Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings [2LP Clear]

Six songs, 75 minutes and no shortcuts: Black Clouds & Silver Linings is Dream Theater at their most ambitious, pressed here as a limited double LP on clear vinyl.

Released in 2009, the band's tenth studio album was produced by guitarist John Petrucci and drummer Mike Portnoy, and it reached the top ten of the Billboard 200. It also closed a chapter, standing as Portnoy's final album with the group until his return for Parasomnia in 2025, which gives its emotional peaks extra weight in hindsight.

"A Nightmare to Remember" opens with sixteen minutes of thunder, shifting from gothic menace to blast-beat fury and back again. "The Shattered Fortress" brings Portnoy's multi-album suite about recovery to a crushing close, while "The Best of Times" is a heartfelt tribute to his late father, building from a delicate intro into one of Petrucci's most soaring solos. "The Count of Tuscany" stretches toward twenty minutes of shifting moods, from razor-sharp riffing to a serene, almost cinematic finale.

Jordan Rudess's keyboards and James LaBrie's vocals ride every twist, and the musicianship never feels like showing off for its own sake.

For progressive metal fans, this is a landmark worth hearing on wax, with the long-form songs given room to breathe across four sides.