Top 5 LEAST listened songs?

[Scorpion]

What is it that people dislike about BCSL so much? It's one of my favorite albums (after SFAM, but on a level with IAW and Awake), but that's probably because i have nostalgia attached to it (its the album that introduced me to DT, particulary NTR).

There are a few reasons for which many people commonly rag on it. I'll list what I think are the three most common ones.

- Four songs are longer than ten minutes, and that their length rarely feels justified. Every one of the longest songs, except for The Count of Tuscany, could probably be improved by cutting out two to four minutes in my opinion. That makes many of the songs a chore to listen to, the biggest problem here is probably The Best of Times - the outro solo is jaw-droppingly good, but I rarely have the patience to wait for ten minutes of considerably lesser quality to pass to get to it.

- The lyrics aren't really all that good. Now, DT aren't really the band that I turn for for great lyrics, but BC&SL has some of the worst offenders. What comes to mind first is the "Day after day..." section, which, while the lyrics aren't really all that bad on their own, is absolutely destroyed by the way they are delivered. Why the hell do lyrics about everyone surviving need toughening up? If everyone had died, I'd understand, but... Other offenders are A Rite of Passage, which sounds a little like reading from a history book, The Best of Times, which is soooo personal that nobody except Mike can relate to it. The Count of Tuscany is often mentioned here, but I quite like its lyrics for what they are.

- Many parts of the album feel, for lack of a better word, formulaic, like DT by numbers - every song has to have a guitar solo and a keyboard solo (save Wither), and even better if you have an instrumental trade-off! TSF is a big problem as well, I like it, but it's little more than old stuff copy-pasted together.

On the whole, the album feels a little safe. They knew that it wouldn't be bad, and it isn't, but it isn't really exciting either. It has everything you'd expect from a DT album - the epics, the obligatory solo-trade-offs, the token single, the grand closer... again, none of it is really bad, but none of it is really exciting either.

Also, what makes Never Enough worse than, say, These Walls?I understand it sounds like Muse, but These Walls sounds like an extended Linkin Park song and it's not seeing as much critism..

My main problem with Never Enough is the lyrics. I don't want to come across too negative, and I can understand Mike's motivation for writing about that topic, as I can imagine that constantly being judged by your fans must suck big-time, but to me, the lyrics just come off as petty and childish. Add to me that I don't really like Muse, so I'm no fan of the music either. I don't have any problems with DT taking influences from other bands, but if they take influences from bands that I don't like, chances are I won't like the final product. The unison is pretty cool though.

[KevShmev]

BC&SL is mostly DT by the numbers for sure, but I thought it was definitely an upgrade over the two albums that preceded it.  Sure, every long song has a part here or a part there that could have been omitted or made better, but it is still an enjoyable listen from start to finish.  There isn't a boring stretch like on Octavarium (tracks 2-4) or majorly skippable songs like on Systematic Chaos (Forsaken, Constant Motion, etc.), so while calling it enjoyable might be a clever way of calling it unexciting, at least it is pretty consistent. 

[BlobVanDam]

On the whole, the album feels a little safe. They knew that it wouldn't be bad, and it isn't, but it isn't really exciting either. It has everything you'd expect from a DT album - the epics, the obligatory solo-trade-offs, the token single, the grand closer... again, none of it is really bad, but none of it is really exciting either.

Aside from the late decision to stick BTS at the end to break the tradition, this to me fits just as well to ADTOE. I'd say it's their safest album to date, it has the obligatory metal "single", and still includes back to back solos (although they did cut back from BCASL). And Outcry is basically a TDOE sandwich, except that I like TDOE.

Not debating the rest of your points though! (even though I don't entirely agree with them). While I seem to like BCASL more than most here, I still rank it near the bottom, about tied with ADTOE actually. BCASL because it's inconsistent, and shot itself in the foot by having so few songs (there are only two songs I don't particular like, but that's 1/3 of the album, and only leaves 4 songs!), and ADTOE because it's too safe and familiar to excite me and stand out among their previous material.

[MoraWintersoul]

What is it that people dislike about BCSL so much? It's one of my favorite albums (after SFAM, but on a level with IAW and Awake), but that's probably because i have nostalgia attached to it (its the album that introduced me to DT, particulary NTR).

There are a few reasons for which many people commonly rag on it. I'll list what I think are the three most common ones.

- Four songs are longer than ten minutes, and that their length rarely feels justified. Every one of the longest songs, except for The Count of Tuscany, could probably be improved by cutting out two to four minutes in my opinion. That makes many of the songs a chore to listen to, the biggest problem here is probably The Best of Times - the outro solo is jaw-droppingly good, but I rarely have the patience to wait for ten minutes of considerably lesser quality to pass to get to it.

- The lyrics aren't really all that good. Now, DT aren't really the band that I turn for for great lyrics, but BC&SL has some of the worst offenders. What comes to mind first is the "Day after day..." section, which, while the lyrics aren't really all that bad on their own, is absolutely destroyed by the way they are delivered. Why the hell do lyrics about everyone surviving need toughening up? If everyone had died, I'd understand, but... Other offenders are A Rite of Passage, which sounds a little like reading from a history book, The Best of Times, which is soooo personal that nobody except Mike can relate to it. The Count of Tuscany is often mentioned here, but I quite like its lyrics for what they are.

- Many parts of the album feel, for lack of a better word, formulaic, like DT by numbers - every song has to have a guitar solo and a keyboard solo (save Wither), and even better if you have an instrumental trade-off! TSF is a big problem as well, I like it, but it's little more than old stuff copy-pasted together.

On the whole, the album feels a little safe. They knew that it wouldn't be bad, and it isn't, but it isn't really exciting either. It has everything you'd expect from a DT album - the epics, the obligatory solo-trade-offs, the token single, the grand closer... again, none of it is really bad, but none of it is really exciting either.

Also, what makes Never Enough worse than, say, These Walls?I understand it sounds like Muse, but These Walls sounds like an extended Linkin Park song and it's not seeing as much critism..

My main problem with Never Enough is the lyrics. I don't want to come across too negative, and I can understand Mike's motivation for writing about that topic, as I can imagine that constantly being judged by your fans must suck big-time, but to me, the lyrics just come off as petty and childish. Add to me that I don't really like Muse, so I'm no fan of the music either. I don't have any problems with DT taking influences from other bands, but if they take influences from bands that I don't like, chances are I won't like the final product. The unison is pretty cool though.

All of this and a little more.

[Sycsa]

Well I just hope that the new album turns out better than anything we've seen in the past 10+ years.

I've heard people say that ADToE was the best thing since Six Degrees.

Wait, isn't that actually the mainstream opinion on this forum?

[KevShmev]

Well I just hope that the new album turns out better than anything we've seen in the past 10+ years.

I've heard people say that ADToE was the best thing since Six Degrees.

Wait, isn't that actually the mainstream opinion on this forum?

It's the consensus, yes.  Some will disagree, but by and large, the fanbase agreed (as much as this fanbase will ever agree ) that A Dramatic Turn of Events was their best album since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

[black_biff_stadler]

Sorry about taking far too much liberty with my list...

...but there really is no set group of 5 DT songs that I listen to least since I have a veritable army of songs by them that I've never listened to for any greater extent than "First listen (don't like)>few more listens to try to get into it (unsuccessfully)>permanently shelved but I'll occasionally give it a spin in the vain hopes that I'll begin to see something in it that I hadn't before."

Anyway, here's that group:

Take Away My Pain
Regression
Through My Words
Through Her Eyes
The Spirit Carries on
Disappear
Goodnight Kiss
Grand Finale
Vacant
The Answer Lies Within
I Walk Beside You
Never Enough
Sacrificed Sons
Octavarium
Forsaken
Prophets of War
The Best of Times
Far From Heaven


As for people with the elitist condescension toward Raw Dog and those who like it:

1. It was simply made for a video game. You already know this, yet you still knock it for being a shitty song despite the fact that the majority of it fits the game it was written for pretty well in the way the first half develops a suspenseful buildup and the second half is right of par with what would suit a boss battle.

2. Even if it had no ties to a video game, it'd still be a decent metal song that has an overly drawn-out first couple minutes that are redeemed pretty well by the adventurousness of the ~3-minute mark onward.

[MoraWintersoul]

Through Her Eyes
The Spirit Carries on
Disappear
Goodnight Kiss
Vacant

I'm a bit sad now, as these are some of my favorites.

[GasparXR]

Damn, there's lots of great songs in that list. The only ones I don't care as much about in there are PoW and TBoT. Even Forsaken gets a few listens from me every now and then.

[BlobVanDam]

Through Her Eyes
The Spirit Carries on
Disappear
Goodnight Kiss
Vacant

I'm a bit sad now, as these are some of my favorites.

Aw, mine too, except for THE, which I still enjoy and always listen to with the rest of SFAM.

[wasteland]

Yeah, I listen to all of them (except for Goodnight Kiss) on a very regular basis!

My v2:

Light Fuse And Get Away
Burning My Soul
Regression
The Glass Prison
In The Presence Of The Enemies

[DebraKadabra]

Damn, there's lots of great songs in that list.

Yeah, no kidding.

[black_biff_stadler]

I've just never really cared for JLB's vocals. I've warmed up to them a tad in spots here and there but, at best, they still get an "average" on my overall enjoyment index. I don't consider him untalented since I think he's good at what he does. I just don't enjoy his style of singing very much and Awake is probably the closest I've come to actually enjoying them and the best way I can describe my feelings toward that album is "the vocals don't do anything to detract from my listening experience."

[MoraWintersoul]

Yeah I can totally understand why those songs aren't your cuppa tea then.

[Scorpion]

As for people with the elitist condescension toward Raw Dog and those who like it:

1. It was simply made for a video game. You already know this, yet you still knock it for being a shitty song despite the fact that the majority of it fits the game it was written for pretty well in the way the first half develops a suspenseful buildup and the second half is right of par with what would suit a boss battle.

2. Even if it had no ties to a video game, it'd still be a decent metal song that has an overly drawn-out first couple minutes that are redeemed pretty well by the adventurousness of the ~3-minute mark onward.

Oh, absolutely, I can imagine that RD would fucking rule as a video game soundtrack, and I don't really dislike it, it's just something that I almost never think to listen to, since I don't actually have it. Plus, outside of the context of the video game, it is a little one-dimensional for my tastes - not bad, just a little samey throughout its same minutes. I know, it gets you going, and it fits a boss battle perfectly, I'd imagine, but I don't play God of War, and it does lose some of its impact outside of the game.

[Jaffa]

it's just something that I almost never think to listen to, since I don't actually have it.

Yeah, this. 

For this reason, I'm only counting album material on my list.  There are certainly other songs that I've listened to less than these five, but I don't actually HAVE those other songs, so I'm not counting them.

1. The Best of Times
2. The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
3. Take Away my Pain
4. The Answer Lies Within
5. Repentance

Something like that.

[?]

Well I just hope that the new album turns out better than anything we've seen in the past 10+ years.

I've heard people say that ADToE was the best thing since Six Degrees.

Wait, isn't that actually the mainstream opinion on this forum?

Judging by the poll I created, it is. Of course you have to consider that the topic was made when not even a month had passed since the release of the album, but ADTOE seems to have aged pretty well for most people so the results probably wouldn't be too different if you asked the same question now.

[black_biff_stadler]

THANKS TO ? FOR THE FACTS!

[hefdaddy42]

As for people with the elitist condescension toward Raw Dog and those who like it:

1. It was simply made for a video game. You already know this, yet you still knock it for being a shitty song despite the fact that the majority of it fits the game it was written for pretty well in the way the first half develops a suspenseful buildup and the second half is right of par with what would suit a boss battle.

It wasn't written for the video game.  It was written to be in a group of songs released along with the game.  It isn't in the game, so it shouldn't be judged by other examples of "video game music."

2. Even if it had no ties to a video game, it'd still be a decent metal song that has an overly drawn-out first couple minutes that are redeemed pretty well by the adventurousness of the ~3-minute mark onward.

No, it's just awful.

Besides, it isn't elitist to dislike a song.  If you like it, great, but most people can't stand it.  That doesn't mean that most people are elitists, it just means that this song doesn't work very well.

[DebraKadabra]

I've just never really cared for JLB's vocals. I've warmed up to them a tad in spots here and there but, at best, they still get an "average" on my overall enjoyment index. I don't consider him untalented since I think he's good at what he does. I just don't enjoy his style of singing very much and Awake is probably the closest I've come to actually enjoying them and the best way I can describe my feelings toward that album is "the vocals don't do anything to detract from my listening experience."

While I can understand that, it makes me a little sad at the same time... seeing how James is one of my all-time favorite singers and all...

[black_biff_stadler]

As for people with the elitist condescension toward Raw Dog and those who like it:

1. It was simply made for a video game. You already know this, yet you still knock it for being a shitty song despite the fact that the majority of it fits the game it was written for pretty well in the way the first half develops a suspenseful buildup and the second half is right of par with what would suit a boss battle.

It wasn't written for the video game.  It was written to be in a group of songs released along with the game.  It isn't in the game, so it shouldn't be judged by other examples of "video game music."

You're splitting hairs. Accompaniment soundtracks for video games have been around since at least the mid 90s when Rare released Killer Cuts as the soundtrack for Killer Instinct and it's a fairly common thing to listen to the soundtrack while playing the game to create a more immersive gaming experience. I have no idea whether you're a gamer or not but, if not, I can certainly see why you'd fail to see the appeal of listening to music in this manner if the opportunity has never been available to you in the first place.

2. Even if it had no ties to a video game, it'd still be a decent metal song that has an overly drawn-out first couple minutes that are redeemed pretty well by the adventurousness of the ~3-minute mark onward.

No, it's just awful.

Besides, it isn't elitist to dislike a song.  If you like it, great, but most people can't stand it.  That doesn't mean that most people are elitists, it just means that this song doesn't work very well.

I never equated disliking the song with being elitist. There's been this ongoing consensus attitude that no one in their right mind could genuinely like the song and some people take it a step further to subtly mock those who have the "audacity" to like it. Posts like this one are what I was addressing with the condescension remark:

For the people not listing "Raw Dog", do you honestly listen to it more than the five songs you list, or have you just forgotten the song existed?! Because I would find it funny if people listened to "Raw Dog" more than many of the songs you guys have listed so far.

[berrege]

Probably the whole FII album.

[Sycsa]

You're splitting hairs. Accompaniment soundtracks for video games have been around since at least the mid 90s when Rare released Killer Cuts as the soundtrack for Killer Instinct and it's a fairly common thing to listen to the soundtrack while playing the game to create a more immersive gaming experience. I have no idea whether you're a gamer or not but, if not, I can certainly see why you'd fail to see the appeal of listening to music in this manner if the opportunity has never been available to you in the first place.

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but you're actually the one who doesn't sound like a gamer. If someone wants to get immersed in the gaming experience, the last thing they would do is listen to outside music. What's the point? There's already in-game music which fits the dynamics and dialog of any given game perfectly. The only people I ever saw listening to outside music while playing are some multiplayer-, MMO- and casual gamers.

I wouldn't judge Raw Dog as strictly VG music either, as it wasn't even in the game and it doesn't fit its contemporary classical soundtrack at all.

One a side note, if DT wanted to make VG music, I wish it was something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGuUO6TxAM

[hefdaddy42]

You're splitting hairs.

No I'm not.

[yorost]

For some games, I have listened to outside albums for a soundtrack. For Rainbow Six I always had Crystal Planet on by Satriani, and for Worms on the Jaguar we always played Fallen by Evanescence. Both were fantastic soundtracks.

[Lucien]

For some reason I always played Octavarium (the album) with Touhou.

I suppose Panic Attack highly fits the game(s).

[black_biff_stadler]

You're splitting hairs. Accompaniment soundtracks for video games have been around since at least the mid 90s when Rare released Killer Cuts as the soundtrack for Killer Instinct and it's a fairly common thing to listen to the soundtrack while playing the game to create a more immersive gaming experience. I have no idea whether you're a gamer or not but, if not, I can certainly see why you'd fail to see the appeal of listening to music in this manner if the opportunity has never been available to you in the first place.

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but you're actually the one who doesn't sound like a gamer. If someone wants to get immersed in the gaming experience, the last thing they would do is listen to outside music. What's the point? There's already in-game music which fits the dynamics and dialog of any given game perfectly. The only people I ever saw listening to outside music while playing are some multiplayer-, MMO- and casual gamers.

I wouldn't judge Raw Dog as strictly VG music either, as it wasn't even in the game and it doesn't fit its contemporary classical soundtrack at all.

One a side note, if DT wanted to make VG music, I wish it was something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGuUO6TxAM

I've played video games since I was 7. Also, just cuz you wouldn't game that way doesn't mean nobody does. If you came up in the 80s/90s, you got used to gaming with CDs/other stuff going on since nobody did online gaming aside from the short-lived XBand SNES/Genesis modem so you could easily be fully immersed in the game with external music since it sometimes heightened the excitement if the music on your CD was more intense than what you would've heard in the game.

[Sycsa]

You're splitting hairs. Accompaniment soundtracks for video games have been around since at least the mid 90s when Rare released Killer Cuts as the soundtrack for Killer Instinct and it's a fairly common thing to listen to the soundtrack while playing the game to create a more immersive gaming experience. I have no idea whether you're a gamer or not but, if not, I can certainly see why you'd fail to see the appeal of listening to music in this manner if the opportunity has never been available to you in the first place.

Perhaps I don't understand you correctly, but you're actually the one who doesn't sound like a gamer. If someone wants to get immersed in the gaming experience, the last thing they would do is listen to outside music. What's the point? There's already in-game music which fits the dynamics and dialog of any given game perfectly. The only people I ever saw listening to outside music while playing are some multiplayer-, MMO- and casual gamers.

I wouldn't judge Raw Dog as strictly VG music either, as it wasn't even in the game and it doesn't fit its contemporary classical soundtrack at all.

One a side note, if DT wanted to make VG music, I wish it was something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SGuUO6TxAM

I've played video games since I was 7. Also, just cuz you wouldn't game that way doesn't mean nobody does. If you came up in the 80s/90s, you got used to gaming with CDs/other stuff going on since nobody did online gaming aside from the short-lived XBand SNES/Genesis modem so you could easily be fully immersed in the game with external music since it sometimes heightened the excitement if the music on your CD was more intense than what you would've heard in the game.

I had no doubts that you actually are/were a gamer, it was obvious from your comments, but you sounded more like a oldschool gamer than an actual, contemporary one:

fairly common thing to listen to the soundtrack while playing the game to create a more immersive gaming experience.

How many people actually go out, buy the soundtrack and mute the in-game sound/music in favor of it nowadays? How can that be more immersive? (Especially talking about story driven single player games.) Yes, this doesn't mean that nobody does it, but just because you do it, doesn't make it "fairly common". It really sounds like an '80s, '90s beat 'em up thing.

[mrjazzguitar]

best of times
count of tuscany
burning my soul
i walk beside you
just let me breathe

not including WDADU - never really listen to that album

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

New Millenium
Burning My Soul
Just Let Me Breathe
You Not Me
Raw Dog

Yeah, I don't like FII.

[Polis]

Yeah, I listen to all of them (except for Goodnight Kiss) on a very regular basis!

My v2:

Light Fuse And Get Away
Burning My Soul
Regression
The Glass Prison
In The Presence Of The Enemies

TGP??!! AND ITPOE??!!
>.>
<.<
>.>
<.<

[mellotron_scratch]

Songs that are from studio albums:

Take Away My Pain (definitely top of the list, I doubt I've listened to it over 10 times in my whole life)
You Not Me
Burning My Soul
Light Fuse And Get Away
Status Seeker

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

It makes me sad to see how many people listed "Light Fuse And Get Away". I love that song.

[ytserush]

Not least listened to because I don't skip songs although I REALLY don't listen to Systematic Chaos all that much (mostly due to ear fatigue.)

This would be least favorite....

Anna Lee
Through My Words
Through Her Eyes
Vacant
Honor Thy Father
In The Presence Of Enemies I @ II
Forsaken
The Ministry Of Lost Souls
Lost Not Forgotten
Far From Heaven

[The Stray Seed]

It makes me sad to see how many people listed "Light Fuse And Get Away". I love that song.