How many of these do you think fit well together as one composition?

[Enigmachine]

I probably should specify that I know some of these aren't songs as defined by the band. What I mean is that it would make more sense for when you are on an iPod or something to listen to the tracks together as one rather than how they are split on the albums they appear on. For example, I would consider Vacant and Stream of Conciousness (at least ideally, as DT have played the songs seperately) a single entity as to me, Vacant seems like a prelude to SoC and both are enhanced when they are together. It sort of reminds me of how Starless by King Crimson is structured due to both having a quiet beginning with vocals and then a long instrumental part is introduced with a repeat of the main theme from the beginning somewhere in there.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Six Degrees.

[mikeyd23]

Six Degrees.

yep

[Lolzeez]

Six Degrees only.

[hefdaddy42]

I would say that all of those groupings are meant to be listened together.

But the only one that I would consider one song is Six Degrees.

[Sycsa]

Went with Mirror+Lie and Scenes 2&3, they are the obvious choices. Going against the flow with regards to SDOIT, yeah, it's technically a song, but there are concept albums more cohesive.

[Zydar]

Six Degrees only.

[fischermasamune]

For me, SDOIT is the only song. I think just seguing one into another, or having a common theme is not enough. Partially I would say the songs are the ones considered songs by the majority of people.

And I would consider ITPOE a single song too... or at least I did for my top 50.

[425]

I would say that all of those groupings are meant to be listened together.

But the only one that I would consider one song is Six Degrees.

[bosk1]

I would say that all of those groupings are meant to be listened together.

But the only one that I would consider one song is Six Degrees.

This.  Not sure why there is even any confusion.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

I would say that all of those groupings are meant to be listened together.

But the only one that I would consider one song is Six Degrees.

[Enigmachine]

I think I'll change the topic name to avoid confusion with what the poll is asking. I've said that I know that most of these aren't songs, but I'm asking if you would rather listen to these tracks combined rather than seperated and if the whole feels complete and cohesive.

[hefdaddy42]

I have listened to all of those individually, as well as coupled together.  I don't think they HAVE to go together, but they certainly complement each other and work well together.

But I certainly have no problem listening to Wait For Sleep OR Learning To Live, or Hell's Kitchen OR Lines in the Sand.  They don't HAVE to be listened to together for me.

[425]

Hef is right again.

The only ones that are a little weird to listen to individually are the ones that don't have an intro or outro of their own. Like I would not very often listen to O28 or SDV on its own, and I would never listen to Through My Words as a standalone piece, because what's the point? But with Hell's Kitchen or Learning to Live or Vacant, sure, I'll listen to those and any songs comparable to those on their own.

[Enigmachine]

How do I change the topic name?

I have listened to all of those individually, as well as coupled together.  I don't think they HAVE to go together, but they certainly complement each other and work well together.

But I certainly have no problem listening to Wait For Sleep OR Learning To Live, or Hell's Kitchen OR Lines in the Sand.  They don't HAVE to be listened to together for me.

I don't really mean this as a be-all end-all decision for how you must listen to the songs, but I'm just seeing how everyone prefers to look at and interpret Dream Theater's music, albeit in a kind of superficial way. Personally, I consider all of the choices to be a cohesive entity apart from HK + LitS simply because there is no repeating themes and no explicit grouping like there is with the SfaM scenes but I wouldn't see it as unreasonable to consider them linked.

[hefdaddy42]

How do I change the topic name?

Use the "Modify" function on your original post.

I have listened to all of those individually, as well as coupled together.  I don't think they HAVE to go together, but they certainly complement each other and work well together.

But I certainly have no problem listening to Wait For Sleep OR Learning To Live, or Hell's Kitchen OR Lines in the Sand.  They don't HAVE to be listened to together for me.

I don't really mean this as a be-all end-all decision for how you must listen to the songs, but I'm just seeing how everyone prefers to look at and interpret Dream Theater's music, albeit in a kind of superficial way. Personally, I consider all of the choices to be a cohesive entity apart from HK + LitS simply because there is no repeating themes and no explicit grouping like there is with the SfaM scenes but I wouldn't see it as unreasonable to consider them linked.

Sure.   

[Enigmachine]

 Thank you, the topic name is now closer to what I meant.

[bosk1]

The only ones that are a little weird to listen to individually are the ones that don't have an intro or outro of their own. Like I would not very often listen to O28 or SDV on its own, and I would never listen to Through My Words as a standalone piece, because what's the point? But with Hell's Kitchen or Learning to Live or Vacant, sure, I'll listen to those and any songs comparable to those on their own.

Yeah, Through My Words is a nice little segue, but even though it is a separate song, it isn't something you would usually listen to by itself, just like any other segue from other bands (e.g. My Empty Room, Transcendence, etc.).

[Setlist Scotty]

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

That being said, most fans would consider Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man as 3 separate songs, which is understandable. Each part is distinctly different from the other 2; each part is tracked separately on the CD; and as far as I can remember, the band never made reference to it being a 20-minute epic in the same way as they did when ACoS was released.

In any case, I did vote for AMBI (and SDoIT). But I wouldn't be surprised if only a few people agree with me.

[CharlesPL]

SDOIT

[KevShmev]

I agree with you, Scotty.  The connective tissue between the Silent Man chorus melody and the guitar solo in the middle of Erotomania does a great job of connecting it all together, and the flow is extremely good.  To me, while I often listen to them individually (cause I am not always having time for a 20-minute song, so it's easier to have them as is on the CD, as separate tracks), it's one piece of music.  Plus, The Silent Man lyrics clearly demonstrate the aftermath to what happened in Voices.

[adamack]

The ones which stand out most to me are:

Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

Vacant/Stream of Consciousness

Through My Words/Fatal Tragedy

[hefdaddy42]

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

I understand all of that, and I wouldn't disagree, but it would make sense to refer to it as AMBI if all 3 were actually played.  But there were plenty of times when all three weren't played.

[Evermind]

As I'm not a fan of SDOIT and I don't find it cohesive at all, I would actually say none. Through My Words / Fatal Tragedy is the closest one.

[KevShmev]

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

I understand all of that, and I wouldn't disagree, but it would make sense to refer to it as AMBI if all 3 were actually played.  But there were plenty of times when all three weren't played.

just like there have been plenty of times when all eight sections of 6DOIT weren't played.

[hefdaddy42]

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

I understand all of that, and I wouldn't disagree, but it would make sense to refer to it as AMBI if all 3 were actually played.  But there were plenty of times when all three weren't played.

just like there have been plenty of times when all eight sections of 6DOIT weren't played.

Such insolence shall not be tolerated!

Or something.

[BlobVanDam]

The only one of these that is a song is SDOIT. Pretty much all of these groupings are intended to flow together in some way, so beyond that is getting into semantics. Call them suites, scenes, pairs, tagalong parasites, doesn't really matter. A rose by any other name still sounds as sweet.

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

I understand all of that, and I wouldn't disagree, but it would make sense to refer to it as AMBI if all 3 were actually played.  But there were plenty of times when all three weren't played.

just like there have been plenty of times when all eight sections of 6DOIT weren't played.

Just like there have been plenty of times when only sections of ACOS were played. Those are just the logistics of having such damn long songs.

[TheGreatPretender]

I think each of those sets fits well together as a single composition. The question is, which ones seem incomplete without each other, and to that, I would say Vacant and SOC, and Through my Words and Fatal Tragedy.

[Setlist Scotty]

Not that most people consider it as such, but technically, A Mind Beside Itself is one composition. If it were separate songs, then there would be no need for the title "A Mind Beside Itself" nor for the 3 parts to be labeled using roman numerals. Even when MP initially was going over the setlists with me for the tourography, whenever all 3 parts were played in sequence, he never spoke of "Erotomania, Voices and The Silent Man" but rather just of "A Mind Beside Itself".

I understand all of that, and I wouldn't disagree, but it would make sense to refer to it as AMBI if all 3 were actually played.  But there were plenty of times when all three weren't played.

just like there have been plenty of times when all eight sections of 6DOIT weren't played.

LOL! You said exactly what I was going to! Great minds think alike!   
 
 

Just like there have been plenty of times when only sections of ACOS were played. Those are just the logistics of having such damn long songs.

Exactly. Which just furthers the point that AMBI is a song!   

[BlobVanDam]

Just like there have been plenty of times when only sections of ACOS were played. Those are just the logistics of having such damn long songs.

Exactly. Which just furthers the point that AMBI is a song!   

It really doesn't.
They play the songs individually. It's therefore one song!

[TheGreatPretender]

It really doesn't.
They play the songs individually. It's therefore one song!

To be fair though, there have been times when they played parts of A Change of Seasons separately too. Just sayin'.

[BlobVanDam]

It really doesn't.
They play the songs individually. It's therefore one song!

To be fair though, there have been times when they played parts of A Change of Seasons separately too. Just sayin'.

I did mention that only a few posts up! How they play their music live really isn't an indication of whether something is a song/suite/concept/hoe-down. It comes down to the logistics of playing long songs live, hence the fact that they haven't played songs like ACOS and 8V in so long.

[Setlist Scotty]

It really doesn't.
They play the songs individually. It's therefore one song!

To be fair though, there have been times when they played parts of A Change of Seasons separately too. Just sayin'.

I did mention that only a few posts up! How they play their music live really isn't an indication of whether something is a song/suite/concept/hoe-down. It comes down to the logistics of playing long songs live, hence the fact that they haven't played songs like ACOS and 8V in so long.

Ditto for AMBI.   

[BlobVanDam]

It really doesn't.
They play the songs individually. It's therefore one song!

To be fair though, there have been times when they played parts of A Change of Seasons separately too. Just sayin'.

I did mention that only a few posts up! How they play their music live really isn't an indication of whether something is a song/suite/concept/hoe-down. It comes down to the logistics of playing long songs live, hence the fact that they haven't played songs like ACOS and 8V in so long.

Ditto for AMBI.   

Get over it, bud. It's a suite.

[TheGreatPretender]

All I know is that Voices is a hell of a lot better by itself, without Erotomania before it, dragging it down.