Originally published in Beaver Country Times newspaper · September 2002
Prog Rock Isn’t A Dream
InterviewJames LaBrie2 min read
It’s a reality for popular band Dream Theater
By Scott Tady
Pittsburgh – Progressive rock lives in the music of Dream Theater.
Musical descendents to Yes, Pink Floyd, King Crimson and other progressive rock groups that peaked in the 1970s, Dream Theater visits Pittsburgh on Saturday for an A.J. Palumbo Center concert featuring King’s X and guitar wizard Joe Satriani.
“We’ll play an 80-minute set and basically try to give as much of an overview of the Dream Theater catalog as possible,” said the band’s singer, James LaBrie.
Compressing the band’s lengthy, multilayered songs into an 80-minute performance poses a challenge, LaBrie acknowledged in a phone interview last Tuesday.
The title track to the group’s 2002 CD, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, clocks in at a whopping 42 minutes. Many songs from the group’s five other studio recordings easily top the 10-minute barrier.
But brevity was never the point to prog rock, art rock, classical rock or whatever term you prefer for a genre that is the antithesis to the disposable pop that reigns on radio.
“Yes, we are completely aware that we’re one of the few contemporary bands getting notoriety in the progressive realm of music,” LaBrie said. “Hopefully, we are opening doors for other bands doing this kind of music.”
Dream Theater was formed in 1985 by Berklee School of Music graduates John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums) and Kevin Moore (keyboards). A 1989 album, When Dreams And Day Unite,” gave the group a loyal underground following.
In 1992, LaBrie replaced singer Charles Dominici, and the group embraced heavy metal elements amid its Rush- and Yes-influenced sound.
Even rock critics who normally mock prog rock have praised the epic splendor of Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, released early this year. The CD’s thematically linked songs deal with emotional distress and the different responses it prompts in people. A standout sung is ‘The Great Debate’, which uses sound bytes and poignant lyrics to present both sides of the stem cell research issue.
It’s a far cry from boy-band, teen-vixen pop, which is precisely why LaBrie, an Ontario resident, thinks Dream Theater has cultivated a diehard following.
“We do a lot of meet-and-greets with fans, and I often hear people say, ‘I got to the point where I was tired of what’s on radio, and then I found out about you guys and so I came out to your show, and I liked what I heard’,” LaBrie said.
Rather than bemoan the state of commercial radio, LaBrie optimistically points to the potential of satellite radio stations, especially XM Radio, “which has been behind us from the start. They play us every day,” LaBrie said.
Internet radio stations also have become a breeding ground for fans to discover and spread the word about great new music, he said.
“I’d just like to let people know everything you hear on the radio isn’t truly representative of what exists out there musically,” LaBrie said.
It’s the grass-roots support of fans, not the promotional efforts of local radio stations, that enables Dream Theater to headline a venue the size of Palumbo Center on Saturday.