Top DT Songs of the Decade

[LCArenas]

I sometimes forget that the 2010s have only two and a half months left. Wild decade, specially for DT. Now that 2019 is slowly coming to an end, I feel this is the best time to make some rankings of our favorite DT songs released from 2010 to 2019. I'll add explanations as to why I picked them as soon as I have the time.

They released 63 new songs (Including interludes), and I'll make a top 15 of my personal favorites:
15. Three Days
14. Lost not Forgotten
13. Viper King
12. The Looking Glass
11. Far from Heaven
10. The Gift of Music
9. Beneath the Surface
8. Outcry
7. Moment of Betrayal
6. Illumination Theory
5. Barstool Warrior
4. S2N
3. Bridges in the Sky
2. At Wit's End
1. Breaking All Illusions

6 From ADToE, 4 from DoT, 3 from TA, 2 from the Self-Titled. It's no surprise then that as for Albums released in the 2010s, my ranking goes
4. Dream Theater
3. The Astonishing
2. Distance Over Time
1. A Dramatic Turn of Events

What about you guys?

[KevShmev]

Off the top of my head, I would list their 10 best songs of this decade as being:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Fall into the Light
4. Illumination Theory
5. Ravenskill
6. At Wit's End
7. Three Days
8. Chosen
9. A New Beginning
10. Surrender to Reason

Honorable mentions to Out of Reach, This Is the Life, A Better Life and Far from Heaven.

[TAC]

Nice!



1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Lost Not Forgotten
3. Outcry
4. The X Aspect
5. Fall Into the Light
6. At Wit's End
7. Ravenskill
8. The Gift Of Music
9. A Savior In The Square
10. Surrender To Reason
11. This Is The Life
12. The Enemy Inside
13. Barstool Warrior
14. Bridges In The Sky
15.  Beneath The Surface


1. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
2. The Astonishing
3. Distance Over Time
4. DT12

[krands85]

These are my favourites from the decade. There are lots of other good songs as well, but I've limited it to top tier or second tier tracks, that are all inside my top 45 DT songs.

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Illumination Theory
3. Bridges in the Sky
4. At Wit's End
5. A New Beginning
6. Pale Blue Dot
7. On the Backs of Angels
8. Outcry
9. The Path that Divides
10. The Enemy Inside
11. The Gift of Music
12. Untethered Angel
13. Moment of Betrayal
14. Surrender to Reason
15. Fall into the Light
16. My Last Farewell
17. Three Days

As for the albums (along with how many are in the above list):

1. A Dramatic Turn of Events (4)

2. Distance Over Time (4)
3. The Astonishing (6)

4. DT12 (3)

[Ninjabait]

Albums:

01. The Astonishing
02. A Dramatic Turn of Events
03. Distance Over Time
04. Dream Theater

Songs:

01. The Bigger Picture
02. On the Backs of Angels
03. Outcry
04. Three Days
05. Ravenskill
06. Bridges in the Sky
07. At Wit's End
08. Lost Not Forgotten
09. When Your Time Has Come/A Savior in the Square
10. Lord Nafaryus
11. Illumination Theory
12. Fall into the Light
13. A Better Life
14. This is the Life
15. S2N
16. False Awakening Suite
17. Heaven's Cove
18. Paralyzed
19. The Walking Shadow
20. Moment of Betrayal

I guess, a lot of those could shift around pretty easily.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

My top 10 DT songs of the decade would go like this:

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. At Wit's End
3. Outcry
4. Illumination Theory
5. Barstool Warrior
6. Bridges in the Sky
7. This Is the Life
8. Beneath the Surface
9. S2N
10. Behind the Veil

As far as the albums go:

1. A Dramatic Turn of Events
2. Distance Over Time
3. Dream Theater
4. The Astonishing

With the exception of TA, I think all of their albums this decade have been pretty consistent and pretty equal in terms of quality for me, but ADTOE is definitely my favorite of them. I mean, it takes up half the list.

[RoeDent]

Baffles me what short memories people have round here...

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=54096.0

[Northern Lion]

Very nice thread idea!

Like all rankings, this will be hard for me.

Album ranking:

1. The Astonishing
2. A Dramatic Turn of Events
3. Distance Over Time
4. Dream Theater

Top 20 songs: (unranked)

On the Backs of Angels
Build Me Up Break Me Down
Lost Not Forgotten
Bridges in the Sky
The Bigger Picture
Along for the Ride
Illumination Theory
Dystopian Overture
The Gift of Music
The X Aspect
A New Beginning
Moment of Betrayal
The Walking Shadow/My Last Farewell
Hymn of a Thousand Voices
Our New World
Untethered Angel
Fall Into the Light
Barstool Warrior
S2N
At Wit's End

[Max Kuehnau]

I can easily give you an album ranking, a top ten song ranking would be much harder for this decade. (seeing as two of the four are my alltime favourite DT albums)
1.ADTOE
2.DT12
3.TA
4.D/T

[robbob]

1. ADToE
2. DoT
3. DT12
4. TA

Songs
1. Breaking all Illusions
2. At Wits End
3. Bridges in the Sky
4. Out of Reach
5. S2N
6. On the Backs of Angels
7. Outcry
8. Illumination Theory
9. Lost not Forgotten
10. Fall into the Light

[pg1067]

Top tier songs from each album:

ADTOE
BITS
Outcry
BAI

DT12
TLG
AFTR
IT

TA
None

DOT
BW
S2N

That doesn't produce a clear winner, but DT12 takes it by the quality and quantity of second tier songs.

[bosk1]

The best from each album:

ADTOE:
Bridges in the Sky
Outcry
Beneath the Surface

DT12:
Behind the Veil
The Bigger Picture
Along for the Ride
Surrender To Reason

TA:
Ravenskill
Moment of Betrayal

d/t:
S2N
At Wit's End
Out of Reach

Ranking the albums:
1.  ADTOE
2.  DT12
3.  d/t
4.  TA

This is tough.  1 and 2 have gotten closer as time has gone on.  And 3 and 4 could flip on any given day.  I feel like d/t is consistently stronger.  But TA is, as a concept album, greater than the sum of its parts, and is very much a different animal than the other albums.  I love it.  But it is hard to rank against a "traditional" album because it is anything but that.  But if I had to rank them, I guess this is the best I can do.

As far as ranking the top 10 songs:
1.  Bridges
2.  At Wit's End
3.  S2N
4.  Along for the Ride
5.  Behind the Veil
6.  Outcry
7.  Surrender To Reason
8.  The Bigger Picture
9.  Out of Reach
10.  Beneath the Surface

[RoeDent]

The best from each album:

ADTOE:
Bridges in the Sky
Outcry
Beneath the Surface

DT12:
Behind the Veil
The Bigger Picture
Along for the Ride
Surrender To Reason

TA:
Ravenskill
Moment of Betrayal

d/t:
S2N
At Wit's End
Out of Reach

Ranking the albums:
1.  ADTOE
2.  DT12
3.  d/t
4.  TA

This is tough.  1 and 2 have gotten closer as time has gone on.  And 3 and 4 could flip on any given day.  I feel like d/t is consistently stronger.  But TA is, as a concept album, greater than the sum of its parts, and is very much a different animal than the other albums.  I love it.  But it is hard to rank against a "traditional" album because it is anything but that.  But if I had to rank them, I guess this is the best I can do.

As far as ranking the top 10 songs:
1.  Bridges
2.  At Wit's End
3.  S2N
4.  Along for the Ride
5.  Behind the Veil
6.  Outcry
7.  Surrender To Reason
8.  The Bigger Picture
9.  Out of Reach
10.  Beneath the Surface

Wait...you started the other thread! What's the difference between the thread you started mere months ago, and this one?

[The Walrus]

[bosk1]

Um...not much.

I knew I just went through this exercise recently. 

[LCArenas]

Ahhh shit. I wasn't around when bosk did the July thread and I didn't lurk moar I guess.

Wait...you started the other thread! What's the difference between the thread you started mere months ago, and this one?

This one has a new poll! I've seen phones that change less than that every other months and people still pay money to have them

[pg1067]

Wait...you started the other thread! What's the difference between the thread you started mere months ago, and this one?

While the title of this thread refers to top songs of the decade, the poll actually asks which of the 2010s DT albums is your favorite, while the poll in the prior thread is actually about favorite songs of the Mangini era (with 2010s and Mangini era obviously being the same thing).

[NoFred]

Album ranking:
ADTOE
D/T
TA

[Volante99]

Album ranking
1. ADToE (by a wide margin) - DT doing what they do best. Great songs and instrumental sections. A couple skippable tunes, some over length, and mediocre production keep it from being at the top of the DT discography.
2. D/T - a few decent tracks with some misses. Musical themes needed more development/work. Plagued by a brickwalled mix
3. The Astonishing - Good production with some stellar musical ideas rendered almost unlistenable as an album due to overlength and silly storyline/lyrics. Unfortunate.
4. D12 - Uninspired journeyman-like songwriting, muddy production, forgettable “epic” track, in retrospect it was major step backwards from ADoTE.
 

Highlights: (in no order)
Breaking All Illusions
At Wits End
Barstool Warrior
Outcry
Bridges in the Sky
The Looking Glass
Surrender to Reason
Beneath the Surface
Chosen
Our New World

[Zydar]

My 10 favourites from this decade, in chronological order:

Bridges In The Sky
Breaking All Illusions
The Enemy Inside
Surrender To Reason
Illumination Theory
The Gift Of Music
Moment Of Betrayal
Fall Into The Light
Barstool Warrior
At Wit's End

Album ranking:

1. Dream Theater
2. Distance Over Time
3. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
4. The Astonishing

[devieira73]

DoT > ADToE  > DT12 > TA

Top 10:

01. Breaking All Illusions
02. A New Beginning
03. At Wit's End
04. The Looking Glass
05. Illumination Theory
06. Lost Not Forgotten
07. Bridges in The Sky
08. S2N
09. Barstool Warrior
10. Pale Blue Dot

Wow, there’s any other artist/band with a top 10 like that in this decade... or even in its career?

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Off the top of my head, I would list their 10 best songs of this decade as being:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Fall into the Light
4. Illumination Theory
5. Ravenskill
6. At Wit's End
7. Three Days
8. Chosen
9. A New Beginning
10. Surrender to Reason

Honorable mentions to Out of Reach, This Is the Life, A Better Life and Far from Heaven.

This is basically my list too. I would personally not include Fall into the Light, and I would find room somewhere for S2N. I also feel like The Looking Glass at least deserves a mention. Whatever the case, it's been a strong decade of songs.

[Trav86]

Off the top of my head, I would list their 10 best songs of this decade as being:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Fall into the Light
4. Illumination Theory
5. Ravenskill
6. At Wit's End
7. Three Days
8. Chosen
9. A New Beginning
10. Surrender to Reason

Honorable mentions to Out of Reach, This Is the Life, A Better Life and Far from Heaven.

This. Plus. Beneath the Surface and Barstool Warrior would be honorable mentions.

[TheCountOfNYC]

This was a very consistent decade for the band, with a lot of great music. One album stands out among the rest, and on that album, one song became a Dream Theater classic, ranking up there with songs like Metropolis, Learning to Live, A Change of Seasons, and Octavarium as one of their very best.

Top 10 Dream Theater songs from 2010’s.

01: Breaking All Illusions
02: Pale Blue Dot
03: Illumination Theory
04: Bridges in the Sky
05: S2N
06: Our New World
07: Surrender to Reason
08: At Wit’s End
09: A New Beginning
10: Beneath the Surface

How I rank the Dream Theater albums from this decade.

01: A Dramatic Turn of Events
02: Distance over Time
03: The Astonishing
04: Dream Theater

[bosk1]

This was a very consistent decade for the band, with a lot of great music. One album stands out among the rest, and on that album, one song became a Dream Theater classic, ranking up there with songs like Metropolis, Learning to Live, A Change of Seasons, and Octavarium as one of their very best.

Couldn't have said it better myself!    But I'm confused about why you then listed their worst song from the era as #1. 

[TAC]

Oh no...Not The Astonishing is one song vs 48 little songs debate again...

[geeeemo]

This was a very consistent decade for the band, with a lot of great music. One album stands out among the rest, and on that album, one song became a Dream Theater classic, ranking up there with songs like Metropolis, Learning to Live, A Change of Seasons, and Octavarium as one of their very best.

Couldn't have said it better myself!    But I'm confused about why you then listed their worst song from the era as #1. 

  - I am in agreement with TheCountOfNYC....I guess this is just that one time your ears were misguided..