Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed by three students at the Berklee College of Music in the mid 1980's.
They, along with counterparts Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, are credited with reviving progressive music into critical and commercial success in the late '80s and early 1990s after the genre had spent almost a decade in decline. Heavyweights of prog such as Yes, Genesis and Rush had moved toward a straightforward pop-rock sound in the early '80s, and neo-prog acts like Marillion and IQ were popular, but were seen to be less progressive than their '70s counterparts. It was not until Dream Theater and others climbed radio charts in the early '90s that truly progressive music was once again seen as a genuinely popular genre of music.
The progressive rock bands of the '70s and '80s had a profound influence on the compositional structure of Dream Theater's music, but modern acts like Metallica and Iron Maiden had a more pronounced sonic effect, lending Dream Theater their heaviness and wailing vocal style. The unique mix of '70s progressive rock and '80s heavy metal, previously unheard of prior to the formation of Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, was given the name progressive metal. Dream Theater are seen as a major pioneer of that genre despite forming slightly later than both Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, and they are responsible for triggering a sharp incline in the number of progressive metal bands being formed through the '90s and 2000s.
Today, they stand as the one of the most important and commercially successful progressive metal groups in the genre's existence. While Queensrÿche moved towards straightforward rock after the success of their album Empire (and its hit song "Silent Lucidity"), and Fates Warning struggled to forge a significant commercial following, Dream Theater influenced many modern progressive metal bands while at the same time consistently climbing the rock charts. Bands like Spock's Beard, Pain of Salvation and even Tool owe part of their success to the groundbreaking work of Dream Theater through the '80s and '90s.
To date Dream Theater have received gold record certification for album sales in the U.S., platinum certification for DVD sales, several platinum records in Japan, and various worldwide certifications. Part of this success is due to the cult-like nature of Dream Theater's fanbase.
Personnel
Current members
- James LaBrie - vocals and percussion
- John Petrucci - guitars and vocals
- Mike Portnoy - drums, percussion and vocals
- John Myung - bass guitar and Chapman Stick
- Jordan Rudess - keyboards
Former members
- Charlie Dominici - vocals
- Kevin Moore - keyboards
- Derek Sherinian - keyboards
History
Formation
The Dream Theater story begins in 1986 when guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung decided to form a band in their spare time. Both were students at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, which is where they found drummer Mike Portnoy jamming in a rehearsal room. After a two day courtship, they managed to convince Portnoy to join their band, and the trio set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci contacted his high school band-mate Kevin Moore and asked him to lend his keyboard playing talents to the project, an offer which was immediately accepted. The final position was filled when Chris Collins was recruited to perform lead vocalist duties.
The quintet settled on the name Majesty for their newly-formed group.
During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung were still juggling their studies with part-time jobs and tutoring. Their schedule became so busy that were forced to decide between pursuing a music career or dissolving the band, but Majesty won out and all three left Berklee to concentrate on their music.
Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.
1986 - 1990
In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins left the band because of creative differences with the other members. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was many years older than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began playing more shows in and around the New York City area, and gained a considerable amount of exposure for a band that had not yet released an album.
Further propelling them towards success was the release of a collection of demos, entitled The Majesty Demos, in 1987. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette spread like wildfire through the progressive metal scene all over the world. Because of the devotion of Dream Theater fans over the years, the Majesty Demos are still available in their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD through Mike Portnoy's YtseJam Records.
Shortly after the release of the demos, a Las Vegas jazz group also named Majesty threatened legal action for intellectual property infringement related to the use of their name, so the band was forced to adopt a new moniker. Various possibilities were proposed and trialled, until Portnoy's father suggested the name Dream Theater, which was the name of a now-demolished movie house in Monterey, California.
With a new name and singer, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material and playing more concerts around New York and neighbouring states, eventually attracting the interest of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic in 1988 and set out to record their debut album.
When Dream and Day Unite was released in 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to Dream Theater prior to their contract signing, so the band were restricted to playing around NYC. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were in New York or Rhode Island[1].
After the fourth of these gigs, Dominici was fired because of personal and creative differences between he and the rest of the band. Shortly after, however, Marillion asked Dream Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was given the opportunity to perform one last time. It would be a further two years before Dream Theater had another full-time singer.
1991 - 1994
Following Dominici's firing, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their contract with Mechanic, and set about auditioning singers and writing material for their next album.
In mid-1990, at a gig in New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. He performed just three songs with the band before he was fired for performing less than adequately. It was five months before Dream Theater played another gig, this time all-instrumental, and from then until mid-1992 they did not take to the stage at all.
Instead, they devoted their time primarily to auditioning other singers, while continuing to write and develop more music. During this period they wrote the majority of the music for what would become the Images and Words album.
In their search for a new singer they auditioned over 200 people, among them former Fates Warning frontman John Arch, all were all turned down for various reasons. It was not until late 1991, when a tape arrived from Canada, that they would find a suitable fit. Kevin James LaBrie, of glam rock band Winter Rose, was immediately flown to New York for a proper audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and they immediately decided to hire him to fill the long-vacant vocalist position. Once hired, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band.
For the next few months, the band resumed gigging (still mostly around NYC), and worked on vocal parts for all the music that they had written to that point. ATCO Records (now EastWest), a division of Elektra Records, signed Dream Theater to a seven album contract on the strength of their reputation and a three song demo (later made available as "The ATCO Demos" through the Dream Theater fan club).
The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was Images and Words, released in 1992. The label released a CD Single and video clip for the song "Another Day" in order to promote it, but neither made a significant impact in the charts or on radio. "Pull Me Under", however, managed to attain a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In responce, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under" which was in heavy MTV rotation for a number of weeks. A third video clip, for "Take the Time", was produced but was not nearly as successful as "Pull Me Under".
The success of "Pull Me Under", combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and Japan, caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London's famed Marquee jazz club. That show was recorded and released as Live at the Marquee, Dream Theater's first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in with some documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.
Keen to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. The 1994 sessions were the first in which Dream Theater as a whole wrote music together that was specifically for an album.
Awake, Dream Theater's third studio album, was released in October 1994 in a hail of controversy among established fans. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore announced to the rest of the band that he wished to concentrate on his own musical interests and would be quitting Dream Theater. This rocked a band that had enjoyed just two years of stability after a tumultuous first half-decade, but Moore was no longer interested in the life of a touring musician nor the brand of progressive metal Dream Theater performed, so the two parties went their separate ways.
As a result of that news, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist instead of jumping head-first into touring mode.
Because of their high profile at the time, they had no shortage of musicians to choose from. Jens Johansson, who would go on to become a member of Stratovarius, was among the biggest names to audition, but they did not find anyone suitable for the position until Jordan Rudess was contacted.
Portnoy and Petrucci had spotted Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, which awarded him the "best new talent" award in their reader's poll that year, and invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Burbank, CA. The gig went incredibly well for all concerned, and Dream Theater asked Rudess to fill the keyboardist position permanently, but The Dixie Dregs had asked him to go on tour with them at the same time. Rudess decided that the commitment needed in Dream Theater was too much for him and his young family to be subjected to, so the less intrusive touring spot in the Dregs was chosen.
Disappointed, Dream Theater hired Derek Sherinian (whose previous work included stints with Alice Cooper and KISS) to fill in for the Awake promotional tour. By the conclusion of that tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-time replacement.
1995 - 1998
Once again finding themselves in the studio with a new member, Dream Theater did not immediately start working on new material.
Fans around the world, united on the YtseJam Mailing List (the most popular form of communication between Dream Theater fans at that point), had started a groundswell of pressure on Dream Theater to officially release their song "A Change of Seasons". It had been written in 1989 and was intended to be a part of Images and Words, but at almost 17 minutes it was deemed too long and was put on the shelf for a later date. Although the band performed it live occasionally (to great reception), and continued to rework it in the years leading up to 1995, there was no sign of it ever seeing the light of day on an official album until the fans sent a petition to EastWest Records.
The petition was successful, and the group entered BearTrack Studios in New York in April 1995 to rewrite and record their epic, which was now more than 23 minutes long. It was to be Sherinian's first contribution to the band in a writing capacity, and he put a significant amount of his personality onto the track.
They toyed with various ideas on how to disseminate "A Change of Seasons", but eventually settled on releasing an EP with a collection of bonus cover songs recorded live at the infamous Uncovered fanclub gig in addition to the title track.
After a short run of small "one-off" concerts to promote A Change of Seasons, Dream Theater took a break for a few months. They managed to keep busy however, releasing a special Christmas CD through their official fan club which consisted of some rare live tracks recorded through the early years of the band's existence. They would continue this tradition until 2005, releasing a new CD each Christmas[2].
The break was also spent working individually on some compositions for their upcoming writing sessions.
Meanwhile, there were some changes at EastWest, and Dream Theater's main contact with the label was fired. As a result, the new people at the company were not fully accustomed to the relationship that Dream Theater had previously had with EastWest, and they pressured Dream Theater to write an album that was accessible to people beyond their progressive fan base.
At the end of 1996, they entered the studio to write their next album. EastWest had recruited writer/producer Desmond Child to work with the band to make their music sound more appealing to the mainstream, and he had a significant impact on most of the songs they completed, especially "You Not Me", for which he was given a co-writing credit.
The band wrote almost two CDs worth of material, including a 20 minute long follow-up to the Images and Words song "Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper". The label, however, did not allow the release of a double album because they felt that a 140-minute record would not be digestable by the general public, so half the songs had to be cut. Most of the unused songs were released in other ways later on, either on fan club Christmas CDs or at live shows.
The material that made it onto the album proper was released as Falling Into Infinity, which received a mixed reception from traditional Dream Theater fans, a lot of whom wanted to hear another Images and Words or Awake. Despite the album containing some very progressive-sounding songs, tracks like "Hollow Years" and "You Not Me" prompted some to believe it was the dawn of a new, mainstream-sounding Dream Theater. The album was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Ironically, the songs that EastWest had earmarked as candidates for release as singles, "You Not Me" and "Hollow Years", failed to make an impact on radio or in the charts.
The time immediately before and during the release of Falling Into Infinity was a particularly frustrating time for a band who had up to that point enjoyed total freedom with their music, and the tension of having been thrust into dealing with the corporate side of releasing an album almost tore the band apart. Portnoy considered breaking the band up because of their newly imposed restrictions, a fact he didn't discuss publicly until many years later, but he stuck with it for the promotional tour.
During the European leg of the Falling Into Infinity world tour, two shows were recorded for a live album entitled Once In A LIVEtime, in France and The Netherlands. The album was released at around the same time as the video 5 Years in a LIVEtime, which chronicled the time from when Kevin Moore left the band right up to the Falling Into Infinity promotional tour.
In 1997, Magna Carta Records' Mike Varney invited Portnoy to assemble a progressive 'supergroup' to work on an album, which would become the first in a long string of side-projects for the members of Dream Theater. The lineup that was eventually settled on consisted of Portnoy on drums, Petrucci on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and Jordan Rudess, who had finished with the Dixie Dregs by that time, on keyboards. The band assumed the name Liquid Tension Experiment, and would act as a medium through which Portnoy and Petrucci could once again court Rudess to join them in Dream Theater. They extended an invitation for him to join them in 1999, and he accepted the offer to become the third full-time Dream Theater keyboardist. Unfortunately for Sherinian, this meant that he was out of a job.
Many fans blamed Sherinian for the disappointment of Falling Into Infinity, and his firing was perceived as Dream Theater's tacit agreement with this notion. This was perhaps unfair, because the corporate pressures placed on the band at the time were not the fault of anyone in the band, but Sherinian was seen as a scapegoat nonetheless.
1999 onward
Armed with yet another new member, Dream Theater entered BearTracks Studio once again to write and record their next album. Perhaps as a response to the backlash over Falling Into Infinity, this time their record label gave the band complete freedom with their music. The follow-up to "Metropolis Part 1", which was written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions (but not used on that album), was taken off the shelf as the first thing for them to work on.
They decided to expand the 20-minute song into a complete concept album, with the story revolving around themes such as reincarnation, murder and betrayal. To avoid stirring up the fan base, a tight veil of secrecy enveloped the writing and recording process. The only things fans knew prior to its release were a tracklist that had been leaked against the band's wishes, and a release date. They knew nothing of the title, the music, or even the fact that it would be a concept album.
In 1999, Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory was released to high critical acclaim. It was hailed as Dream Theater's masterpiece by many fans and critics alike, despite only reaching #73 on the charts[3].
A massive world tour followed, taking over a year to complete and visiting more countries than they had ever toured before.
The concerts, which were far bigger than anything the band had attempted before, reflected the theatrical aspect of the album. They played the entire Scenes From a Memory album from start to finish, with a video screen on the back wall of the stage showing a narrative companion to the story of the album. In addition to playing the album in its entirity, the band also played a second set of older Dream Theater songs as well as a few covers and some new interpretations of old Dream Theater material.
For one extra special show, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, actors were hired to play characters in the story, and a gospel choir was enlisted to perform in some sections of the show. One actor played the part of the hypnotherapist, and gospel singer Theresa Thomason sang the part of the female main character, Victoria.
This show, the last North American date of the tour, was recorded for the band's first DVD release. After many technical delays, Dream Theater fans finally got their hands on the DVD, entitled Metropolis 2000, in early 2001. Shortly after its release, the band announced that an audio version of the concert, with the entire four-hour long setlist (most of which had to be cut from the DVD to save space), would be released shortly thereafter.
The cover for the CD version of the concert, titled Live Scenes From New York, showed one of Dream Theater's early logos (the Images And Words-era burning heart, modelled on a famous christian motif) modified to show an apple (as in Big Apple) instead of the heart, and the New York skyline, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, in the flame above it. In an unfortunate coincidence, the album was released on the same date as the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. The album was immediately recalled, but many copies were snapped up by Dream Theater collectors as a very rare piece of Dream Theater's history. It was re-released with revised artwork a short time later.
Putting that whole ordeal behind them, Dream Theater once again entered BearTracks Studios to record their sixth studio album. Four years after they first petitioned EastWest to allow them to release a double album, they finally got their chance with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. The first disc consisted of five tracks of 5-13 minutes in length, and the second disc was devoted entirely to the 42-minute title track, which is to date the longest song Dream Theater have written.
The genesis of that song came when Rudess wrote what would become the "Overture" section of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", and the band took some different melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into chapters of the complete piece.
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence ended up being received very well by critics and the press. It was the most publicized of Dream Theater's albums since Awake, debuting on the Billboard charts at #46[4] and the Billboard Internet charts at #1[5].
Throughout the next year and a half they toured the world once more, with an expanded live show including a select few special "album cover" gigs (see Cover songs section, below), in which they played Metallica's Master of Puppets and Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast in their entirety.
The year 2003 also saw a reunion between Kevin Moore and Mike Portnoy, nine years after Moore left Dream Theater. Jim Matheos, guitarist and songwriter for Fates Warning, recruited the pair, along with Sean Malone, to perform in his OSI project. Their debut album, Office of Strategic Influence, can be described as a heavier version of Moore's Chroma Key work, and it was very well received by most of the prog world including Dream Theater fans. It was quite a departure for Portnoy to take drumming direction from Moore and Matheos, since he was essentially playing the role of band member, rather than the band leader role he was accustomed to in Dream Theater, but his drumming with OSI has been applauded by many critics.
Also during that year, Dream Theater entered the studio to write and record another album. Since Scenes From A Memory they had written and recorded simultaneously in the studio, but to bring a fresh approach to the new album they tweaked this process, setting aside three weeks prior to recording in which they wrote and developed the material.
In the middle of the recording sessions for that album a special one-off package tour with two other heavyweights of progressive metal, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, was devised to tour North America. The "Escape From The Studio American tour", as it was referred to in Dream Theater's promotional material, featured Queensÿche and Dream Theater as the co-headlining acts, alternating the right to perform last between cities, and Fates Warning performing support act duties. As a finale for each concert there was an extended encore in which both Dream Theater and Queensrÿche performed together on stage simultaneously, often performing cover songs.
At the completion of that tour the group returned to the studio to finish the recording of their seventh album, Train of Thought, which was their heaviest to that point. They concentrated more on writing a great song-oriented album (that is, a collection of songs rather than an album as a single composition), a mindset inspired by covering Master of Puppets and Number of the Beast on a previous concert tour. As a result, the heavy metal sound of those two albums seemed to creep into Train of Thought as well.
The album was a critical success, but it alienated a fair proportion of Dream Theater's fans who enjoy traditional progressive rock such as Yes or King Crimson more than modern heavy metal like Tool. Regardless, it seemed to expand Dream Theater's fan base into new territory, that of mainstream heavy metal and nu-metal.
Another world tour followed, during which Dream Theater performed support act duties for one of their major influences, Yes. A modest North American tour was completed by the two bands, after which Dream Theater continued to tour the world with their so called "Evening With" shows.
Their next move was to release another live CD/DVD combination, this time recorded at the famous Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on their Train of Thought world tour. Live at Budokan was released on October 5, 2004, and further propelled Dream Theater's reputation as one of the premier live acts in progressive metal.
Upon the completion of their Train of Thought promotional tour, Dream Theater entered the Hit Factory studios in NYC to record their (as yet unreleased) eighth album. As it turned out, they would be the last group ever to record in that famous studio, and after they wrapped up their final session, the lights were turned off at the studio forever.
The new album is entitled Octavarium, and is scheduled for release on June 7, 2005[6]. When it comes out, it will be the last under their seven album deal with Elektra, and their plans for the future are currently unknown.
Concert reputation
Throughout their career, Dream Theater's live shows have gradually become bigger, longer, more diverse, less restrictive and more fun. Early in their career, a Dream Theater show was not considerably different than that of any other progressive metal band, but today one can never be totally sure what to expect from their gigs.
The most obvious example of this is their rotational setlist policy. That is, every single night of every tour has its setlist devised by Portnoy using a meticulous process that ensures it is completely unique. Factors such as setlists from previous cities are taken into account to ensure that people who see Dream Theater multiple times within the same area will not see the same songs performed twice, and even the setlist from the last time the band were in a particular city is taken into account for the benefit of fans who see the band on successive tours.
For this to be possible, the band must prepare themselves to play the majority of their catalogue at any stage depending on what Portnoy decides to play for that night. This also requires the employment of a very complex lighting system that loads pre-set light movements based on the setlist, which is actually entered into the system.
Length is another unique element of Dream Theater concerts. Their full world tours, since Six Degree of Inner Turbulence, have predominantly been so-called "Evening with..." tours, in which the band performs for at least three hours with an intermission and no opening act. The show that was recorded for Live Scenes From New York was nearly four hours in length, and resulted in Portnoy almost being hospitalized.
There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. It is not unheard of, for example, for a member of the audience to be picked out at random to perform on stage (an example of which can be seen during Portnoy's drum solo on the Live at Budokan DVD). There have also been impromptu renditions of "Happy Birthday" when a member of the band or crew have a birthday corresponding to a tour date. This normally results in a birthday cake being thrown over the person.
During Derek Sherinian's time with the band, at selected shows, the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictional "Nightmare Cinema" (the approximate opposite of "Dream Theater"). They usually performed a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers", and, on one occasion, Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution".
Similarly, at very few shows, Sherinian, Petrucci and Portnoy would take the stage together under the name "Nicky Lemons and the Migraine Brothers". Sherinian, wearing a feather boa and novelty sunglasses, would perform a song called "I Don't Like You" with Petrucci and Portnoy backing.
Logo and imagery
Early on in their career, Dream Theater adopted a custom logo (known as the Majesty symbol) and wordmark which has appeared on the vast majority of their promotional material since, with at least one of the official marks appearing on the front cover of every major release to date. Even after the band dropped the Majesty name the symbol remained as their official mark, and it is viewed by the Dream Theater fan community in much the same way as the four symbols of each member of Led Zeppelin are embraced by fans of that band. It is common to see people with Majesty symbol tattoos at Dream Theater concerts.
The Majesty symbol is derived from Mary Queen of Scots' mark[7], which was re-worked by Charlie Dominici for use on the album artwork for When Dream and Day Unite[8].
The fact that the wordmark did not appear on the covers of Falling Into Infinity and Once in a LIVEtime was interpreted by some fans as evidence that the band had sold out and strayed from their roots, but by the time it had reclaimed its place on the cover of Scenes From a Memory the unhappiness was largely forgotten. It has since appeared on every subsequent release.
Bootleg culture
Dream Theater are without question one of the most actively bootlegged bands in the progressive metal genre. Since their very first gigs in New York as Majesty, fans have recorded almost every single show that Dream Theater have played (occasionally there are three or four versions of a single concert), and some very elaborate and professional recordings have been released.
However, not every member in the band tolerates the release of Dream Theater bootlegs. Portnoy is definitely the most pro-bootlegging member, since he was an avid collector of many bootlegs in his younger days and keeps his own personal archive of Dream Theater material. But both Petrucci and LaBrie have voiced opposition to people recording their concerts. Petrucci takes issue with bootleggers because he prefers audience members to concentrate on the musicians on stage, and not the level adjustments on their recording device. LaBrie, on the other hand, has an opinion that is quite common among musicians and performers: that bootlegging takes ownership and control over Dream Theater's performances away from the band themselves and into the hands of the public. Myung has expressed mild opposition to bootlegging, but in some interviews has mentioned that he does not particularly take great issue with it.
Regardless of their personal opinions, each member of the band still autographs any bootleg that is presented to them for a signature, so their opposition is not as fervent as that of some musicians. This is possibly best exemplified by the fact that Dream Theater have launched a series of official bootlegs through YtseJam Records, spearheaded by Portnoy.
Cover songs
Even though they are well-known for covering other artists' work throughout the entirety of their career, Dream Theater took it to the next level during the promotional tour for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. At three special gigs, one each in Barcelona, Chicago and New York City, they covered Metallica's Master of Puppets album in its entirety after a full set of Dream Theater material. This came as a complete shock to fans as there was no sign that this was to occur, other than it being announced that the gigs involved, which were the second of a two-night stand in each city, would be "extra special".
The covers set divided many fans who attended the shows. Some said that they went to the concerts to see Dream Theater material, while others said that it was a bonus, and not a replacement for a normal Dream Theater concert. Nonetheless, the negativity soon died down.
On the next leg of the tour they covered Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast and received a similar reaction to Master of Puppets, although it was already known that a cover was to be performed that night. The fact that two '80s heavy metal albums had been covered first was viewed negatively by some sections of Dream Theater's fan base, but to others it was exactly what they wanted to see.
Mike Portnoy says that he has three more cover shows planned, but refuses to reveal when they will occur, or what albums will be covered[9]. There is much debate in Dream Theater fan circles about what albums will be covered, and even what genre those albums will fall under.
Discography
Studio albums
- When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
- Images and Words (1992)
- Awake (1994)
- Falling Into Infinity (1997)
- Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)
- Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
- Train of Thought (2003)
- Octavarium (2005) (Scheduled for release on June 7, 2005)
Studio EPs
Live albums
- Live At The Marquee (1993)
- Once In A LIVEtime (1998)
- Live Scenes From New York (2001)
- Live at Budokan (2004)
Singles
- "Another Day" (CD Single from album Images and Words) (1992)
- "The Silent Man" (CD Single from album Awake) (1994)
- "Lie" (CD Single from album Awake) (1994)
- "Hollow Years" (CD Single from album Falling Into Infinity) (1997)
- "Through Her Eyes" (CD Single from album Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory) (2000)
Videography
- Images and Words: Live in Tokyo (1993)
- 5 Years in a LIVEtime (1998)
- Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York (2001)
- Images and Words: Live in Tokyo / 5 Years in a LIVEtime (2004) (combined DVD re-release)
- Live at Budokan (October 2004)
Awards and certificates
RIAA Gold and Platinum certification
- See also: RIAA certification
- Images and Words (Gold) - February 2, 1995
- Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York (Gold) - November 8, 2002
- Live at Budokan (Platinum) - January 26, 2005
Source: search for "Dream Theater".
Magazine awards
Keyboard Magazine
Jordan Rudess has been awarded the following Keyboard Magazine Reader's Poll awards:
1994:
- Best New Talent
Modern Drummer
Mike Portnoy has won the following Modern Drummer magazine Reader's Poll awards:
1994:
- Best Up & Coming Talent
1995:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Best Recorded Performance (Awake)
1996:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Best Recorded Performance (A Change of Seasons)
1997:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
1998:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Best Recorded Performance (Falling Into Infinity)
1999:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
2000:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Best Recorded Performance (Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory)
- Best Clinician
- Best Educational Video/DVD
2001:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
2002:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Best Recorded Performance (Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence)
- Best Clinician
- Best Educational Video/DVD
2003:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
2004:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
- Hall of Fame Inductee
2005:
- Best Progressive Rock Drummer
Notes
- ^ See the MikePortnoy.com tourography for details on these concerts.
- ^ Nine Christmas CDs were released through Dream Theater's fan club before it was closed down in 2005. See DTIFC on Dream Theater.net.
- ^ Details on the chart performance of Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory can be seen at DreamTheater.net.
- ^ More information on the chart performance of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence can be found at Billboard.com and DreamTheater.net.
- ^ DreamTheater.net reported that Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence had reached #1 on the Billboard Internet Charts.
- ^ The announcement about the release date for Octavarium was made on Dream Theater.net.
- ^ The mark used by Mary Queen of Scots can be seen through Dream Theater.net.
- ^ Dominici was responsible for editing the Majesty Symbol in its current form. See DTFAQ.com.
- ^ In his FAQ list, Mike Portnoy mentions that he has five albums picked out for Dream Theater to cover. Two of those, Master of Puppets and The Number of the Beast, have already been played.
External links
- Official Dream Theater website
- Official Dream Theater FAQ
- Mike Portnoy website
- John Petrucci website
- Jordan Rudess website
- John Myung website
- James Labrie website
- YtseJam Records
- Dream Theater "Unofficial" Song Book
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| Live releases | |
| Compilations | |
| EPs | |
| Videos | |
| Singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Other | |
