Dream Theater: L.I. Progressive Rockers Challenge The Boundaries Of Music

In this rap and garage band-infested chart world we live in, few musicians aspire to be different. Hey, let’s face the facts, “being just like the other kids” is the safest place to be. Damn safety, to hell with caution. Dream Theater is going to be different if it kills them or their career. Different, by the way, is also what makes the great ones the great ones.

The core of Kevin Moore, John Myung, John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy have added a new vocalist to the fold, James LaBrie (formerly of Coney Hatch and Winter Rose) and survived a tough first round with a label (Mechanic/MCA) that never got the ball rolling for them. This time out, the album will be from ATCO. With new management in place as well, it’s a fresh start across the boards and judging by what you’ll hear when Images And Words hits the streets in two weeks, Dream Theater is ready.

Subscribers to the school that spawned King Crimson, early Genesis, Pink Floyd, Kansas and Rush, Dream Theater has built their sound on stunningly complex riffs and technically precise musicianship. When all is said and done, they may single-handedly make progressive hard rock hip again. Tell you this much, any fan from Rush to Queensryche is going to fall head over heels for these guys. It already began to happen last album.

Calling in from their New York publicity offices, keyboardist Kevin Moore and vocalist James LaBrie are both in fine spirits getting set for the album release and some touring. They’re fresh off of tuning up at a couple of area clubs with warm-up shows at Hammerhedz and Sparks. These guys are ready. “There was a lot of time consumed, a lot of complications,” begins Moore on the topic of the label switch, “and a lot of money. But it worked out for the best. Our A&R guy at ATCO, Derek Oliver, was a fan of the band going back to our days with Mechanic, so it worked out for the best. To be fair, I think Mechanic had all the best of intentions when they signed us, they were really into the project. It’s just that they were slow getting paid from MCA and when you’re with a company that’s being distributed by a major, everything moves slowly. That’s why we felt we had to move to a major label directly.”

Despite changing locations and everything else for that matter, it worked out as an ideal situation. “It was a really wild situation,” explains LaBrie, “because we had the album finished before we signed. It was recorded, produced and mixed before we even signed with ATCO. Derek felt he knew how to do it right, how to move this band forward, so it wasn’t a hard decision to sign with them.”

After their lawyer engineered the __, the label decided to drop a 20 minute song from the album (“It was the only song the label got involved in,” says Moore) and then the strategies were plotted. And here we are. “It’s still hard now” offers LaBrie on the topic of what you feel like after you struggle to get a deal. “You go through trying to get one and you get a lot less naive.” “We’re not pessimistic,” continues Moore, “we’re just realistic, we don’t get our hopes up too much. We really just have a wait and see attitude. The only thing you can control in this business is the maintenance of what you have and the growth of the band as writers and performers.”

The growth alluded to is in clear evidence just in the evolution from first album to second album. It sounds like one of those albums that had a lot of work put into it, no doubt a lot of songs with the best plucked out. “We did have extra songs,” responds LaBrie. The other songs may turn up as B-sides, we’ll see. We don’t have a democracy in this band, it isn’t majority rules. It has to be a UNANIMOUS decision before we go ahead with anything.” “We do most of our writing at practice,” Moore points out. “We’re real good at that. Somebody may have an idea coming in, but it’s at practice that the stuff really materializes.” “When I came in,” counters LaBrie, “most of the stuff was written. What I like about the band, now that I’ve been around it, is that no one guy takes the lead. Everybody sees it as a pie and they know what piece they have to contribute.” “Whatever we do,” finished Moore, we split it five ways and that takes a lot of the pressure off of the creative parts of writing and finishing songs.”

To express that Dream Theater is a very unusual proposition by today’s musical world is to give them a compliment of the highest order. That is, after all, the point. “There’s a saturation of mainstream,” says LaBrie directly, “and I’m not putting them down, but just from the small gigs we’ve done, you can see that people want a change. I think progressive rock will be doing well within the next few years, you have bands like Queensryche and Rush paving the way.” I mention that people like ELP and Kansas are back on the comeback trail and it meets with a quick response. “New bands have different incentives than groups like that,” says Moore meaning no disrespect. “To be honest, we don’t pay much attention to what the public’s doing, or into. We play from our hearts, we’re doing what we believe in and, luckily, it’s original. If you’re not doing what you believe in, there’s no sense in playing anymore. You have nothing new to say, you’re not advancing the minute you try to do what you think somebody wants.”

As a Long Island-based band (though LaBrie keeps the Toronto area as home), Dream Theater has made the big jump that is now being followed by people like Broken Arrow, Snakeyed Su and T.C. Kross. I ask if there’s advice for the next wave of groups shooting for a deal. “You just have to pursue it,” says LaBrie. “It’s about perseverance. It takes a lot of commitment just to get to this point. I’m from a small town about 100 miles north of Toronto and I was singing when I was 5. My parents were always behind me and that’s important too.” “When we started as Majesty, about 5 years ago,” concluded Moore, “the club scene was disintegrating and it was not a very good time to be coming from Long Island. It’s not that much better now. There’s a lot of really good original music coming from Long Island and I think people are starting to realize that now. The answer, no matter what, is to believe in yourself and to keep doing what you’re doing. The biggest mistake you can make is to put an age limit on when you think you should be successful. You shouldn’t listen to anybody else if they tell you to change. Perseverance prevails,” In perfect unison, Moore and LaBrie both add, “Amen!”

With a tour looming, a video taking shape and the album finally coming out, Dream Theater is right where they want to be, in a position to make it for themselves. With one of the most unique and satisfying hard rock albums of the year (and easily the most progressive, mind you), this Long Island-based 5 piece already has a major buzz going. You’ll be joining in on the raves in about two weeks when the album hits the racks. You can come from Long Island and “make it”, of course you may have a hell of a time being this creative...