BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

There, I said it. They are over and they have been for years. Now lets looks at the ingredients for their demise.

1. Moore leaves the band(yes Kevin Moore was the heart and soul of Dream Theater) 2. Labrie severely damages his vocal chords. The music is now toned down to accommodate him, and they never again attempt to create music of that same intensity. 3. Mike Portnoy becomes a massive control freak. 4. Mike Portnoy forgot Labrie was in the band and tries to replace him as a Lead Singer.

And thus we get Black Clouds and Silver Linings, which translates to cheesy garbage, except for Count of Tuscany.

A Nightmare to Remember

I both love, and hate this song. How is it possible to hate the first part of a song, then love the middle, then hate the "growling" and then be indifferent to the final part. And why does Dream Theater think they are a metal band? The whole beginning passage is so cheesey, and fake. Also did i mention that the growling is UNFORGIVABLE.

A Rite of Passage

Generic, and uninspired. Designed to be a single. I skip right passed it

Wither Its alright, but still not Dream Theater

The Shattered Fortress-

-You just don't know how happy I am to never have to hear about Mike Portnoy's alcohol problems ever again. I just don't care and I never did. Enough already. This is nothing but an uncreative remix/ retread of old ground. I don't want to hear the same material, I really don't. I skip right over this track.

The Best of Times

- I not going to complain about this song because of the subject matter, so whatever. I skip it regardless.

The Count of Tuscany- (The finest piece of music this band has made in the past 15 years, well at least most of it) -Lyrics= Garbage. First it was dark masters on systematic chaos, now its count's, I really can't handle this level of cheese. P.S. the middle section is generic garbage (About 6 minutes in). Labries singing back and forth with Portnoy. Fantastic, why not just fire Labrie, I know Portnoy wants to be the singer so bad.

This album is cheesy, unbalanced and contains horrible lyrics. You know, its pretty bad when a bad releases and encourages fans to buy an "instrumental" version of the album.

One star for The count of tuscany and one star for the middle section of A Nightmare to remember, and that's generous. One point off for horrible lyrics, two full stars off for the wannabe "growling". (Kevin Moore must be laughing somewhere). So here we have a full album where I have to skip over 3 tracks. You know, I can put on every album up to Octavarium and actually listen without skipping tracks, so what does that tell you.

The bottom line, is that Portnoy owns the band now. Myung does what he is told, and cops an attitude when you even try to ask him a question( Watch the behind the scenes footage). Jorden Ruddess contributes nothing and doesn't even want to be in the band. And Labrie is "nothing" more then a hired gun. He doesn't have single credit on the album. Watch the behind the scenes footage. He's outside playing basketball while the music and lyrics are being written, and when Portnoy needs his puppet to sing and dance, they bring him in.(What a joke) And John Petrucci, what can i say. I mean, he used to be a god, and now he's nothing.This is not a band, seriously.

And I hate to be one of those "Kevin Moore Fans" but honestly, Kevin Moore leaving Dream Theater is like if Jimmy Page left Led Zeppelin. Look I know it sounds like I hate dream Theater, and don't get me wrong, I do hate them with a passion, but it didn't always used to be like this. Dream Theater was my favorite band for many, many years, and now, I want nothing to do with them. With bands like Porcupine tree making "honest" music, Dream Theater can not compete.

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