 2: Scenes from a Memory, Octavarium, Falling Into Infinity
Tier 3: Train of Thought, Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Song Quality
Tier 1: Scenes from a Memory, Awake, Images and Words
Tier 2: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Systematic Chaos, Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Tier 3: Train of Thought, Falling Into Infinity, Octavarium

Wankery
Tier 1: Train of Thought, Scenes from a Memory, Systematic Chaos
Tier 2: Images and Words, Octavarium, Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Tier 3: Awake, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Falling Into Infinity.

I'm ignoring their first album because it's generally not very good, and 3 tiers of 3 is a better ranking system.

Generally I will use the first system (Progressiveness) as my indicator of Quality, the band had some really great ideas to start, Falling into Infinity was a major hiccup, but through Six Degrees they were really using their talents well, moving forward and trying new things. Train of Thought they basically made a heavy album of songs they wanted to play live, which was cool, but not very interesting. Then Octavarium hit and they spent the whole album trying to be Muse. Systematic Chaos, while interesting, featured a lot of gruffer vocals from drummer Mike Portnoy and an overall more commercial approach with obvious singles and pandering to a general metal fanbase. Black Clouds and Silver Linings was the same story except they tried to do it with epic songs that was supposed to make the old fans it was a back to roots album.

Far and away though, Awake is their best offering

RazielSR · Post by **RazielSR** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:56 pm

Mayhem, dude, take a look at the opinions here http://forum.stratovarius.com/viewtopic ... er+theatre

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 2:49 am

Saying there is no other band like them in technical quality is a much understoof myth among Dream Theater fans.
Petrucci's alternate picking is one of the best, not the best, but in the top 2-3. However, he has no talent for legato, can't control slides, hammer ons, pull offs, ect... To put it simply, he can't put smooth solos together, they're all picked every note.

Ruddess and Myung, while being technically gifted in their trade, have nothing particularly interesting to say with it, and while LaBrie's recent live performances have been strong, he's been consistently hovering between awful and significantly above average, but never great. I would easily take Lauri Porra as a better bassist than John Myung right now, as I would take Jens Johansson (And many others) over Jordan Ruddess

Portnoy is the only really remarkable drummer, but like the rest of the band, he has a habit of hiding his lack of innovative ideas with a larger and larger drumkit. I can't say I really dislike him, as his advocacy turned me on to Bigelf, but I have a problem with the whole band sometimes.

They're a gifted band that plays good heavy metal, but they're the poster child for the extremely talented groups of musicians masquerading as progressive bands when they really have nothing to do with the genre.

Bands like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, all can equal, or possibly surpass Dream Theater in technical ability in their moments of greatness, and with the possible exception of Ian Anderson, no member of Jethro Tull was a virtuoso of their instrument, but the band released one of the most revolutionary albums in history (Thick as a Brick), a true progressive masterpiece.

I'm not saying this because I think they're garbage, I've seen them live twice, hell, I traveled 5 hours to see Progressive Nation 2009, but I think their reputation is very undeserved, and the fact that they've done nothing progressive since 6DOIT really frustrates me. There are far better progressive bands out there, they've become a (Very very good) generic metal band with long instrumental solos filled with the band members basically just showing off.

adrian9 · Post by **adrian9** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:16 am

dude Metropolis part 2 has no match, they were on fire on that record, you got everything , prog, heavy, soft melodies, insane instrumentals. odd timing from hell, truly a classic.

Images and words is for my opinion a great production, was recorded in the same studio of the black album , and you got a pretty 90s metal sound mixed with prog, wich is very nice.

and train of thought is their best of the latter releases, everything else they have done after that is just repeating recipes that we can find in others DT albums.

pd----there is no point in comparing musicians ´cuz is a matter of taste anyway.

Carcass · Post by **Carcass** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:56 am

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:18 am

If you want to really try out Progressive music, real progressive music, get Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson is a genius with one of the most impressive musical visions in prog history, and the absolute essential progressive artist of the last 20 years.

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Just took a random selection (Some live, some studio) of one song from each of their primary LPs (There are 3 albums and several demos from before Porcupine Tree was a band, and was just a Steven Wilson solo project, as well as several EPs and albums made up of outtakes and demos that are in their own right, excellent albums, but that's just a showcase of the progression of the band, and their versatility)

Carcass · Post by **Carcass** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:18 am

Rebel wrote:I've seen them live twice, hell, I traveled 5 hours to see Progressive Nation 2009

Awesome!

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:20 am

Carcass wrote:
Rebel wrote:I've seen them live twice, hell, I traveled 5 hours to see Progressive Nation 2009
Awesome!

Bigelf stole the show at Prog Nation 2009, but, they tend to do that.

Still, when you hold them up against other great progressive acts of today (Porcupine Tree) or in the prime years of Prog (Rush, Yes, ELP, Jethro Tull) they really don't hold a candle in musical ingenuity.
One of the coolest weekends of my life was on friday riding 5 hours to Chicago (Friend drove, luckily), seeing Bigelf open for Porcupine Tree, then going 5 hours home that night.

then on Sunday making the hour trek into Detroit to see the same show again (Luckily with slightly altered setlists, but cool nonetheless).

The Chicago show Porcupine Tree recorded for a live DVD.

Carcass · Post by **Carcass** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:23 am

No, awesome that you could sit still for 5 hours.

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:28 am

Carcass wrote:No, awesome that you could sit still for 5 hours.

hahahahhaha, Sat still for 5 hours, checked around a record store for 10 minutes (Bought two vinyl albums) then sat in line for 2 and a half hours to get into the venue, proceeded by an hour of sitting in my seat waiting for Bigelf to start.
:banana1: :banana2: :jump2:

mayhem-for-all · Post by **mayhem-for-all** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:25 am

If you want to really try out Progressive music, real progressive music, get Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson is a genius with one of the most impressive musical visions in prog history, and the absolute essential progressive artist of the last 20 years.

Hey psychic! You stole my next recommend me thread

Balu · Post by **Balu** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:43 am

While I think DT is a great band, and sometimes I listen to their songs, after a while, I must think that their music isn't really original and there are many better prog bands/artists. An example for better is Ayreon (or any other Arjen Lucassen project) or Porcupine Tree as Rebel said.

robocop656 · Post by **robocop656** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 11:57 am

how do I listen to music about music

rikkertje · Post by **rikkertje** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:31 pm

Kecos wrote:I highly recommend Octavarium - it's a great album and the whole thing is tied together at the end nicely with the 24-minute title track.

Yes!:D I agree!

robocop656 · Post by **robocop656** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 12:59 pm

This is one of the most progressive songs if every heard before

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If that doesn't cleanse your need for progressive:
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ggonza43 · Post by **ggonza43** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:44 pm

Well, let's start then:
As you are new at DT, first you should tell us what kind of style are you wanting to listening. If you are looking for dark songs and lyrics, strongly recomend "Train Of Thought", some songs from "Scenes From A Memory", "Awake", "Octavarium", and their last album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".
If you are looking for lighter material, try "Images & Words", "When Dream And Day Unite" and "Falling Into Infinity"
But, if you are looking for great masterpieces, I strongly advice you to try the whole "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", "Scenes From A Memory", and "A Change Of Seasons"

Some songs you should listen to:
A Fortune In Lies
Ytse Jam (Instrumental)
Afterlife
The One Who Helped To Set The Sun
Pull Me Under
Another Day
Take The Time
Under A Glass Moon
Learning To Live
Caught In A Web
Erotomania (Instrumental)
Voices
The Mirror/Lie
A Change Of Seasons (23 mins, better get ready

)
New Millennium
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Burning My Soul/Hell's Kitchen (Instrumental)
Just Let Me Breathe
ALL "Scenes From A Memory"
ALL "Six Degrees Of Inner Trubulence"
As I Am
This Dying Soul
Endless Sacrifice
Honr Thy Father
In The Name Of God
The Root Of All Evil
I Walk Beside You
Panic Attack
Never Enough
Octavarium (24 mins)
Forsaken
Constant Motion
The Dark Eternal Night
A Nightmare To Remember
A Rite Of Passage
Wither
The Shattered Fortress

Also, you could try their latest compilation

Hope it helped

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:42 pm

ggonza43 wrote:Well, let's start then:
As you are new at DT, first you should tell us what kind of style are you wanting to listening. If you are looking for dark songs and lyrics, strongly recomend "Train Of Thought", some songs from "Scenes From A Memory", "Awake", "Octavarium", and their last album, "Black Clouds & Silver Linings".
If you are looking for lighter material, try "Images & Words", "When Dream And Day Unite" and "Falling Into Infinity"
But, if you are looking for great masterpieces, I strongly advice you to try the whole "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", "Scenes From A Memory", and "A Change Of Seasons"

Some songs you should listen to:
A Fortune In Lies
Ytse Jam (Instrumental)
Afterlife
The One Who Helped To Set The Sun
Pull Me Under
Another Day
Take The Time
Under A Glass Moon
Learning To Live
Caught In A Web
Erotomania (Instrumental)
Voices
The Mirror/Lie
A Change Of Seasons (23 mins, better get ready )
New Millennium
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Burning My Soul/Hell's Kitchen (Instrumental)
Just Let Me Breathe
ALL "Scenes From A Memory"
ALL "Six Degrees Of Inner Trubulence"
As I Am
This Dying Soul
Endless Sacrifice
Honr Thy Father
In The Name Of God
The Root Of All Evil
I Walk Beside You
Panic Attack
Never Enough
Octavarium (24 mins)
Forsaken
Constant Motion
The Dark Eternal Night
A Nightmare To Remember
A Rite Of Passage
Wither
The Shattered Fortress

Also, you could try their latest compilation

Hope it helped

Again, that is WAY too big of a list. You pretty much just went through and chose half of every album.

Allow me to sum it up in 10 songs

First, let's take the setlist from their latest tour opening for Iron Maiden

As I Am
A Rite of Passage
Home
Constant Motion
Panic Attack
Pull Me Under
(Then we'll add their quintessential song)
Metropolis Pt. I
(The best of the AA Suite)
The Glass Prison
(A song from their best album, Awake)
The Mirror
(And one of the great Dream Theater Epics)
A Change of Seasons

Those ten songs should give you a general idea of whether or not you'll enjoy the band long term.

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:45 pm

mayhem-for-all wrote:
If you want to really try out Progressive music, real progressive music, get Porcupine Tree. Steven Wilson is a genius with one of the most impressive musical visions in prog history, and the absolute essential progressive artist of the last 20 years.
Hey psychic! You stole my next recommend me thread

Check out those clips, Fear of a Blank Planet and the Incident are two of the most profoundly incredibly works of art I've ever heard in music, because the music works both as individual music (Although it works better as individual music on FoaBP) but then even moreso as a single, cohesive, 50 minute movement.

But their first two albums, (Signify and Stupid Dreams) were trailblazing albums of the 90s, and ages ahead of what was going on in music at the time, and even after, still hold an incredible uniqueness.

Carcass · Post by **Carcass** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 1:18 am

Stupid Dream, not Dreams, you stupid idiot shit

In Absentia is the peek of their career imho

robocop656 · Post by **robocop656** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:39 am

profoundly incredibly

Dream Theater

robocop656 · Post by **robocop656** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:42 am

robocop656 wrote:
profoundly incredibly

Dream Porcupine Tree Dreams

robocop656 · Post by **robocop656** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:45 am

robocop656 wrote:
robocop656 wrote:
profoundly incredibly

Dream Porcupine Tree Dreams

profoundly incredibly incredible

Dream Porcupine Tree Dreams Movie Theater

Incredible suppository

Incredible

Quote

ggonza43 · Post by **ggonza43** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:09 pm

Rebel wrote:Again, that is WAY too big of a list. You pretty much just went through and chose half of every album.

Allow me to sum it up in 10 songs

First, let's take the setlist from their latest tour opening for Iron Maiden

As I Am
A Rite of Passage
Home
Constant Motion
Panic Attack
Pull Me Under
(Then we'll add their quintessential song)
Metropolis Pt. I
(The best of the AA Suite)
The Glass Prison
(A song from their best album, Awake)
The Mirror
(And one of the great Dream Theater Epics)
A Change of Seasons

Those ten songs should give you a general idea of whether or not you'll enjoy the band long term.

You forgot some of their lightest material, like "Another Day", "Hollow Years", "Solitary Shell", "Forsaken", and some others. But you were right, and sorry about the long list, it's only that I couldn't think of just a few songs to start listening for a beginner

rikkertje · Post by **rikkertje** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:44 pm

I'm just addicted to Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence! Perfect album. Just like Octavarium. The latest one is also realy cool.

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