Almost a week later, here is the review of my favorite song. Hope you like it! Even if you don't, thanks for following!
(Allergy warning: may contain some fanboyism!)
TOP 1
01. The Dance of Eternity
There’s so much to write about The Dance of Eternity! Let’s talk about the title. IT’s title is unnecessarily pretentious; Metropolis Pt I: The Miracle and the Sleeper is audacious but the words don’t get fully explored within the song. TDOE is an instrumental, so it’s easy to fit names to it. For example, it would be okay if HK was called The Dance of Eternity, and TDOE Hell’s Kitchen. However, given the lyrical and musical connections between Metropolis and SFAM, The Dance of Eternity is perfectly suited as a title for TDOE. I guess I could listen to it forever.
Love is the dance of eternity, they said. So TDOE is about love? Well, I wouldn’t make this claim. I do think TDOE is one of the strongest points of SFAM, like if it was the main instrumental break of a 77-minute song (to be fair, it starts at Home and ends at One Last Time), but I don’t see it as symbolizing a concrete fact of the SFAM story. I dismiss, for example, the interpretation that it means a sexual intercourse. TDOE is my favorite song (among all songs ever) by the way it sounds, not because of additional meanings or connections.
TDOE is an awful choice of song to introduce (or initiate) someone to DT. It has the opposite effect. Even for me, it wasn’t an easy introduction. I remember that it took me some time before I could listen to all SFAM. Initially, I would listen only until Beyond This Life. Then, the second half kicked in, but I was still skipping TDOE. After more time, maybe in 2010, it became my favorite song. It would still be surpassed by Octavarium and The Count of Tuscany, but it recovered its spot at the top of my list. Now it’s just my preferred song, without any contestants. And it is an almost intimate choice, since almost no one else has it as their ever favorite. Even if TDOE and I were drowning together, I wouldn’t let it go.
One thing I like about TDOE is that it is an “extreme” song, in the sense it has a property for which it is more of it than any other song. For example, Octavarium is an extreme song, since it is extreme in length among the Dream Theater album tracks. Which property is TDOE extreme for? It may be a point of discussion, but I think it is the most complex song per minute. In other words, the density of complexity is maximal. Did this property help me like TDOE over all the others? Yes. Its complexity is integral part of it. Not that being complex is necessarily good – but all the craziness of TDOE comes from the fact it kicks ass – in a lot of different ways.
I want to leave registered that, when I finally understood the piece, The Dance of Eternity just blew my mind. It struck me as something completely special, completely new. Dream Theater opened my eyes to many forms and constructions in music, and TDOE was the main conductor of this change. I have a weak point for instrumental songs – and instrumental breaks – and TDOE hit the exact spot. I believe I wouldn’t be the diehard DT fan I’m today weren’t for TDOE influence on me. Dream Theater without The Dance of Eternity would be like Zeus without the lightning.
All the instruments have the perfect tone in TDOE, and the mix is well done – you don’t think about it (the same holds for all SFAM, actually). The keyboards patches, which are constantly changing, are very well selected. This song has a cool drive, and although it may look fractal-y locally, it flows very well.
TDOE has three parts, each with duration of approximately two minutes, all of them overflowing in power and craft. I will analyze them separately for the sake of presentation. It’s tough to name sections of TDOE, so I will give the timestamps of when one third ends and the next starts: 2:04 and 4:22.
The first used to be my favorite (now I don’t have a preferred child). After some sampling and a single-note intro, it bursts into Rudess arpeggios (hopefully the correct word). I really like the fact that each measure is a little different – TDOE is possibly the most unpredictable of DT songs, which also may explain why it takes some time to like it. Anyway, I love each single note. I don’t know how much effort they put into it, but the result is fantastic, a masterpiece. Yes, and I’m talking only about this first third! It shows us what we should expect: nothing! Whatever you expect, TDOE will do the opposite. Or exactly the same, if you try reverse psychology! A neutral riff keeps us in suspense. Note that it is also a single-note riff; it’s incredible how a guitar player can be communicative without moving the left hand.
The second third kicks in in full power with the “Meshuggah riff”. Gotta love it, it’s possibly the most defining riff of the song. I think Jordan used all his weapons in composing to show everyone why he should be the new (at that time) keyboardist, and one of the best examples of his craft is the ragtime part. The bass solo is the sickest one among those without a bass solo within. If you think about it, it is the only clear-cut solo in TDOE, played exactly by the shiest member, musically and personally, JMX. Then we are rewarded with one brilliant melody – the one Jordan plays from 3:50 to 4:11. Note that again Jordan is the main player, but always backed up by a densely cool accompaniment. Apart from these four moments I mentioned, the whole middle third is just awesome. I like every transition – everyone is in perfect time and the intensity is always correct. If I had to choose among those secondary sections, it would be the one after the bass solo. Maybe it’s time to mention that Johns and Mike, although as I said previously mostly set the background for Jordan, they do it very well.
Then we revive Metropolis for a bit in the last third, which is revigorating as it distinguishes itself from the rest in pace. Soon Petrucci refers to the initial melody by Jordan, but not to the same effect in my opinion. The part starting at 4:43 is one of the best moments of the song. I appreciate not only power and speed but also modest play. It is jazzy, but at the same time it doesn’t lack energy. They don’t need to actively show it off, their musicianship inevitably emerges. The next section is keyless, and has an amazing groove! And when Rudess returns, it revvs it up (in similar meaning one can do with an engine). The whole note pattern is genial, and the keys add some malice to it. This whole minute can compete in equality with any of the first two thirds. At this moment, there is a transition to the outro, which is okay but doesn’t stand up as others in the discography do. In its defense, it segues into One Last Time, so it’s not a decisive ending.
Now let’s discuss the members’ contributions and performances. As far as I know, the keyboard parts here are purely by Jordan, but I may be mistaken. If my assumption is correct, I consider him to be the dominating force in TDOE, being the chief of most leads and directing the flow. He really showed a lot in its first installment with the band, and TDOE was a particularly nice stage for it. Portnoy is very skilled, and his drums additions are phenomenal here. He can really help control how the music is going, increasing or decreasing his rhythmic distance to the main melodies. Mike for me is the second main player of TDOE. Neither of the Johns has a lot of lead in TDOE. Petrucci has his own moments in SFAM, and Myung very rarely shines alone anyway. In TDOE, they keep the song together wonderfully. It’s they role, and they execute it with perfection.
In closing, The Dance of Eternity is for me the definitive Dream Theater song. It is even more characteristic and defining of Dream Theater than an influential classic like Metropolis. In TDOE, we can see the main element which makes me have DT as my number one band, the instrumental section, in its pure form. The musical phrasing, the hooky melodies, the aggressive and technical vibe, the interplay between the instruments – The Dance of Eternity is the best of Dream Theater.
Topic: Top 50 Dream Theater songs - by fischermasamune (Read 9107 times)
