Queensryche VS. Dream Theater

[tofubot]

funny, i was arguing the merits of queensryche's operation: mindcrime at the bar last night when "breaking the silence" came on VH-1 classic.

[GNRrockslife]

Queensryche. Although they suck live now a days, I saw them open for H&H twice last year and it almost turned me off to them completely.

[Texicles]

Stumbled on this old thread and thought I'd weigh in.

Perhaps I'm biased because DT is my favorite band of all time, but I have to agree with the sentiments expressed above. DT is/was (since Portnoy left) the most talented group of musicians I've ever heard. That's not to say that any one of them is the best player, of their particular medium, in the world, simply that none of the members of DT are even close to mediocre.

Don't get me wrong, I've actually been listening to a lot of Queensryche lately, and I enjoy them very much. I'd certainly love to see them get some DLC for RB3. All of the members are talented, and their songs are very catchy, but I don't see the level of complexity in their music that makes DT such a joy for me. I'd say that I put QR in the realm of Iron Maiden in terms of my enjoyment (read: pretty damned high on my itunes play count).

Too often discussions like these operate on the premise that musical enjoyment is some objective standard and people who don't like what you like are just foolish. Clearly this is not the case, and neurology is increasingly confirming that different elements of music influence different people. For me, radical time signature changes are a huge musical turn-on, so DT keeps me enthralled after years of listening, but that may not be what gets everyone else going.

Just my .02

Also, Geoff Tate is undoubtedly talented, but he's never given me chills like Labrie has. For reference, see Labrie's F# in Learning to Live (pre-Live Scenes from New York, where he was recovering from a ruptured vocal cord).

[BachiG]

I only voted for Queensryche, because I listened to them more while in high school. Only found out about Dream Theater much later. I wouldn't say that Queensryche is/was a better band per se', just the one I happened to listen to more.

[killer_roach]

Dream Theater; Queensryche has hit higher heights, but the sum total of their repertoire is rather disappointing. Apart from "Train of Thought" (an album that borders on self-parody), about the worst I can say for any Dream Theater album is that it's somewhat flat or more of the same. They haven't had the stinkers Queensryche has had.

That being said, Queensryche does have "Operation: Mindcrime", but one album won't save a band's reputation all by its lonesome.

[Mega-Tallica]

Queensryche

Although in the grand scheme of things, I'd probably really choose neither.

[darkwinterbeast8]

Fates Warning Blows both of these bands out the water as far as Prog Metal goes.

That being said, though I like both of these bands, Queensryche gets the edge.

[Rockox]

I listened to Dream Theater a lot when I was in high school and in university, but lost interest in them after Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence came out. I didn't enjoy the vocals or melodies as much as previous albums and I simply grew tired of the extended jams. I've tried getting back into them since then and enjoy the odd tune here and there, but never as much as those first few albums.

I started listening to Queensryche when Operation: Mindcrime came out and it blew my little 11-year old mind. From there, I caught up on their back catalog and have been following them ever since. I admit that I lost interest in them in the late 90s because I was in my hipster phase (and let's be honest, Hear in the Now Frontier and Q2K are kinda sht except for one or two tracks), but I got back into them once Tribe was released. Admittedly, Queensryche has never reclaimed its old glory of the 80s, but I always look forward to hearing what Geoff Tate and the boys are up to next.

tl;dr Queensryche

[emotigrow]

Dream Theater all the way.