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Discuss your favorite Dream Theater songs and/or albums

Ruesap

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Dec 6 '08

Dream Theater is an outstanding band with virtuoso musicians and a talented lead singer. From '90 to '94, James LaBrie was one of the best, and it was rumored he was going to replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden, but there may not be any truth to that rumor. Some vocal highlights from this time period include "Another Day", "Take the Time", "Surrounded", "Metropolis Pt. 1 - The Miracle and the Sleeper", "Learning to Live", "Scarred", "The Silent Man", "Innocence Faded", and "Space-Dye Vest". In 1994, he injured his vocal cords vomiting from eating bad food in Cuba. From around '94 to '00, his voice wasn't too great. However, some vocal highlights from this period are "Lines in the Sand", "Fatal Tragedy", "Home", "Through Her Eyes", and "Strange Deja Vu". I believe Labrie's voice rebounded from '01 afterward, but the style of music Dream Theater is leaning toward now doesn't favor his high singing style. Some vocal highlights of modern Dream Theater include "Misunderstood", "The Glass Prison", "Losing Time/Grand Finale", "Disappear", "In the Name of God", "Endless Sacrifice", "Vacant", "Octavarium", "These Walls", "In the Presence of Enemies" part 1 and 2, and "The Ministry of Lost Souls".

The criticisms directed toward Labrie mostly are targeted at his high singing. However, in recent albums, from "Scenes from a Memory" on, Labrie doesn't reach as many high notes, making his voice appear better to a fan of *normal* singers. In the albums Images and Words and Awake, his voice frequently hit very high pitches, especially in the songs "Learning to Live", "Metropolis Pt. 1", "Surrounded", "Another Day", "Under a Glass Moon", and "Innocence Faded". Although the sound isn't always pleasant, one should be impressed at his ability to hit such high pitches without resorting to falsetto.

The instrumentalists of Dream Theater all rank among the most talented of their instruments. The most popular member, it seems, is the guitarist John Petrucci. He has been popularized from the "John Petrucci psycho exercise" videos on Youtube, which feature a Petrucci voice-over bragging about his ability to play at several billion notes per second. The real Petrucci is also extremely fast, especially in solos in songs like "A Fortune in Lies", "Ytse Jam", "Under a Glass Moon", "Voices", "Lie", "Erotomania", "Home", "Fatal Tragedy", "The Glass Prison", "As I Am", "This Dying Soul", "Endless Sacrifice", "Stream of Consciousness", "In the Name of God", "In the Presence of Enemies Pt. 1", "Constant Motion", and "The Dark Eternal Night". However, Petrucci is criticized by those unfamiliar with Dream Theater's music, as these people have stereotyped him as being an "emotionless shredder". However, the powerful solos in songs like "Another Day", "Scarred", "Hell's Kitchen", "Lines in the Sand", "Peruvian Skies", "The Spirit Carries On", "Goodnight Kiss", "About to Crash", "These Walls", "Sacrificed Sons", "Octavarium", and "Repentance" prove otherwise.

The next instrumentalist is the bassist, John Myung. The quiet and reserved member of Dream Theater, he rarely stands out in the mix, especially from the album Train of Thought onward. However, he delivers powerful bass grooves in songs like "Take the Time", "Learning to Live", and "Trial of Tears". He also has three incredibly fast bass solos in "Ytse Jam", "Metropolis Pt. 1 - The Miracle and the Sleeper", and "The Dance of Eternity" that prove he is one of the best. He is also widely considered the best lyricist in the group because of the four songs he penned lyrics to: "Learning to Live", "Lifting Shadows off a Dream", "Trial of Tears", and "Fatal Tragedy".

Next up is the drummer, Mike Portnoy, the vocal "leader" of the group. After the album Falling into Infinity, he stepped up and took over in turbulence times - James LaBrie had injured his voice a few years ago and delivered a lackluster vocal performance on the album, and the album had received a poor critical response for sounding too "mainstream". He later claimed he felt like "disbanding Dream Theater altogether", but took action and fired the keyboardist Derek Sherinian (who was not entirely at fault.) Many Dream Theater fans criticize his immaturity and childishness and sometimes place the blame for Dream Theater's current position on him, but he has had strong points in songwriting with the "AA Suite" including the songs "The Glass Prison", "This Dying Soul", "The Root of All Evil", and "Repentance". Mike Portnoy is the backup singer for the band, occasionally sounding good ("Prophets of War") and occasionally sounding awful ("The Test that Stumped them All".) As a drummer, Portnoy is often regarded as one of the top drummers of all time, among the ranks of Neil Peart and Keith Moon. He consistently delivers great drum beats and fills, with highlights too numerous to list here.

The final current member of Dream Theater is Jordan Rudess, the keyboardist. Dream Theater has been through three keyboardists in its history. Each keyboardist brought a new "era" to the band, and the band had a completely different sound as a result. The Moore era was first with keyboardist Kevin Moore. Songs in this era were more laid-back and melodic, with Moore choosing feeling and emotion over technicality in his solos and songwriting. Kevin Moore highlights include "Take the Time", "Pull me Under", "Wait for Sleep", "6:00", "Scarred", and "Space-Dye Vest". Moore left the band abruptly after the release of the album Awake. Dream Theater found a new keyboardist in Derek Sherinian, who released only one studio album with the band, Falling into Infinity. Although Sherinian had an outstanding performance on the album in songs like "Anna Lee", "Lines in the Sand", and "Trial of Tears", he was blamed for the album's performance and fired by Mike Portnoy. Virtuoso Jordan Rudess joined the band in time for Metropolis Pt. 2 - Scenes from a Memory. Many regard him as one of the technically great keyboardists of all time, especially in regards to the new technology he brings to the band. However, many blame him solely for Dream Theater's current reputation - a band with too many instrumental sections. Many songs in the Rudess-era albums have a keyboard solo AND a guitar solo, with the keyboard trying too hard to emulate the guitar, not adding to the song by any means. However, Rudess sounds great in songs like "Disappear", "Vacant", "Stream of Consciousness", "Blind Faith", "One Last Time", "Octavarium", and "These Walls".

As a band, I believe their finest songs are "Octavarium", "Voices", "Learning to Live", "Lines in the Sand", "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", "The Glass Prison", "A Change of Seasons", "Wait for Sleep", "Scared", and "In the Name of God", in that order.

Videos (format: Song Name, year, album, ranking in my favorite Dream Theater songs):


Metropolis Pt. 1 - The Miracle and the Sleeper - 1991, Images and Words, #17

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Surrounded - 1991, Images and Words, #26

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Space-Dye Vest - 1994, Awake, #15

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gameboy

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Dec 6 '08

This is a great topic
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