The cover above is the version I have, released in 2004 via their own YtseJam label.
It was also re-released in 2021 via the “Lost Not Forgotten” Archives with the below cover.
The performance of this album would inspire the writing for their most Metal album in “Train Of Thought”.
The show was recorded live in Barcelona, Spain on February 19th 2002. It was the second night of a two night stand in a city.
And it was the start of a new Dream Theater tradition (while Mike Portnoy was in the band), which was to play an entire album from another band.
This is what Mike Portnoy had to say about it in the CD booklet;
“Dream Theater is playing the 2nd night of a 2 night stand in Barcelona, Spain…
After an almost 2 hour set of DT material and a 15 minute intermission, the lights went out and the opening chords to “Battery” began…
50 minutes later, the Spanish crowd had no idea what had hit them.
The next day the word was all over the internet and our new tradition to cover a classic album whenever we did a 2 night stand in the same city had been established…but for those 50 minutes in Barcelona, the completely unsuspecting crowd had no way to see it coming…
I remember looking into the crowd by the time we started “The Thing That Should Not Be” and seeing people look at each other like;
“Holy shit…they’re doing the whole fucking thing!!!”.
Yep, that would have been the same response I would have had.
The band for the recording is James LaBrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitars, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass and Jordan Rudess on keys.
Battery
This is performed exceptionally.
LaBrie also brings out the chainsaw aggression of a youthful Hetfield.
Petrucci and Portnoy nail their sections.
Master Of Puppets
As soon as Petrucci plays the first four chords the crowd responds. If this song is played again in 2024, it will be bigger than ever due to “Stranger Things”.
The Thing That Should Not Be
The Intro with the keys is more ominous.
And LaBrie gives the song a more theatrical vibe with an octave higher vocal line, and I like it. It would have been cool if Dream Theater explored the groove doom Metal domain.
Sanitarium
Masterful.
It’s the only way I can describe Petrucci. The intro, acoustic and lead, played by Petrucci is exactly that.
LaBrie tries but doesn’t have the same demented vocal delivery as Hetfield here.
From 3.36, it’s basically a Dream Theater song, with riffs, leads and sporadic vocals. LaBrie is awesome here, his “fear of living on” delivery; excellent.
Disposable Heroes
The drums sound like machine gun fire in the intro.
But it’s that galloping palm muted E string riff that comes after which seals the deal for me.
“Master of Puppets was an eye opener for me because before we covered this album my Metallica knowledge was not so deep.
Having grown up playing Bach, Liszt and Chopin the idea of technique and virtuosities had a definite place in my mind. I have to admit that upon discovering Metallica my perception of technique opened up to other possibilities outside of the classical world.
A song like ‘Disposable Heroes’ sounds like machine-gun fire to me. The blistering, galloping guitar rhythms that sound like the pick is about to go up in flames is an impressive display of intensity and technique. [James] Hetfield really shows what he is made of in a track like this one and I was very impressed.”
Leper Messiah
I always love the section from 40 seconds to a minute. The groove behind it and the way the guitars are orchestrated so that the bass and drums stand out.
Orion
It’s right up Dream Theater’s alley, a nine minute instrumental. And a classic Metallica song.
Damage Inc
They had covered this song previously during the era between “Awake” and “A Change Of Seasons” and released a version of that live performance.
Overall people can compare this album with the real album and find issues.
When an artist covers another artist, it is purely for fun initially and to show respect to the artist who inspired and influenced them.
This is no different and it sounds like the band is having fun, using the last hour of the their three hour set to pay homage to Metallica.
All at once in 2004, Dream Theater dropped three bootlegs under the sub headings of DEMO, COVER and LIVE.
The DEMO release was reviewed here, and it covered the “When Dream And Day Unite” period between 1987 and 1989.
The COVER release is their play through from start to finish of the “Master Of Puppets” album and will be reviewed next.
This review is on the LIVE release and as I’m writing this review it has not been re-released as part of the Inside Out re-releases/new releases.
So all we have at the moment is the Ytse Jam Records release.
The full 2 hours and 20 minutes, recorded live on the run of shows used to promote the “A Change Of Seasons” EP.
This is from October 28th, 1995 at NHL Hall, Tokyo, Japan.
The band is John Petrucci on guitars, Mike Portnoy on drums, John Myung on bass, James LaBrie on vocals and Derek Sherinian on keys.
Intro
There is a tape intro that goes for about 1 minute. It’s got a clock ticking and the sad piano lines from “Space Dye Vest” are played.
Then there is a voice over, some backwards sound effects and the octave notes from “Under A Glass Moon” kick in.
Under A Glass Moon
I like the surrealist title.
The verse riff on this song with the keys playing Chords over it. Perfection.
Stick around for the solo as it’s one of Petrucci’s best.
The Mirror
It’s a heavy song with Petrucci deploying the 7-string. Its intricate arrangements and dynamic shifts are interesting.
Lie
It goes together with “The Mirror” as some musical sections appear in both songs. This was a single from the “Awake” album, however it didn’t have the same success as “Pull Me Under” from the album previously.
The mix of heavy riffs and melodic moments, highlights their versatility.
Petrucci as usual delivers a few killer solo sections.
Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
It starts off like a slow jazz blues fusion jam before it goes into the well recognized bass intro.
It feels like a cross between U2, ballad like Marillion and 80s synth Rush.
Instrumental Medley
You get to hear “The Rover” from Led Zeppelin, “Killers” from Iron Maiden, “Damage Inc.” from Metallica, “In The Flesh” from Pink Floyd and “Heart Of The Sunrise” from Yes.
Press play to hear the way they fuse all these different songs into one cohesive track.
Innocence Faded
It’s in a major key. While it rocks it does have pop sensibilities.
But it’s the outro that you should listen to.
Because if you worship at the altar of guitar gods then the outro is for you. Even James LaBrie screams “John Petrucci” when it starts.
If you can’t find this track, then any other official live version or even the studio cut will suffice.
A Change Of Seasons
You get the full 23 minutes.
The way this piece is written is that each part can be played separately in the set list amongst other songs or it can be played as one song, like it is here.
And like all multi-part epics, it serves as the grand centerpiece of the show, displaying their songwriting prowess and technical skills in a live setting.
Lost Without You
“Lost Without You” was officially released in 2005 on John Petrucci’s solo album “Suspended Animation”.
But here it is, live in 1995.
Its an intimate and introspective moment within the setlist, very blues/jazz fusion like and I’m all in.
Petrucci nails it and the emotion drips from the strings.
Surrounded
The “Images And Words” album is all killer.
And this song is largely out of the conversation, however the band does a stellar job playing tracks from the back catalogue in the live setting.
After the piano intro and verses, the song picks up. Listen to how Petrucci decorates.
Derek Sherinian Keyboard Solo
I’m not a huge fan of solos in concert like this, but this one actually rocked and kept me interested.
It was a mixture of ragtime, blues, classical and cinematic/video game like music.
Erotomania
Mike Portnoy takes over the middle of the song with a drum solo.
But at least they go back into the song and to one of my favorite instrumental sections.
Voices
This is another song that seems like it’s out of the conversation when it comes to Dream Theater songs.
But it’s a classic
The Chorus is arena rock.
And that solo is what guitar heroes are made of.
The Silent Man
It’s a great acoustic song.
And they bring the 70s Classic Rock vibes (which is known as Country Rock these days) to it live.
Pull Me Under
Closing the main set with their most recognizable hit, leaves the audience energized.
The 1st Encore begins with a cover.
Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple cover):
The Deep Purple cover sounds like it came from the minds of Dream Theater.
You can hear the fun in the music and they definitely jam it out.
The 2nd Encore begins with the last two tracks of the “Images And Words” album. And for a 1995 set list it’s perfect.
Wait For Sleep (Acoustic version)
An acoustic version of “Wait For Sleep” is excellent.
Learning To Live
The grand finale. The whole song is a masterpiece.
And then that outro section. Wow.
In summary, its raw as a bootleg should be.
The setlist is diverse and it showcases their instrumental virtuosity and ability to navigate complex musical compositions.
There are mistakes and pitch issues but hey, if I wanted the studio recordings I would play them.
The inclusion of covers and acoustic moments also adds depth to the overall concert experience.
It was released in 2004 on Ytse Jam Records, the official bootleg label of the band created by Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, but Portnoy was the main driver.
Yep, the thing that bands are doing right now, Dream Theater has been doing it since 2003. Marillion, one of Portnoy’s favorite bands have been doing it even earlier via their fan club.
This was also released as part of their Inside Out record deal via the “Lost Not Forgotten Archives” on 12 May, 2023.
The CD contains pre-production demos as well as instrumental versions of the songs and songs that did not make it on to the album, or were recorded around the same time. Also included are six tracks the band recorded as a Christmas gift for their friends.
The band started this recording process as Majesty. By the end of it they would be Dream Theater.
They started it with Chris Collins as the vocalist. Then a whole year would pass before Charlie Dominici would join Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci, Johnny Myung and Kevin Moore. This is the band that recorded the debut album.
Afterlife – Instrumental Demo
It’s my favorite track from the debut album and it was the first new track they wrote upon returning home from Berklee in the Summer of 1986.
It’s straight ahead speed technical Metal and the instrumental demo highlights it.
And Johnny Myung is one hell of a bassist.
The harmony solo between the keys and guitar is still here, however the solo before is different to the recorded version.
The song was performed live with vocalist Chris Collins however it had different lyrics and melodies.
The Killing Hand – Instrumental Demo
It’s weird how my two favorite songs on the debut are the first two songs written.
You can say this song is the start of the Dream Theater epics.
That section after the solo still hooks me.
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun – Instrumental Demo
The working title of this song was “Death Of Spock”.
It’s the most progressive of the tracks so far and the Arabic Metal feel is very prominent in the demo.
The Rush influence is also prominent when you hear the song instrumentally.
Ytse Jam – Instrumental Demo
Well the song was written to be an instrumental so instrumental demo doesn’t make sense.
Regardless, it’s a fan favorite and that Intro gets peoples attention immediately.
Cry for Freedom – Instrumental Demo
I needed to rehear it to remember it. A leftover from their Berklee jams.
Standard riffing that seems lost without a vocal melody.
But I do like the Sunset Strip riff from about 2.40 and then the change in feel at 3.00. The drums play a simple groove, the synth takes the lead and it sounds like “Stranger Things” took it for their intro. Or maybe the band was heavily influenced by the “Signals” album from Rush.
It’s also been preformed live with Chris Collins.
Resurrection of Ernie – Instrumental Demo
It’s like a John Carpenter soundtrack piece and I like it.
The music here has never been used or rewritten for another song, so it’s a true rarity.
Drum Solo – Instrumental Demo
I hate drum solos in concert and I hate them on albums. If they add some music to it and have the drums doing intricate things then I’m all in.
Portnoy created it for a contest that Modern Drummer magazine was running. The prize, “Neal Peart’s Tama Drum Set”.
Portnoy submitted it under the title “Peartnoy’s Complaint”.
He didn’t win.
A Fortune in Lies – Instrumental Demo
It is the opening track on the album. I still get hooked on the verse riff and how the keys decorate it.
And in the demo here, there’s no Chorus
Only A Matter of Time – Instrumental Demo
It’s missing the excellent synth lead which defines it.
A Fortune in Lies – Early Charlie Demo
Charlie Dominici is a great vocalist.
But at 36 years of age when he joined the band, he was always on borrowed time with the Dream Theater guys.
Mike Portnoy said it was like having Billy Joel singing in Queensrÿche. In this case it was more Steve Perry singing in Dream Theater.
A good singer in the wrong band, they would amicably part ways after this album.
Afterlife – Early Charlie Demo
My favorite track with a killer chorus. But you had to wait for it.
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun – Early Charlie Demo
You hear a lot of Marillion in the demo and I like it.
These “Early Charlie” Demos are the ones that got the band signed. A friend of Portnoy’s had an ex-band mate who left Combat Records to start Mechanic Records and on June 23 of 1988, Majesty signed their deal.
Once signed, Terry Date was selected as Producer, who at the time had a reputation for making albums sound great on a low budget.
Portnoy’s 4 track came out and away they went with the Pre-Production demos.
A Fortune in Lies
Afterlife
Ytse Jam
Only A Matter of Time
The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun
The Killing Hand
Light Fuse and Get Away
All of the pre-production demos are more polished than the instrumental demos.
The solos are still a work in progress however most of the elements are there.
“Light Fuse And Get Away” was newly written during this phase.
“Status Seeker” was written just before they entered the studio and never demoed.
The entire album was recorded and mixed in 3 weeks.
Shortly before the release, the guys were informed of another unsigned band who held the registered trademark for the name Majesty. So they had to change their name.
And Dream Theater was born.
The album dropped on March 6, 1989 to little promotion and fanfare. The label reneged on their promise to fund a video and provide touring support.
It was dead on arrival as the guys retreated back to their basement rehearsal studio and their day jobs at delis, Chinese food places and music stores.
To Live Forever – Xmas Demo
The song was written after the guys watched “Rattle and Hum” from U2.
It’s stuff like this which I like from Dream Theater. They would take all kind of influences and still make it sound like Dream Theater.
On here, you can really here the pop vocals in Dominici.
Mission Impossible – Xmas Demo
A little jam with Portnoy losing his shit at the end of the song at Petrucci who was wailing away.
Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End – Xmas Demo
A Beatles medley.
O Holy Night – Xmas Demo
It’s not a Xmas demo with a Xmas song.
A Vision ’89 – Xmas Demo
I like Dominici’s vocals as well. Then again I’m a fan of this song, so I enjoy all versions of it.
This one is very Queensryche like.
And there you have it.
If you want to hear Dream Theater as a technical speed Metal band with various influences of other styles then this is the album.
This is one of my favourite live releases from the 2000 era. Dream Theater is touring on the back of their most metal album ever in “Train Of Thought”.
“Live at Budokan” was recorded at the Nippon Budokan Hall on April 26, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan and released on October 2004. It’s the same venue as “At Budokan” from Cheap Trick, however the audio for the Cheap Trick album was from the Osaka show, as the audio from the Budokan show was unusable.
Due to time constraints for the set, the songs “The Great Debate”, “Under a Glass Moon” and “Caught in a Web”, which included an extended drum solo, were removed from the set list at the last minute.
As I Am
It makes sense to kick off the show with the opening track “As I Am” from the “Train Of Thought” album with its ominous Black Sabbath like intro making way for a Metallica like riff. Of course, any influence from the past is done in the Dream Theater way with some fills and different endings on the 4th bar.
This Dying Soul
It also makes sense to feedback into the thrash metal like “This Dying Soul”.
The song actually moves through quite a few musical and vocal styles. It reminds me of “Beyond This Life” which also comes next. While James LaBrie cops a lot of flak, he is a very diverse and unique singer who can cover a lot of different vocal styles.
Scene Four: Beyond This Life
They take a long song and extend it to 20 minutes in length. For a band that is very technical and very precise, they really like to be loose and just jam. Sometimes I wish they didn’t, but hey, if I wanted to hear the songs as per the album, then I would just press play on the album. This is another song that moves through a lot of styles musically and vocally.
Hollow Years
This is why the live album is a favourite.
The song is extended. But, it’s not just extended for the sake of it.
The intro has John Petrucci on acoustic guitar doing some flamenco/classical like leads over the verse chords that Jordan Rudess plays on the keys. The actual song (like the studio cut) version starts at 1.20.
At 5.30, there is an approx. 2 minute guitar solo which John Petrucci shreds on. And you know how in concerts the guitar solo spotlight is just that, the guitarist and no one else. Well, here Petrucci uses the songs solo chordal structure and the whole band for his spotlight.
It’s basically them extending the songs solo section. Something like how The Black Crowes do. And it is excellent.
If you are a guitar player you need to hear this. If you are not a guitar player you still need to hear this. This is why I go to the live show. To hear artists communicating musically on stage. Even James LaBrie thinks this is a highlight, as he screams in the microphone at 6.21, Mr John Petrucci and the crowd roars their approval. At 6.40 it’s over and they are back into the song’s pre-chorus.
War Inside My Head / The Test That Stumped Them All
These two songs are back to back in the “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” song and they always should be played back to back. They are thrash groove Metal done in Dream Theaters way.
Endless Sacrifice
I get the same goose bumps when I hear the live version as I do for the studio version.
Instrumedley
It wouldn’t be a Dream Theater show if it didn’t have an instrumental song created purely for the live show.
In this case and on this tour, they take sections from their instrumentals and the instrumental sections from lyrical songs and create some new jams with it and they must have had a proviso that said it had to be at least 12 minutes long.
It’s broken down like this.
I. The Dance of Eternity II. Metropolis—Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’ III. I. Erotomania IV. The Dance of Eternity V. Metropolis—Part I: ‘The Miracle and the Sleeper’ VI. The Darkest of Winters VII. When the Water Breaks (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover) VIII. The Darkest of Winters IX. Ytse Jam X. The Dance of Eternity XI. Paradigm Shift (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover) XII. Universal Mind (Liquid Tension Experiment Cover) XIII. The Dance of Eternity XIV. Hell’s Kitchen
As a fan of those musical sections, it didn’t feel long nor boring. Plus you get some “Liquid Tension Experiment” sections, which I am also a fan of.
And they finish it off with my favourite section from “Hell’s Kitchen”.
Trial Of Tears
The keyboard ringing out segues into “Trial of Tears”. Another massive cut at almost 14 minutes long.
But it never gets boring, bringing back memories of 70’s progressive rock with a hook that reminds me of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (the “it’s raining” part).
New Millennium
This song rocks.
I can get over how hard rock sounding the song really is. Its technical but still rooted in hard rock. Maybe because the keyboard parts are written by Derek Sherinian originally.
The style of Allan Holdsworth and what EVH was trying to do with “Van Halen III” comes to mind here musically.
Keyboard Solo
It’s a skip for me. Not all live shows are killer.
Only A Matter Of Time
A track from the long forgotten debut album. This track had embryonic elements of songs like “Learning To Live”, “A Change Of Seasons” and “Metropolis” that would come after.
Goodnight Kiss
It’s almost like a lullaby. Very Pink Floyd like with the shimmering clean tone guitar and samples of children voices playing. It’s another song within the massive “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” song. Petrucci’s lead break is full of hope and wonder.
Solitary Shell
They continue with the major key vibes and go into “Solitary Shell” from the “Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” album. This one is very Peter Gabriel like.
Stream Of Consciousness
Another instrumental from their recent album. LaBrie gets a chance to rest while the remainder of the band jam for another 12 minutes. And the song goes through so many different movements, you cannot get bored listening to it.
Disappear
Press play to hear the section between 4 and 5 minutes. James LaBrie. What a vocal performance. Brilliant.
Pull Me Under
When I saw this album title for the first time ever, I just presumed it was a song about getting jerked off. Man, was I wrong. Never judge a song by its title.
As soon as the acoustic guitar lines start, the crowd is at its loudest and it’s all systems go.
In The Name Of God
Press play to hear the bone crunching riffs and the jazz fusion like lead section which has Petrucci wailing away at supersonic speeds.
And it’s not an easy song vocally with a lot of highs, but LaBrie does it well.
I have the DVD and the CD of this release. The DVD was also certified Platinum in January, 2005.
You see, large legacy artists today are releasing these kind of albums as part of their anniversary editions. Whitesnake comes to mind with their excellent box sets. But Dream Theater, well, they were doing it as part of their Official Bootleg series.
Released in 2003 on Ytse Jam Records, what you hear on this double CD “Making Of Scenes From A Memory” are alternate takes, partial jam sections that are a bit different, random noises and improvisations, plus alternate mixes.
Some of the stuff on CD1 is not that interesting. For die-hard fans like me, it’s okay to listen once and then it goes to the collection.
But there is also some great stuff here.
“Regression” is an alternate vocal take. The guitar progression that JP wrote became the central theme tying the album together. It appears in “Through My Words”, “Finally Free” and is the foundation for the excellent, “The Spirit Carries On”.
“Through Her Eyes” has James LaBrie trying a few different vocal melodies but the piece d’resistance is the sax solo on the outro which was left off the final mix.
The booklet notes from Portnoy mentions the following for “Through Her Eyes”;
“Originally we wrote 2 different versions of this song.
The working title was “Titanic” so there was the “Short Titanic” (this arrangement that ended up making the final CD) and the “Long Titanic” (which was more of a traditional rock arrangement, with drums and some additional chord progressions).
Because of time restraints, the “Long Titanic” is not included on this CD, but it can be found on the closing credits of “Metropolis 2000 – Scenes From New York” DVD.
John Petrucci’s vocal demo guide for ‘The Spirit Carries On’, is warts and all auto-tune free and pretty funny to listen to.
And then we come to CD2, which are the original mixes for the album.
This was the first album that had John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy producing. David Bottrill was hired to mix the album because of his work with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel and Tool. It was a weird mix, because Dream Theater in sound is more heavy metal and hard rock with progressive elements. The bands that Bottrill worked with are not hard rock and heavy metal. They have unique soundscapes special to them.
Bottrill mixed the album in 10 days with the band members giving him “expert advice” to make the drums louder, more guitars, more keys, higher vocals and higher bass.
While the mixing process was happening, the band members were giving it their tick of approval, however after the mixes were complete and sitting with the mixes for a few days, the band expressed concerns at the sonic intensity of the mixed songs. It was a bitter pill to swallow as they all had large inputs into how it should be mixed.
Petrucci reached out to Kevin Shirley. Shirley had some time to do a few mixes, so they gave him three tracks to start off with in “Home”, “The Spirit Carries On” and “Through Her Eyes”. Shirley did the mixes (on his own, without any band input) and sent them back. The band compared the mixes to the three songs mixed by Bottrill and they were happy with the sonics this time around.
All was not lost as some of Dave Bottrill mixes survived to the final cut in “Regression”, “The Dance Of Eternity”, “One Last Time” and “Finally Free”.
The weird part is you have this low profile official bootleg release, where the fans get the original mix for the album, when nowadays these kind of tracks are the “in thing” for anniversary editions or special remixed editions.
And so far, this release has not been re-released as part of the “Lost Not Forgotten” series via Inside Out Music.
This original Ytse Jam bootleg has not been re-released as a “Lost Not Forgotten Archive” yet.
This was recorded on the “Falling Into Infinity” tour. The band was James Labrie on vocals, John Petrucci on guitars, John Myung on bass, Mike Portnoy on drums and Derek Sherinian on keyboards.
The mighty Bruce Dickinson guests on vocals for the songs “Perfect Strangers” from Deep Purple and the Iron Maiden songs “The Trooper”, “Where Eagles Dare” and “Killers”. And yes that is him on the cover as well, making it look like he was the frontman instead of James LaBrie.
Ray Alder from Fates Warning also guests on “Pull Me Under”.
This was recorded live at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles on May 18, 1998. There are no touch ups here folks, just a soundboard recording which was then mastered. So you get it all, warts and all.
Lines In The Sand
The opener, from the “Falling Into Infinity” album.
Live they pushed the 11 minute run time to about 14 minutes. On the studio recording the soulful voice of Doug Pinnick appears in the Chorus, however live, that job fell to Mike Portnoy.
Petrucci delivers his emotive solo as expected and LaBrie acknowledges it by telling the audience “that is John Petrucci on guitar” after the solo finishes.
Burning My Soul
This song is a groove metal behemoth. It’s also from the “Falling Into Infinity” album.
The only thing you could do is press play and bang your head to it because the “pressure keeps burning my soul.”
Take The Time
They have fun with this classic from the “Images And Words” album.
It moves between metal, rock, jazz fusion, funk rock and progressive rock.
Live they also chuck in a lot of cover solos in the outro like “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Hot For Teacher” by Van Halen and “Moby Dick” by Led Zeppelin and the intro of “YYZ” by Rush.
Anna Lee
From the “Falling Into Infinity” album, it’s a piano ballad that does nothing for me, so it’s a skip for me here.
Speak To Me
This one was written for the “Falling Into Infinity” double album, but when the label said they only want one album, it was left off the list. I still don’t know how “Anna Lee” made it over this one.
Press play and enjoy.
It’s Dream Theater’s take on how 1980’s U2 would sound through the DT blender. And its performed brilliantly.
A Crack On The Mirror / Puppies On Acid
It’s an instrumental, combining various ideas.
It starts off with Derek Sherinian doodling on the keys, before he starts to play a riff which gets Portnoy to join and eventually the band. They play some sections from “The Mirror”, forming their own medley from the song.
I would rather have heard the song “The Mirror”.
Just Let Me Breathe
Not my favourite song from “Falling Into Infinity” so I would have preferred to hear something else.
Sequencing in live gigs is important, and apart from “Speak To Me”, the other songs like “Anna Lee”, “A Crack In The Mirror” and “Just Let Me Breathe” lose my interest.
Lie
This is DT putting the groove metal from Pantera into their blender.
Is Progressive Groove Rock a genre?
If it is, this song stands tall.
LaBrie is a bit hard to handle here vocally, but hey, if you want the studio recording, press play on the CD. I would rather take a ticket to the show instead.
Peruvian Skies
They set a standard with this song.
Every time they play it, they play parts of the songs that inspired and influenced the song, so you will hear excerpts of “Have A Cigar” by Pink Floyd and “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Not a lot of artists would mash up Pink Floyd and Metallica but Dream Theater did and it’s called “Peruvian Skies”.
Then again, not of a lot of artists would show which song influenced them, in case they get a writ.
Press play to hear how they mash it all up.
John Petrucci Guitar Solo
I don’t like guitar solos on their own like this.
I really like how Petrucci started to incorporate his solo moment into a song, by extending the normal solo section of the song, like how he did with “Hollow Years” from “Live At Budokan”.
Pull Me Under
Ray Adler from Fates Warning guests on vocals here.
This is the song that made me a fan.
From a song writing point of view, the band takes the initial intro riff and they keep tweaking it throughout. It’s a great study in how to write different iterations of the same riff and same chordal sequence.
But they don’t do the clean tone intro here, they go straight into the riff that comes about a minute into the song.
Scarred
It’s an 11 minute prog rocker, with a lot of vocal highs. And it doesn’t help LaBrie that the song is sped up a little bit, which is a curse of performing live.
Musically some of the riffs that sounded a bit buried in the studio mix are high in the mix here and I like it.
A Change of Seasons IV: The Darkest Of Winters
A small 3 minute diversion into the mammoth “A Change Of Seasons”.
Ytse Jam
Ahh yes the instrumental that defined Majesty, the name of the band before Dream Theater.
Mike Portnoy Drum Solo
Like the John Petrucci guitar solo moment, I’m not a fan of individual drum solo’s as well. I would rather hear a song with some kick ass fills in between bars than to hear just the drums on their own.
Once the drum solo is done they go back into “Ytse Jam” for about 10 seconds before they start “New Millenium”.
New Millenium
It’s actually the opening track on the album, however it is played as the last song of the set before the encores begin.
Press play and enjoy it.
The first encore begins with Bruce Dickinson lending a hand on “Perfect Strangers”, “The Trooper”, “Where Eagles Dare” and “Killers’.
Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple cover)
How cool it would have been to get Bruce Dickinson up on stage.
You need to remember this is Bruce Dickinson in 1998. His return to Maiden and the “Brave New World” era wasn’t yet done.
It took a verse for the mixer dude to put up his microphone.
The Trooper (Iron Maiden cover)
How iconic is “you take my life and I’ll take yours too”.
Where Eagles Dare (Iron Maiden cover)
They started it and then they stopped after a few verses, as Bruce said, “fucked if I know, it’s been years since I’ve sung it”.
Killers (Iron Maiden cover)
And they go straight into this classic. I never saw it as a progressive track, but hearing it today, it’s definitely got a progressive attitude.
They did a couple of verses before they stopped it as well. And Bruce walked off with a laugh.
It’s a fun little encore section, almost jam like in its nature.
The second Encore begins they don’t play the full songs, just a medley.
Metropolis
From “Images And Words”, the song is a classic. But they don’t play the full song. So I’m not a massive fan of this medley.
Learning To Live
My favourite track from “Images And Words” but they only play sections.
Why write long songs of your just going to cherry pick certain sections of them to do a medley.
A Change Of Seasons VII: The Crimson Sunset
A fitting finale.
To get a re-release, they would need to get Bruce Dickinson’s approval to do so or they remove the songs that he sang and tried to sing.
The above is the cover from the 2003 release. The only place to buy these official bootleg albums was via the Ytse Jam website or at Dream Theater live shows.
While Official Bootlegs are all the rage these last few years with acts like Kiss, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick jumping on, Dream Theater were one of the first few to do an Official Bootleg series. Mike Portnoy was the brains behind this and was inspired by the work his favourite band Marillion did for the fans via the fan club (which Portnoy was also a member of).
But Portnoy had to get John Petrucci’s approval to proceed and once he got it, Ytse Jam Records was formed.
In 2003, three Bootlegs dropped and they kept on dropping while Portnoy was in the band.
But.
Once Portnoy was out, Ytse Jam records ceased to exist.
However the Petrucci led version of the band signed an agreement a few years ago with current record label InsideOut Music.
The purpose of the “Lost Not Forgotten Archives” is to re-release and reissue the entire Ytsejam Records catalogue and the fan club CDs, alongside some new unreleased material. All of the new re-releases will be sold on CD and vinyl, as well as being made available for digital streaming with all new artwork.
Like the terrible one below they did for “The Majesty Demos” re-release”.
“The Majesty Demos 1985-86” covers the initial formation period of Dream Theater, with the songs recorded on a 4 track tape recorder. It was released in 2003 by Ytse Jam records and re-released in 2022 via the Lost Not Forgotten Archives.
In September of 1985, John Petrucci and John Myung met up with Mike Portnoy at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston.
Within the first month of school, the two John’s saw Mike jamming in the practice room and introduced themselves. Besides having a common home base, they had similar tastes in music. They liked progressive, complex music like Rush, Yes, The Dixie Dregs, Frank Zappa and also loved heavy music like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Queensryche.
It was just three college kids jamming and having fun. And it is captured on these recordings.
As Portnoy wrote in the CD booklet;
“the music on this very 1st Edition is the very first music we ever created together.
It is very raw (and sometimes even very embarrassing). The audio quality is usually fair at best. We had very limited recording resources available to us at the time.
In fact, we had only one resource at all; my trusty old Tascam 244 analog 4 track recorder that I received as a high school graduation present from my grandmother”.
None of these songs have even appeared on a proper studio album.
The CD booklet explains the tracks a little bit more.
Particle E. Motion
At 1.38, a small instrumental that shows Petrucci playing arpeggios over a Myung bass groove.
The title alludes to the key of the song. The CD booklet mentions how it is the first thing they ever recorded on Portnoy’s 4 track, to break it in and figure out how to use the damn thing.
Another Won
This is the instrumental version of the song, with Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung, as Kevin Moore was not in the band at this point in time.
“This is where it all began” states the CD booklet. The first song the power trio wrote together.
Musically, it you like the first Queensryche album, early Maiden and Fates Warning, then you will like this song. The bass of Myung is boss here, with a dominant Steve Harris like sound.
Press play at 3.29 to hear the riff and how Petrucci builds it into a solo.
At 5 minutes in length, it’s a standard heavy metal cut, heavily influenced by Queensryche.
The Saurus
An 80 second instrumental which has Petrucci playing this jazz like chords. It’s almost lounge rock when the lead kicks in. It’s very Al DiMeola like.
Cry for Freedom
This song has not had an official release on any studio album. Musically this is Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy (let’s call em “PMP”) living in their Queensryche meets Rush world. And I like it. It’s very accessible.
It’s also the second song the Berklee boys wrote. The CD booklet mentions how much of a lead instrument the bass was when it was just the three of them.
The School Song
Song number three for the Berklee boys. A song that got left behind, and it has never been played live.
A major key riff kicks off the song, something which Petrucci likes to do a lot and its similar to some of the riffs he has written on studio songs like “Our New World” from “The Astonishing” album and “The Bigger Picture” from their self-titled album.
At 2.31, it has this minor key section which screams Iron Maiden. The CD booklet states the same.
The last few chords to end the song is how “Ytse Jam” starts.
YYZ
A Rush cover. It’s how all acts start out. Playing the songs from our heroes.
Portnoy even plays the keys on this.
It’s perfect and it shows how precise they are.
The CD booklet does state how they would jam, “La Villa Strangiatio”, “The Spirit Of Radio” and this one.
The Farandole
A Talas cover which is classical in nature. Who would have thought that almost 30 years later, Portnoy would be in a power trio combo with Billy Sheehan.
The CD booklet mentions that Talas was Portnoy’s and Myung’s favourite band during this period especially their “Live Speed On Ice” album.
I love reading stuff like this.
Two Far
Original song number 4.
This is the instrumental version.
Musically its Dream Theater’s version of RushMaidenRyche.
Anti-Procrastination Song
A S.O.D. cover at 13 seconds long. Pointless, but hey, what else can you are young and have a 4 track recorder.
Your Majesty
They are still living in their Queensryche meets Rush world with a bit of Malmsteen chucked in. This is the instrumental version of the song.
It’s more of a straight forward type of song, maybe even commercial sounding.
This track was resurrected and played live in Paris in 2002 as a tribute to all of the French Fan Club members which goes by the Majesty name. A perfect way to honour their dedication to the band.
Tracks 11 to 17 are all little snippets no longer than 20 seconds as they play around with multi-tracking on the 4 track recorder.
The tracks in question are “Solar System Race Song”, “I’m About to Faint Song”, “Mosquitos in Harmony Song”, “John Thinks He’s Randy Song”, “Mike Thinks He’s Dee Dee Ramone Introducing a Song Song”, “John Thinks He’s Yngwie Song” and “Gnos Sdrawkcab”.
Each song starts off with Portnoy yelling the title and then you hear 4 tracks of Petrucci harmonizing. Portnoy makes mention in the CD booklet, “it’s amazing how incredibly tight John can double track his guitar leads and still is a master of that today”.
Now we get to the good bit.
The rare “Majesty” demo with Chris Collins on vocals. He might have yelled, “Scream For Me Long Beach” while they played live and his stage presence and delivery might have been strained, but he does a pretty good job here to give the songs a unique Tate/Midnight vocal vibe.
The CD booklet mentions how the DT guys had a tape of Chris singing “Queen Of The Ryche” and they were in AWE of how perfectly he could hit those Tate notes (which Portnoy further elaborated, “unfortunately, it turned out that was about all he could do”.)
A friend from Berklee called James Hull also had a Tascam 246 and when they put the two four tracks together, they had a whopping 8 tracks to do a real demo.
They also wrote 3 new songs, the heavy and progressive “March of The Tyrant” and 2 more ballade-esque songs in Vital Star and the 11 minute epic power ballad “A Vision” which Portnoy mentions, has some really beautiful moments, not to mention an AMAZING guitar solo.
Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung recorded their tracks at Berklee. When school finished in May, they joined up with Kevin Moore and Chris Collins back on Long Island and added them to the tracks. Portnoy’s grandmother again came to the rescue and funded the band money to press 1000 cassettes.
And Portnoy mailed em and gave em to people who mattered.
Another Won
The delivery and recording of this is way superior to the instrumental version. The addition of the keys makes each section different.
But my favourite section (like the instrumental) starts around 3.37, when Petrucci starts the riff and then leads into the solo. The solo is even better than what he put down on the instrumental. His fast alternate picked lines are perfect this time around.
Your Majesty
Myung’s bass sets the groove for everyone to follow. The addition of vocals is welcomed and Collins does a fantastic job.
The Chorus is very arena rock like and some of the vocal highs are ball squeezing.
The outro solo is perfect from Petrucci. Simple, melodic and a perfect way to end the song.
A Vision
My favourite track. A 11 minute metal tour de force. I would have loved to hear this with a proper studio release.
An Em(add9) arpeggio chord starts it all off. It builds until the whole band crashes in and Collins is doing all ohhs and woohs. Collins moves between a Dickinson meets Tate vibe here vocally. He sounds fresh.
The Petrucci solo which starts around the 6.30 mark is essential listening. The way he builds it with all the different techniques he employs is a wow moment. At the 8 minute mark it gets a bit more frantic and Petrucci is wailing, while the band is building with him.
The solo finally ends at 8.49 and I wasn’t bored not a second while it played.
But he wasn’t done. He produces another guitar hero solo to end the song. The chops at the age of 19/20 goes to show how competitive the 80’s era was for guitarists.
Two Far
A Neal Peart inspired drum groove starts off the song, and then it goes into a Malmsteen like riff.
The verses are very busy musically so it is difficult to put a vocal melody over it and while the guys tried, they didn’t really pull it off.
However the Chorus is catchy.
The solo section and the unison lines between the guitars and keys is a sign of things to come.
Vital Star
My next favourite.
Collins does a good job in bringing this song to life vocally with his Tate like influences.
Musically, it is living in that Queensryche debut album sound except for the solo section which shows some of the progressiveness to come. And the outro solo from Petrucci is another great listen.
March of the Tyrant
The song is a mix of so many styles from the early 80’s. It has that exotic sounding Middle Eastern riff.
It definitely has that Rush element and how Alex Lifeson plays a power chord with the ringing E and B strings (DT does it more aggressively and distorted here), plus a lot more. There are musical elements of early Fates Warning, Megadeth, Metallica, Yngwie Malmsteen, Marillion, Yes and Iron Maiden.
The solo section is very Holdsworth/Morse like over an Iron Maiden like rhythm section. And I like it.
I’ll end the post with how Portnoy ended his opening in the CD booklet; “I hope you can look past the occasional audio distraction and enjoy a glimpse of where we were at, what we were doing and where we were going.”
Back in 2003, this snapshot back in time was perfect. And I wanted more. Which I got. But that is for another post.
Each Dream Theater album had touched on the sounds that I would class as Thrash Metal and Heavy Metal. But on “Train Of Thought” they decided to live in this metal/thrash world. And I liked it.
It begins with an album cover that has Black as its main colour screaming Metal. Then again, Pink Floyd did have a black cover for an album that sold multi millions and it had nothing to do with metal, more like dreamy acid rock.
“Train of Thought” was released on November 11, 2003 through Elektra Records before its parent company Warner Music Group decided to merge Elektra Records with Atlantic Records to become Atlantic Records Group in 2004, only to give the Elektra name a new lease of life in 2009 as an independent entity up until 2018, when WMG relaunched Elektra Music as a stand-alone, staffed music company, with labels like Roadrunner Records, Low Country Sound, Fuelled By Ramen and Black Cement under it.
As I Am
This song is a balls to the wall metal classic.
It starts off with the Black Sabbath riff to kick it off. Yes, it is that Black Sabbath riff.
Then it goes into an “Enter Sandman” like groove for the verses. It gets the foot tapping, and the head banging.
Dream Theater toured with Queensryche in 2003. At this point in time, Queensryche’s commercial zenith was in the past and Dream Theater’s star was still rising. Mike Stone was the guitarist in Queensryche, carrying out the Chris DeGarmo role. And Stone decided he should give John Petrucci tips on playing guitar.
Every time you hear the lyric line “Don’t tell me what’s in, tell me how to write”, just think of Mike Stone giving Petrucci tips.
I like the lead break. It is old school and it burns. There is no rhythm guitar track, just bass, keys and drums. Exactly what EVH did when he soloed on a lot of VH tracks.
Vocally, LaBrie is at his metal best. His voice might strain in the live arena, but in the studio, LaBrie is a master.
This Dying Soul
The feedback from “As I Am” segues into the fast groove metal of “This Dying Soul”.
Here, Mike Portnoy continues his “Twelve-Step Suite”, which started with “The Glass Prison” on “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”.
For those who don’t know, “The Glass Prison” has the following sections; “I. Reflection”, “II. Restoration” and “III. Revelation”. “This Dying Soul” has the following sections; “IV. Reflections of Reality (Revisited)” and “V: Release”. All of the sections are steps in the Alcohol Anonymous Recovery program.
After the thrash-a-thon in the intro, the song gives way to a Tool like groove and vocal melody in the verses. And I like it.
There is this “Blackened is the end” vocal melody in “V:Release”. Once you hear it, you will recognise it. I can’t say I am a huge fan of the loud speaker rap like verses, but I do give full marks for incorporating new elements into their music.
And since these songs are part of the same universe they do share some of the lyrics and melodies.
Endless Sacrifice
The acoustic intro.
It can remind you of Pink Floyd or Pantera depending on your listening history. They touched on these kind of melancholic riffs in “Peruvian Skies” from “Falling Into Infinity”.
But, it is the Chorus that brings the energy.
Then at 4.56, all hell breaks loose as they make their way into the solo section of the song. It’s got this “Creeping Death” meets “Disposable Heroes” palm-muted patterns.
For 8 seconds between 6.28 to 6.36 it sounds like it came from a “Tom and Jerry” cartoon.
Check out the harmony section from 8.58 which gets em out of the solo section and into the final part of the song.
Honor Thy Father
My favourite song for the riffs and melodies. It’s a metal tour-de-force.
The subject matter about Mike Portnoy’s stepfather didn’t resonate with me, but man, the riffs and melodies are fantastic.
After the heavy intro, press play to hear the first verse. And how good is the arena rock Chorus.
When the second verse rolls again, the original riff is played with distortion and man, it works so well. But at 3.51. instead of going into the Chorus again, they go into a verse with the riff tweaked a little bit more to make it sound different and unique.
And like all the songs on the album, from the 5 minute mark they go into a lengthy solo section.
Vacant
It’s the shortest song on the album, at 3 minutes long. It’s a haunting piano riff (which sounds like the bass riff to start of “Stream Of Consciousness”), with a little bit of an orchestra and LaBrie’s vocals.
The lyrics to “Vacant” were inspired by James LaBrie’s daughter, who fell into a short coma after suffering a sudden, unexplained seizure three days before her seventh birthday.
Stream of Consciousness
The DT instrumentals always have memorable sections via a lead or a riff. This song is no different especially the first two minutes. Essential listening.
The title had been around for a while in the DT world.
Of course, the solo from Petrucci is Guitar Hero stuff. Yes, there is flash and some fast picking, but it’s so melodic as well. If you like the playing of people like Steve Morse, Al DiMeola, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani, then you will like what Petrucci does here.
And at 7.30 that fantastic intro music comes back in, more ferocious with a few little tweaks.
The whole is the longest instrumental on a Dream Theater studio album to date and was the intended title for Falling Into Infinity.
And one of the YouTube comments on the song still cracks me, “LaBrie never sounded better”.
In the Name of God
The closer at 14.15 about religion and how it indoctrinates people to kill in its name.
The acoustic intro sets the tone, before the distortion crashes in. It’s a slow groove by Portnoy before they pick it up and play it double time.
The verse riff is head banging and it reminds me of “As I Am”. Petrucci drops out and lets Myung roll with it on the bass, while Petrucci switches to decorating.
LaBrie is a monster on the vocals here. Listen to him between 4.46 and 5.30. Throat ripping stuff.
As is the theme of the album, they then go into a long solo section in the middle of the song.
Press play to hear Petrucci wail between from the 8.40 mark.
The album did exactly what it needed to do. It put them on tour again, it got them into large metal festivals, something which they couldn’t do before and it renewed their fan base with metal heads.
Dream Theater was redeemed. Their previous album “Scenes From A Memory” renewed their fan base while also satisfying the existing fan base.
I was interested at what was next.
A double album. This is something the band tried to do with “Images And Words” and “Falling Into Infinity” however the label both times said “no”. But this time around, they said yes.
With the same personnel of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Portnoy locked in, the band released “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” on January 29. 2002. The first disc is made up of 5 songs that total 54 minutes and 18 seconds. The second disc is one song, which clocks in at 42 minutes, however that one song has 8 sections in it, which are sequenced as individual songs.
On the Wikipedia page for the album, it tells me that the influences for the album’s writing and recording, according to the authors, include Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”, Radiohead’s “OK Computer” (and also a Radiohead bootleg Portnoy brought in), Pantera’s “Far Beyond Driven” and the song “Mouth for War”, Megadeth’s “Rust in Peace”, U2’s “Achtung Baby”, Tool’s “Ænima”, Nine Inch Nails’ “The Downward Spiral”, Soundgarden’s “Superunknown”, Alice in Chains’ “Dirt”, Kevin Gilbert’s “Thud”, King’s X’s “Faith Hope Love” and Galactic Cowboys’ “Space in Your Face”, Béla Bartók, Rage Against the Machine’s “The Battle of Los Angeles”, and Maria Tipo’s “Chopin Nocturnes”.
As a fan of the influences mentioned, I can definitely hear their sounds and textures.
The Glass Prison
The opening track.
It’s 14 minutes long, consisting of three parts called “I. Reflection”, “II. Restoration” and “III. Revelation”. The lyrics are written by Mike Portnoy and it’s the beginning of his “Twelve-Step Suite”. This song covers the first three steps of the AA program. The other steps would appear on subsequent albums.
The static phonograph noise that ends “Finally Free” on “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” (1999) begins this song. Then the arpeggiated bass riff starts the song. Press play to hear it. It’s essential listening, especially when the band starts to crash in and build it up.
At 5.487 million Spotify streams, the track is forgotten. But there are so many good bits in the song, like the thrash metal riff in the Verses which reminds me of “Disposable Heroes” by Metallica, or the Groove Metal riff at 5.55 which reminds me of Pantera or the riff at 11.10 which reminds me of King Crimson.
Blind Faith
Lyrics are written by James LaBrie. For a vocalist, he doesn’t get a chance to write the words he sings for the band. John Petrucci does most of em these days. Previously he shared this duty with Kevin Moore and then Mike Portnoy.
1.802 million streams on Spotify. Another forgotten track, however its dreamy Pink Floydish meets Marillion vibe gets me interested. The verses are a cross between Pink Floyd, U2 and Marillion.
Pink Floyd is a band that people either get or don’t get, hence why they come up in a lot of overrated lists.
For a song that’s almost 11 minutes long, the riff at 5.45 is to be heard.
Misunderstood
Lyrics are written by John Petrucci.
It percolates slowly until it explodes. Just over 9 minutes long, check out the acoustic guitar intro, which again reminds me of Pink Floyd and you need to stick around for the Chorus distorted riff at 4.08.
As part of the solo, Petrucci played the guitar solo, and then reversed it with the DAW software. He then learned how to play this reversed version, and recorded it that way. The listener gets a very unsettling effect.
The Great Debate
Tool immediately comes to mind. Lyrics are by Petrucci and at almost 14 minutes long, the song has a lot of great movements.
A bass guitar riff starts the song off, with Portnoy building it up to a crescendo while voices from various news reports talk about stem cell research while the keys/guitars decorate.
Then it cranks into the Tool riff and for about 5 minutes it follows a Verse/Pre/Chorus structure. Make sure you stick around for the riffs when Labrie is singing “Are you justified” and “Life to save life”. It’s basically Tool without Maynard, then again, Fates Warning released a Tool meets Porcupine Tree sounding album in 2000 with “Disconnect”. Jim Matheos showcased then that he can groove and decorate with the best of em.
Disappear
It’s rare that LaBrie gets two song writing credits. But here it is. The original title was “Move On”. The piano riff in the Intro hooks me, but man, that section from 4.37, it’s so heavy with depression and sadness, which I suppose goes with the “death” theme lyrics.
Disc two is the entire song “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”. Thank god Portnoy decided to sequence the CD so you can skip to the desired part.
The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism, and dissociative identity disorder. The “Unbreakable” trilogy from M. Night Shyamalan comes to mind here.
Overture
It all starts here, the Jorden Rudess composed instrumental, clocking in at 6.50.
While listening to these orchestral piece I find it boring, however when the band heard it, they took various melodies and ideas contained within this version and expanded them into segments of the complete piece. So what you hear here end up in the songs to come. But I still don’t like it.
For “Overtures”, I will take “The Titanic Overture” any day.
About to Crash
Lyrics written by Petrucci. This section clocks in at 5:50 and it’s very Genesis like.
“War Inside My Head” and “The Test That Stumped Them All “
They go together as the heavy/thrash metal pieces of the song with lyrics written by Portnoy.
Together the songs clock in at 7:11 in length. It has to be a special Portnoy nugget to have these two songs come in at 7/11. Press play to hear the Main Riff of “The Test That Stumped Them All”.
Goodnight Kiss
It’s a skip for me.
Solitary Shell
How good is the major key strummed intro from Petrucci who also wrote the lyrics.
About to Crash (Reprise)
The intro riff is a favourite. The first words I said were “fuck yeah”.
Lyrics are written by Petrucci and the song also has this Celtic section at 2.20 that I like along with the piano riff after it.
Losing Time/Grand Finale
A forgettable ending.
It’s never forgotten to me how Dream Theater carved out a career in a musical hostile label and promoters environment between 1992 and 2003.
When they broke big with “Images And Words”, Seattle was the scene. 10 years later, “Nu-Metal” and its various offspring’s like “Post Grunge” and “Alternative Rock” were a thing and acts like Creed, Limp Bizkit, Slipknot, Offspring, Disturbed and Nickelback were getting platinum albums thrown at em from every corner of the world. And yet they never abandoned their style. While they would incorporate some of the mainstream sounds into their music, they still kept their Dream Theater identity.
And this album was the springboard for bigger and more metallic things to come.
They play the whole concept album in its entirety (with some improvisation) and cast extras join the band to do the voiceovers of the characters.
They are very precise in their playing, but they also leave room for jamming and improvisation, which is something a lot of acts don’t do. Go watch a Metallica or Iron Maiden concert and you don’t get a lot of improvisation during the songs. The songs are more or less played the same way they are recorded. But if you watch Dream Theater, you will get a lot of jamming.
Some of Petrucci’s best solo moments are from live recordings. Like the solo on “Hollow Years” from the “Live In Budokan” release. He takes the normal solo with a bit of improvisation and then they extend it, to go into a hard rock “guitar hero” solo for about two minutes as part of the song. If you like guitar playing at its finest, then you will need to check this moment out.
On this album, his improvised solo on “Through Her Eyes” is exceptional.
James LaBrie cops a lot of hate for his vocals.
One thing about live performances and when I say live, I mean live, (not a live album sold as a live album with the instruments and vocals recut in a studio) is that it is really difficult to be consistent vocally.
A vocalist will always be pitchy live due to the volumes and how the noise of the other instruments and the crowd bleed into the ear pieces, making it hard to hear if they are hitting the right pitch all the time.
There are a few “what the” moments here.
One that comes it mind is when Mike Portnoy screams out “who wants to cum” at the climax of some love making samples which segues into the solo section of “Home”.
“The Dance Of Eternity” is seen as the definitive Dream Theater instrumental. It has all the trademarks of what makes Dream Theater unique and that whole “swinging 20’s show tunes” section from 2.30 minutes shows growth and diversity. Hearing it back today, it amazes me how effortlessly they just fused different eras and genres.
A highlight for me is the ballad “The Spirit Carries On”. The solo on the recording was a “Guitar Hero” moment and Petrucci delivers a masterclass here.
“Finally Free” is more or less a forgotten track when it comes to Dream Theater lore, but musically it is one of their best. Most of it is in 4/4 timing and very easy to digest. Plus it has an ending where Portnoy unleashes some unique and technical fills in the studio recording. Hearing him do that live and also improvising a little bit, without missing the beat is what live music is all about. And at 9.30, they go into a familiar section that wasn’t part of the studio recording, but is part of the live show at this point in time. Again, this is what live music is all about.
After the “Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From A Memory” album is played, they begin the other songs.
And is starts with “Metropolis – Part 1: The Miracle And The Sleeper”. The audience knows it and they cheer it. The guitars from Petrucci sound so much more heavier than the studio recording of a decade before. Rudess was not even part of the band then, but the keyboard parts sound like they are his. The Led Zeppelin, “Kashmir” first verse is still my favourite part of the song.
They go into “The Mirror” and I am a fan of how Petrucci employs the 7 string here, more Tool like in its rhythms. “Just Let Me Breathe” is my least favourite from the “Falling Into Infinity” album so I don’t really care for it here. “Acid Rain” from The Liquid Tension Experiment appears. This is from the side project that Portnoy put together after the “Falling Into Infinity” album, which involved, Petrucci, Rudess and Tony Levin on bass. From this side project, Rudess ended up joining Dream Theater.
While Petrucci and Portnoy did “LTE”, bassist John Myung did Platypus with ex Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian and guitarist Ty Tabor of King’s X (who also sang lead vocals) and drummer Rod Morgenstein of Dixie Dregs/Winger fame.
Singer James Labrie also did Mullmuzzler. The record company would not allow LaBrie to use his own name, so he created the name of MullMuzzler and defined it as: “to gag or silence an individual’s thought before it can be expressed in any manner”. Joining Labrie in this project was future Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally who did time with Frank Zappa, Dweezil Zappa and Steve Vai. Bryan Beller was on bass and his background includes Dweezil Zappa. Matt Guillory played the keys and wrote a lot of the songs with Labrie.
“Caught In A New Millennium”, “Another Day” and a 6 minute Jordan Rudess keyboard solo (which the show didn’t really need) closes out disc 2. “Another Day” is such a good song and it should have been a massive hit. They probably should have shopped the song around to other artists to redo. For the live version, they even bring out a saxophone player.
Disc 3 is like the encore of the show.
It begins with “Erotomania”, “Voices” and “The Silent Man”. This trilogy of songs is known as the “A Mind Beside Itself” a three-part song cycle first released on their 1994 album “Awake”. When the separate songs are combined, the Trilogy clocks in at 22 minutes.
“Erotomania” is an instrumental. There is a section in the song which was originally written for “Pull Me Under” but removed before recording took place. So it got added to this instrumental. It’s a guitar hero moment with a lot of string skipping and fast alternate picking. Petrucci has no issue doing this live. Another masterclass.
The lead break in “Voices” is so bluesy in origin and of course Petrucci spices it up with some fast alternate picked runs between soulful bends.
“The Silent Man” starts off a bit different and I like it. If you want to hear Dream Theater Unplugged then press play on this. The solo section is extended and the whole band is in. It moves between ragtime and country leads.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. This is why I go to the live show.
“Learning To Live” which clocks in at 14 minutes is next. It’s my favourite track from the “Images And Words” album. The song originally is about 11 minutes long, so they improvise for an additional 3 minutes. There is a reggae like section in the solo section that is added. And the outro is extended. You should actually press play on this outro. Myung lays down the groove on the bass and the rest of the band builds on that, decorating it to a crescendo.
Their encore so far, is at 36 minutes.
They close the show with “A Change Of Seasons”, which at that point in time was their longest song at 24 minutes. Bringing the total encore to 60 minutes. A lot of metal and rock bands just do a 90 minute show (80 minutes and a 10 minute encore), or a 120 minute show (100 minutes and a 20 minute encore). Dream Theater delivered a 180 minute show.
In a case of Nostradamus clairvoyance, the original album cover had the Dream Theater logo over a burning New York skyline with the World Trade Towers on fire. It was all printed and packaged for its release date of September 11, 2001.
destroyerofharmony 