I have a few hundred gigs of random mp3s queued up on "shuffle" that I listen to while I'm working, and the other day a coworker dropped by while I was listening to 'Scenes From a Memory.' He seemed interested, so I made him some CDs of various albums and such (I'm sure I'll have to explain what the hell is going on in 'Scenes' for him later ), and it got me rediscovering my taste for their style.

I wouldn't consider them to be one of my favorite bands, and some of there stuff is just too much for me, but on the whole I've always liked them and found myself watching my 'Scenes From New York' DVD while doing some paperwork this weekend. Periodically, I see someone mention them in a favorite bands thread or a prog metal thread, and I'm curious if there are any die hard fans around here, and if so, what's your favorite album?

das

I like prog rock, but I've never really listened to much Dream Theatre stuff. What cd's or songs do you recommend das?

I picked up their latest effort "six degrees..." & saw them live last year, which kicked ass . Definetly one of my favorite cd's last year. Havent had the time to look at their catalog of older cd's yet. definetly will though eventually.

I'm probably not the best person to ask, but I've always liked 'Scenes From a Memory.' It's a concept album that tells a complete story of a man who is haunted by his dreams and goes to a hypnotherapist to find out what they mean. The story is intentionally complicated as we move from his dreams to the past to the present, but I think it's very well done and provides an interesting listening experience. The live performance on the 'Scenes From New York' DVD adds solid visuals to accompany the music.

I guess I would also recommend 'Images and Words', which was the album that made them "big" (if they can be considered "big") and maybe 'A Change of Seasons'. I enjoy listening to both of these quite a bit.

das

I love Dream Theater. My favorite album is probably A Change of Seasons only because the title song is one of my favorite songs ever but if we're talking about real albums, I say Scenes from a Memory. It is a concept album and works great. Awake is great too. Heck, every album besides Falling into Infinity is awesome.

You really need to get ALL of DTs albums to get a full understanding of DT..especially the live album...

And while you are at it..get Liquid tension experiment..

My favorite album is a tie between Awake and SFAM. The Scenes from New York dvd or the companion live cd is nice for the uninitiated because it also gives a nice cross section of their other material as well as SFAM in its entirety. I've turned alot of people on to DT from that dvd alone, basically all of my Rush fanatics who were looking for something to tie them over the Rush hiatus. A lot of guys at work who are Steve Vai, Satriani fans became interested when they saw Petrucci on the G3 tour.
If asked I would suggest the songs "Scarred" for the songwriting, "A Change of Seasons" for composition, and "The Glass Prison or Met Pt 1" for showcasing their technical ability.

I have a couple of their albums. They are okay; the singer kinda bugs me sometimes (can be whiny), and the musicians are all very technically excellent, but somehow they never really struck a chord with me.

I really like there sound, though it can sound over-produced at times. I would consider myself a fan, but I have yet to pick up one of their CDs (MP3 baby!).

DT Albums:
Change of Seasons
Awake

Liquid Tension Experiment
Check out the track called "Acid Rain"

I saw them live one time and loved it. I bought "Images And Words" years ago back when Z-Rock was around. (Does anybody rmember Z-Rock?) It is the only CD I have of theirs.

I couldn't have said it better. DT is an incredible band. I believe their current keyboardist (pianist) was enrolled at Julliard before he was 10 (they have sort of head start type programs for prodigys...not really true Julliard but exceptional nonetheless).

I really like the music, all aspects of it, but I DETEST Labries lyrics (well petrucci writes a lot of them too.) Too sappy, I think they shoulda stuck with being an instrumental band lol. In any case, I still enjoy listening to them, and own most of their CDs (I think I'm missing one.)

Actually, LaBrie writes very few lyrics for DT. He had two songs on the last album, and has never had more than one on any other album. Portnoy and Petrucci write most of the lyrics these days. One of LaBrie's songs on the last album, "Disappear," was one of the best songs on the two-disc set.

I consider myself a die-hard fan. Favorite album: Awake; favorite song(s): "A Change of Seasons," "Space-Dye Vest."

If you've never heard "Space-Dye Vest," get it NOW. One of my favorite songs, period.

Scenes From A Memory is my personal favorite album. Totally blows me away every time I listen to it. I bought the tablature and man is some of that stuff hard to play.

Mordred

Love the band, love the tunes.

huge DT fan here. I've been listening to them since Images and Words came out (~1992)
My personal favorite album is Images and Words. Great mix of styles, great technical ability, etc.

I've seen them twice now on tour. The first was in 94 supporting the Awake album....amazing
The second time was supporting 6DoIT....see note above.

I've turned several people on to them. Usually Images and Words or Scenes from a Memory are the best introductions. Six Degrees is also a good place to start.

Well, heck, pretty much all of them except When Dream and Day Unite are good places to start. The music on WDaDU is amazing, but the vocalist just doesn't hold up.

Other bands in a similar vein to check out:
Dali's Dilemma
Liquid Tension Experiment
Transatlantic
Mullmuzzler