Dream Theater Appreciation Thread

J-Man wrote: What's all of the Rudess hating!?!?!?!

Not hating - I just find him to be too technically based for my ears. He's great, but I've always found his playing lacks the same genuine feeling as that of Kevin Moore (my favourite DT pianist).

Also, I just prefer all of the albums without Rudess.

Rudess is insane. While Images and Words, with Moore, is awesome many of DT's other albums with Rudess, Ocatavarium and Scenes, sound even better.

I wouldn't hate on him if he didn't suck. 

I actually like what Rudess has done in Dream Theater, as someone said, insane, but cooly insane. I also liked what Moore did with Dream Theater, in a rather different way. I guess Rudess actually fits better with the rest of Dream Theater than Moore, and thus Dream Theater actually reached it's sound with the inclusion of Rudess. On the other hand, perhaps Moore, while not fitting so well as Rudess on the band style, actually helped them to make a more diverse style, and soften and slow down the sound of the band. In the end I guess both of them gave great things to the band and it's albums while they have been with the band.

Dellinger wrote: I actually like what Rudess has done in Dream Theater, as someone said, insane, but cooly insane. I also liked what Moore did with Dream Theater, in a rather different way. I guess Rudess actually fits better with the rest of Dream Theater than Moore, and thus Dream Theater actually reached it's sound with the inclusion of Rudess. On the other hand, perhaps Moore, while not fitting so well as Rudess on the band style, actually helped them to make a more diverse style, and soften and slow down the sound of the band. In the end I guess both of them gave great things to the band and it's albums while they have been with the band.

well-said.

Rudess is great, technically. There are things that he can do whic KM can't deliver. On the other hands, there things that KM can deliver and JR just can't. 

I just happened to like what KM can give to Progressive Rock (which is the first three DT albums) much better.

^Well I think Black Clouds is a damn fine album.  In fact I've loved them all since SFAM.

^Why/How'd you pay 300$ for BC&SL?

And SC was one of my first DT albums, which I loved at the time, but the effect has really worn off one me

MaxerJ wrote: ^ Well, my friend and i split the special edition, thinking the album would change our lives with it's awesomeness... it was actually $150 each, but i gave the money to the shop, so for effect i like to refer to it as 'the album I paid $300 for'

Oooh okay

What do you think about Awake?

MaxerJ wrote: I think Awake and Images and Words are still their best two albums... but maybe that's nostalgia playing tricks on me... Erotomania is fantastic, and so is 6:00... really grabs the listener from the get-go.All in all, I've kinda stopped listening to them as progressive... the songs are too similar for that. Instead i think of them as the greatest metal band to walk the earth... much more fufilling.

Awake and I&W are the only two DT albums that I consider really special to me anymore - The metal flavour after they lost K. Moore doesn't really do anything for me unfortunately.

MaxerJ wrote: ^ That is one great thing about them - they pretty much defined the sound of progressive metal... twice! Once with Images and Words, then again with SFAM. Both of those are completely different sounds, and influenced thousands of clones. And i pretty much love every DT album. I got into them with Systematic, and i still love the awesome chunky riffs in Dark Eternal and Constant Motion. But I wasn't too happy with Black Clouds.. especially since i paid $300 for it! It just wasn't the fufilling meal every other album had been...

That's insane!!

I would never buy anything over $60 with very few exceptions, and even if there are exceptions they can't beat the $100 at all!

$300 is a ticket to any Prog show, or even less, if I'm not mistaken.... and well, $300 in my place is like buying 12 (average price) albums!