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Rating:
8.5 |
Dream Theater - Train Of Thought
11 November 2003
01. As I Am
02. This Dying Soul
1 - Reflections of Reality (Revisited)
2 - Release
03. Endless Sacrifice
04. Honor Thy Father
05. Vacant
06. Stream Of Consciousness
07. In The Name Of God
You know, I fail to see what the problem is that everyone has with this album. Most people say that it is bad for one reason or other. For example, some might say that the fact they took two weeks to write all the music and lyrics somehow impacted on the sound. While under normal circumstances I might agree, however this is Dream Theater, they can do things like that and actually make it work. For the god's sake, the first track on Liquid Tension Experiment was just a huge improvised jam. Some might also say that Dream Theater don't do the whole angry/heavy thing well. Once more, I disagree, this album does well with both aspects.
The guitar for this album is quite good. The opening riffs to "As I Am" and "Honor Thy Father" are particularly heavy compared to their past work. The solos are insane, especially on the ending track "In The Name Of God" which is incredibly fast and is played with a nice, solid Latin rhythm behind it. The vocal work is also great of course, because Labrie's fantastic voice never fails to captivate the audience. One thing that IS sort of annoying about the vocal aspect, however, is the fact that he uses megaphones and various vocal effects, which interferes with the pureness of his voice. The master Mike Portnoy of course delivers with memorable fills and cymbal work. Once more, the song "Honor Thy father" is opened up with a really aggressive fill. The keys follow a unique little pattern of synthesising through a rhythm and then Rudess and Petrucci switch off solos. Often one can not distinguish one instrument from another. Lastly, the bass lines in this album are good and tight, keeping the music together, doing it's job.
Lyrically this album covers a wide range of things. The opening "As I Am" covers the subject of people not being able to accept others for who they are, and I personally take a deep relation to this song, as I have personally had to deal with that in my lifetime. The lyrics to the song "Honor Thy Father" deal with the idea of an abusive and blameful father who can't take responsibility for his own actions. The song "Vacant" is about having to deal with the loss of a loved one. Lastly, the song "In The Name Of God" deals with the blind and foolish ideals behind organized religion and the corruption it retains. So you see, the lyrics to this album cover everything from personal struggle to religious ignorance. I love every word that is printed in the booklet.
This album, while not their greatest contribution, certainly isn't horrible. It's a worthy investment, and I would pick it up some time in the future were I the average Progressive Metal fan.
Album highlights: As I Am, Honor Thy Father, In The Name Of God.
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Performance:
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8 |
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Songwriting:
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10 |
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Originality:
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8 |
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Production:
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8 |
written by Arian Totalis | 12.08.2007 |
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Guest review byThe Silent Man
Rating:
6.5
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In my opinion, 2003 seems to have brought many albums with awful titles and covers. This release is just one of those. The gray eye at the end of tunnel might have been the ideal subject for Evergrey, but not for Dream Theater. The sticker on the cover quotes "The new progressive metal masterpiece", but it's hard to call it a masterpiece. But let's push play.
Read more ›› |
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| published 13.11.2003 | Comments (42)
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Comments
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| Well, not my favourite one indeed, though there are good songs anyway, especially the first 3 ones... 8 in songwriting too IMO |
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I know this may be controversial, but this probably my favourite DT album.
Good review. |
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| I love this album. Not my favourite but it's still filled with great songs. And I absolutely adore "stream of consciousness" |
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| I dont know... Not that I am some DT expert, but this album always was one of my favourites. |
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 Talvi - 29.08.2007 at 22:20
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| "Scenes from a memorie" and this album are my absolute favourites from DT |
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| Now I must say that this review of the album is much better than that other review. I must also express that this album is my favorite of Dream Theater. |
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Haha, I also prefer this review. The ability to make an album like this in 2-3 weeks shows of incredible skills and discipline. You can not compare it with concept albums like Scenes from a Memory, this is just a jam album for me. Every DT release is unique. And for a jam album, this is totally insane! How can you get some many ideas to riffs and melodies and express them and put them together in three weeks?
Great review and I agree a lot. The guitar solos on this album is the most over the top I've ever heard, they're just hilarious but it's just funny to listen to  |
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| Their heavy album is amazing, like most stuff they've released. It's probably my least favourite (except Falling Into Infinity and When Dream and Day Unite) but that doesn't say much since I'm such a big fan of this band. |
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Kanon - 17.03.2008 at 23:24
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| this is a great album, is really heavy and agressive, i like "As Iam", "This Dying soul( my favorite)" , "In the Name of God" and "Endless Sacriface" |
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| Dream Theater is one of the few bands who actually can master almost every aspect of a metal genre, though many people don't relate DT to heavy stuff and "dark" lyrics, I personally think they did a really good jobb with this album. It's heavy, but in DT way. |
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| Train of Tought one of my favorite ten albums!!!!!!!!!As i am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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| This album is one of my least favorite Dream Theater albums, though I still love it. It's a lot more metal than most other albums, which would appeal many non Dream Theater fans, but its still keeps on being Dream Theater. I love the fact that all of their albums are unique. |
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| Hmm, a strange album. The first time I heard I was absolutely struck down by it, it amazed me... a 10 I thought, but the more I've listened to it it has become boring. Maybe it's the lack of song structure? |
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