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Dream Theater - Black Clouds And Silver Linings |
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Written by Liu
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Wednesday, 15 July 2009 12:09 |
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Roadrunner
The overly-prolific Dream Theater is back once again with their tenth studio album, Black Clouds And Silver Linings. There are few bands that maintain a love/hate relationship with its fans like Dream Theater does. Their willingness to experiment in unexplored territory tends to create controversy among their fanbase, but for the first time in many years, the band has decided to reel it all in and focus on creating a solid album front-to-back and with Black Clouds And Silver Linings, they have succeeded in spades.
After an ominous intro, A Nightmare To Remember opens up the album. It is a 16 minute track that exemplifies everything great about Dream Theater. The first 4 minutes has the band rocking out with a determined heaviness, churning out mammoth riffs and pounding beats. The song takes a turn to the melodic in the middle, creating some of the most genuinely beautiful music they have ever done. James LaBrie is in top form here. After excellent solos by Petrucci and Rudess, the song starts building up back to the heaviness of the earlier part of the song, containing vocals by Portnoy and eventually features him blast beating for the first time in his career. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 July 2009 12:28 |
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Read the full review [Dream Theater - Black Clouds And Silver Linings]
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Written by Chris Slack
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Tuesday, 26 May 2009 20:25 |
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Day 0 (May 21st, 2009) We left Seattle at 10 PM on May 20th on an oversold flight with a change over in Detroit. I got to my hotel in Baltimore at around 9 AM. Fortunately they had some empty rooms so I didn’t have to wait around for the 4 PM check-in time. Once everything was unpacked we set out in search of alcohol and food. Within one block we found both a grocery store and a liquor store. The liquor store (Urban Cellars Fine Wines) had a sign saying “Welcome Deathfest” in the window. We bought 2 pints of Absolut (to drink at the fest) and a fifth of cheap vodka to make kamikazes and bloody marys with along with a six pack of Grolsch. The grocery store supplied some donuts and milk. We took our provisions back to the hotel, ate some food then set off walking. Our destinations were Edgar Allan Poe’s grave and his Baltimore house/museum. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 28 May 2009 12:22 |
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Read the full review with photos! [Maryland Death Fest 2009 review]
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Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life |
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Written by Liu
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Saturday, 02 May 2009 17:26 |
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Century Media
Lacuna Coil is one of those bands that on a technical level I like, even though I only love one of their albums, being Comalies in this case. That album struck a perfect balance with the band's gothic tinged sound with an infectious pop sensibility that none of their other albums really have come close to in my opinion. Shallow Life, the band's latest release, comes close to the peak that Comalies rests on, but on the other hand it further demonstrates the band's mainstream aspirations. |
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Last Updated on Sunday, 03 May 2009 14:28 |
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Read the full review [Lacuna Coil - Shallow Life]
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Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know |
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Written by Liu
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Saturday, 02 May 2009 19:39 |
Rhino
(Out of respect for Dio, Iommi and Geezer's wishes and for the possibility of getting a cease-and-desist order from Sharon Osbourne, in this review I'm not going to argue that this should have been released under the BLACK SABBATH name. But it totally should.)
Heaven And Hell. What more is there to say? The band that at one time was referred to as MKII Black Sabbath (well technically MKIII but whatever, there were so many line-up changes during the 80's that by the time they reunited with Ozzy they were probably on MKXXXIV). Whatever the reason for the name change, whether personal or legal, is irrelevant. The important bit is that the key members of Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler are back together and are creating new music. Nothing can possibly go wrong, right?
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Last Updated on Sunday, 03 May 2009 14:30 |
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Read the full review [Heaven And Hell - The Devil You Know]
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Written by Liu
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Wednesday, 08 April 2009 09:00 |
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Nuclear Blast
Samael is one of those bands that has always preferred to forge their own path, independent of what is happening in the black metal genre, where the band has its roots. They've been dabbling with techno and electronic sounds for over half of their existence, though many still wish to judge them under the criteria of a black metal band. Perhaps all of the criticism finally had an effect on the band, as Above is in large part a black metal album. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 08 April 2009 18:38 |
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Read the full review [Samael - Above]
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