Official DT Top 50 Thread (Riceball Up Now - starting Page 66)

[?]

That's a surprising choice! ITPOE isn't very high on my list.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

 

[Mladen]

Really nice to see In the presence of enemies in the top 10. It's a great epic indeed, although not that high on my list.

[Silver Tears]

That's a surprising choice! ITPOE isn't very high on my list.

This.

[hefdaddy42]

6. In The Presence Of Enemies - Systematic Chaos

I can't imagine better vocal melodies

You don't have to imagine them; you can hear them on many of their other songs throughout their history.

This.  The song is OK (with Pt. 1 a whole lot better than Pt. 2), but the vocal melodies aren't really one of the song's strengths.

But I love "Angels fall..."

[Pirate]

6. In The Presence Of Enemies - Systematic Chaos

I can't imagine better vocal melodies

You don't have to imagine them; you can hear them on many of their other songs throughout their history.

This.  The song is OK (with Pt. 1 a whole lot better than Pt. 2), but the vocal melodies aren't really one of the song's strengths.

But I love "Angels fall..."

I only meant that they went well with the song, not they are some of his best overall.

[Pirate]

5. Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence - Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
So we start off the top 5 with a song who's title would probably be more appropriate at number 6. SDOIT. The big one. In a DT song-related "David and Goliath" story, without a doubt, this is fucking Goliath  . SDOIT is DT's symphonic masterpiece, featuring a whopping 8 (lengthy!) movements. Accompanying the band is a full orchestra, one of my favourite features of the song. The main theme of SDOIT is one of my favourites ever written by DT (even though it does sound heavily influenced by a certain Kansas song). Thankfully, the main theme sees many many reprisals throughout. Although the song has a lot of very stylistically different movements (orchestral overture, ballad, Pantera-esque heaviness, experimental metal, guitar solo-driven ballad, acoustic pop, hard rock anthem-ballad reprise, epic ending), the song does sound like a coherent and cohesive piece of music. For anyone who has the time and BALLS to listen to this all the way through, I salute thee as a true DT and prog fan. Oh, and for the record, since becoming a fan a year or two ago, I myself have managed to listen to the song around fifty or sixty times, all of the way through.

[Seventh Son]

Six Degrees is great up until Solitary Shell. I really lose interest after that point.

[zxlkho]

Six Degrees is great up until Solitary Shell. I really lose interest after that point.

Does this mean that Solitary Shell is disinteresting? Because it's easily the best movement by far.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Six Degrees is great up until Solitary Shell. I really lose interest after that point.

wat

[Seventh Son]

Six Degrees is great up until Solitary Shell. I really lose interest after that point.

Does this mean that Solitary Shell is disinteresting? Because it's easily the best movement by far.

Its just.... not very interesting to me. I dunno, I just don't really care for it. The About to Crash Reprise and Losing Time are decent movements, but the whole song as a whole loses its mojo after that point. The song would still be about my top 30 -top 25 though. But not even close to my top 5.

[BRGM]

SDOIT is a very good song I don't listen to it that much, but whe nI do I allways love it and feel happy! JP does some wierd/hard/interesting and very good riffs in this song

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

Awesome choice. My favorite parts are Overture, Goodnight Kiss, Solitary Shell, and About to Crash (REPRISE because the original one is meh).

[Mladen]

SDOIT could've been a masterpiece, but there are some meh moments. Overture bores me, and I got tired of Solitary shell...

[Pirate]

4. Learning To Live - Images And Words
Alright guys, one last song for a while, I'm going away. Top three next week some time. Anyway....
Learning To Live is a perfect song. I have absolutely no qualms with it. I view it as a masterpiece. It's constructed beautifully, with more and more buildup then finally the most amazing climax DT as ever written. I have no problems with this song. It is the perfect length, it never drags, I think the fade-out fits perfectly- because it's like I never want the song to end. *uuugghhh* I just get chills thinking about Learning To Live! I think the only criticism I could ever give it is that it is too perfect- too crafted too controlled... it might just lack a bit of personality...

[Seventh Son]

The Wait for Sleep Reprise in the song makes it so awesome.

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

Another cool choice.

[Mladen]

 

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

I think your Top 5 are gonna be similar to mine, judging from those two.

[BRGM]

I've also kinda almost started to like learning to live

[zxlkho]

Learning to Live is my number 1. 

[Seventh Son]

I'm going to take a guess at the top 3

3. Finally Free
2. A Change of Seasons
1. Octavarium

I don't think any of these have been taken off so far. If they have... well then I look like an idiot, don't I? 

Its not necessarily my top 3 (Finally Free is top 15, ACOS is top 20 for me personally.)

[hefdaddy42]

Learning to Live is my number 1. 

Me too.  Great choice, Pirate.

[Silver Tears]

Six Degrees and Learning to Live would be in my top five too 

[Pirate]

Hi guys, finally got some time since I've been home from Kentucky. Here we enter our top three, with somewhat predictable choices...

3. Octavarium - Octavarium
Many believe 8V is DT's greatest song. While I don't agree with them, I'll tell you - It's pretty goddamn awesome. Here's the cons - obvious PF influence at the beginning, drags. That's it! I mean, Jordan's work is very good. It just seems like it won't ever end sometimes. Despite my problems with the length of the continuum/lap steel guitar bit, I think it builds very effectively towards a climax that leads into the next section (same movement). Other than that, there is nothing wrong with this song. Every movement otherwise would make an absolute beast song on it's own. Medicate is a miraculous combination of stellar drums and bass, Full Circle features the most genius lyrical movement in DT history (there I said it), Intervals is possibly the most pants-shittingly, wife-beatingly, bazooka-firingly intense piece of music I've listened to, and the song and album end on the second-greatest climax DT have created. 23:00-end is pretty much constant chills. I know it's a terrible insult to the rest of the song, but pretty much everything is merely build-up to that final minute. Orgasmavarium.

[BRGM]

Great Choice!! But I don't think the intro drags...I allways get chills everytime I listen to it and feels sad everytime it ends...And the vid of Jordan playing it on Morphwiz... O_O       Awesome

[Seventh Son]

1/3 of my predictions were true, albeit not in the order I thought. Oh well.

[orcus116]

Meh. Good song but way too high.

[Mladen]

 

[Silver Tears]

[hefdaddy42]

#3 for me as well.

[Seventh Son]

Very high up for me as well. Definitely in my top 5. I can hardly notice its 24 minutes long at all.

[Plasmastrike]

#3 for me as well.

.

[Pirate]

2. A Change Of Seasons - A Change Of Seasons
I've said it before and I'll say it again - ACOS is the best thing DT has done. It is outstanding on all levels, but the one thing that they achieved that matters most to me is the atmosphere. From the intro guitar theme to it's ending reprisal, ACOS is dark and chilling to an extent and consistency that DT has never duplicated, IMO. The atmosphere can be really emotional when combined with the lyrics - in fact, I believe the lyrics fit the composition better than any other DT song I can think of really. Other than the atmosphere, ACOS is perfect on all counts. The instrumentation is original (and rather unified, compared to other songs), virtuosic, progressive and emotional (and rather unified, compared to other songs) all at once. IMO, Derek deserves his place here and some of the feeling is lost on Jordan's version in 2000.

    I could think of five different times off the top of my head when this song sends chills down my spine. As I have said, ACOS is another "perfect" song, not unlike Learning To Live, in that sense. As emotive, chilling, dark and exciting as ACOS is, for me it lacks a spark. That little bit of personality that I can't find in many songs. What it's missing is not "musically tangible", so to speak. Something magical. I think LTL lacks it as well, and even though I've said that BOTH of these songs are perfect, you can see that I like ACOS better.

It's just not No. 1 material 

[Mladen]

I would put it at #3. A masterpiece.