What is transhumanism, or, what does it mean to be human?By
on April 1, 2013 at 1:25 pm
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What does it mean to be human? Biology has a simple answer: If your DNA is consistent with Homo sapiens, you are human — but we all know that humanity is a lot more complex and nuanced than that. Other schools of science might classify humans by their sociological or psychological behavior, but again we know that actually being human is more than just the sum of our thoughts and actions. You can also look at being human as a sliding scale. If you were to build a human from scratch, from the bottom up, at some point you cross the threshold into humanity — if you believe in evolution, at some point we ceased being a great ape and became human. Likewise, if you slowly remove parts from a human, you cross the threshold into inhumanity. Again, though, we run into the same problem: How do we codify, classify, and ratify what actually makes us human?Does adding empathy make us human? Does removing the desire to procreate make us inhuman? If I physically alter my brain to behave in a different, non-standard way, am I still human? If I have all my limbs removed and my head spliced onto a robot, am I still human? (See: .) At first glance these questions might sound inflammatory and hyperbolic, or perhaps surreal and sci-fi, but don’t be fooled: In the next decade, given the continued acceleration of computer technology and biomedicine, we will be forced to confront these questions and attempt to find some answers.Transhumanism is a cultural and intellectual movement that believes we can, and should, improve the human condition through the use of advanced technologies. One of the core concepts in transhumanist thinking is life extension: Through genetic engineering, nanotech, cloning, and other emerging technologies, eternal life may soon be possible. Likewise, transhumanists are interested in the ever-increasing number of technologies that can boost our physical, intellectual, and psychological capabilities beyond what humans are naturally capable of (thus the term transhuman). Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), for example, which speeds up reaction times and learning speed by , has already been used by the US military to train snipers. On the more extreme side, transhumanism deals with the concepts of mind uploading (to a computer), and what happens when we finally craft a computer with greater-than-human intelligence (the technological singularity). (See: .)Beyond the obvious benefits of eternal life or superhuman strength, transhumanism also investigates the potential dangers and ethical pitfalls of human enhancement. In the case of life extension, if every human on Earth suddenly stopped dying, overpopulation would trigger a very rapid and very dramatic socioeconomic disaster. Unless we stopped giving birth to babies, of course, but that merely rips open another can of worms: Without birth and death, would society and humanity continue to grow and evolve, or would it stagnate, suffocated by the accumulated ego of intellectuals and demagogues who just will not die? Likewise, if only the rich have access to intelligence- and strength-boosting drugs and technologies, what would happen to society? Should everyone have the right to boost their intellect? Would society still operate smoothly if everyone had an IQ of 300 and five doctorate degrees?As you can see, things get complicated quickly when discussing transhumanist ideas — and life extension and augmented intelligence and strength are just the tip of the iceberg! This philosophical and ethical complexity stems from the fact that transhumanism is all about fusing humans with technology — and technology is advancing, improving, and breaking new ground very, very quickly. Humans have always used technology, of course — our ability to use tools and grasp concepts such as science and physics are what set us apart from other animals — but never has society been so intrinsically linked and underpinned by it. As we have seen in just the last few years, with the advent of the smartphone and ubiquitous high-speed mobile networks, just a handful of new technologies now have the power to completely change how we interact with the the world and people around us.Humans, on the other hand, and the civilizations that they build, move relatively slowly. It took us millions of years to discover language, and thousands more to discover medicine and the scientific method. In the few thousand years since, up until the last century or so, we doubled the human life span, but neurology and physiology were impenetrable black boxes. In just the last 100 years, we’ve doubled our life span again, created
and , begun to understand , and started to make serious headway with boosting intellectual and physical prowess. We’ve already mentioned how tDCS is being used to boost cranial capacity, and as we’ve seen in recent years, sportspeople have definitely shown the efficacy of physical doping.It is due to this jarring juxtaposition — the historical slowness of human and societal evolution vs. the breakneck pace of modern technology — that many find transhumanism to be unpalatable. After all, as I’ve described it here, transhumanism is almost the very definition of unnatural. You’re quite within your rights to find transhumanism a bit, well, weird. And it is weird, don’t get me wrong — but so are most emerging technologies. Do you think that your great grandparents weren’t wigged out by the first television sets? Before it garnered the name “television,” one of its inventors gave it the rather spooky name of “distant electric vision.” Can you imagine the wariness in which passengers approached the first steam trains? Vast mechanical beasts that could pull hundreds of tons and moved far faster than the humble — but state-of-the-art — horse and carriage.The uneasiness that surround new, paradigm-shifting technologies isn’t new, and it has only been amplified by the exponential acceleration of technology that has occurred during our lifetime. If you were born 500 years ago, odds are that you wouldn’t experience a single societal-shifting technology in your lifetime — today, a 40 year old will have lived through the creation of the PC, the internet, the smartphone, and brain implants, to name just a few life-changing technologies. It is unsettling, to say the least, to have the rug repeatedly pulled out from under you, especially when it’s your livelihood at stake. Just think about how many industries and jobs have been obliterated or subsumed by the arrival of the digital computer, and it’s easy to see why we’re wary of transhumanist technologies that will change the very fabric of human civilization.The good news, though, is that humans are almost infinitely adaptable. While you or I might balk at the idea of a brain-computer interface that allows us to download our memories to a PC, and perhaps upload new memories a la The Matrix, our children — who can use smartphones at the age of 24 months, and communicate chiefly through digital means — will probably think nothing of it. For the children of tomorrow, living through a series of disruptive technologies that completely change their lives will be the norm. There might still be some resistance when I opt to have my head spliced onto a robotic exoskeleton, but within a generation children will be used to seeing Iron Seb saving people from car crashes and flying alongside airplanes.The fact of the matter is that transhumanism is just a modern term for an age-old phenomenon. We have been augmenting our humanity — our strength, our wisdom, our empathy — with tools since prehistory. We have always been spooked by technologies that seem unnatural or that cause us to act in inhuman ways — it’s simply human nature. That all changes with the children of today, however. To them, anything that isn’t computerized, digital, and touch-enabled seems unnatural. To them, the smartphone is already an ex to them, mind uploading, bionic implants and augmentations, and powered exoskeletons will just be par for the course. To them, transhumanism will just seem like natural evolution — and anyone who doesn’t follow suit, just like those fuddy-duddies who still don’t have a smartphone, will seem thoroughly inhuman.[Image credit: Darkart.cz]
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This article is about the band.
For their self-titled album, see .
This article may contain excessive or improper use of
material. Please review the use of non-free media according to
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may have details. (May 2013)
Dream Theater is an American / band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by , , and
while they attended
in . They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would ultimately become Dream Theater. Though a number of lineup changes followed, the three original members remained together along with
until September 8, 2010 when Portnoy left the band. In October 2010, the band held auditions for a drummer to replace Portnoy.
was announced as the new permanent drummer on April 29, 2011.
The band is well known for the technical proficiency of its instrumentalists, who have won many awards from music instruction magazines. Guitarist John Petrucci has been named as the third player on the
tour six times, more than any invited players. In 2009 he was named the No. 2 best metal guitarist by
in his book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists. He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Fastest Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine. Jordan Rudess is considered to be one of the greatest keyboard players of all time by many publications like . Former drummer Mike Portnoy has won 26 awards from
magazine and is also the second youngest person (at the age of 37) to be inducted into the Rock Drummer Hall of Fame. His replacement Mike Mangini has also previously set 5
records. John Myung was voted the greatest bassist of all time in a poll conducted by
in August through September 2010. The band was inducted into the
The band's highest-selling album is the gold-selling
(1992), which reached No. 61 on the
chart. Both the 1994 release
and their 2002 release
also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46 respectively and received mostly positive reviews.
was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of
magazine's list of The greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It is ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album (as of March 2003) by
and as the number one all-time progressive album by Rolling Stone (as of July 2012). Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also led to Dream Theater becoming the initial band reviewed in the music section of
during its opening week of release, despite the magazine generally preferring more mainstream music.
The band's eleventh studio album, , was released on September 13, 2011. On November 30, 2011, the album's lead single, "", was nominated for a
in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category, marking the band's first ever Grammy nomination. Dream Theater's
12th studio album was released on September 23, 2013 and sold around 34,000 copies in the first week and landed at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, one position higher than A Dramatic Turn of Events. Dream Theater earned their second
nomination, this time for “Best Metal Performance”, for the album's first single, "".
On April 9, 2013, Images and Words won Loudwire's fan voted March Metal Madness for world's best metal album beating albums by , , ,
and . As of 2011, Dream Theater has sold over 12 million records worldwide.
Founding members (from left to right) John Myung, Mike Portnoy, and John Petrucci in 1985.
Dream Theater was formed in Massachusetts in 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band while attending the Berklee College of Music. The trio started by covering
songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.
Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy joined together on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to the
documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "" (from the album ) sounded "majestic". It was then decided that Majesty would be the band's name.
The trio then set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci asked his high school band-mate
to play the keyboard. After he accepted the position, another friend from home, , was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of "Queen of the Reich" by . During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung's hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, , to concentrate on the band.
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"Another Won" from The .
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The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled . The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos are still available in their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD, through Mike Portnoy's YtseJam Records.
In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins was fired. After a year of trying to find a replacement, , who was far older and more experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.
Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas group also named Majesty threatened legal action for
related to the use of their name, so the band was forced to adopt a new moniker. Various possibilities were proposed and tested, among them Glasser, Magus, and M1, which were all rejected, though the band did go as Glasser for about a week, though fans reacted poorly to this decision. Eventually, Portnoy's father suggested the name Dream Theater, the name of a small theater in , and the name stuck.
Dream Theater in 1989: John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Dominici, Kevin Moore, and John Myung.
With their new name and band stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the attention of Mechanic Records, a division of . Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988 and set out to record their debut album. The band recorded the album at Kajem Victory Studios in . Recording the basic tracks took about 10 days, and the entire album was completed in about 3 weeks.
was released in 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to Dream Theater prior to signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were relatively local. Their first show was at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for the classic rock power trio .
After the fourth show, Charlie Dominici was let go because the band was starting to feel the limitations of his voice based upon the vocal style they wanted. The band was looking for more of a Bruce Dickinson/Geoff Tate type of singer, and his stage presence was not what they wanted for a front man. Shortly after, however, the band
asked Dream Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was given the opportunity to perform one last time. It would be another two years before Dream Theater had a replacement vocalist.
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"Pull Me Under" from .
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James LaBrie joined the band in January 1991 and has been their vocalist ever since.
Following Dominici's departure, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their contract with Mechanic, and set about auditioning singers and writing material for their next album. In their search for a new singer, they auditioned over 200 people, among them former
front man . John ultimately decided that his personal commitments were more important and he opted not to join the band. In mid-1990, at a gig in New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. They had successfully recorded demos with him, which can be heard on the Demos. He only performed one live show with them, which ended disastrously, and Stone was fired immediately. The band says he had been moving around the stage in a rather odd manner, seemingly doing a bad impression of . Also, he had infamously shouted "Scream for me Long Beach!" several times throughout the show (which Bruce Dickinson shouts during live shows and recordings), although they were actually performing in Bayshore. It was five months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental (under the name YtseJam). Until 1991, the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing additional music. It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become Images and Words (1992).
In January 1991, the band received a demo tape from , of
band . The band had received the tape just before they were about to commit to another singer. The band was so impressed by his demo that he was flown from Canada to New York for an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and was immediately hired to fill the vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows (still mostly around NYC), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring LaBrie.
(now ), a division of , signed Dream Theater to a seven album contract based on a three song demo (later made available as "The Atco Demos" through the Dream Theater ).
The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was
(1992). For promotion, the label released a CD Single and
for the song "", but neither made significant commercial impact. The song "", however, managed to garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In response, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under", which saw heavy rotation on . A third video clip was produced for "", but it was not nearly as successful as "Pull Me Under".
The success of "Pull Me Under", combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and , caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum status in Japan. A tour of
followed in 1993, which included a show at 's famed . The show was recorded and released as , Dream Theater's first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in with documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as .
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"Voices" from .
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Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. , Dream Theater's third studio album, was released on October 4, 1994 amidst a storm of fan controversy. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore had announced to the rest of the band that he would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his own musical interests, since he was no longer interested in touring or the style of music which Dream Theater performed. As a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be considered.
Former / keyboardist , who would go on to become a member of , was among the biggest names to audition, but the band members were eager to fill the position with keyboardist . Portnoy and Petrucci had come across Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as "best new talent" in the readers' poll. The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the
in . Although the show was a success, and Rudess was asked to fill the keyboardist position permanently, he opted to tour with The
instead, since it granted him more personal latitude. Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus , who had previously toured and recorded with
and , to fill in for the . By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-time replacement.
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"Carpe Diem/The Darkest of Winters" bridge from .
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Once again finding themselves with a new member, Dream Theater did not immediately start working on new material. Fans around the world, united on the YtseJam
(the most popular form of communication between Dream Theater fans at that point), had begun to put pressure on the band to officially release the song "". This had been written in 1989 and was intended to be a part of Images and Words, but at almost 17 minutes, it was deemed too long for studio placement. It had nevertheless been performed live by the band, who continued to revise it in the years leading up to 1995.
The petition was successful, and the group entered
in New York in May 1995 to rewrite and record the now 23-minute long song with Sherinian contributing significantly to the final product. The band released "A Change of Seasons" as an
along with a collection of cover songs from a live show recorded at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London earlier that year.
After a brief run of small concerts and a short break, the band released a special Christmas CD through their official fan club, consisting of rare live tracks recorded during the band's early years. They continued releasing a new CD each Christmas until 2005.
Meanwhile, there were several changes at EastWest, and Dream Theater's main contact within the label was fired. As a result, the new team at the company were unaccustomed to the relationship Dream Theater had with former EastWest personnel, and they pressured them to write an album that was more accessible. In mid-1997, they entered the studio to write their next album. In addition to pressuring the band to adopt a more mainstream sound, EastWest recruited writer/producer
to work with Petrucci on polishing the lyrics to his song "You or Me". The whole band substantially reworked the song, and it appeared on the album as "You Not Me" with a chorus that bore little resemblance to the original. Child also had a noticeable impact on the album, with a shift towards less complex and more radio-friendly compositions.
The band wrote almost two
worth of material, including a 20-minute-long follow-up to the Images and Words song "Metropolis–Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper". The label, however, did not allow the release of a double album because it felt that a 140-minute record would not be well received by the general public. James LaBrie also felt that the CD should be a single disc. The unused songs were later released in the Ytsejam Records release The Falling into Infinity Demos.
The material that made it onto the album proper was released as , which received a mixed reception from fans who were more familiar with the band's earlier sound. While the album was moderately progressive-sounding, tracks such as "" and "You Not Me" prompted some to believe it was the dawn of a new, mainstream-sounding Dream Theater. Overall, the album was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Although Portnoy did not speak out publicly at the time, he later revealed in the 2004 DVD commentary for , that he had been so discouraged during this period that he had considered disbanding Dream Theater altogether.
During the European leg of the
world tour, two shows were recorded for a live album entitled , in
and The . The album was released at around the same time as the video , which covered the years from Kevin Moore's departure to the Falling into Infinity promotional tour.
In 1997, ' Mike Varney invited Portnoy to assemble a progressive '' to work on an album, which would become the first in a long string of side-projects for the members of Dream Theater. The lineup consisted of Portnoy on drums, Petrucci on guitar,
on bass, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who had finished with the Dixie Dregs. The band assumed the name , and would act as a medium through which Portnoy and Petrucci could once again court Rudess to join Dream Theater. In 1999, he accepted an offer to become the third full-time Dream Theater keyboardist, replacing Sherinian.
With yet another new member, Dream Theater entered BearTracks Studio once again to write and record their next album. As a result of an ultimatum from Portnoy, the label gave the band complete creative control. The band began by revisiting the follow-up to "Metropolis–Part I", which had been partially written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions but which had not been completed or used on that album. They decided to expand the 20-minute song into a complete , with a story revolving around themes such as reincarnation, murder and betrayal. To avoid stirring up the fan base, a tight veil of secrecy enveloped the writing and recording process. The only things fans were privy to prior to its release were a track list that had been leaked against the band's wishes, and a release date. In 1999,
was released to high critical acclaim, being lauded as the band's masterpiece, despite only reaching No. 73 on the US album chart.
The album was mixed by , but only a few of his mixes made it on the final album. The bulk was remixed by , who had produced their previous album, . The rest of the mixes can be heard in the band's official bootleg The Making of Scenes from a Memory.
The subsequent
world tour was by far their largest to date, and took over a year to complete. The concerts reflected the theatrical aspect of the album, with the first half of each show comprising the entire Scenes From a Memory album accompanied by a film showing dramatized portions of the story projected onto a video screen behind the stage. For the last date of the North American leg, at the
in New York City, actors were hired to play characters in the story, and a gospel choir was enlisted to perform in some sections of the performance. The show was filmed and eventually released in early 2001 as the band's first DVD release, , which was certified Gold in the US on Nov 8, 2002.
Since several songs from the second half of the four-hour show had to be cut from the DVD to save space, the band also released the full show on the live CD . The original cover depicted one of Dream Theater's early logos (the Images and Words-era burning heart, modeled on the
of Christ) modified to show an apple (as in "") instead of the heart, and the New York skyline, including the twin towers of the , in the flame above it. In an unfortunate coincidence, the album was released on the same date as the . The album was quickly recalled by the band and was re-released with revised artwork later, although the few copies which were sold with the original artwork have since become rare collectors items.
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Part one of the eight parts that constitute "".
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Putting the whole ordeal behind them, Dream Theater once again entered BearTracks Studios to record their sixth studio album. Four years after they first petitioned EastWest to allow them to release a double album, they finally got their chance with . The first disc consisted of five tracks of 7–13 minutes in length, and the second disc was devoted entirely to the 42-minute title track, which remains to date the longest song Dream Theater has written. Many of the song's melodies and musical themes originated in an instrumental piece, written by Rudess, which would eventually become the song's "Overture". Those themes were then expanded by the rest of the band to form individual chapters in a complete story.
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence was very well received by critics and the press. It was the most publicized of Dream Theater's albums since Awake, debuting on the Billboard charts at No. 46 and the Billboard Internet charts at No. 1. The subsequent world tour included a select few special "album cover" gigs (see
section, below), in which they played Metallica's
and Iron Maiden's
in their entirety.
In 2003, Dream Theater entered the studio to write and record another album. Unlike Scenes from a Memory, which had been written and recorded simultaneously in the studio, the band took a different approach by setting aside three weeks for writing prior to recording. In the middle of the recording sessions for the album, a special tour with two other progressive metal bands, Queensr?che and Fates Warning, was undertaken in North America. Referred to in the band's promotional material as the "Escape from the Studio American tour", the tour featured Queensr?che and Dream Theater as co-headlining acts with Fates Warning performing supporting act duties. As a finale for each concert there was an extended encore in which both Dream Theater and Queensr?che performed together on stage simultaneously, often playing cover songs.
At the completion of the tour, Dream Theater returned to the studio to finish the recording of their seventh album, . In contrast to the extended songs of their previous album, the band aimed to write a more song-oriented album, inspired in part by covering the Master of Puppets and Number of the Beast albums on their previous concert tour. Although the album was a critical success, its more straightforward metal sound alienated many of the band's existing fans, who had been attracted by the band's roots in . During this time they also re-released their first two live videos for the first time on DVD, entitled "Images and Words: Live in Tokyo/5 Years in a Livetime" on June 29, 2004, through Rhino Records. This release was certified Platinum on March 22, 2006.
Another world tour followed, named . A modest North American tour was completed by the two bands, which Dream Theater supported Yes, a band which had been a major influence on their own musical style. After which Dream Theater continued to tour the world with their so-called "An Evening With Dream Theater" shows. The latter were captured in another live CD/DVD release, recorded at the famous
in , Japan on their .
was released on October 5, 2004, and was certified Platinum in the US on January 26, 2005.
Dream Theater after a concert in Paris during the first European leg of their tour (2005). From left to right: , , ,
After their Train of Thought promotional tour, Dream Theater entered
studios in NYC to record their eighth album. They would in fact become the final group to use the famous studio, which closed on April 1, 2005.
was released on June 7, 2005, and took the band's sound in yet another new direction. Its eight songs included a continuation of Portnoy's "" saga ("The Root of All Evil", steps 6-7 in the 12-step plan), as well as the title track, a musically versatile 24 minute epic rivaling "A Change of Seasons". Octavarium received mixed reviews from fans and has been the subject of spirited debate. Octavarium was the last album under their seven-album deal with , which had inherited the contract upon its absorption of .
Dream Theater started
extensively throughout 2005 and 2006 to celebrate their 20th Anniversary as a band, including a headlining spot on
and put together by frontman , also featuring ,
and . During a show on August 2, 2005 in Dallas, the band paid tribute to 's late guitarist
by performing the song "" as an encore. In addition was the unexpected appearance of fellow musicians
(Symphony X vocalist),
(Fear Factory vocalist) and
(Megadeth vocalist/guitarist), who joined the band on stage to perform parts of the song.
Dream Theater later departed from
a few dates before it ended and continued on with their own series of concerts, several of which were recorded and released for the band's fanclubs. The 20th anniversary tour concluded with a show at
in New York City on April 1, 2006. Though the show had minimal promotion, it was sold out days after tickets were made available. This show, which was recorded for a CD/DVD called
released on August 29, 2006 through , featured songs from the band's entire history, as well a second half accompanied by a full symphony orchestra (the "Octavarium Orchestra"). This release was the bands third Live DVD release to be certified Platinum in the US on Oct 11, 2006.
Dream Theater playing live March 8, 2008
For the first time in their career, the band decided to take the summer off after their show at Radio City Music Hall. In September 2006, Dream Theater entered Avatar Studios to record their follow-up to
with legendary studio engineer . Dream Theater's ninth studio album, , was released on June 5, 2007. The record marked their first with new label , which in 2010 would become a wholly owned subsidiary of the band's previous label . Roadrunner implemented increased promotion for the album and Systematic Chaos duly reached number 19 on the Billboard 200. It also oversaw the release of a video for "" on July 14, the band's first music video since Hollow Years in 1997. The album was bookended by the two parts of "In the Presence of Enemies", an epic
written and conceived as a single piece but split into two halves for the purposes of the album. The other six tracks included the most recent part of Portnoy's continuing
with the song "".
In the same year, the first version of Rich Wilson's , an authorized history of the band's first twenty years, was released.
The 2007–08
started off in Italy. Dream Theater played in the
concert on June 3, 2007., as well as various other European festivals including the Netherlands' Fields of Rock Festival, UK's , the French festival
alongside , ,
and . The North American leg of the tour began on July 24 in ,
and wrapped up on August 26 in , . They played with opening acts
and . The Chaos In Motion Tour continued for the rest of the year and into 2008, playing shows in ,
and, for the first time, .
On April 1, 2008, a two-disc
was released by the band. The title jokingly references the song "", the band's only significant . It also includes three song re-mixes from their second album, Images and Words, five edited versions of previously released songs, and a track from a single . Unlike most
compilations, Dream Theater was actively involved with the album, coming up with the tracklisting that they felt best represented their musical careers.
After the release of Greatest Hit, drummer Mike Portnoy organized a new tour called . Unlike previous Dream Theater tours, performances were held in cities that they had not visited before in the past (such as , Canada) or cities they had not played in for several years. This tour also marked the first time, since the release of Images and Words, where the group performed in small venues and performance halls.
In September 2008, the band released a DVD set called , featuring songs recorded at several shows during the Chaos in Motion tour.
On October 7, 2008, Dream Theater returned to Avatar Studios to begin work on their tenth album, resuming their relationship with
to engineer and mix the record. The album, entitled , was released on June 23, 2009. In addition to the standard CD, the album was made available on vinyl LP, as well as a 3-disc Special Edition CD that includes the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs from artists such as
and . On July 1, 2009, the album debuted at No. 6 on Billboard's Top 200 album chart, with first week sales totalling 40,285, making their highest entry on the chart. The album featured "The Shattered Fortress", the last in Mike Portnoy's
about his 12-step recovery from alcoholism, as well as the song "The Best of Times", described by Portnoy as "a real heavy personal subject about my dad who passed away during the making of the album ... He was battling cancer throughout its making."
The band also embarked on a second Progressive Nation tour, including the tour's first performances in Europe. ,
supported Dream Theater in Europe, while , , and
were slated to perform on the North American leg. However, Pain of Salvation and Beardfish were unable to tour with Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa because of financial troubles within their respective record labels. The two new bands that filled the vacated slots for the
tour in North America were
with Bigelf performing on both European and North American legs.
After the Progressive Nation Tour, Dream Theater re-entered the studio to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the
soundtrack EP . The track, entitled "Raw Dog" (God (of) War reversed), marked the first time that the band has written and recorded an exclusive track for an outside project. "Raw Dog" includes the first ever commercially recorded
track, performed by , as well as Dream Theater's final recorded performance with
on drums. In December 2009, during their
tour whilst visiting Australia, Dream Theater appeared with one support act, Pain of Salvation. In March 2010, they toured South America with . Afterwards, during the summer of 2010, Dream Theater supported
on the US and Canadian legs of their
which were the last shows DT played during 2010.
Mike Portnoy announced that he would be leaving Dream Theater on September 8, 2010.
On September 8, 2010,
announced that he would be leaving Dream Theater, citing better relationships in other projects, burnout, and his desire for a break as reasons. Elaborating on the situation for ,
revealed that originally, Portnoy did not wa he only wanted to take a five-year break. He eventually dropped this number to around one year. Only after the rest of the band rejected his proposal did Portnoy decide to quit.
After Portnoy left Dream Theater, relationships between him and his former bandmates became strained. In February 2011, Portnoy complained that no one from the band was returning his calls and e-mails. However, later Portnoy commented that both Petrucci and Rudess were the only members that stayed in touch with him.[] Tensions became especially high when Portnoy called James LaBrie "disrespectful" for comments LaBrie made during an interview, stating that Dream Theater were "not sad at all" that Portnoy was no longer a band member. As of July 12, 2011, LaBrie has not remained in touch with Portnoy. At one point, false reports surfaced that Portnoy had sued Dream Theater. Portnoy has since stated that he would rejoin the band in a heartbeat, stating: "They are the ones that have closed the door on it. I’ve only needed a break, and I’ve had that break. So I’m ready, willing and able. But I honestly don’t
they’ve closed their door on it and I think they’re too headstrong in having to prove themselves without me. So I wouldn’t count on it. But my door is always open."
A little more than a month after Portnoy's departure, Dream Theater began auditioning for a new drummer in New York City. The drummers invited to audition were , , , , , , and . The candidates were notified whether they had been chosen on November 5; however, the results of the audition were not made public until April 2011 via a three-part
documentary series called The Spirit Carries On. In the last episode of the series, it was revealed that Mangini was the drummer selected. Petrucci later explained that Portnoy approached them to rejoin after they had selected M Mangini by this time had left his job as a professor at Berklee and committed to Dream Theater full-time, so Portnoy's offer was re-buffed.
Dream Theater entered Cove City Sound Studios to begin working on a new album on January 3, 2011. Writing was completed on March 2 and done without Mangini. On April 14, LaBrie began tracking vocals and by June 28, the album's mixing and mastering by
were finished. Released worldwide on September 12 and in the United States on September 13,
debuted at number one in some countries and attained the eighth position on the Billboard 200, the band's second ever top ten debut position on that chart after Black Clouds & Silver Linings. Although the album received mixed reviews, it won numerous awards from music publications and its lead single, "", was nominated for
at the , representing the band's first ever Grammy nomination.
Dream Theater kicked off their tour in support of A Dramatic Turn of Events on July 4, 2011 in Rome, Italy. The second leg of the tour took place in North America, where the band headlined with . After a short break to conclude 2011, the band returned to Europe with , to Asia with , to North America with Crimson Projekct and then to South America for the final leg of the tour. On August 19 and 20, two shows were recorded at
for a live
release by Over the Edge Productions. After a six-month delay,
was released on November 5, 2013, by Eagle Rock Entertainment. The tour concluded on September 1, 2012, in , .
On December 25, 2013, at 06:00:00 EST, as a holiday gift to the fans, Dream Theater released a free electronic 2-CD set of live tracks that were not recorded for Live at Luna Park from their
format via . The release date and time are an allusion to their 1994 song 6:00, the intro of which contains a repeated sample of the line "Six o'clock on a Christmas morning" as spoken by Helena Carroll in . Dream Theater's July 19, 2012 cover performance of
is notably omitted from this release due to copyright concerns.
Writing for Dream Theater's twelfth studio album commenced on . During soundchecks, the band would jam and record their ideas, and John Petrucci would bring in material he wrote independently. Following the conclusion of the tour, the band took a break but continued writing. They reconvened in early 2013 to enter the studio.
In December 2012, Dream Theater re-signed with Roadrunner Records. The band's
was released on September 23, 2013 as part of the new agreement with Roadrunner. The album sold more than 34,000 copies in its first week and landed on the Billboard 200 chart at No. 7, the band's third consecutive top 10 album. In addition, the album cracked the top 10 in 24 countries including Japan, Germany, Argentina, The Netherlands, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Austria, Australia and United Kingdom. Dream Theater's seventh live album, , was released on November 5, 2013.
On July 8, 2014, Dream Theater released The Studio Albums , a box set spanning all albums from
On September 30, 2014, Dream Theater released their eighth live album and film, , which was recorded live from
on March 25, 2014. During this concert, the band were joined by the Berklee World Strings and the Berklee Concert Choir, directed by Eren Ba?bu?, for the second half of the set. The set list for the tour featured the entire second half of Awake, in celebration of the album's 20th anniversary, including the song "", which had never been performed live. The set list closed with a performance of four songs from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, in celebration of the album's 15th anniversary. The
tour concluded on October 30, 2014.
On January 6, 2014, John Petrucci said that Dream Theater are already "planting seeds for album No. 13". He commented: "There are some song ideas and little things like that -- nothing really official, but the seeds just start to get planted. One of the great things about this career is that you have the opportunity every time to go in and start again with a blank slate and think, 'What can we do differently? How can we make this better? Where can we go from here?' Every album has a story, and to constantly have a fresh opportunity to do it is really satisfying."
According to James LaBrie, the band will head back into the studio in February 2015 to create its next album, which he said he expects to be released in the fall, followed by another world tour starting January 2016. Mike Mangini announced on his Facebook page that the band would be entering the studio on February 3, 2015, to start production on the new album.
Throughout their career, Dream Theater's live shows have gradually become bigger, longer, and more diverse. The most obvious example of this is their rotational set list policy. Factors such as set lists from previous cities are taken into account to ensure that people who see Dream Theater multiple times within the same area will not see too many (or any) songs repeated, and even the set list from the last time the band was in a particular city is taken into account for the benefit of fans who see the band on successive tours.
Rudess and Petrucci dueling in ,
Some of Dream Theater's more notable touring partners include , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
and . In 2005, Dream Theater toured North America with the
festival, co-headlining with Megadeth, and have played with Megadeth and Iron Maiden physically on stage.
The band's full world tours, since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, have predominantly been so-called "Evening with..." tours, in which the band performs for at least three hours with an intermission and no opening act. The show that was recorded for Live Scenes From New York was nearly four hours in length, and resulted in Portnoy almost being hospitalized after acquiring severe food poisoning from the food he ate before the show.
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"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", live at Nagoya, Japan.
Problems playing this file? See .
There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. In the midst of "A Change of Seasons" it is quite common for themes such as those for
to be quoted, and Rudess routinely modifies his solo section in the song and others, often playing the
section of "When the Water Breaks" from . Several songs included on Once in a LIVETime include snippets of others' pieces, such as 's "Free Bird" and 's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Other quotations include "Mary Had a Little Lamb" during "Endless Sacrifice" on the Gigantour, a calliope-inspired break between verses of "Under a Glass Moon", a quote of ""'s main melody played by Petrucci while performing the intro solo of "Through Her Eyes" in , the Turkish March at a concert in , and the opening riff of 's "" at a show in , . On the "20th Anniversary World Tour" Rudess has even thrown in a short "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" theme in a break during "Endless Sacrifice," and during a concert in Israel he started a spontaneous "" later accompanied by the rest of the band.
Occasionally, a member of the audience is picked at random to perform on stage, an example of which can be seen during Portnoy's drum solo on the Live at Budokan DVD. There have also been many impromptu renditions of "Happy Birthday" when a member of the band or crew has a birthday corresponding to a tour date, which normally results in a birthday cake being thrown at the subject.
Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater's unpredictable concert structure came during Derek Sherinian's time with the band. At selected shows the band members all
and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed . They usually performed a cover of 's "Perfect Strangers," and, on one occasion, 's "Suicide Solution," At some shows, Sherinian, Petrucci and Portnoy would take the stage together under the name "Nicky Lemons and the Migraine Brothers." Sherinian, wearing a feather boa and novelty sunglasses, would perform a pop-punk song entitled "I Don't Like You" with Petrucci and Portnoy backing. In Chaos in Motion tour, in several concerts before "Trial of Tears," Portnoy and Petrucci would change positions.
Concert of the A Dramatic Tour of Events in 2012. LaBr Myung and Rudess in the background.
In the Score and Chaos in Motion DVDs, an animation has accompanied certain parts of the songs, showing the band playing along to the music as cartoon characters. On the Score DVD, during the song , the band is seen performing in an octagonal shaped maze. As the animation continues Jordan Rudess spontaneously turns into
and John Petrucci catches fire. In "" from the Chaos in Motion DVD, the band battles against a monster by shooting fireballs from guitars, throwing drum sticks, and screaming.
Dream Theater played and recorded a live performance at the
on April 26, 2004. It was later released as
on October 5, 2004.
Dream Theater's largest audience as a headlining act was 20,000 in
on December 6, 2005. This was during their first tour of
countries other than Brazil (which they had visited in 1997 and 1998). The show was released on DVD through Portnoy's YtseJam Records.
In 2007, after their show in Salt Lake City on July 30, Governor
signed a proclamation officially marking July 30, 2007 as Dream Theater Day in the state of Utah.
In 2008 Dream Theater started the
tour, along with , , and . The tour is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, who stated, "I've been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I've been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk."
On February 13, 2009, Dream Theater announced the official line up for their
tour. The tour was originally set to feature bands including Swedish bands
and , as well as . On June 22, 2009, Mike Portnoy announced that Pain of Salvation and Beardfish would not be touring the North American leg of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour because of record label complications. In the same announcement, Portnoy stated that the bands
would replace Pain of Salvation and Beardfish on the tour. This lineup change has put
on both the North American and European legs of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The tour's North American leg ran throughout July and August 2009. On March 26, 2009 it was announced that Dream Theater would take the Progressive Nation tour to Europe for the first time alongside ,
and . The tour ran throughout September and October 2009.
In June/July 2010 Dream Theater were the opening band for Iron Maiden during the first leg of their
which included
as one of the many venues. On December 7, 2010, Dream Theater announced on their website that they would be headlining the High Voltage Festival alongside Judas Priest in 2011. In July 2011 they started
to promote . In January 2014, they started the
to promote their .
Majesty Shows (1986–88)
Early Dream Theater Shows (1989)
(1990–92)
(1992–93)
(1994–95)
(1997–98)
An Intimate Evening with Dream Theater (1998)
(2005–06)
(2007–08)
(2010) (American Dates Only)
(2011–12)
Dream Theater have covered other artists' work throughout their career. They have performed cover songs live and in studio, with many of those live performances being recorded for official release. A Change of Seasons features , , , , , , , , and
live covers. Through YtseJam Records, the band have also released full album live cover performances of
, Iron Maiden's , Pink Floyd's , and Deep Purple's . The special edition of Black Clouds & Silver Linings includes a bonus disc with , Queen, Dixie Dregs, , , and
covers. Other notable artists covered by Dream Theater include , , , , , and .
Dream Theater wordmark and "Majesty" symbol
Despite the band's being forced to change their name, Dream Theater adopted a custom
(known as the Majesty symbol) and
which has appeared on the vast majority of their promotional material and on the front cover of every Dream Theater studio album. The Majesty symbol is derived from ' mark, which was re-worked by
for use on the album artwork for .
In September 2010, a fan of Dream Theater discovered that all of the letters of "DOMINICI" fit together perfectly into the Majesty symbol. When Charlie discovered this, he laughed and mentioned that "it only took them 25 years to figure out the 'Dominici Code!'" This has earlier also been discovered as shown on the comment section of DTFAQ and in the DTNorway Podcast Episode 2 from 2008, with Charlie Dominici.
described Dream Theater's music as a "dense blend of
and post- ". The band is well noted for being one of the early progenitors of the
genre. The original members, Mike Portnoy, John Petrucci and John Myung, have strong influences from
bands such as , , and , heavy metal bands such as
and , various
bands, and even the
of the day. This synthesis created a unique metal that was not traditional of the day: it had distorted guitars and fast riffing, but the music focused more on technical proficiency and precise execution than on heavy metal riffs. The band's music has focused on three main elements: metal, melody, and progressive roots. Mike Portnoy has also stated that the band's slower songs are in appreciation of artists such as , , and . Dream Theater's music also borrows elements from the 1970s and '80s
sound of musicians such as , Peter Gabriel, , , and .
Dream Theater's more recent albums such as , and
lean heavily towards , while still maintaining their trademark progressive rock and metal sound, whereas their 2003 album
showcased a darker, heavier, sometimes more straightforward
sound, and much of their progressive rock sound was absent, replaced by metal elements such as riffing and shredding. This decision was inspired by the positive feedback received from their previous heavier songs on stage. 1999's
was praised for its display of old-fashioned progressive rock, and was influenced by classic conceptual rock records such as ' , 's
and , 's , and 's .
Dream Theater's music occasionally borrows elements of other musical styles including , , , , and .
Current members
(1985–present)
(1985–present)
(1991–present)
– , , , , ,
music apps (including Morphwiz & GeoSynth),
app Bebot, seaboard (1999–present)
(2010–present)
Former members
– lead vocals (1986)
– lead vocals (1987–89)
Steve Stone - lead vocals (1990)
– keyboards (1986–94)
– keyboards (1995–98)
– drums, backing vocals, percussion ()
Dream Theater have released a series of official bootlegs, demos and other rarities through YtseJam Records, headed by Portnoy.
When Dream and Day Unite Demos 1987–89
Images and Words Demos 1989–91
Awake Demos 1994
Falling Into Infinity Demos 1996–97
Train of Thought Instrumental Demos 2003
The Making of Falling Into Infinity
The Making of Scenes From a Memory
New York City – 3/4/93 (CD)
Tokyo, Japan – 10/28/95 (CD)
Old Bridge, New Jersey – 12/14/96 (CD)
Los Angeles, California – 5/18/98 (CD)
Bucharest, Romania – 7/4/02 (DVD)
When Dream and Day Reunite – 5/6/04 (CD/DVD)
Santiago, Chile - 12/6/05 (DVD)
Happy Holidays 2013 - 12/25/13 (digital download)
Uncovered 2003–05 (CD)
Main article:
Studio albums
RIAA gold and platinum certifications
Images and Words (Album) (Gold) – February 2, 1995
Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes From New York (Video Longform) (Gold) – November 8, 2002
Live at Budokan (Video Longform) (Platinum) – January 26, 2005
Live in Tokyo/5 Years in a Livetime Video Longform (Platinum) – March 22, 2006
Score (Video Longform) (Platinum) – October 11, 2006
Other platinum and gold certifications
Awake (Platinum) (Japan)
Keyboard magazine
Jordan Rudess was awarded the following Keyboard Magazine Reader's Poll award:
Best New Talent (1994)
Jordan Rudess was awarded:
Best keyboards player of the year (2007)
was ranked No. 95 on the magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.
Total Guitar Paul Gillard
John Petrucci won Guitarist of the year award (2007)
In 2009, Dream Theater were placed on the Top 10 in Ultimate Guitar's The Greatest Metal Bands of the Decade.
Dream Theater won The Spirit of Prog Award at the
Roll of Honour 2009 in London. They were also nominated for the Album of the Year Award for their album,
in 2009, but lost to 's .
In July 25, 2011, Dream Theater were placed on the list "The Best Prog Rock Bands of All Time", chosen by the Rolling Stone Magazine's readers poll.
The MusicRadar readers poll placed them amongst "The 30 greatest live acts in the world today" (as of 2010). They peaked No. 5 on the list, placed over artists like , ,
John Myung, from August through September 2010, was voted the greatest bassist of all time. In the same time frame, Mike Portnoy was voted the second best drummer ever, losing out to . In December 2010, James LaBrie was voted the 15th best frontman of all time (with
coming first and
in second). Jordan Rudess was voted the best keyboardist of all time in a poll conducted from June to July this year, with John Petrucci coming second in a shred-guitarist poll conducted in May this year (losing out to ).
Derek Sherinian was voted "Best Keyboardist" in Metal Edge magazine's 1998 Readers' Choice Awards.
Other recognitions
At Dream Theater's
show, Governor
signed a proclamation making July 30, 2007, "Dream Theater Day".
Dream Theater played twice on Xbox 360s Game With Fame event. They played
in December 2007 and
in June 2009.
On November 2010, Dream Theater was inducted into the .
Billboard Chart history for Dream Theater can be seen at .
. rocklistmusic.co.uk 2012.
. . November 30, .
. BlabberMouth.
. Simcoe Article. .
This was referenced in the documentary "The Score so Far", on the second disc of the
Portnoy, Mike (2003). "The Majesty Demos " [CD Liner Notes]. New York: Ytsejam Records.
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Portnoy, Mike (2004). And Nathan Edmonds help produce "When Dream and Day Unite Demos"
[CD Liner Notes]. New York: YtseJam Records.
Dominici, Charlie. When Dream And Day Unite liner notes (2004 re-release).
Please see
for more information on this tourdate.
Portnoy's tourography:
EastWest Records Press Release.
Nine Christmas CDs were released through Dream Theater's fan club before it was closed down in 2005. See [].
LaBrie, James. (Summer '97) Images & Words No. 14, pg. 5
Portnoy, Mike (1998). "Liquid Tension Experiment" [CD Liner Notes]. New York: Magna Carta Records.
[] reported that Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence had reached No. 1 on the Billboard Internet Charts.
Mike Portnoy (2007) "In Constant Motion" Instructional , Train of Thought album analysis.
Moldstad, Frank. . Digital Pro Sound.
. Godsofmetal.it.
. Metalhammer.co.uk. .[]
Portnoy, Mike. . .
Mark Bredius (). . Dreamtheater.net.[]
. Road Runner Records.[]
Portnoy, Mike. . Facebook 2012.
Bosso, Joe. . MusicRadar 2012.
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Harris, Chris. . Gun Shy Assassin 2012.
Harris, Chris. . Gun Shy Assassin 2012.
. Blabbermouth 2012.
Hartmann, Graham.
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Wildoer, Peter. . Dream Theater Forums 2012.
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Petrucci, John. . Twitter 2012.
Wenner, Rick. . Rick Wenner Official Website 2012.
Petrucci, John. . Twitter 2012.
LaBrie, James. . Twitter 2012.
Petrucci, John. . Twitter 2012.
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Caulfield, Keith. . Billboard.
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Dream Theater. . Dream Theater Official Blog 2014.
Beardsley, Rai "Weymolith". . DreamTheaterForums.org 2014.
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Campbell, Courtney. "". Earplugs Required.
See the Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York DVD
Hansen, Scott & Portnoy, Mike. "". [].
Voices UK: Dream Theater Fan Club
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Mark Bredius (). . Dreamtheater.net.[]
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The mark used by , is available on [].
Dixon, Brad et al. "".
. YouTube. .
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York, Will. . .
Portnoy, Mike. . <.
Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) booklet liner notes.
Pete Prown, Harvey P. Newquist. Legends of Rock Guitar: The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists. Dream Theater carved a niche for themselves as an art-rock band with few peers
Britannica Educational Publishing. Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. Dream Theater also explored a number of stylistic features earlier associated with art rock.
Thom Jurek (). . AllMusic.
Thom Jurek (). . AllMusic.
Thom Jurek (). . AllMusic.
As discussed by John Petrucci in the 20th Anniversary Documentary "The Score So Far", found on the
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. Archived from
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Hale, Mark (1993). "1731 Majesty". Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). , : Popular Culture, Ink. &#160;.
Hansen, Scott. (2003). "James LaBrie: As this man thinks". Theater of Dreams 27/28, pp.&#160;26–30.
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(First ed.). : Essential Works. &#160;.
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