OCTAVARIUM

i was introduced to dream theater by a friend, hearing Don't look past me from their special christmas album. From then on i loved them. But, i am going to try to criticize them fairly and evenly, and i'm rating them as i listen to them. The third track, these walls, starts off with a little keyboard, then the headbangy guitar part. When i first heard this, i thought it was amazing. It does get a little monotonous, though. Then the lyrics come in. I usually don't understand most lyrics, so i wont get into it. But their pretty good, too. It's got another one of those generiic John Petrucci solos in it, but it's no where near as long and boring as some as some. All in all, i liked it. The fourth song, i walk beside you, also has its heavy/hard rock parts to it. It's also got some good keyboard in it, too. The lyrics you can really get into. I didnt understand the meaning, but they sound awesome! The guitar solo starts out very uniquely, i've never heard one like it, but it then becomes another one of those generic ones. But once again, its not long and boring. After listening to this song, it ended up being pretty good. Panic attack, the album's fifth song, is pretty good. I usually only pretty much listen to the guitar parts, but after listening to this song, i thought the keyboard was amazing. The guitar solo in this one does get sort of long and boring, but it was pretty good. This is a... pretty good song

Sacrificed sons, the 7th song, is a pretty good one. The lyrics are pretty crazy, with fast, slow andd middle parts. The guitar solo, while pretty long, doesn't really get that boring. All in all i thought it was a great song. The final track, the 24-minute octavarium, i can sum up in 2 words: totally amazing. starting off with about 4 minutes of wierd... music, it goes into an accoustic guitar part accompanied by an inspiring flute. I'm serious. this flute...i almost cried when it played. The lyrics of the song range from soft, almost whispering, to completely screaming. Its awesome. When i think of the song octavarium, i think of 2 things: the flute, and the little poem type thing ending in screaming. It is amazing. I would describe the song to you in excruciating detail, but i won't. This is probably one of the best dream theater songs i've ever heard. the last thing i want to say about it is the bass. I am a bass player myself, and john myungs playing in this was awesome.

well, the rest of the songs are good, including the amazing guitar solo in never enough, but ill stop now. All in all, i think that this was a good Album, but not as good as some they release, like six degrees of inner turbulence