Dream Theater Unreleased songs

[RAIN]

Partially inspired by Rick Beato's April 18, 2019 video showcasing a never before heard, forgotten, Shinedown Demo, and it's good, very good.

I don't mean songs not released on official albums, or fan club stuff, or even odd balls that we all may have found over time.  I personally believe I have heard every song that is so far possibly available.

However, do you think that Dream Theater have songs that no one of us have heard, in the vaults, on hard drives, somewhere?  And what are the chances of us ever hearing them?
I know Bon Jovi and Dream Theater don't often get used in the same sentence, or thoughts LOL  however, they managed to release a box set back in 2004 with over 60 never before heard songs, many fully finished songs, not just demos.

[MirrorMask]

I don't think they have unreleased songs.

In the early days, whatever leftover there was ended up on the fan club CD "Cleaning out the closet".

Then they adopted a policy of writing directly in the studio so there was no leftovers from the second half of MP's tenure in the band, and I don't think they produced leftovers either since Mike Mangini joined.

They're bound to have some ideas, riffs and jams somewhere, but full songs? I'd wager it's a definitive "no".

[hefdaddy42]

They don't have any unreleased songs.

They almost certainly have plenty of unused riffs, grooves, or song pieces.  But they do not normally write a bunch of songs and then pick some of them to go on the album.  They generally write an album's worth of songs, and then stop.

[PetFish]

They don't have any unreleased songs.

Correct.

It's different for a band like Bon Jovi and that entire genre of music.  These bands typically write/record 30+ songs for every album and then choose the "best" ones, generally the ones that have the most commercial appeal.  It's why bands like Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Def Leppard, etc are able to put out collections of a hundred complete songs that nobody has ever heard.

But for Dream Theater, and others like them, they write what they want and finish when they feel they're finished and then that's that.  Aside from stuff written from before their first album where they actually *would* have some complete songs, once they're in the write/record/tour cycle that whole process ends.  They have A Vision of what they want to do for each album and then they do it.

[Setlist Scotty]

They don't have any unreleased songs.

They almost certainly have plenty of unused riffs, grooves, or song pieces.  But they do not normally write a bunch of songs and then pick some of them to go on the album.  They generally write an album's worth of songs, and then stop.

^^^^^^^^^
This. During every writing session (and in some cases, even from soundcheck jams from a previous tour) they come up with all sorts of ideas which get cataloged and then they try to piece different parts together in a way to come up with a song. However, not everything is used - in fact, I believe there's quite a bit that ends up on the cutting room floor. In a few rare cases, they'll use an idea that came from a previous (or earlier writing session). I remember MP mentioning that the riff that starts at 1:44 in TGP was written during a soundcheck on Touring Into Infinity, and they tried to find a place for it when writing SFaM, but couldn't. However MP resurrected the idea when they started working on SDoIT, and so that's how it appeared. Another example is most of, or at least parts of IWBY. The part(s) were conceived while they were writing for ToT, but because it didn't fit with the overall feel that they were going for with that album, it was cast aside. However, when they started work on 8v, it was what they were looking for, so they used it for that album. And (I believe) a last example would be Raw Dog - while not confirmed, I'm pretty sure it was put together using various unused ideas from the BCaSL writing sessions.

That said, it seems every time the guys go into writing mode, they comment that they are brimming with ideas. I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time. That's the way Steven Wilson does, or at least did it. I can't see why DT couldn't also.

[RAIN]

I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time.

Agreed wholeheartedly.  This is really what I was hoping someone would know about and then we'd be happy to find out that there are some bonus songs sitting away in a vault...but alas there isn't.

[evilasiojr]

I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time.

Agreed wholeheartedly.  This is really what I was hoping someone would know about and then we'd be happy to find out that there are some bonus songs sitting away in a vault...but alas there isn't.

About this, maybe producing the albums on their own studio they'll feel freer to write and write and then select the material. Who knows.

[Setlist Scotty]

I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time.

Agreed wholeheartedly.  This is really what I was hoping someone would know about and then we'd be happy to find out that there are some bonus songs sitting away in a vault...but alas there isn't.

About this, maybe producing the albums on their own studio they'll feel freer to write and write and then select the material. Who knows.

Perhaps. If they have the studio at their beck and call, it should be easier. Plus it would be much cheaper than going to someone else's studio to do the same thing. But I still won't hold my breath waiting to see it happen. I think that "write just enough for the album" mentality is deeply engrained in them.

[PetFish]

I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time.

I agree, as long as it's not "filler" for the sake of taking more time.

I could honestly do without a lot of the quiet/ambient instrumental breaks that last for many minutes if it meant a tighter composition.  I've edited many of their longer songs myself just to avoid the long breaks.

[Setlist Scotty]

I do wish they'd continue writing full songs until they seem to be tapped out instead of stopping prematurely when they feel that have just enough for an album. That way, they could select what they feel are the best songs or the best ones that fit together well as a cohesive unit, and record a few of the others as B-sides and others to keep in the vault for use at a later time.

I agree, as long as it's not "filler" for the sake of taking more time.

With DT, I wouldn't imagine that it would be the case, at least not intentionally. It would be more of a case of following their muse to see where it takes them. If they were to continue writing, obviously some songs would end up being considered of higher quality than others, and it seems reasonable that they'd be picked for release on the album they're working on, as long as they fit the vibe/feel they're going for.

But then again, what they might feel are "strong" songs could be considered "filler" by others. Case in point would be FII. I'm sure plenty of people would select different tracks that they would say are "filler" in their opinion. There's even been debates as to what fans feel should have been the tracklisting of FII, when looking at all the songs written during that time period.

So as long as they did their best when writing different songs (which I would imagine they would), that's all I'd ask.

[RAIN]

I agree, as long as it's not "filler" for the sake of taking more time.

I very very rarely find unused songs as anything filler.  It seems to me that many people are so attached to a specific album that any song not used is brushed off as "filler" or not as good. 
Almost every unused song I've every come across is stellar, at least to the same percentage as songs that do appear on albums can be seen as fillers themselves.

[Anxiety35]

This may be the oddest reply ever to a thread but stay with me on this one.

I had a dream the other night that I met JP and LaBrie. They showed me an album that DT had completed some years back  that included a bonus CD of SFAM recorded live. The jewel case was black, purple, dark blue, with dark yellow font for Dream Theater and the same font was the title. MP was still the drummer. The name of the CD started with the letter P but I can't remember the word. JP played the CD and the music was typical DT fare but the sound quality was odd in terms of what we're used to in DT. It was really dry, kind of like Metallica's "...and Justice for All." It had a 3 part epic in the middle of the tracks. I asked why they didn't release it and they said that they didn't like it and wrote the Octavarium album instead.

I don't do drugs. Never have. 

So if we're looking for unreleased songs, they don't exist in reality.

[pg1067]

This may be the oddest reply ever to a thread but stay with me on this one.

I had a dream the other night that I met JP and LaBrie. They showed me an album that DT had completed some years back  that included a bonus CD of SFAM recorded live. The jewel case was black, purple, dark blue, with dark yellow font for Dream Theater and the same font was the title. MP was still the drummer. The name of the CD started with the letter P but I can't remember the word. JP played the CD and the music was typical DT fare but the sound quality was odd in terms of what we're used to in DT. It was really dry, kind of like Metallica's "...and Justice for All." It had a 3 part epic in the middle of the tracks. I asked why they didn't release it and they said that they didn't like it and wrote the Octavarium album instead.

I don't do drugs. Never have. 

So if we're looking for unreleased songs, they don't exist in reality.

We must access these songs!  Why don't we try shock treatment?!  Or maybe hypnotherapy!


Not really related to DT, but this thread reminds me of a post in a Facebook group I follow earlier this week.  For unknown reasons, someone posted a 2012 article about the supposed discovery of 700 unreleased Thin Lizzy songs that had been "turned over" to Universal Music for possible release.  I suspect it was a complete bunch of BS because, as far as I can tell, precisely zero of the 700 songs have been released in the subsequent 7 years, and because that number would average about 35 songs per year over Phil Lynott's 20 years as an active musician (on top of songs that actually were released), which sounds like a crazy high number.  In any event, that post reminded me of this thread -- especially when someone commented on that post that "EVERY" artist has tons of unreleased songs.   

[evilasiojr]

This may be the oddest reply ever to a thread but stay with me on this one.

I had a dream the other night that I met JP and LaBrie. They showed me an album that DT had completed some years back  that included a bonus CD of SFAM recorded live. The jewel case was black, purple, dark blue, with dark yellow font for Dream Theater and the same font was the title. MP was still the drummer. The name of the CD started with the letter P but I can't remember the word. JP played the CD and the music was typical DT fare but the sound quality was odd in terms of what we're used to in DT. It was really dry, kind of like Metallica's "...and Justice for All." It had a 3 part epic in the middle of the tracks. I asked why they didn't release it and they said that they didn't like it and wrote the Octavarium album instead.

I don't do drugs. Never have. 

So if we're looking for unreleased songs, they don't exist in reality.

 

It actually seemed like a great dream!!

[gzarruk]

This may be the oddest reply ever to a thread but stay with me on this one.

I had a dream the other night that I met JP and LaBrie. They showed me an album that DT had completed some years back  that included a bonus CD of SFAM recorded live. The jewel case was black, purple, dark blue, with dark yellow font for Dream Theater and the same font was the title. MP was still the drummer. The name of the CD started with the letter P but I can't remember the word. JP played the CD and the music was typical DT fare but the sound quality was odd in terms of what we're used to in DT. It was really dry, kind of like Metallica's "...and Justice for All." It had a 3 part epic in the middle of the tracks. I asked why they didn't release it and they said that they didn't like it and wrote the Octavarium album instead.

I don't do drugs. Never have. 

So if we're looking for unreleased songs, they don't exist in reality.

Fantastic, now we just need DiCaprio and the rest of the Inception cast to help us get that album