Dream Theater

When Dream And Day Unite

(Mechanic, 6 Greene St., New York, NY 10013)

You want chops? You want the kind of musicianship that’ll have your feisty friends who read Guitar Player throwing away their U.K. albums? Hail the rebirth of progressive rock: Dream Theater (formerly Majesty, as if I haven’t told you enough times). This stuff ain’t exactly metal (although the instrumental breaks often cross into that territory), but it takes a lot of the elements that make metal great (soaring vocals, brilliant instrumental work, solos up the wazoo and a great sense of, er, theater) and combines them into a soaring sound that’s familiar and nostalgic but imaginative and fresh enough to sound new. Four of the five members are classically trained, and there’s a real heavy prog-rock influence here—Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, and especially Rush—but they play fast and hard enough to fit any non-thrash hard rock format. Trust me: Dream Theater will have your listeners (many of whom have probably never heard anything like this) screaming “WHAT WAS THAT?” Picks: “Fortune In Lies,” “After Life,” “Only A Matter Of Time” (which appeared on Moshin’ CMJ way back when} and especially the single, “Status Seeker.”