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

Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) is a compilation album by progressive metal band Dream Theater released in Australia on March 29, 2008, and by Rhino Records in the US on April 1.[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.

Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
Cover art by Hugh Syme
Greatest hits album by
Dream Theater
ReleasedMarch 29, 2008
RecordedOctober 14, 1991 – February 25, 2005 at various studios
GenreProgressive metal, progressive rock
Length138:16
LabelRhino
ProducerJohn Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, David Prater, Duane Baron, John Purdell, Kevin Shirley
Dream Theater chronology
Systematic Chaos
(2007)		 Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
(2008)		 Chaos in Motion 2007–2008
(2008)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Sputnikmusic[2]

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"Petrucci, MooreDream 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

Song notes
  • The versions of "As I Am" and the four songs originally released on Octavarium differ slightly from the original versions, although the album credits do not state this. "As I Am" omits the opening orchestral chord and the use of profanity, while the songs from Octavarium omit the sound effects that served as interludes between songs on the original album, for instance, the opening F note played on keyboard and one minute intro to "The Root of All Evil" is omitted and starts at exactly 1:00 into the song.
  • On the album cover, the "s" in "Greatest" and "hit" in "Hit" are printed in a subtle shade of red, making the word "shit", as a remark on the band's known frustrations with the status of "Pull Me Under". The album artwork continues this theme, with the stain of seagull feces on an armchair printed with the Dream Theater logo.

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. Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  3. "DREAM THEATER'S GreateSt HIT (...and 21 other pretty cool songs) - due April 1st". Dream Theater/Mark Bredius. Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. 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.
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