OCTAVARIUM

Even though I really enjoy "Octavarium", I have to say that it has a long way from being a masterpiece of prog, mostly because it's not even that prog. I gave the album 4 stars, considering it a good album, but being conscious that it is far from reaching the highest peak. In order to justify my rating for this album, I should discuss about the good points and the bad ones of each song, so here they are:

The Root of All Evil: It has a strong begining for the album, the first minute or so resembling a lot with the idea of a train approaching. I consider it a great effect, and the whole song is very powerful. I give the song 4 out of 5.

The Answer Lies Within: The bells from the ending of the previous song are actually a good intro for this nice ballad. I have to say that I almost love this song, mostly for it's mesaj. The lyrics are original, it's almost telling us not to let go. It's a message for us to keep our faith and keep believing in the truth. My rating for this one is 4.5/5.

These Walls: I have to say that I've heard a lot of rumours that this song might look a little like a Linkin Park style. Well, I must disapprove with this idea. First, it's clear that the guitar at the beginning has John Petrucci written all over it, and the drums also manage to keep the rhythm alive in a Mike portnoy way of doing it. For this song: 3/5.

I Walk Beside You: And here it is. The album's closest song to commercial. At the first listening you can almost see Mtv on it. It has a "happy happy - joy joy" thing on it, but it is clear that the band, like all other groups actually, is also giving a chance to other people to experience their sound. For its lack of originality, and also for the happy thing, I give it 2/5.

Panic Attack: This is where they come in powerful again. After a nice ballad and a happy thing, it was about time to hear some real stuff. The guitar is great, and so are the other instruments, but from this song to being real prog... it has a long way to go. It is too heavy, but still a good song to listen, considering the technique and the lyrics, so I hive it 4/5.

Never Enough: The heavy stuff stays, as it is present also in this song, and, although we can't be sure of the band's intentions for the message in the lyrics, I noticed it can be an available message to any situation. Just listen to the lyrics properly, and you'll definitely see why I gave the song 4/5.

Sacrificed Sons: In my opinion, this is the song that surely goes to everyone's heart. Well, at least it melted mine... I had to face it, there were almost 11 minutes of nice, soft, really melting lyrics, and the voices at the beginning remind me of a good Dream Theater tradition for "mind sequences", this phenomenon appearing in other of their songs. For melting my heart: 4/5

Octavarium: Finally, the 24 minutes epic that I've been listening for quite a while in order to understand it. I have to say that it has in A+ points, and also its C,D, or even worse points. Well, IMO, its A+ points are mostly at the first part of the song, in the first 4 minutes of instrumental, and I also love the way LaBrie screams out at the end. The song goes from slow to fast, back slow, back fast and it has a good way of making us dizzy. It is a very good work, I give it 4.5/5.

Well, after these ratings for the songs, my final rating for the album is 3.75/5, so an average 4.

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