Dream Theater Top 100 countdown - 2024 Version! (#01 Up!)

[Wim Kruithof]

Again why I come back to the struggle to understand the time and thought processes people put into their lists, but to each their own.

You mean to say it's pointless anyway, or am I mistaken you? Most of all the process and outcome is interesting (to me), but yeah, a final list that stands out as 'done' may never come. Each approach will slightly differ.

[MirrorMask]

Without the online calculator, I would have never bothered with this, for sure.

[wolfking]

Again why I come back to the struggle to understand the time and thought processes people put into their lists, but to each their own.

You mean to say it's pointless anyway, or am I mistaken you? Most of all the process and outcome is interesting (to me), but yeah, a final list that stands out as 'done' may never come. Each approach will slightly differ.

I'm not saying it's pointless.  We all have our part in making the final 100 what it is, what I'm saying is, agonising over decisions like should Forsaken be at rank 70 or 60 will have minimal impact on the outcome.  I think most would be fine in taking a more casual and less time consuming approach without it changing a lot of what the final outcome of the songs would be.

[wolfking]

Anyway, I've been doing some listening in prep for my list and thought I'd get out two of my least played albums, ADTOE and SC.  Never really been a big fan of either.  Some thoughts;

ADTOE

Angels: You know what, I really enjoyed this.  Much better than I used to think of it.  This will probably rank a bit higher than my first list.  I was always underwhelmed with the chorus but I thought this time around it was excellent.

Build: Never had an issue with this song, it's fine.  That opinion still stands.

Lost: Jeez, they did listen to UAGM a lot when writing this one hey.  Meh, it's fine, another one that never bowled me over.  Killer solo.

Life: Another I didn't see the hype in.  It was better this time but not by much.  Still don't fully get it.  The start of JPs solo is amazing though.

Bridges: Yeah, this is good.  Always been a highlight.  I love that Home inspired shorter instrumental section too.  Great chorus.

Outcry: Could be my sneaky fav on the album.  That chorus is sensational and a balls out extra long instrumental section which I'm okay with.

Heaven: Amazing.  Found more appreciation of this too.  This is beautiful.  James is incredible here.

Illusions: I love the intro but this song I always drift until the chorus.  The chorus is incredible though and a very good solo.  That Far From Heaven reprise at the end is so good.  Always was 50/50 on the hype this one got.

Surface:  Nah, never liked this one personally.


SC

ITPOE1: This should have been one song.  I never understood.  The instrumental intro is pretty cool.

Forsaken: This is cool, crunchy and groovy, why the hate?

CM:  I never realised how fucking terrible this song is.  The Metallica influence makes me laugh and the solo section is wasted on this song.  Will rank lower than the first list.

TDEN:  Always liked this one personally.  Killer outro.

Repentance:  What a snoozefest and a major speedbump in the 12SS.

POW:  You know, this really isn't that bad.

TMOLS:  I drifted in this one.  Didn't like it as much as I thought I used too.  Might need another listen.

Enemies2:  Again, this would rank so much higher if it were a single 25 minute piece.  Splitting it hurt it big time.  This was way better than I remember though.  That part after the Heretic section is fucking unreal.

[jingle.boy]

I thought the same of Repentance... but the remembered MP's purpose behind this - I remember during the hype for the album release, his commentary was that they needed this kind of break/pause/mellow track for when they performed the entirety of the 12 step suite - that there was no way they could do 60 straight minutes of high intensity pounding metal.  I think it suits for that purpose, but as a standalone song, it's a quick pass for me.

PoW ... I really loved it when it came out, but it has not aged well.  The main descending riff is awesome, but the rest of the song (especially the drum rhythm) is cringey.

CM on the other hand, aged a bit better - listening to it a couple of weeks ago, I almost enjoyed it (except for random thought of neat disorder ).

BMUBMD is still trash; as is LNF

[wolfking]

I understand the reasoning behind Repentance.  But that doesn't make it any easier to sit through.

LNF being trash is an interesting take.

[Wim Kruithof]

BMUBMD is still trash; as is LNF

Couldn't agree more. I could only fill one hand with bad songs in their entire discography, but these two and a couple from Falling Into Infinity will surely take a finger. The only songs I'll ever skip.

[Wim Kruithof]

I'm not saying it's pointless.  We all have our part in making the final 100 what it is, what I'm saying is, agonising over decisions like should Forsaken be at rank 70 or 60 will have minimal impact on the outcome.  I think most would be fine in taking a more casual and less time consuming approach without it changing a lot of what the final outcome of the songs would be.

I see, thanks. I've spend quite some time on this list but indeed, a song at place 65 could also be 70th or so. But to me it's even harder to rank the albums. That I just can't do, it changes constantly, due to circumstances and emotions.

The hardest song to me in this top 100 list though, was the title track from A View.

[Dream Team]

Funny how everyone’s tastes vary, I’m a metal guy like wolfking but my views on those 2 albums are quite different. To me Far From Heaven is the clunky failure while those other 2 ballads are top 5 DT ballad territory along with Surrounded, Lifting Shadows, and Disappear; and of course Breaking All Illusions is in my top 10.

As for SC, Repentance is easily the best song, the only one with genuine emotion and heartfelt lyrics (the ending IS too long though). I can’t dislike CM, it’s my most headbangable DT song with killer riffs and drumming and an amazing solo section. ITPOE, TDEN, and especially POW I all despise.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Funny how everyone’s tastes vary, I’m a metal guy like wolfking but my views on those 2 albums are quite different. To me Far From Heaven is the clunky failure while those other 2 ballads are top 5 DT ballad territory along with Surrounded, Lifting Shadows, and Disappear; and of course Breaking All Illusions is in my top 10.

As for SC, Repentance is easily the best song, the only one with genuine emotion and heartfelt lyrics (the ending IS too long though). I can’t dislike CM, it’s my most headbangable DT song with killer riffs and drumming and an amazing solo section. ITPOE, TDEN, and especially POW I all despise.

I agree that TDEN and PoW are both terrible, but ItPoE is amazing and Repentance is a big fat meh-burger. CM is ok.

I actually edited ItPoE into 1 track on my version of Systematic Chaos as the closing track and moved Constant Motion to the beginning of the album.

[jingle.boy]

Funny how everyone’s tastes vary, I’m a metal guy like wolfking but my views on those 2 albums are quite different. To me Far From Heaven is the clunky failure while those other 2 ballads are top 5 DT ballad territory along with Surrounded, Lifting Shadows, and Disappear; and of course Breaking All Illusions is in my top 10.

As for SC, Repentance is easily the best song, the only one with genuine emotion and heartfelt lyrics (the ending IS too long though). I can’t dislike CM, it’s my most headbangable DT song with killer riffs and drumming and an amazing solo section. ITPOE, TDEN, and especially POW I all despise.

I agree that TDEN and PoW are both terrible, but ItPoE is amazing and Repentance is a big fat meh-burger. CM is ok.

[TAC]

I love Prophets Of War and TDEN.

[wolfking]

I actually edited ItPoE into 1 track on my version of Systematic Chaos as the closing track and moved Constant Motion to the beginning of the album.

I think that would have made the album a lot better.

[Jamesman42]

Who doesn't love TDEN? Such a fun song with cool riffs everywhere.

[wolfking]

SDOIT was the play this morning on my long run.  I know this album well but why not;

TGP: Still a top DT for me, just killer from start to finish.

BF: As above, love it.  The 'still life pushes on' section has always been probably a top 5 DT moment for me, incredible.

Misunderstood:  I think I got some more appreciation for this one this morning.  I don't have headphones so just listen through the phone which made James' vocals more prominent.  I really listened to the lyrics and fuck they hit me.  I can relate to them at this point in time.  I love the solo and the outro too.  This will go up in my rankings I think.

TGD: This one has actually hasn't aged that well for me.  I loved it when the album came out.  I thought the whole 'Tool' novelty was cool but I think the sampling could have been chopped but this probably will drop in the rankings a little.  Still a good listen.

Disappear: I was always on the fence with this one.  I like it but never loved it.  That still stands.

SDOIT:  I went through this with Alesandro's thread, so only listened to this a couple of weeks ago.  It's actually growing me to be honest.  It might rank better than before, not sure yet.  SS gave me some chills in the lyric department too.  I still think the band 'failed' at the attempt to make this a single song, but we've had that discussion a thousand times over already.

[wolfking]

Who doesn't love TDEN? Such a fun song with cool riffs everywhere.

I think the chorus is really clever.  The way is resolves it really cool.  That ending section is balls out too, killer riff.

[jingle.boy]

“Balls out” is not always a good thing.

[wolfking]

“Balls out” is not always a good thing.

Depends who you ask I guess.

I just mean tough, chunky and meaty, just a killer breakdown.

[twosuitsluke]

Who doesn't love TDEN? Such a fun song with cool riffs everywhere.

Am I in the minority in thinking it pisses all over every song on Train of Thought?!

[TAC]

Who doesn't love TDEN? Such a fun song with cool riffs everywhere.

Am I in the minority in thinking it pisses all over every song on Train of Thought?!

I have TDEN, Endless Sacrifice, and This Dying Soul all within 9 spots on my list, and they're pretty high.

[twosuitsluke]

I have just never connected with a single song on ToT. I have no idea why, and even though every song on the album makes my top 100, they are all relatively low.

[TAC]

I have just never connected with a single song on ToT. I have no idea why, and even though every song on the album makes my top 100, they are all relatively low.

The songs have so much more life on Live At Budokan. I actually consider Train Of Thought somewhat unlistenable.

[Jamesman42]

Who doesn't love TDEN? Such a fun song with cool riffs everywhere.

Am I in the minority in thinking it pisses all over every song on Train of Thought?!

I have TDEN, Endless Sacrifice, and This Dying Soul all within 9 spots on my list, and they're pretty high.

Hell yeah, Endless SackOfRice is a high ranking for me as well, and love the other two.

[jingle.boy]

Two songs from ToT will crack my Top 10

[wolfking]

A few TOT songs will definitely be high on my list.

[Revenge319]

No Train of Thought songs in my Top 10, but This Dying Soul did reach my Top 20. Most of the songs on there are in my Top 50 (as of adding ADTOE songs to my ranking), Vacant will likely make the Top 100 and Honor Thy Father is still at the very bottom of my list. At this point, though, HTF definitely wouldn't be my least favorite DT song if it weren't for the spoken word section and last chorus. It probably wouldn't make my Top 100 but it'd probably be about 10 spots higher.

[Cool Chris]

I gotta believe I will be the one who ranks Endless Sacrifice the highest.

TDEN is garbage, mainly due to the ridiculous vocals.

[Jamesman42]

I gotta believe I will be the one who ranks Endless Sacrifice the highest.

We'll see, I believe I placed it top 10.

[jammindude]

I gotta believe I will be the one who ranks Endless Sacrifice the highest.

TDEN is garbage, mainly due to the ridiculous vocals.

That’s the only song from SC that I actually like!

[jingle.boy]

I gotta believe I will be the one who ranks Endless Sacrifice the highest.

[Cool Chris]

Oh my, the Endless Sacrifice fans are representing! Let's go!

[Jamesman42]

I checked and it did make top 10, we in here woo woo

[nobloodyname]

I gotta believe I will be the one who ranks Endless Sacrifice the highest.

TDEN is garbage, mainly due to the ridiculous vocals.

The Dance of Eternity's vocals are fabulously fun and playful. That's why I rank it comparitively highly.

Edit: I meant The Dark Eternal Night. Oops.

[jingle.boy]

List submitted.  Thanks to Kay for running this 

Album breakdown:
WPAPU - 7
I&W - 8
Awake - 11
FII - 8
CotC - 5
SFAM - 10
6DOIT - 6
ToT - 6
8vm - 8
SC - 4
BC&SL - 4
ADTOE - 6
S/T - 6
TA - 3
DoT - 6
Others - 2

KM Era - 28
DS Era - 11
JR Era - 61

[TAC]

KM Era - 28
DS Era - 11
JR Era - 61

Wow!