Hating Dream Theater

Spartacus wrote: So many people hate on Dream Theater because they really don't represent prog music very well.  Even though they are not prog music proper, they are probably the most well known prog band to emerge in the past 20 years.  So, at least for myself, the idea of DT representing progressive music upsets me more than their music.  So many bands and artists today do not want to be labled progressive today because of what the label now represents to them.  The general public sees prog as adavanced metal, ie DT.  I remember reading so many articles that members have posted on this site where a reviewer would mention prog and shredding in the same sentence. I really think that people just don't like DT for what they do to the genre of prog.  I have spoken to so many people that think I am into shred metal when I tell them I like progressive music.  For some reason DT's art, prog metal, has come to represent the entire genre of prog.  How this happened, I don't know but I believe a lot of people look to this point and see bands like DT and Savatage as causing the genre more bad than good. The fact is that to the general public progresive rock represents a stale and contrived music and DT is the whipping boy for many fans of the genre.

Sparticus probably the only reason that they think that you are into shred metal when you say that is because they got the wrong end of the stick and probably if you told them some bands or even spoke about other bands then they might not make that mistake.

 I'm not going to say DT is the best band of all time (it's not), but I would like to know how many DT-haters out there are Arena or IQ fans. I think there are many such people here. Why am I asking this question? Because the latter two bands keep recroding the same old album all over again.

That's not true.

DT do not. Say what you like about them, no two DT albums sound the same.

Subjective...

And some of you even admit that Dark Matter is the same old IQ music, but it's a good album and IQ are a good band, anyway. How can a band that didn't develop or at least change within the last 15 or so years be good?

You've started off by asking how many people who dislike DT are IQ or Arena fans, and then continued as if this is an accepted fact.

And who's to say IQ didn't change or develop - a lot of people reckon that Dark Matter is about the best they've ever done. How can they not have changed or developed to achieve this?

It's your subjective opinion, realise that,

Good advice - take it

and admit that some bands that don't change AT ALL are sometimes described as amazing and DT are always downtrodden (or overpraised for that matter), no matter whatever they record.

Always trying something new is the basis for an artist's being worthy of notice in my book, and settling into a comfortable niche after a one-off success means early death. DT definitely belong to the first category. So have some degree of objectivity, please, when you praise or critisise something and be very careful when assigning extremes of merit or flaw to anything, you just might be missing something important.   

Good advice - take it

DT getting too much airtime. Wow, I'd love to have access to a radio station where DT got at least a quarter of the airtime you're implying they get. 

A point or two missed, I think.

A band full of Malmsteens? No, thanks. A band full of Satrianis? Yes, please. Don't compare people like Satriani, Vai or Petrucci to people like Malmsteen or call them 'shredders' it just shows that you've never heard anything by any of these guitarists.

No it doesn't. I own albums by most of the shredders - and I'm very familiar with their styles.

Flashy technique? I can only think of DT instrumentals as somewhat "flashy", but highly musical nevertheless. Virtuosity is present in most of their songs, but it's almost always disciplined and serves the music, not the other way around 

Not what I've heard. But then good music is a matter of opinion. However, weak approaches to composition are factual and not opinion. Standard rock ballad format is not progressive.

All in all, I will stand by my opinion that DT is a good but flawed band that deserves respect for the sheer wealth of interesting riffs, motives, time signatures etc., but, since it became a little more popular over the years, it just had to become everyone's god/devil.  

You stand by your opinion - this thread is attempting to find out why people dislike DT - we've heard too much from people that do like them - too much airtime in terms of discussion, and too much praising to the skies, when, as you say, they are flawed. 

What, would you say, are those flaws?

Through Dream Theater, I got into Yes, Rush, Marillion, Genesis, Mike Oldfield, IQ, Spock's Beard, Savatage, Symphony X and Queensryche.

If they can get me into prog, then I'm sure they can get many more people into prog. So let's all be happy that whether they're considered prog or not, they can help influence people's musical prog taste (if that makes sense, you know what I mean).

Well, if it wasn't for Dream Theater, I'd still be listening to Thrash Metal, bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, Iron Maiden amoung other metal bands.

Surely they deserve credit for that.

Valarius wrote: Well, if it wasn't for Dream Theater, I'd still be listening to Thrash Metal, bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, Iron Maiden amoung other metal bands. Surely they deserve credit for that.

Iron Maiden are allright

Anthrax - is that the band with a guitarist who wears a bucket on his head and calls himelf 'Buckethead'?

what do so many people have against dream theater or just plain hate them? i was just looking at the 5 worst prog bands and how can people say dream tehater are in there or even close. i know everyone has their own opinion but they are superb musicians and their music is awesome. they have so many different genres all packed into the one band. explain how people can dislike them?