Login

The Dream Theater World

The Making of Scenes From A Memory

sfaml

The Making of Scenes From A Memory

YTSEJAM003 – 1999

Personnel

Dream Theater

  • Mike Portnoy – Drums, Percussion & Vocals
  • John Petrucci – Guitar & Vocals
  • John Myung – Bass
  • James LaBrie – Vocals
  • Jordan Rudess – Keyboards

Guest Musicians

  • Theresa Thompson – Additional vocals on “Through Her Eyes” and “The Spirit Carries On”
  • Jay Beckenstein – Saxophone on “Through Her Eyes”

Production

  • Doug Oberkircher – Mastered 2003
  • Layout by Herve Pfeiffer
  • Original Artwork – Dave McKean
  • Compiled by Mike Portnoy
  • Edited by Steffen Barabasch

Tracklist

CD 1 – The Sessions Outtakes

  1. Regression Outtakes 2:02
  2. Overture 1928 Live Alternate Take 3:43
  3. Strange Deja Vu Basic Tracks 5:01
  4. Fatal Tragedy Basic Tracks 4:01
  5. Beyond This Life Basic Tracks 7:02
  6. Through Her Eyes Alternate Take 4:50
  7. Home Writing Sessions 6:31
  8. Home Rehearsal 7:02
  9. The Dance of Eternity Rehearsal 2:57
  10. The Dance of Eternity Writing SEssions 5:53
  11. The Spirit Carries On Rehearsal 5:11
  12. The Spirit Carries On Choir Session Outtakes 6:42
  13. The Spirit Carries On John Petrucci Vocal Demo 2:34
  14. Finally Free Alternate Vocals and Outro 5:32
  15. Finally Free Original Sequencer Demo 7:42

CD 2 – The Alternate Mixes

  1. Opening Scene (Instrumental) 1:22
  2. Regression (Petrucci) 1:39
  3. Overture 1928 (Instrumental) 3:38
  4. Strange Deja-Vu (Portnoy) 5:18
  5. Through My Words (Petrucci) 1:55
  6. Fatal Tragedy (Myung) 6:15
  7. Beyond This Life (Petrucci) 11:30
  8. Through Her Eyes (Petrucci) 6:03
  9. Home (Portnoy) 13:03
  10. The Dance of Eternity (Instrumental) 6:15
  11. One Last Time (LaBrie) 3:50
  12. The Spirit Carries On (Petrucci) 6:48
  13. Finally Free (Portnoy) 11:51

About the album

The Making of Scenes from a Memory is an Official Bootleg by Dream Theater released on theYtseJam Records label. Containing two discs, the first of which was originally proposed as the xmas gift for 2000 is a “Making Of” album similar to the “Making of Falling Into Infinity”, first released through the fan clubs and then later released through YtseJam Records. This disc contains outtakes and in-progress snapshots of the recording sessions, where fans can see how the album was developed in the studio. It’s a candid look into the process of making an album.

The second disc is the first mix, as done by David Bottrill. This was the original mix completed for the album, but John Petrucci was unhappy with the way it sounded, so they brought in Kevin Shirley to remix the CD. Due to limited time, he couldn’t do all of the album, so some of the tracks on the released CD is still the original David Bottrill mixes (Regression, The Dance of Eternity, One Last Time and Finally Free). Some stuff was removed from the mix (extra vocal parts between Through My Words and Fatal Tragedy, some extra layers of instrumentation here and there, and some stuff was just made a little tighter (leaving out some dynamics which in turn hid some nuances in the mix). This is why this version of the album is a very interesting document, as it gives us some insight as to how an album can be made to be quite different even just in the mixing phase. There should be no doubt that the mixing engineer also has a lot of impact on the release.