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02-07 New Dream Theater Live DVD
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Dream Theater
Metal, Progressive

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal. While its lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently delivered sharp-edged music. Dream Theater is known for its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several live albums -- Live at the Marquee, recorded at the London club; Live in Japan, recorded during the Music in Progress tour in 1993;and a triple CD and DVD, Live Scenes from New York -- they remain one of heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.

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The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons of contemporary heavy metal. While its lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently delivered sharp-edged music. Dream Theater is known for its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several live albums -- Live at the Marquee, recorded at the London club; Live in Japan, recorded during the Music in Progress tour in 1993;and a triple CD and DVD, Live Scenes from New York -- they remain one of heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.

Originally named Majesty by Berkeley College of Music students Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy,the band soon expanded with the addition of keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. Releasing an eight-tune demo, Majesty Demo, as Majesty, the group sold 1,000 copies within six months. The departure of Collins in late 1986 left Majesty without a vocalist, and after a long period of auditioning possible replacements, the group settled on Charlie Dominici in November 1987. Changing its name, the group agreed on "Dream Theater," inspired by a now-demolished California movie theater. Signing with Mechanic Records, the group began working on its first full-length album. Delays caused by label mismanagement limited the group to performing at small clubs and bars. Frustrated by its experiences with the label, Dream Theater finally severed its ties with Mechanic.

This was only one drastic change in the band's course of action. Firing Dominici, the group spent the next couple years searching for a vocalist. The search ended in late 1991 when a demo tape from Canadian vocalist James LaBrie, formerly of Winter Rose, arrived. After flying to New York to audition, LaBrie was invited to join the band. Signing with Atco Atlantic(which came to be known as East West), Dream Theater released its second album, Images & Words, in 1992. One of three videos based on songs from the album, "Pull Me Under," became an MTV hit. Although Theater showed considerable growth with their third studio album, Awake, recorded between May and July 1994, the group continued to be hampered by personnel changes. Before the album was mixed, keyboardist Moore left the group to focus on his solo career. Hired as a temporary replacement for the band's Waking Up the World tour, Derek Sherinian later became a permanent member. His first recording with Dream Theater was a 23-minute epic, "A Change of Seasons," written in 1989 and released in September 1995 on the album of the same name.

Following a mini tour, Fix for '96, the members of Dream Theater separated for several months and became involved with a variety of outside projects. Petrucci was the busiest. In addition to joining Portnoy and keyboard player Jordan Rudess in the Liquid Tension Experiment -- agroup that included influential bassist/stick player Tony Levin -- Petrucci played guitar with Trent Gardner's Explorers Club and made a guest appearance on Shadow Gallery's Tyranny album. Myung and Sherinian collaborated with King's X vocalist Ty Tabor in the band Platypus. LaBrie worked with Mull Muzzler, a group formed with Matt Guillory and Mike Mangini.

Dream Theater experienced yet another change when Rudess was tapped to replace Sherinian, who had been fired in 1999.The band released the progressive rock-heavy Scenes from a Memory that year, a conceptual piece that followed the story of a 1928 murder of a young woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. It was followed by Live Scenes from New York in 2001, which suffered from an unintentional bout with controversy when its original cover, featuring the city of New York in flames, was pulled due to the events of September 11. The group continued in the progressive metal vein in 2002 with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, followed by the leaner Train of Thought in 2003 and Octavarium in 2005. The live album Score:XOX was released in 2006 and featured the band backed by a 29-piece orchestra. It was followed a year later by the new studio album Systematic Chaos, and in 2009 by Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

Sherinian went on to record as a soloist and to play with a prog and jazz fusion band, Planet X. Petrucci released an eponymous solo album in 2003, featuring accompaniment by Dave LaRue of the Dixie Dregs and Boston-based drummer Dave DeCenso. In late 2010, Mike Mangini joined the group, replacing drummer Mike Portnoy, who left the band in September of that year. With a rigorous touring schedule to firmly break in Mangini, Dream Theater somehow found time to record. They pre-released the track "On the Backs of Angels" to YouTube via their label, Roadrunner in June of 2011,followed by the CD release of the aptly titled full-length, A Dramatic Turn of Events, in the fall. « hide

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LPs
A Dramatic Turn of Events
2011

3.6
674 Votes
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
2009

3.7
1,208 Votes
Systematic Chaos
2007

3.3
1,417 Votes
Octavarium
2005

3.6
1,653 Votes
Train of Thought
2003

3.9
1,579 Votes
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2002

4
1,297 Votes
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
1999

4.4
2,012 Votes
Falling into Infinity
1997

3.2
825 Votes
Awake
1994

4.1
1,364 Votes
Images and Words
1992

4.3
1,903 Votes
When Dream and Day Unite
1989

3
592 Votes
EPs
Wither
2009

2.6
100 Votes
A Change of Seasons
1995

4
745 Votes
Live Albums
Uncovered
2009

3.3
8 Votes
Chaos in Motion 2007–2008
2008

3.4
94 Votes
Score
2006

4.1
300 Votes
Dark Side of the Moon
2005

3.2
100 Votes
When Dream and Day Reunite
2005

3.2
9 Votes
Live at Budokan
2004

4.1
296 Votes
Tokyo, Japan: 10/28/95
2003

3.2
3 Votes
Master of Puppets
2003

2.6
74 Votes
Los Angeles, California: 5/18/98
2003

3.4
4 Votes
The Number Of The Beast
2002

2.6
41 Votes
Live Scenes From New York
2001

4.2
216 Votes
Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York (DVD)
2001

4.3
4 Votes
Once in a LIVEtime
1998

3.5
138 Votes
Live At The Marquee
1993

3.7
137 Votes
Compilations
Train of Thought Instrumental Demos
2009

3.6
4 Votes
Greatest Hit (... and 21 Other...)
2008

2.9
130 Votes
Falling Into Infinity Demos
2007

3.5
23 Votes
Awake Demos
2006

4.1
11 Votes
Images and Words Demos
2005

4
6 Votes
When Dream and Day Unite Demos
2004

2.3
5 Votes
The Majesty Demos
2003

2.8
18 Votes

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