Career defining albums

[Spiff]

ASAP - Silver & Gold

 

[TRrEiTxIxRiE DTrash]

Very good Spiff. I will also add Hericane Alice - Tear The House Down. Best album they ever did!

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

Slippery definitely for Bon Jovi.
Images and Words for Dream Theater.

Motley Crue - very much debatable. Id say Girls Girls Girls over Dr Feelgood. But Shout At The Devil pathed the way as well. A tough call that one.

Def Leppard again lots of grey area to debate I would say Pyromania - kind of different era to what they are now because of circumstances but already put Leppard on the map before Hysteria absolutely exploded for them.

 

[plattopus]

Nowadays you could probably argue that Awake is now DT's career defining album because of the heaviness of Train of Thought. Images and Words doesn't contain anything that consistantly heavy.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I would also pick Awake for Dream Theater. The heaviness of Train Of Thought, and even some of the heaviness on 6 Degrees and Scenes From A Memory isn't represented by Images And Words. Awake is a good spread, and one of their best albums IMO.

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

Again debatable I know lots of DT fans who have been disappointed by the band the last few albums and even gone off them. Images & Words in my opinion is the definitive DT album and certainly put them on the pedistal.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Yes, but does it represent their career and define it as a whole? No.

 

[spawn]

Appetite For Destruction

 

[The Amazer]

hahaha, how could I skip Appetite?

Of course I'll challenge with The Spaghetti Incident.

 

[Spiff]

Again debatable I know lots of DT fans who have been disappointed by the band the last few albums and even gone off them.

That's me.

Images & Words is their career-defining album. It was their big break, they got onto MTV and it's the album that pretty much made prog metal what it is today. If not for that album, then there wouldn't be nearly as many prog metal bands around today.

Not only is it a career-defining album, it's a genre-defining album.

 

[spawn]

So its Dream Theaters fault theres all those crap prog bands around Spiffo?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I get that. But at the same time, it can't be "career defining", when it doesn't "define their career". Whether you like their more recent material or not, you can't deny that it is part of their career, and Images And Words isn't representative of that part of their career.

Also, sure some fans like their older material more, but there are also fans that like their newer material more. That has nothing to do with what album best represents them as a whole.

 

[Spiff]

So... career-defining albums have to be from the end of their career? Maybe career-defining albums can only be Greatest Hits compilations, because no other albums are representative of their whole careers. Except maybe live albums.

It's not "career-representing" we're talking about, it's career-defining. That is, albums that DEFINED THEIR CAREER. Like.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

So... career-defining albums have to be from the end of their career?

Actually, if you read my posts you will see that the album I picked to be their most career defining album was Awake...

 

[Goreripper]

So its Dream Theaters fault theres all those crap prog bands around Spiffo?

Yes, if you mean that there's a bunch of bands around that consider themselves "prog" because they try to sound like Dream Theater.

 

[Spiff]

Then what about everything after Awake?

"Career-defining" can be both a very obvious thing and a very debatable thing. I know what you're getting at and all, and I respect that cos I love you like a brother, Blitzy, I really do, but I think Images & Words is their career-defining album.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I choose Awake because as an album it is probably the most varied and shows the widest range of what Dream Theater are about. It shows the melodic side from albums like Images And Words and Falling Into Infinity, and heavier stuff like their more recent albums. I don't think any of their other albums show the whole scope as well as Awake, and at the same time it is one of their best albums.

I guess it also depends on what you take a "career defining album" to mean.

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

It's all subjective but i would see the album that really makes the band as a career defining album. (okay define what makes the band..sales/critical acclaim/reviews/fan response? opens a kettle of worms I know) I guess there are going to be exceptions to the rule so its not as simple as that.

Paradise Lost might be an interesting example. Is there an album that is career defining for them? Their first? or Gothic? But then not if you like what they did with One Second. And then not if you like their most recent stuff which is totally different again.

The Gathering and Anathema are similar cases. So it's down to personal taste.

Warrant are another interesting example just my opinion but Dog Eat Dog is their best album but not their career defining release - that would be Cherry Pie. Then they did a twist at the end with modern-isms on the cruddy Belly to Belly and somewhat Ultraphobic which I still appreciate but is different. So is Cherry Pie actually career defining after all?

I'd still say Images and Words over Awake - but everyone's entitled to an opinion.

 

[Southy]

you people need you heads knocked together...fancy arguing over bloody Dream Theater...

 

[BlindGuardianKill]

Yeah Bring Back Kevin Moore God Damn It! LOL

I don't think it's really arguing at all. It's an interesting discussion I think. Great thread who ever came up with it.