Black Clouds & Silver Linings, almost 6 Years Later

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Did a whole DT discography run a while ago.

BC&SL was definitely a chore to sit through on the whole. I did enjoy myself with the ending solo to The Best of Times and pretty much the entirety of The Count of Tuscany. I had really debated to myself whether I preferred this one or SC, and I think the main problem with Black Clouds is that it's a whole lot more inconsistent. It has some of the worst material DT has ever done, and yet some of the best musical passages they've ever put out as well, all on one album.

[hefdaddy42]

The Shattered Fortress

I love this song on the last DVD....I thought it sounded awesome live and Mangini owned it!!! It is also my 8 year olds favorite DT song for some reason....he requests it all the time!!

Yeah, it really comes alive on that recording.

[Prog Snob]

The Shattered Fortress

I love this song on the last DVD....I thought it sounded awesome live and Mangini owned it!!! It is also my 8 year olds favorite DT song for some reason....he requests it all the time!!

   That's awesome.  My 5 year old's favorite Dream Theater song is Wither.  She isn't satisfied until I sing the chorus to her. 

[npiazza91]

It usually flip flops with 6D for my favorite DT album.

Sure, it's inconsistent, but I think that's the beauty of it.  I prefer a beautifully flawed album rather than a perfect one.  It's dark, depressing, and represents the dark times we go through in real life, in my opinion.  ANTR is still my #1 DT song for many reasons, it sets up the album perfectly.  AROP feels a bit out of place, but it's still a kick ass song.  Wither is beautiful, however you interpret it.  TSF is the weakest on the album, but still good.  TBOT is absolutely beautiful, enough said.  TCOT is also amazing, taking you to another plane of existence during the middle part.

Sure, the album is definitely hard to stomach, but despite its flaws, it truly is a fantastic, albeit dark, experience.  Only Awake surpasses the dark, isolated feeling from this album, but unfortunately a few songs slow it down.

[PwnsomeWin]

When I became a DT fan, this was their most recent album. 8VM was my first album though, because dat title track. Anyways, I didn't think BCaSL was that terrible at first. I enjoyed everything except A Rite of Passage, which was still a good listen. It just got old quickly, I guess. Soon enough I'd skip A Rite of Passage, then Wither, and then I got sick of The Best of Times (which I used to love every minute of), so I just skipped the whole album. I still enjoy The Count of Tuscany and A Nightmare to Remember, but not anywhere near as much as first listen.

[Cable]

I had really debated to myself whether I preferred this one or SC, and I think the main problem with Black Clouds is that it's a whole lot more inconsistent. It has some of the worst material DT has ever done, and yet some of the best musical passages they've ever put out as well, all on one album.

While I cannot agree that the worst passages in DT history (sans ANTR MP tough guy section + can has blast beat) are on this album, I do agree it is all over the place. Not as much as SC to me though. To your point, ANTR - Beautiful Agony part. I will believe until a new one comes out (doubtful), that this has the best DT vocal harmonies ever. And yet yeah, it has the *other* section.

And I listened to TBOT the other day as it shuffled on. While there is a lot of good, there is some borderline cringe stuff at PetFish pointed out to MP years ago on his forum. As much as MP took that personally, JP's Take Away My Pain I could argue has meh parts too.

So I don't see the worst sections IMO ever (part of 6:00, 6DOIT get some of my votes), there is a lot that I do agree with being kind of meh. Yet we have the TBOT solo, most of TCOT, Beautiful Agony, the three riff mashup instrumental section of TSF, and so on.

While it's not anywhere near my bottom (SC), it cannot really challenge any other whole albums for me. I like all the songs on the album, which makes it weird that the album ranks low. Just really is the all of the place parts, plus the total sum not equaling other classics. The album and SC, of course using hindsight, to me displayed the symptoms of breakdown within the band. Someone also pointed out pre-MP departure I think of how the studio clips showed issues.

[FLEEBS]

I love this album. It's one of my favorites. It's definitely my favorite modern Dream Theater album, and I've been a fan since Images and Words came out in '92. I do consider myself more of a classic Dream Theater fan (I even love the Majesty stuff), but I like all of their music (Mike Portnoy era being the best, in my opinion), with the occasional rare songs I just don't care for and can't get into. There's not many of those for me, though.

Having said that, I don't really care for A Rite of Passage. It's fine, but it's never a song I would make a choice to listen to outside of listening to the entire album for the experience. For a long time I couldn't really get into The Best of Times, but my mother passed away in September of 2013, and after that the song became very relevant to me.

I love the progressive aspects of this album, and I think it has some of the best songs DT has ever written. I absolutely love A Nightmare To Remember, Wither, The Shattered Fortress, and The Count of Tuscany. I love the slow Agony section of A Nightmare to Remember. I think it's got one of the best hooks a DT song has ever had, and it still gives me chills when I listen to it to this day. The heaviness, the solo trade offs between Rudess and Petrucci, even Portnoy's somewhat ridiculous growl and blast-beat at the end; I love it all. I understand Wither is more of a John Petrucci song than a Dream Theater song, but I think it's fantastic, and such a heartfelt and solid song. My wife and I danced to it at our wedding reception. We both love it. I'm also very partial to slow songs, even if I'm a huge fan of heavy music. When I first heard The Shattered Fortress, I didn't care for it too much since I thought it sounded like a riffbag of riffs taken from all the previous AA Suite songs, which is actually rather true, but that song grew on me the more I listened to it. I think it's one of the best out of the five songs, and it may be my favorite next to The Glass Prison. I'm not sure I can say which one is better, but I believe The Shattered Fortress stands on its own, and I love Petrucci's solo at the end. I expected something different out of the song, but ultimately I think it was a great way to close out the Suite. The Count of Tuscany is probably my favorite song Dream Theater has ever written. I think it's an absolute masterpiece, and I love every bit of it. I love the gorgeous intro, the heavy sections, and the ethereal Petrucci/Rudess section before the big reveal by the Count towards the end. Then follows a variation of the masterful intro at the end of the song, and another incredible solo by Petrucci, reprising the theme he started with. Speaking of the reveal by the Count, I love that twist on the story. This guy is terrified for his life, and there is this horror feel throughout the whole song, but it's revealed that the Count is just a normal guy after all. Well, sort of  , but the fact that everything is okay and the main character isn't going to die (everything was really just in his head) relieves the tension felt in the heavier aspects of the song so wonderfully well.

Someone above said the solos were uninspired and unmemorable. I couldn't disagree more. I feel the solos on this album are the best Petrucci has laid down since the early days.

To me this album has the best elements Dream Theater has to offer. All the heaviness you could want amongst rather mellow songs/sections. That's one reason I don't get into Train of Thought as much as I'd like becuase it's rather one-sided. I know that was their goal, but to me Dream Theater shines best when throwing it all into the mix. Fast and slow, heavy and mellow, progressive and straightforward. I love the fact that the songs are rooted in truth and/or life. I actually like the fantasy aspects of Systematic Chaos, and I can relate the songs to my life regardless of the majority of fantasy lyrics, but I feel the songs on Black Clouds hold so much more meaning being based in reality.

True, I wish the album had more songs, but when 4 out of the 6 songs are some of my favorites ever written by the band, I can look past the actual number of songs. That and the fact that I feel there is so much substance to the 4 that I really like, I can look past what I don't like rather easy.

I think this is a fantastic album for Mike Portnoy to have gone out on. Man, I miss that dude. I don't care what anyone says about him; I support the man even if I wish things hadn't gone down the way they did. I met him by chance before an Adrenaline Mob show in Lubbock, TX, and he was one of the coolest dudes/musicians I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, but I digress.

Lastly, I've got a few thoughts. What I find so interesting in reading the thoughts about DT in this forum is everybody likes something different for different (sometimes the same) reasons. What I love someone else hates and what I don't care for someone else loves. But that's the best part, really. Dream Theater is so multifaceted that people can pick and choose what they like and still be a fan of the bigger picture (no pun intended). What Dream Theater is can mean something completely different among just even a handful of fans, but they are all still fans. That's something not too many bands can pull off at all, and I think that's awesome. Having said all that, I'd just like to state that I love Anna Lee. I think it's a beautiful song. I like it so much that I even named my daughter Anna Lee. Truth. I see so much hate for that song among fans, and I don't get it, but I don't care. And I digress again.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's thoughts here. I've been a fan for over 20 years, but I'm rather new to this forum. It's great to see other fan's take on things.

[hefdaddy42]

I love the slow Agony section of A Nightmare to Remember.

Listening to the whole song certainly feels like a slow agony to me.

But hey, just because I don't like it doesn't mean no one else should.  Like you alluded to in your post.  Different strokes for different folks.

 

[gmillerdrake]

Have had this CD in the player in the car the past few days cuz the kiddos love 'TSF'....but man, it's brutal to listen to this......especially if you listen to DT13 or ADTOE beforehand.

I think James does a good job singing.....JP has some killer guitar work.....JMx just back there begin g for someone to turn him up....and JR does his job ....BUT.....what makes it near unlistenable for me now is you can really hear just how lazily written the drum part are on these songs. B - O - R- I - N - G

You can feel that MP was done with the band by that point by how "simple" he plays and I'll still maintain he only stuck around one more album to fulfill the 12 step suite 'obligation' he made in his mind. ANTR is easily 4 minutes too long and it was all to get to that retarded blast beat section. Anyway, Ill refrain from bashing the songs because I do think the rest of the band had some good work isn't there...but I dare anyone to listen to this album after listening to DT13 or ADTOE and tell me honestly that the drumming in BC&SL even comes in the neighborhood of those two. It doesn't.

[BlobVanDam]

That's you not bashing? 
The only tough part of the dare for me would be having to listen to DT12 all the way through first. I'd listen to BCASL over the last two albums, and I don't even rank BCASL that highly.

[gmillerdrake]

That's you not bashing?.

I'm just highly critical of MP's effort on that album. All his other albums you can 'feel' that he put some thought and effort into constructing the fills and rythums to fit the song....very creative and incredible stuff. BC&SL's is so lazy for him. It's rudimentary drumming for someone of his talent. Looking back on it IMO it's easy to see that he was done with DT long before he actually announced he was done.

[BlobVanDam]

I think that's what people want to think is there in hindsight. Sure it's not MP's best drumming by any stretch, but the album still feels full of energy and groove, something which I can't say for ADTOE, and MP still had a big part in the album showing he was invested in the band.

[gmillerdrake]

I think that's only what people want to think is there in hindsight. Sure it's not MP's best drumming by any stretch, but the album still feels full of energy and groove, something which I can't say for ADTOE, and MP still had a big part in the album showing he was invested in the band.

That's the cool thing about music....because I see it the exact opposite.

[Dream Team]

For both SC and BCASL, the amount of MP vocals and mehtul is indefensible but I find BCASL has a few more redeeming sections than SC, including most of TCOT.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Have had this CD in the player in the car the past few days cuz the kiddos love 'TSF'....but man, it's brutal to listen to this......especially if you listen to DT13 or ADTOE beforehand.

I think James does a good job singing.....JP has some killer guitar work.....JMx just back there begin g for someone to turn him up....and JR does his job ....BUT.....what makes it near unlistenable for me now is you can really hear just how lazily written the drum part are on these songs. B - O - R- I - N - G

You can feel that MP was done with the band by that point by how "simple" he plays and I'll still maintain he only stuck around one more album to fulfill the 12 step suite 'obligation' he made in his mind. ANTR is easily 4 minutes too long and it was all to get to that retarded blast beat section. Anyway, Ill refrain from bashing the songs because I do think the rest of the band had some good work isn't there...but I dare anyone to listen to this album after listening to DT13 or ADTOE and tell me honestly that the drumming in BC&SL even comes in the neighborhood of those two. It doesn't.

Mike Portnoy's worst drum parts are still more enjoyable to me than Mike Mangini's best. I feel like there's so much more energy and emotion in Portnoy's drumming than Mangini's. And the blast beat section shows he was still trying new things and not just doing what he always does without caring about the songs. To me, the biggest issue this album has is how low in the mix the keyboards are. The keyboard parts in ANtR and TCoT are some of Jordan's best, but you can barely hear what he's doing. Other than that, there's nothing really wrong with this album to my ears.

[gmillerdrake]

Mike Portnoy's worst drum parts are still more enjoyable to me than Mike Mangini's best. I feel like there's so much more energy and emotion in Portnoy's drumming than Mangini's.

I absolutely LOVE 95% of MP's efforts!! He's incredible....one of the best ever! The stuff he's done with DT and Neil....man, just great. But SC and BC&SL's IMO he went through the motions....more so on BC&SL. MM's footwork on ADTOE blows anything MP attempted on BC&SL away. MP stuck to about three speeds of double bass and that was pretty much it....MM was incredible with his patterns on ADTOE and DT13.

I see MP as a more poetic or artistic approach to drumming and MM as a mathematical/scientific approach. Neither is wrong and both produce awesome music.

[BlobVanDam]

Mike Portnoy's worst drum parts are still more enjoyable to me than Mike Mangini's best. I feel like there's so much more energy and emotion in Portnoy's drumming than Mangini's. And the blast beat section shows he was still trying new things and not just doing what he always does without caring about the songs.

I agree. Someone who was phoning it in would not have been putting in so much effort. If the drumming went by the wayside a bit at times, it's because he spread himself too thin on other areas of producing, but he always put passion and energy into his work.
MP's work on SC is especially underrated. The instrumental section of CM is one of my favourites, and I love the way MP's drumming accents the riffs and vocal phrasing so perfectly in TDEN. I spent ages learning to airdrum that instrumental section.

[sneakyblueberry]

Yep, the last DT album I even remotely liked, if I'm honest.  That being said, I could easily go without never hearing Wither or TBOT ever again in my life, ever.

[hefdaddy42]

MP's work on SC is especially underrated. The instrumental section of CM is one of my favourites, and I love the way MP's drumming accents the riffs and vocal phrasing so perfectly in TDEN. I spent ages learning to airdrum that instrumental section.

That instrumental section on CM is really tasty.  I don't hear it very often, because I really can't stand the rest of the song, but that instrumental section is wonderful, and a very big part of that is MP.  I just wish they had written a better song to around it.

[Stadler]

Mike Portnoy's worst drum parts are still more enjoyable to me than Mike Mangini's best. I feel like there's so much more energy and emotion in Portnoy's drumming than Mangini's. And the blast beat section shows he was still trying new things and not just doing what he always does without caring about the songs.

I agree. Someone who was phoning it in would not have been putting in so much effort. If the drumming went by the wayside a bit at times, it's because he spread himself too thin on other areas of producing, but he always put passion and energy into his work.
MP's work on SC is especially underrated. The instrumental section of CM is one of my favourites, and I love the way MP's drumming accents the riffs and vocal phrasing so perfectly in TDEN. I spent ages learning to airdrum that instrumental section.

There's a lot to criticize if you want to (I don't as I am an MP fanboy of sorts) but "phoning it in" is not one of them. If that's your criticism of MP, then you're just being vindictive, and, well, phoning in your hate.

[Cable]

^ I support the outcome of what happened, and feel MP has just as much to do with it, if not the majority. That said, if anyone can be accused of not participating as much in the album, it's JM imo.

Now we can just go off of what MP said, and what we hear on record. The other members didn't say anything else about current members. JM's performance was the most doubling I have ever heard him do, validating it would seem what MP said about only 3 members basically being there for all of writing. His playing was not "sloppy" as I have heard some say, but maybe more distorted than ever before, which can convey sloppiness. And when we compare BCSL to ADTOE and DT, he certainly had some stand out parts. Not WDADU's level, but enough.

UNderstandable for JM to just distance himself, that makes sense via his personality. But he still stuck with at least recording bass.

[gmillerdrake]

If that's your criticism of MP, then you're just being vindictive, and, well, phoning in your hate.

I don't hate the guy at all. For a large part of my life I was one of his biggest fans. I was probably more devastated than I should have been when he chose to leave DT....yep....HE CHOSE to leave.....What I said about his drumming is just the tip of the iceberg of my 'criticism' of him...of which is obviosly just my opinion supported by observation of his actions and interpretation of his comments. And that's about all I can say about it before entering 'ban' zone.....

[Bertielee]

MP's work on SC is especially underrated. The instrumental section of CM is one of my favourites, and I love the way MP's drumming accents the riffs and vocal phrasing so perfectly in TDEN. I spent ages learning to airdrum that instrumental section.

That instrumental section on CM is really tasty.  I don't hear it very often, because I really can't stand the rest of the song, but that instrumental section is wonderful, and a very big part of that is MP.  I just wish they had written a better song to around it.

My favorite moment off CM as well and off the CD as a whole. Yep, the song around deserved to be better.

B.Lee

[Dublagent66]

A Nightmare to Remember and The Best of Times have some cringeworthy moments but everything else is rather good.  The Count of Tuscany has a few cheesy parts but the overall musical theme is excellent.  This album brings back some good memories and I don't mind listening to it, which is a lot more than I can say about DT12.  Nothing really too memorable there.

[Rodni Demental]

Mike Portnoy's worst drum parts are still more enjoyable to me than Mike Mangini's best. I feel like there's so much more energy and emotion in Portnoy's drumming than Mangini's.

I absolutely LOVE 95% of MP's efforts!! He's incredible....one of the best ever! The stuff he's done with DT and Neil....man, just great. But SC and BC&SL's IMO he went through the motions....more so on BC&SL. MM's footwork on ADTOE blows anything MP attempted on BC&SL away. MP stuck to about three speeds of double bass and that was pretty much it....MM was incredible with his patterns on ADTOE and DT13.

I see MP as a more poetic or artistic approach to drumming and MM as a mathematical/scientific approach. Neither is wrong and both produce awesome music.

I agree with about half of what you're saying, and maybe MP wasn't putting in as much effort on the final album as he has done in the past, but I don't think he was necessarily half arseing it or anything. In fact, as my first DT album I was still highly impressed by the drums on BC&SL, and even though I've been more impressed by other stuff since, the general standard of MPs drumming is high enough that apparently 'phoning it in' is still more interesting than what many drummers are up to. (Not that I can talk, I can't play drums for shit  ). Also, yeah, MM's work on ADTOE is definitely more interesting than BC&SL drumming, but seeing as the production is so 'thin', it doesn't do it justice. Everytime I listen to ADTOE I still get surprised by some of the drumming moments that I obviously wasn't paying attention to in the past or they previously hadn't stood out enough for me to appreciate them possibly due to them fading to the background in favour of the rest of the instrumentation. It's possible ADTOE is completely unique for DT in that it was the only time drums were actually the last part recorded among the instruments. Still, BC&SL has pretty fantastic drumming if you ask me, if not perhaps a little below average by MP or DT standards (whatever that's supposed to mean ). Oh, and considering your brief mention of MPs work with Neil, from this point of view I still consider MP leaving the best thing that could have happened for both parties. Because to me, MM with DT is still awesome, and we wouldn't have got Flying Colors - which I think is almost as good as DT in many respects. Infact I hope Flying Colors keeps going for years to come because it seems like anything could happen musically with those guys and I'm all for that.

What Dream Theater is can mean something completely different among just even a handful of fans, but they are all still fans. That's something not too many bands can pull off at all, and I think that's awesome. Having said all that, I'd just like to state that I love Anna Lee. I think it's a beautiful song. I like it so much that I even named my daughter Anna Lee. Truth. I see so much hate for that song among fans, and I don't get it, but I don't care. And I digress again.

Anyway, thanks for everyone's thoughts here. I've been a fan for over 20 years, but I'm rather new to this forum. It's great to see other fan's take on things.

You bring up an interesting point here,  people become fans for different reasons, but I didn't really think about the idea that the band could even mean, or represent entirely different things for some people. Individually we look at them and go; "yeah, that's Dream Theater", but for each person that statement is loaded with different types of conceptions. They're certainly a multifaceted group and have explored many dimensions of music, reaching out to so many fans of varying styles. I think they deserve the popularity they have in their genre, yet I still have certain prog or music snob friends that think they're 'overrated', which is pretty much like saying "I don't understand why something is so popular and I sure as hell don't agree with it".

Oh, and btw Anna Lee is an amazing song.  People hate on it 'cause it's not what they think DT should be.. Maybe. I dunno, that's the only explanation I have as to why it's not liked by some because I think it's an amazing song and even if it's not typical DT, I don't know how many people would actually say it's a 'bad' song. I could easily imagine The Beatles writing a song like this.

[zecawolf]

my favorite DT album. And it has their best song ever, The Count of Tuscany.

[t-bone2112]

Well, overall I love this album!  As much as I love it, I think I understand the problems others have with it, even though I don't necessarily agree with them.

The only song I truely don't care for is TSF.  And TBOT and AROP are my next least favs on the album, although I still like them quite well.

But the other three songs....OMG!

I agree that ANTR gets a bit repetitive and lengthier (is that a word?) than it needs to be, but I think it's pretty awesome.

Wither is an amazing song.  I love when DT get a bit slower and mellower and this balad-ish song is still quite heavy (like much acoustic Zeppelin is still heavy).  The drums are awesome and JP's solo is wonderful.  And I think the lyrics are great.  Love this song!

The song in DT's catalog I listen to the most is TCOT!  Yes, the lyrics are silly, cheesy (insert adjective here), but I think they're fun.  If you insist they are bad, ok, I won't fight you on it.  But the music.........dear God, the music in this song, for me, is perfect!  I mean PERFECT in every way!  Amazing intro, JP's soloing here is so soulful to me.  The mellow middle section is really cool (rip-off of Rush's Xanadu?  Maybe, but it is so cool).  Then once the acoustic guitar starts until the end, is pure bliss.  Great guitar sound, great JP solo, and the drums throughout the end of the song are PERFECT!!  Everytime I listen to the song and the drums at the end, I really miss Portnoy (and I really like Mangini!).  I truely think I will never tire of listening to this song.

Has it aged well?  Well, I still enjoy it as much as I did when I first heard it.  And I also must mention that I typically have to listen to an album a few time before I get a solid opinion of it, regardless of artist.  And I really liked BC&SL the first time I heard it.

And as much as I like this album, it isn't my favorite by them.

[bosk1]

I've talked forever about how I feel that SC and BCSL are the only two DT albums that make me really want to skip songs, despite also having some of DT's best material.  So I finally created a playlist of the best.  I am still playing with the track order, but here is what I have:

1.  ANTR
2.  Forsaken
3.  TSF
4.  Constant Motion
5.  The Count of Tuscany
6.  The Dark Eternal Night
7.  A Right of Passage
8.  ITPOE

Too bad it won't even remotely fit on a CD.  I wasn't going to include AROP, but I think it will actually fit in well with the rest of the songs, so I left it in.  Anyway...

[Cable]

Digital music playlist then! But yeah, ITPOE is two songs, it cannot be just track 8. 

Forsaken and TDEN I could drop easily, but then that's six songs.    ANTR would have to be dropped, and could slide in POW and Wither for me. Making it around 80 mins I think.

I feel like these two albums are like Load/Re-Load, Invisible Touch/We Can't Dance, and Deliverance/Damnation. Combined as one album, they have enough good stuff. Separated, they fall flat. Well, SC does at least. 

But  on the songs.

[bosk1]

All the SC songs I chose are must-have songs.  With Black Clouds, I really only have 3:  ANTR, TSF, and TCOT.  But strangely, AROP really works well in the playlist above and seems like a better song. 

[nightmare_cinema]

This album has aged really well for me, to be honest the vast majority of its success at retaining a place in my heart is down to The Shattered Fortress and TCOT though. TSF is probably my favourite track of the AA Suite, it pulls every theme and idea together so flawlessly with a dollop of awesome new riffs and ideas on top, and TCOT is up there with 8VM, ACOS, ITPOE for me. I sometimes listen to Nightmare to Remember but usually only if I already have the CD on anyway.

It's weird, I really respect it as an album on an instinctive level but its 99% to do with just a third of the songs on there. They're just that strong for me that they make the rest of the album irrelevant.

[goo-goo]

All the SC songs I chose are must-have songs.  With Black Clouds, I really only have 3:  ANTR, TSF, and TCOT.  But strangely, AROP really works well in the playlist above and seems like a better song.

I would just switch The Dark Eternal Night for Wither. I'm definitely not a fan of TDEN...Now, the live version on the other hand (specially on the Forsaken EP) sounds awesome.

[Grizz]

I still love this album.
Some parts that I don't love:
- The lyrics to A Nightmare to Remember. Unlike The Count of Tuscany, which is over the top the whole time and consistent, Nightmare is all over the damn place.
"What began as laughter so soon would turn to pain"
This sounds like some B-movie in which characters think something is a prank is actually horrifying, not like you went to a wedding and got into a car accident.
"A flawless new beginning eclipsed by tragedy."
Again, this is melodramatic and it sounds like in Harry Potter when Death Eaters interrupt a wedding reception and start slaying people.
"The uninvited stranger started dancing on his own, so we said goodbye to the glowing bride and made our way back home"
...Why is this line here? Who is the stranger? Is the wedding a flawless new beginning? Because we know nothing about who's getting married, or how it's laughter and flawless to our protagonist. It just sounds like he went to his friend's wedding. Who is this damn stranger anyway? How is he pertinent at all? This line is all we ever hear of him, yet it makes him sound like he's a vital part of the story.
"Life was so simple then, we were so innocent; Father and mother holding each other"
This line implies to the listener that the Nightmare to Remember complicated the protagonist's life and split apart his family, which it apparently did not. I'm pretty sure that Petrucci was trying too hard to say that it was him as a child.
"Without warning [...] frightened and dazed"
Attempted lyrical styling in death metal? meh
"A man without a face"
It took me too long to realize that this was a doctor in a mask. Or was it? I have no bloody clue. And how does shining a light into eyes assuage pain? Unless they're two unrelated things the doctor did. Actually, that makes mores sense, and then "Beautiful Agony" is a morphine trip or something?
Also, what the hell does this have to do with elephants, Syme? Maybe BVD can chime in?
"Thoughts stand still inside his head; Makes no sense, he should be dead"
Is this self-reflection? The psychological trauma from the accident? Ah who cares, this line was cut anyway.
"Day after day, [...] Haunting my dreams"
See questions above
"How could he prepare [...] Everyone survived"
Again, with the melodramatic death metal. Except the lyrics are really mellow and sung in such a way that attempts to sound ballsy. Why?

- Wither. Never cared for it. Don't hate it, just very meh

- The Lyrics from The Best of Times. Cringeworthy to an outsider that can't relate to the experiences between Mike & Howard Portnoy. Take Away My Pain did a better job of conveying emotion, but this really doesn't work for a widespread public release.

- The bebot solo. A Rite of Passage had some of Rudess's worst moments of "pretentious wankery," culminating into this solo. Good thing it's short and the rest of the song is pretty catchy (yes, I'm serious).

- The production. Sonic quality was on a consistent decline from Falling Into Infinity (the band's peak) to Live at Luna Park (excluding Score and maybe Budokan). It became intolerable with Systematic Chaos and this album was roughly equivalent. The mix was meh and the mastering was awful. Rudess's worst patch ever was made in Bebot, and I don't really know much about instrument tones. As a drummer I can tell you that the birch/bubinga kit did not record well and that MP should stick to high snares.

- The end of The Count of Tuscany because it reminds me of the endings of my first two DT shows, and the last I would see with MP.

[Darkstarshades]

OMG THEORY
THE UNINVITED STRANGER CAUSED THE ACCIDENT
AND HE WAS ALSO THE DOCTOR.

PETRUCCI'S ARMS WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED THAT NIGHT AND HE SUFFERED SEVERE BRAIN DAMAGE.
SO THE DOCTOR REPLACED HIS ARMS WITH ARMS THAT WOULD GROW WITH TIME AND POSSSESED EXTREME SPEED.
AND THE CELLS QUE PLACED INSIDE HIS BRAIN WERE THAT OF A GUITAR GOD.
THEN THE DOCTOR SYNCRONIZED THE ARMS WITH THE BRAIN AND THUS IT ALL BEGAN

Don't you realize? It's John telling us how he became the superguitargod he is now.

"TELL ME DOES THIS HURT YOU? SAID THE FACELESS MAN..." He's faceless because he's some sort of Lovecraftian-like diety that can do this kind of thing. He's both the uninvited stranger and the doctor and the accident causer.

"CAN YOU MOVE ALL OF YOUR FINGERS?" He's testing his new arms and brain coordination to see if he can shred like there's no fcking tomorrow.

THERE WAS NO RED LIGHT THAT NIGHT, IT WAS THE ONE EYE OF THIS MONSTRUOUS BEAST.

OMG IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW!

[sneakyblueberry]

lets get you home