<span style="font-weight: bold">The Story:</span>

I began listening to Dream Theater in 1999... just about the time that "Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from A Memory" was released.  However, I hadn't even heard it when I went to my first DT show at the Tabernacle.  I had only purchased "Awake" from the used bin at Sunburst Records in Huntsville.

Let's back up to when DT first broke onto the scene with their second album, "Images and Words" and their single, "Pull Me Under."  I heard it on the radio and thought... "this sounds good..." and then the keyboards started and I thought "how dare they ruin such a great riff with keyboards... yuck."  At that time, I was into nothing but thrash and speed metal.  Bands like Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus, Testament, Death Angel, Dark Angel, Voivod... what do all of these bands have in common?  No keyboards.  Basically, if it had keyboards, it sucked.  That's my mentality.  This was in 91/92.

Fast forward to 1999 when I was at Sunburst and saw "Awake."  I had heard of Dream Theater and the disc was only like 5 bucks, so I decided to give it a chance and it was awesome.  One of the best albums I had heard.  Every song was great (even Space Dyed Vest).  Some where heavy.  Some were soft.  I began to wonder what I had been missing.  Not a few days after I ran across thier tour schedule on their official site and saw they were playing Atlanta... I decided to go.

They were on the "Scenes from a Memory" tour where they played the album in it's entirety as half of the show.  And that show kicked my ass.  I barely recognized a song even in the second set.  After all, I had only one disc.  The next time I got to get to goto Sunburst, I bought "Scenes" and "Falling Into Infinity."  I enjoyed the hell out of "Scenes" but "Falling into Infiity" not as much but still a good album.  After a couple of months, I had everything in their catalog except "Images and Words" (ironically) and "When Dream and Day Unite" (their first album).

<span style="font-weight: bold">The Music:</span>

What makes them so great to me (and I am not the expert) is the range of emotion their music can envoke.  From the heavy music (from albums like "Awake" and "Train of Thought") to the soft and emotional (from albums like "Scenes" and "Systematic Chaos").  And the epic songs like...
<span style="text-decoration: underline">
From Images and Words:
</span>"Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" [9:32]
"Learning to Live" [11:30]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From A Change of Seaons (EP):</span>
"A Change of Seasons" [23:08]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Awake:</span>
"Scarred" [10:58]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Falling Into Infinity:</span>
"Lines in the Sand" [12:05]
"Trail of Tears" [13:05]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Scenes from a Memory:</span>
"Home" [12:53]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence:</span>
"The Glass Prison" [13:52]
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" [41:33]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Train of Thought:</span>
"In the Name of God" [14:16]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Ocatavarium:</span>
"Octavarium" [24:00]

<span style="text-decoration: underline">From Systematic Chaos:</span>
"The Ministry of Lost Souls" [14:57]
"In the Presence of Enemies" [25:38] (if they were combined.  On the album, this song is split into 2 parts...part 1 is 9:00 and part 2 is 16:38)

[Not all bands can pull of songs of these lengths and not be boring... ]

<span style="font-weight: bold">Here is how I rank their studio albums:</span>
1. Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory
2. Awake
3. Systematic Chaos
4. Images and Words
5. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
6. Octavarium
7. Train of Thought
8. Falling into Infinity
9. When Day and Dream Unite

<span style="text-decoration: underline; font-weight: bold">Why Scenes is my favorite disc...</span>
It is a concept album, which always impresses me.  I like the thought of the concept album and not only is a really sweet concept, but the music ranges from heavy (like Strange Deja Vu and Home) to slow (like Through Her Eyes and The Spirite Carries On).  So, this album is probably (in my opinion) their most diverse.  This is what makes it so great to me.  I like the diversity and I like the story.  The things that make any album great...

<span style="font-weight: bold">Some of their most awesome heavy songs:</span>
1. Lie (Awake)
2. The Glass Prison (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
3. The Mirror (Awake)
4. The Test That Stumped Them All (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
5. The Dark Eternal Night (Systematic Chaos)
6. In The Name of God (Train of Thought)
7. Under a Glass Moon (Images and Words)
8. War Inside My Head (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
9. Home (Scenes from a Memory)
10. Pull Me Under (Images and Words)
11. The Root of All Evil (Octavarium)

<span style="font-weight: bold">Some of their most awesome ballads:</span>
1. Vacant (Train of Thought)
2. Through Her Eyes (Scenes from a Memory)
3. The Spirit Carries On (Scenes from a Memory)  [this one gives me goosebumps!]
4. The Ministry of Lost Souls (Systematic Chaos)
5. Fosaken (Systematic Chaos)
6. The Silent Man (Awake)
7. Finally Free (Scenes from a Memory)
8. Solitary Shell (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
9. Surrounded (Images and Words)
10. Hollow Years (Falling into Infinity)
11. Space Dyed Vest (Awake)

If you are on the fence about whether to give DT a listen, do yourself a favor and visit their <a href="http://www.myspace.com/dreamtheater" target="_new">MySpace Page</a> and join the <a href="http://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/" target="_new">Dream Theater Forums</a> where I post under the name "webpoet73."