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List Price: $24.98 | | Label: Roadrunner Records
Salesrank: 2056
Released: June 23, 2009 |
| Our Price: $15.49 |
| Used Price: $14.91 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Black Clouds & Silver Linings (3 CD Special Edition) Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. A Nightmare To Remember
2. A Rite Of Passage
3. Wither
4. The Shattered Fortress
5. The Best Of Times
6. The Count Of Tuscany
Disc 2:
1. 6
2.
3. C
4. o
5. v
6. e
7. r
8.
9. S
10. o
11. n
12. g
13. s
Editorial Review:
Special Edition includes the Black Clouds & Silver Linings CD, plus a CD of 6 cover songs, and a CD of instrumental mixes of the entire Black Clouds & Silver Linings album. 'This album's a musical and emotional rollercoaster, but most of our albums are,' Mike Portnoy says of Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Dream Theater's tenth studio album and second Roadrunner release. Black Clouds & Silver Linings marks another milestone on Dream Theater's iconoclastic musical journey, which began two and a half decades ago and now encompasses a hugely impressive body of music that's established the durable progressive metal outfit as a one-of-a-kind creative force with a fiercely devoted international fan base. The new album - produced by band members Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, who also serve as the group's main lyricists - offers a vibrant manifestation of the world-class musicianship, vivid lyrical scenarios and ambitious, multi-leveled compositions that have established Dream Theater as a uniquely compelling creative force.
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (3 CD Special Edition) Reviews:
Only ONE con, the rest is amazing! 
2009-12-24 - At first, I was expecting some Special Edition plastic-cover, like some CD+DVD combos, but when it arrives at my place, I see a paper-cover for this SE... but for this tiny little price, I don't got upset or anything like that. The Album is perfect, it is a must-buy and the only con is the paper-cover for the album, the rest is amazing, I'll give this product a 4.8/5.
A Step In The Right Direction
2009-12-20 - I don't think it's possible to underestimated the massive increase of commercial attention Dream Theater has received in the past few years. Thanks in large part to new label Roadrunners promotion of 2007's "Systematic Chaos", Dream Theater have gone from being the kings of the underground prog scene to one of the heavyweight contenders in the mainstream metal scene. As early as a few years ago most people would scratch their head at the mention of Dream Theater, but nowadays they have found a place on the iPods of middle school aged Slipknot fans everywhere (ironically enough). And while "Systematic Chaos" wasn't by any means a bad album, Dream Theaters older fans were hoping that their next offering would be a little more...like the Dream Theater we're used to, as opposed to the more streamlined and slicked back band that gave us "Systematic...".
For the most part, Dream Theaters latest offering "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" succeeds in this aspect. Following in the footsteps of Roadrunner label mates and primary competition for kings of prog metal, Opeth, Dream Theater follow up a more PR'd and slick label debut with a far less accessible and progressively oriented offering. Of the 6 tracks on the album, 4 are multi-part epics clocking in at +10 minutes. The two more "straightforward" songs here, "Rite of Passage" and "Wither" (unsurprisingly, the albums singles), are actually both very well done in their own right. "Rite of Passage" in particular sounds very different from anything Dream Theater has released in the past. The chorus features some very affective, almost Gothenburg-esque guitar harmonies, something Dream Theater has never really utilized before, but it works excellently. The musicianship is exemplar as usual, and seems to be less over the top in terms of technical theatrics than "Systematic Chaos" was (see Petrucci's very tasteful lead on "Wither" and intro for "The Best of Times"). Not that the band doesn't have moments of flash factor thrown in (Mike Portnoy's blastbeat in the outro to "Nightmare to Remember"), but these sorts of moments can be expected, and even embraced, by fans. But overall there is a much greater sense of emphasis on song craft on this album as opposed to "Systematic Chaos"'s more flashy formula. Clearly it didn't hurt the band commercially, seeing as BC&SL is the first DT album to hit the Top 10 (once again echoing Opeths chart performance for "Watershed").
There are a few reasons, however, I just can't bring myself to give BC&SL 5 stars. While "A Nightmare to Remember" and "The Count of Tuscany" are both incredible epics that in my opinion sit right up there with "The Glass Prison" or "Beyond This Life", there is one song on this album which, while not entirely poor, just seems a bit substandard, "The Shattered Fortress". The end to Portnoy's "Alcoholics Anonymous Suite", it is basically a compilation of riffs and lyrics from previous songs. I understand the intent of the track, but to me it is very unfocused and forgettable, and hardly worth all 13 minutes of listening time. Also this album features a lot more Portnoy vocals than even Systematic Chaos did, and to me a lot of these moments seem to be a weak attempt at giving DT a "harsher" sound. Granted in certain moments ("Nightmare to Remember"), they work, but in others ("The Count of Tuscany") they seem cheesy and unnecessary. That said, BC&SL is a welcome addition to Dream Theaters discography and definitely a step in the right direction for the band.
Decent But Not Great
2009-11-06 - With as much progressive rock that I listen to and buy, it comes as a surprise to many of my friends that Dream Theater is not at the top of my list. Oh, I'm fairly well acquainted with the music of some of the members like that of Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess from some of their other projects. But I never really got around to checking out this band because no one I know who likes them has strongly recommended them. With the three-disc special edition release of Black Clouds and Silver Linings I finally decided to take the Dream Theater plunge.
What's the verdict? Well, the music itself is pretty decent but hardly qualifies as great. James LaBrie's vocals are rather weak but Mike Portnoy's percussion is quite spectacular. If anyone unfamiliar with the band were to ask me what they are like, I'd say that they lean far more towards metal than prog. Judging from the number of reviews in the short time since the CD's release, its apparent that the band has a large and vocal fan base. In the case of this release, its about three to one with a favorable opinion of it. After many listens, I count myself among those who enjoy it.
I like most of disc one; my favorites are A Rite of Passage, The Best of Times, and The Count of Tuscany. Disc Two I am lukewarm on but I most enjoy the band's take on King Crimson's old Lark's Tongues in Aspic Pt. 2. But I think the best part of the set is disc three which features instrumental mixes of songs on the first CD. It makes for great energetic background music.
The CD is accompanied by an attractive booklet containing lyrics, pictures, and pertinent album information. I don't know how Black Clouds and Silver Linings stands compared to previous Dream Theater releases, but when listened to without reference to previous efforts, it sounds fine to me.
Great Bang For Buck 
2009-10-27 - For my two bits I listen to the instrumental cd of BC&SL more than the normal cd with the vocals, and after that I listen a lot to the second cd with the cover songs, it is especially fascinating as I believe James LaBrie's vocals suit those songs 'Queen' etc better than the actual BC&SL album. Overall I am surprsed to get three cd's from Dream Theater, its great value for money. But that instrumental cd is fan bloodytastic, here is where we can really understand what is in a progressive rock composition and the music stands out, I won't go into actual track detaisl but sopem pf the keyboard and guitar work is lavish and atmospheric. I would like less of Mike Portnoy's voice and a better use of james LaBries almost operatic ability to express a song, passion, desire and anguish to come out in their recordings. Keep it up lads and see you in Melbourne on the 7th Dec 2009.
Joe.
Sonic heaven and quite an improvement over the last 2!
2009-10-25 - I was so excited to read the reviews on the new DT, so I ran out and got the 3 CD set. Was it worth it? Yes. Could they have left out CD #3? YES. But now my review...
I have been a huge DT fan since I&M, and have everything they have done (3 DVD's too, but not all of the live stuff). Octavarium had 2 or 3 GREAT songs, as well as Systematic Chaos - but neither seemed to hold up for the duration and did contain some filler. Black Clouds is a definite improvement, but frankly I was hoping for more. It does have far more GREAT moments of classic DT prog than it's predecessors, and is much better 'as a whole'. In other words, the music flows very well from track to track, with a mimimal amount of lame experimentation (think bad U2/Foo Fighters 'Prophets of War' or half-baked slow stuff like 'The Answer lies within'). All the heavy and soft moments click, BUT I just never felt I was listening to anything very new or fresh. There are some old great riffs in 'Shattered Fortress', but recycling only goes so far. Like others have said, I am getting rather tired of the Portnoy/Petrucci 'dark side' the music seems to have adopted lately, however songs like 'The Best of Times' approach sappiness and rip off Rush like nobody's business (not meant as an insult though, as it is the good older Rush 'sound' from 'Spirit of the Radio' days).
The second CD saves the day, and if CD 1 was better, my review would be 5 stars easily. The songs chosen for remakes were awesome, and LaBrie did an awesome job with some challenging vocals from old Rainbow and Queen. The instrumental choice to do an old Dixie Dregs song (Odyssey) is worth the price of admission, and the other choice to do the quirky but way cool 'Larks tonque in Aspic'...thanks for that MP! Old IM and a great yet obscure number from Zebra top this gem off, and it was reminicent of one of my DT fave CDs 'A Change of Seasons'.
Silly lyrics? Yes. Dark music here and there akin to Systematic Chaos/TOT? Yes. Much better that the last 2? YES. My main concern with Dream Theater, and perhaps the whole Progressive Rock of today (of all heaviness levels) is that making exciting new music in this genre is quite a task, and I salute DT and others (POS, Tool, OSI, Spocks Beard) for trying to do so. It must be hard to and not come off like retreaded ELP, Yes, Kansas or Rush; or on the metal side - Metallica/Megadeth. Should DT change it's musical path? Think of Genesis from Nursery Cryme to ABACAB...ground-breaking prog to commercial pap...well, lets all be thankful that DT has NOT completely gone that path for the sake of 'keeping up with the times' or just changing to just change! Is there prog that out there that we haven't heard yet? I hope so, and I think a lot of fans have put faith in DT to do so and if anyone can do it, they can. It is just the wait that seems to be killing us all judging from many reviews I've read over the last 5 years...good luck DT - you can do it! My personal advice would be to get a fresh opinion on things (new producer/manager) and NOT let the Portnoy/Petrucci regime rule the output of the band for the next few CD's. Think of the influence that Derek Sherinian had back in the I&M days...be interesting to hear what DT would sound like today if he had an equal vote on things - all you have to do is listen to any of his awesome CD's he has done as himself or Planet X since he departed. Pardon the Derek plug...
BC and SL? Get it, and support DT for the upkeep of Progressive Rock!!
