They should cover Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffitti. Although taking the length of the album, I doubt they will. Metallica's 'Ride The Lighting' would be an awesome choice as well.
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I've given it three listens.....I thought 'Answer' a bit too soft and long, considering that it's the second track.
The rest doesn't quite 'reach' me as disk 2 of 'Six Degrees' did, but it ain't weak. Love 'Panic Attack'. Can't wait for the title track 45 version to be released;-)
B+ to A-
Nothing 'Queenish' jumped out at me like a few moments during 'Metropolis 2'
Looking forward to seeing them in Virginia real soon. Glad to have seen them three years ago, and that others on this NG made me give them a serious listen.
j+III
The rest doesn't quite 'reach' me as disk 2 of 'Six Degrees' did, but it ain't weak. Love 'Panic Attack'. Can't wait for the title track 45 version to be released;-)
B+ to A-
Nothing 'Queenish' jumped out at me like a few moments during 'Metropolis 2'
Looking forward to seeing them in Virginia real soon. Glad to have seen them three years ago, and that others on this NG made me give them a serious listen.
j+III
WOW- 2 nights in London (Hammersmith), second part of the second one covering classic album in its entirety. I WANNA TICKETS. (not on sale yet). What album will they do? ANATO could be a nice surprise... ;) Nah, they're not gonna do it. Floyd? Metallica? Zeppelin? CAN'T WAIT!!!
Man, you're lucky! Do enough enjoying for the both of us!! Wouldn't ANATO be amazing.......?
I have my ticket ordered for October 25th - can't wait.
I suppose that they are going to cover "A Night At The Opera", because they've already played "Death On Two Legs" on the last tour.
I suppose that they are going to cover "A Night At The Opera", because they've already played "Death On Two Legs" on the last tour.
I refuse to believe it, BUT taht would be absolutely AWESOME! :)
I remember when they played DOTL- I was in heaven. Who knows...?
If you wanna read about hidden messages... here:
http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/printable.aspx?m=883728&mpage=1
Incredible stuff. Like the spider in the booklet that has no way out (trapped inside this ocatavarium) or the fact that the lyrics in 4th part of the title track are references to... previous tracks on the album...!
"Our deadly sins feel his mortal wrath
Remove all obstacles from our path" - The Root of All Evil
"Asking quesitons
Search for clues
The answer's been right in front of you" - The Answer Lies Within
"Try to break through
Long to connect
Fall on deaf ears and failed muted breath" - These Walls
"Loyalty, trust, faith and desire
Carries love through each darkest fire" - I Walk Beside You
"Tortured insanity
A smothering hell
Try to escape but to no avail" - Panic Attack
"The calls of admirers
Who claim they adore
Drain all your lifeblood while begging for more" - Never Enough
"Innocent victims of mericless crimes
Fall prey to some madmen's impulsive designs" - Sacrificed Sons
AND if you listen really acrefully you can actually hear fragments of thsoe tracks under the vocal parts! Than balls and birds make a... piano keys! (balls- white, crows-black), on the back sleeve there are piano keys and... the album starts and ends with exactly the same piano sound... (trapped inside this... he, he)... The references in the 3rd parts are just pure fun to guess, there is even a little nod towards The wall (spoken This is where we came in on the begining of it). Intro is of course nod towards Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and so on...
It's just amazing, magical. This album is just perfect. I'm trapped inside this octavarium :) That's what I call genius!!! And the title track is just still growing on me... The best thing they have ever done...? Who knows...
http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/printable.aspx?m=883728&mpage=1
Incredible stuff. Like the spider in the booklet that has no way out (trapped inside this ocatavarium) or the fact that the lyrics in 4th part of the title track are references to... previous tracks on the album...!
"Our deadly sins feel his mortal wrath
Remove all obstacles from our path" - The Root of All Evil
"Asking quesitons
Search for clues
The answer's been right in front of you" - The Answer Lies Within
"Try to break through
Long to connect
Fall on deaf ears and failed muted breath" - These Walls
"Loyalty, trust, faith and desire
Carries love through each darkest fire" - I Walk Beside You
"Tortured insanity
A smothering hell
Try to escape but to no avail" - Panic Attack
"The calls of admirers
Who claim they adore
Drain all your lifeblood while begging for more" - Never Enough
"Innocent victims of mericless crimes
Fall prey to some madmen's impulsive designs" - Sacrificed Sons
AND if you listen really acrefully you can actually hear fragments of thsoe tracks under the vocal parts! Than balls and birds make a... piano keys! (balls- white, crows-black), on the back sleeve there are piano keys and... the album starts and ends with exactly the same piano sound... (trapped inside this... he, he)... The references in the 3rd parts are just pure fun to guess, there is even a little nod towards The wall (spoken This is where we came in on the begining of it). Intro is of course nod towards Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and so on...
It's just amazing, magical. This album is just perfect. I'm trapped inside this octavarium :) That's what I call genius!!! And the title track is just still growing on me... The best thing they have ever done...? Who knows...
It's 17 pages! One of the posts for the starters!
"We'll start with the cover. As you all probably noticed, when folded out it makes one complete picture includiung front and back. This forms a Newton's Cradle with 8 balls. There are five birds, strategically located. If you imagine the first balls as F on a keyboard, the first bird is F#. This pattern continues with the balls representing white keys and the birds representing the black keys. I'm still unsure as to the significance of the person in the wierd position on the back. Any suggestions would be welcome. All I can come up with is that the theme of circles is present in the way that she is waving her body/hair in circles. It's a stretch, I know.
Then comes the first page. We see a young boy hold one of those can and twine telephones held up to his ear. The line trails off of the left side of the page.
Second page we get credits. Nothing special.
Page 3: there is a treble clef and staff in the top left corner with the key of F minor and time signature 1/8 preciding the text "the root of all evil." The one represents the number of the track. Below this header are the lyrics.
Next page we are presented with the same header except the key og G minor and time signature 2/8 is shown before "the answer lies within." It is all set against a picture of a hillside reminiscent of the cover with two monstrous dominoes in the foreground and middleground. The first dominoe has 3 and 2 on the face (5) and the second has a 5 and 3 (8). This reflects the number of black and white keys in one octave of a keyboard, and also represents the five band members. There are some birds flying around (3), but I see no real significance in this.
The next page has the key of A minor and time siganture 3/8. The next page shows an 8-sided maze with a spider (8 legs) in the center. There are five layers to the maze, again depicting the common 5 vs. 8 theme. There is no way to get out of the maze unless the spider breaks down the walls on the last layer ("Break down these walls for me")
Next page has the familiar header with the key of B minor and time signature 4/8 shown.
Page 8 has the header for panic attack (C minor and 5/8).
The next page has two headers, one in D minor and 6/8 for never enough and one in E minor and 7/8 for sacrificed sons. Never Enough is the first song NOT in the time signature denoted by its track number. (Saying TROAE is in 1/8 and TALW is in 2/8 is scraping by on a technicallity, but still)
The opposite page shows an OCTOpus with FIVE fish and an OCTAgonal sign with the Dream Theater Logo inscribed.
The following page has F minor and 8/8 for Octavarium parts I and II.
Opposite this page is a sheet of grid paper with a very complex structure mapped out (The builing that IS an Octavarium?). At first glance it is obviously the same as the symbol on the CD itself, an OCTOgon with a FIVE-pointed star inscribed. Dimensions are given on a 5:8 scale. The dimensions are a 29 foot and 6 and 3/4 inch square, with right triangles with legs of 8 feet 8 inches cut off. (The 8'8" is actually not explicitly given. Instead they chose to give a hypotenuse of 12'3" which yields, using basic trig, sides of 8'8"). There are spaces in each wall of dimensions 5'8" (again, five vs. eight. these dimensions are also not explicitly stated, but if you take the measure of each square and multiply by 3 you get 5'8"). The rest of the structure's drawing's significance escapes me. Any help here would be appreciated.
Of course, there is one more aspect not specefically related to the structure itself. Around the edge (starting at the left most side and going clockwise) the F Lydian scale is spelled out. Inside the walls are the accidentals that would be present should it be a chromatic scale, one for each point of the star.
On the following page the remainder of 8vm's lyrics are written out (parts
"We'll start with the cover. As you all probably noticed, when folded out it makes one complete picture includiung front and back. This forms a Newton's Cradle with 8 balls. There are five birds, strategically located. If you imagine the first balls as F on a keyboard, the first bird is F#. This pattern continues with the balls representing white keys and the birds representing the black keys. I'm still unsure as to the significance of the person in the wierd position on the back. Any suggestions would be welcome. All I can come up with is that the theme of circles is present in the way that she is waving her body/hair in circles. It's a stretch, I know.
Then comes the first page. We see a young boy hold one of those can and twine telephones held up to his ear. The line trails off of the left side of the page.
Second page we get credits. Nothing special.
Page 3: there is a treble clef and staff in the top left corner with the key of F minor and time signature 1/8 preciding the text "the root of all evil." The one represents the number of the track. Below this header are the lyrics.
Next page we are presented with the same header except the key og G minor and time signature 2/8 is shown before "the answer lies within." It is all set against a picture of a hillside reminiscent of the cover with two monstrous dominoes in the foreground and middleground. The first dominoe has 3 and 2 on the face (5) and the second has a 5 and 3 (8). This reflects the number of black and white keys in one octave of a keyboard, and also represents the five band members. There are some birds flying around (3), but I see no real significance in this.
The next page has the key of A minor and time siganture 3/8. The next page shows an 8-sided maze with a spider (8 legs) in the center. There are five layers to the maze, again depicting the common 5 vs. 8 theme. There is no way to get out of the maze unless the spider breaks down the walls on the last layer ("Break down these walls for me")
Next page has the familiar header with the key of B minor and time signature 4/8 shown.
Page 8 has the header for panic attack (C minor and 5/8).
The next page has two headers, one in D minor and 6/8 for never enough and one in E minor and 7/8 for sacrificed sons. Never Enough is the first song NOT in the time signature denoted by its track number. (Saying TROAE is in 1/8 and TALW is in 2/8 is scraping by on a technicallity, but still)
The opposite page shows an OCTOpus with FIVE fish and an OCTAgonal sign with the Dream Theater Logo inscribed.
The following page has F minor and 8/8 for Octavarium parts I and II.
Opposite this page is a sheet of grid paper with a very complex structure mapped out (The builing that IS an Octavarium?). At first glance it is obviously the same as the symbol on the CD itself, an OCTOgon with a FIVE-pointed star inscribed. Dimensions are given on a 5:8 scale. The dimensions are a 29 foot and 6 and 3/4 inch square, with right triangles with legs of 8 feet 8 inches cut off. (The 8'8" is actually not explicitly given. Instead they chose to give a hypotenuse of 12'3" which yields, using basic trig, sides of 8'8"). There are spaces in each wall of dimensions 5'8" (again, five vs. eight. these dimensions are also not explicitly stated, but if you take the measure of each square and multiply by 3 you get 5'8"). The rest of the structure's drawing's significance escapes me. Any help here would be appreciated.
Of course, there is one more aspect not specefically related to the structure itself. Around the edge (starting at the left most side and going clockwise) the F Lydian scale is spelled out. Inside the walls are the accidentals that would be present should it be a chromatic scale, one for each point of the star.
On the following page the remainder of 8vm's lyrics are written out (parts
It's going to require months for me to take this all in!
Typical DT... they give you something to think about. I love it.
Typical DT... they give you something to think about. I love it.
Still didn't listen to it, because the album was NOT sold on this island I went to. Gonna buy it tomorrow. In the meanwhile I have to listen to the live shows I download this evening (not too many 8VM songs though). I now have the Stockholm show, as well as the Arrow classic rock show. Dimeadozen kicks ass!
Wow, they play Amsterdam 2 nights as well.
Be sure I'm there the second night!
Be sure I'm there the second night!
Sacrificed Sons kicks bloody ass.
Is it the best thing they've ever recorded? Might be...
Is it the best thing they've ever recorded? Might be...
Ocatavarium is a kickass album!
Portnoy and company rule on every track!
Portnoy and company rule on every track!
As to drawings on the CD.....all the 5 and 8 pix....five members, eight album maybe? 'Balls' on the cover with the leaning lass.....it's her just leaning to get out of their way? Can't comment on any of the musical notes.
The album title doesn't refer to any suffocating Catholic roots of any of the members, does it?
Rather fun to look at a cover and related artwork and try and find hidden meanings again. I will say, not indulging in illegal substances does hurt ones ability to find the obscure;-)
Listened to it again last night....definetely no worse than an A- now.
The album title doesn't refer to any suffocating Catholic roots of any of the members, does it?
Rather fun to look at a cover and related artwork and try and find hidden meanings again. I will say, not indulging in illegal substances does hurt ones ability to find the obscure;-)
Listened to it again last night....definetely no worse than an A- now.
Finally I purchased the album. From what I've heard up till now, it's really really good. I'm going to see them live next week, hoping they will play some of the new songs. I guess they will pick 2 of the heavy songs (since it's a metal festival they play at). Furthermore I've got tickets for the 11th of october (i.e. second night in Amsterdam, where they will hopefully play the full ANATO album).