Dream Theater Survivor 2017 - Black Clouds & Silver Linings - FINAL ROUND!!!

[BlackInk]

This whole album is silly.

Certainly.

Would it be fair to assume that most of the people that dislike this album are mostly offended by the lyrical content?

Probably. For me, the lyrics are the emotional core of a song, so when there's no emotion in the lyrics the song fails. But then again, I'm also offended just by the way LaBrie sings on this album. Sounds like he was told to sound "tough" of "metal" in the studio, and it just sounds incredibly silly to me.

[Mladen]

That's a fine point. However, that's why I think songs like Wither and The Best of times work amazingly well, they're not pretentious in being metal or in-your-face the way most of the other songs or even the band photos from this era do. They balance it all out nicely, so the album isn't too metal overall.

[ToT-147]

Would it be fair to assume that most of the people that dislike this album are mostly offended by the lyrical content?

Probably. For me, the lyrics are the emotional core of a song, so when there's no emotion in the lyrics the song fails. But then again, I'm also offended just by the way LaBrie sings on this album. Sounds like he was told to sound "tough" of "metal" in the studio, and it just sounds incredibly silly to me.

To like or dislike an album for its lyrics and not for its music is very silly.. But, apart from that, this album doesn't have any "silly" lyrics at all.. The only one with extravagants lyrics is obviously TCoT, but it's a fictional story written by a guy who's first of all a guitar player, in second place a musician and in thhird place.... a writer composer.. I think the lyrics of that song are fine, and while they're definitely not my favorite lyrics, they don't spoil the song, which is a masterpiece, as the whole album..

As for LaBrie, you should probably listen to his solo albums (especially EoP and SI).. There you have a proof that is not because of MP or anybody else on DT that he sings as he sings in BC&SL or any other DT album.. That's how he sings, and his raspy voice is one of the type of voice I most like about him..

[BlackInk]

To like or dislike an album for its lyrics and not for its music is very silly.

Lyrics is a part of the music. If you don't think it's as important that's fine, but the way I see it is that if you're going to put lyrics on your album, it's a part of the whole product and should be judged accordingly.

Also, as someone who writes music myself, lyrics is where I truly express myself, and therefore that's what I look for when I listen to the music other people make (unless it's instrumental). So if they choose to tell a weird story about -a car accident where everyone turned out to be fine and there were no consequences or lessons to be learned-, or -that time they were in Italy and everything turned out to be fine and there were no consequences or lessons to be learned-, I'm not going to connect because suddenly that huge part of the product is just inconsequential and without meaning. It makes it feel cheap, without investment from the lyricist, and lacks any emotional relevance.

[Tomislav95]

Oh it's not the lyrics that bother me. AROP and ANTR (which is still pretty good) have some of the most boring instrumental sections in their catalog. TBoT is just too long for what it is, quality/duration ratio is just too low for a Dream Theater song. Wither is nothing special, just a fine power ballad and it's still my 2nd favorite song on the album. All of this is my opinion of course, I wrote this just in case someone doesn't understand why this album isn't liked that much

[ToT-147]

To like or dislike an album for its lyrics and not for its music is very silly.

Lyrics is a part of the music. If you don't think it's as important that's fine, but the way I see it is that if you're going to put lyrics on your album, it's a part of the whole product and should be judged accordingly.

Also, as someone who writes music myself, lyrics is where I truly express myself, and therefore that's what I look for when I listen to the music other people make (unless it's instrumental). So if they choose to tell a weird story about -a car accident where everyone turned out to be fine and there were no consequences or lessons to be learned-, or -that time they were in Italy and everything turned out to be fine and there were no consequences or lessons to be learned-, I'm not going to connect because suddenly that huge part of the product is just inconsequential and without meaning. It makes it feel cheap, without investment from the lyricist, and lacks any emotional relevance.

I didn't say they're not part of the music.. They are, at least always that actually there are some lyrics (for instance, not only the sections but the "songs" that I like the most of DT are instrumentals).. In the past I used to not given any importance to the lyrics.. if they were cool, cool; if they weren't, I wasn't gonna to care that much anyway.. Nowadays (when I'm also kinda a lyricist) I understand the significance of a good lyric.. But even now I still don't care too much if a lyric is bad.. It doesn't ruin the song for me, fortunately... well, of course that is a element of the song, and I do consider it to judge how I like the song, but the most important thing for me it'll always be the music..

And, again, I don't see anything weird or meaningless in any of those songs.. A car accident is something very relevant to oneself's life, whether it ended up in tragedy or not.. Not everything is as you see on the movies or in the news.. People survive as well, and not without One or another mental trauma that can last until the day you die (it seems that for JP it's doing it).. As for TCoT, the lyrics are not about JP's real trip, but about a fictional story he made out based on that experience.. But anyways; if you find it weird and without any relevance, that's ok.. But you really don't like the song just for that?...

[BlackInk]

Yeah. Songs like Wither works, they're generic enough lyrics to not offend me, but when they come along with some of the stuff in ANtR or TCoT I cannot help but to either laugh or internally facepalm. Which yeah, it detracts greatly from the overall experience.

Additionally, they're pretty clumsily written lyrics. Maybe someone could make those types of topics work as lyrics, but unfortunately that someone isn't Petrucci.

[MirrorMask]

The ending of The Count of Tuscany however works. Helped by the music, the reveal that nothing sinister was going on and the praise for ancient stories works just fine for me.

[BlackInk]

Undoubtedly the best part of TCoT, lyrically. Not perfect, but fine.