BC & SL

And I call myself a diehard Dream Theater fan...

Last week, I received a text from my bro that asked, "Have you bought the new DT album yet?" I couldn't have been more surprised. A new DT album? How could I have not known about this? How this happened, I have no idea. I guess it had been a couple of months since I checked their website (which is longer than usual), but still, how did this one get under my radar? Usually, I have the anticipation of months before a release, which is a huge part of the whole album experience. Not this time. Needless to say, I dropped what I was doing to make a trip to Best Buy.

From the moment I popped the CD in, I dug it. I'm pretty much to the point of loyalty with DT that they could put out complete junk and I would still dig it. I have the same loyalty with other bands that transcends any musical travesties. I'm glad that I was by myself for the first listen, because I am pretty sure that I had a goofy, gleeful, child-like smile across my face as I thrashed wildly in and out of traffic and playing my air-drums to Portnoy.

Although it will take many more listens to fully understand and absorb this album, I have definitely gained an over-all perception of it.

The album consists of 6 tracks. Four of the 6 songs, true to DT form, clock in at over 10 minutes, with one coming in at 19 minutes. This is easily the best SOUNDING DT album to date. They have seemed to improve in this area with each release. Paul Northfield mixed BC & SL and also Systematic Chaos. He has worked on many prog. rock band's albums, including Rush. The guitars on this album sound huge and bass-heavy. There is some amazing Petrucci chuggage going on here. Easily his best guitar sounds yet. The drums are of excellent quality, namely the kick drum smashing you in the face with each hit. The album is mixed very loud, which I love. Every instrument is in-your-face and loud, yet easily discernible and tight. Portnoy's drumming is excellent on this album, but there is not much in the new idea department here, and he is sounding tighter than ever. LaBrie's voice is sounding beautiful on this album, probably some of his best performances to date. The biggest disappointment of the album is the lack of presence of Myung's bass prowess. The guitars are mixed so bottom-heavy that he is pretty much washed out, but even still, he usually has a lot more sweet moments on previous albums. Also, although Rudess gets some great new keyboard sounds, he is not featured as prominently as I would like.

On the whole, this album is pretty predictable for long-time DT fans, yet it still delivers. I was worried about the album being too metal-heavy with not enough proggyness, but 'The Best of Times' and 'Count of Tuscany' alleviated my fears. 'The Best of Time' sounds like it's straight from the 'Falling Into Infinity' album (which I dig for sure) with a twist of Octavarium mixed in. It also features a very 'Lifeson-esque' riff at the beginning. 'The Shattered Fortress' is any DT-lovers dream. It features countless references to previous albums (pretty much any song of theirs that has featured a seven-string in the past eight years) which leaves you guessing where in their catalog it is found. It's sort of like a DT trivia mind-bender. Awesome stuff. 'Wither' is a beautiful DT power ballad that is true to DT form. 'A Nightmare to Remember' is the kick-in-yo-face opener that will satiate any prog-metal head's desire for a musical beating. 'A Rite of Passage' contains a strong chorus that you'll find yourself singing hours later.

How can someone get so much joy from listening to a band? It is an awesome thing. I hope that you all out there have a band that you enjoy as much as I do DT.

Thanks for letting me geek out on DT stuff!