Sexual Obsession – Dream Theater: Erotomania

This month Charlie Griffiths looks at Dream Theater’s instrumental masterpiece in which John Petrucci and co draw attention to the lesser-known ‘de Clerambault’s syndrome’...

The year was 1985, the location Berklee College of Music in Boston. John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and John Myung were fatefully brought together by their mutual love of Rush and began regular jamming and writing sessions almost immediately. Having also recruited keyboardist Kevin Moore, the nucleus of what was to become Dream Theater was born. Little did they know they would have a career spanning 21 years (to date) and become the most influential progressive band of their time. Success was far from easy though. The latter half of the ‘80s saw succession of hirings and firings of various vocalists and included a remarkable two-year gap with no singer. This may have had a bearing on developing the rich and diverse musical style Dream Theater have become known for.

Canadian vocalist James LaBrie was eventually brought in and Images And Words was released in 1992 to critical acclaim. Awake was released two years later (1994) but Kevin Moore left the band during the mixing process. Fans regard this era in DT history as a ‘golden age’ for progressive metal and the landscape became awash with sound-alikes.

Dream Theater draw from a rich palette of influences, citing everyone from Meshuggah, to Yes, to Elton John as inspiration, sometimes all in one song, let alone across an album! Awake is distinctly heavier than its predecessor and also displays a step up in proficiency of the musicianship. ‘Erotomania’ is the first part of the ‘A Mind Beside Itself’ trilogy and contains musical themes from elsewhere in the suite. This technique of re-using riffs and melodies is evident throughout the DT catalogue and is a method they use to add continuity to the compositions and albums. The Scenes From A Memory (1999) album is full of musical quotations from ‘Metropolis Part 1’ (a track from Images And Words).

With current keyboardist Jordan Rudess (formally of Steve Morse’s Dixie Dregs) the band has gone on to evolve and expand its fan base. They are arguably more popular now than ever in their career. The band has a reputation for being one of the most precise and consistent live acts you could hope to see, as is evident on its twentieth anniversary DVD Score, filmed in April 2006 at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York. The set list chronologically charts the bands tour and culminates (in true prog fashion) with the band performing live with an orchestra. If you look carefully you may see a certain GT contributor in the crowd!

Incidentally, de Clerambault’s syndrome – or erotomania – is where a person, usually a single woman, develops the fantasy that an exalted personality is in love with her. These are generally TV or film actors and of course sometimes musicians...

box

Track Record

An invitation to join the G3 tour was all the impetus John needed to pen some guitar-centric songs and on his solo album Suspended Animation, he really lets his main influences Vai, Satch and Morse come to the fore. John’s ability to combine his influences without losing his own identity is demonstrated to the fullest.