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Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings



8.1 | 1137 votes |
Release date: 23 June 2009
Style: Progressive metal

Owners:

1159 have it
81 want it
3 trade it


Disc I [Black Clouds & Silver Linings]
01. A Nightmare To Remember
02. A Rite Of Passage
03. Wither
04. The Shattered Fortress
    1 - X. Restraint
    2 - XI. Receive
    3 - XII. Responsible
05. The Best Of Times
06. The Count Of Tuscany

Disc II [Uncovered 2008/2009]
01. Stargazer [Rainbow cover]
02. Tenement Funster / Flick Of The Wrist / Lily Of The Valley [Queen cover]
03. Odyssey [Dixie Dregs cover]
04. Take Your Fingers From My Hair [Zebra cover]
05. Larks Tongues In Aspic Pt.2 [King Crimson cover]
06. To Tame A Land [Iron Maiden cover]

Disc III [Black Clouds & Silver Linings Instrumental Mixes]
01. A Nightmare To Remember
02. A Rite Of Passage
03. Wither
04. The Shattered Fortress
05. The Best Of Times
06. The Count Of Tuscany

The Best Progressive Metal Album Of 2009

Additional info
The Deluxe Collector's Edition Box Set includes the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs , plus the following special features:

DVD

- Stem mixes of standard CD (try your hand at producer with isolated audio tracks of the entire album)

- Dream Theater mouse mat

- Find a silver foil ticket (100 lucky fans win a Meet & Greet with the band)

- Lithograph of cover art, numbered (100 lucky winners will find a litho signed by Hugh Syme)

- Limited edition audiophile 180-gram double-LP set with exclusive artwork from Hugh Syme

Staff review by
Dream Taster
Rating:
7.5
One of my all-time favorite bands, Dream Theater, has been mildly disappointing me since 2002 with their newfound musical direction. After a step in the right direction with their previous album Systematic Chaos, I was anxious to get my hands on their new offering Black Clouds & Silver Linings. With an album title suggesting aggression and great melodies, I thought this would be a real treat.

Read more ››
published 30.06.2009 | Comments (105)

Guest review by
Iron Nostarion
Rating:
8.3
After revisiting Dream Theater's discography and particularly recently setting my eyes on this album, it was my album of choice to review, for there are really a lot of notes and opinions I'd like to speak out about it. With Black Clouds & Silver Linings released in 2009, Dream Theater vowed to hearken back to the days of 2003's Train Of Thought, with more heavy melodies, a straightforward metal approach, calm ballad-like songs in between with the obvious progressive elements, solos and some experimentation; though, after so many jams and extended solos, are we to say that their approach to experimentation, too, hasn't become something too ordinary and expected?

Read more ››
published 12.09.2013 | Comments (4)

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Comments

Comments: 22   Visited by: 1334 users
11.02.2010 - 00:37
clauespa

This album is amazing!!!!!!!
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27.05.2010 - 13:38
Rating: 9
Warman
Erotic Stains
The best they've done since "Six Degrees...". Love the album and this is what a special edition should look like! Not just one random bonus or demo track.
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28.05.2010 - 07:21
His Eminence
Account deleted
Very good album in my opinion. It's quickly risen to be one of my favorites of Dream Theater.
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17.01.2011 - 23:10
Rating: 8
powa_gabriel

On the cover, the mouse has no shadow
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08.08.2011 - 14:34
Blend29

Bought it today ;3 Starting the listening... NOW!
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12.09.2011 - 02:53
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

Great album, though there aren't exactly any surprises here, and its far from their best. But 'The Count of Tuscany' is one hell of an epic song...
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14.09.2011 - 21:22
John Shock

Perfect...this album is absolutely perfect, i love it! Specialy the first cover track...it's my all favorite time song! The almighty Stargazer...from my hero Ronnie James Dio, from Rainbow era!

R.I.P. Dio!

You will always live in our souls and our hearts!

Heavy Metal will never die! \m/
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19.09.2011 - 20:08
abacinatee

So far this album is holding up well, but I must say Tyr's cover of "Stargazer" is better...
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Those who show no mercy will be shown no mercy
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28.09.2011 - 18:33
John Shock

Written by abacinatee on 19.09.2011 at 20:08

So far this album is holding up well, but I must say Tyr's cover of "Stargazer" is better...

I like both, but the singing of TYR cover is a bit "mechanized", i mean, that's a bit mixed! i like the rest, but the singing ...bah
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25.04.2012 - 14:38
Rating: 6
Milena
gloom cookie
Pretty polarizing - it has two absolutely bland slower numbers ("Wither" and "The Best Of Times"), three quite mood-dependant long songs ("Nightmare", "Rite", and "Shattered Fortress") and once again a great epic to close it. Stargazer is probably the best cover they ever did though, Rainbow's 70's style fits them well.
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7.0 means the album is good
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01.05.2012 - 23:42
Rating: 4
Zombie94

It's a shame because I find this band to be great instrumentally. But the singing and the lyrics are just so... gay.
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02.05.2012 - 00:52
JohnDoe
Account deleted
For me, this is DT's weakest effort, although I don't think it's a bad album, but I've heard so much better from these guys; I rated it an 8 for the 3 cds version of the album (album + covers + instrumentals). BTW, the instrumentals sound surprisingly good.
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02.05.2012 - 03:01
Rating: 8
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Guest on 02.05.2012 at 00:52

For me, this is DT's weakest effort, although I don't think it's a bad album, but I've heard so much better from these guys; I rated it an 8 for the 3 cds version of the album (album + covers + instrumentals). BTW, the instrumentals sound surprisingly good.


I like this album, has a "Rush" feel to it more so than any of there other works.
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rekt
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02.05.2012 - 15:35
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Written by tea[m]ster on 02.05.2012 at 03:01

Written by Guest on 02.05.2012 at 00:52

For me, this is DT's weakest effort, although I don't think it's a bad album, but I've heard so much better from these guys; I rated it an 8 for the 3 cds version of the album (album + covers + instrumentals). BTW, the instrumentals sound surprisingly good.


I like this album, has a "Rush" feel to it more so than any of there other works.


I find their debut to have the biggest Rush feel to it.
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Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

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15.05.2012 - 17:24
Hermann Langke
Brahmastra Corps
Rites of Passage's the best!
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03.11.2012 - 13:43
Rating: 9
R Lewis

Written by Guest on 28.05.2010 at 07:21

Very good album in my opinion. It's quickly risen to be one of my favorites of Dream Theater.

And... 6?
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We could be so much more than we are. Stop.
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03.11.2012 - 13:55
Vasil de Shumen

Performance - 10
Songwriting - 5 ( conglomerates of solos - Not songs )
Originality - 5 ( the old schemes from the previous albums + inappropriate and unnecessary influences - blast beat )
Production - 5 (The sound of instruments is digitally aligned = broken. The dynamics and the depth are missing.)
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27.10.2018 - 13:46
Rating: 6
Mountain King
K i K o
There is quality and innovation here and there but as an album, it is weak. The production is great though.
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19.09.2020 - 17:26
Rating: 7
Roman Doez
Hallucigenia
This one is pretty great. I don't really understand why Wither and A Rite Of Passage exist, they're pretty average tracks, and the second half of The Count Of Tuscany needed a lot more polish, but A Nightmare To Remember, The Shattered Fortress and The Best Of Times are such masterpieces that I can't rate this album any lower. The deluxe edition has some great covers too, they should have put Lark's Tongue In Aspic or Stargazer in the actual album and removed Wither and A Rite Of Passage, it would have made for an almost perfect release. Overall a very solid 8.5 leaning to a 9.
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08.06.2022 - 02:48
Rating: 10
24emd
Theory Snob
One of my favs by DT. The Count of Tuscany is a masterpiece, but the album is consistently solid all the way through.
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"I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense." - Proverbs 30:2
"Music? Well, it's just entertainment, folks!" - Devin Townsend

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08.11.2023 - 00:51
Rating: 8
Oldy86

The Shattered Fortress and The Count Of Tuscany alone made this an 8 for me. The rest of it was very hit and miss for me unfortunately. But those 2 tracks were just outstanding
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17.11.2023 - 19:43
Rating: 8
miekka18

Lovely album. I think it's a concept album and really good one.
My favorite song is propably Wither because it has some deep meaning to me from the time of this record was released.
Best of times guitar solo really takes me somewhere else. Solid 8.5/10
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