Good (three stars out of five)
Keeping in line with that band's "one album every two years" schedule, 2009 sees the release of Dream Theater's tenth studio album, Black Clouds and Silver Linings. Made up of six tracks, running for about 75 minutes, and containing a cover that is quite reminiscent of some of the band's earlier albums, there has been quite a bit of speculation about how this album would turn out. Some hoped it would be a return to the more original and more progressive sound of those albums. For the most part, it isn't. Instead, it's a more commercial release in line with 2007's Systematic Chaos, taking pages from other bands who have enjoyed more wide recognition. Though this seems to be working in the band's favor, it does come at the expense of great, innovative music.
The overall sound on this album can, for the most part, be described in three ways. Most songs make use of the new tricks that the band employed for Systematic Chaos, such as Mike Portnoy's occasional attempts at growls, as well as a more straightforward metal sound. At times, hints of Octavarium's sound can be heard, with a focus on Rudess's keyboard playing and extended instrumental breaks. Then there's the Rush influence, which is especially prevalent on the last two tracks. In a nutshell, this is the album. However, the songs largely fail to excite due to some weak songwriting and lack of innovation; the band seems content to imitate other bands in order to evolve rather than to truly experiment with new sounds. Some disappointing lyrics don't help things, either.
The opening track, "A Nightmare to Remember," tells the story of a terrible car accident from John Petrucci's childhood. The lyrics are incredibly straightforward and predictable, leaving the poetry out in favor of storytelling. For most of the track, you'll hear some of the strongest songwriting and playing on the album, but the main issue is that the song feels somewhat disjointed. The first section of the song is a fast and heavy assault with some great drumming from Portnoy. LaBrie offers some harsh vocals in this section, giving his delivery a good helping of grit. The main issue comes near the end of the track when Portnoy tries his growling vocals. They just don't work. Portnoy's not a great vocalist to begin with, which is a necessary component of good growls. The first part of his vocal section is more akin to the rap-rock grunts employed by nu-metal bands of the 90's such as Limp Bizkit. In addition, it's odd that the lyrics in his section make up the "happy ending" of the story, yet the vocal delivery is the most aggressive on the track. The section is just laughably bad, and it really mars an otherwise strong track.
"A Rite of Passage" is the first track that the band's record label, Roadrunner, released on its website before the album's release date, so you've likely already heard it and formed your opinions about it. Upon repeated listens, I've found myself getting bored with the track. The chorus is catchy, but it's too simplistic for its own good--you just feel like you've heard it all before. The verses are decent enough, but they fail to excite on repeated listens due to a fairly simple songwriting style. The song does contain some pretty decent solos, but they're more in the "too many notes" vein than really well-thought-out composition. Honestly, it sounds like it was written to be a single, with some solos thrown in to please fans of longer tracks. It's an enjoyable track, but it's not one that lends itself well to repeated listens, as there just isn't much original about it.
The album's third track, "Wither" is a shorter and slower tune that some have compared with "Vacant" from Train of Thought. I suppose this is as good of a comparison as any, but the track isn't quite as atmospheric as that one, instead just offering a pop-oriented ballad with the most simplistic song structure you could imagine, complete with a predictable bridge section and chord changes. Lyrically, the song is all about Petrucci's struggles with writer's block, and it does a decent job of describing this phenomenon in an original way, even if some of the lyrics are entirely predictable. Really, it's a very well-written pop song, and it's quite an enjoyable track. It's just unexciting.
"The Shattered Fortress" is the last of Mike Portnoy's entries into the "Twelve-step" suite and again shows Portnoy's propensity toward trying to growl. The opening vocals are again rather laughable, with LaBrie and Portnoy trading off vocal parts. Here, Portnoy is pseudo-growling single words, and the section suffers from the same problems present on "A Nightmare to Remember." There's also a rather long spoken section in the middle of the track that is processed to make the voice sound deeper, which both makes the words themselves hard to hear and breaks up the actual singing of the track. Otherwise, the many reprisals of past songs in this suite are nice to hear, and the original sections are strong instrumentally. All said, it's just another song that fails to excite.
"The Best of Times" is where the Rush influences really start to get in your face. The instrumentation would fit right in with Rush's Moving Pictures album, and even the vocal melodies sound fairly similar to Geddy Lee's style. The opening piano leads into a beautiful string section that eventually jumps into a section that, in many ways, sounds like Rush's "Spirit of Radio," only twice as fast. Once we reach the verse, Petrucci's chorus effects and chord choices have firmly cemented the Rush feel. Of course, there are touches of typical Dream Theater in there, especially when the track gets a bit heavier. Lyrically, this is probably the strongest of the album's tracks, as the song is written about Portnoy's father, who recently passed away due to cancer. In essence, it's a very personal tribute to their time together, and while it's not incredibly poetic, it does the job that it set out to do. All put, this is the strongest track on the album, but it still fails to offer the sort of originality that one would hope for.
The final track is a long one. "The Count of Tuscany," which also contains its fair share of Rush influences, clocks in at nearly twenty minutes. It's an extremely strange track lyrically, written about a incident when Petrucci met, well, a count in Tuscany. Apparently, the experience really freaked him out, as the main repeating theme of the track is all about how he thought he was going to die. It's just a really bizarre and somewhat ridiculous track lyrically, perhaps because the lyrics fail to get across just why this experience was so unsettling. Musically, it's yet another strong track that just doesn't do anything new or surprising.
Perhaps it's fitting that this album contains a track written about writer's block, as Dream Theater seems to be drawing all of its inspiration from what has already been done before. Whether it is imitating other bands from the history of prog or from more recent releases, one just gets the feeling that all of this territory has been explored before--and much better. The album doesn't have the songwriting strength and cohesion of "Scenes from a Memory," the incredible variety and originality of "Images and Words," or even the progressive and symphonic sound of "Octavarium." Does that mean it's a bad album? Not at all. There's more enjoyment to be found here than on Systematic Chaos, but the album still fails to reach the heights of past albums.
To me, Dream Theater seems to be in an identity crisis--wondering just which elements from other bands they can incorporate to widen their appeal. It's easy for a detached onlooker to sit back and try to direct the band, but I also realize that these guys want to make a career out of this. The accessibility of the current metal scene is the exact reason that I avoid it--it's simplistic and boring. As for Dream Theater, the band has become a tug-of-war that wants to keep its progressive fans who love intelligent and varied songwriting while appealing to those who just want thousands of notes and heaviness. However, it seems that Dream Theater is just becoming a jack of two trades, and a master of neither. It's a problem without an easy solution, but I genuinely hope that the band finds it.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
The overall sound on this album can, for the most part, be described in three ways. Most songs make use of the new tricks that the band employed for Systematic Chaos, such as Mike Portnoy's occasional attempts at growls, as well as a more straightforward metal sound. At times, hints of Octavarium's sound can be heard, with a focus on Rudess's keyboard playing and extended instrumental breaks. Then there's the Rush influence, which is especially prevalent on the last two tracks. In a nutshell, this is the album. However, the songs largely fail to excite due to some weak songwriting and lack of innovation; the band seems content to imitate other bands in order to evolve rather than to truly experiment with new sounds. Some disappointing lyrics don't help things, either.
The opening track, "A Nightmare to Remember," tells the story of a terrible car accident from John Petrucci's childhood. The lyrics are incredibly straightforward and predictable, leaving the poetry out in favor of storytelling. For most of the track, you'll hear some of the strongest songwriting and playing on the album, but the main issue is that the song feels somewhat disjointed. The first section of the song is a fast and heavy assault with some great drumming from Portnoy. LaBrie offers some harsh vocals in this section, giving his delivery a good helping of grit. The main issue comes near the end of the track when Portnoy tries his growling vocals. They just don't work. Portnoy's not a great vocalist to begin with, which is a necessary component of good growls. The first part of his vocal section is more akin to the rap-rock grunts employed by nu-metal bands of the 90's such as Limp Bizkit. In addition, it's odd that the lyrics in his section make up the "happy ending" of the story, yet the vocal delivery is the most aggressive on the track. The section is just laughably bad, and it really mars an otherwise strong track.
"A Rite of Passage" is the first track that the band's record label, Roadrunner, released on its website before the album's release date, so you've likely already heard it and formed your opinions about it. Upon repeated listens, I've found myself getting bored with the track. The chorus is catchy, but it's too simplistic for its own good--you just feel like you've heard it all before. The verses are decent enough, but they fail to excite on repeated listens due to a fairly simple songwriting style. The song does contain some pretty decent solos, but they're more in the "too many notes" vein than really well-thought-out composition. Honestly, it sounds like it was written to be a single, with some solos thrown in to please fans of longer tracks. It's an enjoyable track, but it's not one that lends itself well to repeated listens, as there just isn't much original about it.
The album's third track, "Wither" is a shorter and slower tune that some have compared with "Vacant" from Train of Thought. I suppose this is as good of a comparison as any, but the track isn't quite as atmospheric as that one, instead just offering a pop-oriented ballad with the most simplistic song structure you could imagine, complete with a predictable bridge section and chord changes. Lyrically, the song is all about Petrucci's struggles with writer's block, and it does a decent job of describing this phenomenon in an original way, even if some of the lyrics are entirely predictable. Really, it's a very well-written pop song, and it's quite an enjoyable track. It's just unexciting.
"The Shattered Fortress" is the last of Mike Portnoy's entries into the "Twelve-step" suite and again shows Portnoy's propensity toward trying to growl. The opening vocals are again rather laughable, with LaBrie and Portnoy trading off vocal parts. Here, Portnoy is pseudo-growling single words, and the section suffers from the same problems present on "A Nightmare to Remember." There's also a rather long spoken section in the middle of the track that is processed to make the voice sound deeper, which both makes the words themselves hard to hear and breaks up the actual singing of the track. Otherwise, the many reprisals of past songs in this suite are nice to hear, and the original sections are strong instrumentally. All said, it's just another song that fails to excite.
"The Best of Times" is where the Rush influences really start to get in your face. The instrumentation would fit right in with Rush's Moving Pictures album, and even the vocal melodies sound fairly similar to Geddy Lee's style. The opening piano leads into a beautiful string section that eventually jumps into a section that, in many ways, sounds like Rush's "Spirit of Radio," only twice as fast. Once we reach the verse, Petrucci's chorus effects and chord choices have firmly cemented the Rush feel. Of course, there are touches of typical Dream Theater in there, especially when the track gets a bit heavier. Lyrically, this is probably the strongest of the album's tracks, as the song is written about Portnoy's father, who recently passed away due to cancer. In essence, it's a very personal tribute to their time together, and while it's not incredibly poetic, it does the job that it set out to do. All put, this is the strongest track on the album, but it still fails to offer the sort of originality that one would hope for.
The final track is a long one. "The Count of Tuscany," which also contains its fair share of Rush influences, clocks in at nearly twenty minutes. It's an extremely strange track lyrically, written about a incident when Petrucci met, well, a count in Tuscany. Apparently, the experience really freaked him out, as the main repeating theme of the track is all about how he thought he was going to die. It's just a really bizarre and somewhat ridiculous track lyrically, perhaps because the lyrics fail to get across just why this experience was so unsettling. Musically, it's yet another strong track that just doesn't do anything new or surprising.
Perhaps it's fitting that this album contains a track written about writer's block, as Dream Theater seems to be drawing all of its inspiration from what has already been done before. Whether it is imitating other bands from the history of prog or from more recent releases, one just gets the feeling that all of this territory has been explored before--and much better. The album doesn't have the songwriting strength and cohesion of "Scenes from a Memory," the incredible variety and originality of "Images and Words," or even the progressive and symphonic sound of "Octavarium." Does that mean it's a bad album? Not at all. There's more enjoyment to be found here than on Systematic Chaos, but the album still fails to reach the heights of past albums.
To me, Dream Theater seems to be in an identity crisis--wondering just which elements from other bands they can incorporate to widen their appeal. It's easy for a detached onlooker to sit back and try to direct the band, but I also realize that these guys want to make a career out of this. The accessibility of the current metal scene is the exact reason that I avoid it--it's simplistic and boring. As for Dream Theater, the band has become a tug-of-war that wants to keep its progressive fans who love intelligent and varied songwriting while appealing to those who just want thousands of notes and heaviness. However, it seems that Dream Theater is just becoming a jack of two trades, and a master of neither. It's a problem without an easy solution, but I genuinely hope that the band finds it.
Andrew Kauz
www.progressivemelodies.com
Posts
21 comments:
Good review, though you mainly focused on John Petrucci's lyrics, putting aside what Dream Theater is truly about.
First of all - decent review but your comparing DT to too many other bands/styles/genres and themselves. The trouble I find with DT is that they have written so much material over a couple decades - somethings will sound similar to others.
Please don't confuse this with deliberatly trying to sound like someone else - identity crisis!?!? lol
Second - the final song is masterful songwriting. The fact that towards the end your still not sure whats happened makes future listening almost exciting. I finally figured that The count had a brother who hannibal lecter was based around. Listen for the lines "cannibal curator". As hannibal is the only famous character of his kind... It could be that.
I think since the song is just about this count and his dodgy brother then yes definately, the music is more important and its epic. Several moods are covered during this song as it takes you on a journey along with Petrucci to feel what he felt - musically in a sense.
Many reviewers need to stop expecting bigger and better things because in my opinion bands like DT - whom had massive acclaim for earlier work - have already done the best only now its hard to improve on the best. Trust me this album will kick most other releases this year - this one except - Megadeth's Endgame. This album is rumoured to a return to former greatness rust in peace - with an original modern twist and sound. Weren't they all supposed to be? lol
for me the biggest detriment to the band in the last ten years is the songwriting...the beautiful poetry of Awake and Images and Words just disappeared at Six Degrees and has never returned...
I agree with this last comment. And, although the writing has gone down hill in the last 10 years, I still enjoyed it for the most part. But, as I sit here listening to Awake, and thinking about BCSL, I really can see how crappy it is, comparatively. It seems like they wrote everything while half asleep.
I agree with most of the review. The Mike Portnoy growls are flat out bad. No question about it.
I have a few disagreements,though. The guitar solo to A Rite Of Passage is awful. I think it's Petrucci at his worst.
Also, I think that A Count Of Tuscany was better than The Best Of Times. My friend told me that The Best of Times was absolutely EPIC, and after hearing it, I'm kinda disappointed. I'm disappointed with the whole album.
Dream Theater better fix them selves, fast.
Oh, this is my first comment, and I don't know if you read all these or not, but you do an excellent job. And, you've opened me up to allot of awesome bands. Thank You.
Thanks for the comment Stephen, and everyone else as well. I do indeed read each of the comments, and I'm sorry that I haven't responded to all of them yet, because there's been a great dialogue about the album.
I've never listened to DT for their lyrics except for a few albums when LaBrie actually sounded good. The instrumental parts always drew me to this band. Unfortunately don't feel about the same way about this album. The song structures in every song are slipshod at best, the riffs just not appealing at all, LaBrie is awful, it's as though he lost his voice and is fading horribly. The solos may be godly but it is excessive in all aspects. And WTF HAPPENED TO MYUNG!!!! He is a very very talented bassist and he is just absolutely dulled down in this album..it sickens me that there are no memorable bass lines like in past albums. I find myself just fast-forwarding through most of the album trying to find snippets of good music..its unfortunate when a band with this much talent begins to fade away. There is no longer cohesion in their albums like there used to be. This album is a damn shame for DT, I'm just looking forward to the new Between The Buried and Me Album. I know I'm being harsh because this albums really isn't too bad but the replay value isn't remotely close even half of what ANY other DT album has ever given me.
i've been a DT fan since 90s. I can only say one thing, of all the 10 albums, this is by far the worst. Very disappointing...
I must disagree with Bob. While this is not their best album, it is a strong showing that trumps both Octavarium and Systematic Chaos. I'd put it on equal ground with Train of Thought, but I'd have to listen to TOT again because it has been a while.
I don't agree with everything the reviewer said, but I do feel at times that I've heard it before. Ever since Train of Thought, a lot of DT seems to just blend together and feels like all the songs could go on any album post Six Degrees.
Fair review, and pretty much exactly how I felt when I listened. They've lost their identity in the switch to Roadrunner, and it's truly sad to see. This album is certainly more creative than Systematic Chaos, but Wither is truly weak, Portnoy's growls are poor, and Rudess needs to shut off the cheesy synth if this band wants to keep its strong fanbase.
Good review. This album sounded like they morphed Scenes From a Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence to make a new album. If they want to make new epic/overture type albums, they should start with some new concepts, instead of recycling. Maybe they should stick to song oriented albums that stay away from concepts. This album is OK for Dream Theater. Not good, not bad. Better than most bands as always.
I have a theory about listening to new Dream Theater albums: keep listening, it will grow on you.
I enjoyed Systematic Chaos -- in fact it was my introduction to the band.
I since went through and listened to all of the other band's works. I was blown away by the imagination and creative talent they have put in over the years, and regardless of what they release now or in the future they will hold a dear place in my heart and music library.
This album plain made me sad though. I'm giving it a second listen right now and I like the album. It's solid, fine, but I feel like I've heard it all before. Whether borrowing from themselves or from other bands/genres, I feel they're losing the innovation they once held.
Was I expecting too much? Of course. I was expecting another Systematic Chaos, or Images and Words, or Awake. It's not the best feeling to have going into an album. All of the music that has completely blown me away has been music I stumbled onto accidentally. Hightened expectations? Of course, after waiting two years :P
I have never not liked a DT song before now. Wither seemed a straight rip off the "Hot Rock" stations. A quiet bridge section after the chorus? "Emotional" vocals? If I hadn't known it was DT, it's the kind of overused "poppy" music I would shut off in seconds if it came on the radio.
I love your review -- it captured my feeling well. Have to disagree with you on A Rite of Passage though, the chorus had a raw power that I couldn't resist, despite knowing how generic the song was.
I'll end my comment on a positive note. I liked The Count of Tuscany. The lyrics are a bit -odd-, but I think they were going for that vibe.
I think I'll check your blog out more too. Looks great.
I've been a fan of Dream Theater since Images and Words was released. I was always instantly fascinated with each of their album(except for Falling into Affinity). There was always something in each album that I loved about. This new album is the first DT album I popped into my CD player and I wasn't sure if I truly liked it or not. At this point, I need to listen to it more. Sometimes though, it's those types of album that you enjoy for a longer period of time. My all time fav album is Scenes from a Memory... pure genius. On another note, I do want to point out that I love what DT gives out when you PURCHASE their albums. Folks, this is what artists need to do to sell their albums. The art and package is beautifully done. You can't Torrent this whole package. Because of this, I feel that I get my moneys worth. You buy their entire work/message, and not just a few tracks.
The most of you are so horribly wrong. I mean, this is one of the best albums ever made by Dream Theater. Just beacause some solos or some lyrics that just don't fit into your heads - it don't mean it's NOT GOOD. Can you do it better? I know that many people expects much more from Dream Theater. But after playing over 20 years, you will be tired out - right? Listen to Never Enough, and see Mike Portnoy's oppinion before saying something. If there is someone who has it's right to say something, it's Dream Theater themselves. Maybe they've changed their styles lyrically, instrumentally or vocally just because that they wants to change and wants to find out other styles and such. And all kind' of bands got their idols. Like Dream Theater like Rush and so on. They both play progressive and can often sound like eachother.
I can't find another band in this quality of music. They play like Gods and have always done that. End of story, goodbye, the end.
Hands down!
Love Black Clouds & Silver Linings - Especially The Count of Tuscany (witch is extremely epic - listen to isolated tracks for keyboard, j*rks.) (J*rks is for those who is against Dream Theater, including the one who started this shit up!)
Not sure if anyone has said this yet, but the problem with DT is that they've become completely reliant on a songwriting/album releasing formula that is the complete antithesis to creativity.
If you go back to Images and Words, they had been honing those songs for years before they even got into the studio. Add in the fact that it was their real debut record (I'm not counting Dream and Day), and that it was properly produced, and you had a great record. Similarly, Awake was great because they had extra pressure on them to put out something great, since they had a fanbase waiting to hear from them for the first time ever.
Falling into Infinity is WORLDS better than anything they've put out in the last 10 years, even though it's not really DT. The reason the album is good, however, is because they had a brand new keyboard player, which brought new life into the band, and because, once again, they had a producer that knew what he was doing!
Scenes was their last great album. This is because, once again, they had a brand new keyboardist, bringing new life into the band. In addition to that aspect, I think they wanted to put out the rebuttal, if you will, to Falling Into Infinity, since Portnoy has come out and admitted that the pop-rock concept of FIT nearly broke the band up. For Scenes they were trying to prove something, and so they released one of the best concept albums ever made.
After that, it all went downhill, and in my opinion, got worse and worse. The reasons are very clear. They are all loyal family men by their own admission, but they needed to sustain themselves with a career that would allow them to predict when they would be home to spend time with their families. So they started doing this write/record/tour strategy that enabled them to put out a record every 2 year, tour, and take time off. They started writing all their records in the studio and doing this whole "record as we write" bullshit that just doesn't work. A good band needs pre-production offsite -- Not in the studio. Then they need a producer to come in and work with the band...somebody outside the box who is NOT in the band. They've gotten themselves into a pattern and a formula that doesn't make for exciting, ground-breaking, or even half-way decent music.
To break it down a little more:
The lyrics have become almost unlistenable. I don't know if it's Petrucci or Portnoy but it sounds as if they wrote the lyrics the same way they write the music -- On the spot -- Write it down, press record, and there's your lyrics! Nothing even remotely thought provoking or poetic. Secondly, Petrucci used to be one of my favorite guitar players in the world, and now it pains me to listen to him. It's just all so predictable. Mindless shredding with no life to it whatsoever. Even if you go back and watch his instructional video, there are pieces intercut between his lessons where he plays truly beautiful solos, combining melody AND technique. Now it's just technique and it seems as though he has this obsession with getting his picking faster and faster and faster, but it's gotten to the point now where it's almost too fast. It goes by so quickly, you don't have time to enjoy it. Furthermore, Rudess is HORRIBLE!! Yes, the man is a talented musician, but go back to Images and Words and listen to some of Kevin Moore's solos. Again, melody AND technique. You could actually sing along with a lot of Moore's solos. But Rudess is just lazy to me. The solos sound improvised, with a cheesy sound, no feel, a lot of noise, and notes whizzing by so fast you can't hear what's going on. Plus the fact that sonically his solos are horrible as well. Most of the time you can barely hear them. Labrie, like so many others have said, has completely lost it. I'm sure his singing voice is still there if he wanted to show it, but like DT as a whole, he's lost his motivation. He comes in a week before the album is finished and sings what Petrucci and Portnoy tell him to and then he leaves. How could anyone expect him to be emotionally connected with these songs?
In closing, DT sucks now. I've continued to buy the records in hope that one of these days they'll realize the error of their ways and return to the old DT I used to love, but to my dismay, that never happens. I hate to say it, but I think Black Clouds is my last straw...GOODBYE DT!
fair review..
though i'll say that this is not a bad album..
even can say that though it's the worst DT album, it's still much much better than all other albums from new bands in this 2000's era
I totally agree with that review, it exactly reflects what I was thinking about this album.I personnaly place Systematic Chaos a lot above this last one.
I really don´t know what people still expect from the band. Sure that their best works have already been released ("Images & Words" and "Awake") but since than they kept writting great albums (except maybe "Falling Into Infinity" that was too linear). Just show me any other band that have released such strong albums one after another as DT did.
As an educated musician, I think I can give a pretty fair review of this album (disclaimer :-) I am a high school music teacher.
First of all... I think people are too hard on DT. Its hard to put out amazing album after amazing album... This is definitely not their strongest album in my opinion... but you have to find the DT "moments" in each album sometimes.. not every album can be Scenes from a Memory, or disc 2 of Six Degrees... So, that being said... DT are some of the most amazing musicians out there today... and I agree they are absorbing TOO much of the current metal scene, and they are not as progressive as they were in the past... they still are writing quality music. The lyrics? well... thats another story... this is most definitely their poorest lyrical effort.. .by far... but hey, its Dream Theater... they have never been known for amazing lyrics (with a few good exceptions perhaps)
A Nightmare to Remember: way too long... and not good enough to be that long. A very strong opener, nice and heavy, full of energy... AWESOME guitar solos... but then the spooky, hospital section.. eh, the lyrics get old... I really don't like the ending though... I think the Mike Portnoy grunting/growling is a big mistake... it is SUCH a big departure from the DT singing style... I don't like it
A Rite of Passage: a few good riffs... catchy chorus... but just like other people have been saying... it really sounds like recycled Dream Theater that we've all heard before.. I LOVE the guitar work on verse 2, and the solos are pretty sweet... HOWEVER, I am very dissapointed in Jordan Rudess's work on this album... his solos used to be sooo melodic, and so "listen-able" ... he is sooo experimental now with all the sound effects that it is really hard to make out the notes he is playing... everything is glissandos and dissonant clashing "sounds" instead of melodies you can follow... go back and listen to Scenes, Six Degrees, and even Train of Thought... his solos were SO much more easy to follow...
Whither: very short, simple song, but very enjoyable! i think Labrie sounds great on this song... and although the guitar solo is short.. it is SO epic!! the way the solo starts with a growl is so sweet. and i like the harmonies on "Whitheeeerrr..."
Shattered Fortress: really, this song is just entertaining... its almost like a puzzle to see how they have manipulated themes from the previous songs that portnoy wrote... nothing really original at ALL in this song... but it makes the 12 step suite come full circle... the ending is DEFINITELY anti-climactic.. I wish portnoy and DT came up with a bigger finale to an awesome collection of songs (Glass Prison and Dying Soul are two of my favs!!)
The Best of Times: AWESOME song... the lyrics actually are not bad, and since its about Portnoys father, its pretty touching actually! the introduction is SO beautiful!! and the absolutely pinnacle of the song is around 10:30-11:30.. the guitar solo is EASILY one of the best petrucci solos ever!!
The Count of Tuscany: wow... this song really is amazing, but oh please, PLEASE, DT, don't ever put a song out with lyrics this bad ever again!! I mean, this is an all time low for lyrics... its a shame that such an awesome song have to be connected with such terrible lyrics!!!!! However, I am able to look past that... SO many good moments in this song... the acoustic riffs are awesome in the first few minutes... the chorus is awesome "Iiiiii ... want to stay alive.. etc.." .... there are some great instrumentals... and the whole ending is just gorgeous... so pink floyd-ish at some points... and definitely RUSH influenced in so many places...
I just get happy to hear new Dream Theater music... the most recent, best song they have written in my opinion is easily OCTAVARIUM.... nothing following that has really topped it in my opinion. Honestly? I'm not really a big fan of "In the presence of enemies" eh... too dark and monster-ly. I thought Ministry of Lost Souls was better!!
Anyway, I'm out for now!!!
Maybe I was expecting too much of DT, but for me this album has been disappointing... I thought Systematic Chaos was amazing, especially the patches Jordan used there, but it seems he forgot to bring his synths to record this album.
The Count of Tuscany is the only one that saves it, but the lyrics are really bad, all throughout the album.
Maybe that's why they released a special edition CD with no vocals...
Yes, I'm a huge DT fan, been listening to them since 92 and own all of their albums. I don't expect them to make another Images and Words, only to set the bar a little higher.
I'm listening to "Awake" for the millionth time, and wishing that DT had been more of this type of prog band. BC&SL really just recycled licks (please read this J. Petrucci)...used to have more a more experimental "Pink Floyd" feel to them. Miss that, especially with BC&SL. Recyled themes are ok (with MP's AA 12-step theme), but "Wither" was possibly their best song on the album. Not really prog, but beautiful, nonetheless.
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