OCTAVARIUM

Dream Theater is almost a schezophrenic band in the sense that one moment it seems like you're listening to classic music and the other, you've got James Labrie shouting like a lunatic with the whole band playing perfectly coupled, mixing many other styles in between. That's the degree of their mastery. The side effect of this is that you get fans who appreciate more the heavier part of DT and ones which appreciate more their symphonic side. It's easy to figure out who is who by their reviews and the hardcore fans will not enjoy this album as much as the previous two. That said, I do appreciate all the tracks of this album, ranging from what others consider boring and commercial to their heavier moments. Yes, there are parts that reminded me of Evanescense, others of Linkin Park and there was even a second or two which reminded me of Queen (!!), but it is Dream Theater all around.

Styles aside, each album they release is better played than the previous and I just wonder how they're going to top this one. By the way, I neither appreciate more their heavier or their softer side, but precisely the mix of both (and everything else in between) and that is what they've done in this album. It is an album which is best listened from begining to end and not by jumping to individual tracks. The whole piece simply makes sense. I'm sure it deserves entirely each of the 5 stars I'm giving it and I have no doubt in calling it a masterpiece. It even tops my previous favourite album, Scenes from a Memory which was to me another masterpiece.