Moore described the music on '' Office of Strategic Influence '' as " a new approach to progressive rock " , stating that he could use his musical roots in progressive music but " was far enough away from it to play with it . " He said that " progressive rock has been around for so long and we have to stop taking it so seriously and really have fun with it . " Portnoy described the album as " more soundscapish " than his work in Dream Theater , focusing more on composition and sounds than musicianship . He noted the style " would never work in Dream Theater . " Moore wrote lyrics for the album by " mumbling along to the song and then deciphering what I 'm saying . " The lyrics feature political themes ( " Hello , Helicopter ! " is about the US supplying military arsenals to other countries to protect its own national interests ) , although Matheos stated that the album was not political in nature . Moore said that he writes lyrics based on personal experiences , and that much of the album 's lyrical content stems from how the September 11 attacks affected him . Moore 's brother was a firefighter who worked at the World Trade Center after the attacks , " and I was totally apolitical before this , politically naïve and I still am , " Moore stated . " I was like , ' Whoa , what the fuck is going on in the world ? ' " '' Office of Strategic Influence '' features Moore 's signature use of spoken word samples . He collected samples first and then tried to match them with the song 's tempo . Moore said that the samples relate directly to the song 's lyrics
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Office of Strategic Influence (album)