Amd I go the opposite way....knowing the capabilities and effort, these come off more as "first thoughts" on the subject mattter, making them more "real" and meaningful. Tat "capturing th efirst, immediate thoughts", MAY have even been what they were going for. just the CONCEPT of doing that brings anonther layer of detail that isn't immediately percieved


the crazy thing is that this CD debuted at #6! That's pretty amazing whem one realizes how LITTLE they've compromised what they do on it..........

You know...I've actually listened to the covers disc way more than the actual album at this point. I would not have been disappointed if the covers disc would've been released on it's own. It's that good.

I stick to my opinion that this is an ok album that somehow doesn't grab be nearly as much as Systematic Chaos (or just about all other albums from them), which featured a larger number of songs, and more diverse songs at that.

It is by no means a bad album... it's just slightly indifferent. As a comparison point, I recently brought Threshold's Dead Reckoning, not expecting much from it and it seriously shook my world a whole lot more than Black Clouds...

I hadn't bought a DT release since Falling Into Infinity....I guess I had just lost track of them. I picked up the 3 disk set, and literally could not stop listening for about 2 weeks, gushing to anyone who would listen about how good it is. I love it all, even the sappy power ballad. I LOVE the covers disk. That Zebra song they do just blows me away, and the rest of it is just plain impressive. It takes incredible musicianship to cover Queen, let alone Dixie Dregs and King Crimson!

I wish that the DT tour was coming thru KC... ZPZ is opening for them on a few dates, and if you have not seen them, throw away any misconceptions about Zappa's music and get yourself to the show. You HAVE to see ZPZ play...them, combined with Dream Theater, would be a music nerd's dream show!

I guess I can see that, but I would rather they dropped the price a couple of bucks and gave people the option of a link to download the instrumentals. Small detail, though. Great return to form for a great band!



Arttie

I have this love/hate relationship with DT. The first two are must haves any any rock collection, Octavarium and Systematic Chaos are very good and Awake has some great moments. I'll have to give this one more time but so far A Rite Of Passage is my favorite.

I've listened to it once so far and from I what I've heard I've been digging it.... the vibe is more like Systematic Chaos.... Not as heavy as 'Train of Thought'... or as light at 'Octavarium'....

Gotta tell you 'train of thought' was the first DT I ever heard and thought it was fabulous.... Still don't have 'Images and Words' but I've got 'Awake' and the above mentioned albums and 'Live at Budokhan'

It's the Rush fan in me that really pushes me toward listening to DT..... I'm thinking I'll write a full review once I'm more familiar with the tunes here...

So I finally bought the new one yesterday... Been listening to it for the last half an hour. So far, I love it. The Shattered Fortress is a great song. I'm a huge fan of all the songs in the 12-Step Suite. In fact, I've made a playlist on iTunes featuring all 5 songs in the suite. Comes out to be almost 60 minutes long!

Haven';t listened to this for a few weeks, but there's a few tracks on it that still pop into my head every once in a while.

I totally dig this album. I'm going to listen to it again, and then go on a spree and listen to a ton of DT. Might do the whole studio discography.