Parama's Top 50 Nightmare Cinema Shows, v. Gold Statue! The End!

[Crow]

So I'm doing one of these list things now it looks like. Yay. Time for people to yell "I wouldn't put that on my list" or "too low" at all of my choices 

Things to note:
ALL WRITEUPS DONE IN ADVANCE.
GUARANTEED DAILY UPDATES.
REALLY BAD TASTE.

If this sounds appealing to you, just sign the dotted line and we can raise the curtain. If you don't sign however we'll raise the knife instead.

ALL RIGHT LET'S DO THIS.
First write-ups will be in a separate post because I want to update this with a full song list and this post doesn't need more clutter.

THE LIST
50. The Answer Lies Within
49. This Dying Soul
48. Another Day
47. Pull Me Under
46. Outcry
45. Afterlife
44. Beyond This Life
43. Never Enough
42. Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
41. New Millennium
40. Sacrificed Sons
39. Under A Glass Moon
38. Caught in a Web
37. Innocence Faded
36. Far From Heaven
35. Surrounded
34. Learning to Live
33. Panic Attack
32. Vacant
31. Erotomania
30. Peruvian Skies
29. Through My Words/Fatal Tragedy
28. Take Away My Pain (Demo)
27. Bridges in the Sky
26. Octavarium
25. The Ministry of Lost Souls
24. Trial of Tears
23. Home
22. Endless Sacrifice
21. Repentance
20. Eve
19. The Spirit Carries On
18. Misundertsood
17. In the Name of God
16. The Glass Prison
15. Space-Dye Vest
14. Finally Free
13. 6:00
12. Stream of Consciousness
11. Metropolis, Pt. 1
10. A Change of Seasons
09. Hell's Kitchen
08. Lines in the Sand
07. Breaking All Illusions
06. Voices
05. Disappear

[Crow]

50. The Answer Lies Within
Personally I think this song gets way too much hate. It’s a very lovely song, it’s not the best DT ballad by any means but it builds up nicely and is a very lovely piece of music. I can see people hating it for it maybe being boring because even I will admit, it’s not the most unique song in the DT catalog, but that doesn’t make it bad considering the band does have some offensively bad songs in them. I’ve always enjoyed this song though, I’m sure it helps that Octavarium was the first DT album I really got into and I probably rate it higher than lots of other people do, but this song is still pretty good on its own.

49. This Dying Soul
Talk about a song packed with energy. This song hardly lets up and is easily the most intense song of the twelve step suite (not surprising considering it is a Train of Thought song, though). It also throws in quite a few reprised bits from The Glass Prison without being close to derivative otherwise. Hell, the main “theme” of this song is probably the most iconic part of the suite, since every song in the suite after this one reprises it to some degree. It certainly deserves to be, it’s a wonderful melody that sounds great both clean and heavy. The guitar lead reprised several times throughout the first half of the song is absolutely gorgeous. The riffs have plenty of kick to them too, and the ending instrumental is just plain nuts. It’s a bit self-indulgent and probably a bit too long, but it still rocks and there’s no denying its franticness. It’s certainly not DT’s best put together song but it’s plenty effective at what it’s trying to be, and deserves to be on the list.

48. Another Day
A very nice song that’s just so overshadowed by the rest of the album it’s on. LaBrie is fantastic here as is I&W standard, and dat sax. The song does buildup really well too, when the really kicks in it does it at the perfect time and just to the right degree, and the second half of the song is absolutely fantastic as a result of how well the first half builds. Also I never realize how much I like this song until I listen to it again, apparently, because whoops it just jumped like ten spots on my ranking and now it’s on the list, hah. The slow burn out at the end is also pretty fitting, and makes for a good segue into the next song on the album.

First discussion question: What's your personal least favorite DT instrumental wankery section?

[mikemangioy]

Great three songs 

My least favorite wankery mhh....
probably The Glass Prison, towards the last verse.. it's cool but it never ends 

[Crow]

iuahfuiohguo are you kidding me? 
That's one of their best. The only bad thing about it is that it set the stage for every solo trade-off following it.

[mikemangioy]

Well, I actually love the riffs, but I think that it should've been shorter.

[Crow]

Ehh. I don't see a reason for it to be shorter, it builds up rather well to the end of the song, but personal preference I guess!

[jakepriest]

Can't stand The Answer Lies Within.

This Dying Soul used to be my no.2 favourite on ToT, but has slowly been dropping to the lowest spot. Still a kickass song.  I love the TGP reprise.

My least favourite wankery would probably either be A Nightmare to Remember or the entirety of Lost Not Forgotten. God I hate that song 

[Crow]

Yeah, those both are pretty low on my list in terms of instrumental sections. ANTR's probably just a bit worse because of Rudess' solos.

[Crow]

Well I think it's about time for the first of my extra content, because I couldn't just leave it at top 50 and be done.
Mostly because I had too much time to write stuff.

So I'm going to start out with doing my bottom 10 as well, one song a day! I considered 105 tracks in my rankings, the rest of them I just wasn't familiar enough with to feel I could properly rank them so I didn't. I'm going to count from 96 to 105, the 10 worst songs on my overall ranking. Should be fun to get some anger mixed in with gushing about good music 

96. Light Fuse And Get Away
This and 97 I don’t really hate that much. They don’t offend the senses like the other 8, but I wanted to round out a full 10. Which basically just means putting my two least favorite WDADU songs on the list. This is basically here ‘cause I can’t stand Dominici on this one. And the production, and Moore’s keyboard sound. There’s a decent song here, I’m sure with better production and not Dominici singing it could be pretty cool, but ahh well.

[Evermind]

LNF wankery is the one that instantly came to my mind, so yeah, that.

Can't talk too much about the songs as I'm starting my list in four hours - don't want to spoil it - but one of those 3 is too low for me.

Oh, and Light Fuse and Get Away does absolutely nothing for me.

[Ruba]

LNF wankery is the one that instantly came to my mind, so yeah, that.

Yeah, it's horrible. I strongly dislike the keyboard solo on The Enemy Inside, too.

[mikemangioy]

I like LNF wankery, actually. It's very freaky and fun to listen and play.

As for Light Fuse, never got into that one, so I won't express my opinion.

[jakepriest]

All of WDADU except for A Fortune In Lies and Ytse Jam would be in my bottom 15. Including most of FII 

[Crow]

Well I wouldn't say all the WDADU songs are that bad... speaking of.

47. Pull Me Under
Talk about selling out. The band has a hit song? Pfff. And it was in guitar hero? Haha such sellouts also getting a full combo of this on expert guitar was quite a thrill I must say shut up. I don’t think it’s possible to hate this song though, it’s probably the most metal song on the album, absolutely fantastic riffs all the way through, great atmosphere, and especially the chorus. Every member is at their A-game here, and the solos are short but sweet, something SC/BC&SL DT really needed to take note of. Except with The Best Of Times. That solo is too short. Allow me to end by talking about how the ending suddenly cuts off without actually making a joke about it.

46. Outcry
This song has some pretty awesome and epic moments, the entire first half until the instrumental section is just amazing. Rudess does some wonderful work with the atmosphere and Petrucci’s riffs are pretty great too. The instrumental section isn’t bad or anything, though it probably goes on too long. I like how they avoid solos entirely, just making it one long flow of technical riffs and different instruments playing leads. But I think I appreciate it more than I actually enjoy it, and they could’ve cut a bit out and probably improved the song in the process. The transition back into the last verse is also very well done as well. My biggest gripe is probably the ending. It’s horrible. It just feels like the song got cut short or something. I feel like that section should’ve been right before the instrumental instead of at the very end, and they could’ve put something else to end the song. It really pulls the song down as a whole for me. It’s still a great song though, just that it needed a bit of work.

45. Afterlife
Spoilers: Only WDADU song on this list. Why? It’s the only song where Dominici really fits the music. I’ve not ever listened to the LaBrie version of the song but I’m sure I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. On the other hand, it means this song has no chance of competing with the best of the DT catalog because it sounds decisively unlike anything else they’ve written. It’s still recognizably DT (or at least to me, since I’ve certainly listened to this one more than the rest of the album) but it’s… very different. Very 80’s, of course. The riffs are great throughout, Petrucci’s solo and the unison following it are both amazing as well. It’s just… well, as cheesy as you’d expect from a WDADU song, really! Doesn’t mean I don’t love it though, since it *is* on the list.

[jakepriest]

I don't really see the problem with Outcry's ending. I would rate it much higher just for the great Rudess / Mangini part  between the instrumental and the last verse. The instrumental does drag on for too long though.

[Crow]

Yeah that's one of the better parts though you're leaving out the Myung there which is </3 to me.
It just doesn't much feel like a proper ending is all to me. I'd have the song higher otherwise.

[mikemangioy]

That instrumental section is perfect, IMO 

[Crow]

Next up on the worst list!

97. Only A Matter Of Time
Same as LFAGA, just to a bit stronger degrees. The music here is actually generally better, but Dominici is horrible, and the production and Moore’s sounds aren’t any better than LFAGA. The outro is really pretty cool, it’s a good album closer, but I just can’t stand to listen to it. Like I said, there’s no real hate for these two. I promise from here on out to be more impassionately pissed off.

[mikemangioy]

I actually quite like that one.. it wasn't in my list but it's a fine song 

[jakepriest]

As I said. I don't have a problem with any WDADU songs being a top 10 worst list

[Crow]

OAMAT is one of the better WDADU songs musically but Dominici absolutely murders it.

Anyways I noticed I forgot to pose a question yesterday so I'll pose two today instead.

44. Beyond This Life
The intro riff/main riff of this song is absolutely killer, always loved it, and it reverberates through much of the song, a driving, chilling rhythm. I think this is one of the few times where vocal effects are used to excellent effect, as well, the lyrics in the verses are very impersonal and devoid of emotion, just like a newspaper article, and the effects make LaBrie sound very quiet and cold.  Oh also, lots of solos. This song certainly has them. The jazzier, more laid-back solos in the long instrumental are nice and all but I’ve always preferred the intense shredfest of a guitar solo. It’s just so manic-sounding, I don’t know what it is but I love it. The instrumental sections here really are probably my favorite bits though, Petrucci completely owns this song though Rudess does fine too. The last chorus is also just absolutely amazing. Certainly a moment where long chords are used to great effect, Portnoy’s driving rhythm keeping up the intensity the last unison leaves you with throughout the rest of the song. There’s really a lot to this song and a lot that I like about it even if some of the moments don’t resonate as strongly with me as others do.

43. Never Enough
Well yeah I’d like this song more if Muse hadn’t already written it better, but the song doesn’t stop being good because of that. I adore how LaBrie sings on the verses, the main riff is pretty sick, and the unison is fantastic. Portnoy also does some fantastic work during the second verse, and really throughout the entire song, but especially there. Honestly I’m not sure I have anything negative to say about this aside from “it’s Stockholm Syndrome”. Re-listening to this again actually put it up quite a few places, it didn’t used to be on my list and now it is. Damn, DT have lots of really good songs. See this is why I’m doing write-ups like this in advance. I want to have the most fixed list I can possibly create. And I think I ended up accomplishing that, so. I mean yeah these rankings basically change every day but this is as close as I can get, for the moment.

42. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream
This song is just flat-out beautiful, no question. The synth strings here legitimately sound better than Rudess’ on DT12, for what it’s worth. The entire song builds up all the way through, and it’s just a wonderful ride the whole time. Petrucci’s “solo” if you can call it that is simple but really effective.  By the final chorus it’s really something grand… of course, the lyrics are great here as well, but you knew that. It’s really hard to say stuff about this song without sounding cheesy, it’s just a really moving song. I’m honestly baffled that there are so many songs they have better than this one.

Second Discussion Question: If DT were to have one hit song that wasn't PMU, what song do you think would be most likely?

Third Discussion Question: Is it okay for one band's song to sound similar to another if the band puts their own spin on it?

Also I just realized, with a 25-day schedule my #1 will be posted on Christmas Day 

[jakepriest]

I used to hate on Beyond This Life a lot, but ever since I fell in love with the instrumental section I think it deserves top 30 atleast.
I agree with the placement of the two latter songs.

For the discussion, I really don't think there is a DT song that is mainstream enough that it could become a hit. I Walk Beside you certainly could have if it hadn't been so boring. Wither faces the same problem.

[Crow]

A lot of my placements of songs has to do with their overall consistency, as opposed to the runtime of the good bits, so songs with some strong parts and the rest being average rank lower than songs consistently good. My entire top 10 is songs with absolutely no flaws in that regard, so.

[Evermind]

Never really liked NE, but the other two is fine choices.

Second Discussion Question: If DT were to have one hit song that wasn't PMU, what song do you think would be most likely?

I dunno, but certainly not something from SDOIT.    This album is like anti-hit songs brought together. ToT is kinda in the same league.

[mikemangioy]

BTL is top ten material for me 
Never Enough, though, is pretty close to where I put it, I think.

I think that The Silent Man would've been the greatest hit.

[Crow]

BTL is top ten material for me 

I know, I saw your list
It's just not that high for me because, like I said, bad taste. Some of my higher choices are predictable but a fair few are also reeeally weird picks.

[Crow]

Next up on the fail train. Songs I actually have a decent amount of dislike for!

98. A Rite of Passage
I had this as higher on the hate list until I listened to it again and realized I didn’t hate it as much as everything past it. The chorus kind of pisses me off but I can’t really put into words why it does, it just does. The instrumental break is consistently terrible though. The riff isn’t that interesting, Petrucci’s solo is pretty much boring shred from beginning to end, and then Rudess comes in and does Rudess-y things. I’ve kind of come to realize that Rudess is easily my least favorite of the band members except probably Dominici, I can’t think of very many songs where I can say “man that Rudess solo was awesome.” But yeah. Bebot solo. Yup. That’s basically all there is to say. The song goes from at best “nothing special” to “ugh make it stop”. It’s like Burning My Soul, except with slightly worse riffs, and instead of a cool instrumental, a really, really bad one. BMS I also thought I hated, but then I listened to it, and it does cool stuff actually, though it’s not great. This one, well, I still can’t put it as low as it used to be, but it still isn’t a song I’d ever choose to listen to.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

This is how a list should be presented. Great job thus far!

[Onno]

Following now. As for your choices:

TALW, TDS, Afterlife and AD are all good songs but not in my top 50. I can't remember if Pull Me Under is in my top 50 but it's a great song and it certainly comes close. Outcry is fantastic apart from the lyrics which are a huge letdown for me.
LFAGA isn't really an interesting song and I don't listen to WDADU much because it's one of my least favourite DT albums. Only A Matter Of Time is pretty good though, but also not in my top 50. I love the keyboards in that one.
Beyond This Life is an amazing song! LSOAD is also great and very close to being in my top 50. Never Enough is indeed pretty much a Muse song but it's okay. I don't have anything against the lyrics either. I just listened to Stockholm Syndrome for the first time and it struck me how many similarities there are! I'd never heard it before and always thought people only thought the style of NM was a Muse ripoff. Wow.
AROP is great IMO; the chorus is one of DT's best and I like the instrumental section. The bebot solo is pretty bad though, and I don't like the verses that much.

As for the discussion questions:
1. Hard to think of one, but I might go with the solos in AROP if that counts. However, I must say the only part of that that I dislike is the bebot solo.
2. Hit song? Probably something metal. I think I'd go with The Enemy Inside.
3. Well yes it is ok, as long as it isn't a total ripoff.

[Lolzeez]

BTL is top 5 material...







...or even the number 1 spot.

[jakepriest]

I quite enjoy A Rite of Passage, the keyboard solo is dreadful, but the main riff Petrucci plays during the chorus is hella awesome. A fun song to play on drums aswell 

[Crow]

I just listened to Stockholm Syndrome for the first time and it struck me how many similarities there are! I'd never heard it before and always thought people only thought the style of NM was a Muse ripoff. Wow.

Yeeeeah that's kind of why I can't justify having it any higher than it is

And sorry for having bad taste, Lolzeez! I do that.
Speaking of, time for more songs.

41. New Millennium
I used to like this one a lot more than I do now. Granted I still like it quite a bit, but also not as much as I used to. The instrumentation on this song is definitely unique in the DT catalog, which is one reason it stands out. What I think has lost me is that the song is a long string of cool parts, but with no real power or passion to them. I like every part of this song, but very few parts I love, and it’s kind of an emotionless song all things considered. It’s still pleasant to listen to though and it’s 8 minutes of great music, what’s not to love about that? The instrumental section in the middle is probably the best part all things considered, the “keep your head up” section is a close second I’d say. I love this song. I don’t really love it, like I do a lot of DT songs, so it’s not higher up.

40. Sacrificed Sons
I feel kind of bad talking about this one given the subject matter… I was too young to really understand what happened when it did. Obviously DT would have to touch on this sometime though given that they are a “New York” band essentially. The verses are just plain chilling… the song isn’t as much about anger as it is trying to understand what drives people to do such horrible things to other people. I’d say the instrumental section is a bit average at first but the heavy as hell guitar riff is just plain awesome and the way it bleeds into the last verse is probably my favorite bit of the song. Also I’m weak to 6/8 time signatures, so that certainly helps matters, but it’s used very well here. The bit right after the last chorus, as well, is equally chilling, and the song ends with that killer riff again. I’ll admit. This song is probably here more for the riffs than the way they handled the subject matter though that’s well done as well and certainly at least the first verses really helped matters.

39. Under A Glass Moon
Any song that starts like this one certainly has to be pretty great. How can you not love that intro? And the heavy as hell discordant part right before the first verse is just fantastic even if it’s a bit out of place with the rest of the song. Also scratch what I said about PMU, this is easily the most metal song on the album. And it’s effective at it. Of course, won’t waste time talking about how awesome Petrucci’s solo is, though the Moore solo section is fantastic as well, as are the heavy chords right before it goes back to the last chorus with a grander feel than the first two choruses had. Ending is also really effective too, much more effective than the ending to this write-up at the very least.

Fourth Discussion Question: What's your least favorite Petrucci solo?

[jakepriest]

Sacrificed Sons at 40 

Least favourite Petrucci solo is hard. A recent one I'm really not a fan of is in Surrender To Reason. It still remains the best song on the album for me, but the solo just sounds like random scratching to me.

[Onno]

New Millenium is cool, close to making my top 50. The instrumental section is indeed the best section of the song. UAGM is amazing and SS is very good as well.
Regarding my least favourite JP solo: probably something from DT12.

[Evermind]

Wow, only one of those in my top50. Guess this update isn't for me.

I can't think of my least favourite JP solo, so I'll leave it for someone who can.