Dream Theater are one of the few bands that have occupied the pinnacle of prog metal for what feels like an eternity. Only rarely did they run out of steam - instead, they always managed to move the bar of the genre a bit higher. Also on "A View From The Top Of The World" they enjoy the view from their throne, which no one will deny them so quickly, even in view of 15 million albums sold
Instead of asking frontman James LaBrie or the all-embracing guitarist and producer John Petrucci for an interview, this time eclipsed's interview partners deliberately chose two other band members: drummer Mike Mangini and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Striking with both of them: They answer general questions about Dream Theater's new, fifteenth album rather succinctly, but as soon as they are asked to describe their specific perspective, they can hardly be stopped in their flow of words - and bring many an interesting facet to light.
After the controversial summer open-airs, Dream Theater will return to Europe for indoor concerts at the beginning of 2020 to finally present the opulent three-hour "Scenes From A Memory" shows on the old continent. In January/February the Progmetal-Kings want to take the opportunity to reconcile their fan community at seven concerts in German-speaking countries. We talked to singer James LaBrie in advance.
eclipsed: James, let's start with the negative. Many fans had assumed that you would already come to Europe this summer with the "Scenes From A Memory" show. We at eclipsed also jumped on this information in the beginning.
Jordan Rudess also leads a life away from Dream Theater. The keyboard player is a real workhorse. When he's not in the Prog Metal pioneers' class, he tinkers with his own material and records it. If necessary also parallel to his obligations with the band. Now Rudess has released his 14th studio album "Wired For Madness", with which he again enters unknown territory.
In the course of the worldwide interview marathon for their fourteenth studio album "Distance Over Time", Dream Theater will also make stops in several European capitals. Their promotion day in Berlin is meticulously clocked, John Petrucci and James LaBrie provide information every half hour until late in the evening. Thirty years after their debut with "When Dream And Day Unite" the band presents itself as a reinvigorated unit. She evokes camaraderie and creativity and reports on a new way of dealing with label managers.
eclipsed: John, please imagine the following scenario: It is 1988, Dream Theater are currently working in the Victory Studios on their debut "When Dream And Day Unite". Suddenly the DeLorean from "Back to the Future" appears, Marty McFly gets out and hands you "Distance Over Time". How would John Petrucci from 1988 have judged the album?
Most fans had the band of singer/guitarist Ty Tabor (Kingʼs X), bassist John Myung (Dream Theater) and drummer Rod Morgenstein (Dixie Dregs) probably not really on screen since their album "2" (2004). Reason: the release of the comeback album "Shall We Descent" (2011) took place in principle under exclusion of the public. "At that time we had no record contract, but we still wanted to make music together and record songs," Tabor looks back.
If there's one progmetal band that's predestined for great conceptual works, it's certainly Dream Theater. With "The Astonishing" Dream Theater have now taken on the biggest venture of their career: a two-hour rock opera, which may eventually come on stage as a musical or be filmed.
When the progmetal pioneers Dream Theater were formed almost 31 years ago, first under the name Majesty, it soon became clear that the band would provide musical highlights and delicacies in the area of tension between progressive rock and metal. On their way to becoming one of the leading progmetal institutions, Dream Theater even landed a hit in 1992 with "Pull Me Under" from the album "Images And Words". Self-ironically they titled their first compilation "Greatest Hit (...And 21 Other Really Cool Songs)" in 2008.
GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES
Led Zeppelin in the Mirror of the World Press: 1968-1980
The reverberation of Led Zeppelin is enormous. The band hasn't existed for more than 30 years, but they're still being reported on - almost unchecked. The coverage of her unique reunion concert in December 2007 was indeed just as hysterical as it was during her active reign. This era, the years 1968 to 1980, we trace on the following pages from the perspective of the contemporary world press and send our best wishes to the jubilarian Jimmy Page.
KEITH RICHARDS
The Soul of the Stones
GENESIS
rule, Britannia!
Forty years ago, an album called "Selling England By The Pound" was released, which is seen by many Genesis and progressive rock fans as the culmination of a development at the end of which the pioneers, who started as a school band, became the kings of symphonic prog in the seventies. But the process that led to the creation of the milestone was quite problematic, sometimes even torturous. eclipsed tells the story of an album that was to shape an entire genre - and emphasized the origin of the musicians like no other.
