Review - Dream Theater "Black Clouds & Silver Linings"
Posted by Victoria Long , Monday, June 22, 2009 10:39 AM
Being released on June 23rd, Dream Theater's latest achievement "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" is a force not to be reckoned with.
To us diehard Dream Theater fans, this is definitely an album you cannot pass up. With 6 original new songs and 6 cover songs from the likes of Queen, Dixie Dreggs, King Crimson, and Iron Maiden - is there any more you need? The guys in the band thought there just had to be something more!
The 3 CD Deluxe Edition which is now available for pre-order comes with not only the first two CDs, but all six original songs in their instrumental versions. This is perfect for the fans who love to learn the music or if someone would like to sing along to it without James' voice(like me.(;)! This is a deal you absolutely cannot pass up! Order it now. Like, NOW now.
The album opens up with A Nightmare to Remember, a very dark and gothic sounding song about a fatal car crash incident. It is complete with sirens wailing and even a car crashing sound. There is an epic choir and Rudess shows of his amazing keyboarding skills with an eerie church organ sound. It leads to a very heavy guitar riff and LaBrie enters.
The song is very dark in itself with everything a Dream Theater song needs. With a concise length of 16:20, there is alot to offer. Excellent guitar solos are thrown in by Petrucci, and Myung adds a layer of darkness to the sound with his bass.
One of my favorite things is the drumming by Mike Portnoy. A little bit of growling and chanting kinda takes away from the sheer epicness of the song, but it's made up easily by the absolutely wonderful music proceeding right after!
A Rite of Passage, their first single off this album is a quite a deep song if you listen closely to the lyrics. The song-writing is once again mind-blowing and has a interesting vibe to it with the keyboards and crowds in the background, complete with the little speech included from time to time during verses. The melodies that LaBrie sings are absolutely amazing, but when isn't his singing incredible? The guitar riffs sound like they may be boring to play during an 8 minute song, but it definitely isn't boring to listen to! This song definitely will be a fan-favorite, doubtless. The video to accompany it can be found on youtube. There is an INCREDIBLE solo by Petrucci around 5:25 and shows off his skills. Yeah, he's got the talent. But we all knew that already.(;
This leads to the ballad-like song Wither, the second of my personal favorites on this album. The whole song is beautiful in itself, with some heart-wrenching lyrics to match. You can clearly understand what LaBrie is singing about with the lines, "So I wither and render myself helpless. I give in and everything is clear. I breakdown and let the story guide me." It's a very emotional song and adds a touch of sadness to the album, which is easily balanced out by the next song.
The next song is the last of Mike Portnoy's 12 Step-Suite process he went through. This is The Shattered Fortress. It is easily one of the more heavier songs on the album. This song is bouts of awesomeness! This is my most favorite song on the album for obvious reasons when you hear it. The guitar sounds freaking BA and is just...perfect? Yes, I believe this whole song is.
I think the coolest part of this song that really caught me on is the brief sections they put in from The Root of All Evil towards the end of the song. Portnoy puts his last three steps in this song and portrays it really well through the heavy music and insane drum-playing. The cymbals are really neat and the bass drum is exquisitely done. This song in itself will definitely be one of the more fan-recognized ones by Dream Theater's crazy fans.
The following piece is a very, very emotional one for Portnoy dealing with his father's battle with cancer, and his death after. It begins with a beautiful piano and violin intro, and you can tell each man in this band poured his heart out into the song, for it is definitely heart-wrenching. The guitar adds to the dark and mesmerizing atmosphere of the song. But it gets a little heavier further in to the song and has a note of hope in it when LaBrie begins to sing. This is an enchanting song about Father and Son, and many will love it. When you listen to the lyrics, it makes you feel great waves of sympathy toward Portnoy and his loss. This is an absolutely powerful song once you learn about Portnoy's ordeal he had to experience. Anyone who has lost a father-figure will definitely love this song.
The album is concluded with an interesting piece called The Count of Tuscany. It begins soft but leads to a darker and more space-like-vibe with the keyboard. Nearly a full 20 minute song, this piece has much to offer. While the song goes in about fifteen different directions, it's all very neatly put together and you will appreciate the musical genius of these 5 talented men. The transitions come one after another like a speeding bullet and make for a truly epic song. Of course, the song is about none other than The Count of Tuscany which they speak about through the whole thing, adding darkness to it with the lines "I don't wanna die. Suddenly I'm frightened for my life. I wanna say goodbye, this could be the last time you see me alive."
A masterpiece and there will definitely be lots of talk about how great this song is. It is a song you cannot surpass at all - it's just too great on so many levels with the complex timing and frequent transitions.
The cover songs come right after, which are all done superbly. I'll leave your opinions to yourself on how well they managed to do these songs(flawless, in my opinion. I hope you feel the same after giving them a full listen).
This album is nearly perfect in every aspect. There is not a single thing a Dream Theater fan wouldn't like(unless, of course, they are HUGE critics. But geez, lay off. This is musical genius we're talking about).
That concludes my epic review of this wonderful CD. Dream Theater - forever.
With love, Victoria
