dream theater black clouds and silver linings tour

BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS

Studio albums // 2009, black clouds & silver linings is the tenth studio album by dream theater, released on june 23, 2009 through roadrunner records. it is the last album to feature drummer and founding member mike portnoy before his departure on september 8, 2010..

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Dream Theater began to work on the album in October 2008. Mike Portnoy described Black Clouds & Silver Linings as, "a Dream Theater album with 'A Change of Seasons', 'Octavarium', 'Learning to Live', 'Pull Me Under' and 'The Glass Prison' all on one album."

The album's lyrics were written by John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy, and all except one concern personal experiences about disturbing or difficult moments of their lives. Though most songs were written by Petrucci, "A Nightmare to Remember" was based on a childhood car incident; "The Count of Tuscany" was about an actual encounter he had in Tuscany; and "Wither" was about the process of songwriting for him. "The Best of Times" was written by Mike Portnoy about his father, who died from cancer. "I just wanted to write something that was a tribute to our life together," said Portnoy, who played the song for his father prior to his death. "The Shattered Fortress" is the final part of Portnoy's Twelve-step Suite, reprising and concluding themes and motifs from the suite that began on 2002's Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence album. The remaining song, "A Rite of Passage" , concerns Freemasonry; a video of the edited single was released on May 8, 2009.

"Wither" was released as a single on September 15, 2009. In addition to the album version of the song, the single contained an alternate version featuring only a piano and vocals, a demo version with John Petrucci on vocals, and a demo version of "The Best of Times” with Mike Portnoy on vocals. There was also a video to follow it which was released on November 18, 2009.

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Dream Theater: Black Clouds & Silver Linings

Dream theater's 10th album and the last to feature mike portnoy….

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After the success of 2007’s Systematic Chaos, it’s only natural that for their tenth studio album, Dream Theater might hark back to writing and performing the kind of music that wowed their fans and alienated their critics in the first place. Their consistent successes over the years has meant that Dream Theater have had more than their fair share of depreciators, but some of the more abrasive edges were sanded off that last album and they had a new label – hungry to flog their wares in a bid to attract more mainstream attention than ever before. It undoubtedly worked.

Now, after climbing back into the world’s arenas and main stages, they unleash Black Clouds & Silver Linings against their own heady benchmark. It’s a weighty selection of six songs – four at well over ten minutes in length – that manages to both hark back to the good old days of 70s prog as well as displaying the multi-faceted brilliance of modern prog metal.

Opening track, A Nightmare To Remember would slot seamlessly into Systematic Chaos , with James LaBrie’s vocals outstanding even above the glorious riffs from John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess. DT purists might call for an end to the gruff, growled vocals that appear here, but they still add a variety and charm to the album before the accomplished but relatively unremarkable next two tracks. It isn’t a coincidence that these are the two shortest tracks, but it’s difficult to be amazing all of the time.

However, thunderously intense metal comes back to the fore as Mike Portnoy’s Twelve-Step Suite comes to a close in The Shattered Fortress . This decade-long compilation of DT’s heaviest and darkest tracks (unsurprising, considering the subject matter) has been confirmed to be released as a live album and, using the unquestionable medium of personal history, it’s the song that links the listener to the heart of the band.

It’s possible that over the course of a 13-minute song, you might lose track of where you are on the album – there’s no verse-chorus formula to help remind you of the title every 30 seconds – but after a few listens, even if you dip in and out, you’ll never fail to discover a musical nuance held within each song.

This is most apparent during the magnificently epic final two songs, where The Best Of Times (13 minutes) and The Count Of Tuscany (19 minutes!) showcase just what Dream Theater do so brilliantly. While the former is a beautifully emotional, undulating dedication to Mike Portnoy’s late father – which wields a nifty Petrucci-shaped dagger towards the end – the album closer is an unpredictable, exhausting beast that incomprehensibly twists and turns its time signatures until stunning, carefully-constructed confusion reigns.

These songs will remain in set-lists and ‘best of’ lists for years to come. Despite one or two nagging gripes, there’s no doubt that DT have created yet another challenging and rewarding listen with some dazzling arrangements within. Even if you’re already a fan, prepare to be amazed.

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'This album's a musical and emotional rollercoaster, but most of our albums are,' Mike Portnoy says of Black Clouds & Silver Linings, Dream Theater's tenth studio album and second Roadrunner release. 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 - produced by band members Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, who also serve as the group's main lyricists - offers a vibrant manifestation of the world-class musicianship, vivid lyrical scenarios and ambitious, multi-leveled compositions that have established Dream Theater as a uniquely compelling creative force.

Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.59 x 4.96 x 0.39 inches; 3.67 ounces
• Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Roadrunner Records
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 5452690
• Original Release Date ‏ : ‎ 2009
• Date First Available ‏ : ‎ April 23, 2009
• Label ‏ : ‎ Roadrunner Records
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0026J8LHM
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
• #213 in Progressive Metal
• #875 in Progressive Rock
• #20,220 in Pop (CDs & Vinyl)

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Album review of Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater

‘Black Clouds and Silver Linings’

Roadrunner Records 2009 Progressive Metal

With ‘Black Clouds…’ Dream Theater manage to effortlessly slide between a modern and a retro sound, this is a huge boost the album and manages to make it accessible to both fans of a modern progressive sound and those that prefer the classic sound which originally hooked them into progressive music. For example, the opening track ‘A Nightmare to Remember’ begins with all the hallmarks of a Foreigner hit through the accessibility of an arpeggiating keyboard pattern, before incorporating lyrical elements from Rush’s 1981 masterpiece ‘Moving Pictures’. The Rush worship does not stop here, ‘The Best of Times’ feels like the successor to ‘Red Barchetta’, whilst the closing track on the album ‘The Count of Tuscany’ heavily alludes to classic era Rush with an outro which containing overtones of ‘La Villa Strangiato’ and ‘Xanadu’, enough tomake any Rush fan quiver with excitement. Due to this, ‘The Count of Tuscany’ is not only one of the best songs on ‘Black Clouds…’ but is also up there with some of Dream Theater’s best work.

The major downside to ‘Black Clouds…’ is the unfortunate inclusion of groove metal style vocals that drop in and out throughout the album. This just doesn’t work with ‘Black Clouds…’ on one hand it is Dream Theater attempting to entice a modern audience, whilst on the other hand, it just does not work and would remain better without. However, James LaBrie does show that he still has an amazing voice and this stands out on none other than on the beautiful ballad ‘Wither’ and the single ‘A Rite of Passage’. With ‘Black Clouds…’ the cup truly runneth over for Dream Theater and although the bass riff for ‘A Rite of Passage’ borrows heavily from ‘No More Tears’ by Ozzy Osbourne, it suddenly takes on a life of its own with the ‘Master of Puppets’ era style guitar playing making the song hugely accessible to both fans of Dream Theater and those still discovering the band.

Not only is ‘Black Clouds…’ a fantastic album and easily one of the best that Dream Theater albums which have released, it is also one of the best progressive metal albums of the 2000’s and because of this it deserves to be mentioned within the same breath as ‘Images and Words’, ‘Awake’ and ‘Train of Thought’

Rating : 90/100

MHF Magazine/Adam McCann

Senior administrator at Official Metalheads Forever. Writer/Editing Metalheads Forever Magazine

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Black Clouds & Silver Linings

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• "A Rite of Passage" Released: May 11, 2009
• "Wither" Released: September 15, 2009

Black Clouds & Silver Linings is the tenth studio album by Dream Theater . The album was released on June 23, 2009. The album is Dream Theater's second since signing with Roadrunner Records . The album is notable for the great deal of pre-release promotion, and the large amount of differing editions that can be purchased.

It is also notable for being the last Dream Theater album featuring Mike Portnoy on drums before leaving the band in September 2010. He would rejoin the band 13 years later in October 2023.

• 1 Personnel
• 2.1 Disc One: Black Clouds & Silver Linings
• 2.2 Disc Two: Cover songs
• 2.3 Disc Three: Instrumental mixes
• 3 Pre release
• 4 Reception
• 5 Tone and Lyrics
• 6 Cover Art
• 7 Alternate versions

Personnel [ ]

• Mike Portnoy - Drums, vocals, co-producer
• John Petrucci - Guitars, co-producer
• John Myung - Bass
• James LaBrie - Vocals
• Jordan Rudess - Keyboard, continuum, lap steel guitar
• Jerry Goodman - Violin on 'The Best of Times', 'Odyssey' and 'Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Part Two'
• Paul Northfield - Recording, Mixing, Co-Producer (Vocal tracks)
• Leon Zervos - Mastering
• Rick Kwan - Assistant Engineer, Digital Editing

Tracklist [ ]

Disc one: black clouds & silver linings [ ].

1. A Nightmare to Remember (Petrucci) 16:10

2. A Rite of Passage (Petrucci) 8:35

3. Wither (Petrucci) 5:35

4. The Shattered Fortress (Portnoy) 12:49

5. The Best of Times (Portnoy) 13:09

6. The Count of Tuscany (Petrucci) 19:16

Disc Two: Cover songs [ ]

1. Stargazer (Rainbow) 8:10

2. Tenement Funster/Flick of the Wrist/Lily of the Valley (Queen) 8:16

3. Odyssey (The Dixie Dregs) 7:59

4. Take Your Fingers From My Hair (Zebra) 7:21

5. Larks' Tongues In Aspic, Part Two (King Crimson) 6:30

6. To Tame a Land ( Iron Maiden ) 7:15

Disc Three: Instrumental mixes [ ]

1. A Nightmare to Remember 15:37

2. A Rite of Passage 8:35

3. Wither 5:37

4. The Shattered Fortress 12:45

5. The Best of Times 12:49

6. The Count of Tuscany 18:47

Pre release [ ]

The band released an advance single for "A Rite of Passage" which was available on Roadrunner's website for a 24 hour period. A video was also shot and released for the song.

Across the five weeks leading up to the album's release, they revealed the cover songs by releasing them as singles, one by one, beginning with Stargazer. On the sixth week, the album was released.

Reception [ ]

Pre-release reviews by the press were overwhelmingly positive. Rich Wilson , who reviewed the album for Metal Hammer, called it Dream Theater's most focused album in a decade. As with any band of a certain age, fan reception was mixed, but largely the reception has been, again, positive, and hailed by some as a return to form.

Tone and Lyrics [ ]

The album is dark, personal and heavy. Out of the four tenets of Dream Theater's sound (progressive, metal, melodic and pop) the band heavily uses the metal sound, notable on songs such as "A Nightmare to Remember", "The Shattered Fortress", and "The Count of Tuscany" though the latter contains many melodic and progressive passages as well. "A Rite of Passage", the vanguard song of the album is seen as being the perfect mixture of all four sounds, and "Wither" is the most pop-oriented song, though it is also the most melodic. Perhaps most interesting is "The Best of Times" which is up-tempo and fast, though not heavy like much of the album. It has been praised for being a little more restrained and melodic, perhaps, than Systematic Chaos.

The lyrics deal almost exclusively with personal experiences, with no fiction being used on this album. "The Shattered Fortress" concludes The AA Saga with the last three steps and is comprised largely of quotes and riffs from the previous songs. Other examples include "Wither" which Petrucci wrote about writing music, "The Best of Times" which Portnoy wrote about his father's death, and Petrucci's "The Count of Tuscany" and "A Nightmare to Remember" tell the story of two frightening experiences he had. On a non-personal note, "A Rite of Passage" is written about the Freemasons.

Cover Art [ ]

The cover art is seen as being somewhat of a throwback to both Images and Words and Awake , with various elements that are related to themes from the album, though they appear to be more abstract in nature such as Images and Words. It has also been noted that several of the images have appeared in one form or another from previous Dream Theater albums such as Train of Thought and Octavarium .

Alternate versions [ ]

The album was released in three different editions. The basic, jewel case version contains only one disc, featuring the full length album. The special edition contains two bonus discs: Uncovered 2008/09 is disc two, and there's also an instrumental edition of the album. The third version of the album is The Collector's Edition Box Set. The box set contains all three discs from the Special Edition, as well as an additional "producer's disc" which contains isolated tracks. The box set also included a lithograph and a mouse pad, and five box sets contained silver tickets, which entitled the buyer to free entry to one gig, with a meet and greet package bundled in.

"I am responsible. When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want my hand to be there..."

• 1 Dark Side of the Moon
• 2 Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
• 3 Dream Theater

Dream Theater Announces 'Black Coulds & Silver Linings'

Progressive metal veterans Dream Theater have announced Black Clouds & Silver Linings as the title of their tenth studio album. The band commenced work on the album -- their second for Roadrunner Records, following up 2007's Systematic Chaos -- in October of last year. Roadrunner will release the record on June 23. In addition to the standard version CD, the album will also be available on vinyl LP, as well as a three-disc Special Edition CD that will include the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs, which will be revealed at a later date. Six weeks prior to the June 23 street date, Roadrunner will release one cover song per week through digital retailers. The artwork was once again designed by Hugh Syme (Rush, Iron Maiden).

Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again at the helm as producers, while Paul Northfield is mixing the record. The band will embark on a world tour in support of the album beginning in Europe throughout June which will be followed by the second edition of the band’s Progressive Nation tour featuring Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain Of Salvation and Beardfish throughout North America in July/August. A video for "A Rite of Passage" will be shot in late March.

For more information, visit dreamtheater.net

Black Clouds & Silver Linings Track Listing:

• 1. A Nightmare to Remember
• 2. A Rite of Passage
• 4. The Shattered Fortress
• 5. The Best of Times
• 6. The Count of Tuscany

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Mike Portnoy says Dream Theater are “blown away” by new album

Portnoy, who rejoined the band last year, has also confirmed that he is done tracking drums for their 16th album

Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has shared an update on the band’s upcoming 16th studio album.

• READ MORE:  100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums

This past weekend, Portnoy – who rejoined the band in October last year – took to social media to reveal that he was done tracking drum’s for the band’s 16th album. However, the drummer was also quick to note that while he may be done with his contributions to the album, that the rest of the band are still hard at work, and will be for several more months to come.

Portnoy wrote of the upcoming record: “I really can’t divulge anything more as we are (purposefully) keeping a very tight lid on any & all info at this early stage… but I will say we are all BLOWN AWAY and sooo extremely excited about what we’ve created! We cannot wait for you all to hear this… but patience, all will be revealed in due time…”

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mike Portnoy (@mikeportnoy)

Dream Theater have yet to reveal key details of their 16th album, including it’s title and release date.

The record will be their first with Portnoy since 2009’s ‘Black Clouds and Silver Linings’. Portnoy departed the band in 2010, and the band would go on to release five albums with replacement drummer Mike Mangini.

Portnoy’s return thus reverts Dream Theater to their classic 1999 and 2000 lineup, which consists of Portnoy, singer James LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. As this lineup, the band recorded six studio albums, from 1999’s ‘Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory’ to 2009’s ‘Black Clouds & Silver Linings’.

In Portnoy’s time away from the band, he produced music with a variety of side projects, including The Winery Dogs, a power trio which also involved Billy Sheehan and Richie Kotzen of  Mr. Big , Sons of Apollo, a heavy metal supergroup, and Adrenaline Mob, which he formed with Russell Allen and Mike Orlando.

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• Dream Theater

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Black Clouds and Silver Linings

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Dream Theater: Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater seem to be out of new tricks, but at least they know how to play to their own strengths. Black Clouds and Silver Linings is their tenth full-length studio album, coming a full 20 years after their poorly distributed, little-noticed debut, When Dream and Day Unite . It was 1992’s Images and Words that put them on the map, with its minor hit “Pull Me Under”. Since that time the band have found a myriad of ways to combine their love of progressive rock and heavy metal with virtuoso playing. They continue to tinker with their established elements, putting them together a little differently each time out. But it’s been a while (specifically, look back to 2003’s dark, heavy Train of Thought ) since the band have hit us with anything that sounded fresh.

Black Clouds and Silver Linings opens with “A Nightmare to Remember”, a 16-minute track that seems to announce the band’s intention to follow the album title pretty literally. The lyrics tell the story of a terrible car crash on a rainy night that causes serious injuries to a family, but spares all of their lives. Musically, the song is all apocalyptic heavy riffs on each end, framing a soft, melodic middle section as the narrator drifts in and out of sedation in the hospital. When the song goes back to being heavy, we can hear the influence of more modern metal acts on the band. Drummer Mike Portnoy takes over the vocals from lead singer James LaBrie and does a sort of semi-growl/shout that approximates the cookie-monster vocals that many death metal acts employ, without going overboard.

“Nightmare” is pretty much par for the course for this album. It’s a strong track, but it isn’t among the very best Dream Theater have ever written. The first single, “A Rite of Passage”, is pretty forgettable, while the power ballad “Wither” is good, with some especially nice keyboard/piano work from Jordan Rudess. But again, it’s not at the top of the list of Dream Theater ballads. “The Shattered Fortress” closes out Mike Portnoy’s 12-step program suite, written about his battle with alcoholism. The suite has been in progress for five albums now, and this song comprises movements ten, 11, and 12 of the piece. But there is very little new material among the nearly 13 minutes minutes of music here, making it all seem like a staid rehash. This piece will be very impressive when the band put it all together live, and “The Shattered Fortress” could well be an excellent grand finale, but here, on its own, it seems tiresome.

Things pick up late in the album with “The Best of Times”, a heartfelt, upbeat tribute to Portnoy’s father, who passed away after a battle with cancer in early 2009. This song mines the major-key prog-rock area that Dream Theater often neglect in favor of being heavy. It’s great to hear the band using Rush as a touchstone for a change, and it also brings to mind the bright sounds of the DT side project Liquid Tension Experiment.

The album closes with another epic, “The Count of Tuscany”. Musically, this is a pretty interesting song that throws in a little of everything the band does. It’s slow, it’s fast, it’s heavy, it’s light, and there are epic guitar and keyboard solos and duets. Jordan Rudess indulges his penchant for using downright wacky synth sounds and the group pulls it off because the rest of them play it straight while he’s goofing around. Lyrically, though, this may be the cheesiest story guitarist John Petrucci has ever written for a song, and he’s done some pretty laughable ones. It tells the story of an American in Europe who meets “the Count of Tuscany” and is easily persuaded to go for a ride with him. The ride inevitably ends up at a creepy old castle with the count’s even creepier older brother. The narrator fears for his life with all the frightening things he sees, and then there’s about ten minutes of music. Finally, in the last few minutes of the song, our hero discovers that the Count and his brother were never going to kill him, no! They’re just oddballs and he should “Go and tell the world my story”. As if the count is somehow trapped in the castle, despite meeting our hero in a city and driving him out there.

Black Clouds and Silver Linings is a good album. It’s not great, but it’s their best in a while. This is their second album for Roadrunner Records, who know not only how to promote the band but also how to separate Dream Theater’s hardcore fan base from their money. The band themselves have been doing this for years, with expensive VIP packages available at nearly every show, and $40 T-shirts. But now they have a record label that’s equally on board with this idea. Hence the presence of the three-disc special edition, which includes a disc of cover songs and another disc of instrumental mixes of the main album. I guess the latter is for all those Dream Theater fans who hate James LaBrie but are still into the band enough to buy the special edition? Doesn’t seem like that would be very many people. Regardless, neither of the bonus discs add or subtract anything from the album proper, so unless you are way into listening to Dream Theater cover songs from Queen, King Crimson, and Iron Maiden, it’s eminently skippable.

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Moscow Metro Tour

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Description

Moscow metro private tours.

• 2-hour tour $87:  10 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with hotel pick-up and drop-off
• 3-hour tour $137:  20 Must-See Moscow Metro stations with Russian lunch in beautifully-decorated Metro Diner + hotel pick-up and drop off. 
• Metro pass is included in the price of both tours.

Highlight of Metro Tour

• Visit 10 must-see stations of Moscow metro on 2-hr tour and 20 Metro stations on 3-hr tour, including grand Komsomolskaya station with its distinctive Baroque décor, aristocratic Mayakovskaya station with Soviet mosaics, legendary Revolution Square station with 72 bronze sculptures and more!
• Explore Museum of Moscow Metro and learn a ton of technical and historical facts;
• Listen to the secrets about the Metro-2, a secret line supposedly used by the government and KGB;
• Experience a selection of most striking features of Moscow Metro hidden from most tourists and even locals;
• Discover the underground treasure of Russian Soviet past – from mosaics to bronzes, paintings, marble arches, stained glass and even paleontological elements;
• Learn fun stories and myths about Coffee Ring, Zodiac signs of Moscow Metro and more;
• Admire Soviet-era architecture of pre- and post- World War II perious;
• Enjoy panoramic views of Sparrow Hills from Luzhniki Metro Bridge – MetroMost, the only station of Moscow Metro located over water and the highest station above ground level;
• If lucky, catch a unique «Aquarelle Train» – a wheeled picture gallery, brightly painted with images of peony, chrysanthemums, daisies, sunflowers and each car unit is unique;
• Become an expert at navigating the legendary Moscow Metro system;
• Have fun time with a very friendly local;
• + Atmospheric Metro lunch in Moscow’s the only Metro Diner (included in a 3-hr tour)

Hotel Pick-up

Metro stations:.

Komsomolskaya

Novoslobodskaya

Prospekt Mira

Belorusskaya

Mayakovskaya

Novokuznetskaya

Revolution Square

Sparrow Hills

+ for 3-hour tour

Victory Park

Slavic Boulevard

Vystavochnaya

Dostoevskaya

Elektrozavodskaya

Partizanskaya

Museum of Moscow Metro

• Drop-off  at your hotel, Novodevichy Convent, Sparrow Hills or any place you wish
• + Russian lunch  in Metro Diner with artistic metro-style interior for 3-hour tour

Fun facts from our Moscow Metro Tours:

From the very first days of its existence, the Moscow Metro was the object of civil defense, used as a bomb shelter, and designed as a defense for a possible attack on the Soviet Union.

At a depth of 50 to 120 meters lies the second, the coded system of Metro-2 of Moscow subway, which is equipped with everything you need, from food storage to the nuclear button.

According to some sources, the total length of Metro-2 reaches over 150 kilometers.

The Museum was opened on Sportivnaya metro station on November 6, 1967. It features the most interesting models of trains and stations.

Coffee Ring

The first scheme of Moscow Metro looked like a bunch of separate lines. Listen to a myth about Joseph Stalin and the main brown line of Moscow Metro.

Zodiac Metro

According to some astrologers, each of the 12 stops of the Moscow Ring Line corresponds to a particular sign of the zodiac and divides the city into astrological sector.

Astrologers believe that being in a particular zadiac sector of Moscow for a long time, you attract certain energy and events into your life.

Paleontological finds 

Red marble walls of some of the Metro stations hide in themselves petrified inhabitants of ancient seas. Try and find some!

• Every day each car in  Moscow metro passes  more than 600 km, which is the distance from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
• Moscow subway system is the  5th in the intensity  of use (after the subways of Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai).
• The interval in the movement of trains in rush hour is  90 seconds .

What you get:

• + A friend in Moscow.
• + Private & customized Moscow tour.
• + An exciting pastime, not just boring history lessons.
• + An authentic experience of local life.
• + Flexibility during the walking tour: changes can be made at any time to suit individual preferences.
• + Amazing deals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in the very best cafes & restaurants. Discounts on weekdays (Mon-Fri).
• + A photo session amongst spectacular Moscow scenery that can be treasured for a lifetime.
• + Good value for souvenirs, taxis, and hotels.
• + Expert advice on what to do, where to go, and how to make the most of your time in Moscow.

Write your review

• Preplanned tours
• Daytrips out of Moscow
• Themed tours
• Customized tours
• St. Petersburg

Moscow Metro 2019

Will it be easy to find my way in the Moscow Metro? It is a question many visitors ask themselves before hitting the streets of the Russian capital. As metro is the main means of transport in Moscow – fast, reliable and safe – having some skills in using it will help make your visit more successful and smooth. On top of this, it is the most beautiful metro in the world !

. There are over 220 stations and 15 lines in the Moscow Metro. It is open from 6 am to 1 am. Trains come very frequently: during the rush hour you won't wait for more than 90 seconds! Distances between stations are quite long – 1,5 to 2 or even 3 kilometers. Metro runs inside the city borders only. To get to the airport you will need to take an onground train - Aeroexpress.

RATES AND TICKETS

Paper ticket A fee is fixed and does not depend on how far you go. There are tickets for a number of trips: 1, 2 or 60 trips; or for a number of days: 1, 3 days or a month. Your trips are recorded on a paper ticket. Ifyou buy a ticket for several trips you can share it with your traveling partner passing it from one to the other at the turnstile.

On every station there is cashier and machines (you can switch it to English). Cards and cash are accepted. 1 trip - 55 RUB 2 trips - 110 RUB

Tickets for 60 trips and day passes are available only at the cashier's.

60 rides - 1900 RUB

1 day - 230 RUB 3 days - 438 RUB 30 days - 2170 RUB.

The cheapest way to travel is buying Troyka card . It is a plastic card you can top up for any amount at the machine or at the ticket office. With it every trip costs 38 RUB in the metro and 21 RUB in a bus. You can get the card in any ticket office. Be prepared to leave a deposit of 50 RUB. You can get it back returning the card to the cashier.

SamsungPay, ApplePay and PayPass cards.

One turnstile at every station accept PayPass and payments with phones. It has a sticker with the logos and located next to the security's cabin.

GETTING ORIENTED

At the platfrom you will see one of these signs.

It indicates the line you are at now (line 6), shows the direction train run and the final stations. Numbers below there are of those lines you can change from this line.

In trains, stations are announced in Russian and English. In newer trains there are also visual indication of there you are on the line.

To change lines look for these signs. This one shows the way to line 2.

There are also signs on the platfrom. They will help you to havigate yourself. (To the lines 3 and 5 in this case).