But I completely disagree with almost everyone here about Maiden.
Firstly, I think the new album, DOD and BNW as well, are all very proggy. I think the songwriting is fresh, epic and complex. I think they are experimenting with some different elements while still keeping that "Maiden" sound we've all known. They've matured as songwriters and musicians, which says a lot considering how amazing they were even when they were much younger.
I never even liked old Metallica. I think they had a few good songs on their debut, one or two good songs on Ride The Lightning and that's it. I thought Master Of Puppets and And Justice For All... were some of the worst thrash albums I have ever listened to in my life. I don't even know why people like Metallica when they could listen to Mercyful Fate, Megadeth, Exodus, Dark Angel, Laaz Rockit, Heathen, Forbidden, Flotsam And Jetsam etc.
Dream Theater's Octavarium was a great album.
Dream Theater never was the kind of band that wanks endlessly on their instruments. They do have some showy parts here and there, but they mostly focus on the songs. In fact, Images And Words had very tasteful and emotional guitar work. I didn't like Train Of Thought at first but it really grew on me a lot lately. I've been listening to it a lot.
Another great band not that far from Dream Theater, but much heavier and much more jazzy, is Spastic Ink. It features Ron Jarzombek from Watchtower on guitars and his brother, Bobby (I think he was in Halford, not like that though, the band Halford), on drums. The vocals on Ink Compatible sort of remind me of James LaBrie like earlier on when he was more aggressive.
