Lifting Shadows: The Authorized Biography Of Dream Theater

Rich Wilson (Rocket88)

The latest, paperback edition of the only DT biog you need.

As regular readers will know, music journalist and author Rich Wilson has been a long-standing contributor to Prog since its inception and, without wishing to blow smoke where the sun don’t shine, if you do need to know anything about the band whose very name is synonymous with prog metal, then it’s always good to know he’s just an email away. Originally published in 2009, Lifting Shadows is his exhaustive look back at messrs LaBrie, Petrucci, Myung, Rudess and their drummer manqué Mike Portnoy. Wilson draws on interviews with each member of the band plus a wide coterie of fellow musicians, friends and commentators. All the bases are covered here, and in all the detail you can stand, from the members’ early years as teenage musicians, to their days as Majesty at Berklee College Of Music, to the inexorable touring and studio raft that led them to their place in the pantheon. The book has been updated to include an even-handed account of Portnoy’s departure and Mike Mangini’s instatement, and while it hit the press before the release of last year’s superb eponymous album, it’s still a complete, informed and informative read.

—GRM