martindavey87 An exclusive look at how this CD came to be:

“Shit guys! The annual fan club CD is due! Quick, chuck some radio edits of our new album onto a disc, that’ll do!”

I mean, ‘Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence’ is a masterpiece, and so there’s no faulting the music here, on which is essentially a sampler of said album. But radio edits? As if you’d ever hear of these on any radio stations, anywhere, ever!

‘Four Degrees…’ is probably one of the most pointless fan club CD’s out there, but whatever. It’s Dream Theater, therefore it’s a must-have for any die-hard fans such as myself.

UMUR "Awake" is the third full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Dream Theater. The album was released through East West Records in October 1994. There have been no lineup changes since "Images and Words" (July 1992) but keyboardist Kevin Moore annouched during the mixing process of the album, that he would depart. Moore therefore didn´t tour in support of "Awake", although his keyboard style is an integral part of the sound of the album. Dream Theater hired Derek Sherinian as a touring musician to replace Moore on the tour supporting "Awake" but it took a couple of months before he was announced the official permanent replacement on the keyboard position.

Stylistically "Awake" is quite different to "Images and Words", which is a bit surprising since the predecessor was such a huge artistic and commercial success, but then again Dream Theater already this early on in their career showed that they were not content to release the same album twice and that they were willing to experiment a lot between album releases. It was a gamble considering that they were still not an established act at this point, but it paid off and "Awake" was a big success for them (although the label wasn´t satisfied), although "Images and Words" is still their best-selling release.

While "Images and Words" often featured a light and uplifting mood (although combined with both heaviness and melancholic atmospheres), "Awake" is the darker and heavier brother. The lyrics are darker, James LaBrie´s vocals are more aggressive (although he still sings melodic and hits the high notes when that is needed), the guitars are downtuned (or maybe it´s just a 7-string guitar used), and the rhythm section play some heavy parts too. But while "Awake" can be pretty dark and heavy, the album also features loads of melodic sensibilities and there are as many heavy riffs and rhythms as there are melodic AOR/hard rock influences. The complexity of the compositions and the virtuosic playing are in place too, and "Awake" is a both varied and intriguing release. Heavy tracks like "6:00" and "Lie" sets side by side with melodic inclined tracks like "Lifting Shadows Off a Dream" and "Innocence Faded". "Awake" closes with the atmospheric and melancholic Kevin Moore composition "Space-Dye Vest". A track which points in the direction Moore would take with his solo projects (Chroma Key and OSI) after he left Dream Theater.

Featuring 11 tracks and a total playing time of 75:00 minutes, "Awake" is a long album, but it´s one of the rare cases where a long running time is warranted. The tracks develop naturally and they need to be as long as they are. At no point during the album´s running time do I feel like the album is too long. Everything on the album is just where it´s supposed to be. Personally I don´t have a preference for softer rock/ballad type tracks like "The Silent Man" or "Innocence Faded", but I can´t argue that they don´t serve a function on the tracklist or that they aren´t quality material. The contrast of hearing a track like "Innocence Faded" seque into an increadibly technical instrumental track like "Erotomania" is one of the great strengths of Dream Theater. They master everything they do with what feels like ease.

"Awake" features a heavy, detailed, and powerful sounding production, which suits the new heavier direction of the band´s material. The drums feature a more organic tone than they did on "Images and Words" and that´s a good choice. Moore experiments a little more with his keyboard sounds here than he did on the predecessor and it makes that part of the sound more fresh and modern. It´s interesting to look back at "Awake" in retrospect, because I remember when it was released and the excitement it brought to my ears back then, but it´s aged really well too. It´s a pretty timeless release because of the sound production values and in the terms of Dream Theater´s discography it´s a unique album. It doesn´t sound like the two albums that came before it, and it certainly doesn´t sound like anything Dream Theater have released since. A one of a kind type of release and another seminal progressive metal release from the early- to mid-90s. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Images and Words" is the second full-length studio album by US progressive metal act Dream Theater. The album was released through ATCO Records in July 1992. It´s the successor to "When Dream and Day Unite" from 1989 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as lead vocalist Charlie Dominici has been replaced by Canadian singer James LaBrie. Dominici and Dream Theater parted ways in mutual understanding, and the remaining band members auditioned a couple of hundred vocalists before finding and hiring LaBrie.

While "When Dream and Day Unite" got Dream Theater noticed it wasn´t the grand entrance to the progressive rock/metal scene that Dream Theater had hoped for, but with a new lead vocalist on board, and a couple of years to hone their skills and songwriting craft, they hit the bullseye with "Images and Words". The mid-to late 80s produced progressive metal artists like Queensrÿche, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, and Watchtower, which are all artists Dream Theater are arguably influenced by, but Dream Theater managed to perfect and develop upon the sound of the 80s progressive metal acts and take progressive metal into the 90s and they did that with the release of "Images and Words".

One of the things which made Dream Theater different from their 80s influences, was a permament keyboardist in the lineup (most of them to varying extents used keyboards in their music but didn´t have a permanent keyboardist in the lineup). In that respect they were more influenced by 70s progressive rock artists than the above mentioned 80s progressive metal artists. A sort of pairing of the complexity and virtuosic ideals of the 70s (and omnipresent use of keyboards) and the hard rocking and heavy metal oriented 80s. Dream Theater also helped change the perspective that most heavy metal acts through the 80s were predominantly focused on the lead vocalist or the lead guitarist. In Dream Theater all members were virtuosos and the focus are therefore on all members of the band.

"Images and Words" was originally intented to be a double album release, but ATCO Records refused Dream Theater´s ideas for a double album, and that for example meant that their over 20 minutes long epic "A Change of Seasons" was left off the tracklist. It was a track they had performed live in the previous years, but since they were only allowed to release a single album and not a double album, it had to be left off.

Dream Theater still manange to include a lot of different music styles and influenced into the 8 tracks featured on the 57:07 minutes long album. Opening track "Pull Me Under", which is one of the heaviest and less complex tracks on the album, starts the album in great style and immediately graps the listener and introduce the varied sound of Dream Theater. The heavy riffs and rhythms, the strong melodies, the epic atmospheres, the time-signature changes, the mainstream/AOR pop/rock oriented choruses, and the virtuosic playing and singing. "Pull Me Under" is followed by the ballad track "Another Day", which is a very mainstream pop/rock oriented track, featuring a soaring soprano saxophone melody (courtesy of session musician Jay Beckenstein). It´s by far the most accessible and technically simple track on the album. "Take the Time" follows and it´s quite the diverse musical experience, with both a funky opening, heavier riffs and rhythms as well as a melodic pop/rock chorus, and some pretty impressive technical guitar/keyboard playing.

"Surrounded" is up next, and it´s another softer track. But it´s more a power ballad than a ballad, and it´s not as simple or easily digested as "Another Day". It´s actually something as rare as a progressive power ballad. It´s quite the brilliant song. It´s followed by the most complex and technical track of the album in "Metropolis, Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper". Another brilliant and complex composition, which upon release turned a few heads and helped convince people of Dream Theater´s virtuosic qualities. "Under a Glass Moon" is a track I´ve always thought of as being in the same vein as "Pull Me Under" and "Take the Time". A heavy track but with an uplifting mood and some great technical playing. Guitarist John Petrucci´s guitar solo on this particular track is legendary. The piano/keyoard and vocal ballad "Wait for Sleep" works as an introduction track to the closing 11:30 minutes long epic closing track "Learning to Live". Another brilliant and well composed track showing both the melodic, the atmospheric, the heavy, and the virtuosic sides of Dream Theater.

Featuring a clear, detailed, and powerful sounding production job (the drums feature a sometimes sterile and artificial sound, but it suits the music), brilliant musicianship, and a varied, adventurous, and powerful songwriting style, "Images and Words" is not only a high quality release in itself...it´s also a seminal progressive metal album and a true game changer in the genre. A 5 star (100%) rating is deserved.

martindavey87 Released in 2022 as part of the ‘Lost Not Forgotten Archives’ series, ‘Live At Wacken (2015)’ sees Dream Theater make a stop on their 30th Anniversary tour at the world-famous German heavy metal festival.

With only an hour to spare, the band make a brief run through a number of their albums, with a set list that incorporates all their major elements, both heavy and melodic (‘As I Am’, ‘Panic Attack’, ‘The Spirit Carries On’), and full-on progressive (‘Metropolis Pt. 1’). No easy task, given the wealth of their back-catalogue, as well as the duration of most of their songs.

As expected, the musicianship is superb, with the band on top form and really smashing the instrumental side of things. Sadly, as always, vocalist James LaBrie is tough to listen to at times, especially on the older material. He’s struggling, but he tries anyway. Bless him.

Overall, ‘Live At Wacken’ is a decent enough live album. It’s not essential by any stretch, but die-hard collectors will certainly enjoy owning it and giving it a spin or two.

martindavey87 ‘Live At Madison Square Garden (2010)’, recorded July 12th 2010 at the “world’s most famous arena”, sees Dream Theater playing to their hometown crowd as the opening act for metal legends Iron Maiden. The fact that Dream Theater are a headline band themselves shows how much of a big gig this was for them, and so I can totally understand why they’d want to release this under their line of “Lost Not Forgotten” series.

Consisting of six tracks and clocking in at only 50 minutes, this is a relatively short affair as far as Dream Theater live albums go. The set list caters to the heavier side of their fanbase, which would make sense considering who they were opening for, although surely Maiden fans wouldn’t have cared that much. I’m sure most of them probably like Dream Theater anyway.

As for the recording itself… it’s okay, I guess. The sound is fine, the playing is flawless, although LaBrie’s vocals, as always, are a little strained live. Drummer Mike Portnoy randomly speaks a number of times mid-song, which shows us his enthusiasm and excitement, but probably irritated the hell out of his bandmates. Two months after this concert happened, he would do the unthinkable by handing in his notice and departing the band he helped form.

Overall, ‘Live At Madison Square Garden’ fits the bill perfectly for this line of releases. It’s a nice gem for collectors to own, and highlights a special moment in the bands history, but ultimately, after a couple of listens, it doesn’t really have that much replay value. OCD completionists, like me, will snap this up, regardless.

martindavey87 Compiling two previously released Dream Theater VHS’s (they were the days!), this DVD is around three and a half hours of various music videos, live footage and tour diaries. ‘Images and Words…’ focuses on the bands first visit to Japan way back in the early 90’s, while ‘Five Years…’ follows the bands career from around 1994 to 1998, covering the making of the ‘Awake’ and ‘Falling Into Infinity’ albums, as well as the subsequent tours.

There’s plenty of highlights on both discs, besides the abundance of live concert footage, seeing the band members loitering the streets of Japan, in the studio writing, recording, and dilly-dallying, as well as playing covers with guest appearances, there’s a lot here for fans to enjoy.

An added bonus for the dedicated fans are the commentaries for both discs, where the guys are absolutely hilarious in their ability to poke fun at themselves (and each other), and not take anything too seriously. Overall, two fantastic discs in fantastic package, definitely worth owning for any Dream Theater fans.

martindavey87 Filmed and released in 2004, ‘When Dream and Day Reunite’ was the first DVD to come out from Dream Theater’s Official Bootlegs series. Paying tribute to the band’s debut album, ‘When Dream and Day Unite’, on its 15th anniversary, this is an interesting look back at the bands first official album. An album which they no longer own the rights to, therefore meaning this is as good as a remix, remaster or re-release that we’ll ever get.

The concert footage is fantastic! Playing their debut album in its entirety, and featuring guest appearances by Derek Sherinian and Charlie Dominici, this is excellent stuff, and well worth watching. The sound and picture are great, and as expected, the performers are all on top form. As well as rehearsal footage and behind-the-scenes commentary, this is all great material for Dream Theater fans.

Then the icing on the cake, a 70-minute “home video” documentary compiled by Mike Portnoy, featuring concert footage and the band discussing their album, all in their early days. This is super interesting to watch, especially seeing them at such a young age. For an “official bootleg”, this DVD has an absolute wealth of material, and is truly a must-have for Dream Theater fans.

martindavey87 In my opinion, this is without a doubt one of the best live DVD’s ever!

The concert is spot on. The picture and sound are fantastic, the camera angles capture everything perfectly, and the set list, while no doubt being somewhat “dated” now, is still incredible. As you’d expect with Dream Theater, the performances are all breath-taking, not only in the songs themselves, but all the extra jams, solos and whatever else they might throw in during the near-three hour set.

On top of that, there’s a whole wealth of incredible extras that should please anyone who’s ever considered themselves a fan of the progressive metal pioneers. A look at John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess’ gear, a Mike Portnoy drum solo that goes beyond mindless bashing, but fully entertains the audience, a highlights video, a multi-angle version of arguably the most insane instrumental song you’ll ever hear, and the true highlight, a 30-minute documentary of the Japanese tour.

I got this when it first came out, and it totally blew me away back then, as much as it does now. Without any doubt in my mind, this release is absolutely perfect, and definitely one of the all-time greatest live concert DVD’s.