My first review here is also the first BC&SL review
Dream Theater- Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Coming up on what must be a close to a twenty-five year anniversary, Dream Theater are in a predicament most bands probably never reach. Their popularity, which waxed and waned in a two year window surrounding the first album, has slowly been creeping back up over the last decade; through word of mouth, touring with acts like Iron Maiden, and, most of all, the internet; and now seems to be at an all time high. If one were to view their history as a resume, it would be full of credentials most of which even the greatest bands never meet. And yet, with more fans than ever; with an incredibly diverse discography which includes everything from Symphonic epics to pop-rock songs; and with most fans having very different ideas of what kind of music is best from Dream Theater they've found themselves in a situation most bands never do.
Let's think, for a moment, about where some other bands were twenty-five years in. Zeppelin never made it there, and were gone long before; Pink Floyd had completed the bulk of their fantastic, albeit rocky, career; Iron Maiden had all but capsized (to return later with a vengeance, of course); Metallica had isolated a huge portion of their fan base; and Yes were all but past their peak, resigned to making pop albums until later reunions.
By all examples, Dream Theater should have hung up the towel long ago. They've produced a stronger discography than most bands ever do, and could have retired albums ago without leaving fans feeling like there's an album they
should have made, but didn't.
But, at an age when most fans would expect to see their favorite musicians playing golf, immersing themselves in solo work and evading questions about possible reunion tours, more is expected from Dream Theater, both by the fans and, presumably, the record label, than has ever been before. Dream Theater are performing to one of the toughest audiences with the highest expectations in the world. For this fan,
Black Clouds & Silver Linings, the band's tenth studio album, meets and exceeds all expectations.
Black Clouds & Silver Linings, combines the stylistic elements of the predecessor with something that’s altogether more inspired and energetic; and a good thing that is, for most fans. For those who don't know, their sound, can be described as something like a mix between Metallica, Rush, and Yes, with a little Iron Maiden and Queen thrown in, absolutely no sense of restraint, and vocals that belong more to the 80s than anywhere else. The band haven't hyped this particular installment as anything more than "business as usual," and that, for the most part, is true. However, it's bound to impress most fans and should serve as an excellent starting point for those who haven't been acquainted.
The album begins with a crash, followed by what is uncontestedly the heaviest introduction in Dream Theater history. As “A Nightmare to Remember” blasts through, one gets the feeling that this is more of the same- another one of the high-energy balls-to-the-walls rockers that we’ve come to expect from the band ever since 2003’s
Train of Thought- but the song takes a drastic Pink Floyd inspired turn at the five minute mark, and becomes something altogether different. About three minutes later, the band quite violently pulls us from the eye of the storm, and we’re treated to the usual type of instrumental fireworks. There’s the obligatory back-and-forth soloing from Mr. Petrucci and Mr. Rudess, which is followed by a genuinely “creepy” unison, and then some instrumental stuff which calls to mind the type of thing you’d hear at the end of an old silent film- one of those parts that means to say, “it’s over, but there’s still something lurking behind that corner.”
While the song might seem to drag towards the middle, and drummer Mike Portnoy's growling vocals about bound to leave some fans scratching their heads, the track is a real grower- it's the type of Dream Theater song you can eventually throw on and expect to keep you interested, and even waiting for the next part, all the way through.
As the song fades away and the first verse of “A Rite of Passage” comes in, it becomes clear that the band are firing from all cylinders on what is undeniably the heaviest thing they’ve done since
Train of Thought.
One could go on about the next two songs, the album’s singles “A Rite of Passage” and “Wither,” but “A Nightmare to Remember” is a great example of everything that Dream Theater are doing right on this album. Recently, Dream Theater have been known to write less “progressive” music and more “generic” music. On recent albums, it seems like Dream Theater had been starting songs by saying, out from the getgo, “we want this to be a poppy song,” or “we want this to be a heavy song,” and so on. On albums like
Train of Thought and especially
Octavarium, this kind of writing style was pretty obvious.
While
Systematic Chaos was a return to taking chances, and not being afraid of melting everything in the same pot,
Black Clouds & Silver Linings is a return to doing that the right way. There’s real experimentation going on in these songs, there’s less cut-and-paste songwriting and more progressive/fusion based songwriting.
“The Shattered Fortress,” and “The Count of Tuscany” are just as testimonial to that as “A Nightmare to Remember” is, with the former being a type of meta-song that repeats the previous installment and the latter being nothing short of Dream Theater’s own “Gates of Delirium,” complete with its spherical middle section and acoustic fade in. Meanwhile, the fifth song on the album, “The Best of Times,” is a different kind of statement altogether. Written for the late father of drummer Mike Portnoy, “The Best of Times” is easily the most heartfelt and sentimental statement the band has made since the late nineties.
What else is there to say? Rudess and Petrucci both stand out incredibly here, with Petrucci literally beasting each of the songs with one of the best guitar solos you’ve ever heard. James LaBrie is in top form, as usual, and Mike Portnoy is playing more tastefully than ever. John Myung seems to have been turned up in the mix, also. And, of course, there’s the cover songs, which I haven't even mentioned yet. The songs, which were released one at a time in the weeks leading up to the album, are for the most part fresh takes on Dream Theater’s classic influences; and though there’s only six of them they still amount to over forty minutes of additional music. Dream Theater cover some relatively obscure stuff like Dixie Dregs and Zebra, their obvious influences like Rainbow and Maiden, and, of course, what has already been described by Queen guitarist Brian May as the “best Queen cover ever.”
The album sounds better than
Systematic Chaos, looks better than
Systematic Chaos, and goes by its seventy-plus minutes without any of the predecessor’s drag or boring moments. Of course, there’s some things left to be desired. For example, it’d be nice to see the band take the time to put out another album with a unified lyrical and musical theme again, and one of the albums songs, "The Shattered Fortress," doesn't work so well on its own as much as it effectively closes out the five album spanning "12 Step Suite," but those are hardly gripes that warrant any kind of serious disappointment. The bottom line is that
Black Clouds & Silver Linings is the best album Dream Theater have made in a long time, and it’s also a very accessible album that is a good starting point for anyone who wants to know what they’ve been missing out on for the past twenty years. Dream Theater fans should pick it up without hesitation, as well as anybody who likes good rock and metal music that's also a little bit more.
4.5/5 stars, or 90/100
A-
Topic: [Music] Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings (Read 7531 times)