More than well below their former releases and a substantial decline in ratings since the 2003 release "Octavarium" with 2160 ratings.

Why do you think?

(I seem to like the albums and tracks that others dislike such as this  )

Personally, I actually thought A View from the Top of the World was Dream Theater's best record in a decade 

I would think that's a big % of the reason.....Simply look at the top 100 albums 2022. It's very heavy to eclectic/avant garde prog. I know there is some prog metal but it seems the flavor of PA is changing or the decline has been those genre listeners are gone that loved DT, hence no reviews like Octavarium or others.

I think for DT and me, it's just been a decline in production quality and overall creativity, Petrucci as producer has not been working for me...as well I've grown bored of Rudess's playing and let's not discuss James's vocals.

Beating a dead horse, but I think they should have listened to Portnoy and took a 5yr break.

Yep. 

I'm not a Kevin Shirley fan, he destroys the Iron Maiden albums. I think he mixed part of SDOIT but thankfully the late and great George Marino mastered it, sounds great! On ToT Howie Weinberg mastered it and is probably Shirley's best mixing job....

Hi,

I wonder if we have had "enough" of SW ... and while I do not dislike the material he does on his solo albums, I do think that C/C was not half as good as it might or should have been. I kinda think that he concentrated on the studio side of it a lot more than the music itself, causing the album to not sound as good as it could have been. 

I'm also wondering how much Colin meant to the band ... the stuff he is doing is super nice, and all of a sudden, the PT stuff is weak ... suggesting that they ended up missing a very important part of that wheel that worked together a long time.

Hi,

I think that part of the problem with DT is too much Petrucci, and not enough of the bass or keyboards, although seeing them as simple addons that don't factor much in the end in almost all work they try to put together.

The well-known fact that James lives elsewhere, is also an issue, sooner or later ... you can only go so far, before it begins sounding rather weak, or at least "not together" as it should have been. This is the same "curse" that operas have, when the "star" only comes in for one rehearsal and then leaves after three performances. In the end, it is not exactly a recipe for a good performance at all since the much-needed work of everyone together on a stage is broken up and ends up in fake expressions and poorly designed moments in terms of stage directions!

I would like to see Petrucci actually play guitar and not do so much thrashing ... and give the rest of the band a chance to contribute and add to the music ... but ... I wonder if DT's time is up and over, and their interest is fading into the sunset.

Watching a few of the groups older "making of" DVD's, it's apparent to me that Portnoy had a very good ear when it came to working out the overall sound of the songs and albums, and seemed very adept at getting his way when needed.  Regardless of his drumming ability, I think this is what the band really misses out on nowadays, by not having Portnoy there as a counterpoint to Petrucci.  

I need to give the last album another chance, I listened to it a few times when it came out and then forgot about it. 

I find it difficult to know where they should go, if anywhere to be honest and feel that they are damned if they do and damned if they don't... I think the last great album they made was probably Octavarium. After that, they took a slightly different direction with SC and parts of BC&SL, which ended up being an unsuccessful cul-de-sac they came out of after Mike's departure. ADTOE was actually very solid, but it offered nothing new while XIII seemed to me a bit of a safe 'DT by numbers' before we had tA, which was erm... anything but predictable..   They then returned to a slightly more interesting 'DT by numbers' with DoT...

They seem to be stuck somewhere between the devil of pleasing their loyal but ageing fanbase and the deep blue sea of experimentation with all the risks that go with it...

I totally agree about Octavarium. 

The (Un)Astonishing was an incohesive mess for me, no flow for a concept album. Also it's not like they tried new things on that album either. 

Hi,

What is strange to me is that these "decisions" seem to be fine with John and Jordan ... for James, it should be no big deal since in the "learning" of any piece, Petruchio will change so many times as to make it difficult and tough to even create a sentence for a lyric ... that might be one reason why James waits so long to show up and add to the band.

I've seen DT, twice now, and the best of the shows was when they toured with that "Mindcrime" band. Fates Warning opened the whole thing, but sadly was not appreciated, although that solo stuff seemed to get on many folk's heads that went and got a coke and popcorn! Their encore, though ... was one of the best pieces ... The Who's song that you can now find on some albums ... it is really nice and very good. 

The 2nd show, also in Portland, was too much Petruchio already and kinda sad ... it was Octavarium time, and the show was fine, but already you know that it is a one man show and the drummer doesn't like it! it was a good show, but already, you felt it was getting repetitive, despite some nice material.

As for Jordan, I don't know what to say ... for someone that seems to do really well on his own and with others, playing 3rd and 4th banana on DT and on top of it, Petruchio not liking keyboards on top of his guitar ... kinda takes his abilities away, so if he sits back, then he is just collecting a paycheck!

Hi,

With 15 albums in some 30 years time, I would think that this band has asserted itself a bit more than many fans want. Some are still attached to the older version, and some are not because they weren't "there" 25 years ago ... but that should in no way deter from the thought that the band has lasted and maintained its ability for the most part.

I do think that the replacement drummer, has taken things down a touch, as the other Mike was more into the music itself, than he was the beat, but for my tastes, while nice, he still was too much of a beat drummer, instead of a music drummer. My thoughts are that the current guy does not exactly "feel" the music at all and is mailing in the drum riffs. I don't find a lot of superlative drum touches that make the music better or more important, and this might be what the band DT is really missing. Sometimes, those touches help the guitar take a break and add something that makes the music better, and the current version ... this does not exist ... it's just more guitar!

In the end I don't really care as long as I like the music. And I do - still do.

Totally agree here