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Great Dream Theater Songs


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What are the truly great Dream Theater songs? I'm limiting my list to 10 songs. 

Inspired by the recent post about "A View from the Top of the World", here's my list of Dream Theater songs that I think are actually great. I'll let you define what great means. To me a song is great when the 1) musicianship is top notch, 2) melody is beautiful and moving, and 3) lyrics are meaningful and jar my emotions. My list might look different from yours b/c lyrics are pretty important to me. Oh, a great guitar solo puts the icing on the cake! 

Dream Theater's sound has become too mechanical and emotionless for me. Yet there are great songs in the catalogue. Here's my list somewhat organized with my favourites at the top

1) Hollow Years (Budokan extended version)

2) The Spirit Carries On

3) War Inside My Head / The Test That Stumped Them All

4) The Dance of Eternity

5) As I Am

6) Lines in the Sand (album version with Dug Pinnick on vocals!)

7) Octavarium

8) Forsaken

9) Illumination Theory (I created an abridged version that's 15 1/2 minutes long; I felt justified after seeing them perform abridged versions live)

10) On the Backs of Angels

 

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In no particular order:

  • The Glass Prison
  • Octavarium
  • Pull Me Under
  • Learning to Live
  • Endless Sacrifice
  • Illumination Theory (might be a top 5 DT song, honestly)
  • The Mirror
  • Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
  • Breaking All Illusions
  • The Great Debate
  • Strange Deja Vu
  • Fatal Tragedy
  • Innocence Faded
  • The Bigger Picture
  • Peruvian Skies

I'm not nearly as big on this band as I used to be but when they are on, they are ON.

Edited by Eric3
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30 minutes ago, Eric3 said:

In no particular order:

  • The Glass Prison
  • Octavarium
  • Pull Me Under
  • Learning to Live
  • Endless Sacrifice
  • Illumination Theory (might be a top 5 DT song, honestly)
  • The Mirror
  • Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
  • Breaking All Illusions
  • The Great Debate
  • Strange Deja Vu
  • Fatal Tragedy
  • Innocence Faded
  • The Bigger Picture
  • Peruvian Skies

I'm not nearly as big on this band as I used to be but when they are on, they are ON.

If I had 20 songs I would have included these from your list:

Pull Me Under, Learning to Live, Breaking All Illusions, Fatal Tragedy.

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