The Influence Of All Sums

Pioneering progressive metal quintet Dream Theater approaches a quarter-century of precisely controlled mayhem

By John Collinge, Progression Editor

Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci have led Dream Theater since its inception, meeting during their freshmen year at Boston’s Berklee School of Music in 1985. Oddly enough, they grew up less than an hour from each other in Long Island: Portnoy in Long Beach, Petrucci and bassist John Myung in King’s Park. Petrucci and Myung had been pals since junior high as budding musicians, and both spotted Portnoy through a rehearsal room window playing with other guys shortly after arriving at Berklee.

As Petrucci puts it, “We were away from home, and to meet another Long Islander who’s a drummer and also into Rush and Iron Maiden was fate.” Adds Portnoy, “In 1985, Berklee was strictly a jazz school, and we were the heavy metal rebels. Everyone else wanted to practice alone, but we wanted to practice together and be in a band, and after a year, it was obvious that is what we wanted to pursue. Now,” Portnoy laughs, “Berklee is filled with Dream Theater fans!”

Calling themselves Majesty, Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung returned to Long Island and set about auditioning singers and keyboardists, as well as getting down to some serious woodshedding. “We never sat down and said we want to make a mixture of ‘70s prog and ‘80s metal, it just flowed out,” Petrucci says. “Our initial purpose and sound hasn’t really strayed from when we first got together.”

In 1989, the now-renamed Dream Theater released its debut When Dream and Day Unite, today considered a landmark in the annals of “heady” metal. But it was the group’s masterful second album – 1992’s Images and Words – that confirmed its unconventionally progressive approach. This launched what arguably has evolved into the definitive prog-metal band, whose iconic stature is modestly acknowledged by those still living the legend.

Progression: Dream Theater more or less is considered the standard bearer for progressive metal – the prototypical prog-metal band. You hear so many references to this band or that band being influenced by Dream Theater. Do you see things that way as well, that you’re leader of the genre?

Portnoy: “If you want me to sit here and play the humility card and pretend that’s not the case I could say no. But if you really want me to be honest, I do see it. We see it and we hear it with so many young progressive bands today. I think the success of Images and Words 16 years ago on the mainstream level kind of opened up a new door to a whole new wave of progressive metal bands.

“We get handed demos every single day – we have stacks of demos in the tour bus at all times. Sometimes we listen to them and we feel like we’ve created a monster, and I’m not necessarily saying that in a positive way, either. Sometimes you hear our influence on bands and it almost sounds like a negative influence. These bands just want to play a million notes and we feel like they’re missing the big picture of what we’re trying to do with our music. But what can I say? It’s flattering, and if anything I personally have always tried to use it to the genre’s advantage.”

Petrucci: “We sort of stumbled upon this style, it just felt natural to us. We were young kids listening to Iron Maiden and going to see Queensryche, and at the same time listening to Return to Forever and Mahavishnu Orchestra and Yes... When we would write, it just came out that way. Now granted, that was many years ago and we never thought we would be pioneers in any sort of style, but I guess the thing we do realize and we are aware of and are very fortunate about, is we have weathered the storm and continue to be an international recording and touring entity. I think in doing so we’ve achieved a level where we have a lot of very dedicated fans. We have a wide fan base that goes around the world and we’ve seen our influence and our popularity increase in places we return to, having been there only once. We’re grateful for that. But it’s hard to step back and see oneself as a pioneer. It’s not what we set out trying to do.”

As Portnoy and Petrucci point out, Dream Theater’s “progressive” orientation was, and continues to be, a confluence of natural creative energies from like-minded and highly gifted musicians. Their sound is aggressive, thunderous, astonishingly technical and virtuosic – as intricate as it can be heavy. The symphonic flourishes of keyboardist Jordan Rudess (an awesome chopsmeister in his own right) and singer James LaBrie’s passionate delivery lend vital scope and nuance to the group’s gut-level sonorities. Essentially, Dream Theater wrote the book on contemporary progressive metal, adding new chapters of depth and refinement with each album and tour.

A glance at the band members’ prolific list of side projects and collaborations offers further evidence of abiding prog proclivities. Rudess, for example, played keys for the venerable Dixie Dregs before joining Dream Theater via an ad hoc instrumental project 10 years ago called Liquid Tension Experiment. That brought him together with Portnoy, Petrucci, and King Crimson bassist Tony Levin – an act resurrected recently for a short but very successful American tour (more on this later).

Portnoy filled the drum seat for now-dormant progressive “all-star” band Transatlantic, including players from The Flower Kings, Spock’s Beard and Marillion. He also made two albums with OSI (Office of Strategic Influence), featuring former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore and Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos.

LaBrie’s prog pedigree includes contributions to all-star projects on the Magna Carta Records label such as Explorer’s Club and Leonardo: The Absolute Man, albums by Ayreon, Frameshift, and the True Symphonic Rockestra, plus several adventurous solo discs.

Myung appears on albums by The Jelly Jam (with guitarist Ty Tabor of Kings X and Dixie Dregs drummer Rod Morgenstein) and Platypus – with Tabor, Morgenstein, and another ex-Dream Theater keyboardist, Derek Sherinian. Petrucci recorded a live album with Rudess, recently issued his first solo disc, and has performed on the recurring G3 guitar virtuoso tour led by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai.

As for perennial events, the Portnoy-conceived Progressive Nation tour shows promise of becoming a spring-summer staple in the U.S. This year’s maiden voyage hit 30 cities from April to June, with Dream Theater headlining a bill that included Swedish band Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, and 3. Portnoy sees the tour as an opportunity to raise the profile of progressive rock and prog-metal with mainstream audiences.

Progression: Your perspective is so refreshing, because you embrace the “progressive identity.” So many times when I’m talking to bands they say they don’t want to be pigeonholed, blah, blah, blah... So, I commend you for that.

Portnoy: “I would never personally deny my roots, or our roots. I’m always going to be a music fan. I’m just as much a fan of music and bands now as when I was a kid. Just because I’m on the other side of the fence at this point in my career that’s not going to change, and I have no fear of the ‘progressive’ tag. I think most bands that are trying to shun the progressive tag feel it’s hurting their career. For us, we never built a career on trying to be something or not be something. We just are who we are.

“You’re not going to find anyone more proactive for the progressive genre than I am. I’ve used Dream Theater’s success to help open up so many doors for so many other bands, and I’m happy to do that because I know how tough this industry is, especially for progressive bands. I’ve taken whatever commercial success Dream Theater has had and I’ve utilized it to try to help so many bands out there that are doing great, quality music, and not necessarily getting the support and exposure they deserve. That’s pretty much in a nutshell why I created Progressive Nation.”

Progression: Tell me more about the concept behind Progressive Nation.

Portnoy: “Well, it’s my baby. I’ve wanted to do something like this for about 10 years now. I’d been talking with our manager and our booking agent about it. Finally after talking and talking and talking, it was time to start working on it. We’ve done a lot of different packages through the years – three-band packages – we did a tour with Queensryche and Fates Warning, another with Joe Satriani and Kings X, we toured with Yes, and we did the Gigantour with Megadeth. So usually in the summertime in America, we’ve been part of these packages. But I really wanted to be in control of some kind of package that would offer some underrated, unknown bands.

“The progressive genre has spread out into so many different styles and types, but the one thing most progressive bands have in common is a lack of true mainstream exposure. Dream Theater is one of the few fortunate enough to really break through into the mainstream and play to thousands of people a night. But most progressive bands or prog bands don’t have that good fortune of exposure. I kind of felt it was my place to be the goodwill ambassador for prog and offer some sort of touring environment for all these different types of bands.

“I’ve been like that for many years now picking different opening bands for Dream Theater. I’ve taken Spock’s Beard or Porcupine Tree or Symphony X or Pain of Salvation... These are all bands I handpicked in order to give some exposure to and let them play to a wider audience – a few thousand people a night instead of a few hundred. I think in all these cases it benefited those bands and they’ve made a lot of new fans and friends. They’ve been able to continue their careers as a result of that stepping stone. So, I felt it was time to do a touring package to offer the same thing to a lot of bands.”

Progression: That’s a fabulous idea. I wish more of the old guard would do that kind of thing – Yes, Jethro Tull, etc.

Portnoy: “But you know what, it’s definitely a different generation. When we toured with Yes in 2004, here we were having sold millions of records playing to crowds practically the same size as Yes, but we were finding most of Yes’s fans and audience had no idea who we were. They thought we were some new band. So I think there’s definitely a generational difference. Bands like Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull had a great, great following and a great progressive audience, but I think there’s a new generation of prog fans that has taken its lead from a band like Dream Theater. And the music goes in a much more contemporary direction. I mean, if you look at the bands I have on Progressive Nation, they’re all more hard rock or metal oriented, appealing to today’s generation of progressive listeners.

“You know, the term ‘progressive’ today isn’t like it used to be where it used to just mean Gentle Giant and Genesis. Now, the term can span from The Mars Volta to Mastodon to Radiohead. What I want to do with Progressive Nation is have a wide array – have some progressive metal bands, some progressive alternative bands – you know, maybe in the future have some more traditional progressive bands. Bands like The Flower Kings or Beardfish or whoever. But the idea is to mix it up and show the many different sides of progressive music.”

Progression: John, what’s your take on the Progressive Nation tour concept? What you have, essentially, are lesser-known bands sort of riding Dream Theater’s coattails.

Petrucci: “I think there have been many packaged festivals put together over the years. Of course some of them are really big and successful. You have OzzFest and the Warped Tour and all the ones that happen over in Europe. Originally we did the Gigantour that was put together by [Megadeth’s] Dave Mustaine, which was more of a metal thing. It’s something Mike has brought up many times over the years that we should do something like this with progressive bands. We’ve talked about even doing it where we weren’t even necessarily headlining, where it would maybe be like Yes, then us, then some other bands.

“Throughout the years we’ve brought other progressive bands with us certainly, but we never really branded it before this time. It would be a nice thing to continue along. There certainly are progressive bands in all different styles out there, not only across America but in a lot of different countries. We get turned on to new and different bands all the time when we’re on the road, so this could be a great opportunity for many of them and for people to get to see them.”

Progression: This lineup is pretty much progressive metal-oriented. Could you see doing this with bands that have different influences, like a Yes-style band or Genesis-style band?

Petrucci: “Yeah, sure, I definitely could see that. Obviously, the music we play is rock and has its roots in metal. I can see it going the other way as well. I think either way you go you’re taking a chance, because you’ve got people who are fans of bands that are lighter but not necessarily like a band that is heavier, and vice versa. So you try to make it where at least two things are happening: Fans can enjoy the whole show and also they can be turned onto music they might not necessarily know about.”

Progression: What do you see in the crowds coming to these shows? Do you see any differences in the audiences compared to those who would come just to a Dream Theater concert?

Portnoy: “To be honest, no. To be blatantly honest with you, it’s mostly a Dream Theater audience. Basically we’re just sharing it with a crop of new bands. The exception might be Opeth. Opeth really brought in their more traditional death-metal people, but it’s a small portion. I think for the most part it feels like the audience we’re mostly used to playing for. Hopefully we’re exposing them to new acts they’ll enjoy.”

Progression: My curiosity is whether these audiences will embrace other progressive bands that are doing things a bit differently.

Portnoy: “I think our audience always has been split into three parts. One part is the musicians, the guitar players, keyboard players and drummers; the second part is the typical metal people; and the third part is the old-school progressive people. That always has been the makeup of our audience. You have the Metallica fans, your Yes fans, and your technical crazy musician fans. I think the one thing all those elements have in common is an open mind. I’ve found that fans of progressive music generally are pretty diverse listeners and open minded to lots of different things. I think our audience and progressive audiences in general are interested in all sorts of music as long as it has some integrity and something behind it.”

Petrucci: “This tour was a little bit more difficult to sense anything, to be honest with you, because of the length of the show and the type of venues and the pace of the show. I guess you can tell by reading reviews afterward. I hope people are diggin’ it. It’s hard to get feedback on the road while we’re out there.”

For Petrucci, Portnoy and Rudess, segueing to Liquid Tension Experiment immediately after the Progressive Nation tour was like leaping from the frying pan into the fire. The trio’s reunion with Levin was prompted by an invitation to headline at the tenth annual North East Art-Rock Festival in Bethlehem, Pa. on June 21. There wasn’t much time to rehearse the highly complex material from albums recorded a decade ago, and preparations were intense.

The combo formed as strictly a side project in 1997, and Rudess was asked to join Dream Theater largely because of the chemistry forged during those sessions. He declined a prior offer to join in 1994, instead becoming a member of the Dixie Dregs, a band known for its own brand of complex, “Southern fusion” instrumental music.

Liquid Tension Experiment released two albums, Liquid Tension Experiment (1998) and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999) on Magna Carta Records. A third album under the “Liquid Trio Experiment” banner came out last year on Magna Carta – an interesting case of salvaging some long-lost recordings, according to the record label.

As the story goes, Liquid Tension Experiment convened at Millbrook Studios in upstate New York in October 1998 to record its second album. A few days into the sessions Petrucci’s pregnant wife went into premature labor leaving Portnoy, Rudess and Levin stranded in an already set-up and booked recording studio. So like any creative and productive musicians would do, they decided to stay and jam. For some still unexplained reason, the master tapes of these jams were misplaced during the mixing process. But, luckily, Portnoy records almost everything he ever does and as a result his live two-track stereo DAT mixes represented the sole remaining traces of this historic jam.

That recording is live and as raw as it gets – no overdubs, no editing, no mixing. Just three guys, their instruments, and spontaneous imaginations feeding off one another.

Several songs and riffs from the original Liquid Tension sessions pop up in Dream Theater’s live performances, such as “Instrumedley” from Live at Budokan. Six live dates in late June (including the NEARFest gig) marking the band’s 10th anniversary were well received, and a live CD/DVD is planned. Members have discussed a return to the studio, so a third Liquid Tension Experiment “experiment” appears possible.

Progression: Tell me a bit about Liquid Tension Experiment.

Petrucci: “I think the thing that’s special about it is with both albums, the music was put together so quickly. You’re talking about a week in the studio, throwing guys together. At the time Jordan wasn’t in Dream Theater so he was a new guy. Of course I’d been with Mike forever but we didn’t know Tony either, and you never know how you’re going to interact with people and how you’re going to write with people. I think some fun and special music came out of both those sessions. Something like that really is pretty personal, when you’re brought together to write stuff. It comes and goes quicker than you can remember and then people start reacting to it. It’s very different than being in a band where everyone knows each other already, working together toward a goal. When that happens and good things come from it, that makes it really special.”

Progression: Tony Levin said he’s had to work extra hard rehearsing for the Liquid Tension Experiment gigs because everyone plays so fast on those tracks and it’s not his natural style. How did that part of it evolve, working with him?

Petrucci: “He’s just amazing. He’s such a nice guy, such a great person... A bass player who has played on everything and has so many stories and so much history. And most of all, he’s an unbelievably, undeniably unique stylist. He starts playing and it’s Tony Levin and you know it’s him. It seems like everything that comes out of him is something that’s original. I admire that and envy that so much. He just added that element to the whole project, the Tony Levin flavor – his whole groove, sense of improvisation, musicality... When we did do the fast stuff he kept right up with it, so I don’t think there’s anything he can’t do.”

Portnoy: “When Jordan joined Dream Theater in 1999, to me at that point it felt like it was pointless to continue with Liquid Tension because we were going to take this new chemistry between the three of us and put it into Dream Theater. But as time has passed, I constantly get asked if we’ll play again or record again. Chad Hutchinson at NEARFest has been asking me the last couple years about getting LTE to play there. I kept saying keep trying, but we couldn’t do it because of tour plans or this or that. Every year there was a reason we couldn’t do it, but this year I got asked again and sure enough there was no reason not to do it, the scheduling looked pretty perfect. So with that in place we decided to book a few more shows and LTE rides again for a few special shows, at least.

“Obviously, me, John and Jordan of course play together every day, so to me the real fun is reuniting with Tony and also playing this music. I think this is really some cool instrumental music we created, so it’s great to revisit it.”

Progression: It’s interesting how that collaboration really struck a chord, as you pointed. out, with people coming up to you and asking about it fairly regularly. It’s actually quite a few years since you guys did anything new.

Portnoy: “It’s been 10 years since the first album was released. I think it was really good quality music; the same thing happens with me and Transatlantic. I still get asked about Transatlantic every day of my life. I’m glad, because this music is timeless. I hope 10, 20 years from now, people are still asking me about Transatlantic and Liquid Tension Experiment. You want music to stand the test of time, and I think in both of these cases they really were quality projects that produced some special music.”

Progression: Transatlantic really seemed to have some momentum behind it that wasn’t fully realized. Do you feel that way?

Portnoy: “Yeah, absolutely. I feel the two albums we made were really, really special. Working with [ex-Spock’s Beard singer/keyboardist Neal Morse, Flower Kings guitarist/singer Roine Stolt, and Marillion bassist Pete Trewavas], we had a great chemistry and I think we made some great music together. Obviously since then I’ve continued with work with Neal – I played on his last five albums. So I still feel a great musical relationship with him, but I really do miss the chemistry that the four of us brought to the table. I still hope that one if these days we can make it happen again. The ball’s in Neal’s court because he’s the one who went off in his own spiritual direction, which really wasn’t quite the Transatlantic blueprint. Really, it’s up to Neal if he ever wants to do it again. I think myself, Pete and Roine have all openly said we would absolutely be open to doing it again, so we’ll see where it goes.”

Progression: I know you have a close relationship with Neal. His fervent Christian orientation in the music he’s doing now certainly sets things a little bit apart. How do you deal with that when you’re working with him? Do you just focus on the music?

Portnoy: “I do just focus on the music. To me, that’s always been the most important element in anything that I’m a part of. But I do have a tremendous amount of respect for Neal’s direction. I, myself, am not a Christian, but I totally respect his passion, and I’ve always felt it was a very positive influence. Every time I work with him he’s made me feel like a better person. It sounds like a line out of a movie, but it’s true. Neal is such a positive human being, and even if you’re not a Christian, you can feel his passion, goodwill and good-natured spirit. I love working with him on a musical level but I also really enjoy working with him on a personal level, too.”

Progression: He certainly is making some incredible music.

Portnoy: “I’m his biggest fan. He literally is my favorite songwriter out there. That’s including the Roger Waters, Pete Townsends and Paul McCartneys of the world. I hold Neal in highest regard in that respect.”

Progression: What about some of the other prog-related projects you’ve been involved with? Can you comment on those as well?

Portnoy: “Well, I’ve done four tribute bands with [guitarist] Paul Gilbert. He and I did a Beatles tribute, a Led Zeppelin tribute, a Who tribute and a Rush tribute. In all cases those were just fun more than anything else. It was like childhood dreams to be able to play all of that music. I’ve done two OSI albums with Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos. Those were less artistically satisfying because they weren’t very open to collaboration as much as I had been with Transatlantic and Liquid Tension Experiment. To be honest, while I think those two albums were very good musically, to me artistically they weren’t very satisfying to make. I felt like ‘just a drummer.’

“I’ve been so fortunate to have so many different outlets to do what I do. So many of them, including Neal Morse’s solo albums, have enabled me to wear different hats and play different styles. If you listen to some of the drumming I do on Neal’s albums, you wouldn’t believe it’s the same guy who plays drums in Dream Theater. Sometimes Neal calls for the most basic Nick Mason or Jeff Porcaro-esque drumming and I’m happy to do that because it’s most fitting for the music.”

Progression: Has OSI run its course with you?

Portnoy: “It has with me. I think Jim and Kevin will probably continue. To be honest I wasn’t even planning to do the second album and somehow they persuaded me. I think they’re planning to do a third album and I haven’t had a call to do it yet.”

Progression: John, as long as we’re on the subject of side projects and collaborations, please share a bit from your end of things.

Petrucci: “Well, I haven’t done nearly as many as my good friend Mike – he’s been in a million. I can’t say I’ve done too many: Liquid Tension Experiment is really the main one and G3 is my solo experience. Those have been the main ones. I’ve played on things from time to time that I haven’t really been involved in creatively.”

Progression: Will you be back on the G3 tour at some point?

Petrucci: “I don’t know. I know Joe Satriani’s been touring in Europe, we’ll see. Certainly if they ask me to do it I’m always open for it. I’m always happen to join that tour, it’s an incredible experience.”

Progression: How as your G3 experience broadened your horizons and development as a guitar player?

Petrucci: “Well, it certainly put me into the solo guitarist realm, putting out a solo album after that tour and playing all over the world with Joe [Satriani] and Steve [Vai] and Paul Gilbert and Eric Johnson. Obviously I got a chance to play with some of the world’s greatest guitar plays and jam side by side with them in Japan, Australia, South America and across America. It just was an unbelievable experience as a guitar player. I think that also it further solidified my ability to sort of expand the role of guitarist. When you’re playing in a trio situation that’s instrumental and the guitar is the prime focus, then you have to sort of develop your overall skills of expression and technique and communication. Because, in that situation all eyes are on you and everything is kind of coming from you. So I think it strengthened that side of my playing, the confidence to step out front and carry certain sections of music. Like I said, overall it was one of the most enjoyable experiences as a guitar player to play with my favorites over the years.”

Progression: Any of those guys intimidate you at all?

Petrucci: “They all do!”

Obviously, it takes a stable band with a proven track record and special chemistry to maintain a lofty standard of influence while members dabble in far-flung side projects along the way. Through it all, Dream Theater has remained remarkably consistent in releasing new material and touring like clockwork despite “niche” status.

“We aren’t part of what’s on MTV or what’s in Rolling Stone,” Portnoy says. “We haven’t succumbed to trying to be what is popular, because usually that stuff passes within a year or two. But what we’ve done and continue to do has been on our own terms, so Dream Theater strikes a chord with young musicians and rock fans all around the world. That’s what has sustained us.”

Indeed, Dream Theater always has done precisely as Dream Theater does. the group’s ninth album, Systematic Chaos (2007), comprises the kind of punishingly complex, technically accomplished, and simply sprawling – which is to say, uncompromising – progressive rock that has been its trademark.

The album’s shortest song, “Forsaken,” runs just under six minutes and the longest, “In the Presence of Enemies,” is a two-part epic that opens and closes the album, spanning more than 25 minutes. Systematic Chaos demonstrates that Dream Theater isn’t about to compromise its progressive identity. “As a metal band,” explains Petrucci, “we’ve taken elements of music that aren’t deemed cool by younger people into a more modern light.”

According to Portnoy, the record’s title “describes the sound of our music, which is methodical and meticulous on one hand, but on the other is acrobatic and abstract.”

Systematic Chaos takes rock and metal to epic extremes: The Pantera-esque “The Dark Eternal Night “ portrays the battle between a heroic protagonist and demonic antagonist, while “The Ministry of Lost Souls” and “In the Presence of Enemies” recall Pink Floyd’s “Shine On you Crazy Diamond” and Rush’s “La Villa Strangiato,” respectively.

The band recorded Systematic Chaos in New York City’s Avatar Studios with engineer Paul Northfield (Rush, Queensryche) in the fall of last year. Portnoy and Petrucci co produced, as they have done on every album since 1999.

Both agree that Dream Theater’s latest opus may well be its darkest to date. “If there’s anything we did on this record on purpose,” confirms Petrucci, “it was that we left out more sensitive, softer material.”

The music was created jointly by all members and lyrics to each song were written completely by either Petrucci, Portnoy or LaBrie. Petrucci, who wrote the lyrics to “In the Presence of Enemies,” “The Ministry of Lost Souls,” “Forsaken” and “The Dark Eternal Night,” describes his poetry as “total fantasy, about alternate worlds, vampires, dark lords, the internal battle between good and evil.”

Two songs on the album address issues with very real consequences, however. LaBrie’s “Prophets of War” is a searing indictment of the war in Iraq, and Portnoy’s brooding “Repentance” is part of what eventually will be a musical exploration of Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12-step program.

“I’ve been writing about 12 steps for four albums in a row, and ‘Repentance’ represents the eighth and ninth steps,” Portnoy explains. “It’s been in credibly therapeutic to write about the steps, because every time I write one of these chapters, I’m doing the steps in my life, and writing about it cements it into my being. Once the saga concludes with the final three steps on the next album, it will make for a 60-minute epic that’s a healing piece of music.”

Progression: Please reflect further on some high points of Systematic Chaos. What might be special about it, comparing it to or contrasting it with earlier works ?

Petrucci: “I’m happy with ‘In the Presence of Enemies,’ which is the opening and closing track written as one piece. When we went in to do the album, that was the first thing we wrote when we got together. It set the tone for things and made me really sink my teeth into the album and made me think, ‘Man, this is really going to be a great album. If this is the way we’re starting out, this is really going to be cool and special.”’

Progression: This album also has a much darker vibe throughout. Is that something you personally enjoy?

Petrucci: “Yeah, definitely. I tend to be gravitating toward that more. I kind of get into the darker stuff, it’s certainly a lot more fun to play. As a guitar player, it’s hard to play happy stuff. It’s just something that’s very convincing. I kind of prefer that style, it’s probably the metal side of it. Of course, it doesn’t have to be. There’s moody, dark classical music, too, along with avant-garde music and atonal music. I think it’s a little more interesting to us and we relate better to it performance-wise rather than the light, happy stuff.”

Portnoy: “I see the album as just the latest stop on our journey. It’s intentionally a bit darker and heavier at times. Not all the time, though – like all our albums, we like having a bit of balance. We want to have a lighter side, a heavier side, a technical side. I think Systematic Chaos was the next logical step for us.”

The band found James LaBrie in 1991, a Canadian who henceforth would be the voice of Dream Theater. With LaBrie, Dream Theater recorded Images and Words, which yielded “Pull Me Under,” an MTV hit in the age of grunge, Guns ‘n’ Roses and an increasing anti-chops ideology in popular music. After that brief dalliance with the mainstream, the band focused on crafting six ever more complex, uncompromising studio records from 1994 to 2005, including the 1999 concept disc Scenes from a Memory (the first to feature Rudess) and 2003’s ultra-heavy Train of Thought.

Harking back to its Berklee roots, the group’s most apparent trump card is a consistent emphasis on instrumental wizardry and complex arrangement. And leading the charge – as should be expected in any metal-oriented band – is the guitarist, John Petrucci. Yet, whether it’s sheer modesty or a fierce dedication to the band’s team-oriented approach, this particular six-string virtuoso doesn’t see himself as more deserving than anyone else of time in the spotlight.

Progression: Especially in a band like Dream Theater, most eyes are on the guitar player. Do you feel a special responsibility to “carry the show,” so to speak, more so than your band mates?

Petrucci: “In our band I feel so fortunate that obviously everybody is so talented; I don’t believe anyone feels singular pressure to carry the band. It’s not like it’s a typical rock ‘n’ roll situation where there’s focus on one. People often have referred to us as a sort of circus, where they don’t know where to look. It’s just because everybody’s so talented in their own right, between Jordan and Mike, and James and John. Everybody just brings so much to the live atmosphere.

“Guitar in rock ‘n’ roll is the predominant instrument, it’s just the nature of the style. I certainly have fun playing it and being in certain solo performance situations with the likes of G3 certainly has helped me in bringing that out and I do enjoy that. But I never feel like I’m carrying all the weight of the eyes of the audience. I feel there’s plenty to watch and listen to and take in.”

Progression: I guess I was thinking primarily of the “guitar god” syndrome that you find a lot of in bands like Dream Theater. There tends to be a lot of hero worship focused on the guitar player specifically. You must sense that somewhat. In your role do you feel like you’re involved in a balancing act between flash and substance?

Petrucci: “I think that I’ve always approached things musically. I’ve said this before, but as far as balancing technique with musicality or flash with substance like you’re saying, I kind of view it like this: If you have all these creative ideas going on in your head and you’re in the genre of progressive music, which means you can do whatever you want – songs can be as long as you want and there are all these different influences – you have to be technically able to realize all those ideas. That’s what we’re all about and that’s certainly what I’m about. So that’s where the balance comes in.

“In any given song it could go just like it might in a classical symphony. It could go from being very moving and beautiful to very intense and technical. You just need to be able to do both, you need that range of ability. That’s the way I look at it. So as far as creating a balance, I don’t look at it any other way than musically.”

Progression: Do you feel you have a signature sound?

Petrucci: “I think that certain things I’ve developed... You know it’s funny, because when I’m playing with other guitar players especially in G3 and we’re jamming back and forth, I’m always afraid they’re going to know I stole that lick from them or whatever. So, I don’t think you ever get out of that self-conscious feeling. But I think within the stylistic songwriting nature, I’ve developed a bit of a sound that’s almost based on the necessity that my role plays in a band. That is, trying to span styles and sounds from playing things that are very lush and full to things that are very aggressive to things that are very melodic and sensitive. Certain guitar players don’t do all those different things just based on the musical style of their band. I think because of the genre Dream Theater is in I was forced to be able to do all those different things, and that in itself can be an identifiable style or sound.”

Progression: How much of what you and the band do is improvised?

Petrucci: “A lot of improvisation happens when we’re creating music and writing. A little bit does in the recording process. But once a song is actually written and arranged and worked out, then a lot of the live show is trying to reproduce that, so there’s not a lot of improvisation. But because of that, and because of the fact that we do like to improvise and I certainly do as a guitar player, we work it into the live show by extending song intros or outros or middles, or putting a jam session within a song. We always work it in to have some element of improvisation within a show. But when we’re playing songs the way they are on the album, our goal is to present them the way they were when written.”

Progression: With John Myung being such a technical monster on bass, he takes the lead role sometimes as well

Petrucci: “Yeah, he definitely has that ability. That actually was something he did more of back in the early days. Even before we started recording, he was playing a lot of ‘lead bass.’ He seems to have mellowed out in that department quite a bit, if you listen to some of those early demos and things like that. He certainly has the ability to do that, though I think he’s taken on more of an orchestrated role. From time to time we do have bass intros and bass features, things like that, but not as much as we first started when we were teenagers. He probably was more influenced back then by Billy Sheehan and Jeff Berlin, guys like that.”

Progression: What caused him to temper that approach?

Petrucci: “Probably just getting more into the songwriting part of it. When we were younger and writing music, we weren’t writing for a band, we were just coming up with riffs and licks. We didn’t have a singer in our little thing we were doing back in high school, even at Berklee when it was myself, John and Mike and we were trying out singers. We were just playing instrumentally, you know. I think once you have a full band and you’re writing songs and you have a vocalist and you’ve worked with several different producers, you start to realize where you want your role to be. It’s just not some thing he wanted to emphasize anymore.”

Now in its 23rd year, Dream Theater finds itself on a new label, Roadrunner Records, with a current album, and a greatest hits compilation disc newly released. Says Portnoy, “With all of our achievements, I feel that the best chapter of Dream Theater has yet to be written.”

Despite the band’s sterling track record to date, it hasn’t come without heartache or challenge. One singer (original vocalist Charlie Dominici) and two keyboardists (Moore, Sherinian) have come and gone. The group has survived changes in label affiliation and the inevitable personal conflicts that, Portnoy admits, brought it to the verge of breakup more than once.

Perhaps for those reasons, the prospect of playing a 25th anniversary tour two years from now is a concept that Portnoy and Petrucci find difficult to fathom.

Progression: Dream Theater pretty soon is going to be closing in on 25 years as a band. Have you paused to ponder that at all?

Portnoy: “Well, we’re still recovering from the 20th anniversary! In a couple years it’ll be 25 and I guess that’s what happens. Rock ‘n’ roll started in the mid-’50s; there’ve been a lot of bands come and go and the time adds up. For us, we’re really grateful we’re still here and doing bigger and better than ever, actually. It’s pretty amazing, considering that what we do is so ‘left’ of what’s in the mainstream and what is popular. It’s amazing that we’ve sustained this long, but I guess we’re doing something right. “

Petrucci: “It’s pretty wild. You know, the years are clicking by and it’s definitely some thing we stop and think about from time to time. We realize, ‘ Oh my God, we’ve been doing this for a while now!’ We do have a lot of experience.”

Progression: If you could pick a couple chief aspects of how things have evolved musically for the band over the years, what would they be?

Portnoy: “Musically, I gotta tell you, I think we’ve really... I mean, of course we’re evolving, of course we’re progressing – that’s what the word ‘progressive’ is all about. But I don’t think we’ve necessarily changed all that much. If you look at what we’ve been doing the last 23 years, I think we have a very common ground with the sound and style that we started with and that we still play. It’s a combination of progressive rock and hard rock and heavy metal. That’s the way it was back in ‘85 and still the way it is in 2008. I don’t want to say we haven’t evolved musically, but I think we’ve stayed pretty true to what the band always has been about.

“If you look at some of your classic prog-rock bands like Pink Floyd and Yes and Genesis, their sounds and styles over the course of 25 years changed dramatically. I don’t think Dream Theater has done that, I think we’ve just continued to grow with our experiences, you know. As for the music itself, we still put a strong emphasis on the musicianship and want to challenge ourselves and our fans with the technical side of what we do. But as always, we put a strong emphasis on the melodic side as well – we try to write songs that are catchy and emotional. We often get criticized for being ‘self-indulgent and over the top,’ but if you check out the new greatest-hits package we put out, that shows there really is a whole other side to our music, which is more about the songs. So, that’s always been important to us and it still is to this day.”

Petrucci: “I guess when I look back at the first couple albums we certainly were a lot younger then and didn’t have all the recording experience, all the live experience we have now. I think the concept really hasn’t changed, the concept being that we’re mixing metal with progressive rock as we know it. I know the progressive rock genre is huge, but for us as kids growing up on Long Island in New York, at least for me, it meant things like Rush Hemispheres and Yes Fragile, and all that. Then we listened to Iron Maiden and Metallica and stuff, so we just naturally mixed it. I don’t think that concept really has changed, but I think our ability to put together songs has.

“Every body has grown as musicians, as players and songwriters. Certainly Mike and I have as producers being in the studio. And I think because of all the live experience, we’ve learned what works and what doesn’t when you’re actually performing and trying to capture that balance between creativity and communication with the audience. There have been subtle changes over the years that have grown into a bigger change. But as I said, I don’t think that the original concept necessarily has really changed.”

Progression: The band’s chemistry must be something special, because you guys have been pretty consistent as far as the lineup goes.

Portnoy: “Yeah, the chemistry is great, I have to tell you honestly. We really get along better than ever, and that’s not just a stock answer I’m giving you, it’s the God’s honest truth. Ever since Jordan joined the band almost 10 years ago, the chemistry has been completely solid. We rarely ever disagree or fight or bicker. And we did in the early days. In the early days there was a lot of that, but as we’ve grown older we’ve gotten to know one another’s quirks and personalities and it works to our benefit. We have a chemistry and a system, a way the band functions both musically and personally and on a business level. I have to be honest, the last 10 years or so it’s been very smooth sailing for us, which makes it that much easier for us to continue.”

Progression: It’s hard to believe Jordan has been with you 10 years.

Portnoy: “If you look at the 10 years that preceded Jordan, it was filled with turmoil and ups and downs and near-breakups. Ever since Jordan joined the band we’ve had a whole new fresh outlook on everything and it’s been incredibly positive ever since.”

Progression: Has that been because of him?

Portnoy: “Surely that’s part of the chemistry. He’ s obviously a very talented guy, so musically the chemistry is strong, but also his personality is incredibly easygoing. He’s a very nice, sweet person, and there’s rarely ever any conflict with him. So the chemistry personally has been very smooth, and luckily our career path has been on an uphill climb the past few years, so we don’t have any of that kind of stress or conflict coming from outsiders. It’s all been really good.”

What does the near-future hold for Dream Theater? To suggest the status quo would be both a compliment, and a challenge.

For now, Portnoy says he simply looks forward to a period of getting reacquainted with his family after a year of heavy touring. “Once the kids go back to school in September we convene to start thinking about the next album,” he says.

Oh, and there’s a one-off gig in Quebec City, Canada, on Aug. 31 as part of the L’International Weekend Festival. The band took pains to note on its official web site that it is not part of an official tour leg. There promises to be more of that in 2009, and perhaps a few yet-unannounced “progressive” surprises.

“We pace ourselves these days,” Portnoy says, “we have to. We all have families, wives and children at home. So at this point in our career we’re able to schedule the tours in a way that’s comfortable. So we’ll go out for a month and come home for a couple weeks and go out for a month and come home for another few weeks. We pace it. It’s not as brutal as it might look on paper. That’s what keeps you sane.”