Dream Theater

Dream Theater is an influential progressive metal band based in New York City. The band formed in 1985 and started out with the name Majesty, but later changed their name to Dream Theater for legal reasons. The band's songs are generally long and technically proficient, which has led to the band being characterized as one that "people either love or hate". The band is also known for never playing concerts with the same setlist twice. Although Dream Theater songs generally do not receive much airplay, the Hamlet-inspired single Pull Me Under from the album Images and Words became a hit, and several other songs have received minor airplay over the years.

Political Statements

Dream Theater is not known as a particularly "political" band, although a few songs make statements that are political. The thirteen minute "The Great Debate" from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence deals with the debate over embryonic stem cell research, but does not take a side. It does include many soundbites from both sides of the issue. "In the Name of God" from Train of Thought and "Sacrificed Sons" from Octavarium deal with religiously-based terrorism. "Prophets of War" from Systematic Chaos is Dream Theater's most partisan song to debate, being an anti-Iraq war song.

Current Band Lineup

• James Labrie (vocals)
• John Petrucci (guitars)
• Mike Portnoy (drums)
• Jordan Rudess (keyboards)
• John Myung (bass)

Discography

• When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
• Images and Words (1992)
• Awake (1994)
• A Change of Seasons (1995)
• Falling into Infinity (1997)
• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
• Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
• Train of Thought (2003)
• Octavarium (2005)
• Systematic Chaos (2007)