Official DT Top 50 Thread Mark II (bss4life15 up now - starting page 79)

[Ben_Jamin]

Glad to see some Anna Lee love. Also, i'm interested in your top 10 because it is going to be unique and nice to not expect the usual.

[Silver Tears]

Oooh good choices, but they definitely need to be higher up!! Anna Lee is gorgeous. And as for LtL, that should be in the top spots missy!

[SomeoneLikeHim]

I think this is the first time that i've seen metropolis not in the top ten 

[Jaffa]

I am really, really, really, really looking forward to your top ten.  Before reaching your top 20, you've already covered a lot of songs commonly (if not almost universally) included in top tens.  I expect some extremely interesting top picks.   

[JayOctavarium]

Okay it's official... After reading Alice's commentary on her top 50 so far... I am starting to want to do one... Hefdaddy sir could ya throw me in?

[alirocker08]

Oooh good choices, but they definitely need to be higher up!! Anna Lee is gorgeous. And as for LtL, that should be in the top spots missy!

Now let me introduce...My controversial opinion

I am really, really, really, really looking forward to your top ten.  Before reaching your top 20, you've already covered a lot of songs commonly (if not almost universally) included in top tens.  I expect some extremely interesting top picks.   

Maybe you'll recall...My fear of getting chased out of DTF with pitchforks (there are only so many versatile lyrics in that song goddamnit!)

Okay it's official... After reading Alice's commentary on her top 50 so far... I am starting to want to do one... Hefdaddy sir could ya throw me in?

Your list will be making me uptight, no accident

[iamtheeviltwin]

I think this is the first time that i've seen metropolis not in the top ten 

Probably won't be the last.

[JayOctavarium]

Alice wins the thread

[senecadawg2]

I tend to like the song, but Anna Lee>Metropolis and Take the Time?

                   

Can't wait to see your top 5

[Onno]

Alice wins the thread

[Mladen]

Anna Lee is not even close to my top 50, the rest of the songs are all brilliant. It's great to see so many people placing Breaking all illusions at least in the top 25, being that the album hasn't been out for even a year. 

[Elite]

JINGLE BELLS JINGLE BELLS JINGLE ALL THE WAAAAY!

Erm, what?

Anyway, LTL, Metropolis, TSCO, BAI... What? Why are these all placed so low? And why is Anna Lee placed above all of them?

I can't even

This. I don't like this.

[BlackInk]

Breaking All Illusions is way to low. Painfully so.

[alirocker08]

Right then, I'm slowing down to three a day now because I'm going to make a surprise for you also, I'm going to Goth weekend so I'll send Jon a set of 6 to post up for me over the weekend...Or would you rather wait?

20:  Under A Glass Moon
   I saw this live at High Voltage. Just saying. Oh, I also heard Learning to Live live as well...But I can't be arsed to go up to my Learning to Live ramblings and edit it.

   First things first, I don't fucking get this song. But it is so, bloody good. Yup, I'm going to go off rambling about the music again, brace yourselves. Also, aiming to not say fucking. Apart from there.

   James' voice is in top form as it always is on this album. Portnoy's doing a damn good job on the drums that are mixed a little loudly I feel on this listen. But who knows? Next time I listen to it I'll probably be all like WOAH DUDE THOSE DRUMS ARE PERFECT. Shut up. I'm a girl, I'm hormonal kay?

   BUY A PEN.

   How the hell can a man hit those kinds of notes and have children, it shouldn't be possible! I'm a girl and I can't hit those kinds of notes. I love the keys in this song, Moore does a really great job, and when Petrucci brings in the guitar it's genius how they intertwine and lead into the instrumental together, like young lovers who are walking into a whirlwind where they'll be beautifully ripped apart...You know, I was in the mood to use some horrifically gory imagery to supplement that metaphor but the song doesn't really call for it. Goddamnit, where's Raw Dog when I need it? I need RAW DOG. I NEED TO FINISH THE METAPHOR.

No I don't, James has just come in again...I love how in a lot of the songs the instrumentals kind of signals like 'Right, Ok guys, brace yourselves, James is going to lovingly rape your ears now'.

   It just kind of stops though. I don't like things when they just...Stop.

19:  Honor Thy Father
   Now, I'm not that keen on the opening of the song, don't ask me why...Atleast the very first half minute, I'm not sure. It certainly does jolt the listener awake. But then it leads into some of the patented Dream Theater opening technicality so it's all good...It kind of repeats itself over again

   And I love that first softer guitar. It's such a contrast to the opening...And the bit that follows it. You see, I try to finish a point off and I miss out a whole verse. I'm not sure about James' little rapping bit down the telephone. At least it sounds like he's speaking down a telephone, maybe he got shipped back up to Canada for that bit of recording and all of his equipment was busted at home so he got really pissed and shouted down the phone line to the band. But it does show versatility in his voice, and versatility is always good.

   I just missed out a shit load of the song talking about a telephone. The line 'respect is not a one way street' is one I can really appreciate. I'm pretty sure it wasn't them who coined it but it's a lesson that a lot of people including my teachers could learn to understand.

   DON'T CROSS THE CROOKED STEP.

   Now this part of the song is something I could jog to, or make very weird and unsatisfying sexy time to. Maybe it's because all of the samples are talking about regret...That really isn't the kind of thing you want to be listening to when you're with your other half, you could give them the wrong impression. But the samples are mixed in very well...I can actually hear what they're saying now! Not much else to talk about, just going to pause for a minute or so and indulge in the instrumental.

   The instrumentals talking to us again, it's like 'Guys, settle down now, you're going to get ear raped again, just give us a buzz if you need any help with the lube!' and that is an image I want to get out of my head again. But now it's just like 'Lol no, just kidding guys, you're not going to get ear raped again, chillax'.

   And then James is all like 'Surprise!' and then goes off to make sexy time with your ears. Yep. I'm definitely tired, I haven't had any coffee in a good few hours, oh god, I think I'm getting a headache as well. I'm going to shut up.

   WHY DOES THIS SONG TRICK ME INTO THINKING IT'S ENDING?!

   Ok, I'm calm, it ended.

18:  Sacrificed Sons
   And here comes the shit storm for rating any other Octavarium song over its title track.

   I love samples. I can't remember how many times I've mentioned that in this list, I might do a tally at the end to find out how many times I praise samples and transitions.

   And here comes the song, I love the haunting piano melody, it's chilling after the cluster of samples that proceeded it. Drums soft, and those vocals, I love the vulnerability of them (tallying vulnerability as well) and it's all leading up to the pre chorus, which is, beautiful. The whole song centres around this kind of vibe, you know it's building up to something, you can feel it and here it comes, it's getting heavier and stronger, it's embodying the panic, I'm getting chills.

   I'm finding it hard to ramble about this song because it's so melancholy and it's about such a serious subject matter. I was only young when 9/11 happened, and I'm English so it didn't have as much impact on me as it did many. This song really helps me to imagine how many others feel about the terrible event.

   Into the instrumental now, it's quite basic to begin with, something that I could imagine being able to play after- and I'm eating my words now because the keys just blasted in at a hundred notes per second which I could never hope to play in a million years. There is something familiar about this section of the instrumental, it resembles Dance of Eternity in my mind for some reason...And now it's gone, back into good old, classic Dream Theater. I'm going to shut up- Well, I was going to shut up, but now it's reaching the height of the instrumental, around 6:00 in. It's building up to James coming in again, you can feel it, repeating the opening riff of the instrumental.

   There's the string effects, I'm happy, and James is in again, I love the quality to his voice here, it's strong and passionate. The lyricism of this song is nothing short of incredible, it's one of the songs that make me appreciate that I'm into this kind of music instead of rap and all that.

   And I'm sorry, but I have to say it. AMISH STEAK. I really shouldn't have watched those misheard lyric videos last night, they really stick in your head and you cannot unheard!

   Coming up to the end of the song now, it's genius how they bring everything together, hearing a bit of technical guitar work that I've never noticed before, and there were go. Amazing ending to an amazing song.

[BlobVanDam]

Interesting to see SS and HTF so high. I think they're both great songs, although I wouldn't rank them that high. Not sure if UAGM cracks my top 20, but it's definitely a worthy contender.

[theseoafs]

I disagree so much with the rankings but I can't stop reading.

[BlackInk]

All three great choices.

[JayOctavarium]

SS? Meh....

[Mladen]

Honor thy father and Sacrificed sons are two of my lesser favorite Dream Theater songs, but the variety of opinions is what makes this thread fun. And yeah, Amish steak. 

[Elite]

I disagree so much with the rankings but I can't stop reading.

[Jaffa]

I've always really liked UaGM's ending.  Hmm.  To each his/her own! 

Interesting choices.  Sacrificed Sons is definitely a great song.  I'm not a big fan of HTF, but still cool to see it ranked this high.

[Tomislav95]

Honot thy father
Sacrificed Sons is one of my favorite songs live and would like to hear it again.

[Pols Voice]

HTF and SS are in my bottom 10.

UAGM rocks, though.

[senecadawg2]

This makes for an interesting top 50, because I disagree so much. HTF>ToT, 8varium?!?!?

I love it.

[alirocker08]

Edited because I'm an idiot who missed out number 16

17:  This is The Life
   Yep, this half of the list is definitely why my friends think that Dream Theater is 'emo' I mean...They're not exactly the happiest songs in the world are they? I love my ballads, although I would hardly class this as a ballad.

   SO ENERGIE. SO POWAH. Even though on my first listen that powerful guitar seemed a bit random, it makes perfect sense now. This is the return to the lyrical genius that I loved about Dream Theater, and it has an amazing message. I love songs with meaning, I mean who doesn't? And by meaning, I mean more than 'Pow pow I'm gonna go punch ma homies and sleep with hos yo'. God I should so go into rap, it would be amazing.

   There's a lot of iPad on this album isn't there? I'm up to the bit where the sample came in, at least that sample didn't finish off half way through a line although I'm sure DTF's predictions would have been entertaining to read to say the least. Fuck. I used an abbreviation.

   Special bit, choral effects, and this is the most alleviating part of the entire song, it's reaching a crescendo now, it's building up to that final chorus, the drums are good, bass is audible, guitars are in tune... And I was wrong, it was building up to a mini guitar solo not the final chorus, I haven't listened to A Dramatic Turn Of Events in a while and here it is!

   THIS IS THE LIFE WE BELONG TO! It's got that same optimistic feel to it as the Spirit Carries On, and even though it lacks the wonderful black choir singer it's just as, if not even more uplifting.

   Little drummer bit, almost at the end now. Sad face.


16:  The Great Debate
   When Katy Perry writes a song concerning the complexities of the stem cell research debate believe me, I will listen to it. Until that day, I'll listen to the Great Debate and be happy.

   Guess what guys? Samples, lots and lots of samples, if you didn't guess that I'd be talking about the well mixed samples in a song where the first few minutes are a essentially samples then you obviously haven't been paying attention to my list. Oh, I'm not ignoring the instruments by the way and how they're mixed wonderfully well, merging in with the samples until it's the musicianship that takes precedence and lets the samples vanish unnoticed

   Also James is a robot. I preferred the live version of this song, where there wasn't the weird robot effect, although it does fit so I can't criticise, and it provides a wonderful contrast to the strong vocals of the pre-chorus...Is it a pre-chorus? I don't fucking know, I'm just flinging out technical sounding terms to sound intelligent like I do in all of my exams...Seems to work for them.

   Break down! And we're almost at the best bit, almost, almost....ARE YOU JUSTIFIED? ARE YOU JUSTIFIED? ARE YOU...I'll stop it now because I'll just end up writing out the entire song again, which I don't fancy doing because I appreciate that you guys know how to use Google and you can look up the lyrics from there.

   Ok, is this the chorus? Human kind has reached a turning point...Is this it? Or is it the pre-chorus. OhgodIdon'tknowanymore. It's hard to type like that when you're so used to putting spaces between every word and I completely forgot to describe that whole section oh crap.

   So! Instrumental. I have a feeling it sounds better on proper speakers and headphones than it does on my shitty £9.00 ones (pre economic crash) and onto James again. I love the questioning lyrics. The band doesn't take a stance on the debate, it offers both sides and I'm missing out on describing James' amazing shouting vocals on this part of the song. Damn you tangents!

   Breakdown! Or not. You know, I could have described the instruments if James hadn't started singing about turning to the light. Here we go, here's the keys, here's the drums, and as ever Rudess...In fact, I think that might be the guitar. No, it's the keys. Ok, I've found the guitar now, Petrucci is stepping up to shine, playing his usual, oh, you know, 1 million notes per second, as you do. Nothing it's not boring, in fact, it's the exact opposite of boring. Now here's the keys again with the choral effect...You know, they should get an actual chorus in to do some of these bits and I just heard the fucking crazy bit.

   Yay! More samples! I'm happy. Backed up with the same instrumental theme that resounds through the song, slowing down again, and now it's being driven by the simple but fitting drum beat. You can't complain can you? I certainly can't. I'm just going to drift off now, everything is slowly fading out, and amazing albeit exaggerated ending to a song...It almost feels as if the song is reversing through right back to the beginning...or that's just me, being weird.

15:  In The Name Of God
   Train of Thought is a hugely under appreciated album. I just attempted to describe the opening, I can't it's just awesome and my brain is on a huge melt down at the moment, I'm meant to be learning my lines for Theatre Studies right now.

   I'm not sure what it is about this song that makes me love it so much...Maybe it's the subject matter. I'm not afraid to admit that the whole concept surrounding the song is something that really inspires me.
   
   Here we go, into the keys and the choral. LIIIIIISTEN. Ok, Ok, I'm listening James. I love his voice here, it's just so damn strong.

   I'm finding it really hard to ramble, I'll probably just write out the lyrics of the song or something, I've given up on justifying my choices at this point in time and, being a woman, I have no intelligent opinions.

   I'm going to shut up for a bit and listen.

   BRIDGE. 'Learn the lines between virtue and sin'. Tell me that's not a good lyric. Just go on, tell me. Because I'm not listening. Nah na na na na na I'm not listening!

   Fuck it, I can't- wait, here we go, heading into the instrumental, the rhythm Portnoy is blasting out is so strong and easy to follow...Oh yeah, it's this section that explains why I love this song, the softer section, of course it is. It slowly builds up from the eerie calm, right up to James' screamy high bit, it's fucking amazing...And breakdown!

   I'm only 7:00 something in. How the fuck can I describe this song any more, there are no characters to imagine dialogue between, no real ear raping, just a lot of glorious instrumental. I want to just sit back and enjoy it. Peace out bitches!

14:  A Change Of Seasons
   Peace in bitches!

   Really, no need for me to explain this one. It's sheer musical poetry. I mean, you compare this to The Best of Times, which are both about, let's face it, pretty similar subject matters and it makes you wonder where everything went so wrong. I don't want to ramble in this song, I can just close my eyes and listen to it. Either that, or I'll get so distracted listening to it that I'll forget to type. It's just that good a song.

[BlobVanDam]

Nice to see TITL getting some love, as it's my 2nd favourite from ADTOE, although I wouldn't rank anything from the album top 20.

ITNOG is easily top 5 for me, maybe top 3. Very nice choice there. (ps. I believe the line is "blurring the line" not "learn the line". But you're not listening. )

And the obligatory ACOS. Nice to see it not too high.

[alirocker08]

Nice to see TITL getting some love, as it's my 2nd favourite from ADTOE, although I wouldn't rank anything from the album top 20.

ITNOG is easily top 5 for me, maybe top 3. Very nice choice there. (ps. I believe the line is "blurring the line" not "learn the line". But you're not listening. )

And the obligatory ACOS. Nice to see it not too high.

I'm English, James is Canadian, two completely different languages, of course I can't hear the lyrics properly!

I mean umm...

I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

[Onno]

I'm Dutch, and even I can hear it is 'Blurring the lines between virtue and sin' 

[Jaffa]

Outstanding choices.  I'm not a huge fan of TITL, but it's refreshing to see it listed so highly.  And it goes without saying that I adore ITNOG and ACOS. 

Also, TCoT, Voices, ToT, 8VM, Take the Time, Metropolis, LtL, Breaking All Illusions, ITNOG, ACOS... I think for many people this would pass as a satisfactory top ten list, and you've ruled them all out.     Awesome.  More and more I'm looking forward to seeing your top picks. 

[BlackInk]

Surprising to see This Is the Life this high, it is indeed excellent.

The other ones though are even better.

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Why is there no #16?

[RuRoRul]

Awesome to see Honor Thy Father and In The Name Of God  Particularly Honor Thy Father since it's much more rarely ranked highly and is much closer to where it should be on your list. Don't really get why that song's not rated as highly.

[alirocker08]

Why is there no #16?

There is now

And thanks guys!

[Jaffa]

Never been a big fan of The Great Debate, and never been able to explain exactly why.  Still, cool to see it ranked so high. 

[Tomislav95]

ACOS is my all time favorite song but I understand that all songs in top 20 are pretty close