Dream Theater - Octavarium Review
Posted by Michael Melchor on 07.15.2005
Damn near perfect
In a time when many bands seem to be in rock music to scream out their frustrations backed by the same basic sound of grinding guitars and flailing drums, Dream Theater is widely renowned for being the exact opposite. With a trademark sound that includes precision everything, Dream Theater – James La Brie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), James Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums) and Jordan Rudess (keyboard) - have gained their following with winding, epic clinics in progressive metal.
Many decry this style, however, due to the massive, elongated treatises that the band engages in (such as putting out an EP just to release the 25-minute long song, “A Change Of Seasons”). Often, Dream Theater is seen as a band more interested in seeing how good they are musically rather than write an actual song.
Octavarium may be an exercise to change all of that. The band’s newest effort still keeps their trademarks intact and then some. However, between wearing their influences on their sleeve and the fact that the pieces are more fluid than previous efforts, Octavarium shows one of the best bands in the world (as far as ability) becoming one of the best, period.
Octavarium starts with a taste of what’s to follow all in one shot. The introduction to “The Root Of All Evil”, very reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “Welcome To The Machine”, breaks into the driving beginnings that most Dream Theater albums are known for. Chugging rhythm section? Check. Petrucci impelling his guitar to wail with the beat?
Check—well, maybe.
Petrucci, rather than shred his way through the proceedings like he’s apt to do, keeps his playing – solos and all – understated for the most part. His work sounds more Kansas or Yes here than Rush or Van Halen. His understated contributions make way for Rudess to handle most of the gymnastics on keyboard instead. Instead of showing off for the sake of it (which most bands attempt with some degree of failure), Rudess and Petrucci both keep the fretting and screeching to the few moments when it’s needed for effect.
The songs themselves are strengthened by not only the music being somewhat subdued (in comparison to earlier fare), but with a compelling lyrical game as well. Most of the theme here seems centered around the idea that we are in charge of our own destinies. Case in point, the aforementioned lead-off track:
Driven blindly by our sins
Misled so easily
Entirely ready to leave it behind
I’m begging to break free
Put that plainly, the passage sound rather pedestrian, but they keep up fine with the surrounding sounds. Not only that, but listeners are used to hearing lines like the above used to describe whiny, high-school relationships instead of, in this case, alcoholism. (In the liner notes, the song is “Dedicated to Bill W. and all of his friends” – or, the founder and members, respectively, of Alcoholics Anonymous.)
The premise stays steady throughout without repeating itself ad nauseum. Dream Theater have always had the ability to weave in and out of passages and tracks, but now the effort to concentrate more on songcraft pays off well in several areas. The pacing, however, does seem a little strange, even for them. Track 2, “The Answer Lies Within”, is a lavish, ballad-esque number that the band has done before and done well – normally in the middle of the album or closer to the end instead of near the beginning where it throws listeners off.
The first half of the album suffers from this moreso than the latter half. “Panic Attack” and “Never Enough” (tracks 5 and 6) play like a re-reading of “The Mirror” and “Lie” from Awake. Taken together, those two were about the end of a relationship – first admitting your own sorrow and guilt, then rising up to know that the fault lies on more than yourself. “Panic Attack” and “Never Enough” repeat that theme with better tricks (such as a downright Gothic sound achieved by Rudess in “Panic Attack”) and winding turns (I can’t resist saying that the changes in “Never Enough” are more sensible and capable than bands like System Of A Down could ever hope to be). Overall, the many emotions of ending a relationship are played out well enough to have whiny emo-kids taking notes.
The final title track is another “epic”. “Octavarium” opens with an homage to “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” so earnest that the impression that Dream Theater misses Syd Barrett as much as Roger Waters does is all but obvious. After that, it’s a long ride that feels shorter than waiting for Space Mountain. Everything that exemplifies Dream Theater is contained in an even 24 minutes – as does the growth they have made since “A Change Of Seasons”. Indeed, the same can be said for the album itself.
The 411: For a band that gets exponentially better with each outing (hard as that may be to imagine), Dream Theater have outdone themselves once again. Octavarium is everything that fans of the band have come to know and love, but now more with more focus and a message or two. The progressive brilliance is in place, but so is a more refined sense of song and conveying ideas. With better pacing (as the entire record was probably built around “Octavarium”), this probably could have been the perfect album.
