OCTAVARIUM

Lots of variety on this one in contrast to the previous album "Train Of Thought" which only knew one style and that was heavy. I much prefer "Train Of Thought" to this one. In fact i'd rate this near the bottom of their discography with their debut and "Falling Into Infinity". Still there's lots to like here.

"The Root of all Evil" is a good song but there's something about it that keeps me from saying it's a great song. It's much better than the followup "The Answer Lies Within" though. This is more or less a ballad that doesn't do anything for me at all."These Walls" is pretty good, the intro is really good. Very wild. It goes down hill from there though. "I Walk Beside You" is U2 sounding all the way and it's a little shocking that the band would be okay with releasing this song. "Panic Attack" has a frantic, heavy intro that continues throughout. This is one of the highlights for me. The vocals are rougher and Portnoy and Pertucci are all over the place wreaking havoc.

"Never Enough" is another heavy one and a top three for me. "Sacrificed Sons" is too mellow for the first 4 1/2 minutes then it changes thankfully to a heavier sound. The final song "Octavarium" is the 24 minute epic. Sounding like PINK FLOYD in the beginning with spacey synths, to an almost KING CRIMSON vibe with the flute and acoustic guitar, to listening to John Pertucci shining so brightly with his amazing guitar work, to James letting go with intense vocals. At times in this song i'm thinking to myself "This is DREAM THEATER ?" Anyway for a 24 minute epic it could have been a lot better.

I find this album a little confusing and have to wonder if they felt swayed to make it more commercial sounding at times. I don't get it.