Random Song: Dream Theater-Octavarium

[Mosh]

I had a hard time deciding a good song to post so I decided to go with this masterpiece. It probably would qualify as my favorite song of all time. Everything is in there, there isn't anything I could think of that would make it any better. There are few songs that are like that for me. I like how each movement is constructed so that it fits the "Everything ends where it begins" concept. I like the Pink Floyd inspired intro and how it builds up and then comes back down for Someone like Him. I like how stripped down the atmosphere is then. And how it's really just a 12 string guitar and James' vocals. And then going into Medicate, that bass line is one of the highlights of the song. I love the chorus to that along with the way the guitar interplays with the Piano which is also interplaying with the vocals. And how it builds up to Full Circle.  I love the lyrics in Full Circle, and how they are sung, and the instrumental in between full circle and Intervals is insane. Mike Portnoy's drum beat switching from 4/4 to 7/4 is crazy, I like how it feels crazy but still manages to keep the beat with the guitar and keyboard. I like how Intervals is just this climatic buildup using the scale degrees. The guitar solo at the end of the song is absolutely beautiful too. This song just gets better for me every time. Amazing. 10/10 without question.

 

[Jupz]

10/10, its in my top 30 songs of all-time, although I think ACOS is better. Excellent description Mosh, you pretty much said it all. The intro is beautiful and chilling, the vocal melodies are amazing, great lyrics and instrumental sections and fantastic climaxes. Great choice of song!

Next poster can choose song of the day.

 

[The Flash]

One of my favorite Dream Theater songs, I'd put it in my Top 5.

I love the Floydian intro, fantastic section, highly intriguing. Good vocals, great instrumental parts and most importantly, perfect transitions. 10/10 for sure.

 

[mckindog]

This song is the equivalent of history lesson on the Second World War…
…as heard in a stuffy classroom, on a hard chair, under florescent lighting from a soft-spoken middle-age paunchy guy with a combover, too much nose hair and a limp voice that never gets above or below three.
In other words there is plenty of potentially interesting stuff going on, but it’s totally lost in the delivery.
I’m sorry. I think with repeated listenings, I might come to appreciate this song. I want to like Dream Theatre.
But it just hasn’t happened yet and I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever have enough time.
I mean, how do you write a 24-minute song without coming up with a single hook?
Full marks for creativity and inventiveness. Zero for emotional appeal. Five.

 

[Night Prowler]

Wow...24 minutes song...I'm gonna write as I listen:

Starts interesting...gets boring before it REALLY begins at around 4 minute mark...at 10 minute mark currently...very boring...14 minute mark...so boring...18 minute mark... ...overall very boring... 3/10 because production is nice and it's just boring, not irritating.

 

[Jupz]

I found the first 10 minutes fairly boring compared to the rest at first too, but now I love it. The intro is so spooky and chilling, its just wonderful. And then the rest of it is incredible. The build up at the end which reaches "Trapped inside this Octavarium" is my favourite 60 secs of music ever!

 

[Mosh]

I'd say it grows over time, but it was instant love for me. The first few minutes are setting a mood. Sure Someone Like Him might come off as boring but Medicate is when it gets very good. I guess it just isn't for you.

 

[Dr. Eddies Wingman]

Full marks for creativity and inventiveness. Zero for emotional appeal. Five.

Full marks? No, the intro is ripped from Pink Floyd 

I really like it, but there are some parts that feel more or less like "transportation stages". There are plenty of good musical ideas put into the song, but all in all it fails to totally blow me away. 8/10.

 

[Mosh]

Full marks? No, the intro is ripped from Pink Floyd 

I wouldn't say ripped. More inspired. I think that's also part of the reason why I love this song so much. PF serves as a huge inspiration, and they were the first prog band I really got into.

 

[Cornfed Hick]

production is nice and it's just boring, not irritating.

You've just described Dream Theater in a nutshell, IMHO.  This song is decent, but not spectacular.  A poor man's Pink Floyd.  6/10

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

10/10. Or: since I posted that Paschenfuckingdale is actually at 57/10, then this song is comparably 89/10.

I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the closing section yet: Razor's Edge and John Petrucci's epic closing guitar solo. I hate to sound elitist, but anyone who gets bored by that simply can't appreciate grandeur in music.

 

[Mosh]

I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the closing section yet: Razor's Edge and John Petrucci's epic closing guitar solo. I hate to sound elitist, but anyone who gets bored by that simply can't appreciate grandeur in music.

The guitar solo at the end of the song is absolutely beautiful too

 

[Jupz]

Yeah, that is definitely one of my favourite moments I actually prefer The Count of Tuscany ending solo though, tbh.

 

[Mosh]

It's too much like the solo at the beginning though.

 

[Cornfed Hick]

I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the closing section yet: Razor's Edge and John Petrucci's epic closing guitar solo. I hate to sound elitist, but anyone who gets bored by that simply can't appreciate grandeur in music.

I respect SMX's opinion, so I went back and listed to that part again.  It certainly attempts grandeur, but I don't think it gets there.  Lots of crescendos, and some excellent playing technically, but for whatever reason, I just didn't get the sense that I was hearing genius at work.  Bear in mind, I reserve 10s for stuff like Comfortably Numb, which achieves grandeur (now THAT's a solo) without appearing to try too hard.  Dream Theater too often seems to do the opposite.  I won't pretend to know the band well (I don't know the name of the bass player  ) but I did pick up a couple of their albums in an attempt to like them, and they kind of leave me cold.  I give them credit for trying though, and from me, a 6 out of 10 for this song -- maybe it deserves a 7 -- is a decent grade.  But, among the 20-minute Dream Theater epics, I like A Change of Seasons better than this one. 

 

[Jupz]

I find the ending took the longest to grow on me out of any parts of the song, even the start

 

[Mosh]

Yea me too. The first few times listening I always thought about listening to something else by the time Intervals was over. But it eventually grew on me.

 

[SinisterMinisterX]

I find the ending took the longest to grow on me out of any parts of the song, even the start

That may be true for many ... it's such a long song that you have to absorb the first 20 minutes first. Get it in your head so it doesn't surprise you anymore, and then you have room in your brain to notice the spectacular ending.

Also, many people who aren't used to digesting 20+ minute epics simply don't have the attention span to handle a song like Octavarium. That's not an insult; since most songs are short, the ability to fully appreciate epics on first listen takes time to develop, and most people don't do it. The average brain is simply fatigued by the time Razor's Edge starts, and can no longer properly process it.

I recall that for a long time, I focused on Medicate and (especially!) the following keyboard solo as the high points ... once my brain was accustomed to those, it was the inst section after Full Circle that got me ... eventually, I got the whole song in my head.

 

[Night Prowler]

Also, many people who aren't used to digesting 20+ minute epics simply don't have the attention span to handle a song like Octavarium.

Yeah, I'm not a prog rock/metal fan, and I like maybe 2-3 songs longer than 15 minutes...

 

[Mosh]

Also, many people who aren't used to digesting 20+ minute epics simply don't have the attention span to handle a song like Octavarium. That's not an insult; since most songs are short, the ability to fully appreciate epics on first listen takes time to develop, and most people don't do it.

This is so true. I remember not being able to take anything over 5 minutes. Now whenever I buy a DT album, anything under 9 minutes to me is a "short song". To me it also depends on how many changes there are and how much different stuff is going on in a song. Starblind feels like a longer song to me than Isle of Avalon, for example.