Octavarium is Dream Theater's most underrated album.

[Bacong]

[09:43:53] * @bacong np: Dream Theater - Octavarium (23:58) [Octavarium / 2005] (320)
[09:44:05] <@bacong> a lot of people don't fuckin LOEV this song and I don't know why
[09:44:33] <+sivril> i just listened to Score the nigh tbefore last at work
[09:44:43] <+sivril> first time listening to the ST track in a long time
[09:44:47] <+sivril> i love 8VM
[09:44:59] <+sivril> i forgot about the instrumental section of sacrificed sons too
[09:45:08] <+sivril> which is awesome
[09:45:26] <+sivril> then i had fucking these walls stuck in my head today at work too lol
[09:45:36] <+sivril> TROAE is a great song
[09:45:42] <@bacong> fuck yeah it is sivril
[09:45:49] <@bacong> these walls rules
[09:45:49] <+stroker> bacong np: aidsdia - the walls made of different
[09:45:50] <+sivril> they opened with that song 3 of the 5 times ive seen them live
[09:45:51] <+stroker> already opened the pool's heating unit, put your massive cock
[09:46:05] <@bacong> sivril
[09:46:13] <@bacong> all of sacrificed sons is awesome
[09:46:22] <@bacong> especially the riff coming out of the instrumental section
[09:46:28] <@bacong> for the verse
[09:46:32] <@bacong> shit RIDES
[09:46:35] <+sivril> yeah it is
[09:46:43] <+sivril> i really like SS
[09:47:02] <+sivril> but i love the instrumental so much im kinda bored thru the first couple verses
[09:47:06] <+sivril> waiting for the badass part
[09:47:06] <@bacong> bout to make an impassioned post on DTF about how Octavarium is their most underrated album
[09:47:24] <+sivril> i am stoked as fuck to see the astonishing tour
[09:47:28] <+sivril> been listening to a shitton of DT agian lately[09:47:28] <+stroker> and be like but she will not a shitton of blini for the band ghost?
[09:47:36] <+sivril> hahahahaha
[09:47:44] <+sivril> link it to me
[09:48:05] <+sivril> wow i haven't listened to the studio version of these walls in a fucking long time
[09:48:21] <+sivril> its good as fuck
[09:48:49] <@bacong> yeah dude

[Dulcinea]

sivril here, also vouching for 8VM as most underrated

[Bacong]

sivril here, also vouching for 8VM as most underrated

lol sup

[Bacong]

[09:59:01] <@bacong> sivril the last part of this song is GOAT
[09:59:09] <+sivril> yeah the last 10 min are fucking solid
[09:59:17] <@bacong> from the whole trapped inside part to the end
[09:59:24] <@bacong> razor's edge is a top 3 petrucci solo
[09:59:27] <+sivril> i like the crazy verses too
[09:59:33] <+sivril> oh fuck yeah that one is great

[Bacong]

JESUS CHRIST THIS UNISON IN OCTAVARIUM AT LIKE 16 MINUTES

[Enigmachine]

8vm is awesome. Not just the title track, just consistently great throughout even if some songs are a bit derivative.

[SebastianPratesi]

I thought Octavarium was highly rated. I'd say Systematic Chaos or Dream Theater are more underrated than this one.

[Wither]

I thought Octavarium was highly rated. I'd say Systematic Chaos or Dream Theater are more underrated than this one.

THIS

[Prog Snob]

Octavarium is dreadfully underrated. There's so much going on with the album. Even though it has one of my least favorite songs, Never Enough, everything else is brilliant. There's a bit of everything that makes up Dream Theater on that album. The song itself is a Top 5 song for me.

[Architeuthis]

I actually really like Never Enough! 

[Dream Team]

Eh, except for the title track all the songs are too one-dimensional for me. TA makes me remember how much I like crazy song structures.

[fischermasamune]

I thought Octavarium was highly rated. I'd say Systematic Chaos or Dream Theater are more underrated than this one.

I agree. As good as the title song is, the whole album is among the 3rd, 4th or 5th worst album of DT.

(Systematic Chaos is also among the worst, but it's not underrated.)

[ChrisPierman]

[Outcrier]

I thought Octavarium was highly rated. I'd say Systematic Chaos or Dream Theater are more underrated than this one.

I agree. As good as the title song is, the whole album is among the 3rd, 4th or 5th worst album of DT.

Sebastian was talking about the album. And he's right, it's one of their most well liked albums after the big four.

[Bill]

As a new fan, this is the 4th album I've listened to after TA, I&W and SFAM. I really enjoy it, and think it's really strong. It will have been said a million times before but I Walk Beside You...what is a U2 track doing on. Dream Theater album?

[jammindude]

It's my all time #1 Dream Theater album...no contest.  So anything less than that, and I would consider it to be underrated.

It *IS* Dream Theater's "mission statement".   It is everything Dream Theater is in a single album.

[MirrorMask]

As a new fan, this is the 4th album I've listened to after TA, I&W and SFAM. I really enjoy it, and think it's really strong. It will have been said a million times before but I Walk Beside You...what is a U2 track doing on. Dream Theater album?

Raising the bar of said album because it's a powerful, uplifting, memorable and catchy song 

[energythief]

I respect what they were doing on 8VM, but it has never connected with me much. Some songs are drab by their standards, Sacrificed Sons is a bit cringeworthy, and I find the title track bloated. I absolutely love the U2 song though!

[erwinrafael]

Yep, the album was in great territory for me until the Never Enough - Sacrificed Sons combo. A matter of personal taste, though, because songs like Sacrificed Sons, TMOLS and In the Name of God just do not appeal to me (which are...long and slow songs?).

[BlobVanDam]

I thought Octavarium was highly rated. I'd say Systematic Chaos or Dream Theater are more underrated than this one.

Octavarium seems to be all over the map at best, but most people seem to rate the title track highly and the album moderately low from my observation.
The song itself gets most of the love it deserves, but I agree that the album is definitely underrated. TROAE, TW, PA, and SS and 8V are all amazing and almost all of them top 20 for me (and the rest not far off). And the theme/concept of the album is even more genius than the analyses give it credit for.

I wouldn't call DT12 underrated, because that implies it deserves to be ranked higher than it is, which it doesn't.

[erwinrafael]

TROAE, TW and PA are indeed gems in the DT catalogue. The Root of All Evil is the strongest album opener among DT's non-concept albums. My love for These Walls is like that of Peruvian Skies. And Panic Attack is just John Myung going 

[Train of Naught]

I think the song 8vm is overrated bigtime, but the album is definitely a bit underrated yeah, whatever that means these days.

[SebastianPratesi]

Octavarium seems to be all over the map at best, but most people seem to rate the title track highly and the album moderately low from my observation.
The song itself gets most of the love it deserves, but I agree that the album is definitely underrated. TROAE, TW, PA, and SS and 8V are all amazing and almost all of them top 20 for me (and the rest not far off). And the theme/concept of the album is even more genius than the analyses give it credit for.

I wouldn't call DT12 underrated, because that implies it deserves to be ranked higher than it is, which it doesn't.

Oh, OK.
I agree with you on "Sacrificed Sons" and the album concept.
But I disagree on DT12 - if the mix was better, and the drums sounded more 'real', I think it would be seen as an amazing album. The songwriting is gold in my opinion, and every member gets many shining moments, but yeah, the sound can disappoint at times.

Back on topic: I think the booklet, which includes the staffs with the key signatures, is the coolest booklet to me - as a guitarist, I had always hoped to find something more interesting in CD booklets than lyrics or pictures.

[Enigmachine]

I think the terms Underrated and Overrated should be used far less. It seems to make one's own opinion the arbiter of which opinion is correct. Especially overrated, which says "YOU LIKE THIS TOO MUCH, YOU SHOULD LIKE IT LESS". Not accusing everyone using those terms as being egotistical, but the implications of those words just irk me a bit.

[Kotowboy]

Octavarium is the BEST album.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Isn't 8V already pretty well praised? Not in the tier of their Big 4, but I don't think many fans regard it as low as, say, BC&SL or DT12. The latter of which I'd more readily call "underrated" since I still like it more than most seem to. But...

I think the terms Underrated and Overrated should be used far less. It seems to make one's own opinion the arbiter of which opinion is correct. Especially overrated, which says "YOU LIKE THIS TOO MUCH, YOU SHOULD LIKE IT LESS". Not accusing everyone using those terms as being egotistical, but the implications of those words just irk me a bit.

Agreed.

[KevShmev]

Based on my rankings, I would consider it a tad overrated - I would put it as their 9th or 10th best studio album, but it often seems to be a little higher than cumulatively - but that is splitting hairs.  Even though none of the songs stand out much other than the title track, it is still a nice listen from start to finish, especially ending with the great title track.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Octavarium is the perfect representation of everything that Dream Theater is. It feels like a culmination of everything they had accomplished at that point. It's such a great album and one of only two without a mediocre song on in (Images and Words being the other although I prefer Scenes as a full album over both of them). The title track is the perfect song, and the other seven tracks all hold up to it as well.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

To me this was the last truly great album of the Portnoy era.

[Enigmachine]

To me this was the last truly great album of the Portnoy era.

Count me in on that. SC and BCaSL sound somewhat less driven to me. ADToE and DT12 I think went back to the ethos of 8vm, making very notable changes within a solid forumula with plenty of ambition and focus.

[Kotowboy]

To me this was the last truly great album of the Portnoy era.

Yep.

[Wither]

Actually, I think SC was the last of the Portnoy era. Seriously, his drumming in that album is just plain fun and awesome. Everything about him is.

[CDrice]

For me, the last great album from the Portnoy era was Black Clouds and Silver Linings.

As for Octavarium, it's a pretty good album overall. I'm not the biggest fan of These Walls, I Walk Beside You and Never Enough, but I still enjoy listening to them when I listen to the album as a whole.

Also, The Root of All Evil and Sacrificed Sons are probably amongst my favorite Dream Theater songs ever.

[mikeyd23]

To me this was the last truly great album of the Portnoy era.

Yep.

Oh yea. I'd agree with this. Absolutely fantastic album.

[Stadler]

As a new fan, this is the 4th album I've listened to after TA, I&W and SFAM. I really enjoy it, and think it's really strong. It will have been said a million times before but I Walk Beside You...what is a U2 track doing on. Dream Theater album?

Raising the bar of said album because it's a powerful, uplifting, memorable and catchy song 

Easily in my Top Ten DT songs of all time. 

Perhaps it is because I am also a U2 fan, but honestly, I do not get the reference.  I really don't (I don't see it in "To Live Forever", either).   Maybe it's the inspiration, but I don't hear very much U2 in any of DT's work, to be honest.    Perhaps it's because I think The Edge is a pretty singular guitar player, and I don't hear much of that in Petrucci's work.