Legends in Their Own Time
Dream Theater Continue to Blow Minds

>>Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci>>

One of the greatest bands you've probably never seen just blew through town and you probably missed them.

They don't have any number one hits.

Radio support of their music is almost nonexistent. 

The only time you'll see them on the cover of a magazine is if it's a publication dedicated to musicians rather than popular music. 

So why is that they have a rabid fan following and many of the musicians in the more mainstream acts cite them as influences?  It's simple, really: Dream Theater is a collective of musical deities.  Individually, each of the members easily makes most "top 5" lists for being the best at their particular instrument.  In terms of technical ability, they are second to none.  They are looked upon as absolute masters of their craft.

All of that is great, in theory, but it takes so much more than that to truly be a successful rock band.   What it comes down to is that these guys put on one of the most amazing live shows around.  Think monster guitar and drum solos, fifteen-minute songs and a light show not to be believed and you'll get a partial idea of a Dream Theater concert.

To really get an idea of what it's like you have to go to the show.

>>Mike Portnoy's Monster Kit>>

Over the years, DT has built quite a following in the progressive rock world - a sub-genre of rock that seems to mostly consist of serious musicians and those who appreciate the finer points of music theory combined the best parts of heavy rock.  We could attempt to give a complete review of the show or delve into the finer points of DT's music, but we would never please the purists.  How about if we just let Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, who many regard as the best drummer playing today, get into what it's all about…

VOX: What makes this record different that the other Dream Theater records?
Mike Portnoy: Well…for starters, it's a double-disc, which is different.  We couldn't work within the constraints of one CD, the 80 minutes or so, I guess, so this was the only way for us to get out what we wanted to.  Other than that…it has things that are different than anything else we've done before, but it will appeal to our older fans as well.

VOX: Do you really care about radio play, or is it more about reaching a niche crowd?
MP: Well, radio play isn't really what we're thinking about.   Don't get me wrong, we aren't snubbing our noses at radio…we would be happy to hear our songs on the radio.  But radio is too busy with these songs that fit a particular formula, with no guitar solos or anything like that and fit in a nice three- to four-minute package.  Obviously, we don’t have too many of those…so we're happy to reach the fans we have who appreciate what we do.

VOX: Do you practice outside of the Dream Theater music and just work on chops?
MP: I know the other guys do, but I hate to practice.  So, no, I don't.

VOX: I recently heard that Geddy Lee of Rush said that he had occasionally done things on the Rush records that he couldn't reproduce live.  Have you ever had that problem?
MP: First off, I think Geddy is just being modest.  I've seen him live more than once and he plays it all just as well live as he does on the recordings.  I think that's just him being modest.  As for us, yeah, we've had a few occasions where when it's time to play something live it's been difficult to reproduce it.  For example, tonight we're going to be playing a song live for the very first time, and I can tell you we're a bit nervous about it.  It happens, though.

VOX: What came first: the title of the record or the title of the suite?
MP: Oh, the music came first.  That's always the case. 
VOX: Why did you pick that as the title?
MP: Once we were finished, it just seemed to fit and best describes the feeling of the whole thing.

VOX: Let's talk about the songs - tell me about "The Glass Prison."
MP: To be honest, I don't like to get into the meanings of the songs.  I would prefer to allow the listener to take from it what they want.  It's especially hard on songs that I didn't write the lyrics for.  I think it's sort of disrespectful to talk about lyrics that I didn't write.  Either way, if I tell you what a particular song is about, it may change the interpretation someone has already made and I wouldn't want to ruin that.

VOX: Let's get into equipment; what are you playing with?
MP: I'm playing a huge Tama kit, which is really two kits put together.  I have a vast array of my own signature Sabian cymbals all around me, and I'm playing with my signature Pro-Mark sticks. 

VOX: Do you collect any special music items?  Old snares, guitars…
MP: No, not really…I just don't have the time, I guess.   I have five old drum sets at home in my basement, and they pretty much just sit there collecting dust because I don't have the time to play them.  No need to collect more stuff that'll just sit…