Official DT Top 50 Thread Mark II (bss4life15 up now - starting page 79)

[Zydar]

I agree.

[Ben_Jamin]

The 07 version just sucked the soul out if the orginal.

[Octavaripolis]

The 07 version just sucked the soul out if the orginal.

Ditto.

[Ben_Jamin]

The 07 version just sucked the soul out if the orginal.

Ditto.

To me it was another excuse to bust out the Zen Riffer.

The solo was good. Just not the right sonh.

[Lolzeez]

Number 1 already!

[Destiny Of Chaos]

Hefdaddy. The holidays are behind us. Please save this thread. This user started nearly a month ago.

[theseoafs]

Hey, sorry, guys, I'll get no. 1 out to you this evening.

[theseoafs]

Hello ladies and gentlemen!  I'm really, truly sorry if I kept you guys waiting.  Wasn't my intention, but my break quickly transitioned into the holiday season which quickly transitioned into the beginning of the academic year... anyway, I'm happy to pass the torch to somebody else tonight.

Anyway, number 1 is...

























1. Singin' in the Rain (True Symphonic Rockestra)

I know, I'm sort of bending the rules about what constitutes a "DT song" here, but when I got to writing the list, I realized that no song on a true DT album really deserves the number 1 spot more than this wonderful arrangement of a classic.  While most DT songs are truly good examples of music, SITR is so bad that it actually transcends music and becomes satire.  The frustrating, repetitive "riff", if we can even call it that, works wonderfully as a commentary on what American pop culture thinks of as "classic".  Further, the singer's very noticeable accent (including his notable insistence on incorrectly pronouncing the "th" consonant sound) is an equally clever tactic which deconstructs this very popular song and forces you to consider its worth at an atomic level.  SITR made me hate one of the best musicals the 50's had to offer, and no DT song will ever match that feat.

[theseoafs]

Sorry, just postponing the inevitable here:

1. Octavarium

While many of the songs in the higher positions of the top 10 are somewhat nebulous and could jump up or down a few spots depending on my mood, this song could not.  This is, in my view, the best song DT has ever released and it will be quite challenging to topple it.

It's hard to put into words exactly what this song does so well.  More than any of the 20+ minute epics in the DT catalogue, this one feels the most like a cohesive piece, and that is a very wonderful thing.  ACOS and SDOIT are enormously powerful pieces in their own right, so I'm not slamming them here, but 8V's movements all feel like they belong together; I can't say the same about, for instance, The Darkest of Winters and Carpe Diem, or The Test that Stumped them All and Solitary Shell.

Rather than taking any major dramatic shifts over the course of the piece, the intensity ramps up ever so slightly between, and over the course of, movements.  8V builds slowly from nothing over the course of ~20 minutes to one of the most powerful climaxes in DT history, and that's something special.

The individual lyrical threads are in themselves rather disjointed but all come together in the end, with the greater theme being, of course, "looping", or ending back where you began.  Especially for late-period DT, I find the lyrics to be particularly well-done.  Further, the callbacks help to tie up the album in a particularly satisfactory way; while I'm not sure I would call 8V a "concept album" in the way the phrase has come to be understood, it is certainly an album with a concept, and 8V's concept may be even more well-executed than SFAM's in this regard.  A lot of thought went into this song and its relationship with the album.  (I cannot, unfortunately, say the same for SC's and TCOT's "epics".)

I suppose the greater point I want to get across is this: in reviewing music, you look at the idea and the execution.  With ANTR, DT had wonderful ideas, but botched the execution; I suppose you could say that TCOT wasn't exactly born out of a great idea (lyrically speaking), but it was executed rather well despite that fact.  From idea to execution, I don't think DT ever did better than 8V.  On the idea side, it's a thoughtfully-structured epic which grapples with interesting lyrical themes; on the execution side, the song is filled to overflowing with majestic musical themes.  DT did everything right here, and that's why it's my favorite song of their catalog.





Well, that's it, then.  Pols Voice, you somehow guessed my entire top 5.  Congrats.

[Cedar redaC]

You troll

Good choice.

[theseoafs]

Also, a fun fact:

No songs from SC made it onto this particular list. 

[Ħ]

Octavarium is a fantastic choice for #1. Great list theseoafs! Very entertaining writeups, too!

[Pols Voice]

Well, that's it, then.  Pols Voice, you somehow guessed my entire top 5.  Congrats.

[Sycsa]

Also, a fun fact:

No songs from SC made it onto this particular list.

ITPOE shoulda.

[BlobVanDam]

Excellent choice, and great writeup.

[Scorpion]

As everyone probably knows my opinion on this, I won't say it again, though I will say that I enjoyed reading your list a lot and you had some great write-ups - some in-depth, some a bit more tongue-in-cheek and that really made it fun to follow.

[hefdaddy42]

Great job!

bss4life15, you're up.

[Dreamer81]

Great list and good reading, but Octavarium is like 40 spot higher than where I would place it

[Naikon]

bss4life15 hasn't been online for 20 days. How long time does he have to start?

[Sycsa]

bss4life15 hasn't been online for 20 days. How long time does he have to start?

Giving him time till next week seems reasonable. Which prompts the question, when will the second topic launch?

[Ħ]

That'd be the third topic.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

Hold tight guys. Hefdaddy has given me permission to take over the running of the DT Top 50 Lists. I'm going to change things up a little bit, to include multiple lists going on at the same time. Please bear with me.

[MoraWintersoul]

Hold tight guys. Hefdaddy has given me permission to take over the running of the DT Top 50 Lists. I'm going to change things up a little bit, to include multiple lists going on at the same time. Please bear with me.

We will JP with you, don't worry.

[wasteland]

Hold tight guys. Hefdaddy has given me permission to take over the running of the DT Top 50 Lists. I'm going to change things up a little bit, to include multiple lists going on at the same time. Please bear with me.

Ah, great! Hoping for some improvements over the format too

[JayOctavarium]

We will JP with you, don't worry.

bwahahahahaa! 

[Lolzeez]

Hold tight guys. Hefdaddy has given me permission to take over the running of the DT Top 50 Lists. I'm going to change things up a little bit, to include multiple lists going on at the same time. Please bear with me.

We will JP with you, don't worry.

Dont forget! Both modes are bear modes. I say we don't transform him. Takes away the charm. Cause... Cmon now. A bear or JP?

or

Hmmm...

YES.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=35386.0