Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater's new album came out yesterday, so i've spent most of my free time digesting it. At the moment, I feel a little bit ill, so instead of going outside and topping up my tan, I'm going to do a quick song by song review of the album.

A Nightmare to Remember - This is probably gonna be a good one live, it's got a killer heavy riff to begin with, combined some awesome drumming. The lyrics are about a car crash or something, a bit amateurish considering how long they've been at it, but they're not bad.

Then for the middle section, they go all 'Raise the Knife' on yo' ass. It's a great little part, very mellow, with really nice vocal melodies and harmonies. It only last 2 minutes or so of the 14 minute song, but it's a nice change of pace.

I'll give this one a 7/10.

A Rite of Passage - Probably the most boring Dream Theater song ever. The single edit's good, the album version isn't. It's far too long and samey. 4.5 /10

Wither - Boybands take note. This is how to write a ballad. Pretty much everything in this song is perfect to me. Jordan Rudess' use of orchestral patches is very tasteful, and they serve the song really well.

Petrucci's solo is great, very Brian May-esque. James LaBrie is brilliant in the vocal department. 10/10 fo' shizzle.

The Shattered Fortress - Portnoy wraps up his 12 step, Alcoholics Anonymous in this 'mash up' of sorts. I feel a bit a cheated out of a song with this one, because essentially, it's just riffs and themes from the previous 4 songs from the saga. Despite this, it's grown on me pretty quickly, and seems to keep my attention longer than say 'This Dying Soul' and definitely 'Repentance'

This one can have 7/10.

The Best of Times - This one's Portnoy's tribute to his late father. It's very Rush-esque, and I like it quite a lot. Although, despite the personal subject, you'd think MP would have worked a bit harder on the lyrics. Sure, they do the job, but when you look at 'A Change of Seasons' (also about the death of a parent) it makes you wonder why he couldn't have written the way he has done in the past.

The final guitar solo makes the song for me, and should I ever need reminding why John Petrucci is my favourite guitarist, I'll stick this song on.

8/10

The Count of Tuscany - Ok, first thing's first; the lyrics are awful.

Musically though, the first 3 and a half minutes or so, are absolutely awesome, there's some really nice work on the keys by Rudess, creating a somewhat dreamy atmosphere. After 5 minutes-ish, the vocals come in, over a heavy riff, which remains the main theme for the song.

The last 10 minutes is where the song really shines for me. There's a nice ambient section where Petrucci makes good use of volume swells over some atmospheric sounds, courtesy of Rudess.

The song's finale is amazing. A simple, but effective chord sequence, followed by a tasty solo gives me goosebumps everytime. A perfect ending to a great album.

9/10.

Overall, I'ma give the album 8/10. I wasn't a huge fan to begin with, but it's definitely grown on me, and I can safely say it's one of their best of the decade.

8/10 Yo!