Dream Theater: Images, Words & Darts

Pink Floyd’s ‘Welcome To The Machine’ drifted hazily in the background as Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore stepped up to the line. Straining to see the dartboard between the thick clouds of smoke and stale beer, he leaned forward.

He tossed the first dart. Landed a seven. He tossed the second. Got a nine. He tossed the third. Missed the board completely.

It was to be a casual affair, here at this pub called ‘Muffins’; meet the band, toss a few darts, drink a few ales. But it was to my understanding that there would be no math involved, and I’m sure Kevin Moore was thinking the same thing.

Here’s a guy who can switch from 5/4 to 7/8 timing without breaking a sweat, but obviously can’t do simple subtraction in a measly game of darts to save his life. We looked on in bemusement and fear as the lanky Moore stared at the blackboard with a somewhat... befuddled look on his face (kind of like the RCA dog). Chalk piece in one hand, eraser in the other, he stood in front of the slate.

You could practically see the smoke coming out of the poor guy’s ears as he did the math in his head. Maybe it was all the Jaegar he had downed while bonding with new manager Rod (Sanctuary) Smallwood.

That would do it. All he had to do was subtract 16 from 374. Carry the one, Kev. Carry the one.

We held our breath. After a few minutes, he finally scribbled a wobbly-looking 358.

“Your ‘8’ looks like an ‘0,’” I pointed out.

“You’re an asshole,” he pointed out. Moore’s an intelligent guy (and a good sport, I hope). You wouldn’t expect basic math to be such a problem for a someone with his smarts. You’d expect that from say, Mike Portnoy. He is, after all, a drummer... and well, you know what they’re like. Subtraction aside, Moore’s smiling and having a good time, as is the rest of Dream Theater (Portnoy – drums, John Petrucci – guitars, John Myung – bass). Life is good now (or was it just the Jaegar?). They’ve got a new album (Images And Words), a new label (Atco) new management (Sanctuary), and a new vocalist (James LaBrie). Yeah, life’s good.

Images And Words, a heady mix of complex arrangements and flowing melodies, is the album the band’s waited over two years to make. It’s been described as ‘Metallica meets ELP’ by some and ‘Rush on steroids’ by others, but to the band, naturally, it’s just Dream Theater.

The band formed some seven years ago when Portnoy and the two Johns met while attending Berklee. The two Johns had already been jamming with Fredonia School of Music student Kevin Moore a guess Berklee didn’t have calculators. Sorry Kev. I couldn’t resist) and were looking to put together a band. Find in a common denominator in their love for Rush (the band, not the drug), and a common home base in Long Island, they quit school, formed the band, and started what was then called Majesty. Joined soon thereafter by local singer Charlie Dominici, they recorded their first demo, which would get them signed to Mechanic Records.

Changing their name to Dream Theater (someone else had the rights to Majesty and wouldn’t part with it), they recorded their first album, When Dream And Day Unite, an ambitious, yet somewhat busy album that got them tagged as ‘overplayers’ by critics and ‘untouchable’ by peers. Things, however, quickly unraveled from there, and the band soon found themselves looking for a new label and singer.

It took two years for them to get signed. It took two and a half years for them to find a singer.

“We were really tested during that time,” says Portnoy. “We could have easily given up or gone our separate ways, but I think the fact that we stuck together really shows how committed we are to one another and our music.”

“When I first signed the band, people thought I had gone completely mad,” confesses Atco’s A&R Director Derek Oliver. “I had introduced the band to the record company on some very low budget, cheap-sounding, home recorded demos. They didn’t even have a vocalist at the time. But the material had these fifteen, twenty minute long songs with amazing instrumental prowess on them.”

In order to prove his sanity, Oliver put the band in a proper studio with David (Firehouse) Prater to record a three-song demo. The finished demo had a running time of forty-five minutes. Three songs. Forty-five minutes. “‘I played those demos for the label and they said ‘You’re not mad. This band is fuckin’ incredible.’”

But can this stuff sell? We’re living in a time when non-musicians like rap “artists” are glorified as stars, selling millions of albums despite the fact that they can’t play an instrument or sing a note. It’s SOP that radio rock singles don’t exceed a three minute running time. Yet Dream Theater’s first single is over eight minutes long. “Let me put it to you this way,” said Oliver, “this band is so good, they can’t fail.”

And he’s probably right. One of the biggest factors in Dream Theater’s impending success is new vocalist James LaBrie. LaBrie’s a normal average guy, sits down, and even has bowel movements like everyone else. But you can’t help but think that even when he does, his grunts sound stronger, melodic and more powerful than most people. From breathy whispers to nosebleed-inducing highs, his crisp, clean textured vocals give the technically complex Dream Theater a sound that is instantly warm and easy on the ear.

“If you think my voice is high now, you should have heard me when I was sixteen and doing Heart covers,” says the Toronto born singer.

Back at Muffins, Mike Portnoy and I are mesmerized by a stunning picture overlooking the bar of two cherubic, pleasantly plump, middle-aged women captured in a loving embrace. A true Kodak moment. As these Clara ‘Where’s The Beef’ Peller lookalikes watch over us, we discussed Dream Theater’s shot at mass appeal.

“Y’know, we could easily write three minute commercial pieces, or a whole album’s worth of that stuff, even,” he claims. “But then we wouldn’t be true to what Dream Theater’s all about. There’s so many bands out there doing the same formula ... I think there’s definitely a market out there for people that want to hear something a little more diverse... something that’s somewhat challenging to listen to. Personally, I think there are elements of our music that can appeal to just about everyone. [pauses] If the audience is there, then great, but if not, that’s okay... we’ll reach the people that really count: the ones who will appreciate what we’re doing.”

Not bad...for a drummer.