Top 100 Dream Theater songs countdown (Top 2 revealed!!)

[Dream Team]

I put zero Astonishing songs in my 100.

That’s a shame, so many great tunes.

[KevShmev]

I put zero Astonishing songs in my 100.

And I briefly considered disqualifying your list from the ranking as a result.

[jammindude]

I put zero Astonishing songs in my 100.

Just crunching the numbers that seems almost difficult.  Even people that don't like the album usually found a spot or two that they liked better than some of the more maligned tracks from other albums. 

[TAC]

I put zero Astonishing songs in my 100.

Just crunching the numbers that seems almost difficult.   

Not for Wolfking.

[wolfking]

A.  I wasn't relistening to it.
B.  I'd take each of the dud tracks from other albums.
C.  I still left off a few dud tracks from other albums.
D.  It wasn't that hard
E.  I should relisten to TA, but I'm not going to.

[wolfking]

I put zero Astonishing songs in my 100.

And I briefly considered disqualifying your list from the ranking as a result.

Hey, I followed the rules, plain and simple. 

[jammindude]

F. Don’t be Dani Filth

[KevShmev]

96 Afterlife
Appeared on 14 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 26 (Dream Team, wolfking)

I was happy to see this one make it.  This is the first of five songs from the debut to make the list.

[jammindude]

I ranked Afterlife at #52. Definitely an early standout from the first album.

Musically, the debut is absolutely one of my favorite albums, and it’s only the production that tends to bring it down quite a bit. But most of the early Music in Progress boots had this matched with the Mission Impossible Theme, and it was always a great way to kick the crowd into 2nd gear. Just a really fun song.

[KevShmev]

95 Forsaken
Appeared on 14 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 29 (ZirconBlue)

I will be nice and just say that I could have gone another 25-30 songs deep and this wouldn't have made my list.  Others like it, though, and that's cool.

[KevShmev]

Surprisingly, Savior In The Square and Our New World did not make my 100 list. I can not break up SITS and WYTHC as I consider both one continuous scene. I see Gabriel sliding his guitar on his back to the front, as soon as he does he sees Faythe and mutters "An angel just appeared before my eyes" then he starts playing his song. Our New World is just okay for me, It does it's job though in addressing how the characters are now going to be living in their new world, which is like the happy/uplifting moment of the story before the end credits/summary song begins to play.

I also realized that I somehow missed adding in Stream Of Consciousness onto my rankings. Ooops...Guess I just wasn't feeling it at the time...

I know what you mean.  Had those been a single song, I would likely rank it/them quite a bit higher, but broken up, it is difficult.  Same goes for Overture 1928 and Strange Deja Vu, which feels like one song that got broken up into two tracks.

[HOF]

Afterlife is great. I have it at 46 but I’d say it’s pretty interchangeable with the 8-10 tracks I have ahead of it. From WDADU I only have Only A Matter of Time ahead of it. Great JP solo and one of the better tracks for Charlie’s voice probably.

[Lonk]

My rankings:

Afterlife: #70
Forsaken: #64

Both enjoyable songs. Glad to see they made it.

[Ben_Jamin]

Surprisingly, Savior In The Square and Our New World did not make my 100 list. I can not break up SITS and WYTHC as I consider both one continuous scene. I see Gabriel sliding his guitar on his back to the front, as soon as he does he sees Faythe and mutters "An angel just appeared before my eyes" then he starts playing his song. Our New World is just okay for me, It does it's job though in addressing how the characters are now going to be living in their new world, which is like the happy/uplifting moment of the story before the end credits/summary song begins to play.

I also realized that I somehow missed adding in Stream Of Consciousness onto my rankings. Ooops...Guess I just wasn't feeling it at the time...

I know what you mean.  Had those been a single song, I would likely rank it/them quite a bit higher, but broken up, it is difficult.  Same goes for Overture 1928 and Strange Deja Vu, which feels like one song that got broken up into two tracks.

I enjoy Overture 1928 enough to list it, and it ranks nicely next to Strange Deja Vu.

[KevShmev]

I enjoy Overture 1928 enough to list it, and it ranks nicely next to Strange Deja Vu.

Oh, I listed both as well, but while both were in the 20s for me on their own, if they were together as one song, it would probably come close to the top 10 for me.

[Revenge319]

Afterlife
My ranking: Not ranked (#135). Generally speaking, my Top 3 or 4 songs from WDADU are pretty consistent. But the bottom half tends to shift around a lot, both in terms of their rankings on the album and in DT's whole discography. Afterlife is a good listen, but as of this time, it's my least-favorite song on the album. I really like the chorus, and the keyboard solo is pretty cool, but the rest of the song is just alright. Not quite as exciting or interesting as the other songs on WDADU, but still good. I'll likely be reiterating this from time to time during this countdown, but the fact that a song like this is in my Bottom 10 Dream Theater songs is really a testament to how consistently great I think this band is.


Forsaken
My ranking: Not ranked (#127). I don't really get the distaste for this song. I would agree that it's not one of DT's better tracks, but it's still pretty good. It feels very unique in Dream Theater's discography, and the music and vocals are consistently good throughout. I don't have a problem with the lyrics, either, though I suppose if you're not into fantasy-themed lyrics I can get why they'd be detrimental to the song. I think I've ranked this as low as I have just because I'm not too familiar with this one. If I was more familiar with this song, I could see myself putting this song higher than it is currently.

[Wim Kruithof]

96 Afterlife #70
95 Forsaken #49

Next to the Ministry of Lost Souls, I ranked Forsaken highest of Systematic Chaos. I truly like it, but the most for LaBrie’s stunning performance. From the sigh and little tremble in his voice when he takes off, to the highest and most voluminious (is that even a word?) moments in the piece. Classic stand-out to me and even the vague dracula-theme, I can stand also.

[wolfking]

96 Afterlife
Appeared on 14 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 26 (Dream Team, wolfking)

I was happy to see this one make it.  This is the first of five songs from the debut to make the list.

The Score version improved this songs ranking for me.

[Laughingplace56]

Afterlife ranked at 61 for me thanks to the incredible Score version, and Forsaken did not make my list, though it is a very strong song. There’s probably 20 songs that didn’t make my list that can be interchangeable with the bottom 20 of my list; it’s just so hard to definitely choose between so many amazing songs.

[Cool Chris]

I ranked all my songs based on their original album release for sake of consistency. Score would have bumped up Afterlife, Raise the Knife, and Another Won maybe 50 spots each.

Kev, is there a way to post the all the rankings revealed so far, maybe when you hit each 10 as a recap; so for example when you get to #91, post #100-#91?

[jammindude]

Forsaken #143 on my list. Which probably isn’t really fair. In looking at my final list, it’s just under AROP, and I definitely think it’s a bit better than that, but they are fairly similar. One of DTs more ho-hum singles.

But oddly enough, I was listening to the Chaos in Motion Live CD today for the first time since it came out and Disc 2 FREAKING ROCKS!!! And the performance of Forsaken was quite good.

If I reevaluated, I don’t think it would crack my top 100, but I would put it higher than I did.  It was 126 on my first time through the ranking engine, that’s probably a bit more fair.

[KevShmev]

Kev, is there a way to post the all the rankings revealed so far, maybe when you hit each 10 as a recap; so for example when you get to #91, post #100-#91?

I am updating that in the first post of this thread on the fly. 

[erciccio]

 - Afterlife: 75. What a cool song! Great riff, nice chorus, fantastic solo by Petrucci and one of the best unisons they have ever made! I also think that Charlie's voice fits the song quite well

- Forsaken: 74. Well, I've just listened to both songs again and I would probably switch the ranking now... ...too late. Anyway, I love when Dream Theater mingle their dark and their pop side, and this is one of the best examples of this cocktail. It's also one of my wife's favourite songs, she loves vampires...

[Elite]

Forsaken came at #82 in my list, and Afterlife at #68

[KevShmev]

Okay, here are four to chew on for today, none of which are from The Astonishing!

94 Through Her Eyes
Appeared on 17 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 35 (DragonAttack)

I will forever be stunned at how underrated this song seems to be.  It's like the red-headed stepchild of Scenes. 


93 I Walk Beside You
Appeared on 16 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 22 (DragonAttack)

I liked this song a lot at first, but over time it has become one I still like, but don't really seek out anymore. 


92 The Looking Glass
Appeared on 16 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 40 (devieira73)

I am sure the Rush cracks are coming given that the main riff is so similar to Limelight, but this is a good ole rock tune.  I like when they do these straight forward rock tunes.


91 To Live Forever
Appeared on 14 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 11 (toro)

I liked this right away when I first heard it on the Live in Tokyo VHS back in the day.  Many different versions, but they're all good!

[RoeDent]

Is it physically possible to have 100 songs without including something from The Astonishing?

Edit: Apparently it is now. All studio album songs + ACOS + Viper King - The Astonishing - AVFTTOTW = 113

[Dream Team]

Yup I had it ranked pretty high. Charlie’s voice probably does fit it better, but James crushes it on Score and the WDADRU version is really good too.

[erciccio]

- Through her eyes: 50. Wow, this one came up quite high with the engine...I love DT ballads, I love SFAM...and this song has a personal meaning for me, that's the reason why it's so high...just musically it would be lower

- I walk beside you: 69 Again, love for the ballads plus personal meaning...otherwise it would rank much lower. A bit too much U2-ish...

- The looking glass: out of the 100. Well, I have always found this song to be too "disconnected", the different pieces just don't match together that well. It's the same feeling I share for Trascending Time (another Rush tribute)

- To live forever: 66. I loved this song when I was a kid, at the time I loved all major-sounding DT songs. It has not grown that well for me, so the ranking is more a "legacy" ranking, but still a nice song.

[Lonk]

Through Her Eyes: #41 - I agree that I feel this song is massively underrated. I understand that it is in an album full of great tracks but this song is just incredible.

I Walk Beside You: Unranked - Nothing against this song. Just there are over 100 DT songs I prefer.

The Looking Glass: #51 - I probably should've ranked this lower on the list (maybe at #70). One of the better songs from DT12.

To Live Forever: #95 - Fun track. First non-album track I heard from DT and first thought was "how come this didn't make the album, it's fantastic".

[Laughingplace56]

I have To Live Forever at 56. Love the vibe of that song, wish it was an official I&W album track to get a chance to see it live because I very much doubt they’ll ever play it again lol.

The other 3 did not make my list; IWBY and TLG are fun but definitely among my least favorite on each album, and I think Through Here Eyes is fine for the context of the album, but I never listen to it as a standalone song.

[devieira73]

I really think that DT never made a bad song, but there's a few that I feel a bit indifferent... and, unfortunately, Forsaken is among them to me.
Afterlife is almost in that camp, but I really like the atmosphere of the verses and the solo section.
I can't believe Through Her Eyes didn't make my Top 100! I love that guitar line and that grand finale from Live Scenes!
To Live Forever is always a cool song in its many versions. Very cool intro added in the Happy Holidays album.
I always loved both I Walk Beside You and The Looking Glass - DT doing commercial songs right IMO. About TLG, although I reconize the similarity with Limelight riff, I hear this song with a more Journey's vibe than Rush. And that solo, like a mini Trial of Tears, is amazing!

[hefdaddy42]

96 Afterlife
Appeared on 14 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 0
Highest Ranking: 26 (Dream Team, wolfking)

I was happy to see this one make it.  This is the first of five songs from the debut to make the list.

That's kind of weird, since there aren't 5 good songs on the debut.

[HOF]

My ranks:

The Looking Glass - 56. This is my highest ranked Mangini era track and one of the few I will occasionally seek out from time to time.

Through Her Eyes - 54. This has never been a favorite, but listening back through SFAM recently for the survivor made me appreciate it a bit more.

I Walk Beside You - 40. The last MP era DT song I really liked, even if it is an imitation of Coldplay imitating U2.

To Live Forever - 19. This one might be getting inflated a bit by the awesome live version that appeared on the 5 Years in a LiveTime release (one of James’ best live moments). But the version that was on Greatest Hit was also really good (what a sneaky great JP solo!). Looking at my list again, I have it one spot ahead of Take The Time though, and it feels like those orders should probably be swapped. Also another track with a U2 influence. I like when DT is being a heavier U2 though.

[HOF]

Also, To Live Forever is the original DT vampire song, right? Or maybe it’s about Highlander. 

[Trav86]

@Kevshmev, when this is done could you make an album ranking based off your stats? Like, from the number of songs on each, and how high they ranked? I don’t think I have the patience to do it.