Prog Rock Lives... Run To The Hills!

...Cos another frantic flurry of angst-ridden adjectives and superb superlatives are flowing from the cuddly quill of Derek Oliver. This time it’s all in the name of Dream Theater, American complex rockers/proggies extraordinaire and creators of the fascinating ‘When Dream And Day Unite’ LP

By Derek Oliver

They stand alone. Unique in their quest for musical perfection. Dream Theater have no boundaries. Their frontier terminates at the edge of infinity. Not surprisingly, yours truly has taken to this band like a fish to water.

They remind me of wonderfully complex ‘70s acts such as King Crimson, Emerson Lake And Palmer, Pavlov's Dog and Badger.

They have also drawn inspiration from such complex Metal acts as Rush, Kansas, Dixie Dregs and, unbelievably, Queensrÿche.

‘When Dream And Day Unite’, the Dream Theater debut, is a fascinating record. That there has been nothing similar to it released in the last 10 years makes it even more spectacular.

Their music ability is faultless, they attempt rhythms that I previously thought never existed – drummer Mike Portnoy is seriously shaping up to snatch the crown of Neil Peart.

That they are as heavy as hell goes without saying. With Portnoy’s fierce drumming and bassist John Myung laying down a concrete hard foundation, the guitar and keyboard interplay of John Petrucci and Kevin Moore take matters into a Techno Metal paradise.

Best of all however, are the intense vocal gymnastics of singer Charlie Dominici, who can easily be compared to a spectacular combination of Steve Walsh (Kansas), Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche) and Geddy Lee (Rush).

In 1985, whilst studying at the world famous Berkeley college of music in Boston, three students – that’s John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy – formed an embryonic rock ‘n’ roll trio called Majesty.

Convinced that a career in rock ‘n’ roll was the thing for them, they returned, in December of that year, to their homes in Long Island and commenced a long and arduous quest to find a competent keyboard player.

They eventually commissioned Kevin Moore, an old friend of the band, who fitted their unique style like a dream come true.

The search was now on, of course, for a suitable vocalist.

After initially securing the services of a chap called Chris Collins, in the Autumn of 1987 he was replaced by current singer Charlie Dominici.

Thus Majesty locked themselves away and rehearsed religiously, undertaking the odd gig but concentrating in the main on making their music the best that it could be.

They even recorded what they now view as a rather primitive sounding four-track demo which garnered them solid fan interest in Germany. The first run of 1000 cassettes sold out within a few weeks!

As the band increased their fan following they suddenly became aware of several other groups scattered over America who were using the name of Majesty.

“It was really odd,” drummer Mike Portnoy told me recently.

“There was this one group in Las Vegas that held the trademark to the name. They hadn’t been gigging very much, nor had they any product out, but they just wouldn’t give up the name. We tried to buy it off them, but they still wouldn’t let it go.”

The name Dream Theater came from the lips of Mike’s father, who lives in Monterey, California. He told the lads about a peculiar movie theatre he used to visit called, of all things, the Dream Theater. The name stuck.

So, with a new set of demos in their pockets, in early 1988 they eventually came to the attention of the newly-formed Mechanic record label, a subsidiary of MCA. The label visited the band in rehearsal, liked what they saw, and offered Dream Theater a deal.

Immediately after the ink had dried, the band were packed off to Pennsylvania where they commenced recording with producer Terry Date (a fella who's worked in the past with Metal Church, Fifth Angel and Sanctuary).

Says Mike Portnoy: “It felt great, after spending years cutting demos on a four-track machine, to suddenly walk into a 48-track studio. The only real problem was that we had just three-and-a-half weeks in which to record the album, and I wish that we could have had just a few more days.”

Frankly, to have recorded such a fine opus as ‘When Dream And Day Unite’ in such a short space of time is absolutely incredible. Rush, who have been known to spend six months or more in the studio would probably collapse in a fit of envy if they ever got to hear the Dream Theater project.

Incidentally, talking of Rush, it was none other than Terry Brown (an old Rush collaborator) who was drafted in to remix two of the album’s tracks; that’s ‘After Life’ and ‘State Of Confusion’.

“Obviously we have great admiration for his work with Rush so it was particularly exciting for us to have him remix a couple of the songs,” says Portnoy.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get to meet him, we just spoke to him on the telephone and told him what sort of sound we were looking for, and he went away with the tapes and did it.”

Weren’t you afraid that using Terry might make the Rush comparisons a little too obvious?

“I see what you mean,” Mike replies.

“However, the fact that he's done Rush didn’t affect our decision to use him. Obviously we thought carefully about that, but for our kind of music he’s probably the best guy to use. Anyway, even though a lot of people have made the Rush comparison, it’s really a bit like saying that Anthrax sound like Metallica. We just work in the same area of music, that’s all.

“I personally think that comparisons are a kind of compliment. We’re very inspired by progressive rock of the early ‘70s, and when people spot that it makes us feel like we’ve actually achieved something worthwhile. Having said that, we don’t go all out to recreate that sound exactly, we’ve intentionally recorded it in a very modern way just to be as contemporary as possible within the style.

“We grew up listening to old bands like Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull and ELP, and got completely immersed in their sound. The remarkable thing is that most styles of music tend to go around in cycles, so I think it’s just about the right time for a sound like ours to make an impact.”

Do you intentionally sit down to write songs in excess of five minutes?

“No, there's no element of ‘Hey, let’s turn this riff into an eight or nine-minute song’. You see, once we have the concept, we write the music to fit, so that it will last as long as it takes to make that particular statement.

“Actually,” he goes on to elaborate, “we've just written a really long song, weighing in right now at just over 20 minutes. The working title is ‘A Change Of Seasons’ and it might very well end up filling the entire side of an album, who knows?”

Okay, do you go out of your way to write really complex arrangements?

“Again, the answer is no. Nothing is made intentionally complex. We just go with the mood, do what ever feels natural. Nobody goes out of his way to make a big impression, that’s not what it’s really all about.”

And there you have it. Dream Theater: one of the most innovative bands in town.