Dream Theater Instrumental Versions of Songs with Lyrics

[theaterdream]

Hi all,

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of Black Clouds and Silver Linings except for Wither. I happened to hear the instrumental version of the album and really, really like the songs without the singing. Before, I couldn't stand The Shattered Fortress because it is hard to understand the lyrics and to me it just comes across as shouting to me. Is there a way I can buy instrumentals without buying the whole album?

Also, are there any other albums by DT that are just the instrumental versions.

Thanks.

[SuperTaco]

To answer the first question, I'm pretty sure you have to purchase the 3 disc Special Edition to get the Instrumental tracks. I don't remember it ever being sold on its own.

A Dramatic Turn Of Events has the Instrumental tracks on the Deluxe Collector's Edition. Other then these, I don't think any other album has been released with instrumental tracks.

[rumborak]

It might not be the same, but isn't there one of those Guitar Hero-esque things that lets you remove whatever instrument you want of a DT track?

[RaiseTheKnife]

Yeah, Jammit.  Its pretty cool and affordable.  You can buy it for guitar, bass, etc. and can move that instrument you purchased it for in and out of the mix.  I'm hoping ADTOE gets the Jammit treatment because it is HARD learning Breaking All Illusions at normal tempo.

[rumborak]

Just checked. Assuming that "Vocals" means you can pull the vocals completely down, thus making it an instrumental, there's a good selection:

https://www.jammit.com/store/all?order=field_version_value&sort=asc&title=dream+theater&artist=dream+theater

[The Letter M]

AFAIK, only BC&SL and ADTOE have full album instrumental versions, although the Japanese edition of Dream Theater includes an instrumental version of "The Enemy Inside".

Some of the YtseJamRecords Demos albums incllude instrumental versions of songs that were recorded as instrumentals before the lyrics/vocals were finalized. Other than that, I think that's all you'd be able to find.

-Marc.

[TheAtliator]

Jammit is absolutely amazing. It costs a lot if you buy a lot of tracks, you buy one instrument per song at a time. If you get vocals, you can isolate the vocal track(s) as well as mute them so you just have just the instrumental. Plus it comes with sheet music, because what it's really for is musicians learning the songs. Jammit has a ton of DT if you're interested in hearing instrumental mixes.

However, BC&SL is    and the vocals on TSF are especially 

[Rodni Demental]

Most of these have been mentioned in this thread, but to summarise the DT instrumental that I know about (and some of them might be considered a stretch), we have:
- Black Clouds & Silver Linings collectors edition (missing keyboard and guitar leads though)
- A Dramatic Turn of Events deluxe edition (solos intact)
- The Enemy Inside (Japanese edition of Dream Theater)

There's also a quite a few demos that are still in instrumental form:
- Train of Though demos Ytsejam release (slightly different solos)
- Under A Glass Moon instrumental demo (before James' vocals were added)
- Learning to Live instrumental demo (ditto)
- Take The Time instrumental demo (ditto)
- Metropolis instrumental demo (ditto)
- Scarred instrumental (Bonus track on The Awake demos, known as "Keymaster")
- Home (early Live rehearsal of entire first half of song)
- The Spirit Carries On (another live rehearsal of the instrumentation, from "The Making of Scenes" bootleg)
- When Dream and Day Unite early production instrumental demos
- There's instrumental versions of some Majesty tracks like Another Won, Two Far, Your Majesty (I only mention these for curiosities sake, probably not what the OP was looking for)

There's also instrumental versions of these songs floating around the internet due to their appearances in Guitar Hero and Rock Band and the stems being accessible:
- Pull Me Under (extended ending kinda, nothing to get excited about)
- Constant Motion (instrumental version is based on the guitar stem so is missing the keyboard tracks)
- Panic Attack (Also missing the keyboard tracks)
- On The Backs of Angels

And then as mentioned previously, there's Jammit. Awesome stuff in there, bit overpriced. Still, very cool that it even exists.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Jammit is absolutely amazing. It costs a lot if you buy a lot of tracks, you buy one instrument per song at a time. If you get vocals, you can isolate the vocal track(s) as well as mute them so you just have just the instrumental. Plus it comes with sheet music, because what it's really for is musicians learning the songs. Jammit has a ton of DT if you're interested in hearing instrumental mixes.

However, BC&SL is    and the vocals on TSF are especially 

Listening to just the vocal tracks without any instrumentation is also quite interesting.  It gives some insight into the production of the vocals (reverb, effects, etc.), as well as the quality of the voice.  Check it out.  I'm sure hearing the unaccompanied track of James' F# in Learning to Live is worth the few bucks.

[TheAtliator]

Oh my God yes, listening to The Mirror isolated vocals left me in awe.

[SuperTaco]

Jammit can get expensive, but if you have the money to spare, it can be very rewarding. For a musician learning DT, it's an absolute blessing.

(It's also great for developing a new appreciation for each member of the band)