I’m going to upset my dad (and all other Dream Theater fans) and tell you I’ve only listened to this guy all the way through once. I’m in the process of hearing it again as of this post’s original scribblins. Since there’s only 6 tracks, I’ll say a little bit about each one.
Read more after the break!
Track 1: “A Nightmare to Remember”
I hate to say it, but this song shows signs of Heavy Metal Entropy, which is a theory I may have come up with (it may have another name, but Google shows up negative!). HME is the phenomenon where a band’s music loses some of the zip it had in the band’s earlier years. As the career goes on, guitar riffs and solos go a little bit slower, vocalists don’t strain their voices hitting the really high notes, and so on. In some bands, HME is caused by drug use (Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osborne, and arguably Metallica), touring fatigue and the crushing length of their careers (Yes [classic Yes vs. stuff like Magnification], Iron Maiden and Judas Priest), or the band’s just getting stuck in a rut of successful style, which is what I think is starting to happen here.
Dream Theater has been putting out constant-shred albums since Metropolis pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (2000). And now, 13 minutes into “A Nightmare to Remember,” the patented Dream Theater Shredding Machine keeps chugging along. The song doesn’t feel like it’s building to aanything. It’ll just go until it stops, like the robotic synth sounds at the end of Emerson, Lake and Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9: Third Impression.” One minute left with no sense of urgency. The song just grinds to a halt, out of gas.
Track 2: “A Rite of Passage”
The intro sounds like “The Dance of Eternity” from Scenes From a Memory. Vocal stylings are similar to older Dream Theater, from the Images & Words era. It’s still toe-tapping, but I’m not sure what they lyrics are supposed to mean. But I guess that’s prog for ya! Midway through, at the guitar solo, the song pulls a Megadeth and completely changes style and tone. This guitar solo is the very first Interesting Thing I’ve heard so far on this album. Ah, but then the not-very-interested sounding LaBrie starts singing again.
Track 3: “Wither”
It’s the shortest song on the album, and seemingly the slowest, tempo-wise. Holy power ballad, Batman! Glam up that guitar sound and we’re back in the 80s! It may just be the fact that it’s 12:15 a.m., but I just yawned for the first time. Mike Portnoy’s drumming is the Only Interesting Thing on this song. Y’know, it’s a good thing very few people read this, or I might end up with some pissed off Prog fans. Sorry guys, it’s a power ballad.
Track 4: “The Shattered Fortress”
I liked most of the other songs in the “Twelve-Step Suite” and that’s a good thing, since this song is basically those tracks tossed in a blender. Luckily, I’m a sucker for this sort of thing. My favorite part of “Octavarium” was the part towards the end where they tie the rest of the album’s songs into “Octavarium’s” melody. “The Shattered Fortress” is maybe a little unsubtle about it, though. It doesn’t seem to have a melody of its own, at least not a consistent one. It’s merely equal to, not greater than the sum of its parts. All that being said, it’s still my favorite off this album so far.
Track 5: “The Best of Times”
‘…is when I’m alone with you!” Er, sorry. Wrong song. Gnnnn, this song starts out slow… Christ, yawn #2. Actually, this part sounds an awful lot like Styx’ “The Best of Times…” Oh, never mind. Energetic Shredding Machine go! Now it’s TSO! Hurm, this one sounds pretty power ballad-y too. Well, it’s at least different from the Shredding Machine. I do like how you can tell this song is autobiographical. Oop, it’s not cheerful anymore. You can tell because LaBrie started using the past tense. Oh, ha! A cheeky shout out to “A Change of Seasons” (“Remember: Seize the day”). Very clever, Dream Theater. The solo during the 11 minute mark is really good. Its shred, but it flows with the tone of the song. The only real problem I have here is that they chose to fade out instead of build the music to a satisfying, showstopping conclusion. I hate it when bands do that. It’s lazy. (Grumble)
Track 6: “The Count of Tuscany”
You know how when people tell stories about what happened to them on vacation, and you’re not really interested because you have believe they’re exaggerating but you keep listening anyway just in case it’s true? Set that story to music and you’ve got “The Count of Tuscany.” The first four minutes are the snapshots of the guy standing in front of the beautiful landscapes around his hotel. Pretty, but inconsequential. Then the guy tells his story of being overly creeped out by some royal dudes he met. But it ends up being a case of culture clash, like so many of these things do. Whoops! Sorry, goes the count. Eh, s’okay, goes LaBrie. The end.
Once again, Black Clouds and Silver Linings is not a bad album, but it does foretell several dark portents in Dream Theater’s future. It’s full of classic Dream Theater Shredding that will go along nicely with the band’s other Shred on a shuffled iPod playlist. The music industry is no different from any other – bands either change & improve or they die out. And then have sad reunion tours 15 years later. Hopefully, Dream Theater 11 will be a fresh and spectacular piece of music, and the little mean voice inside my head will stop predicting DT’s doom. Until then, Black Clouds and Silver Linings will get tossed in with the general population and hobnob with the other albums I didn’t like as much (I’m looking at you, Systemic Chaos!)
I must admit that I haven't even heard this offering from DT. Over their past few releases, I've grown bored with endless shredding- although it does make me want to get the guitar out and practice and Jordon Rudess is, in fact, god. Seems that DT might be a victim of their own success- how much farther can this genre be taken? I liked your admission that you like CD's where themes get restated and pulled together at the conclusion. That's a time-honored technique in the classical music world. Check out the magnificent Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition- listen to the original piano version, then Maurice Ravel's orchestral interpretation then dive into Isao Tomita's electronic realization (with headphones!). Fantastic and moving experience. Also in the Prog Rock era the Genesis records Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering and Duke contained similar thematic tie-ins where the final cut of the record brings the themes back in a TRIUMPHANT CONCLUSION! I must take exception; however, to your insults of the sainted YES in their Magnification release! How dare you!!!!
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