Lucien's Top 30

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

These are both good songs, but I wouldn't rank either as highly. There are about 5 or 6 songs on I&W that I think are better than Learning To Live, and Trial Of Tears has never been one of my favorites.

[Ruba]

Two great songs  .

[Tom Bombadil]

These two obviously weren't any of the surprising ones. So I guess 2 of the top 3 are. Excited to find out.

[DreamTension]

If one on the top 3 are what I'm thinking, I will love you forever. 

[Nearmyth]

These are both good songs, but I wouldn't rank either as highly. There are about 5 or 6 songs on I&W that I think are better than Learning To Live, and Trial Of Tears has never been one of my favorites.

Honestly, Trial of Tears has never had much appeal to me, or been one of my favorites either... But dat instrumental section.

Can't say anything against these  the rankings, though Trial of Tears being this high is a bit of a surprise to me. LTL on the otherhand deserves any spot on a Top 10.

[425]

Two great songs that absolutely deserve those spots. Brilliant performances in both from all members of the band.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

lucien. why u no update



         


             why

[Tom Bombadil]

lucien. why u no update



         


             why

I know man I want to know these surprise picks!

[Lucien]

I'm sorry, friends. My computer was messed up, and I am still trying to fix it. I will update now.

3. Octavarium- For a while, this was my favorite Dream Theater song. The continuum solo instantly hooked me with Dream Theater (this was the first DT song I ever heard), as I love ambient. Almost 4 minutes in, the song truly starts, with a triumphant portrayal of the theme of the song. Acoustic guitar abruptly leads the next part, and a flute plays the melody. The beautiful, melancholy lyrics start with the guitar. And I wanted so much more... 6:39, more of the band joins in, the song becomes more full. After James swears he's missing out, the song becomes completely full, readying for the transition into the next part.

8:36, with a flawless transition between parts, a beautiful piano melody displays the theme of this part. The lyrics of this part never cease to depress me. A man who has probably lost his entire family after being in a coma for 30 years, probably not even remembering them. He then falls back into it. A second shot at brief awakening... Even though it's depressing, the chorus is amazingly catchy.

12:16, keyboard dominates the song as it transitions out of Medicate and into the instrumental craziness of Full Circle. 13:48, the lyrics start "this is where we came in?" with a stream of random progressive rock references. 15:40, even more instrumental insanity, the reason why many people don't like this song much.

18:28, Intervals, one of the coolest spoken words parts of any song. After referencing all 8 songs of the album, going up the intervals all the while, TRAPPED INSIDE THIS OCTAVARIUUUUUUUUUMMMM!!!!

Razor's Edge is a great ending to the song and album, with the orchestra and the reference to Hemispheres. (the first lyrical line reminds me of ice skating, balanced on a gleaming razor's edge  ) The guitar solo afterwards remains one of my favorites, with the GOD NOTE at 23:00.  Ahhh... I love Octavarium.

2. Breaking All Illusions- (controversial) The song begins with an amazingly prog guitar intro. Keyboards come in, drums start, everything is PROG. 1:34, the song really begins with a time signature breakdown I've fallen in love with (7/8 6/8 5/8 7/8). The lyrics begin (did I mention I LOVE John Myung's lyrics? Though he had help from his best friend.) There is a small instrumental breakdown at 3:40, before those REALLY cool lyrics start. Emerald thoughts flow throw my consciousness... 4:38, an amazing performance by James, right before the long instrumental section. I feel as though this song is the king of the long songs with long instrumental sections. 6:08 changes things up a bit by slowing waaayyy down, and focusing a bit more on melody. It then becomes quiet again, with wonderful clean guitars. (I LOVE clean guitars.) The guitar solo then starts slow ala La Villa Strangiato. It then becomes faster and faster, yet somehow staying extremely melodic. It jumps in and out of shredding, before ending at 8:54, and continuing the proggy instrumental section. The lyrics make a bit of a surprise attack at 10:36. Sounds remembered, come alliiiiiveee. Embrace the days, don't turn away. Karma starts the signal. THAT ENDING. ALL I NEED TO SAY NOW. THAT ENDING.

[Lucidity]

Love both these songs!  Glad to see Breaking ranked about as high as I'd put it. Pretty sure those 7/8s 6/8s and 5/8s are 7/4s 6/4s and 5/4s though.

[Tom Bombadil]

Love both these songs!  Glad to see Breaking ranked about as high as I'd put it. Pretty sure those 7/8s 6/8s and 5/8s are 7/4s 6/4s and 5/4s though.

Was about to say the same thing. Whenever I counted it I always thought of it as 4 not 8. Either way, great song. And of course octavarium is incredible that kinda goes without saying. Thanks for the update I look forward to #1

[Lucien]

You will all be VERY surprised.

[Nearmyth]

Very nice to see Breaking All Illusions so high My personal favorite from ADTOE, and I must agree the ending is great. Other highlights for me are the guitar solo, and the part around 9:06.

You will all be VERY surprised.

[BlobVanDam]

Nice to see Octavarium ranked highly. Excellent song. I've never gotten into BAI though. It's ok, but I don't see the appeal.

Can't wait to see #1. Being surprised probably means it won't be one of the expected songs I don't like to see ranked highly. But it might be a different song I don't want to see ranked highly.

[Ruba]

I love the intro, Intervals and Razor's Edge in Octavarium. Everything else is meh.

Breaking All Illusions is good. Made my top 50 by a hair.

[425]

Both of those are great choices. I'm not sure I'd put BAI quite that high, but still, great choices. I'm excited to see what comes in #1.

[FracturedMirror]

THE LYRICS ARE CHEESIER THAN POWERWOLF.

THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE

I quite like that band, cheesy or not.

12. Stream of Consciousness

I really love Stream of Consciousness.  It's one of my favorite instrumentals.

[Scorpion]

These are both good songs, but I wouldn't rank either as highly. There are about 5 or 6 songs on I&W that I think are better than Learning To Live, and Trial Of Tears has never been one of my favorites.

While I agree on the LTL aspect, the second part of that sentence means we can no longer be friends. Sorry.

On topic: interested to see what is at the top, I would have put money on Octavarium, personally, though I'm not disappointed that it doesn't occupy the top spot.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Sorry, dude. It's certainly not bad, I enjoy it a fair bit, it's just not near the top of my list.

[Lucien]

Okay guys. Here's the big surprise.




























1. These Walls- I'm not kidding. The song starts off with a VERY distorted guitar solo, before getting the melody 30 seconds in. Keyboards dominate for a while, with guitars backing.


1:04. HOLY SHIT. THIS KIND OF MELODY IS THE REASON I LOVE DREAM THEATER.

This is so hard for me... To find the words to say... Seriously. The vocals go so well with the clean guitar.

1:50 The vocals and guitars drive the song in a really great way. The chorus hits, James, Jordan, and John are AMAZING here (bouncing off each other)

2:36 A siren-like keyboard part is heard, coming back to the clean guitars. This part DESERVES to be played again.

Watch me crawl from the wreckage of my silence... Those lyrics. 

The chorus hits again, feeling better than the last.

Every time you walk away... Is it worth the price you pay? One more time...

THAT GUITAR SOLO.  It's not wankery, it's MELODIC MASTERY.

The chorus hits one more time. I'm trying to find my way out.. Tear down these walls for me now...

It's not too late for me...

Tear down these walls for me...

The feeling of desperation..   

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

You are correct. I did not expect that. I wouldn't have it nearly that high, but it is a fantastic song.

[JoeG]

Nice pick! Don't rank it nearly that high, but it is doubtlessly a fantastic song. Love MP's high hat/splash work in the verses, and the melodic guitar throughout.

[Sycsa]

Love it and it feels a lot shorter than it actually is (although the intro and outro adding up to a minute might have something to do with it). One of my favorite aspects of the song is the evolving pre-chorus part. It becomes more epic each time and Mike's drum fills are progressively cooler (dat double bass before the last chorus).

[Tom Bombadil]

Nice pick! Definitely was a surprise, but a pleasant one. These Walls is a great song. Thanks for sharing this was a fun list to follow.

[425]

  You mentioned this being ranked very highly for you in that one thread, I should have guessed.


Brilliant, brilliant song. Not the best song by Dream Theater, but brilliant, brilliant song. I find it especially relatable because I have social anxiety disorder and the lyrics describe me to a T. Definitely a top 20 song, for all the reasons you described. I just like about 15-20 DT songs more.

It's been fun following your list!

[RMGadelha]

I really, really don't like this song but I'm happy you ranked it highly because it's always good to know about the diversity that DT brings

[Tis BOOLsheet]

Totally agree with ADToE songs ranking so high. I'm glad to see it. Not sure I get the These Walls ranked at no. 1 though. It's not their worst song, especially on Octavarium, but their best song? 

[Lucidity]

Great song! Definitely unexpected.

[theseoafs]

... Weird pick.  Good song, but never in a million years would I say it's number one good.

[BlobVanDam]

Very happy to see this pick! I was just listening to this song the other day, and remembering how amazing and underrated it is. So tasteful, with beautiful melodies all around. A top 20 song for me, and I didn't realize anyone would rank it higher than I would!

[Bolsters]

Fucking amazing pick, a great song and another criminally underrated one.

[mikemangioy]

Great tune  not to mention DAT OUTRO 

[adastra]

Whoa! Didn't see that coming.. These Walls is propably somewhere in my top 10 favourites!  Very good song!

[PixelDream]

OK, surprising but cool nonetheless. These Walls is definitely a favorite. I especially love the heaviness of the outro.

[Lucien]

Every time I listen to These Walls, I like it a little bit more. I'm actually a bit surprised at all the positive posts