Now -- what are you listening to? V2

DippoMagoo wrote: Finishing up my ninth listen, then on to the tenth immediately after, lol! After that I'll probably give it a break, at least until I have my physical copy so I can follow along through the lyric book on my eleventh listen. I need a break soon, anyway, to focus on other new albums, though I may revisit some of my favorite DT albums as well.

OMG you´re possessed ...I´ll have to give it a listen when I get the chance.

J-Man wrote: adg211288 wrote: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/album/dream-theater/octavarium I actually feel excited for their new album for the first time since it was announced. As a band they don't interest me as much as they once did but I'm enjoying revisiting a few of these after quite some time, and according to my Last.fm stats a relisten to everything they've done is due. This one for example I haven't logged as having listened to since 2010.  I know a lot of people are lukewarm on this album, but it's a personal favorite of mine. The title track especially is some of the best music they've ever written IMO.

Octavarium was one of the first Dream Theater albums I got into, and this was when it was still their "new" album... I was only 10 or 11, so it helped shape a lot of my tastes. I also watched the live DVD from this tour (Score) countless times with my dad around that time, so nostalgia might factor into my enjoyment a bit. Still think it's a fucking great album, though 

My first Dream Theater was Awake, and I actually didn't like it much at first, but obviously it went on to become one of my favorites. Octavarium was their new album at the time I got into them as well, and it and Train of Thought helped me get into the band, before I heard Scenes and it just totally blew me away, and that formed the start of my ongoing fandom. I always say I have legions of favorite bands, but DT probably is my absolute favorite at this point.

Octavarium was their current when I discovered them too although not the first album of theirs I got. That would have been Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which I got off the strength of The Glass Prison which is still one of my favourite DT songs. The rest of the album didn't hold up to that standard the last time I played it in full (also a while ago and to be revisited soon) though. 

After Train of Thought I feel like they stagnated songwriting wise. They are obviously still incredible musicians who can play nearly anything they want and do it too, but most of their releases after Train of Thought feature material that I have a hard time appreciating. Lots of great material too though . I try as hard as possible to review with an objective mindset when it comes to Dream Theater, but it´s hard not to take their innovative back catalogue into consideration when rating their later output.

Edited by UMUR - 28 Jan 2016 at 1:59am

UMUR wrote: After Train of Thought I feel like they stagnated songwriting wise. They are obviously still incredible musicians who can play nearly anything they want and do it too, but most of their releases after Train of Thought feature material that I have a hard time appreciating. Lots of great material too though . I try as hard as possible to review with an objective mindset when it comes to Dream Theater, but it´s hard not to take their innovative back catalogue into consideration when rating their later output.

nicely put
The last DT album that made me think "wow, this is great" was Octavarium. After that, for me at least, they've been going downhill. Like you say, there are some good moments but I don't know how to put it into words better - the magic is gone. For a band that was unique once (the Moore era, Scenes form a Memory, Train of Thought were groundbreaking albums), these days they're becoming less and less interesting.