"Voices" Appreciation Thread

[Ruba]

This was the last song to open from Awake. It took about one and a half year. But now I love it. Especially the middle section is cool, and the solo is a great example of tasteful using of wah-wah.

[dragonmaster715]

love voices. one of my favorite DT songs, i remember i listened to it when i first got Awake and i was blown away

[Lowdz]

Voices was one of the few songs I loved from the start on Awake.

[johncal]

The first thing I love is Voices.

The second thing I love is that everyone on this thread is actually appreciative.

[Tis BOOLsheet]

It has its moments. The screaming section is not good to me, but the rest of it has positive things to take away.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

It has its moments. The screaming section is not good to me, but the rest of it has positive things to take away.

That's BOOLsheet.

No, seriously. That's you. How you've been? 

[Tis BOOLsheet]

It has its moments. The screaming section is not good to me, but the rest of it has positive things to take away.

That's BOOLsheet.

No, seriously. That's you. How you've been? 

Been good! Glad to be back for the DT12 excitement 

How you been?

[Flacracker]

Fuck this whore.

Awesome solo.

[Scar]

This song is AWESOME!!
I'm going to crazy if someone else posts the misheard lyrics for this song....

Anyways, I love the introduction for this song, it is really fitting. Myung is awesome!! The build up, the verses, the chorus, the sampling!

This song is strong throughout and is definitely a song that I really enjoy and Petrucci's solo blows my mind. Really fitting for a song, and really frantic, like the song itself.

Has some of James' finest deliveries every and the acoustic ending blows my mind again. This song is awesome.

[don_waka]

Is there any live rendition of this song where JL actually sings the last line like on the record?
All the live versions I've listened your mind is just sung like a simple, tasteless phrase 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

One of DT's all-time bests.

[krands85]

All the live versions I've listened your mind is just sung like a simple, tasteless phrase 

That frustrates me too  See also: the end of 6DOIT on Score.

From a quick look on Youtube, there a couple of 1994 performances where he extends the final 'mind'.

[lanemeyer]

Haven't listened to this song in a VERY long time but always considered it a "Top 3" DT song for me.

Saw this thread, already had my headphones on, so I cued it up and closed my eyes to fully engage with it....

Mind = Blown!

The emotion, the lyrics, the music and the message of this song is all so powerful. It's a reminder of when DT is/was on, no other band could touch them.

[Ruby Inferno]

Yesss!

My favourite part has got to be "Like a scream but sort of silent, living off my nightmares". It's just so... haunting. And kind of intense. I love it.

[CoT67]

That intro is one of the most "metal af" moments, the way that guitar kicks in... what I really love about this song though is pacing and lyrics: the first makes it feel like the song is a shorter epic, packing as much punch and emotion as their longer songs in a bit less than 10 minutes, the second are arguably the most introspective lyrics ever written by Petrucci, touching some very interesting ground between faith, mental illness and perception of reality a la Philip K. Dick.

All in all, a great, memorable song, one of their best for sure.

[Scottjf8]

I was listening to the Once in a LIVEtime version of Voices today and omg, it's so good.  Like, sooooo good.

[gmillerdrake]

If you 'had' to do the impossible and pick the single best DT song of their discography, VOICES very well might be it. Amazing and beautiful on all aspects.

[SeRoX]

The lack of proper live performance of Voices pains me. (Not counting OALT which I don't enjoy). I hope DT brings it to the table again for the DVD release.

[Samsara]

Voices has everything I love about DT in it. It is my favorite from Awake (which is saying something since that is my favorite DT record). It has so much soul in the guitar playing, so much emotion in the singing. Just an incredible tune. Great atmosphere.

I remember it used to be a daily play for me on the way from work to my LSAT review course back in 1998. Good memories of heading up to Stony Brook. lol.

The lack of proper live performance of Voices pains me. (Not counting OALT which I don't enjoy). I hope DT brings it to the table again for the DVD release.

Amen.

[bosk1]

The lack of proper live performance of Voices pains me. (Not counting OALT which I don't enjoy). I hope DT brings it to the table again for the DVD release.

What's wrong with the LSFNY version?  That one's just about perfect if you ask me. 

I know for awhile in the early 2000s, it seemed like it had gotten played a LOT, to the point where I was starting to feel burned out on it.  And for some reason, they started shortening it and James seemed to be having trouble with it.  That has puzzled me a bit, since he definitely has songs where he goes higher, or songs that otherwise seem more challenging to me.    Maybe some of it just falls in his gap range, or maybe it has to do with him going too hard on the gritty parts back then and burning himself out.  Not sure. 

Anyway, my point is just that, for a long time, it was getting played VERY regularly and, off the top of my head, was on at least two live releases.  So when they did the Awake celebration on the Along For The Ride tour, I'm glad they skipped the AMBI suite in favor of a lot of songs that hadn't gotten much if any live treatment before then.  But it has been absent for awhile now.  I wouldn't mind seeing it come back.

[hefdaddy42]

Same.

[MirrorMask]

Voices is one of my absolute favorite songs from DT, ever, and I consider it one of their ultimate masterpieces.

Yes, I really love and adhore that song that much. It's perfect. It's 10 minutes not because of a verse / chorus / verse / chorus / mindless solo section / chorus format, it takes each of those 10 minutes to change moods and going back and forth to the bombastic chorus always keeping up with wonderful vocal melodies and good lyrics.

This is Dream Theater at their very best.

[mikeyd23]

Yeah, over the years I think Voices has become my favorite track off of Awake.

[Samsara]

Voices is one of my absolute favorite songs from DT, ever, and I consider it one of their ultimate masterpieces.

Yes, I really love and adore that song that much. It's perfect. It's 10 minutes not because of a verse / chorus / verse / chorus / mindless solo section / chorus format, it takes each of those 10 minutes to change moods and going back and forth to the bombastic chorus always keeping up with wonderful vocal melodies and good lyrics.

This is Dream Theater at their very best.

Well said. Completely agree with you.

[SeRoX]

The lack of proper live performance of Voices pains me. (Not counting OALT which I don't enjoy). I hope DT brings it to the table again for the DVD release.

What's wrong with the LSFNY version?  That one's just about perfect if you ask me. 

WTF is wrong with me? I completely forgot that one. 

But again, The Killing Hand and Voices are what I want to see recorded for live DVD again.

[romdrums]

I also like the song's placement in the album, being a centerpiece in a way. I  feel like this song is the point in the album where "shit gets real." All the songs preceding it were fairly upbeat, heavy, driving (6:00, Innocence Faded, etc.), where as this song is serious, dramatic, powerful. The solo exemplifies this. Not sure if others feel the same way, it's just how I look at it.

But yeah, good song, one of the highlights of Awake.

This.  So much this.

[Tony From Long Island]

To get our minds off of new album announcements, show your appreciation for Voices!

I LOVE this song. My favorite song of Awake and top 10 for all DT.  I remember the first time I heard it, I wasn't all that impressed.  But I came back to it after a while and, damn, did it grow on me fast.  My favorite parts are the transition from the heavy intro to the haunting "Love, just don't stare" and the melody during "See my diary on the newstand" section.

I haven't even read the whole thread. I just had to comment to agree 100%.       I received a copy of Awake on cassette a few weeks before it came out because I was the music editor of my college paper.  "Voices" along with "6:00" stood out to me upon first listen    ("Scarred" was not on the cassette version).

[Tony From Long Island]

Only part I do not especially care for are the kind of high pitch screams JLB does in the verse the "But where was the Garden of Eden?" parts.

I am generally not a fan of screaming vocals. However, this part is OK for me.  It's isolated and fits the lyric

[bosk1]

Just listening to the LSFNY version.  Myung's very simple ascending bass part just preceding the "I'm lying here in bed; feel my skin is inside out" part is so simple yet so effective at building the tension in that part of the song. 

[Thoughtspart3]

I love that version and couldn't agree more about the bass in that section. 

I think A mind beside itself is just great with voices fitting perfectly in the middle.

[MirrorMask]

Just listening to the LSFNY version.  Myung's very simple ascending bass part just preceding the "I'm lying here in bed; feel my skin is inside out" part is so simple yet so effective at building the tension in that part of the song. 

The only thing I don't like about the live version comes immediately after. The line goes "Just another sunday morning" and then "Seen my diary on the newstead, seems we've lost the truth to quicksand" etc and James sings it high (since both lines, low and high, are on the studio version), but to me it would flow better if he'd just stay low.

I'm not talking about his actual performance, let's say he completely nails it and replicates exactly the studio version, I'd still prefer for him to continue staying low.

[Devin Townsend]

Voices is possibly DT's best song (tied with Scarred) 

[Samsara]

Voices is possibly DT's best song (tied with Scarred) 

Yes on both!!!