Acting Up

Dream Theater suppresses the urge to shred and delivers Falling Into Infinity, their most disciplined album to date.

by Mordechai Kleidermacher

Nobody is as unhip as Dream Theater. They’re prog, they’re metal, they’re shred, they’re the arch-nemesis, shoot-on-site poster boys for alternative rockers everywhere. They don’t even try to fit in; while other hard rock bands go down the drain of obscurity with half-baked, quasi-industrial-grunge abortions, Dream Theater sticks to its own, very unique script and remain on a major label to boot.

Good for Dream Theater. And good for anybody who wants a bit more from a rock band than a catchy vocal hook. Like Dream Theater’s previous records, Falling Into Infinity is a big, epic, progressive rock album that takes you far, far away. At the same time, it strays a bit from the busier, chops-a-plenty instrumental forays that were such a hallmark of past Dream Theater offerings – something that might not sit very well with some of the group’s older fans. Guitar World spoke to the band’s shred-meister extraordinaire, Mr. John Petrucci, and grilled him on the new album and where the band’s head is currently at.

Mordechai Kleidermacher: You’re playing less of the insane, technical riffs the band is famous for on this record and concentrating more on vocals and writing some really focused tunes. Are you getting a little bored with playing the more complex material?

John Petrucci: I think we just got better at writing songs. There was never a conscious effort to change style by saying, “Let’s not make this song as complicated.” It’s just that, in the past, we would probably take a really good song idea and mess it up!

MK: So I guess what you’re saying is that in a way you were a little...

JP: ...Immature. [chuckles]

MK: Well, everybody wants to throw as many notes as they possibly can into a song when they’re younger. But later on, you kind of realize, “Does that really work in this song?”

JP: That’s totally it! You’re strutting your testosterone when you’re younger, like, “Oh man, I can play this and that!” But there’s a total time and place for all levels of intensity in music. The perfect example is classical music. It runs the gamut in musical intensity from really complex, fast stuff to real beautiful moments. If you can strive for that level of musicianship, that’s the perfect thing.

MK: On this record, you seem to have segregated the wilder, instrumental parts from the more vocal-oriented, song-type passages, rather than mixing them all up, as you’ve done in the past.

JP: It feels more natural for us to do it that way. For example, the instrumental ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ was originally a middle section for ‘Burning My Soul.’ And, for the most part, ‘Burning My Soul’ was just a pretty rockin’ song. But then we had this diversion that we wrote that got real mellow. And I thought, “You know what? My heart’s not in that anymore. I’d rather keep the song kickin’ throughout.” It felt weird to stop and slow down. So we said, “Fuck it! That’s such a cool part. Let’s make that a song in itself. Let’s make ‘Burning My Soul’ a straight through rockin’, kickin’ song and then take the middle section and make it its own thing.”

MK: Do you think your older fans are going to be disappointed that there’s less of the nutty, idiosyncratic, progressive material on this record?

JP: The cool thing for those people is that we wrote a song called ‘Metropolis Part II.’ It’s 25 minutes long and is in the spirit of the original ‘Metropolis,’ which is one of those “idiosyncratic” sort of things.

MK: When is that going to be available?

JP: I don’t know. We haven’t recorded it yet, but it’s real sick. And on that song, we gave ourselves complete creative license to do whatever the hell we wanted. But we will record it. And it’s probably the most insane thing that we’ve ever written.

MK: Why wasn’t that included on the present album? Is it because you didn’t think it would fit with the new tone you took?

JP: No, no. It wasn’t that. It’s 25 minutes long. If we stuck it in, we’d have to cut all these other songs. So we figured that we’d just make it into an EP or something.

MK: There’s less shredding on this record. Are you getting less interested in that type of playing?

JP: It wasn’t even a conscious effort to play less or more. The style that I’m playing the guitar in is directly related to the types of songs that we’re playing and writing as a band. On our past records, there were a lot more sections in the music that lent themselves to playing crazy stuff. That’s what felt natural to me. Like, when the band is kicking along, you’re not going to sit there playing Clapton licks. And on this album, there were a lot of songs that called for another type of playing. For instance, on ‘Hollow Years’ for, which has a solo break played on classical guitar, it wouldn’t be appropriate to sit there wailing on the solo section. But on ‘Trial Of Tears,’ the solo break calls for something a bit more over the top, so I said, “Watch out! Let’s go!”

MK: Even though this is still a pretty progressive record, it sounds more radio, listener-friendly. Were you concerned with appealing more to the average, mild-mannered listeners as opposed to the crazed musicians?

JP: I think so. The record that comes to mind in terms of exemplifying what we were trying to do is Dark Side Of The Moon. That’s such a ridiculously intense cerebral experience. It’s Pink Floyd – the ultimate in musicianship, writing and psychedelic experience. But how often do you hear those songs on the radio? How much a part of people’s lives are those songs? And the answer is, it’s huge! And if we can write a record that comes anywhere close to that... that’s what we’re trying to do.

If you can maintain your musical integrity, push the limits of your own creativity and at the same create music that becomes a part of people’s everyday lives, that’s the ultimate. And that’s what we’re trying to do.