Odaton
06-02-2005, 03:36 AM
Yep, the album leaked last week, and with my dial-up connection I found it through a torrent and finally got it on Monday, and finally I've digested it enough to really give a decent overview of the album:
1. The Root of All Evil (8:39) - The next song in Mike Portnoy's AA (Alcohols Anonymous) saga based on a character battling alcoholism. Starting with atmospheric sounds, the guitar riff that started "This Dying Soul" is used by the drums to kick off this heavy song. It still has some more melodic sections in it (the great piano at the end) but overall its a great metal track in the ToT-style but overall much better than those metal songs. Also, great guitar solo by JP in this one, props! (10/10)
2. The Answer Lies Within (5:19) - Haunting piano opens up this track, and there is some great mellow singing by James LaBrie. One thing I notice on this CD is the slightly unorthodox chord progressions in many songs which makes this one unique despite its very conventional structure. Acoustic/clean guitar and strings are a great touch to this track too. (9/10)
3. These Walls (7:36) - The extremely catchy chorus with an amazing synth line from Jordan Rudess is the centrepiece of this song, as well as some cool sounds from his new Continuum. Also, Mike Portnoy's grooves on the hi-hat and double bass rolls are some of his best stuff!
Again cool mellow guitar sounds from Petrucci in the mellow verses, and nice melodic guitar solo in the bridge...let's not forget John Myung, his bass work is really nice on this track too, he is really turned up in the mix. This is their first single off of the album and I think that if promoted enough could be a big hit on mainstream rock radio. (10/10)
4. I Walk Beside You (4:29) - What? A DT track this short! Yes, unheard of, and a very commercial sound on this track that just screams U2, especially "When The Streets Have No Name" in the chorus. It works really well though! Again, JP has some really cool clean/slightly distorted guitar work, nice background work on synth/piano by Jordan Rudess, grooving Portnoy beats are a nice surprise on this album as he is much more restrained...everybody does a great job here. Nice vocal harmonies! (9/10)
5. Panic Attack (8:13) - The other highly touted track in the promo single versions and it has a very aggressive ToT metal vibe too it. Myung has a cool little bass intro before the madness begins with drop C metal like much of Train of Thought was. Rudess has some great organ sounds which work great with the heavy guitars, and some cool choir sounds leading back to the verse. Petrucci/Rudess trade off solos and they both are great! Killer tune! (10/10)
6. Never Enough (6:46) - Fast bassy synth leads into one of the catchiest DT-riffs of all time. The verse has a cool drum groove and interesting singing by LaBrie, where he slightly bends his pitch flat to make him sound "tortured". A great Jordan Rudess synth leads into a great DT solo section with some awesome riffs and development. No real solos here, just real grooving riffs that mutate into others and make a great climax! Amazing song! (9.5/10)
7. Sacrificed Sons (10:42) - The first of the epics on the disc begins with eerie bass synth and sound effects, with soundclips of people speaking in Arabic and newsreporters talking about Terrorism, 9/11, and the War in Iraq. I give DT great respect here as they present a really emotional song criticizing the War in Iraq, with the Sacrificed Sons being the men lost in the War that was "a mistake". It starts out with haunting piano and emotional singing and epic chorus which leads to a heavy instrumental section around 4:30 into the song. Some awesome soloing here by Rudess, and some great Satriani-esque sound effects in Petrucci's solos! They are in top form here! With some orchestra they build the song to an amazing ending! (10/10)
8. Octavarium (24:00) - The first 3:30 is some great atmospheric sounds by Jordan Rudess's new Continuum, which leads into one of the best DT songs ever! The opening riff cuts in and fades down to the theme of the piece, an breathtaking flute solo that leads to eerie acoustic guitar work and amazing singing by LaBrie. As it works toward the 10 minute mark, it keeps building up and gets more upbeat and optimistic, amazing work! Sounds a lot like Transatlantic here. At around 8:45, there is a great bass solo/groove that continues to lead the song to a great build up. Again, amazing bass work by Myung on this album, may be his best. By 10 minutes, it sounds a lot like Transatlantic....very melodic in the realm of classic rock. Around 12:15, Rudess gives us a stunning Moog organ solo that makes it sound like Rick Wakeman with Metallica. Again it changes at 14:00 to a great vocal part with organ, nice call and response singing here! By 16:00, it launches into an INSANE instrumental part that is comparable in awesomeness to the Metropolis/A Change of Seasons instrumental sections, even sounding a bit like Symphony X! From 19:00-20:00, it builds up to a heavy parts like on Tool's Third Eye, and Labrie screams "Trapped inside this Octavarium" as the orchestra comes in and finishes off the piece with an amazing epic feeling. There is an amazing 2 min. guitar solo that is some of JP's best work. It dies down and ends with the Flute playing its solo in the background. (11!/10)
Overall, I think we have a new album of the year, and besting the Mars Volta's latest masterpiece is in my eyes no small accomplishment! To be honest, there is no bad or even one that is less than "great", all amazing. It has an amazing mix of metal (not as much as on Train of Thought), pure prog rock (think Yes and Transatlantic), and more commercial rock in the vein of Coldplay and U2. I think that on here each member gives some of their best performances of their career, particularly Jordan Rudess, who dominates this album and shows his extreme versatility in his sounds and a tastefulness in his playing that has really shown on this album. One other thing to especially note is John Petrucci's playing on the disc, its probably his most versatile performance, using many sounds (a fair amount of acoustic). Unlike much of his Train of Thought and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence solos, he shows much more heart and inspiration here...probably his best guitar performance since 94's Awake. Yes, although they are my favourite band I never thought they produced a true masterpiece after Kevin Moore left the band, as they turned to either a too commercial/unadventurous style (Falling Into Infinity) or adventurous but not as tight or as creative as their previous releases (Scenes From A Memory, Six Degrees, ToT). Its safe to say this is truly a masterpiece.
1. The Root of All Evil (8:39) - The next song in Mike Portnoy's AA (Alcohols Anonymous) saga based on a character battling alcoholism. Starting with atmospheric sounds, the guitar riff that started "This Dying Soul" is used by the drums to kick off this heavy song. It still has some more melodic sections in it (the great piano at the end) but overall its a great metal track in the ToT-style but overall much better than those metal songs. Also, great guitar solo by JP in this one, props! (10/10)
2. The Answer Lies Within (5:19) - Haunting piano opens up this track, and there is some great mellow singing by James LaBrie. One thing I notice on this CD is the slightly unorthodox chord progressions in many songs which makes this one unique despite its very conventional structure. Acoustic/clean guitar and strings are a great touch to this track too. (9/10)
3. These Walls (7:36) - The extremely catchy chorus with an amazing synth line from Jordan Rudess is the centrepiece of this song, as well as some cool sounds from his new Continuum. Also, Mike Portnoy's grooves on the hi-hat and double bass rolls are some of his best stuff!
Again cool mellow guitar sounds from Petrucci in the mellow verses, and nice melodic guitar solo in the bridge...let's not forget John Myung, his bass work is really nice on this track too, he is really turned up in the mix. This is their first single off of the album and I think that if promoted enough could be a big hit on mainstream rock radio. (10/10)
4. I Walk Beside You (4:29) - What? A DT track this short! Yes, unheard of, and a very commercial sound on this track that just screams U2, especially "When The Streets Have No Name" in the chorus. It works really well though! Again, JP has some really cool clean/slightly distorted guitar work, nice background work on synth/piano by Jordan Rudess, grooving Portnoy beats are a nice surprise on this album as he is much more restrained...everybody does a great job here. Nice vocal harmonies! (9/10)
5. Panic Attack (8:13) - The other highly touted track in the promo single versions and it has a very aggressive ToT metal vibe too it. Myung has a cool little bass intro before the madness begins with drop C metal like much of Train of Thought was. Rudess has some great organ sounds which work great with the heavy guitars, and some cool choir sounds leading back to the verse. Petrucci/Rudess trade off solos and they both are great! Killer tune! (10/10)
6. Never Enough (6:46) - Fast bassy synth leads into one of the catchiest DT-riffs of all time. The verse has a cool drum groove and interesting singing by LaBrie, where he slightly bends his pitch flat to make him sound "tortured". A great Jordan Rudess synth leads into a great DT solo section with some awesome riffs and development. No real solos here, just real grooving riffs that mutate into others and make a great climax! Amazing song! (9.5/10)
7. Sacrificed Sons (10:42) - The first of the epics on the disc begins with eerie bass synth and sound effects, with soundclips of people speaking in Arabic and newsreporters talking about Terrorism, 9/11, and the War in Iraq. I give DT great respect here as they present a really emotional song criticizing the War in Iraq, with the Sacrificed Sons being the men lost in the War that was "a mistake". It starts out with haunting piano and emotional singing and epic chorus which leads to a heavy instrumental section around 4:30 into the song. Some awesome soloing here by Rudess, and some great Satriani-esque sound effects in Petrucci's solos! They are in top form here! With some orchestra they build the song to an amazing ending! (10/10)
8. Octavarium (24:00) - The first 3:30 is some great atmospheric sounds by Jordan Rudess's new Continuum, which leads into one of the best DT songs ever! The opening riff cuts in and fades down to the theme of the piece, an breathtaking flute solo that leads to eerie acoustic guitar work and amazing singing by LaBrie. As it works toward the 10 minute mark, it keeps building up and gets more upbeat and optimistic, amazing work! Sounds a lot like Transatlantic here. At around 8:45, there is a great bass solo/groove that continues to lead the song to a great build up. Again, amazing bass work by Myung on this album, may be his best. By 10 minutes, it sounds a lot like Transatlantic....very melodic in the realm of classic rock. Around 12:15, Rudess gives us a stunning Moog organ solo that makes it sound like Rick Wakeman with Metallica. Again it changes at 14:00 to a great vocal part with organ, nice call and response singing here! By 16:00, it launches into an INSANE instrumental part that is comparable in awesomeness to the Metropolis/A Change of Seasons instrumental sections, even sounding a bit like Symphony X! From 19:00-20:00, it builds up to a heavy parts like on Tool's Third Eye, and Labrie screams "Trapped inside this Octavarium" as the orchestra comes in and finishes off the piece with an amazing epic feeling. There is an amazing 2 min. guitar solo that is some of JP's best work. It dies down and ends with the Flute playing its solo in the background. (11!/10)
Overall, I think we have a new album of the year, and besting the Mars Volta's latest masterpiece is in my eyes no small accomplishment! To be honest, there is no bad or even one that is less than "great", all amazing. It has an amazing mix of metal (not as much as on Train of Thought), pure prog rock (think Yes and Transatlantic), and more commercial rock in the vein of Coldplay and U2. I think that on here each member gives some of their best performances of their career, particularly Jordan Rudess, who dominates this album and shows his extreme versatility in his sounds and a tastefulness in his playing that has really shown on this album. One other thing to especially note is John Petrucci's playing on the disc, its probably his most versatile performance, using many sounds (a fair amount of acoustic). Unlike much of his Train of Thought and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence solos, he shows much more heart and inspiration here...probably his best guitar performance since 94's Awake. Yes, although they are my favourite band I never thought they produced a true masterpiece after Kevin Moore left the band, as they turned to either a too commercial/unadventurous style (Falling Into Infinity) or adventurous but not as tight or as creative as their previous releases (Scenes From A Memory, Six Degrees, ToT). Its safe to say this is truly a masterpiece.