Dream Theater

Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. In 1985, guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy formed the band, starting with cover songs from metal legends Rush and Iron Maiden in the rehearsal rooms at Berkley College of Music. Current members James Labrie (vocalist) and Jordan Rudess (keyboardist) joined in 1991 and 1999. 

The collective embarked on various concert dates in and around New York throughout the 80s, after which the original trio released their debut album ‘When Dream and Day Unite’ in 1989. Following a line-up switch, the band signed with Atco Records (now known as East West) to release ‘Images and Words’ which featured their breakthrough hit ‘Pull Me Under’. Their tour throughout the U.S. and Japan helped ‘Images and Words’ achieve gold record certification.  

‘Awake’ launched shortly after, and it was a few years before Dream Theater released its archival 23-minute hit track ‘A Change of Seasons’ in 1995. Two years later, the band began working on their concept album ‘Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes from a Memory’ (a follow-up from the song ‘Metropolis Pt 1’), a story of reincarnation, murder, and betrayal that was released to high critical acclaim in 1999.  

Dream Theater’s subsequent Metropolis 2000 world tour was their largest yet and took over a year to complete. Their Roseland Ballroom show in NYC was filmed and released on DVD as Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York in 2001.  

Fast forward to the present and Dream Theater has released fifteen studio albums and sold over twelve million records worldwide. The band also received three Grammy Award nominations and won the Best Metal Performance in 2022. Alongside Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, they have been referred to as one of the ‘big three’ in progressive metal, pioneering its development and popularisation.