Train of Thought 2003

"A lot of fans of progressive rock, who at least appreciated Dream Theater's previous releases, tend to hate this one because the music is so much more heavy than ever before. Basically, what Dream Theater did was to isolate the heaviness found on "Six Degrees..." and use that as the central force on "Train of Thought". Personally, I love the heavy approach on this album, and I think that the heaviness and darkness (very well reflected in the cover artwork, which might as well have been the cover of a 90s black metal album) that characterizes the album. In addition to being disliked for its heaviness, "Train of Thought" has also received critique for being musically more simple than previous Dream Theater - this was a conscious decision by the band (according to Mike Portnoy, who describes it as the most onedimensional album in the career of the band) to create a contrast to the epic and complex musical multidimensionality of "Six Degrees...". Well, we are not dealing with simple music here. It is still very technical and complex with enough odd time signature sections and genre transgressions to make me happy.

I don't know if the lyrics have been dumbed down. It is true that, in terms of lyrics, this album has been described as appealing to the lowest common denominator of emo teendom by dealing with emotional topics (as in "As I Am", "Honor thy Father", and "Endless Sacrifice"). Well, that may be, but why not? Who says you can't be a progressive metal band and write songs about everyday topics?

Despite being the Dream Theater album that everybody loves to hate and criticize, "Train of Thought" is does have a 5-star rating on iTunes - so I certainly am not the only person in the world who likes it.

I think that fans of heavier types of metal, along with fans of heavier prog metal, will like this album."

"This is a good example of a band that made a decision (in this case to make a heavier, more straightforward album, which nonethless is still on a high musical level) which split their fan base in two. Of course it didn't decrease the number of their followers, because even those who were pissed off at first would eventually find some nice aspects in the music, and now that Octavarium is about to be released, the wounds are healing nicely.

Now what do I have to say about the music of TOT? It has a very unique charm, but takes more time to settle. I'd say that after 20 times listening to the album from beginning to end, the patient listener will be rewarded, and the killer melodies that strike you instantly on albums like SfaM will become apparent on TOT as well. If you get bored along the way ... you don't have to like this.

This is more metal than prog, but with many twists and the usual stellar musicianship!"