Happy 20th, Octavarium!

[RoeDent]

20 years ago today, Octavarium was released. Speaking personally, it's the most important album in my life as it opened up the way to everything as far as modern prog goes. Giving it a spin now.

[SeRoX]

Octavarium itself their second best epic behind ACOS.
Sacrificed Sons is criminally underrated. (lacking of live performance is another crime)
These Walls and Panic Attack are killer.
The Root Of All Evil is the best song of AAA Saga. A great intro.
I Walk Beside You is fun and needs to see the stage light again.
The Answer Lies Within is OK.
Never Enough is meh.

Happy Birthday, Octavarium.

[Wim Kruithof]

I consider - and that took a while - Octavarium (the epic) to one of the most beautiful composed pieces of music ever made.

[dualpalmpilots]

One of three Dream Theater releases I was most hype for, and the first new studio album release after I became a fan. I revisited it this weekend, and the tracks that had lost some luster for me connected better this time around.

[frogprog]

One of my all time favorite albums. Great tour.

[Cool Chris]

One of the few albums I specifically remember buying and listening to in the car on the way home. Root was killer and I loved how it rebounded the 12SS after not enjoying TDS.

The next three songs were a massive dip for me, and I had no idea if and how it could rebound.

Happily PA came on and we were back on track. I liked NE and SS, and loved 8VM from the start. An uneven album, but it has the best 12SS song, a solid banger with PA, 2 good songs in NE and SS, and their best closing epic.

[Jamesman42]

hbd bud

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

I'm enjoying the title track quite a bit more now than I used to. I skip the intro most of the time and find it just works better for me that way.

[The Letter M]

Spun the whole album yesterday on a drive, and it still remains a Top 3 DT album for me. Octavarium was their first new studio album after I became a fan, so the build-up and hype was real. I still remember listening to the "leaked" version with the alternate ending to the title track, and then being surprised how it was different on the final album.

This one will always hold a special place in my heart as a DT fan, and seeing them for the first time a couple months ago and getting to hear the title track played live was a euphoric experience.

-Marc.

[brakkum]

My first exposure to DT! My friends convinced me to see them on this tour on St. Patricks Day 2006, and since then DT has been my favorite band. Very thankful this album came out when it did.

[voncorn]

I still remember listening to the "leaked" version with the alternate ending to the title track, and then being surprised how it was different on the final album.

Care to elaborate on this? Or anyone else who can? This is the first time I'm hearing of this...

Quick Google search of "Octavariun leak". brought this up: https://www.lpassociation.com/forum/threads/dream-theaters-octavarium-has-leaked.17185/

Mentions that it ends with a flute solo, which is definitely not present on the official release. Hmm. Would love to be able to find and hear this version, or if any of the other tracks from the leak are alternate versions from the official version.

Edit: Found a little more info in this thread: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=27377.0

[WilliamMunny]

Liked it then. Lukewarm on a few tracks, but the tentpoles were immediately impressive.

Over the years, it has been perhaps the album I return to most frequently, and thus, is the one that I have had the most evolution with.

If I could only take one, 8VM is (today, at least) my pick. Has everything I want from the band, complete with some genius lyrics (I actually LOVE "Never Enough") and an amazing performance from James. I also love the how different the production is from the rest of their catalog.

[gzarruk]

Care to elaborate on this? Or anyone else who can? This is the first time I'm hearing of this...

[voncorn]

Cool, thanks! Not that revelatory, but still neat.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

This album will always hold a very special place in my heart. In the summer of 2005, I was 14 and my family moved from Canada down to the States. I had a lot of free time and not much to do until school started... Luckily, that was when I truly discovered Dream Theater and became a die hard fan. I can't even count how many times I listened to Octavarium. And then the anticipation of the Score DVD arriving the following year... I find it very hard to separate Octavarium from Score. That whole period felt like the band at their peak in many respects.

Can't wait to pick it up on vinyl, hopefully soon.

[krands85]

The first Dream Theater songs I ever heard were from this album, when a friend played them for me on a car journey some time in 2006 I believe. Not sure how my musical journey would have panned out had that not happened. I probably would have stumbled across them at some point, but things may have been different. 

My top 10 artists on Last.fm in 2006 were Muse, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Audioslave, Deftones, System of a Down, Oasis, Biffy Clyro and Rage Against the Machine. I had just a handful of DT plays at that point, then in 2007 they were my 11th most played artist. In all but 3 years since then, they've been my most played. 

As for Octavarium itself, it still sits in my top half of DT albums. 4 songs I love and 4 that sit between 'good' and 'ok'. The title track is a masterpiece of course. 

[hefdaddy42]

IMO, on a song by song quality basis, other than the magnificent title track, this album is average at best.

The conceptual conceit is quite interesting.  And there is enough going on to make it listenable.  But, again, IMO, the title track is carrying a LOT of weight here.

The album is more special for me in that it coincided with the 20th anniversary tour, of which the finale at Radio City Music Hall was the first time I was ever able to see the band live, after being a fan since 1992, as well as my first DTF meetup.  I will always remember and cherish that show and that trip.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Sometimes I feel as though Octavarium is a better album in theory than in practice. It has an awesome musical concept, an amazing opener (TROAE), one of their most iconic songs (PE), a bunch of softer but still awesome tunes (TW in particular), a good mini-epic (SS), and potentially their best song (8VM). That all sounds great. But listening to the album the whole way through can be a bit dull at times.

[Leonardo227]

When this album came out I liked it. As time goes by I can't listen to it anymore. Only 8V still holds up a bit. Now i prefer simpler music.

[Dream Team]

IMO, on a song by song quality basis, other than the magnificent title track, this album is average at best.

The conceptual conceit is quite interesting.  And there is enough going on to make it listenable.  But, again, IMO, the title track is carrying a LOT of weight here.

The album is more special for me in that it coincided with the 20th anniversary tour, of which the finale at Radio City Music Hall was the first time I was ever able to see the band live, after being a fan since 1992, as well as my first DTF meetup.  I will always remember and cherish that show and that trip.

 

[Adami]

Just came across this. Gave it a quick skim and it sounded really cool. Will have to give the whole thing a listen.

It's two people doing an acoustic cover of the whole album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4Zgdb2gn8

[hefdaddy42]

Just came across this. Gave it a quick skim and it sounded really cool. Will have to give the whole thing a listen.

It's two people doing an acoustic cover of the whole album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4Zgdb2gn8

Interesting

[ReaperKK]

The album is more special for me in that it coincided with the 20th anniversary tour, of which the finale at Radio City Music Hall was the first time I was ever able to see the band live, after being a fan since 1992, as well as my first DTF meetup.  I will always remember and cherish that show and that trip.

I didn't realize that was your first show, how cool! I was there too but I was just a dirty lurker on the forums back then, I do wish I made that meetup.

[hefdaddy42]

I didn't realize that was your first show, how cool! I was there too but I was just a dirty lurker on the forums back then, I do wish I made that meetup.

That meetup was EPIC.

[Jamesman42]

Just came across this. Gave it a quick skim and it sounded really cool. Will have to give the whole thing a listen.

It's two people doing an acoustic cover of the whole album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4Zgdb2gn8

This is incredible!

[Samsara]

I was very hard on this album when it came out. Back then, all I heard was a band emulating its influences, instead of being who they were. That really skewed my perception of the record. Muse, Kansas, U2, and then a whole bunch of other bands popped out. And while I didn't dismiss it entirely, it certainly colored how I heard it.

Twenty years later, I hear those same things, but I don't care as much about them. Seeing DT perform "Octavarium" on the 40th anniversary tour really ignited an appreciation for that song, and I found myself really loving it and all the different movements. I put the album on headphones for the first time ever this week, and found myself being enveloped by the record. Sure, there are some songs I like more than others, but all those influences and styles in the songs, once you get to the title track, there it is. You get it. It's an ode to who they were/are, to life in general, and how we're all repeating certain cycles. I'm sure that's a "DUH" moment for those of you who got it from the start, but for me, it was enlightening. As for the music, obviously there's the 5/8 concept for most of you musicians to gawk over.

That said, 8VM never be my favorite Dream Theater record. The youthful energy and power of Images and Words will always hold that top spot. That's simply another level. But I find myself elevating 8VM closer to the top-5 in their catalog for me. I'm really quite thankful that they chose to perform the title track on this past tour. Had they not, I wouldn't have gone down this rabbit hole a bit.

Funny enough, while this may not be accurate, I found myself thinking about some of the elements found in FII are repeated in 8VM and are much more widely accepted. Not sure how to make specific examples, but its little things I hear on headphones and the way the songs breathe a bit more really harkened back to FII for me. (I am a big fan of FII.)

Anyway, Happy Anniversary to Octavarium. 

[Dream Team]

Yes, you definitely have to be in a specific mood to enjoy OV. Not rushed.

Regarding the FII comparison, I hear some of that BUT FII leans way too hard toward the alt-rock, grunge direction for me which kind of ruins the experience as I DO NOT like those genres at all.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I was very hard on this album when it came out. Back then, all I heard was a band emulating its influences, instead of being who they were. That really skewed my perception of the record. Muse, Kansas, U2, and then a whole bunch of other bands popped out. And while I didn't dismiss it entirely, it certainly colored how I heard it.

Twenty years later, I hear those same things, but I don't care as much about them. Seeing DT perform "Octavarium" on the 40th anniversary tour really ignited an appreciation for that song, and I found myself really loving it and all the different movements. I put the album on headphones for the first time ever this week, and found myself being enveloped by the record. Sure, there are some songs I like more than others, but all those influences and styles in the songs, once you get to the title track, there it is. You get it. It's an ode to who they were/are, to life in general, and how we're all repeating certain cycles. I'm sure that's a "DUH" moment for those of you who got it from the start, but for me, it was enlightening. As for the music, obviously there's the 5/8 concept for most of you musicians to gawk over.

That said, 8VM never be my favorite Dream Theater record. The youthful energy and power of Images and Words will always hold that top spot. That's simply another level. But I find myself elevating 8VM closer to the top-5 in their catalog for me. I'm really quite thankful that they chose to perform the title track on this past tour. Had they not, I wouldn't have gone down this rabbit hole a bit.

Funny enough, while this may not be accurate, I found myself thinking about some of the elements found in FII are repeated in 8VM and are much more widely accepted. Not sure how to make specific examples, but its little things I hear on headphones and the way the songs breathe a bit more really harkened back to FII for me. (I am a big fan of FII.)

Anyway, Happy Anniversary to Octavarium. 

They definitely wore their influences on their sleeves, to put it mildly, with Octavarium and then continued doing so with Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds. The fact they even considered putting death growls in a Nightmare to Remember shows just how far they had gone in that regard, probably Portnoy in particular. I'm glad they pivoted away from that a bit once Mangini joined, and have never really gone back to that level since.

[DoctorAction]

8VM has some great stuff on it. I love about half of it.

[Arkarian]

8VM was the first DT album I ever heard. I was visiting family in Greece and they asked me if I wanted to come to a show of a band that was "like Pink Floyd but modern". I was totally blown away by those guys. Watching MP got me into playing drums, and I kept wondering where the singer went during the instrumental sections (of course, by now we all know that he watches all of the Lord of the Rings movies). For the rest of the summer, me and my Discman were inseparable. 
My connection to these songs is deeper than to any other DT album.