OCTAVARIUM

My introduction to Octavarium occurred when I saw Dream Theater perform at Sweden Rock Festival 2005 where they played a few new songs starting with the concert opener The Root Of All Evil. At the time I didn't know much about the new album but heard from a friend that the band would have one hour signing session a few hours after the gig. Needless to say, I went there.

The line to the room where the signing took place was huge and at the entrance there was a counter where they were selling Octavarium. Unlike some of my friends who weren't too happy about purchasing another copy of the new album when they already had the album pre-ordered, note that this signing took place just a day after the official release date, I was pretty lucky since I got to buy the new album, have it signed by all the band members and received an opportunity to have a quick chat with them. I was trying to prepare the perfect words to say for the occasion, but when it finally came to the moment I simply uttered a few words about how I loved their music and that I was looking forward to seeing them perform in Stockholm just a few month later.

Once I finally came back home from the festival with my brand new signed copy of Octavarium I literally didn't waste any time and put the CD in my record player. What I heard was definitely the same Dream Theater that I came to love on Scenes From A Memory but now there was a feeling of uncertainty coming from the music that I never noticed before. My guess is that Dream Theater basically reached their peak over the course of the previous three albums and began to search for a new direction with the release of Octavarium. Hence it did feel a bit like a letdown, but it would have been unfair for me to expect these guys to do the same thing album after album, progress is never a bad thing even if you have a good thing going!

I'm actually quite content with some of the new approaches that Dream Theater undertook with songs like Never Enough and Panic Attack, plus there are of course the classic performances like Sacrificed Sons and the 24 minute title track that should make any fan quite content with this album. Yes, there are a some lesser moments at the beginning of the album, a reoccurring trend that will continue on the next few releases, but the overall product is still the same great band that we all love and support.

Even if Octavarium was a step forward for the band, it was definitely a shaky such and Dream Theater tried to spread out the risk by making many different types of songs which would hopefully appeal to all the different fan demographics. At the end of the day it's still all about what style a particular fan enjoys the most. Since I like the heaviness in Dream Theater's sound, this album still gets a shaky excellent addition-recommendation on my part.

***** star songs: The Root Of All Evil (8:07) Never Enough (6:33)

**** star songs: The Answer Lies Within (5:26) Panic Attack (7:16) Sacrificed Sons (10:42) Octavarium (24:00)

*** star songs: These Walls (6:59) I Walk Beside You (4:29)