DREAM THEATER SURVIVOR 2016: Results -> A Change Of Seasons wins!

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Now time for my essay!

I believe that Systematic Chaos is easily Dream Theater's most underrated album. From the first time I heard about it on this forum, I heard nothing but bad things. Things like how it has no direction, it's cheesy, there's no song structure, there's masturbating monkeys in space, and so on. From the first listen I've heard nothing but excellence from this band on the album. It's not their best album by any means as Awake and Metropolis just blow this out of the water. But it's neither their worst. I have it ranked at number 6, so it's just about in the middle for me. I've liked just about every song since I've first heard them and I never really get tired of listening to this album!

In the Presence of Enemies - I must admit, I do have one problem with this album. It's the way the songs are arranged. The two parts of this song should have been conjoined into one. When I listen to ITPOE, I want to listen to the full thing and not Forsaken midway through the song. I changed the tracklisting to look like this.
1. Constant Motion
2. Forsaken
3. Dark Eternal Night
4. Prophets of War
5. Repentance
6. Ministry of Lost Souls
7. In the Presence of Enemies I
8. In the Presence of Enemies II
There is a better flow with this tracklisting too. I'm not sure why they split the song originally but it was easily the worst idea on this album. That being said, this is one of my favorite songs by DT and it's really one of the main reasons I keep coming back to this album. I'm pretty sure most DT fans are in agreeance that this is the best song on the album.

Forsaken - My least favorite song on the album. As metal as they sound, Vampires are not a good subject to talk about in metal. I get a twilight vibe coming from this song. But the music is very good, I love JP's riff in the beginning and he also has a very nice solo, but it's one of the worst here so I voted for it.

Constant Motion - This is a really weird song. It's like nothing DT has done before. The verses are really cool and Portnoy really shines on this song, not vocally but mostly with the drums. I did vote for the song because I don't like JP's solo.

The Dark Eternal Night - Mind. Blown. Apart from the subpar lyrics about creatures battling, this song in every way kicks ass! From the very first note, you just automatically know this song is going to be fucking intense. The choruses are a nice change from the insane verses and kind of build the song. I understand why some people complain about the masturbating monkeys in the middle section, but I think it works. Even the ragtime solo... JP does some shredding for the climax of the song and we're back to some sanity for the moment. I think the last bit of the song was possibly inspired by Machine Head's Davidian. There's some similarities there. But now that I think of it, a lot of parts of this song sound inspired by the stuff off of Machine Head's 'Burn My Eyes.'

Repentance - It's the least good song in the 12 step suite, but that doesn't stop it from being epic too. They really do a good job at being mellow, which is nice considering we listened to 9 minutes of insanity. The verses are really beautiful and are just so nice to listen to. Then there's that solo.. It speaks for itself. Easily one of the best of JP's career. The next section if the ''apologies section." I didn't like it at first, but once I actually paid attention to what they were saying it really resonated with me. I must say that the one about not going to his grandfathers funeral really hit me hard. The rest of the song is nice too, it may be a little too long, but that's alright as it still works.

Prophets of War - Most people dislike this song. I understand that it sounds like Muse, but those are the weakest points of the song. The choruses are easily the best. JP really laid down a nice guitar riff. I also like MP's vocal section. It was one of the more emotional parts of the song. I voted for it as there was really nothing else to vote for.

The Ministry of Lost Souls - I remember I was warned about this song being very wankery, I took note. I listened to it, and I just don't get it. The instrumental part is good!!!! The normal parts of the song are a nice build to the middle and really work wonderfully. I don't see anything wrong with the middle at all. I think it's just a few minutes of DT being awesome as usual! 10:08 is the real highlight and one of my favorite DT moments ever. The ending is even better and I find it hard to complain even once about this song. @Stardust I think you might be listening to the wrong album. Are you sure that your copy of Systematic Chaos isn't really disc two of The Astonishing??

Another good album by DT. Unfortunately everything but ADTOE from here is downhill...
 
Doing my final rounds with Octavarium before moving on to SC. Currently watching Score...

- Holy shit the band is on fire. LaBrie and Myung in particular seem to be having a blast and really nailing everything. This is certainly one of LaBrie's better live recordings.
- The setlist, however, is not my favorite. Root of All Evil comes alive nicely, I Walk Beside You is actually a decent little live number, but then those early tunes are just blah. Under a Glass Moon was awesome, but I'm not thrilled with the choice of Innocence Faded or Raise the Knife, although the ending of the latter is awesome. I remember seeing this Octavarium tour and being incredibly underwhelmed by the show, probably the most boring DT gig I've ever seen. Just a lot of light, not very engaging set choices.
- Petrucci's intro solo on The Spirit Carries On is absolutely majestic. His main solo is even better. In general, TSCO is absolutely brilliant here. My god, what a powerful performance. LaBrie slays it.
- Hearing the orchestra doing the SDOIT overture makes me wonder why Jordan Rudess isn't doing film composing or full orchestra work. It's really a great piece that comes to life far better as an orchestral song.
- I'm enjoying SDOIT far more than I thought I would. It's a really great performance, even if it's not my favorite song. Oh wait, here comes Goodnight Kiss...ugh, how can such a good solo have such a bad song?
- LaBrie singing Vacant with the orchestra is so powerful. Amazingly rich, simple performance. I have to say, though, it's pretty disappointing to not hear Stream of Consciousness kick in after it. The Answer Lies Within is just not a good follow up. I'm shocked that all the people who think The Astonishing is nothing but ballads aren't bored by Score.
- Sacrified Sons is ridiculous. Holy crap. Song of the night, in my opinion. A perfect blend of beauty, metal, and orchestra. Just incredible.
- Yep, if anything needed to be longer, it's the intro to Octavarium. Thanks, Jordan...:rolleyes:
- The more live albums I watch the more I think that the biggest loss when losing Portnoy was his backing vocals. That shit is on point.
- LaBrie should've gotten an award for his performance on Octavarium here.
- The orchestra playing on Metropolis is surprisingly not cluttered. Very cool rendition.
 
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Love Innocence Faded, awesome version on Score.

You know, the last listen of SDOIT on the album had me liking the song a bit less. Watching Score the other day really reminded me why I loved it in the first place. You can tell the band is electrified by having an orchestra behind them and Portnoy is pushing the tempo a bit more. There's a lot more energy in the song. The studio version is lifeless in comparison. Score was also my introduction to that song.
 
Mosh said:
You know, the last listen of SDOIT on the album had me liking the song a bit less. Watching Score the other day really reminded me why I loved it in the first place. You can tell the band is electrified by having an orchestra behind them and Portnoy is pushing the tempo a bit more. There's a lot more energy in the song. The studio version is lifeless in comparison. Score was also my introduction to that song.
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Absolutely, this version is so much more vibrant. LaBrie sounds completely energized, as he does on this entire album. The orchestra really adds something to my enjoyment of this song(s).
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
- LaBrie singing Vacant with the orchestra is so powerful. Amazingly rich, simple performance. I have to say, though, it's pretty disappointing to not hear Stream of Consciousness kick in after it. The Answer Lies Within is just not a good follow up. I'm shocked that all the people who think The Astonishing is nothing but ballads aren't bored by Score.
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Oh yea, Vacant was another highlight. I totally forgot about that version. The arrangement is so much more exciting than the one on the album.

Fun fact: They actually planned on playing SoC but Radio City Music Hall has a really strict curfew and as soon as they break it the band gets fined thousands of dollars per minute or something ridiculous like that, so they decided not to play it. They broke curfew anyway.

Bit of a bummer, the concert is surprisingly pretty short compared to their other Evening With sets. SoC would be amazing with an orchestra.
 
Mosh said:
Oh yea, Vacant was another highlight. I totally forgot about that version. The arrangement is so much more exciting than the one on the album.

Fun fact: They actually planned on playing SoC but Radio City Music Hall has a really strict curfew and as soon as they break it the band gets fined thousands of dollars per minute or something ridiculous like that, so they decided not to play it. They broke curfew anyway.

Bit of a bummer, the concert is surprisingly pretty short compared to their other Evening With sets. SoC would be amazing with an orchestra.
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That's very interesting, it certainly seems like it should have been played. The transition from piano ballad to piano ballad is just odd. Would've loved to hear SoC with the orchestra.
 
I actually don't mind it, SDOIT is such an exhausting listen that I'm glad they followed it up with two ballads. Gives you a nice breather before things get intense again.
 
BTW, I have to say JLB writes really great lyrics. I've always been fond of his lyrics but with doing this thread I'm starting to think he is probably the 2nd best lyricist in the band after Moore. He definitely has more hits than misses, but he also writes significantly less than the others. Wish we would see him write more. One thing I don't like about new DT is how dominant JP is as a lyricist. He's always been the primary lyricist but it was always nice getting some contrast, even if it was just from Portnoy, who's lyric quality was inconsistent but at least had a distinct style that was different from JP's. Anyway, Disappear, Blind Faith, and Awaken are among DT's best lyrics. All JLB.
 
Just noticed the other day that on Score the setlist (apart from the beginning) is arranged chronologically. Starting at the Majesty Demos and ending at Octavarium. Intentional??
 
Well yea, the whole tour was like that. They did two Octavarium tunes and then went chronologically from there. It was the band's 20th anniversary tour.
 
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Mosh said:
BTW, I have to say JLB writes really great lyrics. I've always been fond of his lyrics but with doing this thread I'm starting to think he is probably the 2nd best lyricist in the band after Moore. He definitely has more hits than misses, but he also writes significantly less than the others. Wish we would see him write more. One thing I don't like about new DT is how dominant JP is as a lyricist. He's always been the primary lyricist but it was always nice getting some contrast, even if it was just from Portnoy, who's lyric quality was inconsistent but at least had a distinct style that was different from JP's. Anyway, Disappear, Blind Faith, and Awaken are among DT's best lyrics. All JLB.
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I didn't know JLB wrote Anyway and Awaken! :lol:
 
I was actually thinking of Vacant, but Awakening is the title of the part JLB wrote lyrics for in Octavarium. It takes some lyrics and thematic elements from Vacant. Also a good lyric and the only time JLB has contributed to a multi part DT epic.
 
Well Take the Time doesn't really count since everyone collaborated on that, Caught In a Web was the first time JLB submitted his own lyric.
 
Here's a trickier question: Can anyone guess who wrote which part of Take the Time? MP's verse is obvious but everything else is hard to say.
 
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