Elite's Top X DT Songs v2: Top 20 LEAST favourite DT songs (Finished!)

[Lucien]

It's one of those songs that I don't get/hasn't sunk in yet

[Elite]

Thanks for the replies so far, keep 'em coming!

17. Build Me Up, Break Me Down

Here's a song that I feel I haven't given enough chances. Back when ADTOE was released I was looking forward to the release, but I was also alreday listening to a lot of other music and Dream Theater were a band I loved in the past, but I wasn't really hyperactive about everything they did. I'm feeling similar towards the release of their self-titled album, I'm looking forward to hearing it and I will most likely pre-order it too, but I'm not dying for every tin bit of information like some of the (newer) members here are. I've been a DT fan for quite long (for my age at least, I can remember SC being released), but have also discovered lots of new music since then. This constant discovering leads me to listening to an album a couple of times and then deciding whether it's a keeper or not or whether never to hear it again. This helps me filter through the tons of music I get recommended by Spotify, these boards and various friends. What happened with ADTOE was something extraordinary. I bought the album and listened to it an immense amount of time, but I also chose my definite favourite of the album (Bridges in the Sky) and my least favourite (this one here) and after listening to the album more than a couple of times, I started inserting my favourite songs sparingly into various playlists. BMUBMD never got nominated. In a time where I 'had' to listen to way too much music, this song never really grabbed my attention. I don't exactly know why, since it's probably a good song, but of all the stuff on ADTOE, this one just didn't do it for me. I haven't heard it since I went to see the band on February 1st this year, where they performed it.

[Onno]

New Millenium is good. It was even in my top 50 when I did it, but I think it isn't anymore. BMUBMD for me is the weakest song on ADTOE, but it's still good. I really like the chorus. It's nowhere near my top 50 though.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

My thoughts on Build Me Up, Break Me Down are the same as New Millennium. Okay song, parts of it I like, but unless I'm listening A Dramatic Turn Of Events all the way through, not one I listen to.

[?]

I agree with everything you said about New Millennium, except that I kind of like the intro. BMUBMD is my least favorite song on ADTOE, although I enjoy it.

[GasparXR]

I rather enjoy New Millennium. D:

[senecadawg2]

Glad to see New Millennium here. It's a very pedestrian song, by DT standards. Ditto for BMUBMD.

[Ruba]

New Millenium is great.

BMUBMD is the worst. DT. song. ever. I even rather listen to their cover of Tori Amos's Winter.

[iamtheeviltwin]

New Millennium belongs in all bottom X lists.  It is the only song on FII that I just can't enjoy (even Burning my Soul is better).

However, you are wrong on PoW

[Elite]

Yay! Next one! But not a very happy one, I would think. I wonder who'll agree with this next one?

16. The Count of Tuscany

Yes, you read that right. It says 'The Count of Tuscany'. Well, I don't necessarily want to be controversial, but with picks like this one, it's just going to happen anyway. So far, I had only picked songs that are more often mentioned in the favourite 'least favourite' thread we've had over the years, but The Count of Tuscany rarely ever gets a mentioned. People apparently love this song, I've seen it in various rankings, I've seen it at live concerts and it bugs me, because this song just can't touch me in any way. Three times I have seen Dream Theater live and twice I have had this song played for me. The first time, John Petrucci completely messed up the volume swells, with some notes out of tune, feedback and whammy-bars not working. The second time, the band decided to cut all-time fan-favourite Learning to Live from the setlist, in favour of this.. the fucking Count, again! My live experiences with Dream Theater haven't really been too well and of some of the songs on this list, it's actually the live experience I had with it that made it make this list. Such is probably the case with The Count of Tuscany. I can't remember having heard this song after the last time I saw the band play it live, which was in the summer of 2011, so that's 2 years ago.

Let me get the most obvious bashing for this song out of the way first; yeah, the lyrics are hilariously bad, but if you look at them as tongue-in-cheek lyrics, they're actually quite okay. Where it goes wrong completely is with the delivery of all those lyrics. They're very bad (anyone will agree, come on! 'down the cellar stairs, I DISAPPEAR!', 'all the finest wines improve with age'), but they're delivered with so much seriousness that you can't possibly believe them. The completely opposite goes for The Dark Eternal Night for instance. That song is just so ridiculously silly and the band knows it. The lyrics are bad, but the delivery of them is fun. TDEN is actually a fun song, The Count of Tuscany is not. The lyrics are apparently meant to be taken seriously and that sole fact brings this song down. But we're not done there yet. Although the intro is very beautiful and probably one of the better openings for any song the band has done, I have zero incentive to listen to this track for all the other instrumentation in the song. The riffs in the first part are repetitive to me and the ending is everything but 'grand' or 'epic'. Instead of a 'bang' of a balloon popping, it's more like a 'fizzz', you know.. when you let all the air out. And then my biggest gripe: those god-damn volume swells. There was absolutely no need for that at all. It just seems like a completely lazy attempt to abridge two different pieces of music (that are actually linked by sharing similar chord progression) by playing the melodies of the upcoming part very slowly on just a guitar using volume swells. It drags the song down from semi-alright riffing (as stated, I find them to be boring rehashed riffs mostly) to a complete snooze-fest of nothing interesting happening at all. The part that follows then lacks any uplifting qualities that could ever bring the song back to the glorious moments in the very intro. From the moment the song starts, it goes downhill very quickly and never up again. A very disappointing ending to a disappointing album, as far as I'm considered. I would love to never hear this song again volutarily; and definitely not in a live setting. It's even worse there.

(Excuse my negativity; I'll respect anyone who does like this song, although I also respectfully disagree)

[SomeoneLikeHim]

I was just going to say I agree with every song. Oh well

[Elite]

Not with this one then?

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Well, it's not a top 20 song by any means, probably top 50 though.

[425]

I enjoy The Count and therefore disagree with this choice, but I don't like it as much as some seem to. I don't have any particular gripe about it; it just doesn't come together for me as well as pretty much any DT song near or beyond its length. The intro is beautiful and I actually like the vocal melodies (great ones from Mike for what would turn out to be his last DT vocal performance on a studio album). The first half of the song is fantastic. I'm just not sure about the second half. By this point on BCSL, the use of solos to encompass entire instrumental sections is a bit tired (I wish that album had some serious instrumental sections that weren't entirely *guitar solo* *keyboard solo*), and I really don't find that section too engaging. The volume swell section and the finale are alright, even if the finale is a little too long. But I agree that it doesn't really seem to have much to do with the first half of the song. Overall, though it is a very good song, it just doesn't come together as well as the band's other epics, and so, even if I personally wouldn't place it this low, I understand and to some extent agree with your reasons for doing so.

[Lucien]

I can see why you hate it. Lyrics are worse than a hundred-year-old cheese cellar.

Honestly though, I love the 9/8 heavy part driving the song forward a little more than three minutes in.

The atmospheric guitars near the end also get mention from me.

It will probably be near the bottom of my list when it becomes my turn.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

wait.....








                     no...








         


                                                      No.











                                                                               NO!














             

                NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

[Lucidity]

I quite like The Count, but I could completely see how one could dislike it. For the longest time, I absolutely hated it, but it grew on me. Godawful lyrics though. Really, what were they thinking?

[?]

I like TCOT (despite the lyrics), but I can see why someone wouldn't enjoy it too much.

[Onno]

Shadow Ninja is the only one that's completely right here 

[Tom Bombadil]

Ahhhhh. I love the count of Tuscany despite it's poor lyrics. Might be a top 10 for me. That being said I can understand why someone wouldn't like it. You're reasons were personal opinion and not just bashing, so I can respect that

[JPX]

Through Her Eyes - One of my favorite DT ballads. I have to admit though that I much prefer the live version because of how John plays his leads and it has more emotion in the music than the album version.

Prophets of War - What can I say, a bottom 5 DT for me without a doubt.

New Millenium - Never understood the hate for this song. I absolutely LOVE the breakdown.

BMUBMD - Another bottom 5 DT song. Just does nothing for me. It's everything I don't want Dream Theater to be.

The Count of Tuscany - A weird song for me. I love the beginning and the end. I hate some of the lyrics but do enjoy some. And I need to be in the right mood for the middle section.
After not hearing it for a while I tend to really enjoy it as a whole piece. Would be somewhere near the middle for me.

[Ruba]

TCOT was the last song left out from my top 50. So I'm not a huge fan of it and I understand if some people don't like it. I don't have a problem with the lyrics though.

[Elite]

Next one!

15. Never Enough

Hello Muse, is that you? It sounds like you though, but wait.. we're listening to Dream Theater's 8th album, where they took various 'influences' and made their own versions of songs. It's no secret that Mike Portnoy likes Muse - and frankly, I like Muse too - but this song here is so blatantly forged after Muse's songs that it's not really funny anymore. The main riff is alright, but reminds you of Muse straight away, as do the vocals when they kick in. I believe Dream Theater are a band who are/were good at what they are/were doing, but here it doesn't sound like Dream Theater anymore in the slightest. If you'd have Matt Bellamy singing this song, it could pass off as a Muse song - and not even a good one at that. The chorus sounds totally lame to me, which is probably the exact opposite of what it should do. Dream Theater can't really do the 'angry'-thing very well, I think. The heaviest stuff they've done is on Awake (which is MY opinion) and yet that still doesn't really sound 'angry' in a way. Dream Theater are (to me!) much more the contemplating band that can word stuff brilliantly lyrically (not always the case, see for instance TCOT) and musically, but here they fail on that last part. This song holds nothing to keep my interest, it sounds like a quick rehash of random ideas stolen from Muse, with a boring chorus that fails to deliver its message and a very boring guitar solo/unison (which sounds like JP on autopilot; nothing musically interesting about this one at all) to boot. Definitely not one of my favourites.

[Lucien]

I dislike Never Enough as well, just not as harshly, but for the main reason that the lyrics are so terrible.


I've been speculating that Along for the Ride on the new album will have the exact opposite sentiment.

[?]

Bottom 4 DT song for me... Although the unison is kind of ok, I agree that it sounds like JP and JR on autopilot and isn't nearly enough to save the song.

[Tom Bombadil]

I actually think it's a pretty good song. The lyrics piss me off though...

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

I can't really blame you for the placement of this song, even though I kind of like it. The lyrics don't really bother me either.

[425]

I like the song well enough (especially that unison), but I can understand why others don't. The lyrics may be a little over-the-top with all the brand new floors and such but I don't think they're totally beyond redemption..

[Elite]

Did anyone actually read the write-up? I said nothing about the lyrics, but since everybody is keen on doing so, I'll add my thoughts; they're not bad, but not very good either. The execution of the lyrics is what bothers me though.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

There was a writeup?   I'm just kidding, I read it, but the lyrics are one of the things most people don't like about it (including those in this thread).

[Bolsters]

I can definitely get behind this choice.

[Onno]

Never Enough is OK, but it's in my bottom 20 of DT songs.

[Full Speed]

New Millennium - I like this song quite a bit, almost love it. I'd never think to listen to it unless I'm giving FII a full spin, but I do enjoy it while it's there.

BMUBMD - Only song on ADTOE that I don't like. It doesn't bother me much, but I usually do skip it when I spin ADTOE.

The Count of Tuscany - Completely love this song. I think the serious delivery of silly/bad lyrics actually makes the song more entertaining to listen to.

Never Enough - Was never into this song very much. I don't listen to 8VM much anymore, but even when I did this was one of my least favorites.

[senecadawg2]

Never Enough is really pedestrian, as is the rest of that album. As for the cunt of tuscany, I'm conflicted. I certainly understand why you wouldn't like it, because it is ridiculous in the middle. But the beautiful intro and last 5 minutes more than make up for the trash in between, for me.

[Nekov]

So far I can only agree with BMU BMD and Never Enough although POW might be in my least favorite top 20 songs as well. I like it but I'm not sure if there are 19 songs that I like less.