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02-07 New Dream Theater Live DVD
06-29 Dream Theater Unveil New Track
06-08 Dream Theater album details
04-29 New Dream Theater Drummer
12-20 Mike Portnoy Rejected from DT

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Dream Theater
Metal, Progressive

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons ofcontemporaryheavy metal. Whileits lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently deliveredsharp-edgedmusic. Dream Theater is knownfor its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several livealbums -- Liveat the Marquee, recorded at the London club;Live in Japan, recorded during the Music in Progress tour in 1993;and a tripleCD and DVD, Live Scenes from New York -- they remain oneof heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.

Origina ...read more

The technically proficient guitar playing of John Petrucci elevated Dream Theater to the upper echelons ofcontemporaryheavy metal. Whileits lineup has continuously evolved, the Long Island-based quintet has consistently deliveredsharp-edgedmusic. Dream Theater is knownfor its high-energy concert performances. While they've released several livealbums -- Liveat the Marquee, recorded at the London club;Live in Japan, recorded during the Music in Progress tour in 1993;and a tripleCD and DVD, Live Scenes from New York -- they remain oneof heavy metal's most bootlegged bands.

Originally named Majesty by Berklee College of Music students Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy,theband soonexpanded with the addition of keyboard player Kevin Moore and vocalist Chris Collins. Releasing an eight-tunedemo, Majesty Demo, asMajesty, the group sold 1,000 copies within six months. The departure of Collins in late 1986leftMajesty without a vocalist, and after along period of auditioning possible replacements, the group settled on CharlieDominiciin November 1987. Changing its name, the groupagreed on "Dream Theater," inspired by a now-demolished Californiamovietheater. Signing with Mechanic Records, the group beganworking on its first full-length album. Delays caused bylabelmismanagement limited the group to performing at small clubs and bars.Frustrated by its experiences with the label,DreamTheater 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 coupleyearssearching for avocalist. The search ended in late 1991 when a demo tape from Canadian vocalist James LaBrie, formerlyofWinter Rose, arrived. Afterflying to New York to audition, LaBrie was invited to join the band. Signing with AtcoAtlantic(which came to be known as East West), DreamTheater released its second album, Images & Words, in 1992. One ofthreevideos based on songs from the album, "Pull Me Under," becamean MTV hit. Although Theater showed considerablegrowthwith their third studio album, Awake, recorded between May and July 1994, thegroup continued to be hampered bypersonnelchanges. Before the album was mixed, keyboardist Moore left the group to focus on his solocareer. Hired as atemporaryreplacement for the band's Waking Up the World tour, Derek Sherinian later became a permanent member. Hisfirstrecordingwith Dream Theater was a 23-minute epic, "A Change of Seasons," written in 1989 and released in September 1995onthealbum of the same name.

Following a mini tour, Fix for '96, the members of Dream Theater separated for several months and became involved withavariety of outsideprojects. Petrucci was the busiest. In addition to joining Portnoy and keyboard player Jordan Rudess intheLiquid Tension Experiment -- agroup that included influential bassist/stick player Tony Levin -- Petrucci played guitarwithTrent Gardner's Explorers Club and made aguest appearance on Shadow Gallery's Tyranny album. Myung andSheriniancollaborated with King's X vocalist Ty Tabor in the bandPlatypus. LaBrie worked with Mull Muzzler, a group formedwith MattGuillory and Mike Mangini.

Dream Theater experienced yet another change when Rudess was tapped to replace Sherinian, who had been fired in1999.The bandreleased the progressive rock-heavy Scenes from a Memory that year, a conceptual piece that followed thestory ofa 1928 murder of ayoung woman and how a modern man is haunted by the crime. It was followed by Live Scenes fromNewYork in 2001, which suffered from anunintentional bout with controversy when its original cover featuring the city of NewYorkin flames was pulled due to the events ofSeptember 11. The group continued in the progressive metal vein in 2002 withSixDegrees of Inner Turbulence, followed by the leanerTrain of Thought in 2003 and Octavarium in 2005. The live albumScore:XOX was released in 2006 and featured the band backed by a 29-piece orchestra. It was followed a year later by thenewstudio 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 releasedaneponymously titled soloalbum in 2003, featuring accompaniment by Dave LaRue of the Dixie Dregs and Boston-baseddrummer Dave DeCenso. In late 2010, MikeMangini joined the group, replacing drummer Mike Portnoy, who left the bandinSeptember of that year. With a rigorous touring schedule tofirmly break in Mangini, Dream Theater somehow found timetorecord. They pre-released the track "On the Backs of Angels" to YouTubevia their label, Roadrunner in June of 2011,followedby 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
656 Votes
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
2009

3.7
1,194 Votes
Systematic Chaos
2007

3.3
1,404 Votes
Octavarium
2005

3.6
1,632 Votes
Train of Thought
2003

3.9
1,563 Votes
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2002

4
1,279 Votes
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
1999

4.4
1,983 Votes
Falling into Infinity
1997

3.2
814 Votes
Awake
1994

4.1
1,343 Votes
Images and Words
1992

4.3
1,880 Votes
When Dream and Day Unite
1989

3
579 Votes
EPs
Wither
2009

2.6
100 Votes
A Change of Seasons
1995

4
739 Votes
Live Albums
Uncovered
2009

3.3
8 Votes
Chaos in Motion 2007–2008
2008

3.4
94 Votes
Score
2006

4.1
298 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
294 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
214 Votes
Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York (DVD)
2001

4
3 Votes
Once in a LIVEtime
1998

3.5
137 Votes
Live At The Marquee
1993

3.7
136 Votes
Compilations
Train of Thought Instrumental Demos
2009

3.5
3 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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