Thanks for all the responses, guys! I've definitely gotten more posts than I was expecting to get for the first group, so I guess people are just excited to see progress in this thread.
I guess I'll get right to it and post the next five.
45.
The Killing HandI honestly had a lot of trouble figuring out where to put this on my list. It has some strange qualities to it – namely the fact that I think it contains both Charlie Dominici’s best work with Dream Theater
and his worst vocal moment with Dream Theater. The infamous ‘I am the killing haaaaaaaand’ ranks for me as one of the most disappointing vocal climaxes ever. But aside from that moment, I think he absolutely slays in this song – it’s the only song on WDADU where I feel like the music really perfectly suits his voice. And the song itself has a lot of really cool ideas. A lot of people have talked about WDADU having an attractive ‘youthful energy’ to it, and this song epitomizes that sentiment for me. It has a unique atmosphere, vibes that no other DT song really has for me. It’s also one of those songs that is kind of hit-or-miss for me depending on my mood – sometimes I’ll just skip it, and other times I’d walk through hell or high water to hear it. So, overall, I have pretty mixed feelings about this song. I’ll wrap it up by calling it ‘quirky and flawed but awesome.’
44.
This Dying SoulMy love affair with Train of Thought, and with this song in particular, could have a lot to do with me being a metalhead more than a progger. Nevertheless, I think this is a great song. The verses are admittedly questionable, but I enjoy them. The chorus is excellent. It makes great use of some of the AA Suite’s musical motifs. I love the song’s pace, heavy and frantic and energetic yet with its moments of softer melody (a contrast which is trademark of the whole Suite, and of most of ToT as an album). I’ve seen this song catch quite a bit of flak, but I think it is a much, much better song than some people give it credit for.
43.
Prophets of WarAnd with this, Zook leaves the thread and abandons me forever.
I probably shouldn’t even bother talking about this one, because I know that no matter how many nice things I say about it, most people are still going to have problems with it. And that’s fine; I completely understand it. This is a song where DT stepped out of their comfort zone and made some questionable decisions with their music, and a lot of people hate the result. It was an experiment of sorts, and many would say it failed. As for me, I enjoy it. For all its flaws (or perceived flaws, as the case may be), it’s just
fun. I feel like I’m unique in that this song’s ‘cringeworthy’ moments don’t make me cringe at all. I actually adore the audience chants; I feel like they add a lot of atmosphere to the song. Even Portnoy’s rap – okay, it’s not exactly a lyrical masterpiece, but I still get a kick out of it. I guess I just think this song deserves more love than it gets. It is a change of pace and style for the band, and overall, it’s just a fun song to listen to.
42.
Ytse JamThe first of many DT instrumentals, Ytse Jam is special in its own way. Remember that youthful energy I mentioned with The Killing Hand? I should probably come up with a better way to describe that, because here it is again. I guess the best way to put it is that in this song, everyone feels like they’re having fun. It never feels stale or forced in any way. It’s exciting and surprising and interesting, and everyone plays their parts well. Especially Myung, because in my opinion this contains some of his very best bass work, especially the solo. All in all, a great song.
41.
Pull Me UnderLadies and gentleman, introducing James Labrie. This was not the first Dream Theater song I heard, but it was the one that made me fall in love with JLB – that ‘watch the sparrow falling’ section is simply outstanding. And aside from that, he does a damn good job on the whole song. Of course, that’s not to take anything away from the other band members – everyone does a great job in this one. It’s got plenty of riffs, all of them memorable, and some really cool solo work. A lot of people complain about the triggered snares, but despite that, I think this song’s drumming is definitely great. And while this isn’t the showiest song in terms of keyboards or bass, they do their jobs very well, and they do have their moments to shine. It’s no surprise to me that this became the MTV and radio hit it was, because it deserves that level of attention – arguably one of Dream Theater’s most accessible songs, this is a truly great progressive metal tune. Also, the ending is pretty-
Topic: Official DT Top 50 Thread Mark II (bss4life15 up now - starting page 79) (Read 245867 times)