Theater Of Dreams

Prog-metal band Dream Theater are set to take on the mantle of both Pink Floyd and Metallica. Tim Jones explains how.

Currently celebrating 15 years together, the American quintet Dream Theater made one of the finest-ever rock concept albums – Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory, in 1999.

It’s the 80-minute centre-piece of their stage show, which, in terms of musicianship, stands up to any act you care to mention (Frank Sidebottom? – Ed). With the million-selling Metropolis 2 album, they’ve acquired fans of progressive, melodic and heavy rock, eight fanclubs and three tribute bands. So what have the uninitiated been missing? Simply, a world-class act.

Dream Theater’s music has been compared to Rush, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dixie Dregs and Metallica, and the band’s startling dynamism, trickery and syncopation was its founders’ vision from the start.

Jazz

In autumn 1985, music students John Petrucci (guitar) and John Myung (bass) set off from New York for Boston’s Berklee School of Music to study jazz. Petrucci had first played guitar aged eight and taught himself from 12 while at school. There, Chicago-born Myung, who’d played violin since he was five, took up bass at his neighbour’s request, forming a band called Centurion. In Boston, they saw fellow 18-year-old Long Islander Mike Portnoy drumming in a Talas T-shirt – very metal!

They met and found that they were all into British prog and metal bands such as Yes and Black Sabbath, and North American acts like Rush and Journey. Mike – whose father was a DJ – was a high-school gigger too. His diverse tastes included U2, Billy Joel, Keith Moon and Frank Zappa, and he’d played in local bands such as Intruder and Rising Power (who recorded demos in 1984). He also “helped out Inner Sanctum when they were between drummers” in 1985, recording the 28-track album, 12 A.M. John P was into guitarists such as Malmsteen, Steve Morse, Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Al Di Meola. John M admired the likes of Chris Squire and Geddy Lee, as well as classical and blues. As Mike explained, “we played together six hours a night every day and, after a year, we decided we either had to pursue school or the band”. By their second semester in ‘86, they decided to return to New York, get day jobs and give music lessons. They recruited the Johns’ old Centurion pal, keyboardist Kevin Moore, who was attending Fredonia College of Music in New York. He added vocalist Chris Collins and they formed Majesty.

Within months, they’d laid down a six-song four-track demo tape, which was hawked at New York gigs and to record companies (and appeared in 1991 on a German double-CD with Jag Panzer’s Chain Of Command, on the Reborn Classics label).

The songs, a revamped Rush-style ‘techno-rock’, drew the attention of MCA offshoot Mechanic, which took a chance on Majesty in ‘87, while insisting on a name-change, as a jazz outfit called Majesty already existed. Mike’s dad suggested “Dream Theater” – after a cinema in Monterey – and the band decided to let Collins go, as he lacked the vocal range they desired. Mike and John P sang for a while but didn’t enjoy it. Hence, ex-Franke & the Knockouts rhythm guitarist/singer Charlie Dominici was drafted in by Mechanic for Dream Theater’s debut album, When Dream And Day Unite (mainly written by Petrucci).

Dominici first recorded in the early 70s, aged 17 (on Faithful Virtue’s “Billy & Charles”) and, of the sessions held during July and August ‘88, in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania, Portnoy recalled that “it was like pulling teeth trying to get him to sing stuff we wanted.” Still, Dominici’s strident tones worked well with the racing riffs and percussion of ‘A Fortune In Lies’ and the high-energy ‘Ytse Jam’ (Majesty backwards). There were Marillion-like touches too, all adding up to a polished effort, albeit with a ‘big hair’ picture sleeve!

The 1989 album achieved acclaim from US rock radio and magazines like Rock Hard and Kerrang!, but with only limited distribution and no budget for a promotional video, sales were not great. Following a three-state When Dream And Tour Unite tour, Mechanic and Dream Theater parted company.

By 1990, as Portnoy explains, it was clear that “Charlie wasn’t fulfilling our musical vision and we wanted a stronger frontman”. When Marillion asked Dream Theater to support them in New York, they unveiled a new singer, Steve Stone, from Seattle. “But”, Mike recounted, “the big debut was a complete disaster!”, and Dominici was briefly recalled. Among those who subsequently auditioned were John Arch of melodic metallers Fates Warning; however, he decided to stay with his own band. Thereafter, the Dream Theater quartet considered an all-instrumental path and returned to the clubs, where they honed new material and covered Queen, Led Zeppelin, Van Halen and the Beatles.

After a mammoth search, however, a Canadian singer, Chris Cintron, was set to join the band by ‘91. But, as fate would have it, another Canadian vocalist arrived in the nick of time – Kevin James LaBrie.

James LaBrie (a band with two Johns was bad enough without two Kevins!) had sung in family barber shop quartets from 1973 (aged 10), and half-a-dozen bands in Toronto since the early 80s. These included soft metallers Coney Hatch and Winter Rose, who’d supported metal queen Lee Aaron. Through her contacts with Pierre Paradis, manager of Mechanic thrash metal act Voivod, LaBrie received Dream Theater’s latest demo, liked what he heard and flew to meet them. He had similar tastes, ranging from Styx, Kansas and the “very influential” Steve Perry, to ELP, Mozart and Metallica. They immediately hit it off and Dream Theater were on their way.

Fortunately, as Mike explained, “Derek Oliver of Kerrang! really liked us and when he took over A&R at Atco, he got us a deal. Then we opened for Iron Maiden in New York in June.” In the interim, they laid down their second, storming album, Images And Words, at BearTracks Studios, New York, owned by Spyro Gyra saxophonist Jay Beckenstein, who guested on ‘Another Day’. Recorded between October and December ‘91, and with a greater writing contribution from Moore and Myung, the tone was heavier, with chopping, buzzsaw riffs, frantic, windmilling percussion and biting vocals, exemplified by the single, ‘Pull Me Under’, which gained considerable MTV exposure.

Although Mike thought the production “a little sterile”, there were impressive Dan Reed-gone-thrash passages. It sold 500,000 in the US, and Music In Progress tour dates there were followed by shows in Europe and Japan. (An Images And Words Tour video and Tokyo show laser-disc appeared in ‘94). A Progression gig review asserted that “too little proved memorable, beyond the band’s technical prowess”. But, in April ‘93, they recorded Live At The Marquee, fulfilling the criteria they’d set out in ‘85 – to make an album and video, give up their jobs, have a tour bus, and hear people say, “oh, I think they’re touring Europe now”! The Marquee sleevenotes wryly told their fans: “you made this possible... and yet you still have to pay for it! The irony!”

After touring till November ‘93, Dream Theater recorded their third studio opus, Awake, for EastWest/Atlantic, which was completed between May and July ‘94 in California. In June, Kevin Moore decided to leave “on amicable terms”, in order to pursue a solo path more akin to Tori Amos-like atmospheric music. (He later formed Chromakey, which recorded several albums, including their latest, You Go Now, and guested on numerous others, such as ON’s recent Shifting Skin).

It was a “strange time”, recalled LaBrie, not least as the band, whose album made No. 32 in the US, had to play California’s Concrete Music Convention showcase three weeks later. They drafted in ace keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who’d played with such luminaries as Vinnie Moore and Jan Hammer. But Rudess declined to stay on, due to business and family obligations, and the chance of joining Dixie Dregs. Ironically, he joined Dream Theater in 1999.

Undaunted, Dream Theater acquired Derek Sherinian for their upcoming tour (and, by 1995, permanently). An ex-Berklee student who’d played with Kiss, Alice Cooper, Brad Gillis and Buddy Miles, the Californian dressed on stage in pink feather boas! Many fans were disgruntled at the loss of Moore and Sherinian admitted to Progression that Moore “fit in better”, while he brought a new “fun vibe... that really doesn’t blend with the band”. Prophetic words.

In January ‘95, an ‘Uncovered’ fan club show at Ronnie Scott’s in London was recorded and issued as A Change Of Seasons. That year, Mike also recorded a drum video, wrote a book and contributed to a drum magazine CD, while John M did a bass video. The live offering featured guests such as Steve Howe, Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway and Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery of Marillion and covered Elton John, Pink Floyd and Genesis. Dream Theater also recorded a Deep Purple number with Bruce Dickinson at the BBC during what Mike called “a fun weekend!”. However, testing times were just round the corner.

By 1996, everything in the Dream Theater garden was not rosy. Problems between management and record company execs kept the band out of the studio, and they were “getting seriously dragged down by all the business bullshit” (though John P released a guitar video). In addition, John P and Mike lost close relatives that year. Even so, they built up enough material for another album and they undertook the Fix For ‘96 and ‘97 tours, featuring renewed harmony vocals from Mike and John P.

However, in April ‘97, Mike smashed his arm on a drum in Munich, resulting in a one-arm encore and hospitalisation! Talks in Italy to score a Daria Argento movie foundered, and MTV reported Yes’ interest in Sherinian.

Eventually, the band returned to New York to record Falling Into Infinity between June and July ‘97, and Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley (who’d worked with Aerosmith and the Black Crowes, with whom Dream Theater shared a bill at the ‘95 Dutch Bospop Festival), was brought in by record company execs to produce a more commercial package (featuring a Storm Thorgersen sleeve). In addition, Desmond Child, writer and producer for Cher, Megadeth, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper and Jimmy Barnes (also on the Bospop bill) was brought in to craft another ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’. Dream Theater begrudgingly “played the game”, as James admitted, and the result was an eclectic album.

Trademark 10-minute-plus epics were accompanied by a vocal from Kings X’s Doug Pinnick, Near Eastern strains, hints of Sting on ‘Hollow Years’ and even Mansun on ‘Peruvian Skies’! The 78-minute album was “an attempt to make concise tunes, Mike told Classic Rock, as label bosses “were very concerned with trying to cross us over”. He, LaBrie, Petrucci and Myung chipped in with lyrics, the Canadian flying in for a stream of consciousness concept of writing”, while Sherinian “contributed equally” to the music. According to Progression, he’d wanted to make “the most progressive release of all time, so the band struggled a bit finding common ground” – as always – and LaBrie felt they went “too far” pandering to pressures to be commercial.

During summer ‘97, Mike built a basement studio and, a month after debuting at No. 52 in America in September, Falling Into Infinity gained its UK release – thanks to pressure on Warners from DT fans. (The Japanese were spoiled with a bonus disc).

A tour taking in 116 shows in 20 countries followed and a gig at Hampton Beach was recorded for a Portnoy drum video. Then, in June ‘98, gigs at Rotterdam (for the Fan Club) and Paris, were recorded for a video and double-album, Once In A LIVEtime – a 23-song document of awesome live power, issued that October. (An hour of axed material appeared on that year’s Fan Club CD. Two previous issues had boasted work-in-progress numbers). There was talk also of releasing a Metropolis Part 2 EP, which John Petrucci in his Guitar World column called “the most insane song we’ve ever written”. The plans came to nought – for the time being.

Concurrently, Mike held drum clinics across the US and Europe, and the band contributed to numerous side-projects. These included John Myung’s Platypus, featuring Derek Sherinian, Kings X guitarist Ty Tabor and Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein; the Explorer’s Club led by Magellan’s Trent Gardner, Royal Hunt vocalist D.C. Cooper, bassist Billy Sheehan (ex-Mr. Big), drummer Terry Bozzio (ex-Jeff Beck), and Steve Howe; and Liquid Tension Experiment, which was produced by Kevin Shirley and comprised Portnoy, Petrucci, Jordan Rudess and bass-king Tony Levin. Levin told Progression, “these guys are blazingly fast... I found myself struggling just to practise!... The music was technically so very, very difficult.”

While Derek Sherinian toured with Alice Cooper during summer ‘98 and planned Planet X with former Firm bassist Tony Franklin and guitarist Tony MacAlpine, LTE planned a second outing, which would have a critical bearing on Dream Theater.

As James explained, “Jordan’s circumstances had changed and so had ours – the key things were Liquid Tension and Rudess-Morgenstein Project, who supported us on tour... we’d watch from the side,” LaBrie continued, “and go, ‘what the hell are we doing? This guy should be playing with us!’ Luckily, that November, Mike approached him while they were doing Liquid 2.”

Mike added, “it was a hypothetical over a couple of beers – ‘what if?’... Jordan came back next day and said, ‘I really would like to.’ Me and John (P) discussed it, then the others, and (laughs) we politely removed Derek from the band.” In January ‘99, Portnoy elaborated, “Derek will always be a part of the Dream Theater family” – echoing what he’d said following Moore’s departure – and Sherinian took the news “like a gentleman” (using his free time to guest on numerous projects, such as Einstein’s Too).

Wizard

Jordan Rudess completed the ‘classic’ line-up and LaBrie felt they were “much more like a real band again”. The key-wizard (born in 1956) attended Juilliard Music School for nine years from 1965, won umpteen awards playing Chopin and Bach, and was composing prog rock in the Yes/Gentle Giant mould aged 13. By 1973, he had a mini-Moog, which, he claims, “could affect a whole different area of consciousness”! He played with, inter alia, covers band Apricot Brandy, space-proggers Complex, the multi-styled Speedway Boulevard, the classical/world-jazz Paul Winter Consort, Renaissance, keyboardist Jack Hotop, flautist Ronda Larson and singer Noirin Ni Riain, as well as offering keyboard clinics. He also recorded solo albums (including Resonance and A Christmas Carol in 1999) and various collaborations under his belt, plus a long list of TV and soundtrack credits. He learned the DT repertoire almost overnight, Mike exclaiming, “the guy’s like a computer.”

In February ‘99, Dream Theater embarked on their fifth studio excursion, and Mike told Classic Rock, “the record company didn’t know what the hell to do with us... we said, ‘fuck it! Let’s make the biggest artistic statement we could possibly make’.” They resurrected ‘Metropolis Part 2’, which developed a tale about two brothers with diametrically opposed outlooks on life from Images And Words. The storyline that emerged over the next five months bore no resemblance to ‘Part 1’, but, drawing inspiration from concept albums by the likes of Genesis, Marillion, the Who and Pink Floyd, Petrucci and Portnoy sketched out a vision, they and LaBrie contributed lyrics, and Rudess wrote much of the notation.

Recording took place between June and July ‘99 with Kevin Shirley and engineer David Bottrill (who’d worked with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel) without record execs hearing a note! Dream Theater’s 78-minute magnum opus (the US advance CD-R of which had an extra three seconds of monologue) hit the shops in October and won rave reviews, racking up seven-figure sales in both home and overseas markets (Japan getting extra material).

Somehow, Mike found time to record his Transatlantic project that June (with Marillion’s Pete Trewavas, Neal Morse of Spock’s Beard and Roine Stolt of the Flower Kings). He also held numerous clinics, as did John Petrucci. In October, James added vocals to the 1999 Fan Club out-take CD, as well as recording with Mullmuzzler (Trent Gardner’s collective including Frank Zappa guitarist Mike Keneally and ex-Extreme drummer Mike Mangini).

During Dream Theater’s tour in November, a gig at Brussels was recorded for future single releases, and in April 2000, the band put on a blistering display at Shepherd’s Bush (including a Transatlantic guest appearance and sterling support from their Spock’s Beard chums). Soon after, Dream Theater headlined the massive Rockwave festival in Athens, Greece, when Iron Maiden were forced to pull out following a fall from the stage by Janick Gers. Additionally, Dream Theater’s sell-out tour was extended by 70-plus dates to the end of October 2000, set to conclude at London’ Hammersmith Apollo.

At the same time, Mike made two drum videos, John M completed one, John P scored Sega Saturn’s Necronomicon game and did acoustic shows with Jordan, he played with classical experimentalist Walter ‘Wendy’ Carlos and released a video, and James joined Trent Gardner, Rob Berry (ex-Three) and Steve Walsh (ex-Kansas) in recording Leonardo – The Absolute Man for release in October. Workaholics? As Mike Portnoy says, “carpe diem!”

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Scenes From An Interview

I met Mike and James at a Kensington hotel and they happily took a trip down memory lane, while Jordan did a radio interview in the adjacent bar. They giggled at his sonorous tones, elaborating that this explained the enormous size of his organ! Settling down, I asked them about Metropolis 2.

The album is brilliant.

Mike Portnoy: It’s important you get that on tape! (laughs)

Wasn’t it originally an out-take from Falling Into Infinity?

MP: Not as such. The version we did in ‘96 was different – about 20 minutes long and only music. When we decided to do a full-length Metropolis 2 we went back and picked out bits – the ‘Overture’, the end of ‘Dance Of Eternity’, plus ‘One Last Time’.

Did the album concept of reincarnation stem from the death of John Petrucci’s father and Mike’s grandmother?

James LaBrie: I don’t think that fed the album. John P had been reading about reincarnation and regression and bounced the idea off us. We read about it and wanted to go ahead with it.

How did you get your deal with Mechanic?

MP: We’re one of those lucky bastards who just got discovered. I’d made friends with the Crumbsuckers, who were on Combat. That label’s boss, Steve Sinclair, formed Mechanic and the Crumbsuckers pumped us up to him. He dug our demo, came to rehearsal and we got signed.

How did you join the band, James?

JLB: I heard the Images demo and was completely blown away. I auditioned and we jammed one full night. Next day, we started a 4-track demo.

MP: The day you flew in (9th January ‘91), the Gulf War started!

JLB: Yeah!... Then on the 19th, we did the rehearsal.

MP: Gee! I don’t remember the exact date!

JLB: It was a very big day for me. We went to John Myung’s and worked on the song ‘A Change Of Seasons’. I was only down for five days but we got quite a bit done. Then the guys pursued Atco.

MP: Derek Oliver got us to play the Marquee and then took some of the guys off for a vindaloo – we really dig it!

Have you eaten a curry on stage like Rick Wakeman?

MP: No, but I think I’ve shat one out! (laughs)

How did you meet Derek Sherinian?

MP: We knew him through Al Pitrelli and Jonathan Mover, as they played in Alice Cooper’s band with Derek and recommended him. We also auditioned Jens Johansson of Stratovarius who was then Yngwie [Malmsteen]’s keyboardist.

JLB: David Rosenthal from Rainbow also helped Derek out with programming, as a friend.

Is it right you supported Elton John in 1995?

MP: Yeah, at a German festival. We’ve played with everyone, from Slayer and Megadeth, to Rod Stewart and Status Quo. Bizarre.

JLB: We also did four shows with Page & Plant – very cool.

Are there any amusing stories from your US tour with ELP and Deep Purple in ‘98?

MP: None that they’d find (laughs)... ELP was pretty amusing. A fun experience, but...

JLB: Everybody kept to themselves. You’d bump into ELP and Purple guys, but nobody was in the mindset for high-jinx. If anything, it looked like a few might’ve been pissed off! (laughs)

MP: Yeah! (laughs) Some of them wouldn’t have found it amusing! I think they just wanted to mellow out.

How did Kevin Shirley come to be involved?

JLB: He’d heard the Marquee album and asked Derek Oliver to hook up. We didn’t see how his experience could benefit us but, when we met, it was clear he was passionate about our music. Again, it was a very down time – a lot of bullshit – changes in label personnel, problems with past management, people trying to make us into a singles band – our fans didn’t buy it and neither did we.

Who would you have liked to work with instead of Desmond Child?

MP: We don’t need a collaborator – there’s already too many chefs in the kitchen! But, hypothetically...

JLB: Trevor Rabin would be cool to produce (Mike pulls a face). Who, then?

MP: Thorn Yorke – but I don’t think anyone else is as into Radiohead as me.

Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?

MP: To break into the mainstream and sell millions every time. And a soundtrack.

JLB: Yeah. I’d love to get into opera if there was a hiatus for a year – I’m already making contacts.

Is there any rarity that collectors should know about?

MP: Our hardcore fans know everything! But you’re looking at the ultimate collector here – I’m completely obsessive-compulsive about it and have every live show we’ve done from 1985. My house is a Dream Theater museum! (laughs)

JLB: I was in a Canadian TV commercial, though, for Molson beer – I sang Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ (sings a few lines)

MP: Oh! There is one item, though – the ‘96 version of ‘Metropolis 2’. We only performed it once ever. We finished writing and hit ‘record’ on the tape for a run-through with mistakes, stopping and going. I have the only tape in existence – though I think Derek copied it, so if it ever leaks, I know where it came from! (laughs)

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Live Theater

There are already more than 100 CDs of live and demo material taken from Dream Theater, its side-projects, offshoots and precursor bands. Although not everyone can afford as large a collection as Mike Portnoy, if you were going to, er, acquire some of these illicit recordings, then which should you go for?

The Theater Of Dreams fanzine will give you the low-down on sound quality, packaging, contents, origins and recording details, along with illustrations (its back issues can be obtained from the International Fan Club – details at the end of the feature). If you’re looking for early material, though, there’s the 1987 US CD, Instrumental, or Studio Demos 1988-90. Tour highlights include Milan’s 2-CD Live Storm from 1993, Caught In A Web US ‘94, 1995’s Live USA, The Fix For ‘96, 1997’s Caught In Amsterdam fan club gigs like Paris ‘98 – The Lost Paris Tapes, and 1999’s Regression Of A Memory. From the Far East there’s Rockin’ Japan, for the affluent a 12-CD-R Spinning Years set, and for those seeking a more erudite bootlegger, why not try Puppies On Acid, Skyway Of Nightmares or Stream Of Consciousness? Most of these shows show off the virtuoso skills of the Dreamers and, as the list grows by the day, you’d best talk to your bank manager before even thinking about completing your collection! On the other hand, you could e-mail Mike Portnoy via his web site and ask him to send you MP3s!