Dream Theater won’t pander to rock radio
By Khalid Melayu

Progressive rock has sure taken its lumps over the years. Back in the ’70s, British prog bands like Yes, Genesis, and Jethro Tull were all the rage, selling mountains of vinyl, but punk put a major kibosh on popular music that favoured technical virtuosity and complex arrangements. There are a few survivors of the antichops purge, though. Canadian power-trio Rush has managed to thrive and continues to pack arenas worldwide, but it also enjoys the support of commercial radio. Dream Theater hasn’t been so lucky. Without access to the airwaves, the New York–based quintet has had to travel the fan-driven, underground route, but it’s done so brilliantly, and with amazing results.

Dream Theater’s latest release is a two-disc collection titled Greatest Hit (…and 21 other pretty cool songs), referring to the only song—1992’s “Pull Me Under”—that has garnered significant airplay during the group’s 19-year recording career. But the times they are a-changin’, and progressive acts like Dream Theater may yet break into the mainstream. One need only consider the full-on embrace of prog by hipster-approved acts such as Coheed & Cambria, Black Mountain, and the Mars Volta. As Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie explains in a call from Barrie, Ontario, the return of the 20-minute epic might not be too far off.

“I think that it’s definitely trying to make a resurgence,” he says of the prog-rock genre. “There are bands that really care about the quality of music that they’re writing, and that just don’t want to go down the same avenue as most of the bands you hear on the radio today. Unfortunately, radio basically says to a lot of the listeners out there that what you hear is what music is. There’s so much more to it.”

Dream Theater’s ninth and latest studio album, 2007’s Systematic Chaos, certainly doesn’t qualify as typical top-down, radio-on cruising material. It opens and closes with a two-part epic, “In the Presence of Enemies”, that spans more than 25 minutes. LaBrie feels that his band has been pigeonholed somewhat by the length of its material.

“When a lot of people hear the name Dream Theater, they automatically think, ‘Oh, that’s a progressive band—they’ve got these long, very involved, meandering songs. Granted, we do have songs that are a little longer than most bands would even attempt to write, but at the same time, we’re not just a progressive band. We’re hard rock, we’re heavy metal, we’re classically influenced, we’re pop-influenced. With that stylistic diversity, there’s a lot more to offer, which gives us that potential to break into these ‘hit’ areas, but unfortunately they’ve eluded us.”

Realizing early on that big radio wasn’t the conduit for its adventurous musical mindset, Dream Theater set out to build a dedicated following through intense touring. Over the years the relentless gigging has taken a toll on the group, though. “We still love the buzz of going on-stage and playing for our fans,” LaBrie notes, “but I think that we’re all, for the most part, burnt out on travelling. The novelty of flying all over the world—the planes, trains, and automobiles—basically wore off after a coupla world tours.”

One of the more bizarre aspects of the band’s touring history—for Vancouver fans, at least—is the fact that it’s never performed here. In fact, the furthest west it has ever been in Canada is Toronto. Local Dream Theater freaks would continually see their heroes booking gigs that brought them within spitting distance of the B.C. border, but never across it.

“For many years, we’ve been playing in Seattle,” LaBrie says, “and you’re basically just a hop-skip from there, but it all came down to the promoters in that area not being aware of Dream Theater as a musical force. Lately they started saying, ‘Wait a second, where’s the buzz on the streets coming from?’, and I think with Vancouver, a bit of that has come our way because Roadrunner [the band’s new label] has been extremely aggressive in marketing us into areas of the world that have been previously left alone.”

Engineered and mixed by Paul Northfield (Rush, Queensrÿche), Systematic Chaos continues the virtuoso melding of ’70s-style prog and ’80s-style metal that the band—LaBrie, guitarist John Petrucci, keyboardist Jordan Rudess, drummer Mike Portnoy, and bassist John Myung—is noted for. Most of the lyrics were penned by coproducers Petrucci and Portnoy, but LaBrie, the sole Canadian member, provided the words for “Prophets of War”, a damning indictment of Dubya’s disaster in Iraq.

“That song is about the frustration with the powers that be for having their ulterior motives create such a horrific, no-win situation,” he explains. “Basically the message there is that we really have to start questioning our politicians—no matter who they are, where they are, and what they’re saying—because it is our right. I think people have forgotten that the power is in our hands, and that if there’s enough voices behind it, we will see things change rapidly.”

Those changes can’t come fast enough for LaBrie and his American mates. “That goes without saying,” he stresses. “I don’t think I’m alone on that one.”

Early Days:

Dream Theater got their start in 1985, when Berklee School of Music students Mike Portnoy (drums), John Myung (bass) and John Petrucci (guitar) decided to start a band together. They recruited keyboardist Kevin Moore and singer Chris Collins and were originally called Majesty. Collins left and was replaced by Charlie Dominici. There was another band called Majesty, so they changed their name to Dream Theater after a movie theater in Monterey, California. Their debut album When Dream And Day Unite was released in 1989.


Lineup Change:

Charlie Dominici left the band shortly after their debut album was released, and Dream Theater spent a long time auditioning people to be his replacement. In 1991 Winter Rose vocalist James LaBrie was selected to be the band's new singer. They also signed to a new record label, Atco Records, and released their second album Images and Words in 1992. It was very commercially successful.
Success and More Lineup Changes:

During the next several years Dream Theater would become one of the most successful and popular acts in progressive metal. Awake was released in 1994. It also marked the departure of keyboardist Kevin Moore, who was replaced by Derek Sherinian for 1997's Falling Into Infinity, He would be replaced by keyboardist Jordan Rudess for 1999's Scenes From A Memory.

The 21st Century:

Dream Theater continues to be one of the most successful progressive metal bands, selling out concert venues worldwide. They've released a succession of studio and live CDs to generally positive critical response. They have a huge international following with fan clubs around the globe. Their latest effort was 2007's Systematic Chaos.

Current Dream Theater Band Members:

James LaBrie - Vocals (Fates Warning, Winter Rose)
John Petrucci - Guitar
John Myung - Bass
Jordan Rudess - Keyboards (David Bowie, Dixie Dreggs, Jan Hammer, Steve Morse, Vinnie Moore)
Mike Portnoy - Drums

Former Dream Theater Band Members:

Chris Collins - Vocals (1985-1987)
Charlie Dominici - Vocals (1987-1990)
Kevin Moore - Keyboards (1985-1994)
Derek Sherinian - Keyboards (1995-1999)


Dream Theater Discography:

1989 When Dream And Day Unite (Mechanic)
1992 Images And Words (Atlantic)
1993 Live At The Marquee (live) (Atlantic)
1994 Awake (Atlantic)
1995 A Change Of Seasons (Elektra)
1997 Falling Into Infinity (Elektra)
1998 Once In A LiveTime (live) (Elektra)
1999 Scenes From A Memory (Elektra)
2001 Live Scenes From New York (Elektra)
2002 Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (Elektra)
2003 Train Of Thought (Elektra)
2004 Live At Budokan (Elektra)
2005 Octavarium (Atlantic)
2006 Score (live) (Rhino)
2007 Systematic Chaos (Roadrunner)

Dream Theater at Radio City Music Hall, New York Concert Review

From Eric Hanson, with thanks to Seth Diamond


A Special Evening With Dream Theater

Although the members of the legendary progressive metal band Dream Theater have built a career and legions of fans by putting out album after album of complex music, they are also known for inserting coded references to past works and ambiguous meanings, creating songs that are just as much cryptographer’s handbook as music. Indeed, their most recent release, Octavarium (2005) is not only an album in itself, but a retrospective of referenced lyrics and themes woven into the fabric of the music.
With this most recent tour, the idea of a multi-layered retrospective left the studio and went on the road: for the final show of Dream Theater’s 20th Anniversary Tour on April 1, 2006 at New York’s famed Radio City Music Hall, the band took the idea of a retrospective album and extended it into a show. 6,000 fans and a film crew watched as a themed, carefully chosen selection of video and songs sent the audience back to 1985 – the year Dream Theater-precursor Majesty released their first and only demo – and led back through each album to the title track of Octavarium. With this piece, a song that explores both the influence of cycles and circles on life and nature and sums up the band’s career as a whole, the band capped off a concert that served as a milestone to the first 20 years of Dream Theater.

Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos

A band like Dream Theater is so polarizing that reviews of their music have a hard time making much of an impact. Their fans are so passionate and loyal that they are going to buy any new DT album regardless of what the critics say. And even if you tell the band's detractors that buying Dream Theater's new album would add ten years to their life and instantly make them lose 20 pounds they still wouldn't buy it. When it comes to Dream Theater there is not much middle ground.

So we come to their latest release, Systematic Chaos. As someone who is neither a huge DT fan nor a hater, I was pleasantly surprised by the album. It's everything you want and expect from a Dream Theater album. It kicks off with "In The Presence Of Enemies - Part I," and it is nearly five minutes before we hear the first vocals from James LaBrie. It's an effective way to set the tone for the rest of the songs.

One thing you know you're going to get from a Dream Theater CD is epic songs. Systematic Chaos clocks in at nearly an hour and 20 minutes. The shortest song is 5 1/2 minutes long and there are several that are longer than 10 minutes. The styles run the gamut from subdued ballads to complicated and progressive epics to Metallica-esque thrash. Dream Theater's lyrical approach is a little different on this album, with several songs based on fantasy, although there are a few with lyrics based on current and personal events.

The bottom line is, Systematic Chaos is better than 2005's Octavarium, and is one of the best Dream Theater releases in quite a while.

Dream Theater Causing 'Chaos' With New Album

Dream Theater's top 20 entrance onto The Billboard 200 is a vindication in triplicate for the New York band. The No. 19 debut for "Systematic Chaos" heralds the group's best start for an album, its best sales week (36,000) since 1994's "Awake" and its first breath of air inside the top 20.

"Chaos" also represents an unexpectedly sweet beginning with Roadrunner Records, which signed the act last December. Unhappy with being shifted among Warner Music Group's labels and receiving minimal promotion for records following "Awake," the prog rockers hoped they would get dropped when their eight-album option was up for renewal. But EastWest, then Elektra, then Atlantic, kept picking it up, so Dream Theater self-promoted albums with yearlong tours pegged to the release dates and constant contact with fans through its Web site.

Imagine, then, the band's chagrin when it finally got a fresh start by signing with Roadrunner only to face the announcement, just days later, that Warner had purchased Roadrunner for nearly $74 million.

"That's the biggest irony of this whole thing," drummer Mike Portnoy says with a laugh. "We waited 15 years to get away from Warner, and we actually had several offers from other Warner-affiliated labels that we passed on because we wanted to go with Roadrunner, and then literally a week after we signed was when they announced it.

"Distribution is such a minor piece of the puzzle in terms of marketing and promotion, and the hands-on creative engine and all of that is intact at Roadrunner," Portnoy continues. "With Atlantic and Elektra we were just kind of this bastard child who was handed from person to person, from staff to staff, label to label, each time we made a record."


They may not be a bastard child, but they're certainly a unique one often misunderstood by record companies. "The thing, to us, that's the most important is that we went somewhere where people really understood the history of the band and what we've built," guitarist John Petrucci says of Roadrunner. "It was actually surprising to some of the labels we were talking to how many records we've sold, how many concerts we've done [and] how many people we've played to. It's kind of like a best-kept-secret."

According to Nielsen SoundScan, Dream Theater has sold 2.1 million albums in the United States. Band manager Frank Solomon estimates the band has sold between seven and eight million records worldwide.

"Systematic Chaos" is Dream Theater's ninth studio album. Number eight, the last one released on Atlantic, was 2005's "Octavarium," which debuted and peaked at No. 36. The band's 1992 major-label debut, "Images and Words" (Atco), was the only one of its albums to garner significant radio and MTV airplay. Lead single "Pull Me Under" hit No. 10 on Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Why hasn't the band scored a second traditional hit? It could be simply due to the fact that its songs keep getting longer. "Systematic Chaos" opens and closes with a two-part track, "In the Presence of Enemies," that runs for practically half an hour. The group also writes complex, technically proficient compositions that can't be absorbed in one listen, and that's hard to market in an instant-gratification, increasingly download-centric world.

But these same factors helped Dream Theater create a following among music students and prog fans alike. Vinne Hartong, the band's product manager at Roadrunner, explains that having experienced success with accomplished musicians like DragonForse and Trivium, the label believes in a market for those audiences. Roadrunner was also attracted to Dream Theater's status as a heritage act that's still youthful and relevant. Hartong thinks the label can not only build on the group's existing fan base, but also recruit new listeners.

"It's cool to take this band that has been shown no label love in like 10 years and ... finally give them what they deserve," Hartong says. "We have a point to prove. I'd love to prove to Atlantic, 'If you guys had just done an ounce of work, this is what you could have had.'" Atlantic Records did not provide any comment by deadline.

Roadrunner's marketing plan for "Systematic Chaos" includes interviews in metal and music instruction magazines, print ads, a free download of first single "Constant Motion" and studio footage of the band posted online. A special edition of the album that features a 90-minute making-of documentary and a 5.1 Surround Sound mix is also being released. In addition, a recent TicketMaster promotion allowed those who purchased tickets for select 2007 North American dates to download a free video of the band recording album track "The Dark Eternal Night" when they also pre-ordered "Systematic Chaos."

For Dream Theater, this is the first time in years, if ever, that many of these tactics have been employed. One of the biggest steps forward has been doing a video for "Constant Motion," which is now in post-production. It's the first clip the band has lensed in a decade.

"There was no reason for us to do music videos because MTV wasn't gonna play us, so it was a waste of time and money," Portnoy says. "But now, in the age of the Internet, it makes sense. A great way to market a band [is] through Web sites and YouTube and things like that."

The road, however, remains the linchpin of Dream Theater's promotion strategy. The Agency Group's Steve Martin, the band's longtime booking agent, says the group plays venues with an average of 3,000 seats. He has seen it progress from filling the 1,000-capacity Irving Plaza in New York the day of a show to selling out the 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall through an Internet-only pre-sale four months in advance.

Dream Theater is currently in Europe on its Chaos in Motion tour, but will return to the States in July and head back overseas in early fall. Martin seconds Roadrunner's thinking that the band can reach new markets and audiences. "In 2008 we're going back to South America," he says. "Last year we played San Juan [for the first time], and we did 5,000 people." Solomon confirms the band will play inaugural shows in Australia in early 2008.

Hartong says Roadrunner will also give terrestrial and satellite radio a shot. Since the label wants to establish the band "as hip and relevant to the modern metal world" with what Hartong calls "the hardest track on the record," the nearly seven-minute "Constant Motion" was delivered to metal radio May 28.

The band appreciates giving radio the old college try, but Petrucci isn't holding his breath. "We realize our strength is in our perseverance and in our live shows, and if something were to click with radio, it would be fantastic," he says. "We've seen the difference, we've seen how that really goes, [how it can] sell so many more records. But we're doing great even without that."

By : Khalid Melayu