My top 5 (not in any kind of rank order):
-The Majesty Demos 1985-1986: There are definitely other releases I enjoy listening to more. But prior to this being released on Ytsejam, these demos were definitely one of the "DT holy grail" items. These songs and snippets for the most part cannot be heard anywhere else, and they are such an important part of the band's history that I had to include them.
-Falling Into Infinity Demos: As I said in another thread, this is also a must-have. My other post: "This double CD set includes the original forms of the songs that were eventually reworked for the album, as well as those that did not make the cut. That includes the early instrumental demo of Metropolis pt. 2. Detailed liner notes from Mike Portnoy describe in detail what the band was going through during this period of their history and how the band almost broke up." There are great songs and versions of songs that cannot really be gotten anywhere else, so this definitely falls into the "essential" category for me. I would be shocked if this did not finish in the top 5 overall and make most people's lists.
-When Dream And Day Reunite: Not perfect versions of these songs, but you get the entire WDADU album with James. That is reason enough to own it. Plus, the encores with Charlie and Derek take it over the top. And as if that weren't enough, the band commentary on the DVD is perhaps the best they have ever done (with the possible exception of the commentary on Metropolis 2000). As with the FII demos, I would be shocked if this were not a top 5 finisher overall.
-Old Bridge, New JERSEY - 12/14/96: Although it took me awhile to warm to FII, I am a sucker for that era. Not the cleanest performance, but a lot of fun. From my other post: "I believe this is one of the "fix for '96" shows, where the band took a break from the writing/recording process to just get out and play some songs for the fans who were basically just sitting around wondering if and when we were ever going to get a new DT album (Setlist Scotty will likely correct me if my memory is inaccurate here). At this show, in addition to some great renditions of songs from I&W, Awake, and parts of A Change of Seasons, you also get some early takes on some of the Falling Into Infinity songs in a live setting. Perhaps the rarest gem on this set is the live version of Caught In A Web. This is a completely different version of the song, and you can clearly hear how parts of this version of the song eventually grew to become New Millenium."
-Bucharest, Romania 7/4/02: Six Degrees is my favorite DT album, and the title song is my favorite DT song. This was a fantastic live set from that tour that features a lot of material from this album, and solid performances of other DT songs as well.
Honorable mentions and other comments:
-Master Of Puppets: This and the Dark Side of the Moon cover set were close to making the cut, and it was hard not to include them. This is not the best version of Master of Puppets, and not even the best DT version. But it is incredibly fun.
Dark Side of the Moon: Terrific cover. Just a joy to watch or listen to. If I could pick one, I would be hard pressed to choose between CD and DVD. The CD is great because of all the bonus material. The DVD is great because of the different bonus material and because you get to see the emotion pour out of the guys as they perform this landmark album.
New York City 3/4/93: Good show. I would imagine it will make the top 5 overall. But I just feel like the things it does best have been mostly done by other releases, so despite being really good, it falls pretty far down my rankings.
Uncovered 2003-2005: I had been drooling over the thought of this being done for YEARS before they finally compiled and released it. But while good, it fell a bit short for me, probably because the recording quality and performance quality is all over the map. But still highly enjoyable.
Los Angeles, California 5/18/98: Listening to this, I feel so bad for the band. It was clearly meant to be a historic show, but the performance is just SO off. Not even Ray Alder and Bruce Dickinson guest spots save this show. Cool to have in the collection, but very little replay value.
Images and Words Demos: One of the neatest things about having this is hearing the different singers other than James.