Faces Going Places

Every now and then progressive rock reappears, slightly altered but still with the kind of multifaceted complexity that first found its way into the music of Yes, Genesis, and Emerson Lake & Palmer. The latest band to wear the progressive crown is New York based Dream Theater (formerly Majesty) who exude a professionalism not usually found in a band with only one album behind them. That album, When Dream And Day Unite (Mechanic), is masterfully produced by Terry Date (Fifth Angel, Metal Church) to show off the band’s considerable musical skill.

Dream Theater was formed in 1985 at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, where guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy were attending school. At the time all of them were serious musicians, giving little thought to rock stardom. Keyboard player Kevin Moore is also a former music student; he attended the Fredonia School of Music before joining the band. Charlie Dominici, vocals, fuels the Rush comparisons.

“We just found out that we had a lot of common interests,” recalls Portnoy. “We were listening to the same stuff and we just started writing music that was interesting to play and that kept us on our toes. We were all into the old progressive stuff but yet we were all into metal. We wanted to combine the two worlds and create a new sound.” Whether Dream Theater have managed that is open to question but the band has figured out how to avoid the overbearing pretentiousness that affects most progressive music.

“We’re trying to do something different,” says Portnoy. “There’s so many bands that are very formulated. We want to spark an interest in a genre that’s been ignored in the metal scene.”

He’s right about that. Outside of Queensrÿche, most new bands are too busy chasing the ghost of Aerosmith to give any thought to technical proficiency. With most rockers more concerned about the brand of hairspray they use than the type of guitar strings, how did these guys manage to get together? “We were very lucky that we found each other,” says Portnoy. ‘‘When we all met we were flipping out each other. We all can say there’s no one else we’d rather play with.”

Dream Theater is too new a proposition to be discussed without the obvious comparisons to other progressive metal acts. The two that come up most frequently are Rush and Kansas. “It’s tough because people always ask us what our influences are but influences always turn into comparisons. We’re very similar in style but I don’t think we sound like any of those bands.”

Dream Theater’s concern with melody and diversity may keep the band from the fate which ruined the once-great Genesis but I get a little worried when Portnoy starts to talk about concept albums this early in the game. He firmly believes that this is only the beginning. “Hopefully, there will be a lot more bands that put the emphasis on musicianship and orchestration.”