Dream Theater

Octavarium (Atlantic)

Twenty years into its career, progressive-rock monstrosity Dream Theater continues to stick to its guns a fact that should please its legion of followers the world over. Long, epic tunes, sterling musicianship, weird, Pink Floyd-like sounds, and album covers that recall those great Hipgnosis-designed sleeves of the ‘70s, a la Floyd, Alan Parsons Project, et al., are the tools in the band’s shed. Octavarium has plenty of technically-impressive wanking, its fair share of 10-minute tunes, and Queensryche-ish shifts in meter. But there has been a conscious decision made to get to the point quicker on roughly half the tunes. A smart move, methinks. This is a record that will appeal to prog-rock fans, but it also reveals Dream Theater to be a band still on a very clear mission. (Oh, and skip track 2, ‘The Answer Lies Within’, a painfully overwrought ballad with cringe-inducing, Hallmark card-like lyrics.)

Rating: 3 out of 4 (Good)

—Jeff Miers