In the fall of 1985, student guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung saw drummer Mike Portnoy jamming in one of the practice rooms at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. The two later bumped into Portnoy in the cafeteria and found they had more in common than tastes in music; "Finding two people that were completely in sync with me and the fact that they lived 40 minutes away was like a blessing from God."
"During breaks from school they jammed with keyboardist Kevin Moore (in a high school band- Centurion and a vocalist named Chris Collins (in a band that would eventually become Majesty). All decided to leave school to concentrate on the band while working regular jobs and giving private music lessons. Shortly afterwards they recorded a four-track, six-song demo tape which was sold to local fans and shopped to labels. The material was progressive and complex with an edge reminiscent of early Rush.
Mike's father suggested the name Dream Theater- taken from a movie house in Monterey, California, and during that time, the band knew that Collins did not have the vocal range they needed for their recordings.
Charlie Dominici filled in temporarily on vocals, but was not the answer.
In the summer of '88 `When Dream And Day Unite' was recorded at Kajem/Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania in one month's time. Despite a shoestring budget and limited distribution, the album was received well by press around the world, not to mention American metal radio. Without proper support, Dream Theater's concerts were restricted to the New York tri-state area as they still held on to their regular day jobs.
Dominici was released 1990 but called back for one final concert supporting Marillion. It was at this particular show they opened with a then new track called 'Metropolis' - a sample what direction they would progress towards.
It almost two year search for a new vocalist/front man. The band kept busy writing and performing new material as a four piece in local clubs; they even performed many cover medleys of instrumental breaks from classic songs from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Yes, Queen, The Beatles and Van Halen.
Dream Theater actually considered becoming an all instrumental group after not finding a proper vocalist. John Arch of Fates Warning came very close to getting the job, but he decided against it. Steve Stone, Chris Cintron and many others tried out, until the band heard Kevin LaBrie, (Toronto band- Winter Rose). Although Chris Cintron was days away from joining, the band thought LaBrie's voice on a demo tape was too good to overlook and he got the job. Kevin decided to use his middle name James as his first as to not have two Kevins in the group (besides two Johns).
At the end of 1991, they signed a deal with Atco/East West Records and recorded their second album, "Images and Words", with producer David Prater at Bear Track Studios -- a modest facility in Suffern, New York owned by Spyro Gyra sax player Jay Beckenstein who would guest on the track 'Another Day'.
James made his official live debut with the band on June 8, 1992 at the Ritz in New York City supporting Iron Maiden. A few warm-up shows in tiny clubs days before this show proved James was welcomed with open arms by their die hard fans.
After the release of the album, Dream Theater signed to Roundtable Entertainment and was ready to finally perform around the globe. Along the way press radio and even MTV were especially supportive, yet the band felt they reached a new level upon word that "Images and Words" had gone gold in Japan. A short tour was booked and sold out within hours.
Despite this worldwide recognition, the band paid homage to their long time local fans with a sold out concert at the Limelight in New York City on March 4, 1993. With no opening act, the band played almost three hours, not including the brief intermission, and debuted a bunch of new material such as 'To Live Forever', 'Eve' and the 20 minute epic 'A Change of Seasons.'
The `Music in Progress' tour provided a recorded live EP, "Live at the Marquee", at London's famed club. Their show in Tokyo, Japan, was filmed and released on home video in late '93.
By November of '93 the band had completed touring, yet visited Korea in January for a promotional tour due to their increasing popularity.
In 1994, Dream Theater started work on their third album - their first album to be written as a complete band. Relocating to Los Angeles in May for a few months to work with producers John Purdell and Duane Baron and found the duo to be just what they needed to get their musical ideas across.
Halfway through the recording of `Awake', Kevin decided he wanted to leave the band -- a major blow to the band, even though the split was an amicable one.
"Kevin decided to leave so that he could pursue a new musical direction - one which would not have been possible for him to explore within Dream Theater. We really love Kevin we'll miss him, he will always be a part of our family."
to offer and wish him all the best."
After a series of auditions, they decided to bring in Jordan Rudess (of the Dixie Dregs) for the show and Derek Sherinian for the tour. Derek, who also attended Berkelee and played with Kiss and Alice Cooper among others. Derek was announced as an 'official' member during the last few shows of Dream Theater's 1995 European tour.
On October 4 `Awake' was released worldwide and did well beyond the band's hopes. It debuted at 32 on the American Billboard chart and sold over 43,000 copies in Germany in the first week alone. Meanwhile, the single 'Lie', which preceded the album's release, became a big hit at American rock radio out of the box and the video was shown regularly on MTV. The band support the album with a successful American tour and a major tour of Japan (where "Awake" has gone platinum), and Europe.
In April 1995, Dream Theater recorded their 23-minute epic "A Change Of Seasons". Several tracks from the Ronnie Scott's 'Uncovered' Gig were also included in the EP release. After more touring, on September 23, 1997, `Falling Into Infinity' was released in the US. There following was growing greater with each album.
Then on January 18th, 1999, keyboardist Derek Sherinian left the band.
Drummer Mike Portnoy: "Derek's contributions to the band both musically and personally over the last 4 years is something that we will always treasure and we will all miss. He will always be a part of the Dream Theater family."
Jordan Rudess, (once a touring member of the Dregs and has recently collaborated with Mike Portnoy & John Petrucci in their Liquid Tension Experiment project), replaced Sherinian. Rudess, entered Julliard at the age of nine and has extensive classical training.
In the wake of the album's release, Dream Theater embarked on the Metropolis 2000 World Tour, and hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide were captivated by the live show. The tour resulted in the recent release of the DVD concert- `Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York,' which even includes a band commentary track.
Upon returning home from the tour, Jordan composed and recorded all the material for his upcoming solo release on Magna Carta. The album is being mixed currently and will be available soon.
Mike Portnoy has kept busy working with Transatlantic, with Spock's Beard, Flower Kings and Marillion members and has released a new album- Bridge Across Forever (2001)
In 2002, Dream Theater released ` Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,' a be a 2CD Set consisting of 6 songs: "The Glass Prison", "Blind Faith", "Misunderstood", "The Great Debate", "Disappear" and the entire 2nd CD contains the 40-minute title track (and my favorite cut),- "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence." The album is selling well. The new 2-CD studio album reached the #1 in CDNow's Top 100 January 29th. As of mid-February, the album is # 46 on the Billboard charts.
In 2003, the band released a guitar-heavy `Train of Thought;' while Portney teamed up with ex-Spock's beard frontman neal MNorse to release a 2 disk Beatles tribute: Yellow Matter Custard: One Night In New York City
In 2005, The new album, Octavarium, was released on June 7th, and took the band's sound in yet another new direction. Among its 8 songs is a continuation of Portnoy's Alcoholics Anonymous suite (steps 6-7 in the 12-step plan), and an epic rivalling A Change of Seasons and covering several musical styles in its 24-minute running time. The album has caused much controversy among fans, some thinking that the band wore its influences too prominently on their sleeves, eg. Never Enough has been compared to Muse's Stockholm Syndrome, and the relatively radio-friendly I Walk Beside You to the trademark sound of U2 blended with Chicago's Peter Cetera. The album is the last under their seven album deal with Elektra Records. Their plans for the future are currently unknown, although it likely includes slapping together a few sophomoric rifts in a three week period -- the same amount of time the band states they spent writing "Train of Thought."
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 duology written and conceived as a single piece but split into two halves for the purposes of the album. The other six tracks included the most recent part of Portnoy's continuing AA Saga with the song "Repentance".
The 2007–08 Chaos in Motion Tour started off in Italy. Dream Theater played in the Gods of Metal concert on June 3, 2007. 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.
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, British Columbia, 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 (2008–2010)
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. The album featured "The Shattered Fortress", the last in Mike Portnoy's series of songs about his 12-step 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, 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.
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.
A little more than a month after Portnoy's departure, Dream Theater began auditioning for a new drummer in New York City. it was revealed that Mike Mangini was the drummer selected. Petrucci later explained that Portnoy approached them to rejoin after they had selected Mangini; Mangini by this time had left his job as a professor at Berklee and committed to Dream Theater full-time, so Portnoy's offer was re-buffed.
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, ' 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. On August 19 and 20, two shows were recorded at Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina for a live Blu-ray release by Over the Edge Productions. After a six-month delay, Live at Luna Park was released on November 5, 2013, by Eagle Rock Entertainment.[71] The tour concluded on September 1, 2012, in Brasília, Brazil.
Writing for Dream Theater's twelfth studio album commenced on A Dramatic Tour of Events. 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
The band's self-titled twelfth album was released on September 23, 2013 as part of the new agreement with Roadrunner. The album sold more than 34,000 copies in its first week and landed on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 7, the band's third consecutive top 10 album. In addition, the album cracked the top 10 in 24 countries including Japan, Germany, Argentina, The Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Australia and United Kingdom.[78] Dream Theater's seventh live album, Live at Luna Park, was released on November 5, 2013.
On July 8, 2014, Dream Theater released The Studio Albums 1992–2011, a box set spanning all albums from Images and Words to A Dramatic Turn of Events.
On September 30, 2014, Dream Theater released their eighth live album and film, Breaking the Fourth Wall, which was recorded live from The Boston Opera House on March 25, 2014. During this concert, the band were joined by the Berklee World Strings and the Berklee Concert Choir, directed by Eren Başbuğ, for the second half of the set.
On January 6, 2014, John Petrucci said that Dream Theater were already "planting seeds for album No. 13". He commented:
The band headed into the studio in February 2015 to record its thirteenth album, titled 'The Astonishing' was released on January 29, 2016. It is a concept album set in a dystopian future society devoid of real music, centering on a conflict between a group of rebels and an oppressive empire. Two singles, "The Gift of Music" and "Moment of Betrayal" were released on December 3, 2015 and January 22, 2016, respectively.
Throughout 2016, Dream Theater went on a tour titled The Astonishing Live to support the album. They played the album in its entirety, with an intermission between the two acts, only playing songs from earlier albums on occasions later in the tour. Their performance was accompanied by a visual representation of the story on background screens. The band also made it a point to play at indoor theater halls such as Radio City Music Hall. In 2017.
In a May 2017 interview with Rockbook, frontman James LaBrie talked about the style of the band's fourteenth studio album: "It's really important for us that the new album will be our best effort. It should be who we are at that particular moment. But if along the way we feel that there is another album we should recognize once again, then we'll do it." In December 2017, Dream Theater announced that they have signed a worldwide longterm deal with Sony Music via Sony's progressive music label imprint Inside Out, for the release of the album. In an interview with Loudwire, Petrucci revealed that the album will not arrive before 2019. The band planned to enter the studio in June 2018 with a release being slated for February 2019. This is a different approach from the album cycle of The Astonishing, and more akin to Dream Theater's first three albums and their self-titled album.
Discography
When Dream And Day Unite (1989)
Images And Words (1992)
Another Day (1992)
Live At The Marquee (1993)
Lie (1994)
Awake (1994)
The Silent Man (1994)
A Change Of Seasons (1995)
Hollow Years (1997)
Falling Into Infinity (1997)
Once In A LIVEtime (1998)
Scenes From A Memory (1999)
Through Her Eyes (2000)
Live Scenes From New York (2001) (3 CD set)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Train of Thought (2003)
Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour Live with the Octavarium Orchestra (2004)
Octavarium (2005)
Official Bootleg: Dark Side of the Moon (various Pink Floyd covers from 1995- 2006)
Octavarium (2005)
Systematic Chaos (2007)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
Dramatic Turn Of Events (2011)
Dream Theater (2013)
The Astonishing (2016)
