When did Dream Theater start writing on the follow-up to 1992’s Metropolis part 1? How did Scenes From a Memoruy come about?
Originally, Metropolis part 1 was named as a joke, but after being badgered by fans, DT decided to write a song to complete part 2. It was written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions in the summer of 1996, but wasn’t included in the album because it was over 20 minutes long and the record company were not interested in a double CD at that time (which was the only way it would fit in the album). There were some plans for an A Change of Seasons-style EP release, but that idea was shelved.
There exists a recording of a 20-minute instrumental live rehearsal version containing most of what would become Overture 1928, Strange Déjà Vu, One Last Time, and several riffs that ended up in The Dance of Eternity. There were some plans for an A Change of Seasons-style EP release, but that idea was shelved. It was later expanded on to become Metropolis, Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory.
The 20-minute recording was leaked onto the internet by fans, which angered Mike Portnoy to a great degree. Normally, Mike didn’t mind people sharing demos and studio outtakes, provided he was the one helping it spread in the first place (and thereby having a certain creative control over what was shared). But the 1996 recording was not intended to be shared, as it was a very rough live-in-studio recording. Mike said the following:
MP: That is indeed *IT*!!! (well, only about half of it…as the first 10 minutes or so are missing….from the 0:30 second mark it cuts ahead about 10 minutes…skipping the entire section which became Overture 1928 as well as a few other bits…) As you can hear, there are still intact the parts that ended up becoming the end of Dance of Eternity as well as almost all of One Last Time… And I’m not mad….although, I didn’t want this to ever get released because it is live, under-rehearsed, loose as hell and incomplete (no vocals), if it’s out, it’s out…there’s really nothing I can do about it…so I’m not gonna cry over spilt milk… However, let it be known that *I* still will never release the complete version…as that will then be perceived as it being released with the band’s “seal of approval”…which it never will be as it is not good enough to meet our release’s standards for all of the above reasons…
Is Mike being a hypocrite if he condones bootleg collecting and trading, but doesn’t want the Metropolis pt. 2 “demo” being spread?
MP: Metropolis pt.2 is not from a concert or a demo or anything else that was ever played or presented to the public (and therefore in the understandable danger of being bootlegged). One of my biggest problems is the misconception of this recording – it is NOT a “demo” (in which case I probably wouldn’t care). This is an extremely rough, incomplete, unrehearsed, instrumental rehearsal tape, that was never intended to be heard outside of the band. This is something that was clearly leaked (or stolen as far as I’m concerned) from my personal and private archives by somebody whom I haven’t been able to put my finger on, but whom I clearly cannot trust. I was tolerant about Metropolis pt.2 appearing to begin with on the net at all (as it was too late to do anything about it), but I surely do **NOT** condone the further spread of it!
