Top 10 MM era DT songs

[KevShmev]

Bridges in the Sky
Breaking All Illusions
Three Days
Ravenskill
Fall into the Light
At Wit's End
Out of Reach
The Alien
Transcending Time
Awaken the Master

Honorable mentions go to This is the Life, Far from Heaven, Illumination Theory, A New Beginning, Barstool Warrior and Answering the Call.

[DragonAttack]

Honorable mentions:  Build Me Up Break Me Down, Outcry, Beneath The Surface, The Bigger Picture, Along For The Ride, Illumination Theory, most of TA Disc One, D/T and bonus track, The Alien, Answering The Call, A View title track.  Look, if I had to do a Top 25, there'd still be a few favorites that wouldn't make the list.  What can I say, I truly enjoyed almost all of what this era offered. 

Done in a mix tape order:

(Dream Is Collapsing)
Bridges In The Sky (start at 37 seconds)
The Enemy Inside
Fall Into The Light
On The Backs Of Angels
Room 137
At Wit's End
This Is The Life
Savior In the Square intro / Our New World
Breaking All Illusions (my #1)
Pale Blue Dot

Guess I could also say 'that' era.  Feels very odd to word it in a past tense manner.

[DragonAttack]

Repeated post

[geeeemo]

I did the whole list. The next 25 are nearly as enjoyable. I love the modern DT.

1   Illumination Theory   
2   Breaking All Illusions   
3   Bridges in the Sky   
4   Outcry   
5   At Wit's End   
6   A New Beginning   
7   Barstool Warrior   
8   Sleeping Giant   
9   On the Backs of Angels   
10   This Is the Life   

[Setlist Scotty]

In chronological order:
Lost Not Forgotten
Breaking All Illusions
The Bigger Picture
Illumination Theory
Fall Into the Light
At Wit's End
Pale Blue Dot
Answering the Call
Awaken the Master
A View From the Top of the World

[ariich]

Chronologically

Breaking All Illusions
Lost Not Forgotten
Outcry
The Enemy Inside
The Gift Of Music
Ravenskill
The X Aspect
Fall Into The Light
The Alien
Sleeping Giant

Nice, we have the same favourite songs from Astonishing and DOT!

Anyway here's my list. Nothing from A View... It's a good album, just... none of the songs individually excite me very much. Definitely the weakest of the era, IMO. Answering the Call comes closest and gets an honourable mention!

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Surrender to Reason
4. This is the Life
5. Ravenskill
6. Fall Into the Light
7. The X Aspect
8. Barstool Warrior
9. The Bigger Picture
10. The Gift of Music

Honourable mentions: Basically the rest of ADTOE; Illumination Theory; Three Days; A Tempting Offer; Moment of Betrayal; At Wit's End; Answering the Call

[jammindude]

In chronological order:

Bridges in the Sky
Breaking All Illusions
The Looking Glass
The Bigger Picture
Behind the Veil
A Life Left Behind
Barstool Warrior
At Wit's End
The Alien
Transcending Time

[Wim Kruithof]

9. Viper King

In your very first post a Viper King-top 10 ranking... you must be a limited edition.

[naimad]

9. Viper King

In your very first post a Viper King-top 10 ranking... you must be a limited edition.

I love VK! I think it shines because the guys are having fun playing it, and they transmit that.

[evilasiojr]

I'm starting to feel nostalgic about MM's era with the band 
He's a big part of my history with the band, since I started really enjoying DT on the drummer's audition and all the fuss around MPs departure. I loved he's back, but Mangini has Left a great legacy of amazing songs!

Lost Not Forgotten
Breaking All Illusions
The Enemy Inside
The Bigger Picture
Ravenskill
The Path That Divides
S2N
The Alien
Answering The Call
Awaken The Master

[Jamesman42]

Seems like I am the biggest fan of OTBOA.

[evilasiojr]

I forgot an honorable mention!!

The Holiday Spirit Carries On is such a cool little song, I think they should have invested more on the promotion of that medley. Lots of fun playing and clever arrangement.

[geeeemo]

I forgot an honorable mention!!

The Holiday Spirit Carries On is such a cool little song, I think they should have invested more on the promotion of that medley. Lots of fun playing and clever arrangement.

yes to this!

[Laughingplace56]

I have a solid top 10 but don't know if I can properly rank them, so I will present them in what would be a killer 2 hour set list:

1. Bridges in the Sky
2. The Enemy Inside
3. Answering the Call
4. Breaking All Illusions
5. Surrender to Reason
6. The Alien
7. Behind the Veil
8. Outcry
9. A View From the Top of the World (probably my #1)
10. Illumination Theory

ADToe, DT12 and AVFTTOTW are 3 of DT's finest albums, and The Astonishing/AVFTTOTW are my 2 favorite albums based on drum performance. Mangini was a very unique force with DT, with some incredible and technical drumming. As a drummer, I've loved both eras of DT, and while I'm very excited to see what happens with MP back, I am very sad to lose Mangini's presence in the band. He will be missed as much as MP was missed the last 13 years(at least for me!).

[Dittomist]

I have 4 from ADTOE, 3 from The Astonishing, 2 from DT, and 1 from Distance Over Time

Top 10:
1. Fall Into the Light
2. Breaking All Illusions
3. Beneath the Surface
4. Surrender to Reason
5. Ravenskill
6. Bridges in the Sky
7. Far From Heaven
8. Illumination Theory
9. A New Beginning
10. My Last Farewell

Honorables: Out of Reach, Outcry, Pale Blue Dot, Losing Faythe, Lost Not Forgotten

[Lax]

SUPER HARD LIST TO DO, I can't do it...I give up
Breaking All Illusions
Bridges in the Sky
Transcending Time
The Alien
Heaven's Cove
At Wit's End
A New Beginning
On the Backs of Angels
Answering The Call
The Path that Divides
Along for the Ride
S2N
Viper king
fall into the light

[JLa]

Top 10 songs, in no particular order:

This is the Life
I've always enjoyed this little, mellow tune. The melody is memorable, the instrumentation is nice, it's simply a really good song. I still can't decide if the lyrics are to be interpreted as a stick to MP, though ... I'm sure the band says it's not.

Barstool Warrior
It's mostly the mid section solo and the "Promises made ..." part that puts this on my list. But those minutes are 10/10 DT for me. Perfection. I get goosebumps nearly every time I listen to that section.

Pale Blue Dot
DT doing DT stuff. Fast, hard, technical, mind boggling, cool.

On the Backs of Angels
Not the worst way of opening the first post-MP album. The intro is nice and all, and about halfway through I always think to myself "hey, I really  enjoy this!". A solid band effort. Too bad the song (and album) has such a lackluster production / mix / it *sounds* bland. Not so much an issue for the softer songs (see "This is the Life" above), but unfortunately very much an issue for the heavier tracks.

Illumination Theory
So, preferably the live version, with orchestra and choir and DT going totally over the top. It works. Great piece.

Breaking All Illusions
Again, the music is peak DT, but unfortunately marred by the weak production. That chorus though!

Sleeping Giant
I just can't help bobbing my head to this one.

The Answer
Short and sweet, this is probably the only track from TA I play every now and then. It's nice.

The Enemy Inside
Perhaps not the most interesting DT song, but a good single and it's fun to blast this.

A View From the Top of the World
Had to include the final epic. I don't think it has enough ideas to justify it being 20 minutes, but it's enough quality music here to include it in a top 10.

[Pettor]

Fall into the Light
Riff and middle section is 🤘 Overall just a song that I can always play and enjoy.

Barstool Warrior
One of the best melodic & "short" songs they've done. Period. Amazing solo and just a great sound overall.

At Wit's End
Maybe the best epic they made in the Mangini era. Such a dynamic song that delivers at every point. Lyrics is one of the best efforts from DT.

Pale Blue Dot
Love this epic but always a bit disappointed that it somehow felt too short or something. It starts out amazing and they just follows a pretty standard structure. This song should have been more open for dynamics and not limited by the DOT mindset of short more consistent songs. With that said I love the song, just that the idea is amazing.

Answering The Call
One of the best catchy songs in the Mangini era. Some cool instrumentation and overall highly enjoyable tune 👍

Sleeping Giant
Best track on AVFTTOTW for me. Not sure why but I have repeated this one many many times.

Awaken The Master
This is the most prog metal DT of all Mangini era songs 😁 Just a great prog metal DT tune from start to finish.

A View from the Top of The World
Not gonna top 8V or ACOS but a damn solid epic. Love all the sections. I think the subject is the only disappointment for me.

Breaking all Illusions
A true DT classic. So dynamic and fun listen. A song only DT can make and I can't wait to hear Portnoy play this one, because I believe if there's one song he have to play from the Mangini era it's this one.

The Gift of Music
It's a bummer this was the single for TA since it's really great. I thought everything would sound like this ... which in hindsight wasn't really true 😁

[crystalstars17]

This is WAY too hard!!! 😭 May I have 15?!

The ten:

A View From the Top of the World
Breaking All Illusions
Outcry
Moment of Betrayal
Answering the Call
Invisible Monster
Out of Reach
Pale Blue Dot
The Alien
Bridges in the Sky


The honorable mentions:

On the Backs of Angels
Untethered Angel
Behind the Veil
Barstool Warrior
At Wit's End


There's no denying that this was an incredibly strong era. ✨

[romdrums]

Here's mine.

1.     Breaking All Illusions
2   Bridges in the Sky
3   At Wit's End
4   S2N
5   Barstool Warrior
6   Pale Blue Dot
7   The Alien
8   Answering the Call
9   A View From the Top of the World
10   The Looking Glass

Moment of Betrayal was my highest ranking song from The Astonishing at #13.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

1. Breaking All Illusions
2. Bridges in the Sky
3. Illumination Theory
4. Barstool Warrior
5. Pale Blue Dot
6. Lost Not Forgotten
7. Out of Reach
8. Awaken the Master
9. Transcending Time
10. The Looking Glass

And so many honorable mentions I will not bother