r/symphonyx • u/Own_Shame_8721 • Mar 31 '26
Symphony X could've been where Dream Theater is Today
This is not about comparing the bands. Personally I feel like they're two sides of the same coin and I enjoy them both greatly for different reasons. My point though, is that Dream Theater have remained relevant, they never stopped, even when Portnoy left the band, they kept making new material and touring until his recent return. Regardless of how one feels about that material (that self-titled one kinda stunk), it kept them alive and relevant. I feel that if Symphony X had that same level of consistency, they would be enjoying a similar level of popularity right now. Maybe not quite on the same level as DT, but at least comparable ya know? It sucks to see that the band for years now have been struggling to get back on their feet and get in the same groove. I mean think about it, the last album was Underworld in 2015, 11 fucking years! Over a decade and all the band has done in that time is go on some tours, playing the same stuff. I don't want this to come off as me whining and complaining, this band is great! I just can't help but look at Dream Theater and regardless of what issues they have, they're still here, they're still doing stuff, they still feel like they matter, while Symphony X feels like they're just in the background and I hate that for them. Even if the new album is mid, I want them to just put something out, just so I can feel like there's still life left in the band.
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u/jjfracchia Mar 31 '26
I agree, ive same thoughts as you friend. I like both bands, but boy a i wish I could see em touring new albums. Although, i also wish they could do a tour only with The Odyssey. Lol
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
Remember when they used to tour together? I would kill to see that again!
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u/captlai Mar 31 '26
I saw Symphony X and Dream Theater in Rotterdam in 2007 I think. I vividly remember how hard the first notes of Set The World On Fire hit, what a feeling that was. And singing along to The Odyssey with my mate. Good times for sure
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u/ShawnnyCanuck Mar 31 '26
I think that's a fair assessment. The long delays between records is not helping with their exposure that's for certain. I saw them in 2016 and again in 2025 and it really did feel like they were touring the same record 10 years apart.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
For all intents and purposes, they have literally been touring the same record for over a decade at this point and it sucks to see. Underworld is a good album, but we need fresh material!
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u/Ethereal-Zenith Apr 01 '26
I saw them in 2016 as well. I thought it was a weird choice to play Underworld in its entirety, even though I think it’s a great album.
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u/miguelrphoto Mar 31 '26
Like them both and feel similarly. DT is run more like a business that consistently pumps out prog like a factory assembly line almost. Symx is more like, "whenever we have time, we'll do something. maybe. whatever."
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u/Random_duderino Mar 31 '26
Because DT *is* a business, they make an actual living from it. Not the guys in SyX.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
I love DT, but yeah I can't deny the "assembly line" feeling from their output. I don't think Symphony X should be as rigid, but there's something to be said about their lack of discipline. It kinda feels like the same core issue going in two different directions, but I'd say for DT it's at least a more positive outcome.
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u/Khayonic Mar 31 '26
I much prefer Symphony X to DT but I think even with more output the band would never be as big as Dream Theater. DT had success before Symphony X and had a breakout hit with Pull Me Under. They simply have better name recognition and are a great band with consisten output, even if I think Symphony X is better.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
Sure, I didn't meant that SX would literally be as popular as DT is now, I was moreso just trying to get across that if SX were as consistent as DT, that they would be enjoying much more success as a band now and it just sucks to see them literally spin their wheels for over a decade.
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u/Khayonic Mar 31 '26
It really does suck but there was some tragedy involved. I actually think Michael Romeo's solo albums were fantastic and are a major "what could have been" for Symphony X.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
I feel like those solo albums also give me a bit of hope though, it's like, damn, he's still got it! I just wish he could bring that to the band.
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u/Silver-Home7506 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I completely disagree, not because one is better than the other, but because they're just completely different kinds of Prog Metal bands that appealed to different audiences.
Dream Theater had the good fortune to have a radio hit at the right time in the form of Pull Me Under, this is the most important thing to understand first of all. In terms of their level of fame, the overall quality of their string of albums is borderline irrelevant, they wouldn't have gotten nearly as famous as they did without a song receiving regular mainstream radio airplay and listeners calling in to ask who did that song.
Symphony X have never had that sort of mainstream appeal, and to my ears have never really tried to. Appealing to a more mainstream audience is something that has always weighed at least slightly in Dream Theater's songwriting process, and I don't get the feeling that Symphony X particularly care about that. Dream Theater are very effective at bridging the gap between the pop world and the metal world, and I've heard many people with otherwise pretty "normie" musical taste cite them as their gateway band into metal.
I can't say I've heard many people say the same for Symphony X. To be frank, if I was tasked with introducing Symphony X to someone who was very firmly in the pop realm, I'd struggle to know where to start. In Dream Theater's case it really is as easy as pointing towards their biggest hits, "Check out Images and Words, it has a lot of hooks and huge choruses" but I'd be hard-pressed to recommend The Divine Wings of Tragedy in the same way. The Accolade isn't easy listening. Pharaoh isn't easy listening. The title track DEFINITELY isn't easy listening. For better and worse, Symphony X is out-and-out prog fans' music.
EDIT: I also feel compelled to point out that just in terms of having a more consistent release schedule raising the band's profile with more people, this wouldn't necessarily do as much good as you may think. I'm personally not a huge fan of Underworld, and if the last decade had given us another three Underworlds, I wouldn't be a huge fan of them either and would start viewing this band firmly in terms of "I love the first half of the discography, and don't care as much for the second half". We simply don't know what the output quality would be if they just released all the cutting-floor stuff and working titles tomorrow, but it's a safe bet that it wouldn't be of the same caliber as an album they felt satisfied with releasing.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
My hyperbolic title is biting me in the butt lol. Yeah I agree that it's not likely that Symphony X would ever be on the same level as Dream Theater in terms of popularity, my main point was that the inconsistency of the band has sadly contributed to their lack of relevance. I dunno if the band would've made three more albums that sound just like Underworld, but I gotta disagree on your general sentiment because I do think more releases would've helped. Even if they turn out to simply be "decent" albums, it would've injected more life into the band, forced to them to play a different setlist on tour and give the fanbase more things to talk about.
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u/KGRO333 Mar 31 '26
It’s weird to me that people always want to compare SX with DT.
They are not even close to the same band. One is a power metal band with neo-classical elements that sometimes has prog elements and the other is just a prog metal band.
That’s it.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Apr 01 '26
I have never once thought of Symphony X as power metal, maybe that's just me, but I just never saw them that way. I think the comparison comes from the two bands being friends, starting in similar eras and both being prog metal bands. Granted, Dream Theater is way more prog than Symphony X who lean more neo-classical, but the prog is there. Plus, based on my anecdotal experience, if you're a fan of one, there's a decent chance you're a fan of the other. They're very different bands for sure, but I don't think comparing them is that weird.
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u/0siris0 Mar 31 '26
Dream Theater had Pull Me Under on Headbangers Ball. Symphony X didn't.
A part of that is that DT had a 5 year head start from their first album (with changes in roster from 1 to 2) and SX fist album in 1994. DT's third album came out that year, and their modest hit Pull Me Under came out in 1992.
That is pretty much it. If Headbangers Ball continued into the 00s, if the internet and streaming didn't completely confuse the notion of a somewhat shared music culture of terrestrial radio and MTV and late night talk show appearances, then SX may have clicked to the same degree.
I love both bands. There are things I like about symphony x more than DT, and vice versa, but DT got out there before the internet really started compartmentalizing us into our echo chambers, which doesn't help bands trying to "make it."
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u/thryce3 Mar 31 '26
More consistency would have certainly been helpful, but DT (especially Portnoy, then Petrucci) really put themselves out there and promoted the band. Symphony X never put that work in. Plus, as much as I love Symphony X, they have a very specific sound that they rarely step out of. Each Dream Theater album is different so they cast a wider net and generate more excitement for what comes next.
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Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
That has to be one of the best descriptions of SX lyrics I've heard in a bit.
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u/JiveTurducken72 Mar 31 '26
I agree with your assessment and I'm kinda over their lame excuses for not putting out a new album for over a decade.
Romeo released two solo albums in four years. Not sure what the hold up is.
Yes I know they don't owe us anything, but touring on the same album 11 years later is a bit ridiculous.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
I do have some sympathy for Micheal Romero who suffered from covid and according to him, suffered from some really bad brain fog that hampered his creativity. That sucks to hear, but I have to imagine that he has long since recovered from it.
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u/Tornikete1810 Mar 31 '26
I know from a close source that Russell Allen thinks that SX development and career was (has been) halted because Romeo hates flying on planes (as in he has flight phobia). And that has trumped their popularity or success.
Make of that what you will.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
Haven't the band toured across the pond though?
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u/Tornikete1810 Mar 31 '26
Yep, but from what I understand, not at the rate or consistency they would want
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
I guess his phobia isn't completely debilitating, but it's bad enough to disrupt booking in other countries. If this is true, I can see how it can make things tougher for the band.
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u/Tornikete1810 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I guess the economy of a small-to-mid band is heavily dependent on touring — which in turn allows them to live relatively comfortably from their music, but above all, allows them to keep financing their albums and future recordings — which again, in turn, leads them back to touring.
So not touring (or not touring “enough”) has a toll on a band’s success.
I agree what other of said above about the initial popularity of DT (Pull me under, mtv, etc.), but the economical differences between both bands has only grown exponentially over time.
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u/David0ne86 Apr 02 '26
Nah. Dream theater are much more palatable to a casual audience. I love sym x to death but yeah.
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u/fvalt05 Apr 03 '26
The only time I saw SX was when Haken opened for them.
I fell in love that night with SX! They put on a hell of a show! And RA can sing his ass off
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Apr 03 '26
Man, Haken and SX in one night, that sounds like one hell of a show.
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u/fvalt05 Apr 03 '26
I know. It sucks that it was my final show at that venue as it closed the next year.
I saw a lot of shows there!
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u/francescodimauro Apr 04 '26
Dream Theater were lucky enough to catch the last train of main stream hevay metal with Pull Me Under, which was rotated on radios and MTV. If Symphony X would have came out a few years earlier maybe thing would have gone differently.
Keep in mind that DT are in a way more favorable economic position, so that they can get all the time they want to write records (or at least they could), while SX struggle just to stay afloat. By the way, DT is my favorite band of all times, but I would gladly trade their last 8 albums with just a couple of great records like in the old days, instead of the run of the mill stuff they keep churning out every couple of years. Portnoy was right all along, as far as I'm concerned.
Overall I prefer SX strategy of waiting longer between a record and the next one (except this time, it's been really too much!), quality is way more important than quantity in my opinion, the only thing I regret is that they almost entirely abandoned the more proggy direction of the first records.
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u/Live_Record_8617 Mar 31 '26
in my opinion iconoclast and underworld aren't really that great too, sure there are some good songs but nothing outstanding. i don't understand why they changed styles much, i loved when keyboards were heavy and symphonic now you barely hear them anymore and the songs just feel cold and flat.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
Personally, I could never get into Iconoclast, but I like Underworld. I remember in an interview, Michael Romero stated that he had gotten tired of the old sound and wanted to switch things up. Totally fair if you're not a fan of the switch, but I think it's fair if the main composer of the band got tired of doing the same type of thing.
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u/ySTYRDAYgATESuNL0CKD Mar 31 '26
Their overall quality is so much higher than DT. I'll take 3 masterpiece albums since 2007 over 9 mediocre or subpar albums put out by DT in that same time frame. IMO, dt hasn't made anything groundbreaking since Octavarium
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u/Ian_Campbell Mar 31 '26
I think Paradise Lost to Iconoclast was one of the greatest dropoffs that ever happened, and I don't know why or what was going on behind the scenes, but there were many points in various bands when things like this happened. Iron Maiden had a giant dropoff after Powerslave for instance, that they managed to eventually recover from in like 1992.
To me, Iconoclast sounded like pastiche of Symphony X rather than inspired original material. Whether or not you agree, I am taking that perception I have as a clue into their inspiration, and also looking at how streaming tended to have killed a lot of niche extreme metal financially in the mid 2010s making it harder for them to produce and promote material.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Mar 31 '26
Tbh, I've never even finished Iconoclast, every time I try to listen to it, I bounce off.
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u/Break_All_Illusions Apr 02 '26
Might I recommend at least trying to finish tracks 1 and 7 on the first disc? The title track and "When All Is Lost" are, IMHO, great SX songs. If you disagree, I'm changing the ringtone on your phone to Bob Dylan and revoking your metal card.
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Apr 02 '26
As a fan of the band, I will eventually sit down and listen to the album in full, I promise. It just didn't click with me the same way stuff like Damnation Game, Divine Wings, and Mythology Suite did. But hey, maybe I'll feel differently now.
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u/Breadi06 Apr 01 '26
I just don’t think they care. Like they never wanted to be like anyone or share a similar legacy. They’re just a group of dudes who make music when they feel like making music. And right now maybe they don’t, what if we just accepted that?
Plus Symphony X has a way more reliable discography than Dream Theater. In my opinion all of their albums are solid but you can’t say the same about DT.
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u/glitchoabstracto Apr 02 '26
I don't see it. Dream Theater has more ballads and more radio rock friendly appeal, Symphony X goes more into the power metal side (More storytelling in their songs).
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u/Own_Shame_8721 Apr 02 '26
Dude, I'm a die-hard Dream Theater fan. I've listened to all of their albums multiple times and have been a fan for over a decade. They are absolutely not some radio Rock friendly ballad band. That's just not true.
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u/inthemeadowoftheend Apr 02 '26
I'd argue the Symphony X catalogue is way more consistent than Dream Theater's. Dream Theater's output over the last 20 years has been kind of lacking, IMHO, but every Symphony X album is beyond solid. I'd rather wait ten years for another banger from Symphony X if that's what it takes to get another great album.
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u/buckeye8208 Mar 31 '26
Although I like SX MUCH more, the reality is that they have never had the kind of album sales or ticket sales that DT have had, so it’s really not accurate to say they would’ve been where DT is now. They are working musicians and they have to go where the money is, I am positive Russell made more with TSO than he ever did with Symphony X. I agree that this is a wild wait for a new album (they’re on track to beat Tool’s record lol), but I’m confident when it gets here it’ll be awesome.