Black Clouds & Silver Linings: Reactions

[Fluffy Lothario]

Okay, this is my summary.

The album is brilliant from start to finish music-wise, (well, except for the middle of The Best of Times, by which I mean start of singing till end of singing, which is okay, but nothing special). The band make very few false steps the whole way.

Lyrically, A Rite of Passage, Wither, The Shattered Fortress and The Count of Tuscany are cool, and these are the tracks I'll happily take away from the album.

Most DT albums have one track that approaches, if not makes my favourites, and this album's one is Wither. (Which means the last three albums' editions have been The Answer Lies Within, Repentance, and Wither, all fairly mellow songs).

The Count of Tuscany is pretty bad lyrically 'on paper', but seems strangely silly in tone, in a way that I quite like, so I can still enjoy it for that (the first thing that came to mind when I first heard this song was Flight of the Conchords' Jenny). I really don't like the whoah whoah whoah outro though, just unnecessary. I wish DT would stop forcibly giving their epics these OMG endings and just let the song end what I would call 'naturally'.

The Best of Times is lyrically fairly clunky, enough so that I doubt I'll bother listening to the song much at all (as has been pointed out on quite a few occasions in the past, lyrics seem to matter to me a bit more than most people). And then there's A Nightmare to Remember, possibly the worst thing lyrically that DT have ever done, and thus rendered pretty much completely unlistenable.

So, better than a decent handful of DT's albums, even with two tracks I don't really care for.

However, I have to say, I'm not hugely interested in the album, and I'd say it's simply cos I'm not listening to much of any metal at all at the moment. I might have listened to it 4,  maybe 5 times. I mean, I could say something like "the album lacks spark", but I don't think that's the case. I'm just in another place at the moment.

[Valdor]

Just finished listening to the album for the first time.
Allow me to express my impressions with a simple graph, accompanied by micro-reviews:

Track | Rating   
ANTR    ****          A great,heavy album opener.
ARoP     ***            A little too bland, but great solos.
Wither   ****          Nice, powerfull ballad.
TSF      *****         Has all the classic parts, great way to end the saga!
TBoT     ****           Kinda reminds me of Hollow Years, great ending solo
TCoT    *****          Epic!

Album score:
9/10

[Progmetty]

Pretty cool idea with that graph Valdor, would you mind if I used it too?

[Dr. SeaWolf]

So far I really like this album.  Plus the version I bought at a local record store (Young Ones in Kutztown, PA) came with a free promo poster

[perfey]

1st listen.




AWESOME

[staveoffzombies]

On my second listen through now and this will be a grower.  I very much like most of the tracks, but there's a lot here to digest and it's going to take a little while before I can really consume and analyze the bigger tracks. Overall though my impression is very positive. 

[Progmetty]

I'm very satisfied with BC&SL, it met my every expectation except for the lack of unison solos, I really wanted a couple rapid ones there but anyway, it's all good.

[perfey]

Me too, very satisfied. The guys in the band still manages to impress me by how different they get the next record they do to sound so different to the one they did before it. They truly progress in their own way.

[Nihil-Morari]

Track | Rating   
ANTR    ***           A bit too heavy at times, but nice patches and solos.
ARoP     ***            A bit bland, but lovely to sing along
Wither   *****         One of DT's best tunes ever, everything fits, emotional.
TSF      ****          Nice medley kind of thing, ending is lacking.
TBoT     ****           Emotional, and flawless (JP!) but very uncreative lyrics (sorry MP)
TCoT    *****          Epic, a bit copy and pasted, but the music makes up for everything!

Album score:
8/10

Possibly a grower! But I love it already!

[chrisbDTM]

i set my expectations for this album way too high. but they surpassed them! i love this album

[Progmetty]

I can't get over how every chours on this album is so much freakin fun to sing along to..

[Super Dude]

I can't get over how every chours on this album is so much freakin fun to sing along to..

This.  Especially the middle part of ANTR.

[chrisbDTM]

i put in CD3 of the SE and sang to all the songs. awesome

[Super Dude]

The iTunes review for this album is hilariously bad.  The reviewer thought TCOT is based on a Rush song.

[skydivingninja]

The iTunes review for this album is hilariously bad.  The reviewer thought TCOT is based on a Rush song.

Because AllMusic is silly.

[bosk1]

Just had to re-post this quote from another forum because I thought it was funnier after I reread it than when I originally posted it:

I would liken listening to Dream Theater to eating a 5 course gourmet meal prepared by the executive chef of a five-star restaurant while riding Space Mountain at Disneyland.





Wait...what?

[Super Dude]

 

You are correct, sir.

[reneranucci]

Ah nevermind. Album is awesome after first listen.

[~InConstantMotion~]

Track | Rating   
ANTR    *****         This is my new favorite heavy DT song.
ARoP     ***.5         Good song, but gets old fast.
Wither   ****          Beautiful, great lyrics, but ...interesting subject.
TSF      *****         James kicks ass on this track, and the reprises make me smile.
TBoT     ****.5       Not a huge fan of the singing sections of the song, but the intro and outro make up for it.   
TCoT    *****         I LOVE THE LYRICS! They're hilarious! My favorite part, however, is the soft section near the middle.

Album score:
9.5/10

[Dark Master Of Sin]

At first listen it was good, but after a few more listens and really sinking my teeth into it i came to really love it. I'm putting it up as four behind SFAM, Awake and SDOIT. Great album none the less! 

[stevensime71]

First time poster, long time fan of the band since I&W. The new album has exceeded my expectations. My fave album since SFAM.

Not sure if this was brought up yet or not (probably has) but for the people who bought the 3-CD limited edition, do you find the packaging to be pretty crappy? I am really not a fan of the CD's being in the cardboard sleeves, as it tends to scratch up the CD's. I guess it doesn't matter much, as I put all 3 CD's into my i-tunes/i-pod and will be listening to it from there. The biggest complaint I have with the packaging is that the 3 CD's seem to be pretty loose and have a tendency to fall out.  Anyone else having that issue?

Steven
www.myspace.com/thesteepwaterband

[bosk1]

I have the opposite problem, actually.  Mine are in so tight it is a pain to get them out without tearing the sleeves, scratching the CD's, or at least getting fingerprints all over them.  I'm going to get a 3-CD jewel case and keep them in there instead.

[BlobVanDam]

Too tight........ too loose..... are we talking about CDs here or.........

never mind 

[7StringedBeast]

Too tight........ too loose..... are we talking about CDs here or.........

never mind 

You had Robert Plant's pants on your mind too?? 

[KevShmev]

Not sure if this was brought up yet or not (probably has) but for the people who bought the 3-CD limited edition, do you find the packaging to be pretty crappy? I am really not a fan of the CD's being in the cardboard sleeves, as it tends to scratch up the CD's. I guess it doesn't matter much, as I put all 3 CD's into my i-tunes/i-pod and will be listening to it from there. The biggest complaint I have with the packaging is that the 3 CD's seem to be pretty loose and have a tendency to fall out.  Anyone else having that issue?

Agreed.  I dislike the packaging quite a bit.  The way the cds can just fall out is annoying, and having the booklet stapled to the inside, to where you cannot take it out on its own to go through, was a terrible idea.  Fortunately, the music more than makes up for it.

[bosk1]

Generally, I hate cardboard slipcases.  They almost never make me happy.  But the standard version is in a regular jewel case. 

[stevensime71]

I have the opposite problem, actually.  Mine are in so tight it is a pain to get them out without tearing the sleeves, scratching the CD's, or at least getting fingerprints all over them.  I'm going to get a 3-CD jewel case and keep them in there instead.

I meant the actual CD's in the cardboard cases fall out of the packaging easily. Sorry for the confusion.

www.myspace.com/thesteepwaterband

[chrisbDTM]

i would like to see some input from the 4 people who voted this album 'never enough'

[orcus116]

I'm still confused as to what that option is, unless it's a lame jab at people who don't really like the album.

[Progmetty]

i would like to see some input from the 4 people who voted this album 'never enough'

I wouldn't, they just whine about TCoT lyrics not being as profound as Sacrfied Sons and 8V, it hasn't touched them and they need to be touched..

[orcus116]

I'm pretty sure if they were comparing lyrics, SS and 8VM wouldn't be high on the list.

[Progmetty]

I'm pretty sure if they were comparing lyrics, SS and 8VM wouldn't be high on the list.

Oh I totally agree, I just mentioned those cause one of the people who whined about it actually gave those two songs as a comparison.

[T-ski]

As you can see by my post total I'm new here.  I figure I'd throw my opinion into the ring as well.

Been a fan since I heard "Pull Me Under" many moons ago, and I must say I'm disappointed in the album.  I am surprised by the number of people who consider this one of their best albums.  I'm also surprised to see how many people here don't like WDADU, which I consider one of their best.  With that in mind....


A Nightmare to Remember - Pretty good.  The "relaxed" section in the middle is fantastic.  Portnoy's vocals are awful.  The instrumental section goes on way too long.

Rite of Passage - An actual "song".  Seems the guys can write a complete song without going overboard.  The song isn't great but isn't bad.  Definite radio potential.

Wither - Rather basic ballad that we are all familiar with.

Shattered Fortress - This would have been a killer, and I mean killer, instrumental.  Vocals from both Labrie and Portnoy ruin the song for me.

Best of Times - Hope Rush is getting some royalties off of this one.  Opening "heavy" guitar riff is "Spirit of Radio" and the first verses are "Red Barchetta."  Petrucci's solo at the end is, dare I say, average.

Count of Tuscany - The opening of this track is awesome! Very old school DT (i.e. Rush-esque).  It transitions back into today's DT once it kicks in.  Again Portnoy thinks he need to add "intense" vocals and again it sounds stupid.  Nothing ground breaking once it kicks in.  Very bizarre lyrics.  Interesting breakdown into a Floyd sounding section, but all I can hear is "Octavarium" during the whole part.  Love the feel to the end of the song, harkens back to "Learning to Live." 

All in all Dream Theater has definitely plateaued.  They seem to be reworking a lot of their previous outputs. 

Overall it feels like a 5 or 6 out of 10 to me.

Thanks for your time.

T'ski

[Progmetty]

Welcome to DTF T-ski, Mitch Hedberg fan?

[T-ski]

Welcome to DTF T-ski, Mitch Hedberg fan?

I am familiar with Hedberg, but not enough I guess to understand your question.  I assume it's the sign off "thanks for your time."

And thanks for the welcome.