Dream Theater - Octavarium
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Free Music Notes for Octavarium
Free Music Review: I'm very glad that I hadn't reviewed this before.
Hit: 5 Stars
Because I would've given it a significantly lower rating. After first purchasing "Octavarium," my initial reaction (which is usually totally wrong) was a five star rating. Very quickly, that rating dropped to about three stars and as low as two (no, I don't judge everything in life on a scale of five stars, I'm just using units of measurement). For a while, the only songs that I could listen to were the latter four of the album: "Panic Attack," "Never Enough," "Sacrificed Sons" and "Octavarium." I was ready to write this review many times, yapping about just how boring it was...then something thoroughly magical happened.
Suddenly, I can toss "Octavarium" into my CD player, hit the play button and - *gasp* - let it play the entire way through, keeping my attention for the whole time! No longer do I cringe when thinking of "The Root of All Evil," "The Answer...," "These Walls" or "I Walk Beside You." Wow! *winks at camera*
The aforementioned "Root of All Evil" is fast and snakey with good, sneering vocals from James LaBrie. "The Answer Lies WIthin" is a friendly ballad that, good as it is, is still the least of the songs. "These Walls" starts with some weird grinding noises from the guitar and then explodes into a sprawling atmosphere that permeates thine ears like nuclear radiation at Hiroshima. "I Walk Beside You" has drippingly sugar sweet vocals and guitar, but it's still enjoyable (albeit, guiltily enjoyable).
The second half starts with the violent "Panic Attack," which alternates between "really fast" and "really f*cking fast" before a brief recharging period when it ingests more amphetamines before erupting again. Excellent song. Except the lyrics (O God, the lyrics...more on that later. Pretend LaBrie is babbling in Swahili). After some wanking, it settles into "Never Enough," a swirling mess of guitars and whiny lyrics, which, for reason of the music and vocals sounds pretty good. Track seven is "Sacrificed Sons," which is probably the best song on the album; beginning with (relatively) supple orchestrations and ending with giant riffs, it is also a great showcase of LaBrie.
The closer, the mighty "Octavarium," is 21 minutes of music and three minutes of trash. Three of the first five minutes are superfluous, but it's better to have it at the beginning of an incredibly long song and not in the middle. The first movement is soft and good, but not as good as what is to come. The second starts soft and poignant, right up to the second chorus, when the heavy guitar (finally) kicks in and complements LaBrie's vocals perfectly. Thus begins the metal portion of the song, and a mighty portion it be. The third movement features both great and cheesy vocals (something about hearing "speeeenning ROUND and ROUND" is vaguely annoying), but the music is phenomenal. The fourth movement rivals "Sacrificed Sons" as Labrie's best showing on the album, as he angrily speaks through the first couple stanzas before snarling about innocent victims of merciless crimes. It really is a kickass moment; I wish there were a few more of those on the album. Snarl, James, Snarl! Anyway, the fifth movement brings in the orchestra with some touching vocals and some of the only good lyrics of Petrucci's on the album. AND!:
Since I can hold it no longer, let us talk about lyrics, huh? Lyrics don't make or break albums; if they're good, then it's icing on the cake of music; if they're bad, then whatever. John Petrucci is a magnificient guitarist, but his lyrics are, and I use this world rightly, HORRIBLE. Let's count up the songs/movements that don't make us cringe, huh?
1. Root of All Evil (Portney): Besides being a great drummer, Portney can write lyrics passably well. Not Cringe-Worthy (NCW).
2. The Answer Lies Within (Petrucci): Boring lyrics. Sappy lyrics. Sucky lyrics. CRINGE! (CX)
3. These Walls (Petrucci): It's not the worst song Petrucci's ever written. I give him that. It's okay. But it still sucks. "So much uncertainty | I don't like this feeling." Oh, you don't like this feeling, huh? TOO BAD! (CX)
4. I Walk Beside You (Petrucci): This one isn't bad. Really? Really. Passable. (NCW)
5. Panic Attack (Petrucci): Terrible. Most embarrassing moment is "IIIIIIII feeel like I'm in daaangaaahr." Miserable. (CX)
6. Never Enough (Portnoy): It's okay. Whiny, but okay. "My blood spilled on your brand new floor"? That gets it a (CX).
7. Sacrificed Sons (LaBrie): Wonderful vocals, mediocre lyrics. Switches between literal translation and crappy metaphors. (CX)
8. (Oct) Someone Like Him (Petrucci): No. (CX)
Medicate (Awakening) (LaBrie): This I like, it sounds sincere (NCW).
Full Circle (Portney): Besides the aforementioned "spinning" part, this is pretty good. I like the flowing titles. (NCW)
Intervals (Portney): Now this is good stuff. Only complaint is "try to escape but to no avail." But good. (NCW)
Razor's Edge (Petrucci): Short, but Petrucci's best lyricsl effort. Completely out of character. Maybe someone wrote it for him (NCW).
Add it all up!: Labrie: 1/2 CX, Petrucci: 3/5, Portnoy: 1/3
Portnoy wins! w00t! (for all it's worth)
Anyway, lyrics aside, "Octavarium" takes time to get into but still rocks. Get it.
Free Music Review: Call it...Falling into a Change of Trains of Thought
Hit: 5 Stars
With this album, Dream Theater both returns to some of its classic ideas...while also progressing its new sound. I call it Falling into a chang of trains of thought because it is like thoes three albums combined. Falling into Infinity was very focused and centered around songs, rather than showing off. Only 2 songs on Oct. break 10 minutes. (Sacrificed sons is 11 and Octavarium is 24). It also takes the sound from Train of Thought/6 Degrees Dream Theater. The heavy dueling guitar-synth, bombastic drumming and ripping basslines. And of course, everyone will compare Octavarium with A Change of Seasons (DT's other 20+ minutes epic.) ...so lets get to the heart of this thing
What do you get on this album?. Well it opens with a bang, The Root of All Evil. This continues Mike Portnoy's (drums) song[s] about recovering from alcoholism (mike himself has done this). It takes more of the sound of "This Dying Soul" from Train of Thought, and just simplifies it. It is a rock and roll song, with DT firing on all pistons. It also has a chorus from This Dying soul incorperated in it (Much like This Dying Soul had parts from The Glass Prison). When compared to The Glass Prison and This Dying Soul, the song holds its own, and is very origional (especially the solo section). The Glass Prison still remains one of Dream Theaters best songs, but this is a good song to continue the story.
Next you get The answer lies within. A very slow...very very slow ballad that is very reminiscant of old Dream Theater (The Silent Man, various peices off of Scenes from a memory). Good song, nothing amazing.
Following is These Walls. This is probably my favorite song off the album. It is quite inspirational, but not huge or anything. Jordan's key part and John p's guitar riff's go together nicely. it is a song that just works, and i love the sound. It is the song that best demonstrates Dream Theater writing a SONG. This is when i noticed an interesting little note about the album. Between songs there is 'negative time' (for lack of a better word). This is a common space between songs usually for a few seconds. Well, DT instead put noise/music in this space which leads to most of the next songs. Nothing insane, but i found it very interseting because i had never seen anything like it before. Between These walls and I walk beside you, you hear a clock tick...and then it transisitions into I Walk Beside you. This song has a kick ass intro, but it gets a bit more ballad-y at the chrous. Good song, skipable (much like The Answer Lies Within)
Then.....you get to Panic Attack. This is the heaviest song of DT i've heard yet (much like most of Train of Thought and The Glass Prison before it.) It has some of the best doublebass work by portnoy on record, and its just 8 relentless mintues. Near the end you start to hear a like=ness to Muse. Mike Portnoy LOVES muse, and this is where this connection comes from. But is a good preformance from the whole band and James LeBrie (vocals).
Following is Never Enough, my other favorite songs from Octavarium. Almost instantly when i heard this song, i heard Stolkholm Syndrome by Muse, because the songs are VERY VERY similar. Still equally kick ass though. Not much to say about it, its just a good song.
all of the previous songs were shorter than 9 minutes. This shows dream theater as a more focused band.
Sacrificed Sons is pretty much a continuation of The Great Debate and In the Name of God. Some people like the politicle message, some don't. I particullarly don't, but it is still an execelent song musically. i just don't care for the iraq-war-lyrics. It is a good song though.
Then comes OCTAVARIUM. The 24 minute epic. It is very reminiscent of Neal Morse (both in Spock's Beard and TransAtlantic). It begins with a Pink Floyd-y intro, very airy, with the lyrics coming in. Then comes a great movement with James LeBrie finally writing is own vocals. It has a great Verse which can be heard at the end of The Root of All Evil. This musical...nuggets, if you will, is very reminiscant from Awake. (The piano part of Space-Dye Vest is in The Mirror) The song progressivly builds and gains speed. At about 12 minutes the song is at full speed. At about 18 minutes it begins the Intervals movemnt. Here, Mike portnoy is heard on background saying "Root, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, Octave" while James LeBrie sings the lyrics. Each set of lyrics has to do with the other songs on the albums. Root is related to The Root of all Evil, 2nd is The Answer lies Within, 3rd is These walls...etc. A very cool idea. At the end of this, the whole song goes to hell. In the final minutes, the song peices back together and is an extremly satisfying journey.
This is one of DT's best works. It isn't their masterpeice, but it does combine all of DT's best characteristics into one kick ass album. Better than Train of Thought, Equally as good as 6 Degrees, not quite as good as Scenes from a memory, a bit better than Falling into Infinity, Just as good as A Change of Seasons, a bit better than Awake, not quite as good as Images and Words, and a bit better than When Dream and Day Unite. SO if you look at that, i rank it tied for third with 6 Degrees.
Buy it. its good.
Free Music Review: The Dream Theater Onslaught will never end
Hit: 5 Stars
Dream Theater, the band that has never ceased to amuse me, they have created so perfect albums, like Awake, Scenes from a Memory, Images and Words, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, etc.
And now they release their 8th studio release, Octavarium.
I have read a lot of reviews concering Octavarium, naming it a change for bad, a worthless effort...I will show you the grand piece of art Dream Theater worked out...
1) The Root of All Evil: The albums starts with some drumming and a powerful guitar riff coming from Petrucci, this is the 3rd part in the alcohilism saga by Mike Portnoy, really heavy. I really like the chorus "Take all of me, the desires, that keep burning deep inside" The keyboarding and bass in this song are excelent, a great opener and a magnificient song, following footsteps of the other 2 "The Glass Prision" and "This Dying Soul"
2) The Answer Lies Within: It's the ballad in the album, starts with some nice piano melodies by Jordan Rudess.
LaBrie's vocals shine here, the lyrics are same as deep as Labrie's singing. Maybe for some this song is boring, but I find it a great song, maybe not as good as "The Spirit Carries On" but neverless, it's good.
3) These Walls: This is one of the new Dream Theater songs, I find the chorus very addictive "Tear down these walls for me" There are no crazy solos, but it has some nice moments, not the best, but not least.
4) I Walk Beside You: This is the song I've heard most negative reviews, I don't know why, Dream Theater is a band that likes to play with music, use distinct music genres, that's the reason they're what they're now.
I Walk Beside You is the poppiest song I've heard from Dream (Even more than "Solitary Shell") But it's a change for good, the song is very good. Although it IS very U2-influenced, I find it adequate.
5)Panic Attack: Oh god!! OH GOD!! Tranquil and lovely Dream Theater came and left with "I Walk Beside You" When I thought songs at "Train of Thought" My CD-Player changed to track 5 and a god-like bass line by Myung tells us that this song is for real...
This is the heaviest song in the album, but one of the best, I love it.
There is some doomful drumming by Portnoy, incredibly fast guitars, crazy keyboarding and bass. This song is very dark, at the likes of Train of Thought. The name tells it all "Panic Attack"
6) Never Enough: Not a song that I love, but it's not bad. There is some good guitar work by Petrucci and drumming by Portnoy. I like the chorus. This song is dark, but not as dark as "Panic Attack"
7) Sacrificed Sons: God, I love this song!! It talks about the 9/11 terrorist attack, and the lyrics are for real.
The song starts with some sad and melancholic singing and piano, but as the song develops it starts ganing speed and feeling the chorus "Who would wish this on our people!" Is really awe-inspiring. At the end there is this drum solo that tells us "Hey!! Mike Portnoy playing here!!" Like the one we heard in "Finally Free" A really epic ending, but it's just the beginning for the magum opus of the album, and I mean it.
8) OCTAVARIUM: Jesus...I don't know where to start, this epic starts with Jordan having a little fun with his new Continuum fingerboard...And after 5 minutes of an epic overture, the real thing starts with "Someone like him"
This song is played with acoustic guitar and piano. LaBrie's voice shines here as well, the lyrics are awe-inspiring, but they are only starting the great concept of what Octavarium is, after this beginning, the song starts to gain feeling "Awakening"
In Awakening, the song starts ganing a little speed, but it does not leave its slow and charming tempo, at the end of this part, a large instrumental passage, influenced by many prog rock bands, like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Yes, etc. begins, nice keyboarding Jordan!!
In "Full Circle" the thing gets interesting, the lyrics are pure poetry, they only use proper names. This section requires lot of analizing. After this, the song keeps gaining speed and strength, until the climax, where it fets Dark, Heavy and Powerful, the "Intervals"
In Intervals, the song reaches its climax, while telling us about the "8" (Every part describes perfectly each song in the album) while the song gets heavier and heavier until LaBrie shrieks 4 masterful times...
TRAPPED INSIDE THIS OCTAVARIUM
That's the "tragedy" but Dream Theater never leaves an epic withour a masterful and epic grand finale, "Razor's Edge" appears.
In this song, a full orchestra joins the band, LaBrie's final words really marked me, especially the part "THIS STORY ENDS WHERE IT BEGAN!!!"
While ending this grand epic with a guitar solo by Petrucci full of feeling and excitement.
Well my friends, if you are wise, you will shut down your PCs right now, and go to the CD shop and get this album, Dream Theater has new music, that's their way, the Dream Theater way...
Free Music Review: Restrained, unpretentious, yet incredible album from DT
Hit: 5 Stars
What's so great about DT is that they are so unpredictable. They can release anything on any given album at any given time and somehow they still manage to make darn good music. Many fans felt a little disappointed and disheartened with DT's last album, "Train of Thought". However, that is only the exploratory side of them. So that was their "heavy metal" album. So what was next? Of course, no one could have predicted.
So what is "Octavarium"? Well, in short, it's restrained, unpretentious, and more akin to "Falling Into Infinity" than any of their other albums. I can already hear the groans coming. Yet do not fear, DT fans, for this is better than FII (an album I love and feel is criminally underappreciated, by the way). The musicians of the band do not go wild and reach new plateaus of virtuosos musicianship, but I feel that unlike albums such as 6DOIT and even parts of SFAM, this helps them keep cohesion and structure. Thus, it's a great album for both DT fans and non-DT fans alike.
"The Root of All Evil" - 9/10
A strong vocal performance, and though Petrucci doesn't go off like he does on other albums, every member seems to mesh really well on this song.
"The Answer Lies Within" - 6/10
The weakest track on the album, in my opinion, but that might just be me. I never got into nearly any of their ballads, and this is no exception. And the lyrics on this one are pretty darn cheesy, too. (You've got the future on your side/You're gonna be fine now/I know whatever you decide/You are gonna shine). No thanks.
"These Walls" - 9/10
Another really good song, slow yet hard rocker that has a catchy keyboard part from Jordan. The lyrics about insecurity have been done many times before by DT, but we all know that lyrical creativity isn't the band's forte.
"I Walk Beside You" - 8.5/10
This song will obviously get a mixed reaction from fans. Yes, it has a very happy, poppy chorus, complete with generic mainstream lyrics that will make some people want to vomit, but it's a very well-written song. Just goes to show you that they can even do these kinds of songs and do them well.
"Panic Attack" - 9.5/10
From the lightning-fast, powerful guitar opener to the awesome solo, to singing from LeBrie that reminds me a little of something from Muse, even, it's an all-around good song. What carries this song from beginning to end is the virtuoso musicianship that is more present here than on all the other songs of the album.
"Never Enough" - 8/10
Not quite as strong as all the other songs on this album, though not bad by any stretch of the imagination. During the verses, LeBrie really sounds like the lead singer of Muse (am I crazy or what?). It has some pretty good soloing, but what brings this song down a notch are the lyrics.
"Sacrificed Sons" - 8.5/10
A lot of people seem to really love this song, but I only find it to be a little above average. The haunting, slow, singing by LeBrie on this song doesn't interest me nearly as much as the other songs. Yeah, it's got some inspirational, thought-provoking lyrics about 9/11, but a lot of people will think this song to be a little late in coming. It has, after all, been 3 1/2 years, and writing a song about it this long afterward seems a little strange.
"Octavarium" - 10000/10
Here it is. The crown jewel. In my opinion, this is the GREATEST song that DT has released to date. This is the perfect example of cohesion between the musicians without having to be overly technical. This 24-minute epic has possibly the best progression that I've ever heard. It starts with a gentle, ambient section by Jordan (which, by the way, is pretty cool to see him play live) that perhaps goes on for a little too long. It follows up with a soft acoustic and vocal part before the song begins to pick up. John Myung plays a catchy bass riff in the next section, and LeBrie gives a great peformance. After this, the musicians go to town. The song begins to give off the impression of falling into insanity, especially with Lebrie's frantic performance on the next two sections and downright strange, even evil, lyrics. The song hits its climax as James screams "TRAPPED INSIDE THIS OCTAVARIUM" with more power than I've heard since "Awake", before culminating with a moving orchestral part, leaving us with the same piano key that kicked off the album.
All in all, it's not their best album overall, but it does have what I think is their best song, though I'll likely be in the minority there. If you're a DT fan, you'll obviously want this, but don't go expecting instrument-playing along the lines of Liquid Tension Experiment or anything. Just expect another outstanding DT album with great songwriting and some of the best stuff since "Scenes from a Memory".
5 Stars.
Free Music Review: Undoubtebly a Masterpiece.
Hit: 5 Stars
Dream Theater are no mainstream band-They're not a band in which your just going to pop on the radio and say 'This is a good song'. No-it's different than that. You have to listen to Dream Theater's songs more than once, or even force yourself to listen to them, if you have to go that far. I was one of those people. When I discovered Dream Theater, I thought they would be, to put it simply, bad.
I was wrong.
Dream Theater are perhaps one of the most creative bands born into this world. Their albums manage to keep up to 70 minutes with just a mere 6 songs, their songs have wonderful lyrics, and (Succesfully) attempt to blend mellowness with heaviness.
But who want to hear my opinions on the band, I don't know! Let's get onto my thoughts of this album.
Octavarium-my favorite Dream Theater release since Train of Thought, and before that, Images and Words. This album is well written, produced, and makes good progress throughout the songs. Onto the tracks:
1. The Root of All Evil (8:25)
This song is the opener of the album, and the third part of Mike Portnoy's AA Saga. The song starts with a few similar riffs and drum beats from the second song, aswell as second track on Train of Thought, of Mike Portnoy's AA Saga, "This Dying Soul." Gotta love LaBrie's vocals on this one. SONG RATING: 4/5
2. The Answer Lies Within (5:33)
This is one of the shorter tracks off of the album, and a ballad. It stays slow and mellow all the way through. Though it's good, it's my least favorite off of the album. The title of the song is also very interesting sounding. SONG RATING: 2/5
3. These Walls (7:36)
A wonderful song, and I must say, it fits me. It is typical Dream Theater style; mellow, but still with odd time signatures. It is also, along with track 2, good to listen to after a hard day. SONG RATING: 5/5
4. I Walk Beside You (4:29)
Though it's probably the one and only Dream Theater song that has Pop elements, (A Music genre which I HATE) it is still good. It has a short song length, and is sort of like a love song. But I thank GOD he doesn't use any ushey-gushey lyrics in the song like "Honey I love you" or "Come on baby, you want me, let's be lovers", etc. That would of just ruined the album for me. SONG RATING: 3/5
5. Panic Attack (8:13)
Easily my favorite song on this album. It starts off with a sick bass intro that only lasts for a few seconds, unfortunately. However, the rest of the song won't dissapoint you. After the bass intro, the song punches you right accross the face. Amazing lyrics, too-definetly see some TOOL influence in them. SONG RATING: 5/5
6. Never Enough (6:46)
I found it funny that the song is track 6 on the album, the song is 6:46 in length, and if you remove that '4' in "6:46", what do you get? Ha ha, that probably wasn't intentional, though. Anyway, this song is definetly the heavier of this album, along with Panic Attack and The Root Of All Evil. I also love the meaning of this song. Look on Wikipedia for Mike Portnoy's meaning behind the song. SONG RATING: 5/5
7. Sacrificed Sons (10:42)
The crushing, second longest song off of this album. The song starts with some weird, mumbling spoken bits, in which a proper discussion can just barely be heard. The true song starts with a creepy, almost scary piano line, and then James LaBrie's vocals enter the song. There is also a wonderful Guitar Solo played by John Petrucci. I'd definetly check this song out just for the solo; it's one of his best, in my opinion. This song is apparently about 9/11 attacks. Is it just me, or does James LaBrie's voice sound a bit more...Majestic when he sings his own written songs? SONG RATING: 5/5
8. Octavarium (24:00)
This song is a jaw-dropping 24 minutes, and Dream Theater's longest song, not counting "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" or "In The Presence Of Enemies". The song is divided into 5 parts: Someone Like Him, Medicate: Awakening, Full Circle, Intervals, and Razor's Edge. LaBrie doesn't sing until about the 5-and-a-half minute mark. The intro is a creepy, yet majestic sound. During "Intervals", what, in my opinion, is cool is that LaBrie repeats "Trapped inside this Octavarium" in a Black Metal vocal style. What I found funny is that the song is so long, but it never get's boring. SONG RATING: 5/5
As you can see, I love this album. Heck, I love it more than Dream Theater's older work and Train of Thought. I hope you enjoyed reading my review, and if you share the same opinions on Dream Theater with me, please comment.
5/5