r/Dreamtheater

Most of your favorite songs probably grabbed you instantly, but is there one that had to gestate for a while and surprisingly became one of your favorites?

For me, In the Presence of Enemies has become a top 5 DT song for me after years of sort of disregarding it, especially Part 2. Now, I think the whole thing is a masterpiece and maybe my favorite epic up there with Octavarium. As opposed to another top song of mine, Home, which I liked instantly.

On other subreddits and elsewhere online, I often see people complaining about Dream Theater. That’s fine; I understand that those of us who love this band are, let’s be honest, a bit unusual. I also realise most people are never going to enjoy music like this.

What bothers me isn’t that people dislike Dream Theater. It’s the dismissive way the criticism is often framed.

You’ll see comments along the lines of: “making music complicated doesn’t make it good”, “it’s just noodling”, “there’s no emotion” or “they don’t have any good ideas” (I'm paraphrasing but these are all sentiments I have seen before).

The first point is true, but only halfway. Obviously, complicated music is not automatically good. But complicated music is not automatically bad either. You still have to judge it on composition, structure, feel, dynamics, riffs, melodies, harmonies, rhythm, development and whether it actually works as music.

For me, Dream Theater's music works extremely well. Do they show off? Definitely. Do they sometimes get carried away? Yes. Can they be cheesy? Hell yes. But reducing the band to “just noodling” seems incredibly lazy to me.

At their best, they combine classical structure, long-form composition, heavy riffs, odd meters, recurring motifs, strong melodies, solos, harmonies, dynamic contrasts and shifts in a way that can be hugely rewarding. That’s not the same thing as “a bunch of guys showing off”. The virtuosity is part of the appeal, but it isn’t the whole appeal.

Dream Theater isn’t for everyone; that’s fine. I just wish the criticism was sometimes a bit more thoughtful than “technical = soulless”. When I see that, I roll my eyes.

I also don’t see how anyone can listen to much of Dream Theater’s discography and come away thinking they’re lacking in emotion. John Petrucci is often dismissed as “just a shredder”, but many of his solos are incredibly expressive, and there are a lot of interesting concepts behind the music.

You don’t have to like Scenes from a Memory, but I find it very hard to understand how someone could listen to it and conclude that the band are emotionless robots.

Does this kind of criticism bother anyone else, or am I being too precious about it?

At 17:46, I was listening for the first time and got jumpscared by Jingle Bell rock. Was this intentional, or am I a tweaker?

I really think that lost not forgotten is the most underrated song despite its fire musical quality and the vocals are sick 🔥 but I would like to hear y’all’s opinion

DT finally wrapped up their 40th anniversary world tour after being on the road for nearly one and a half years. MP confirmed the band plans to take the summer off and begin working on DT17 this fall.

Curious what type of album do you think would make the most sense for DT17, or what type of album would you like to see?

Classic Progressive Album (Images & Words, A Dramatic Turn of Events, etc.)

Progressive Metal Album (Train of Thought, Systematic Chaos, etc.)

Concept Album (Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, etc.)

Thematic / Semi-Concept Album (Octarvium, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Parasomnia, etc.)

Rock Opera / Musical Album (The Astonishing, etc.)

Accessible / Commercial Album (Falling Into Infinity, etc.)

Double Album (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, The Astonishing, etc.)

Something entirely new altogether?

Even more speculation, what are the chances DT17 contains any sort of sequel or follow up? Metropolis Part 3? 12-Step Suite Epilogue?

In your opinion why did DT never get world famously big, as in sold out world stadium tour big with the likes of GN'R, Metallica and Maiden ? Sure they are famous among the rock/prog group but they never really passed that barrier, ask any country/pop teen about comes as you are, sweet child of mine, nothing else matters... they might not know specifics but they've heard it before and at least know the band's name.

Now one might say, well DT has music that is not for all ears, too many time signature changes, too heavy, too unconventional, songs too long ... etc. But they do have tome stuff that is commercial and short enough to be played on radios and catchy enough to have kids singing along their chorus ( see This is the life, Along for the ride, wither, then bigger picture). They Have political/religious/easy lyrics, complicated... They have an iconic guitar hero, they have it all.

So, If the problem is not lack of material for everyone, and they have something that fits every kind of taste, why the hell are they not up there at that god level status with all the greats ? Failed marketing strategies ? Lack of commercial/radio/internet/tv Ads? Poor SEO ?

What are they missing to be at the ultimate level ?

Edit: Not being big says nothing about their quality, influence, and importance in the music world.

https://preview.redd.it/4k21gmw6xf1h1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d49949a0977336cd300a8f940c7c8b5b35547b8

I tried to map all the symbols I noticed (in red), but there are lots I don't know which I marked with a number and '?'. If you know what one of them means, please answer as 1. means x. and help me unravel this 🤔 ...

A few notes:
a. the ants appears a lot but I can't map their specific meaning.
b. the white flower next to the skull I don't know if that's a part of distance over time or not
c. the moon with the face next to the awake mirror, also don't know what it goes with
d. I get the rose, and yelloe bucket is a change of seasons but the blonde kid doesn't match that one of the cover, so where did he come from ?

* I could not find a any reference at all to:
- Six Degree of inner Turbulence
- A View from the top of the world
- Systematic Chaos
- When Dream and Day Unite
- Self Titled album (2013)

* What is the meaning of the desert and sand?

He has so many iconic kits which would be so cool to „Have at Home“.
The Mangini Plugin is very good, but many people (including me) like the sound of portnoys drum more.
I bet it would sell like hell aswell.
I still hope that a plugin will come out.

I’ve thought about this since so long.

I just had to get this out.