WDADU is a fun oddity that I enjoy listening to for survivors but that's enough for me. It's fun whenever they bring out one of those songs live though. The real MVP of this album is John Myung. The production ruins a lot of his basslines but if you really listen to them (or listen to the live versions) there's some really melodic interesting stuff happening. Not just Myung doubling JP the whole time like in recent DT. There are actually quite a few bass solo spots too, you just can't tell most of the time because of how muddy the production is. Also quite a few Petrucci solos that would become iconic among the most hardcore fans, but didn't really catch on with DT's general audience the way Under a Glass Moon did, for example. But he already knew how to construct a good solo.



I agree with Knick on Status Seeker. It's an unremarkable song but nothing offensive. I think it's bizarre that it's the first song people point to when talking about the flaws of this album. It's weaker for sure, but not the worst. I think it might just have to do with being the 2nd song on the album and being less exciting than A Fortune In Lies. Put any song in that spot besides Afterlife, OAMOT, or Ytse Jam and it'd probably have the same infamy.



I disagree with Knick on Only A Matter Of Time. That song is awesome. Lyrics are wordy but musically there are so many awesome melodies and rhythmic ideas. I think this is the closest we get to I&W on this album. More keyboard/guitar duels, more throwbacks to old school prog, lots of changes. They've always described themselves as a heavy metal Yes or Yes meets Metallica/Iron Maiden etc and this is the only song where that really comes across. The bridge is awesome and I love how they "preview" it earlier in the song. That'd go on to be a signature DT trick.



But when it comes down to it, there are more good songs than bad songs, so it isn't a bad album. I think I might even prefer it to Systematic Chaos now after listening to it again. The problem is that it's not really Dream Theater in sound or style. It's more like an awesome Queensryche or Fates Warning album. They really elevated themselves after this which makes the album pretty unremarkable in comparison. I've also found that a lot of people who especially like WDADU were around when it came out and didn't have later DT to compare it to. Context is everything.



Anyway, I always find it crazy how this band went on to write stuff (for better or worse) like The Astonishing or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Or even the next album. Probably one of the more bizarre debut albums.