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

[Nekov]

TSCO is overrated. All the other songs in that update are great and well positioned

[SeRoX]

Let's keep write-ups like that. 

[theseoafs]

10. Hell's Kitchen

This is the best DT instrumental, a sub-5 minute journey into the deepest reaches of space.  This atmospheric wonder is at times pensive, energetic, morose, and majestic, but consistently impressive.  Its length is perhaps the best thing this song has going for it; it hits hard and then immediately runs away, leaving this critic wanting much more.  Lifting this piece out of the horrifyingly awful Burning My Soul is unquestionably the best decision DT has ever made.

9. Home

I didn't realize exactly how strong this song is until I compiled this top 50, but this is the best SFAM song and one of the best songs DT has to offer, period.  The Arabian-style riffs are crunchy and satisfying and the well-placed, clever Metropolis references go down incredibly smooth.  The pre-TDOE instrumental section is finger-licking good and the performances by all the band members are generally delicious.  Basically, I want to eat this song.

8. Disappear

This is a beautiful piece.  I am in love with it.  I would marry it if I could, I think.  We could really make it together.  You'll see!  We'll prove all of you wrong!

7. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence

A fascinating, poignant exploration into mental illness.  Now, if the individual parts were released in the form of individual songs, none of them would rank all that highly, but put together, the eight movements result in an almost magical synergy.  Further, I'm not the biggest fan of The Test that Stumped Them All, but from Goodnight Kiss on it's smooth sailing, with the one-two punch of Solitary Shell->About to Crash (reprise) being particularly splendid; there's too much good stuff here to rank SDOIT anywhere outside the top 10.  What's always struck me as interesting about this one is that DT's 20 min+ epics usually prompt enormous, sprawling, and varied instrumental excursions, but that didn't happen here; each individual movement is relatively concise.  The net effect is that we get a picture of DT as a band that is more song- or story-oriented than performance-oriented, which is one of the many worthwhile experiments that cause me to hold the SDOIT album so highly.

6. Learning to Live

WHOOOOAOOOAAAAAAAAA! WHOOOAOAOOAOAOOAAOAAAA! WHOOOOOOOAAAAA--WAAAHOOOAOHA --WAOOAOOAOAOHHHHHHHHOOOOAHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOAHHOOAHOOAHOOOH!!!!!!!!!!!!!




So that's that, then.  Any predictions for the top 5?

EDIT:  By the way, here's the list up to this point:

    50    One Last Time
    49    Honor thy Father
    48    Sacrificed Sons
    47    Peruvian Skies
    46    A Nightmare to Remember
    45    The Root of All Evil
    44    This Dying Soul
    43    Wither
    42    I Walk Beside You
    41   Erotomania
    40    Under a Glass Moon
    39    As I Am
    38    Overture 1928
    37    Another Day
    36    Pull Me Under
    35    The Dance of Eternity
    34    Scarred
    33    Beyond this Life
    32    Fatal Tragedy
    31    Endless Sacrifice
    30    Hollow Years
    29    Stream of Consciousness
    28    Space Dye Vest
    27    Beneath the Surface
    26    Finally Free
    25    The Great Debate
    24    Innocence Faded
    23    On the Backs of Angels
    22    The Best of Times
    21    Lines in the Sand
    20    A Change of Seasons
    19    Outcry
    18    Misunderstood
    17    Strange Deja-Vu
    16    Take the Time
    15    Trial of Tears
    14    Voices
    13    Bridges in the Sky
    12    The Spirit Carries On
    11    Breaking All Illusions
    10    Hell's Kitchen
     9   Home
     8   Disappear
     7   SDOIT
     6   Learning to Live

[Unlegit]

Every song is great besides Disppear. I wouldn't putt Hell's Kitchen or Home that high, but it's nice to see them.

5. The Count of Tuscany
4. Blind Faith
3. In the Presence of Enemies
2. Octavarium
1. Metropolis

There's my prediction, kinda just guessed.

[Syzzle]

Like 99% sure Octavarium is #1 don't know about the rest.

[Lolzeez]

5. The Count of Tuscany
4. Blind Faith
3. In the Presence of Enemies
2. Octavarium
1. Metropolis

There's my prediction, kinda just guessed.

This.

[Pols Voice]

Hell's Kitchen and Learning to Live are the best songs from that update.

As for your Top 5, I'll go with:

Metropolis Part I
Surrounded
The Glass Prison
Blind Faith
Octavarium

Not sure about the order.

[?]

Interesting top 10 picks! My guess is that at least Octavarium, Metropolis, Count and The Glass Prison will show up in the top 5.

[wasteland]

Hell's Kitchen and Disappear deserve their spots, but Learning To Live definitely needs to be higer

[hefdaddy42]

Great choices!

[Nekov]

I hate disappear so much... The rest of that update is superb 

[theseoafs]

I'll post these guys in an update together.  Happy new year!

5. Blind Faith
4. The Glass Prison

On another day, BF might be number 4, pushing TGP to number 5, but in the end they're both so high in the countdown that it doesn't really matter.  Anyway, these are the two best songs on SDOIT, meaning the entire album made it into the top 25 (TGD - 25, Misunderstood - 18, Disappear - 8, SDOIT - 7, BF - 5, TGP - 4).  SDOIT is also the only album whose entire tracklist you can find somewhere in this top 50.  Naturally, SDOIT is DT's most consistently strong album; from songwriting to creativity to lyrics to performance, this album had DT firing on all cylinders.

BF and TGP are the best songs in an album chock-full of DT's best songs.  TGP is a crushing, blistering exploration into the darkest depths of substance abuse; more than any other song in the 12 Step Suite, I feel it accurately conveys the psychological torment that goes into a struggle with addiction.  Moreover, this song was released at a time when the idea of the 12SS actually held quite a bit of promise; quickly, MP realized what a chore it would be to write an hour's worth of music on the topic, and the quality of the songs suffered as they devolved into a series of rather meaningless reprises (TDS and TROAE are the only other 12SS which made it onto this list, and both of them sat in the mid-40's).  So the 12SS isn't all it could have been, and I'm sure we can all but write off hearing the entire thing live, but at the end of the day, we've still got TGP.  It's honest, effective, and badass.

After TGP's relentless, 13-minute onslaught, we segue rather smoothly into the dark and atmospheric Blind Faith.  Don't really know what to say about this one.  Everything about it is perfect.  The honest but elusive quality of the verses, the way the tension rises as we head into the heavier choruses, the stellar piano solo and surrounding midtempo bridge, dat unison, the way James professes that he eats cheese sticks every day... everything about this song kicks ass.

[Scorpion]

Blind Faith! Seriously one of DT's best and my favourite off of SDOIT, no contest. The instrumental part is jawdroppingly awesome.

[Unlegit]

Blind Faith is great, while The Glass Prison is decent, but overrated.

I was thinking that one of them would be in the top 5, but I didn't suspect both would.

[Ħ]

Yeah, TGP! Deserves that high spot.

[BlobVanDam]

Both songs are top 5 worthy. Very nice choices!

[Nekov]

Very good choices right there

[Lolzeez]

Both songs are beautiful. I still prefer The Glass Prison.


1250th POST

[iamtheeviltwin]

Nice list and write-ups so far theseoafs.  TGP is nowhere near that high on my list...it is a great hard song, but for some reason the last few lyrics just kill the flow of the song in a way that leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it is done, so I probably judge it a bit harsher than I should.

[hefdaddy42]

Outstanding choices there.

[theseoafs]

3. Surrounded
2. Metropolis

Metropolis, I don't have to explain to you.  You know it and you love it.  Statistically speaking, it's probably in your top 10 (and, if not, almost definitely in your top 50).  Metropolis resonates with prog-folk such as myself and it deserves all the acclaim it's gotten.

While Metropolis is universally loved, or as close to universally loved as a song on this forum can be, Surrounded is more controversial.  I see it in a few top 10's, and a good number of top 20's and 30's, but just as many people fail to "get it" and leave it at the bottom of or off of the list entirely.  But me, I "get it", and in fact I think it's a bit underrated by DT fans (even if it is generally well-liked).

Anyway, Surrounded is as close to perfect as a song can get.  While I can often find something to complain about with the vast majority of DT songs (e.g. "oh, this instrumental section is 16 bars too long", "the transition here is lackluster", etc.), Surrounded just does everything right.  The band's performances shine, the songwriting and structure are nothing short of classic, the instrumentation is uplifting and epic, and we've got some sublime lyrics to top it off.  The odd time signatures during the verses are interesting without sounding too choppy or synthetic, leading to an end product that is both accessible and technically impressive.  The bridge features one of JLB's all-time best performances.  The piano-driven sections carry a raw emotional element that would be, in my opinion, unmatched until The Spirit Carries On or Disappear.  There's just nothing negative to say about this song.  It stands comfortably among DT's greatest works.

[Syzzle]

I have Metropolis #2 as well, and now I'm 100% sure Octavarium is #1 as it should be

[SomeoneLikeHim]

Totally agree about surrounded. Definitely top 10 material

[BlobVanDam]

I wouldn't rank Surrounded all that high (not top 20, not sure if even top 50), but I also can't think of any reason why it doesn't deserve some recognition. Both good choices. You really can't go wrong with IaW, right?

[Scorpion]

Please not 8VM as #1. It shouldn't be higher than Metropolis and Surrounded. And Blind Faith. And most of the other songs on the list.

[BlobVanDam]

Octavarium would deserve #1.

But thank god ACOS and Scarred are out of the way. I likely won't have to rage too hard at whatever it is.

[Onno]

Both Surrounded and Metropolis are awesome and deserve to be this high.

[Nekov]

Both Surrounded and Metropolis are awesome and deserve to be this high.

Completely agree on this. Surrounded is one of DT's best songs

[Ben_Jamin]

Surrounded love.

[senecadawg2]

Nice to see Surrounded so high, though I'm not sure I agree with that placement.

And now the inevitable Octavarium. Please prove me wrong.

[Octavaripolis]

OC-TA-VARI-UM! 

[Zydar]

Both Surrounded and Metropolis are awesome and deserve to be this high.

Completely agree on this. Surrounded is one of DT's best songs

Yeah, a Top 3 DT song for me.

[Octavaripolis]

Both Surrounded and Metropolis are awesome and deserve to be this high.

Completely agree on this. Surrounded is one of DT's best songs

Yeah, a Top 3 DT song for me.

And also one of the few songs from I&W they actually pull off perfect in concert! You should've seen it this tour Zydar..

[Zydar]

Both Surrounded and Metropolis are awesome and deserve to be this high.

Completely agree on this. Surrounded is one of DT's best songs

Yeah, a Top 3 DT song for me.

And also one of the few songs from I&W they actually pull off perfect in concert! You should've seen it this tour Zydar..

Can't wait to see it on the upcoming DVD. Did they do it the original way or the 2007 version like on CiM?

[Octavaripolis]

They did the shorter, original version which is better imo.