Bottom Ten: Worst/Least-Greatest Dream Theater Songs

[GasparXR]

These first three are my least favourite:

Raw Dog
You Not Me
Burning My Soul

The next 7 are highly above it. In fact, I rarely skip them.

Forsaken
Prophets of War
New Millenium
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
A Rite of Passage
Anna Lee

[guitarmanchu]

The Dance of Eternity:  Sorry, it may be mathematically beautiful, but it's utterly unlistenable as a piece of music
Repentance: Song would be bearable if it was half the length
Hell's Kitchen:  Had potential but that god-awful guitar solo just kills the song.
Pretty much all of SDOIT CD #1:  Complete lack of musical hooks.  The only thing salvageable is the riff in Glass Prison, and some of Misunderstood
Vacant:  Bo-ring.
Anna Lee: I appreciate it melodically, but I find myself skipping to the next track every time it comes on
Peruvian Skies:  (Same as above)
The Ministry of Lost Souls:   Meh.
The Best of Times:   Lyrics and song don't match

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Pretty much all of SDOIT CD #1:  Complete lack of musical hooks.  The only thing salvageable is the riff in Glass Prison, and some of Misunderstood

[Zook]

Pretty much all of SDOIT CD #1:  Complete lack of musical hooks.  The only thing salvageable is the riff in Glass Prison, and some of Misunderstood

[skydivingninja]

In no particular order:

Bad songs:
You Not Me
Prophets of War
The Ministry of Lost Souls
Honor Thy Father
Burning My Soul
Lost Not Forgotten
The Dark Eternal Night
A Nightmare to Remember
Endless Sacrifice
Raw Dog

[jammindude]

In no particular order

In The Presence of Enemies
Forsaken
Constant Motion
Repentance
Prophets of War
Lie

Wow...after that it gets alot harder.  I even like the Majesty demos more than I like listening to the songs I've listed.   I was trying to think of "skip" tracks from the entire DT catalog, and this is honestly all I could come up with...and even Repentance is OK when it's played as part of the entire 12 step suite.    I suppose I could add You Not Me and Status Seeker...but I still love those songs.  Seems a shame to put them on the same list with the above songs which I actively cannot stand.

[Dr. DTVT]

The amount of WDADU hate makes me 

Yes, I know James isn't singing it, and yes the production sucks...but it really has some good stuff and I think many people don't give it a fair shake.  Not saying its even in the top half of DT's discography, but its a good record held back by cheap production.

[lithium112]

The amount of WDADU hate makes me 

Yes, I know James isn't singing it, and yes the production sucks...but it really has some good stuff and I think many people don't give it a fair shake.  Not saying its even in the top half of DT's discography, but its a good record held back by cheap production.

Yeah but production quality factors highly in my enjoyment of music, so it shouldn't be discounted. But to be honest, even on the merits of song-writing alone most of the songs lack the same depth and artistic maturity found on later releases. In my eyes the one good thing WDADU has going for it is the sheer joy of a young band writing music and trying to prove themselves that's so evident in the sound, which is why I really like the versions on LATM (esp. A Fortune in Lies).

[Mladen]

I feel like crying when I see The Ministry of lost souls in someone's bottom 10.

I'll give this a shot, although in chronological order.

The Ones who help to set the sun
The Killing hand
The Silent man
You not me
Take away my pain
Anna Lee
Honor thy father
The Answer lies within
Sacrificed sons
The Shattered fortress

And even most of these are far from being bad, actually.

[krands85]

In no particular order

In The Presence of Enemies
Forsaken
Constant Motion
Repentance
Prophets of War
Lie

Damn, Systematic Chaos must have been a disappointing album for you 

I feel like crying when I see The Ministry of lost souls in someone's bottom 10.

Same here    I never would have guessed it was so disliked before I joined the forum. But then I'm sure plenty of people could say the same thing about songs in my list, or anyone elses. It's really interesting how different peoples tastes can be, even within the music of just one particular band.

[serrano]

1.Silent man - and stay silent...
2.Status seeker - but I like WDADU
3.Hollow Years - no comment
4.Disappear - disappears from my playlists...
5.Blind faith - boring ( 6DOIT Disc1 is meh with Misunderstood being great, TGP ok and TGD ok)
6.Wither - I'm helpless
7.You not me - this one is for you, not me
8.Burming my soul - burns my ears
9.Scarified sons - not bad, but I don't like it
10.Surrounded - By the time I bought I&W, the only song I would skip. (1992) I like it but not worthy of being in I&W. Would not be in my list if in 6DOIT Disc 1

The comments are only for fun I actually don't hate any of these songs, but there are for sure much better songs in DT catalogue. I think a lot of bands would be proud of songs like these.

[mrjazzguitar]

We've all seen top ten threads and top fifty threads and 'which is your favorite off each album' threads.  I, for one, am curious to see the other side of the coin.  So, which Dream Theater songs do you dislike the most?  Or, for those of you like myself who like pretty much every Dream Theater song, which songs do you like the least?

(Note to the mods: I'm posting this in the spirit of curiosity and good clean fun.  I don't mean for this thread to cause any trouble or anything.  That being said, I do recognize that discussing what we dislike about the band could lead to some controversy, so if you're worried about it, feel free to lock this.)

Anyway, my list is in alphabetical order (to avoid having to put it in any other order):

6:00
Just let Me Breathe
Raw Dog  (Was initially The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun, before Ali mentioned Raw Dog)
Repentance
Status Seeker
Take Away My Pain
The Answer Lies Within
The Best of Times
The Great Debate
The Shattered Fortress

Keep in mind I said I like all Dream Theater songs, just, these least. 

nice to see Best of Times on there -- I think its among DT's least strong

[black_biff_stadler]

Take Away My Pain
The Answer Lies Within
Forsaken
I Walk Beside You
Vacant
Prophets of War
Sacrificed Sons
Never Enough
In My Words
Through Her Eyes

[commanderbob]

Wow.....this would have been literally impossible a week ago without the new album, really hard to come up with 10:

The Answer Lies Within
One Last Time
Just Let Me Breathe
You Not Me
Far From Heaven
Beneath The Surface
Shattered Fortress
Wither
Hollow Years
Through My Words

[obscure]

not much of a fan of these....

6:00
Wither
The Ministry of Lost Souls

[novenpeter]

Repentance
Raw Dog
Anna Lee
Regression
Take Away My Pain
Sacrificed Sons
The One Who Help To Set The Sun
The Silent Man

ahh, i cant think about more

[T-ski]

1-7: Systematic Chaos
8: The Answer Lies Within
9: The Answer Lies Within
10: The Answer Lies Within

In fact, I'll just say it, "The Answer Lies Within" is the worst song, by far, the band has ever written.

[Jaffa]

Beneath The Surface

[Freeze]

Systematic Chaos
Raw Dog
Burning My Soul

[jag66]

(Ignoring WDADU tbh, don't know it that well)

In no particular order..

You Not Me
Burning My Soul
The Dark Eternal Knight
Raw Dog
Prophets of war
Never enough
Just Let me breathe
The Great Debate
Honor thy father
Panic Attack

[Jaffa]

I’ve compiled a list of songs voted for in this thread and how many votes each song received.  I really don’t know why I took the time to do this.  But I did, so here it is.

Number of votes - song title

34 - You Not Me
27 - Burning My Soul
19 - Prophets Of War
18 - Forsaken
18 - Raw Dog 
18 - Repentance
18 - Status Seeker
16 - The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
15 - Never Enough
15 - The Dark Eternal Night
14 - Anna Lee
12 - A Rite of Passage
12 - Constant Motion
12 - Just let Me Breathe
12 - Light Fuse and Get Away
12 - The Answer Lies Within
11 - Honor Thy Father
11 - The Shattered Fortress
10 - The Best of Times
10 - The Ministry of Lost Souls
9 - Sacrificed Sons
8 - Hollow Years
8 - Take Away My Pain
7 - 6:00
7 - A Fortune In Lies
7 - Lie
7 - Through Her Eyes
7 - Vacant
7 - Wither
6 - As I Am
6 - Panic Attack
6 - Through My Words
5 - Endless Sacrifice
5 - I Walk Beside You
5 - In the Presence of Enemies (parts 1 and 2 together)
5 - Innocence Faded
5 - Space Dye-Vest
5 - The Dance of Eternity
5 - The Great Debate
5 - The Silent Man
4 - A Nightmare To Remember
4 - Afterlife
4 - Disappear
4 - Regression
4 - Scarred
4 - The Killing Hand
4 - Where Are You Now?
3 - Another Day
3 - Beyond This Life
3 - Cover My Eyes
3 - Eve
3 - In the Presence of Enemies (part 2 specifically)
3 - New Millennium
3 - Octavarium
3 - Only A Matter of Time
3 - Peruvian Skies
3 - Stream of Consciousness
3 - The Ytse Jam
3 - These Walls
3 - This Dying Soul
2 - Hell’s Kitchen
2 - In the Name of God
2 - Lifting Shadows Off a Dream
2 - Lines In The Sand
2 - One Last Time
2 - Speak To Me
2 - Surrounded
1 - Beneath The Surface
1 - Blind Faith
1 - Caught In a Web
1 - Don't Look Past Me
1 - Far From Heaven
1 - Lost Not Forgotten
1 - Metropolis Part 1
1 - On the Backs of Angels
1 - Pull Me Under
1 - Take The Time
1 - The Count of Tuscany
1 - The Glass Prison
1 - The Mirror
1 - The Spirit Carries On
1 - The Way It Used To Be
1 - To Live Forever
1 - Trial of Tears
1 - Two Far
1 - Under A Glass Moon
1 - Vital Star
1 - Your Majesty

I cannot vouch for the perfect accuracy of this count.  I probably made some mistakes, counted some lists twice, missed some lists.  If anyone wants to double check me and provide a more accurate count, be my guest. 

Also, some lists said ‘most of WDADU’ or ‘most of Systematic Chaos.’  I didn’t count these, just because I didn’t know which specific songs to count.

Oh, by the way, feel free to keep posting lists, peoples.

[Tumdace]

In chronological order-

WDADU (minus AFIL, Ytse Jam, TKH, Afterlife), which makes 4
Lie
Scarred
Space Dye Vest
You Not Me
Never Enough
Raw Dog

I can tolerate Lie and YNM, and the rest are about the only DT songs I could say I "hate". The rest of DT's songs I can at least tolerate and listen to without repulsion. That is one hell of a good hit rate.

edited in Raw Dog. Removed Endless Sacrifice.

Scarred? Really?

My list would have to go (in no particular order):

1. A Rite of Passage
2. You Not Me
3. Take Away My Pain
4. Forsaken
5. Constant Motion
6. As I Am
7. A Fortune in Lies
8. The Dark Eternal Night
9. The Silent Man
10. Repetance

If it werent for a few songs from Falling Into Infinity, A Fortune in Lies, and A Rite of Passage, all of Systematic Chaos would be on that list.

[bss4life15]

The Shattered Fortress
Just Let me Breathe
New Millenium
Surrounded
Forsaken
Only A Matter of Time
The Ones Who Help Set The Sun
The Killing Hand
Ytse jam
Prophets Of War

[jammindude]

In chronological order-

WDADU (minus AFIL, Ytse Jam, TKH, Afterlife), which makes 4
Lie
Scarred
Space Dye Vest
You Not Me
Never Enough
Raw Dog

I can tolerate Lie and YNM, and the rest are about the only DT songs I could say I "hate". The rest of DT's songs I can at least tolerate and listen to without repulsion. That is one hell of a good hit rate.

edited in Raw Dog. Removed Endless Sacrifice.

Scarred? Really?

My list would have to go (in no particular order):

1. A Rite of Passage
2. You Not Me
3. Take Away My Pain
4. Forsaken
5. Constant Motion
6. As I Am
7. A Fortune in Lies
8. The Dark Eternal Night
9. The Silent Man
10. Repetance

If it werent for a few songs from Falling Into Infinity, A Fortune in Lies, and A Rite of Passage, all of Systematic Chaos would be on that list.

That was pretty much the way I felt about SC as well.   But for some reason, I *LOVE* The Dark Eternal Night.    Seems weird, because that song seems to encompass alot of what everyone (including me) hate about that album...but for some reason (for me) the riff on TDEN just saves it.  Hate everything else on the album...love that song...I don't know why.

[BlobVanDam]

Scarred? Really?

Hell yes really. 

Also, some lists said 'most of WDADU' or 'most of Systematic Chaos.'  I didn't count these, just because I didn't know which specific songs to count.

I hope you counted mine, since I gave the specific exclusions. Also because WDADU deserves it.

[ZKX-2099]

Just gonna list my least fave off each album.

The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun (Too long of a title for starters)
Surrounded (Love the song, just love the rest of I&W more)
Lifting Shadows (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
Take Away My Pain (they really should have went with the demo version)
One Last Time (Not a bad song, just... eh)
Misunderstood (That outro...)
Honor Thy Father (could have used a JP solo)
The Answer Lies Within (See Lifting Shadows)
Prophets Of War (you know why)
(can't pick one for Black Clouds)
Build Me Up, Break Me Down (kinda early to say... but it's missing something)

Also I never cared for Speak To Me.

[Jaffa]

Also, some lists said 'most of WDADU' or 'most of Systematic Chaos.'  I didn't count these, just because I didn't know which specific songs to count.

I hope you counted mine, since I gave the specific exclusions. Also because WDADU deserves it.

  Yes, I counted yours.  I also counted ones that said 'All' of SC or WDADU. 

[deadtotheworld]

The 9 songs on ADToE plus 6.00

[AngelBack]

I feel like crying when I see The Ministry of lost souls in someone's bottom 10.



Agree 100% with this.  The outro is worth the price of admission.  Makes me feel like I am floating, sort of like the end of Rush's Marathon.

[GasparXR]

The 9 songs on ADToE plus 6.00

Harsh. Maybe a little too soon?

[Tumdace]

Scarred? Really?

Hell yes really. 

Also, some lists said 'most of WDADU' or 'most of Systematic Chaos.'  I didn't count these, just because I didn't know which specific songs to count.

I hope you counted mine, since I gave the specific exclusions. Also because WDADU deserves it.

For some reason I really love most of WDADU. It reminds me alot of old Saga in a way. Kind of a combo between Saga and Rush. I dont know, its nice to just put it on as background music if friends are over.

But I really don't like SC. It just sounds terrible all the way through.

Funny thing is, I am starting my vinyl collection, and SC was the first to show up (I have to have all of DT's vinyls, even the terrible ones ).

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

The 9 songs on ADToE plus 6.00

Harsh. Maybe a little too soon?

No. His opinion is just invalid. 6:00 is his other least favourite.

[obscure]

The 9 songs on ADToE plus 6.00

Harsh. Maybe a little too soon?

No. His opinion is just invalid. 6:00 is his other least favourite.

agreed

[emindead]

Build Me Up,Break Me Down
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
You Not Me
Just Let Me Breath
Never Enough
Blind Faith
The Great Debate
Constant Motion
This Dying Soul
The Ministry of Souls

[Elite]

1.Silent man - and stay silent...
2.Status seeker - but I like WDADU
3.Hollow Years - no comment
4.Disappear - disappears from my playlists...
5.Blind faith - boring ( 6DOIT Disc1 is meh with Misunderstood being great, TGP ok and TGD ok)
6.Wither - I'm helpless
9.Scarified sons - not bad, but I don't like it
10.Surrounded - By the time I bought I&W, the only song I would skip. (1992) I like it but not worthy of being in I&W. Would not be in my list if in 6DOIT Disc 1

You, get out. Horrible person.