Best Dream Theater album?

[gamrrpol]

I voted for SFAM but could have voted I&W just as easily.

Am surprised to see Octavarium rank so high. I consider everything after SFAM to be derivative of everything that came before. While there are great songs here and there on Octavarium, nothing truly innovative or ground-breaking.

[emotigrow]

Octavarium.... Everything Ends Where It Begins ....Octavarium

[Mega-Tallica]

The only reason Octavarium is leading this pole is because "Panic Attack" got nearly every Rock Band fan into Dream Theater. If this was done on any other site, Octavarium would be nowhere near the top.

Just sayin', but I'd vote for Awake at this point in time.

[emotigrow]

The only reason Octavarium is leading this pole is because "Panic Attack" got nearly every Rock Band fan into Dream Theater. If this was done on any other site, Octavarium would be nowhere near the top.

Just sayin', but I'd vote for Awake at this point in time.

They got me in, but I own three albums and am about to purchase my fourth.

[RepentRickyRepent]

Wish it was multi-choice. :c
But I chose Metropolis, but I love Octavarium and Awake to.

[gamrrpol]

Obviously you have not heard many Dream Theater albums. Black Clouds and Silver Linings is good, but nowhere near their best.

In my teens I was a huge Iron Maiden fan. Absolutely LOVED the band and had every song, saw them on every tour (six times in five years). Was with the band all the way through Powerslave. Picked up Somewhere in Time the day it came out. Really, really tried to like. But didn't. Ever. No matter how many times I listened to it.

And I was never really an Iron Maiden fan again after that. I would occasionally try to listen to Seventh Son of a Seventh Son or Fear of the Dark but literally never once found another song that I thought was even good, let alone great.

For me, I wonder if Black Clouds and Silver Linings is going to be the same for Dream Theater. Been a fan since '92 and have thought they've become derivative and lacking new ideas since Scenes From a Memory....but at least the newer releases had their moments. BC&SLinings is simply unlistenable to me. The lyrics, especially those from Count of Tuscany, sound like the first efforts by an ambitious 15 year old.

I hope they get some new energy with the new drummer, but for me, I'm wondering if DT has jumped the shark.

[gamrrpol]

The only reason Octavarium is leading this pole is because "Panic Attack" got nearly every Rock Band fan into Dream Theater. If this was done on any other site, Octavarium would be nowhere near the top.

Just sayin', but I'd vote for Awake at this point in time.

Agree. If you check out their page on the Prog Archives site, Octavarium rates 3.65 (out of 5) while I&W (4.25), SFaM (4.26) and SDoiT (4.18) rate substantially higher.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=378

Sorry I can't embed links....this board is very wiggy...often doesn't work right for me. Anyone else have problems?

[killer_roach]

Agree. If you check out their page on the Prog Archives site, Octavarium rates 3.65 (out of 5) while I&W (4.25), SFaM (4.26) and SDoiT (4.18) rate substantially higher.

http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=378

Then again, PA rates Train of Thought above Black Clouds & Silver Linings, so take that as you will.

[gamrrpol]

Then again, PA rates Train of Thought above Black Clouds & Silver Linings, so take that as you will.

Rightly so IMO. As I stated in a different post, I find BC&SL to unlistenable. For me, it is without question the worst DT album ever created. I'm no great fan of ToT but to me it has a number of solid songs whearea BC&SL has nothing for me.

[killer_roach]

ToT is pure self-parody... nothing more. Then again, if you're more toward the side of metal than prog, I could see where it would be appealing.

As for BC&SL, I would point out A Rite of Passage (odd, since I hated it at first), The Shattered Fortress, and The Best of Times as the real high points of the album.

That being said, as I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't rank any DT album in the top five of Portnoy's discography... I'd rank all three Transatlantic studio albums, OSI's debut, and Neal Morse's "?" as all superior to even SFAM.