DREAM THEATER — Octavarium (review)

Album · 2005 · Progressive Metal

3/5 · 2011-10-07
Diogenes

I’m probably (definitely, more like it) in the minority here, but I don’t think Dream Theater’s early 2000s efforts are very good. It’s undeniable that Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought are both mind-blowingly technical and progressive, but the seemingly endless wanking gets tiresome. And while we’re on that subject…if there’s one thing more boring than listening to a bunch of world-class musicians randomly stuff as many notes as possible into 70 minutes, it’s listening to a bunch of world-class musicians play watered-down radio rock void of their trademark progression for 70 minutes. That would be Octavarium.

The main problem with Dream Theater’s eighth studio full-length is that it has an amazing title track with a concept that needs seven other songs in order to exist. It’s not a concept album as a whole; we’re not talking Scenes from a Memory 2 (3, if you want to be anal about it) here. The album has seven tracks that are unrelated to each other, with the eighth and final one wrapping it all together as if to say, “This album is secretly mega-progressive and you didn’t even realize it! How you like them NUGGETS?!” It’s a neat idea in theory, but the band puts all of its eggs in one basket, playing so far below their talent level most of the way that you’d think it’s an entirely different group.

I’d like to address the good part(s) first, but that wouldn’t make much sense from a chronological viewpoint, so…the first seven songs on Octavarium range from being mediocre and good for a couple of listens to just plain bad and skip-worthy. The Root of all Evil is okay; it’s certainly heavy, probably the heaviest song on the album, but the whole Portnoy-AA saga has gotten a little stale by this point. These Walls is decent too, but nothing spectacular. After that, the album falls apart: The Answer Lies Within is the lamest Dream Theater ballad ever recorded, which is saying something considering their ballads aren’t usually good anyway. Panic Attack and Never Enough are both pseudo-heavy, starting off well but having absolutely nothing memorable about them. I Walk Beside You is not worth listening to (unless you want to hear Dream Theater attempt a U2 cover-What the hell?), and you deserve a cookie if you can get through Sacrificed Song without falling asleep. Bluntly, the first “phase” of Octavarium is riddled with pop influences, making for an underwhelming listen of an underachieving band.

Now, for the title track. This is where Dream Theater wakes up and writes one damn good song. It’s got all of the stuff you would expect-it’s broken up into movements (one of them involving each of the concepts of the other tracks), it’s really freaking long, it’s got a bunch of instrumental work (bearable since you haven’t been sitting through it for most of the album already), and it has the professional feel that you want to hear from these guys. It’s actually an “epic” (not just a long song considered to be such), and would go down as one of the best tracks Dream Theater ever wrote. Finally, the band gets its crap together and tries…and then the album’s over.

Pretending that the skip button doesn’t exist, the $34,729 question is: can YOU-yes, you-sit through 50 minutes of mediocrity to get to 24 minutes of pure prog excellence? And if you can, is it even worth it? You might as well just buy the title track on Amazon or iTunes and save yourself the hassle. Obviously, this is the best Dream Theater album for newbies or people who generally don’t like the band, since it’s so basic compared to everything else they do, but it’s also among their least fulfilling and enjoyable. The title track saves Octavarium from being an uninspired disaster and then some, carrying the rest of the album on its back, but the most it can all add up to is still a good-but-not-great release.

more than 2 years ago
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Wilytank wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Mine too. I've stated it before, but newer sounding Dream Theater has always sounded better than older Dream Theater to me.

J-Man wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Interesting to hear how many people don't like this one a whole lot... this has always been one of my favorite DT albums. I guess I'm in the minority. :-)