Scarred is a one of DT's few legitimate masterpieces.
That's such an overused word now.
I totally agree. In fact, I originally wrote what you did almost word for word in response to the *fixed*, but instead brought up Louis CK's joke on the word hilarious (which says the same thing if you saw his act on this)
To put this in context, here are probably my top 10 DT songs in order with what keeps them from being #1 in (parenthesis)
1. Scarred (it is perfect)
2. Voices (LaBrie's grating vocals during "Thought disorder …")
3. Learning to Live (none)
4. Take the Time (none)
5. Misunderstood (none)
6. Lines in the Sand (Flawless … except the "In my stream of consciousness" section)
7. 6:00 (none)
8. Finally Free (Although the sound effects and dialogue are necessary for the album, it ruins the song as a stand alone)
9. A Change of Seasons (could have absolutely been cut down)
10. Octavarium (Great, until the Rudess influence on the jams)
11. Trial of Tears (Can't put my finger on why it isn't top 5 other than it isn't)
So I think I used the word masterpiece correctly. And I think the top 8 are so close to masterpiece that I'm fine with them being called a masterpiece.
Voices would be #1 if LaBrie re-recorded that one verse (which instrumentally is killer). The top 8 could all be masterpieces with the slightest of tweaks.
And a song like The Mirror could have been awesome as the intro during the I&W tour was perfection. The verse is just as great. Then the prechorus kills one of the greatest songs of all time. Reinsert the delay-whammy bar live intro, tweak the (pre)chorus, add the Sherinian contributions and it would be at least top 5.