Love seeing all the Take Away My Pain appreciation! Hugely underrated piece.
Anyways, I'm back after a few days off so that this doesn't get completely and totally buried by DT12 squeeing! Despite temptations to sneak Surrender to Reason and Illumination Theory into my top 10, the list is continuing as planned, with three more songs: an under appreciated epic, a song which despite being ranked up at #15 will be universally decried as "far too low," and a wacko pick out of left field.
16. In the Presence of Enemies (Systematic Chaos)I have known you, but do you know me?Systematic Chaos was the first Dream Theater album I purchased as a whole and appreciated from beginning to end. Although its accessability was a blessing at the time, since then some of its flaws have resulted in most songs falling lower and lower in my rankings, with The Dark Eternal Night being the only one to remain on my list. But this piece hasn't budged one bit, because it's brilliant. The hardest hitting of all Dream Theater epics, and an often overlooked high point of their discography. Throughout the song, Jordan and Mike are the stars. Mike gives by far his most creative and proggy performance of Systematic Chaos, with some really good stuff. Jordan, meanwhile, while rarely taking center stage, contributes a truly dazzling array of sounds, with some great distorted effects and beautiful orchestral lines. He also plays some really fast stuff in parts where one might expect him to lay back and provide very basic atmosphere, which really add to the piece while not taking center stage. John Petrucci is of course all over the place in this one as well, and John Myung is fairly visible in some parts, unlike a lot of Systematic Chaos. The lyrics, while unremarkable, are well written and tell the story well, and James delivers them well.
The introductory instrumental section, which lasts over 5 minutes, is incredible. Comes out of the gate screaming with a hard hitting riff and drum part, and doesn't let up. Riffs and solos alike here preview themes which will appear over the course of the piece. After dying down, there's a beautiful little part driven by clean guitars, followed by a drum build up into some real heavy riffing. As suddenly as it came, the clean guitar theme is back, this time picked up by the dirty organ, and slightly altered. Later, it's back with huge guitar riffs backing it to drive the main vocal theme of this first section. The way that themes constantly reappear, in so many different forms, throughout this piece is a large part of what makes it so great for me.
The song slows down as part 2 opens, but that doesn't mean there aren't great parts here as well. The beautiful restrained piano bit, swelling guitars, and how they gradually evolve to preview the vocal theme which will drive the "Dark Master" part, all this contributes to In The Presence of Enemies feeling like one of the most cohesive epics they have ever done. Suddenly we're back to full energy as James blasts us with the "Angels fall" line, and the section goes into its headbanger of a chorus. I downright LOVE part after this and the transition that leads into it, where the pace picks up and the fan chanting comes in. The way the vocals and guitar trade off just makes me want to do this each and every time I hear it:
And then, after a incredible vocal section with some subtle but very effective sweeping keys underneath, and a second, organ driven vocal buildup, there's The Reckoning. Why this section gets any hate at all is beyond me. It does all the things I love in a Dream Theater instrumental. There are so many parts where riffs build upon themselves gradually rather than abruptly shifting, the same technique I loved so much about Stream of Consciousness. The first minute of The Reckoning, and 10:34-10:57 are fantastic examples, the latter being perhaps my favorite part of the whole song. Everything here is multilayered and very carefully constructed, and despite incredible complexity, the riff driven first half has a real groove to it. The first guitar and keyboard solos that follow are not John or Jordan's best, but they don't feel overdone or there for the sake of being there to me either. This is helped by the fact that they are performed over the riffs from the intro of Part 1 which lead to the rapid sweeping guitar solo which follows them. Again, this riff leads to an epic sweeping guitar solo which builds up to where the whole piece began, quoting Part 1, but huger this time, with screaming key effects leading into the appearance of orchestral parts. Chills, each and every time I hear that bit. The final vocal section and ending doesn't quite stack up with their other epics, but it doesn't need to, the brilliant music which precedes it is enough to make In The Presence of Enemies Dream Theater's greatest epic (unless I continue to like Illumination Theory as much as I am right now).
15. Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper (Images & Words)I was told there's a miracle for each day that I tryIf we did a DTF-wide poll for top songs, I'm willing to bet Metropolis would end up on top, and with good reason. It features just about everything that's great about Dream Theater and mixes it into a very cohesive package, with some real highlights thrown in as well. We all know why it's great, so I'll try to be (somewhat) brief. The introduction, and the seven note explosion out of it into the main riff, is one of Dream Theater's very finest moments. It seems to evoke the title of the song; every time I hear that explosion, I get a mental image of driving out of a tunnel and being thrust into a sprawling Metropolis. I love how the theme from that section appears constantly throughout the song, whether it be a return to the drum beat that drives it, or soaring strings/synths carrying the riff over vocal lines. Every member gets a chance to shine. Mike has some incredible drumming throughout, with great grooves (Tom tom bit after the intro riff dies down), solos (instrumental section, 5:02), and heavy playing (guitar solo after the bass solo), and technical work (final bit of the instrumental). John Myung of course has the bass solo, but has many great parts throughout (the high ascending part he repeats before the unison at around the 7 minute mark comes to miind). John and Kevin of course contribute some great solos and unison sections as well. Kevin in particularly makes his mark, with some incredible organ work in the cool-down post instrumental section, and beautiful soaring synth lines in the first vocal section. I love how those lines were played by the orchestra on Score. And then there's James. One of his finest vocal performances. Songs from earlier Dream Theater discs seem to be written to better fit his voice, and this is a prime example. Rather than forced snarling heavy singing, James simple lets loose with incredible soaring operatic vocals, which give an already great song an incredible edge. In particular, they take the outro to stratospheric heights, and make it a classic concert closer for Dream Theater.
Despite being very good at just about everything, Metropolis doesn't go above and beyond "very good" for most things. I have nothing bad to say about it, but it's only #15 as a result. From this point on, most songs truly excel at something, bringing in an underrepresented element in Dream Theater's music and pulling it off brilliantly, or serving as a definitive example of something while maintaining the high quality of Metropolis throughout.
And speaking of underrepresented qualities, the next song sounds like nothing else in the catalog and does so very, very well, despite practically never being ranked up here.
14. Only A Matter Of Time (When Dream and Day Unite)And though the time will come when dream and day unite
Tonight the only consolation causing him to fight
Is fearless faith in destinyWhen I first heard the studio version of When Dream and Day Unite, I basically dismissed it a few songs in thanks to the production, vocals, and relative weakness of many songs (I'm no Ytse Jam fan either). As a result, I never made it to the end, and as a result, was utterly shocked when this fantastic little piece came out of nowhere when I saw Budokan for the first time. Since then, I've gained a greater appreciation for some WDADU songs, but none can touch its closer, especially with the incredible performances it received again and again during the Train of Thought era.
The vocal melodies get a lot of criticism in this one, but I like the rushed feeling they have, it gives the song a frantic feeling which works well with the lyrics, which are great on their own. The rhythm section is also downright incredible here. Mike Portnoy is at his most creative, with off the wall drum parts left and right, and John Myung is very upfront in this piece, keeping a somewhat chaotic song tied together, and practically never just doubling Petrucci. But it's the keyboards that put this song in a category of its own.
Only A Matter of Time has a real 80's feel to it that hasn't fully been captured anywhere else in Dream Theater's music. The synth sounds and parts feel like they could have come right off of a Van Halen record from their peak, and they drive the song along every step of the way. Each of the four (count 'em!) key solos is better than the last. The intro shows Kevin's talents for creating something incredible without to many notes in the process. The second, more of a bridge than a solo with its choir bursts, sets the stage beautifully for a short but absolutely perfect guitar break, driven by a great unorthodox drum beat and beautiful soaring synth lines. The third, which also has some great key work leading into it before and during a short vocal passage, is short but sweet. This one features some great embellishments by Jordan live, one of relatively few times when I think that his sometimes liberal interpretation of Kevin's parts adds dramatically to them. The "galloping" he does here on Live at Budokan is great, and again makes me wish that Dream Theater would use sounds like this again. Things get taken up yet another notch after the vocals leave us, kicked off by another brilliant climbing synth solo. Both the more straightforward studio version of this and Jordan's more frantic interpretation are breathtaking. But the best is yet to come, as the bass line builds the song to climax, things pause, and we're thrown into one of Dream Theater's all time great album closing moments. It's chaotic orchestrated brilliance. Keys lead the way as keys, guitars, drum and bass create what feels like a frantic four part harmony, with each instrument swelling, fading, and reaching high points independantly. And then with a bang, it's all over. What an ending. What a closer. What a piece of music.
Topic: JoeG's Ramblings About Zero Hits and 50 Other Pretty Cool Songs - Five left! (Read 12458 times)