Dream Theater

Dream Theater is a Progressive Metal band from the United States formed in the mid-1980s. They became one of the most well-known bands of the progressive movement.

The band is known for having musicians with excellent composition and performance skills who have won several awards from specialized magazines. They collaborate with several other renowned musicians. For example, John Petrucci was named as G3’s third guitarist, along with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, following in the footsteps of guitarists such as Eric Johnson, Robert Fripp and Yngwie Malmsteen.

The band went on tour with several other bands, including Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, Marillion, Kansas, In Flames, Pain of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Queensrÿche, Fear Factory, Enchant and Symphony X.

The band was founded in the mid-1980s by students at Berklee College of Music. Initially formed by John Petrucci (guitar) and John Myung (bass), who later met Mike Portnoy (drums) and decided to found a band. They later called vocalist Chris Collins and keyboardist Kevin Moore to complete the group.

Before they called themselves Dream Theater, a suggestion from Mike’s father and the name of a concert hall in California, they were known as Majesty. This name came up during a Rush concert during their Power Windows tour. John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy slept on the street so they could buy tickets to watch the show, and when they heard the song Bastille Day, they commented that the song was majestic, thus giving rise to the name; however, it was discovered that there was already a jazz band of the same name.

The band released their first demo with six songs, a sample of their Progressive Metal with references to Classical music that would influence many bands in the future. After that, they fired singer Chris Collins, who was unable to adapt to the style the band was looking for. To replace him, they called Charlie Dominici, and with this lineup, they recorded the band’s first album, titled “When Dream and Day Unite”. The album was well received by critics and was well broadcast on the radio, which led to recognition from fans and shows in small clubs, which were always packed.

Again, due to musical differences and because he was much older than the other members, they fired their singer. For a long time, they didn’t have a permanent vocalist, but even so, they didn’t stop composing new songs or even giving instrumental performances. The instrumental songs composed would give rise to the album “Images and Words”. During this period, the band included John Arch, Steve Stone and Chris Cintron on vocals. But the ideal vocalist would finally emerge. It was Kevin Labrie, the lead singer of the Canadian band Winter Rose. From then on, he joined the band, adopting the name James Labrie, in order to avoid confusion with Kevin Moore and not leave the band with two Kevins and two Johns.

In 1992, they released “Images and Words” and were invited to open some Iron Maiden shows. They had an excellent reception on MTV and sold out “Images and Words” in Japan, leading the band to go on their first world tour. While recording their third album, keyboardist Kevin Moore left the band to pursue a solo career. Without a replacement for Kevin, recordings of Awake (an album containing the track “The Silent Man” – 900,000 CDs sold) ended, which quickly conquered the American and European markets. Shortly afterwards, Moore’s place would be taken by Derek Sherinian (who had played on tours with Kiss and Alice Cooper)

In 2014, the band went on tour once again to promote their 12th studio album and the new DVD “Breaking The Fourth Wall”, recorded in Boston. It was announced that the band entered the studio to record a new album, the celebrations of the band’s 30th anniversary, which will have a commemorative tour.

In August 2015, the band performed at the Wacken festival. In September, the band returned to the studio to continue producing the new album, “The Astonishing”, which was released on January 29, 2016.

In 2022, their song “The Alien”, from the album “A View from the Top of the World” won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, the band’s first win at the award after two other nominations: “On the Backs of Angels ” in 2012 and “The Enemy Inside” in 2014)

Current Members

John Petrucci – guitar, backing vocals (1985–present)
John Myung – bass, Chapman stick (1985–present)
James LaBrie – vocals (1991–present)
Jordan Rudess – keyboard, (1999–present)
Mike Mangini – drums, percussion (2011–present)

Studio Albums

When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
Images and Words (1992)
Awake (1994)
Falling Into Infinity (1997)
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Train of Thought (2003)
Octavarium (2005)
Systematic Chaos (2007)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)
A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)
Dream Theater (2013)
The Astonishing (2016)
Distance over Time (2019)
A View from the Top of the World (2021)