DREAM THEATER Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009 UK 6-track CD album - 'Black Clouds & Silver Linings' marks another milestone on Dream Theater's iconoclastic musical journey, which began two and a half decades ago and now encompasses a hugely impressive body of music that's established the durable progressive metal outfit as a one-of-a-kind creative force with a fiercely devoted international fan base. The new album features a pair of concise numbers, 'A Rite of Passage' & 'Wither,'along with four longer pieces that exemplify the band's knack for extended, multi-part epics. Those tracks: 'A Nightmare to Remember', 'The Shattered Fortress', 'The Best of Times' and the near-20-minute album-closer 'The Count of Tuscany', showcase the compositional complexity, instrumental expertise and emotional immediacy for which the quintet has become known, along with spacious, crystalline production that emphasizes the sonic nuances of the band's playing and arrangements.)