Dream Theater (album)

Background

Preliminary writing for Dream Theater's twelfth album commenced on the A Dramatic Turn of Events Tour in April 2012. During soundchecks, the band would jam and record their ideas, and guitarist John Petrucci would try out independently composed material. They did not enter the recording studio until January 2013, returning to Cove City Sound Studios in Glen Cove, New York, where they recorded A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011). The first song the band wrote was "Surrender to Reason", which bassist John Myung credited with setting the pace for the remainder of writing.

From the start, drummer Mike Mangini was included in the creative process, unlike for A Dramatic Turn of Events, where Petrucci programmed the main drum parts during writing and Mangini recorded his own interpretations of them later. Commenting on Mangini's work, Petrucci said, "When people hear the drumming on this album, they’re gonna be pretty freaked out ... I feel like now he’s just Mike Mangini unleashed. It's all him. It's all his creativity, all his decisions and ideas - and man, the guy's an animal."

During the studio sessions, every band member's instrument was miked and captured as they were writing so that they could simulate ahead of time exactly how the music would sound when it was eventually recorded. Recording concluded in May, and mixing was performed by Richard Chycki, who was hired based on Dream Theater's past experiences with him and his history with Rush.

Composition

In calling the album Dream Theater, the band tried to define who they were and emphasize that they were moving forward. Reflecting on the decision for Guitar World, Petrucci said, "We wanted to make this album a reference point for [fans] as far as what Dream Theater is all about. That was the goal and the mission, and it set the tone for the entire project." In an article for Grantland, Steven Hyden noted the album's stylistic similarities to Rush, writing, "There are songs on Dream Theater that are just straight-up Rush imitations, most notably 'The Looking Glass,' which crossbreeds 'Limelight' with 'Freewill' while leaving out Neil Peart’s misanthropic individualism."

The songs on Dream Theater are shorter and more compact on average than on other Dream Theater albums, a conscious decision made by the band during writing that Petrucci later admitted was a challenge for them. Two songs on the album made use of a string ensemble conducted by Berklee College of Music student Eren Başbuğ, including the 20-minute closer "Illumination Theory", which keyboardist Jordan Rudess called the band's opportunity to go "crazy" after writing so many concise songs. Split into five sections, the track goes through many style and time signature changes, with Loudwire observing, "Jam-packed with a head-spinning mix of quiet interludes, face melting jams and, courtesy of bassist Myung and Mangini, forests full of rhythmic majesty, this suite plays like a mini album in itself."

Dream Theater features two instrumentals, "False Awakening Suite" and "Enigma Machine", the former of which was written specifically to open the band's live shows. They were the first instrumentals the band had written for a studio album since "Stream of Consciousness" on 2003's Train of Thought. Many of the album's lyrics were based on real events; for example, "The Enemy Inside", which deals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), was written in response to the Boston Marathon bombings, and "Behind the Veil" references the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping.

Release

In June 2013, Dream Theater announced that their upcoming studio album would be self-titled and released in September. The album's first single, "The Enemy Inside", was made available for streaming by USA Today on August 5. Its second single, "Along for the Ride", was made available for streaming one month later. The album was premiered by Rolling Stone on September 16 via a free online stream. It was officially released one week later on September 23. In its debut week, it sold over 34,000 copies in the United States to land at number seven on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the band's third consecutive top ten debut and second highest charting album ever behind 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings, which debuted at number six. It remained on the charts until November 9. As of January 2016, the album has sold 87,000 copies in the US.

During the album's release week, the band released a music video for "The Enemy Inside", which drove awareness for Save a Warrior, a foundation dedicated to helping veterans heal from the effects of combat. In February 2014, the album's second and final music video was released, this time for "The Looking Glass".

Critical reception

Dream Theater has received positive reviews. AllMusic felt that it was one of the band's best albums, concluding, "it holds inside it everything a fan could want, yet also expands the reach of American prog metal." Many critics were particularly complimentary of "Illumination Theory", which Revolver described as "stunningly ambitious". Grantland's Steven Hyden, whose introduction to the band was through the self-titled album, wrote, "I drank this cocktail, and I’m glad. Dream Theater is a blast." For "The Enemy Inside", Dream Theater received their second consecutive Grammy nomination in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category.

Critics reacted favorably to Dream Theater's attempt at writing more concise songs. In their review, Loudwire commented, "The band also seems to be expanding their appeal beyond the faithful with some punchy, stylish and tuneful songs that seduce immediately. Good thing, too. Because the more people that can hear an album like this, the more faithful there will be." RTÉ.ie had a similar reaction, writing, "Sure, the did-they-really-just-play-that? double takes arrive by the half-minute on their latest magnum opus (self-titled for extra definitiveness), but chances are you will come away from Dream Theater singing a chorus rather than throwing air guitar/bass/drums/keyboards/violin/conductor's baton shapes."

Some critics noted that the album was too similar to previous Dream Theater albums. PopMatters felt that the band was no longer offering anything new, observing, "For quite awhile, the sky was the limit for Dream Theater; now that they’ve ascended, however, the creative air is running thin." Sputnikmusic also wrote that the album sounded familiar, but ultimately gave it an overall positive review, saying that it did "a bit better than recent efforts in the band's formulaic approach to anti-formulaic music."

Supporting tour

In promotion of the album, Dream Theater toured Europe and North America in early 2014. The tour's setlist featured both old and new material, including nine songs off of Awake and Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, which were celebrating anniversaries. On March 25, the band performed at the Boston Opera House with the Berklee Concert Choir and Berklee World Strings in an event that was dubbed their "homecoming". The concert was recorded and eventually released on September 30 as part of the Breaking the Fourth Wall live collection. It debuted at number one on various music video charts, and the band donated part of the proceeds to the Dream Theater Scholarship Fund at Berklee.

Track listing

All titles and song lengths taken from the Dream Theater liner notes. All lyrics written by John Petrucci except where noted and all music written by Dream Theater except where noted.

Personnel

All credits taken from the Dream Theater liner notes.

Dream Theater

String Ensemble

Production