To me, Octavarium is "1/2 excellent, 1/2 cheese." I won't disown DT for that because that description fits DT as a whole...and I love them for the excellent stuff. And yes, DT is in my list of Top 5 favorite bands ever. 
Dream Theaters new album!
- Thread starter Michael
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My favorite of theirs is still Images and Words. It's not exactly heavy, but when it came out there was nothing that sounded anywhere near as progressive. That album really ignited the whole progressive metal scene, I think.
Doctor J said:I didn't like the new one at all. Contrary to most DT fans I know, I think Train Of Thought is their best work by a long, long way...
...Sorry, I'll get my coat
Thatst he one i liked too. Octavarium is okay. but i was listening to Old DT the other day, it just feels like such a different band to me...
Doctor J
I Don't Own An Ibanez 7!
That's four of us on Drew's Black List so 
The Live At Budokan DVD/CD is well worth getting, low on cheese, big on the widdly widdly stuff and the director did well in focussing on Petrucci when the man was letting rip (sometimes these live shows just don't capture the important stuff).
They're an odd band. That "Walk Beside You" tune on Octavarium is one of my least favourite tunes in the world but some of the other stuff on the album is so damn good. What I liked about TOT was that it cut out a lot of the cheese and stuck to the two most important things about good music: big riffs and big solos
The Live At Budokan DVD/CD is well worth getting, low on cheese, big on the widdly widdly stuff and the director did well in focussing on Petrucci when the man was letting rip (sometimes these live shows just don't capture the important stuff).
They're an odd band. That "Walk Beside You" tune on Octavarium is one of my least favourite tunes in the world but some of the other stuff on the album is so damn good. What I liked about TOT was that it cut out a lot of the cheese and stuck to the two most important things about good music: big riffs and big solos
Doctor J said:That's four of us on Drew's Black List so
The Live At Budokan DVD/CD is well worth getting, low on cheese, big on the widdly widdly stuff and the director did well in focussing on Petrucci when the man was letting rip (sometimes these live shows just don't capture the important stuff).
They're an odd band. That "Walk Beside You" tune on Octavarium is one of my least favourite tunes in the world but some of the other stuff on the album is so damn good. What I liked about TOT was that it cut out a lot of the cheese and stuck to the two most important things about good music: big riffs and big solos
It sounds like you and I are on the exact same page. I agree with everyone you said. Chalk up another ToT fan here also.
FoxMustang
Well-Known Member
Now that I've owned it for a few months, I feel that way, too. It's good, but it doesn't really stick in my head the way Awake did, or even Petrucci's solo albumShannon said:
And Live at Budokan is awesome. I think Petrucci misses one note the entire show
The "Instrumedley" is absolutely insane.
FoxMustang said:Now that I've owned it for a few months, I feel that way, too. It's good, but it doesn't really stick in my head the way Awake did, or even Petrucci's solo album
And Live at Budokan is awesome. I think Petrucci misses one note the entire show
You're forgetting his screw-up on the Hollow Years intro. Oh and he misses the feedback spot on As I Am (something really really ironic... watch the Documentary on the DVD lol)...
But considering how many notes this guy's playing, I must say he is unbelievable. Instrumedley blew my mind. It remains one of the most difficult things I've ever seen performed.
Just curious, the guitars on Train of Thought were recorded directly, without mics, right?
Nik said:
Nope, that's a Mesa Road King through a Recto 4x12 cab.
Shannon said:
Yeah but aren't those connected with a cable to the recording equipment rather than with a mic.
On the "Making of..." videos, they show petrucci recording with a pair of headphones.
I'm just curious about that and why some guitarists prefer to record with a microphone when direct recording ensures much higher-quality and no cut-off whatsoever.
Doing a Muse cover album was a good idea.
Donnie
Forum MVP
I completely agree.Doctor J said:
Nu-metal? I think you mean that about Octa-valium.Drew said:Eh, I hated ToT, but I'm not exactly going to ban you for liking DT's nu-metal album...
Drew
Forum MVP
Donnie said:I completely agree.
Nu-metal? I think you mean that about Octa-valium.
Donnie! I'm so glad you're alive,. I'm not going to ban you for disagreeing with me!
Dark Tranquillity
Gothenburg Guitarist
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I liked TOT alot more than the new one, though panic attack is awesome.
String Seraphim
The Walkin' Dude
So far i think ToT and SFAM are the two top albums in my book. I absolutely never get tired of listening to stream of consciousness and fatal tragedy, but i think i remember reading in a magazine that according to Portnoy ToT was a huge deviation from there normal stuff and was an experimental album. Kind of a duh, but i know a lot of people who never heard of DT suddenly beginning to listen to them (mind you 90% of them were musicians). In regards to Ocatavrium i think Portnoy also said they were trying to get back to their older more conventional roots (shrug). Im interested though to see what they will do next and i continue to be a slobbering di-hard DT fan. 
Drew
Forum MVP
Dream Theater experimented with being Godsmack? 
Drew said:Eh, I hated ToT, but I'm not exactly going to ban you for liking DT's nu-metal album...
What about me? I haven't liked one since "Scenes..."
Vince
Contributor
Man, my favorite Dream Theater is the band they were from 1989 until 1999.
WDADU had some great songs on there.
Images and Words was and still is the standard progressive metal is judged by
Awake has arguably their best songwriting, production, emotion, and best use of the 7-string. The songwriting on this album is amazing. Scarred? Unfuckingbelievable!
Change of Seasons is an absolute masterpiece
Falling into Infinity is a beautiful set of songs, stripped down, but more melodic and moving than ever
A Year in a Live-Time is a tremendous 2 disc live set
Scenes from a Memory is their second absolute masterpiece.
Liquid Tension Experiment 1 and 2 are great instrumental albums.
Everything after that has been hit or miss IMO. I loved about 2 songs off of 6DOIT (Solitary Shell and The Glass Prison), TOT had As I Am which was good, but IMO nothing else on that album hits me.
I really dig their new album, but I like it for the songs you guys call cheesy, like "These Walls" and the U2ish "I Walk Beside You". Then again I'm a fan of U2 and Billy Joel, so I'd expect that I'd probably like the melodic side of DT better anyway
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I think Panic Attack is a bad song. It's like the forced fast song on the album.
WDADU had some great songs on there.
Images and Words was and still is the standard progressive metal is judged by
Awake has arguably their best songwriting, production, emotion, and best use of the 7-string. The songwriting on this album is amazing. Scarred? Unfuckingbelievable!
Change of Seasons is an absolute masterpiece
Falling into Infinity is a beautiful set of songs, stripped down, but more melodic and moving than ever
A Year in a Live-Time is a tremendous 2 disc live set
Scenes from a Memory is their second absolute masterpiece.
Liquid Tension Experiment 1 and 2 are great instrumental albums.
Everything after that has been hit or miss IMO. I loved about 2 songs off of 6DOIT (Solitary Shell and The Glass Prison), TOT had As I Am which was good, but IMO nothing else on that album hits me.
I really dig their new album, but I like it for the songs you guys call cheesy, like "These Walls" and the U2ish "I Walk Beside You". Then again I'm a fan of U2 and Billy Joel, so I'd expect that I'd probably like the melodic side of DT better anyway
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I think Panic Attack is a bad song. It's like the forced fast song on the album.
Michael
Forum MVP
My favorite song on TOT is probably "This Dying Soul".
BTW have you guys seen the video of them playing "A Furtune In Lies" in their basement back in 1987 with their old singer and Petrucci was playing a BC.rich? It's pretty cool!!
BTW have you guys seen the video of them playing "A Furtune In Lies" in their basement back in 1987 with their old singer and Petrucci was playing a BC.rich? It's pretty cool!!
that's why you can't always go by what other people say without checking things out for yourself. i've heard a bunch of negative reviews on ToT which kinda put me off. but I borrowed it from my cuz and found it to be one of my most played cd's lately.
Guess I'm old school. To me, DT started going downhill after Awake. I still like what they do now, but it doesn't move me the way the first three DT albums do.
