Best DT Choruses

[a8ac]

Not only on the album, but for you what are the best choruses in the whole DT discography?
I couldnt find a post like this one, and I was just curious
You can write as many as you want,
Here are my favorite ones (The list is NOT in order) I tried to make it as short as possible:

-A Rite of Passage
I wouldn't  like this song if it wasn't for the chorus, the lyrics are full of Illuminati references, and the instrumental section just bores me, but the chorus has a nice, catchy melody that makes the song worth listening.

-Home
This is another song I'm not really a fan of, specially those orgasm noises in the middle of the song, but the chorus reminds me of some parts of Metropolis Pt. 1 which i love.

-Under a Glass Moon
This chorus is fantastic, i love James voice here, but what makes this chorus great is the rhythm, Its constantly changing and I love the ride pattern portnoy plays here.

-Surrender To Reason
This chorus makes me happy everytime I hear it, and the "Restless angels.." part after the last chorus is In my opinion, one of the best moments in the new DT album

-Breaking All illusions
One of the most beautiful choruses i've ever heard, and the ending is so emotional... I almost cried when i saw it live (Actually it was Youtube video XD).

-Behind The Veil
Awesome song with a really catchy chorus, that's all i have to say.

-Hollow Years
I don't like it that much, but, this was the first song that made me like DT, so it has a special place in my heart

-About To Crash (and ATC Reprise)
I  have no words to describe how this chorus makes me feel, and even though I dont suffer from Bipolar disorder, Somehow I identify with these lyrics. I also love Portnoy's backing vocals here.

-The Great Debate
I dont know what to say about this one, but im sure is one of the best in this list. For me it has a different feel from the rest of the choruses, and that's one of the reasons why i love it.

-Bridges in The Sky
The chorus transports me to another place, it has a beautiful, soaring melody, and i love the "SHAMAN TAKE MY HAAAND" part.


That was just my opinion, I hope you enjoyed! (Also, this is my first post BTW  )

[Tom Bombadil]

Welcome to the forum! And a great topic for your first thread.

So many to choose from, and I'm sure I'm forgetting about some really good ones, but my favorites are:

Home, The Silent Man, BITS, Innocence Faded, UAGM, and most definitely Voices.

[adamack]

To the OP:

Dude, you have some awesome taste!! Wow...

Home, Surrender To Reason, Behind The Veil, Bridges In The Sky, Breaking All Illusions, Hollow Years, and A Rite Of Passage would all make my top 20 choruses. (I think at least...I'd have to think into it, but just going off the top they all seem like top 20 chrous material to me.)

If I had to choose one, I'd probably go with Home.

Home was my first favorite DT song. It is the song that got me into their music. Back then, I used to smoke pot and I'll never forget laying on my floor, listening to Home as I was stoned.

I think a large part of the appeal of Home's chorus is the background vocal melodies. They sound so trippy, for lack of a better word.

Also, the tempo of the song makes the chorus sound like it drags, but in the best kind of way.

And that suspended note, which resolves....Meeeeemmm----oryyyyyyy....so awesome.

Sorry if none of that made sense....It's just so hard for me to explain why it is so good.

Also, I know what you mean about ARoP. The chorus on that song definitely outshines the verses.

Anyway, welcome to the forum! Great first post.

[Rodni Demental]

I always loved the chorus in the song 'Voices'. The silence that just erupts into life after the first verse sounds very powerful to me.

Also, I think A Dramatic Turn of Events is stacked full of epic chorus'. Say what you want about the structure as I understand it's got some fairly traditional chord progressions, but the right chords can be the key to a great chorus.

Interestingly, Chorus' can be the part I look forward to least in some songs. Trial of Tears is a good example. It's an epic piece but the Chorus.. Hmm I dunno about that one.

Edit: Endless Sacrifice Chorus, one of my favourites how could I forget! Awesome Riffage. 

Also quite into the Chorus in these ones: 6:00, Caught in a Web and Innocence faded. Come to think of it Awake has a quite a few Chorus' I like.

[Jaffa]

I think I’m gonna have to go with Misunderstood. 

Other favorites of mine are Bridges in the Sky, Solitary Shell, Take the Time, Under a Glass Moon, Home, Voices, and Endless Sacrifice.  But the chorus of Misunderstood contains some of my favorite lyrics ever, and that’s enough to give it an edge over the competition.  So, yeah.  Lots of great choices, but if I had to pick a single favorite, Misunderstood.

[?]

I agree that AROP (even though I don't like the song overall), Hollow Years and BITS have great choruses. Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned:

Take the Time
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
Afterlife
Pull Me Under
Trial of Tears
Caught in a Web
These Walls
TROAE

[Jaffa]

I agree that AROP (even though I don't like the song overall), Hollow Years and BITS have great choruses. Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned:

Take the Time
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
Afterlife
Pull Me Under
Trial of Tears
Caught in a Web
These Walls
TROAE

Much love for Afterlife and Caught in a Web.   

[adastra]

I Walk Beside You! 

[Unlegit]

I'm surprised to see Take the Time only mentioned once. That is definitely my favorite DT chorus. 6:00, Home, and I Walk Beside You also have some really solid choruses.

[The Stray Seed]

The one that I really can't get out of my head is Trial of Tears. Each time outside it's pouring, I can't help but start singing:

It's rainiiiing... rainiiiing...

[JiM-Xtreme]

Octavarium 

[Sycsa]

Take the Time - this is truly special for me since it's the very hook that dragged me into Dream Theater. I've been listening to (parts of) the Budokan DVD for years, but never felt the need to explore DT any deeper than that. Than I tried on I&W and the chorus of TTT stood out and hit me with such intensity that I couldn't escape from it or days (not that I wanted to anyway). After the first listen I remember going back to each track to find where exactly it was. Also, this constituted the singular moment in which I promoted JLB from weakest link (remember, Budokan was hard pressed into my brain at that point) to the strongest asset...

Under a Glass Moon - ...having said that, this is still my favorite chorus from not only I&W, but the whole DT catalog.

Fatal Tragedy - too bad Mike jinxed it with "you can eat my ass and balls", which I cannot unhear no matter how hard I try. 

Home - as the first chorus leads into the Metropolis riff, enter goosebumps.

One Last Time - although not in the song OLT, but in Finally Free. Still counts and it's the only DT moment (any music for that matter) which regularly makes me shred tears.

Blind Faith - all the negativity towards this perplexes me, the buildup is great, it's one of James's best, thickest, most powerful tones, the call-answer with Mike works great and his heavy cymbal work drives it with immense power. I'd put this in the top 3.

Endless Sacrifice - gotta love JP's beeps.

The Dark Eternal Night - when the double bass kicks in towards the end of the chorus, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Behind the Veil - after the lyrics kicked in with me, I found this chorus deeply touching, sentimental and the delivery is great.



Many of my favorite vocal moments are not the choruses though (F#, Callow and Vain, Thought disorder, Feeling uninspired, Strange Déjá-Vu heavy part).

[Riitasointi]

Good thread.

I'm surprised Solitary Shell hasn't been mentioned yet. Talk about catchy! I just love that whole song/movement/part/whatever as a whole too. So as of now it would probably be my favorite. Some others that come to mind

Spirit Carries On
Silent Man
Beneath The Surface
As I Am
Root Of All Evil
The Answer Lies Within
Behind The Veil

Oh god there are so many. I think being able to come up with good vocal melodies has always been a strong point of this band.

[JiM-Xtreme]

Behind the Veil - after the lyrics kicked in with me, I found this chorus deeply touching, sentimental and the delivery is great.

I'm pretty obsessed with this chorus atm. It's one of my favourite moments on the new album for sure.

[Dellers]

The Spirit Carries On
The Root Of All Evil
A Nightmare To Remember
Bridges In The Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Surrender To Reason
Illumination Theory

[jayvee3]

The Spirit Carries On
The Root Of All Evil
A Nightmare To Remember
Bridges In The Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Surrender To Reason
Illumination Theory

I absolutely love IT, but I have to admit - i'm not actually sure which bit of it is deemed the actual 'chorus'..

Choruses I genuinely love and constantly (and badly) sing along to  :

Trial of Tears
Lines in the sand
under a glass moon
innocence faded
Endless sacrifice
As I am
The Looking Glass
The Enemy Inside

[aprilethereal]

Afterlife
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Anna Lee
Trial Of Tears
Raise The Knife
The Spirit Carries On
Finally Free
As I Am
Endless Sacrifice
In The Name Of God
These Walls
I Walk Beside You
Sacrificed Sons
Forsaken
The Dark Eternal Night
A Rite Of Passage
The Count Of Tuscany
Bridges In The Sky
Beneath The Surface
The Enemy Inside
The Bigger Picture
Surrender To Reason

The best of the best for me

[Dellers]

I absolutely love IT, but I have to admit - i'm not actually sure which bit of it is deemed the actual 'chorus'..

4:30/5:30 totally sounds like a chorus to me. That's what I meant anyway.

[Ruba]

Status Seeker (great guitar melody and backing vocals)
Afterlife (and the unison based on chorus  )
Take the Time (kicks some ass)
Under a Glass Moon (one of the things that made me a DT fan)
Innocence Faded (poppy, but beautiful)
The Mirror (James sounds awesome and love the keyboard melody)
A Change of Seasons II: Innocence ( )
Lines in the Sand (I like Doug Pinnick's vocals here)
Raise the Knife (beautiful, but I think the backing vocals should be longer, "I once kneeeeeeeew" instead of "I once knew")
Home (nice recycling of Metropolis pt.1)
Finally Free (very melancholic and beautiful, and made my cry once)
Misunderstood (so powerful and climatic)
Endless Sacrifice (great riff!)
The Root of All Evil (this might actually be my favourite. Damn beautiful chord progression)
Never Enough (love the melodies)
Prophets of War (verrrry catchy)
In the Presence of Enemies III: Heretic (evil)
Bridges in the Sky (a modern masterpiece)

Oops. Pretty many of them.

Writing choruses are definately one of their strengths. I must admit even some songs I don't care about have great ones (Fatal Tragedy, AROP, The Bigger Picture).

[Outcrier]

+1 for The Root Of All Evil 

[aprilethereal]

Writing choruses are definately one of their strengths. I must admit even some songs I don't care about have great ones (Fatal Tragedy, AROP, The Bigger Picture).

[OsMosis2259]

Honestly, there are so many to name!
We know the instrumentation is a big part of DT but they also really know how to write great choruses!

[Nearmyth]

I must say I agree with every singleone of those! Especially Bridges In the Sky (which might be their best chorus, if not one of the best), Surrender To Reason, and Home.

Lemme think, I also love...
Voices
Scarred
Never enough
The Bigger Picture
Finally Free

[Tom Bombadil]

Forgot to mention Along for the Ride. I love that chorus.

[Runei]

Good question! Here's what I think:

- Another Day - the transition from the solo to the last chorus is genius.
- Lines in the Sand - very rock'n'roll but unusual at the same time in terms of time signature.
- Strange Deja Vu - the lyrics work perfectly here.
- Finally Free - ditto
- Constant Motion - it's one of the few things I like about this album.
- The Best of Times - great combination of Mike and James' vocals.
- Bridges in the Sky
- The Looking Glass - you live without shaaaaame...
- Along for the Ride

[Scorpion]

One Last Time - although not in the song OLT, but in Finally Free. Still counts and it's the only DT moment (any music for that matter) which regularly makes me shred tears.

Never done that.

Anyway, most of my favourites have been mentioned already, but I'll second Trial of Tears and Blind Faith - I really can't understand why so many people find that one lackluster, to be honest.

[Marion Crane]

One Last Time - although not in the song OLT, but in Finally Free. Still counts and it's the only DT moment (any music for that matter) which regularly makes me shred tears.

Never done that.

Anyway, most of my favourites have been mentioned already, but I'll second Trial of Tears and Blind Faith - I really can't understand why so many people find that one lackluster, to be honest.

I gotta go Voices or Blind Faith

[Crow]

Nothing even comes close to TROAE for me. That chorus alone probably puts the song in the top 20 for me, if not top 10.
The reprise in TSF is far and away the best part of that song, too.
Just. All my love for that chorus.

[aprilethereal]

One Last Time - although not in the song OLT, but in Finally Free. Still counts and it's the only DT moment (any music for that matter) which regularly makes me shred tears.

Never done that.

Blind Faith - I really can't understand why so many people find that one lackluster, to be honest.

Because the whole song is, so it fits

[?]

Blind Faith (and its chorus) rules. Period.

to Ruba for mentioning Status Seeker, I didn't remember how catchy that chorus is.

[Polarbear]

Blind Faith (and its chorus) rules. Period.

Agree 100%

[Estiui]

I love lots of choruses, but I have to say In The Name Of God, which has not been mentioned yet and is pretty much awesome.

[Sycsa]

A Change of Seasons II: Innocence ( )

Oh yeah, that too. I love Derek's Hammond chord progression underneath it.

[aprilethereal]

A Change of Seasons II: Innocence ( )

Oh yeah, that too. I love Derek's Hammond chord progression underneath it.

My favourite part of the whole song

[Sourcegamer101]

Strange Deja Vu
One Last Time
The Looking Glass
Bridges in the Sky
This Dying Soul
As I Am
Behind the Veil
The Bigger Picture
Finally Free

There are probably more I like, but these are just some I thought of at the top of my head.