Thursday, March 1, 2007

Wow, my very own myOtaku account.
Oh, mommy, it's just what I always wanted! So, i've got a myOtaku account. but what to do with it? Should I shamelessly promote my review site?

www.geocities.com/metalsonic700/digitalboyreviews.html

Should I talk about my life?

... what? You expected an example?

Or should I use it to post the reviews I write on my brothers computer since I can't access freewebs... nah, that's almost going too far...
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Dream Theater - Train of Thought

Dream Theater, commonly considered the pioneers of progressive metal, bring the thunder in their seventh and heaviest release, Train of Thought. The word of the day here is: epic.

For those who don't know, Dream Theater is one of the oldest and most successful progressive metal bands. For the most part, their style is classic eighties stye progressive rock powered up with heavier instrumentality. Train of Thought amplifies that heaviness tenfold.

There are seven tracks on Train of Thought and each is unique in it's own way. Most range in the 10-12 minute range, one being slightly shorter and another being downright brief.

The album opens up with As I Am, an anthem-style track featuring a gritty heavy metal sound. As I Am is a head-banging good time and features a high-speed solo in the center. Overall, it comes across almost as your average metal song.

You can kiss that normalcy goodbye at the start of the 11-minute second track, This Dying Soul (considered by many fans to be the best track on the album.) It opens heavily and quickly leads into a massive and well-performed solo that is sure to stick in memory. The vocalism begins lightly then grown in anger as the song progresses. Like many songs of this type, the song comes in multiple parts, the first being about 6 minutes following a regular song structure, and after a musical interlude, the structure is switched. The interior of the song is made up of long and technical riffs coupled with heavy metal throbbing and piano-working. It ends with another big solo.

Next is 11-minute epic Endless Sacrifice. More relaxed in the verses, picking up in the chorus, the song explores many avenues of the heaviness spectrum. It's filled with cool riffs and some excellent drum work. Around 5 minutes in the song kicks into a massive solo with some great unique elements. Afterwards it climaxes wonderfully and finally fades out into...

Honor Thy Father, another 10-minute track, takes my vote for the best on Train of Thought. It's brutal, visceral, full of rage, and powerful all the way through. Around halfway through the song there is a part where climbing guitars and keyboard play for several minutes under recorded lines from a movie coinciding with the story of the song. Afterwards is a keyboard-heavy solo in odd time signatures followed by another awesome climax.

After that is a 3-minute ballad called Vacant. Essentially, it consists of soft violins and piano playing in the background of James LaBrie's somber, poetic lyrical performance.

Vacant leads into the 11-minute non-vocal masterpiece Stream of Consciousness. To describe it easily would be to imagine it as a long, heavy version of YYZ by Rush. I won't spoil it beyond that.

The finale is In The Name Of God, coming in at a towering 14 minutes. This song is the meaning of the word epic. It starts of with a calm riff and snowballs into a massive, exciting piece which peaks on explodes on every chorus delivery. After driving ever upward through brilliant music and passionate verses, the song peaks in a hymn-accompanied symphonic overload of climatic energy before closing off in a fading guitar melody.

The lyrics set to Train of Thought cover all sorts of areas, from self-identity to breaking alcohol addiction, and even getting even with your stepfather. There's also the disgust of religious followings and persecutions.

It doesn't matter if your a fan of metal from any era, any sort of progressive rock, or just a fan of music in general; everyone can find something to love in Train of Thought.

OVERALL: 9.1

TRACKS:

1. As I Am - 7:47 --- 9/10
2. This Dying Soul - 11:27 --- 9/10
3. Endless Sacrifice - 11:24 --- 9.5/10
4. Honor Thy Father - 10:14 --- 10/10
5. Vacant - 2:57 --- 8/10
6. Stream of Consciousness - 11:16 --- 9/10
7. In The Name of God - 14:14 --- 9.5/10

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Or, I could just talk about random stuff. Yeah, whatever.