Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).
Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE) is an American instrumental progressive metal supergroup founded by Mike Portnoy, in 1997. The band initially released two albums, between 1998 and 1999. An extension of their second regular album, with the absence of John Petrucci was released in 2007 under the name "Liquid Trio Experiment".
Anthony Frederick Levin is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (1981–2021) and Peter Gabriel. He is also a member of Liquid Tension Experiment, Bruford Levin Upper Extremities (1998–2000) and HoBoLeMa (2008–2010). He has led his own band, Stick Men, since 2010.
Jordan Rudess is an American keyboardist, composer, and software developer best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive metal supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.
Michael Stephen Portnoy is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years, with Mike Mangini taking his place as drummer of the band. In October 2023, 13 years after his departure, the band announced his return. During his time out of Dream Theater, Portnoy remained active, with a variety of bands and projects, including Adrenaline Mob, Avenged Sevenfold, Transatlantic, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors, The Winery Dogs, Liquid Tension Experiment, Metal Allegiance, Sons of Apollo, the Neal Morse Band, and BPMD.
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory is the fifth studio album and first concept album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on October 26, 1999, through Elektra Records. It was recorded at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, where the band had previously recorded their second studio album, Images and Words (1992), and the EP A Change of Seasons (1995).
Train of Thought is the seventh studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on November 11, 2003 through Elektra Records.
John Peter Petrucci is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced all of Dream Theater's albums from Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) to A View from the Top of the World (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: Suspended Animation (2005) and Terminal Velocity (2020).
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence is the sixth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released as a double-disc album on January 29, 2002, through Elektra Records. It is the first full-length Dream Theater album to feature a title track. It is also their second longest studio album to date, after The Astonishing (2016). All songs from it have been played live.
Live at Budokan is the fourth live album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater on October 5, 2004, available on either 3 CDs, 2 DVDs, or 1 Blu-ray Disc. It was recorded at the Nippon Budokan Hall on April 26, 2004 in Tokyo, Japan.
An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess is a live album recorded by Dream Theater bandmates John Petrucci (guitars) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). This album is unusual in being performed live by just these two musicians, and only guitar and keyboards. The live recording was made on June 10, 2000, at the Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center in Nyack, New York.
Liquid Tension Experiment is the self-titled first studio album by the band Liquid Tension Experiment, released on March 10, 1998, through Magna Carta Records. The band featured guitarist John Petrucci and drummer Mike Portnoy, at the time both of Dream Theater; bassist Tony Levin; and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who would go on to join Dream Theater in 1999.
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence" is the sixth song and title track on the album of the same name, written and performed by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Though the song is essentially broken up into eight movements on separate tracks, it lasts 42 minutes in full and takes up the entire second CD of the album. The song was conceived when keyboardist Jordan Rudess wrote what would become the "Overture" section, and the band took various melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into segments of the complete piece. The song explores the stories of six individuals suffering from various mental illnesses. Particularly represented are bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, post-partum depression, autism, and dissociative identity disorder.
Prime Cuts is a compilation album by Jordan Rudess released in 2006.
Systematic Chaos is the ninth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater. Released on June 4, 2007 in the United Kingdom and June 5, 2007 in the United States, Systematic Chaos was the band's first release through Roadrunner Records, which was sold to their previous label Atlantic Records, through which the band had released their previous studio album Octavarium (2005). The album was recorded from September 2006 to February 2007 at Avatar Studios in New York City, after the band's first break from summer touring in ten years. The lyrics of the album were written by John Petrucci, James LaBrie, and Mike Portnoy about fictional, political, and personal topics, respectively.
Spontaneous Combustion is an album by progressive metal group Liquid Trio Experiment, and is the result of the studio improvisations of Liquid Tension Experiment which occurred while John Petrucci's hiatus, followed by he spent the time with his wife while she was giving birth. The trio of Mike Portnoy, Tony Levin and Jordan Rudess continued to write music during this period. It was released on October 23, 2007. A few songs from Liquid Tension Experiment 2 were spawned from these jam sessions including "914", "Chewbacca", and "Liquid Dreams". The song "Chris & Kevin's Bogus Journey" is not a reference to Portnoy and Petrucci's former Dream Theater bandmates Chris Collins and Kevin Moore, but rather to the track on Liquid Tension Experiment's first album entitled "Chris & Kevin's Excellent Adventure", which is itself a reference to the band's photographer's habit of calling Mike Portnoy and Tony Levin "Chris and Kevin", even after being corrected several times. It is also a reference to the 1991 film Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the sequel to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The song "Jazz Odyssey" is a reference to the movie This Is Spinal Tap, in which Spinal Tap experiments with an improvisational song of the same name.
When the Keyboard Breaks is a live album by one-off progressive metal supergroup Liquid Trio Experiment, recorded during a Liquid Tension Experiment live show at the Park West in Chicago, Illinois.
Wither is a single by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on September 15, 2009. The single contains the album version of the song "Wither", an alternative version of "Wither" with vocals and piano only, a demo of "Wither" with John Petrucci on vocals, and a demo of "The Best of Times" with Mike Portnoy on vocals. It is the band's last official release with Portnoy, who left the band in September 2010 until his return in October 2023. This is the only studio release without the Majesty symbol in its front cover.
A Dramatic Turn of Events is the eleventh studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released worldwide in September 2011 through Roadrunner Records. It is the band's first recording to feature drummer Mike Mangini, following the departure of founding member Mike Portnoy in September 2010. The album was written, recorded, mixed, and mastered between January and June 2011 at Cove City Sound Studios in Long Island, New York. It was produced by guitarist John Petrucci and mixed by Andy Wallace. Two singles, "On the Backs of Angels" and "Build Me Up, Break Me Down", were released in promotion of the album.
Liquid Tension Experiment 3 is the third studio album by the American instrumental progressive metal super group Liquid Tension Experiment. Released on April 16, 2021, it is their first studio effort since 1999's Liquid Tension Experiment 2.
