Buddyhunter1's Top 10 BEST & WORST Dream Theater Songs

[Buddyhunter1]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Ministry Of Lost Souls, Dream Theater's most boring song of all time.

What?  The Answer Lies Within would like a word with you.

BTW, hating this song while loving Endless Sacrifice makes little sense in this or any other universe of which I am aware.

If the Answer Lies Within was padded out to fifteen minutes long it would have been bad. But as it is, I actually like it a lot.

And in regards to TMOLS and Endless Sacrifice sharing the same structure, well, they do, except Endless Sacrifice is five minutes shorter, has an instrumental section that is actually GOOD regardless of whether or not it has much to do with the rest of the song, and pumps me up instead of putting me into a coma.

[Joshin U]

BTW, hating this song while loving Endless Sacrifice makes little sense in this or any other universe of which I am aware.

Hey now, they're both good songs! 

Both good or both bad, that's subjective.  But they are structurally both almost the same, so one good and one bad makes no sense.

I have a disagree with you there, hef.  At the very least, the last 4 minutes of Endless Sacrifice are 10x as loud and fast as any part of TMOLS. And the whole thing is just much more  , structure or not, so liking one =/= liking the other.

[Elite]

BTW, hating this song while loving Endless Sacrifice makes little sense in this or any other universe of which I am aware.

Hey now, they're both good songs! 

Both good or both bad, that's subjective.  But they are structurally both almost the same, so one good and one bad makes no sense.

I have a disagree with you there, hef.  At the very least, the last 4 minutes of Endless Sacrifice are 10x as loud and fast as any part of TMOLS. And the whole thing is just much more  , structure or not, so liking one =/= liking the other.

louder / faster has nothing to do with the structure of a song. As a matter of fact, TMOLS and ES do indeed share a pretty similar structure.

[senecadawg2]

Yes, the structures are quite similar. But the differences already stated more than make up for the fact that it's quite easy to enjoy one and not the other. They are, though, both good imo

[425]

Honestly, if you were to ask me what DT song is most structurally similar to TMOLS, I would respond, without hesitation, "Sacrificed Sons." But Endless Sacrifice is fairly similar too.

Regardless, I love Ministry, probably the most out of those three, though all are good songs. So bottom 10 is not a nice place for it. But, top 10 is a good place for The Glass Prison, so I'll give you that.

[Joshin U]

BTW, hating this song while loving Endless Sacrifice makes little sense in this or any other universe of which I am aware.

Hey now, they're both good songs! 

Both good or both bad, that's subjective.  But they are structurally both almost the same, so one good and one bad makes no sense.

I have a disagree with you there, hef.  At the very least, the last 4 minutes of Endless Sacrifice are 10x as loud and fast as any part of TMOLS. And the whole thing is just much more  , structure or not, so liking one =/= liking the other.

louder / faster has nothing to do with the structure of a song. As a matter of fact, TMOLS and ES do indeed share a pretty similar structure.

I guess, but my main point remains that just because a song has a structure comparatively similar to another does NOT mean that a listener has to enjoy both.

That said, I DO enjoy both songs.

[Ruba]

The Glass Prison was one of the first DT songs I fell in love with, but I don't really care about it anymore.

The Ministry of Lost Souls has many things I like, but I think the instrumental section is very outta place.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Ministry Of Lost Souls, Dream Theater's most boring song of all time.

What?  The Answer Lies Within would like a word with you.

TALW is great  .

[Buddyhunter1]

I guess, but my main point remains that just because a song has a structure comparatively similar to another does NOT mean that a listener has to enjoy both.

Exactly. Identical strong structures between songs does not mean that the two will be similar in quality. That's just ridiculous, frankly.

[BlobVanDam]

TGP is a top 2 for me, so

I don't agree on TMOLS. It's by no means a favourite of mine, maybe not even in my top 50, but I think that it's underrated, even if only a bit.
There are a lot of positively beautiful sections in the song, and the instrumental section isn't all too out of place imo, although it doesn't really add a lot for me either.

[aXygnus]

I'd actually switch TMOLS and TGP's places around.

Don't shoot me.

[BlobVanDam]

I'd actually switch TMOLS and TGP's places around.

Don't shoot me.

No, we'd never do that.










We'd choose a method much more slow and painful.

[mikemangioy]

#3 WORST:
The Ministry Of Lost Souls (Systematic Chaos)

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Ministry Of Lost Souls, Dream Theater's most boring song of all time. The thing about song length is, while being long gives a song the ability to cover a wider range of musical directions, and while most of my favorite songs are all quite long, I would rather listen to a bad short song than a bad long song. And The Ministry Of Lost souls is nearly fifteen minutes long. FIFTEEN FUCKING MINUTES. That's long even for Dream Theater standards, and saying that this song doesn't doesn't warrant its length would be a colossal understatement. If this song was maybe 6-8 minutes long, then maybe it would have worked. It still wouldn't be that great, but it would at least be tolerable. But as it is, it's just a test of patience and sanity. The main reason this song is needlessly long is its instrumental section, which comes out of nowhere, has little to nothing to do with the rest of the song, and quickly overstays its welcome. I have no problem with sections that have nothing to do with the rest of the song if they're actually good (I put Endless Sacrifice as my #7 best, after all), but the instrumental section in this song is just... not... good. At all. It's just as boring as the rest of the song. But hell, EVEN IF that whole section was cut out, the song STILL would have been too padded. You've still got the verses that take forever to finish, the boring outro solo that consists of Petrucci essentially playing the same thing over and over again for a couple minutes, and the chorus that, almost as if the band was trolling us, contains the line "It's almost over now." OH HOW I WISH THE SONG WERE ALMOST OVER NOW. Fuck this song.

I agree for the outro being boring. Strongly disagree for the rest. I love this song.

[Nearmyth]

I personally really like TMOLS, and though I see why people hate it, I think it's underrated. I do feel like the instrumental section is a little too "shreddy" for the rest of the song, but hey it's SC, and I actually like the instrumental section.
Listening to the Symphonic Theater of Dreams version of this song gave me a new appreciation for it, and I encourage those who have not listened to it to give it a try .
The song to me just has a nice atmosphere, and a good feel. Not "good" as in happy, good as in it's very emotionally dynamic and atmospheric. Probably a top 30-40 song for me.

As for TGP, I agree with your placement. It's truly a great song. Top 10-15 material for me.

[Lucidity]

I love Ministry of Lost Souls. The Glass Prison is good too, but way overrated.

[Full Speed]

I was never big on TGP, even when SDOIT was new. The last section of the song is my favorite by far, but the first two parts do next to nothing for me.

Don't like TMOLS at all though (and I love Endless Sacrifice).

[The Boomr]

Gotta post in here just to say....TGP was my #1 DT song for a very long time, and still in top 5 (if I had a real top 5...I could probably be quoted on saying more than 5 things are in my "top 5"), so I agree with that placement. Love the song.

HOWEVER

TMOLS is also top 5 material for me. :/ While I can respect opinions of people who dislike it, when you say that the instrumental of Endless Sacrifice is "good" vs that of TMOLS not being good, that is entirely subjective, not factual....For the record, I love Endless Sacrifice as well. But....TMOLS instrumental, outro, and overall everythingness are perfection to me. Sorry.

[Lucien]

The Glass Prison was the last of the 12-Step Suite I listened to, so I already had all the song fractures in my mind, so it kind of ruined the song for me.

[The Boomr]

The Glass Prison was the last of the 12-Step Suite I listened to, so I already had all the song fractures in my mind, so it kind of ruined the song for me.

Oi, that would Really....really...suck. I heard TGP first (first DT song ever), then I thiiiiiink TROAE then TDS, and then Repentance and TSF as the albums were released. I remember discovering for the first time that the songs all used the last bit of the previous songs to start and freaking out, hahaha

[Joshin U]

The Glass Prison was the last of the 12-Step Suite I listened to, so I already had all the song fractures in my mind, so it kind of ruined the song for me.

Oi, that would Really....really...suck. I heard TGP first (first DT song ever), then I thiiiiiink TROAE then TDS, and then Repentance and TSF as the albums were released. I remember discovering for the first time that the songs all used the last bit of the previous songs to start and freaking out, hahaha

Correct me if I'm wrong, but those songs don't do that. That's just the stretch of albums until 8vm, not the songs in the AA suite.

[The Boomr]

The Glass Prison was the last of the 12-Step Suite I listened to, so I already had all the song fractures in my mind, so it kind of ruined the song for me.

Oi, that would Really....really...suck. I heard TGP first (first DT song ever), then I thiiiiiink TROAE then TDS, and then Repentance and TSF as the albums were released. I remember discovering for the first time that the songs all used the last bit of the previous songs to start and freaking out, hahaha

Correct I'm wrong, but those songs don't do that. That's just the stretch of albums until 8vm, not the songs in the AA suite.

The AA suite songs do do that actually, as well as albums SFAM through 8VM. Actually...mrrr I think maybe TSF doesn't take anything from the end of Repentance. Can't remember if Repentance takes anything from TROAE, either. But TGP --> TDS --> TROAE definitely.

SOME DAY I'm going to merge all the AA songs together into one track and try to blend the transitions...

[Buddyhunter1]

when you say that the instrumental of Endless Sacrifice is "good" vs that of TMOLS not being good, that is entirely subjective, not factual....

Of course it's subjective, the whole list is. I just don't feel the need to put "in my opinion" after everything I write.

My signature does it for me, anyways.

[The Boomr]

when you say that the instrumental of Endless Sacrifice is "good" vs that of TMOLS not being good, that is entirely subjective, not factual....

Of course it's subjective, the whole list is. I just don't feel the need to put "in my opinion" after everything I write.

My signature does it for me, anyways.

Well, good point, haha That particular statement just came across as if you were saying your opinion was the truth and other opinions weren't. But, I'm sure my opinions sound like that more frequently than I'd care to admit!

[Buddyhunter1]

#2 BEST:
In The Presence Of Enemies (Systematic Chaos)

First of all, I think the decision to split this song into two parts on Systematic Chaos was a great idea. The two parts are different enough from each other to stand on their own, and flow-wise I actually think they work better separate than back-to-back. That said, for the sake of this list, I'll be treating them as a single song. In The Presence Of Enemies seems to usually get ranked at the bottom of Dream Theater's 20+ minute epics, which is a shame, because I think it's freaking brilliant. Both parts are solid 5/5 songs; put them together, and you get my 2nd favorite DT song of all time. Unlike most of the band's long songs, which take their time to get into gear, ITPOE starts out guns blazing. The first movement is absolutely fantastic; it's energetic, crazy, and really psyches me up. Plus, that melody where the tempo slows down right before the start of the second movement is absolutely beautiful. Movement II is pretty good as well, the verses especially are really cool-sounding. When it comes to Part 2, most people think it pales in comparison to the first, but I think it's just as good, if not better. Movement III is a real stand-out, as it sounds unlike anything else the band has ever done. I can't think of any other song by them that sounds so dark and creepy. It's so atmospheric and sinister, and the heavier choruses are great as well. Things get more energetic for the fourth movement, which fits into the flow of the piece perfectly. If there's one thing that holds this song back, it's the instrumental fifth movement, which really doesn't work that well. There's nothing that interesting about it, and it kinda kills the flow. Thankfully, the finale more than makes up for it. That melody I mentioned earlier from the first movement returns, and it's even more powerful. James gives an amazing vocal performance as well, and everything sounds absolutely epic and beautiful. It doesn't quite surpass Razor's Edge in terms of mind-blowing epic finales, but it comes pretty damn close. All-in-all, In The Presence Of Enemies is a near-perfect epic, and is a severely underrated piece of music, in my opinion.



#2 WORST:
You Not Me (Falling Into Infinity)

Why. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY. Out of all the songs on my worst list, this is the one I feel I have to explain the least. You all know it, you all know it's fucking terrible. I'm sure there's some people out there who might actually like this song, but... Hell, I'm not even going to go there. This song is horrendous. I originally had it at my #3 worst, but listening to it again... yeah, this is waaaaaay worse than The Ministry Of Lost Souls, which was just boring. This song, on the other hand, is bad in the most animated type of bad possible. What really gets me is that chorus. Mother of God is that chorus bad. The rest of the song is just... subpar... but the chorus makes me want to puncture my eardrums with a pencil. To me, it sounds like a choir of children being murdered. It's that terrible. The original demo, You Or Me, wasn't exactly great, but it was at least passable. But this unholy abomination of anus should be shoved back into the depths of Hell from which it came. Screw Desmond Child for ruining this song, or screw the record label for recruiting him to do it, or screw the band for allowing such a disaster to take place... or whatever. Screw somebody.



Only one update to go! I'm sure you all know what my #1 favorite will be, but I've still got my least favorite Dream Theater song of all time to reveal! Stay tuned.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I agree about In The Presence Of Enemies. Fantastic piece of music. Can't really argue with You Not Me either. I don't hate it, but it's just kind of.... there. No real purpose.

[Lucien]

I usually only listen to Part 2 of ItPoE, as I like it much more. As for You Not Me, I haven't listened to it enough to say anything.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Also, I'm expecting something really horrendous for your most-hated track.

[Tom Bombadil]

Agree with you not me. No a huge fan on ITPOE though.

[Lucien]

I'm very interested to see what the #1 worst is.

[hefdaddy42]

No way would I place ITPOE that high, but I think you will find few to argue with your opinion of YNM.

[Rattlehead]

Nice writeup... ITPoE is one of my favorite as well, and I also despise YNM. I can't find one thing that I like about that song besides the fact that it ends.

[BlobVanDam]

No way would I place ITPOE that high, but I think you will find few to argue with your opinion of YNM.

That. I overall really like ITPOE, but I wouldn't rank it too highly. YNM is tolerable, but definitely one of DT's worse songs. No loss there.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

#1 better be what I think it is. This is your one chance to redeem yourself

[serrano]

I like ITPOE a lot, i wouldn't rank it that high, but probably in the top 10. About YNM, i agree with Blob, not really "that bad", but definitely one of the few disposable DT songs, hear it once or twice and throw it away, maybe B-side material.

[?]

I always only listen to Part 1 of ItPoE, as I like it much more.

FTFM

[Full Speed]

Not really down with ITPOE, but I do listen to Part 1 from time to time.

And I actually like You Not Me.