BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

Ok, well, I think I'm finally ready to review this beast. Suffice to say I'm hugely disappointed with the current rating. I really think quite a lot of people aren't listening to this album properly, dismissing it because it's been released after Scenes From A Memory and because it has a few MP backing vocals.

I'm not some religious DT fan, I can see some clear faults in this album. I'll go through those as I nail down the tracks:

1. A Nightmare to Remember (16:10) - Dark, gothic, and heavy. Opens with a thunderstorm and some ominous piano before a booming riff. I have to say, it's a great start to the album, hitting all the right late-era-DT-style things, what with the riffs and time signatures. It's not very surprising, but it is very heavy until a lighter bit takes over. The vocal melodies and lyrics for this section are fantastic. Later we get the guitar solo (good), keyboard solo (good) and continuum solo (not so good - I love the instrument and the sound it makes but he's played better solos). And then Mike opens his mouth. Whoops. He tries to go for the whole bad-ass, shouty vocals that we love bands like Opeth for, but he really falls short of expectations. It's actually physically embarrassing to listen to this bit, it truly doesn't fit and I really don't understand why it's on the album. However, the riffs from other sections return for the finale to bring the song back up to a reasonably state. It's good, but clearly not as good as other tracks on the album.

2. A Rite of Passage (8:35) - The single. Great riff, fantastic vocals, powerful chorus - this song is quite a lot better than the previous one. It does have a specifically bad section through - JR gets out his new keyboard toy and plays possibly is weirdest and his worst solo ever. I've seen him play it live, I have absolutely no idea why the hell he uses it, because it sounds crap. What would have been much better would have been exactly the same notes in a more reasonable keyboard voice. Still, the guitar solo and instrumental section riff is great. Decent finale too.

3. Wither (5:25) - Ah, finally a consistently good track. Wither is a ballad, very clam, slow, but with an emotional chorus. The bite of the emotion is taken out when you realize it's actually about Writer's Block rather than some sort of mental breakdown. Still, guitar is once again excellent, and Rudess and Mike don't get in the way and ruin it by experimenting. I can't really fault this one - I guess it's not really progressive but when it's surrounded by epics I can't complain. Great song.

4. The Shattered Fortress (12:49) - The long awaited 12 Step Suite finale. Opening with a fade in with a riff from This Dying Soul, it sets itself up to be very powerful and it succeeds - it is generally heavy (although, unusually, the acoustic guitar is brought out for a while in the middle), and reprises many riffs from the other parts. Sometimes it's not only riffs, but also vocal melodies. New lyrics are plastered badly on top, though. I begin wishing he was actually singing the other songs. However, the finale is excellent and it ends with exactly the riff the saga opened with. Great song.

5. The Best of Times (13:07) - This sentimental juggernaut is dedicated to Mike Portnoy's father. This is actually the song's biggest flaw - it is cheesy beyond belief. Opening with piano, a sad violin is also played, practically taking the piss with an over emphasized sadness. However, the pace is brought up by John P with a storming guitar riff which you would swear was straight from Glasgow Kiss, from his solo album. The riff becomes less chaotic but still in a bright, happy major key. Vocals begin. Whoops. The melodies are pretty terrible here, but what really kills this song is the lyrics. No mean to be distasteful, as I know it's a touchy subject, but the lyrics are actually really quite bad. There's an acoustic section which just seems to drag on and on, praising Mike's dad like he was a God. Alright, fair enough, that is the point of the song, and I can obviously forgive that, but I cannot ignore how cheesy these lyrics feel. Luckily, Petrucci steps back in with a soaring guitar solo for a finale. This will probably become known as one of JP's best solos. Come to think of it, JP's performance on this album is actually very, very good, clearly the standout player in the band on this album.

6. The Count of Tuscany (19:16) - Dream Theater's best song? Quite possibly. It opens with a fantastic, clean, major riff, introducing a glorious riff to be reprised later. It gets very progressive with many time signature changes. After the short overture it blasts into heavy mode where vocals soon begin. Contrary to most of the album's lyrics, these are actually very good. Maybe some listeners won't like Mike's involvement with some of the backing vocals, but I must say he can be quite constructive when used as a backing vocalist. The chorus for this section is fantastic, followed by various solos. This fades down into what has been dubbed the Xanadu/new age section with a slow guitar solo and slow synth chords. This section is a beauty to behold and takes up about 1/4 of the song. The album's grand finale then arrives, starting with acoustic guitar playing the mind blowing riff which opens the song, in chord form. LaBrie soon starts singing. The lines are simple and follow the chords well. Jordan adds keyboards to the mix, sustaining the atmosphere of the song. The vocals soon escalate and bring themselves up into a great, booming finale, which finishes into a short but sweet guitar solo. At this point, Mike is furiously playing all his drums as fast as he can, not so much in a display of skill but to emphasize the awesomeness of this section. LaBrie goes for some powerful "Woah, wooah, woooah, woah!" over some synth chords from an earlier riff and the song is finished with a lasting note from all the instruments. I really haven't described this section well enough - it's utterly the best DT moment ever. Truly a masterpiece.

So, some shoddy lyrics, some dodgy solos (Rudess), but I can't help but enjoy most of this album. Clearly mistakes were made and it would have only got 3 if it wasn't for The Count Of Tuscany at the end. I'd love to give this 5 stars but clearly there's far too many faults in it to do that. However, these faults don't drive it down so far that it deserves any less than 4 - it's an excellent album. If you can't seem to appreciate it, listen to the final track some more, particuarly the ending. If you can't appreciate that, you have no soul.