After writing the concept album "", the double album "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" and the metal-focused "Train of Thought", the band decided to create "a classic Dream Theater album". Keyboardist Jordan Rudess described it as "really going back to creating a real band effort, as well as drawing upon all our various stylistic influences." On "Octavarium", the band wanted to make the music less complex, featuring songs which Rudess regards as "quicker to appreciate", although noted that the twenty-four-minute "Octavarium" was not as accessible. Guitarist John Petrucci noted that they wanted to focus on writing strong songs. To achieve this, the band stripped the sound down to piano, guitar and vocals when writing, focusing on the melodies and song structures.