Dream Theater

This article is about the band Dream Theater. For their self-titled album, see Dream Theater (album).

Dream Theater
Dream Theater in 2011. From left to right: John Myung, Jordan Rudess, James LaBrie, Mike Mangini and John Petrucci.
Background information
Also known as	Majesty (1985–1986)
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	Progressive metal, progressive rock
Years active	1985–present
Labels	Roadrunner, Warner Bros., Atlantic, Elektra, EastWest, Atco, Mechanic
Associated acts	Liquid Tension Experiment, Explorers Club, Mullmuzzler, OSI, Platypus
Website	www.dreamtheater.net
Members	John Myung John Petrucci James LaBrie Jordan Rudess Mike Mangini
Past members	Mike Portnoy Kevin Moore Chris Collins Charlie Dominici Derek Sherinian

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would ultimately become Dream Theater. Though a number of lineup changes followed, the three original members remained together along with James LaBrie and Jordan Rudess until September 8, 2010 when Portnoy left the band. In October 2010, the band held auditions for a drummer to replace Portnoy. Mike Mangini was announced as the new permanent drummer on April 29, 2011.

The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines. Guitarist John Petrucci has been named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any invited players. In 2009 he was named the No. 2 best metal guitarist by Joel McIver in his book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine. Jordan Rudess is considered to be one of the greatest keyboard players of all time by many publications like MusicRadar. Former drummer Mike Portnoy has won 26 awards from Modern Drummer magazine and is also the second youngest person (at the age of 37) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame. His replacement Mike Mangini has also previously set 5 WFD records. John Myung was voted the greatest bassist of all time in a poll conducted by MusicRadar in August through September 2010. The band was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

The band's highest-selling album is the gold-selling Images and Words (1992), which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. Both the 1994 release Awake and their 2002 release Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46 respectively and received mostly positive reviews. Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of The greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It is ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album (as of March 2003) by Classic Rock Magazine. and as the number one all-time progressive album by Rolling Stone (as of July 2012). Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also led to Dream Theater becoming the initial band reviewed in the music section of Entertainment Weekly during its opening week of release, despite the magazine generally preferring more mainstream music. In 2007, Systematic Chaos entered U.S. Billboard 200 at No. 19. By 2011, Dream Theater had sold over 12 million records worldwide.

The band's eleventh studio album, A Dramatic Turn of Events, was released on September 13, 2011. It entered the U.S. Billboard 200 at No. 8, two positions lower than their previous release Black Clouds & Silver Linings which entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 6. The album is the band's first with Mike Mangini, since Mike Portnoy's departure. On November 30, 2011, the album's lead single, "On the Backs of Angels", was nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category, marking the band's first ever Grammy nomination. Dream Theater's self-titled 12th studio album was released on September 23, 2013 and sold around 34.000 copies in the first week and landed at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, one position higher than A Dramatic Turn of Events.

On April 9, 2013, Images and Words won Loudwire's fan voted March Metal Madness for world's best metal album beating albums by Dio, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Metallica.

History

Early years (1985–1990)

Formation

Founding members (from left to right) John Myung, Mike Portnoy, and John Petrucci in 1985.

Dream Theater was formed in Massachusetts in 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band while attending the Berklee College of Music. The trio started by covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.

Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy joined together on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to the The Score So Far... documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "Bastille Day" (from the album Caress of Steel) sounded "majestic". It was then decided that Majesty would be the band's name.

The trio then set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci asked his high school band-mate Kevin Moore to play the keyboard. After he accepted the position, another friend from home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of "Queen of the Reich" by Queensrÿche. During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung's hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.

The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos are still available in their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD, through Mike Portnoy's YtseJam Records.

In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins was fired. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was far older and more experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.

Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas 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 tested, among them Glasser, Magus, and M1, which were all rejected, though the band did go as Glasser for about a week, though fans reacted poorly to this decision. Eventually, Portnoy's father suggested the name Dream Theater, the name of a small theater he ran in Monterey, California, and the name stuck.

When Dream and Day Unite (1988–90)

Dream Theater in 1989:John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Dominici, Kevin Moore, John Myung

With their new name and band stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the attention of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988 and set out to record their debut album. The band recorded the album at Kajem Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Recording the basic tracks took about 10 days, and the entire album was completed in about 3 weeks.

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 signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were relatively local. Their first show was at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for the classic rock power trio Zebra.

After the fourth show, Charlie Dominici was let go because the band was starting to feel the limitations of his voice based upon the vocal style they wanted. The band was looking for more of a Bruce Dickinson/Geoff Tate type of singer, and his stage presence was not what they wanted for a front man. Shortly after, however, the band 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 another two years before Dream Theater had a replacement vocalist.

The Atlantic years

Images and Words and the addition of James LaBrie (1991–93)

James LaBrie joined the band in January 1991 and has been their vocalist ever since.

Following Dominici's departure, 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 their search for a new singer, they auditioned over 200 people, among them former Fates Warning front man John Arch. John ultimately decided that his personal commitments were more important; and, he opted not to join the band. In mid-1990, at a gig in New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. They had successfully recorded demos with him, which can be seen on the Demos, though he only performed one live show with them that ended up disastrous, and Stone was fired immediately. The band says he had been dancing around the stage in a rather odd manner, seemingly doing a bad impression of Bruce Dickinson. Also, he had infamously shouted 'Scream for me Long Beach!' several times throughout the show (which Bruce Dickinson shouts several times during the live recording Live After Death), although they were actually performing in Bayshore, embarrassing the band further. It was five months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental (under the name YtseJam). Until 1991, the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing additional music. It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become Images and Words (1992).

In January 1991, Kevin James LaBrie, of glam metal band Winter Rose, was flown from Canada to New York for an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and was immediately hired to fill the vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows (still mostly around NYC), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring LaBrie. Derek Shulman and Atco Records (now EastWest), a division of Elektra Records, signed Dream Theater to a seven album contract based on 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 (1992). For promotion, the label released a CD Single and video clip for the song "Another Day", but neither made significant commercial impact. The song "Pull Me Under", however, managed to garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In response, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under", which saw heavy rotation on MTV. A third video clip was produced for "Take the Time", but it 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 status in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London's famed Marquee Club. The 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 documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.

Awake and Kevin Moore's departure (1994–95)

Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. Awake, Dream Theater's third studio album, was released on October 4, 1994 amidst a storm of fan controversy. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore had announced to the rest of the band that he would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his own musical interests, since he was no longer interested in touring or the style of music which Dream Theater performed. As a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be considered.

Jens Johansson, who would go on to become a member of Stratovarius, was among the biggest names to audition, but the band members were eager to fill the position with keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Portnoy and Petrucci had come across Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as "best new talent" in the readers' poll. The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Burbank, California. Although the show was a success, and Rudess was asked to fill the keyboardist position permanently, he opted to tour with The Dixie Dregs instead, since it granted him more personal latitude. Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus Derek Sherinian, who had previously toured and recorded with Alice Cooper and KISS, to fill in for the Awake promotional tour. By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-time replacement.

A Change of Seasons, Falling into Infinity (1995–98)

Once again finding themselves 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 begun to put pressure on the band to officially release the song "A Change of Seasons". This 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 for studio placement. It had nevertheless been performed live by the band, who continued to revise it in the years leading up to 1995.

The petition was successful, and the group entered BearTracks Studios in New York in May 1995 to rewrite and record the now 23-minute long song with Sherinian contributing significantly to the final product. The band released "A Change of Seasons" as an EP along with a collection of cover songs from a live show recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London earlier that year.

After a brief run of small concerts and a short break, the band released a special Christmas CD through their official fan club, consisting of rare live tracks recorded during the band's early years. They continued releasing a new CD each Christmas until 2005.

Meanwhile, there were several changes at EastWest, and Dream Theater's main contact within the label was fired. As a result, the new team at the company were unaccustomed to the relationship Dream Theater had with former EastWest personnel, and they pressured them to write an album that was more accessible. In mid-1997, they entered the studio to write their next album. In addition to pressuring the band to adopt a more mainstream sound, EastWest recruited writer/producer Desmond Child to work with Petrucci on polishing the lyrics to his song "You or Me". The whole band substantially reworked the song, and it appeared on the album as "You Not Me" with a chorus that bore little resemblance to the original. Child also had a noticeable impact on the album, with a shift towards less complex and more radio-friendly compositions.

The band wrote almost two CDs worth of material, including a 20-minute-long follow-up to the Images and Words song "Metropolis–Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper". The label, however, did not allow the release of a double album because it felt that a 140-minute record would not be well received by the general public. James LaBrie also felt that the CD should be a single disc. The unused songs were later released in the Ytsejam Records release The Falling into Infinity Demos.

The material that made it onto the album proper was released as Falling into Infinity, which received a mixed reception from fans who were more familiar with the band's earlier sound. While the album was moderately progressive-sounding, tracks such as "Hollow Years" and "You Not Me" prompted some to believe it was the dawn of a new, mainstream-sounding Dream Theater. Overall, the album was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Although Portnoy did not speak out publicly at the time, he later revealed in the 2004 DVD commentary for 5 Years in a Livetime, that he had been so discouraged during this period that he had considered disbanding Dream Theater altogether.

During the European leg of the Touring 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 covered the years from Kevin Moore's departure to the Falling into Infinity promotional tour.

Addition of Jordan Rudess and Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999–2000)

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 consisted of Portnoy on drums, Petrucci on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who had finished with the Dixie Dregs. 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 Dream Theater. In 1999, he accepted an offer to become the third full-time Dream Theater keyboardist, replacing Sherinian.

With yet another new member, Dream Theater entered BearTracks Studio once again to write and record their next album. As a result of an ultimatum from Portnoy, the label gave the band complete creative control. The band began by revisiting the follow-up to "Metropolis–Part I", which had been written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions but which had not been used on that album. They decided to expand the 20-minute song into a complete concept album, with a 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 were privy to prior to its release were a track list that had been leaked against the band's wishes, and a release date. In 1999, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was released to high critical acclaim, being lauded as the band's masterpiece, despite only reaching No. 73 on the US album chart.

The album was mixed by David Bottrill, but only a few of his mixes made it on the final album. The bulk was remixed by Kevin Shirley. The rest of the mixes can be heard in the band's official bootleg The Making of Scenes from a Memory.

The subsequent world tour was by far their largest to date, and took over a year to complete. The concerts reflected the theatrical aspect of the album, with the first half of each show comprising the entire Scenes From a Memory album accompanied by a film showing dramatized portions of the story projected onto a video screen behind the stage. For the last date of the North American leg, 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 performance. The show was filmed and eventually released in early 2001 as the band's first DVD release, Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York.

Since several songs from the second half of the four-hour show had to be cut from the DVD to save space, the band also released the full show on the live CD Live Scenes from New York. The original cover depicted one of Dream Theater's early logos (the Images and Words-era burning heart, modeled on the Sacred Heart of Christ) 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 attacks. The album was quickly recalled by the band and was re-released with revised artwork later, although the few copies which were sold with the original artwork have since become rare collectors items.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2001–02)

Putting the 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 7–13 minutes in length, and the second disc was devoted entirely to the 42-minute title track, which remains to date the longest song Dream Theater has written. Many of the song's melodies and musical themes originated in an instrumental piece, written by Rudess, which would eventually become the song's "Overture". Those themes were then expanded by the rest of the band to form individual chapters in a complete story.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence was very well received by critics and the press. It was the most publicized of Dream Theater's albums since Awake, debuting on the Billboard charts at No. 46 and the Billboard Internet charts at No. 1. The subsequent world tour included 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.

Train of Thought (2003–04)

In 2003, Dream Theater entered the studio to write and record another album. Unlike Scenes from a Memory, which had been written and recorded simultaneously in the studio, the band took a different approach by setting aside three weeks for writing prior to recording. In the middle of the recording sessions for the album, a special tour with two other progressive metal bands, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, was undertaken in North America. Referred to in the band's promotional material as the "Escape from the Studio American tour", the tour featured Queensrÿche and Dream Theater as co-headlining acts with Fates Warning performing supporting 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 playing cover songs.

At the completion of the tour, Dream Theater returned to the studio to finish the recording of their seventh album, Train of Thought. In contrast to the extended songs of their previous album, the band aimed to write a more song-oriented album, inspired in part by covering the Master of Puppets and Number of the Beast albums on their previous concert tour. Although the album was a critical success, its more straightforward metal sound alienated many of the band's existing fans, who had been attracted by the band's roots in progressive rock.

Another world tour followed, during which Dream Theater supported Yes, a band which had been a major influence on their own musical style. A modest North American tour was completed by the two bands, after which Dream Theater continued to tour the world with their so-called "An Evening With Dream Theater" shows. The latter were captured in another live CD/DVD release, 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.

Octavarium (2005–06)

Dream Theater after a concert in Paris during the first European leg of their tour (2005). From left to right: Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci, James LaBrie, John Myung and Jordan Rudess

After their Train of Thought promotional tour, Dream Theater entered the Hit Factory studios in NYC to record their eighth album. They would in fact become the final group to use in the famous studio, which closed on April 1, 2005.

Octavarium was released on June 7, 2005, and took the band's sound in yet another new direction. Its eight songs included a continuation of Portnoy's "Twelve-step" saga ("The Root of All Evil", steps 6-7 in the 12-step plan), as well as the title track, a musically versatile 24 minute epic rivaling "A Change of Seasons". Octavarium received mixed reviews from fans and has been the subject of spirited debate. Octavarium was the last album under their seven-album deal with Elektra Records, which had inherited the contract upon its absorption of EastWest Records.

Dream Theater toured extensively throughout 2005 and 2006 to celebrate their 20th Anniversary as a band, including a headlining spot on Gigantour alongside Megadeth and put together by frontman Dave Mustaine, also featuring Fear Factory, Nevermore and Symphony X. During a show on August 2, 2005 in Dallas, the band paid tribute to Pantera's late guitarist Dimebag Darrell by performing the song "Cemetery Gates" as an encore. In addition was the unexpected appearance of fellow musicians Russell Allen (Symphony X vocalist), Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory vocalist) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth vocalist/guitarist), who joined the band on stage to perform parts of the song.

Dream Theater later departed from Gigantour a few dates before it ended and continued on with their own series of concerts, several of which were recorded and released for the band's fanclubs. The 20th anniversary tour concluded with a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 1, 2006. Though the show had minimal promotion, it was sold out days after tickets were made available. This show, which was recorded for a CD/DVD called Score released on August 29, 2006 through Rhino Records, featured song's from the band's entire history, as well a second half accompanied by a full symphony orchestra (the "Octavarium Orchestra").

The Roadrunner years

Systematic Chaos and Greatest Hit (2006–08)

Dream Theater playing live March 8, 2008

For the first time in their career, the band decided to take the summer off after their show at Radio City Music Hall. In September 2006, Dream Theater entered Avatar Studios to record their follow-up to Octavarium with legendary studio engineer Paul Northfield. Dream Theater's ninth studio album, Systematic Chaos, was released on June 5, 2007. The record marked their first with new label Roadrunner Records, which in 2010 would become a wholly owned subsidiary of the band's previous label Atlantic Records. Roadrunner implemented increased promotion for the album and Systematic Chaos duly reached number 19 on the Billboard 200. It also oversaw the release of a video for "Constant Motion" on July 14, the band's first music video since Hollow Years in 1997. The album was bookended by the two parts of "In the Presence of Enemies", an epic song written and conceived as a single piece but split into two halves for the purposes of the album. The other six songs included the most recent part of Portnoy's continuing AA Saga with the song "Repentance".

In the same year, the first version of Rich Wilson's Lifting Shadows, an authorized history of the band's first twenty years, was released.

The 2007/2008 Chaos In Motion World Tour started off in Italy. Dream Theater played in the Gods of Metal concert on June 3, 2007., as well as various other European festivals including the Netherlands' Fields of Rock Festival, UK's Download Festival, the French festival Hellfest Summer Open Air alongside Megadeth, Korn, Mastodon and Slayer. The North American leg of the tour began on July 24 in San Diego, California and wrapped up on August 26 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They played with opening acts Redemption and Into Eternity. The "Chaos In Motion" tour continued for the rest of the year and into 2008, playing shows in Asia, South America and, for the first time, Australia.

On April 1, 2008, a two-disc compilation album entitled Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) was released by the band. The title jokingly references the song "Pull Me Under", the band's only significant radio hit. It also includes three song re-mixes from their second album, Images and Words, five edited versions of previously released songs, and a track from a single B-side. Unlike most greatest hits compilations, Dream Theater was actively involved with the album, coming up with the tracklisting that they felt best represented their musical careers.

After the release of Greatest Hit, drummer Mike Portnoy organized a new tour called Progressive Nation 2008. Unlike previous Dream Theater tours, performances were held in cities that they had not visited before in the past (such as Vancouver, Canada) or cities they had not played in for several years. This tour also marked the first time, since the release of Images and Words, where the group performed in small venues and performance halls.

In September 2008, the band released a DVD set called Chaos in Motion 2007–2008, featuring songs recorded at several shows during the Chaos in Motion tour.

Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2008–10)

On October 7, 2008, Dream Theater returned to Avatar Studios to begin work on their tenth album, resuming their relationship with Paul Northfield to engineer and mix the record. The album, entitled Black Clouds & Silver Linings, was released on June 23, 2009. In addition to the standard CD, the album was made available on vinyl LP, as well as a 3-disc Special Edition CD that includes the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs from artists such as Queen and Rainbow. On July 1, 2009, the album debuted at No. 6 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart, with first week sales totalling 40,285, making their highest entry on the chart. The album featured 'The Shattered Fortress', the last in Mike Portnoy's a series of songs about his 12 Steps recovery from alcoholism, as well as the song 'The Best of Times', described by Portnoy as "a real heavy personal subject about my dad who passed away during the making of the album ... He was battling cancer throughout its making."

The band also embarked on a second Progressive Nation tour, including the tour's first performances in Europe. Opeth, Unexpect and Bigelf supported Dream Theater in Europe, while Zappa Plays Zappa, Pain Of Salvation, and Beardfish were slated to perform on the North American leg. However, Pain of Salvation and Beardfish were unable to tour with Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa because of financial troubles within their respective record labels. The two new bands that filled the vacated slots for the Progressive Nation 2009 tour in North America were Bigelf and Scale The Summit with Bigelf performing on both European and North American legs.

After the Progressive Nation Tour, Dream Theater re-entered the studio to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the God of War III soundtrack EP God of War: Blood & Metal. The track, entitled "Raw Dog" (God (of) War reversed), marked the first time that the band has written and recorded an exclusive track for an outside project. "Raw Dog" includes the first ever commercially recorded harpejji track, performed by Jordan Rudess, as well as Dream Theater's final recorded performance with Mike Portnoy on drums. In December 2009, during their Black Clouds & Silver Linings tour whilst visiting Australia, Dream Theater appeared with one support act, Pain of Salvation. In March 2010, they toured South America with Bigelf. Afterwards, during the summer of 2010, Dream Theater supported Iron Maiden on the US and Canadian legs of their summer tour which were the last shows DT played during 2010.

Mike Portnoy's Departure (2010–11)

Mike Portnoy announced that he would be leaving Dream Theater on September 8, 2010.

On September 8, 2010, Mike Portnoy announced that he would be leaving Dream Theater, citing better relationships in other projects, burnout, and his desire for a break as reasons. Elaborating on the situation for MusicRadar, John Petrucci revealed that originally, Portnoy did not want to leave the band; he only wanted to take a five-year break. He eventually dropped this number to around one year. Only after the rest of the band rejected his proposal did Portnoy decide to quit.

After Portnoy left Dream Theater, relationships between him and his former bandmates became strained. In February 2011, Portnoy complained that no one from the band was returning his calls and e-mails. However, later Portnoy commented that both Petrucci and Rudess were the only members that stayed in touch with him.^{[citation needed]} Tensions became especially high when Portnoy called James LaBrie "disrespectful" for comments LaBrie made during an interview, stating that Dream Theater were "not sad at all" that Portnoy was no longer a band member. As of July 12, 2011, LaBrie has not remained in touch with Portnoy. At one point, false reports surfaced that Portnoy had sued Dream Theater.

A little more than a month after Portnoy's departure, Dream Theater began auditioning for a new drummer in New York City. The drummers invited to audition were Mike Mangini, Derek Roddy, Thomas Lang, Virgil Donati, Marco Minnemann, Aquiles Priester, and Peter Wildoer. The candidates were notified whether they had been chosen on November 5; however, the results of the audition were not made public until April 2011 via a three-part YouTube documentary series called The Spirit Carries On. In the last episode of the series, it was revealed that Mangini was the drummer selected.

A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011–12)

Dream Theater entered Cove City Sound Studios to begin working on a new album on January 3, 2011. Writing was completed on March 2 and done without Mangini. On April 14, LaBrie began tracking vocals and by June 28, the album's mixing and mastering by Andy Wallace were finished. Released worldwide on September 12 and in the United States on September 13, A Dramatic Turn of Events debuted at number one in some countries and attained the eighth position on the Billboard 200, the band's second ever top ten debut position on that chart after Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Although the album received mixed reviews, it won numerous awards from music publications and its lead single, "On the Backs of Angels", was nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards, representing the band's first ever Grammy nomination.

Dream Theater kicked off their tour in support of A Dramatic Turn of Events on July 4, 2011 in Rome, Italy. The second leg of the tour took place in North America, where the band headlined with Trivium. After a short break to conclude 2011, the band returned to Europe with Periphery, to Asia with Andy McKee, to North America with Crimson Projekct and then to South America for the final leg of the tour. On August 19 and 20, they filmed two shows at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a live Blu-ray release set for release in May 2013. The tour concluded on September 1 in Brasília, Brazil.

Dream Theater and future (2013–present)

Writing for Dream Theater's twelfth studio album commenced on the A Dramatic Turn of Events tour. During soundchecks, the band would jam and record their ideas, and John Petrucci would bring in material he wrote independently. Following the conclusion of the tour, the band took a break but continued writing. They reconvened in early 2013 to enter the studio.

In July 2012, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was listed as the number one all-time progressive album by a Rolling Stone readers' poll, beating 2112 by Rush and Close to the Edge by Yes.

In December 2012, Dream Theater re-signed with Roadrunner Records; the band soon began recording a new album as part of the new agreement. The band commented: “Roadrunner's dedication and commitment to Dream Theater has been evident to all of us from the very beginning, and is consistent in all departments and on all levels, right on through to the top. Roadrunner is a record label that is not only great at what they do but who truly understand what Dream Theater is all about as well as the amazing people who support us all around the world whom we proudly call our fans. They are a record company we relate to as an organization firmly rooted in its ideals and mission, while always pushing the envelope in an effort to keep things moving ever forward. We’ve reached many career defining milestones while at Roadrunner and are all incredibly pumped in anticipation of our continued future together!”.

On February 1, 2013, the band's seventh live album, Live at Luna Park, was announced.

In a YouTube Q&A with the band members, John Myung has confirmed that he'll be contributing lyrics again for the new album and that there will be a new instrumental for the band, the first instrumental to appear on a Dream Theater studio album since "Stream of Consciousness" from Train of Thought, the instrumental "Raw Dog" composed for the God of War III "Blood & Metal" EP, released in 2010, notwithstanding. He also stated that the new album may see a release date of late summer or early September.

In another YouTube Q&A with the band, John Petrucci has announced the twelfth studio album is completed in recording and will be released in late summer, also that the band will begin touring again in 2014, taking a much needed break from the constant summer tours. On June 6, 2013, a pop-up message was revealed while entering the official website, which prompts the release date: September 24, 2013. That same day, the official Dream Theater Twitter account announced that the album will be an eponymous release, Dream Theater's first self-titled album. Dream Theater started mixing on June 10 and concluded on June 28, 2013. On July 9, 2013, the band posted Dream Theater's cover art and track listing on their official facebook-page. The upcoming world tour is called "Along For The Ride 2014".

On August 5, 2013, the band posted a preview release of the track "The Enemy Inside." This was a new venture in that the song was released officially through USA Today (Gannett) and Soundcloud.com. On September 9, 2013, the band posted another preview release of the track "Along For The Ride". The track was released through Roadrunner's website and through Soundcloud.com. On September 13, 2013, it was announced on the official Dream Theater website that the band would be streaming their self-titled album in its entirety on the following Monday, September 16. The band officially released their album on September 24, along with a music video for their leading single from the album, "The Enemy Inside.". The album sold around 34,000 copies in the first week to land at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the bands third consecutive top 10 album.

Logo and imagery

Dream Theater wordmark and "Majesty" symbol

Despite the band's being forced to change their name, Dream Theater adopted a custom logo (known as the Majesty symbol) and wordmark which has appeared on the vast majority of their promotional material and on the front cover of every Dream Theater studio album. The Majesty symbol is derived from Mary, Queen of Scots' mark, which was re-worked by Charlie Dominici for use on the album artwork for When Dream and Day Unite.

In September 2010, a fan of Dream Theater discovered that all of the letters of "DOMINICI" fit together perfectly into the Majesty symbol. When Charlie discovered this, he laughed and mentioned that "it only took them 25 years to figure out the 'Dominici Code!'" This has earlier also been discovered as shown on the comment section of DTFAQ and in the DTNorway Podcast Episode 2 from 2008, with Charlie Dominici.

Musical style

Dream Theater is well noted for being one of the early progenitors of the progressive metal genre. The original members, John Petrucci and John Myung have strong influences from bands such as Rush, Yes, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, various speed metal bands, and even the glam metal of the day. This synthesis created a unique metal that was not traditional of the day: it had distorted guitars and fast riffing, but the music focused more on technical proficiency and precise execution than on heavy metal riffs. The band's music has focused on three main elements: metal, melody, and progressive roots. Mike Portnoy has also stated that the band's slower songs are in appreciation of artists such as Peter Gabriel, U2, and Journey.

Live performances

Throughout their career, Dream Theater's live shows have gradually become bigger, longer, and more diverse. The most obvious example of this is their rotational set list policy. Factors such as set lists from previous cities are taken into account to ensure that people who see Dream Theater multiple times within the same area will not see too many (or any) songs repeated, and even the set list from the last time the band was in a particular city is taken into account for the benefit of fans who see the band on successive tours.

Rudess and Petrucci dueling in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2008).

Some of Dream Theater's more notable touring partners include Porcupine Tree, Symphony X, Between The Buried And Me, Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Iron Maiden, The Dixie Dregs, Joe Satriani, King's X, Marillion, Megadeth, Trivium (band), In Flames, Pain of Salvation, Opeth, Queensrÿche, Riverside, Spock's Beard, Fear Factory, Enchant, 3, Yes and Zappa Plays Zappa. In 2005, Dream Theater toured North America with the Gigantour festival, co-headlining with Megadeth, and have played with Megadeth and Iron Maiden physically on stage.

The band's full world tours, since Six Degrees 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 after acquiring severe food poisoning from the food he ate before the show.

There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. In the midst of "A Change of Seasons" it is quite common for themes such as those for Major League Baseball and The Simpsons to be quoted, and Rudess routinely modifies his solo section in the song and others, often playing the ragtime section of "When the Water Breaks" from Liquid Tension Experiment 2. Several songs included on Once in a LIVETime include snippets of others' pieces, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Other quotations include "Mary Had a Little Lamb" during "Endless Sacrifice" on the Gigantour, a calliope-inspired break between verses of "Under a Glass Moon", a quote of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"'s main melody played by Petrucci while performing the intro solo of "Through Her Eyes" in Buenos Aires, the Turkish March at a concert in Istanbul, and the opening riff of Rush's "A Passage to Bangkok" at a show in Bangkok, Thailand. On the "20th Anniversary World Tour" Rudess has even thrown in a short "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" theme in a break during "Endless Sacrifice," and during a concert in Israel he started a spontaneous "Hava Nagila" later accompanied by the rest of the band.

Occasionally, a member of the audience is picked 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 many impromptu renditions of "Happy Birthday" when a member of the band or crew has a birthday corresponding to a tour date, which normally results in a birthday cake being thrown at the subject.

Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater's unpredictable concert structure came during Derek Sherinian's time with the band. At selected shows the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed Nightmare Cinema. They usually performed a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers," and, on one occasion, Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution," At some 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 pop-punk song entitled "I Don't Like You" with Petrucci and Portnoy backing. In Chaos in Motion tour, in several concerts before "Trial of Tears," Portnoy and Petrucci would change positions.

Concert of the A Dramatic Tour of Events in 2012. LaBrie in the foreground; Myung and Rudess in the background.

In the Score and Chaos in Motion DVDs, an animation has accompanied certain parts of the songs, showing the band playing along to the music as cartoon characters. On the Score DVD, during the song Octavarium, the band is seen performing in an octagonal shaped maze. As the animation continues Jordan Rudess spontaneously turns into Santa Claus and John Petrucci catches fire. In "The Dark Eternal Night" from the Chaos in Motion DVD, the band battles against a monster by shooting fireballs from guitars, throwing drum sticks, and screaming.

Notable shows and concert accomplishments

Dream Theater's largest audience as a headlining act was 20,000 in Santiago, Chile on December 6, 2005. This was during their first tour of South American countries other than Brazil (which they had visited in 1997 and 1998). The show was released on DVD through Portnoy's YtseJam Records.

In 2007, after their show in Salt Lake City on July 30, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. signed a proclamation officially marking July 30, 2007 as Dream Theater Day in the state of Utah.

In 2008 Dream Theater started the "Progressive Nation '08" tour, along with Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, and 3. The tour is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, who stated, "I've been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I've been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk."

On February 13, 2009, Dream Theater announced the official line up for their Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The tour was originally set to feature bands including Swedish bands Beardfish and Pain of Salvation, as well as Zappa plays Zappa. On June 22, 2009, Mike Portnoy announced that Pain of Salvation and Beardfish would not be touring the North American leg of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour because of record label complications. In the same announcement, Portnoy stated that the bands Scale the Summit and Bigelf would replace Pain of Salvation and Beardfish on the tour. This lineup change has put Bigelf on both the North American and European legs of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The tour's North American leg ran throughout July and August 2009. On March 26, 2009 it was announced that Dream Theater would take the Progressive Nation tour to Europe for the first time alongside Opeth, Bigelf and Unexpect. The tour ran throughout September and October 2009.

In June/July 2010 Dream Theater were the opening band for Iron Maiden during the first leg of their Final Frontier Tour which included Madison Square Garden as one of the many venues. On December 7, 2010, Dream Theater announced on their website that they would be headlining the High Voltage Festival alongside Judas Priest in 2011. In July 2011 they started a new tour to promote their newest release.

Live guests

Along their career, the band has shared the stage live with guests such as Doug Pinnick, Theresa Thomason, Dweezil Zappa, Steve Vai, Eugene Friesen, Jay Beckenstein, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Dave Mustaine, Joe Satriani, Russell Allen, Burton C. Bell, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Pat Mastelotto, Bruce Dickinson, Mike Patton, Ray Alder, Steve Hogarth, Steve Rothery, Steve Howe, Barney Greenway, Queensrÿche, among others.

Cover songs

Dream Theater have covered other artists' work throughout their career. They have performed cover songs live and in studio, with many of those live performances being recorded for official release. A Change of Seasons features Elton John, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Queen, Journey, Dixie Dregs, and Genesis live covers. Through YtseJam Records, the band have also released full album live cover performances of Metallica's Master of Puppets, Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast, Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, and Deep Purple's Made in Japan. The special edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings includes a bonus disc with Rainbow, Queen, Dixie Dregs, Zebra, King Crimson, and Iron Maiden covers. Other notable artists covered by Dream Theater include Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Rush, The Who, and Yes.

Bootleg culture

Dream Theater have released a series of official bootlegs, demos and other rarities through YtseJam Records, headed by Portnoy.

Demo series

• The Majesty Demos 1985–1986
• When Dream and Day Unite Demos 1987–1989
• Images and Words Demos 1989–1991
• Awake Demos 1994
• Falling Into Infinity Demos 1996-1997
• Train of Thought Instrumental Demos 2003

Studio series

• The Making of Falling Into Infinity
• The Making of Scenes From a Memory

Live series

• New York City – 3/4/93 (CD)
• Tokyo, Japan – 10/28/95 (CD)
• Old Bridge, New Jersey – 12/14/96 (CD)
• Los Angeles, California – 5/18/98 (CD)
• Bucharest, Romania – 7/4/02 (DVD)
• When Dream and Day Reunite – 5/6/04 (CD/DVD)
• Santiago, Chile - 12/6/05 (DVD)

Cover series

• Master of Puppets (CD)
• The Number of the Beast (CD)
• Made in Japan (CD)
• Uncovered 2003–2005 (CD)
• The Dark Side of the Moon (CD/DVD)

Discography

Main article: Dream Theater 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)
• Systematic Chaos (2007)
• Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
• A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)
• Dream Theater (2013)

Tours

• Majesty Shows (1986–1988)
• Early Dream Theater Shows (1989)
• When Dream and Tour Unite (1989)
• Pre-Images and Words Shows (1990–1992)
• Images and Tour (1992–1993)
• Music in Progress Tour (1993)
• Pre-Awake Shows (1994)
• Waking Up the World Tour (1994–1995)
• Home for the Holidays (1995)
• The Fix for '96 (1996)
• An Evening of New Music (1997)
• Touring into Infinity (1997–1998)
• Deep Purple/ELP/Dream Theater Tour (1998)
• An Intimate Evening with Dream Theater (1998)
• Pre-Scenes From a Memory (1999)
• Scenes From a Memory Tour (1999)
• Metropolis 2000 (2000)
• World Tourbulence (2002)
• Escape From the Studio (2003)
• Train of Thought Tour (2004)
• Octavarium Tour (2005–2006)
• Gigantour 2005 (2005)
• Chaos in Motion Tour (2007–2008)
• Progressive Nation 2008 (2008)
• Black Clouds & Silver Linings Tour (2009–2010)
• Progressive Nation 2009 (2009)
• A Dramatic Tour of Events (2011–2012)
• Along For The Ride (2014-)

Band members

Current members

• John Myung – bass, chapman stick (1985–present)
• John Petrucci – guitar, backing vocals (1985–present)
• James LaBrie – lead vocals (1991–present)
• Jordan Rudess – keyboards, keytar, continuum fingerboard, harpejji, lap steel guitar (1999–present)
• Mike Mangini – drums, percussion (2010–present)

Former members

• Mike Portnoy – drums, backing vocals, percussion (1985–2010)
• Kevin Moore – keyboards (1986–1994)
• Chris Collins – lead vocals (1986)
• Charlie Dominici – lead vocals (1987–1989)
• Derek Sherinian – keyboards (1994–1999)

Timeline

Awards and certificates

RIAA gold and platinum certifications

1. Images and Words (Album) (Gold) – February 2, 1995
2. Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes From New York (Video Longform) (Gold) – November 8, 2002
3. Live at Budokan (Video Longform) (Platinum) – January 26, 2005
4. Live in Tokyo/5 Years in a Livetime Video Longform (Platinum) – March 22, 2006
5. Score (Video Longform) (Platinum) – October 11, 2006

Other platinum and gold certifications

1. Awake (Platinum) (Japan)

Keyboard magazine

Jordan Rudess was awarded the following Keyboard Magazine Reader's Poll award:

1. Best New Talent (1994)

Burrn! magazine

Jordan Rudess was awarded:

1. Best keyboards player of the year (2007)

Guitar World

The album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was ranked No. 95 on the magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.

Total Guitar Paul Gillard

John Petrucci won Guitarist of the year award (2007)

Ultimate Guitar Archive

In 2009, Dream Theater were placed on the Top 10 in Ultimate Guitar's The Greatest Metal Bands of the Decade.

Classic Rock magazine

Dream Theater won The Spirit of Prog Award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour 2009 in London. They were also nominated for the Album of the Year Award for their album, Black Clouds & Silver Linings in 2009, but lost to AC/DC's Black Ice.

Rolling Stone

In July 25, 2011, Dream Theater were placed on the list "The Best Prog Rock Bands of All Time", chosen by the Rolling Stone Magazine's readers poll.

MusicRadar

The MusicRadar readers poll placed them amongst "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" (as of 2010). They peaked No. 5 on the list, placed over artists like Metallica, Muse, U2 and Coldplay.

John Myung, from August through September 2010, was voted the greatest bassist of all time. In the same time frame, Mike Portnoy was voted the second best drummer ever, losing out to Joey Jordison. In December 2010, James LaBrie was voted the 15th best frontman of all time (with Axl Rose coming first and Freddie Mercury in second). Jordan Rudess was voted the best keyboardist of all time in a poll conducted from June to July this year, with John Petrucci coming second in a shred-guitarist poll conducted in May this year (losing out to Al Di Meola).

Metal Edge

Derek Sherinian was voted "Best Keyboardist" in Metal Edge magazine's 1998 Readers' Choice Awards.

Other recognitions

• At Dream Theater's Salt Lake City show, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. signed a proclamation making July 30, 2007, "Dream Theater Day".
• Dream Theater played twice on Xbox 360s Game With Fame event. They played Halo 3 in December 2007 and Call of Duty: World at War in June 2009.
• On November 2010, Dream Theater was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame.

References

Further reading

• Bredius, Mark. Dream Theater - The official site. (Retrieved February–April 2005.)
• Dixon, Brad et al. Official Dream Theater FAQ. (Retrieved February–April 2005, moved c. 2007.)
• Hale, Mark (1993). "1731 Majesty". Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture, Ink. ISBN 1-56075-029-4. 
• Hansen, Scott. (2003). "James LaBrie: As this man thinks". Theater of Dreams 27/28, pp. 26–30.
• Hansen, Scott & Portnoy, Mike. Dream Theater Tourography. (Retrieved February–April 2005.)
• King, Brian. (2003). "JaM Progductions! Interview with John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy". Theater of Dreams 29, pp. 14–20.
• Wilson, Rich (2007). Lifting Shadows (First edition ed.). United Kingdom: Essential Works. ISBN 9781906615024. 

External links

• Official website
• 2011 interview with James LaBrie on Prog Sphere