Nuggets on Octavarium

"Home again" -- Pink Floyd lyric from Side 1 of Dark Side of the Moon ("Home, home again, I like to be here when I can")
 
And Get Back is definitely not a stretch, given the section and how much Mike loves T3h B347l3ZZ~!
 
I love this section of the song; thanks for pointing out a couple of references I didn't get!

To manifest your dreams before you manifest your fears
To navigate beyond the treachery of self despair
To find the balance between all you sense and all you see
To find the patience and the strength it takes to let it be

I also like how the album has three "sides" (three sides to every story?) of about 24-25 minutes each.  Not only that, but the sides are thematic in general (Side 1 = positive, Side 2 = negative, Side 3 = balance and reference).  Side One is tracks 1-4, Side Two is 5-7, and Side Three is 8.  Additionally, if you wanna get *real* freaky, each side is about the length of a Genesis album side, maybe referencing Three Sides Live.

To manifest your dreams before you manifest your fears
To navigate beyond the treachery of self despair
To find the balance between all you sense and all you see
To find the patience and the strength it takes to let it be

ORIGINAL: BigDrahma

I also like how the album has three "sides" (three sides to every story?) of about 24-25 minutes each.  Not only that, but the sides are thematic in general (Side 1 = positive, Side 2 = negative, Side 3 = balance and reference).  Side One is tracks 1-4, Side Two is 5-7, and Side Three is 8.  Additionally, if you wanna get *real* freaky, each side is about the length of a Genesis album side, maybe referencing Three Sides Live.

neo/any keanu character: "Woah".

http://www.brianmckenzie.com is the new project I'm in. Please listen! :) thanks!

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

Ah, got it!
It's his Continuum, but from 2:44 on JR plays the Lap Steel Guitar, right?

CHEERZ!

I believe JR plays on the Lap Steel Guitar,  while there's no band joining him...  and then he moves to the Continuum,  as the band members join him!

check out the EQ on the end of Panic Attack.

Knight Rider anyone?

Blog - Flickr

Holy elderberries batman..
I was looking up album covers, and on the 6 degrees cover is a circle devided into eight parts with 2 shaded in...
 
http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/covers/WB-0678B.jpg
 
draw your own conclusions

ORIGINAL: Three

Holy elderberries batman..
I was looking up album covers, and on the 6 degrees cover is a circle devided into eight parts with 2 shaded in...

http://g.sheetmusicplus.com/Look-Inside/covers/WB-0678B.jpg

draw your own conclusions

 
Hmm I think this COULD be pulling at a few non-ended strings

ORIGINAL: MtGoTenalp

ORIGINAL: Mike_mccabe

8 balls on the front - 5 birds

The balls and birds are also in order of the piano on the back with each ball representing each song and there root notes in order (F to F) and the birds representing sharps.

 
HAHA This keeps getting better and better

I'm sorry if this has been mentioned before, but there are many threads about 8v and i couldn't read all of them.
 
Is there a 'making of ' section like the ToT had on this one?

Heads I win, tails you lose...

Check out my music

ORIGINAL: Monk

check out the EQ on the end of Panic Attack.

Knight Rider anyone?

Nevermind... this is something with Winamp. Weird. It's doing it again on Octavarium.

Blog - Flickr

Not yet mentioned, but in keeping with the 'never ending story' - 'starts where it ends' - 'back to the beginning' references is the fact that the section titles in the song Octavarium, (the end), go from I (1) to V (5) and the section titles in TRoAE, (the start), are VI (6) and VII (7).
 
That itself is strange because it's only 7, not 8 like everything else about the album is.
 
The diagram of the Octavarium is in 5:8 scale and is labeled as fig. 8.
 
P.S. With all of this talk of numbers, 5 points to anyone who can place this reference:
"That's it! 25 is the highest number! If anyone says anything else about it, I'll shoot him."

BLICKEM BLICKEM BLICKEM BLICKEM

ORIGINAL: BigDrahma

I also like how the album has three "sides" (three sides to every story?) of about 24-25 minutes each.  Not only that, but the sides are thematic in general (Side 1 = positive, Side 2 = negative, Side 3 = balance and reference).  Side One is tracks 1-4, Side Two is 5-7, and Side Three is 8.  Additionally, if you wanna get *real* freaky, each side is about the length of a Genesis album side, maybe referencing Three Sides Live.

Dude... that's incredible.
I was wondering why I couldn't split the album in two, now it occurs to me that the album is indeed in three parts.
 
You're right, though - the choruses of each of the first four tracks are positive, tracks 5-7 choruses are rather negative.

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

ORIGINAL: T8H3X11

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

In the intro of 8V the song I first thought that it's JP playing...
But after looking into the booklet I'd say that this would be JR on Lap Steel guitar?!

CHEERZ!

No, it's on his new Continuum.

Na, I mean the 4-minute intro...that's definately some sort of string-instrument!

CHEERZ!

Nope, that deffinantly is his continum, have you seen the video of him playing on it?

ORIGINAL: enchantgy

Did anyone notice that there is something wrong with the right ball on the cover of the album? 

Not sure if this is intentional or not but...  the string is too short.  (the ball is hanging too high)

Maybe I need to explain...
The strings of the balls are mounted at equal distance on a bar. If you put a protractor where the ball is mounted (slightly above the edge of the booklet) and traced the middle of the swinging ball back to the other balls, it would hit the far-right stationary ball above center...

come on not this shit again, it is just going to lead to some arguement, so people arent perfect, deal with it

These probably aren't very significant, but just figured I'd mention:
This is regarding the first and last pages, the boy listening to the 'wired can' on the first page and speaking into it on the last page. Apart from the obvious implication of him listening/speaking to himself (as far as I can tell it's the same boy), I think you could give it the following meaning: First you listen to the album (and flip through the booklet while you're at it, I suppose), and at the end you talk about the album, reflect on it, etc.
 
Also, I couldn't figure why the Octavarium figure is labelled fig. 8, but here's one way it can make sense: If you start with the last page of the booklet (boy speaking) being #1, then the inside cover (with that \m/ female on the left) is #2, the front cover is #3, the first page (boy listening) is #4, the Answer Lies Within artwork (domino) is #5, the spider in the maze is #6, the octopus is #7... And that makes the Octavarium figure #8.
 
No, I don't feel bad about these far-fetched suggestions... The album just came out today, remember?

ORIGINAL: Matt100fly

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

ORIGINAL: T8H3X11

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

In the intro of 8V the song I first thought that it's JP playing...
But after looking into the booklet I'd say that this would be JR on Lap Steel guitar?!

CHEERZ!

As said somewhere above:
He first uses the continuum, then plays on the lap steel and as the band enters he again plays the continuum!
 
CHEERZ!
No, it's on his new Continuum.

Na, I mean the 4-minute intro...that's definately some sort of string-instrument!

CHEERZ!

Nope, that deffinantly is his continum, have you seen the video of him playing on it?

Maybe not a nugget, but what the hey:

I'd like to point out that the 8 balls perfectly represent the number of balls actually in the band.






BAZING!

ok, so I fail at comedy...

^^
LOL!!!
Tasteless, but funny... But yeah, let's just leave it at that. Let's not elaborate on the 'explanation' being a particular band member or a pair of band members or anything.

at 17:47 of 8vm they play jingle bells for a measure

heh...The heart beating at the end of "These walls" is beating at 58bpm..
 
 
Steve

"PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH...Transfering Data into code..."

ORIGINAL: mikeseligman

at 17:47 of 8vm they play jingle bells for a measure

 
noticed that, its great.
 
Maybe a reference to the DTIFC Christmas CDS. OMG!!!!!!!!!!
 
jim

The sexiest man alive, Conan O'Brien:

Well, the first thing I noticed in the booklet were the time signatures for each song:

The Root Of All Evil = Ab
The Answer Lies Within = Bb
These Walls = C
I Walk Beside You = D
Panic Attack = Eb
Never Enough = F
Sacrificed Sons = G
Octavarium = Ab

Now, if we were to take these as note values (as opposed as key signatures and disregard major/minor for the time being), this scale would be Ab Mixolydian, or the fifth mode of Eb Major. Not sure what the significance is, and I haven't even listened to the album yet, so I don't know what the actual keys are in these songs.

But the drawing of the Octavarium further complicates this. It goes from F to F with no accidentals (making this F Lydian, or the fourth mode of C Major). There is no correspondence between the drawing of the Octavarium and the key signatures presented for each song.

Interesting. I really think that there is some kind of message here. Something we should be paying attention to that we're missing. All these ideas and motifs of beginnings and endings, trapped with no way out, 5 and 8. There's something underneath that is really, really intriguing. Can't wait until I can get to work and pop this in. Don't want to listen to it at home, won't be able to concentrate on it.

Death has done her work this morning Cutting me back down to size. Frozen in this winter warning Gentle in its own demise.

there is a connection. going from F to F in a minor mode with give you the key signatures you see next to the songs. Ab=F minor, Bb=G minor.......
 
jim

The sexiest man alive, Conan O'Brien:

ORIGINAL: SDOIT

there is a connection. going from F to F in a minor mode with give you the key signatures you see next to the songs. Ab=F minor, Bb=G minor.......

jim

C = A minor
D = B minor
Eb = C minor
F = D minor
G = E minor
Ab = F minor

Holy shit, you're right! I knew there had to be a connection there. Can't believe I missed it! Thanks!

James

Death has done her work this morning Cutting me back down to size. Frozen in this winter warning Gentle in its own demise.

ORIGINAL: faizoff

Some more that were posted on voices

moliver777

EVERY SONG IS IN THE KEY OF ITS NOTE ON THE KEYBOARD ON THE BACK COVER!!!!

AWESOME!!!

F - TROAE
G - TALW
A - TW
B - IWBY
C - PA
D - NE
E - SS
F - 8VM

NUGGETS! NUGGETS! NUGGETS!



CerealsRULE
not only 8V (the track) ends with the same note as it begins, but that same note is the first piano note of TROAE and there is also the same sound effect (kinda a heart bit) so if you push the repeatbutton on your cd player you can endlessy listen to the album as the end of the last song perfectly blends in withthe beginning of the 1st one... PERFECT CIRCLE


Salmacis

Octavarium - Wayyyy too much to say about this one so I will just include the notes I jotted down as I listened for the second and third time:

00:00 - 03:48 - Floyd's "Shine On"-meets-Tangerine Dream-meets:
03:49 - Spock's Beard theme!
04:33 - Änglagård flute “Godfather” theme similarities
12:15 - Marillion keyboards with Wakeman flourishes
17:47 - Jordan’s Jingle Bells
17:55 - Spock's Beard/Neal Morse acoustic guitar break.
18:42 - Mustaine vocals with "Forgotten Sons" prayer feel
19:55 - “Godfather” theme reprise

wrong about IWBY- the song is in D, B is the Relative Minor
 J/k, its the same!

Soundcloud.com/Woven-distortion

Been having fun with the cover art all day, dizzy with fives & eights.
 
5 layers in the maze, 8-legged spider, etc.
 
I think we've found a new DT tattoo with the octa-pentacle.

Baldrick, what begins with "Come here" and ends with "Ow"?

I thought that JP's lap-steel guitar was the very first part of Panic Attack.

I dunno if someone mentioned ..
 
The very intro of TROAE reminds me of Welcome to the Machine for Pink Floyd, as well as the album cover to Wish you were Here album cover ... don't ask me why !!
 
The piano intro of TALW reminds me of the movie "The Ring"
 
on track 8 Octavarium at 10:49 - 10:53 .. is that another morse code from MP ?
 
at 20:42 and Petrucci's solo is too much 6DOIT
 
and no one mentioned the clock ticks at the beginning of IWBY which are taken from SFAM
 
I LOVE THIS ALBUM! .. Octavarium

not sure if it's been mentioned yet or not...
but im pretty sure the 5:8 thing relates to..

8 white keys and 5 black keys in a chromatic scale...
look at the full cover, the way the birds are, its set up like a piano(birds being black notes).
also the back of the cd.

Does anyone else get the feeling that Mike wrote Never Enough about the forum users?

is their anything more to the length of the wires on the outside balls (both sides of the book) being shorter?

maybe I didn't read anyone'd nugget theory on this yet as I haven't had time to read every post.

Kyle

ORIGINAL: thebeave10

Does anyone else get the feeling that Mike wrote Never Enough about the forum users?

Yes. He wrote it about you because you never posted. Now that you've posted, you're forgiven.

Is it just me, or does the kid look a lot like a very young James... is Chance LaBrie a boy? Or maybe it's a nephew... or a photoshop gone weird?

To manifest your dreams before you manifest your fears
To navigate beyond the treachery of self despair
To find the balance between all you sense and all you see
To find the patience and the strength it takes to let it be

You guys have WAAAY too much time on your hands!

Jeremy Smirnoff
drums, percussion
http://www.facebook.com/jeremy.smirnoff

I forgot to add ....
 
forgive me James ... but on Panic Attack at 3:52 he sounds like Gwen Steffany

ORIGINAL: Danzoc01

I believe JR plays on the Lap Steel Guitar,  while there's no band joining him...  and then he moves to the Continuum,  as the band members join him!

The lap steel is at 2:40 through 4:22.  When the band comes in, Jordan puts guitar distortion on it.  The Continuum is the guitar-like synth lead prior to 2:40.

ORIGINAL: Blitz44

I thought that JP's lap-steel guitar was the very first part of Panic Attack.

That is JM's bass...

This has sort of been touched on early in the thread, but:

Look at the picture of the maze and the spider.  Try to find the way out ... you can't!  He's trapped inside .. this .. octava .. ri .. um. 

Hooray for this signature.

That "Trapped Inside This Octavarium" part reminds me of when Maynard screams on the song Third Eye from the Aenima cd "Prying Open My Third Eye".

I tried posting this once, but I don't see it anywhere on the forum so I hope that I forgot to post it. Does anyone notice that on the top of each song in the booklet, it lists the key signatures for each song. Song 1-F minor and it goes through until Song 8-F minor. Full Circle and part of Octavarium is called Full Circle. Hmmmm...

www.purereasonrevolution.com

ORIGINAL: D3nZ

That "Trapped Inside This Octavarium" part reminds me of when Maynard screams on the song Third Eye from the Aenima cd "Prying Open My Third Eye".

TOTALLY! I love that part!

To manifest your dreams before you manifest your fears
To navigate beyond the treachery of self despair
To find the balance between all you sense and all you see
To find the patience and the strength it takes to let it be

OK, I JUST realized there are negative tracks between songs where there are black keys on the piano, and none where there aren't (I walk beside you-Panic attack (b to c), and Sacrifiiced Sons-Octavarium (e to f)). Probably already been brought up...but just in case.

When I heard MP on the XM41 Eddie Trunk show, he kind of hinted that Never Enough kind of represented DT fans in general!! WE ARE FANATICAL and he's right...we can't get enough! I mean just look at all the fans/musicians analyzing this new album!!
 
By the way...the piano exit of TRoAE and entrance on TALW with the birds chirping had hints of the beginning of Disappear from 6DOIT. Just my hearing, maybe?
 
I love this album!! It has this kind of song style differences that it seems only DT can pull off!!

At 7:15 of Panic Attack the ending is echoed 8 times.

Regarding the domino picture, notice the bird resting on the 5 domino.  The birds represent the accidentals on the front cover, and as we know, there are 5 accidentals.

http://www.nickbogovich.com

just noticed, octavarium is 24 mins long, and 24 is a multiple of 8

ORIGINAL: Honma

Jesus... you people have too much fucking time on your hands. All I heard on the new album was far, far too much rehashing of riffs, melodies and phrasing. I for one, am sick of it. I don't care how "cool" some people think it is, it's tired, and dull now. DT obviously have the ability to write new shit, I just wish they would.

Call it "call back" or call TSD a "sequel" to TGP, that's fine, but for me, I'm sick of hearing the same little "nuggets" over and over again.

That said, I'm disappointed with this album. It's got it's moments, but on a whole, this would've fit perfectly after FII... and I hate FII.

<waits for the backlash>

Read lyrics to Never Enough, then look in mirror.

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

ORIGINAL: Dave52

Also, the final piano strike is the same as the opening piano.

Which is cool when you look at the last lyric line which says:
"This story ends where it began"

"sailing on the seven seize the day tripper diem's ready
jack the ripper owens wilson philips an my supper's ready
lucy in the sky with diamons dave's not here I come to save the
day for nightmare cinema show me the way to get back home
again"

I found these references so far:

Sailing on the seven seize - "seize" is exactly spoken as "seas" which would be the real meaning
Seize the day
Day Tripper - Beatles
Jack the Ripper - Morrissey
Supper's ready - Genesis
Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Beatles
Nightmare Cinema -
Cinema Show - Genesis
Get back - Beatles
Diamond Dave - David Lee Roth
Owen Wilson - an actor 
Wilson Philips - a band 
Day for night - Spock's Beard
Ripper Owens - Vocalist of Iced Earth (ex-Judas Priest)
 
CHEERZ!
 

I thought that the "Seven Seas" part referred to "The Seven Seas of Rhye" by Queen.

ORIGINAL: Andreameda

ORIGINAL: drdnj

Which is cool when you look at the last lyric line which says:
"This story ends where it began"

"sailing on the seven seize the day tripper diem's ready
jack the ripper owens wilson philips an my supper's ready
lucy in the sky with diamons dave's not here I come to save the
day for nightmare cinema show me the way to get back home
again"

I found these references so far:

Sailing on the seven seize - "seize" is exactly spoken as "seas" which would be the real meaning
Seize the day
Day Tripper - Beatles
Jack the Ripper - Morrissey
Supper's ready - Genesis
Lucy in the sky with diamonds - Beatles
Nightmare Cinema -
Cinema Show - Genesis
Get back - Beatles
Diamond Dave - David Lee Roth
Owen Wilson - an actor 
Wilson Philips - a band 
Day for night - Spock's Beard
Ripper Owens - Vocalist of Iced Earth (ex-Judas Priest)
 
CHEERZ!
 

Don't forget "here I come to save the day" - Mighty Mouse (avatar bias)

And also the "Gabba gabba hey hey" reference to the Ramones!!!

Which overlaps with the "Hey Hey, My My" reference to Neil Young. Which overlaps into The Who's "My Generation."

I guess its my turn to spill my 2 cents...

For the Octavarium image (the star in the octagon pic), its clear to me that its an architectural layout diagram, like something done in AutoCAD for building layouts. It seems that on each of the directional sides (north, south, east, and west faces) of the octagon are what is usually a symbol for doors in these types of diagrams. Only one of the doors is open (the south face), maybe symbolizing the whole notion of starting off the story where it ended. You enter through the only open door (the beginning of the CD)and have to make your way around the Octavarium, and when you get back to where you started, you can choose to leave and move on, or you can repeat the same cycle again, getting trapped in the Octavarium.

I dunno though, to me I get a feel of a lot of the whole "viscious cyle" type feeling, as kinda stated in my little theory above. A lot of the songs have a theme of repetition. In Root of All Evil, you have someone caught in a viscious circle of addiction, trying very hard to get out. Answer Lies Within shows perhaps a key to escaping the octavarium, while These Walls sort of represents many of the things which prevent us from moving on with our lives. I Walk Beside you is another close person trying to help the trapped person escape. Panic Attack is a person very jittery about things, perhaps due to paranoia from 9/11 about terrorism. Never enough is about Mike taking a giving all these things for the fans and getting the short end of the stick, but continues falling into the same pattern and coming back to the fans. Sacrificed sons obviously is about the circle of violence in terrorism, in the sense that zealots commit these religious based attacks and yet it keeps inspiring more and more people to try these attacks out in the name of God. Just some random thoughts. Also the cover is one of those balls that always cycle back and forth, more symbolism

I also get the odd feeling of this being a "Goodbye" album for some reason. Never Enough was some pretty heavy feelings (anyone reminded lyrically of Tool's "Hooker with a Penis"?). The eight ball is always the final ball to be sunk, the stop sign, the fact that the cover ball isn't going to hit any more balls...I dunno...all their various styles seem to converge on this album, from the heaviness of ToT to the some of their experimental type stuff from Great Debate, to their Images and Words/Awake type stuff. All in perfect balance...ready to leave the Octavarium...

Of course this is coming from a college grad student who hasn't eaten anything in a day, and had about as many hours of sleep in the last 4 days as I have fingers on my hand...so if this is complete garbage, don't mind me

ORIGINAL: Erotified

There is a section that I cannot find right now that where the string part sounds identical to a Dimmu Borgir tune that I can't remember the name of.  Please someone tell me you know what I'm talking about.  

Around 5:45 - 6:00 in Panic Attack, the riff sounds like the main riff of Burn in Hell by Dimmu Borgir... I noticed that one too.

I was waiting for "hear no evil, don't you see no evil..."

You got the wrong guy. I'm the Dude, man.

ORIGINAL: Matt100fly

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

ORIGINAL: T8H3X11

ORIGINAL: Mr.Petrucci

In the intro of 8V the song I first thought that it's JP playing...
But after looking into the booklet I'd say that this would be JR on Lap Steel guitar?!

CHEERZ!

No, it's on his new Continuum.

Na, I mean the 4-minute intro...that's definately some sort of string-instrument!

CHEERZ!

Nope, that deffinantly is his continum, have you seen the video of him playing on it?

 
Paraphrased directly fromm the mouth of JR tonight:
"I play the 4 plus minute intro on the steel lap guitar and then switch to my continuum."

BLICKEM BLICKEM BLICKEM BLICKEM

ORIGINAL: Idrumbad

Paraphrased directly fromm the mouth of JR tonight:
"I play the 4 plus minute intro on the steel lap guitar and then switch to my continuum."

Very cool. Wonder if he'll do it live as well. That would be so awesome.

"I'm in a glass case of emotion."

You guys are friggin geniuses

"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!'"

All of this stuff has been great so far and think...this is only the first damn day! I, like others have mentioned, have this underlying feeling that there is something huge underneath all of these little nuggets. I hope it is confirmed that there is something big to find out because with this being the perfect album to create a big puzzle and knowing that MP's mind likes to play games with us...it is almost a given right?

Or perhaps MP will make us think that there is something big to figure out and hence "trapping us inside this Octavarium" in an endless quest with no escape with the joke on us.

But seriously, I just get that gut feeling that there is something huge to discover dealing with this album.

I dont like the fact that im not the only person that got the scary feeling this album hints towards the final DT album. Though I highly highly doubt this is true, its weird that other peopel got that vibe also.
 
jim

The sexiest man alive, Conan O'Brien:

I just cant  believe how SMART these guys are...I mean SFAM was genius, but all the small details in this album are incredible...I really think that most of the "nuggets" you have came up with are all a little bit correct...

especially the 5/8 thing, and the keys of the songs with the piano on the back cover....thats just amazing!

DT is at the TOP of their game!

Though I can see where some of you are coming from thinking that this album seems to the bands final hoora, lets us not forget that they still have to complete the AA saga.

1) Did anyone hear the 'footsteps' at the beginning of TROAE?  Reminiscent of SFAM.
2) At 4:38 in TW, the melody reminds me of "Wrapped Around My Finger" by The Police.
3) Doesnt 'Medicate' sound a lot like 'Voices'??

ORIGINAL: Del Fuvio Monk

Though I can see where some of you are coming from thinking that this album seems to the bands final hoora, lets us not forget that they still have to complete the AA saga.

That's a good point, but until I heard the XM MP interview, I actually assumed that The Root Of All Evil was the last part, making it a trilogy... First of all, the epic piano ending. Second, the bells at the end - that's how the saga begins in The Glass Prison.
 
I hope I'm wrong, of course. The more DT albums, the better (especially if they're as good as this one!).

ORIGINAL: Idrumbad

Paraphrased directly fromm the mouth of JR tonight:
"I play the 4 plus minute intro on the steel lap guitar and then switch to my continuum."

Not sure what he described to be paraphrased that way, but the first 2:35 is Continuum (triggering a Roland V-Synth, same patch he used on the video demo a couple months ago) then it's lap steel from 2:35 until 4:17.

Hmm. Based on the shadow of the woman on the cover, it could be around 8pm. Any thoughts?

ORIGINAL: Dreamsbeard

just noticed, octavarium is 24 mins long, and 24 is a multiple of 8

And when you divide 24 by 8, you get 3... And as been mentioned earlier, the album is in 3 parts (roughly 25 minutes each... Tracks 1-4, tracks 5-7, and track 8).

Yeah, I think NOW we're going a bit too far with this maybe... LOL
 
 
Edit: ^^ and (below) : Interesting...

Also, the angle of the sun reflecting off the balls could mean it's around 5pm!
 
Wee.

Disclaimer: This is not a 'the cover sucks because the string is too short' post.
 
I just noticed something... This might've been obvious, but I think that if the swinging balls were to REPLACE the ball they're swinging towards (to the left or to the right, depending on the front and inside cover, respectively), then the strings would be of perfect length. Whether this was delibrate or a mistake on Hugh Syme's part by making the wrong ball swing is unclear to me. And if it was the latter, I don't really care; the music is what matters anyway.
 
 
Speaking of potential anomalies, in my booklet the lyrics for Part III of Octavarium (the Full Circle part) say:
 
flying off the handle with careful with
that axe eugene... [etc]
 
When I think it might have to say
 
flying off the handle be careful with
that axe eugene... [etc]
 
Although, I can't really tell if James is singing "be" or "with".

 
 
Also... The lyrics for the last chorus of The Root Of All Evil say
 
Take all of me
And the drive that keep burning deep inside
Cast it all away
And help to give me strength... [etc]
 
When in fact James sings the first version of the chorus instead (i.e. "The desires" instead of "And the drive" and "Cast them all away" instead of "Cast it all away"). My guess is that MP intended to have the second chorus go differently, but either that accidentally didn't happen due to whatever reason, or maybe he simply changed his mind.
 
 
 
P.S.: I just gave Octavarium a good listen again. Holy fuck, what a great album. Honestly, every song is killer. The Root Of All Evil and Panic Attack are \m/. The Answer Lies Within and I Walk Beside You are beautiful. These Walls is amazing. Never Enough and Sacrificed Sons are great. And the title-track of course is creamingly good. Sends chills down my spine every time.
What a great time to be a DT fanatic.

Im too lazy to figure out what the Nugget is and since so many of you are whacking your brains out , ill wait to hear from someone someday !!!
 
Moreover i havent even got the CD yet so

This thread turns into my absolutely favourite one on 8V. Anyway, was it mentioned yet that the bell in the beginning of TALW tolls 8 times?

Uh, and for I´m too lazy to post in one of the countless review threads: This album is really about to surpass SFOAM as my favourite DT album. Still getting gooseballs in the climax of Ovtavarium although i listened to this SMF for about 25 times in the last two days.

                     Octopus's Garden
   (Richard Starkey)
  As performed by the Beatles (Ringo)
                           Abbey Road (1969)


[intro]
B E
B A B
E C#m A B



      E               C#m
I'd like to be   under the sea
       A                        B      
In an Octopus's Garden in the shade.

      E              C#m
He'd let us in   knows where we've been,
        A                        B
In his Octopus's Garden in the shade.
      C#m
I'd ask my friends to come and see    
      A                B
An Octopus's Garden with me.

      E               C#m
I'd like to be   under the sea
       A                        B      
In an Octopus's Garden in the shade.


      E                 C#m
We would be warm   below the storm
                 A                           B
In our little hideaway beneath the waves.
      E                 C#m
Resting our head   on the sea bed
       A                       B
In an Octopus's Garden near a cave.
      C#m
We would sing and dance around
      A                     B
Because we know we can't be found.

      E               C#m
I'd like to be   under the sea
       A                        B      
In an Octopus's Garden in the shade.


[Solo]
A F#m D   E
A F#m D E A B


      E               C#m
We would shout   and swim about
      A                                  B
The coral that lies beneath the waves.
      E                   C#m
Oh, what joy for every girl and boy
      A                                    B
Knowing they're happy and they're safe.
      C#m
We would be so happy, you and me.
      A                                 B
No one there to tell us what to do.

      E               C#m
I'd like to be   under the sea
               A          B     C#m
In an Octopus's Garden with you,
       A          B     C#m
In an Octopus's Garden with you,
       A          B      E   B   E
In an Octopus's Garden with you.

Could the reason why the string lengths on the swinging balls are shorter than expected be because the boy with the string/can communicator is pulling on the same strings?

ORIGINAL: drumpriest

When I heard MP on the XM41 Eddie Trunk show, he kind of hinted that Never Enough kind of represented DT fans in general!! WE ARE FANATICAL and he's right...we can't get enough! I mean just look at all the fans/musicians analyzing this new album!!

Yeah, but I think he meant it in a negative sense. He was upset about some "bad apples" here who are never satisfied, no matter how hard he tried.
"What would you say if I walked away?" is sort of a warning, because if the fans keep bitching, MP has the right to stop creating music.

I'll refrain from expressing my personal opinions. But the new album is good, anyways.

It's a man's obligation to stick his boneration in a woman's separation! This sort of penetration will increase the population of the X-Generation.

ORIGINAL: {PoLaRiS_88}

ORIGINAL: drumpriest

When I heard MP on the XM41 Eddie Trunk show, he kind of hinted that Never Enough kind of represented DT fans in general!! WE ARE FANATICAL and he's right...we can't get enough! I mean just look at all the fans/musicians analyzing this new album!!

Yeah, but I think he meant it in a negative sense. He was upset about some "bad apples" here who are never satisfied, no matter how hard he tried.
"What would you say if I walked away?" is sort of a warning, because if the fans keep bitching, MP has the right to stop creating music.

I'll refrain from expressing my personal opinions. But the new album is good, anyways.

 
I think these posts belong in the "never enough" topic.
And I completely DISagree with drumpriest. I think MP clearly states NE is about the bad apples that make his "blood boil". Furthermore he is very proud and happy with the fanatical following. (Also clearly stated in the interview).
 
Right, more of this in the NE topic

Don't know if someone said this already but: could the 3 birds flying away from the "8" and "5" (dominos) represent KevMo, Charlie and Derek?

Space Station One: your first step in an Odyssey that will take you to the Moon, the planets and the distant stars.

ORIGINAL: motorhead9999


For the Octavarium image (the star in the octagon pic), its clear to me that its an architectural layout diagram, like something done in AutoCAD for building layouts. It seems that on each of the directional sides (north, south, east, and west faces) of the octagon are what is usually a symbol for doors in these types of diagrams. Only one of the doors is open (the south face), maybe symbolizing the whole notion of starting off the story where it ended. You enter through the only open door (the beginning of the CD)and have to make your way around the Octavarium, and when you get back to where you started, you can choose to leave and move on, or you can repeat the same cycle again, getting trapped in the Octavarium.

AND! if you go from left to right inside the octavarium there's f#, g#, a#, c# and d# and just look at the back cover -> LaBrie = f#, JM = g# and so on...

Space Station One: your first step in an Odyssey that will take you to the Moon, the planets and the distant stars.

Also from the continuum website
the total pitch range of the full-size Continuum Fingerboard is nearly 8 octaves
 

j/k
 
I'm looking a bit too far into it here.

He will do it live. I've seen the new stand....awesome!
 
Jeroen
 

ORIGINAL: faizoff

ORIGINAL: Idrumbad

Paraphrased directly fromm the mouth of JR tonight:
"I play the 4 plus minute intro on the steel lap guitar and then switch to my continuum."

Very cool. Wonder if he'll do it live as well. That would be so awesome.

ORIGINAL: Morte
That's a good point, but until I heard the XM MP interview, I actually assumed that The Root Of All Evil was the last part, making it a trilogy...

no, MP said on XM that this is NOT a trilogy.
there are 12 steps, and they've already done 7.
5 steps remaining --> 2 songs certainly.

Don't you think the joker laughs at you?

In reference to your post Joker,  which one would be "the crooked step"?  maybe a potential nugget there somewhere?

In all this, no one has mentioned the obvious Six Degrees reference in Octavarium, when the main theme starts playing in one of the verses.

this album has depth, that's good.

AKA retardedgenius at dt.net

The domino blocks could represent the WTC towers. Just came in mind after seeing the lyrics of Sacrificed Sons.

ORIGINAL: Three

Holy elderberries batman..
I was looking up album covers, and on the 6 degrees cover is a circle devided into eight parts with 2 shaded in...



draw your own conclusions

Conclusion: They knew that SDOIT was release 6 of 8.

ORIGINAL: motorhead9999

I also get the odd feeling of this being a "Goodbye" album for some reason. Never Enough was some pretty heavy feelings (anyone reminded lyrically of Tool's "Hooker with a Penis"?). The eight ball is always the final ball to be sunk, the stop sign, the fact that the cover ball isn't going to hit any more balls...I dunno...all their various styles seem to converge on this album, from the heaviness of ToT to the some of their experimental type stuff from Great Debate, to their Images and Words/Awake type stuff. All in perfect balance...ready to leave the Octavarium...

ORIGINAL: SDOIT

I dont like the fact that im not the only person that got the scary feeling this album hints towards the final DT album. Though I highly highly doubt this is true, its weird that other peopel got that vibe also.

There are a lot of things on this CD that seem to hint at it being the last. Never Enough: "what would you say, if I walked away, would you appreciate, but then it'd be too late".  Octavarium: "the calls of admirers, who claim they adore, drain all your lifeblood while begging for more". The stop sign and eight ball mentioned above.

I posted before about the octopus picture where someone said the 5 fish could represent the 5 band members. I replied that then why is one of them about to be eaten and the others are doing nothing to stop it. From the lyrics that he wrote on this CD, you could theorize that the one being eaten is MP and he is leaving the band.

One could theorize: They knew they would make 2 more records after SDOIT (to fulfull their contract), hence the 6 of 8 in the circle on the cover. On TOT they sent a big FU out to the record company with As I Am. On 8V they send a big FU out to the few fans that can't stop complaining and begging for shit. And they leave a bunch of other hints in the music and artwork.

Hopefully it's not the last release, maybe it's all just signifying the last release with the current record company.