Octavarium
by Dream Theater
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Dream Theater bestography
Octavarium is ranked 4th best out of 42 albums by Dream Theater on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Dream Theater is Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory which is ranked number 802 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,158.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Octavarium on YouTube
Octavarium track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Octavarium rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | fabm0 | Top 16 Music Albums of 2005 | 8/16 | 3 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Top 56 Music Albums of 2005 | 1/56 | 5 |
| 2026 | Museman | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 18/100 | 80 |
| 2026 | Museman | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 9/100 | 18 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 86/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Tamthebam | Top 95 Music Albums of 2005 | 87/95 | 0 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 2005 Pt 2 | 7/23 | - |
| 2026 | juanr1096 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2005 | 97/100 | 0 |
| 2026 | Museman | Top 15 Music Albums of 2005 | 2/15 | 5 |
| 2026 |  jeremy9 | Top 88 Music Albums of 2005 | 30/88 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 108 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 650 | |||
Octavarium collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 75 members
Octavarium ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 205 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 06/06/2026 16:19 | Exist-en-ciel | 16,080 | 70/100 |
| ! | 03/07/2026 23:18 | PapaShiz86 | 11,770 | 79/100 |
| ! | 12/29/2025 17:47 | mutant | 1,671 | 56/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 5% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 76.1/100, a mean average of 75.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 76.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.0.
Octavarium favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 23 members
Octavarium forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 08/15/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5405): By AAL2014 BestEverAlbums 09/24/2018 20:00 in Album of the day (#2841): Octavarium by Dream Theater
dihansse 07/27/2017 21:09 in My discoveries per yearOctavarium comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Showing comments with any number of votes. Manage Profile)
A slight step above the previous two albums - it's certainly a great album, and probably above average compared to DT's other work. The album leans more on the soft side than the heavy side, but that's fine with me. Each track brings something interesting to the table, and I don't feel like any track meanders all that much except for Sacrificed Sons; its instrumental breakdown is pointless to the core. The intro to Octavarium, while atmospheric, seems to go on a little bit too long. Still, the rest of that 24-minute epic is wonderful old-school prog nostalgia. Another highlight is the emotionally-charged These Walls.
AAL2014 TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/21/2016 07:51 | #169313 | TOP COMMENT
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Probably Dream Theater's best work since Metropolis Part 2. The only forgettable song here is Sacrificed Sons, the rest is great. Great however, does not begin to describe the power of the title track.
A classic album of Dream Theater, switching between the good (These Walls, Sacrified Sons) and the least (I Walk beside You, The Answer Lies Within). Too bad, the final song makes it a bit cumbersome, what was easily avoidable. A good album anyway. (Edited)
Title track is godlike. Even if it has some songs, that were either melodramatic or plain meehy, the album is strong enough to hold up.
flyingcitrus 10/06/2015 20:12 | #151084 | TOP COMMENT
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One of the most creative concepts for an album I know
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