Dream Theater have carved out a niche for
themselves as one of rock's truly original bands by
always following their own map. Their legend has
grown from their native Long Island all the way to the
far reaches of Japan, (where they constantly top the
year-end rock polls) thanks to a worldwide following
of Dream Theater fans. DT's epic storytelling and
breathtaking musicianship inspires the kind of
audience that knows every guitar lick, follows every
set list, trading precious nuggets about the group
throughout the world's computer screens on DT
websites around the globe. This unbreakable
contract Dream Theater has with its fans goes far
beyond the usual music business edict of "let's just
put out another record." The time and passion the
group puts into each new disk is legendary, and their
new album, Falling Into Infinity is no exception.
Through it all, the steadfast quintet has managed to
remain unaffected by the shifting winds of trend.
So it will be no surprise to fans and critics alike that
on their fourth full length album, Falling Into Infinity,
they chart their own course again by venturing into
even deeper unknown territory. Braced by the
confident but adventurous hand of producer Kevin
Shirley (Aerosmith, Silverchair) the group decided to
approach this LP on a song by song basis, rather
than going in with a pre-determined number of tracks
to complete. "This album had a totally different
environment from any other we've done," says
drummer Mike Portnoy. "In the past we'd go in with
ten songs and you'd be focusing on finishing the
songs so that you really couldn't put the emotion into
each one because you're so scattered."
Guitarist John Petrucci echoes Mike's sentiment.
"You kind of go in like a machine and play them like a
conveyer belt. Kevin didn't want that and we didn't
want that this time." Mike affirms that concentrating
on one track until completion also created more room
for experimentation. "We'd focus on a song at a time
and he'd make us try different approaches to a song,
sometimes radical approaches, until we got
something that worked. We'd mix it and master it
even before we got to a next song. Kevin also
stressed the live element and we always love to bring
that out."
Like all Dream Theater albums, however, Falling Into
Infinity is a lesson in contrasts: From the ominous
thunder of the LP's opener, "New Millennium," to the
pop polish of "You Not Me," to the sail-on wistfulness
of "Hollow Years," to the hazy curl of "Peruvian
Skies," which Mike points out exquisitely captures the
virtuosity and tension that Dream Theater is known
for. "I think that one has the best mellow dynamic,
and the other half is this heavy balls-to-the-wall
dynamic of one extreme to another. Fans will see it
as a true Dream Theater song." And Dream Theater
has always had a special relationship with its fans
throughout the world. From their breakthrough 1992
release, Images And Words, to 1994's smash
follow-up Awake, to 1995's "gift" to their fans, the
partial live set A Change Of Seasons, the band has
always conceptualized their music with their audience
in mind. The Long Island group's emergence as one
of prog-rock's most influential leaders could not have
happened without amassing such a loyal following.
It's one that has cemented into a unique band/fan
friendship through years of touring, as well as the
above-mentioned special internet relationship. In fact
it was at their fans urging via the internet that led to
the eventual release of their 23 minute classic "A
Change Of Seasons," on the album of the same
name. Always inspired by their audience's loyalty, the
group felt free to even further challenge themselves
musically on the new record. "The songs were more
tight and focused on this one, there is less
meandering, but in a way, we did more jamming,"
says John. "I went back and listened to the other
albums. You can hear the growth and maturity in this
one. Everything doesn't feel rushed and nervous
sounding, even though the whole album is filled with
new instruments. Equipment was set up in the studio
for two months so that we could just go at it. It was
like recording in a music store."
Bassist John Myung introduced the biggest musical
surprise to the group, a stringed instrument called a
Chapman Stick. "I just felt since we were working
with new sounds that the instrument would give us an
extra dimension," he says. It's exactly this type of
adventurousness that has kept Dream Theater
relevant throughout their career. "One thing we don't
do is jump on trends," says Mike, "I mean I will take
bits and pieces of what's happening out there, while
other bands might shift their entire sound to fit what's
happening musically. If you listen to "New
Millennium,' for example, it has a quick little snippet of
an industrial part, but it's never like we shift to fit
some trend that's happening. What makes us Dream
Theater is our originality." The song hovers
menacingly, twisting and turning on the edgy
dynamics that have become Dream Theater's calling
card. "The song isn't meant to be literally about the
new millennium," says Mike. "It's more about where
we're at as a band and all the changes we've gone
through in the past few years. It's been a very parallel
period for us similar to the time leading up to Images
And Words. We made a lot of business changes and
in a way we started from scratch again, and the song
is meant to reflect the optimism and the frustration."
Dream Theater's more focused approach also led to
a keener editing eye on some songs. "Take Away My
Pain" is a song that needed a real big transition from
the way it was recorded on the demo," says John. "It
was pretty much of an acoustic ballad when we
started but we've done songs like that before and we
wanted to try something different. We went through a
whole bunch of orchestrations on it. At one point we
went through an Elton John "Rocket Man" kind of
thing, and then it was a Peter Gabriel vibe." John
laughs. The group actually labels it's song sections
with these kind of shorthand notes - "as opposed to
verse chorus - verse chorus," - John says.
Other highlights on the album include "Burning My
Soul," "Lines In The Sand," featuring King's X vocalist
Doug Pinnace, and the soulful ballad "Anna Lee."
"That's another one that changed from the demo
version," says Mike. "We decided in the studio to play
everything live, to stay away from the sterilization of
overdubbing so we could catch the feel of us playing
together."
It's that incredible vibe Dream Theater still achieves
by playing together that has made them so
enthusiastic about another album/touring cycle. "It's
like I say about the song "New Millennium," says
Mike. "I feel like it's a new millennium for Dream
Theater too. That we can take this where ever we
want to go."
