Dream Theater, Arguably THE prog rock/metal band.

What can I say about them that hasn't been said already? I just thought it was sad that noone had stated them yet... Do you think they are as good as people say? I want to know what you think.

BTW, is this a ninja or what?! :ph43r:

I don't think Dream Theater are overrated at all. I just think there are a lot of stupid people out there. They're not my favourite band by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enjoyed all their albums and appreciate greatly what they have done for progressive metal, as well as the expert musicanship demonstrated by all the members.

Dream Theater seem to me to be a victim of their own success. When bands become "mainstream" (even if it's only within a genre such as prog metal), there are always going to be idiots who act like sheep and say they like them without understanding or even properly listening to the music. These people are too cowardly to form their own opinions and instead tag along with popular views. This is self-perpetuating since the number of sheep increases with the number of existing fans (sheep or otherwise).

That's not all Dream Theater fans, and it's probably not even the majority but a significant number of people who say Dream Theater is their favourite band probably couldn't list their entire discography. In addition to people who dislike the proportion of idiots in the fanbase, there are also those jealous of the success DT have earned and these two combined probably account for a lot of the DT negativity that is evident primarily on the internet. Of course there are genuinely people who don't like them as well.

The point to this post is that there are a lot of stupid people out there. People who "like" music without listening to and understanding it and people who "dislike" a band out of envy, or because of their moronic fanbase.

And yes, that is a ninja.

HAHA, thx, I wasn't sure about the ninja...

Back to your post (a great one BTW, I enjoyed it very much). I must say, unfortunately, that I agree... There are indeed a lot of stupid people in the world, which makes me sad. DT is an excellant band IMO, and I can understand that some people don't like them, but a lot of these people actually don't know them at all. It's the case for a LOT of bands.

There are also a lot of people who claim that they love one or some bands, without knowing them either, which is, to me, as annoying.

However, fortunately for us, there are also a lot of people who like the bands that I personally cherish, and know them well. :D

The point of this post is to remind people that music is like everything else. Don't talk about it if you don't know what you are talking about, just because it sounds cool. BUT, if you do know what you are talking about, it will be my pleasure to discuss about it, whatever your opinion is. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I think until the album Awake they are very good but after that they are starting to get a bit boring, I saw them ate Sweden rock festival this year and have to say that was not what i have expected :( . I even saw teh another time when they had released teh album Scenes from a memory. And the best from that show was the support band wich was Spocks beard.

Enough with the bad. I really really love the earlier stuff like Images and words and When dream and day unite. but i still buy their albums in hope of tehm to back to their roots so to say.

lol, I don't believe they will ever get back to their roots... sorry dude. But, I personally love everything they have done, or almost everything. The only album that I don't like, is their first, and I think mostly because of the singer, Charlie Dominicci. Too bad...

Plus, now they have the keyboard genius (IMO), Jordan Rudess, who does an awesome job. I just love his work so much... I got to admit that I iddn't buy any of his solo albums, but what he does with DT is unbelievable. Scenes From A Memory : what a way to make a good impression as the new guy. He was fucking awesome on that album.

The same could be said about all the other members. I love them all. I think it is quite evident that I'm a big Dream Theater fan... Sorry.

Now, back to what you were saying Nicko. It's sad that you don't like their evolution... Well, their music obviously isn't for everyone... What is your favorite band?

I love bads as Pain of salvation,Cirkus maximus,Opeth,Wolverine,Kansas,A.C.T,Genesis,........ and the list goes on

well...
i love everything they have ever created and composed!!!(fanboy! :P )

i love all their eras..
and imaes n words era and the new more heavy and "nowadays" songs...

they r my favorite band for sure(as u can see by my screen name)
and i believe they are the progressive band of our times!

oh and there is this band called andromeda!!!
this guys have future!!! :D

I personally used to be very much into DT. For me the peak of their career was Metropolis II. Just about everything they have done since seems has been on a sliding scale of approval as far as my listening needs are concerned. I still enjoy listening to their later stuff I just don't think it contains the groundbreaking mastery that some of their earlier albums contained. For instance, much of their earlier stuff I can still listen to today and enjoy just as much as I did say a year ago, but their later albums just seem to not have that same re-playability for me. Although, it is not clear to me if this is due to changes in their music, or in my ear.

When I first heard Andromeda, I thought, 'Another one of those post Dream Theater prog groups' but after getting my head around it I was extremely happy to learn that this was definitely not the case. Whilst they do share similar abilities in their musicianship, Andromeda's songs are in a completely different world, in my opinion.

Regarding JR, I personally preferred Kevin Moore’s contribution to DT. Kevin had a very individual, original playing style that I feel really connected with me. Whilst Jordan is undoubtedly a great Keyboardist, I just don't feel very deeply in what he is trying to convey. This is another reason why I think Andromeda is so much beyond everything else I listen to - Martin Hedin. The electronic fusion that is going on in most of the songs is nothing short of genius as far as I am concerned. It has really inspired me to look at music in a completely different way and I now listen to a lot of Electronic music looking for similar elements to what I hear in Andromeda. I now know my future as a musician lies somewhere between the, now blurred, lines of the metal and electronic music genres.

:blink: How can you presume to talk about Dream Theater (allof you)???? :wacko:

Dream Theater consists of one of the best musicians on the face of the earth nowadays. Their music includes A LOT of what you can find in music theory, but it's not just about that, becayse as one of the members stated: the theory is just a tool to express themselves. So yeah, I think they are really good. Each member is really good in what he does with his instrument (or vocals :P) They certainly deserve to be honoured, because it is their hard work that made them be recognisable. They didn't make mainstream music to later advertise it via MTV so they could be famous for 2 years. Sure, they had music videos there were played on MTV, but if you compare the number of them to the number of all the other "stars" of MTV, you will see that the number is really small. They do great shows, they create great, rich music and have excellent mixes (except for when dream and day unite), plus they have released instructional videos, they do clinics etc. etc. What can you ask more?

To put some new life into this old thread again; What do You guys think about the new album?

For me, Systematic chaos is a very good Dream Theater album, it's new and fresh, and still got a lot of the early style as well (some good Awake-vibes on this one).
Vocals are getting better and better, James have recovered since his poisoning and kept getting better. I like his vocals getting a little rougher, in the old days, his voice could get a little sqeaky at times.

What's missing in the new album, I think, is cool, standout bass lines.
John Myung is almost invisible, sadly, still want some of those old Ytse jam solos and stuff. :)

Silhouette

For me Systematic Chaos consists only of one song, which is 'The Ministry of Lost Souls'. Still they managed to spoil even that by adding that sensless 'progressive' middle part...it simply doesn't fit.

I'm quite disappointed, and hope for a miracle to happen next time DT decide to write an album.

That song is my favourite :) I must agree though that they spoiled it a bit with that middle instrumental part which really does not fit. Apart from that, I think systematic chaos is a great album and of course... it's different from the others and that was IMO Dream Theater's point.

Awesome band! really like them :P
Still, the last two albums aren't as good as the others.. Of course there are some exceptions, Ocatavarium (the song), In the Presence of Enemies, maybe The Ministry of Lost Souls. Unfortunately, the rest of the songs aren't so good, somewhat disappointing.. I'm also afraid of the fact the DT's getting closer and closer to mainstream - more clips, radio edits and such (Forsaken, Constant Motion..), the new 'hits' disc, and much more public relations, and adversiting..

Their next album will be their 10th.. Hopefully they won't take the opportunity for MORE adversiting and mainstreaming and such things.. It'll be the best if they'll do a serious progressive original concept album, like Scenes. I'd like to see more old vintage prog stuff, like Rush for example.. I also want the innovative LTE approach in Dream Theater.

dream theater have always been always too 'americanesque' for my tastes... from their early works i'd take Images and Words aside, an album that i can still put on and listen to, but their latest works are totally uninteresting to me