Are Dream Theater Over Rated?

I think DT are a victim of John Peel-erism.

Brilliant musicians and some superb ideas on the positive side; sometimes awful vocals/lyrics and limited compositional ability on the negative.

Those who claim they're the greatest prog geniuses ever are as mistaken as those who denigrate  everything they do.

So overrated by some, underrated by others.

^ Why? After all, we haven't had a DT poll for five minutes or so.

hahhaha.....

NASCAR...definitely overrated..

DT.... my review said it best...

Ditto to AlanD's and Hercules overrated by some and underrated by others
Comments snipped, but these are pretty much exactly what I was going to say....

AlanD wrote: Overrated by some, underrated by others, I suspect....

Hercules wrote: ... Those who claim they're the greatest prog geniuses ever are as mistaken as those who denigrate  everything they do. So overrated by some, underrated by others.

Incidentally, of course I could say the same thing about bands that I most love.  Some assess them too highly in terms of objectively stated merits of excellence, while others assess them too lowly.

Every band and album on here is overrated because all prog music sucks and prog bands and prog fans are all pompous idiots.  Britney Spears, Linsay Lohan, The Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus are the only true great musicians.  We should be worshipping these highly talented musicians and composers instead of wasting our time with the so-called progressive rock/metal musicans who can't even play their music in a normal time signature with a simple beat that you can dance to.

rushfan4 wrote: Every band and album on here is overrated because all prog music sucks and prog bands and prog fans are all pompous idiots.  Britney Spears, Linsay Lohan, The Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus are the only true great musicians.  We should be worshipping these highly talented musicians and composers instead of wasting our time with the so-called progressive rock/metal musicans who can't even play their music in a normal time signature with a simple beat that you can dance to.

micky wrote: JayDee wrote: micky wrote: hahhaha..... NASCAR...definitely overrated.. DT.... my review said it best... See I told you they are underrated.   I thought it was quite fair....

micky wrote: overrated them? hahhaha..  I originally gave it 5 stars... see a common comment we see here is overrated and underrated...  how that can that be? people who just give an album 5 stars because they like the group.. or the album (overrated) people who just give an album 1 star because they dislike the group.. or the album (underrated) for me... the way I review.. is to cut that crap...  I try to rate is as it applies to the site.. . or the specific sub-genre.. sometimes even the artist.  Thus I have albums I rate higher that I HATED... and albums I gave 1 star to.. that I really enjoyed.

Raff wrote: As most people should know by now, I don't like DT, in spite of repeated attempts to get into them. However, I feel the premises of this poll are completely wrong... It seems people's right to their own opinions and tastes is not being taken into account. Yes, lots of people believe DT are the best thing since sliced bread.. I may not agree (and I don't), but I don't think it is a good idea to try to show they are misguided. I certainly wouldn't like anyone to try to prove to me that I am misguided in my liking Band X or Y.

People are entitled to their tastes, but it's important that people recognise and distinguish the difference between fact and opinion (distinguishing between subjectivity and objectivity).  For that matter, some opinions are more valid/ justifiable than others (a well informed opinion is better than an ill informed one).  If someone makes unjustifiable and/or erroneous claims, I think it's a good thing that others will take them up on it.  Arguing taste is one thing (saying that one's taste sucks is silly) but arguing claims to apparently objective excellence is another.

No one can prove that you're misguided in liking art, but they might prove (or at least indicate) that you're placing it on too high a pedestal for the wrong reasons based on erroneous or unjustifiable assumptions.