Octavarium

Octavarium
Studio album by
Publication (s)	June 6, 2005
admission	November 2004–25. February 2005
Label (s)	Atlantic Records
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Progressive metal
Title (number)	8th
running time	74:24
occupation	Singing : James LaBrie Guitar : John Petrucci Bass : John Myung Keyboard : Jordan Rudess Drums : Mike Portnoy
production	John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy
Studio (s)	The Hit Factory, New York (USA)
chronology Live at Budokan (2004) Octavarium SCORE (20th Anniversary World Tour) (2006)

Octavarium is the eighth studio album by the American progressive metal band Dream Theater , which was released on June 6, 2005.

After the rather Thrashy previous album Train of Thought , Dream Theater returns to a more progressive style with Octavarium . For the first time, Dream Theater is accompanied by an orchestra on the album. It was Dream Theater's last album with Atlantic Records (after a 14-year contract), and the last album recorded at The Hit Factory studio in New York . After Dream Theater finished recording, the studio was permanently closed.

Octavarium reached the top five in Finland , Italy and Sweden and the top ten in Poland , the Netherlands , Norway and Japan . It was mostly rated positively in reviews.

concept

A theme that runs through the entire album on different levels is the octave and, related to it, the number 8 (octa). An octave consists of eight root tones and is a key interval for many different musical styles. The reason for this concept could be that Octavarium is the band's eighth studio album.

The eight or the octave is alluded to in the album title (see below). The number of songs in the album is also eight. The keys in which the songs are written (all in minor ) cover exactly one octave: They start in f , then sound (in ascending order) g , a , b , c , d , e and finally f again. Matching this, a section of a piano keyboard beginning with f is indicated on the back of the CD case, which section comprises an octave and on which the song titles are printed on the key corresponding to the key of the key. The eight balls and the five birds on the album cover can also be interpreted as white and black piano keys that go from an f to the f above it. Numerous other, more or less hidden references to the octave or the numbers eight and five were incorporated into the pieces themselves, into their names and into the illustrations in the booklet.

Another topic is the circularity of all things - the thought that history moves in a circle and everything returns at some point, just as the end point of one octave interval is also the starting point of the next. This expresses u. a. in the key scheme of the album, which leads from f to f, or in that the album begins with the same note that the previous album ended with. In addition to explicit mentions of the topic in the texts, there are also numerous textual and musical allusions to earlier songs by Dream Theater itself and by other bands. This theme also appears in the illustrations (including the shot-put pendulum swinging back again and again on the cover).

The name

Originally the album was supposed to be called Octave (Eng. "Octave"), but when the progressive rock band Spock's Beard released their eighth album Octane (Eng. " Octane ") in early 2005 , Dream Theater decided to differentiate the album name more from this one . After the announcement of the name Octavarium , there was much speculation among fans as to what this might mean.

From a linguistic point of view, Octavarium is a Latin word or a word borrowed from Latin, consisting of the root word Octav- (from octavus = "the eighth" or octava = "the eighth", derived from "the octave") and the Suffix -arium ( neuter of -arius ), whose basic meaning is "... concerning". The literal meaning of Octavarium can be roughly described as "concerning the eighth" or "concerning octaves", which fits well with the concept of the album (see above). Words formed with the suffix mentioned are adjectives in Latin , but they are also often substantiated . In the latter case, the noun is not mentioned, but must be inferred from the context (here for example "... relevant [work / album]" or similar).

The word octavarium already existed in post-classical ( late antique ) Latin and at that time denoted a tax of 1/8 (literal meaning in this case: "the eighth part [tax]"). The word is also used as the title of the work in the Octavarium Romanum ("Roman Octavarium"), a book dealing with Catholic liturgy from 1628 (" [book] concerning liturgical octaves "). It remains to be seen whether these uses of the word, which are far back in time and have a remote content, had an influence on the name of the Dream Theater album.

The dissolution of the name in octa + varium with the alleged meaning "eight variations" (or similar), which is widespread on Internet forums, is grammatically incorrect (which of course does not rule out that Dream Theater could theoretically have had such an interpretation in mind ).

Track list

1. The Root of All Evil ( Dream Theater / Mike Portnoy ) - 8:25 (Parts VI and VII of the so-called Alcoholics Anonymous Suite )

   VI. Ready

   VII. Remove

2. The Answer Lies Within ( Dream Theater / John Petrucci ) - 5:33
3. These Walls (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 7:36
4. I Walk Beside You (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 4:29
5. Panic Attack (Dream Theater / John Petrucci) - 8:13
6. Never Enough (Dream Theater / Mike Portnoy) - 6:46
7. Sacrificed Sons (Dream Theater / James LaBrie ) - 10:42
8. Octavarium - 24:00 (Dream Theater / James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy)
   

   I. Someone Like Him (Dream Theater / John Petrucci)

   II. Medicate (Awakening) (Dream Theater / James LaBrie)

   III. Full Circle (Dream Theater / Mike Portnoy)

   IV. Intervals (Dream Theater / Mike Portnoy)

   V. Razor's Edge (Dream Theater / John Petrucci)

Guest musician

orchestra

• Ladder:
  • Jamshied Sharifi

• Concertmaster :
  • Elena Barere

• Violins :
  • Katharine Fong
  • Ann Lehmann
  • Katherine Livolsi star
  • Laura McGinniss
  • Catherine Ro
  • Ricky Sortomme
  • Yuri Vodovoz

• Violas :
  • Vincent Lionti
  • Karen Dreyfus

• Cellos :
  • Richard Locker
  • Jeanne LeBlanc

• Flute :
  • Pamela Sklar

• Horns :
  • Joe Other
  • Stewart Rose

Chart placements

country	placement
England	72
Germany	15th
Finland	2
Italy	2
Japan	10
Netherlands	9
Norway	9
Austria	35
Poland	8th
Sweden	4th
Switzerland	43
United States	36

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Finnish Charts Access date Oct. 24, 2012.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Italian charts date of access Oct. 24, 2012.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Swedish Charts Access date Oct. 24, 2012.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Polish Charts Access date Oct. 24, 2012.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Dutch charts date of access October 24, 2012.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Norwegian Charts Access date Oct. 24, 2012.
7. ↑ Octavarium Analysis fansite, access date Oct. 24, 2012.
8. ↑ http://www.univie.ac.at/latein/lerg/frames.htm##2=http://www.univie.ac.at/latein/wb/wbs.htm#arius
9. ^ Octavarius Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary , Oxford 1879. Accessed Oct. 23, 2012.
10. ^ Octavarium Karl Ernst Georges, Comprehensive Latin-German concise dictionary , Hanover 1918. Access date October 24, 2012.
11. ^ Octavarium Romanum Catholic Encyclopedia , New York 1911. Accessed Oct. 22, 2012.

Web links

• Octavarium Analysis English-language fansite with a detailed listing of the "hidden" allusions in the album
• Reviews of Octavarium on the baby blue pages
• Octavarium on the official Dream Theater website ( Memento from September 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive )