November 11, 2003 - Train Of Thought

A week after my last release and nearly two years since "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence", Dream Theater released their seventh album "Train Of Thought" on November 11, 2003. Mike Portnoy said that due to the positive live response of their heavier songs he wanted to make this album as dark and heavy as possible. I definitely like the sound of that! It's still very progressive with 5 songs over the 10 minute mark. Let's check out the latest from Dream Theater!

The album kicks off with "As I Am" and they do a great job with this super slow opening as Portnoy plays some epic drums and John Petrucci enters with a slow, but super loud and heavy guitar riff. Things build and build until they shift nicely into a faster version of this same riff as John Myung plays some nice faster bass in the background and Jordan Rudess echoes Petrucci with some epic keyboards. James LaBrie finally joins the mix over a minute and a half in and he sounds like his typical self, sounding pretty solid singing in his high voice along to the catchy metal riff. He tries to go low at a couple points, but his lower voice sounds almost comical and reminds me of Dave Mustaine (which is not a good thing by any means). The chorus hits nice and hard and LaBrie sounds solid here overtop a slightly simpler but still cool chorus riff. After another solid round they set the stage nicely for solo time and Petrucci does not disappoint with one freaking amazing guitar solo! It has some insane Shredding at several parts and sounds amazing the whole way through! The solo moves into a series of epic drum fills by Portnoy and each one of them is absolutely phenomenal as he really shows off his talents here! They end the song with a final chorus and a fairly typical fadeout, but I thought this was a pretty wicked way to kick off the album! Up next is "This Dying Soul", the second song in Portnoy's twelve step suite and a continuation of the great song "The Glass Prison" from their last album. They jump right into a pretty heavy backdrop with some nice fast drums before Petrucci takes over with some cool stop-and-start guitars. This leads to an early guitar solo and Petrucci just shreds the living shit out of it before segueing very nicely into a cool new riff with some more great guitar leading the way, Hut Myung's bass is great in the background as well! Then it's Rudess's turn with a shredding keyboard solo that sounds pretty freaking sweet! From here they move very smoothly into the quiet first verse and LaBrie nicely sings some lyrics that were in the first step as well! The guitars sound epic and great as LaBrie leads a pretty solid verse and this moves smoothly once again into a similar and catchy chorus. They return to the cool stop-and-start riff with LaBrie singing a fast verse to nicely match this riff and they continue to Segue very smoothly from one riff to the next and they're all pretty good! This includes a nice part where Rudess takes over on piano and eventually they ramp into a faster riff with some great guitar leading the way and this new verse sounds pretty cool as well! There's so many different parts in this eleven and a half minute song, but the preface to the solo is pretty awesome on it's own, then Rudess fires off with another wicked keyboard solo! Then it's time for Petrucci to really let loose with another unbelievably fast shredding solo! After that awesomeness we're assaulted with a dual solo as the guitars and keyboards are simultaneously shredding our faces off! Words do absolutely no justice; it's just absolutely amazing! What a phenomenal last few minutes to this pretty freaking wicked song! Track 3 is "Endless Sacrifice" and Petrucci leads the way with a softer but cool guitar riff that everyone else builds nicely around, including some epic keyboards by Rudess. LaBrie sings a slow verse to nolocely match the mood and Rudess switches to some cool piano in the verse. They snap into a heavier chorus with some nice guitars by Petrucci and Rudess returns with more epic keyboards. After another long, slow round they move nicely into a new part with some cool stop-and-start guitars and Petrucci and Rudess play off each other wonderfully in this part. Rudess kicks off solo time with a mish-mash of different keyboards that sounds really fresh and cool, then he and Petrucci trade several pretty awesome solos back and forth. Words could never do justice, just too much terrific stuff happening to describe it all, it's a pretty phenomenal lengthy instrumental part! Eventually LaBrie does come back and it's a pretty solid finish with a headbanging final round and a metal flourish to close it out that includes all kinds of awesome drums by Portnoy. It started slow, but by the end this was a pretty wicked song! The next track is another lengthy one called "Honor Thy Father" and Portnoy continues his flourish with some great drums to kick off this one before Petrucci and Myung slam in with some super low, super heavy guitars and bass and things sound pretty sweet right from the get-go! Things quiet down as the verse begins and LaBrie sings quietly at first, but then he and the music get louder and it all sounds pretty good here too! The chorus is heavy and super distorted and LaBrie sounds pretty solid in this cool chorus as well! After another great round, "don't cross the crooked step!" and things shift to a cool heavy new riff with some ominous talking overtop. The talking part isn't the best, but the following keyboard solo is a Long one from Rudess! The first half is good but less exciting, but once the backdrop turns heavy he plays a much better solo. It leads right into a final chorus and they jam it out nicely to the finish. Track 5 is by far the shortest on the album at just under three minutes and is called "Vacant". Petrucci plays a solw, light guitar riff with Rudess adding some even slower piano, then we're hit with the guest cello and it sounds pretty epic in this dark, gloomy mood. LaBrie sings a soft verse overtop that isn't my favourite, but I do like the cello, piano and guitar combining for a pretty epic riff. An interesting little experiment! Up next is "Stream Of Consciousness" and it's an eleven-plus minute instrumental song! Petrucci leads the way with a solid guitar riff and the rest of the band nicely backs him in this main riff that is slightly tame but still cool. Rudess spices things up with some cool keyboards, then they shift nicely to a new riff where Myung and Portnoy set the stage for solo time. Short guitar and keyboard solos follow, along with some great drum fills by Portnoy, then Petrucci and Rudess sync up for a cool harmonized riff. This is followed by more solo time and Petrucci shreds this one very nicely, and Rudess's following keyboard solo is very long and pretty freaking sweet! Myung shows off a little with a cool bass riff that takes us in a New directionz but this latest riff is pretty long and easily the least exciting part of the song. Rudess spices things up again with a cool keyboard solo, then it's Petrucci's turn for his final guitar solo. They end it ona bit of a dull note as well and while there was lots of great soloing throughout this song it also had it's down moments. The final track on the album is the fourteen-plus minute "In The Name Of God" and Petrucci starts us off with a slow guitar riff that sounds decently epic. They suddenly slam into a much heavier and pretty epic riff and this leads nicely into a cool chugging riff for the verse as LaBrie comes in and sounds solid holding some longer notes. LaBrie sings a loud chorus overtop another epic guitar riff and they jam out a few of these verses/choruses before things take a dark and quiet turn. Portnoy plays some cool drums, Myung keeps the pace with some super low bass and Rudess plays some haunting piano that all mixes for a cool new riff. Petrucci enters with some loud and epic guitar and LaBrie sings a cool new verse as well as they show off their progressiveness! After this cool part Petrucci starts to tear it up with some pretty cool guitar and Rudess and Portnoy are playing some pretty cool stuff as well! This all sounds great and it sets the stage for something even better! The next part is indescribable with words, it's some absolutely fucking insane shredding overtop this Groovy and cool bass riff by Myung! Rudess is up next and he too blows your mind with some more incredible shredding! It's such a fantastic and lengthy solo and they segue beautifully back into the chugging riff from the beginning. After several epic drum fills by Portnoy they play a final verse and chorus before LaBrie goes for some really high notes in his closing verse! They jam out the ending for a bit but Rudess keeps it interesting with some pretty cool piano and he takes us smoothly in for the landing to a pretty awesome and epic closer!

That is the end of "Train Of Thought" and I thought it was a pretty sweet album by the prog-metal masters! Four out of the seven songs were absolutely amazing, and the other three were good for sure as well! I love how heavy they get at times on this album and as usual everyone is at the Top of their game, even James LaBrie sounded solid for the most part! I think it's easily better than their previous album in My opinion and while it's really, really close, I give the nod to this album over "Images And Words" as well! I don't think it surpasses my favourite Dream Theater album "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory", but 2nd place for these guys is a pretty high bar! Will they keep up the heaviness on the next album?