OCTAVARIUM

Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands and this is Dream Theater's 8th full-length studio release. This was long-awaited for me ever since news was put out about Octavarium, I just wanted to get it. So when I got it on the first day it came out, I wrote a short review on each song of the album. (Out of 10)

The Root of All Evil- 8/10 - A good opener, but not as good as Pull Me Under or 6:00, but certainly better than As I Am.

The Answer Lies Within- 6.5/10- Kinda poppy but however it is one of Dream Theater's better ballads, certainly not a bad song by any degree.

These Walls- 7/10- I really didn't like it at first because it sounded so boring at first, but I kind of like it now. Its not the greatest Dream Theater song by any means, but still good.

I Walk Beside You- 5/10- The "U2ish-like song" which is actually not that bad. Really nice Vocals by James Labrie.

Panic Attack- 8/10- One of the better songs on Octavarium, a real nice, "heavy" song and the instrumental section highly reminds me of Symphony X. We see how truly variant John Petrucci is here with him playing a NeoClassical solo.

Never Enough- 6/10- The song that is highly influenced by Muse. A lot of people say Dream Theater ripoffed Muse by making this song, but actually it sounds 100 % Dream Theater-like. A very good song, but however its not the greatest song by any mile either.

Sacrificed Sons- 8/10- A really good song, the first song on this album over 10 minutes. A very variant and intense track, I like it a lot.

Octavarium- 10/10 This title track can be described with a couple of words: SHEER MAGIC!

I totally love this track. A good combination of Classic Progressive Rock bands such as Genesis, Pink Floyd and ELP and the typical Progressive Metal that Dream Theater plays mixed in with Ayreon, Neo-Classical parts. One impressive long Twenty-four minute track.

Anyways, this album for me would deserve a solid 3 stars, could have been better and the album itself is not quite up to DT's standards, but 3 stars is still richly deserved.