Band: Dream Theater
Band Website: www.dreamtheater.net
Label: Roadrunner Records
Label Website:www.roadrunnerrecords.com
Release Date: 2009
I remember saying to some friends that if I ever need a solid prog-metal fix there
are a few bands I like to turn to and one of them is Dream Theater. I don’t have every release but I have many, my favorite being
Octavarian. It was almost out of reflex that I picked up their latest Black Clouds & Silver Linings and to my ears they’ve really
brought all the elements together, these compositions are heavy and yet provide ample breathing room, there’s plenty of symphonic
orchestration and choirs everywhere. This disc just scorches!
Black Clouds & Silver Linings starts off with a classic horror
story, “A Nightmare to Remember” [16:10] begins with rain and thunder before a creepy tap piano plays a haunting melody and then a
loud crack of thunder before the band launches into the mega-mammoth introduction. Crunchy guitars are plowing through chords, choirs
are singing, bass and drums are pounding away and then everything shifts again into an up-tempo rocker for the vocals to come in.
Whew! Dream Theater creates music with a “take-no prisoners” approach. It’s a full on assault to the senses. Now, having said that
the thing that has always appealed to me about DT’s music has been the fact they aren’t afraid to slow everything right down and insert
ample opportunity for something mellower. Even in the first track at the five-minute mark of this epic, we have sound effects of an
emergency room, sirens, voices and the music has slowed down completely with more of an acoustic feel. These guys know how to
craft a well-rounded song. And long ones too; there are only six-tracks here four of them over ten-minutes, one just about twenty-minutes.
My favorite tracks would be “The Best of Times” [13:07], a majestic, anthemic, orchestrated epic followed closely by “The Count of
Tuscany” [19:18] which is probably DT’s most well rounded prog piece…dare I say a masterpiece.
It goes without saying the Dream
Theater faithful will be all over this new release. But if you’ve been hesitating about some of the heavier prog offerings out thereBlack Clouds & Silver Linings is a great place to start. You can pick up the 3-disc special edition that comes with a disc of
covers and a bonus disc of instrumental mixes, though I must admit the instrumental mixes didn’t do it for me. In many cases the melody
line provided by the vocals is the unifying factor for Dream Theater’s music and not having LaBrie’s vocals in place simply highlighted
something missing from the music. Highly recommended.
