Dream Theater: Three Students, One Practice Room and the Band Behind Progressive Metal
John Petrucci and John Myung, two friends from Long Island, arrived at the Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1985 looking for a drummer who loved progressive rock and metal. They heard Mike Portnoy in a practice room and started jamming. The band was called Majesty then.
In 1988 their first label discovered that another band already owned the name. Portnoy’s father suggested Dream Theater, the name of a movie theater in Monterey, California. They released their debut “When Dream and Day Unite” in 1989. With the Canadian singer James LaBrie they recorded “Images and Words” (1992), and “Pull Me Under” reached radio and MTV.
“Awake” (1994) came with the first crisis. Keyboardist Kevin Moore announced during the mixing that he was leaving to pursue a solo career. Derek Sherinian, hired for the tour, had two weeks to learn two hours of very complex music. After the first leg of that tour, James LaBrie suffered a violent case of food poisoning that badly damaged his vocal cords, and for much of the tour he was depressed.
Then came “Falling Into Infinity” (1997), recorded under pressure from the record label, which wanted another “Images and Words” and a single like “Pull Me Under”, and thought a more metal-influenced album would be easier to market. Sherinian played on it and on the EP “A Change of Seasons”.
In 1999 the band answered with “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory”, a 77-minute concept album produced by Petrucci and Portnoy. It was the first with keyboardist Jordan Rudess.
After that they released almost an album every two years: “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence” (2002), “Train of Thought” (2003), “Octavarium” (2005), “Systematic Chaos” (2007) and “Black Clouds & Silver Linings” (2009).
In September 2010, after 25 years, Mike Portnoy announced he was leaving the band, and Mike Mangini took his place. A year and five days later the band released its 11th album, “A Dramatic Turn of Events”, the first with Mangini.
With Mangini the band went on: “Dream Theater” (2013), “The Astonishing” (2016), “Distance Over Time” (2019) and “A View from the Top of the World” (2021), which won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance with “The Alien”.
Then the circle closed. On October 25, 2023, thirteen years after leaving, Portnoy announced his return, after gradually reconciling with the members and reconnecting with LaBrie in 2022 at the band’s show at the Beacon Theatre in New York. “Parasomnia” (February 7, 2025) is their 16th album and the first with him since 2009.
What is Portnoy worth on his own? He is one of the three founders, co-produced the records with Petrucci and, as the band’s drummer, shaped how Dream Theater sounds live. He wrote lyrics for “Midnight Messiah” on “Parasomnia”, and he plays in other bands too, such as The Winery Dogs and Sons of Apollo. His drum rig is famous for its size: Tama drums, Sabian cymbals, Tama Speed Cobra pedals, ProMark sticks.
First, an apology: we don’t have Dream Theater in Kalisha yet. But these are the greatest musicians of our generation, masters and virtuosos. This is not pop, not even metal pop, and they don’t rely on noise. They walk on stage and do the work. People love them, remember them, know every note by heart, every harmony, every melody and the line they carry. Everything in it is perfect.
Their 2025 “An Evening with Dream Theater” tour covered 30 US cities, from September 5 to October 25, and ended on Long Island. They played the whole of “Parasomnia” every night. If they play near you, you will be happy you bought a ticket: people travel across countries to catch their concerts. Come, you won’t regret it. Don’t think, go.
— Kalisha 🎧
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