Tom Bombadil's Top 50 DT Songs- COMPLETED!

[Tom Bombadil]

It's time for me to start my list! Hopefully, there will be some surprising twists and turns with a few you'll see coming from a mile away. I'll explain my reasoning knowing full well most of you will disagree regardless of my write-ups... Pretty much what I'm saying is it'll be just like every other Top 50 list.

A few notes before I begin: TEI was not taken into consideration due to it's very recent release. It hasn't had to withstand the test of time yet so I didn't find it fair to include it. Also, I am not restricting it to just studio albums a.k.a you'll see some of Cleaning out the Closet on here.

I thought I would start off by listing a couple of very popular picks that DIDN'T make my list. I just figured I might as well make some enemies early on.
 
Notable Songs that didn't make the cut:

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence- Let the hatemail begin! I've mentioned a couple of times that this song never clicked with me. To me, it sounds like 8 decent pieces with some really poor segues (transition between The Test That Stumped Them All and Goodnight Kiss is particularly bad)  that DT decided to call 1 song. Sure, some of the parts are pretty solid (About to Crash, Solitary Shell), but it doesn't feel like one cohesive piece of music to me. Especially when compared to most of DT's epics, this one just doesn't compare.

Metropolis Part 1- The Miracle and the Sleeper-If Six Degrees didn't already piss most of you off, this one most likely will. The beginning of this song rules, as does the ending. So why don't I like it? It's that darn instrumental section. I very rarely have any gripes with any KM era instrumental section, but this one does nothing for me. It just seems like a bunch of notes at random times, and I find the snare particularly annoying. Its a shame, I think, cause this song would be killer without that middle section.

In the Presence of Enemies- This one came real close to making the list, and it's really not a bad song at all. I just like 50 other songs more than it. Oh, and some of the lyrics are terrible (looking at you, Dark Master).

Hopefully it goes with out saying that these are all personal opinion. But feel free to bash me for leaving these off anyway. I'll start the Top 50 tomorrow.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Notable Songs that didn't make the cut:

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence-

death cometh



will be following.

[JoeG]

Glad to see someone else who shares my views of SDOIT. Metropolis and ITPOE off the list are unacceptable however.

Will follow!

[?]

I'm surprised at the lack of Metropolis, but Six Degrees and ITPOE didn't even get honorable mentions when I did my top 50, so you won't get hatemail from me.

[Outcrier]

Notable Songs that didn't make the cut:

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence-

[Bolsters]

Metropolis is one of my least liked songs by the band, so I'll be one of the few who gets behind you not adding it in the top 50.

[Podaar]

After seeing the list of songs that didn't make the cut I see no reason to follow this list. 

[Whatsername]

Well, now I have to see what you're going to put above those three!

[Tom Bombadil]

Ok time to get started.

50. A Fortune in Lies- I'm not the biggest fan of WDADU. I think James is a far superior singer, and I think the production of the album was pretty poor. That being said, this song is pretty great. The most memorable parts for me are the intro and the chorus. The song just has a good feel. It was even better to see live.

49. Caught in a Web- Ah, the first song from Awake to appear, and certainly not the last. Although it's rather straight-forward for a DT song, it still rocks from beginning to end. James definitely steals the show here, as his vocals (like most on Awake) are nothing short of tremendous. I can't really point to a weak part in this song, because I don't think there is one.

48. The Ministry of Lost Souls- It took quite a long time for me to warm up to this song. Up until about 3-4 months ago, I would've told you it was tremendously boring. It did eventually click with me, though. I really like the lyrics to this song, especially in the verses, and James delivers them excellently. The big long instrumental section still seems a bit out of place to me, but it's not as bad as I thought. If they had trimmed it down a little, making it about an 8-9 minute song, it would be a lot higher.

[iamtheeviltwin]

As interesting as it is to see the "big ones" that were left off your list, I found that the speculation and discussion in my list was better by not laying my cards on the table from the beginning.   

Nice to see another top 50 that won't be featuring at least 2 fan favorites I left off mine.

[?]

TMOLS is a mess to my ears, but AFIL and CIAW rock

[Whatsername]

Good songs! I'd definitely rank TMOLS and CIAW higher, but glad to see them being appreciated.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Caught In A Web is awesome. Nice to see it so high. Though, like most of Awake, I didn't care for it at first.

[Tom Bombadil]

Caught In A Web is awesome. Nice to see it so high. Though, like most of Awake, I didn't care for it at first.

Awake definitely takes some getting used to. Now it's my favorite album of all time.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

It's my favorite DT album, but not my favorite album overall. Probably top 10, though.

[425]

All three of these are excellent, particularly TMOLS, which should be higher.

On the other hand, not one of them beats Metropolis, SDOIT or ITPOE (well, TMOLS is close to beating ITPOE).

And the instrumental section is the best part of Metropolis, so...

[Tom Bombadil]

Alright, here's my next three:

47. Where Are You Now?- Before I joined DTF i truly had no idea that there were any unreleased DT songs out there. Finding Cleaning Out the Closet was such a pleasant surprise for me. There really is a lot of good stuff on there. Where Are You Now was probably the song that took the longest to click. Its rather straight-forward (like most things on Cleaning Out the Closet), but its simplicity is really what makes it great. I love Derek's part after the 2nd verse, its really simple but beautiful (something JR struggles with from time to time), and JP's solo is really incredible. I honestly think it's one of his best solos ever, there's just so much emotion. This song could easily have fit into FII, no problem.

46. Pull Me Under- This is one of those DT songs that is easily overlooked, but is a really great tune. I oftentimes listen to I&W and I'm like "I totally forgot about this song, but it's awesome!" In fact. I'm realizing as I'm writing this that I haven't listened to this song in ages. I think I will tonight.  Perhaps a lot of this has to do with it being DT's biggest hit, I'm not sure. In my case, however, it certainly has nothing to do with the music. The intro is probably my favorite part, with JP's soaring guitar sound in the background and some great melodic playing by KM. Not much else I can say about this song that hasn't already been said a million times, it's just a great example of an excellently crafted prog song.

45. Ytse Jam- For the most part, I really like DT instrumentals. This song is no exception. I really like the complexity in the opening riff (correct me if I'm wrong: it goes 4/4, 3/4, 3/4, 5/8, right?). One of the things that I really like about good prog bands is how they can make something with really odd time signatures, but still have it flow and groove as if it was in standard 4/4. I'm not the greatest musician in the world, but to me that's one of the hardest things to accomplish. Ytse Jam does it, and it sounds great. Although the poor production of the album somewhat detracts from the greatness of this piece, it can certainly still have you fist pumping in your car on the way to work.

[eviljust]

Would rank Ytse Jam definitely higher. PMU is in a nice position, to me but I don't like Where Are You Know that much.

[425]

I've not heard Where Are You Now enough times to really know where it is for me. It never jumped out at me at all before, but you said it was a grower for you, and I definitely don't want to say anything definitive having heard the song only a handful of times.

Pull Me Under is always a good, classic choice for this part of a list.

Ytse Jam is an interesting pick, but I think it's certainly a good one.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Good to see appreciation for Pull Me Under.

[Tom Bombadil]

Alright, time for the next three:

44. Finally Free- Coming in at 44 we have the final song from SFAM. Everything about the intro to this song is awesome. It just really grabs you from the beginning and takes you Along For the Ride. The chorus is nothing short of beautiful, and JLB just has a great performance all around. I absolutely love what Jordan is doing in this song. It just all fits perfectly with no overplaying or silly noises from JR. The only things that prevent this from being higher are some of the strange clips in the middle that were pretty unnecessary, and I think the ending riff just takes a little too long to fade out, and the whole ending clip is a little weird, but its a pretty cool way to end their concept album I think.

43. Peruvian Skies- I introduced my dad to Dream Theater about 2-3 years ago. I'm still no sure why, but this has become his favorite song by DT. It's very Metallica influenced, with the intro sounding similar to Bleeding Me and the outro sounding like Enter Sandman, and my dad hates Metallica. Me, on the other hand, I love Metallica, so it isn't all that strange that I think this song is pretty great. I really like the lyrics to this song, but my favorite part has to be the ending. It just rocks. I've never considered DT a very riff oriented band, but the riff that ends this song is excellent and one of the bands best. Oh, and how can one do a write-up to this song without mentioning the guitar solo. It, too, is one of my favorites. Just a great song.

42. Beneath the Surface I really like DT ballads. I almost always find them really beautiful. However, I was noticing that in later albums like SC and BCaSL, the ballads seemed kind of forced, almost like it didn't flow from the heart (mmm...cheese). Anyway, I think with ADTOE, the ballads are definitely a step in the right direction. Beneath the Surface starts out with a really beautiful acoustic opening (well, technically it starts out with dripping noises, but do I really have to comment on those?) JLB comes in with an awesome melody, and the lyrics are something many people can relate to, at least I'm sure I can. JR's solo in this song is absolutely perfect, it's really just flawless. Then JLB decides to take it up an octave and its like  A great ending to a great song to a good album.

[Whatsername]

Good choices! I actually can't listen to Beneath the Surface much. It brings up too many emotions. One of the few songs that will make me cry any time I hear it. Finally Free works fabulously in context of SFAM, but I have trouble listening to it outside of that. And I agree with everything you said about Peruvian Skies.

[Ruba]

You accidentally put one extra 4 in Finally Free's position. 
 
Peruvian Skies is really cool. Don't care about BTS.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I am not a huge fan of Finally Free, but the other two songs are quite good, with Beneath The Surface being one of my favorite DT songs.

[?]

Great songs, especially BTS

[425]

To me, Finally Free is about nine minutes of amazing song that turns out to only be a very good song because it lacks a proper outro. This song is the number one reason why I hope DT never does a concept album again. Honestly, though, the rest of the song is so good that it would still probably make my top 50.

Peruvian Skies is good and Beneath the Surface is just amazing.

[Tom Bombadil]

Time for the next three.

41. The Great Debate- the first SDOIT song on the list, The Great Debate is just a fun song from beginning to end. I like the clips at the beginning, and how it slowly builds up until it explodes. The 7/8 patterns that follow are really cool and complex. The high point to me is when JLB is screaiming "LIFE TO SAVE LIFE!" and MP is just going nuts. As a drummer, it's one of the most fun songs to play in DT's catalogue, as well as one of the most challenging. The lyrics are really good in this song, and I love how they show both sides of the argument about stem cell research. It really doesn't seem biased at all, which is a good thing. The song doesn't slow down at all when it goes into 4/4, it just keeps all that energy going. I really like some of the effects on the cymbals and vocals. Then there's some nice solo work before going back to the original melody. I definitely like how it fades out by going through the reverse progression of how it faded in. All in all, it makes for a pretty good song.

40. Erotomania-Another great instrumental that makes the list. Erotomania is another high energy song that has few breaks in the action. KM's contributions are evident right from the start. The opening riff is really cool, and hooks you in from the start. My favorite part of this one has gotta be when JP is playing The Silent Man melody and it just sounds perfect. While I think the while song is great, I have to admit it goes just a little downhill after that point, and later on you have one of the only times I think JP's solo sounds a bit out of place. This is just small nitpicking, though. The majority of this song rocks, especially the ending, which segues into Voices pretty perfectly. Another great instrumental track from DT.

39. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream- I pretty much enjoy every single ballad of the KM era, and this is no exception. It's just a beautiful piece of music. JP has some really nice, yet simple, guitar parts, which are complimented perfectly by MP's assortment of cool sounding cymbals. I really think KM makes the song, though. I absolutely love Jordan Ruddess, but I can just picture him playing this song and putting in like 6 million extra notes. KM plays the part exactly how it should be, no added flair or anything. Like every song on Awake, JLB is as close to perfection as it gets. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, this is a good song.

[Nearmyth]

THE GREAT DEBATE! Awesome song, nice to see it on the list. The rest are good too, for some reason LSOAD never clicked for me, but I find it to be an awesomely atmospheric song that manages to be quite pretty.

[eviljust]

LSOAD would be in my top 20 maybe. Great to see TGB though! And I love Erotomania so bad Nice picks!

[Ruba]

TGD . The other two are good too.

[JoeG]

Three great picks which don't get enough appreciation!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Erotomania's cool, but I'm not a big instrumental guy.

The other two, however, are fantastic choices.

[425]

Those three are songs that I don't seem to love as much as other people do, but they aren't bad songs by any stretch.

[Tom Bombadil]

Time for the next three.

38. Another Day- This is just a beautiful song off of Images & Words. John Petrucci's opening solo is a thing of beauty, and then JLB comes in and just amazes, with KM providing some excellent background chords. What really makes this song unique is obviously the sax, though. It really blends in with the sound and just feels like it belongs. The song kind of starts to drag a bit IMO at the second verse, but it quickly goes away. James' vocals during the bridge are amazing, and showcase just how powerful his voice was back in the I&W days. Then comes the guitar solo, which is just mind-blowingly good. I definitely think Petrucci's best solo ideas came from back when DT was young (not that he hasn't had good ones in the later years) . This one is just pure gold. Probably the highlight of the song for me. It's just a good all around song.

37. Don't Look Past Me- Another hidden gem off of Cleaning Out the Closet. When I not too recently discovered this album, this was one of the songs that blew me away on first listen. There's probably a good reason for it too: Kevin Moore is all over this song.. KM is probably my favorite lyricist DT has ever had. His stuff just always hits home for me, and this song is one of those. Lines like "So love is broken. They're asking me how can you help when you don't even know how that feels." really make this tune interesting. Like usual, James delivers an excellent performance, and JP has a bunch of really nice melodic sections. I'd say this song is a perfect mix of a rather pop-ish sound and progressive structure. It definitely doesn't follow the usual pop song pattern, and that's something that makes this song really age well. If you have yet to check out some of DT's unreleased stuff, this is certainly a good place to start.

36. This is the Life- Probably coming as a bit of a surprise here, This is the Life clocks in at #36. This was one that I just loved from the first listen. There's not a whole lot that would be considered extraordinary or groundbreaking on this song, but it's a great example of a simple, beautiful song. Probably my favorite part is JR's little solo in the middle. I remember how thrilled I was the first time I heard it. As I've mentioned before, JR is prone to excessive overplaying in some sections of songs, but right here he just nails it down perfectly. There's something like 12 notes in the solo, and that's all there needs to be. It's perfect. There's not a whole lot to say about the rest of the song. Again, there's nothing really special here, it's just a solid ballad tune from start to finish.

[krieger]

37. Don't Look Past Me- KM is probably my favorite lyricist DT has ever had.

I just love this song!  Look at these lyrics:

Countless times a friend has told me
Watch out for the wave
Now it seems the sea will be my grave
And still you swim to save me


I always feel very emotional when this part comes up.