Dream Theater - Masters Of Progressive Rock

Only a few weeks after joining TopTens I found out about a certain Metal Band I've never got into!
Up until this point I claimed Pink Floyd to be the single greatest band in the genre of Progressive Rock! However I was wrong!

As of the time of writing this, Dream Theater is tied with Nirvana for being my favorite band of all time and is now my new all-time favorite Metal Band! But why you may ask! Well...

Let's first look at their members!

The singing voice of Dream Theater is by James LaBrie! He's been with this band since their second album Images and Words, a masterpiece of the band!
He provided a voice to the band, which was actually distinguishable from many other Metal voices! He has a big vocal range, which in my opinion defined the band!
On the guitar is fan favorite John Petrucci, who's been with the band since the start! Without a doubt this guy is in my opinion one of the best guitarists in history! He was'nt defined by any particular riff or solo, still he managed to create some that are just mind-blowing! He knew when he had to give the spotlight to other members, unlike other guitarists and therefore managed to create a perfect guitar sound for the band!
As of drumming the band started off with the greatest drummer in history: Mike Portnoy! Wow, he can play litteraly anything and his extremly complex drumming, which was just IMPOSSIBLE, was some of the things that really defined the band!
Now Mike Mangini took over for him and even if he's not Portnoy or even as good, Mangini managed to remain on the same level as him in the band and created some fantastic songs!
The bass is played by John Myung, which except for Petrucci is the only member who was there from start to finish! And wow, he's without a doubt tied with Steve Harris for being my favorite bassist in history! I mean his playing style is just insanely complex! Dance Of Eternity is in my opinion prove of his absolute bass greatness and somehow he managed to shine in many great Dream Theater songs!
The keyboard of the band was always a joy to hear and watch, but it was only until Jordan Ruddees, the single greatest keyboard player, joined the band, when the keyboard pretty much exploded in every of their songs!
Albums, like Octavarium or Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence remained in my brain for his just insane keyboard solos! And even without syntheziser solos, this guy knows how to create a great sound!

Now their albums are absolutely incredible!
Metropolis Pt.2 is in my opinion one of the only fully perfect albums ever created as there is not one single moment in which I thought "I would've done that, then this song would be better!"
This single album is a perdect mixture of incredible lyrics, emotion put into music and overall talent put into each and every song! Especially the drumming throughout the whole album remains pure perfection!

And even outside of Metropolis Pt.2, the band put out great albums:
-When Day and Dreams Unite (1989):
A good debut album! Even though their lead singer was'nt very impressive at the time and their sound wasn't what it should've been, it's worth checking out!
-Images And Words (1992):
This is one of their most legendary albums in history as it was the album, where they showed off their incredible talent! It has a lot of emotion put into it and has some of their bands greatest songs!
Petruccis guitar playing was a joy to hear in this album!
-Awake (1994):
The only album with lyrical contributions of all members at the time! It has some of the bands greatest ballads and the final song on the album Space-Dye Vest was a perfect ending as it was depressing and left the hearer with a feeling of helplessness!
-A Change of Seasons (1195):
Probably the greatest cover EP I've ever heard in my entire life! A Change of Seasons is in my Top 3 all-time favorite songs and the covers of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and more were fantastic!
-Falling Into Infinity (1997):
A pretty good album, but not Dream Theater standards! Not as progressive as the rest, even if the instrumentalists did their best!
-Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory (1999):
I already said this album is pure perfection!
-Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002):
My second favorite album from the band! It starts off with a killer track, which has a lot of great lyrics, guitar playing and drumming perfection! It shows off perfect talent from all members! Then it builds up to the 42 (Yes, 42 MINUTES!!!!) masterpiece, that is Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, the title track of the album!
-Train Of Thought (2003):
Definitely their heaviest album they've ever released! All songs work together perfectly and create something much more beautiful and creative than someone could imagine!
All songs are just fantastic!
-Octavarium (2005):
This album has got its fame among Dream Theater fans, as it contains the ultimate fan-favorite Octavarium! Besides Panic Attack, The Root Of All Evil, I Walk Beside You. This album is like a little Best Hits album!
-Systematic Chaos (2007):
This album has some pretty great songs of the band! The Dark Eternal Night is one of Petruccis best riffs (even Watchmojo thinks so), The Minstry Of Lost Souls was overall great and In The Presence Of Enemies was...JUST...INCREDIBLE!!!
-Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009):
This is again one of my favorite albums by Dream Theater! From the beginning this album begins to builds up from a killer first track to the final two songs!
Trust me, the finale will blow your mind!
-A Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011):
The first album with Mangini! While I did'nt liked the drumming as much, Petrucvi shined ao much on this album! Breaking All Illusions is one of his greatest solos in history!
-Dream Theater (2013):
Their self-titled album! It had so many fantastic songs to make this one of their best albums!
Still this just was'nt as good, but still great album!

As of now I would rank them:
1. Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory
2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
3. Octavarium
4. Black Clouds & Silver Linings
5. Train Of Thought
6. Images And Words
7. Systematic Chaos
8. Awake
9. A Dramatic Turn Of Events
10. Dream Theater
11. A Change of Seasons
12. When Day And Dream Unite
13. Falling Into Infinity

To this day this band did'nt got any worse! And considering they exist since 1985, I think that's pretty impressive! Can you name me a band from the '80s, that still puts out great albums? I don't think so!

Now if you'd ask me about my ten favorite songs of them, I would give you this answer:
10. Space-Dye Vest (Awake)
A great song, that's all about vocals! Vocals and many voice clips! It's pretty depressing and leaves a bitter sweet taste at th end of Awake!
9. The Glass Prison (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
A perfect first song for a great album! This song is heavy, has great lyrics, a perfect intro and outro and so much great guitar work by Petrucci, it's insane!
8. Pull Me Under (Images And Words)
Many Dream Theater fans got introduced to the band with this song! The guitar riff is perfection and the song just completly blows your mind with its chorus!
7. The Count Of Tuscany (Black Clouds & Silver Linings)
The first half is heavy and is just fantastic, but after taking one trip to space with perfect guitar play, this song just perfectly closes off the album!
6. The Best Of Times (Black Clouds & Silver Linings)
Perfect slow and emotional intro! Lyrics just work perfect, but it's the outro guitar solo, that just blows you away!
5. Finall Free (Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory)
A perfect ending to a perfect album! The song builds up the ending, with fantastic lyrics and the greatest drum solo ever!
4. Octavarium (Octavarium)
Dream Theater Fan-Favorite song! The keyboard is already as great as it gets, yet this becomes a psychedelic masterpiece with tons of hidden meaning!
3. Dance of Eternity (Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory)
Insanity! Pure insanity! Perfectly shows off the babds talent! Especially Portnoy and Myung!
2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
42 minutes masterpiece, that's split into 8 parts! This song is as meaningful as Dream Theater can get and manages to be chaotic too!
1. A Change of Seasons (A Change of Seasons)
THIS IS NOT MUSIC!
THIS IS PERFECTION!!!

Now what I still needed to mention are the bands Live Shows!
OH MY GOD!!! This band is the only band I know, which sounds even better when played live! Their shows are comparable to bands, like Iron Maiden, The Who, Pink Floyd and even Queen!
I have'nt seen them in concert myself, but if I'm lucky, I could go to their concert in Berlin this year!

In the end Dream Theater is officialy one of the greatest bands in music history!
From their overall talent, creativity and complexity, to their overall discography to their live shows, this band shows how much they can do! They're official Prog Rock and Metal Perfection and like I said, tied with Nirvana as my all-time favorite band!
And in only 9 days their new album The Astonishing will be released! I'm already sure it's going to take a place among my favorite Dream Theater albums as the band claims it to be one of their biggest works!

So if you have'nt known this band yet, you should listen to some of their music!

What're you waiting for?
JUST DO IT!

Comments

Personally I prefer Opeth, but I have a lot of fond memories of listening to DT a lot when I was young. - IronSabbathPriest

I love Opeth too, but besides of Dream Theater I also prefer Queensryche and Mastodon!
Prog Metal is awesome though! - visitor

Also Tool, I love Tool... - visitor

I've always wondered why "The Enemy Inside" never gets a mention among Dream Theater songs... - visitor

It's great, but they've made better songs! - visitor

1195.

Me:Are they gods. - MrQuaz680

Of time? - MrQuaz680