Dream Theater: the most popular under rated band.

AtLossForWords wrote:   Octavarium is not mediocre at all.  The title track is an absolute masterpiece surrounded by above average quality songs like Sacraficed Sons, Never Enough, The Root of All Evil, The Answer Lies Within, and Panic Attack.  I can understand that someone might not believe the album is a perfect masterpiece, but it's an above average album by any band's standards.

Well, let's agree to disagree here.  I do enjoy the title track and seeing some of these songs performed live recently raised my esteem for the album somewhat.  I just don't find this particular album to be among the best in the band's catalog (nor do I find it the worst).

Edited to fix the quote bug again.  Can someone please, please fix this?


Edited by NaturalScience - June 06 2006 at 16:40

NaturalScience wrote: ^^^ I think apart from absolute fanboys most of us who enjoy DT will not defend Octavarium.  I am a little tired of this mediocre album held up as an exemplar for those offering criticism (sorry, there's no way I would characterize the majority of DT's catalog as "bland AOR", but I can see how exposure to some songs on Octavarium would lead one to that.) To address the topic thread, DT are certainly not underrated on this site.  Probably the opposite.  They are a fantastic band but I would not place them in the echelon of Yes, for example.

NaturalScience wrote: ^^^ I think apart from absolute fanboys most of us who enjoy DT will not defend Octavarium.  I am a little tired of this mediocre album held up as an exemplar for those offering criticism (sorry, there's no way I would characterize the majority of DT's catalog as "bland AOR", but I can see how exposure to some songs on Octavarium would lead one to that.) To address the topic thread, DT are certainly not underrated on this site.  Probably the opposite.  They are a fantastic band but I would not place them in the echelon of Yes, for example.

As much as I am a DT fan, I have a tendency to take their music song by song as opposed to an album as a whole. The song Octavarium I beleive is great but the album as a whole is not (Panic Attack is cool too). There are several tunes they have that I can do without (Another Day, Anna Lee) but all bands have that (Rush's Rivendell comes to mind). As such DT is definitely NOT underrated. There may be many in this forum that don't like them but that is personal preference and not a measure of being under/overrated. Yes has the edge on DT partly because they had almost 20 years of a head start on DT and were in thier prime during a time that was much more prog friendly.

Hey, I’ve got an anecdote for you! (Not to offend anybody.)

What do the Dream Theater fans do on a concert?

They stand motionless.

'Underrated'? Hardly. I think they are a band that you either love or hate, though curiously I'm in the middle somewhere- not a die hard but I like them. But not for one moment are they 'better' than Zappa or Gentle Giant or whoever- it would seem like that because they are far flashier and flamboyant than any of those acts who knew the meaning of the word restraint (particularly GG) when it came to musicianship. DT tend to be ultra bombastic, and in that they excel but I think when it comes to adding some light and shade or subtlety, they fall flat on their faces. I find it hard to listen to an album all the way through at times because apart from some toe curling ballads like 'I Walk Beside You', 'Through Her Eyes' et al, it's all bombast. ELP are the 70s prog act I would have expected some comparisons with but imo, at least, ELP (at least for their first few years) toned it down with really rather elegant acoustic interludes like 'The Sage', 'From The Beginning', 'Still You Turn Me On' and 'Lucky Man', rather than bland AOR like DT do; from what I gather most fans of DT here would find it very hard to defend the ballads on 'Octavarium'.  I am a fan of DT's music but I feel their general lack of restraint turns people off them a bit, alongside some over zealous fans who sometimes sell the band as the greatest thing sinced sliced bread. That's my take on it, anyway.

Dream Theater is under-appreciated IMO at least I mean some people just dismiss them saying it's all flashiness and no flavor. I disagree with that assessment granted they aren't the best songwriters in the world but they are still a great band with some kick ass albums and are a cornerstone artist in prog-metal and modern prog alike weather you like it or not. Their skills as musicians are a large draw for them and is one of the reasons I started to like them.

stonebeard wrote: If you like them, then fine. If you don't like them, then fine. Just don't make threads about them anymore. It's sad, but some fans/haters can't understand why people like/don't like them. You either do or don't.

Under rated? No, absolutely not. When you look at the so called 'prog-lists' as shown here on PA, you'll see that DT is always at the top, right behind bands that have a history that goes waaaaay back like PF, Genesis and Rush.

Edited by Man Made God - June 06 2006 at 14:16

Junges wrote: Dream Theater is awesome, i really can't understand how can someone don't like them.

Therein lies the problem that some DT fans have (and fans of other bands too. This is by no means exclusive to DT fans; but, after all, this is a thread about them); you should always be able to see why somebody else does not like what you like. Now understanding why somebody else likes somethig that you hate can, and usually is, a bit more difficult. Personally, I find it hard to see what everyone else sees in Yes, although I can see how other people would not be bothered by some of the things that bother me.

<<Dream Theater is awesome, i really can't understand how can someone don't like them.>>

That's just a case of individuality, my friend. I hear negative things about Marillion all of the time (especially the Hogarth era...which is my favorite); however, I don't take it personally. It's their opinion and I'm OK with that. Now, if someone says you're a moron for liking or not liking something, then I think I'd have a problem with that.

E