Your top ten Dream Theater songs.

[Wim Kruithof]

However there could be a hundred that fits in the top 10, mostly this would be mine...

Killing Hand
Mirror / Lie
Change of Seasons
Glass Prison
This Dying Soul
Shattered Fortress
Count of Tuscany
Illumination Theory
Bridges in the Sky / Outcry
Breaking all Illusions

Both Black Clouds & Silver Linings and A Dramatic Turn of Events are absolute pearls, overlooked by way too many prog-aholics.

Remarkable that the Shattered Fortress is never listed up in all the reactions before.

Last years I've re-spinned all their vinyls multiple times. And although some will always be in my list, it has been changed.

Surrouned; LaBrie's best vocal performance of all...
A Change of Seasons
Octavarium; will probably always be my #1
The Count of Tuscany
Illumination Theory

These five are lifted up from their entire discography, as being close to perfect. Can't see any future-song will infiltrate this top-5.

Voices
The Glass Prison
The Ministry of Lost Souls
The Shattered Fortress
Bridges In the Sky

On any given day The Killing Hand, This Dying Soul, Outcry, Beneath the Surface or Awaken the Master might be interchangeable with the low-tier of this top 10. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence would surely be in this list, if considered as a single song.

The list is made up not as a ranking, but sortered since they've been brought out. For me impossible to rank them exactly.

Edit: And then, there's Scarred, with (between 5:12 and 6:25) probably Dream Theaters most emotional segment of all... how on earth can a man squeeze all this in a top-10.

[energythief]

According to the lack of square smiling emoji, it looks like I never posted in this thread. Here are my current top 10 picks.



1. Home: My favourite DT song of all time, and top 3 of any song ever, beaten only by Queensryche's Screaming in Digital and Foo Fighter's Everlong. This track is daring and provocative, and acts as the literal and figurative climax of the emotion building all the way from Metropolis part 1. A masterpiece.


2. Voices: This track always brings me back to long nighttime walks home to my dorm in my university days listening to Awake on my Sony Discman. The lyrics were dark and suggestive, and the moment when the instruments and choral voices kick back in never fails to stand the hairs up on my arms.


3. Blind Faith: A powerhouse of a song, with some of their best lyrics and vocal melodies. It's mandatory to sing along to this song while I'm driving the car!


4. Trial of Tears: A suprisingly mature and emotional song for the band both lyrically and musically. Killer bass groove throughout.


5. Breaking All Illusions: The best Mangini-era track, and another incredible epic. It does everything right.


6. A Change of Seasons: What can you say about this song? It's wildly creative, ambitious in its themes of aging and growth, mixes in some clever religious metaphors, and sprinkles in the perfect amount of audio samples and sound effects. This blew my mind when I first heard it and it remains in my top 10.


7. Metropolis Part 1: This song has earned its place in the DT hall of fame for good reason. It's dense with different ideas and movements, and the subject matter of Remus and Romulus competing with each other and the three dances is so cool and different. Not only is this the birthplace of SFAM (in my opinion the best concept album ever made), it's also the song that made me realize DT had a "lead drummer" in Portnoy. So good.


8. Under a Glass Moon: Petrucci at his creative best. This track just hooks me from the instant it starts and doesn't let me go.


9. In the Name of God: I guess I really love the songs that explore the darkness inherent in religion. Top shelf lyrics in this track, and it's heavy and dark in just the right measures.


10. Space-Dye Vest: A perfectly moody meditation on the whirlwind of emotions that come from a failed relationship and the agony of loss. I love everything about this song.


Honorable Mention: Lost Not Forgotten. LNF has lyrics that really suggest the feeling of an unstoppable ancient empire, and it has always been the song which can pump me up for a workout. The exotic melodies engage my imagination and transport me somewhere else like few other songs do.

[Setlist Scotty]

Nothing like dredging up an old discussion from 5 years ago, right? But here goes! 

But here's the thing - as I already stated, in explaining everything in the liner notes, MP included details about how the songs evolved from the demo stage to the *final* album. If there was some intent that didn't happen between the time they wrote it to when they released it, don't you think *that* wouldn't also be mentioned? Coming from MP, I expect it would. Had there been a "Making of Octavarium" release, you can be sure that MP would've explained the detail about how they originally intended to include the flute solo at the end, but then changed it. There is nothing like that stated in the Awake liner notes to show that what appeared on the final album further changed from what was intended.

I can't speak to what he did not say or speculate as to why he did not say it.  But again, it is pretty clear that he is saying what the intent was at the time the songs were being written.  There is nothing in anything you quoted about what the intent became at the time of the final product.  As to why he didn't say more, I cannot possibly guess.

I just came across an old interview with JP and JM published in the November 1994 issue of Guitar World that I think will help shed some light on the topic:

GW: How do you work together when constructing a solo?

JM: Well, take something like the solo coming into the outro section of 'Mirror.' I had this really cool rhythmic groove that I'd always wanted to use, and it seemed to fit there. It was like pulling ideas out of a hat. Over the course of rehearsing, or a whole writing period, you develop various bits and pieces of things. By the end of our last tour, we had a tape full of ideas we'd developed in soundchecks that we ended up using on this record. You have to know your inventory and pull out what best suits the situation, and let it grow from there.

JP: That's the key: it has to suit the situation. John's talking about where 'Lie' is stuck right in the middle of 'Mirror,' and the guitar solo at the end is where 'Mirror' takes over again, into the thrash part and the ending solo. I remember thinking it would be cool to have a breakdown based on the theme comprising some other section, and then once that theme is over, exploding into this train-wreck solo. And John's theme did that. But it's not like he would just pull anything out randomly. Everything has to kind of work with the mood we're trying to evoke.

So even JM and JP, around the time of Awake's release, spoke of that last 1.5 minutes of track 8 as The Mirror. 

[hefdaddy42]

Here's to Scotty giving an "I told you so!" 5 years later.  New heights in being petty.  Congratulations to you, sir!

[Setlist Scotty]

Here's to Scotty giving an "I told you so!" 5 years later.  New heights in being petty.  Congratulations to you, sir!

Not trying to be petty. I certainly wasn't looking to prove my point for the last 5 years, but when I came across the interview, I figured it would be a good way to finally give some proof since there was never any concrete resolution one way or the other.   

[Jamesman42]

Metropolis, Pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper
Octavarium
The Glass Prison
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
A Change of Seasons
The Count of Tuscany
On the Backs of Angels
Bridges In the Sky
Panic Attack
Endless Sacrifice

[Dave_Manchester]

Bumping my thread earlier than I usually do because the new album has brought about an influx of new users, and also because I'm interested to see if anything from Parasomnia - which seems to have been very well received - has cracked any of the old-timers' top ten lists.

[BeatriceNB]

I tried ranking them some days ago, so:

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Octavarium
3. The Count Of Tuscany (Happy Holidays version)
4. Trial Of Tears (BTFW version)
5. Space-Dye Vest
6. The Bigger Picture
7. The Ministry Of Lost Souls
8. In The Name Of God
9. Learning To Live
10. Metropolis

In the case of the live renditions, it's because I prefer them to their album counterparts by a wide margin; I never listen to studio Trial Of Tears, for example.

[Kocak]

Tough list.

In no particular order as my favourite changes frequently:

As I Am
Space Dye-Vest
These Walls
Fatal Tragedy
Trial of Tears
At Wit's End
Breaking All Illusions
A Change of Seasons
Answering the Call
Disappear

[CraftyCaleb2483]

Nothing from Parasomnia gets close to my top ten, nonetheless it's still the best album they've done since BC&SL.

1. Learning To Live
2. Hell's Kitchen
3. Trial Of Tears (Budokan)
4. Octavarium
5. Breaking All Illusions
6. The Dance Of Eternity
7. Under A Glass Moon
8. New Millenium
9. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
10. Lines In The Sand

I never listen to studio Trial Of Tears, for example.

Yep me too!

[Kocak]

I tried ranking them some days ago, so:

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Octavarium
3. The Count Of Tuscany (Happy Holidays version)
4. Trial Of Tears (BTFW version)
5. Space-Dye Vest
6. The Bigger Picture
7. The Ministry Of Lost Souls
8. In The Name Of God
9. Learning To Live
10. Metropolis

In the case of the live renditions, it's because I prefer them to their album counterparts by a wide margin; I never listen to studio Trial Of Tears, for example.

What is the happy holidays version of TCoT?

[CraftyCaleb2483]

What is the happy holidays version of TCoT?

I was about to ask that too but you ninja'd me 

[Kocak]

I was about to ask that too but you ninja'd me 

I just hope that the answer isn't "Dream Theater performed a private Christmas concert for me".

[Kocak]

I was about to ask that too but you ninja'd me 

Did some digging, it's probably this as it also appears on a holiday compilation.

[BeatriceNB]

https://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=44283

Yes, it was later reissued as part of the Lost Not Forgotten releases and reisusses.

[Dave_Manchester]

What is the happy holidays version of TCoT?

The Count invites JP over for Christmas dinner.

[Zydar]

When he reveals that Santa is the bearded gentleman. 

[krands85]

I tried ranking them some days ago, so:

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Octavarium
3. The Count Of Tuscany (Happy Holidays version)
4. Trial Of Tears (BTFW version)
5. Space-Dye Vest
6. The Bigger Picture
7. The Ministry Of Lost Souls
8. In The Name Of God
9. Learning To Live
10. Metropolis

In the case of the live renditions, it's because I prefer them to their album counterparts by a wide margin; I never listen to studio Trial Of Tears, for example.

Nice list! My top 5 are all in there, along with my #10. Trial of Tears and The Ministry of Lost Souls are just outside my top 10 as well. Space-Dye Vest and The Bigger Picture are the only 2 that are a good bit further down my list, though still great songs.

Out of interest, what do you think of the 4 from my list that aren't in yours - Take the Time, Illumination Theory In the Presence of Enemies and A Change of Seasons?

[Stadler]

My list for the last countdown:
1   Cover My Eyes
2   Voices
3   Strange Deja Vu
4   Overture 1928
5   This is the Life
6   Misunderstood
7   This Dying Soul
8   Pull Me Under
9   Innocence Faded
10   Metropolis, Pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper

Probably my list now:
1   Strange Deja Vu
2   Overture 1928
3   This is the Life
4   Voices
5   Cover My Eyes
6   Misunderstood
7   Octavarium
8   This Dying Soul
9   Pull Me Under
10   Metropolis, Pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper

I debated putting Home (previously 13 on there as well, but I couldn't bump anything.

Yes, VERY heavily influenced by what I just saw live, twice.

[pg1067]

Bumping my thread earlier than I usually do because the new album has brought about an influx of new users, and also because I'm interested to see if anything from Parasomnia - which seems to have been very well received - has cracked any of the old-timers' top ten lists.

Not yet, but, with time, TSMI has a chance.

[hefdaddy42]

My list for the last countdown:
1 Cover My Eyes
2 Voices
3 Strange Deja Vu
4 Overture 1928
5 This is the Life
6 Misunderstood
7 This Dying Soul
8 Pull Me Under
9 Innocence Faded
10 Metropolis, Pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper

Probably my list now:
1 Strange Deja Vu
2 Overture 1928
3 This is the Life
4 Voices
5 Cover My Eyes
6 Misunderstood
7 Octavarium
8 This Dying Soul
9 Pull Me Under
10 Metropolis, Pt. 1: the Miracle and the Sleeper

I debated putting Home (previously 13 on there as well, but I couldn't bump anything.

Yes, VERY heavily influenced by what I just saw live, twice.

Wow, I didn't think that Cover My Eyes would ever be dethroned for you!

[BeatriceNB]

Nice list! My top 5 are all in there, along with my #10. Trial of Tears and The Ministry of Lost Souls are just outside my top 10 as well. Space-Dye Vest and The Bigger Picture are the only 2 that are a good bit further down my list, though still great songs.

Out of interest, what do you think of the 4 from my list that aren't in yours - Take the Time, Illumination Theory In the Presence of Enemies and A Change of Seasons?

I was debating if including Illumination Theory or not in my top 10, but Metropolis won because I really love how it is structured, and how much happens in the song despite its "short" length. The rest I love too, but I don't have a strong connection with them.

[Cavalry of Despair]

1. Learning To Live
2. Voices
3. Scarred
4. Octavarium
5. Take The Time
6. Surrounded
7. Finally Free
8. Metropolis
9. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
10. About To Crash

Always subject to change

[Stadler]

Wow, I didn't think that Cover My Eyes would ever be dethroned for you!

Maybe if I saw it live... I just know that in both Wallingford and NYC, I was hopping on the balls of my feet during that first 20 minutes or so of the Dream Theater show (Met, Overture, SDV). It was everything I LOVE about that band times five.  I felt 25 again, pumping my fist...  then later in the show (in CT) I found myself in another world, thinking about my mom and dad, and my daughter during This Is The Life, and realizing I had tears running down my face.  It's less that CME is dethroned as it is those other songs are now on another level.

I have no illusions that this band are my fiends or anything like that, but their MUSIC still touches me, and in a way that is everything I look for in music.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Top ten songs not called A Change of Seasons or on I&W. Funny how sometimes songs go from 'its very good' to it's in the top ten.

Lines in the Sand
Lost Not Forgotten
Bridges in the Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Illumination Theory
Barstool Warrior
Pale Blue Dot
The Alien
Answering The Call
A View From The Top of The World

[Jad Safi]

In No Particular Order: Octavarium- Wait For Sleep/Learning to Live- ACOS- Home- Breaking All Illusions- Vacant/Stream of Conciousness- Voices- Space Dye Vest- ITPOE Pt.1 and 2

[MarkFitDT]

In no particular order for me.

Voices
Trial of Tears
Fatal Tragedy
Breaking All Illusions
Count of Tuscany
Learning to Live
A View from the Top of the World
Blind Faith
Sacrificed Sons
In the Name of God

[dualpalmpilots]

I have no illusions that this band are my fiends or anything like that, but their MUSIC still touches me, and in a way that is everything I look for in music.

I feel this, too. Can't explain it. Other bands have come and gone that I've really "connected" with over the past 22 years since discovering Dream Theater, but Dream Theater has remained.

[MidnightSlice]

In order

1. Pull Me Under
2. Voices
3. Another Day
4. Home
5. As I Am
6. Count of Tuscany
7. In The Name of God
8. Caught In A Web
9. Blind Faith
10. Space Dye Vest
 

[Trav]

1. Learning to Live
2. A Change of Seasons
3. Octavarium
4. Breaking All Illusions
5. Metropolis, Pt 1
6. The Spirit Carries On
7. Voices
8. Solitary Shell
9. Misunderstood
10. Fatal Tragedy

[Dream Team]

Top ten songs not called A Change of Seasons or on I&W. Funny how sometimes songs go from 'its very good' to it's in the top ten.

Lines in the Sand
Lost Not Forgotten
Bridges in the Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Illumination Theory
Barstool Warrior
Pale Blue Dot
The Alien
Answering The Call
A View From The Top of The World

That's a cool idea, because it eliminates 5 from my list. Going with those parameters, in no order:

The Shadow Man Incident
Awaken the Master
Only a Matter of Time
Overture 1928
S2N
Breaking all Illusions
Surrender to Reason
The Great Debate
The Count of Tuscany
Outcry