A year after Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence has been released, Dream Theater surprises us with a new album. Train Of Thought rocks: from the beginning till the end. The band went back to basics; this is old school heavy metal with a progressive edge. In interviews the band said they wanted to make a classic metal-album like Iron Maiden or Metallica. No more than 8 songs; kille rsongs that hit you in the face like a bulldozer. Now, Train Of Thought is in no way comparable with Somewhere In Time or Master Of Puppets (respectively my favourite Iron Maiden and Metallica albums). But still it rocks. It rocks in a Dream Theater kind of way. There are plenty of guitar and keyboard-solos and drummer Mike Portnoy rocks his ass off. Guitarist John Petrucci plays, just like on Six Degrees, on a 7-string guitar. Usually the 7-string is related to nu-metal, but on this album it is hardly the case.

The only exception is “Honor Thy Father”, which has some nu-metal-influences in its chorus. Talking about influences; the second song on the album, “This Dying Soul”, has some clear Metallica-influences. It’s almost as if you’re listening to a short part of “Blackened” and later in the song it’s as if you’re listening to “Sweating Bullets” (by Megadeth of course). So Dream Theater did their homework well. Just like every classic metal-album from the Eighties, Train Of Thought contains an instrumental song. “Stream Of Consciousness” takes the listener on an 11-minute journey through different musical parts. Train Of Thought is not the band’s best album (which in my humble opinion is Metropolis part II), but it’s certainly not their worst album either.