Your Controversial Opinions on DT

[ReaperKK]

I"m listening through the entire DT discography at the moment and just got to Six Degrees and here are my thoughts so far:

- Awake really didn't age well, probably the worst album of the 90's
- It's a shame "The Way It Used To Be" didn't make it on a official album because that is a Top 5 DT song and their best pop oriented song.

[Zook]

I"m listening through the entire DT discography at the moment and just got to Six Degrees and here are my thoughts so far:

- Awake really didn't age well, probably the worst album of the 90's

no u

[JayOctavarium]

I"m listening through the entire DT discography at the moment and just got to Six Degrees and here are my thoughts so far:

- Awake really didn't age well, probably the worst album of the 90's

no u

[SeRoX]

I know it's controversial but come on! Awake is the best them! 

[gzarruk]

I"m listening through the entire DT discography at the moment and just got to Six Degrees and here are my thoughts so far:

- Awake really didn't age well, probably the worst album of the 90's
- It's a shame "The Way It Used To Be" didn't make it on a official album because that is a Top 5 DT song and their best pop oriented song.

I started doing the same exact thing a few days ago, wanted to listen to the whole catalog again, in chronological order, to see how my opinions/ranking of them would change. I've almost finished listening TOT. However, I don't really agree with what you posted 

Some things I noticed listening up to this point:

- Used to like FII more, but listening to all of it again made me realize it drags on some parts. It has some great moments on it, but some other things just don't work as well.

- Also, looks like it was on this album where MP developed his own "signature" sound/playing. On all the previous albums his approach to drumming was different and varied from album to album, while still sounding like MP. FII looks, to me, like the abum where he found the style he liked and just stopped exploring his drumming after it. Though, I enjoy his drumming on Awake/ACOS much more, specially his use of the octobans. FII sounds like he used the same tricks on almost all the songs. It gets tiring after a while.

- SFAM and SDOIT are probably the best albums of their catalog, and definitely the best up to this point (imo). It seemed like that lineup could only make perfect abums like these, but TOT started a downfall imo. To me, listening to an album like TOT after the masterpiece that is SDOIT is a huge disappointment. They completely under-used Jordan, who had insanely good moments on both SFAM and SDOIT (his playing is one of the main aspects why I think these two albums are that good), and had him relegated to mostly doubling the guitar on many songs and playing a few leads/solos .

[ReaperKK]

I agree with MP not evolving much past FII

[Kotowboy]

I know it's controversial but come on! Awake is the best them! 

Nah Awake is boring after the opening 3 songs.

[jakepriest]

I know it's controversial but come on! Awake is the best them! 

Nah Awake is boring after the opening 3 songs.

The album actually gets good after the sixth song ends.

[Zook]

Awake is good all the way through, although it loses a bit of steam at Space Dye Vest.

[Adami]

Awake is good all the way through, although it loses a bit of steam at Space Dye Vest.

I think you're being too kind. I'll say that the album becomes completely unlistenable after Space Dye Vest.

[Prog Snob]

[Zook]

Awake is good all the way through, although it loses a bit of steam at Space Dye Vest.

I think you're being too kind. I'll say that the album becomes completely unlistenable after Space Dye Vest.

What you did there. I see it.

[gzarruk]

I agree with MP not evolving much past FII

He became the good drummer version of Lars Ulrich 

[Adami]

Really? I mean he had a style, which is not a bad thing, but I'd say he largely stopped evolving after 6DOIT. There was some really creative new stuff on that album.

[ReaperKK]

I think the one thing with MP is his style really fit with the band so it wasn't a big deal that he didn't really keep evolving. I BC&SL was the first album where I thought it was time for him to shake it up.

[mikeyd23]

I've said before FII is where the "MP" sound was really established, IMO. From there, I'd say he improved upon that with SFAM and SDOIT, with SDOIT probably being his peak work for me. After that he didn't expand much and typically tended to rely on the same feels and fills.

[Kotowboy]

I agree with MP not evolving much past FII

He became the good drummer version of Lars Ulrich 

Snare sound aside - Lars is really creative on St. Anger. Watch the DVD of that album - he's firing on all cylinders.

He plays with fire on St. Anger. On Death Magnetic he is actually a lot less creative and his limitations are showing. On Hardwired he went back to Black Album drumming

and played for the song.

[TAC]

Watching the St Anger DVD 
Listening to the St Anger CD 

[MirrorMask]

A thread about CONTROVERSIAL opinions is the only one where I can live with any criticism towards Awake 

Brilliant album through and through.

[bill1971]

Couldn't agree less about Awake. Possibly my favorite DT album but that's the beauty of music, it hits different people different ways.

Interesting take on MP's drumming. He still had some great drum parts but even as he said he doesn't like to practice and it started to show. Drummers like Peart and Mangini continue to improve and to push themselves.

[erwinrafael]

I think the chorus is fine, but the verse sections I agree let down an otherwise incredible song. The opening instrumental in particular I think ranks up there with anything else they've done, as does that outro.

My mistake. I was not referring to TCOT's chorus but rather the prechorus.

And the vocal melody of the verse section to my ears really sounds very similar to JLB's Crucified.

[JayOctavarium]

Here's one.

There hasn't been a section of a DT song in a while that made me go "OH SHIT HERE IT COMES". Like... If I ever see The Glass Prison live, the beginning of the second section (the chugging and the psuedo "turn table" shit) would make me go nuts. Same with the "Day After Day ROOOOARRRR" section of A Nightmare To Remember.

I miss the anticipation.

[Evai]

I hope they continue in the same direction as The Astonishing. I don't mean specifically in style, more along the lines of experimenting and trying stuff. The two albums before it were just a bore 'playing it safe please the fans, it's not bad but it's not good either'-fest

[jakepriest]

I hope they continue in the same direction as The Astonishing. I don't mean specifically in style, more along the lines of experimenting and trying stuff. The two albums before it were just a bore 'playing it safe please the fans, it's not bad but it's not good either'-fest

ADTOE is one of their best albums, so I disagree that it was a bore.

[Kotowboy]

I hope they continue in the same direction as The Astonishing. I don't mean specifically in style, more along the lines of experimenting and trying stuff. The two albums before it were just a bore 'playing it safe please the fans, it's not bad but it's not good either'-fest

ADTOE is one of their best albums, so I disagree that it was a bore.

It was certainly a lot better than the two that preceded it.

[TAC]

Agreed.

[Evai]

But... BCASL has actual interesting songs. ADTOE is more background music to put on while you do something else. I suppose it's better for driving, or if you're with friends and want to put something inoffensive on. Whereas with BCASL, the prog-fan might blush when an interesting part comes on and rush to change the CD

[Kotowboy]

Black Clouds has A Nightmare to Remember and Rite of Passage...




Dramatic Turn does not.

[Evai]

Rite of Passage is the only (arguably) 'weak' song on that album. ADTOE has eight

[Kotowboy]

Rite of Passage is the only (arguably) 'weak' song on that album. ADTOE has eight

Eight ? Please list them.

The Best Of Times is saved by the solo. Nightmare is far too long and has THAT vocal section. Wither is good. A Rite of Passage is kinda throwaway... Shattered Fortress is just a medley.

Count of Tuscany is the best song on the album for me.

Oh and TCOT verse riff is the best riff on the album.

[KevShmev]

But... BCASL has actual interesting songs. ADTOE is more background music to put on while you do something else. I suppose it's better for driving, or if you're with friends and want to put something inoffensive on. Whereas with BCASL, the prog-fan might blush when an interesting part comes on and rush to change the CD

What does that even mean?

[Evai]

Rite of Passage is the only (arguably) 'weak' song on that album. ADTOE has eight

Eight ? Please list them.

The Best Of Times is saved by the solo. Nightmare is far too long and has THAT vocal section. Wither is good. A Rite of Passage is kinda throwaway... Shattered Fortress is just a medley.

Count of Tuscany is the best song on the album for me.

Oh and TCOT verse riff is the best riff on the album.

Okay, here's my personal problem; there's not much variety within each song, I can barely remember anything besides the choruses of each song. I'd probably like Build Me Up, Break Me Down, but all I think of is this - https://youtu.be/iP6XpLQM2Cs?t=135 . Feels like scraping the bottom of the barrel... Beneath The Surface and Far From Heaven are pretty cool ballads though! Also bear in mind I'm a new fan; I listened to all the albums for the first time last year and loved all of them until ADTOE, sadly.

[jakepriest]

How the heck is BMU,BMD (whether you like it or not) similar to bloody Kesha? 

No variety within each song?
LNF has the (love it or hate it) wank intro and then I guess it gets kinda samey and overly long for my taste, I'll give you that.
BITS has probably the best riff on the album and one of DT's best choruses + an amazing instrumental section.
Ouctry has the crazy instrumental and a sweet soft part right after it.
I won't even have to comment on BAI. If you say that song has no variety, wat?
BTS is a ballad, and there's still something to look forward to in James' vocal delivery of the last chorus.

Saying there is no variety within each song is a pretty weird arguement. Even though they are progressive, most DT songs follow a basic A-B-A-B-instrumental-B-outro structure, so you could apply this logic to basically any album. That's like complaining that there are verses and choruses in a song.

[Evai]

Okay, I'm looking over the lyrics to BOI, and... I think if it was 90's James, singing it at such a high pitch that it sounds awesome, it would work for me. But James sings lower now, and lower, less intense singing brings more attention to the lyrics, and storytelling aspects of it. Because it's more like speech. 'New realities, singularities, breaking all illusions' as a verse just sounds insincere (not gonna use the word 'pretentious'... ) Who talks like that? This is also why The Astonishing works so well.

[Adami]

Regarding the sameness of TDOE, I have to agree a bit.

I actually do like the album a lot, but even though I've listened to the songs a ton, when I'm just going over songs like LNF, BiTS, or even Outcry, they honestly all just kind of blent together to me. I know they aren't the same, but I find myself forgetting which part goes to which song and that they can be pretty interchangeable.