Favourite Dream Theater Epic?

dtguitarfan wrote: So...you actually care about the lyrics?  Haha, kind of kidding there - lyrics are important, but for me they've always been the whipped cream on the sundae.  More important to me is the music itself - the vocals, the harmonies, the instrumentals, etc.

In my opinion, you can't really distinguish between the lyrics and all those other elements you listed; the lyrics aren't some separate topping dropped arbitrarily onto a song, they're an integral part of the whole piece and are just as important as the melodies, guitar riffs, drum part, etc. and thus can affect a song in the same way that those other elements do.

Of course, sometimes you can just try to ignore the lyrics, which is pretty much what I do with The Count of Tuscany.  I think the song would have been perfect if they had kept the music but scrapped the whole lyrical concept and wrote something different instead.  Still a great song, though.

As for my favorite DT epic, it has to be Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, without hesitation.

Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote: See, here's the thing...Because I'm not a massive fan of them (although I do have all their albums, go figure!), I can't even think which track that is! I'll have to go and look at the actual CD's of theirs from my shelf and go `Oh, right, that long one on `xxx' album!' etc! I'll get back with an updated answer!

Oh man go listen to it!!! The last 5 minutes are crazy epic. It's off the TRAIN OF THOUGHT album. Track 7 my friend. Enjoy. I will make a fan of you yet!!! 😜

See, here's the thing...Because I'm not a massive fan of them (although I do have all their albums, go figure!), I can't even think which track that is!

I'll have to go and look at the actual CD's of theirs from my shelf and go `Oh, right, that long one on `xxx' album!' etc!

I'll get back with an updated answer!

Even though I'm not a big fan of the band, could I cheat and vote for all of `Scenes From A Memory'?! I truly enjoy that one, and I consider the entire CD to be one continious piece! It's labelled `Scenes 1 - etc', so I think I'm justified!

Ytse_Jam wrote: It must be at least 15+ min to be classified as an epic to me.

I'm not sure what qualifies as an "epic", but the only 10+ minute Dream Theater songs I'm familiar with and enjoy are "The Glass Prison" and "Learning to Live".

A Change of Season, then In The Name of God. Octavarium is not far behind.

EDIT : if we allow songs under 20 minutes, then it's Metropolis pt.1, Change of Season, Learning to Live, and then In The Name Of God.


Edited by Chozal - September 26 2012 at 11:32

JoeyPS wrote: Octavarium. I LOVE the melancholy beginning segments.

Tie between Mind Beside Itself and Learning to Live.

infandous wrote: dtguitarfan wrote: So...you actually care about the lyrics?  Haha, kind of kidding there - lyrics are important, but for me they've always been the whipped cream on the sundae.  More important to me is the music itself - the vocals, the harmonies, the instrumentals, etc. The music is the most important aspect, for sure.   However, if you are going to have lyrics at all, they should, at the very least, not be totally ridiculous.  Which they are on The Count of Tuscany.  I still listen to it, because the music is great, but it does sort of take away from the grandness when I find myself giggling uncontrollably at certain points.  Maybe if they didn't seem so serious about the silly lyrics, I would feel differently (I'm a Zappa fan, so I can appreciate deliberately silly lyrics).

What if they were trying to seem serious about silly lyrics on purpose in order to be more silly? A la Andrew Kaufman?