The chorus of Bridges in the Sky is so good it deserves its own topic

[npiazza91]

Seriously it’s infectious. The way Labries singing matches with the melody, just perfect. Every time I hear it I end up singing it without realizing. Starting from “Sun! Come shine my way” to “Shaman take my hand”. I just love this style of chorus and it’s one of the reasons why I think ADTOE is so damn good...the choruses are on point.

What do you think about this chorus? And is there another chorus on this album that you prefer?

[Northern Lion]

I think DT is generally always good with their choruses.  It's one of the main reasons I like listening to DT so much.  But I do agree, the BitS chorus is particularly good.

[Architeuthis]

Pretty awesome!     I also love the part after the second chorus, the "crossing bridges in the sky part". It's like a bigger chorus following the main chorus.  Or is that the bridge of the song? Pretty clever on DT's part to put the "bridges" in the sky lyrics in the bridge of the song. 

[Fritzinger]

Pretty awesome!     I also love the part after the second chorus, the "crossing bridges in the sky part". It's like a bigger chorus following the main chorus.  Or is that the bridge of the song? Pretty clever on DT's part to put the "bridges" in the sky lyrics in the bridge of the song. 

It is the bridge... to the sky

No?

Ok then

[Max Kuehnau]

one of my favourites on the album (although they're all killers) mainly because of the chorus

[DoctorAction]

Great song and yes i love the chorus especially.

[EPIC Outro]

I didn't connect with this song until I saw them play it live. Now I think it is one of the most unique, original tunes they've written.

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

[bosk1]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky. 

[Madman Shepherd]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

Seriously? I've never heard that.

Anyway, for whatever reason when the album came out, I loved the whole thing but Bridges was a track that, while I loved, didn't think should have been an opener or overshadowed Outcry. Well, I was totally wrong. Bridges is the perfect opener and the chorus is one of the highlights of that track for sure.

[WilliamMunny]

Man, I was just thinking this the other day!

Honestly, this might be my favorite post-MP DT track...it's so damn good.

[MirrorMask]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

I still think they should have went with the original plan, because:

1) Bridges in the Sky is a better title than Dramatic; right now it's ok as a title, but back then it was seen as having a double meaning for Portnoy's departure;
2) The Shaman's Trance is a cool title for a song;
3) The tradition of the album title taken from the lyrics would have been once again honored, how cool and powerful would have been to listen "crossing BRIDGES IN THE SKY" in the chorus knowing it referenced the album title?

Anyway, cool song regardless of the title and awesome chorus indeed.

(BTW, what do you consider the actual chorus? Sun, come shine my way etc or And at last the time has come?)

[Lonk]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

I still think they should have went with the original plan, because:

1) Bridges in the Sky is a better title than Dramatic; right now it's ok as a title, but back then it was seen as having a double meaning for Portnoy's departure;
2) The Shaman's Trance is a cool title for a song;
3) The tradition of the album title taken from the lyrics would have been once again honored, how cool and powerful would have been to listen "crossing BRIDGES IN THE SKY" in the chorus knowing it referenced the album title?

Is that really a tradition? They did that for I&W, Octavarium and what else?

[Max Kuehnau]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

I still think they should have went with the original plan, because:

1) Bridges in the Sky is a better title than Dramatic; right now it's ok as a title, but back then it was seen as having a double meaning for Portnoy's departure;
2) The Shaman's Trance is a cool title for a song;
3) The tradition of the album title taken from the lyrics would have been once again honored, how cool and powerful would have been to listen "crossing BRIDGES IN THE SKY" in the chorus knowing it referenced the album title?

Is that really a tradition? They did that for I&W, Octavarium and what else?

Awake (in some way, "the faithful live awake" is part of Innocence Faded), The Astonishing, Six Degrees ("the turbulence deep inside"), WDADU (that was part of Only A Matter Of Time) . These are all I can think of right now

[MirrorMask]

I guess we can also count Scenes from a Memory, the title itself is taken from a line of Metropolis, and in Home there's the line "decadent scenes from my memory".

I even made a thread about it a couple of years ago, to suggest how the albums should have been called if this rule for the name would have been applied to all albums 

[Fritzinger]

I guess we can also count Scenes from a Memory, the title itself is taken from a line of Metropolis, and in Home there's the line "decadent scenes from my memory".

I even made a thread about it a couple of years ago, to suggest how the albums should have been called if this rule for the name would have been applied to all albums 

That's a pretty cool idea

Karma starts the signal

[hunnus2000]

No conversation about this song should take place without mentioning the super cool Pirates of the Caribbean transition! 

[RoeDent]

Fantastic chorus, but the absolute killer blow is the final bridge. Now, in the first statement of the bridge, the chords at "Shaman take my..." suggest an eventual arrival in D minor, which is exactly what we get, leading to the instrumental. The rest of the song proceeds as expected. Chorus, into the repeated bridge, proceeding exactly as the first bridge did. We hit "Shaman take my...", everything telling you we're heading for an arrival into D minor, but right at the moment of arrival ("haaaaand!"), suddenly B minor reasserts itself and we've arrived back where we started some 11 minutes or so earlier.

[Max Kuehnau]

Fantastic chorus, but the absolute killer blow is the final bridge. Now, in the first statement of the bridge, the chords at "Shaman take my..." suggest an eventual arrival in D minor, which is exactly what we get, leading to the instrumental. The rest of the song proceeds as expected. Chorus, into the repeated bridge, proceeding exactly as the first bridge did. We hit "Shaman take my...", everything telling you we're heading for an arrival into D minor, but right at the moment of arrival ("haaaaand!"), suddenly B minor reasserts itself and we've arrived back where we started some 11 minutes or so earlier.

oh yes, I love that whole section too (see, these "nuggets" are among the things I love about that album so much, it's my favourite DT album for some reasons, this aspect being one of them) One more thing I didn't mention yet: When ADTOE came out 8 years ago, I loved it (almost) right away, but there had always been this question of which piece will they choose to open the show with from the album? (which is something I always ask myself when listening to a new album by a band I like) I had hoped for them to choose BITS but I thought it was unlikely (for some reason I can't remember right now). Then I watched Luna Park and I was absolutely gobsmacked about how great it worked as an opening piece. I still get the old shivers down the spine when I watch (or listen to) Luna Park. Incredible. (throat singing - BOOM. Oh my man.....) To this day.

[gzarruk]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

Seriously? I've never heard that.

And DT12 was going to be titled Illumination Theory (for a little while), but then they decided it to make it a self titled.

[Max Kuehnau]

Was it really originally called The Shaman's Trance, or was that a rumor?

Yes, it was originally called that.  And the album was originally titled Bridges in the Sky.

Seriously? I've never heard that.

And DT12 was going to be titled Illumination Theory (for a little while), but then they decided it to make it a self titled.

similarly, D/T was originally titled Velocity for a short amount of time (according to JP) and then they decided to go with Distance Over Time (which is a formula for velocity, so that aspect is still present in some way)

[pg1067]

I guess we can also count Scenes from a Memory, the title itself is taken from a line of Metropolis, and in Home there's the line "decadent scenes from my memory".

I even made a thread about it a couple of years ago, to suggest how the albums should have been called if this rule for the name would have been applied to all albums 

That's a pretty cool idea

Karma starts the signal

I remember that thread.  I think I suggested Stale Sweat and Shit for SDOIT.   

Also, this wasn't really a "tradition" as much as it was something that I think happened by accident on the first three albums and then got repeated a couple times thereafter.  My guess is that the notion of it being a "tradition" was borne out of MP's comment quoted below.

WDADU - In Only a Matter of Time:  "And though the time will come when dream and day unite, tonight the only consolation causing him to fight in fearless faith in destiny."

I&W - In Wait for Sleep:  "She shuts the doors and lights and lays her body on the bed, where images and words are running deep."

Awake - In Innocence Faded:  "The faithful live Awake; the rest remain misled."  In The Silent Man:  "When there is reason tonight I'm awake; when there's no answer arrive the silent man."

Falling into Infinity:  "Having sat with 'Stream of Consciousness' (the original title) for a whole year, it gave everyone a chance to second guess themselves.  John Petrucci and myself still wanted to call it Stream of Consciousness, but the other guys were starting to think it was too pompous.  So we had to rethink an album title, and we did the usual method of going through all the lyrics, but nothing really knocked us out.  This was the first time that an album title didn't stem from any of the lyrics."  https://www.mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/31.aspx#342

SFAM - Obviously, this is named for the line in the original Metropolis, "Somewhere, like a scene from a memory, there's a picture worth a thousand words," and Home also contains the line, "The city - it calls me; decadent scenes from my memory."

SDOIT - nothing, although the title obviously comes from the idea behind the title track.

TOT - As far as I know, this title is not based on the lyrics, and my guess would be that the title, being a variation of "stream of consciousness," is sort of a resurrection of the original title of FII.

Octavarium - duh.

To the best of my knowledge, none of the post-8VM albums were titled after a lyric.

[MirrorMask]

Well, maybe "tradition" wasn't the best word, but three albums in a row, the fourth album being considered before a change of heart, and the fifth album doing it again with a little help from an older song shows definitively a pattern. And they reconsidered it again for Dramatic which shows that at least someone in the band remembered it was a thing.

Anyway, no big deal, I just thought that for the 2011 album they really could have stuck with Bridges in the Sky as album title and The Shaman's Trance as a song title - if only to justify that weird intro 

[pg1067]

Well, maybe "tradition" wasn't the best word, but three albums in a row, the fourth album being considered before a change of heart, and the fifth album doing it again with a little help from an older song shows definitively a pattern. And they reconsidered it again for Dramatic which shows that at least someone in the band remembered it was a thing.

Anyway, no big deal, I just thought that for the 2011 album they really could have stuck with Bridges in the Sky as album title and The Shaman's Trance as a song title - if only to justify that weird intro 

I honestly could do without the intro, and I can't say I care for "The Shaman's Trance" as a song title.  BitS as an album title would've been cool, but I have no doubt that the double-meaning of ADTOE at the time was intentional.

[Architeuthis]

I guess we can also count Scenes from a Memory, the title itself is taken from a line of Metropolis, and in Home there's the line "decadent scenes from my memory".

I even made a thread about it a couple of years ago, to suggest how the albums should have been called if this rule for the name would have been applied to all albums 

That's a pretty cool idea

Karma starts the signal

I remember that thread.  I think I suggested Stale Sweat and Shit for SDOIT.   

To the best of my knowledge, none of the post-8VM albums were titled after a lyric.

I think a more conservative title for SDOIT would be "Steaming Through the Night" 

As far as post 8VM being titled after a lyric.  The Astonishing,,  the final six words of the album are "OUR LIVES WILL BE ASTONISHING AGAIN"  🎶

[Northern Lion]

I think a more conservative title for SDOIT would be "Steaming Through the Night" 

 

That made my day!

[Zydar]

The Astonishing: Remember Bug?

[MirrorMask]

The Astonishing: Remember Bug?

That's the theme of the next album, a spinoff following the adventures of young Nafaryus before becoming a tyrant 

[bosk1]

...and how he made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs.

[Stadler]

But did he shoot first?

[hefdaddy42]

But did he shoot first?

I hope so.

[Mebert78]

"Bridges in the Sky" is all-time favorite Dream Theater song, tied with "Space-Dye Vest."  It's infectious, indeed! 

[Lax]

I love BITS and is a huge part of the happiness I felt listening to the "new DT", since I had highs and lows since train of thought (song by song I mean).
The chorus is great and full of emotion.
But the riffage is crazy too !
One of the times I saw them, they opened with it, it was a wall of power, like being crushed

[ytserush]

one of my favourites on the album (although they're all killers) mainly because of the chorus

Me too. Especially live.

[Shooters1221]

Love this entire song!!! On a side note, the movie Thor was released around the same time, I believe, and every time I see that movie, of course that chorus pops into my head.

[hunnus2000]

I just want to say that while I love the chorus of BITS and think it worthy of melodic respect, I will never understand why D12 gets such a bad rap from fans. It's got a several great melodic chorus moments so if you like BITS I don't understand the disappointment with D12.