BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

I have been a huge fan of Dream Theater over the last ten years or so. Reason number one: Their music is 10 % genius. (Plus 40 % good, 30 % mediocre and 20 % annoying). I love them for that genius, which is unique. Reason number two: The band are awesome musicians. Petrucci and Rudess are my heroes.

I have therefore seen them in concert three times, which for me is a record. Three hours of the most impressive performance you can think of. The band and the sound is just so damn good. But is that really a good reason, I now wonder? To dig the sound? To dig the band? What about the music?

Take this album. Portnoy hammering away on his two basedrums, Petrucci and Rudess fast and amazing as always, Myung the mystical baseman oh so solid, and LaBrie in good shape. Every six songs on disc one contains a few minutes of something that is really cool. But there is only one song here that is good all way through: "The Count of Tuscany" (19:16). This you can listen to over and over, especially the first two parts and the last part. In the part before the last part there is some dreamlike exploration of a Pink Floydian wish I was there-thing (don't get smart now), although not so obvious as the start of "Octavarium". Nice too.

The rest of the disc is just not interesting. A few attempts of drama and a few successful themes, but mostly boredom. Hey Portnoy, does it really add anything that you use more drums and drumbeats per second than my closet has socks?

Except The Count of Tuscany, you the listener may try and try to "get it", and you will probably fail, because there is really very shallow ground beneath these layers of fast, hard and amazing.

This band really need help. Playing these coversongs (disc two) is not it. Perhaps they should rehearse some more of the all time top twenty albums on progarchives, just to get some more feel?

The Count is worth four stars, but the rest only two.

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