OCTAVARIUM

"Train of Thought" fans beware. Dream Theater fans... welcome the next installment of your prog collection. Although I highly enjoyed "Train of Thought" I like how Dream Theater's sound changes from album to album and "Octavarium" is certainly no different. Not only are they exploring new tones, but also new sounds instrumentally. Jordan Rudess' inclusion of the continuum and James LaBrie's noticable experiments in vocals shows how versatile this band is. Not to mention the addition of an orchestra for select tracks.

Following the trend of Rush (think from "Hemispheres" to "Permanent Waves") and being shorter in their track lengths (with the exception of the final track), the songs are more enjoyable and show no lack of complexity in their compositions. The lyrical content of the songs seem to be "deeper" than perhaps on previous albums. Granted all their albums contain tracks with lyrical depth this one seems to move the listener more easily... I'm just waiting for Jordan Rudess to crank out some lyrics.

Other critics slam Rudess' "over powering" in the songs. But we must also remember Derek Sherinian and how lacking his compositions were, for he was just a "hired gun". The only good music to come from him was "A Change of Seasons", which was written before he even joined the band. Rudess' style leads the band to a more Floydian, melodic sound.

The album does contain much continuity between tracks - just as their previous three albums begin and end on the same note (i.e., SDOIT begins where SFAM ends, TOT begins where SDOIT ends, and now Octavarium begins where TOT AND itself ends). Not only that, but the tracks flow on this album in a very well-planned manner. The album titles shows a connection and a theme not only to all the songs, but to the current members history together.

Final score - 4 out of five

PS - If you're worried about a drastic difference on this album, don't worry. It can't be as bad as "St Anger" from Metallica.