Oh man, this fence post sure is getting sore. "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" is without a doubt the heaviest thing that DREAM THEATER has ever done. It is also the most smacking of a formula, an album that sounds dialed in somewhat, possessing parts that seem written purely to appeal to a wider Metal audience while sticking with tunes of interminable length. Seemingly this time around the band are making songs of length simply because they can and are expected to, not necessarily because the songs themselves have anything to say within their length.

DREAM THEATER has always been the band that people either hate or love and as such it is truly difficult to judge them objectively if falling into the latter camp, which I certainly do. I believe they are brilliant and awesome musicians, but since their switch to Roadrunner I also am of the opinion that they have ratcheted up the heavy quotient, mixed it with their progressive soup, and end up sounding uninspired. It is still amazing music, but once again "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" essentially contains no songs, just movements. Tiring movements. On first listen the album is great, but taken in a critical light it's just, well, half an hour too long. Everyone knows these guys can play and that is certainly not in question. The question is whether or not Portnoy and company have settled into a predictable pattern and all to often the answer - at least on "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" - is a resounding yes. Not even a Petrucci solo can save this mess of notes, scales, and odd meter. It's way too much on all fronts, especially given the ludicrous three disc set which provides the buyer with a covers album (not necessary!) and a CD of the instrumental mixes, presumably for those who love the music but cannot stand James LaBrie's vocals. I understand that many such people exist.

The saving grace of this album, and the reason it is not graded lower, is "The Shattered Fortress". The aforementioned is the end of the twelve part saga of Mike Portnoy and his travel through AA. I have always thought this idea to be incredibly brave and that the parts of the saga (or suite if you will) are the best musically in the DREAM THEATER canon. No doubt all 12 will surface as a special edition something or other. The rest of this album is filler. Sometimes the truth hurts. The rating represents the filler, on a critical level, and has no bearing on enjoyment of the album in a non-critical way. But critically, there are far too many black clouds here.