A Dream Theater Poll - Images vs Scenes

[ReRushed]

My interest is piqued. I have these albums. I might listen to them this weekend.

[ytserush]

Tough call. Neither one is a favorite. No idea. Both are better live anyway.

[Segue Myles]

Six Degrees honestly WOULD be my fav if it was just disc 2.

 

Disc 1 is a bit of a chore most days for me.

 

Mick

 

....WAT

 

There's so much variety on Disc 1 that I love and it's also a huge part of why I love BCSL.

 

The Glass Prison is their heaviest shit not on Black Clouds or Train of Thought.

Blind Faith is beautifully weird.

Misunderstood is similar in that regard.

The Great Debate sucks. I'll give you that.

Disappear is a good acoustic number.

 

Then yeah, Disc 2 is easily one of the best things they've ever done.

 

 

Scenes far and away. Personally I find Images around middle of the road, a dated sounding Queensryche knockoff, even if some of the songs are good. Scenes is their best after Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

 

Ha! I'm not the only one to enjoy Six Degrees more!!

 

Scenes hasn't interested me in a long while. I find it a real chore compared to many of their other albums.

 

Rewarding and beautiful. But...they have albums I find more entertaining.

 

Scenes is best enjoyed as a full album for sure, but there are a few moments, like Overture through Fatal Tragedy, Home, or Finally Free that stand tall. I totally get why it can be a chore.

 

I think for me...and this is odd as I listen to a lot of gothic metal and read plenty of depressing books...but I dislike the concept of the album and the actual music I find to be relentlessly dour.

 

It's definitely a masterpiece. I respect it and believe me at times its blown me away...and I will never rate it low. But personal tastes included, it isn't as magic for me as it is many others.

 

Now Six Degrees is totally beautiful AND I enjoy both discs immensely.

 

In fact I enjoy both discs more than Scenes.

 

But I'm not knocking scenes. It's incredible. Definitely Dream Theater's masterpiece. But that doesn't mean it's what I most enjoy playing.

[Segue Myles]

Tough call. Neither one is a favorite. No idea. Both are better live anyway.

 

I love your posts on DT.

 

What albums do you rank higher? I do get bored of seeing lists where these two are always right at the top...for me they aren't either.

[The Analog Cub]

Tough call. Neither one is a favorite. No idea. Both are better live anyway.

 

I love your posts on DT.

 

What albums do you rank higher? I do get bored of seeing lists where these two are always right at the top...for me they aren't either.

 

Mine for shits and gigs:

 

*these are all excellent albums and I binge them regularly

1. Six Degrees

2. Scenes

3. Black Clouds and Silver Linings

4. Self-titled

5. Octavarium

6. Awake

 

*noticeable dropoff in quality, but still plenty of rewarding moments

 

7. Images

8. Train of Thought

9. A Dramatic Turn Of Events

10. Systematic Chaos

 

*these have a few good moments but are mostly pretty poor

 

11. The Astonishing

12. Falling into Infinity

 

Never listened to the debut.

[The Analog Cub]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

[bluefox4000]

mine top 5 DT albums right now.

 

1. Scenes

2. Octavarium

3. Six Degrees

4. DT

5. Train Of Thought

 

Mick

[bluefox4000]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

 

to each their own......but I LOVE ADToE. and TA is the only mis-step so far in the post Portnoy era.

 

Mixk

[The Analog Cub]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

 

to each their own......but I LOVE ADToE. and TA is the only mis-step so far in the post Portnoy era.

 

Mixk

 

ADToE is almost a shameless copy of Images and that's why I'm not overall too fond of it. The songs on there are mostly great but the pandering to the Images crowd leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

 

I will never stop listening to Lost Not Forgotten or Breaking All Illusions, though. Breaking All Illusions is one of the greatest songs they've ever written.

[bluefox4000]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

 

to each their own......but I LOVE ADToE. and TA is the only mis-step so far in the post Portnoy era.

 

Mixk

 

ADToE is almost a shameless copy of Images and that's why I'm not overall too fond of it. The songs on there are mostly great but the pandering to the Images crowd leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

 

I will never stop listening to Lost Not Forgotten or Breaking All Illusions, though. Breaking All Illusions is one of the greatest songs they've ever written.

 

i never got the images comparison until it was pointed out to me, lol

 

but it doesn't bother me.

 

and breaking All illusions is my fav Mangini era track. just a beast.

 

Mick

[The Analog Cub]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

 

to each their own......but I LOVE ADToE. and TA is the only mis-step so far in the post Portnoy era.

 

Mixk

 

ADToE is almost a shameless copy of Images and that's why I'm not overall too fond of it. The songs on there are mostly great but the pandering to the Images crowd leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

 

I will never stop listening to Lost Not Forgotten or Breaking All Illusions, though. Breaking All Illusions is one of the greatest songs they've ever written.

 

i never got the images comparison until it was pointed out to me, lol

 

but it doesn't bother me.

 

and breaking All illusions is my fav Mangini era track. just a beast.

 

Mick

 

On The Backs of Angels -> Pull Me Under, almost section for section.

Outcry -> Metropolis

Far From Heaven/Breaking All Illusions -> Wait For Sleep/Learning to Live.

 

There's probably more subtle ones but those are extremely blatant. I think Petrucci was trying to win back the fans after Portnoy left so his solution was to go make another Images.

 

All of those songs I listed from ADToE are great songs, but the copying really hurts the album on principle.

 

It was time for Portnoy to leave, though. By the time BCSL came out, it was only him, Petrucci, and Rudess actually contributing. LaBrie and Myung were basically session musicians at that point, even if the songs are still excellent.

Edited September 25, 2016 by BowlCity

[bluefox4000]

I was mostly surprised by how good the self titled was. The Portnoy crowd always bitches about the drop in quality since he left...which is kinda true on ADToE and The Astonishing but the self titled was an excellent album from start to finish, as was the live album that came with it.

 

to each their own......but I LOVE ADToE. and TA is the only mis-step so far in the post Portnoy era.

 

Mixk

 

ADToE is almost a shameless copy of Images and that's why I'm not overall too fond of it. The songs on there are mostly great but the pandering to the Images crowd leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

 

I will never stop listening to Lost Not Forgotten or Breaking All Illusions, though. Breaking All Illusions is one of the greatest songs they've ever written.

 

i never got the images comparison until it was pointed out to me, lol

 

but it doesn't bother me.

 

and breaking All illusions is my fav Mangini era track. just a beast.

 

Mick

 

On The Backs of Angels -> Pull Me Under, almost section for section.

Outcry -> Metropolis

Far From Heaven/Breaking All Illusions -> Wait For Sleep/Learning to Live.

 

There's probably more subtle ones but those are extremely blatant. I think Petrucci was trying to win back the fans after Portnoy left so his solution was to go make another Images.

 

All of those songs I listed from ADToE are great songs, but the copying really hurts the album on principle.

 

It was time for Portnoy to leave, though. By the time BCSL came out, it was only him, Petrucci, and Rudess actually contributing. LaBrie and Myung were basically session musicians at that point, even if the songs are still excellent.

 

i will Never disrespect portnoy for his time and contributions to this band.

 

but all you have to do is watch the making of Chaos to know that he had just grabbed the reigns.

 

and boy was the atmosphere DEPRESSING.

 

Nobody wanted to be there, lol'

 

Exept portnoy who was oblivious, lol

 

Mick

[Segue Myles]

Chaos is crap

 

But I did enjoy it the other day...

 

A moment of madness. It sucks

[J2112YYZ]

Chaos is crap

 

But I did enjoy it the other day...

 

A moment of madness. It sucks

 

Maybe you'll like the album more if you rearranged the song order like I did on my iPod.

 

I made Constant Motion the first song and put In The Presence Of Enemies together at the end like it should be. I will never understand why they split the song up like that.

[Rod in Toronto]

Lost Not Forfotten = Under A Glass Moon

[Mr. Not]

Lost Not Forfotten = Under A Glass Moon

 

Some similarities there, Petrucci slowly plays the same chord type (power octaves) during both intros, and the choruses both have those little instrumental hooks between the vocals.

 

But overall the songs have such different feels.

[condemned2bfree]

I'd say images, easier to digest, the songs are more accessible instant, though the triggered drums become taxing after a while. Edited September 26, 2016 by condemned2bfree

[toymaker]

I'd say images, easier to digest, the songs are more accessible instant, though the triggered drums become taxing after a while.

 

What do you mean by triggered drums? Are you talking about something like snare replacement, where each snare hit is digitally replaced by a more uniform sound? Or is it something else?

 

I get a little tired of that sort of machinegun double bass thing that a lot of progressive bands' drummers overdo.

[condemned2bfree]

I'd say images, easier to digest, the songs are more accessible instant, though the triggered drums become taxing after a while.

 

What do you mean by triggered drums? Are you talking about something like snare replacement, where each snare hit is digitally replaced by a more uniform sound? Or is it something else?

 

I get a little tired of that sort of machinegun double bass thing that a lot of progressive bands' drummers overdo.

 

Yeah, triggered as you explain.The drums on Images were triggered, a move Mr Portnoy regretted if memory serves. To my ears it shows there is no depth or velocity with the rolls - one dimensional at the same level.

 

Managed to dig this up, though I do recall him mentioning the triggered drums a lot somewhere.

 

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/28.aspx

[PolarizeMe]

Scenes. A personal/sentimental reason really because that was their first album that wowed me so much that they went from being an overrated prog band that I'll never "get" to being a band that I enjoy a lot of their material (there's a few songs/albums by DT I either don't like nor care for). That's not to slag off Images cause after Scenes, that was the next album I listened to, then after Images came Octavarium. I just find Scenes much more rewarding to listen when I put the time and investment to sit down and play some DT.

[tangy]

Images and words. Kevin moore was the man.

 

I saw the sfam tour but never really got into that record?

[ytserush]

Tough call. Neither one is a favorite. No idea. Both are better live anyway.

 

I love your posts on DT.

 

What albums do you rank higher? I do get bored of seeing lists where these two are always right at the top...for me they aren't either.

 

No reason to get bored.

 

 

I can't rank them (or probably anyone else) numerically but my three favorites at the top (in chronological order))are:

 

When Dream and Day Unite

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

Octavarium

 

Images And Words

Awake

A Change Of Seasons

Falling Into Infinity

Scenes From A Memory

Black Clouds And Silver Linings

 

 

A Dramatic Turn Of Events

Dream Theater

The Astonishing

 

Train Of Thought

 

Systematic Chaos

 

 

 

Live Albums (not counting bootlegs official or otherwise)

 

Live At The Marquee

Live Scenes From New York

Score

 

Chaos In Motion

Breaking The Fourth Wall

 

Live At Luna Park

Once In A Livetime

[KenJennings]

Really surprised this poll isn't closer than it is.

[ytserush]

Tough call. Neither one is a favorite. No idea. Both are better live anyway.

 

I love your posts on DT.

 

What albums do you rank higher? I do get bored of seeing lists where these two are always right at the top...for me they aren't either.

 

No reason to get bored.

 

 

I can't rank them (or probably anyone else) numerically but my three favorites at the top (in chronological order))are:

 

When Dream and Day Unite

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

Octavarium

 

Images And Words

Awake

A Change Of Seasons

Falling Into Infinity

Scenes From A Memory

Black Clouds And Silver Linings

 

 

A Dramatic Turn Of Events

Dream Theater

The Astonishing

 

Train Of Thought

 

Systematic Chaos

 

 

 

Live Albums (not counting bootlegs official or otherwise)

 

Live At The Marquee

Live Scenes From New York

Score

 

Chaos In Motion

Breaking The Fourth Wall

 

 

Live At Budokan

Live At Luna Park

Once In A Livetime

 

Fixed to include Live At Budokan which I forgot to list.

[Del_Duio]

I'm genuinely curious to see how this shakes out. These seem to be Dream Theater's near consensus top-two, and they're my top-two as well; but I actually have a pretty strong opinion about which is the best.

 

Votes are public if you want to peek.

 

SFAM was my first Dream Theater album I bought, after seeing Live at Budokhan. Mostly I bought it for Beyond This Life as I didn't know any of the other songs on it. It's SO awesome. I&W is really good too but that drum sound, blah..