Post 70's Prog World Cup: Riverside- Dream Theater

This is tough call, but I adore Riverside.

Riverside are amazing but they still pale in comparison to DT. I'm pretty surprised to see they're doing so well against DT here.

All of Riversides albums sound the same except for ADHD. At least Dream Theater tried to mix it up a little until recently with Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, and Black Clouds and Silver Linings, all their albums were different. I&W is way different from Awake, both different from Falling into Infinity, 6DOIT and SFAM may sound a little similar but both are amazingly written. TOT may be a little dark but its a great metal album, people who don't like prog like that album. If you forgive Dream Theater for their recent works they would be looked down upon less. Give Riverside a few years they will pull a Pain of Salvation and anger everyone, or they will stick to there same formula and run out of creativity. Yes I am a DT fan boy. And i'm really only trying to get more votes for them.   

kawkaw123 wrote: All of Riversides albums sound the same except for ADHD. At least Dream Theater tried to mix it up a little until recently with Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, and Black Clouds and Silver Linings, all their albums were different. I&W is way different from Awake, both different from Falling into Infinity, 6DOIT and SFAM may sound a little similar but both are amazingly written. TOT may be a little dark but its a great metal album, people who don't like prog like that album. If you forgive Dream Theater for their recent works they would be looked down upon less. Give Riverside a few years they will pull a Pain of Salvation and anger everyone, or they will stick to there same formula and run out of creativity. Yes I am a DT fan boy. And i'm really only trying to get more votes for them.

I would say Black Clouds is the only one that doesn't sound "different". It sounds a little like Systematic Chaos (which by the way, how does SC not sound different than all their previous albums? Same with Octavarium?)

darkshade wrote: kawkaw123 wrote: All of Riversides albums sound the same except for ADHD. At least Dream Theater tried to mix it up a little until recently with Octavarium, Systematic Chaos, and Black Clouds and Silver Linings, all their albums were different. I&W is way different from Awake, both different from Falling into Infinity, 6DOIT and SFAM may sound a little similar but both are amazingly written. TOT may be a little dark but its a great metal album, people who don't like prog like that album. If you forgive Dream Theater for their recent works they would be looked down upon less. Give Riverside a few years they will pull a Pain of Salvation and anger everyone, or they will stick to there same formula and run out of creativity. Yes I am a DT fan boy. And i'm really only trying to get more votes for them.    I would say Black Clouds is the only one that doesn't sound "different". It sounds a little like Systematic Chaos (which by the way, how does SC not sound different than all their previous albums? Same with Octavarium?)

To me SC sounds a bit like TOT & SFAM thrown in a blender. The nonsensical fantasy/horror lyrics were a new thing though.
BC&SL reminds me of Awake. ADTOE was made to fit the same mold as I&W.
I think it's right to say that they stopped (or gave it a much lower priority) the reinvention after Octavarium. Although you could argue that Octavarium is FII done right.

In the end I went with DT by the way, nostalgia or voting for the undertopdog. They've been with me much longer.

Aw 

I'm a really huge fan of DT and I'm quite surprised by some people saying most of  DT's work is bad...why is that so? DT is one of the first prog bands I ever listened to and I've stuck with it so much that I absolutely love almost all their songs. Although Riverside is an amazing band, DT has influenced me so much and frankly, DT and Rush are my all time favorites. If I could vote it would be DT.