Dream Theater

A Dramatic Turn of Events

Producer: John Petrucci

Roadrunner Records

Release Date: Sept. 13

Dream Theater fans have been anxiously awaiting the band’s new album, A Dramatic Turn of Events. With co-founder and drummer extraordinaire Mike Portnoy unexpectedly departing the group last year, the question of who would follow in his iconic shoes has loomed large. But new drummer Mike Mangini takes his place behind the kit like business as usual. Dream Theater has wisely turned the shakeup into a new (and needed) change of direction. The epic songs and nonstop time changes remain, but the band sounds fresher and looser than it has in ages. The group’s members are clearly enjoying a rediscovered melodicism and experimentation in their songwriting. Dream Theater digs in with impressive might into twisting, hook-heavy journeys like ‘Bridges in the Sky,’ ‘Breaking All Illusions’ and ‘Outcry,’ yet also softens into a vulnerability never heard before on songs like ‘Far From Heaven’ and ‘Beneath the Surface’ (the latter a heartbreak story of lovers too immobilized by pain to reach out to each other). Fans, rejoice: The spirit carries on, very much intact.

—CT