Dream Theater: Black Clouds & Silver Linings (Special Edition)

You have to say one thing for Dream Theater; when they put out an album, they do so with about as many options as the old saying goes, Carter has pills! Not only can you purchase just the CD, there is the Special Edition with a second disc of six cover songs and a third disc of instrumental versions of the original songs with different arrangements on some. Then there is the Deluxe Collector's Edition with all the goodies mentioned plus the album on vinyl LP and a DVD! Not to mention a lithograph and mouse pad.

So let's take a look at what they are offering. For my money the Special Edition is the way to go. With six covers that are all chosen not for their popularity, instead this is one time where they are picked because of the music itself. Two instrumentals, The Dixie Dregs "Odyssey" and King Crimson's "Larks' Tongue In Aspic Part II" are songs that not many bands would be willing to tackle. We are talking about Dream Theater though and they do a masterful job of course. Then add to that a little Rainbow, a cool Queen medley, Iron Maiden and Zebra and you have something that is very hard to find, a cover album that is worth the price!

Dream Theater has always been known for how well they can do covers and this is no exception. They bring the DT touch to songs that were truly great the first time around.

So what do you get new from these guys. The new CD is a six song work that gives you plenty of the expanded epic songs that are a DT mainstay. With four of the six songs falling into the thirteen to nineteen minute category, it's time to sit back and enjoy some soaring Dream Theater that is a much better effort than the last two studio albums they put out. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with Octavariam and Systematic Chaos but with this disc, I hear much more of the sound that drew me to this band in the first place.

The grandiose song "The Court Of Tuscany" is the highlight of the disc for me. Here you get the full blown Dream Theater treatment as they weave from melodic keyboards to Petrucci's magical guitar work with the flair and musical flow that has become a Dream Theater trademark. The only complaint is I can't figure out why they think the spoken/growl/rap of Mike Portnoy adds anything to their sound. For the most part, I think they would be better served to keep him behind the drums and hide the microphone! This is minor though and does not diminish too much from the dynamics that they create.

This album seems to have combined their darker side ala Train of Thought with the more melodic aspects of the band. The heaviness of the opening track "A Nightmare To Remember" is a perfect example where the eerie keyboards that start the track give way to the gothic feeling crunch of Petrucci's guitar and then the bedlam begins!! Just as you are getting a slight pain from the headbanging, the band slows it down with a terrific melodic passage to give you a rest before they ratchet it up once more.

I cannot find a bad spot on these discs but their version of a power ballad called "Wither" is the spot on the disc where you might duck out for a beverage or take a break if nature calls. It's not a bad song by a long shot but it is one moment where you will say, "Sounds like something I have heard before". Petrucci does add a terrific solo in the middle of the song and there is a calming aspect to this song that makes it appealing, but I almost want to say that this might have been one of the slower parts to a more epic tune plucked out.

The rest of the disc is some of the best music you will hear this year too. Without a doubt, Dream Theater has come back with one of their strongest studio efforts in many years. Much in the way that Metallica returned to their roots on their last disc, DT seems to have found a way to balance what they have been as good at for so many years with something new and as creative an effort as they have done in quite awhile.

The instrumental disc that comes in this package is one that you will find many uses for. I am one that likes to throw on this type of stuff when I am working around the house or yard. The music is as phenomenal as it gets and listening to it without the vocals is just another way to appreciate what these guys are doing. The songs have been arranged a bit differently but you would have to play them side by side with the original recordings to spot the differences in most cases. Hey, maybe you might just want to take this opportunity to see how you can compare with James LaBrie!

This is an easy one. There is no doubt that when you pick this up it will be one of the best set of discs you add to your collection this year. The Dream Theater boys have done it once more and have taken it up a notch! I can't wait for them to try and top this one.

Track listing:

1. A Nightmare To Remember
2. A Rite Of Passage
3. Wither
4. The Shattered Fortress
5. The Best Of Times
6. The Court Of Tuscany

Bonus Disc:

1. Stargazer
2. Tenement Funster/Flick Of The Wrist/Lily Of The Valley
3. Odyssey
4. Take Your Fingers From My Hair
5. Larks Tongues In Aspic Pt. 2
6. To Tame A Land

Instrumental Disc

Track Listing Same As First Disc

Added: November 12th 2009
Reviewer: Scott Ward
Score:
Related Link: Band's Official Site
Hits: 8985
Language: english

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