Dream Theater are the ultimate love them/hate them band.  There seems to be little to no middle ground - you either like the band or you don’t.  The haters are of the opinion that their music is only about showing off their instrumental skills.  The fans think their music is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I like them for their superior technical skills.  The three original founding members all went to the Berklee School of Music and are classically trained.  The current keyboard player adds immensely to the DT sound and all four of them together are quite amazing.  The vocalist is not the best around, and at times, his voice doesn’t sit well with the music, but he’s an integral part of the DT sound.  The theatrics are all part of DT’s persona.  Remember, they call themselves Dream Theater, and they try to live up to the image it brings up.  This also means that they are not afraid to show off their chops.  While that tends to get excessive on certain songs, on the whole, I think DT are a good band.  Anyway, here’s my DT top ten.  And, as I mentioned in the last installment, this list is not going to fit on a standard CD.

10. Constant Motion - SYSTEMATIC CHAOS - 6:55

9. Learning to Live - IMAGES AND WORDS - 11:30

8. Stream of Consciousness - TRAIN OF THOUGHT - 12:50

7. Erotomania - AWAKE - 6:44

6. Scene Seven: The Dance of Eternity - SCENES FROM A MEMORY - 6:13

5. Octavarium - OCTAVARIUM - 23:59 (Part II, Part III)

4. Metropolis, Part I: The Miracle And The Sleeper - IMAGES AND WORDS - 9:34

3. Endless Sacrifice - TRAIN OF THOUGHT - 11:28

2. The Glass Prison - SIX DEGREES OF INNER TURBULENCE - 13:52

1. Pull Me Under - IMAGES AND WORDS - 8:15

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Total Playing Time:  111:30

HONORABLE MENTIONS:  Strange Deja Vu (Scenes From A Memory), Surrounded (Images and Words), As I Am (Train of Thought)

Add the honorable mentions to the list and you get a total playing time of 130:01 which would make for a nice 2CD set!  For me, Dream Theater’s recent stuff hasn’t been very good.  Their last two albums have had some good tracks and some disappointing tracks.  Lyrics have never been DT’s strength but at least up until Train of Thought, they were pretty decent.  Hell, on Images and Words and Scenes From A Memory, they were really good.  I hope they pick up the slack on the next record.