Discovering "Awake"

[RazielSR]

Well, I'm some kind of newbie into DT (more details https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=7272.msg225530#msg225530 )   

...And I was listening mainly (since this summer) the let's say "recent" stuff like Octavarium-SC-BC&SL. Awesome albums imo. But then I've been listening to I&W FII, SFAM, 6D0IT, ACOS...I have to say that this albums are amazing A-M-A-Z-I-N-G too.
Well, my least favourite album is ACOS I think. Awake was an album that I was not listening very much. But hey, I think it is (as a whole album) the best for me right now.

Dunno, it's just pure art to me. Fantastic album.

[AcidLameLTE]

 

[Dublagent66]

Yep, great album.  In my top 5.   

[Mladen]

My 3rd favorite, brilliant album indeed. I find it weird that you consider Awake their best album, yet you have listened to it the least.   

[millahh]

Blob will be along shortly to tell you that you're wrong and have bad taste.

[BlobVanDam]

My 9th favourite. Listening to Awake is like scaling a mountain only to find half way through that it's in fact a cliff.

[Mebert78]

My favorite DT album and my fav album of all-time.  It's a band creatively clicking on all cylinders - musically, lyrically, emotionally, heaviness, softness, beautiful artwork, on and on.  A perfect balance of everything IMO.

[Zydar]

I've recently gained a new appreciation for it, but it still is somewhere in the middle on my DT ranking list.

[RazielSR]

My favorite DT album and my fav album of all-time.  It's a band creatively clicking on all cylinders - musically, lyrically, emotionally, heaviness, softness, beautiful artwork, on and on.  A perfect balance of everything IMO.

Exactly. That's what I find in this album. My favourite album of all times is Episode by Stratovarius. In this album I feel that balance like in Episode. It is all-in-one.

And yes, It has been the last album I have listened to, and it is my fav one.

If I try to imagine that times... (you know... I was "fan" with ToT for one month and then I was not listening anything more until this summer with the BC&SL thing) so...well, I suppose the people was just amazed with this "new" band. With incredible albums like I&W and Awake...

[Space Invader]

I've recently gained a new appreciation for it, but it still is somewhere in the middle on my DT ranking list.

Pretty much this.
It's got it's moments, but it also has parts then tend to drag.

[j]

My 9th favourite. Listening to Awake is like scaling a mountain only to find half way through that it's in fact a cliff.

Great analogy...too bad the opinion that goes along with it is so terrible.

-J

[Martinman300]

I think
-great lyrics
-great musical ideas
-not the best songwriting in places (scarred, SDV, disjointed)
-phat riffage
-Groovy (ciaw)
-Erotomania + voices are amazing

[setrataeso]

My 9th favourite. Listening to Awake is like scaling a mountain only to find half way through that it's in fact a cliff.

Great analogy...too bad nobody will appreciate it because their opinions are wrong

[LCArenas]

It's my all-time favorite, I'm totally an Awake fanboy. It's just perfect, even with the "Lie" lyrics.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Hands down my favorite DT album, and probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite album ever. Everything about it is fantastic, from the opening drum fill of 6:00 to the final piano notes of Space-Dye Vest. I don't think DT will ever top this, but I'd love for them to try

[GuineaPig]

Best DT album, imo. 

[robwebster]

I like it. But not as much as most of the others. Probably 7th, 8th?

[orcus116]

I don't think DT will ever top this, but I'd love for them to try

They're too set in their ways to try anything outside of their comfort zone anymore plus they're just more interested in making other things.

[Marvellous G]

I like it. But not as much as most of the others. Probably 7th, 8th?

[sonatafanica]

My 9th favourite. Listening to Awake is like scaling a mountain only to find half way through that it's in fact a cliff.

*pulls out checklist*

Awake Is Worse Than
...
642. A six hour drive to Vermont √
643. Squishing a rotten banana √
644. Climbing a mountain only to realize it is a cliff √

[SilentFox]

Top two or three for me.  In my opinion this album has the most emotional, most moving songs in DT's catalog.  Even though the songs themselves are musically not the greatest, practically every song is heart-wrenching.  I wonder how FII would have been with KM...

[reneranucci]

My least favorite, although it still has 2-3 excellent songs. As a whole album I find it boring.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

My 9th favourite. Listening to Awake is like scaling a mountain only to find half way through that it's in fact a cliff.

*pulls out checklist*

Awake Is Worse Than
...
642. A six hour drive to Vermont √
643. Squishing a rotten banana √
644. Climbing a mountain only to realize it is a cliff √

What' the 543th statement? 

[Super Dude]

My first thought upon finishing your post: SDoIT is considered old DT now?  Shit, I'm getting old...

Second thought: I am also an Awake diehard.  Good for you, man.

[BlobVanDam]

I don't think DT will ever top this, but I'd love for them to try

They're too set in their ways to try anything outside of their comfort zone anymore plus they're just more interested in making other things.

If "other things" means whatever they've done since Awake, then thank God.

[sonatafanica]

I don't think DT will ever top this, but I'd love for them to try

They're too set in their ways to try anything outside of their comfort zone anymore plus they're just more interested in making other things.

If "other things" means whatever they've done since Awake, then thank God.

*pulls out checklist again*

Awake Is Worse Than

...
642. A six hour drive to Vermont √
643. Squishing a rotten banana √
644. Climbing a mountain only to realize it is a cliff √
645. Dream Theater itself √

[Perpetual Change]

I love Awake, but I don't understand how it can be considered a definitive album, a good starting point, or the band's best album.  It produced a couple "classic" DT songs and a handful of good ones (like most DT albums do) but it was not their "Golden Age."  For every great moment on Awake, there's another that sounds completely awkward and forced. I think people's attachment toward Kevin may have had more to do with all the Awake luvin that goes on than anything else.

[Scurvy!Dreams]

For every great moment on Awake, there's another that sounds completely awkward and forced.

You think this is more true of Awake than other DT albums?

I think people's attachment toward Kevin may have had more to do with all the Awake luvin that goes on than anything else.

. That's a bit backwards.

[KevShmev]

I think people's attachment toward Kevin may have had more to do with all the Awake luvin that goes on than anything else.

. That's a bit backwards.

Pretty much.  People don't love Awake because they are big fans of Kevin Moore and want to fellate anything he has been a part of; they are big fans of Kevin Moore because of his work on albums they love like Awake.

[Perpetual Change]

Pretty much.  People don't love Awake because they are big fans of Kevin Moore and want to fellate anything he has been a part of; they are big fans of Kevin Moore because of his work on albums they love like Awake.

I'm not convinced of that.  When there's a line-up change and even the slightest hint of a broken base, there are those newer fans who convince themselves they like the "old school" fan side of the base just to look like they aren't n00bs.

I don't mean to take away any credit from Awake, but I'm still baffled as to how it has the reputation it does.  When I was first getting into DT, someone recommended Awake to me and I almost shelved DT permanently because of it.  If I didn't get Images and Words next, I wouldn't be the DT fan I am today.

What's more baffling to me is why people appreciate Kevin for his work on Awake.  Just about everything I dislike about the album came from his way:  Space-Dye Vest, the lyrics and keyboards on Lie, and some of the lyrics in 6:00.  Not saying I hate everything Kev did on Awake-- a lot of it was really really good.  But others parts are pretty bad.

You think this is more true of Awake than other DT albums?

Yeah I do.  Obviously Systematic Chaos is a special case.

It doesn't really matter. Caught in a Web, A Mind Beside Itself, Lifting Shadows, and Scarred are so awesome that it's never long between listens of Awake for me.

[KevShmev]

  When there's a line-up change and even the slightest hint of a broken base, there are those newer fans who convince themselves they like the "old school" fan side of the base just to look like they aren't n00bs.

While I am sure every band has a tinny tiny small amount of fans like that, that is not the norm with DT and their fans.  If it were, then When Dream and Day Unite were be fawned over a lot more, right?  There is a reason why Images and Words and Awake are as popular with the fans as they are...because they are both tremendous records.  And even a lot of newer fans have no problem figuring that out.

I don't mean to take away any credit from Awake, but I'm still baffled as to how it has the reputation it does.  When I was first getting into DT, someone recommended Awake to me and I almost shelved DT permanently because of it.  If I didn't get Images and Words next, I wouldn't be the DT fan I am today.

Okay, but you are one person.  Do you expect everyone to have the same reaction and experience as you?

   
What's more baffling to me is why people appreciate Kevin for his work on Awake.  Just about everything I dislike about the album came from his way:  Space-Dye Vest, the lyrics and keyboards on Lie, and some of the lyrics in 6:00.  Not saying I hate everything Kev did on Awake-- a lot of it was really really good.  But others parts are pretty bad.

To each his own.  I think Awake features arguably his best keyboard work to date, as well as some of his best lyrics.  If you disagree, rock on.

[contest_sanity]

Awake is #1 for me.  It was the first DT album I was exposed to (sometime in 1996), but its status at the top does not rest on mere sentiment alone.  Additional factors include:

- near perfect combination of heaviness with technicality and progressiveness
- JP's best solo (Voices)
- JLB's vocal performance
- diversity: heavy songs & ballads; short songs & long ones; happy, soaring melodies & dark, disturbing tones; accessible & hard-to-wrap-your-brain-around
- some of their best lyrical work (Voices, SDV), as well as overall lyrical consistency
- the best instrumental
- squeezing the most amount of heaviness out of a simplistic riff EVER (The Mirror)
- galactic cowboys are thanked in the liner notes
- Awake has 5 letters; JESUS has 5 letters...

case closed.

[ZKX-2099]

It's not that I don't like Awake. It's just that everything else they have done is far better. My main gripe that it doesn't really feel like a proper album. The track listing seems a bit off. I think...

6:00
Caught In A Web
Innocence Faded
The Mirror
Lie
Space Dye Vest
Scarred
Lifting Shadows
Erotomania
The Silent Man
Voices

would have had a much better flow over all.

[RazielSR]

... About  Kevin and the line-up change...I didn't know Kevin Moore since I listened to I&W (this summer), so I have nothing emotional in this... At least my opinion is not based in that.
It is just that as a whole album I like Awake a lot and it is my favourite DT album. There are songs in other records that I like more than all the songs in Awake, but as a whole album is the best. So it is my favourite album. And I see the production and mixing extremely "true" and perfect. Sounds like music, you can feel the band, not like almost all the albums nowadays ( I don't mean DT, I mean everybody ) that sounds too much artificial and forced.

Every member of the band sounds clear, for my is the top of DT, as Episode was the top of Stratovarius. I see it like that, it's my opinion. And I have listened in Awake a lot of passages/combinations/solos, etc, etc that I have listened before in other DT albums released later, that's normal, but to me is strange. You know, it is the last album I listened to.

This band is exceptional, seriously. If you listen the whole discography and analize it, it's just amazing.

I just hope to have DT many more years, please.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

Discovering Awake was really a great experience for me too. Listening to Voices for the first time was as great, or even better than listening to Under a Glass Moon or Take the Time.