Office of Strategic Influence (album) - Music

Music

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 spoke 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.

Matheos listed his influences as progressive rock bands such as Genesis, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, UFO and Uriah Heep. Moore described his influences as minimal techno, experimental electronic musicians and "bands that play live and then chop it up". He specifically named Pole, The Gordons and Acid Undertones as influences. Malone cited Mick Karn as an influence.