Track Listing

1. Root Of All Evil
2. Answer Lies Within
3. These Walls
4. I Walk Beside You
5. Panic Attack
6. Never Enough
7. Sacrificed Sons
8. Octavarium

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3930 in Music
• Released on: 2005-06-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
Prog rockers Dream Theater tallied 16 years as a band with the release of Octavarium, but in listening you're apt to suspect otherwise. As a collective they remain as tight as they were on 2003's obsessively dark Train of Thought (like all music-school outfits, they've exacted an all-for-one formula that doesn't allow a single player more than his share of swagger), but a post-hardcore edge--call it a leap into 2005--has invaded their pledge of allegiance to theatrical heavy rock. Hear it on "I Walk Beside You" and "The Answer Lies Within," both of which, at under five minutes, play like charming haikus from a band known for its epic poetry, and also on the orchestra-backed 20-plus-minute final cut, which skips around from Pink Floyd to Rush to Black Sabbath influences, stopping off every so often at a place fans of My Chemical Romance might find familiar. As with all the band's discs, guitars loom large and both doom and redemption seem no further than the next twisted verse. What's changed is Dream Theater's commitment to carrying on their reputation as underground progressive rock's classicists, and it seems well-timed. --Tammy La Gorce, All Music Guide

CD Description
Ninth studio album from probably the best known and most successful contemporary progressive rock band, who inspire cultish devotion in their fans and derision from their critics in almost equal measure, and who consistently sell a high volume of records and concert tickets around the world. On this release the epic, grandiose theatricality remains, but also a shift in an almost post-hardcore direction, on a couple of tracks which each clock in at under five minutes.

Customer Reviews

A return to top form
DT's previous outing certainly generated diverse opinions. Personally I found it enjoyable but containing too many lengthy Petrucci solo's. Octavarium is a return to form and probably as strong as "scenes from..". It contains two superb tracks for us prog fans. The 10 minute "Sacrificed Sons" and the 24 minute "Octavarium". What strikes me about both of these tracks is that Rudess's keyboards have taken centre stage. At last we can hear Myung's bass clearly in the mix and LaBrie does some of his best vocals in years. The longer track is quite "Yes" like early on but then kicks into a fantastic instrumental section. Throughout the album Petrucci's solos are concise and welcome, no more so than on this track. The use of an orchestra works very well.

Panic attack, is TOT notched up a couple levels on the hard metal scale and is a great track. There are a couple of good ballads, of which "I walk beside you" is very U2 like. The remaining tracks are excellent too, heavy but not overly extended with solos. In summary a great return to concise song writing (even the 24 minute epic is concise in that it doesn't have any unnecessary parts). As always the playing is great and the band really seem to be on top form.

Versatile album that grows on you...
The eighth DT album, Octavarium, is much more diverse than its predecessor, the dark "Train of Thought". At first it appears less coherent than TOT, but after half a dozen listenings I can only appreciate the variety of moods DT so elegantly offer on this CD.

The opening track, "The Root Of All Evil" is a hardrocker that could have been on TOT. In fact, there is a 15 second insert of "This Dying Soul" in the middle of the song. The second track, "The Answer Lies Within" is to me a less impressive soft breather (with - sorry to say this - quite cliched lyrics). Not really my cup of tea, but still okay. "These Walls" with its spacious sounds during the verse and melodic chorus over metallic guitar sounds is quite radio friendly, and after hearing the U2-like "I Walk Beside You" the progrock enthusiast may wonder where this band is heading. Especially so with the lack of instrumental virtuoso passages typical of DT during tracks 2-4. But not to worry, the remaining four songs are DT at their best. The hard rockin', up-tempo "Panic Attack" immeaditely became one of my all time DT favourite songs even before it got to the awesome solo sections by Rudess and Petrucci. "Never Enough" with ethereal vocals of LaBrie climaxes with a beautiful guitar passage towards the end. The epic "Sacificed Sons" deals with the 9/11 tragedy. After starting off smoothly the song builds up to typical DT characteristics. The title track is a 24 minute epic starting off with only keyboards and guitar. This intro sounds like Pink Floyd, later like Yes. LaBrie comes in at 5+ minutes and the song enters an instrumental pre-climax at 12+ minutes. We hear - among other things - (early)Genesis/Marillion-like keyboard passages and later, after further vocal parts, Zappa-influenced instrumental exercises. This piece of work grows on every listening and - although it after a mere 5 listenings may not appear very compact - is an all time DT's epic classic candidate.

As with any DT album, the musicianship amazes. The musical style and songs on some DT records has left James LaBrie somewhat unconfortable, but on this record his versatility has to be appreciated in a big way.
Despite my one ore two worries during the first playback of this CD I feel now that this is an essential piece of work by DT. If you are new to Dream Theater, the musical diversity makes this CD a good introduction of the band alongside with "Images and Words", which may require less listenings for full appreciation.

Simply Awesome
It seems like only 5 minutes ago that Train of Thought was released when, in actuality, it was two years past - where does the time go? That was a very angry album. Scratch that, it was a furious album, both lyrically and musically, outdoing Metallica at their own game, and yet somehow it seemed to have lost some of that Dream Theater essence, some of its soul. It wasn't until I saw the band playing the material live that I began to understand.

Octavarium is a different beast altogether, as is immediately apparent from the machine gun drum attack of opener The Root Of All Evil, ripped straight out of the previous album's This Dying Soul, coughed up and spat out into a killer riff that opens the album in style.

A combination of Train of Thought's ferocious riffing back through time to Images & Words via Scenes From A Memory with copious amounts of Awake and A Change of Seasons thrown in for good measure, Octavarium contains some of the band's best song writing in years. Stripped of much of the over-indulgence it is more tightly focussed and melodic, and contains some truly amazing musicianship that manages to impress whilst also being much more restrained than in recent efforts.

Portnoy's drumming, as technically brilliant as always, seems much more in touch with the feel of each song, rather than playing fancy fills every five seconds. Jordan Rudess has also reined himself in after a couple of less than convincing moments on the last two albums. The Cheese Man's vocal performance is as tight and convincing as ever, and he has some very good lyrics to sing here.

But for me the star of the show this time around is John Petrucci. Again, much like Portnoy, he seems to have pulled himself back on this album: there is nothing in the way of overly showy guitar solos here, instead he is content to settle for a mixture of texture, phenomenally powerful riffing, and his trademark dexterity as he duels with Rudess. It is a fine performance, with John Myung going about his business in the background with some truly stunning bass work.

They've even gone so far as to write a bonafide, hands-in-the-air hit single in the shape of I Walk Beside You, should they ever feel like releasing it. An example of the album's increased maturity, it has a killer sing-along chorus and has the good grace not to overstay its welcome. Class.

The songs touch on some familiar subjects such as alcoholism and terrorism, touching base with 9/11 in style on Sacrificed Sons.

It would be wrong to say that the album is all about the title track, but Octavarium is simply stunning. It's like the years have melted away and you're listening to a combination of Rush, Yes and ELP at the height of their powers (I'll temper that by saying that, having seen them last year, Rush are still at the height of their powers) with a dollop of ELO thrown in for good measure. Yes, there's an orchestra on show, but it isn't even remotely out of place. This track is one of the most evocative I have heard in years, with a marvellous six minute instrumental opening that layers texture upon texture (I'm not ashamed to admit that when the flute kicked in it brought a lump to this listener's throat). Portnoy is even smart enough to name-check songs from yesteryear during Part III, Full Circle, and when he mentions the likes of Yes's Machine Messiah it's enough to bring a smile to the face - it just feels right. Twenty-four minutes has never flown by so fast.

And after the previous two albums opened with the closing bars of their immediate predecessor, Octavarium infuriatingly closes by returning to the opening bars of The Root Of Evil. Why infuriatingly? Because it's just so clever! As Labrie sings "This story ends where it began" it's an open invitation to cue up track 1 and start again.

And you will, I guarantee it.

Simply awesome.