So what is everyone's favourite DT album and why?
Well, that's a loaded question.
The top 4 to me are:
Images and Words - Because it was the 1st album I heard
Awake - because it was darker and heavier, and the live tour was awesome.
Train of Thought - because it was getting back to the Awake vibe of dark and heavy
Octavarium - because it was getting back to the I&W through Change of Seasons era in terms of mixing up short melodic songs with longer pieces.
Change of Seasons is in there, too, but it's not really an album.
After that:
Falling into Infinity: I know this album tends to get panned by fans for being too "commercial" but I loved it. Great song writing. Trail of Tears is one my favorite DT songs. I thought Derek brought a lot of soul to the DT sound.
Six Degrees: has some great songs and ideas, but gets too bogged down with experimentation to be really good.
From there:
Scenes from a Memory: I know most fans consider this their master piece, but I found it to be their low point. Seriously, a concept album about a guy who thinks he was a girl who got killed in a past life? What the hell was that about? DT always had great lyrics up until that album.
Systematic Chaos and Back Clouds I find to be totally un-listenable. Just a bunch of recycled riffs from past albums, horrible lyrical ideas. Mostly it sounds like they started a song, ran out of ideas on how to finish said song, so they just filled in a bunch of chops to extend it, while Labrie sounds like he told to just make up the vocal melody as he went as long, and the 1st take was the keeper, good or bad. I recently picked up Labrie's latest solo album, and he sounds 100x times better with material that was actually thought out.