Train of Thought

Dream Theater

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 2003)
• Original Release Date: November 14, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Atlantic / Wea
• ASIN: B0000CDLA7
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (802 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,677 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

169 of 201 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 (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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 ambivilent. 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 annointed 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.

15 of 15 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

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.

46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Dream Theater Yet, November 11, 2003

By	SpikeMauler (New York) - See all my reviews

Let me start by saying I have every DT album and bootleg,and have seen them live numerous times.Most of the time it takes a few listens of the album to gauge it.After 20 or so listens(It's so good I can't stop listening)I've decided that this is their best work to date.Being a huge metal fan, I must say this is the album I've been waiting for since "AWAKE".This album has an in your face,take no prisoners vibe to it.From beginning to end it is a non stop roller coaster of brutal riffs,insane drums,keys and solos.The only breather here is the song "Vacant"which is a slow melodic track.There is no weak point on this album.So,if you like the metal side of DT most of you will love this.If not,don't rip them for being too heavy because it was DT's intent to produce a classic metal album,and that they have done,brilliantly.
"Don't Cross The Crooked Step"