TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Well, it's always tough to review albums soon after first picking them up because who knows if they'll stand the test of time. As someone who listened/digested/practiced along to the Images to Change period, I lost ALL interest in DT with Inifinity. I picked up Train of Thought because I thought that heavy would take them back to days such as Awake, but I should know by know that these things are never to be. After a few spins playing "name that riff (Blackened shows up most prominent in This Dying Soul) a strange thing began to happen, the songs grew on me. So my feeling at the moment is while I don't see this being a "classic" such as the aforementioned trilogy of perfection, I am enjoying listening to it for the moment. To be honest, I do miss the keyboard accents and some of the creativity which doesn't exactly abound here, but then again, I felt that DT were copying many contemporary bands on Six Degrees as well (Tool anyone?) In the end, it's all about enjoyment at this stage in my life, especially when you're asked to pay almost $20 for a CD. which brings me to a digression, I actually bought the tangible product instead of downloading this for $9.99 at the apple store to read the lyrics. Imagine my horror to open up the book and actually read them. I actualy wished I hadn't. At any rate, as a solid hourlong synopsis of heavy metal, ToT is worth the money, with some hope for continued playability in the future... But please, guys, if you have to emulate a style, don't make it (c) rap. Think about the children...