Dream Theater Favourite Concept Song:

I re-listened to Black Clouds and Silver Linings tonight, and I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy A Nightmare to Remember more than I remembered. So I'm selecting a handful of their extended length concept songs (not albums) for a favourites poll.

Although I enjoy most of these, my votes are Octavarium and Illumination Theory. The live version of Octavarium on the Score DVD is amazing. 

And Illumination Theory--after seeing DT perform a shortened version live, I went ahead and made my own abridged version of about 15 1/2 minutes long, and I think it's awesome.

I picked A Nightmare To Remember as my number one.

Octavarium is a very close second. 

The Glass Prison is also a major contender.

Went with Count but In The Presence is close.

Tough vote, but I picked Octavarium. The writing is just mind blowing. (exploding head emoji)

shekkian wrote:Tough vote, but I picked Octavarium. The writing is just mind blowing. (exploding head emoji)

I agree with you. I shouldn't like the song--I often find drawn-out songs boring, and there are quite a few DT songs that I feel are WAY too long.

But Octavarium pulls me in, and the suspense and the building keeps me interested. There's emotion in the song and the instrumental parts are not just shredding. I LOVE it.

Had to check out Illumination Theory before I could vote and was very impressed.  All these songs are great in their own right, but The Glass Prison is one of my favorite songs and it rocks the hardest.

Superjuice wrote:Had to check out Illumination Theory before I could vote and was very impressed.  All these songs are great in their own right, but The Glass Prison is one of my favorite songs and it rocks the hardest.

I'm trained a very high level in classical music and theory. And so I can often figure out chord progressions, key changes, etc., in music. But I literally throw up my hands when I listen to Illumination Theory. I have NO IDEA what they are doing 1/2 the time!! But what amazes me is that it WORKS, and it does have quite a bit of melodic and emotional appeal.

Again, I won't say that about much of their newer music. But I believe they createdd a masterpiece with IT.