------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vvvvv vvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvv vvvv v vvvv vv v v v v v vv v v v v v v v v v vv v vv v v vv v v v v v v v vv vvvv v v v vvvv vvvv vvvvvvvvvvvvv vvvv vvvvv ___ _ __ ___ _ ___ _ _ | \| >|_ /\ |\/| | |_||_ /\ | |_ | > _|_/| \|_/ \| | | | ||_/ \ | |_ | \ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FAQ: Dream Theater - Version 4.0 Compiled by: Jason Skewes - Current FAQ Maintainer (jskewes@why.net) Mike Bahr - FAQ Maintainer Emeritus (durnik@indirect.com) Ken Bibb - Ytsejam list Manager (kbibb@arastar.com) Jason Hough - Ytsejam List Manager (jhough@qualcomm.com) Revised and Handled by Jason Skewes (Address as above) Proofreading above-and-beyond the call of duty: Jennifer Albert Thanks to Ken Higginson for the DT Ascii you see above. Welcome to the official, spiced-with-Vindaloo Dream Theater FAQ, presented by us, the Ytsejam Mailing List, and, thanks to a bit of great fortune and kindness on their part, by Dream Theater themselves! With this release, I am beginning version numbering for the FAQ. In honor of Dream Theater's fourth major-label release, this is DTFAQ version 4.0. With this release, you will see new sections added to the FAQ to better categorize the questions and answers. There is a new section concerning the sources for the samples used in Dream Theater songs. This section will continue to grow, but I want to emphasize that the transcriptions of the samples will be handled in the Dream Theater Songbook. The FAQ will only address questions concerning the sources of the samples. I am also working to establish ONE document to maintain all of the WWW and other internet addresses that have resources relating to DT (separate from this FAQ). More to follow! I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be as accurate as I can. If you can help me to that end with this FAQ, I appreciate it. --------------------------------------- DREAM THEATER RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET --------------------------------------- NOTICE! There are a few separate files now. The old one was just too hard to manage all as one! Plus, a few issues of the band's connection to bootleg material came up, etc. The new files, which are available via FTP, are: dt????.faq = This FAQL, where ???? is the date i.e. 0329 discog.dt = Dream Theater discography [official releases only] bootlegs.dt = Dream Theater bootleg guide lyrics.dt = All known lyrics from both the studio and live/demo-only releases. For all this, anon-FTP to ftp.netcom.com and look under /pub/dr/drkhoe/dt/*. Dream Theater Archives: site manager: drkhoe@netcom.com ftp.netcom.com /pub/dr/drkhoe/dt WWW: "ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/dr/drkhoe/www/dthome.html" You can also get these files from the following sites: WWW: "http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~mikeb/dt.html" - menu of DT files WWW: "http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~mikeb/dt/faq.txt" - this FAQ WWW: "http://www.why.net/users/jskewes/dtfaq.txt" - My page for the FAQ The Dream Theater Discography is handled by Michael Backof (mbacko1@gl.umbc.edu). The Dream Theater bootleg list is handled by Michael Burstin (mikeb@cs.brandeis.edu). The Dream Theater Songbook (lyrics) is handled by Michael Kizer (mrkizer@ccgate.hac.com). ------ LYRICS ------ Lyric listings are maintained by Michael Kizer. This "Unofficial" Dream Theater Song Book is available at: WWW: http://www.indirect.com/www/mkizer/dt/dt.htm FTP: www.indirect.com/www/mkizer/dt/dt_sb11.txt Or by e-mail from the Ytsejam Mailing List Archive by sending: get ytsejam dt_sb11.txt Address it to: ytsejam-request@arastar.com with a subject of "asdf". -------------------- YTSEJAM MAILING LIST -------------------- Dream Theater has a mailing list! It's called Ytsejam. The Ytsejam mailing list can be joined by doing the following: To subscribe to ytsejam, please email: subscribe ytsejam your name (replace "your name" with your own name) to ytsejam-request@arastar.com with a subject of "asdf". You will be added automatically! The default is for the digest form of the mailing list - so if you would rather receive each individual post - then email: set ytsejam mail ack to ytsejam-request@arastar.com with a subject line of "asdf". NOTE: Do NOT send this request until you have received a confirmation stating that you have been added to the list! To post to Ytsejam - address your e-mail to: ytsejam@arastar.com To unsubscribe, email: unsubscribe ytsejam to ytsejam-request@arastar.com with a subject line of "asdf". This will take you off the list within two hours. If you have any problems please e-mail ytsejam-owner@arastar.com and a human will help you. For other information on the Ytsejam mailing list (such as how to get tour dates, this FAQ and other DT files via e-mail), please do the following: Email: info ytsejam to ytsejam-request@arastar.com with a subject of "asdf". You should receive the information file within two hours. ------------------- OTHER MAILING LISTS ------------------- There are internet mailing lists for other progressive bands such as: Rush, Marrilion, etc. Directions for subscribing to them are included in the List of Music Mailing Lists which can be retrieved by one of the following: * Send "gimme" to lomml@arastar.com with a subject of "lomml" (some sites will ignore the reply since it's 130k in size. If you have problems, try one of the alternate methods of retrieval). * Send: get lomml lomml-3.2-part1 get lomml lomml-3.2-part2 get lomml lomml-3.2-part3 to listproc@arastar.com with a subject of "hjkl". * ftp from ftp://ftp.wwa.com/pub/dattier/lomml/3.2-951103.gz or ftp://server.berkeley.edu/pub/music/lomml-3.2 * WWW http://server.berkeley.edu/~ayukawa/lomml.html --- IRC --- Eric Moegling (emoeglin@freenet.scri.fsu.edu) has now set up a Dream Theater IRC channel for Dream Theater fans to get together and chat. The channel is - #YTSEJAM ------- CREDITS ------- Many thanks to the following for their additions and corrections: * Jens Johansson (jens@panix.com) * C-Man (buffalo@panix.com) - King's X management * Michael Burstin (mikeb@cs.brandeis.edu) * Brian Cox (lerxst@tamu.edu) * Ken Bibb (jester@arastar.com) * Jennifer Albert (airdance@aol.com) * Randall Haskin (strega@stein.u.washington.edu) * Pete "Ender" Walsh (ender@uunet.uu.net) * Dave (dld30@quts.ccc.amdahl.com) * Todd Henson (thenson@mason1.gmu.edu) * Bill Buckley (buckley@powdml.enet.dec.com) * Lars "ORION" Karlsson () * Tim Lodge (lodge_tim@csusys.ctstateu.edu) * Aaron (asilver@umiami.edu) * Jeremy A. Smith (js013b@uhura.cc.rochester.edu) * Bret Linford (StmpyJCat@aol.com) * Ryan Skadberg (skadberg@acs.bu.edu) * Zack Gemmill (zack@lsil.com) * Hairball (hairball@astro.ocis.temple.edu) * Jeff Chew (jc309@columbia.edu) * Steve Borzilleri (silenzio@elwha.evergreen.edu) Plus Jason Hartman, Tony Zimmerman, and many wonderful flavors of beer! Send gripes, complaints, comment, kudos, beer and suggestions for this FAQ to: jskewes@why.net If you're ever in the D/FW area - look me up. I'm always up for trading and meeting other Ytsejammers! ------------------------------ Abbreviations you should know: ------------------------------ DT - Dream Theater... NOT DREAM THEATRE! Petrucci is very specific about it. WDADU - When Dream And Day Unite IAW - Images And Words LATM - Live At The Marquee LIT - Live in Tokyo (video) ACOS - A Change of Seasons YML - Ytsejam mailing list PMU - Pull Me Under AD - Another Day TTT - Take The Time LTL - Learning To Live LSOAD - Lifting Shadows Off A Dream CIAW - Caught In A Web AMBI - A Mind Beside Itself LiTS - Lost In the Sky (bootleg) DoE - Dance of Eternity (bootleg) CU - Consciously Unreal (bootleg) DoL - Dream Out Loud (bootleg) LiLI - Live In Long Island (bootleg) AD - Acoustic Dreams (bootleg) WDATU - When Dream And Today Unite (bootleg) ------------------------------------- Non-DT abbreviations you should know: ------------------------------------- IMHO - In My Humble Opinion ------------------------------- Current Dream Theater Personnel ------------------------------- James LaBrie - Vocals Born May 5, 1963 John Myung - Bass Guitar Born January 24, 1967 John Petrucci - Guitar Born July 12, 1967 Mike Portnoy - Drums/Percussion Born April 20, 1967 Derek Sherinian - Keyboards Born August 25, 19?? ------------------------------ Former Dream Theater Personnel ------------------------------ Kevin Moore - Keyboards Born May 26, 1967 Charlie Dominici - Vocals (???) -------- CONTENTS -------- 0. New Questions/Frequently Changing Information 1. A Brief History of Dream Theater 2. Questions about Dream Theater history 3. Questions about specific members of Dream Theater 4. Questions about DT performances/appearances 5. Questions about the songs themselves 6. Questions concerning samples used in the songs 7. Miscellaneous ** - indicates that info has been revised/added in this edition ------------------------------------------------ 0. New Questions/Frequently Changing Information ------------------------------------------------ ** 0.1 What is Dream Theater up to currently? Dream Theater released 'A Change Of Seasons' on September 19th (in the US). John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy have recently been doing guitar and drum clinics throughout the US. John is also scheduled to release a guitar instructional video later in the year. The band played a three dates in Japan this past October, and in they have three dates scheduled for December in the Northeastern US. There are also rumors flying around that the Ronnie Scott's show will be released on video in December. Tentatively, Dream Theater is scheduled to release a new album in July of 1996. ** 0.2 Is Dream Theater changing management? Well... Yes and No. Dream Theater had retained Round Table Entertainment for their management. Round Table was founded by Jim Pitulski and Rob Shore. Jim has now decided to leave the company and to also take the name (Round Table) with him. For now, the day to day operations for Dream Theater are being handled by Rob Shore. An official statement should be released soon. Jim has stated that he may still work with DT in the future on selected projects. ** 0.3 What is Kevin Moore up to? Kevin has recently moved to Los Angeles, CA and shaved his head! He is continuing work on his new songs in the hope of securing a record deal. Recently he has been working with Mark Zonder (Drummer for Fates Warning) to complete several new demos. Kevin is still with Dream Theater's former manager, Jim Pitulski (Round Table Entertainment). Kevin's first demos ('Music Meant To Be Heard') are available through many members of the Ytsejam mailing list. Just ask! -------------------------------------- ** 1. A Brief History of Dream Theater -------------------------------------- Dream Theater first came to be in September 1985 when Berklee friends John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy got together and decided there was some music to be played. They enlisted an old school friend, Kevin Moore, for the keys, and "Majesty" came to exist. Their first efforts at getting material down on tape were called the Majesty Demos. Ineffective singer Chris Collins did the vocals on eight very progressive-sounding tracks. In March 1986 the Majesty demos were finished. 1000 copies sold within six months. Bootleg CDs of the Majesty demos continue to sell even today. That November, Chris left the band, as he was a mismatch all along. A year went by without a singer and without a record deal, and more demos were cut. Instrumental versions of the songs we now know as Afterlife, Ytse Jam, and The Killing Hand were among them. In November of 1987 vocalist Charlie Dominici joined the band and a record was finally cut on the Mechanic label. This is when the issue of the name nearly stopped Dream Theater before they started. A Las Vegas band called Majesty forced a name change, and DT considered several different possibilities. Glasser, Mi and Magus, and the like were tossed about and rejected. Mike Portnoy's father Howard suggested they use the name of a California movie theater, and the name Dream Theater was chosen. DT quickly found out that Mechanic could not effectively promote their record or finance the tour they needed in order to promote it on their own, so they left the label. Charlie was fired because he didn't have DT's progressive plans on his agenda, and he had always been weak in a live setting. Time went by... a LOT of time. Finally, in late 1991, Kevin James LaBrie of Winter Rose beat out fellow throats John Arch, Steve Stone, Chris Cintron, and John Hendricks for the vocalist spot. His audition was fantastic and an apt indicator of the future potential of DT, as he sang his way through an acoustic To Live Forever, and demo tapes of Learning to Live and Take The Time. EastWest records, then ATCO Atlantic, signed DT and they cut the record Images And Words. Radio picked up on the opening track, Pull Me Under, and IAW slowly started accumulating sales. DT began to field an obsessive and musically-inclined fan base who had been disappointed by late-80's and early-90's glam and grunge, and had held onto their Rush, Yes, and Floyd records, hoping for the day when another such band would come about. They cut a video for Pull Me Under and it actually got rotation on MTV... a small miracle in itself. Two more videos were cut, Another Day and Take The Time, and the former got marginal airplay. By halfway through the Music In Progress Tour '93, IAW was selling lots of copies and several cuts from it were gaining heavy airplay, as well as kindling a deep-seeded fan interest in unreleased recordings and bootlegs. Import shipments of When Dream And Day Unite sold quickly. Dream Theater cut a live EP in April 1993 called Live at the Marquee. Later that year, a live video called Live in Tokyo (sometimes titled 'Music in Progress') was released. Still, the fans of DT needed more. Throughout the spring and summer of 1994, there was a veritable explosion of available bootlegs and rarities. IAW went gold in January of 1995. DT took their own time, so to speak, in writing and recording Awake, their third studio album. It was recorded between May and July 1994 and was released on October 4, 1994. It was during this time that the sky itself fell on Dream Theater. On August 1st, 1994 Kevin Moore decided to leave the band to pursue his own musical interests. On August 8th, 1994 the split was made final by a press release issued from Dream Theater's management. Several possible replacements were tossed about. Jens Johansson auditioned for the spot. Jordan Rudess played a gig with them but then left to play for the Dixie Dregs. Derek Sherinian, formerly of Kiss and Alice Cooper, stepped in and played with the band on the Awake tour. Derek was announced as an 'official' member during the last few shows of Dream Theater's 1995 European tour. Dream Theater reunited with IAW producer David Prater and entered the studio in April of 1995 to record their 23-minute epic "A Change Of Seasons". Several tracks from the Ronnie Scott's 'Uncovered' Gig were also included in the release. The EP, entitled "A Change of Seasons", was released on September 19, 1995. Dream Theater is scheduled to begin work on their next studio album after the first of the year. Their record label has tentatively scheduled the release of this album for July of 1996. ----------------------------------------- 2. Questions about Dream Theater the band ----------------------------------------- 2.1 Is there a Dream Theater fan club? Yes. Send S.A.S.E or I.R.C to: Dream Theater International Fan Club Midtown Station PO Box 1188 New York, NY 10018 Editor's note: You are on your own with the fan club. Many people on the Ytsejam mailing list have reported that they have never received anything after writing to and/or sending money to the fan club. Take this at your own discretion. 2.2 Who thought up the name for the band? Mike Portnoy's father, Howard, thought they should name it after the moviehouse near where Mike's father lived. It was called The Dream Theater. Initially, they recorded a demo by that name, then named the band after it. The theater itself is in Monterey, California. The address is: 701 Prescott (at the corner of Lighthouse Ave and Prescott). Several subscribers to Ytsejam have seen the theater and plan to upload photos of it soon. Keep checking the Dream Theater archive! 2.3 What does the "symbol" DT uses mean? The "symbol" can be seen on the IAW disc, on the IAW cover on top of the bed, on the WDADU cover, etc. It is the letter "M" of "MAJESTY" in a stylized font, says Portnoy. It was once used by Mary Queen of Scots. 2.4 What does the burning heart symbolize? According to Portnoy, it was original keyboardist Kevin Moore's idea and essentially a copy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The barbed wire represented obstacles and difficulties, the heart endurance and strength, and the fire their energy and passion. ** 2.5 What is the pepper-like symbol in the "Live At The Marquee" booklet? It's called "Alceringa," which means "dream time." It was used by another culture to describe what they believed was the "other" state of being. They were baffled by what happened when one fell asleep, what we today refer to as dreaming. So, they gave a name to this other world that one entered during a slumber - Alceringa, the Dream Time. ** 2.6 Who has toured with Dream Theater? Psychotic Waltz, the Galactic Cowboys, Saigon Kick, Damn The Machine, Meanstreak, I Mother Earth, Fates Warning, Push Monkey, Echolyn, and others among a slew of local acts the band likes to use for openers. Meanstreak deserves an extra mention. The band's guitarist was Rena Sands, wife of John Petrucci and the band's bass player was Marlene (last name anyone), who is married to Mike Portnoy. They played metal in the vein of Iron Maiden, etc. ---------------------------------------------------- 3. Questions about specific members of Dream Theater ---------------------------------------------------- 3.1 Who are the current members of Dream Theater? They are Kevin James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), Michael Portnoy (drums), John Myung (bass) and Derek Sherinian (keyboards). 3.2 Why did Charlie Dominici leave DT? According to Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, he was released because of several things, but most importantly because he didn't fit in with the band in a few important ways. He was far older than the rest of them, had a different idea of what DT should be, and lacked ability as a frontman when performing live. There were apparently a few personality conflicts at work. Dt is still in contact with Charlie. He sang at Mike Portnoy's wedding in 1994 and he was spotted at a few of the Awake tour shows. 3.3 Why did Kevin Moore leave DT? Kevin's musical tastes have changed over the years, and he grew increasingly unhappy with the musical direction that the band had taken. He felt that the differences had become so great that he could not continue in the band. "...in some ways it's a shock to us and in some ways, it isn't, you know. I mean, the way that they [the fans] consider us a 'family unit,' in a lot of ways, it's true because, I grew up with Kevin, like, since we were little kids and this has been our band since... whenever. We were 17, out of high school, you know, the first year in college, so it is kind of weird, not having him in the band, it's definitely strange. The only thing I can say to the fans is, you know, so far as worrying and whatnot, this is something that was going on with Kevin like, or, the way he explained it to us, for a couple of years, so he was slowly sort of stepping out of his position, and even with the writing on "Awake", it's not as much of his trademark and his sound and his writing. So if they're into this album, maybe that's a good sign because it was something that was written a lot without his enthusiasm or without his input for the most part, so, it's sort of a... step to the new whatever's going to happen next. So if they like it, that's a good sign..." "...he didn't tell us slowly, it was unexpected for us too. But it's just that he was thinking about it for awhile, we didn't even know that, you know? We sensed that he was a little bit distant, that maybe he was unhappy, but we never thought he would leave the band, 'cause like I said, this has been something we've been into since we were little kids or whatever. He told us right towards the end of the recording session for _Awake_, which was about mid-July, and that was really strange because, you know, we weren't finished recording and he told us this, so... I mean, obviously we finished up the recording of the record, but it was... I guess no time is a good time, but it seemed like a strange sort of time and we were all really shocked, you know, we were like, 'I don't understand,' you know? It's hard for me to understand because we've been pretty successful and we think this record is going to do really well for us, we hope it is, and there's a lot of things on the horizon and we've worked our entire lives to get to this point, so it's hard for me to relate to leaving that..." "...I don't think you can pinpoint to one specific reason why he left the band, but I think basically it comes down to this... over the last couple of years, he's sort of changed the type of music that he's into, that he likes to write and he's demoing a lot of stuff where he's playing everything himself and singing himself and it's in a different style, like techno/industrial sort of style, nothing like our band... it just seems like playing with us, he wasn't able to do the type of stuff that he wanted to do and he figured he never would if he stayed in the situation, so he wanted to be true to his musical vision. I guess that was kind of frustrating with him. Maybe when we started the band and for the first couple of albums, it was the kind of stuff he really liked doing and then for whatever reason, whatever happened in his life... whatever was happening, whether it was touring or whatever, he just changed the type of stuff he was into and he no longer felt passionate, or feels passionate, about the style of music that Dream Theater plays... you know, the heavy, progressive sort of music..." - John Petrucci 3.4 What was James LaBrie doing before he joined the band? Kevin James LaBrie (they dropped the Kevin because they would have otherwise confused him with Kevin Moore, and two Johns are already hard enough to deal with, says Petrucci) sang for a Canadian glam band called Winter Rose. He was selected from among 20 auditions and over 200 tapes by DT during the making of IAW. This sentence is censored. ;) 3.5 Who inspired the band members the most? In an interview, Mike Portnoy cited Neil Peart of Rush as his greatest influence and favorite drummer. His other influences include Terry Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta, but Portnoy says Peart is his drum "God". Petrucci has two groups of influences, he said in an interview, "the Steves and the Als." The Steves are Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Als are Alex Lifeson, Al Di Meola, and Allan Holdsworth. John Myung's initial inspirations were Iron Maiden's Steve Harris, Rush's Geddy Lee, and Yes bassist Chris Squire. Myung still loves those players, although he now feels "Tony Levin is the king." As a band, they are influenced most (according to Portnoy) by Rush, Queensryche, Yes, Marillion, Genesis, and Kansas. Those groups make a few appearances here in this FAQ forasmuch as they relate to DT. Petrucci individually likes Pantera. The whole band got on very well with the Galactic Cowboys. Much like their listeners, they have very broad and varied tastes. Portnoy is a regular concertgoer, and has been met at Rush and King's X concerts by people on the Ytsejam list. 3.6 Andrea Held Leone and Ralph R. Dominici Sr. are mentioned in the liner notes to WDADU as the dedicants. What relation to the band are they? Andrea is believed to be Portnoy's sister. Ralph is Charlie's father. ** 3.7 Marillion is thanked in the liners in IAW, What's the relation? Dream Theater opened for Marillion at the Ritz in New York on 11/14/89. This was also Dominici's last show. DT also opened for Marillion at Sundance on Long Island on 6/9/90. They played an instrumental show except that Steve Stone was introduced as the new vocalist and he came out and sang "A Change Of Season." The band promptly canned him after his horrible performance. Mike Portnoy also said, "We're all really big fans. I really dig 'Misplaced Childhood'." Whether Dream Theater and Fish are familiar with each other is not certain. 3.8 What musical instrument sponsorships does DT have? Mike Portnoy--Mapex Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Drum Workshop Pedals & Hi-hats, Latin Percussion, Remo Heads and Hot Sticks. Mike used to play Tama but changed his kit between IAW and Awake. John Petrucci--Ibanez guitars, Mesa Boogie Amps, Dimarzio Pick-ups, Dunlop Picks, Wah Pedals. John Myung--Tung Bases, Mesa Boogie Amps, D'Addario Strings 3.9 Where did DT go to school? The Johns, Portnoy and Sherinian went to the Berklee (sic) school of music in Boston, MA, not Berkeley as has been erroneously mentioned on rec.music.progressive. Berklee is a music-dedicated school that has produced the likes of Steve Vai, Al Di Meola and Chris DeGarmo. Kevin Moore went to SUNY- Fredonia, as has been confirmed. Anyone know if LaBrie did college? 3.10 Now that Kevin Moore left, and the whole reason LaBrie used "James" was to sidestep the confusion, will he go back to "Kevin LaBrie"? Good question, but not likely. :) --------------------------------------------------------- 4. Questions about DT performances/appearances --------------------------------------------------------- 4.1 What are the Majesty demos? Before they were Dream Theater, they were Majesty. However, there was already a band called Majesty, so they could not release the demos. They wound up on bootlegs and evaluation tapes. Between singers, Dream Theater did still more demos. These are referred to as the Dream Theater Demos due to the timeframe. Some of the songs DT has demoed include: Another Won Your Majesty A Vision Too Far Vital Star March of the Tyrant A Late Summer Rain Schizophrenia Afterlife The Death of Spock Resurrection of Ernie Cry for Freedom Gates of Babylon @ Ytsejam The Killing Hand Mission: Impossible Golden Slumbers * O Holy Night Don't Look Past Me To Live Forever Metropolis A Change of Seasons Grab That Feel $ Creep With Tonality % Wanted: Dead or Alive (sort of a joke) * Also called The Golden Weight $ Later renamed Take The Time % Later renamed Learning to Live @ An old Rainbow song ** 4.2 What producers has Dream Theater worked with? Terry Date produced WDADU. Terry Brown (Broon), the producer who took Rush through their first eleven albums, mixed the promotional discs from WDADU. David Prater produced IAW. Prater is the ex-drummer/producer of Santana. Doug Oberkircher mixed Live At The Marquee. Duane Barron and John Purdell produced Awake. David Prater was enlisted again for the recording of "A Change of Season". There has been no word as to who will be producing the new album. ** 4.3 What songs has Dream Theater made videos for? Pull Me Under Take The Time Another Day Lie Caught In a Web The Silent Man Another Day did not make MTV's playlist, even though DT felt it had the most MTV potential. Pull Me Under was shot live and has received the most airplay. Take The Time was shot as a full-scale video production, but the song had to be shortened a lot and many unexpected edits in the song throw off the video's pace and consistency. Lie got regular rotation. The video for Caught In a Web is a live performance video, and it has only been shown in part over in Europe. The Silent Man was shown in Europe - to our knowledge, it has not been sighted in the US on MTV. Mike Portnoy directed the video to The Silent Man. There is also a live performance video for The Silent Man. Again, this has only been seen in Europe. 4.4 What songs has Dream Theater played live? A better question might be, "what songs have Dream Theater NOT played live?" Since they play just about all of them, here is a list of songs that either haven't been played live, or have never been recorded live at any known show. A Vision Too Far Scarred Space Dye Vest Here are a few songs that have ONLY been performed live, and never recorded in any studio or demo (yet): Bombay Vindaloo Moon Bubbles Barfbag 4.5 Who plays the saxophone on "Another Day"? Jay Beckenstein of Spiro Gyra, who owned the studio where IAW and ACOS were put to tape, Bear Tracks. 4.6 Will DT ever release production versions of the old Majesty demos? In some cases, they did just that (see the discog). Mike Portnoy was asked about this, and said that while they might be fun to play live, it really wouldn't get the band anywhere to release new recordings of them. Since DT is concerned with moving forward, he said, it will likely not happen more than it already has. Half the first album was production from the demos, but the remaining demos are "just too old." They did play an instrumental "March of the Tyrant" at Palasesto in Milano, Italy in November 1993. ** 4.7 What did the band have to say about recording "Awake?" Japanese Awake Album Messages from the Band to the Fans: John Petrucci: Being prepared was a key element that contributed to the successful recording of AWAKE. Unlike our previous studio releases, this one had the benefit of hundreds of live performances shaping sounds and developing new ideas for equipment and instrumentation. This, coupled with a trusting relationship with our producers, resulted in a truer expression of creative vision. We are very pleased with this recording and excited about playing it live. James LaBrie: I had a great time recording, and working with John and Duane was a pleasure because not only do they get amazing sounds, but they truly understand the music. John Myung: With the recording of this album, sonically I think we've all made individual improvements. Each of us has a distinct sound, you can hear each instrument by itself and also hear how they all work together. Mike Portnoy: Upon finishing the never-ending world tour for I & W , the five of us found ourselves bursting with creative excitement ready to explode. The shrapnel of these ideas is what you are now listening to. I feel that AWAKE is our most diverse and complete work to date, and I hope it is as enjoyable for you to listen to as it was for us to create. Kevin Moore: I had fun experimenting with keyboard sounds with John & Duane. I'm very happy with the raw quality we came up with. ** 4.8 What was the "Ronnie Scott's Uncovered Gig?" The "Ronnie Scott's Gig" was a show in which Dream Theater played a full show of cover tunes. Several special guests appeared as DT played the music that has influenced their own writings and styles. The complete set list (and guest list) was as follows: Songs marked with (*) are available on the "A Change Of Seasons" release. Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club - 1/31/95 * Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding (Elton John) * Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple) Red Hill Town (U2) * Zeppelin Medley: The Rover Achilles Last Stand The Song Remains The Same Tears (Rush) Damage Inc. (Metallica) Guest: Barney from Napalm Death Happiness is a Warm Gun (Beatles) Guest: Steve Hogarth Easter (Marillion) Guests: Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery Winter (Tori Amos) In The Dead of Night (UK) Yes Medley: Machine Messiah Heart of Sunrise Close To The Edge Siberian Khatru Guest: Steve Howe * The Big Medley: In The Flesh? Carry On Wayward Son Bohemian Rhapsody Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin Cruise Control Turn It On Again --------------------------------------- 5. Questions about the songs themselves --------------------------------------- 5.1 Who sings on the satiric "Wanted Dead or Alive" demo? John Petrucci originally recorded this demo as a practice tape for one of his guitar students before IAW was released. The demo tracks laid down by John were recorded with guitar and a drum machine only and no added vocals. Eventually, Rich Kern, a friend of Kevin Moore's who also played guitar on a few of Kevin's new solo demos, got ahold of the tape and decided to add some vocals of his own to the background music. The final result is the "heliumfest" you hear on the demo. 5.2 What is "A Fortune In Lies" about? According to Mike, it was about a friend of theirs who was busted for stealing and the experience he gleaned from it. 5.3 What does "The Ytse Jam" mean? YTSEJAM is MAJESTY written backwards, and it probably refers to their original band name in that ambiguous way instrumentals refer to things. 5.4 What is "The Killing Hand" about? John does not comment on it often, but Mike Portnoy opened up in an interview about why it was written and what he "thinks" it's about. In the interview, Portnoy was very careful to remind the reader that he could be all wrong, but that it was not likely. Petrucci wrote it as a sort of "Twilight Zone" story about war in which the main character witnesses all these atrocities and sees the names of the dead on a wall, and then realizes it's been him this whole time causing all the atrocities... then he sees his own name on the wall. Very Rod Serling-type of stuff. 5.5 Is "Afterlife" a Christian song? Is "Eve?" While the band admits Afterlife has Christian overtones, it is not a religious tune in the same spirit as the music of King's X or Parallax. In fact when the band used to play Afterlife live with Chris Collins, the lyrics were completely different. Eve, the piano/guitar intro sequence used live for both Pull Me Under and Learning To Live at different times, includes a lot of voice samples from James Joyce's 'A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man'. One of these samples is "Guide us on to our Lord Jesus, guide us home." According to sources close to Moore, "Although Eve IS named for the "Christian" concept of Eve, it's also about the new age "goddess" concept also and simply about the spirituality of womankind in general, so it's not really a Christian song." 5.6 What is "Pull Me Under" about? The current explanation goes that it was inspired by Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Prince Hamlet swore vengeance on King Claudius for murdering his father, the former King, and then marrying his mother, still Queen. Hamlet's famous Soliloquy was the passage in which the conflict in Hamlet's mind is detailed, and the second verse of "Pull Me Under" coincides pretty thoroughly with it. The very end of the song James can be heard singing this line from Hamlet: "Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt." Furthermore, after seeing the video, in an interview, Portnoy said "Who the hell was that wolfman guy in the video anyway? We had written it based on something else entirely." Portnoy noted that while Moore did not write PMU about Hamlet specifically, he DID write PMU about what Hamlet was ABOUT. Same themes, ideas, etc. Here's the no-brainer explanation: _____ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ | __ \ | | | | \/ | | | | | | | | |__) | _| | | | \ / | ___ | | | |_ __ __| | ___ _ __ | ___/ | | | | | | |\/| |/ _ \ | | | | '_ \ / _` |/ _ \ '__| | | | |_| | | | | | | | __/ | |__| | | | | (_| | __/ | |_| \__,_|_|_| |_| |_|\___| \____/|_| |_|\__,_|\___|_| . _.._ _| (_][ )(_] _-_- ,, , /, _ || || || __ < \, \\/\\/\\ || _-_ =||= ~||- - /-|| || || || || || \\ || ||===|| (( || || || || || ||/ || ( \_, | \/\\ \\ \\ \\ \\ \\,/ \\, ` a comparison by Pete "Ender" Walsh PULL ME UNDER Images: Dream Theater Words: Moore Lost in the sky Clouds roll by and I roll with them KING CLAUDIUS [to Hamlet] How is it that the clouds still hang on you? Arrows fly Seas increase and then fall again HAMLET To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub; For in that sleep of death what dreams may come [and so on...] This world is spinning around me This world is spinning without me Every day sends future to past Every breath leaves one less to my last Watch the sparrow falling Gives new meaning to it all If not today nor yet tomorrow then some other day HAMLET Not a whit, we defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all: since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes? I'll take seven lives for one [Hamlet is responsible, in some way, for seven deaths in the play.] And then my only father's son As sure as I did ever love him I am not afraid Ghost I am thy father's spirit, Doom'd for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid To tell the secrets of my prison-house, I could a tale unfold whose lightest word Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood, Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres, Thy knotted and combined locks to part And each particular hair to stand on end, Like quills upon the fretful porpentine: But this eternal blazon must not be To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list! If thou didst ever thy dear father love-- HAMLET O God! Ghost Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder. HAMLET Murder! Ghost Murder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange and unnatural. HAMLET Haste me to know't, that I, with wings as swift As meditation or the thoughts of love, May sweep to my revenge. - AND - HAMLET Ay, so, God be wi' ye; [Exeunt ROSENCRANTZ and GUILDENSTERN] Now I am alone. [...etc, etc...] O, vengeance! Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave, That I, the son of a dear father murder'd, [...etc, etc...] This world is spinning around me The whole world keeps spinning around me All life is future to past Every breath leaves me one less to my last Pull me under Pull me under Pull me under I'm not afraid All that I feel in honor and spite All I can do is set it right HAMLET Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! [They swear] So, gentlemen, With all my love I do commend me to you: And what so poor a man as Hamlet is May do, to express his love and friending to you, God willing, shall not lack. Let us go in together; And still your fingers on your lips, I pray. The time is out of joint: O cursed spite, That ever I was born to set it right! - AND - HAMLET [...] When honour's at the stake. How stand I then, That have a father kill'd, a mother stain'd, Excitements of my reason and my blood, And let all sleep? while, to my shame, I see The imminent death of twenty thousand men, That, for a fantasy and trick of fame, Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause, Which is not tomb enough and continent To hide the slain? O, from this time forth, My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth! Dust fills my eyes Clouds roll by and I roll with them Centuries cry Orders fly and I fall again This world is spinning inside me The whole world is spinning inside of me Every day sends future to past Every step brings me closer to my last Pull me under Pull me under Pull me under I'm not afraid Living my life too much in in the sun Only until your will is done HAMLET Not so, my lord; I am too much i' the sun. [in response to Claudius's comment on clouds, above.] Oh that this too Too solid flesh Would melt [Direct quote] HAMLET O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! 5.7 What is "Another Day" about? On a Long Island radio show called 'Finger's Metal Shop', Gail Fluge (sp), who at that time was president of the Dream Theater fan club, stated that the song was about by John Petrucci's struggle in dealing with his father having cancer. A Ytsejam reader who knows John Petrucci's parents has confirmed that at one time Mr. Petrucci did in fact have cancer. Two other schools of thought have previously emerged on this subject: Suicide is the most obvious meaning. Pretty much every verse supports the theme of a person trying to talk someone out of killing themselves. "so die another day... better to save the mystery" Another equally valid point of view is that of mental illness, and trying to cope with it as the sufferer and/or family. "they took pictures of our dreams... etc" 5.8 What is "Take The Time" about? "We decided to write a song about everything we'd been going through for the past three years - looking for a new singer, a new label & new management - just all the changes we made & all the frustrations we went through...but, have it coming from each of our four different perspectives. So, we broke it up, and said 'Okay, you take the 1st verse, you take the 2nd verse,' went away, wrote lyrics about our feelings about all the stuff we were going through, and then put it together. Then [we] wrote the chorus together. That was the 1st time we had ever done that, and it's the only song on the album where the lyrics were actually written by everybody." - Mike Portnoy on "TTT" 5.9 What is being said in Italian in "Take the Time" and where is it from? It's Italian for, "now that I'm blind, I can see much clearer." It was taken from the film "Cinema Paradiso" as the following: "Adesso che ho perso la vista, ci vedo meglio e di piu" It's not a coincidence that LaBrie sings, "I can see much clearer now I'm blind," right before the sample. 5.10 What was the original title of "Surrounded?" Promotional cassettes for Images And Words had Surrounded labeled as "The Longest Night" on the sleeve. 5.11 What is "Surrounded" about? During the IAW tour they dedicated the song to Arthur Ashe, the tennis player who died of AIDS. However, the song seems more about enlightenment (in several forms) than death. The fact that Ashe was the first African-American tennis player to succeed in the sport supports this hypothesis. 5.12 What story is "Metropolis part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" based on? It is based on the story of the telepathically-linked Romulus and Remus from Virgil's 'Aeneid'. It has no relation to the movie "Metropolis". Petrucci wrote it as a sort of fantasy epic, inspired by the likes of, you guessed it, Yes and Rush. The story itself is original (the twins are named Miracle and Sleeper and do not appear in literature) but the story type was Homeric. 5.13 What is "Wait For Sleep" about? Who is the girl/woman in "Wait For Sleep?" Kevin Moore has said she was a friend of his who had a spiritual void and a hard time filling it, reaching for something to believe in. It dealt with her fears about belief and her grief over a loved one's death. His explanation is longer, but that about says it. 5.14 What is "Learning to Live" about? This has been the bigger topic of discussion on the YML because Myung has commented briefly on it and Portnoy has, while not wanting to confirm it, indicated that the premise is correct in an interview. Learning to Live was inspired by the AIDS epidemic. Particularly, the "From a common fear ... reach for life" passage, but the rest fits very snugly with the AIDS theme. 5.15 What is a "Vindaloo?" A Bombay Vindaloo is a hot spicy herb/pepper served on Indian food, usually chicken. It is also taken after drinks. My guess is DT got blasted in Asia or Europe and got to try this most interesting spice. :) 5.16 Has anybody noticed the re-usable riff phenomenon? Yes. Pull Me Under and Take The Time share a melody, which is not quite a riff, but they are identical if juxtaposed on a corresponding major/minor scale. Wait For Sleep and Learning to Live also share a main riff. Thematically, none of the songs interconnect. Mike Portnoy has said that the music is written out before the lyrics are written and set to melody. It is possible (any interviews mention this?) that they were intended to be counterparts and that the relation was either scrapped or made more subtle. The PMU-TTT connection is not as direct as the WFS-LTL connection. The melody from PMU's "This World is spinning around me, this world is spinning without me" in a minor scale sung by LaBrie is reproduced at 4:18 of the TTT instrumental section in a major scale played by Petrucci. So, the question remains, "are the 16-note melodies reproduced completely by coincidence on the same album by the same band?" Also, all throughout Awake, there is a lot of intentional riff sharing. Without referring to the obvious Erotomania, which is MADE UP OF riffs from other songs, the Space Dye Vest piano melody was added to The Mirror, LSOAD, and Scarred. The section of "A Change of Seasons" at 2:48 seems reminicent of "Erotomainia". 5.17 Has anybody noticed the Another Song phenomenon? Yes. DT has a knack, it would seem, for Another Song titles. Another Won (from the Majesty demos), Another Day (from Images And Words) and Another Hand (prologue to The Killing Hand live and on LATM) are the factors of this phenomenon. The album "Awake" seems to have escaped this trap of nomenclature. 5.18 Who wrote "To Live Forever?" John Petrucci. 5.19 Did the demos "Death of Spock" and "Cry For Freedom" ever go anywhere? Yes. They became "The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun" and part of several instrumental improvisations. (listen to Bombay Vindaloo, Moon Bubbles, and Barfbag... it's in there.) 5.20 What is "6:00" about? "...that actually was inspired by a story that James told me about one of his friends. He told me about one of his friends who he used to work with at a factory... James, I guess he worked with him like years & years ago. Anyway, this guy is still working at that factory & he [James] just met him like, I guess, recently, and he was talking to him about how he's got all these great benefits now and everything, but... and so that struck me as... that struck him, you know, it's kind of affected him and I thought about it too, and I was just thinking about how people kind of let life live them instead of living life sometimes, you know. And just get caught up in just being secure and having money, you know, to survive, which is a noble thing for some people. But some people don't even give themselves a chance, you know, this guy happened to be a musician who still had a dream about becoming a serious musician and making a career out of it, but it was obvious that he was never going to do anything about it. And this is kind of like a 'do something about it' song." - Kevin Moore From what we have surmised, "6:00", of course is REALLY primarily about Kevin's thoughts about leaving the band and the indecisiveness that preceded this. 5.21 What is "Caught In A Web" about? "...a person that's... it's not male or female, it could be either. And it's dealing with a person who has suppressed their feelings for so long and has finally had enough of it and feels that the only way that they can really live life to it's fullest is to live from the inside out. And that's basically what this person has come to terms with. And they're sick of society inducements and they feel the only way that they can go on with life is to live it the way they feel is the truth..." - James LaBrie 5.22 What is "Lie" about? According to Moore, it's connected to the theme of The Mirror. Betrayal and disillusionment are the main ideas. There seems to be religious symbolism in the lyrics. For example: "At the bottom of a lake, it's a hundred degrees I can't breathe" = Lake of Fire / Hell "You tell me 'bout your two more coming" = The Second Coming 5.23 What is "Space-Dye Vest" about? How did Kevin come up with this stuff? In Kevin Moore's words from a Japanese Interview: "It was inspired by... I was looking through a clothing catalog & saw a picture of a girl modeling this piece of clothing called a space-dye vest. And, so, I fell in love with her [laughs] for some strange reason & so the minute I did that, the minute I was just like obsessed w/this person, I was like, 'why am I doing that?' & I noticed that I was doing it a lot lately. And I think the prime reason that I was doing that, and this is what I figured out at the time, was that I had just come out of a relationship where I'd gotten dumped, basically, and so I think the situation was that I wasn't finished giving all that I was ready to give, so I was just, like, throwing it around, you know, just aiming it in different directions. It was a total case of projection. And this song is just trying to sort it out & just kind of admitting that I'm just kind of lost. So it's kind of a dark song. It was very cathartic though." 5.24 What is "Lifting Shadows off a Dream" about? "...that song is more or less just reflecting the duality that exists between a man and a woman; the spiritual side of the relationship & how they both can compliment one another." - John Myung (Japanese Radio Interview) ** 5.25 Anyone notice that "Erotomania" contains snippets of many of the songs on the first half of Awake? Yes. Also, part of Erotomania used to be contained within the solo of demo version of Pull Me Under. 5.26 Who sings backup vocals on "The Silent Man?" John Purdell (Awake's producer) John Petrucci sings them live. ** 5.27 What is unique about the song "A Change of Seasons?" Several things. First of all, it's the first lyric work Mike Portnoy did. (of course, it is not the only vocal work Mike ever did... Mike had the dubious privilege of singing the end of "Surrounded" after James walked off the stage at one of their 1993 England shows) Second of all, it's the longest DT song at 23:05. This is a noteworthy distinction because it's very rare to find bands comfortable with lengthy formats. ** 5.28 What is the song "A Change of Seasons" about? When Portnoy has been asked about this question during his recent drum clinics, He has said that "ACOS was part autobiographical part fictional." He has indicated that it deals, in part, with the death of his mother. ----------------------------------------------------- 6. Questions concerning the samples used in the songs ----------------------------------------------------- 6.1 Where is the sampled voice in "A Fortune In Lies" from? Mike Portnoy recorded it off a television documentary about the prison system. ** 6.2 Where were the samples used in "6:00" pulled from? They came from John Huston's movie "The Dead" which is based on James Joyce's short story "The Dead" which is available separately (from Penguin books in the US) or as part of "Dubliners" (a collection of Joyce's short stories). The words are (from the book): --No, continued Aunt Kate, she wouldn't be said or led by anyone, slaving there in that choir night and day, night and day. Six o'clock on Christmas morning! And all for what? --Well, isn't it for the honour of God, Aunt Kate? asked Mary Jane, twisting round on the piano-stool and smiling. Aunt Kate turned fiercely on her niece and said: --I know all about the honour of God, Mary Jane, but I think it's not at all honourable for the pope to turn out the women out of the choirs that have slaved there all their lives and put little whipper-snappers of boys over their heads. I suppose it is for the good of the Church if the pope does it. But it's not just, Mary Jane, and it's not right. ** 6.3 Where are the samples in "Space-Dye Vest" from? The first sample in SDV is from the Merchant/Ivory film "A Room With A View". The complete passage says, "...he's the sort who can't know anyone intimately, least of all a woman. He doesn't know what a woman is. He wants you for a possession, something to look at, like a painting or an ivory box. Something to own and to display. He doesn't want you to be real, or to think, or to live. He doesn't love you. But I love you. I want you to have your own thoughts and ideas and feelings, even when I hold you in my arms...it's our last chance." These lines are spoken by actor Julian Sands' character, George Emerson. In this pivotal scene, he's trying to convince the woman he loves, Lucy Honeychurch (played by Helena Bonham-Carter), who is engaged to be married to someone else, that she's making a horrible mistake and that she truly belongs with him instead. Another interesting connection between SDV and "A Room With A View" is that Kevin based most of the song around a chord progression that's actually from the background music in movie! It only appears a couple of times in very short sections, but it's *definitely* the same chord progression that Kevin used in SDV. This sample was taken from a TV commentator during the O.J. Simpson police chase. "Some people gave advice before about facing the facts, about facing reality. And this is, this without a doubt, is his biggest challenge ever. He's going to have to face it. You're gonna have to try, he's gonna have to try and, uh, and, and, and get some help here. I mean, you know, now no one can say they know how he feels..." The following is (unconfirmed) from a Conan O'Brien show: "That's what they say that, like that in Houston, or something. They say 'yeah, it's 180 degrees, but it's a dry heat.'" "In Houston they say that?" "Oh, maybe not, I'm all mixed up." "Dry until they hit the swimming pool." This sample has not been identified as of yet: (unintelligible talking)"...I'll get up with the sun...she doesn't, she doesn't want you to sleep in...I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say, you're grounded...that door gets locked, that door gets locked at night by 9 o'clock. If you're not in this house by 9 o'clock, then you'd better find someplace to sleep...you think you can go to your mom's house and sucker her into it?..."(unintelligible talking) ---------------- 7. Miscellaneous ---------------- ** 7.1 What is "Subconscious"? What is "Acoustic Dreams"? What is "When Dream And Today Unite"? "Subconscious" is a compilation of rare Dream Theater tracks put together by our very own Mike Bahr. The disc was limited to a pressing of 500 units and it sold out almost immediately. Lately, the CD has become a collector's item and has recently been sold for as high as $75 on Ytsejam. "Acoustic Dreams" was the next Dream Theater release done by Mike Bahr. This recording consists of an beautiful acoustic show which Dream Theater performed several tracks from "Awake" and "IAW." This is also currently sold out. "When Dream And Today Unite" is the next scheduled release. This compilation will include all of the songs from "When Dream and Day Unite" played live with James LaBrie on vocals. A few other live rare tracks, including some of the Majesty Demos will also be included. Read YTSEJAM for ordering instructions. ** 7.2 Did the band "Blind Melon" bash DT? What did they say? Yes - in the magazine "Guitar For the Practicing Musician", two members of Blind Melon were asked to listen and critique several recordings. Below is a transcription of the article. "Guitar for the Practicing Musician" - January 1994 "Pull Me Under" Images And Words Dream Theater (ATCO/East-West) Christopher: This could be metal at any moment--I'm just warning everybody. Rogers: Either that or it could build up into a power ballad. C: I feel like we might have to excuse ourselves here for a second. We might have to leave. R: This is one of those guitar sounds that when he hits a note, about a million lights jump up on his guitar rig. C: Any minute now there is gonna be a squealy. R: Is this, like, Queensryche? C: If it is, let's turn it off right away because I hate that band. R: Hate it. This is the kind of music you listen to right when you start to get your pubic hairs. C: I can't even be fair to this music, I hate it so bad. I can't even sit through one song. I know I'm not being fair but I think it is complete garbage. That sort of guitar playing is just stupid. R: If I want to hear a metal band I really like old Black Sabbath and Soundgarden, heavy bands with brains. If I were listening to an angry metal band I would be more into Rage Against the Machine or Sugar. I like that Sugar record a lot, I like Sonic Youth a lot. That's heavy, guitar based music that I listen to. C: Playing fast for the sake of fast is hideous. I hate that whole mentality of sitting around playing scales and cock-rock crap. R: I heard some squealies. I don't really like that sound either. I'm not into those guitar sounds. When I hear that stuff I get feeling squeamish. Guitar: That was Dream Theater. C: We'll remember not to buy that record. I bet they have really nice hair... now I'm being mean. R: This is just our opinion. There's a lot of people that like Dream Theater and that's fine. They get off on it--good for them. They'll probably hate us, maybe they won't. C: They probably do because we sound like we're playing sloppy. But that's alright, that's a different thing. We're just coming from a different space. R: In no way do we condemn this sort of music. These people have a right to exist. C: Just keep it the hell away from us. [on to the other songs.] To give you an idea how fucked-up Blind Melon are, they liked: Medicated Goo - Traffic Midnight Rider - Almond Brothers And they hated: Babe I'm Gonna Leave You - Sons of Mercury Omaha - Moby Grape Pull Me Under - Dream Theater Little Miss Can't Be Wrong - Spin Doctors Always With Me Always With You - Joe Satriani These following letters to the editor appeared in the February 1994 issue with Alex Lifeson of Rush on the cover!! "...I've had it! I'm sick of these stupid fucks writing that heavy metal is soulless, mindless bullshit..." "...If you have something to say about another type of music, keep it to yourself." And in March 1994: "Blind Lemon only wish they could compare to Queensryche and Dream Theater!" "...John Petrucci's technical skill and rapturous melodies are things of beauty, things that Christopher and Rogers hate because they can't create such things themselves..." And so on. Here is John Petrucci's response to Blind Melon in "Guitar for the Practicing Musician", March 1994 issue: "I find it really weird that somebody would say that about me or Dream Theater because a couple of guys in the band are into Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the like. It's just the same crap I heard at Berkelee, where you had the jazzers versus the rockers, who always argued and fought with each other. Without sounding too