Bottom Ten: Worst/Least-Greatest Dream Theater Songs

[Prog Snob]

5. The Looking Glass (attack lyrics on Mike are not cool)

wtf how the hell is the song about MP?

It seemed completely obvious from the first time I heard it.    Try listening to it with that in mind.

   Way off

[Tony From Long Island]

Do you think he would ADMIT it was about MP?    He has too much class to admit that.   However, the lyrics themselves lead ME to the conclusion I PERSONALLY reached.   They are a cheap shot at MP in my opinion.

[Tony From Long Island]

Oh, and I'm not slagging on John Petrucci.    I still love DT.   I just think those lyrics were beneath JP.    JP was my old guitarists teacher. I've seen DT live since they played in tiny clubs on Long Island.   So, just because I take issue with one set of song lyrics is not a jab or attack.   I just think those lyrics are blatantly about MP regardless of whatever explanation he has given.

[Prog Snob]

Do you think he would ADMIT it was about MP?    He has too much class to admit that.   However, the lyrics themselves lead ME to the conclusion I PERSONALLY reached.   They are a cheap shot at MP in my opinion.

I think JP has too much class to write a song like that about MP.

[mikeyd23]

Do you think he would ADMIT it was about MP?    He has too much class to admit that.   However, the lyrics themselves lead ME to the conclusion I PERSONALLY reached.   They are a cheap shot at MP in my opinion.

I think JP has too much class to write a song like that about MP.

Bingo, exactly that.

[Enigmachine]

They are a cheap shot at MP in my opinion.

Can you prove it?

[Tony From Long Island]

They are a cheap shot at MP in my opinion.

Can you prove it?

Of course I can't "prove it."   Just as JP would never admit it.    I think the lyrics speak for themselves.  It's just my opinion.

[Tony From Long Island]

Can you at least see how someone might reach the conclusion I did after listening to the lyrics?  Even if you, yourself, do not reach that conclusion?

[Enigmachine]

Can you at least see how someone might reach the conclusion I did after listening to the lyrics?  Even if you, yourself, do not reach that conclusion?

Not really, no. Unless you think the descriptions "Some will not admit that 15 minutes have expired", "Singing your own praise"  and "Bathing in the spotlight" would apply to MP, which I definitely don't think they do.

[Dream Team]

Oh my goodness, the lyrics are about attention-whoring youtubers.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Oh, and I'm not slagging on John Petrucci.    I still love DT.   I just think those lyrics were beneath JP.    JP was my old guitarists teacher. I've seen DT live since they played in tiny clubs on Long Island.   So, just because I take issue with one set of song lyrics is not a jab or attack.   I just think those lyrics are blatantly about MP regardless of whatever explanation he has given.

I like you, Tony From Long Island.

But even a song like In the Presence from Enemies can be about MP if you see it with a good pair of MPWarriorGlasses.

[de_fromage]

Not counting The Astonishing because I've only listened to it once so far.

In no particular order I just dislike them:

The Shattered Fortress
Count of Tuscany
Enemy Inside
Illumination Theory
Enigma Machine
A Rite of Passage

And also the other ones from DT12, heard them some times and had no impact whatsoever

#BringBackChrisCollins

[splent]

The hate for WDADU makes me  . Yes it's raw but it has a lot of potential elements that helped to create I&W and so I enjoy it.

Still. Not a fan of TOWHTSTS.

Others I'm not a fan of:
Scarred (sue me. Not a fan. I just think the love for it is overrated)
You Not Me
A Rite of Passage
Constant Motion
Forsaken
This Dying Soul

There are others. Can't think of it.

#BringBackChrisCollins

https://yourmajesty.ytmnd.com 

[KevShmev]

Not counting the NOMAC tracks on TA, I'd go with these 10:

You Not Me
Constant Motion
Whispers on the Wind
A Rite of Passage
Raw Dog
On the Backs of Angels
Forsaken
Prophets of War
Burning My Soul
Sacrificed Sons

[Prog Snob]

The hate for WDADU makes me  . Yes it's raw but it has a lot of potential elements that helped to create I&W and so I enjoy it.

Agreed. I can think of plenty other albums that I would consider garbage way before I would say that of WDADU.

[Tony From Long Island]

The hate for WDADU makes me  . Yes it's raw but it has a lot of potential elements that helped to create I&W and so I enjoy it.

Agreed. I can think of plenty other albums that I would consider garbage way before I would say that of WDADU.

I have also wondered about the dislike for WDADU. There's really only song on it that I don't really care for  (Light fuse...).   Maybe someone who didn't get into DT until much later would consider it rather primitive, but maybe for us long-timers it was part of a natural progression

[Destiny Of Chaos]

5. The Looking Glass (attack lyrics on Mike are not cool)

wtf how the hell is the song about MP?

It seemed completely obvious from the first time I heard it.    Try listening to it with that in mind.

I feel that the breakup with MP inspired the lyrics to "This is the Life".  But yeah, TLG is clearly about social media and the like.

[Tony From Long Island]

Look, I sure HOPE Looking Glass isn't about MP.   It would actually be a relief to me if that was the case. I was pretty upset when I heard it thinking that it was beneath someone as classy as John P to write something like that.  I will say that you guys have given me a different perspective on the song and hopefully I can change mine.

[Another_Won]

Wasn't there actually an interview with JP about the songs and he talked about it?  Or am I remembering wrong?  About it being about social media etc.

[Enigmachine]

Wasn't there actually an interview with JP about the songs and he talked about it?  Or am I remembering wrong?  About it being about social media etc.

Yeah he explains all the DT12 song meanings in this tbt video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPQ6egJDqQo

[pdurbin22]

Can you at least see how someone might reach the conclusion I did after listening to the lyrics?  Even if you, yourself, do not reach that conclusion?

I admit I never thought of the lyrics this way until you pointed it out. I do think the song is likely just about "attention-whoring YouTubers" as someone else put it, but I can certainly see how this may be interpreted to be about MP in some regards. Even if it's not, just look at the title of the song.  "Looking Glass" is a synonym for "Mirror," one of MP's signature lyrics. Interesting....

[Tony From Long Island]

I admit I never thought of the lyrics this way until you pointed it out. I do think the song is likely just about "attention-whoring YouTubers" as someone else put it, but I can certainly see how this may be interpreted to be about MP in some regards. Even if it's not, just look at the title of the song.  "Looking Glass" is a synonym for "Mirror," one of MP's signature lyrics. Interesting....
[/quote]

Yes - the word "Looking Glass" was one of the first things that caught my attention when I first heard the song and thought there was a connection.

[mikeyd23]

5. The Looking Glass (attack lyrics on Mike are not cool)

wtf how the hell is the song about MP?

It seemed completely obvious from the first time I heard it.    Try listening to it with that in mind.

Here is what the lyrics mean, straight from JP himself:

"The subject of that song is kind of how young people are really, really obsessed with fame - the idea of being famous," the axeman stated. "And everybody's living their lives now as if they're famous, with Facebook and everything. There's blogs, pictures of yourself - everybody's acting like movie stars, as if people want to know what's happening."  Petrucci explained further, "It used to be that you had to do something substantial in order to be famous, but now anybody can be famous and there's all these TV shows to be famous. Whether it'd be in dance or in singing - there's tons and tons of those type of shows, so it's kind of a weird thing that everybody's so obsessed with that," he concluded.

Source:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/dream_theater_young_people_are_obsessed_with_fame_everybodys_acting_like_movie_stars.html?no_takeover

So, yeah... Its not about MP.

Just reposting what I posted yesterday. Just another source where the author of the lyrics explains the lyrics. Not sure there is a better source than the man himself...

[Another_Won]

5. The Looking Glass (attack lyrics on Mike are not cool)

wtf how the hell is the song about MP?

It seemed completely obvious from the first time I heard it.    Try listening to it with that in mind.

Here is what the lyrics mean, straight from JP himself:

"The subject of that song is kind of how young people are really, really obsessed with fame - the idea of being famous," the axeman stated. "And everybody's living their lives now as if they're famous, with Facebook and everything. There's blogs, pictures of yourself - everybody's acting like movie stars, as if people want to know what's happening."  Petrucci explained further, "It used to be that you had to do something substantial in order to be famous, but now anybody can be famous and there's all these TV shows to be famous. Whether it'd be in dance or in singing - there's tons and tons of those type of shows, so it's kind of a weird thing that everybody's so obsessed with that," he concluded.

Source:
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/dream_theater_young_people_are_obsessed_with_fame_everybodys_acting_like_movie_stars.html?no_takeover

So, yeah... Its not about MP.

Just reposting what I posted yesterday. Just another source where the author of the lyrics explains the lyrics. Not sure there is a better source than the man himself...

Sorry, man.  Completely missed your post.  I read through the posts on the current page and everyone was still talking like it hadn't been mentioned.  (I wonder if that happens a lot - where the last post on a page is missed )

[mikeyd23]

Haha, I'm sure it happens all the time, no worries.

[KevShmev]

Look, I sure HOPE Looking Glass isn't about MP.   It would actually be a relief to me if that was the case. I was pretty upset when I heard it thinking that it was beneath someone as classy as John P to write something like that.  I will say that you guys have given me a different perspective on the song and hopefully I can change mine.

Serious questions:

Do you think it was low budget for Mike Portnoy to rip Kevin Moore in Raise the Knife?  Or the fans in Never Enough?  Or his step-father in Honor Thy Father?

I feel that the breakup with MP inspired the lyrics to "This is the Life".   

Without a doubt. 

"Some can get caught in the maze
And lose their way home"

If that isn't a reference to Portnoy getting caught up in playing with so many bands to where he never found his way back to Dream Theater, then I don't know what is.

[Jaffa]

I feel that the breakup with MP inspired the lyrics to "This is the Life".   

Without a doubt. 

"Some can get caught in the maze
And lose their way home"

If that isn't a reference to Portnoy getting caught up in playing with so many bands to where he never found his way back to Dream Theater, then I don't know what is.

I've always had that impression myself.  I actually wrote an interpretation explaining line by line how This is the Life could be related to Portnoy's departure.  I don't think I ever posted it, though; at the time, Portnoy was a bit of a sensitive subject here, and I didn't want to contribute to the controversy.

But yeah.  Even if John didn't intentionally write the song about Portnoy, I feel like Portnoy must have been somewhere on his mind while he was writing it.

[Tony From Long Island]

Serious questions:



Do you think it was low budget for Mike Portnoy to rip Kevin Moore in Raise the Knife?    - Maybe, but the song wasn't released on an actual album  (yes, I know it was on SCORE). IMO, the lyrics in Looking Glass were much more blatant.

Or the fans in Never Enough?   --   No.

Or his step-father in Honor Thy Father?   --  Not in the least.

[BlobVanDam]

I didn't have a problem with MP's lyrics in Raise the Knife at all. And I don't see the slightest issue with The Looking Glass either. I don't believe any DT song since the split is about MP, it seems beneath them. People can see what they want if they look hard enough.

[V_R11]

Can't rank 'em, but some of my least favorite tracks:
Erotomania
Scarred
Lines In The Sand
New Millenium
The Great Debate
This Dying Soul
One Last Time
The Enigma Machine
These Walls
Begin Again

[jsbru]

This will consist of a lot from their "middle period":

(worst)
The Great Debate
In the Presence of Enemies Part II
Ministry of Lost Souls
A Nightmare to Remember
Prophets of War
The Dark Eternal Night
Never Enough
Honor Thy Father
Just Let me Breathe
Sacrificed Sons
(less worse)

Notice, there's a lot of Mike Portnoy "revenge" songs on there 

[Tony From Long Island]

Can't rank 'em, but some of my least favorite tracks:
Erotomania

Since Awake is my all time FAV DT album, I can't list any in my bottom 10, but there is one drum fill in that song that's irked me. It seems like MP rushes just a LITTLE bit. Likely it's just the way they wanted it, but every time I hear it, I feel like it's off.

yes, SUPER nit-picking

[BlackInk]

Not counting the Majesty Demos.

142. Regression
143. False Awakening Suite
144. The Best of Times
145. Take Away My Pain
146. Don't Look Past Me
147. Where Are You Now?
148. Status Seeker
149. The Answer
150. Begin Again
152. Light Fuse and Get Away

[Outcrier]

Since Awake is my all time FAV DT album, I can't list any in my bottom 10, but there is one drum fill in that song that's irked me. It seems like MP rushes just a LITTLE bit. Likely it's just the way they wanted it, but every time I hear it, I feel like it's off.

It's things like these that ruins the band for me.

[Prog Snob]

Since Awake is my all time FAV DT album, I can't list any in my bottom 10, but there is one drum fill in that song that's irked me. It seems like MP rushes just a LITTLE bit. Likely it's just the way they wanted it, but every time I hear it, I feel like it's off.

It's things like these that ruins the band for me.

What's the problem?