Dream Theater Top 100 countdown - 2024 Version!

[Jamesman42]

DAD you're embarrassing me again! Let me rank my tracks please

[hefdaddy42]

DAD you're embarrassing me again! Let me rank my tracks please

By all means.

[WardySI]

Being that not everyone is super familiar with some of the more obscure DT tracks in their catalog, here are links to all the live-only and non-album tracks that are included in the list. This way those of you not familiar with the songs can hear them before making an informed decision on whether they'll end up on your list or not. And at the very least, perhaps it will introduce you to some new songs that you might not have heard before!   

Moon Bubbles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vqatqBETec

Slow Motion (note: only recordings are all from the audience):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7b0su9mY9o

Bombay Vindaloo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZhlbP8CGMM

Barfbag:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwJqM1p82AA&t=3839s

Awake Jam:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzsNZmxX64g&t=2687s

The Gladiator Theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGRDo8bUljo&t=2583s

Another Won:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN8-OwdX6aE&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=18

Your Majesty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-mXY8OjPEs&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=19

A Vision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVnyQrZF7S0&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=20

Two Far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwK26gTPeIU&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=21

Vital Star:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJ1P-99cA8&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=22

March of the Tyrant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8bgMDSdYl0&list=OLAK5uy_l7Htu8vsqmVCHMDc7zD9CUDrOfObFp1yo&index=23

Cry for Freedom (instrumental demo - a demo with vocals was never done):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXu76cJDZsk

Cry for Freedom (live with Chris Collins on vocals):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoJ6-MSRx8o

To Live Forever:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_KWl5hFp7s

Don't Look Past Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1zUHIZDsfI

Eve:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiayUWUhZSQ

Raise the Knife:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUCobA896mU&list=OLAK5uy_l5hTdIRhdTXP8zm558lxjjuGCjdFbLa-8&index=1

Where Are You Now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXQGhKQLQ-Q&list=OLAK5uy_l5hTdIRhdTXP8zm558lxjjuGCjdFbLa-8&index=2

The Way It Used to Be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wth0sfxz6Gw&list=OLAK5uy_l5hTdIRhdTXP8zm558lxjjuGCjdFbLa-8&index=7

Cover My Eyes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCMGvxVENpc&list=OLAK5uy_l5hTdIRhdTXP8zm558lxjjuGCjdFbLa-8&index=12

Speak to Me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQSBIVcCgmk&list=OLAK5uy_l5hTdIRhdTXP8zm558lxjjuGCjdFbLa-8&index=15

Raw Dog:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6OfqGvliyw

Cannot thank you enough for making this list! Was going be a daunting enough task as was but there's quite a few there I'd forgotten or maybe not even heard before.

The things we do for kicks 

But yes Cheers for this!

[jammindude]

I started on my list yesterday, but this is going to take me a week or two.

I've put almost everything in the ranker, and I've made up my mind that if I either can't remember a song (or both songs) or I'm having difficulty choosing, I am going to take a moment and listen to each song back to back in its entirety before making a decision.

Obviously this will not be done in one sitting. I just want to make sure this list is as accurate as it can be.

[Stadler]

I started on my list yesterday, but this is going to take me a week or two.

I've put almost everything in the ranker, and I've made up my mind that if I either can't remember a song (or both songs) or I'm having difficulty choosing, I am going to take a moment and listen to each song back to back in its entirety before making a decision.

Obviously this will not be done in one sitting. I just want to make sure this list is as accurate as it can be.

This is what I'm doing.

[twosuitsluke]

Thought of the day (getting close to finishing my ranking), wherever Illumination Theory ranks, it's gonna be too low!

[Wim Kruithof]

Thought of the day (getting close to finishing my ranking), wherever Illumination Theory ranks, it's gonna be too low!

Shoot-out for your thought...

[Setlist Scotty]

Cannot thank you enough for making this list! Was going be a daunting enough task as was but there's quite a few there I'd forgotten or maybe not even heard before.

The things we do for kicks 

But yes Cheers for this!

Glad to be of help Wardy!   

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

[jammindude]

In going through this, the Astonishing songs are the ones I'm having to revisit more often because I'm just not as familiar with those songs and I want to listen to them with a fresh ear to make sure I'm making an accurate judgement.

It's really striking to me how literally ambivalent I am about everything on this album. Every time I relisten to a song, I can't help but be emotionally moved by how beautiful some of the bits are, but also how much they don't really make a proper song in most cases. It's like the album focuses more on the narrative than creating a song you can listen to on its own.  I really WANT to like this album more than I do. There are moments that take my breath away...they just don't last long most of the time.

Out of 34 tracks, I'd say there's only about a half dozen or so standalone "songs". But it's all very beautiful in its own way.

[nobloodyname]

Thought of the day (getting close to finishing my ranking), wherever Illumination Theory ranks, it's gonna be too low!

I think exactly the same as you except the other way around

[twosuitsluke]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

Always was

[Wim Kruithof]

In going through this, the Astonishing songs are the ones I'm having to revisit more often because I'm just not as familiar with those songs and I want to listen to them with a fresh ear to make sure I'm making an accurate judgement.

It's really striking to me how literally ambivalent I am about everything on this album. Every time I relisten to a song, I can't help but be emotionally moved by how beautiful some of the bits are, but also how much they don't really make a proper song in most cases. It's like the album focuses more on the narrative than creating a song you can listen to on its own.  I really WANT to like this album more than I do. There are moments that take my breath away...they just don't last long most of the time.

Out of 34 tracks, I'd say there's only about a half dozen or so standalone "songs". But it's all very beautiful in its own way.

This is a very well wrapped analysis of the album itself. I feel the same, but I do know it pretty well, 'cause I've spend hours and hours on it. But only a couple of songs eventually made my list. The narrative is leading and some songs - although fermly short - switch that much in the few minutes that it's hard to consider a whole. Like A Savior In the Square for example. Beautiful Killing-Hand-like intro, but then on the square it's way off base. And that happens a lot. As stand-alones they all fade in this gorgious discography, but as a conceptalbum, to me it's very valuable.

[jingle.boy]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

It could be a hundred times better... but 100x0 is still zero.

[Stadler]

In going through this, the Astonishing songs are the ones I'm having to revisit more often because I'm just not as familiar with those songs and I want to listen to them with a fresh ear to make sure I'm making an accurate judgement.

It's really striking to me how literally ambivalent I am about everything on this album. Every time I relisten to a song, I can't help but be emotionally moved by how beautiful some of the bits are, but also how much they don't really make a proper song in most cases. It's like the album focuses more on the narrative than creating a song you can listen to on its own.  I really WANT to like this album more than I do. There are moments that take my breath away...they just don't last long most of the time.

Out of 34 tracks, I'd say there's only about a half dozen or so standalone "songs". But it's all very beautiful in its own way.

I'm in a similar place with that record. 

[TAC]

In going through this, the Astonishing songs are the ones I'm having to revisit more often because I'm just not as familiar with those songs and I want to listen to them with a fresh ear to make sure I'm making an accurate judgement.

It's really striking to me how literally ambivalent I am about everything on this album. Every time I relisten to a song, I can't help but be emotionally moved by how beautiful some of the bits are, but also how much they don't really make a proper song in most cases. It's like the album focuses more on the narrative than creating a song you can listen to on its own.  I really WANT to like this album more than I do. There are moments that take my breath away...they just don't last long most of the time.

Out of 34 tracks, I'd say there's only about a half dozen or so standalone "songs". But it's all very beautiful in its own way.

I'm in a similar place with that record.

It's a legit position for sure, but man, there are so many amazing moments on the album that I really wished they'd have developed a bit more than moving quickly to the next part of the narrative. I made an Astonishing Abridged version that I'd put up against anything in their catalog.
I think that's actually a good way to break down an album like that. My Abridged is 16 songs and runs 73 minutes. And I love all of it.

[MirrorMask]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

[jammindude]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

I've said for a long time that it sounds like a 3-disc idea that got abridged down to 2 discs. Too many of the ideas feel only partially developed. If all those beautiful bits had become fully realized songs, it would have been better. Probably would have been 3 hours long, but 3 hours of great is better than 2 1/2 hours of unfinished ideas.

[Indiscipline]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

I've said for a long time that it sounds like a 3-disc idea that got abridged down to 2 discs. Too many of the ideas feel only partially developed. If all those beautiful bits had become fully realized songs, it would have been better. Probably would have been 3 hours long, but 3 hours of great is better than 2 1/2 hours of unfinished ideas.

Nailed It. They probably planned a musical but chose/ had to compromise with a sustainable live show length.

Top 3 DT album.

[Lonk]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

I've said for a long time that it sounds like a 3-disc idea that got abridged down to 2 discs. Too many of the ideas feel only partially developed. If all those beautiful bits had become fully realized songs, it would have been better. Probably would have been 3 hours long, but 3 hours of great is better than 2 1/2 hours of unfinished ideas.

If that was the case, I would've love for them to have done a part. 1, and then release a part 2 with the rest of the materials a few months later.

Coheed and Cambria did something similar (though their stuff was just a little over 80 minutes). They released The Afterman: Ascension on October of 2012. Then in February of 2013 released The Afterman: Descension

[Stadler]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

I've said for a long time that it sounds like a 3-disc idea that got abridged down to 2 discs. Too many of the ideas feel only partially developed. If all those beautiful bits had become fully realized songs, it would have been better. Probably would have been 3 hours long, but 3 hours of great is better than 2 1/2 hours of unfinished ideas.

If that was the case, I would've love for them to have done a part. 1, and then release a part 2 with the rest of the materials a few months later.

Coheed and Cambria did something similar (though their stuff was just a little over 80 minutes). They released The Afterman: Ascension on October of 2012. Then in February of 2013 released The Afterman: Descension

I heard those records were a little up and down, though.


I'll show myself out.....

[Lonk]

[KevShmev]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

Agreed. It was 158 on my list two years ago, but 154 on my list this time. Okay, maybe not way better, but a little better.

[hefdaddy42]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

Agreed. It was 158 on my list two years ago, but 154 on my list this time. Okay, maybe not way better, but a little better.

It was last on my list the last time I made one.  It's still last.

[TAC]

No idea why Raw Dog gets a raw deal, especially with its homage to King Crimson, who I thought was loved around here.

[KevShmev]

Going through the discography for this and I'm realizing Raw Dog is way better than I remember.

Agreed. It was 158 on my list two years ago, but 154 on my list this time. Okay, maybe not way better, but a little better.

It was last on my list the last time I made one.  It's still last.

In other words, it didn't get worse for ya.

[hefdaddy42]

No idea why Raw Dog gets a raw deal, especially with its homage to King Crimson, who I thought was loved around here.

It's not an homage to King Crimson.  An homage is intentional.  Some of the riffs just sound like something King Crimson may have toyed around with, and then discarded.

IMO

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal. 

[TAC]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

[twosuitsluke]

I too did an abridged version, I reckon it was longer than that, but still cutting out some (to me) non essential passages I got a much stronger and concise album.

It should have really been three discs and three acts:

Act 1 from the beginning to Three Days
Act 2 from The Hovering Sojourn to the end of Disc 1
Act 3 is Disc 2

They're more or less the same running time, and putting in a thrid disc allows for A New Beginnng to go on without having to be cut at the end.

I've said for a long time that it sounds like a 3-disc idea that got abridged down to 2 discs. Too many of the ideas feel only partially developed. If all those beautiful bits had become fully realized songs, it would have been better. Probably would have been 3 hours long, but 3 hours of great is better than 2 1/2 hours of unfinished ideas.

If that was the case, I would've love for them to have done a part. 1, and then release a part 2 with the rest of the materials a few months later.

Coheed and Cambria did something similar (though their stuff was just a little over 80 minutes). They released The Afterman: Ascension on October of 2012. Then in February of 2013 released The Afterman: Descension

Let's be serious, Dream Theater couldn't do anything as good as Coheed

[jingle.boy]

I have a ranking of 100 songs.  Everything else is 101.

[hefdaddy42]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

Don't be so sure.  I have been told that I am wrong no less than 3 times already this week.

[Stadler]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

Don't be so sure.  I have been told that I am wrong no less than 3 times already this week.

Yeah, but we're not your wife.   

[hefdaddy42]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

Don't be so sure.  I have been told that I am wrong no less than 3 times already this week.

Yeah, but we're not your wife.   

I wasn't counting her 

[jingle.boy]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

Don't be so sure.  I have been told that I am wrong no less than 3 times already this week.

Yeah, but we're not your wife.   

I wasn't counting her 

Counting my wife, I was told 3 times before lunch I was wrong!

[Stadler]

But it doesn't get "a raw deal."  There are just a lot of people who don't like it, while you DO like it.  That doesn't mean it gets a raw deal.

I mean, you're not wrong.

Don't be so sure.  I have been told that I am wrong no less than 3 times already this week.

Yeah, but we're not your wife.   

I wasn't counting her 

Oh shit....