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

[wolfking]

Can’t believe someone left Home out of the top 100.

Must be a real asshole..

Can’t believe someone left Home out of the top 100.

Yeah, gotta be taking the piss. 

Definitely an asshole taking the piss then! 

[geeeemo]

#13. The Glass Prison. -  25. This song is always great. I hope they play it!

#12. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence  - 16. This song has so much to it. I love the classical music. Mixing classical and metal is what drew my to DT. Then the subject matter touches me. I love that I can rock out then weep with GK.

#11. In the Name of God - 39 I instantly loved this one. Again, intersting topic. But the end is a bit repetitive and sometimes I skip the last little bit.

#10. Finally Free. -  11. It took longer for me to get into this one as I listen a lot when I work out and many times dont get that far. But then, wow! What a perfect ending!

#9 Scarred. -  95. I have not been able to get into this one. But after seeing it so highly ranked, I am going to revisit it. In addition, I am going to revisit lots of DT music that I dont give enough attention to.

#8. Home  - 4. Maybe the 3rd or 4th song I ever heard from DT. I was so wowed by it. And it hasn't waned one little bit. One of the highlights for me on the last tour.

#7. Trial of Tears.  -  37. I enjoy this one.

 

[devieira73]

8 Home (#10) - My fave song from Scenes. The intro, solo section and the outro are unbelievably amazing! Just a comment, I don't mind the similarity with the bass line of Tool's  Forty Six & 2, because IMO JMX perfected it and DT made a totally different song (much better in fact - and I love Tool).

7 Trial of Tears (#7) - My second fave from FII, only behind Lines in the Sand. A DT epic with a very Rush's Moving Pictures/U.K.(band) vibe. Another Derek's era song with an amazing groove. About the solo section, which is fantastic, I must point out how much I love JP's rhythm guitar beneath Derek's solo, elevating it even more!

[425]

8. Home
My ranking: #21

This is undoubtedly a great song, though I think top ten is a little high for it. It's just missing that something extra special that my very top songs have. Like on many of the songs on Scenes, the story elements are woven really well into this one. I like the concept of having the three main male characters of the story singing about Victoria's role in all their lives, and their respective "homes."

The second section, The Miracle's, is definitely the best. A really good buildup, and a lot of emotion from JLB. That said, the soaring entrance from Nicholas coming out of the instrumental break is good, too. The callbacks to Metropolis are well done, and of course I'm a fan of the main riff—although I'm not a fan of the way Jordan typically plays it live.


7. Trial of Tears
My ranking: #9

This has been a top ten Dream Theater song for me pretty much since I first heard it. For years, it was my favorite song on Falling Into Infinity. At some point, it lost that crown, but not from any fault—only due to my increased appreciation for Lines in the Sand (#8).

I really just love the whole atmosphere and emotion that this song evokes. The lyrics fit it perfectly. I find something beautiful and evocative about the line "raining deep in Heaven," and that's how the whole song feels. The intro buildup is great, and the instrumental section is truly fantastic. I love these slower solos from Petrucci that build with intensity as they go on, and the keyboard solo is Derek Sherinian's finest hour with the band. And the last verse is a perfect conclusion.

[NoFred]

12. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, #17 roughly #3 for About to Crash, -9999 for the Overture and #17 about right for everything else. Also I’ve always felt the Losing Time persona got shorted, needed another verse to make 6! Feels like 5.5 degrees. But, About to Crash is pure greatness.

11. In The Name of God, GOAT mid-tempo metal, total monster composition… plus, it’s got Dream Theater #1. If I didn’t experience I&W then I would’ve been caught by ToT. It’s like this one group of musicians is two of my favorite groups, one each coming from those two albums.

Start with whatever works best, then Vacant, then SoC, then this. Enjoy.

10. Finally Free, maybe my first fave when Scenes came out, lots going on here. Over time I fell for side A more (3 in top 10).  Reminds me of the end of The Wall a little too much #90.

9. Scarred, #99 OK yeah I liked this a lot as the second best on Awake, but I feel like it’s by a different band… they don’t even try to be this evocative anymore. Hard to judge amongst their other songs as they’ve changed so much. I just don’t go back to it often, if ever.

8. Home, Love it even though I’m now an unapologetic side A guy. I’ve probably got it low at #16.

7. Trial of Tears, #30 same as Scarred these days this sounds as if by another band. Maybe I just lament that they gave up on working toward atmosphere and mood. Still a classic, and something I hope to hear again live. Nice to see it rank so high.

[KevShmev]

We get closer and closer to the top...

6 Breaking All Illusions
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (425, DragonAttack)

Even though I had this at 40, I am not surprised it finished this high, as the fanbase as a whole seems pretty nutty over it.  This is the highest ranked song from the Mangini era.


5 Voices
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 7
Highest Ranking: 1 (KevShmev)

My number 1 song.  Flawless in every way imaginable.  This is, IMO, the best Dream Theater song.

[erciccio]

I have Breaking all Illusions at #7 and Voices at #11
Two amazing songs, not much else to be added..


I have my #1,2,3 and 5 still in the "contest", Scarred was my #4.

[Revenge319]

I'd be here for hours trying to explain my rankings if I did the writeups for most of these, so I'll just give my rankings.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: #6
In the Name of God: #35
Finally Free: #10
Scarred: Did not rank (#128)
Home: #26
Trial of Tears: #20
Breaking All Illusions: #18
Voices: #7

I'll at least give an explanation for Scarred, given its 119-spot gap between where I ranked it and where it ended up on this list.
It's similar to Take the Time for me, in that I do like the song and there is some things it does quite nicely, but it's just heavily outclassed by the majority of Dream Theater's other songs.


Oh, and regarding Voices, I think KevShmev summed it up perfectly in just one sentence.

Flawless in every way imaginable.

[devieira73]

6. Breaking All Illusions (#27) - It's amazing overall. That build up of JP's solo, including the increasing complexity of MM's drums are just beautiful and perfect. And the chorus is really gorgeous.

5. Voices (#5) - What can be said? One of the most perfect DT songs... THAT JP solo (with the great instrumentation beneath, that has space and really breaths), goosebumps every single time!

[Wim Kruithof]

10 Finally Free #27
9 Scarred #21
8 Home #38
7 Trial of Tears #15
6 Breaking All Illusions #13
5 Voices #23

I'm with Tim in here when it comes to Home. I love the way this piece is composed, but the moaning is a huge throw-the-song-away for me. The story and Arabic flavour within the song makes it obvious they're coming together at that point, doesn't need the overkill. I love the Greatest Hit-version way better, where they fade the sex.

Nice to see Awake twice in the top 10.

[lovethedrake]

I wouldn’t have had breaking all illusions that high…. The instrumentals are incredible but the vocal Melodies are weak imo.  Voices is awesome, wouldn’t be top 10 for me but it’s a killer track.

[HOF]

Voices comes in at 25 for me. It’s a tremendous song that mostly slips to 25 because the subject matter is pretty dark. It’s one I can only handle when I’m in the right mood or if I’m listening through all of Awake, but recently I have gained more of an appreciation for it. It is a really powerful composition with some amazing performances by James and John Petrucci.

[Stadler]

We get closer and closer to the top...

6 Breaking All Illusions
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (425, DragonAttack)

Even though I had this at 40, I am not surprised it finished this high, as the fanbase as a whole seems pretty nutty over it.  This is the highest ranked song from the Mangini era.


5 Voices
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 7
Highest Ranking: 1 (KevShmev)

My number 1 song.  Flawless in every way imaginable.  This is, IMO, the best Dream Theater song.

Good call with Voices.  Then again, To Live Forever and Cover My Eyes are both top five songs for me.  To Live Forever is way down the list, and I don't expect Cover My Eyes to even make it.

[The Realm]

Voices - definitely top 5 material. Just an awesome song start to finish.
Breaking All Illusions - not surprised this is the highest ranked Mangini era song but I'm a bit surprised it finished this high.

[TAC]

6 Breaking All Illusions
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (425, DragonAttack)

I have this at #7 so yeah!  Great tune. Has everything I'd want in a DT track and ADTOE let me know right off the bat that Dream Theater were alive and very well. This is the best song of the MM Era.


5 Voices
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 7
Highest Ranking: 1 (KevShmev)

I have this at #22. Actually surprised it made the Top 5. Still, it's a great tune deserving of all of the accolades, and really needs to be revisited live.

[geeeemo]

6.  Breaking All Illusions  -  10.   This is just an awesome song. When I was discovering DT, and bouncing around all their discography, I didnt get into this one right away. I mean, not all the songs can be one's favorite at the same time! It was months, maybe even a year before I landed on it. I mean I was stuck on Scenes for a good 3 months before I kept going thru the catalog. By then, I had grown accustomed to their style, and I was blown away. One of my favorite solos! I like the lyrics too. Some JM lyrics are, well, I need to go to poetry class. And thats not one I enjoyed. These are poetic, but not too much. The song builds to a climax and really just lives up there until the end. The only reason it isnt higher...probably because isnt long enough! A hint to the rest of my list..

5. Voices. - 49. It seems it should be higher..I really was into this when I first heard it. My husband has a decent cd collection. After a few months of my discovery of DT, I was looking through it. I didnt even know he knew of Dream Theater. He really wasnt saying much about my over indulgence - I was playing a DT song everytime we drove anywhere. Anyway, I found I&W..and Awake! I hadnt even seen this one yet. I listened and thought..who is the singer?? Lol. Voices was so different. Awake was my next big player in my car. Its faded a bit now, but I suspect I will enjoy it the same again sometime.

[KevShmev]

With four to go, I am sure most can guess the four at this point, but it's just a matter of what the order is.  I still ask that no one spotlight and let me list them first.

Some fun facts about the four:

-Those four songs comprised 14 of the number 1 picks on the 26 lists.
-One of the four songs was actually left off one of the 26 lists.
-The number 1 song won pretty comfortably (total points of the four below)

1  2317
2  2189
3  2180
4  2132

I will post 4 and 3 tomorrow morning, and then 2 and 1 Wednesday morning.

[Cool Chris]

Breaking All Illusions: #27. Great song, just don't put it in the upper echelon. And that spoken word part bugs me.

Voices: #2. No other superlatives I can add that haven't been mentioned.

[DragonAttack]

8. Home (#83)  I removed the album version and inserted the 45 version from G Hit.  My ‘detractions’ have already been commented on.  I will say, I was damn impressed with JP’s playing of it during the last two ‘Memories’ shows

7. Trial of Tears (#51)  I didn’t own FII until after the CiM tour.  At that ’07 show, for the Schmedley encore, I so enjoyed seeing MP in front of his kit and playing various cymbals and chimes with the faint synth in the background, and then they did the ‘Xanadu’ intro.  Of course, I thought they were going to play ‘Xanadu’ 😊  Anyway, certainly a top notch offering, that’s dropped in my ranking over time, but I'll have to revisit that.

6. Breaking All Illusions (#3) Twelve+ minutes that feel like three.  A tune that is great to hear driving on the freeway on a summer afternoon, or even better in the evening when one can just lay back and drift along to it. All these years later, and I still listen to it 2-3 times a month. For some reason, I hear The Beatles ‘Day Tripper’ as one of the fast guitar melodies before that wonderful dreamy instrumental begins. Glad to have seen it performed in ’12, ’14, and the I&W tour (a shame James ruins it with all the ‘Buenos Aires’ shouts and talking over the end during ‘Luna’). During the DC concert in ’12, I walked over to the now empty ‘opera’ seats at The Warner for BAI, and was about twelve feet above and ten feet from Petrucci during this song.  Can it get any better?

5. Voices (#67) I never listen to this on its own. If  I could have voted for ‘A Mind’ as one song, I’d put it in the Top 20.  Not sure if that makes sense or not, as I had ‘Erotomania’ at #13. 

[425]

-The number 1 song won pretty comfortably

This bit is surprising to me, considering I'm not at all confident I know what it is. I have a guess, but I wouldn't lay money on it.

[Cool Chris]

I know this thread is just a small sample size here, but I wouldn't feel confident betting a dime on what #1 is.

[Elite]

Well, it could be any of the four songs remaining, but my first guess is it’s one of the longer ones. I have all 4 remaining songs in the Top 10 in my list.

[jammindude]

I’m absolutely 100% positive what the four are…but I’m 0% sure of the order they will be in.

[Wim Kruithof]

consider me dumb, foolish or a newby… but I am only sure about 3 of the last 4 songs…

[NoFred]

I’m 100% on what the top song is, plus the other 3 remaining. Will let you know if I got it wrong (I’ve got a favorite for overall #1 even though I sent a very subjective list that’s mostly been covered)

6. Breaking All Illusions, easily their most effortless song. There’s nothing here I can point out that’s *amazing* or *impossible* yet it’s undeniably beautiful. Total mastery of song dynamics and composition. EFFORTLESS, plus that (to me and family) iconic opening, #8 per the Elo ranker somehow, think I’d have it top 5 if done by hand. Should be a live staple.

5. Voices #13 finest JLB. As they say - wow, just wow... If this top 100 thread informed me of anything, it’s that Awake may be their top contribution to metal history. A combination of talent, creativity, depth and atmosphere that we may never (feel) see again.

[Revenge319]

I really hope my #1 choice made it to the top, although I think my #2 choice will have been the one to take the top spot. Guess we'll find out sometime in the next two days!

[wolfking]

Had BAI at 37 and Voices at 29.  I'm surprised Voices is as high as it is.

[erciccio]

I know this thread is just a small sample size here, but I wouldn't feel confident betting a dime on what #1 is.

Me too....all the four "survivors" have chances to win, and I'm pretty sure that for each of them we can find a few voters that gave a very low ranking, affecting the final result...(e.g. not everybody seems to love I&W as much as I do...)

[The Realm]

100% sure on remaining 4 songs. Not so sure on the order.  I feel only one is slightly polarising though so I presume that is the one that was left off someones list but could also have been left off by mistake! I think that has happened before.

Looking forward to finding out the order.

[KevShmev]

I present to you the first two of the top 4...


4 Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 15
Highest Ranking: 1 (Elite, AnotherDimension)

This still feels, on many levels, like THE definitive Dream Theater song. I had it at 5.  It sums up everything that is great about Dream Theater in a little over 9 1/2 minutes.


3 Octavarium
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 14
Highest Ranking: 1 (geeeemo, Wim Kruithof, BRGM, jammindude)

While I have never considered this one of their absolute best like many do, it is still pretty great.  I had it at 33.

[Wim Kruithof]

Wow, since I finally figured out what the remaining fourth of the top 4 would be, I never thought it would be higher ranked as these two.

4 Metropolis pt. 1 #14
3 Octavarium #1

As you mentioned Kev, Metropolis pt. 1 is probably an ultimate example of what Dream Theater is all about. It has it all, beautiful vocals, stunning riffs, time signature-changes and solo's which are awesome. A lovely track which is an absolute highlight in their career.

And Octavarium, what's left to say about this one. I remember very well the first time I gave it a good listen, I was in '17 on an airplane from the Netherlands to visit my girlfriend in Rome. Although the setting was as emotional and romantic as things possibly could get, I really didn't love the song at first sight. I found the intro way too long and uninspiring, I was stunned by the weird, foolish lyrics in the Full Circle part and overall, I really missed the metal in it.

So I revisited the piece hardly ever again and I got to give the Daily Doug totally the credits for the #1 ranking as it is today. I was mentioned on this forum by his reaction video on Youtube and decided to give it a shot. He took me in the melodical parts of the piece and when I finally figured out the lyrics are a hommage to the bands they look up to... when I became to understand the complexity of Octavarium as a whole... I landed full-scale on the piece. The Razor's Edge is one of the most beautiful epic-endings of all time, I would say.

[erciccio]

I present to you the first two of the top 4...


4 Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 15
Highest Ranking: 1 (Elite, AnotherDimension)

This still feels, on many levels, like THE definitive Dream Theater song. I had it at 5.  It sums up everything that is great about Dream Theater in a little over 9 1/2 minutes.


3 Octavarium
Appeared on 26 of 26 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 14
Highest Ranking: 1 (geeeemo, Wim Kruithof, BRGM, jammindude)

While I have never considered this one of their absolute best like many do, it is still pretty great.  I had it at 33.

Wow, I thought Metropolis would have been in the top 3...

Anyway, for me:

Metropolis: #2. I agree, it's just a perfect summary of Dream Theater in 9 minutes...this was the song that totally changed my perspective on what is "feasible" in music, I would have never imagined at the time that "metal" music could be so technical yet so melodical at the same time..

Octavarium: #5. I love the intro, and the initial melodic section, but after that there is a long section that I have never loved that much...but just a few minutes before the end, there comes "The razor's edge" and the most amazing 4 minutes of music ever conceived by Dream Theater. The harmonic progression, the melodies and the soloing there are just orgasmic!


After this, I'm left my ,#1 and #3...
Anyway, 'it's incredible to think of the amount of "amazingness" contained in just these 4 songs...

[Elite]

Catching up..

Finally Free (#10)
My #27. A Great way to end the album, but not a song I think of as highly outside of the album. That said, listening to this one did give me goosebumps recently (while listening to the whole album). It's great, but everything up here is, really.

Scarred (#9)
My #15, but it could have been higher. Awake is my second favourite DT album and this is certainly a highlight. It's one of DT's strangest songs, because it goes lots of places without repeating a whole lot, but it contains so many fantastic moments. Glad to see this one higher than I had it.

Home (#8)
The 'big' one from Metropolis, my personal #13 One of the first songs I learned on guitar (the main riff thing, to be fair), but one that I revisit often still. This is the song that, to me, is mostly tied to the song that spawned this album, partly due to the glorious callbacks in the lyric, but probably also its placement on the album and its general structure. Love this one.

Trial of Tears (#7)
My #22, so this one is a little higher, but I can understand why. This is a fantastic track, but not one I listen to all too often.

Breaking All Illusions (#6)
This was my #37, and I've aways found this to be the weakest of the big 4 tracks on ADTOE, but I also realise I'm in the minority there, so it's not at all surprising to see this one up high.

Voices (#5)
My #11 and third favourite from Awake. This is one of their tracks that actually goes beyond their usual formula of (verse-chorus)x2-instrumental madness - chorus (exaggerating, of course), and it's great for that fact alone; this is actually a nine-minute song that brings you on a journey and it's a fantastic one. I can easily understand why someone would have this one as their #1. Also, did you know this song has one of John Petrucci's best 5 solos ever?

Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle in the Sleeper (#4)
Nooooo! This is my #1 - and it's strange to see only one other person having it as theirs. Always has been and I can't imagine it not being. This is THE quintessential Dream Theater song. This is progressive metal at its peak, as far as I'm concerned. Everything about this track is 'flawless' (because nothing ever is).

Octavarium (#3)
My #12. It probably used to be higher once, but there's too much in there that doesn't really justify its runtime (I prefer the other big one that's yet to come). Everything from 'Intervals' onwards is prog rock gold, though. Good stuff.


My #2 and #6 are left. (Rooting for my #2!) One of these two got a ton of #1 placements, I suppose, if it finished with 120 more points that number 2. Very interesting to see which one actually got left off one of the lists

[devieira73]

4 Metropolis pt. 1 (#3)
Nothing to add, if you have 10 minutes to spare, it's the song to everyone knows what DT is all about and to understand/feel how amazing they are.

3 Octavarium (#8 - nuggetz!!)
An incredible homage to the all the classic rock and prog influences on DT - a very unique DT epic!

[Revenge319]

Looks like I was wrong about the order of the Top 4, the song that didn't appear on all 26 entries, and the song I thought would be #1! Hopefully this means that my #1 will be the #1!


Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
My ranking: #39. This is a somewhat difficult song to rank for me... Metropolis Part 1 was the first Dream Theater song I've ever heard, and would easily be guaranteed a spot in the Top 5 on a list of songs that have most influenced my musical life. Without hearing this song, I never would have checked out a couple other songs by Dream Theater, which means I never would've taken an interest in their 15+ minute songs, which means I never would have listened to the album Octavarium, which means I never would have checked out Dream Theater's other albums, which means... Well, I could keep going with this pretty large chain reaction, but I think you get the idea. I used to listen to this song non-stop, and for as much as I love it, all that constant listening has somewhat burned me out on the song. It's still a very enjoyable listen whenever I do give it a listen, but it doesn't leave as strong an impact on me as it used to. That, combined with Dream Theater having so many amazing songs, makes me feel inclined to put it around #39. But with the huge impact this song had on me back when I first listened to it, I wonder whether or not I should've put it higher... As for what happens in the song, what else is there to say? "Quintessential" is a word I've seen describing this song from time to time, and I very much agree that this is a quintessential Dream Theater song. It's got everything Dream Theater does best, with a special mention to the instrumental section. If I had to guess, that instrumental section alone is what kept me coming back to Metropolis Part 1. Regardless of where I might choose to put this song at any given time, it very much deserves a spot as high as #4.

Octavarium
My ranking: #2. I'm going to attempt to keep this one brief, because otherwise I'm gonna be giving this thing a huge writeup that would be better suited for one of those Top 50 threads, if I ever decide to make one of those. This is another song that's been very influential to my musical life; not on the level of Metropolis Part 1, but it's pretty close. Octavarium was (and still is) one of the most beautiful and fascinating songs I've ever heard. The atmospheric four-minute intro, the acoustic guitar and flute that precede the opening verse of Someone Like Him, the dark and mysterious feeling of Medicate, the variety and intensity of Full Circle, the insanely awesome climax of Intervals, and everything about Razor's Edge... I'd never heard anything like it at the time, and even now there's barely anything I can think of that's particularly comparable to this song. This is not just my second-favorite Dream Theater song, but it has a guaranteed spot in my Top 5 favorite songs of all time; probably at least the Top 3, at this current time. To call this song a masterpiece would be an understatement. There's one Dream Theater song I love more than this one, but I think I would consider Octavarium to be Dream Theater's magnum opus. A truly flawless song in every aspect, and it's a song in which there are very few songs that I can say are as great as this.