Which do you prefer?

[LKap13]

I know the non-masterpiece songs of FII take a lot of flak everywhere, but yesterday it dawned on me that had Take Away My Pain, Peruvian Skies, New Millenium or You Not Me been written for one of the last three albums I would have viewed it as a high point of the album. Anyway, which group of songs do you guys prefer?

[Xanthul]

I don't know...

The worst: You not me > TDEN
The middle pack: Never enough + panic attack > TAMP + Peruvian
The best: New millennium > A rite of passage

It's 2 and 2 for me, I would probably give the nod to the newer stuff because it has 3 songs I enjoy, even though I hate TDEN with a passion.

BTW, new millennium is fantastic, third/fourth best song on FII for me (after Hells+Lines and Trial of Tears).

[Zydar]

Take Away My Pain; Peruvian Skies; New Millenium; You Not Me

They are all good songs (and yes, that includes YNM too).

[YtseJamittaja]

Panic Attack; Dark Eternal Night; Never Enough; A Rite of Passage

much better imo

[robwebster]

Not a weak song among the second option. In fairness though, TAMP is the only one I don't particularly enjoy out of the first option.

TDEN's one of my fave DT songs, though. Really dig Panic Attack and Never Enough too. Think A Rite of Passage is the most fun song on BCSL. It's a no-brainer.

[ZKX-2099]

Not a weak song among the second option. In fairness though, TAMP is the only one I don't particularly enjoy out of the first option.

TDEN's one of my fave DT songs, though. Really dig Panic Attack and Never Enough too. Think A Rite of Passage is the most fun song on BCSL. It's a no-brainer.

Yeah.

[?]

I don't like NM and YNM and TAMP is just ok, PS is really good, though. I choose the latter option then.

[IdoSC]

How can you put Never Enough in the 2nd group? It's not that metal-ish..., and also How can you put You Not Me in the first group? The others are great, You Not Me is...You Not Me.

Either way, if I had to sort all the songs you mentioned to 3 groups according to my personal opinion...

Incredible: Take Away My Pain, Peruvian Skies, New Milenium, Never Enough, (Panic Attack)
Decent: (Panic Attack), Dark Eternal Night, (You or Me)
Bad: A Rite of Passage, You Not Me

PA is somewhere in the middle of the first 2 groups, also I had to mention the demo of You Not Me because it's in a higher position than the song itself.

Edit: I guess I'm kinda weird though, FII Demos beat SC any day imo, and I still don't know which album is better, FII Demos or BCSL.

[Lowdz]

Had to vote the first option as I can't abide DEN. The only DT song I feel that way about. Like the instrumental section though, just not enough to listen through the death metal to get to it.

[j]

FII songs, by a long shot.  YNM is the only sucky one.

Not a huge fan of ANY of the other group.

-J

[hefdaddy42]

Group 1, easily.

[jsem]

Group 1, easily.

This. Although I like the second one, the first group is much better - including YNM.

[Darkes7]

1)
Take Away My Pain - very nice, I love the "the final scene..." part
Peruvian Skies - excellent
New Millenium - in my opinion the worst DT album track
You Not Me - ok, nothing more, nothing less

2)
Panic Attack - my first favourite DT song and still great. An example how to write a really coherent song that's both heavy and technical.
The Dark Eternal Night - insanity squared. But I really like it, especially in the right mood.
Never Enough - a song I never understood the hate of and a very good one.
A Rite of Passage - good song, very good live.

Even though my favourite of the eight is Peruvian Skies, group two is far more consistent and thus the better option imo.

[Seventh Son]

Group one by a mile.

[zxlkho]

Even though my favourite of the eight is Peruvian Skies, group two is far more consistent and thus the better option imo.

Exactly this.

[Algo Fonix]

FII is my favorite DT album... so group 1 wins easily.

[Cool Chris]

Interesting poll, but odd song selections. If the question is 'which group of crappy songs do you prefer?' I'd have to think about it. But I wouldn't include some of these songs. If you replaced PA, NE, and ARoP with Constant Motion and I Walk Beside You, and dropped PS from the first list, it becomes much tougher.

I'd be inclined to go with the recent crop of lesser songs, just because they sound more like DT to me than songs like TAMP and YNM. And yes, I know that's largely a result of the time frame, production, etc...

Regardless, there is no way the crap of FII would be regarded as the high point of any album.

[Darkes7]

I still don't get how is any of these songs obviously "inferior" in any way, except You Not Me due to the way it was created. And this even concerns New Millenium which I _personally_ find really bad for a DT song.

[Seventh Son]

Interesting poll, but odd song selections. If the question is 'which group of crappy songs do you prefer?' I'd have to think about it. But I wouldn't include some of these songs. If you replaced PA, NE, and ARoP with Constant Motion and I Walk Beside You, and dropped PS from the first list, it becomes much tougher.

I'd be inclined to go with the recent crop of lesser songs, just because they sound more like DT to me than songs like TAMP and YNM. And yes, I know that's largely a result of the time frame, production, etc...

Regardless, there is no way the crap of FII would be regarded as the high point of any album.

Systematic Chaos.

[RuRoRul]

Pretty easy decision. New Millenium I actually think is pretty good, Peruvian Skies is alright, the other two are just bad.
The other four range from pretty good to mediocre, but all of them are probably better than at least three of the FII ones.

[Jamariquay]

New Millennium is one of Dream Theater's best songs. I'd actually put it in their top 10.

The others are all right.

[Jarlaxle]

Too close to call, all of the songs are good, but don't blow me away by any means.

[pogoowner]

Group 1, easily.

[Global Laziness]

This is...odd. I understand the point you're trying to make but the selection of songs in each group perplexes me.

The only song in Group I that I really care for is New Millennium, which is awesome. In Group II, I enjoy Panic Attack and The Dark Eternal Night. The songs I haven't mentioned (in both groups) are ones that I tend to rank pretty low in Dream Theater's catalogue. So Group II, I guess. *shrugs*

[wolfking]

Second option.

[Dublagent66]

Second option.