Systematic Chaos (studio album)
by Dream Theater
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Dream Theater bestography
Systematic Chaos is ranked 12th best out of 39 albums by Dream Theater on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Dream Theater is Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory which is ranked number 768 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,259.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Systematic Chaos track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Systematic Chaos rankings
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Systematic Chaos ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 134 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/15/2025 01:07 | iann97 | 1,863 | 74/100 |
| ! | 05/02/2025 13:44 |  Tamthebam | 22,857 | 69/100 |
| ! | 04/24/2025 14:57 | lolothardo | 416 | 73/100 |
| ! | 02/12/2025 19:52 | Museman | 343 | 93/100 |
| ! | 01/05/2025 01:16 |  ExTeaSea | 5,078 | 82/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 16% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 74.1/100, a mean average of 72.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 74.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.1.
Systematic Chaos favourites
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Systematic Chaos comments
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The album starts with part 1 of In the Presence of Enemies and ends with part 2. This is a truly great, great Dream Theater song and features elements of everything they do so well. In between it's more average though.
The Ministry of Lost Souls and the Dark Eternal Night are interesting.
AAL2014 02/21/2019 18:54 | #232308
Underrated record and the last Dream Theater album (so far..) that I would recommend from beginning to end. Some tremendous moments of Dream Theater's fervor for next level musicianship meeting undeniable melodic hooks.
teague 02/21/2019 17:10 | #232304
I feel like this is much better than the overblown Octavarium. It has its weaknesses, but Octavarium was just so cheesy at moments (particularly The Answer Lies Within and I Walk Beside You, the chorus sounds like U2 which is not a good sound for Dream Theater). Dark Eternal Night is Dream Theater doing what they do best, going over the top with technicality and weird time signatures and it's amazing. And In the Presence of Enemies is a great song. I do feel like Prophets of War is fairly weak, but it's still alright. Overall, probably their second best album of the 2000s after Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.
I think Dream Theater dropped the ball a little bit here. On first listen, I found the album to be satisfactory, but repeated listens just drag it down. It's too cheesy and overblown for my tastes, especially since Octavarium promised a more atmospheric and mature direction. Songs like The Dark Eternal Night are just...juvenile. Maybe DT was going through a mid-life crisis?
Nevertheless, the album's single has its moments and Forsaken is wonderful. I also feel this album has one of the strongest opening 3 minutes. Ever. Too bad it didn't meet the high expectations.
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