Intro to Dream Theater song list?

[Illethal]

Hey guys,

I was wondering what everyone here suggests for some good "Intro to Dream Theater" tracks. I was telling a friend the other day about DT and it got me thinking about what a good set of songs are to start people with who are new to DT. A lot of my favorite songs are some of the longer epics and I feel that starting with those might not be a good idea.

I started her off with just a couple quick tracks, what I would say are quintessential examples, and the first two that came to mind were "Pull Me Under" and "On the Backs of Angels". Which I think are a couple of the shorter and more catchier songs.

So, what would you say would be your short list of songs who give to non-DT fans, or for people who want more info/examples on the band?

[Darkstarshades]

The latest album is a pretty good starter for me, it pretty much sums all that DT is.
And since it's widely not considered as good as SFAM and others, he/she can check those others later and be completely amazed.

[Setlist Scotty]

I can remember an interview with MP from years ago where he was asked what song would sum up DT that wasn't ACoS and he suggested Take the Time.

If you want to keep it to the shorter songs for first timers - and I don't blame you - you could probably refer to the Greatest Hit + 21 compilation to get some good ideas. Another thing to keep in mind is what your listener is into in terms of other bands. If they're into stuff like Bon Jovi and Def Leppard, you'd be wise to put together a list that's more pop based; if they're into Maiden and Metallica, then a more metal based list; and if they're into Rush, Yes and other prog bands, then maybe some of the longer songs would be good choices.

Maybe even look at the setlists MP put together for when DT opened for Deep Purple/ELP, Yes and Iron Maiden - each setlist (which were static for the tour) was skewed specifically towards what was likely to appeal the most to the audience.

Here's a list I just put together that includes something from every album (except WDaDU) and I believe gives a fairly well rounded idea of what this band is about, based on shorter songs (with a few exceptions) that generally have a good hook in the chorus to draw the listener in:
False Awakening Suite
Pull Me Under
Take the Time
Caught in a Web
The Silent Man
Peruvian Skies
Home
The Spirit Carries On
Disappear
Endless Sacrifice
I Walk Beside You
Constant Motion
Wither
Build Me Up, Break Me Down
The Bigger Picture

This list clocks in at 1 hour, 45 minutes, so it's not too long.

[TheCountOfNYC]

I think the best way to go about it would be to make three different lists. If the person has never heard them before, you can't just throw them right into a song like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. At the same time, not showing them the less accessible songs by the band wouldn't allow them to get the full DT experience. I've actually thought about this quite a bit. This may be long winded, but I do have three lists: one for the first time listener, one for the person who's used to their style but not ready for their craziest works, and one for when they can handle the least accessible songs from the band's discography. Each list has one song from each album plus an extra song that's not on any of their 12 LP's.

List 1

Afterlife
Pull Me Under
Lifting Shadows off a Dream
Burning My Soul
The Spirit Carries On
Disappear
As I Am
These Walls
Forsaken
Wither
On the Backs of Angels
The Looking Glass
To Live Forever

List 2

Ytse Jam
Take the Time
6:00
Trial of Tears
Home
Blind Faith
Stream of Consciousness
Panic Attack
Constant Motion
The Best of Times
Bridges in the Sky
Surrender to Reason
Raise the Knife

List 3

The Killing Hand
Metropolis
Scarred
Lines in the Sand
The Dance of Eternity
The Glass Prison
In the Name of God
Octavarium
The Dark Eternal Night
The Count of Tuscany
Breaking All Illusions
Illumination Theory
A Change of Seasons

Making three lists of songs and playing them in order of accessibility would allow you to ease your friend into the band and give her a chance to get used to them step by step before hearing the songs that we consider brilliantly composed but outsiders would consider weird. If your friend likes them from hearing the first list then you move on to the second and then to the third list if she likes the second. If she doesn't like list one or list two, then she won't like the next list after and you can stop right there.

[zecawolf]

I think it depends, of course, on the particular musical taste of the person you will introduce DT to. To metalheads, it's ToT, hands down. To the "average" music listener, I would say Octavarium.

[jingle.boy]

I think it depends, of course, on the particular musical taste of the person you will introduce DT to. To metalheads, it's ToT, hands down. To the "average" music listener, I would say Octavarium.

Though, 8vm (the song) is a lot to digest for a new fan.

Heavy - ToT
More proggy - I&W (but tell them to be patient and get thru PMU).

[mike099]

The latest album is a pretty good starter for me, it pretty much sums all that DT is.
And since it's widely not considered as good as SFAM and others, he/she can check those others later and be completely amazed.

To me, DT the album may be where DT is now and in the future, but not what DT was in the past.

As much as I like DT as a straight forward album that is an easy listen, it lacks the time changes and other signature sounds that make the band different.

[The Dark Master]

A co-worker of mine asked me for one of these after we went out to lunch on break and I played As I Am in my car on the ride there.  This was back in 2009 so at that point the most recent DT album was BC&SL.  He had rather mainstream tastes so I tended to err on the side of which songs I felt were more commercially friendly while still having at least one song from each album.  It's not really the kind of setlist I myself would listen to often, nor would I recommend it for someone with more metal- or prog-centric tastes, but he liked it a lot, so I guess I did something right!

1 - Pull Me Under
2 - Forsaken
3 - As I Am
4 - Ytse Jam
5 - Misunderstood (single edit)
6 - Wither
7 - Panic Attack
8 - Burning My Soul
9 - Lie
10 - To Live Forever '91
11 - Home

[paulstfu]

I think it depends, of course, on the particular musical taste of the person you will introduce DT to. To metalheads, it's ToT, hands down. To the "average" music listener, I would say Octavarium.

I agree. Although an average music listener would be scared with the lenght of the 8V song, the rest of the album is great, catchy, even poppy, and it covers every DT musical side.

[YtseJamittaja]

Octavarium could be a great album choice for a new average listener. There are lot of catchy elements if you're listening for a first time. There are metal elements and proggy elements. It has a great atmosphere overall.

But if you have to play just one song for someone who listens, let's say mainstream music, which song would you choose? Maybe not IWBY because it's quite different from the catalog. The song that is showing widely their style. I have been in this situation a few times and I have had a problem to choose just one song. Cannot decide.

[zecawolf]

I have had luck with BLIND FAITH. It seems to appeal to musicians and non musicians, to metal fans and  pop fans. It's a song that I almost always get a positive response.
Also once I was in the car with a friend (who happens to be a classic metal guitar player) and I showed him the final riff from TDEN. He liked it a lot, and was impressed when I told him what band it was.

[KevShmev]

I think it depends, of course, on the particular musical taste of the person you will introduce DT to. To metalheads, it's ToT, hands down. To the "average" music listener, I would say Octavarium.

Though, 8vm (the song) is a lot to digest for a new fan.

Heavy - ToT
More proggy - I&W (but tell them to be patient and get thru PMU).

I think it's I&W either way.  For one, it is far better, more iconic, and catchier than Octavarium, and for two, well, I don't need a number two.

Most metal heads are not going to dig an album full of mostly long songs (5 of the 7 songs on ToT are over 10 minutes). 

[The Dark Master]

Yeah, if you're just going to recommend an entire album, Images And Words is the one to go with.  It has their biggest hit and most played live song (Pull Me Under), their second most played live song (Metropolis), two other singles that cracked the top 40 (Another Day and Take The Time), and a whole bunch of other live favourites (basically the entire rest of the album).  Even if it's not your personal favourite, there's no denying that I&W has far and away the broadest appeal of any DT album.

[fischermasamune]

Once I went with

New Millenium
6 00
WFS
LTL
As I Am
Solitary Shell
BAI
IT

I'm not sure the person ever listened to it, but it appeared all right.

[YtseJamittaja]

I have had luck with BLIND FAITH. It seems to appeal to musicians and non musicians, to metal fans and  pop fans. It's a song that I almost always get a positive response.
Also once I was in the car with a friend (who happens to be a classic metal guitar player) and I showed him the final riff from TDEN. He liked it a lot, and was impressed when I told him what band it was.

Blind Faith could really work! Haven't thought about it before!

[Nearmyth]

I'd say a nice, concise list is 1-2 (accessible) songs from each album, but also ones that show the proggyness of DT. Probably most of the singles.

Intro to Dream Theater Compilation Discs!

Disc 1:
1. A Fortune In Lies
2. Pull Me Under
3. 6:00
4. Peruvian Skies
5. Overture 1928/Strange Deja Vu
6. Blind Faith

Disc 2:
7. As I Am
8. Root Of All Evil
9. In The Presence Of Enemies Pt. 1
10. Wither
11. Breaking All Illusions
12. The Enemy Inside

[seasonsinthesky]

For the record, here's the Apple Music real-person-curated Intro to DT playlist:

Pull Me Under
As I Am
Panic Attack
Forsaken
Lie
On the Backs of Angels
Burning My Soul
Another Day
Wither
The Dance of Eternity
Take the Time
I Walk Beside You

Can't say I back it. I would consider any intro that misses "Metropolis" an enormously poor decision.

[erwinrafael]

The latest album is a pretty good starter for me, it pretty much sums all that DT is.
And since it's widely not considered as good as SFAM and others, he/she can check those others later and be completely amazed.

To me, DT the album may be where DT is now and in the future, but not what DT was in the past.

As much as I like DT as a straight forward album that is an easy listen, it lacks the time changes and other signature sounds that make the band different.

Dream Theater is the album that most of the younger people who are not yet into prog respond to positively, in my experience of actual sharing to non-DT listeners.

And Dream Theater has time signature changes.

[Rodni Demental]

And Dream Theater has time signature changes.

Yeah, I'm fairly sure in general it has at least as many time changes as their other albums, it just doesn't flesh the changes out as much so the odd timing may not stand out as much for some bits.

[zecawolf]

And Dream Theater has time signature changes.

Yeah, I'm fairly sure in general it has at least as many time changes as their other albums, it just doesn't flesh the changes out as much so the odd timing may not stand out as much for some bits.

which is good. time change for the sake of time change is boring. that is one of the reasons why I prefer their newer stuff. I think they totally have mastered the time change art.

[Rodni Demental]

which is good. time change for the sake of time change is boring. that is one of the reasons why I prefer their newer stuff. I think they totally have mastered the time change art.

Yeah, they seem more integrated, although are certainly still there just a lot more subtle in the latest album. They kind of fit with the groove of the songs instead of abruptly breaking the pace for the sake of doing something unexpected.

[OpenYourEyes311]

Came up with a playlist for this a few months ago for a friend. I went with a 3-Disc compilation based on four album eras per disc. It went something like this:

Disc One (1989-1998)
1. Metropolis
2. The Mirror
3. Lie
4. Peruvian Skies
5. Ytse Jam
6. Under a Glass Moon
7. Erotomania
8. Voices
9. Hollow Years
10. A Fortune In Lies
11. Pull Me Under

Disc Two (1999-2006)
1. Overture 1928
2. Strange Deja Vu
3. War Inside My Head
4. The Test That Stumped Them All
5. Fatal Tragedy
6. As I Am
7. Panic Attack
8. Home
9. Solitary Shell
10. Endless Sacrifice
11. The Spirit Carries On

Disc Three (2007-2015)
1. Bridges in the Sky
2. Constant Motion
3. A Rite of Passage
4. The Enemy Inside
5. Forsaken
6. On the Backs of Angels
7. The Looking Glass
8. The Dark Eternal Night
9. Along For The Ride
10. Breaking All Illusions


If I went with a one disc, I'd probably just pull one track from each album:

Intro to Dream Theater:
1. Pull Me Under
2. Lie (Single Edit)
3. Peruvian Skies
4. The Spirit Carries On
5. The Test That Stumped Them All (Single Edit)
6. Ytse Jam
7. As I Am
8. Panic Attack
9. Constant Motion
10. A Rite of Passage
11. On the Backs of Angels
12. The Enemy Inside

[erwinrafael]

which is good. time change for the sake of time change is boring. that is one of the reasons why I prefer their newer stuff. I think they totally have mastered the time change art.

Yeah, they seem more integrated, although are certainly still there just a lot more subtle in the latest album. They kind of fit with the groove of the songs instead of abruptly breaking the pace for the sake of doing something unexpected.

Yes, Behind the Veil, Enigma Machine and The Enemy Inside, for example, had a lot of changing time signatures being played over a groove that sometimes you would think the song is in 4/4. The odd time signatures in The Looking Glass and The Bigger Picture is also subtle, that I laugh when somebody I know doesn't notice it and just gets a sort-of-annoyed look because his headbanging suddenly becomes out of time. 

I think people seem to be understating Mangini's effect on the songwriting because his effect is subtle. It's the application of what Jordan called Mangini's "rhythmic math brain," which Jordan once described as "so he was kind of able to conceptualise these kind of concepts that we would just take and try to compose around. We got some really interesting results from doing that – it was fascinating for us because everyone in Dream Theater has a good sense of rhythm, but we never before in our history have had this kind of input where someone would say ‘Petrucci if you play a bar of seven ten times, and Jordan if you repeat something in five and I play this it’ll all come together’ – you know we would all just smile, because it was some pretty cool wacky stuff that was just purely conceptualised by Mike."

Now as to creating a playlist that is a good intro to the band, I would go with this:

The Root of All Evil (representative of DT's metal side)
Peruvian Skies (the DT staple of a song that is mellow at the start then goes heavy at the end)
Ytse Jam (the instrumental)
The Looking Glass (representative of the pop Rush-influenced DT)
Metropolis Part 1 (because you really just have to introduce the listener to the quintessential DT)
These Walls (representative of DT's slow heavy hitting songs that is not a ballad)
Caught in A Web (representative of DT's short drum-led fast heavy songs with aggressive vocals)
The Spirit Carries On (the ballad)
Trial of Tears (let's just ease the new guy to the concept of an epic)

That's just below one hour and ten minutes. Only one song above ten minutes. I think it also would give the guy an idea of the breadth of styles of DT but also what a "signature DT sound" is like. Also, with the exception of production issues with Ytse Jam and Metropolis Pt. 1, none of these songs sounds dated and I think could appeal to people from a younger generation.

[chaossystem]

I was a little apprehensive about submitting my idea for two full-length discs until I saw OYE-311's entry. Also, Illethal, your friend is a female, right? Everybody keeps referring to "her" as "him" or "he." It gets confusing.

Anyway, here's my idea. I left out Pull Me Under, but she's probably already heard it anyway, and I have an explanation for all or most of the songs that ARE included.

Disc One:

Kind of a "starter kit."

1) Only a Matter of Time-A good example of their overall sound, but a little more melodic
2) Metropolis-This is what we mean by PROGRESSIVE HARD ROCK / METAL!
3) Another Day-An example of their "pop / ballad" side
4) A Fortune in Lies (Marquee Version) A good example of what they sounded like live back then, and in my opinion, the best version of this song.
5) Lie-An example of their "thrashy" metal side.
6) 6:00-Rock!
7) Trial of Tears (LiveTime version)-A more "epic" track, and again I think, the best version of this particular song.
8) The Spirit Carries On-Another Ballad, and an example of their "spiritual" side.
9) Blind Faith-Another "spiritual" song, and a rare example of James LaBrie song (lyrics) writing
10) The Root of All Evil-Closing with what I think is another good representation of their overall sound

Disc Two:

Now we get a little more "esoteric."

1) The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun-An example of how they were REALLY DIFFERENT right from the start!
2) New Millennium-An example of their "funkier-jazzier" side.
3) The Dance of Eternity- (LSFNY version) An EXTREME example of their instrumental side!
4) In the Name of God-Their ability to do social commentary in a big way.
5) Forsaken-Their spooky side(?)
6) A Rite of Passage-Their controversial side...!...
7) On the Backs of Angels-First album with the new drummer.
8) Breaking All Illusions (Luna Park version)-What they sound like live with the new drummer.
9) The Enemy Inside-Something good from the most recent album.

[The Cat Of Tuscany]

I've had mild success with introducing Dream Theater to a friend (who mainly likes alternative/pop), and I've found certain songs that I feel are good for introducing one to the band:

Hollow Years
Wither
Take Away My Pain