Train of Thought

Dream Theater | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra
• ASIN: B0000CDLA7
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (808 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,088 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #29 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Progressive Metal
  • #70 in Music > Rock > Rock Guitarists

Editorial Reviews

Asia exclusive limited edition pressing of the Long Island-based heavy metal quintet's 2003 album features 7 tracks including a bonus live CD with seven tracks, 'Overture 1928', 'Strange Deja Vu', 'Home', 'The Spirit Carries On', 'Just Let Me Breathe', 'Acid Rain', & 'Caught In a New Millennium'. WEA. 2004. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dream Theater's heaviest album, June 8, 2004

By 

Justin Gaines (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Train of Thought (Audio CD)

I should probably preface this review by stating that Dream Theater is far and away my favorite band, so my review of their latest album might be a bit biased. Still, that doesn't change the fact that Train of Thought is one of the best albums I've heard in quite some time.

Clocking in at 7 tracks in just under 70 minutes, Train of Thought is a leaner offering than the band's previous release, the mammoth Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. It's also heavier, more focused, more song-oriented, and more powerful overall than Six Degrees, which at times came across as a just a showcase for the band's considerable technical prowess. Train of Thought still has plenty of excellent instrumental passages (like the brilliant instrumental track "Stream of Consciousness"), and is still very much a progressive album; it's just that the instrumentals seem to merge better with the vocals to make each song more dynamic and effective. Each band member is clearly in top form on this release, and it's obvious that they all have continued to grow their talents over time. The band also seems to focus on the more metallic aspects of progressive metal with this album, which may be their heaviest release ever. Dream Theater had been performing covers of albums like Master of Puppets (Metallica) and The Number of the Beast (Iron Maiden) on some of their recent live shows, and you can hear that classic metal influence quite clearly in Train of Thought.

Overall I'm quite pleased with this album. It's heavy, progressive, powerful, and may just be Dream Theater's best album since Change of Seasons. I would particularly recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Images and Words and Awake, but might have been put off a bit by the highly technical and progressive nature of the band's last two releases.

NOTE ON THE KOREAN EDITION: This is just a heads-up to all of the die-hard Dream Theater fans. The bonus disc that comes with this Korean exclusive edition of Train of Thought is taken directly from Dream Theater's last live release - Live Scenes from New York. There is nothing in this edition that you haven't already heard. It does come in a pretty cool double jewel case with a slipcase, but fancy packaging is not nearly enough to make it worth the hefty price tag this edition carries. I found this out the hard way. By the way, I reviewed the regular edition of Train of Thought and gave it a full 5-star rating. This one is rated low because it seems like a rip-off.

196 of 233 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's OK. No, It Stinks! No It's Good. No It's Great!!!!, April 25, 2004

By 

Mr D. "Artist/Designer/Kibitzer" (Cave Creek, Az United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Train of Thought (Audio CD)

My bemused friends. This is the 516th review of this album and of the previous 515 reviews none are truly helpful. Therfore, after reading numerous of these reviews, I am going to analyze their findings and make recommendations accordingly.

The reason for the wildly varying opinions of Train of Thought, is because with this CD, Dream Theater is entering a new phase on their musical evolution. They have prudently and rightly ascertained that to keep recording, what is basically the same material, is effectively a death sentence.

So, What do we have here? Well it looks like about 20 % of the reviewers (one and two stars) who professed to be die hard fans were shocked by the new Dream Theater and subsequently hated TOT. Obviously if you as a potential buyer are dogmatic and are looking for the same old (but still very good) sound, you shouldn't buy TOT.

The next group we have (Three stars) is the ones who don't know what to make of TOT. They don't seem to rushing to judgement (though they've written reviews) and are somewhat ambivalent. About 15% of our reviewers felt this way and I was one of these people at first but after multiple listens became a fan. That's right, I think TOT takes multiple listens to appreciate but let's face it isn't DT worth multiple listens. What else are we going to listen to, Beyonce? So if you are this kind of person, you should go ahead and buy TOT. Worse case, it won't grow on you and you end up with a mediocre album but the upside is worth it.

Next (four stars) at about 25% is the group that appreciates TOT and DT's latest endeavor and their need to experiment and grow and voice opinions that although TOT is not DT's best or second best or even third best album it is a very good album in it's own right. Again if I may be redundant, what are your options, Janet Jackson? OOPS!

Lastly of course we have the true die hard DT fans (five stars), about 40%, who think TOT is great, one of their best and can't for the life of them, understand how anyone could not love this album and say so in their reviews. I kinda side with them but I can understand where the other groups are coming from. I guess I'm in between groups three and four at about 4 1/2 stars.

SUMMARY:

If you like the old Dream Theater just fine, thank you, and do not wish to experiment on a newer and slightly heavier DT - PASS

If you are not as rigid but think you may like the old DT better - IT'S YOR CALL, it's still Dream Theater!

If you are flexible and open to new stuff, especially from DT - ABSOLUTELY!

If you are an extreme, die hard Dream Theater fan. You probably have it already.

MY BOTTOM LINE:

Dream Theater is the most visable, most revered and best known of all PROG ROCK/METAL bands. By being the number one progressive band in the world they have been anointed to carry the torch through the dark passages of mundane popular music. Though they are not my personal favorite Progressive band, I do love them and feel for them as they carry a heavy burden. Long Live Dream Theater. You may not like the alternative.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly strong overall, but not their best., December 6, 2003

By 

Dan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Train of Thought (Audio CD)

Dream Theater's new album is definitely their heaviest since "Awake", if not ever. It's mostly good, and I like it better than their last album, "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence". It's less experimental, and a more straight-forward sounding metal album. Though this does have the odd time signatures and crazy instrumental sections we've come to expect from Dream Theater.

"As I Am" is a catchy, fairly simple metal song, with a main riff that sounds a bit like Metallica's "Enter Sandman". It grew on me, but it's probably the weakest song on the album, and the solo adds nothing to it really, in my opinion. "This Dying Soul" is much better. Heavy, 7 String guitar riffs drive it, much like it's predecessor, "The Glass Prison". "Endless Sacrifice" has some beautiful melodies in the verse, and a loud, Pantera-esque chorus. The instrumental section is also the best on the album, reminding me of "Awake" and "Change of Seasons" (That's a good thing, as I prefer the older albums by far to the newer ones.) "Honor Thy Father" isn't bad, the chorus has a badass, Black Label Society-ish metal riff that I like. "Vacant" is beautiful, and it leads into the instrumental "Stream of Conciousness", which is pretty awesome as well. The main riff somewhat brings to mind "Orion" by Metallica. This is the longest and one of the more complex DT instrumentals, featuring loads of time changes and key changes, and lots of soloing. "In The Name of God" is the 14 minute epic that closes the album, and it's a great song. There's a good mix of good melodies and heavy riffs, and the instrumental section has some pretty sick playing by everyone. The piano outro is pretty nice too.

There's pros and cons to the heavier, more aggressive sound on this album. There's definitely a lack of great melodies, especially during the instrumental sections, which instead of interesting melodic lines, they are pretty much just going up and down scales. At ridiculous speeds, no doubt, but it's just not as interesting, at least not to me. Also, John Petrucci used to be able to balance shredding with great melodies and compose some amazing solos ("Under a Glass Moon" for example, or "Scarred".) Here, he mainly just shreds, which is cool, but limiting.

On the other hand, the aggressive sound is pretty cool. A lot of the riffs are quite awesome. "This Dying Soul", "Honor Thy Father" and "In The Name of God" all have some ass-kicking heavy riffs, reminiscent of Pantera or early Metallica...A cool thing, in my book.

The only lyrics that really impressed me on here were John Petrucci's "Endless Sacrifice", which describes well the pain of a rockstar living away from his family. Along with the nice melody in the verse and the cool Maiden-esque part at the end, it's very touching. "Vacant" is also moving put together with the music.

So, it's not nearly my favorite DT album (that would be "Images and Words" and "Awake"), but it's definitely worth buying if you're a fan. I wouldn't really recommend starting with this album though, check out the aforementioned two first.