Favorite performance by each Dream Theater member

[Zyzzyva17]

What songs do you think have the best performance by each of the current and former members of Dream Theater?

Current:
James LaBrie: Metropolis
John Petrucci: The Glass Prison
John Myung: Ytse Jam
Jordan Rudess: Octavarium
Mike Mangini: Outcry

Former:
Mike Portnoy: The Great Debate
Derek Sherinian: A Change of Seasons
Kevin Moore: Take the Time
Charlie Dominici: The Killing Hand

[Rodni Demental]

For the members that have been with the band for a long time, there are just so many choices that I probably haven't thought hard enough about it so I just put the first song that came to mind with standout moments for those musicians. I bet there'd be plenty of other examples though and I'd probably change my mind if I looked at this on a different day. For the others that have had less time with the band, it's a bit easier to consider so I probably have more to say about them.

JR: Blind Faith - I think this one speaks for itself hopefully.
JLB: The Root of All Evil - This has always been a standout piece for James imo. Not necessarily because of the range he uses (although those verses have some powerful highs), just the general delivery on this one was part of what gives the album such a strong opening.
JP: Beyond this Life - Amazing riffage, amazing solos.
MP: Honor Thy Father - While not necessarily his most technical work, there's some absolutely badass syncopation in this song and some very impressive fills.
JM: Ytse Jam - Definitely an obvious choice for John, he has plenty of other great moments in many songs, but then you don't notice him for a while and probably take him for granted. I tell you one thing, we'd notice his presence a lot more if he was removed from the mix.

MM: Quite hard to say at this point, he's generally got a very high standard of technique in all songs he's done thus far so it makes it very hard to choose. I might pick something like The Enemy Inside or Illumination Theory - He does actually have some fantastic work on the ADTOE songs on Luna Park too, that live album really makes you appreciate his drum parts a lot more, especially on songs like Outcry.
DS: A Change of Seasons - Yeah I give Derek a lot of credit for this one, he's got a huge range of styles demonstrated on here. Wouldn't have been the same without him. Could also pick Lines in the Sand but all his work on FII is pretty exceptional.
KM: Wait for Sleep/Learning to Live - I'll cheat and count those as one for Kevin because his melodies are reprised in the latter and the song(s) features extensions and variations of those motifs. Of course, Surrounded is another top Kevin song. Although for some of his more synthy work, Only A Matter of Time is also full of classic KM bits. Also really love his work on 6:00. Damn it's actually quite hard to pick a favourite Kevin song.
CD: Light Fuse and Get Away - Definitely one of Charlies best DT songs as far as vocal delivery goes. I would certainly consider Afterlife too. And of course his performance on To Live Forever on When Dream and Day ReUnite is a highlight of that show.

[Sycsa]

Let's start with the easy ones:

Kevin Moore - Take the Time - The intro and the solo are both excellent melodies that stuck in my head like in few other. When the keyboards kick in at 0:44, I'm always like, yeah, that's how you put keys in metal. The bluesy organ at 4:50 is also a nice touch.

Derek Sherinian - I love me some good ol' fashioned Hammond raking and Derek's always been miles ahead of Jordan in that department. A Change of Seasons it is! Trial of Tears is also great, I love it how the organ subtly cuts through underneath "Not within his eyes to see" and he played the solo afterwards with as much feel and variety as if he played on a guitar.

John Myung - Besides Learning to Live I can hardly think of a song with a memorable bass line. That one at the end is great though, puts me in a good, "this is how an album should end" mood. I was really happy to finally be able to hear his bass without straining my ears on DT12.

I tell you one thing, we'd notice his presence a lot more if he was removed from the mix.

Reminds me of that old analogy about the bass player being like oxygen.

It gets harder from here.

James LaBrie - I feel like his studio performance is constantly strong and he has at least one amazing moment on every album. Overall, I'm going with Take the Time, the way he sang the chorus was the very thing that sealed the deal with DT for me and dragged me in irrevocably. After the first chorus, "Unbroken spirits"...that stuff is just otherworldly. My all-time favorite JLB moment is "Callow and vain" from Innocence Faded, I always get goosebumps by the end of that section. Another strong candidate is Trial of Tears because of the aforementioned "Hidden by disguise" section. JLB even managed to improve that section with a different melody on Breaking the Fourth Wall, which is nothing short of astonishing. My jaw was even more floored when I heard "Mother for their children" from Illumination Theory. Where did that come from? Wasn't everyone caught off guard by that?

Also, I totally get this, especially because of the "Driven blindly by our sins" part. At that point, I'm always like "JLB has arrived, full swing:"

JLB: The Root of All Evil - This has always been a standout piece for James imo. Not necessarily because of the range he uses (although those versus have some powerful highs), just the general delivery on this one was part of what gives the album such a strong opening.

Mike Portnoy: I always found his drumming to be really tasteful and with plenty of character, but it's really hard to place something above the rest. One thing he often does, and which is really interesting to listen to, is play a different beat over the same melody, I always love to hear that (The Mirror, ACOS, HTF, TDEN...). He really shines in mid-tempo songs, with tasty and memorable fills (Lines in the Sand, Endless Sacrifice, Blind Faith, These Walls), but I also like when he's charging through a song with lots of fast double bass (TGP, ANTR). His hi-hat work is often mesmerizing, too. And, of course, there are his signature pieces, which gained their notoriety for good reason, 6:00 and especially The Dance of Eternity.

Jordan Rudess: My favorite solo is probably the one for Octavarium, for that great Minimoog sound alone, but overall I might like his performance on Beyond this Life more. The wacky and warm sounding solo section with the lead, the bells and the horns (which, to my surprise, gets some hate around here), the Deep Purple organ groove, juicy stuff. Gotta mention his triple solo from Blind Faith (having organ in there is always a big advantage, couple that with one of his tastiest piano parts). I was happy to see him in a more prominent role on ADTOE (sadly that didn't become a tendency with DT12).

John Petrucci: Again, without trying to find an absolute favorite, I'll just point out a few thing that stuck with me. Whenever he uses the whammy bar fluttering technique (slamming on it to get this motorboat sounding effect), I'm sold. AFAIK, that only happened twice, both of those solos are huge favorites (Under a Glass Moon 5:24, Lost Not Forgotten 7:56, chalk it up to the I&W & ADTOE conspiracy). If he did it in other songs, please let me know. It's obvious that he's working hard and he composed some amazing melodies on the last two albums as well. His Breaking All Illusions solo is on par with The Spirit Carries On, the Behind the Veil solo also stands out, especially the end of it. Overall, I think his best album is SFAM, because of Beyond this Life, Fatal Tragedy, Finally Free, TSCO, I can't narrow it down any more than that.

Mike Mangini: Whenever I listen to music, I always tend to imagine the players, see what their fingers, limbs might be doing. MM has some parts on Illumination Theory that I simply couldn't envision, let alone air drum to it. Lost Not Forgotten is also outstanding, coming out with that simple beat after the highly technical "tickle section" is a moment I always think of with fondness. His little drum break in Enigma Machine compelled me to add 4 octobans to my drum set, and I never wanted and hardly noticed those things before, even though MP hit them often too. The guy is incredibly inspiring, his best drumming so far was on BTFW (those fills in The Shattered Fortress, Trial of Tear, uff madonn'). I'm sure he'll get even better for the next album/tour and I'm anxious to hear it.

[TheCountOfNYC]

James Labrie- Vacant
Mike Mangini- Enigma Machine
John Myung- A Change of Seasons
John Petrucci- Under a Glass Moon
Jordan Rudess- The Count of Tuscany

Charlie Dominici- Afterlife
Kevin Moore- Take the Time
Mike Portnoy- The Dance of Eternity
Derek Sherinian- Trial of Tears

[The Letter M]

Considering studio recordings often compile multiple performances to formulate a complete member's part in a song, I feel compelled to choose live shows to best represent a band member's favorite performance of mine. Granted, there are chances for over-dubs on everyone's parts, but they're probably not as rampant as one would think, barring any technical difficulties.
Without thinking TOO hard on it, though, here's what I've come up with so far:

James LaBrie - 3/4/93, the show from NYC. It's got the entire IAW album on it, plus 3 B-sides and 3 songs from the debut album. While IAW Live In Tokyo and Live At The Marquee have some stellar moments for JLB, the whole show from NYC is amazing, especially since it has SO MANY songs, including the "original" version of "A Change Of Seasons", rarely performed with vocals.

Kevin Moore - Same for JLB, the 3/4/93 show, mostly because it's a full show and includes all of IAW in it, which he absolutely slays on. It also features Kevin playing his original parts on ACOS!

Derek Sherinian - The *really long* show on June 25, 1998 - Le Bataclan, Paris, France, most of which was used for Once In A LIVEtime. The whole set list covers a LOT of songs, including parts of ACOS and 10 songs from the FII period (out of 16 written then). He also gets a piano solo and the band does some fun covers too. It was hard to choose between this show and the Tokyo, Japan 10/28/95 show from the "ACOS Tour", which includes a complete live performance of ACOS with DS on keys, as well as a fun instrumental medley, all of "A Mind Beside Itself" and the encore of "Wait For Sleep" and "Learning To Live". Both shows are great for DS, but the Paris show has FII songs, so you really get a sense of DS's identity with the band on songs they wrote with him.

Charlie Dominici - "To Live Forever" and "Metropolis Part 1" from When Dream And Day Reunite. Charlie nails it with TLF, and his shared vocals on "Metropolis" are a highlight for me, between his vocal interpretations (with some flavorful syncopations) and harmonies with JLB, this was the sound of a more confident CD performing music with the band.

Mike Portnoy - Live At Budokan, which features some very tasty drumming, only brought out more so by the fact that it includes 3 LONG stretches of instrumental music ("Beyond This Life" jam with JR, the "Instrumedley", and "Stream Of Consciousness"), as well as covering a good amount of music from previous albums. I almost went with LSFNY here, but his drumming was peaking around the TOT tour, and the heavier music gave him a chance to really rock out.

John Myung - Hard for me to choose here, and I'd have to go back and listen to a few of their live albums, but for now, I'll say either LALP or LAB. Both stand out to me as having better bass sound and overall performances.

John Petrucci - Live Scenes From New York. His playing on the SFAM is pretty phenomenal, so it stands to reason that the live version of the album would be pretty good, and this performance delivered that and THEN some, especially that soulful duet with Theresa Thomason, and later on his solo in "The Spirit Carries On" (as well as their impromptu outro improv - chills EVERY time). And on TOP of all of the SFAM album live, we get ACOS, AMBI and LTL at the end, and they're ALL great showcases for JP's guitar work.

Jordan Rudess - Live Scenes From New York or Live At Budokan, although it'd be hard to pick one. He's pretty fantastic for both shows, the former because it was his first major tour with the band and they played all of SFAM, which has a lot of great moments for him all over the album (and the aforementioned TSOR performance), but LAB also has some fun and great moments as well, especially JR's jam with MP during "Beyond This Life", as well as songs like "Disappear" and "Solitary Shell".

Mike Mangini - For MM, I'd have to go with Live At Luna Park, simply for the fact that both nights covered all 9 songs from their then-new album ADTOE, and I feel like MM really shines on those songs, especially live. "Outcry" and "Breaking All Illusions' in particular really stand out for me, but his performance in older songs like "The Root Of All Evil" breathe a bit of new life in them.

EDIT - because I somehow forgot JR. Whoops.

-Marc.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Kevin Moore: Space Dye Vest
James LaBrie: In The Presence of Enemies

Not sure about the rest. May think on it later.

[Rodni Demental]

Hey M, aren't you missing someone?

Other than that, I like your choices. I dunno if I've heard Derek playing Wait for Sleep, I'll have to check that out.

[erwinrafael]

James LaBrie - it's a tie between The Mirror and Scarred. I love his aggressive Awake vocals.
John Petrucci - Breaking All Illusions. Most majestic intro I have heard in a DT song and the bluesy solo is amazing.
John Myung - In the past couple of months, I just realized how great Myung's bass playing is in Octavarium. He carried the song. When his bass kicked in to introduce the Medicate session, I smiled. Runner up is Trial of Tears.
Jordan Rudess - Blind Faith. I especially love the piano part.
Mike Mangini - Illumination Theory. He brought out his bag of tricks in this song and it represents well his style of complementing and integrating the parts played by the other instruments. If the cymbals are louder in the stanzas and chorus of Live, Die, Kill, it would even be more amazing.

Mike Portnoy - It's a tie between Caught in a Web and The Mirror. While Trial of Tears and Peruvian Skies are the real representatives of what would later become MP's signature drumming style, my favorite MP has always been the one in Awake. The drumming in that album is just full of passion, and there is no "overdrumming" yet as the drums are still focused on complementing the other instruments. The drums in The Mirror, for example, sound simple, but it fits the song so well.
Kevin Moore - I don't think a lot of other posters would agree with my choice. It's 6:00 for me. I just love how the keys told the story of the song. The solo is also amazing. Runner up would be the haunting keys in The Mirror.
Derek Sherinian - Trial of Tears. It has the best wanky keyboard solo in a DT song.

[The Letter M]

Hey M, aren't you missing someone?

Other than that, I like your choices. I dunno if I've heard Derek playing Wait for Sleep, I'll have to check that out.

Yup! I sure did!

And thanks! Although I remembered while typing that up that DS didn't play "Wait For Sleep" that show(/tour?) as it was the acoustic version with JP playing the keyboard parts on guitar. My guess is that since DS had just joined the band and he had to learn 3 albums worth of music, as well as "A Change Of Seasons", they could save him some time by not having him learn a 3 minute piano song. *Shrug* Someone with better knowledge of this might be able to explain it better than me, though!

-Marc.

[Rodni Demental]

Ah yes that makes sense.  I do remember that JP accoustic version of Wait for Sleep actually. And now I recall thinking it was strange that they didn't get Derek to play it but I guess he just hadn't learnt it at the time or they wanted to do something a little different. He plays the Wait for Sleep reprisals in Learning to Live obviously.

Kevin Moore - I don't think a lot of other posters would agree with my choice. It's 6:00 for me. I just love how the keys told the song. The solo is also amazing.

I dunno, I thought most people thought 6:00 is one of Kevins best (it is for me). It's a lot 'busier' than some of his other stuff so it's a good representation of his more virtuoso side that isn't appreciated in Dream Theater as much I find. He has an amazing organ type solo in this song too. To be honest, I think it's one of his best efforts on Awake in general.

[erwinrafael]

I dunno, I thought most people thought 6:00 is one of Kevins best (it is for me). It's a lot 'busier' than some of his other stuff so it's a good representation of his more virtuoso side that isn't appreciated in Dream Theater as much I find. He has an amazing organ type solo in this song too. To be honest, I think it's one of his best efforts on Awake in general.

I am glad we agree. Others find the 6:00 keys as grating, but I always found that grating effect as very intentional. The song, after all, is KM saying "I am just forcing myself to do this." 

EDIT: Since we're talking about keys on 6:00, I would just like to say that I was quite disappointed with JR's keys on 6:00 in LALP. The intro was lifeless, and the tone chosen for the solo was too retro for my taste.

[Laughingplace56]

Hmm.

James LaBrie- Probably either Learning to Live or Octavarium.

John Petrucci- The Glass Prison. But only a hair over most of his work.

John Myung- Trial of Tears

Jordan Rudess- Octavarium and Blind Faith.

Mike Mangini- Illumination Theory by a huge landslide. I've loved all of his work so far, especially his work on DT12/BtFW, but some of the technical stuff in the intro and the beginning of The Pursuit of Truth take it over the edge.

Kevin Moore- Space Dye Vest for emotion, Take the Time or Metropolis for technicality.

Derek Sherinian- A Change of Seasons

Charles Dominici- Only A Matter of Time

Mike Portnoy- Saved this one for last because it's the hardest. As a drummer, I listen to the drums more closely than any other instrument, and given the longevity of MP's career in DT, there's a LOT to choose from. If I had to boil it down to his overall best work, I think the best options are The Great Debate, Blind Faith, The Glass Prison, The Dance of Eternity, Home, Metropolis, and Take the Time. If I had to pick only one, probably The Great Debate, as there's a LOT of seriously interesting stuff going on in that song.

[RoeDent]

James LaBrie: A Change of Seasons
John Petrucci: Voices
Mike Portnoy: Fatal Tragedy
Mike Mangini: Outcry
Kevin Moore: Scarred
Derek Sherinian: Lines in the Sand
Jordan Rudess: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
John Myung: Learning to Live

I've missed Dominici because I'm not familiar with WDADU.

[Calvin6s]

John Petrucci, Kevin Moore, John Myung, Mike Portnoy:  Puppies on Acid on the Images and Words tour.  All the parts were simple, but they all fit together to make a dense and rewarding experience.  I like it when every instrument is crucial.  Take one out and the whole thing falls apart.

Derek Sherinian:  Crack in the Mirror.  Took Puppies on Acid up a notch.

Jordan Rudess:  Not sure.  Probably Octavarium.  I like his texture work more than his solo work

Mike Mangini:  Illumination Theory.  This is the song where MM came into his own within the band.

James LaBrie:  Misunderstood

Charlie Dominici:  YTSE Jam

[BRGM]

John Petrucci: Whenever he uses the whammy bar fluttering technique (slamming on it to get this motorboat sounding effect), I'm sold. AFAIK, that only happened twice, both of those solos are huge favorites (Under a Glass Moon 5:24, Lost Not Forgotten 7:56, chalk it up to the I&W & ADTOE conspiracy). If he did it in other songs, please let me know.

He also does that on A Rite of Passage


James Labrie - Voices, some of the best vocal melodies I ever heard. Misunderstood is also worth mentioning.

John Petrucci - He's always on top of his game but today my answer is Blind faith and Misunderstood, great riffs, great solos, his experimental approach on Misunderstood always fascinated me.

Jordan Rudess - Octavarium, he's firing on all levels here, the continuum, lapsteel, minimoog, the piano and everything in between (everyone is really stellar on this song though). Honorable mentions would be Blind Faith, SDOIT and TDoE,

John Myung - Lifting Shadows Off A Dream, great lyrics and great bass work. Trial of tears and Scarred are just as great though.

Mike Mangini - Illumination Theory, the drumming in this song is on a whole other level. Outcry and all of BTFW is worth mentioning as well.

Mike Portnoy - The Great Debate, the drumming makes an already interesting song that much better.

Derek Sherinian - Lines In the Sand, stellar song and Derek really shines in this one with the bluesy piano riffs and a great intro.

Kevin Moore - The Mirror, so haunting, so beautiful, same goes for Space Dye Vest.

Charlie Dominici - Metropolis on When Dream And Day Reunite, so intense!

[Rodni Demental]

I'm surprised I didn't think of SDOIT for Jordan, but if he's responsible for most of the Overture (hard to say because I dunno if those themes were developed then reprised, or if the Overture was written afterwards to sort of unify all the themes, I'd be curious if anyone has info. regarding this), either way it's definitely some of his best work.

Also come to think of it, JM actually is fantastic on WDADU, lots of cool harmonics used in some songs (the person who mentioned LSOAD reminded me of this). For example TOWHTSTS.

[Sycsa]

John Petrucci: Whenever he uses the whammy bar fluttering technique (slamming on it to get this motorboat sounding effect), I'm sold. AFAIK, that only happened twice, both of those solos are huge favorites (Under a Glass Moon 5:24, Lost Not Forgotten 7:56, chalk it up to the I&W & ADTOE conspiracy). If he did it in other songs, please let me know.

He also does that on A Rite of Passage

Yeah, thanks! It was one of those few DT songs I've never listened to in its entirety.