Dream Theater – Then & Now

The prog-metal trailblazers had an unwavering vision when they formed in 1985. Four decades later they’ve reunited their classic lineup and unlocked new levels of virtuosity.

Text Ryan Reed

Mike Portnoy has a crucial – and, let’s face it, correct – theory about Dream Theater’s evolution.

Three of the trailblazing prog-metal band’s albums, he posits, have marked a significant creative “jump” – with each tied to a major personnel change. Singer James LaBrie joined for their commercial breakthrough, 1992’s Images and Words, catapulting the band out of obscurity and onto the Billboard 200. Jordan Rudess helped craft their masterful1999 concept album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, finally halting their keyboard carousel. And now – in perhaps the most fan-coveted reunion in genre history – drummer extraordinaire Portnoy is back in the ranks for the band’s 16th studio record, Parasomnia, the textbook definition of a rock band reinvigorated.

“I felt a very similar type of dynamic making this [new] record,” he says, tracing the surge in energy from each lineup shift. “It really just ignited a lot of excitement and inspiration.”

If anyone is qualified to comment, it’s Portnoy, who has had the unique perspective of experiencing the band’s evolution both as a longtime member and from afar during his 13-year absence.

The well-traveled musician co-founded Dream Theater back in 1985, first under the name Majesty, linking up with a pair of fellow Long Island virtuosos – guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung – at the prestigious Berklee College of Music. But after serving as a key architect of their first 10 albums, he found himself burned out. He exited the lineup in 2010 and spent the next decade-plus hopping between various projects – including Avenged Sevenfold, Adrenaline Mob, the Winery Dogs and more – as a collaborator and hired gun. But now, in one of prog’s biggest headline-grabbing moves, he’s back on the mothership. The timing couldn’t be more perfect: a 40th anniversary world tour, building up to the 2025 release of Parasomnia.

“This is something even bigger,” says Petrucci, “in that there’s a rejoining of the chemistry that we learned and felt since we met each other when we were 18 years old at Berklee. It’s like reconnecting with that creative synergy and chemistry – really as just brothers in this world. That in itself is inspiring. I can tell you, from the minute we got into the studio and just started playing together and writing, it poured out of everybody.”

The first song they wrote, Petrucci says, is the 10-minute ‘Night Terror,’ which builds from gothic-symphonic keys into thrashy riffs into a signature, soaring chorus – all anchored by Portnoy, one of the most expressive drummers in a genre so often bogged down by robotic technicality. “It was like, ‘Alright, this is going to be great,’” says the guitarist of those early writing sessions. “Mike certainly brings not only his incredible drumming, but also his creativity, spirit, vision and connection with the fans – and just knowing all things Dream Theater inside and out. It’s just so great to have it back.”

Before their reunion, the vibes between Portnoy and his bandmates weren’t always rooted in bromance – at least in the public eye. After the drummer’s departure, dramatic pull-quotes (often taken out of context) were plastered across metal blogs and forums, and it seemed unlikely that the classic quintet lineup would ever be whole again. (Shout-out to drummer Mike Mangini, who held down the fort during Portnoy’s sabbatical.) But the dominoes kept tumbling: Portnoy played on Petrucci’s 2020 solo album, Terminal Velocity, and then joined him on tour. The drummer also reunited his instrumental project, Liquid Tension Experiment, with Petrucci and Rudess, resulting in 2021’s Liquid Tension Experiment 3. So, by the time Dream Theater officially announced Portnoy’s return in October 2023, amends had been made, wounds had healed and they came to appreciate what they meant to each other – musically and beyond.

“You start to realize that life’s way too fucking short to be holding any type of dislike, animosity or acrimony to anyone,” says LaBrie. “There have been a lot of great bands that we’ll never have the pleasure of seeing again, just because they can’t resolve their differences or realize how many similarities they have. But I think with us, thank God, that’s where we are.”

Revolver: Thinking back to those early days at Berklee, what sort of band were you trying to be? Who were you modeling yourselves after?

Mike Portnoy: It’s an easy answer. The two bands that we were modeling ourselves after were Rush and Iron Maiden. I was into Metallica in ‘83 when Kill ‘Em All came out, but I saw them on the Ride the Lightning tour at L’Amour in Brooklyn. But when we formed this band at Berklee, Metallica was still pre-Master of Puppets, so we weren’t even striving for that because they weren’t at that level yet. The metal band on that level was Iron Maiden, and then, of course, the prog band on that level was Rush. It’s crazy now because here we are – almost 40 years later – on this European tour where we’re playing all arenas. We’re playing venues where I grew up seeing this type of audience for Rush and Iron Maiden.

John Petrucci: Rush is a great one that exemplified what we wanted to do, but I think even more than that was Iron Maiden. John [Myung] and I were huge Maiden fans when we were learning to play, and we bonded with that when we were teenagers. We met when we were 12 years old, and we would go see them live in New York every time they played Madison Square Garden or the [Nassau] Coliseum. They always had crazy tour videos – all these fans, all this merchandise, these huge productions, huge stages, not only in North America but everywhere around the globe. I think for me, and probably for John, that was a model: “That’s what we want this to turn into eventually.” It’s amazing that it actually did. I wouldn’t say we’re as big as the mighty Maiden, but we certainly followed in those footsteps.

John Myung: Those bands seemed to have the right balance of technicality, and yet there was something about the music where you didn’t lose everyone from it being too complicated. It’s really hard to describe, but there’s something about it that really bonded with people. And it was that real delicate balance that they always maintained that I felt was really important, especially to having longevity and a healthy career.

James LaBrie: I wasn’t contacted by Dream Theater until November 1990, so I wasn’t there from the [outset]. But growing up, my big influences... Rush was huge. Led Zeppelin [with] Robert Plant, and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. These frontmen had great voices, but also a persona. They had charisma and command. [Queen’s] Freddie Mercury was a huge influence. His voice was phenomenal. Even Lou Gramm from Foreigner, just watching the way that he sang and moved onstage. I was studying how they were expressing themselves, and saying, “What is it that these guys have, that je ne sais quoi, and how can I find mine?” My dad was a musician, and he sang. I remember him saying, “I’m hearing you sing, and it sounds amazing. But always remember you have to create your own sound.” I was in many bands before Dream Theater, so I was already finding out who I was. When I came into the band and recorded Images and Words, I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to do to infuse myself within this amazing picture of musicians and music to make it something unique. I think we definitely nailed that.

Images and Words feels like the album where everything clicked, where you figured out the blueprint.

MP: Yeah, absolutely. There’s no question it really did kick-start everything. That’s where Dream Theater history began for most fans, and really where it began for us. We had this seven-year window of existence before that album came out [in 1992]. Our first album [1989’s When Dream and Day Unite] was met with disappointment and frustrations in terms of marketing and commercial success. It wasn’t clicking with our singer at the time. We knew we needed to change that. And we needed to change record companies and get real management. It wasn’t until Images and Words that we felt like, We’re on the right path. This is where the story begins.

JP: I’d say we had the formula before. If you listen to the first record, it really gives you a picture of what kind of band we wanted to be. We’re doing this blend of our metal and prog influences. We’re able to have long song forms and storytelling [while] doing stuff that’s a mash-up between Maiden, Metallica, Rush, Yes. Even [on our] original demos of songs that never made it onto an official album, it always sounded like that. But Images was the first commercial recognition of the band and [when] we had a very unexpected rock radio hit with ‘Pull Me Under,’ which really launched our international career. Images is when James joined, and his voice has been so identifiable to the sound of Dream Theater since then.

R: James, when you joined for that second album, was it difficult to find your place within this group of virtuosos?

JL: No. See, it’s the exact opposite. I’m in the ultimate situation. I have a band that is very eclectic musically, so that allows me to run the gamut as far as where I can go with my voice and all the different motifs that I can jump on. It’s not, “Oh my God, where do I fit in?” I know exactly where I fit in. When I’ve got my parts, I’m going to make damn sure that the focal point will be that I’m the narrator, and my narrative is to bring you into the subject and make it that much more deep or profound or rich.

R: What are your memories of making Images and Words?

MP: To be honest, making it was a bit of a source of frustration because we were so desperate to be given a second chance. On one hand, we were so excited to be given another green light with our career and get to make another record with a new singer, new label and this whole new sense of energy behind us. But at the same time, we went into that record having to be at the mercy of a producer and record company that had a very definitive way of wanting to do things. The very first day in the studio, we were met with a phone call from the label telling us that we couldn’t put ‘A Change of Seasons’ on Images and Words. [That 23-minute epic was eventually released as the title track to their 1995 EP.] So right out of the gates, the first day was met with this horrible feeling of defeat and disappointment. As exciting as making that record was, it also was frustrating and a learning process for us [on] how to play the game with this industry. Obviously, the results speak for themselves. It ended up becoming a huge success – putting us on the map, putting us on the road and kick-starting a career. Here we are all these years later, still talking about it.

R: Images was recorded in 1991 – a bold and unusual time to make a prog-metal album.

MP: Our heroes at that point were bands like Queensrÿche, Metallica and Rush. But in 1991, that kind of music was dead in the water. This was the heyday of Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots and things like that. What we were doing was very much against what was popular at the time, and maybe that hurt. But the fact that we did stick out like a sore thumb, maybe that helped us. Maybe that’s what was part of the appeal to the people that were longing for that kind of music and style. Because even prog bands in 1991, there weren’t any. Bands like Rush, Yes and Genesis, they were doing very commercial-sounding music. Yet we were doing these long, 12-minute songs that were rooted in ‘70s prog, but with a metal edge.

JM: We had this real heavy-edge burn to our sound, but we always hit a point where we’d pull back. And I’d say that’s what created the magic that we had and that was a big part of balancing chemistry.

JP: We didn’t know what we were doing as far as, “Oh, we’re going to just fuck the system.” We were just writing the music that we loved to write. We all had common influences and musical instincts. We wrote music that was a weird amalgamation of Metallica, Maiden, Rush and Yes. People would criticize us that our songs were too long and that there were too many guitar solos. “Why are you singing about this?” It’s because that’s what felt natural to us. It was the early Nineties – when the grunge movement kicked in and everything was about Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains. Nobody was doing the kind of music we were doing, at least in the commercial sense. It was bubbling under the surface, but to break through in that musical climate was just remarkable. It still doesn’t make any sense. It freaks me out. It’s like, “I don’t know how that happened.”

R: You guys have been through a lot in the last few years, and the band dynamic seems to be a lot healthier and based on a certain amount of wisdom. At the same time, the intensity of youth can sometimes fuel great art. How do you find that same spark?

Jordan Rudess: We went on [after Mike Portnoy’s exit] and made music for many years. We had Mike Mangini in place. He was an excellent drummer – all good. But at the same time, there’s this thread going on in my mind: “Where’s Mike Portnoy?” Because he and I have stayed very close through all the years and worked on Liquid Tension [Experiment]. I always felt like it was a little bit more home with him. By the time we got to the studio, when we all came together and made that decision, “Let’s get this core band back together again,” it kind of drove this excitement. And we’re all serious musicians. But that, combined with the energy that we felt of being reunited, gave us this little extra bit of [drive]: “OK, guys, this is it. Let’s do this.” Because I think you’re kind of right. Life has these challenges that come along, and sometimes things can feel really difficult, but those difficulties will turn into energy and manifest themselves in creative ways. I think that’s what’s going on here.

MP: When I left the band, I was in my early forties, and now coming back, I’m in my late fifties. There’s been a whole lifetime of experiences, both together and separate, that we bring to the table. I know when I left the band back in 2010, I was a different person. I was very controlling. It was 25 years of Dream Theater at that point that I was very, very protective over, and I kind of led the band in a very protective manner. With the experiences I’ve had away from Dream Theater over those 13 years, I learned a lot – not only as a musician, but as a person that can be more of a collaborator, more of a team player.

All the bands I did during those years away – the Winery Dogs, Sons of Apollo, the stuff with Neal Morse or Metal Allegiance – in all those cases, I had to wear different hats. I wasn’t the “leader” in any of those bands. In a lot of cases, it was a more collective environment where you had to work together as a unit. There were other situations, like when I toured with Avenged Sevenfold or Twisted Sister, where I was literally a hired gun, just playing drums. So I learned how to wear that hat as well.

So coming back, I needed to respect Dream Theater’s energy and the way that they have redesigned how they function. Without me there, they had to shift how they did business and how they made music. With every topic, from writing and recording to designing the merch or writing a setlist, I’m like, “OK, how do you guys want me to fit into this?” I think with age comes maturity, wisdom and serenity, and we’re all just happier, calmer people with the current chemistry and dynamic. To me, it feels better than any dynamic that we ever had when I was in the band prior to now.

JL: As you grow a little older, you start to wisen up and see life for what it really is. And then you’re able to really put things into perspective of what people, what friendships, what brotherhood [we have] in this band. We all go through our growing pains. [laughs] And we’ve all said things in the past that weren’t mature. You get to a point where maturation is fully intact, and you can look at each other and go, “Wow, look at our history. Look at what we’ve done. We truly do love one another. We are behind each other 100 percent.” The connection there is indescribable.

R: John, you and Mike were longtime co-producers, and he was such a huge creative partner for you. When he was gone, did you initially feel more pressure to guide the ship? Was that an odd adjustment?

JP: It was definitely an adjustment because there was a partnership there, and then all of a sudden, it’s like, “OK Well, now I’m tasked with doing all of that myself.” It was definitely a challenge and something that I had to wrap my head around and accept being able to handle a lot more work and responsibility. But at the same time, that’s where I thrive personally. I thrive with attaining and reaching goals that may seem lofty.

JM: John, you’ve always played that role. I’ve known John since when we were back in junior high school. And even in the early days back then, you’ve definitely always had that [vision]: “This is what we need to be doing.” You’ve always had that instinctual edge, so to speak. It’s still there, thank God.

R: Everyone in Dream Theater is a virtuoso, but your best skill is balancing that technical ability with melody and emotion. That brings me to Parasomnia’s ‘The Shadow Man Incident,’ a signature Dream Theater epic that summarizes everything this band does well.

MP: ‘In the Name of God,’ ‘A Change of Seasons,’ ‘Octavarium,’ ‘In the Presence of Enemies,’ ‘The Count of Tuscany’ – every Dream Theater album has one of those big, epic 20-minute songs. Writing ‘The Shadow Man Incident’ reminded me a lot of ‘Octavarium’ meets ‘A Change of Seasons.’ It had a very similar mentality, in terms of putting the music together and going on a journey and a story with ups and downs and peaks and valleys. I think that’s just the most satisfying musical format for this band to write within.

JR: Mike, you were saying earlier that, even when it was totally not popular, when the progressive bands, Yes and Genesis, were all going commercial, Dream Theater was still creating proggy, epic things. I’m so proud of our organization for doing that because, as a lover of prog music and prog metal, that kind of presentation and those epics are so valuable. And when those bands left that format, I was like, “Damn! All my favorite bands are selling out.” I think it’s one of our powers that we were brave enough, dedicated enough, driven enough to keep producing in that format and receiving the energy back from the fans as they scream to us: “We love that!” When we’re out playing now, and break into ‘Octavarium,’ it’s just this energy that happens, like people saying, “Thank you, thank you.” It’s cool that on the new album, we have this really extended epic.

JL: You look at all the different parts to that song – it can be in-your-face aggressive, it can be technically freaking brilliant, and then all of a sudden it’s something that’s soulful and evocative. I mean, it’s a trip. It’s a freaking ride, man. And by the time you get to the end of the song, you’re like, “What the hell just happened, and how did it go by so quickly?” I remember I was driving down the road with my son and we’re just cranking it, and he looks over at me and goes, “Holy shit, dad. Basically 20 minutes just flew by.” And I was like, “Yeah, I know.”

JP: If you listen to ‘The Shadow Man’ and you go back and you listen to the first album, ‘The Killing Hand’ or something, we set those foundational stones from the beginning, having an epic that tells a story with different parts and sections. Yeah, we may have gotten better at writing, playing, producing and everything else, but that core mission hasn’t changed .

R: You’ve crossed so many bridges with Mike back: solidifying that brotherhood, touring and making new music. Are you still feeling it out – or is this the future of Dream Theater as you see it?

JL: Our management, label and all the powers that be are like, “Guys, you could ride this for another 10 years if you want.” We’re in the mindset of: It feels amazing. Why the hell think that it’s just going to be brief? It’s like finding that old baseball mitt, man, and putting it on. You go, “Yeah, that’s it.” We’re blessed.

JP: With everything we’ve been through – from announcing Mike rejoining a year ago to [making] a new record to being on this 40th anniversary tour – it feels like we’re in our stride. It’s also incredible to see fans that have stayed with us from the beginning and then younger fans that are brand new – everybody with smiles on their faces. It’s just a wonderful time for Dream Theater right now.