Interview: Dream Theater’s John Petrucci Talks New Double-Album, ‘The Astonishing’ (excerpt)

The following is an excerpt from the Dream Theater profile in the Feb/Mar issue of Revolver–which is on newsstands February 9 and is available for purchase in our webstore. Here, axman John Petrucci talks about Dream Theater’s new double-album ‘The Astonishing.’

by J. Bennett

Revolver: Did you start working on new material with the intention of writing a double concept record, or did it just turn out that way?

John Petrucci: Everything about this album was deliberate. It was planned about two and a half years ago. Every detail and layer of it was proposed and planned – from having it based on an original story to having it be a concept album in two acts and being its own stand-alone Dream Theater show that we’ll present in seated venues across the world. We had it very mapped out from the beginning.

There are 34 songs on the album. Isn’t that more like a triple album?

You know, when I look at it, I can’t believe it [laughs]. We’ve never had anything close to that many songs on any of our albums. It really is a trip. It comes in at two hours and 10 minutes, so it’s not just two CDs – it truly is two albums’ worth of material. But the reason there are so many songs is because it’s a score to the story, so each one sets up a different scene or chapter.

At any point did you think, “What have I gotten myself into?”

[Laughs] Oh my god – at many points. I’m still thinking that! At least now the album’s done, but the live show has been in development for the last year. The great thing about the project is that it brings together all the creative art forms that I love – storytelling and creative writing; music, obviously, and songwriting and playing guitar. I love sci-fi and fantasy movies and things like ‘Lord of the Rings’ and ‘Game of Thrones.’ Even musical theater like ‘Les Misérables’ and ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ and – speaking of the show – very cool visuals. Not to mention a deep and broad involvement with real orchestra and choir throughout the entire album. So as much as it’s overwhelming, it’s very rewarding creatively.