BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

Sure, Mastodon hit it big (Billboard no. 11) with "Crack the Skye," but the masters of Prog Metal broke into the top 10 with Black Clouds & Silver Linings (hitting number 6 on the Billboard 200 chart). Not that there's a competition; I'm glad that prog is finally selling to a larger audience.

And Dream Theater is the epitome of the "Prog Metal" genre ? every member is a virtuoso at his instrument. I remember seeing them in concert for the first time?I stood there with my mouth open in awe. At one point, after a long and precise instrumental segment, in which each member showed his precision at playing, I turned to my friend Matt and said, "Oh come on! Their just showing off now!!"

DT is not just head-bangin' metal (though they are that!), they also offer very good lyrics. "The Count of Tuscany" (clocking in at just over 19 minutes) tells a story that Edgar Allen Poe could have written (very much like "The Cask of Amontillado"). On "The Shattered Fortress,"

Mike Portnoy offers the last installment of a twelve-part song (here we have parts 10, 11, and 12; the previous parts were on the last three albums) that allows us to join him in his spiritual journey:

"I once thought it better / To be right / But now I have finally seen the light / Sometimes you've got to be wrong / And learn from mistakes / I live with serenity now / Not self-righteous hate."

If only more metal artists would learn this lesson!