If you could eliminate five Dream Theater songs, and never hear them again...

[Hal Incandenza]

And my appologies to Hal, I never meant to offend.

No offense was taken, no need to apologize.  I was just saying that I don't find the song cheesy, and why.  Tastes, innit?   

[gilpdawg]

Never Enough.

Hate the childish lyrics. Hate the way James sings "of your ungrateful ways." Not so much the performance, but the melody.  Makes me cringe every time. Worst DT song ever.

Just Let Me Breathe.

Can't figure out why, but I've never got into it. No particular reason.

The Great Debate

Starts off cool, but it seems like it's never going to end. It would be ok if it were half the length. (Odd criticism for a DT song, I know)

Take Away My Pain

Specifically, the studio version that MP hates. The live version played on that tour isn't bad at all.

The Silent Man

Might like it better if it didn't follow up such a godly song as Voices. I know it's technically part of a longer suite, but who cares? I tend to go straight from Voices to The Mirror when I listen to Awake.

[Elite]

The Great Debate
The Silent Man

Aaaargh!
TGD is an epic song, I didn't think much of it until recently, but wow, what a song!
And TSM is one of DT's better short songs. 

Ah, well. Everybody has their own tastes eh? 

[TheGreatPretender]

Aaaargh!
TGD is an epic song, I didn't think much of it until recently, but wow, what a song!

Well, maybe it hasn't grown on some people quite as much... Can we at least say grow in THIS thread? If we don't put the word massive in front of it?

[JPX]

TSCO wouldnt really be in my top 50 either, the only good part is the guitar solo.

[Obfuscation]

I would choose You Not Me, Burning My Soul, Repentance, A Rite of Passage, and Status Seeker.

[JPX]

. I like Metal, so I have no problem with "Heavy" but at the same time, I wouldn't want it to go further than that. I wouldn't want DT to become a Thrash band, or god forbid, a Metalcore band, that would be horrible.

When have Dream Theater ever come close to being a thrash or metalcore band?

But I'm really glad that DT is back on track in terms of having their true Progressive Metal sound that they became famous for in the first place. And I'm REALLY glad that I won't be hearing MP on backup vocals anymore.

So you've determined that they're 'back on track' from one new song? Also I wasn't aware that they were 'off track'

[icarus4321]

1.  You Not Me
2.  Never Enough
3.  The Dark Eternal Night
4.  Just Let Me Breathe
5.  Status Seeker

[Durg]

1. You Not Me
2. The Killing Hand
3. Light Fuse and Get Away
4. Never Enough
5. Only a Matter Of Time

I'd also would get rid of Burning My Soul and Honor Thy Father

[TheGreatPretender]

If someone actually figured out a way to erase The Killing Hand from history, I'd find them and I'd be their killing hand.

[Durg]

If someone actually figured out a way to erase The Killing Hand from history, I'd find them and I'd be their killing hand.

I'm sorry but Charlie Dominici's cracking, struggling voice really kills it for me.  He's a little better on some of the other songs but I just can't stand him on this one.  Especially the "I am the killing...(switch to falsetto) haaaaaand".....

[TheGreatPretender]

I'm sorry but Charlie Dominici's cracking, struggling voice really kills it for me.  He's a little better on some of the other songs but I just can't stand him on this one.  Especially the "I am the killing...(switch to falsetto) haaaaaand".....

I thought that part was kinda cheesy the way he did it. But it grew on me, hahah. Still, there are good live versions of it from LaBrie.
I was just reflecting on the actual title of the thread though. It doesn't say, "If 5 songs had to be eliminated" it says, "If you could eliminate", like, willingly. I don't see why anyone would. That's a meanspirited thing to do. "If I don't like this song, no one can enjoy it!"

[Durg]

I was just reflecting on the actual title of the thread though. It doesn't say, "If 5 songs had to be eliminated" it says, "If you could eliminate", like, willingly. I don't see why anyone would. That's a meanspirited thing to do. "If I don't like this song, no one can enjoy it!"

I just read the thread title to say that if "I" can eliminate 5 songs so that "I" never hear them again.  In fact there are more than I listed that I probably will never listen to again because I don't like them.  But I wouldn't want to eliminate them from the world because I know others might like them.

[TheGreatPretender]

Well, there's different ways of reading into that. I think it would've been better to say, "If you had to."

[7thHanyou]

1.) Space Dye Vest - This song never did anything for me, and I find it tremendously boring.  What a terrible way to end a classic album.  The only song from the first three albums that I'd even think of eliminating.

2.) Trial of Tears - Ditto, minus the "classic album" part.

3.) A Nightmare to Remember - I can't believe they were serious about this.  Ridiculous lyrics (as is the case with much of the album) and a botched attempt to be "aggressive."

4.) The Great Debate - This song actually doesn't bother me a ton.  I liked it for a long while.  But it sounds out of place in their discography, and it's one of the reasons I'd place SDoIT among their weaker albums.

5.) Honor Thy Father - Meh.

[Nefyn]

Constant Motion
Forsaken
A Right Of Passage
The Answer Lies Within
Take Away My Pain

[wolfking]

Repentance
The Silent Man
Never Enough
Prophets of War
The Best of Times

[wolfking]

1.) Space Dye Vest - This song never did anything for me, and I find it tremendously boring.  What a terrible way to end a classic album.  The only song from the first three albums that I'd even think of eliminating.

2.) Trial of Tears - Ditto, minus the "classic album" part.

3.) A Nightmare to Remember - I can't believe they were serious about this.  Ridiculous lyrics (as is the case with much of the album) and a botched attempt to be "aggressive."

4.) The Great Debate - This song actually doesn't bother me a ton.  I liked it for a long while.  But it sounds out of place in their discography, and it's one of the reasons I'd place SDoIT among their weaker albums.

5.) Honor Thy Father - Meh.

[Vajra]

1.) Space Dye Vest - This song never did anything for me, and I find it tremendously boring.  What a terrible way to end a classic album.  The only song from the first three albums that I'd even think of eliminating.

2.) Trial of Tears - Ditto, minus the "classic album" part.

3.) A Nightmare to Remember - I can't believe they were serious about this.  Ridiculous lyrics (as is the case with much of the album) and a botched attempt to be "aggressive."

4.) The Great Debate - This song actually doesn't bother me a ton.  I liked it for a long while.  But it sounds out of place in their discography, and it's one of the reasons I'd place SDoIT among their weaker albums.

5.) Honor Thy Father - Meh.

The court finds you guilty. You are sentenced to life in prison.

[7thHanyou]

1.) Space Dye Vest - This song never did anything for me, and I find it tremendously boring.  What a terrible way to end a classic album.  The only song from the first three albums that I'd even think of eliminating.

2.) Trial of Tears - Ditto, minus the "classic album" part.

3.) A Nightmare to Remember - I can't believe they were serious about this.  Ridiculous lyrics (as is the case with much of the album) and a botched attempt to be "aggressive."

4.) The Great Debate - This song actually doesn't bother me a ton.  I liked it for a long while.  But it sounds out of place in their discography, and it's one of the reasons I'd place SDoIT among their weaker albums.

5.) Honor Thy Father - Meh.

If it helps, I'm not particularly fond of FII, ToT, or BCSL.  The overall style doesn't agree with me, so it's no surprise I'd dislike songs from those albums.

As for Space Dye Vest, that song gets a lot of praise but I just don't get it.  It's rather repetitive and lethargic.  And as for The Great Debate...is that really a sacred cow?

[wolfking]

Come on, most of those songs are amazing.  There are dozens more DT songs weaker than all five of these.  HTF and TGD are two of my favs, TOT and SDV are classic, and ANTR is just a great tune.

[Jaffa]

For what it's worth, I don't much care for TGD.  Trial and SD-V are good, but I've aways found them quite overrated.

[7thHanyou]

Whether the songs are weaker or not isn't so much a question for me.  I'd sooner get rid of a long song I dislike than a short song I hate (though I don't really hate any songs by Dream Theater) because not only am I less likely to listen to the uninteresting longer song, but it wastes more of my time.

Also, when I do call songs "bad," etc. I'm mostly talking about personal taste here.  I'm not saying their music is objectively bad.

I see a lot of people ditching shorter songs here, but those songs are either mostly inoffensive or genuinely good.  And there are some much-maligned longer songs (like Ministry of Lost Souls) that are at least half-good for me, so I wouldn't get rid of them.  But The Great Debate?  It's just a boring-as-hell shredfest for me if I listen to it for too long. The lyrics are also a bit clumsy, don't you think?

[Aramatheis]

But The Great Debate?  It's just a boring-as-hell shredfest for me if I listen to it for too long. The lyrics are also a bit clumsy, don't you think?

I always thought they did a good job writing a song out of that topic. It may not be poetry put to music, but it's still decent...

though I don't really hate any songs by Dream Theater

Now I mostly feel the same way. I'm a complete DT fanboy, and I love just about everything they've ever done. I've already posted my 5 picks, but I'll state them again.
(Burning My Soul, Just Let Me Breathe, New Millenium, Take Away My Pain, You Not Me)

I chose those songs, because out of the entire DT discography, they are the very worst. FII (imo) was the worst album DT has created, purely because of the wild contrast between it's top songs, and it's worst songs. With songs like Peruvian Skies, Anna Lee and TOT, and all of a sudden those 5? it's just not right, and really highlights the fact that they were trying to go for a more mainstream sound (which I believe is the reason why they are sub-par)

[7thHanyou]

I always thought they did a good job writing a song out of that topic. It may not be poetry put to music, but it's still decent...

It falls into the trap of being overly literal. They're not bad, but they're clumsy because I just don't think they're expressed very artfully.

I generally prefer poetic nonsense (Close to the Edge, for example) to a literal story (The Count of Tuscany) in music, so that's one reason why recent DT lyrics turn me off a lot.  Conversely, I love the lyrics in their first two albums and most of Awake.  It may just be a personal preference, I dunno.  But The Great Debate is in line with their recent lyrics.

Now I mostly feel the same way. I'm a complete DT fanboy, and I love just about everything they've ever done.

While I don't hate any DT songs, there are several I don't like.  But then, I don't pretend to be a Dream Theater fanboy.  I just like five of their albums, think there's some good material on the other five, and that's pretty much it.

I do feel exactly that way for Spock's Beard, though.  The only Spock's Beard song in either era that I find myself skipping over is "Distance to the Sun," which might be the most halfhearted ballad I have ever heard in my life.  So I can certainly sympathize.

I chose those songs, because out of the entire DT discography, they are the very worst. FII (imo) was the worst album DT has created, purely because of the wild contrast between it's top songs, and it's worst songs. With songs like Peruvian Skies, Anna Lee and TOT, and all of a sudden those 5? it's just not right, and really highlights the fact that they were trying to go for a more mainstream sound (which I believe is the reason why they are sub-par)

I don't listen to FII much.  Perhaps my opinion of it will change with time, but NOTHING on that album reaches out and grabs me like DT's other material does.  It is my least favorite of their albums.

I don't mind DT's "mainstream" songs, though.  They're often good.  Status Seeker, Another Day, The Silent Man, and The Spirit Carries On are songs I listen to fairly often.  I'm probably betraying my Spock's Beard fandom here as well, since that band mixed power pop with symphonic prog.  I love a good melody.  So yeah, I see a lot of people adding these accessible songs to their list, but in reality they're not that bad...and DT's had one on every album, so that's a good thing.

I probably lost some "prog cred" for that.