Dream Theater

When my brother bought Greatest Hit (...and 21 other really cool songs), it got me pretty fast. First there was Pull Me Under, which I really enjoyed because of LaBrie's vocals, the intro and how cool it felt to listen to it in the car. Then, Take The Time got me right away. The bass, the piano/vocals section, the solo, the "if there's a pensive fear" part, the catchy chorus, everything. It just got me. And from there, I was a fan

i would have to say the first time i heard pull me under i was hooked and listened to images and words and said this is some cool music, then i really dig awake, and its just carried on from there..

I listened to The Ministry of Lost Souls like 2 years ago...I was shocked by the melody, the lyrics and the power of that song. I actually had heard some other songs by DT before, but never really got into them until that moment....

Pull me under made me fans, Scenes made it stick for life. It is between them and Maiden (depends on the day of the week) as for which is the greatest band in the world. Saw the Maiden/Theater show in D.C. in 2010- needless to say nothing will come close as for all-time best concert bill. Tenth row seats.

Take the Time did it for me.

btw, I really wish they'd go back to doing this song in its ENTIRETY live.

I bought Octavarium after being reccomended DT by a friend. He had just given me LTE2 and I loved it, and he said if I loved that I should DEFINITELY get into Dream Theater. So I walked into JB Hi-Fi, saw this album "Octavarium" going cheap, which had a pretty kickass album art and a 24 minute song, and I was like "k, this should be cool". I went home and listened to the whole thing in its entirety and was hooked instantly. That album is an incredible piece of music. These Walls was probably the song on there that really pulled me in, followed by the title track itself of course.

I learned about Dream Theater about three years ago. I am in ninth grade now but going into sixth grade, I went to summer camp. One day, my camp counselor was listening to his ipod. I asked what he was listening to and he said that it was this band called Dream Theater. He let me listen to a piece from "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". It was the most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard. When I got home that day, I went on iTunes and purchased "Six Degrees...". After that I started listening to more and more songs and albums. I listen to them every day. Dream Theater is AMAZING!

In 2000 I was really into Industrial-metal like "Slipknot" and "Soulfly." My metal-head friends kept referencing this band, Dream Theater, but they seemed conflicted about them.
They would say "yeah, these guys can really play. It's just a shame they aren't very heavy." or "too bad the singer is still living in the 80's."
So, I naturally had a bias on my first listen. I never liked the hair-metal and absolutely despised the culture that came with it. Like I said, I was a grunge/industrial kid. 80's hair metal was over and I wasn't around for it's hayday.
I don't even remember what track my friend played, all I know was that the drums were absolutely killer! Bands like Slipknot needed 3 drummers and they still couldn't match Portnoy's power!
I went out and bought their newest cd at the time: "Live Scenes from New York" and listened only a few times. To be honest, I skipped over most of the Scenes from a Memory songs because I didn't know WTF I was doing. However, I found "A Change of Seasons" at the end of the 3rd disc and listened to that track on repeat for at least 6 months.
Once I accepted, and actually started to dig, Labrie's "top of the stratosphere" vocal style, I couldn't get enough DT. They are now my favorite band I can't listen to much else. They've turned me into a musical elitist I think...

I vividly remember my ΦΜA (Δ Chapter) brother "Squeeks" introducing me to Images and Words in '95. He said "They're like Rush, but better".

Squeeks was right.

5 years ago, I was 17.
I was playing World of Warcraft, the 10 free days that were meant to try the game, and I was at the end of my 10 days, just about to stop playing for ever !
When, by chance, that guy asked me for help on some quest. I agreed (thank god). We lost, and then I told him "well that's it, I'm over with this boring game, I'm going to play guitar ! That's so much better !"
He aswered "Oh ! You play guitar ? Give me your messenger adress so we can talk"
The guy immediatly told me about some guitar god from a band named Dream Theater ! And he showed me the live performance of Stream Of Consciousness on youtube !
Since then, I spent one whole year listening only to this band !
And I can tell you it took me that whole year to fully understand the true power of their sound, and the amazing deepness of it's meaning...
And it was DT who made me discover Progressive Rock, wich is now my beloved style of music. I tried to listen to DT's influences : I listened to bands like Yes, Rush, King Crimson, Frank Zappa, etc. And I can't say how much I'm happy today, thanks to those 10 days at World of Warcraft :)