Official DT Top 50 Thread Mark II (bss4life15 up now - starting page 79)

[BlackInk]

Probably the most interesting and unique number 1 I've seen. Vacant is indeed great but not this great.

[senecadawg2]

Great list Alice! Definitely the most unique one I have seen. Now I'm going to listen to Vacant and cry for you.

Also, nice TCOT cover!

[Onno]

Cool number one, unique! And your cover of TCoT is pretty good too!

[Scorpion]

Great list, Alice and a worthy number one.

Who's next?

[hefdaddy42]

Great list, Alice and a worty number one.

Who's next?

The order is on page 1.

A PM has been sent to the next in line.  If they don't respond in another day or so, we will go to the next in line.

[Zydar]

Great list, Alice and a worty number one.

Who's next?

The order is on page 1.

A PM has been sent to the next in line.  If they don't respond in another day or so, we will go to the next in line.

[hefdaddy42]

[TheGreatPretender]

Just little blurbs to start, but my comments will probably get more elaborate the higher up on the list I get.

50: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
It's hard for me to separate Six Degrees of inner turbulence. I consider it as a single entity and almost never listen to any given part of it by itself, unless you count the ones included in the Greatest Hit. At the same time, as a whole, I think it does have its drawbacks. For example, I don't particularly dig The Test That Stumped Them All and Goodnight Kiss as much as the other parts. The former just lacks melody for me, and the latter I think slows the whole journey down too much, and drags on a little bit, which is why it's not higher on my list. Still, the other six parts are nothing short of amazing. The opening riff for the About To Crash (Reprise) is probably my favorite part of the entire suite.

49: The Killing Hand
The Killing Hand is by far my favorite song from their debut album. It's the longest song on the album and offers some great melodies and progressions. The story is a little weird, but still very interesting. Only JP could come up with something like that. The vocals, for the most part are great, again, some beautiful melodies. Although I do prefer to listen to the live version of this song for LaBrie, as well as the extended instrumental section that includes Carol of the Bells in it. Still, with or without it, I think it's a great song and one from When Dream And Day Unite that gets the most play from me.

48: Disappear
Dream Theater are no strangers to slow, melodic ballads, but what stands out about Disappear, I find, is that it's one of the few songs that actually sounds sad. Most of their slower songs have major chords and some sort of an optimistic resolution, but this one really conveys a sense of loneliness and isolation. I love the sounds of this song too. Jordan picked some very interesting keyboard sounds to compliment the acoustic guitar and give it a very contemporary sound.

47: The Answer Lies Within
People always praise Jordan for his crazy ability to shred the keyboard and play insanely fast and elaborate solos, which often makes people forget that he can also play some really beautiful, slower melodies. That's why I like this song. The main piano melody is simple, yet beautiful, and for some reason, since I first heard it, it made me very nostalgic. The funny thing is that it wasn't until earlier this year that I actually noticed the violin sneaking in the melody from Octavarium's "Medicate" movement into the middle of this song. I love little discoveries like that.

46: These Walls
This is a song that I really started to appreciate only recently. I always liked it, but thanks to DT playing it live back when they were touring North America in the fall, I started listening to it a lot more and actually found a very deep connection with the subject matter. Not only that, but musically, I started appreciating it a lot more as well. It's one of those songs that seemed a little simple to me at first, but further listenings made me realize that there was a lot more beneath the surface.

[Jaffa]

Well, aside from TKH, none of these are close to where I would rank them.     But that's fine.  Should be another fun list to read; I like your write-ups so far. 

[Onno]

but further listenings made me realize that there was a lot more beneath the surface.

I see what you did there 
Also, 6DOIT is quite low. This should be interesting.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

six degrees is about 48 places too low.

[BlobVanDam]

SDOIT, These Walls, Disappear.................


your list is backwards.

[BlackInk]

SDOIT, These Walls, Disappear.................

Yes, these three in particular are to low, especially Six Degrees.

[Mladen]

Disappear is too low, the others wouldn't make it to my list. Interesting start, though. 

[alirocker08]

I think we may have another interesting list on our hands guys!

[Silver Tears]

six degrees is about 48 places too low.

Pretty much.

[Elite]

No comment on Six Degrees, but TKH and Disappear are too low

[TheGreatPretender]

I think we may have another interesting list on our hands guys!

I think you'll find it all over the place. Some things, (like with Six degrees) people are gonna be like, "U mad bro?" And with others, I'm sure they'll be like, "Yeah, that's where most people place that song. How conformist." Or something.

My list was based on a simple notion of "if I had to choose between never hearing this song and that song again, which one would I pick". So it doesn't really have anything to do with breaking them down and over-analyzing how many time changes or instrumental breakdowns they have or how technically proficient a song is, although those might be factors in how much I like a given song.

[BlackInk]

My list was based on a simple notion of "if I had to choose between never hearing this song and that song again, which one would I pick". So it doesn't really have anything to do with breaking them down and over-analyzing how many time changes or instrumental breakdowns they have or how technically proficient a song is, although those might be factors in how much I like a given song.

Yeah that is probably the best way to do it.

[TheGreatPretender]

Also, (as I'm sure is the case with many people here), my top 50 always change. Maybe in a couple of months, Six Degrees will be my number 1. I'm pretty sure that this time, last year, These Walls wouldn't have made the list at all. So this Top 50 list is as of May 6, 2012.

[theseoafs]

SDOIT is 45+ places too low, and I would put Disappear in the top 20, but the rest are fine choices.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

SDOIT at 50. Hm. 

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Goodnight Kiss is my second favourite part, next to Solitary Shell. It also has my favourite Petrucci solo aside from ACoS's "The Inevitable Summer" section. Haha.

[TheGreatPretender]

I love how all DT fans have such differing opinions. No sarcasm. Here's the next five:


45: The Silent Man
What's not to like about The Silent Man? It's got some great acoustic work by Pettrucci and some of the most beautiful lyrics he's ever written. Although in truth, I'm not sure whether I prefer the original, acoustic version, or the one they played on the "Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York" live album. I kind of wish a studio recording of that particular version existed. Regardless, I love this song, and I think they've got some beautiful melodies, and a great solo in there, all while sounding very down to earth.

44: On The Backs Of Angels
On The Backs of Angels sounded fairly 'ordinary' to me the first time I heard it, although I do agree with the large number of people who admitted that it's a kind of song that grows on you with multiple listens. But honestly, I think I truly learned to appreciate this song after hearing the stems. I think certain elements got a little lost in the final version of the song, but after hearing the stems, I can pick those elements out when listening to it. I also really like how powerful the song is. I think Mangini's drumming accenting the other instruments really adds to that aspect, and I like it a lot. The only thing about this song that I think could've been better was the vocals. Not that I didn't like them, but there wasn't anything extraordinary about LaBrie's performance on this one.

43: Beneath The Surface
This is another song that sounded ordinary on my first go, and honestly, I didn't dig the keyboard solo too much when I first heard it. But it really grew on me and recently I came to relate to the subject matter a lot, which earned the song a spot in my top 50. The lyrics are great, the melodies are great, and the vocal parts, I think, are pretty great, especially after the solo. I know there have been some people saying that he hits a wrong note, or that Autotune didn't correct his note properly, or something overly technical like that, but I think it sounds the way it was intended to. No matter how much I listen to it, it doesn't sound wrong. Either way, it's a great song, with a subject matter that I can relate to and a wonderful way to end the album.

42: Lost Not Forgotten
I guess this makes it a "Dramatic Turn of Events" trifecta on my list. I think it just means that these songs will keep growing on me and end up higher on my list with time. There is only one part of Lost Not Forgotten that I didn't particularly like and it was that crazy part during the instrumental introduction, you know the one I mean. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Dream Theater's crazy side, the chaotic stuff that grabs your attention and makes you go, "Whoa, what was that!?" But I think they went a tad far with that in this particular song. Aside from that, it's aweseome. From the beautiful piano intro, to the lyrics, to how powerful and heavy it is. But my very favorite part of this song has to be the guitar solo. That was one for the books. I think JP has a few Guitar Solos that are timeless and simply amazing. Under a Glass Moon and As I Am are among them, and I think the solo from Lost Not Forgotten lives up to those big time.

41: 6:00
The only thing I don't like about 6:00 (and I will say this about quite a few DT songs) are the voice samples. As iconic as "Six O Clock on a Christmas Mornin'" and "I know all about the honor of God, Mary-Jane," have become among DT fans, they still distract me. But that doesn't change the fact that this song kicks ass. While it's got some great drumming and keyboard parts, to me, what truly makes this song (as well as a few others in Awake) are the vocals. LaBrie totally raaaawwwks this song!

[BlobVanDam]

I like them all, although none of them are top songs for me (although LNF and The Silent Man are definitely among my favourites from their respective albums). So I guess all of these picks are within an acceptable range.

[Mladen]

OTBOA, BTS and 6:00 would be in my top 50 as well.

And yeah, the guitar solo in Lost not forgotten is incredible.

[Silver Tears]

MELODY WALKS THROUGH THE DOOOOOR

[Zantera]

Beneath the Surface is really great. One of the better songs on ADTOE for me.

[Elite]

AND MEMORY FLIES OUT THE WINDOOOOOW

[Ruba]

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THEY WAAAAAAAAAAAAANT

[SomeoneLikeHim]

'TIL THEY FINALLY LET IT ALL GOOOOOOOOO!!

[Zydar]

BUT DON'T CUT YOUR LOSSES TOO SOON

[SeRoX]

Very interesting list so far. I like it.

[Jaffa]

I'd continue the 6:00 lyrics, but I don't particularly like that song.  Sorry.

Cool update, though.  Two great songs, two good ones, and one decent one.  In my opinion, of course.  And, good write-ups.

[Grinch]

CAUSE YOU'LL ONLY  BE CUTTING YOUR THROAT