Where do you rank Octavarium among the Dream Theater albums?

[i am fabio]

Gotta say its their worst besides their first album which I havnt given enough listens so even that could change. Besides the title track its flat.

THE SONG ITSELF IS A BEAST

[Rina]

I actually like this album quite a lot. The actual song is absolutely amazing.

[Tomislav95]

Just listening to Romavarium...yes, this album is good

[Pantherize]

 
Just doing a quick scratch list of rankings, I put it at 5. When it first came out I was in the middle of moving half way across the country and it did not impress me in the first few listens.  Didn't listen to it again for quite a while, really until Score came out, and I heard TROAE and it sounded pretty kick ass to me. Then I decided to spin it some more and realized I actually enjoyed quite a few of the songs on it.

  As to the above asking if there is anyone else that doesn't think the title track is the best on the album, yes, there is.  I'd put it about in the middle. Don't hate it, and its strong parts are good, but overall, meh.  Then again, I am one of those people that doesn't really pay a lot of attention to lyrics. To me the voice is another instrument and I can listen to a song for years without really paying attention to what the lyrics are saying unless I can relate to them right off the bat. If the lyrics are what sets it apart for most people, yeah, that'd probably be why I don't get what the big deal is.

[Nekov]

The song in amazing. The rest of the album could not exist and it would be fine.

[Tomislav95]

Really?What with Root of All Evil and These Walls?

[Global Laziness]

except for IWBY, which technically wasn't even written during those sessions (they wrote it during the TOT sessions but didn't include it, because they felt it didn't "fit" with the rest of the album).

I don't think I've ever heard this.  Where did you hear it?  That seems almost impossible.

Just like robwebster I've also heard this, but I can't remember where.

My rankings:
1   Awake
2   Images and Words
3   Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
4   Black Clouds & Silver Linings
5   Scenes from a Memory
6   Train of Thought
7   When Dream and Day Unite
8   Systematic Chaos
9   Octavarium
10   Falling into Infinity

Based on these results, it would appear that Octavarium is in fact the most polarizing album Dream Theater has released.

[stryker]

I put it at 5th

[bosk1]

1.  Six Degrees - Stellar, near perfect album.  If you ignore the lyrics to Blind Faith, the album is just about perfect.
2.  Scenes - Greater than the sum of its parts.
3.  Images & Words - Incredibly inconsistent, but its peaks are so high as to overshadow its valleys.
4.  Octavarium - Really only has one weak track:  The Answer Lies Within.
5.  Awake - Loads of atmosphere that make up for its flaws (such as the worst keyboard parts of any DT release)
6.  Systematic Chaos - Like I&W, it is inconsistent.  But its highs are a bit fewer and don't reach quite as high.
7.  FII - Perhaps their most varied album in terms of song styles and sounds.  Took me awhile to get into.
8.  BCSL - I love it, but this is a bad time for this album in my album rankings just because I've played it too much over the last two years and find myself needing a break from it.  Still, it was my #2 album of 2009 (just behind The Whirlwind and just in front of Snowfall On Judgment Day).  The fact that it has 6 songs makes the album feel shorter than it is, especially if there are a couple of songs I'm not in the mood to hear.
9.  TOT - Some incredible moments.  Not many bad ones.  It is only the album's single-dimension-ness and compression that cause it to rank so low.
10.  WDADU - The production and Charlie's voice bring it down.  I've come to appreciate Charlie's singing over time, but these songs were not written with his voice/tone/range in mind, and it shows.  The songs also lack a bit of maturity and focus that the band found in later releases.  But I have come to appreciate the album as a whole and like most of the songs.

So I guess the answer is "4"--at least, today.  Depending on my mood, I would say it hovers between 3 and 6, but most often in the 4/5 range.

[tgstk2]

definatly worst...... i dont like 8vm one bit...it's too.. cheesy i dont know.

the only connection i have with that album is the song i walk beside you....... i was into that song when my grandma died..and it always rememberes me of her....

Even the song 8vm can't do it for me...the intro is wayyyyyyyyyyyy to long. maybe i'm not that into prog after all

[bosk1]

Even the song 8vm can't do it for me...the intro is wayyyyyyyyyyyy to long. maybe i'm not that into prog after all

Nah, don't worry.  I don't think it's an issue of being into prog or not.  I think it's more of an issue of just having lousy taste. 

[tgstk2]

^ if would have lousy taste i would not be into dream theater at all....
it just that 3 notes for 5 minutes dont do it for me...but that's not prog related.
i just hate long boring intro's.

[Demolition]

Currently my favorite album. 

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Halfway through.

[Mr. Beale]

Probably 4th. A few of the tracks are average but the better half are among their best imo.

[darkshade]

1. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence   *****
2. Scenes From A Memory              *****
3. Black Clouds and Silver Linings     *****
4. Images & Words                        ****1/2
5. Octavarium                                   ****1/2
6. Awake                                     ****1/2
7. Falling Into Infinity (my version)   ****
8. Systematic Chaos                      ****
9. Train of Thought                        ***1/2
10. When Dream and Day Unite        **

[BanksD]

1. I&W and SFAM
3. Awake
4. Octavarium
5. Six Degrees
6. Black Clouds
7. Train Of Thought
8. WDADU/FII
10. SC

I really like 8VM

Song Rankings

8vm (Masterpiece One Of DT's Best imo)
Root Of All Evil ( )
Never Enough (good song for when you're pissed off)
Panic Attack (See: ROAE)
These Walls (Great Vocal Melodies)
Sacrificed Sons (Same As These Walls)
IWBY (fun little songs)
TALW (One of my least favorite DT songs, but i still enjoy it)

[ZirconBlue]

And I know I'm of the minority of thought here but the last track is the worst.

"In the minority" is quite the understatement. Is there anyone else here who doesn't think it's the best on the album, let alone worst?

I don't think it's the best.  The intro is boring is goes on way too long, and it would be much better if the lyrics of the different sections actually related to each other in some way.  I like most of the other songs on the album more.

Never got into TRoAE, either.  I think it's the lack of a catchy chorus.  If they had repeated the "Never could have just a part of it. . . " section, I probably would like it more.

[jamhet]

What's the effing point in making those "Where do you rank ... album" threads?
If we just rank all the albums, then you know where each particular album is ranked.

[Perpetual Change]

It's hard to say. It probably wouldn't break my top 5, even though it does have my favorite DT song on it.

EDIT:

Actually, it'd probably be tied with WDADU as my fifth favorite record. I think Charlie did decent metal vox, compared to what other metal bands were getting away with at the time. DT would have never grown out of the 80s metal phase with him, though, and honestly they're lucky they even were able to do so with James.

[Ħ]

The Root of All Evil: An ok song, but live, it's definitely awesome enough to be a must.
The Answer Lies Within: This song really shines for me.
These Walls: Each time I try to listen to DT, I simply can't help but switch to this song.
I Walk Beside You: Nononono.  This is one where everything is wrong.
Panic Attack: Usually don't consciously choose it, but when I do it's an overwhelming listen.
Never Enough: Easily one of the worst DT songs...what can I say?
Sacrificed Sons: A grower for sure.  I mean, for heaven's sake, who really dislikes this song?
Octavarium: As far as I can tell, it's an epic up there with SDOIT and ACOS.

Overall: Nuggets are cool, not the greatest album, not the worst....a bit long for a single listen but overall not bad at all.

[TheSilentHam]

1. Awake , BC&SL, I&W, 8VM, SFAM, SDOIT, SC, ToT (Alphabetically by title not abbr.)
9. FII
10. WDADU (I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure it would be 10).

[mariocalin]

I love that album because Octavarium song is my favourite song from DT. That song was the first long song I learnt in my drums.

[ZirconBlue]

What's the effing point in making those "Where do you rank ... album" threads?
If we just rank all the albums, then you know where each particular album is ranked.

Do you ever post anything that's not negative?

Anyway, I assume the point is to see what the distribution on a particular album is.  For example, in the Awake thread, you can see from the poll that almost half the respondants rank Awake #1.  The only way you get that from a "rank all the albums" thread is to manually go through and tally everything up.

[wolfking]

Probably 3.

[yeshaberto]

rate 2nd for me to Scenes

[tjanuranus]

4th, after Images, Scenes and Awake

EXACTLY

[moltr3z]

1. Systematic Chaos
2. SFAM
3. IAW
4. SDOIT
5. BCSL
6. FII
7. ToT
8. Awake
9. Octavarium
10. WDADU

[tgstk2]

due to the lack ofr great songs (the only album which has been a disspointment for, i never listen to it)
it's unrankable for me, I could say 10, but i only have listen to it 10 times in total. so i'd say50.

[Global Laziness]

due to the lack ofr great songs (the only album which has been a disspointment for, i never listen to it)
it's unrankable for me, I could say 10, but i only have listen to it 10 times in total. so i'd say50.

So......of Dream Theater's ten studio albums, you rank it 50th?

[tgstk2]

due to the lack ofr great songs (the only album which has been a disspointment for, i never listen to it)
it's unrankable for me, I could say 10, but i only have listen to it 10 times in total. so i'd say50.

So......of Dream Theater's ten studio albums, you rank it 50th?

Correct sir

[FlyingBIZKIT]

I'm going with 4th. Not quite as good as SDOIT, SFAM, and I&W. Octavarium(song) makes this album have a high position for me. The only weaker songs in my opinion are I Walk Beside You and These Walls. It barely beats Awake on my list.

[JimmyJava]

due to the lack ofr great songs (the only album which has been a disspointment for, i never listen to it)
it's unrankable for me, I could say 10, but i only have listen to it 10 times in total. so i'd say50.

So......of Dream Theater's ten studio albums, you rank it 50th?

[inoku]

im going with 9th.
for me.. Octavarium is like Inception. cool concept, but didn't deliver quite good.

yeah.. i don't like inception.

[Metrovarium]

im going with 9th.
for me.. Octavarium is like Inception. cool concept, but didn't deliver quite good.

yeah.. i don't like inception.

So the title track is like an Octavarium within an Octavarium?

I agree that the album wasn't too great as a whole. However, it has several great songs (8vm, TROAE, TALW, SS), and none of the songs are too weak (besides IWBY), so I'd rate it about a 5, usually, though sometimes it goes slightly higher or lower.