Awake From The ‘Dream!

Dream Theater get serious with moody third LP! Plus, hot news on line-up change!

Dream Theater, the New York-based Pomp architects, release their third studio LP, Awake, through EastWest on October 3.

The follow-up to 1992’s half-million selling Images And Words album, Awake was produced by Duane Baron and John Purdell, who are responsible for the production of earlier albums from Ozzy Osbourne, Life Sex & Death and Britny Fox. The record, which has a running time of a mammoth 75 minutes, features the following tracks: ‘6.00’, ‘Caught In A Web’, ‘Innocence Faded’, ‘Erotomania’, ‘Voices’, ‘The Silent Man’, ‘Mirror’, ‘Lie’ (slated for release as a single on October 17), ‘Lifting Shadows Off A Dream’, ‘Scarred’ and the bizarrely-titled ‘Space-Dye Vest’.

“It’s obvious that this is definitely a harder album than Images And Words,” vocalist James LaBrie tells Mayhem. “It reflects what we’re going through in life and all of the experiences we’ve had in the past four years.

“We’re really happy with the way it came out,” he continues. “There’s a dark side to it, but that’s the road we wanted to go at this point. Images... was dealing more with hope and perseverance, whereas this one is dealing more with the philosophies and constant barrage experienced in life.

“There’s a common thread throughout the lyrics. it’s about becoming more aware of oneself – that’s why we called it Awake.”

Strangely, when speaking to Kerrang!, LaBrie made no mention of the fact that keyboard player Kevin Moore had parted company with the band (completed by guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung and drummer Mike Portnoy), in what has been described as an amicable split.

A press release (dated the same day that LaBrie spoke to Mayhem, but received after the interview) reveals that musical differences were to blame.

LaBrie’s official statement reads as follows: “Kevin decided to leave so that he could pursue a new musical direction... we’ll miss him.”

Moore, who does play on Awake, says of the split: “I think my approach to writing has changed a lot in the past few years. It came to a point where my views were so different from the rest of the band that we were having trouble relating to each other’s ideas. I decided that I needed to concentrate on my own creative identity and that a split with the band would be the best thing for both of us.”

Dream Theater, who are currently looking for a replacement for Moore, have recruited Jordan Rudes (ex-Jan Hammer, Dixie Dreggs and Speedway Boulevard) as a temporary stand-in for imminent US live dates.

—Dave Reynolds