John Petrucci interview (excerpt)

In a new interview with Japanese music critic and radio personality Masa Ito of TVK’s “Rock City”, Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci spoke about the initial fan reception to the band’s fifteenth studio album, “A View From The Top Of The World”, which came out on October 22 via InsideOut Music/Sony Music.

“It’s funny. Whenever we make new music, we’re not really sure how the audience will accept it or what they’ll think of it,” he said (as transcribed by blabbermouth.net). “But with this album, if you’re a Dream Theater fan, you’re going to like this album. It sounds very much like it’s exactly what we do. But it’s modern, so it sounds modern, it sounds like the band has definitely progressed and grown, but it sounds so Dream Theater.

“It’s interesting, because some people who have listened to us for a long time, they really want that – they want us to sound like Dream Theater sounds – and some people want us to do something totally different,” he continued. “So it’s sort of strange sometimes with a band.

“We’ve been around for a long time – this is our fifteenth studio album – and I think that for us to do something that sounds this sort of signature of the band was a really great accomplishment and we’re really proud of it.”