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After the ambitious double album "Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" last year Dream Theater are back again with their new studio album "Train Of Thought". That was the easy part. Now I am going to make a statement which may seem a bit bold so if you are a big fan of the band please prepare mentally. The thing is that Dream Theater have changed, temporarily or not, and made an album which easily sticks out from all the rest. "Train Of Thought" is for Dream Theater what "St. Anger" is for Metallica you might say but the difference is that Metallica made a complete mess of things with the final result being an album which sounds like a soulless copy of a nu-metal demo band. Dream Theater, however, have managed to create something with their own fingerprint on it. This is easily the heaviest and most aggressive album we have seen so far from the American emperors of progressive metal. There is a little bit of latter-day Megadeth and Load / Reload period Metallica in here but you can always recognize the extraordinary instrumental skills of the band and of course the charismatic vocals from James LaBrie. LaBrie have adapted his voice to the music as well and uses it in a more diverse way than ever before, from the softer high vocals that we are used to hear to more aggressive ones, sometimes close to what Dave Mustaine used to do. Dream Theater is still a progressive metal band but there is so much going on in this album that it is impossible to label their music any longer. Dream Theater have simply grown out of being labelled. The closing 14 minute long "In The Name Of God" even opens up with some oriental sounding riffs. Working hard and staying away from scandalous actions will not get you any headlines but it does pay off in the long run. "Train Of Thought" is the ultimate proof of what some of the world's best musicians can produce under the right conditions. Together with Dimmu Borgir's "Death Cult Armageddon" this is easily one of the best albums of 2003.
| Tracklist |
| 1. As I Am |
| 2. This Dying Soul |
| 3. Endless Sacrifice |
| 4. Honor Thy Father |
| 5. Vacant |
| 6. Stream Of Consciousness |
| 7. In The Name Of God |
: 69.19
| Buy other Dream Theater albums |
