Best & Worst Instrumental Sections of DT Songs

[pdurbin22]

Sometimes the instrumental jam sections of DT's songs (that otherwise feature lyrics) work better than others.  Here's my opinion on the Five Best and Worst executions - would love to hear yours:

BEST

1) "Metropolis Pt 1" - One of the most beloved instrumental sections in DT's catalog; it's like a song unto itself and is just as memorable as "YYZ" and other famous instrumentals.  It pretty much set the bar for everything after.

2) "Learning to Live" - Beautiful, melodic, exciting.  The climax in the middle with James' "whoa-ohh-OHH" may not make this section entirely instrumental, but it gives me chills every time and is just so perfect.

3) "Home" - Not really a jam so much as a solo section at the end of a build-up, but it fits the song perfectly.

4) "Blind Faith" - Highly underrated song and whole mid section is just as enjoyable as the rest.

5) "Bridges In The Sky" - My favorite DT song of the past ten years and past five albums, hands-down.  Not a single note is wasted.  The middle section flows in and out of the rest of the song flawlessly and it endlessly exciting.  It single-handedly redeems the worst moments of the few albums that came before it. 

WORST

1) "This Dying Soul" - One of my least favorite DT songs, it has some great parts (the intro, first verse and chorus) and some clunker moments (the second verse and the whole end of the song). I've always argued against people who think Dream Theater are just show-offs playing as fast as they can, but the end jam of this song gives those people a case.

2) "Stream of Consciousness" - A really cool instrumental that did not need to be 11 minutes long, at least in its current form.  The beginning and end are very cool, but that middle section just plods. 

3) "The Ministry of Lost Souls" - An A-list song with a D-list middle jam.  Completely unnecessary.  Leaving it out would've given us a beautiful 8-minute ballad that still felt like an epic.  Instead it sounds like a sword fight in the middle of a slow dance. 

4) "A Rite of Passage" - I don't blame Portnoy for leaving the band and thinking things had gotten a bit stale if this was the best they could come up with for an album single.  This is the most "DT by the numbers" moment of their catalog.  I can just hear them saying "So now what?  Middle solo section?  Okay.  How do we end it?  Just stop it and go back into the chorus?  Okay." 

5) "Outcry" - That jam loses me every time.  Highly unmemorable, pretty boring by DT's standards and especially disappointing following the pure ecstasy of "Bridges in the Sky." 

[Evermind]

Pretty much agree with everything except SoC and TMOLS, I like those two.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Best

1) Beyond this Life
2) Octavarium
3) Metropolis
4) Breaking All Illusions
5) The Ministry of Lost Souls


Worst

1) Outcry
2) A Nightmare to Remember
3) Honor Thy Father
4) Sacrificed Sons
5) This Dying Soul

EDIT: I should probably add that the only one in the worst section that I don't actually like is Outcry's. As someone below me said, the instrumental section is usually the saving grace of a bad song (see: A Rite of Passage and The Dark Eternal Night).

[jakepriest]

Best

1. Home
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Beyond This life
4. In The Name of God
5. Octavarium

Worst

1. A Rite of Passage
2. Outcry
3. Lost Not Forgotten
4. Illumination Theory
5. Misunderstood

It was really hard for me to pick the worst instrumental parts, as they are usually the redeeming parts of otherwise bland DT songs.
Also I cannot agree on SoC and TMOLS having bad instrumental sections. The instrumental in TMOLS makes the song listenable for a minute or two.

[Train of Naught]

Best:

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. The Dark Eternal Night
3. A Change of Seasons (has so many awesome ones, I just couldn't leave it out)
4. Blind Faith
5. Endless Sacrifice

Worst:

1. A Rite of Passage
2. Sacrificed Sons
3. The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
4. Repentance
5. Bridges in the Sky

Something like that, I don't really consider the worst to be bad though, just out of the top of my head my least favorite.

[BlobVanDam]

Best:
Take the Time
Metropolis
Beyond This Life
Blind Faith
The Count of Tuscany
The Dark Eternal Night

Ok, I cheated.

Weakest:
Outcry
ITPOE pt 2
Breaking All Illusions
Scarred
Just assume WDADU fills out the rest of this list.

[Kotowboy]

Worst : Bebot Solo.

[Ben_Jamin]

I'll vote...

Vacant from Score as worst live performance.

[?]

*snip*

I agree on pretty much all of those, except Outcry.

[Nearmyth]

I love the Outcry instrumental section, Except the very last part (the whole 7/8 buildup).

For "Best," Beyond This Life instantly comes to mind. The Glass Prison, Learning To Live, Breaking All Illusions, Metropolis, Blind Faith, A Nightmare To Remember, many more I can't really think of.

For "Worst," let me think...
Endless Sacrifice
Rite Of Passage
Sacrificed Sons (this one is okay)

I'll probably add more as they come to mind

[erwinrafael]

Best: Breaking All Illusions
Runner Up: Trial of Tears
Worth Mentioning: Illumination Theory, Scarred, Misunderstood for pushing the boundaries

Worst: A Rite of Passage
Runner Up:  The Dark Eternal Night
Worth Mentioning: Nightmare to Remember, The Ministry of Lost Souls, Just Let Me Breathe

[pdurbin22]

Thanks everyone!  Seems many of us agree that "A Rite of Passage" is the loser.  And thanks for reminding me that "Beyond This Life" should be on the BEST list! 

[mikemangioy]

Best:


Metropolis Part 1: Just freaking fun and clever technical songwriting.
Take The Time: groovy, funky and really wacky. Love the stop-and-go part.
Trial Of Tears: this is just two solos, but they're really long and both have a great build up and climax to them.
Beyond This Life: from metal to blues to Deep Purple to Frank Zappa-ish tones, one of the most well-thought and structured instrumentals. The unison 
This Dying Soul: haters gonna hate, but I find this fucking fun to listen and to play - heavy to, and the unison at the end is one of the most fucked up thing I've ever heard
In The Name Of God: latin solos and a unison that blows my mind everytime, to then jump back into the heavy riff with that harmonic note, makes me shiver 
Raise The Knife: huge build up in this one. Enough said.
Octavarium: like BTL, really fun and well structured.
ITPOE (Prelude, Reckoning): lots of cool riffs and time signature changes
Dark Eternal Night: the most fun of the technique-based instrumental sections.
Outcry: like Metropolis, legendary and clever.

Worst: I can't really point out a few because I like almost every instrumental section, buuut

Honor Thy Father: freaking long and boring. Same riff over and over.
A Rite Of Passage: pretty forced and laughable, with that be-bot solo ugggh, makes me cringe

[Randaran]

Best:
Take the Time
A Change of Seasons VI. The Inevitable Summer
Trial of Tears
Blind Faith
Endless Sacrifice
Octavarium III. Full Circle
The Dark Eternal Night
Outcry
Breaking All Illusions
Behind the Veil

Worst:
In the Name of God (it isn't bad, just relatively mediocre)
I honestly cannot think of any others that I do not like all that much

[pcs90]

Best (I picked 10, not in order, and I'm using all instrumental sections of the song):

Breaking All Illusions
Blind Faith
Lines in the Sand (especially on live versions where the middle section is extended with a piano solo and longer guitar solo)
Outcry
To Live Forever (from Live in Tokyo)
Learning to Live
Six Degrees (this might be cheating but still)
Octavarium
Bridges in the Sky
Beyond This Life

Worst:

almost all of TOT...just really boring to me. I love ITNOG but the instrumental is something I skip 100% of the time now. SOC is my least favorite instrumental by far -- I actually like some of the fan-made ones much better. The beginning of TDS has cool moments, and ES has a few too, but overall...
AROP: this one has been commented on enough
Misunderstood: I actually think the guitar solo is really cool, so that doesn't count against it, but the ending is ridiculous.
Build Me Up, Break Me Down: not super long but the first half with the choir just doesn't sound good and the rest is super generic
The Shattered Fortress: solos that are too long...just feels like they were going through the motions

I'm honestly surprised so many people seem to dislike Outcry's instrumental. I prefer it over Metropolis any day. Metropolis may be a classic but I just don't find it interesting to listen to for the most part.

[The Hairy Man]

Best ones for me are

About to Crash (Reprise)
Learning to Live
Octavarium (Razors Edge) if that counts

[Pax]

I'm sure I'd could bring up an interesting list (for me at least lol) with some nice stuff, but I'm to lazy to do that right now, so only:
The Best: In the Presence of Enemies pt 2 (Reckoning)

[Setlist Scotty]

Interesting thread - not sure I'll list all the ones that are great or bad, but here's what I've got off the top of my head:

Best:
• Never Enough - granted, the song is nothing spectacular, but the instrumental section is awesome
• Light Fuse and Get Away
• Learning to Live
• ACoS - the instrumental/solo section beginning at 13:40 on the 1993 Limelight bootleg has always been a favorite; a shame that the solo was changed for the final version

Honorable Mention:
• TMOLS & IF - neither of the instrumental sections in these songs really fits, IMO, and both are far better than the songs that they are found in.
• JLMB - I love the interplay between the guitars and keyboards, especially the panning between speakers; another instrumental section in an otherwise average song

Worst:

Bebot Solo.

• Beyond This Life - I'm sorry, but the Zappa section that starts at 8:26 just ruins what was otherwise an awesome track; I remember listening to the song for the first time, thoroughly enjoying it until this section and then thinking "what the heck are they doing?!??!" Still feel the same way today, and the version on L@B is no better, IMO. I feel similarly about TDEN for the same reason, altho I don't really like that song at all. Surprisingly enough, I don't mind the Zappa-isms in TCoT (they feel like they fit).

[Enalya]

Just wanted to add that I miss the instrumental part of Fatal Tragedy in the best lists!

[Train of Naught]

Just wanted to add that I miss the instrumental part of Fatal Tragedy in the best lists!

Don't know why this one hasn't been mentioned to be fair, it's such a standout.

• Beyond This Life - I'm sorry, but the Zappa section that starts at 8:26 just ruins what was otherwise an awesome track; I remember listening to the song for the first time, thoroughly enjoying it until this section and then thinking "what the heck are they doing?!??!"

Oh for sure, aweful section buried in my favorite SFAM instrumental section.

[yeah_93]

Best:

1. Learning to Live
2. In the Name of God
3. Breaking all Illusions

Worst:

1. Outcry






2. This Dying Soul
3. Misunderstood

[pcs90]

Just wanted to add that I miss the instrumental part of Fatal Tragedy in the best lists!

I completely forgot about FT. That one is awesome too.

[Kotowboy]

I love the Zappa sections in all their songs.