TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Dream Theater sounded like they were trying to change to go along with current trends with this album. It works out quite well for them in the beginnings of both, "This Dying Soul" and "Honor Thy Father". But these are the very two songs that make this album my least favorite Dream Theater album. The rapping sections of both of these songs are simply disasterous. They sounded like something out of the Limp Bizkit playbook. Also, "Honor Thy Father" and "This Dying Soul" both start great and end badly. Once I hear "Don't cross the crooked step" "Honor Thy Father" shatters and looses all my interest. The ending solo section of "This Dying Soul" is just plain bad too. The ending of "This Dying Soul" is the only time I ever have a problem with Dream Theater wanking and being technical just for the sake of being technical. "Stream Of Conciousness" doesn't carry it's own weight either. By that I mean it's a little too long for it's own good with some boring passages. It's not the band's strongest instrumental ever. It does have some amazing sections however, and I really like how it plays a part in a greater whole. Yes, by that I mean I consider "Vacant, Stream Of Conciousness, and In The Name Of God" to be a trilogy of sorts. There are some strong connections between the three songs, and I like how they flow into each other. "Vacant" is a nice break from the four bone-crushing songs heard before it on the album. I enjoy the song and its presence on the album brings Train Of Thought up in my opinion. "In The Name Of God" of course, is simply amazing and one of Dream Theater's 12 best songs. One of the greatest moments in Dream Theater history is when the fourth verse is building up and getting heavier. It gets pretty intense and then all of a sudden it stops, this little electronic drum thing is played, which fits perfectly because of the way it builds up itself, then BANG. The listener is hit with the remainder of the verse which is now more dynamic and hard-hiting than ever. Lastly, I would have to say that "As I Am" and "Endless Sacrifice" are both high quality Dream Theater songs that have some mediocre sections but are more than made up for with the great riffage and melodies found in each tune. Train Of Thought suffers tremendously from about a total of ten minutes worth of bland or horrendous sections compiled from just about every song. Overall Train Of Thought is a great album, but one where tracks need to be skipped some times. This is what makes it Dream Theater's worst album, falling just a little short of the quality of When Dream and Day Unite.