I'm a big fan of a lot of Dream Theater stuff but some of their releases fall a bit short of the mark for me. I've heard that Systematic Chaos is supposed to be one of their best but, before I cough up the required dosh on another turkey, I was wondering if anyone else had heard it.
It all depends I guess also which ones you call the turkeys....
Personally, I thought Train of Thought sucked big time and Octavarium was an improvement although far from their best. If you would agree with that, then SC is probably also for you a further improvement on Octavarium, based on the two spins I have given it so far. It's no Scenes from a memory though.
That's really too bad. I felt like SFAM and SDOIT were both a good direction for DT, but TOT let me down. What I heard from Octavarium wasn't enough to regain my interest. And I can't help but be skeptical of Systematic Chaos.Originally Posted by Art Rock
Well, maybe I'm a little old-fashioned. I still love their Images and Words.
I love Take the Time, Learning to Live, Pull Me Under, Trial of Tears.
And, personallly, I think their new Albums since 2000 are no more than accumulation of skills.
The 15 min track The Ministry of lost souls from SC is rapidly becoming my all-time favourite track by this group.
I have not heard SC, but the reviews I've been hearing from fans have been wildly different, but it seems there are more who lean towards it being a weaker release.
Octavarium was very enjoyable, I felt it was strong all the way through, but I haven't heard enough good things to merit paying for SC.
It seems to me like DT attract fans with very diverse musical tastes. It's very tough to gauge a DT album from other people's opinions...because everyone's will be different!
For me, SC is heavier than Octavarium, but still has more variety than ToT. I personally liked a few of the heavier tracks, but I got sick of them fast. It started to seem like DT is trying a bit TOO hard to be heavy, and it doesn't really suit them. Like they're too influenced by some of the other Roadrunner artists.
This has pretty much been a problem for ToT, 8v, and SC actually. With SC more than ever, I feel like DT have sort of lost their sound. I mean they've always borrowed pretty heavily from other artists (and they freely admit this!) but at least in their prime you could still feel the passion and intelligence.
Basically, when a band has put out as many awesome CDs as DT has, it's kind of hard to keep such a high level of quality and innovation going when you hit your 9th studio album (not to mention all the live ones too!).
Dream Theater is my favourite band. I 've only listend to SFAM and Awake and STMC but all of the songs on these three albmus seem to blow my mind every time i hear them.
A great,essential purchase(or borrow),is Live at Budokan!!Only a matter of time(from their first album)is amazing,as is the rest!
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