BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

After 4 years and the worst record since Falling into Infinity, we finally have the logical follow up to Octavarium. The new album continues the more commerical and straightforward approach that Octavarium began. While the record is less dynamic and layered than TOT and prior, the band seems to have capitalized on the more commercial sound. The result is that Black Clouds & Silver Linings has Dream Theater successfully merging a more accessable sound with the progressive tendencies that fans have come to love. However, the album is still not the return to form many would like to see. Ever since Octavarium, DT have stripped back the layers and created a more straightforward approach that many (including myself) have been dissapointed with. The band is still as progressive as ever, but in different ways which are in general less creative and more streamlined. Rather than having several key or time changes in a section, there may be one chord sequence in which the band solos over and bounce back and fourth on. In other words, less scripted events in a particular piece, and more solos and melodies within that piece. Us prog heads that cut our teeth on King Crimson, VDDG, or modern acts like Porcupine Tree or TMV have found that Dream Theater stopped pushing themselves on Octavarium. A Nightmare To Remember is one of Dream Theaters best pieces in their modern incarnation, with Yes like harmonies and a very strong melody which climaxes with an intense solo section. "A Rite Of Passage" and "Wither" are good songs, but seem to be the week point of the album and serve to unbalance the record and feel out of place. These songs follow the Octavarium blue print to a T and serve as the "hook" of the record by being the shortest and simplest songs on the album. The closer "The Count Of Tuscany" is also a DT classic and along with track one bookend the album with the two best songs on the record. In general, we find DT finding their footing with the more accessible sound while still not matching their best works from SFAM to TOT. However, the album is such a dramatic improvement over their previous record that it feels like a big step in the right direction for Dream Theater.

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