Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals), and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).
Dream Theater was formed under the name Majesty by Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy—all from Long Island, New York—while they attended Berklee College of Music. They dropped out to concentrate on the band. Dream Theater has undergone various lineup changes, though Petrucci and Myung have remained constant and Portnoy continues to play with the band today. After a brief stint with Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater shortly after the release of their 1989 debut album When Dream and Day Unite), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's original keyboardist, Kevin Moore, left the band after three albums and was replaced by Derek Sherinian in 1995 after a period of touring. They recorded one album (and an EP) with Sherinian, who was replaced by current keyboardist Jordan Rudess in 1999. Portnoy left the band in 2010 to pursue other musical interests, and was replaced by Mike Mangini; he rejoined the band in October 2023.
Dream Theater has released sixteen studio albums. The band's highest-selling release is their second album Images and Words (1992), which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart.Billboard Chart history for Dream Theater can be seen at [ Billboard.com]. Other albums such as Awake (1994) and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46 respectively, and each received critical acclaim. Their fifth album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It was also ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album in March 2003 by Classic Rock magazine.
By 2018, Dream Theater had sold over 12 million records worldwide; they have received four Grammy Award nominations, including one win in 2022. Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, the band has been referred to as one of the "big three" of the progressive metal genre, responsible for its development and popularization. Additionally, the staff of Loudwire named them the 38th best metal band of all time.
History Formation (1985–1987) In 1985, guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band while attending Berklee College of Music in Boston. Petrucci and Myung were childhood friends from Kings Park, New York, and met Portnoy of Long Beach, New York while at Berklee. The trio started by covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.
Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy agreed on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to The Score So Far... documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "Bastille Day" sounded "majestic".This was referenced in the documentary "The Score so Far", on the second disc of the Score DVD.
Petrucci asked his high school bandmate Kevin Moore to play the keyboard, and another friend from home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of "Queen of the Reich" by Queensrÿche.Portnoy, Mike (2003). "The Majesty Demos 1985-1986" [CD Liner Notes]. New York: YtseJam Records. During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung's hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.
The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos were later released officially on CD, through Portnoy's YtseJam Records (and on InsideOut in 2022, after YtseJam Records was shut down).
Chris Collins left the band in November 1986. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was far older and more experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.
Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas group also named Majesty threatened legal action for intellectual property infringement related to the use of their name. Various alternatives were proposed and tested, among them Glasser, Magus, and M1, which were all rejected, though the band did go as Glasser for about a week, with poor reactions from fans. Eventually, Portnoy's father suggested the name Dream Theater, the name of a small theater in Monterey, California, and the name stuck.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
When Dream and Day Unite (1988–1990) With their new name and band stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the attention of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988,Portnoy, Mike (2004). Nathan Edmonds help produce "When Dream and Day Unite Demos" 1987–1989 [CD Liner Notes]. New York: YtseJam Records. and recorded their debut album at Kajem Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Recording the basic tracks took about ten days, and the entire album was completed in about three weeks.Dominici, Charlie. When Dream And Day Unite liner notes (2004 re-release).
When Dream and Day Unite was released in March 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to Dream Theater before signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were relatively local, with the first being at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for Zebra.
After the fourth show, Charlie Dominici was let go. The band wanted a singer like Bruce Dickinson or Geoff Tate, and they felt that Dominici's singing and stage presence was not what they wanted for a frontman. Shortly after, however, Marillion asked Dream Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was allowed to perform one last time.
Addition of James LaBrie and Images and Words (1991–1993)
Following Dominici's departure, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their contract with Mechanic. The band then auditioned over 200 singers, among them former Fates Warning frontman John Arch. Arch ultimately decided that his commitments were more important and he opted not to join the band. On June 9, 1990, at a gig at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer after playing half the set as an instrumental band. Stone had successfully recorded demos with Dream Theater, but he was fired following a single, ill-fated live performance. According to Mike Portnoy, Stone moved around the stage in a rather odd manner, seemingly doing a bad impression of Bruce Dickinson. Additionally, he shouted "Scream for me Long Beach!" several times throughout the show (Dickinson can be heard saying this on Iron Maiden's live album Live After Death), although they were performing in Bay Shore. The audience was immediately turned off by the new singer. It was five months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental under the name YtseJam. Until 1991, the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing additional music. It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become Images and Words (1992).
In January 1991, the band received a demo tape from Kevin James LaBrie, of glam metal band Winter Rose, just before committing to another singer. They were so impressed by his demo that he was flown from Canada to New York for an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band and was immediately hired to fill the vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows (still mostly around New York City), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring LaBrie. Derek Shulman and ATCO Records (now East West), a division of Elektra Records, signed Dream Theater to a seven-album contract based on a three-song demo (later made available as "The Atco Demos" through the Dream Theater fan club).
The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was Images and Words (1992). For promotion, the label released a CD single and video clip for the song "Another Day", but neither made significant commercial impact. The song "Pull Me Under", however, managed to garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In response, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under", which saw heavy rotation on MTV. A third video clip was produced for "Take the Time", but it was not nearly as successful as "Pull Me Under".
The success of "Pull Me Under", combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and Japan, caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum status in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London's famed Marquee Club. This show was recorded and released as Live at the Marquee, Dream Theater's first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in with documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.
Awake and Kevin Moore's departure (1994–1995)
Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. Awake, Dream Theater's third studio album, was released on October 4, 1994. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore had announced to the rest of the band that he would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his musical interests, since he was no longer interested in touring or the style of music which Dream Theater performed.EastWest Records Press Release. As a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be considered.
Jens Johansson was among the biggest names to audition, but the band members were eager to fill the position with keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Portnoy and Petrucci had come across Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as "best new talent" in the readers' poll. The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Burbank, California. Although the show was a success, and Rudess was asked to fill the keyboardist position permanently, he opted to tour with The Dixie Dregs instead since it granted him more personal latitude. Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus Derek Sherinian, who had previously toured and recorded with Alice Cooper and Kiss, to fill in for the Waking Up the World Tour. By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-time replacement.
A Change of Seasons, Falling into Infinity (1995–1998)