Octavarium - Final Cover

Dream Theater's Octavarium
Release Date: June 7th 2005



1. The Root Of All Evil
2. The Answer Lies Within
3. These Walls
4. I Walk Beside You
5. Panic Attack
6. Never Enough
7. Sacrificed Sons
8. Octavarium

The artwork and layout for this album was done by the great Hugh Syme.

This thread is going to be closely monitored.. if you don't have don't have something nice to say, don't bother. Posts that are insultive or rude are going to earn bans. After the last thread, our strings are just a little short.

Attached Image(s)

Was this originally meant to be the original cover, or was the cover that was posted in the previous thread meant to be the original, but got changed to this? I've noticed at least four changes to it, and I think it's an improved version of the cover that was posted in the last thread.

Good work!

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Looks nicely fine-tuned. Looking forward to hear what the band has to offer.

and that was the life.

music.and
music.

Great, I still like it very much and I can't wait to finally hear the album and see all of the artwork!
Hugh Syme is a great artist *bows*

There, that little place the black bar missed is now covered.

Great artwork.

I think the new cd cover kicks ass and so will the music it contains!

It's awesome. I think the little additions to the strings and balls make it look that much better! I can't wait to own the real thing

Jigsaw pattern
Dominoes left a trail
The whites of their eyes
Polaroids of the tale

yeah, it is slightly different. The black goes all the way over now, the strings look a little better, there are now hooks were the strings are attached and octavarium is a different color i believe.

jim

The sexiest man alive, Conan O'Brien:

i think now i follow MP on the "taste" thing. im seeing things for the first time now...but heck...ive been eating a lot of ice cream these days...so what do i know?

no comment

ORIGINAL: Weymolith
After the last thread, our strings are just a little short.

Wey, you kill me ... and the cover looks great!

brilliant :)

so, are these all the tweaks:

-strings changed
-black bar extended fully
-font colour changed
-majesty symbol dimmed
-right-hand ball position slightly changed???

i like it very very much :) lovely conception :)

click! My RYM page.

I like it. Some nice subtle improvements over the earlier version that was posted. I think this is one of the better things Hugh Syme has created.

I look forward to seeing the rest of it, and of course what's inside.

Schweet! Looks highly polished. Great artwork overall. I can't wait for this album to be released.

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I still think it's great. It would be perfect if that last ball were positioned correctly, but hey, that's just Perfectionist Me talking.

My CD Collection and Concert List

ORIGINAL: richey

brilliant :)

so, are these all the tweaks:

-strings changed
-black bar extended fully
-font colour changed
-majesty symbol dimmed
-right-hand ball position slightly changed???

i like it very very much :) lovely conception :)

+ added texture to the black bar.

I like it! :)

Well, i still like it, as i liked it from the very beginning! It's very peaceful and serene. I can still catch the Infinity feel from it . And i believe that the most important thing, the music, under that beautiful cover art is just going to complement it Nice work! I believe Octavarium will join the club of incredible albums, in my book So once again, it's getting harder and harder to wait..

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hehe, like it

LOVE IT!

This cover is sweet.

I still get a somehow relaxed feeling when I look at this pic. It's simple but effective and I find it of my liking.

Thanks again for sharing it with us

cya

Two words!!

If nobody had said anything, I wouln't have noticed the difference...

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Let's hope the thread can last this time.

Trolls beware - the Wookie is watching!

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www.myspace.com/14ten - our Myspace
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I liked the 1st one, this is even better!
Awesome!

http://www.myspace.com/Ismarovic (some heavy guitar music)

Just speculation, but it looks to me like you could slide a plastic cover off of this thing.

What I mean is, on the plastic cover, you'd find That whole part with the black, the balls, and "octovarium", so that when you slide the plastic cover off, all that's left is the nature part.

The design I'm imagining would be very similar to that of The Who's Deluxe Edition releases.

Can anyone else picture that?

And wouldn't that be a neat idea!

I choose to block the posts of men.

That is, DrumRMan and Ultra Man.

Awsome, the original was good, but the final tweaks make it look great. I'm guessing that the swinging ball being higher than it "should" be is deliberate, so i'm not gonna question it.

Edit:

Just speculation, but it looks to me like you could slide a plastic cover off of this thing.

What I mean is, on the plastic cover, you'd find That whole part with the black, the balls, and "octovarium", so that when you slide the plastic cover off, all that's left is the nature part.

The design I'm imagining would be very similar to that of The Who's Deluxe Edition releases.

Can anyone else picture that?

And wouldn't that be a neat idea!

Or in a similar vein they could do something like with tool's Lateralus, where the pages are transparent, and each page has part of the cover on it, so you can flip each ball away or something. Either option would be incredible, but i'll be happy with anything as long as it's a DT CD inside

You can pry the drumsticks from my cold dead hands
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So what's next on the plate, guys?

Track Times?

Seems logical to me

Nice cover.... The only thing that remains is to see if the whole album will meet our great expectations which we all have from the band. I can't wait guys!!!!

To those who understand I extent my hand, to the doubtful I demand take me AS I AM

GAH! reminds me of Christman orniments

Nice balls.

KILLER!!!

Glad it got the tweaks it needed, this is now officially IMHO one of DT's best covers. Can't wait to see the whole package!

"The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is keeping them ignorant."

ORIGINAL: Landon

So what's next on the plate, guys?

Track Times?

Seems logical to me

yeah, or just the backcover with tracktimes on it

I about fell out of my chair when I read it was Hugh Syme designed. First they record the album at the Hit Factory and now they make the call to Hugh Syme to design the cover art. Holy moley!

Joe
In Canada, they have three gods. Number one is beer. Number two is Rush and number three is Wayne Gretzky. - Sebastian Bach

small changes ----> big diference, looks more pro. nice.... now waiting for the music

I have to admit that like with many of my favourite prog songs it took a while to get used to but now I think look's excellent. My appetite is well and truly whetted

Sweet, we get to try this again

Serene, earthy. One can't look at this cover and help but think...."New Direction?" I'm very
stoked to hear it. I still keep thinking that the spirits of all those bands that recorded
in that studio before Dream Theater, descended one last time and joined the band in making
what I predict will be the EPIC masterpiece from this band.

Thanks Wey for giving us another chance.

Thanks Mike for thinking enough of us to give us a preview......we appreciate it

I showed my roommate the cover and he said something that I agree with... "The cover reminds me of many classic progressive albums coverart." Although it's digital in design, it shares many of the "old school" proggy-type artwork. Anyone else see this or am I just too hopped up on sinus medication?

9 out of 10 groupies prefer drummers.

ORIGINAL: Ragutis




KILLER!!!

Glad it got the tweaks it needed, this is now officially IMHO one of DT's best covers. Can't wait to see the whole package!

i agree

im hoping that the artwork inside the booklet will be as great as in ToT too :)

click! My RYM page.

Awesome, perfect cover IMO

I liked the previous version, and I like this one even more. I'm glad to see that even though the bashing it got, some of the things pointed out by many were taken into consideration. It looks very polished indeed. Nice work, Hugh and MP

What the hell am I supposed to complain about now?

I don't know what to expect musically by looking at the cover. It could be Norwegian folk music with balls, but I'm pretty sure it isn't.

Loved the cover the first time and love it even more now. Can anyone turn it into wallpapers? I'd love to have the image on my desktop at home and work.

TKH

I love the way that the right ball is positioned..I think that it was sligthly positioned out of place on purpose..maybe the reason that the only ball that is going to hit the other balls(mainstream) has the majesty logo is because Dream Theater is about to shake things up..and isn't positioned in a place you normaly think it would because because DT is diferent..am i making any sense at all?

I personally liked the first one. I mean I would settle for a picture of an empty cardboard box as the cover. I really don't care. Don't get me wrong, I love looking at the creative artwork for each album, but I am just so pumped about the new songs that the artwork is nothing more than just an AWESOME bonus to the album. I like it. Way to go.

"We signed our fair share of girl's tits, but it was their boyfriends that really paid attention to us." - MP in August '05 Classic Rock Magazine

NC's Fire Dept Incidents

It's still awesome. Love the polished look.
Don't most people love these things? Everytime I see one, I can't stop staring at it's beauty.
June 7 is not coming soon enough!
Montreal will tremble in the wake of Gigantour.

I hope Mike reads through this thread and realizes that 99% of the fans appreciate his hard work on the CD art and the other 1% are a bunch of whining, spoiled, inconsiderate, rude, obnoxious, jealous, insulting, impolite, negative pessimists who have nothing better to do than minutely pick apart someone else's talent and art instead of contributing positively themselves to anything . . . whew (takes breath).

It's a shame Weymo had to lock the other thread, but if anything I hope the tolerance level for naysayers and bashers has been lowered.

So to summarize: Great cover, MP! Counting the days until June 7!

Hey, that's great!
It looks much cooler now.
Well and i hope the music is great too.

Reminds me a lot of the Youthanasia cover with the grass and something hanging in it...either way, it looks AWESOME!

Don't look at the mantlepiece when you're poking the fire

ORIGINAL: NetShark

I love the way that the right ball is positioned..I think that it was sligthly positioned out of place on purpose..maybe the reason that the only ball that is going to hit the other balls(mainstream) has the majesty logo is because Dream Theater is about to shake things up..and isn't positioned in a place you normaly think it would because because DT is diferent..am i making any sense at all?

I presented an idea similar to yours in the first cover reveal thread. You know that THE ball describes DT and how they have a complete artistic freedom when it comes to their music, composing, their passion. And how they don't feel the need to be where some people want them to be or do what some might expect them to do. And when DT's music reaches people, they don't know what hit them (oh yeah, the ball!) since DT can come from where you least expect them to come (the ball being out of its 'normal' place) I'd say it's DT taking their own course, as usual!

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cool cover but where are the Teletubbies?

The artwork is awesome for the most part. I'm slightly disappointed to see the black bar staying, though. It looks kinda out of place. Nonetheless, good job.

Changes I have noticed so far:

- New color for "Octavarium" (slightly darker now)
- Black bar is whole lengh now and a little less high
- Improved wires
- Hooks for the wires
- A little less transparency for the black bar
- Slightly different color of "Dream Theater"
- "Dream Theater" was moved up and right
- The birds are a bit smaller now
- The whole cover is a little less saturated.

Guess that's all. Well done, Mike.

ORIGINAL: CarletonBComm

Just speculation, but it looks to me like you could slide a plastic cover off of this thing.

What I mean is, on the plastic cover, you'd find That whole part with the black, the balls, and "octovarium", so that when you slide the plastic cover off, all that's left is the nature part.

The design I'm imagining would be very similar to that of The Who's Deluxe Edition releases.

Can anyone else picture that?

And wouldn't that be a neat idea!

That would be awesome.

I know that I'm just a fan that's looking from the outside-in, so my speculation could be way off, but i give some SERIOUS props to Mr. Portnoy. If the final artwork that we see now had been changed from the original because of our *cough* criticism*cough*, that shows me how loyal MP is to his fans. I refuse to make any comments concerning the new cover because it is not my place to judge someone else's creative instinct and direction. Regardless of what the cover looks like, MP never had to do anything "just to suit our needs". So I would like to thank you, Mr. Portnoy, for your devotion and for being like a friend to each and every one of us.
-Steve

"take a kraft cheese single, stick it in your ass and rub it in her face. maybe then she'll listen" -CJF

I'll repeat what I said in the first thread: greatest DT cover ever. One of my favorite all time album covers (after Powerslave of course).
Great job!
I have a great feeling about this album.

joe

http://s92621507.onlinehome.us

ORIGINAL: krista

ORIGINAL: NetShark

I love the way that the right ball is positioned..I think that it was sligthly positioned out of place on purpose..maybe the reason that the only ball that is going to hit the other balls(mainstream) has the majesty logo is because Dream Theater is about to shake things up..and isn't positioned in a place you normaly think it would because because DT is diferent..am i making any sense at all?

I presented an idea similar to yours in the first cover reveal thread. You know that THE ball describes DT and how they have a complete artistic freedom when it comes to their music, composing, their passion. And how they don't feel the need to be where some people want them to be or do what some might expect them to do. And when DT's music reaches people, they don't know what hit them (oh yeah, the ball!) since DT can come from where you least expect them to come (the ball being out of its 'normal' place) I'd say it's DT taking their own course, as usual!

Maybe Mike will tell us what was the concept of the cover art in a new dvd

im really diggin it...didnt get a chance to comment the first time around, liked it then too....reminds me of transatlantic a little bit

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I'm a lot more satisfied with the new cover. Still not cool on the black thingy, but they fixed the bit of green to the right and that's ok for me.

The only way to live is to die while you're alive.

I really like it, now :)

The message is clear. This cover contains balls, the next cover will contain ass (a donkey?) and the following one will feature an "eating" theme. Nice and subtle.

"Jack rabbit mister, spawn a new breed, of love-hungry pilgrims nobody's to feed
Show me a good man and I'll show you the door! The last hymn is sung and the Devil cries 'MORE!'"

Anyone happen to have the original saved and can post a pic of it? I'd like to look at them side-by-side. Loved the cover since the beginning.

I agree it looks great now and I'm glad it was fixed.

I think just about all of the criticisms before pertained to all the small and "amateurish" errors in the graphic implementation (not the idea itself) and we were told by all authorities that it wasn't going to get fixed (though I'm glad that apparently was wrong?). Now obviously you don't need to fix something because we say so, but people were just pointing out some obvious problems they noticed (some in a not-so-positive manner albeit).

Anyway, great cover. One other member posted a great interpretation of the "full" version of this cover (front & back half) with 8 balls and the DT ball at the end is the only one swinging up. Right below that 8th ball is of course the title "octavarium" and I think it's going to mean something about a variation of the 8th thing (album, etc.) from all the rest. Really cool artwork to convey that.

Simple, yet stunning! I can't wait to have this cd in my hands early that Tuesday morning.

much better, i hated the strings first time and that was about it. so good job

I think it looks tons better! I didn't like it before, but I didn't realize it was just a "taste" as well, so sorry for what I said. The few minor tweaks make it a lot better.

It's alot different than other DT covers, it's lacking that crazy random collage feel. But nevertheless, I can't help but get that pastoral Genesis feel + \m/ with the balls.

w00t

Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence.
--Robert Fripp

Way better than the first one. Still not my favorite DT cover, but it looks good now. It's up to DT artwork standards, and that's saying something. Now bring on June 7th, dammit!

The balls remember me of that "toy", which has identical metallic spheres hanging from similar heights from a horizontal bar. Whan you pull the first sphere and release it to hit the other ones, the sphere on the opposite side goes up to the same height you had raised the first one.

However, when the sphere with the DT symbol hit the other ones, the sphere in the left would have no room to go up, probably making the whole structure collapse. So, that would be total collapse in a peaceful place...

ORIGINAL: SpacemanSpiff

It's still awesome. Love the polished look.
Don't most people love these things? Everytime I see one, I can't stop staring at it's beauty.
June 7 is not coming soon enough!
Montreal will tremble in the wake of Gigantour.

I've loved it since the beginning. I agree that June 7 cannot get here soon enough.

BTW, love the avatar, SpacemanSpiff.

As long as I got rock n roll, I'm forever young

Just a thought, I wonder if this is the whole cover or just 1/8th of it?

Either way I still like it and cant wait to hear the songs

Looking at this cover "eat my ass and balls" takes on a whole new meaning. I like it, the little changes from the last version makes it look more professional. The artwork is great, all the colour is a cool contrast from the ToT cover. With a cover this cool I can't wait to hear how it sounds!

Sweeeeet

eat my grass and balls

Chris Brooks

ORIGINAL: voodoo

ORIGINAL: SpacemanSpiff

It's still awesome. Love the polished look.
Don't most people love these things? Everytime I see one, I can't stop staring at it's beauty.
June 7 is not coming soon enough!
Montreal will tremble in the wake of Gigantour.

I've loved it since the beginning. I agree that June 7 cannot get here soon enough.

BTW, love the avatar, SpacemanSpiff.

Is he playing Classical music at 78 rpm or am I still dreaming?
First thing tomorrow morning, I'm calling the orphanage!

ROFLCOPTER@ balerion!!!

I don't know if this has been mentionned , but the "Dream Theater" is darker now.

Well I didn't even post in the last thread becasue it was a trainwreck, but now Im happy to say that the minor changes made go a long way to make the cover look more professional. Great work.

That string has to be short on purpose, I don't think someone who has done so much can mess up something like that, it'll always be the first thing I notice when I look at the album though, lol.

ORIGINAL: CarletonBComm

Just speculation, but it looks to me like you could slide a plastic cover off of this thing.

What I mean is, on the plastic cover, you'd find That whole part with the black, the balls, and "octovarium", so that when you slide the plastic cover off, all that's left is the nature part.

I thought the exact same thing - like how Tool's Lateralus has a plastic thing over the actual jewel case. I like how this looks but I agree it'd be cool if the black bar slid off as part of a clear sleeve and the cover was the full landscape with the balls.

I didn't get a chance to comment in the other thread before it was locked, but those who were spouting off with insulting/rude comments should really take a step back and realize how arrogant what they're saying is. Couldn't it be in the least bit possible that your interpretation of what the cover means or that a string is too short or whatever are wrong??? My gut feeling is that everyone doing that will be apologizing profusely to MP when they see the whole package on June 7th...

i love the imagery of this cover.
theres a supernatural element fused with the earthly. (the balls hanging from the heavens + the pasture and hills in the background; the birds are maybe a link between the two).
also the peaceful and the heavy \m/ \m/ !!! just try and imagine the sounds of nature: birds chirping, etc, and then theres these ginormous metal balls clanking in the sky! imagine what that would sound like = \m/

beautiful.

I get a very peaceful feeling when I look at this cover. I can't wait to actually have the CD in my hands. The anticipation is killing me!

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