I'm on break from my research. I checked out dreamtheaterforums.org for kicks and happened upon a topic about people's least-favourite songs from each Dream Theater album. I don't know why, but I found it an interesting read. It's prompted me to make my own. For everyone to see.
Jordan's least-favourite songs from every Dream Theater album!
When Day and Dream Unite, their debut, is one of the two albums I do not yet own. But I have listened to it a few times on the internet, and.. I'm not ready to choose. >_>
Images & Words, often considered to be one of their greatest, is certainly a classic. Though I never liked it as much as their later releases. "Metropolis, pt. 1" certainly rocks. But we're not here to discuss songs that rock. Hm, my least-favourite? That's probably "Another Day," which I find to be along the likes of Genesis' "Dusk" off of Trespass. It's just filler. Sounds beautiful. Still filler. Background noise.
Awake is heralded under ridiculously high regard by a lot of Dream Theater fans. It took me a while to get into it, and I do enjoy it more than Images & Words; "The Mirror" would probably be my favourite piece. But still, Awake just doesn't sound.. complete. It sounds like they were still learning how to be perfect. As a result, we get a good number of not-so-good songs, such as "Caught in a Web" and "Lifting Shadows off a Dream." I sure hope none of the aforementioned dreamtheaterforums.org read this. >_>
Falling into Infinity is the other album I do not yet own. Except I haven't listened to a single track off of this.
Metropolis, pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is also heralded under ridiculously high regard. I admit, I obsessed over this album when I first got it. But yet, it still sounds.. incomplete. And it's very unrelated to "Metropolis, pt. 1," a fact that really bothered me. I think my least-favourite piece off of this would have to be "Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On." I dunno. It just.. oh my god, it's one of the only songs I like to skip. And I never skip prog. I mean, "The Spirit Carries On" has fucking nothing to do with advancing the plot. It's basically the protagonist giving up. They didn't need a full song to tell us that. The least they could have done was make it a good song, instead of boring faux-gospel repetitiveness. x_x
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. This one's the last of four albums to be heralded under ridiculously high regard. Except in this case, I'm one of the heralders. Though as much as I fucking adore this album, there is, indeed, one song that I don't listen to much. The shortest song in the album, I'm talkin' degree five, "Disappear." I mean, it's still beautiful! Gorgeous! On-par with the rest of the album! But it's just.. it's like an intermission to me. An intermission between fucking epic Disc One and fucking epic Disc Two.
Train of Thought, oh my god. I hold this album under ridiculously high regard, myself. I listen to it all the way through pretty much every day. I think I respect this album as much as most Dream Theater fans respect Awake. And you wanna know an oddity? Train of Thought's structure almost resembles that of Between the Buried & Me's Colors! Starts off with weirdness, then the first song is pretty neat, second song is quirky and also pretty neat, third song is utter beauty, fourth song is fucking heavy and intense and epic, (fifth and sixth songs are swapped; Colors has a musically brilliant fifth song and a quiet interlude that introduces recurring motifs in the sixth, Train of Thought is vice-versa), then the seventh is a truly epic heavy masterpiece around fourteen minutes that pulls out all the stops and wraps shit up excellently, even having very similar endings! xD It's almost uncanny! Anyway, "This Dying Soul" is my least-favourite song. But that's not saying much; I still love it. It's just.. a song I prefer as background noise.
Octavarium would have been the best album ever if a lot more work was put into the songs. I mean, it certainly had the potential. But still, it's still a classic in various ways, and every single song has its brilliant moments. I think I like it more than most Dream Theater fans do. But I'd have to say my least-favourite song was probably "I Walk Beside You," just because I can't listen to the damn thing. xD My CD was busted the day I got it. And after looking it up, it's not exactly a spectacular piece. On an unrelated note, I love "Never Enough." I don't see why so many people hate it. I utterly love it. I actually find it funny how so many fans hate it, as it's about fans who can't be pleased. xD
Systematic Chaos is, in every way, a classic album. I love it love it love it. Every song has some of the most brilliant moments in music. "In the Presence of Enemies" was, for the longest time, my favourite song ever. "The Dark Eternal Night" is so clearly a musical metaphor for sex that I shouldn't even need to mention it. "Repentance" is fucking chilling and just.. oh god yes. Who gives a shit if the songs are fantastical and seem to be almost parodies of themselves? I'm glad the lyrics are about fantasy. They're called Dream Theater, not Realism Theater. Anyway, my least-favourite song. "The Ministry of Lost Souls." I never particularly liked this song. I normally love long songs just because they're long, but this one just dragged on and on, oh my god. I loved the bridge, the extended instrumental section, the entire second half of the song. But the entire first half is just... ugh. It's called progressive rock, guys! So progress! Change! ..odd, 'cause I love "Dogs." Then again, even "Dogs" changes more than "The Ministry of Lost Souls."
Black Clouds & Silver Linings, their most recent album, is also a classic album in every single way. I think Dream Theater is perfect, I really do. The songs I don't like are still perfect. My musical tastes just aren't. xD I find it brilliant how the first half of the album has considerably darker, bleaker songs (the Black Clouds) while the latter half is all emotional, beautiful, more cheerful pieces (the Silver Linings). Much like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence earlier, I don't think there is a single song in this six-song setlist that I dislike in any goddamn way. I love every moment of this album. But also like Six Degrees, I can easily state the song I like the least. It's "Wither," which, like "Disappear," is the shortest. It's basically just an intermission between the beaaautifully heavy first two tracks and the utter beauty mindrapes that are the Silver Linings. It's still great. .w.
I can't fucking wait for Dream Theater's eleventh album, coming this September, I believe. >W<
It's weird. I didn't realize how much I utterly loved Black Clouds & Silver Linings until I did this album-by-album analysis. I think I'll do more of these. .w. Maybe one for Genesis.
EDIT: Looking back, I'm sensing a pattern in the songs I dislike. They're all the lightest, least-heavy, and usually around average or short song length. Damn, I'm a heavy prog fan. ^^;
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