Now that the MM era is finished, how would you rank those five albums?

[vazquez]

I actually really loved the Mangini era, and believe that there are a couple of underrated gems, particularly D/T and the self titled...

ADTOE: A. Outstanding album, Breaking all illusions is a top 3 all-time song for me, and is solid from start to finish.

Dream Theater: B+. Such an underrated album. Love the drumming, IT and the Bigger picture are particularly fantastic.

The Astonishing: A-. I'm in the camp that love this one. Divisive for many, but a favourite of mine. JLB is fantastic.

D/T: A-. I think this is their most underrated album, and I think people gave it the opinion that it was "safe" after TA. Given its own chance to shine, I think it's awesome.

AVFTTOTW: B. Really enjoy it when I listen to it, and has some great moments. Love the title track, but the ending just makes me feel they missed an epic outro. But an enjoyable one without being mind boggling 👍

I think AVFetc. is not a good album, a C+, but otherwise I agree with you. TA is bloated, and didn't age that well, but still sound interesting, bold, prog.

Listening the two new singles, I guess I will my this era a lot. At the same time, I think it was a job well done that should have ended as it did.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Given TA is the mid point of the MM era and such an odd duck in the band's discography, let's put it aside for a moment. which half do you rank higher? Beginning or end?

Beginning = ADTOE, DT12
End = DOT, View

I think ADTOE is my favorite of the bunch but I think the 2nd half tops 1H just by a smidge; it's close. Production, playing, have the edge in 2H. Song writing is pretty damn close given how consistent everything was across those 4 albums.

If I had to choose inner two or outer two, it would be outer. ADTOE and View are the perfect bookends to an immaculate 

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Given TA is the mid point of the MM era and such an odd duck in the band's discography, let's put it aside for a moment. which half do you rank higher? Beginning or end?

Beginning = ADTOE, DT12
End = DOT, View

I think ADTOE is my favorite of the bunch but I think the 2nd half tops 1H just by a smidge; it's close. Production, playing, have the edge in 2H. Song writing is close and it's tough to choose when everything is so consistently good.

If I had to choose inner two or outer two, it would be outer. ADTOE and View are not only epic but the evolution in the bands sound from one to the other makes them perfect bookends to a stupendous musical journey.

[BeatriceNB]

Given TA is the mid point of the MM era and such an odd duck in the band's discography, let's put it aside for a moment. which half do you rank higher? Beginning or end?

Beginning = ADTOE, DT12
End = DOT, View

I think ADTOE is my favorite of the bunch but I think the 2nd half tops 1H just by a smidge; it's close. Production, playing, have the edge in 2H. Song writing is close and it's tough to choose when everything is so consistently good.

If I had to choose inner two or outer two, it would be outer. ADTOE and View are not only epic but the evolution in the bands sound from one to the other makes them perfect bookends to a stupendous musical journey.

First half has more memorable songs and peak choruses writing, imo. So I'll go with that. A View is amazing, but I prefer ADTOE and DT12; D/T just... exists, I think.

[bosk1]

Given TA is the mid point of the MM era and such an odd duck in the band's discography, let's put it aside for a moment. which half do you rank higher? Beginning or end?

For me, ADTOE and DT12 are my #3 and #4 in the entire discography behind Six Degrees and SFAM, so that should tell you that it would absolutely be the first half for me.     But the end half are really good too, so if someone came up to me tomorrow and said I could only have those albums to listen to for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be mad.

[Max Kuehnau]

so if someone came up to me tomorrow and said I could only have those albums to listen to for the rest of my life, I wouldn't be mad.

I might be that person    (no, just joking)

[tiago]

1. A Dramatic Turn of Events (9/10)
2. Dream Theater (7.5/10)
3. A View From The Top Of The World (6/10)
4. Distance Over Time (5/10)
5. The Astonishing (1/10)

[2]

[Super Dude]

Do yourself a favor and listen to the last two albums.

Well, I have officially tried them both. I liked DOT the better of the two, but I wouldn't say I loved either one of them. They're both definitely better than The Astonishing though. And mind you, this was the fourth time I tried to listen to A View From The Top Of The World in its entirety, and so far the only time I actually did so.

[Nissim]

Here we go:

1. A dramatic turn of events.9/10, Top 4 DT album for me, fundamental stuff. This album is very special for me, it made me respect DT soooo much, like, one original, iconic member quits, as if Lars or Neil quitted Metallica and Rush, and then the band drops THIS?!?! Also, the Far from heaven - Breaking all illusions - Beneath the surface combo is perfect.

2. A View from the Top of the World. 7.5/10, I love this thing, best Mangini drumming with DT, it's surprisingly one of the most consistent DT albums. Also, TT is way better as a Rush worshipping song than the Looking Glass. 

3. Distance Over Time. 6.5/10. See, I don't revisit this a lot, if ever, but when I do I have a blast. The vocal effects are quite annoying sometimes, the melodies themselves are kinda over the top. Aaaaaand, idk, there's some good instrumentation, cool tricks, the main problem is that I don't find it that memorable.

4. The Astonishing. 4/10. I don't think this band should do any more double albums, there's a lot of wrong things with the concept and the execution overall, it hurts to give a 4/10 score when there's songs like Moment of betrayal, three days, the path that divides, when your time has come, etc. But Oh my god there's filler and bad stuff.

5. Dream Theater. 3/10. Yeah, I don't like this thing. It is said, mostly by people who don't quite enjoy DT, that the band is composed of geniuses who can't possibly make a bad album, like, a truly garbage one, even trough some may not enjoy it, they're no Six Feet Under. I mostly agree... but yeah the self titled is bad. The instrumentals could honestly just be vanished and nothing really happens. Out of the enemy inside, some sections of illumination theory, and little more than that, everything is like bad worship music with wanky and uninspired instrumentation, and worse production.