Your favorite track on "Train of Thought"?

[Fritzinger]

I expected Vacant not to be in this poll at all. This IS a wildranger poll after all (who would vote for Vacant anyways?  )


Kidding aside, I voted for Endless Sacrifice. It's the third song I heard by the band, after Root and As I Am and the first one that really dug into the prog-genre with its epic multipart structure. I had listened to a lot of Metallica before (along with lots of 70s rock and then contemporary stuff), so this was a totally new thing for me. Endless Sacrifice was one of the songs that opened up a completely new musical dimension for me.

[jammindude]

Vacant is a goosebump inducing amazeballs song!!!

[darkshade]

This Dying Soul is not only brilliant, it is also the start (when Mirror on Awake is'nt) of the twelve step suite. Therefore I can't think of a better song on this album. Train of Thought is without a doubt a top 5-album to me of all times. I really wonder what Portnoy was thinking when they wrote the twelve step suite. Was he already had The Glass Prison in mind or was it step by step.

I cannot think of anything better then this, when it comes to music. Still hope the release the twelve step suite on vinyl anytime.

Didn’t they do them back to back at some shows during the 20th anniversary/Octavarium tour?

As others said, The Glass Prison is the first Twelve-Step Suite song.

but TGP and TDS is just a pummeling 1-2 punch. It's unfortunate it was not performed in full with MP+DT.

I meant the whole 12Step Suite

[Ben_Jamin]

This Dying Soul is not only brilliant, it is also the start (when Mirror on Awake is'nt) of the twelve step suite. Therefore I can't think of a better song on this album. Train of Thought is without a doubt a top 5-album to me of all times. I really wonder what Portnoy was thinking when they wrote the twelve step suite. Was he already had The Glass Prison in mind or was it step by step.

I cannot think of anything better then this, when it comes to music. Still hope the release the twelve step suite on vinyl anytime.

As others said, The Glass Prison is the first Twelve-Step Suite song.

but TGP and TDS is just a pummeling 1-2 punch. It's unfortunate it was not performed in full with MP+DT.

They opened with that 1-2 punch on Gigantour.

[DT1138]

Hard for me to choose, but if forced I'll go with As I Am only because my first exposure to DT was the Budokan DVD and that was the first track I heard.  I think the rest of the album is great though.

[Stadler]

I always say I don't care for ToT, then almost always like it more than I thought when I listen to it.   But off memory, I'm going with Endless Sacrifice as well.

I'm also not as sour as some about the 12 Step Suite; I think it's good, and I like the concept (both in terms of the songs and the format in which they are presented).   I would have loved to have heard DT the band tackle the whole thing (and still hold out slim hopes of seeing it in the future). 

[Wim Kruithof]

The Glass Prison came before This Dying Soul.

Of course it did, my mistake. I meant, did Portnoy had the twelve step suite already figured out, from The Glass Prison all the way to The Shattered Fortress, or came it along the way? It is so wonderfully made that I can't believe he did'nt had a clear view, maybe even back to the Mirror, on Awake.

[ReaPsTA]

The Glass Prison came before This Dying Soul.

Of course it did, my mistake. I meant, did Portnoy had the twelve step suite already figured out, from The Glass Prison all the way to The Shattered Fortress, or came it along the way? It is so wonderfully made that I can't believe he did'nt had a clear view, maybe even back to the Mirror, on Awake.

I don't think so. Between Awake and 6DOIT he was still using, and I think for the most part the songs were written as they went along. The most obvious example of this is how TROAE had to be written to fit into 8vm's overall concept. The exception might be that the last part was always meant to be somewhat of a collage of the pieces written before. But I'm not sure how early into the process that was decided.

There are better DT historians than me though.

[darkshade]

The Glass Prison came before This Dying Soul.

Of course it did, my mistake. I meant, did Portnoy had the twelve step suite already figured out, from The Glass Prison all the way to The Shattered Fortress, or came it along the way? It is so wonderfully made that I can't believe he did'nt had a clear view, maybe even back to the Mirror, on Awake.

I don't think so. Between Awake and 6DOIT he was still using, and I think for the most part the songs were written as they went along. The most obvious example of this is how TROAE had to be written to fit into 8vm's overall concept. The exception might be that the last part was always meant to be somewhat of a collage of the pieces written before. But I'm not sure how early into the process that was decided.

There are better DT historians than me though.

I always liked that the 12Step Suite has that Octavarium motif at the end of TROAE, adds to the back where we begin theme, as TSF concludes the epic with reprises of many of the themes.

[RandalGraves]

Vacant is a goosebump inducing amazeballs song!!!

I think it's an underrated song, for sure, and tops a lot of their other ballads (if you want to lump them into the same category) because it keeps things simple and concise. DT tends to overdo it on their softer tracks - this was the perfect balance.