Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)

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Allmusic[1]
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Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) is a compilation album by progressive metal/rock band Dream Theater released by Rhino Records on April 1, 2008.[3] The title alludes to their only top 10 radio hit, "Pull Me Under". It features three songs from their breakthrough album Images and Words remixed by Kevin Shirley: "Pull Me Under", "Take the Time", and "Another Day". It also features the song "To Live Forever", an Awake-era re-recording of the song from the Images and Words sessions (featured as a B-side of the "Lie" single), which was previously unreleased on a full-length album. Several single edits of popular Dream Theater songs are also featured on this compilation.

The songs have been divided in two discs: the first one, dubbed "The Dark Side", features heavy, metal-influenced songs, while the second one, entitled "The Light Side", spotlights the band's melodic side. The set spans the years from 1991 to 2005, therefore it doesn't include any songs from Dream Theater's debut album, When Dream and Day Unite, their A Change of Seasons EP (although it was released in 1995) or their 2007 release Systematic Chaos.

Then-drummer Mike Portnoy explained in the album's booklet that the selection of songs were carefully made in order to appease both the newcomer and the already existing fan by offering up different versions of songs on other albums to "make the newcomer want to buy the albums from whence they came" and to "give different versions of songs already on other albums" to the current fan. He also suggests that a third disc should've been included called "The Epic Side".

Track listing

Disc one ("The Dark Side")

No.TitleLyricsMusicOriginal albumLength
1."Pull Me Under" (2007 remix)Kevin MooreDream TheaterImages and Words, 19928:13
2."Take the Time" (2007 remix)Dream TheaterDream TheaterImages and Words8:22
3."Lie" (Single edit)MooreDream TheaterAwake, 19945:02
4."Peruvian Skies"John PetrucciDream TheaterFalling into Infinity, 19976:42
5."Home" (Single edit)Mike PortnoyDream TheaterMetropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, 19995:38
6."Misunderstood" (Single edit)PetrucciPetrucci, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, PortnoySix Degrees of Inner Turbulence, 20025:14
7."The Test That Stumped Them All" (Single edit)PortnoyPetrucci, Myung, Rudess, PortnoySix Degrees of Inner Turbulence5:00
8."As I Am" (Clean single edit)PetrucciPetrucci, Myung, Rudess, PortnoyTrain of Thought, 20037:14
9."Endless Sacrifice"PetrucciPetrucci, Myung, Rudess, PortnoyTrain of Thought11:23
10."The Root of All Evil" (Edited version)PortnoyDream TheaterOctavarium, 20057:16
11."Sacrificed Sons" (Edited version)James LaBrieDream TheaterOctavarium9:41

Disc two ("The Light Side")

No.TitleLyricsMusicOriginal albumLength
1."Another Day" (2007 remix)PetrucciDream TheaterImages and Words4:25
2."To Live Forever"Moore, PetrucciDream TheaterB-side to the "Lie" single, 19944:56
3."Lifting Shadows off a Dream"MyungDream TheaterAwake6:09
4."The Silent Man"PetrucciPetrucciAwake3:47
5."Hollow Years"PetrucciDream TheaterFalling into Infinity5:55
6."Through Her Eyes" (Alternate album mix)PetrucciDream TheaterMetropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory6:03
7."The Spirit Carries On"PetrucciDream TheaterMetropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory6:40
8."Solitary Shell" (Single edit)PetrucciPetrucci, Myung, Rudess, PortnoySix Degrees of Inner Turbulence4:10
9."I Walk Beside You"PetrucciDream TheaterOctavarium4:28
10."The Answer Lies Within" (Edited version)PetrucciDream TheaterOctavarium5:15
11."Disappear"LaBriePetrucci, Myung, Rudess, PortnoySix Degrees of Inner Turbulence6:45

Personnel

Trivia

  • The album's booklet is missing credits of "As I Am" and the songs from Octavarium as edited versions; those tracks are actually shorter than the ones from that album as secondary versions for "As I Am" (also a clean edit), "The Root of All Evil" and "Sacrificed Sons" with the first minute intro taken out, "The Answer Lies Within" has the first 15 seconds of bells ringing taken out, "I Walk Beside You" has the same length as its original album but with the clock ticking sound taken out of the first riff.
  • On the album cover, on the words "Greatest Hit", some letters are printed in red, being the "s" from Greatest and the word "hit", making the word "shit".

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
2008 Italian Albums Chart 27
2008 Japanese Albums Chart 28[4]
2008 UK Albums Chart 113
2008 Billboard 200 122

References

  1. ^ Jurek, Thom (2011). "Greatest Hit (....And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) - Dream Theater | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Dream Theater - Greatest Hit (... and 21 Other...) (staff review) | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  3. ^ "DREAM THEATER'S GreateSt HIT (...and 21 other pretty cool songs) - due April 1st". Dream Theater/Mark Bredius. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  4. ^ グレイテスト・ヒット+21ソングス ドリーム・シアター (in Japanese). oricon ME inc. Retrieved 2016-09-14.