•
Rating:
Dream Theater's latest effort represents a controversial and difficult to identify musical interlude, qualifying it as a bold album in terms of modernity, but characterized, unlike previous episodes, by a lesser creative verve. Let's clarify this aspect right away: if we had stumbled upon System Of A Down's latest effort, we would have hailed a miracle, but in the case of the “Theater of Dreams”, the work qualifies as one of the group's less convincing moments, choosing to embrace decidedly harder sounds reaffirming their technical abilities rather than focusing on songwriting, moving away from the versatility of the previous "Six Degrees...", revealing a simplistic work for a band that has accustomed its audience to peaks of superb musical class.
If the majority of historic metal bands, having reached the inevitable creative oblivion, replicate established patterns and formulas in an attempt to confirm their artistic merits, our heroes take another disorienting step: with the clear awareness of those about to self-destruct, they renew their sound, abandoning the class and inventiveness of their beginnings to infuse their sound with post-Pantera riffs and nu-metal arrangements. Given these premises, we are led to consider this "Train of Thought" as a complementary episode to the equally disappointing “Dance Of Death” by the Maiden: while the latter confirms the legendary tendency to recycle themselves, Dream shows boldness by risking it all, and do so, albeit unwittingly, in a ridiculous manner.
If the New York band had distinguished itself, in alternate episodes, for originality and versatility, we now face blurred imitations of Tool and Korn, courageously tackling occasionally rapped vocal lines and a strong debt towards the more recent “Four Horsemen”: where there remains a reminiscence of the originality that made us love Dream, we are met with an unpleasant sequence of technically perfect solos, which have the musical value of a bored yawn.
And to say that the opening seemed convincing, with a sharp “As I Am”, which, while paying tribute to Metallica's "Black Album" era, turns out to be one of the most exciting episodes on the album. With the following “This Dying Soul”, the group, after an impressive technical demonstration by the ever-green Portnoy, manifests its will to innovate by taking up its most overused clichés and enhancing them with current sounds. “Endless Sacrifice”, once again indebted to Metallica, presents a structure close to the gentle “Peruvian Skies” from "Falling Into Infinity", except it breaks into an inappropriate rap/metal refrain that shatters the promising initial atmosphere; a similar solution is also adopted in “Honor Thy Father”, where, however, the alternation of metal gallops and more modernistic rhythms creates a more assured and dynamic impact. “Vacant”, the only and very brief slow episode of the album, a sly and ineffective reworking of “Space-Dye Vest”, precedes the torrential solos of the instrumental “Stream Of Consciousness”, an unfortunate title for a band whose current creative coldness finds refuge in the stereotype: if this is the stream of consciousness of the five Americans who ten years ago brought prog metal to prominence, then we are truly scraping the bottom of the barrel. The closing is entrusted to the dark “In The Name Of God”, a track that showcases the tired interpretative skills of a rhetorical James LaBrie and the proven technical efficiency of the others. The track here and there draws from the band's more classic and thus interesting atmospheres, even if there is a vague sensation that it is a collage of the highlights of the early productions; however, the track turns out to be impactful, albeit hindered by the excessive technical lengths typical of the group.
The album, in conclusion, while showcasing some valid episodes, proves to be a low blow for longtime fans, while it could be an opportunity, surely already considered during production, to attract a new audience, more accustomed to current sounds.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 As I Am (07:47)
Don't
Tell me what's in
Tell me how to write
Don't tell me how to win
This fight
Isn't your life
It isn't your right
To take the only thing that's
Mine
Proven over time
It's over your head
Don't try to read between the
Lines
Are clearly defined
Never lose sight of
Something you believe in
Takin' in the view from
The outside
Feeling like the underdog
Watching through the
Window I'm on the outside
Living like the underdog
I've been trying
To justify you
In the end
I will just defy you
To those who understand
I extend my hand
To the doubtful I demand
Take me as I am
Not under your command
I know where I stand
I won't change to fit your plan
Take me as I am
Still
Running up hill
Swimming against the current
I wish I weren't so
Fucked
Feels like I'm stuck
Lost in a sea of mediocrity
"Slow down,
You're thinking too much
Where is your soul?"
You can not touch
The way I
Play
Or tell me what to say
You're in the way
Of all that I believe in
Takin' in the view from
The outside
Feeling like the underdog
Watching through the
Window I'm on the outside
Living like the underdog
I've been wasting my breath
On you
Open minds will descend
Upon you
To those who understand
I extend my hand
To the doubtful I demand
Take me as I am
Not under your command
I know where I stand
I won't change to fit your plan
Take me as I am
To those who understand
I extend my hand
To the doubtful I demand
Take me as I am
Not under your command
I know where I stand
I won't change to fit your plan
Take me as I am
04 Honor Thy Father (10:14)
We're taught unconditional love
That blood is thicker than water
That a parent's world would revolve
Always around their son or their daughter
You pretended I was your own
And even believed that you loved me
But were always threatened by some
Invisible blood line that only you could see
You took advantage of an outreached hand
And twisted it to meet your every need
"Gimme time to re-charge my batteries,
I'll see her when she's older and I'll bounce her on my knee"
Well listen to me you ungrateful fool
Here comes a dose of reality
You'll go to your grave a sad and lonely man
The door is now closed on your pathetic little plan
On and on and on and on it goes
It's so easy to run away with nothing in tow
How can you ever sleep a wink at night
Pretending that everything is alright
And have the nerve to blame this mess on me
Never in my life have I seen someone
So ignorant to the damage he has done
You're the rotted root in the family tree
I tried your 4 bill therapy
I tried to make amends
But nothing could lure you out of your selfish shell again
Expecting everyone to bow and kiss your feet
Don't you see respect is not a one way street
Blaming everyone for all that you've done wrong
I'll get my peace of mind when you hear this song
On and on and on and on it goes
And with every passing day true colors show
How can you ever sleep a wink at night
Pretending that everything is alright
And have the balls to blame this mess on me
Never in my life have I seen someone
Oblivious to the damage he has done
You're the rotted root in the family tree
Watch where you walk
Don't you dare cross the crooked step
Watch the way you talk
Don't cross the crooked step
''"This is the regret that you make
This is the...
Regret that you make
And the something you take
Mistakes like this... you don't make
You make some and ok
Not ok, sometimes, you make other ones
Know that you should do better
The goddamn regret
The goddamn regret!
And I'll die
Now I'll die
The biggest regret of my life... I let my love go
What did I do?
The fucking regret
What did I do?
What did I do?"
"We just don't connect"
"Well, I want my family back."
"Well, you can't have it. I'm sorry for you, but it's too late."
"Can't you see anything except in terms of how it affects you?!"
"I can't love anybody"
"I gave you money, I gave you a car, I took you in
Don't that mean something?"
" ...I'm disappointed in you"
"You deserve to die alone for what you've done"
"You cocksucker, I hated you
I want you to know that I hate your fucking guts
Just fucking die, you fuck"
"I'm your blood - I'm your family"
"You're not my family - not anymore"
"When your own flesh and blood renounces you...
...you have no choice but to renounce them"''
On and on and on and on it goes
Chauvinistic, heartless, selfish, cold
How can you ever sleep a wink at night
Pretending that everything is alright
And have the balls to blame this shit on me
Never in my life have I seen someone
So fucking blind to the damage he has done
You're the rotted root in the family tree
05 Vacant (02:57)
Hey You, Hey You
I'm right here
Conscience fading
Can't get through
Oh Lord
Helpless
Confused
Head swayed
Eyes glazed
And mine teared
She's losing control
What can I do
Her vacant eyes
Black holes
Am I losing you
07 In the Name of God (14:14)
How can this be? Why is he the chosen one?
Saint gone astray with a scepter and a gun
Learn to believe in the mighty and the strong
Come bleed the beast, follow me it won't be long
Listen when the prophet speaks to you
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
Straight is the path leading to your salvation
Slaying the weak, ethnic elimination
Any day we'll all be swept away
You'll be saved as long as you obey
Lies, the tools of the devil inside
Written in Holy disguise
Meant to deceive and divide us all
Listen when the prophet speaks to you
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
Blurring the lines between virtue and sin
They can't tell where God ends and mankind begins
They know no other life but this
From the cradle they are claimed
Listen when the prophet speaks to you
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
Hundreds of believers lured into a doomsday cult
All would perish in the name of God
Self-proclaimed messiah led his servants to their death
Eighty murdered in the name of God
Forty sons and daughters un-consenting plural wives
Perversions in the name of God
Underground religion turning toward the mainstream light
Blind devotion in the name of God
Justifying violence citing from the Holy Book
Teaching hatred in the name of God
[Instrumental section]
Listen when the prophet speaks to you
Killing in the name of God
Passion twisting faith into violence
In the name of God
In the name of God
Religious beliefs - fanatic obsession
Does following faith lead us to violence?
Unyielding crusade - divine revelation
Does following faith lead us to violence?
[Chant:]
Mine eyes have seen the glory
of the coming of the Lord
he is trampling out the vintage
where the grapes of wrath are stored
he had loosed the fateful lightning
of his terrible swift sword
his truth is marching on.
glory, glory, hallelujah
glory, glory, hallelujah
glory, glory, hallelujah...
-------------------------------------------------------
Ako to len môže byť?
Prečo je on ten Vyvolený?
Svätí odišli zvádzať na zlé cesty
so žezlom a so zbraňou.
Uč sa veriť v moci a sile.
Príď, vykrvácaj šelma.
Nasleduj ma, nebude to dlho.
ref.: Počúvaj, keď prorok k tebe hovorí.
Zabíjanie v mene Boha.
Umučenie prevracia vieru v násilie.
V mene Boha.
Priamo vpred je cesta, ktorá ťa vedie ku spáse.
Vyvraždenie slabých, etnická likvidácia.
V ktorýkoľvek deň my všetci budeme uchvátený
a ty budeš zachránený tak dlho, ako budeš poslúchať.
Klamstvá - nástroje diabla vo vnútri
napísané v svätej pretvárke.
Určené, aby nás všetkých podvádzali a rozdelili.
ref.:
Rozmazané hranice medzi cnosťou a hriechom
Nemôžu povedať, kde Boh končí a ľudstvo začína.
Nepoznajú iný život okrem tohto,
od kolísky sú presviedčaný...
ref.:
--------------------- INSTRUMENTAL PART ------------------------
... Stovky veriacich vábia do kultu Dňa Posledného Súdu.
Všetci chcú zomrieť v meno Boha.
Samozvaný mesiáš vedie svojich služobníkov do smrti,
80 zavraždených v meno Boha.
40 synov a dcér, neplnoleté manželky
perverznosti v mene Boha.
Skryté náboženstvo obracia vpred do hlavného svetla
zaslepená oddanosť v mene Boha.
Ospravedlnujúce násilie citované zo svätej knihy
učia nenávisť v mene Boha.
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By KiccoLSD1
Stream of Consciousness: 11 minutes of pure music that enter forcibly into Dream Theater’s history.
The album closes with 'In the Name of God,' probably the most beautiful song on the album, where indeed all the members give their best.
By TheSilentMan
The musicians' exhibitionism has become something abstract on the album; in fact, Petrucci's solos are indeed very fast but lack pathos.
Despite the usual mammoth durations typical of DT, the songs are the right length and contain some well-structured moments, but the ideas are now exhausted.
By cameli11
It's simply fantastic, it mesmerized the audience upon its release, they have once again shown themselves to be out-of-this-world!
DT are superior to everyone and Train of Thought is one of the many demonstrations they have presented and will hopefully continue to do for years and years to come.
By petrucci
Everyone’s entitled to their tastes—but veteran fans disowning the band baffles me.
'Stream Of Consciousness' is the most beautiful track on the entire album.
By Dreamtheater
"With 'Vacant' I feel the real Dream Theater: truly beautiful and touching... melancholic and even heartbreaking."
"Train of Thought falls into the 'trap' of metal, with too many solos and high rhythms... absolutely not their style."
