Octavarium (U.S. Version) [CD]

Panic attack, is TOT notched up a couple levels on the hard metal scale and is a great track. There are a couple of good ballads, of which "I walk beside you" is very U2 like. The remaining tracks are excellent too, heavy but not overly extended with solos. In summary a great return to concise song writing (even the 24 minute epic is concise in that it doesn't have any unnecessary parts). As always the playing is great and the band really seem to be on top form.

Octavarium is a different beast altogether, as is immediately apparent from the machine gun drum attack of opener The Root Of All Evil, ripped straight out of the previous album's This Dying Soul, coughed up and spat out into a killer riff that opens the album in style.

A combination of Train of Thought's ferocious riffing back through time to Images & Words via Scenes From A Memory with copious amounts of Awake and A Change of Seasons thrown in for good measure, Octavarium contains some of the band's best song writing in years. Stripped of much of the over-indulgence it is more tightly focussed and melodic, and contains some truly amazing musicianship that manages to impress whilst also being much more restrained than in recent efforts.

Portnoy's drumming, as technically brilliant as always, seems much more in touch with the feel of each song, rather than playing fancy fills every five seconds. Jordan Rudess has also reined himself in after a couple of less than convincing moments on the last two albums. The Cheese Man's vocal performance is as tight and convincing as ever, and he has some very good lyrics to sing here.

But for me the star of the show this time around is John Petrucci. Again, much like Portnoy, he seems to have pulled himself back on this album: there is nothing in the way of overly showy guitar solos here, instead he is content to settle for a mixture of texture, phenomenally powerful riffing, and his trademark dexterity as he duels with Rudess. It is a fine performance, with John Myung going about his business in the background with some truly stunning bass work.

They've even gone so far as to write a bonafide, hands-in-the-air hit single in the shape of I Walk Beside You, should they ever feel like releasing it. An example of the album's increased maturity, it has a killer sing-along chorus and has the good grace not to overstay its welcome. Class.

The songs touch on some familiar subjects such as alcoholism and terrorism, touching base with 9/11 in style on Sacrificed Sons.

It would be wrong to say that the album is all about the title track, but Octavarium is simply stunning. It's like the years have melted away and you're listening to a combination of Rush, Yes and ELP at the height of their powers (I'll temper that by saying that, having seen them last year, Rush are still at the height of their powers) with a dollop of ELO thrown in for good measure. Yes, there's an orchestra on show, but it isn't even remotely out of place. This track is one of the most evocative I have heard in years, with a marvellous six minute instrumental opening that layers texture upon texture (I'm not ashamed to admit that when the flute kicked in it brought a lump to this listener's throat). Portnoy is even smart enough to name-check songs from yesteryear during Part III, Full Circle, and when he mentions the likes of Yes's Machine Messiah it's enough to bring a smile to the face - it just feels right. Twenty-four minutes has never flown by so fast.

And after the previous two albums opened with the closing bars of their immediate predecessor, Octavarium infuriatingly closes by returning to the opening bars of The Root Of Evil. Why infuriatingly? Because it's just so clever! As Labrie sings "This story ends where it began" it's an open invitation to cue up track 1 and start again.

And you will, I guarantee it.

Simply awesome.

The opening track, "The Root Of All Evil" is a hardrocker that could have been on TOT. In fact, there is a 15 second insert of "This Dying Soul" in the middle of the song. The second track, "The Answer Lies Within" is to me a less impressive soft breather (with - sorry to say this - quite cliched lyrics). Not really my cup of tea, but still okay. "These Walls" with its spacious sounds during the verse and melodic chorus over metallic guitar sounds is quite radio friendly, and after hearing the U2-like "I Walk Beside You" the progrock enthusiast may wonder where this band is heading. Especially so with the lack of instrumental virtuoso passages typical of DT during tracks 2-4. But not to worry, the remaining four songs are DT at their best. The hard rockin', up-tempo "Panic Attack" immeaditely became one of my all time DT favourite songs even before it got to the awesome solo sections by Rudess and Petrucci. "Never Enough" with ethereal vocals of LaBrie climaxes with a beautiful guitar passage towards the end. The epic "Sacificed Sons" deals with the 9/11 tragedy. After starting off smoothly the song builds up to typical DT characteristics. The title track is a 24 minute epic starting off with only keyboards and guitar. This intro sounds like Pink Floyd, later like Yes. LaBrie comes in at 5+ minutes and the song enters an instrumental pre-climax at 12+ minutes. We hear - among other things - (early)Genesis/Marillion-like keyboard passages and later, after further vocal parts, Zappa-influenced instrumental exercises. This piece of work grows on every listening and - although it after a mere 5 listenings may not appear very compact - is an all time DT's epic classic candidate.

As with any DT album, the musicianship amazes. The musical style and songs on some DT records has left James LaBrie somewhat unconfortable, but on this record his versatility has to be appreciated in a big way.
Despite my one ore two worries during the first playback of this CD I feel now that this is an essential piece of work by DT. If you are new to Dream Theater, the musical diversity makes this CD a good introduction of the band alongside with "Images and Words", which may require less listenings for full appreciation.