Interesting to hear that my views on BAI are generally not shared by everyone.
I wonder if anyone will end up wanting to take up pitchforks by the time this list is done. Anyway, more updates because this is fun and I like getting these out there!
47. The Enemy Inside | Dream TheaterThese suffocating memories are etched upon my mindI find it really impressive that a song I've barely heard for a month has already cracked my top 50, but wow, I really really enjoy this song. If I had any doubts about Dream Theater's attitude or mentality for the next album, whether they might play it a bit "safe" like I feel they did with ADTOE, this song quieted those concerns. And it didn't just quiet them. It smashed them to pieces with the face-melting power of The Enemy Inside. This song just grabs me from the beginning and doesn't let go. I love love LOVE how Mangini sounds on this track. Amazing. And when the main riff kicks in for the intro, oh my GOD. I cannot help but just bang my head to this. I can only imagine the energy levels this will ignite when it's played during the show.
Yeah there's a bit of artifacting (not even sure if that's the proper term) on some of the snare hits during Mike's drum rolls, which detracts from the experience a bit, but I only notice it right before the first verse.
I happen to like DT when they do metal, and I think this is as solid a metal song as they've released. There’s an energy and an excitement to this that was lacking on Train of Thought, and that gets me really excited. And I love JR's contributions to the song. He seems to be more in the forefront than what I remember of ToT. I wish his keys were mixed louder in the section with the wah-wah guitars, but overall it works great.
Speaking of sounds/mixing, I love Mangini's snare sound. It's a nice fat, meaty sound which I think works really well with this track. If it was lighter and crisper I think it'd get lost in everything else. As it is it's solid and is present regardless of the insanity happening around it. And Petrucci's guitar sounds rich and chocolatey and delicious. His solo after JR's little honky-tonk/ragtime/whatever-we-call-it breakdown sounds incredible. I love the tone of the guitar. And JLB gives a great performance and I love the last note. Some people have said the song isn't memorable and they can't remember the melodies at all. I've woken up the past 3 days with different portions of the song stuck in my head, so I find it's quite memorable to me. A little less creative musically perhaps than some of their other songs, but a solid fun song that I can’t wait to see live.
46. Never Enough | OctavariumYou didn't like the way my blood spilled on your brand new floorHere we have the first of my tracks from Octavarium, and definitely not my last. There's a super cool intro here and it builds up into the drums and the guitars and it’s like okay, this song is rocking. I don’t normally like effects on JLB's voice but it works on the verses here. It adds to the sort of moody effect they’re going for here. And he sounds so good when the chorus kicks in. I love his higher registry and I feel it sounds great here. And his emphasis on the line "everything is never enough" is fantastic. It's angry and resentful and sexy and I think it's a great performance from him. A problem I run into is that during the verses, all the rest of the instruments sort of mush together in my ears. I have trouble picking anything out particularly. Things clear up in the chorus though with JP's strong chords cutting through.
Jordan gets his moment in the spotlight, which I love every time. And JP's solo is so cool. The melody is vaguely familiar... It reminds me of a video game but I can’t put my finger on the one I'm thinking of. I think it'd work well for a fight sequence. Either way, great solo and it keeps the energy going into the final chorus. All around a fun song. Not one I necessarily go out of my way to listen to, but it works fantastically in the framework of this album. It’s a bit formulaic for Dream Theater, but it proves that even when they’re doing a by-the-numbers track it's still a load of fun and really really good.
45. Bridges In The Sky | A Dramatic Turn of EventsCrossing bridges in the sky, on a journey to renew my life. Shaman take my handOkay, I'll admit it. The intro to this song terrified me the first time I heard it. I was half-asleep and my Dream Theater playlist was going on my laptop, and then THIS song came on. Needless to say I jumped awake and in the resulting flail almost knocked my laptop off my bed. But I'm back to listen to it again, with a nice stable desktop computer this time, so no accidents this time. It's got a really mystical feel and sets up the beautiful vocalization that honestly sounds like it could have been composed by Howard Shore… which is an amazing compliment for me to give because the Lord of the Rings soundtracks are my absolute scores ever composed in the history of ever. But we don't dwell there for long because the rest of the band kick the song into high gear, and from this point on I go from liking to loving this song.
James sounds amazing on this track. Which isn't surprising for me to say, since I probably will say some variation of this on almost every track on this list (you have been warned). But I really REALLY love his voice on the pre-choruses (again, no idea if these are the technical terms). And then we hit the chorus and I'm sad because they keep doubling his vocals. Or maybe it's JP singing backing vocals? I don't think it is. Maybe someone can clarify this for me. Either way, I don't like it as much as some of their older tracks with backing vocals. I really love JP's backing vocals and I honestly liked MP's too, but when they do this effect on James I lose something of the clear tone that I love so much.
I also don't like Mangini's high hat during the choruses. It's a bit too prominent for me, especially since I can't hear the meat of the rest of his drum performance. This was the first song I really felt like I had to turn the track up to hear Mike's performance, and I'm glad to see it appears to have been fixed in DT12. James with "shamaaan takeee myyy HAAANDDDD" gives me chills every single time. I know I'm nit-picking, but this song is really strong so I'm noticing these minor little things. I really love this chorus. It's uplifting and inspiring and just
And then the instrumental break, with the lovely strings and keys in the background! I love being able to pick out Jordan's stuff. Sometimes I feel like he either gets lost in the sauce, or I'm not tuned enough to hear it, but in this case I have no problem hearing his parts which makes me really happy. And I love he has an actual solo. Him and Petrucci trading off is such a cool moment and it adds a nice structure to the instrumental part, which transitions back into the chorus beautifully. Definitely an epic song, but like I said earlier, with Breaking All Illusions also being over 10 minutes, one of these two should have been trimmed. But I prefer this song at the length it is, so my vote still goes for trimming Breaking All Illusions.
Topic: Whatsername's Top 50 Songs: now with unnecessarily wordy explanations! (Read 13287 times)