Octavarium
Studio album by Dream Theater
Released	June 7, 2005
Recorded	November 2004 - February 25, 2005 at The Hit Factory in New York City
Genre	Progressive metal
Length	75:55
Label	Atlantic Records
Producer(s)	John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
Dream Theater chronology
Live at Budokan (2004)	Octavarium (2005)	Score (2006)

Octavarium is the eighth full-length Dream Theater studio album, released on June 7, 2005 (see 2005 in music). Cover of Dream Theaters Octavarium. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... Dream Theater is a progressive metal band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in 1985. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Look up November in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 25 is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele, such as John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, U2, Barbra Streisand and Paul Simon. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music which shares traits with progressive rock including use of complex compositional structures, odd time signatures, and intricate instrumental playing. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. ... Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American drummer primarily known for his work with the progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 3. ... Dream Theater is a progressive metal band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in 1985. ... Live at Budokan is a 3CD/2DVD combination released by progressive metal band Dream Theater on October 5, 2004. ... Score is a 3CD/2DVD combination by progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... Dream Theater is a progressive metal band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in 1985. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 2005 in music (UK) Musical groups established in 2005 Record labels established in 2005 other events of 2005 list of years in music 2000s in music January 1 - In most of Europe, copyright expired on a number of classic pop and rock and roll songs recorded in 1954...

It holds the distinction of being the last album ever recorded at The Hit Factory in New York City. After the Dream Theater sessions ended on Friday night, the lights were turned off and the doors to the studio were locked forever – ending an era in the music industry [1]. The Hit Factory was a recording studio in New York City famous for its clientele, such as John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Madonna, U2, Barbra Streisand and Paul Simon. ... Nickname: Big Apple, Gotham, NYC, City That Never Sleeps, The Concrete Jungle, The City So Nice They Named It Twice Location in the state of New York Coordinates: Country United States State New York Boroughs The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Settled 1676  - Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Area    - City... The music industry is the industry that creates, performs, promotes, and preserves music. ...

Track listing

1. "The Root of All Evil" – 8:25 (music by Dream Theater, lyrics by Portnoy)
   • VI. Ready
   • VII. Remove
2. "The Answer Lies Within" – 5:33 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
3. "These Walls" – 7:36 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
4. "I Walk Beside You" – 4:29 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
5. "Panic Attack" – 8:13 (Dream Theater, Petrucci)
6. "Never Enough" – 6:46 (Dream Theater, Portnoy)
7. "Sacrificed Sons" – 10:42 (Dream Theater, LaBrie)
8. "Octavarium" – 24:00 (Dream Theater, LaBrie/Petrucci/Portnoy)
   • I. Someone Like Him (Lyrics by Petrucci)
   • II. Medicate (Awakening) (LaBrie)
   • III. Full Circle (Portnoy)
   • IV. Intervals (Portnoy)
   • V. Razor's Edge (Petrucci)

Credits

Band

• James LaBrie – Vocals
• John Myung – Bass
• John Petrucci – Guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Portnoy – Drums, percussion and backing vocals
• Jordan Rudess – Keyboard, Continuum and lap steel guitar

Lord Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian vocalist who is best known for being the lead singer in progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... ‹ The template below has been proposed for deletion. ... Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case. ... John Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist best known as a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Parts of the guitar. ... Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American drummer primarily known for his work with the progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... Classic-Spanish Marching Drum A drum is a musical instrument in the percussion family, technically classified as a membranophone. ... A percussion instrument can be any object which produces a sound by being struck with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Piano, a well-known instance of keyboard instruments A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. ... The Continuum is a keyboard instrument developed by Haken Audio from Champaign, Illinois. ... Chandler electric lap steel guitar, a modern solid body with the classic Weissenborn profile. ...

OCTAVARIUM (The song)

The song starts of quietly and has the same atmosphere of Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond.Though the atmosphere quickly gives way to Genesis, with the first half of the song being mainly acoustic guitars, vocals and flute. After the vocals of James Labrie the song goes to more up tempo, but it quiets down afterwards. Towards the end a string orchestra is playing and the song ends in a keyboard and guitar frenzy.

Musical References: - 0:00 - 3:48 draws from Pink Floyd's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," Tangerine Dream, Marty Friedman's "Scenes," and Queen's "Bijou" - 3:49 - Spock's Beard theme - 4:33 - Änglagård flute “Godfather” theme similarities - 6:33 - Bohemian Rhapsody piano theme - 9:00 - During the bass groove the guitar arpeggio plays Anna Lee's verse vocal melody - 12:15 - Marillion keyboards with Wakeman flourish - 12:17 - Styx's Sequential Circuites Prophet 5 synth part - 17:47 - Jingle Bells on keyboards - 17:55 - Spock's Beard / Neal Morse acoustic guitar break - 18:43 - Dave Mustaine vocal style with "Forgotten Sons" prayer feel - 19:55 - Godfather theme reprise - 21:30 - Guitar tone is very Brian May AC30ish and the phrasing is very similar to his - A vocal harmony is Razor's Edge is also used in "Get Back" by The Beatles (which interestingly enough is referenced in Full Circle)

Nuggets: - 14:03 - A sample of someone saying "This is where we came in" plays. This sample is most likely referencing Pink Floyd's "The Wall." At the end of The Wall someone says "So this is where..." and at the beginning some says "...we came in." This is probably emphasis of Octavarium's focus on how things go in cycles and repeat, the end is the beginning. This also is a reference to their influences growing up as the coming lyrics signify. - Note that Octavarium has 5 parts. It also has 3 instrumental sections, for a total of 8 sections. Octavarium also has 5 syllables.

SOMEONE LIKE HIM seems to draw from the Carpe Diem theme that A Change of Seasons made so famous. The narrator wants to make the most of every day, unlike the unknown "him" who seems to be living a boring, routined life. At the end, it is possible that the change in viewpoint is due to an illness taking over him, which is described in the next section of the song.

Another theory about this section is that it talks about John Petrucci's music career, first admiring his idols but not wanting to become a musician, and eventually changing his mind and realizing what he wanted all along.

MEDICATE (AWAKENING) tells a story similar to the movie Awakenings from Robert Deniro's point of view.

This section draws on the Full Circle theme, starting with a catatonic sleep and ending with it.

Another theory is that this section is that it discusses James LaBrie's dealings with his mental and physical health, as well as the vocal surgery he had to have before the Waking Up The World tour.

Yet another theory proposes that this section is connected to the songs Disappear and Vacant. In Disappear, someone is going into a coma. In Vacant, another person is speaking about the victim, and in Medicate, the victim is waking up again. I find this theory unlikely since I'm pretty sure Disappear is more about death than going into a coma, but it is fascinating that whether or not Dream Theater intended it, you can find other meanings and links between many of their songs.

FULL CIRCLE is where Octavarium's cycles theme really shows up. Perhaps the band is suggesting that they have taken the place of their idols in the music world or industry.

Stanzas 1 and 4 of part III are entirely made up of musical and other references. Sailing on the Seven Seas - OMD (song)

 also possibly Seven Seas of Rhye - Queen (song) 

Seize the Day - Theme of A Change of Seasons and the movie Dead Poet's Society Day Tripper - The Beatles (song) Per Diem - Latin phrase and business term meaning "each day"

 Carpe Diem is Latin for "Seize the Day" 

Jack the Ripper - Morrissey (song) The Ripper - Judas Priest (song) Ripper Owens - Vocalist of Iced Earth (ex-Judas Priest) Owen Wilson - Actor Wilson Phillips - Band Supper's Ready - Genesis (song) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - The Beatles (song) Diamond Dave - David Lee Roth (album) Dave's Not Here - Cheech & Chong routine Here I Come to Save the Day - Mighty Mouse quote Day for Night - Spock's Beard (album and song) Nightmare Cinema - Dream Theater’s opposite in 1995, where they would switch instruments and play a cover, usually of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers" Cinema Show - Genesis (song) Show Me the Way - Styx (song) Get Back - The Beatles (song) Flying off the Handle - quote Handle with Care - Travelling Wilburys (song) Careful with that Axe, Eugene - Pink Floyd (song) Gene, Gene the Dance Machine - Memorable act on The Gong Show Machine Messiah - Yes (song) Light My Fire - The Doors (song) Gabba Gabba Hey Hey - The Ramones (lyrics) Hey Hey, My My - Neil Young (song) My Generation - The Who (song) Home Again - from "Breathe" reprise and "Time" on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

The alternate theory suggests that this is about Mike Portnoy dealing with his mental health on the road.

In INTERVALS you can hear Mike Portnoy say a scale degree before each stanza. Each stanza references a song on Octavarium and a clip of that song is played in the background. The titling of this section, Intervals, ties in with MP saying scale degrees and the layouts of the songs with negative time sections and such, corresponding to a progression through the notes in an octave (the term 'interval' in music theory refers to the difference between two notes or pitches). Intervals are often referred to in numbers of steps. This section of the song ends with "Step after step, we try controlling our fate" just after MP says "octave." This could have a double meaning, referring to trying to control one's life or fate through steps, meaning either plans and actions, or musical notes - the latter expressing Dream Theater trying to control their lives through the notes of the music they make. This phrase could also have a third meaning, referring to MP tring to control his life through the twelve "steps" of the Alcoholics Anonymous program.

MP says "Root" "Take all of me" (from 3:03 in The Root Of All Evil) plays in the background

MP says "Second" "Don't let the day go by" (from 4:21 in The Answers lies Within) plays in the background

MP says "Third" A clip from These Walls plays in the background

MP says "Fourth" "I walk beside you" (from 1:06 in I Walk Beside You) plays in the background

MP says "Fifth" "Hysteria" (from 3:55 in Panic Attack) plays in the background

MP says "Sixth" "What would you say" (from 3:03 in Never Enough) plays in the background

MP says "Seventh" A clip from Sacrificed Sons plays in the background

MP says "Octave" "Side effects appear" (from 11:52 in Octavarium part II) plays in the background

These lyrics express how this cycle of the ending being the beginning goes on forever and there is no escaping it. It's possible that DT is talking about the fact that their career has come full circle, and now, after eight studio albums, they are without a record label again, their lives as musicians are repeating themselves.

The song ends with the same piano note the album began with, emphasizing the story ending where it began.

The Root Of All Evil starts with part 6 and Octavarium ends with part 5. While TROAE starts at 6 because it's part of MP's Alcoholic's Anonymous series, it also creates a logical sequence between the beginning and ending of the album.

Other

• Strings arranged and conducted by Jamshied Sharifi
• Jill Dell'Abate - Orchestral Contractor

• Orchestra on Sacrificed Sons and Octavarium
  • Concert Master
    • Elena Barere
  • Violins
    • Katharine Fong
    • Ann Lehmann
    • Katherine Livolsi-Stern
    • Laura McGinniss
    • Catherine Ro
    • Ricky Sortomme
    • Yuri Vodovoz
  • Violas
    • Vincent Lionti
    • Karen Dreyfus
  • Cellos
    • Richard Locker
    • Jeanne LeBlanc
  • Flutes
    • Pamela Sklar
  • French Horns
    • Joe Anderer
    • Stewart Rose

• String Quartet on The Answer Lies Within
  • Elena Barere - First Violin
  • Carol Webb - Second Violin
  • Vincent Lionti - Viola
  • Richard Locker - Cello

Jamshied Sharifi (abt. ... A philharmonic orchestra An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually a fairly large instrumental ensemble with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. ... Concert-master. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a string instrument played with a bow. ... The violoncello, almost always abbreviated to cello, or cello (the c is pronounced as the ch in cheese), is a bowed stringed instrument, the lowest-sounding member of the violin family. ... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... The horn is a brass instrument consisting of tubing wrapped into a coiled form. ... The resident string quartet of the Library of Congress in 1963 A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string instruments—usually two violins, a viola and cello—or a piece written to be performed by such a group. ...

Chart performance

• Austria – 35
• Canada – 15
• China – 100
• Czech Republic – 33
• Denmark – 38
• Finland – 2
• France – 18
• Germany – 15
• Greece – 3
• Hungary – 4
• Italy – 2
• Japan – 10
• Netherlands – 9
• Norway – 9
• Poland – 39
• Spain – 31
• Sweden – 4
• Switzerland – 43
• Slovenia – 2
• UK – 72
• USA – 36

Speculation on the title

Due to its unusual name, many Dream Theater fans speculated on what they believe to be the meaning of the album's title.

At first the band was going to name the album just Octave. But when prog rock band Spock's Beard released their (also eighth) album Octane earlier in 2005, Dream Theater decided to differentiate its name a bit more from that. The progressive rock band Yes performing in 1977. ... Spocks Beard is a progressive rock band formed in 1992 in Los Angeles by brothers Neal and Alan Morse. ...

Some thought that the title referred to Octavarium Romanum, which was a book of Catholic liturgy referring to a period known as the Octave. There is also a similarity to the musical Octave: Root, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, Octave - and the title of the first track is "The Root of All Evil". Others theorized that the title came from Latin words meaning "Various Eight", since it has eight tracks and the band has said that the eight songs on the record are all of different styles. However, this is incorrect Latin; the Latin word for eight is "octo," not "octa," and "varium" is singular when it would need to be plural. This theory may have come from the fact that Octavarium is the band's eighth album, since "octavus" is Latin for "eighth". Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

Yet another interpretation was that the "-arium" suffix is used to denote a place where something is held, in this case musical octaves. This turns out to be the closest to the truth, when the lyrics from the title track ("Trapped inside this Octavarium") are considered, creating a portmanteau from the words octave and aquarium. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

It is also interesting to note that Octavarium follows a pattern started in Dream Theater's 6th studio album, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which had 6 songs and the word six in the title. The next album, Train of Thought, contained 7 tracks, was their 7th studio album, and the capital letters are T's, which are represented, in leet writing, by the number 7. Octavarium, the 8th studio album by the band, follows both of these apparent "trends" with 8 songs and a title related to the number eight, as already mentioned. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (often abbreviated to SDOIT or 6DOIT) is the sixth full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... Train of Thought is the seventh full-length studio album by progressive metal band Dream Theater. ...

Every song of the album is in a different minor key, starting with F, then G, A, B, C, D, E, and returning to F. This is evident by the treble clef staves in the liner notes. Also, between some pairs of songs, a transition, represented in the CD as negative time preceding the second song of the pair, is made in the corresponding accidental key related to the pair in question. For instance, the synth solo following Panic Attack (in the key of C minor) is placed as negative time preceding Never Enough (in the key of D minor) and is in the key of C# minor. A minor scale in musical theory can be viewed as the sixth mode of the major scale. ...

Many fans have made observations about the recurrances of 5s and 8s in the album art, possibly a reference to the Golden ratio, very common in art throughout history and in Nature itself. The name Octavarium itself has 5 syllables, while connotating 8. The use of 5s and 8s stems from the number of natural notes (white keys on a piano) and black keys (sharp/flat notes) in an octave. It may also refer to the number of members in the band from its inception in 1985 to 2005, Octavarium being the band's 8th studio album, and the subsequent "Score" being their fifth live album. The golden section is a line segment sectioned into two according to the golden ratio. ... Score is a 3CD/2DVD combination by progressive metal band Dream Theater. ...

Several of the 5 and 8 references in the album are:

1. On the cover, there is a Newton's Cradle with eight pendulums, five of which have birds in between them, and the birds are arranged in the same pattern as black piano keys. (The black birds represent flats and sharps and the balls of the pendulum represent the natural notes.)
2. On the spine of the album there are piano keys in an octave.
3. The dominoes in the booklet add up to five and eight.
4. The octopus in the booklet has eight legs and there are five fish around it.
5. The stop sign in the booklet has eight sides.
6. In the booklet, the star (which has five "legs") is inside of an octagon (which has eight sides) also the scale of the star and octagon is – 5:8.
7. In the booklet, the spider has eight legs and is inside an octagon-shaped maze, which has five "layers." Also, the maze itself has eight doorways amongst the layers, and eight walls that form "dead ends".
8. The booklet itself has eight pages.
9. There is a billiards eight-ball on the space behind where the CD is.
10. The eighth song has five parts.

Also, the star in the octagon has musical keys written around it that go in a circle of fifths. A typical Newtons cradle with the foremost pendulum in mid swing. ...

The Newton's Cradle on the cover and the musical hooks connecting all the songs together lyrically and melodically have also given rise to the theory that the entire album is intended to be a concept album portraying continuity.

Octavarium also lasts 24:00; 24 is a multiple of 8.

An in-depth analysis of the entire album can be found here.

Pre-release leaking

For approximately three months prior to Octavarium's release, James LaBrie's solo album Elements of Persuasion was distributed as Octavarium in many file-sharing circles. Due to the fact that LaBrie's distinctive voice can be heard on both albums, many people were unable to tell that it was in fact a different band, and it continued to be distributed as a genuine Dream Theater release until a week or so before the official release date of the album. MTV Brazil played a song from this album on air as if it was a genuine Octavarium track. Lord Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian vocalist who is best known for being the lead singer in progressive metal band Dream Theater. ... Elements of Persuasion is Dream Theater lead singer James LaBries third solo album, his first two being Keep It To Yourself and MullMuzzler 2, which were released under his band MullMuzzler. ... File sharing is the activity of making files available to other users for download over the Internet, but also over smaller networks. ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ...

At that time a version of the actual album found its way onto the Internet, but it was slightly different to the final product released to stores; the ending to the track "Octavarium" was slightly modified from a lonely flute playing to the starting piano note. On an XM radio show interview with Eddie Trunk, Portnoy revealed that only approximately ten people were given a copy of that version of the album: the five band members, Portnoy's father Howard Portnoy, and a handful of people at Atlantic Records. XM redirects here. ... Eddie Trunk is the host of the syndicated radio show Eddie Trunk Rocks. ... Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label, and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ...

Panic Attack sound clip

Mike Portnoy provided a sound clip of "Panic Attack" to Gigantour website 4 weeks before the release of "Octavarium".
A Gigantour 2005 web banner, before Anthrax was announced to join the festival. ...