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For New Jersey-based Progressive Techno-Metallers Dream Theater it’s been a funny old game. After over two years in the wilderness they’re back with a new lineup and a storming new platter, ‘Images And Words.’ Gail Flug listens to their tales of woe and frustration...

In an early issue of Raw (March 1989, issue 15), a young quintet from Long Island was getting a lot of attention with their debut album, ‘When Dream And Day Unite.’ It couple of metallic edge with ultra progressive melodies and arrangements, topped off with masterful musicianship. But soon the energy fizzled out with the news that they fired their singer and we’re leaving the label, eventually adding them to the ‘whatever happened to...’ file.

In essence, a lot has happened to Dream Theater in these three years and the result is a new album called ‘Images And Words,’ eight tracks running over an hour in length showing a great maturity and songwriting without sacrificing their roots. It’s as though they’ve come of age and starting from scratch at the same time.

The band first formed back in September 1985 when school mates guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung met drummer Mike Portnoy at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music. The two saw the drummer jamming one day and decided to approach him in the school cafeteria.

“I was wearing a Talas shirt that day, and to them that was the giveaway,” recalls Mike with a grin. “It was obvious that all of our heads were in the same place, and to find out that they were from Long Island was amazing because at Berklee there’s people from all over the world.”

Leaving school the following semester, they hooked up with a few more friends from the Johns’ high school, keyboardist Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins, and recorded a six-track demo under the name Majesty. Even back then, the material was complex and progressive with an edge, reminiscent of early Rush. Upon signing with Mechanic Records, they were forced to change their moniker as another band owned the name, but it became evident that another change was more essential: Collins simply didn’t have the range they needed for the album.

“It was then that we went on our first vocalist search,” laughs Mike, “and found Charlie (Dominici) who was a lot older than us and came from a different background, but at the time we really couldn’t find anyone else and he had the most potential out of everyone. He had the experience that Chris didn’t, but after a while it became evident that he wasn’t the singer we were looking for. We would sit at practice and it would be like pulling teeth trying to get him to sing some of the stuff we wanted, but afterwards he would sit down behind the piano and start singing Billy Joel and Beatles tunes and feel right at home.

“After we put out the first album it became obvious that we had to make a lot of changes to get the ball rolling the way we wanted it and aside from Charlie the other change was the label,” he continues. “When Mechanic signed us they hadn’t yet established themselves, so we were really their guinea pigs and we suffered because of it. They didn’t have the financial backing to do a video or put us on tour, so we came to an amicable agreement that we had to leave.”

What they thought would be a temporary setback turned out to be a year and a half’s search, keeping themselves busy writing and performing some new material as a four-piece in local clubs. At one point they actually considered an all-instrumental route, but decided to persist and three vocalists later (including former Fates Warning frontman, John Arch) they found Chris Cintron who appeared to be the right guy.

“We got about 200 tapes and when we heard someone we liked, we’d spend a couple of months working him to see how the demos came out,” says Mike. “We were working with Chris for months and he was about to join, then out of the blue we got a tape of this guy in Canada and we decided his voice was too good to overlook, so we flew him over and he worked out right away.”

The man in question was James LaBrie, then of Toronto’s Winter Rose, who had also worked with Coney Hatch. According to the vocalist, it was hearing the band’s album and new material back to back that made him give it a shot.

“(I did think) the first album was self-indulgent and that they were incredible musicians, but it was the new material that really sold me because it showed they had really matured in their writing,” says James. “It was more structured around the song, not around the playing. It was wild because after the first rehearsal something was there right away. We all have the same kind of attitude and humor, so I fitted in like a glove.”

“He really respected our territory, and made a conscious effort not to step on our feet,” adds Mike. “He knew that the four of us had been together for six years and had a certain chemistry between us and he was real cool about it. In the future we hope we’ll be able to write together, but James understood he was the new guy, and didn’t try to change the band, which some of the others did.”

More importantly, their soon-to-be label, Atco Records, didn’t want to change them either, which is a nice feeling considering the importance of MTV and radio airplay in America these days. “One of the most comforting things,” says Mike, “was when we met with the head of Atco and Derek (Oliver, Atco’s head of A&R) who said, ‘We like you for what you are, do not write a four-minute song on purpose. If it comes naturally then great, don’t go out of your way. Don’t change for radio.’

“Look at any band that’s had a long successful career, anybody from Pink Floyd to Queen, Iron Maiden, even Metallica. It took three or four albums before people caught on to what they were doing. That’s the way we see it happening with us.”

The bulk of ‘Images And Words’ was written during that frustrating time and much of its lyrics reflect that, as the drummer observes, “a sense of loss, or hitting rock bottom and having to look at it optimistically and pick yourself up; learn from your mistakes, be strong and grow from that loss. It wasn’t intentional, it only happened that way because all the lyrics were written when we were going through that period.”

The music was written just as spontaneously in that each member contribute in a chain reaction, sometimes resulting in rather long compositions.

“It’s not a normal writing process,” Mike agrees, “but we work with the chemistry between us. No one person comes in with a song. It’s a four-way effort. We start jamming on something and someone will add something, and that just feeds the monster. The song just keeps growing and growing, and once the song is done, anyone is free to write the lyrics.

“We don’t conscientiously write long songs, we just don’t look at the clock. We keep going ‘till the idea of the song is fully expressed and taken to its fullest potential.”

Neither of the albums’ lyrics were written when the band had a vocalist, yet the vocal melody is very important within their music, adding structure to the more accessible songs as ‘Pull Me Under,’ the stunning ballad ‘Another Day’ or band favorite ‘Surrounded.’ Other times, like during the epics ‘Metropolis’ or ‘Learning To Live,’ the song gives space for the members to expand with musical interludes, a factor which doesn’t upset James in the slightest.

“That is part of them and it’s one thing we’ve discussed since I’ve been in this band,” says the vocalist. “I’m sure over the years the music is going to grow and sound different, but we just have to keep doing what we feel from the heart, and if there’s a long instrument break, that’s the way it should be. It might not be as extreme as it’s been in the past, but it’s still going to be there because that’s what Dream Theater is all about.”

“To us,” Mike adds, “having 10,000 die-hard fans who really appreciate what we do is more important than having fans who are passive about the band, who like how we look or a five-minute song here and there. The people who want to hear three four-minute songs are not the people we’re trying to reach. Maybe some time down the road, but for now we want to reach those who are willing to take the time to appreciate the integrity in our music. We’re not looking to sell millions of albums, we’re looking at a long career. It’s going to take a long building process and one of the keys to that is touring and playing live. We’re not a band who can rely on radio or MTV just because of the nature of the music and the length of the songs. And though a song like ‘Another Day’ could be worked into the MTV format we’re not counting on it. If it happens, then great, but we don’t want to be the trend, we want to be always there and always growing.”