Dream Theater fans, Identify yourselves
 

I'm a die-hard Dream Theater fan, one of the best bands ever IMO. My friend got me into them a year ago, and now it's all I listen to beside classical music (since I'm a classical musician). I like everything about them, their technical mastery, music, and the lyrics. To me, Dream Theater members are more than just musicians, they are also poets ahd philosophers, all of their lyrics were carefully crafted to perfection.

So far, I have listened to Images And Words, Scenes From A Memory (my favorite), Six Drgrees of Inner Turbulence and Octavarium. Soon I'm going to order their Metropolis 2000 and Score DVD, should be a lot of fun.

So, just wondering if anyone else here likes Dream Theater?

I'm one, a pretty substantial one at that, but be warned, there are plenty of people here who dislike them almost as much as you like them.

Also, you may want to add some substance to your opening post.

John Petrucci is GOD

Thanks Helloween, for the advise, how is it now?

One of my favorite bands, and my bridge into classic progressive rock bands like Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, most recently Marillion.

What I really love about DT is that moreso than any other modern progressive rock/metal band, they make an effort to appeal to a wide audience. They're not always successful - most noticably (for me, anyway) in their lyrics, which are mostly solid, but occasionally cringe-worthy.

I think it's very cool to see such a highly-skilled band put their chops into catchy songs, some of which really have a hook to them, like the choruses to "Strange Deja Vu" and "6:00," for example.

I also appreciate how prolific their output has been, especially since Jordan joined the band - studio albums, live CD's/DVD's, instructional material from Rudess/Petrucci/Portnoy, the Liquid Tension albums, the JP/JR live album, and all the stuff available from the YtseJam records site.

Awesome band. They're far from flawless, but I respect them immensely for never mailing it in or half-assing it, whether it's on album or on tour. Can't wait for the 20th anniversary DVD - August 29th!

Yep, the 20th Anniversary DVD is called Score, I'm gonna get it too. The friend who got me into Dream Theater (also a die-hard fan) was there at the concert, he got front row seat too lol.

It's good, but i would be asking some questions of the viewers, essentially ask people to make posts like Starslight did.

As for me, i enjoy all of their albums almost equally. The only song by them i actually dislike is You Not Me on Falling Into Infinity.

In my opinion they're lyrics have suffered a little bit ever since Moore left the band after Awake. Sure Petrucci is a good lyricist, but it seems that there's alot of pressure on him. Sure Portnoy and Labrie are writing songs too, but not nearly to the extent that John has been, and probably will continue to do.

I'm also going to be picking up SCORE on release. Hopefully it won't be too expensive.

Yeah Moore was a good lyrics writter, as apparent in Images And Words, but Jordan Rudess is a much better keyboardist, I guess it's a trade off.

The Score DVD is under $30 on Amazon, it's around $22 if I remembered correctly.

Double Post:
Wow just check Amazon again, price for Score is $17.49 when it comes out. W00t.

I can listen to some Dream Theater stuff. There's a point where I think it goes from very good musicians making interesting music to very good musicians going "look what I can do". This is the same reason I can't stand Yngwie Malmsteen and lots of Joe Satriani's music.

I listen to a lot of Dream Theater stuff because I find the their music pretty awesome. I don't know much about the band and can't name any songs, but I enjoy listening to them.

I agree there. I love DT, and right after Scenes from a Memory came out I went out and bought all their other albums that had been released up until then. I was on a DT binge. Their music is badass, and smart, but is pretty flashy. A lot of times they remind me of Led Zepplin where as musicians they just seem too good. As a result their music lacks a certain emotional depth and their lyrics sound clumsy at times. They may be techincally accurate, but they don't seem to be playing their souls out like a lot of other bands. Instead they're more like, "this music shit is easy... watch this!" and then Petrucci goes off on a 10min solo that's so techincally accurate it was as though a machine played it.

I've been feeling less and less in the mood for Dream Theater after about 7 years of listening. Sometimes you don't need a 22 min track to get your point across. More recently I've been getting into musicians that are more minimalistic in comparison, namely Stephen Merritt who manages to recycle the 1,4,5, pop progression a million times, and yet it still sounds awesome.

Dream Theater is a totally badass band who forever has my respect as musicians, but their music doesn't emotionally inspire me like so many others that may be less technically accurate.

I enjoy Dream Theater. Not a die hard fan but I do enjoy their stuff.

I occasionally listen to Awake, Images & Words and Metropolis Pt. 2. The other albums aren't worth listening at all, in my book. That's about it. I own the mentioned albums and they're good for what they are, as cohesive wholes, unlike the rest of them.

There are so much better bands in the same genre, so I won't be praising Dream Theater in any way.

*identifies self*

Awake's my favourite, followed up by Six Degrees. Octavarium was pretty disappointing apart from the title track. Scenes From a Memory is incredibly overrated. Used to be a huuuuuge fan, so I bought all their CDs, but now I've kinda left them by the wayside.

Actually, I'm listening to "Space Dye Vest" right now - Probably my favourite song of theirs.

Dream Theater is one of my favorites bands !!
:)

I am also a big Dream Theater fan, I got into them pretty much just last year around this time. I loved Octavarium and then just picked up the rest of their albums, including both Liquid Tension albums and James Labrie's singles work.

One of my favorite bands, people complain about their solo's being way to long with lack of emotion. With me, they get me very energetic and it's just really amazing to hear.

One thing that puzzle me is that why people complain their solos lack emotion. Who said solos have to be emotional to begin with?

It's the exact same thing as cadenzas in classical music, it's meant to be a show off of the performers technical abilities.

I've just recently started listening to Dream Theater. My friend actually bought me the album "Images and Words", and the first time I heard it, I actually didn't like it. It wasn't until my third listen that I started enjoying what I was hearing. Now I'm considering buying another one of their albums, but I'll need to do a little more researching before if it's worth it.
Yes, technical abilities are very important in any performance, but I think emotion is also a very important part of the performance as well. Without emotion, the music just feels cold and uninvolving, but that might just be me.

I don't know, but I have never found that Dream Theater lacked emotions for me personally.

And I personally don't find Dream Theater lacking in emotions either, although they definitely are not an "emotional" band. :) I just think that it is very important to have emotion in a song.

I used to be a huge Dream Theater fan before I became more interested in extreme music. I still enjoy their music. That being said, I don't find that technicality takes away from the music at all. I am a drummer, and hearing technical drumming in a song is great. I think that musicians can appreciate that aspect of their music more. Mind you, I love plenty of music with simple drumming, so I'm not saying that that's the only reason I like them, but rather I find it adds to the music.

Reporting.

Huge fan of DT, have been for years now. Seen them live once (on the Octavarium tour), got all their albums, member of the fan club. Practically breathe them. Best songs are Peruvian Skies, The Root Of All Evil, and Octavarium. Short, snappy sentences.

As far as pure musicianship, they're second to none in the prog-metal scene. I mean, Petrucci played G3 with Vai and Satch! And Petrucci and Myung being from my hometown, I'll always be a bit biased. Dream Theater may not be terribly progressive when compared to other bands in the genre, but they're definitely one of my favorites. IMO, Octavarium is their strongest album since Scenes From a Memory (though "In the Name of God" and "Stream of Consciousness" off Train of Thought are probably in my top ten), so I'm excited to see where they go next.

Dream Theater is my favorite band at the moment, I have listened to Endless Sacrifice and Glass Prison alot lately. I didn't like Dream Theater when I first heard of it due to the vocals, which lead me to Liquid Tension Experiment which Is an awesome band/side project. Dream Theater started to grow on me though and I began to enjoy the vocals.

I'm generally not a huge fan of the vocal stylings of James LaBrie either, but at least their songs aren't all about sex / drugs / a one-dimensional view of love / emo-ey loss, pain, or angst.

But there is no denying that John Petrucci's guitarmanship is top tier. (See: the guitar solo in Blind Faith, followed by the beautiful piano solo - classy!)