Your top ten Dream Theater songs.

[don_waka]

In no particular order:

1. Learning to Live.
2. A Mind Beside Itself.
3. Scarred.
4. Raise the Knife.
5. Strange Deja Vu.
6. Misunderstood.
7. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.
8. A Change of Seasons.
9. Octavarium.
10. Speak to Me.

[dtvoices94]

1. A Change of Seasons
2. Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
3. Voices
4. Blind Faith
5. Peruvian Skies
6. In The Name of God
7. Learning to Live
8. Another Day
9. Octavarium
10. Breaking All Illusions

Honorables:
Caught In a Web
Misunderstood
At Wit's End
Beneath the Surface
Trial of Tears

[Dave_Manchester]

Updated list of all the songs that have received a mention (and far be it from me to tell DT what to put on the setlist for their upcoming European tour but...well, some of the songs on their recent DOT festival tour are notably absent...)

When Dream And Day Unite

A Fortune In Lies
The Killing Hand
Light Fuse And Get Away
The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
Afterlife
Only A Matter of Time

Images and Words:

Pull Me Under
Another Day
Take The Time
Surrounded
Metropolis
Under A Glass Moon
Wait For Sleep
Learning To Live

Awake:

6:00
Voices
The Mirror
Lie
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
Scarred
Space Dye Vest

Falling Into Infinity:

New Millennium
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Hell's Kitchen
Lines In The Sand
Take Away My Pain
Anna Lee
Trial of Tears

Scenes From A Memory:

Strange Deja Vu
Fatal Tragedy
Beyond This Life
Home
The Dance of Eternity
The Spirit Carries On
Finally Free

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence:

The Glass Prison
Blind Faith
Misunderstood
The Great Debate
Disappear
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
About To Crash
Solitary Shell

Train of Thought:

Endless Sacrifice
Vacant
Stream of Consciousness
In The Name Of God

Octavarium:

The Root Of All Evil
Panic Attack
Sacrificed Sons
Octavarium

Systematic Chaos:

Constant Motion
In The Presence of Enemies

Black Clouds and Silver Linings:

The Count of Tuscany

A Dramatic Turn of Events:

On The Backs Of Angels
This Is The Life
Bridges In The Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Beneath The Surface

Dream Theater:

The Looking Glass
Enigma Machine
The Bigger Picture
Surrender To Reason
Illumination Theory

The Astonishing:

Three Days
A Life Left Behind
Chosen
Moment of Betrayal
Our New World

Distance Over Time:

Fall Into The Light
Room 137
S2N
At Wit's End
Pale Blue Dot

Non-album tracks:

A Change of Seasons
Another Won
Speak To Me
To Live Forever
Eve
Raise The Knife
Don't Look Past Me

[DTA]

Appears that FII is more liked than people let on. It's definitely become my favorite album of theirs in recent years and really has some top tier songs.

[Dave_Manchester]

Appears that FII is more liked than people let on. It's definitely become my favorite album of theirs in recent years and really has some top tier songs.

Took a long time to grow on me but there are some fantastic songs on there. I know it's hardly original to say this but if they'd included some of the non-album tracks from those sessions and excised some of the, dare I say, dross, it'd be one of their classics to me.

[lovethedrake]

IMO Labrie's two best performances are FII and SDOIT.   FII also has amazing production.

The issue I have with the album is that a few of the songs are some of the worst by DT.   

You not me, Just let me breathe, Burning My Soul are 3 of the worst DT ever recored IMO.

Hollow Years, Take Away my pain, New Millenium are mediocre DT songs.

Peruvian Skies, Hells Kitchen, Lines in the Sand, Anna Lee, Trial of Tears are classic DT songs IMO.

So.... I love FII but it has major problems which is why I place it around 5-7th in their catalogue.

[pg1067]

IMO Labrie's two best performances are FII and SDOIT.   FII also has amazing production.

The issue I have with the album is that a few of the songs are some of the worst by DT.   

You not me, Just let me breathe, Burning My Soul are 3 of the worst DT ever recored IMO.

Hollow Years, Take Away my pain, New Millenium are mediocre DT songs.

Peruvian Skies, Hells Kitchen, Lines in the Sand, Anna Lee, Trial of Tears are classic DT songs IMO.

So.... I love FII but it has major problems which is why I place it around 5-7th in their catalogue.

As I've posted here many times, I got into DT when PMU broke in the summer of 1992.  I thought I&W struck the perfect prog:metal balance.  Awake went to the metal side of the balance but I still liked it, and ACOS was just amazing.  I can still remember the first time I listened to FII.  At the time, my wife was still pretending to like DT, so we listened to it together in the living room of a new apartment with a bunch of unpacked boxes stacked up in the room.  I thought and still think New Millennium was terrible.  You Not Me made me say WTF?  A blatant attempt at a radio hit.  Peruvian Skies was just meh.  It took until Hollow Years to find a song I really liked, but ballads were not why I was a DT fan.  I can't remember listening too much further, and it really felt reminiscent of the fiasco that was Metallica's Load from a couple years earlier.  Fortunately, DT bounced back in a big way two years later.

After 20 plus years, I consider YNM, HY, HK, AL and ToT to be the best songs on the album, but none would make a DT top ten list.  Lines in the Sand would be better without the chorus, and New Millennium remains a bottom-5 DT song.  The rest is just meh, and the interesting thing is that, had the label not "interfered," it would have been a significantly worse album.

[54_diplomats]

1. Learning to Live
2. A Change of Seasons
3. Scarred
4. The Mirror
5. Metropolis
6. Lines in the Sand
7. Trial of Tears
8. Space Dye Vest
9. The Killing Hand
10. The Glass Prison

I'd say top 5 are solidified for sure. Beyond that it's really hard to rank but those are probably the ones I come back to the most.

[1upmushroom]

In no particular order, and probably subject to change:

1. The Ministry of Lost Souls
2. Wither
3. A Rite of Passage
4. On the Backs of Angels
5. The Spirit Carries On
6. Finally Free
7. Beneath the Surface
8. Untethered Angel
9. Hollow Years
10. Octavarium

[hefdaddy42]

In no particular order:

Learning to Live
A Change of Seasons
Metropolis Pt. 1
Scarred
Octavarium
Blind Faith
Illumination Theory
Lines in the Sand
Trial of Tears
The Glass Prison


And Scotty is right about The Mirror (Lie) The Mirror. 

[Mladen]

1. Metropolis pt 1
2. Octavarium
3. The Ministry of lost souls
4. A Change of seasons
5. Scarred
6. Beyond this life
7. Disappear
8. Learning to live
9. The Great debate
10. Peruvian skies

[Dave_Manchester]

Updated list, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds receiving some sorely needed love...

When Dream And Day Unite

A Fortune In Lies
The Killing Hand
Light Fuse And Get Away
The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun
Afterlife
Only A Matter of Time

Images and Words:

Pull Me Under
Another Day
Take The Time
Surrounded
Metropolis
Under A Glass Moon
Wait For Sleep
Learning To Live

Awake:

6:00
Voices
The Mirror
Lie
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
Scarred
Space Dye Vest

Falling Into Infinity:

New Millennium
Peruvian Skies
Hollow Years
Hell's Kitchen
Lines In The Sand
Take Away My Pain
Anna Lee
Trial of Tears

Scenes From A Memory:

Strange Deja Vu
Fatal Tragedy
Beyond This Life
Home
The Dance of Eternity
The Spirit Carries On
Finally Free

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence:

The Glass Prison
Blind Faith
Misunderstood
The Great Debate
Disappear
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
About To Crash
Solitary Shell

Train of Thought:

Endless Sacrifice
Vacant
Stream of Consciousness
In The Name Of God

Octavarium:

The Root Of All Evil
Panic Attack
Sacrificed Sons
Octavarium

Systematic Chaos:

Constant Motion
The Ministry of Lost Souls
In The Presence of Enemies

Black Clouds and Silver Linings:

A Rite of Passage
Wither
The Count of Tuscany

A Dramatic Turn of Events:

On The Backs Of Angels
This Is The Life
Bridges In The Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Beneath The Surface

Dream Theater:

The Looking Glass
Enigma Machine
The Bigger Picture
Surrender To Reason
Illumination Theory

The Astonishing:

Three Days
A Life Left Behind
Chosen
Moment of Betrayal
Our New World

Distance Over Time:

Untethered Angel
Fall Into The Light
Room 137
S2N
At Wit's End
Pale Blue Dot

Non-album tracks:

A Change of Seasons
Another Won
Speak To Me
To Live Forever
Eve
Raise The Knife
Don't Look Past Me



(edit: I'm surprised to see no Barstool Warrior on the Distance Over Time list so if I've missed it somewhere, please let me know).

[Northern Lion]

Way too many good songs by DT.  I think if the thread was a top 20 instead, it would be easier.

[bosk1]

Updated list, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds receiving some sorely needed love...

[album-by-album list]

(edit: I'm surprised to see no Barstool Warrior on the Distance Over Time list so if I've missed it somewhere, please let me know).

  I honestly don't understand your list.  This is a "top 10" thread, but you listed the vast majority of DT songs.  I don't get it.

[pg1067]

Updated list, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds receiving some sorely needed love...

[album-by-album list]

(edit: I'm surprised to see no Barstool Warrior on the Distance Over Time list so if I've missed it somewhere, please let me know).

  I honestly don't understand your list.  This is a "top 10" thread, but you listed the vast majority of DT songs.  I don't get it.

I believe he's compiled a list of songs that have appeared at least once on anyone's list within this thread -- the point being that the majority of DT's songs are on at least one person's top-10 list (something that is at least somewhat remarkable because it probably wouldn't be true for most bands).

[Dave_Manchester]

Updated list, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds receiving some sorely needed love...

[album-by-album list]

(edit: I'm surprised to see no Barstool Warrior on the Distance Over Time list so if I've missed it somewhere, please let me know).

  I honestly don't understand your list.  This is a "top 10" thread, but you listed the vast majority of DT songs.  I don't get it.

pg1067 covered it. Go back a page, I explain it there. I'm keeping a list of all the songs that have received at least one vote by way of illustrating how diversely loved the DT catalogue is among the fanbase; in my opinion, more so than the vast majority of other bands. I think that if I asked this question (your top ten favourite songs) of another band (Pink Floyd say), their albums wouldn't be anywhere near as well-represented as DT. Just an opinion.

[bosk1]

Oh, I see.  Sorry, I had forgotten that you started the thread and were now compiling the votes.  I thought you were just posting your own top songs.  My misunderstanding.

[Rattlehead]

In no particular order

Beyond This Life
Learning To Live
Under A Glass Moon
Take The Time
Ravenskill
The Count of Tuscany
Hell's Kitchen
The Great Debate
Home
Scarred

I was so tempted to add Barstool Warrior, but at the last second I remembered how much I love Scarred.

[Zook]

Surrounded
The Glass Prison
Scarred
Metropolis
Beyond This Life
Bridges in the Sky
Strange Deja Vu
At Wit's End
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
This Dying Soul

[themkr]

1. A Change of Seasons
2. Octavarium
3. The Spirit Carries On
4. Metropolis Pt1
5. Finally Free
6. Dance of Eternity
7. The Mirror
8. Trial of Tears
9. Erotomania
10. Lines in the Sand

[Revenge319]

1. A Change of Seasons
2. Octavarium
3. The Count of Tuscany
4. Illumination Theory
5. The Best of Times
6. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
7. Finally Free
8. Surrounded
9. A Mind Beside Itself
10. Breaking All Illusions

[Stadler]

1. Cover My Eyes
2. This Is The Life
3. Strange Deja Vu
4. Surrounded
5. To Live Forever
6. I Walk Beside You
7. Misunderstood
8. Voices
9. Fatal Tragedy
10. Raise The Knife

(Fatal Tragedy, Dance Of Eternity, Octavarium, Solitary Shell, The Looking Glass all could have made the list).

[TAC]

2. This Is The Life

I don't have this nearly as high as you do, but I'll say this.. This Is the Life is a perfectly written song.

[IDontNotDoThings]

I've been working on a complete song ranking for a while now, but I may as well reveal my top 10 now:

#1. Learning To Live
#2. A Change Of Seasons
#3. At Wits End
#4. Metropolis
#5. Breaking All Illusions
#6. A Nightmare To Remember
#7. Blind Faith
#8. In The Presence Of Enemies Part 2
#9. About To Crash
10. The Count Of Tuscany

[JoeMLennon]

1) Count of Tuscany
2) In the Name of God
3) Octavarium
4) The Spirit Carries On
5) A Change of Seasons
6) At Wit's End
7) Fatal Tragedy
8) Solitary Shell
9) Home
10) About to Crash

[Dream Team]

1. Cover My Eyes
2. This Is The Life
3. Strange Deja Vu
4. Surrounded
5. To Live Forever
6. I Walk Beside You
7. Misunderstood
8. Voices
9. Fatal Tragedy
10. Raise The Knife

(Fatal Tragedy, Dance Of Eternity, Octavarium, Solitary Shell, The Looking Glass all could have made the list).

Do you mean you would list Fatal Tragedy twice? You have it at #9.

[Stadler]

Nah, typo.  I think on my list at home (I'm traveling) I had Octavarium there then moved it.

[Samsara]

I need to give this a LOT of thought. I will say the majority are from I&W, Awake, FII, ACOS, and SFAM.

The post-SFAM material is more represented in the 11-20, and 21-30 realm...

[JediKnight1969]

01- Metropolis Pt. 1
02- Home
03- Learning to live
04- Breaking all illusions
05- Forsaken
06- Space-Dye vest
07- Disappear
08- Stream of consciousness
09- In the presence of enemies
10- Just let me breathe

[IDontNotDoThings]

10- Just let me breathe

[gzarruk]

10- Just let me breathe

That's for the controversial thread

[Trav]

10- Just let me breathe

That's for the controversial thread

Great song!

[Evai]

1- Take The Time
2- Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence
3- The Spirit Carries On
4- A Nightmare To Remember
5- Space Dye Vest
6- Pull Me Under
7- The Best Of Times
8- Disappear
9- Octavarium
10- The Shattered Fortress

The Astonishing album would be number one, but picking a single song to represent it would be impossible

[Destiny Of Chaos]

I'll spare ya'll my top 100, but he's my top 10.


1. In the Presence of Enemies
2. Metropolis
3. A Nightmare to Remember
4. Illumination Theory
5. Panic Attack
6. Sacrificed Sons
7. Lost Not Forgotten
8. Endless Sacrifice
9. Home
10. The Ministry of Lost Souls

[Northern Lion]

I'll spare ya'll my top 100, but he's my top 10.


1. In the Presence of Enemies
2. Metropolis
3. A Nightmare to Remember
4. Illumination Theory
5. Panic Attack
6. Sacrificed Sons
7. Lost Not Forgotten
8. Endless Sacrifice
9. Home
10. The Ministry of Lost Souls

Thank you, thank you, thank you