“Dream Theater: Awake in the Nineties”

This may possibly be the most eagerly awaited progressive release of 1994; ever since the unexpected (but highly satisfying) success of the band’s last CD, Images and Words, Dream Theater have ridden a wave of increased criticaland popular success, fueled by a solid year and a half of touring, and find themselves now poised on the cusp of serious stardom. Awake is the band’s notice to the world that they are indeed ready to break through to the kind of success of which they might never have dared even to dream. Let me put it this way: if you liked Images and Words , you’ll be astonished by Awake. Drummer Mike Portnoy, who might be the most technically gifted, and most highly praised, skinbasher since a fellow named Neil Peart, starts things off with a wicked fill leading into a patented odd-meter beat; guitarist John Petrucci joins in with a short tapped-out figure which is doubled by Kevin Moore’s distorted organ, and “6:00” is soon off and running. A sampled old man’s stentorian voice intones, “Six o’clock on a Christmas morning” several times, and soon John Myung’s serpentine bass line carries us away. This song is emblematic of the dominant musical approach on the disc: everything including the kitchen sink is here, but it’s just arranged more tightly. Petrucci’s rhythm guitar tone is hellaciously heavy, heavier than we’ve ever thought DT could be, and Moore’s distorted organ/synth solo fights a winning battle to cut through the massive foundation set down by Petrucci, Myung, and Portnoy. James LaBrie’s voice is full of anger and hurt as he sings of a man who seems to be seriously lost and confounded by life: “Melody walks through the door/and memory flies out the window/nobody knows what they want/till they finally let it all go”. Petrucci takes a short solo at the end, and then we have nary a moment to catch our breath as “Caught in a Web” begins. Moore’s synth floats over another crushing riff as Portnoy slams out another complex rhythmic pattern. LaBrie’s vocal melody flows beautifully over the synths and Zep-meets-Pantera tricky guitar/bass unison line. There’s an astonishing ensemble break where Petrucci’s solo is doubled by Moore’s synth, and Myung and Portnoy lock into a frightening groove. This is musical magic. LaBrie moves from an anguished, enraged shriek to a beautifully arranged, defiantly catchy chorus without missing a beat.

Next up is “Innocence Faded,” which is more akin to the sound of Images with its swirling, cascading synths and clean rhythm guitars. Portnoy’s odd-meter double bass pattern is matched telepathically by Myung’s bass line. LaBrie uses all of his extraordinary vocal range on this one, and the chorus is hooky without being too cloying. Petrucci’s solo closes out the final instrumental break in fine style; he sounds here like a metallic Steve Morse or a progressive Neal Schon.

Ominous organ chords open up the instrumental “Erotomania,” a present for all the fans clamoring for a sequel to “The Ytse Jam,” from the band’s first album, When Dream and Day Unite. More Morse-like picking from John P. ups the ante here, and Moore gets to play several melody lines on both organ and synthesizer, and right around the middle of the track, even throws in some acoustic piano as Petrucci solos over a theme that will recur a couple of tracks later. Moore returns to the organ as they move into an Yngwie-esque classical stomp and Petrucci solos wildly over Portnoy’s most inspired playing to date. Then it’s back to the original theme, a vicious groove beneath Moore’s organ chords as the piece fades out and Myung gets in some jazzy six-string licks of his own.

It’s Myung’s bass line that opens up “Voices,” the next track, leading into a fierce instrumental intro that abruptly dissolves into LaBrie singing softly over Moore’s piano. This is where things get really weird...Petrucci’s lyrics are as cryptic as ever on this one, involving the inner battle between our innate human nature and the imposition of religious morality upon it. “Sex is death/death is sex/says it right here on my crucifix.” Musically, the song reminds me of “Suite: Sister Mary” from Queensryche’s classic Operation: MindCrime album in its use of dynamics; it alternates between loud and soft indramatic fashion, and Moore’s keyboard textures build and build, creating a dream-like atmosphere beneath LaBrie’s impassioned vocals. Petrucci’s solo is mindboggling, reminiscent of Steve Vai in its buildup from slow, bluesy string bends to frenetic speed picking of the highest order. The ten-minute track endswith piano and acoustic guitar, and melts into “The Silent Man,” the only sub-five-minute track on the album.

LaBrie sings beautifully on this one, which consists basically of a simple guitar figure, mostly strummed, with some wind chimes, fretless bass, and string synthesizers on top of it all. It makes a satisfying emotional windup to the first half of the album. Another bone-crushing rhythm guitar riff starts off “The Mirror,” with Moore’s synth textures working their magic on top. LaBrie does another bang-up job here, going from a whisper to a scream and back just in the first verse! Mike Portnoy drives the song with a slamming backbeat while LaBrie curdles the blood on the chorus, and Moore ties it all together with an Eastern-sounding synth figure. There’s some more clean guitar in the middle while Portnoy amazes us once again with his dexterity in using his whole drum kit to anchor the rhythm, echoing his idol Mr. Peart. Near the end we hear another theme that will recur just before Myung weaves another web on his six-string bass beneath more melodic keyboard figures, and then we try to catch our breath as another Pantera-esque mega-crunchy riff opens up “Lie.” “Lie” features some great distorted synth swaying precariously atop the monstrous rhythm as LaBrie once again hurls his voice furiously towards us,immersing himself fully in the rage of a betrayed and bewildered man ventingagainst a former lover: “I want to talk about life-long mistakes/you can tell your stepfather I said so.” Another dizzying guitar solo follows an ensemble crunch-fest, and then it’s back to the chorus: “Don’t tell me/you wanted me/Don’t tell me/you thought of me/I’ll try--I swear I’ll try...” Petrucci closes out the track with yet another phenomenal solo, his fingers blurring as he gives a virtual clinic on precision speed picking.

“Lifting Shadows Off a Dream” slows things down with a synth-dominated opening, moving into a quietly tapped guitar accompaniment over sparse percussive activity from Portnoy. Myung’s lyric here is spiritual in theme, and LaBrie gives himself to it fully in the chorus: “Lifing shadows off a dream once broken/she can turn a drop of water into an ocean...” The middle instrumental break is possibly the moodiest, most atmospheric moment on the album; it’s one of those times when you realize that this is a realband at work here. A great ensemble piece, moving and poignant.

“Scarred,” the album’s longest piece at just about 11 minutes, follows. Petrucci starts things off with a bluesy, bendy solo, and then LaBrie comes in over Portnoy’s insistent drumming and Moore’s synth. The tempo shifts again intoanother ultra-crunchy unison rhythm with synth floating over LaBrie’s vocal. Another change, and the clean guitar makes a quick cameo appearance before Portnoy goes to some fleet-footed double bass, and then the clean guitar/synth returns. Petrucci’s lyric relates to the way in which we are all scarred by the thousand tiny knives we brave every day, our dysfunctions and demons: “And how come you don’t understand me/and how come I don’t understand you?” Another phenomenal guitar/synth unison line cascades atop Myung and Portnoy’s telepathic rhythm groove, and then Moore plays an excellent, twisting solo, and finally Petrucci solos once more before LaBrie comes back in for the chorus. The song ends with a new musical theme, much the way “Learning to Live” (from Images and Words) does, and fades out amidst more blazing double bass from Portnoy.

“Space-Dye Vest” is the album closer, and it’s quite unlike anything else the band has ever done. Moore sets things up with a simple piano theme which is soon doubled by LaBrie’s effects-treated voice. A long sample of dialogue follows, and then LaBrie comes back in over some effects-treated guitar chords, and then more sampled speaking voices talk over the piano and guitar. It’s a piece that is best described as “cinematic”, and Moore’s lyric spills over with hurt and self-loathing. Portnoy joins in around the five-minute mark, and then Myung, but the band remains tightly controlled behind Moore’s piano and Petrucci’s guitar. A haunting synth melody plays over the piano, Portnoy finally lets go with a torrent of fills, and then, suddenly, it’s just the lone piano, ending the album with a sad finality, the last note echoing and drifting off into silence.

The term “tour de force” was invented with this piece in mind. Awake is Kevin Moore’s final work with Dream Theater, which makes “Space-Dye Vest” all the more moving, and this moment in the band’s career all the more important. Moore is moving on to pursue musical visions which were, unfortunately, incompatible with those of the rest of Dream Theater, and the band faces the gargantuan task of trying to find someone to fill his spot behind the keyboards for the Awake tour, and then the even more difficult task of finding someone to take Moore’s place as a permanent member of the band. It’s not as though all the man did was play a couple of chords per song; he wrote music and lyrics with equal skill (we can all probably agree that he was the best lyricist in the band, though Portnoy is gamely trying to take up the slack, having penned the lyrics to “The Mirror.”), played incredible solos, and provided the band with a unique and instantly identifiable sound. He was the first rock keyboard player in recent memory to assume such a large role, and gain such attention for his playing; probably not since the glory days of Saga has this style of keyboard playing been so prominently featured in a rock context. I wish Moore every success in his future endeavors, whatever they may be, but I can’t help but wonder if this career move will come to haunt him in the future. But the show must go on, and on it will go, though with whom behind the keyboards, we don’t know just yet. Word has had it that it will be ex-Yngwie Malmsteen keysman Jens Johanssen, while other, more recent rumours have fingered young Jordan Rudess, best known for his work on guitarist Vinnie Moore’s classic prog/metal Time Odyssey album, and most recently for touring as T Lavitz, replacement on the Dixie Dregs’ current road trek. Or it could be a promising young unknown, much like Kevin Moore was back in 1986, when a band called Majesty was just forming, and the name “Dream Theater” hadn’t even been thought of yet.

The bottom line on Awake is this: nobody will sleep through it. It’s absorbing, exciting, thought-provoking, challenging, and amazing, just as we all expected it to be, just as all the best progressive rock is. If you can only buy one CD this fall, this year, or this decade, Awake is the disc to get, because in this reviewer’s humble opinion, Dream Theater have now clearly established themselves as the best band in the world.

By the time Dream Theater’s world tour in support of their latest album ends, the year will be 1995. The current decade will be half over, and we will be looking squarely at the approach of a new century. And for the first time since Marillion had a hit single nearly ten years ago with “Kayleigh”, a progressive rock band may well be in a position to influence an entire decade -and possibly beyond through both the undeniable power of their music and theexample of their success. The question that arises, then, is: why Dream Theater? And why now? What is it about this band that has allowed them to break through the barriers that stymie virtually all other progressive bands in this country? What makes them so special? Obviously, there’s no one specific reason that upon which anyone could put his or her finger, as Dream Theater’s relationship to their fans is probably as complex as their music. But there are some things that are more readily apparent than others: for example, there’s the fact that this band has negotiated the fine line between traditional progressive art-rock and the more progressive leanings of recent speed metal acts like Metallica and Megadeth with far more skill than anyone probably would have imagined possible. Somehow they’ve taken the best elements from each genre and melded them together in a fresh and interesting way. A prime example of this would be “A Fortune in Lies,” from When Dream and Day Unite. It starts out with Mike Portnoy pounding away at his drums while John Petrucci and John Myung grind out a bone-crunching power chord sequence. Kevin Moore’s keyboards float atop the rhythm as Petrucci solos over a classical feel. Then, without warning, there’s a Metallica thrash style beat beneath a speed metal guitar/bass rhythm lick. The keys are more prominent in the verse sections and the chorus, and Petrucci’s guitar sound is clean and crisp. The heavy guitar/bass “march” is overlaid with synth chords, and then first Portnoy and then Petrucci get to go insane while Moore’s synth and Myung’s bass keep the center together. The band then wraps things up with another mosh-worthy speed metal rave-up and an abrupt, out-of- nowhere ending. This is the prototypical Dream Theater : a perfect blend of power and grace, savagery and subtlety, and we’ve seen it many times since that unheralded first release, in songs like “Pull Me Under” and “Under a Glass Moon” from Images and Words, or “6:00” and “Lie” from Awake. The balance is so evenly kept that the band never slips into either style completely; you never know exactly what’s going to happen next. That’s what makes Dream Theater so fresh and unique: they’re musically fearless and completely unpredictable, drawing from a cornucopia of progressive (Yes, Rush, Kansas, ELP) and metal influences (Iron Maiden, Metallica, Judas Priest) without ever enabling the listener to tell what came from where. Another reason for Dream Theater’s success may lie in their ability to deliver the goods live, night after night. This is a band that’s come by their success the old-fashioned way: they’ve earned it, sweating it out on stages large and small virtually since the beginning of their career. Their ability to perform the most intricate, complex and demanding music with ease night after night never ceases to amaze audiences worldwide. Yet they never come off as cocky or arrogant; they seem to enjoy their time on stage every bit as much now as they probably did when they were just starting out. John Petrucci’s recent interviews in guitar publications reinforce the perception that he’s just a guy who plays an instrument and loves music--no more, no less. John Myung and Mike Portnoy leave similar impressions on readers as well whenever they’re interviewed, whether on radio, television, or in print. This refreshing lack of pretension and complete sense of honesty endears Dream Theater to fans, particularly those who have tired of the so-called “rock star” antics and egos of the Axl Roses and Yngwie Malmsteens of the world. People know that DT is in this for the music, and not for any other reason. When they lost their first record deal, Dream Theater could have decided that their progressive style wasn’t going to get them anywhere, and then jumped on whatever bandwagon was rolling at that particular moment, as many bands facing the same kind of career pressures have done before. Instead, they followed the example of their influences, and forged ahead, determined to keep their musical integrity intact. How much sweeter the success, then, when achieved completely on their own terms? Sweet beyond measure, I would venture to guess... It is a unique combination of class and virtuosity, determination and humility that Dream Theater possesses, the sum total of which is greater than the parts, much like the band itself. How fitting, then, that their music’s most exciting moments come when they play those death-defying ensemble parts (see “Metropolis,” “Caught in a Web,” “Take the Time,” and so on) which find them soaring to musical heights previously beyond musical imagination. As long as this balance is maintained, one can safely assume that the band will be able to overcome even the departure of Kevin Moore , and continue on to achieve even greater success. At the time of this writing, Awake has entered the Billboard charts at #32. It would surprise no one if, as their tour in support of the album continues across the United States and the world, its chart position rises higher still, perhaps vaulting into the top 20...the top 15...maybe even the top 10? The sky itself is too limiting for the potential of Dream Theater; clearly, they are positioned now to become one of the most successful and acclaimed bands of the 90’s and beyond.