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![Black Clouds & Silver Linings [Special Edition],Dream Theater](http://image.catalog.zune.net/v3.0/image/51e3d201-0300-11db-89ca-0019b92a3933?resize=true&width=240&height=240 "Black Clouds & Silver Linings [Special Edition],Dream Theater")
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Black Clouds & Silver Linings [Special Edition]
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- 100,808 plays
- 34 favs
- 78 shares
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- Dream Theater
- Released 2009
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songs
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- 7
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Stargazer [*]
- 08:11
- 5,176 plays
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- 8
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Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wrist/Lily of the Valley [*]
- 08:18
- 4,693 plays
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- 9
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Odyssey [*]
- 08:00
- 4,083 plays
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- 10
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Take Your Fingers from My Hair [*]
- 08:18
- 4,322 plays
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- 11
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Larks Tongues in Aspic, Pt. 2 [*]
- 06:32
- 3,587 plays
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- 12
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To Tame a Land [*]
- 07:15
- 3,777 plays
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- 13
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A Nightmare to Remember [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 15:39
- 2,452 plays
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- 14
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A Rite of Passage [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 08:36
- 1,784 plays
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- 15
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Wither [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 05:28
- 1,710 plays
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- 16
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The Shattered Fortress [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 12:47
- 1,852 plays
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- 17
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The Best of Times [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 13:20
- 1,495 plays
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- 18
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The Count of Tuscany [Instrumental Mix][*]
- 18:47
- 1,748 plays
album review
After finally running out their 13-year, seven-plus album deal with a poisonously indifferent Atlantic Records via 2005's workmanlike Octavarium, progressive metal standard bearers Dream Theater took advantage of their well earned free agent status to enjoy a heated courtship from several interested labels, before eventually settling on the artistically simpatico Roadrunner. But, ironically, Dream Theater's first album for the label that heavy metal built, 2007's Systematic Chaos, was relatively accessible by the group's standards, complementing every epic and complex composition with a comparatively concise and hooky song, thus leaving it to its 2009 successor, Black Clouds & Silver Linings, to really flex the band's progressive metal muscles to their maximum girth. And in fact, Dream Theater's tenth long-player is about as dense and challenging as any album in their daunting discography (and certainly the darkest of spirit since 2003's Train of Thought), by emphasizing not only the virtuoso members' ever stupefying musicianship, but also their most aggressive and thoroughly metallic songwriting tendencies. Sixteen-minute opener "A Nightmare to Remember" and its half-as-long follow-up, "A Rite of Passage" (later edited further for release as the album's first single), quickly establish this agenda via frequently thrash-paced staccato riffing, some of John Petrucci's most blistering guitar solos ever, and the return of drummer Mike Portnoy's syncopated growls (no doubt inspired by his pal Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth), providing contrast for singer James LaBrie's soaring melodic elegance. Third track "Whither" -- a tender ballad and mere babe at five minutes in length -- is this album's only concession to commerce (and one of Dream Theater's better stabs at the form it is, too); but after that it's right back to prog rock in excelsis, via the final chapter in the band's "AA Saga," "The Shattered Fortress," which references songs from previous albums such as "The Glass Prison" and "The Root of All Evil," in emulation of the "Conceptual Continuity Clues" method favored by one of Portnoy's heroes, Frank Zappa. Only two, not surprisingly massive song suites remain now, and interestingly, both pay evident tribute to Rush! First up, "The Best of Times" boasts an extremely Alex Lifeson-like lead guitar motif and verse chords that were clearly evolved from "The Spirit of Radio," later showcasing the most versatile and classically steeped performance on this record by keyboard wizard Jordan Rudess. Second, the revealingly named "The Count of Tuscany" (surely a thinly veiled allusion to the Rush's famed instrumental, "La Villa Strangiato") catches Portnoy in the act of outright Neil Peart worship, colluding with Petrucci on their own version of "Xanadu" before leading their bandmates into another heady prog-metal magnum opus brimming with more ideas, notes, and time changes over 19 minutes than most bands bother with over a ten album career. That last bit sound at all familiar? That's because, at the end of the day, one must admit that Black Clouds & Silver Linings, for all its abundantly positive qualities and minor but clear distinctions from prior efforts, is still an archetypal Dream Theater album; one that's unlikely to broaden their audience all that much, but is conversely guaranteed to thrill their hardcore converts with its renewed devotion to the most exigent and stimulating facets of the band's chosen musical domain. [A special edition was also released.] ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide
more albums by this artist
See all-
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- Octavarium
- Released 2005
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- Systematic Chaos
- Released 2007
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- Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory
- Released 1999
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- Images & Words
- Released 1992
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listener reviews
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Deluxe Edition
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- By The Silent W0lf
- 7/28/2009 23:16:42
- Yup I ordered the deluxe edition and I have to say I'm glad I did, this album is amazing and to think it only has 6 songs yet it feels like 15. Plus the deluxe brings separated audio of each individual and each track; so I can hear Jordan play the count of Tuscany which is awesome!
This is a must have album! for any metal prog fan! - 0 out of 1 people
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YES!!
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- By AndyMan1125
- 6/23/2009 20:27:23
- ITS FINALLY BEEN RELEASED!!!!!!! I just got my pre-order of this......... and its ILL!!!! I recommend it to ANYONE EVER!!!!!
- 2 out of 3 people
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