Dream Theater FAQ Version 4.5

[The Digital Man]

Dream Theater FAQ Version 4.5

Dream Theater Frequently Asked Questions
maintained by Christopher R. Merlo
Last updated 13 April 1997

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FAQ: Dream Theater - Version 4.5
Compiled by:
Christopher R. Merlo - Current FAQ Maintainer (cme...@cs.uvm.edu)
Jason Skewes - FAQ Maintainer Emeritus (jsk...@startext.net)
Mike Bahr - FAQ Maintainer Emeritus (dur...@goodnet.com)
Ryan Skadberg - Ytsejam List Manager (sk...@dreamt.org)
Ken Bibb - Metropolis List Manager (kb...@arastar.com)
Revised and Handled by Christopher R. Merlo (Address as above)
Thanks to Ken Higginson for the DT Ascii you see above.

Welcome to the official, spiced-with-Vindaloo Dream Theater FAQ, presented
by us, the Ytsejam Mailing List, and, thanks to a bit of great fortune and
kindness on their part, by Dream Theater themselves!

This is version 4.5 of the Dream Theater FAQ, in anticipation of Dream
Theater's fifth studio release.

Please remember that the transcriptions of the samples will be handled in
the Dream Theater Songbook. The FAQ will only address questions
concerning the sources of the samples.

I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to be as accurate as I can. If you can help
me to that end with this FAQ, I appreciate it.

This file can be found on the Internet at the following locations:

HTML:

NORTH AMERICA:

Northeast (VT): http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/dtfaq.html (Original)
Northeast (MA): http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~mikeb/dt/dtfaq.htm
Northwest (OR): http://www.spiritone.com/~schnoor/dt/dtfaq.html
Southeast (GA): http://www.mindspring.com/~syrinx/dt/dt-faq.htm

SOUTH AMERICA:

Chile: http://www.webhost.cl/~miguel/DT/dtfaq.html

EUROPE:

France: http://www.mygale.org/06/ecoyote/dreamt/dtfaq.htm

Norway: hekta.iet.hist.no/~geirb/faq.html

ASIA:

Korea: http://mirinae.yonsei.ac.kr/~hscheon/dream_theater/dtfaq.html

AUSTRALIA: http://www.powerup.com.au/~nigelb/dt/dtfaq.html

PLAIN TEXT:

NORTH AMERICA:

Northeast (VT): http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/dtfaq.txt
Northwest (OR): http://www.SpiritOne.com/~schnoor/dt/dtfaq.txt

SOUTH AMERICA:

Chile: http://www.webhost.cl/~miguel/DT/dtfaq.txt

EUROPE:

France: http://www.mygale.org/06/ecoyote/dreamt/dtfaqtxt.zip

Norway: hekta.iet.hist.no/~geirb/faq.txt

AUSTRALIA: http://www.powerup.com.au/~nigelb/dt/dtfaq.txt

FTP SITES:

NORTH AMERICA:

Northeast (VT): ftp://132.198.8.4/pub/dt/dtfaq.txt
Northeast (VT): ftp://digital.dreamt.org/pub/dt/dtfaq.txt
Northwest (OR): ftp://ftp.SpiritOne.com/pub/users/schnoor/dtfaq.txt

USENET:

alt.music.dream-theater

CREDITS
Many thanks to the following for their additions and corrections:

Jens Johansson (je...@panix.com)
C-Man (buf...@panix.com) - King's X management
Michael Burstin (mi...@cs.brandeis.edu)
Brian Cox (ler...@metronet.com)
Ken Bibb (jes...@arastar.com)
Jennifer Albert (aird...@aol.com)
Randall Haskin (str...@stein.u.washington.edu)
Pete "Ender" Walsh (en...@uunet.uu.net)
Dave (dl...@quts.ccc.amdahl.com)
Todd Henson (the...@mason1.gmu.edu)
Bill Buckley (buc...@powdml.enet.dec.com)
Lars "ORION" Karlsson ()
Tim Lodge (lodg...@csusys.ctstateu.edu)
Aaron Silverman (nis...@juno.com)
Jeremy A. Smith (js0...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu)
Bret Linford (Stmp...@aol.com)
Ryan Skadberg (sk...@dreamt.org)
Zack Gemmill (za...@lsil.com)
Jeff Chew (jc...@columbia.edu)
Steve Borzilleri (mage...@u.washington.edu)
Mike Ostrich (syr...@dreamt.org)
Paul Cashman (pel...@dreamt.org)
Irene Raceu (maj...@voyager.net)
Sander Moes (mo...@geof.ruu.nl)

Thanks also to Matt Schnoor, Rudy van IJzendoorn, Miguel Farah, Hyun Soo
Cheon, Emmanuel Clemence, Mike Ostrich, Geir Botterli, and Nigel Bridgeman
for mirroring this site.

Plus Jason Hartman, Tony Zimmerman, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, Rolling Rock,
and Parliament Lights.

Extra thanks to Jason Skewes for keeping this list in such great shape for
so long.

Extra huge colossal thanks to Mike Portnoy for "taking the time" to make
sure everything here is accurate.

And, finally, thanks to all the subscribers of the Ytsejam Mailing List
for their eternal vigilance.

Send gripes, complaints, comments, kudos, beer and suggestions for this
FAQ to: cme...@cs.uvm.edu

If you're ever in the Northern New England area - look me up. I'm always up
for trading and meeting other Ytsejammers!

Abbreviations you should know:
DT - Dream Theater... NOT DREAM THEATRE! Petrucci is very specific about it.
WDADU - When Dream And Day Unite
IAW - Images And Words
LATM - Live At The Marquee
LIT - Live in Tokyo (video)
ACOS - A Change of Seasons
YML - Ytsejam mailing list
PMU - Pull Me Under
AD - Another Day
TTT - Take The Time
LTL - Learning To Live
LSOAD - Lifting Shadows Off A Dream
CIAW - Caught In A Web
AMBI - A Mind Beside Itself
LiTS - Lost In the Sky (bootleg)
DoE - Dance of Eternity (bootleg)
CU - Consciously Unreal (bootleg)
DoL - Dream Out Loud (bootleg)
LiLI - Live In Long Island (bootleg)
AD - Acoustic Dreams (bootleg)
WDATU - When Dream And Today Unite (bootleg)
AQ - Antiquities (bootleg)
SFAM - Scenes from a Memory (bootleg)

Non-DT abbreviations you should know:
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
ROFL - Rolling on the Floor Laughing
ROTFLMAO - Rolling on the Floor Laughing My Ass Off
(also known as "Rot Flame Oh!", courtesy of Elliott Kim)
NDTC - No Dream Theater Content (used in Ytsejam post subject lines)
WTF - What the F---? (can also mean Who the F---?, Where the F---?, etc.)
YKYADTFW - You Know You're a Dream Theater Fan When...
BRB - Be right back (used on IRC all the time)
BBIAF - Be back in a few (used on IRC all the time)
LOL - Laughing out loud

Current Dream Theater Personnel
James LaBrie - Vocals Born May 5, 1963
John Myung - Bass Guitar Born January 24, 1967
John Petrucci - Guitar Born July 12, 1967
Mike Portnoy - Drums/Percussion Born April 20, 1967
Derek Sherinian - Keyboards Born August 25, 1966

Former Dream Theater Personnel
Kevin Moore - Keyboards Born May 26, 1967
Charlie Dominici - Vocals (???)

CONTENTS
0. New Questions/Frequently Changing Information
0.1 What is Dream Theater up to currently?
0.2 Is Dream Theater Changing Management?
0.3 What is Kevin Moore up to?
0.4 Do the members of DT appear on any tribute albums?
0.5 Where can I find other Dream Theater fans near me?
1. Dream Theater Resources on the Internet
1.1 Where is the Dream Theater Discography?
1.2 Where is the Dream Theater Bootleg List?
1.3 Where can I find lyrics to _____?
1.4 Are there Dream Theater web pages?
1.5 Is there a Dream Theater mailing list?
1.6 What about other mailing lists?
1.7 Is there a Dream Theater IRC Channel?
2. A Brief History of Dream Theater
3. Questions about Dream Theater history
3.1 Is there a Dream Theater Fan Club?
3.2 Who thought up the name for the band?
3.3 What does the "symbol" DT uses mean?
3.4 What does the burning heart symbolize?
3.5 What is the pepper-like symbol in the _Live at the Marquee_
booklet?
3.6 Who has toured with Dream Theater?
4. Questions about specific members of Dream Theater
4.1 Who are the current members of Dream Theater?
4.2 Why did Charlie Dominici leave DT?
4.3 Why did Kevin Moore leave DT?
4.4 What was James LaBrie doing before he joined the band?
4.5 Who inspired the band members the most?
4.6 Andrea Held Leone and Ralph R. Domonici Sr. are mentioned in the
liner notes to WDADU as the dedicants. What relation to the
band are they?
4.7 Marillion is thanked in the liners in IAW. What's the relation?
4.8 What musical instrument sponsorships does DT have?
4.9 Where did DT go to school?
4.10 Now that Kevin Moore left, and the whole reason LaBrie used
"James" was to sidestep the confusion, will he go back to
"Kevin LaBrie"?
5. Questions about DT performances/appearances
5.1 What are the Majesty demos?
5.2 What producers has Dream Theater worked with?
5.3 What songs has DT made videos for?
5.4 What songs has Dream Theater played live?
5.5 Who played the saxophone on "Another Day"?
5.6 Will DT ever release production versions of the old Majesty
demos?
5.7 What did the band have to say about recording _Awake_?
5.8 What was the "Ronnie Scott's Uncovered Gig"?
6. Questions about the songs themselves
7. Questions concerning samples used in the songs
7.1 Where is the sampled voice in "A Fortune in Lies" from?
7.2 Where were the samples used in "6:00" pulled from?
7.3 Where are the samples in "Space-Dye Vest" from?
7.4 Where are the samples in "Mirror" from?
7.5 Where are the samples in "Voices" from?
7.6 Where are the samples in "A Change of Seasons" from?
7.7 Where are the samples in "Don't Look Past Me" from?
8. Miscellaneous
8.1 What is "Subconscious"? What is "Acoustic Dreams"? What is
"When Dream and Today Unite"?
8.2 Did the band Blind Melon bash DT? What did they say?
8.3 What is the correct pronunciation of the word 'YTSEJAM'?
8.4 What are YtseCons?
8.5 Misheard lyrics
8.6 Have the FAQ Maintainers ever played any practical jokes on the
readers?

- indicates that info has been revised/added in this edition

0. New Questions/Frequently Changing Information
0.1 What is Dream Theater up to currently?

Dream Theater played five shows in the Northeastern US in December 1996.
These shows debuted five songs which will be on the new album - "Burning My
Soul", "Just Let Me Breathe", "Take Away My Pain", "Peruvian Skies", and
"Lines in the Sand." There are also rumors flying around that the Ronnie
Scott's show will be released on video sometime. Tentatively, Dream Theater
is scheduled to release a new album in the summer of 1997.

East/West Records, Dream Theater's label, has been slow in booking studio
time for the band to record this new album. During the wait, they've been
writing new music, bringing the total number of new songs to 16 - two and a
half hours of new music waiting to be recorded. The band members are as
unhappy as we are about this wait, and some members of the Ytsejam Mailing
List have taken it upon themselves to bring pressure upon East/West Records.
The electronic petition, which was closed on March 1st, was at
http://www.prognosis.com/petition.

Mike, John P, and Derek have all confirmed that the record label has received
the petition, and were very impressed by it. Mike said that "...this really
was a nice and much-needed slap in the face and reminder that there are SO
many of you incredible DT fans out there patiently waiting. Thanks to
EVERYBODY involved here on this."

This is a list of the new songs that the band have written during the wait.
Please note that this is a chronological list of when songs were demoed.
Also, times listed are running times for the demos, and not necessarily for
album versions. Finally, it has not yet been determined which songs will
make the final cut, and be released on the album.

Raise The Knife 11:15 lyrics by Portnoy
Where Are You Now 7:15 lyrics by Petrucci
Take Away My Pain 6:35 lyrics by Petrucci
Anna Lee 6:35 lyrics by LaBrie
You or Me 5:55 lyrics by Petrucci
Burning My Soul 9:00 lyrics by Portnoy
Lines in the Sand 13:40 lyrics by Petrucci
The Way it Used to Be 8:00 lyrics by LaBrie
Just Let Me Breathe 5:25 lyrics by Portnoy
Peruvian Skies 6:30 lyrics by Petrucci
Trial of Tears 12:30 lyrics by Myung
Cover My Eyes 3:20 lyrics by Petrucci
Hollow Years 6:20 lyrics by Petrucci
A New Millennium 8:15 lyrics by Portnoy
Speak To Me 6:15 lyrics by LaBrie

The music for Metropolis Part II has been written, but the lyrics have not,
and so it is not included in this list of finished songs.

The band will be playing shows this month in Europe, labeled "An Evening of
New Music with Dream Theater - Europe '97" at the following locations:

Thursday, April 10th, Forum, Nurnberg, Germany
Friday, April 11th, Babylon, Munich, Germany
Saturday, April 12th, Palalido, Milan, Italy
Monday, April 14th, Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland
Tuesday, April 15th, Noorderlight, Tilburg, Holland
Wednesday, April 16th, Noorderlight, Tilburg, Holland
Friday, April 18th, Stadthalle, Gross-Umstadt (Frankfurt), Germany
Saturday, April 19th, Biskuithalle, Bonn, Germany

As of this writing (April 13th), the shows that have been performed in
Europe have featured the same set list as the US shows in December 1996.

0.2 Did Dream Theater change management?

Well... Yes and No. Dream Theater had originally retained Round
Table Entertainment for their management. Round Table was founded by Jim
Pitulski (who was the original person at Mechanic/MCA Records who got
DT's demo noticed in the first place), and Jim formed a partnership with
Rob Shore of Focus Management so that they could co-manage DT together.
For this purpose, they used the Round Table Entertainment title. Jim has
since left the partnership and has taken the name 'Round Table' with him,
so DT is solely managed by Rob Shore and Focus Management at this time.

0.3 What is Kevin Moore up to?

In August 1994, after parting ways with DT, Kevin moved to Santa Fe,
NM and lived there for about a year while writing and recording new solo
material. Some of the demos he recorded duing this period of time were made
available through a demo dubbing project called "Music Meant To Be Heard,
Etc." that was originally set up on Ytsejam in early 1995. Write to the
Ytsejam mailing list to find out more information on the availability of the
demos.

In the summer of 1995, Kevin decided to shave his head(!) and move to
Los Angeles, CA to record some new material with Fates Warning drummer, Mark
Zonder. These songs eventually turned into the "Chroma Key" demos and
featured Kevin on keyboards/bass/vocals and Mark Zonder on drums. Three of
the Chroma Key demos, "On The Page," "Sounds Like Watercolor," and "Chroma
Key," are available for purchase on cassette directly from Kevin through his
Chroma Key web site which has been operational since March '96. The URL for
the Chroma Key home page is http://www.chromakey.com. Kevin describes his
new music as "keyboard-oriented semi-progressive rock."

Kevin recorded more "Chroma Key" songs during the last half of 1996
(with Jason Anderson on guitar, Joey Vera on bass, and Mark Zonder on drums),
and is currently mixing those songs with Steve Tushar (for Steve
Tushar/mixing info, see the following URL:
http://www.artnet.net/~carbon12/info.htm) with the intention of releasing a
CD of this new solo material independently, on his own label, Fight Evil
Records, sometime in 1997. To read an update on what Kevin is doing
currently, visit the "news" section of his Chroma Key homepage at
http://www.chromakey.com/news.html.

Kevin also plays all the keyboards on the new Fates Warning album, _A
Pleasant Shade Of Gray_, due out (in the US) on April 22, 1997.

0.4 Do the members of DT appear on any tribute albums?

Yes. Derek played keyboards on the songs "To Cry You a Song" and
"Teacher" (with the band Wolfstone) on _To Cry You a Song: A Collection
of Tull Tales_. Three band members appear on _Working Man_, a Rush
tribute album. Mike and Mr. Big's Billy Sheehan provide the rhythm section
for "Working Man," "By-Tor and the Snow Dog," "Analog Kid," "The Trees,"
"La Villa Strangiato," and "Jacob's Ladder." James sings on "By-Tor and the
Snow Dog" and on "Red Barchetta," and John Petrucci contributed a guitar
solo to "Jacob's Ladder." Mike was also the creative consultant for
_Working Man._ Both titles are available from Magna Carta records
(mag...@aol.com).

Also, John Petrucci and James appear on _Dragon Attack: A Tribute to
Queen._ James sings on "Sheer Heart Attack" and "One Vision" (both of which
have Mike Portnoy listed in the Additional Engineering credits), and John
plays on "Another One Bites The Dust." _Dragon Attack_ is available on
DeRock Records.

0.5 Where can I find other Dream Theater fans near me?

The Official Dream Theater Internet Home Page folks run a service
called the Fan Network. On this page, at http://www.rsabbs.com/dt/network/,
you can sign into the Network and find other fans in your neck of the woods.

1. Dream Theater Resources on the Internet
1.1 Where is the Dream Theater Discography?

The Dream Theater Discography is handled by Michael Backof
(mba...@gl.umbc.edu). It can be found at:

WWW: http://www.columbia.edu/~jc309/archives/ginfo/disc.html.

1.2 Where is the Dream Theater Bootleg List?

The Dream Theater Bootleg List is maintained by Michael Burstin
(mi...@cs.brandeis.edu). It can be found at:

WWW: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~mikeb/dt/boots.txt.

1.3 Where can I find lyrics to _____?

Lyric listings are maintained by Michael Kizer (mki...@goodnet.com).
This "Unofficial" Dream Theater Song Book is available at:

WWW: http://www.goodnet.com/~mkizer/dt/dt.htm
FTP: www.goodnet.com/~mkizer/dt/dt_sb13.txt

Or by e-mail from the Ytsejam Mailing List Archive by sending:

get ytsejam dt_songbook.txt

Address it to: ytsejam...@ax.com
with a subject of "asdf".

1.4 Are there Dream Theater web pages?

There are a wide variety of personal Dream Theater home pages on the
Web. In fact, way too many to list here. The Official Dream Theater
Home Page (http://www.rsabbs.com/dt/) contains a section called
Jumpstation with a list of links to most of these pages.

In addition, Eric Moegling (emoe...@wezl.org) has set up a Webring of Dream
Theater pages, called Lifting Shadows Off A Ring. The home page for the ring
is at http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=ytsejam&index.

1.5 Is there a Dream Theater Mailing List?

Actually, there are two! The primary one is called Ytsejam.

The Ytsejam mailing list can be joined by doing the following:

To subscribe to ytsejam, please email:

subscribe ytsejam your name

(replace "your name" with your own name) to
ytsejam...@ax.com with a subject of "asdf".

You will be added automatically!

The default is for the digest form of the mailing list - so if you would
rather receive each individual post - then email:

set ytsejam mail ack

to ytsejam...@ax.com with a subject line of "asdf".

NOTE: Do NOT send this request until you have received a confirmation
stating that you have been added to the list!

To post to Ytsejam - address your e-mail to:

yts...@ax.com

To unsubscribe, email:

unsubscribe ytsejam

to ytsejam...@ax.com with a subject line of "asdf".

This will take you off the list within two hours.

If you have any problems please e-mail ytseja...@ax.com and a human
will help you.

For other information on the Ytsejam mailing list (such as how to get tour
dates, this FAQ and other DT files via e-mail), please do the following:

Email:

info ytsejam

to ytsejam...@ax.com with a subject of "asdf".

You should receive the information file within two hours.

There is now a second mailing list devoted to the discussion of Dream
Theater and related topics. Unlike the Ytsejam, Voices is a moderated list.

To subscribe, send

subscribe voices "your name"

to voices-...@arastar.com, with a subject of "asdf". All other
commands are similar to Ytsejam commands.

There is also a third list, called Metropolis, which has been *very* quiet
lately, so don't worry if you're not receiving any mailings.

1.6 What about other music mailing lists?

There are internet mailing lists for other progressive bands such as: Rush,
Marrilion, etc. Directions for subscribing to them are included in the List
of Music Mailing Lists which can be retrieved by doing one of the following:

Send "gimme" to lo...@arastar.com with a subject of "lomml"
(some sites will ignore the reply since it's 130k in size.
If you have problems, try one of the alternate methods of
retrieval).

Send:

get lomml lomml-3.2-part1
get lomml lomml-3.2-part2
get lomml lomml-3.2-part3

to list...@arastar.com with a subject of "hjkl".

ftp from ftp://ftp.wwa.com/pub/dattier/lomml/3.2-951103.gz
or ftp://server.berkeley.edu/pub/music/lomml-3.2

WWW http://server.berkeley.edu/~ayukawa/lomml.html

1.7 Is there a Dream Theater IRC channel?

Ryan Skadberg maintains an Internet Relay Chat server specifically for the
Dream Theater Chat Channel. The server is at irc.dreamt.org, port 2112,
and the channel is called #ytsejam. To log on from most systems, use
these commands:

/server irc.dreamt.org 2112
/join #ytsejam

If you have a Unix account on a provider or through your school,
you should be able to access IRC with:

% irc ________ irc.dreamt.org:2112

--And fill in the blank with the IRC nickname you'd like to use.
If this doesn't work, it's possible your school or provider doesn't
provide IRC service, the dastards!

2. A Brief History of Dream Theater
Dream Theater first came to be in September 1985 when Berklee friends
John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy got together and decided there
was some music to be played. They enlisted an old school friend, Kevin Moore,
for the keys, and "Majesty" came to exist.

Their first efforts at getting material down on tape were called the
Majesty Demos. Ineffective singer Chris Collins did the vocals on eight very
progressive-sounding tracks. In March 1986 the Majesty demos were finished.
1000 copies sold within six months. Bootleg CDs of the Majesty demos
continue to sell even today.

That November, Chris left the band, as he was a mismatch all along.
A year went by without a singer and without a record deal, and more demos
were cut. Instrumental versions of the songs we now know as Afterlife, Ytse
Jam, and The Killing Hand were among them.

In November of 1987 vocalist Charlie Dominici joined the band and a
record was finally cut on the Mechanic label. This is when the issue of the
name nearly stopped Dream Theater before they started. A Las Vegas band
called Majesty forced a name change, and DT considered several different
possibilities. Glasser, Mi and Magus, and the like were tossed about and
rejected. Mike Portnoy's father Howard suggested they use the name of a
California movie theater, and the name Dream Theater was chosen.

DT quickly found out that Mechanic could not effectively promote
their record or finance the tour they needed in order to promote it on their
own, so they left the label. Charlie was fired because he didn't have DT's
progressive plans on his agenda, and he had always been weak in a live
setting. Time went by... a LOT of time.

Finally, in late 1991, Kevin James LaBrie of Winter Rose beat out
fellow throats John Arch (ex-Fates Warning), Steve Stone, Chris Cintron, and
John Hendricks for the vocalist spot. His audition was fantastic and an apt
indicator of the future potential of DT, as he sang his way through an
acoustic To Live Forever, and demo tapes of Learning to Live and Take The
Time.

EastWest records, then ATCO Atlantic, signed DT and they cut the
record _Images And Words_. Radio picked up on the opening track, "Pull Me
Under," and IAW slowly started accumulating sales. DT began to field an
obsessive and musically-inclined fan base who had been disappointed by
late-80's and early-90's glam and grunge, and had held onto their Rush, Yes,
and Floyd records, hoping for the day when another such band would come
about. They cut a video for "Pull Me Under" and it actually got rotation on
MTV... a small miracle in itself. Two more videos were cut, "Another Day"
and "Take The Time," and the latter got marginal airplay.

By halfway through the Music In Progress Tour '93, IAW was selling
lots of copies and several cuts from it were gaining heavy airplay, as well
as kindling a deep-seeded fan interest in unreleased recordings and bootlegs.
Import shipments of _When Dream And Day Unite_ sold quickly. Dream Theater
cut a live EP in April 1993 called _Live at the Marquee_. Later that year,
a live video called Live in Tokyo (sometimes titled 'Music in Progress')
was released. Still, the fans of DT needed more. Throughout the spring
and summer of 1994, there was a veritable explosion of available bootlegs
and rarities. IAW went gold in January of 1995.

DT took their own time, so to speak, in writing and recording
_Awake_, their third studio album. It was recorded between May and July 1994
and was released on October 4, 1994. It was during this time that the sky
itself fell on Dream Theater.

On August 1st, 1994 Kevin Moore decided to leave the band to pursue
his own musical interests. On August 8th, 1994 the split was made final by a
press release issued from Dream Theater's management. Several possible
replacements were tossed about. Jens Johansson auditioned for the spot.
Jordan Rudess played a gig with them but then left to play for the Dixie
Dregs. Derek Sherinian, formerly of Kiss and Alice Cooper, stepped in and
played with the band on the Awake tour. Derek was announced as an 'official'
member during the last few shows of Dream Theater's 1995 European tour.

Dream Theater reunited with IAW producer David Prater and entered the
studio in April of 1995 to record their 23-minute epic "A Change Of Seasons".
Several tracks from the Ronnie Scott's 'Uncovered' Gig were also included in
the release. The EP, entitled _A Change of Seasons_, was released on
September 19, 1995.

Dream Theater is hard at work on their new album, due to be
released in the summer of 1997. About 150 minutes worth of material has been
written. John P. and Mike have been showcasing instrumental demo versions of
some of the new songs at their clinics, including "Lines in the Sand." The
band has not yet selected a producer for the new album, but the leading
candidate appears to be Paul Northfield.

The band also played five concerts in the northeastern US in
December of 1996, where they performed five new songs they have written, as
a try-out before they go in to record them. The dates were:

Wednesday, December 4th, The Chance, Poughkeepsie, NY
Thursday, December 5th, Mulcahy's, Wantagh (LI), NY
Friday, December 6th, Toad's Place, New Haven, CT
Friday, December 13th, The Strand, Providence, RI
Saturday, December 14th, Birch Hill, Old Bridge, NJ

In March, Mike was busy in Canada and Japan giving drum clinics.

3. Questions about Dream Theater the band
3.1 Is there a Dream Theater fan club?

Fans in North America that wish to join the Dream Theater International
Fan Club can do so by following these instructions:

The cost of joining the Fan Club for one year is $15. Send a check or
money order for $15, made payable to:
"YTSE JAMS, INC."

Payment to be in U.S. funds only

Send to:
Dream Theater International Fan Club
Midtown Station, Box 1188
New York, NY 10018 USA

Fans outside of North America should follow these directions:

The cost of joining the Fan Club for one year is L10. Send L10 in the
form of a UK cheque, International Money Order, or Eurocheque, made
payable to:
"YTSE JAMS"

You may also pay in cash in Pounds Sterling Only, though this is not
recommended, and if payment is to be sent this way, it should always be
sent by registered mail.

Payment to be in UK Pounds Sterling only!

Send to:
Dream Theater International Fan Club
PO Box 1067
Caterham, Surrey CR3 5ZU, U.K.

For your membership fee you will receive an initial joining pack, which
will include:

The latest issue of the quarterly magazine "Images And Words", which
up to recently, has been the bands 'official' fanzine, and has now
been incorporated into the Fan Club set-up. This will contain all
the latest news, interviews, letters, and a section where you the
fans get to ask the band direct questions. You will also receive the
next three issues as part of your membership,

a photograph signed by all the band,

plus any additional items available at the time.

Also, throughout the year, you may receive additional news updates as
and when necessary, informing you of tour dates, clinics, or releases etc.
Upon acceptance of your payment, your starter-pack will be sent to
you.

If you want to write in, or have any questions, please contact the Fan
Club Headquarters in England, at the address above. If you require a
reply, and we cannot always guarantee this, please enclose an
International Reply Coupon (IRC), and a self addressed envelope (SAE),
and we'll see what we can do.

For further information, write to Neil Elliott, president of the DTIFC,
at 10135...@CompuServe.COM.

3.2 Who thought up the name for the band?

Mike Portnoy's father, Howard, thought they should name it after the
moviehouse near where Mike's father lived. It was called The Dream Theater.
Initially, they recorded a demo by that name, then named the band after it.
The theater itself is in Monterey, California. Several subscribers to
Ytsejam have seen the theater and plan to upload photos of it soon. Keep
checking the Dream Theater archive!

3.3 What does the "symbol" DT uses mean?

The "symbol" can be seen on the IAW disc, on the IAW cover on top of
the bed, on the WDADU cover, etc. It is the letter "M" of "MAJESTY" in a
stylized font, says Portnoy. It was once used by Mary Queen of Scots.

3.4 What does the burning heart symbolize?

According to Portnoy, it was original keyboardist Kevin Moore's idea
and essentially a copy of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The barbed wire
represented obstacles and difficulties, the heart endurance and strength,
and the fire their energy and passion.

3.5 What is the pepper-like symbol in the "Live At The Marquee" booklet?

It's called "Alceringa," which means "dream time." It was used by
another culture to describe what they believed was the "other" state of
being. They were baffled by what happened when one fell asleep, what we
today refer to as dreaming. So, they gave a name to this other world that
one entered during a slumber - Alceringa, the Dream Time.

3.6 Who has toured with Dream Theater?

Psychotic Waltz, the Galactic Cowboys, Saigon Kick, Damn The Machine,
Meanstreak (with Rena Sands, Petrucci's wife, and Marlene Portnoy, Mike's
wife), I Mother Earth, Fates Warning, Push Monkey, echolyn, Jordan Rudess &
Rod Morganstein, and others among a slew of local acts the band likes to use
for openers.


4. Questions about specific members of Dream Theater
4.1 Who are the current members of Dream Theater?

They are Kevin James LaBrie (vocals), John Petrucci (guitar), Michael
Portnoy (drums), John Myung (bass) and Derek Sherinian (keyboards).

4.2 Why did Charlie Dominici leave DT?

According to Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci, he was released because
of several things, but most importantly because he didn't fit in with the
band in a few important ways. He was far older than the rest of them, had a
different idea of what DT should be, and lacked ability as a frontman when
performing live. There were apparently a few personality conflicts at work.
Dream Theater is still in contact with Charlie. He sang at Mike Portnoy's
wedding in 1994 and he was spotted at a few of the Awake tour shows.

4.3 Why did Kevin Moore leave DT?

Kevin's musical tastes have changed over the years, and he grew
increasingly unhappy with the musical direction that the band had taken. He
felt that the differences had become so great that he could not continue in
the band.

"...in some ways it's a shock to us and in some
ways, it isn't, you know. I mean, the way that they
[the fans] consider us a 'family unit,' in a lot of
ways, it's true because, I grew up with Kevin, like,
since we were little kids and this has been our band
since... whenever. We were 17, out of high school,
you know, the first year in college, so it is kind
of weird, not having him in the band, it's
definitely strange. The only thing I can say to the
fans is, you know, so far as worrying and whatnot,
this is something that was going on with Kevin like,
or, the way he explained it to us, for a couple of
years, so he was slowly sort of stepping out of his
position, and even with the writing on "Awake", it's
not as much of his trademark and his sound and his
writing. So if they're into this album, maybe
that's a good sign because it was something that was
written a lot without his enthusiasm or without his
input for the most part, so, it's sort of a... step
to the new whatever's going to happen next. So if
they like it, that's a good sign..."

"...he didn't tell us slowly, it was unexpected for
us too. But it's just that he was thinking about it
for awhile, we didn't even know that, you know? We
sensed that he was a little bit distant, that maybe
he was unhappy, but we never thought he would leave
the band, 'cause like I said, this has been
something we've been into since we were little kids
or whatever. He told us right towards the end of
the recording session for _Awake_, which was about
mid-July, and that was really strange because, you
know, we weren't finished recording and he told us
this, so... I mean, obviously we finished up the
recording of the record, but it was... I guess no
time is a good time, but it seemed like a strange
sort of time and we were all really shocked, you
know, we were like, 'I don't understand,' you know?
It's hard for me to understand because we've been
pretty successful and we think this record is going
to do really well for us, we hope it is, and there's
a lot of things on the horizon and we've worked our
entire lives to get to this point, so it's hard for
me to relate to leaving that..."

"...I don't think you can pinpoint to one specific
reason why he left the band, but I think basically
it comes down to this... over the last couple of
years, he's sort of changed the type of music that
he's into, that he likes to write and he's demoing a
lot of stuff where he's playing everything himself
and singing himself and it's in a different style,
like techno/industrial sort of style, nothing like
our band... it just seems like playing with us, he
wasn't able to do the type of stuff that he wanted
to do and he figured he never would if he stayed in
the situation, so he wanted to be true to his
musical vision. I guess that was kind of
frustrating with him. Maybe when we started the
band and for the first couple of albums, it was the
kind of stuff he really liked doing and then for
whatever reason, whatever happened in his life...
whatever was happening, whether it was touring or
whatever, he just changed the type of stuff he was
into and he no longer felt passionate, or feels
passionate, about the style of music that Dream
Theater plays... you know, the heavy, progressive
sort of music..."
- John Petrucci

4.4 What was James LaBrie doing before he joined the band?

Kevin James LaBrie (they dropped the Kevin because they would have
otherwise confused him with Kevin Moore, and two Johns are already hard
enough to deal with, says Petrucci) sang for a Canadian glam band called
Winter Rose. He was selected from among 20 auditions and over 200 tapes by
DT during the making of IAW. This sentence is censored. ;)

4.5 Who inspired the band members the most?

In an interview, Mike Portnoy cited Neil Peart of Rush as his
greatest influence and favorite drummer. His other influences include Terry
Bozzio and Vinnie Colaiuta, but Portnoy says Peart is his drum "God".

Petrucci has two groups of influences, he said in an interview, "the
Steves and the Als." The Steves are Steve Morse, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, and
Stevie Ray Vaughan. The Als are Alex Lifeson, Al Di Meola, and Allan
Holdsworth.

John Myung's bass idols are Steve Harris and Geddy Lee.

As a band, they are influenced most (according to Portnoy) by Rush,
Queensryche, Yes, Marillion, Genesis, and Kansas. Those groups make a few
appearances here in this FAQ forasmuch as they relate to DT.

Petrucci individually likes Pantera. The whole band got on very well
with the Galactic Cowboys. Much like their listeners, they have very broad
and varied tastes. Portnoy is a regular concertgoer, and has been met at
Rush and King's X concerts by people on the Ytsejam list.

4.6 Andrea Held Leone and Ralph R. Dominici Sr. are mentioned in the liner
notes to WDADU as the dedicants. What relation to the band are they?

Andrea is Mike's late mother. Ralph is Charlie's father.

4.7 Marillion is thanked in the liners in IAW, What's the relation?

Dream Theater opened for Marillion at the Ritz in New York on
11/14/89. This was also Dominici's last show. DT also opened for Marillion
at Sundance in Bay Shore, Long Island on 6/9/90. They played an instrumental
show except that Steve Stone was introduced as the new vocalist and he came
out and sang "A Change Of Seasons." The band promptly canned him after his
horrible performance.

Since then, Steve Rothery and Steve Hogarth joined the band at their
Uncovered gig at Ronnie Scott's. Fish was also invited to sing "In The
Flesh?" at this gig but had to cancel at the last minute.

Mike Portnoy also said, "We're all really big fans. I really dig
_Misplaced Childhood._"

4.8 What musical instrument sponsorships does DT have?

Mike Portnoy--Tama Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Drum Workshop Pedals &
Hi-hats, Latin Percussion, Remo Heads and Hot Sticks. Mike originally played
Tama, changed his kit between IAW and Awake to a Mapex set, and then
changed back to Tama Star Classics.

John Petrucci--Ibanez guitars, Mesa Boogie Amps, Dimarzio Pick-ups,
Dunlop Picks, Wah Pedals.

John Myung--Yamaha Bases, Mesa Boogie Amps, D'Addario Strings.

4.9 Where did DT go to school?

The Johns, Portnoy and Sherinian went to the Berklee school of music
in Boston, MA, not Berkeley as has been erroneously mentioned on
rec.music.progressive. Berklee is a music-dedicated school that has produced
the likes of Steve Vai, Al Di Meola and Chris DeGarmo. Kevin Moore went to
SUNY Fredonia, as has been confirmed. Anyone know if LaBrie did college?

4.10 Now that Kevin Moore left, and the whole reason LaBrie used "James" was
to sidestep the confusion, will he go back to "Kevin LaBrie"?

Good question, but not likely. :)

5. Questions about DT performances/appearances
5.1 What are the Majesty demos?

Before they were Dream Theater, they were Majesty. However, there
was already a band called Majesty, so they could not release the demos. They
wound up on bootlegs and evaluation tapes. Between singers, Dream Theater did
still more demos. These are referred to as the Dream Theater Demos due to the
timeframe. Some of the songs DT has demoed include:
Another Won Your Majesty A Vision
Too Far Vital Star March of the Tyrant
A Late Summer Rain Schizophrenia Afterlife
The Death of Spock Resurrection of Ernie Cry for Freedom
Gates of Babylon @ Ytsejam The Killing Hand
Mission: Impossible Golden Slumbers * O Holy Night
Don't Look Past Me To Live Forever Metropolis
A Change of Seasons Grab That Feel $ Creep With Tonality %
Wanted: Dead or Alive (sort of a joke)

* Also called The Golden Weight
$ Later renamed Take The Time
% Later renamed Learning to Live
@ An old Rainbow song

5.2 What producers has Dream Theater worked with?

Terry Date produced WDADU. Terry Brown (Broon), the producer who took
Rush through their first eleven albums, mixed the promotional discs from
WDADU. David Prater produced IAW. Prater is the ex-drummer/producer of
Santana. Doug Oberkircher mixed Live At The Marquee. Duane Barron and John
Purdell produced Awake. David Prater was enlisted again for the recording of
"A Change of Season". There has been no word as to who will be producing the
new album. Kevin Gilbert was selected early in 1996, but he passed away.
Rumors indicate that Paul Northfield will produce the new album.

5.3 What songs has Dream Theater made videos for?

Pull Me Under
Take The Time
Another Day
Lie
The Silent Man

"Another Day" did not make MTV's playlist, even though DT felt it
had the most MTV potential. "Pull Me Under" was shot live and has received
the most airplay. "Take The Time" was shot as a full-scale video production,
but the song had to be shortened a lot and many unexpected edits in the song
throw off the video's pace and consistency. "Lie" got regular rotation.
There is no video for "Caught In a Web", contrary to what was previously
thought. "The Silent Man" was shown in Europe - to our knowledge, it has not
been sighted in the US on MTV. Mike Portnoy directed the video to "The
Silent Man." There is also a live performance video for "The Silent Man."
Again, this has only been seen in Europe.

5.4 What songs has Dream Theater played live?

A better question might be, "what songs have Dream Theater NOT
played live?" Since they play just about all of them, here is a list of
songs that either haven't been played live, or have never been recorded live
at any known show.

A Vision
Too Far
Space Dye Vest

"Scarred" was performed for the first time at the Malibu Night Club in
Lido Beach, NY on December 28, 1995, and again the next night at the Birch
Hill Night Club in Old Bridge, NJ.

Here are a few songs that have ONLY been performed live, and never
recorded in any studio or demo (yet):

Bombay Vindaloo
Moon Bubbles
Barfbag

5.5 Who plays the saxophone on "Another Day"?

Jay Beckenstein of Spiro Gyra, who owned the studio where IAW and
ACOS were put to tape, Bear Tracks.

5.6 Will DT ever release production versions of the old Majesty demos?

In some cases, they did just that (see the discog). Mike Portnoy was
asked about this, and said that while they might be fun to play live, it
really wouldn't get the band anywhere to release new recordings of them.
Since DT is concerned with moving forward, he said, it will likely not happen
more than it already has. Half the first album was production from the demos,
but the remaining demos are "just too old." They did play an instrumental
"March of the Tyrant" at Palasesto in Milano, Italy in November 1993.

5.7 What did the band have to say about recording "Awake?"

Japanese Awake Album Messages from the Band to the Fans:

John Petrucci:
Being prepared was a key element that contributed to the successful
recording of AWAKE. Unlike our previous studio releases, this one had
the benefit of hundreds of live performances shaping sounds and
developing new ideas for equipment and instrumentation. This, coupled
with a trusting relationship with our producers, resulted in a truer
expression of creative vision. We are very pleased with this recording
and excited about playing it live.

James LaBrie:
I had a great time recording, and working with John and Duane was a
pleasure because not only do they get amazing sounds, but they truly
understand the music.

John Myung:
With the recording of this album, sonically I think we've all made
individual improvements. Each of us has a distinct sound, you can hear each
instrument by itself and also hear how they all work together.

Mike Portnoy:
Upon finishing the never-ending world tour for I & W , the five of us found
ourselves bursting with creative excitement ready to explode. The shrapnel
of these ideas is what you are now listening to. I feel that AWAKE is our
most diverse and complete work to date, and I hope it is as enjoyable for you
to listen to as it was for us to create.

Kevin Moore:
I had fun experimenting with keyboard sounds with John & Duane. I'm very
happy with the raw quality we came up with.

5.8 What was the "Ronnie Scott's Uncovered Gig?"

The "Ronnie Scott's Gig" was a show in which Dream Theater played a
full show of cover tunes. Several special guests appeared as DT played the
music that has influenced their own writings and styles. The complete set
list (and guest list) was as follows:

Songs marked with (*) are available on the "A Change Of Seasons" release.
Songs marked with (+) are available on the Dream Theater International Fan
Club's Christmas CD.

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club - 1/31/95

* Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding (Elton John)
* Perfect Strangers (Deep Purple)
+ Red Hill Mining Town (U2)
* Zeppelin Medley: The Rover
Achilles Last Stand
The Song Remains The Same
+ Tears (Rush)
+ Damage Inc. (Metallica) Guest: Barney from Napalm Death
Happiness is a Warm Gun (Beatles) Guest: Steve Hogarth
Easter (Marillion) Guests: Steve Hogarth and Steve Rothery
Winter (Tori Amos)
In The Dead of Night (UK)
Yes Medley: Machine Messiah
Heart of Sunrise
Close To The Edge
Siberian Khatru
Starship Trooper Guest: Steve Howe
* The Big Medley: In The Flesh?
Carry On Wayward Son
Bohemian Rhapsody
Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin
Cruise Control
Turn It On Again

6. Questions about the songs themselves
6.1 Who sings on the satiric "Wanted Dead or Alive" demo?

John Petrucci originally recorded this demo as a practice tape for
one of his guitar students before IAW was released. The demo tracks laid
down by John were recorded with guitar and a drum machine only and no added
vocals. Eventually, Rich Kern, a friend of Kevin Moore's who also played
guitar on a few of Kevin's "Music Meant to be Heard" demos, got ahold of the
tape and decided to add some vocals of his own to the background music. The
final result is the "heliumfest" you hear on the demo.

6.2 What is "A Fortune In Lies" about?

According to Mike, it was about a friend of theirs who was busted for
stealing and the experience he gleaned from it.

6.3 What does "The Ytse Jam" mean?

YTSEJAM is MAJESTY written backwards, and it probably refers to their
original band name in that ambiguous way instrumentals refer to things.

6.4 What is "The Killing Hand" about?

John does not comment on it often, but Mike Portnoy opened up in an
interview about why it was written and what he "thinks" it's about. In the
interview, Portnoy was very careful to remind the reader that he could be all
wrong, but that it was not likely. Petrucci wrote it as a sort of "Twilight
Zone" story about war in which the main character witnesses all these
atrocities and sees the names of the dead on a wall, and then realizes it's
been him this whole time causing all the atrocities... then he sees his own
name on the wall. Very Rod Serling-type of stuff.

6.5 Is "Afterlife" a Christian song? Is "Eve?"

While the band admits Afterlife has Christian overtones, it is not
a religious tune in the same spirit as the music of King's X or Parallax.
In fact when the band used to play Afterlife live with Chris Collins, the
lyrics were completely different. Eve, the piano/guitar intro sequence used
live for both Pull Me Under and Learning To Live at different times, includes
a lot of voice samples from James Joyce's 'A Portrait Of The Artist As A
Young Man'. According to sources close to Moore, "Although Eve IS named for
the "Christian" concept of Eve, it was more inspired by James Joyce and
their shared contempt of Christianity than anything else."

6.6 What is "Pull Me Under" about?

The current explanation goes that it was inspired by Shakespeare's
"Hamlet". Prince Hamlet swore vengeance on King Claudius for murdering his
father, the former King, and then marrying his mother, still Queen. Hamlet's
famous Soliloquy was the passage in which the conflict in Hamlet's mind is
detailed, and the second verse of "Pull Me Under" coincides pretty thoroughly
with it. The very end of the song James can be heard singing this line from
Hamlet:
"Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt."

Furthermore, after seeing the video, in an interview, Portnoy said
"Who the hell was that wolfman guy in the video anyway? We had written it
based on something else entirely." Portnoy noted that while Moore did not
write PMU about Hamlet specifically, he DID write PMU about what Hamlet was
ABOUT. Same themes, ideas, etc.

The no-brainer explanation can be found at
http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/dthamlet.html.

6.7 What is "Another Day" about?

On a Long Island radio show called "Fingers' Metal Shop", Gail Fluge
(sp), who at that time was president of the Dream Theater fan club, stated
that the song was about by John Petrucci's struggle in dealing with his
father having cancer. John Sr. passed away in 1996.

Two other schools of thought have previously emerged on this subject:

Suicide is the most obvious meaning. Pretty much every verse supports
the theme of a person trying to talk someone out of killing themselves. "so
die another day... better to save the mystery."

Another equally valid point of view is that of mental illness, and
trying to cope with it as the sufferer and/or family. "they took pictures of
our dreams... etc"

6.8 What is "Take The Time" about?

"We decided to write a song about everything we'd
been going through for the past three years -
looking for a new singer, a new label & new
management - just all the changes we made & all
the frustrations we went through...but, have it
coming from each of our four different perspectives.
So, we broke it up, and said 'Okay, you take the
1st verse, you take the 2nd verse,' went away,
wrote lyrics about our feelings about all the stuff
we were going through, and then put it together.
Then [we] wrote the chorus together. That was the
1st time we had ever done that, and it's the only
song on the album where the lyrics were actually
written by everybody."
- Mike Portnoy on "TTT"

6.9 What is being said in Italian in "Take the Time" and where is it from?

It's Italian for, "now that I'm blind, I can see much clearer." It
was taken from the film "Cinema Paradiso" as the following:

"Adesso che ho
perso la vista,
ci vedo meglio
e di piu"

In Ytsejam Digest 1734, Matteo Gagliolo (mat...@usa.net) wrote
that even though these are the words seen in the video, the actual quote is
"Ora che ho perso la vista ci vedo di piu," which he says translates to
"Now that I have lost my sight, I can see clearer."

It's not a coincidence that LaBrie sings, "I can see much clearer now
I'm blind," right before the sample.

6.10 What was the original title of "Surrounded?"

Promotional cassettes for Images And Words had Surrounded labeled as
"The Longest Night" on the sleeve.

6.11 What is "Surrounded" about?

Exactly what the song is about is not known, but spiritual
enlightenment seems to be the major theme. During the _Images And Words_
tour, the band dedicated the song to Arthur Ashe, the pioneering
African-American tennis player, who life was tragically cut short by AIDS.

6.12 What story is "Metropolis part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper" based on?

It is based on the story of the telepathically-linked Romulus and
Remus from Virgil's 'Aeneid'. It has no relation to the movie "Metropolis".
Petrucci wrote it as a sort of fantasy epic, inspired by the likes of, you
guessed it, Yes and Rush. The story itself is original (the twins are named
Miracle and Sleeper and do not appear in literature) but the story type was
Homeric.

6.13 What is "Wait For Sleep" about? Who is the girl/woman in "Wait For
Sleep?"

Kevin Moore has said she was a friend of his who had a spiritual
void and a hard time filling it, reaching for something to believe in. It
dealt with her fears about belief and her grief over a loved one's death. His
explanation is longer, but that about says it.

6.14 What is "Learning to Live" about?

This has been the bigger topic of discussion on the YML because Myung
has commented briefly on it and Portnoy has, while not wanting to confirm it,
indicated that the premise is correct in an interview. Learning to Live was
inspired by the AIDS epidemic. Particularly, the "From a common fear ...
reach for life" passage, but the rest fits very snugly with the AIDS theme.

6.15 What is a "Vindaloo"?

A Bombay Vindaloo is a hot spicy herb/pepper served on Indian food,
usually chicken. It is also taken after drinks. My guess is DT got blasted in
Asia or Europe and got to try this most interesting spice. :)

6.16 Has anybody noticed the re-usable riff phenomenon?

Yes. Pull Me Under and Take The Time share a melody, which is not
quite a riff, but they are identical if juxtaposed on a corresponding
major/minor scale. Wait For Sleep and Learning to Live also share a main
riff. Thematically, none of the songs interconnect. Mike Portnoy has said
that the music is written out before the lyrics are written and set to melody.
It is possible (any interviews mention this?) that they were intended to be
counterparts and that the relation was either scrapped or made more subtle.
The PMU-TTT connection is not as direct as the WFS-LTL connection. The melody
from PMU's "This World is spinning around me, this world is spinning without
me" in a minor scale sung by LaBrie is reproduced at 4:18 of the TTT
instrumental section in a major scale played by Petrucci. So, the question
remains, "are the 16-note melodies reproduced completely by coincidence on
the same album by the same band?" Also, all throughout Awake, there is a lot
of intentional riff sharing. Without referring to the obvious Erotomania,
which is MADE UP OF riffs from other songs, the Space Dye Vest piano melody
was added to The Mirror, LSOAD, and Scarred. The section of "A Change of
Seasons" at 2:48 seems reminicent of "Erotomania".

6.17 Has anybody noticed the Another Song phenomenon?

Yes. DT has a knack, it would seem, for Another Song titles. Another
Won (from the Majesty demos), Another Day (from Images And Words), Another
Hand (prologue to "The Killing Hand" live and on LATM), and "Another World",
part V of "A Change of Seasons", are the factors of this phenomenon. The
album "Awake" seems to have escaped this trap of nomenclature. Mike
assures us that this is a coincidence.

6.18 Who wrote "To Live Forever?"

The music was written by Dream Theater. The lyrics to the song
were originally written by John Petrucci. On the Lie single, there is an
additional verse (which starts at 3:37) which was written by Kevin. This
last verse was the last songwriting contribution Kevin made to the band.

6.19 Did the demos "Death of Spock" and "Cry For Freedom" ever go anywhere?

Yes. They became "The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun" and part of
several instrumental improvisations. (listen to Bombay Vindaloo, Moon Bubbles,
and Barfbag... it's in there.)

6.20 What is "6:00" about?

"...that actually was inspired by a story that
James told me about one of his friends. He
told me about one of his friends who he used
to work with at a factory... James, I guess he
worked with him like years & years ago. Anyway,
this guy is still working at that factory & he
[James] just met him like, I guess, recently,
and he was talking to him about how he's got all
these great benefits now and everything, but...
and so that struck me as... that struck him, you
know, it's kind of affected him and I thought
about it too, and I was just thinking about how
people kind of let life live them instead of
living life sometimes, you know. And just get
caught up in just being secure and having money,
you know, to survive, which is a noble thing for
some people. But some people don't even give
themselves a chance, you know, this guy happened
to be a musician who still had a dream about
becoming a serious musician and making a career
out of it, but it was obvious that he was never
going to do anything about it. And this is kind
of like a 'do something about it' song."
- Kevin Moore

From what we have surmised, "6:00", of course is REALLY primarily
about Kevin's thoughts about leaving the band and the indecisiveness that
preceded this.

6.21 What is "Caught In A Web" about?

"...a person that's... it's not male or female,
it could be either. And it's dealing with a person
who has suppressed their feelings for so long and
has finally had enough of it and feels that
the only way that they can really live life to
it's fullest is to live from the inside out.
And that's basically what this person has come
to terms with. And they're sick of society
inducements and they feel the only way that they
can go on with life is to live it the way they feel
is the truth..."
- James LaBrie

6.22 What is "Lie" about?

According to Moore, it's connected to the theme of The Mirror.
Betrayal and disillusionment are the main ideas. There seems to be religious
symbolism in the lyrics.

For example:

"At the bottom of a lake, it's a hundred degrees I can't breathe"
= Lake of Fire / Hell

"You tell me 'bout your two more coming" = The Second Coming

6.23 What is "Space-Dye Vest" about? How did Kevin come up with this stuff?

In Kevin Moore's words from a Japanese Interview:

"It was inspired by... I was looking through a
clothing catalog & saw a picture of a girl
modeling this piece of clothing called a
space-dye vest. And, so, I fell in love with
her [laughs] for some strange reason & so the
minute I did that, the minute I was just like
obsessed w/this person, I was like, 'why am I
doing that?' & I noticed that I was doing it a
lot lately. And I think the prime reason that
I was doing that, and this is what I figured
out at the time, was that I had just come out
of a relationship where I'd gotten dumped,
basically, and so I think the situation was
that I wasn't finished giving all that I was
ready to give, so I was just, like, throwing
it around, you know, just aiming it in different
directions. It was a total case of projection.
And this song is just trying to sort it out &
just kind of admitting that I'm just kind of
lost. So it's kind of a dark song. It was very
cathartic though."

6.24 What is "Lifting Shadows off a Dream" about?

"...that song is more or less just reflecting
the duality that exists between a man and a
woman; the spiritual side of the relationship
& how they both can compliment one another."
- John Myung
(Japanese Radio Interview)

6.25 Anyone notice that "Erotomania" contains snippets of many of the songs
on the first half of Awake?

Yes. Also, part of Erotomania used to be contained within the solo
of the demo version of Pull Me Under.

6.26 What is the song "The Silent Man" about?

Mike Bahr (dur...@goodnet.com) submitted a detailed comparison of
The Silent Man and the story "1001 Arabian Nights" to the YML back in
October of 1995. You can read Mike's in-depth analysis at
http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/tsm.html.

6.27 Who sings backup vocals on "The Silent Man?"

John Purdell (Awake's producer). John Petrucci sings them live.

6.28 What is unique about the song "A Change of Seasons?"

Several things.

First of all, it's the first lyric work Mike Portnoy did. (Of
course, it is not the only vocal work Mike ever did... Mike had the dubious
privilege of singing the end of "Surrounded" after James walked off the
stage at one of their 1993 England shows. He also sang the beginning of
"The Killing Hand" at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT in December of 1996.)

Second of all, it's the longest DT song at 23:05. This is a
noteworthy distinction because it's very rare to find bands comfortable
with lengthy formats.

6.29 What is the song "A Change of Seasons" about?

When Portnoy has been asked about this question during his recent
drum clinics, He has said that "ACOS was part autobiographical part
fictional." He has indicated that it deals, in part, with the death of his
mother.

6.30 Where do the various parts of "A Change of Seasons"
start?

According to Mike Portnoy, these are the official start times of
each section:

I The Crimson Sunrise 0:00
II Innocence 3:50
III Carpe Diem 6:54
IV The Darkest of Winters 10:08
V Another World 13:01
VI The Inevitable Summer 16:59
VII The Crimson Sunset 20:12

6.31 What is this "Mercy Fuck" business I keep hearing about?

As we all know, in the "Another World" section of "A Change of
Seasons," there is a line that says "I don't need your sympathy to get me
through the day." On June 9, 1995, at a performance at the Birch Hill Night
Club in Old Bridge, NJ, James took the liberty of changing this line, and
sang instead "I don't need your mercy fuck to get me through the day." At
the same club on December 29, 1995, James changed the line again, and sang
"I don't need your fucking shit to get me through the day." Other than
these two performances, since the official recording of this song, James
has always sung this line the way appears in the _A Change of Seasons_ liner
notes.

6.32 Who wrote "Don't Look Past Me"?

The music was written by Dream Theater, and the lyrics were
written by Kevin.

7. Questions concerning the samples used in the songs
7.1 Where is the sampled voice in "A Fortune In Lies" from?

Mike Portnoy recorded it off a television documentary about the
prison system.

7.2 Where were the samples used in "6:00" pulled from?

They came from John Huston's movie "The Dead" which is based on
James Joyce's short story "The Dead" which is available separately (from
Penguin books in the US) or as part of "Dubliners" (a collection of Joyce's
short stories).

The words are (from the book):

--No, continued Aunt Kate, she wouldn't be said or led
by anyone, slaving there in that choir night and day,
night and day. Six o'clock on Christmas morning! And
all for what?

--Well, isn't it for the honour of God, Aunt Kate?
asked Mary Jane, twisting round on the piano-stool and
smiling.

Aunt Kate turned fiercely on her niece and said:

--I know all about the honour of God, Mary Jane, but I
think it's not at all honourable for the pope to turn
out the women out of the choirs that have slaved there
all their lives and put little whipper-snappers of boys
over their heads. I suppose it is for the good of the
Church if the pope does it. But it's not just, Mary
Jane, and it's not right.

7.3 Where are the samples in "Space-Dye Vest" from?

The first sample in SDV is from the Merchant/Ivory film
"A Room With A View".

The complete passage says,
"...he's the sort who can't know anyone intimately,
least of all a woman. He doesn't know what a woman
is. He wants you for a possession, something to
look at, like a painting or an ivory box. Something
to own and to display. He doesn't want you to be
real, or to think, or to live. He doesn't love you.
But I love you. I want you to have your own
thoughts and ideas and feelings, even when I hold
you in my arms...it's our last chance."

These lines are spoken by actor Julian Sands' character, George Emerson. In
this pivotal scene, he's trying to convince the woman he loves, Lucy
Honeychurch (played by Helena Bonham-Carter), who is engaged to be married
to someone else, that she's making a horrible mistake and that she truly
belongs with him instead.

Another interesting connection between SDV and "A Room With A View" is that
Kevin based most of the song around a chord progression that's actually
from the background music in movie! It only appears a couple of times in
very short sections, but it's *definitely* the same chord progression that
Kevin used in SDV.

This sample was taken from a TV commentator during the O.J. Simpson police
chase.
"Some people gave advice before about facing the facts, about
facing reality. And this is, this without a doubt, is his
biggest challenge ever. He's going to have to face it. You're
gonna have to try, he's gonna have to try and, uh, and, and,
and get some help here. I mean, you know, now no one can say
they know how he feels..."

The following is (unconfirmed) from a Conan O'Brien show:

"That's what they say that, like that in Houston, or
something. They say 'yeah, it's 180 degrees, but it's a dry
heat.'"

"In Houston they say that?"

"Oh, maybe not, I'm all mixed up."

"Dry until they hit the swimming pool."

These samples have been identified as being taken from the documentary "The
Trouble With Evan," from a Canadian series called "The Fifth Estate":

Evan's stepfather: (unintelligible talking)"...I'll get up with the
sun...she doesn't, she doesn't want you to sleep in...I don't
care what you do, I don't care what you say, you're grounded...
that door gets locked, that door gets locked at night by 9
o'clock. If you're not in this house by 9 o'clock, then you'd
better find someplace to sleep...you think you can go to your mom's
house and sucker her into it?..."(unintelligible talking)

Evan: "I can move out on my own, uhm, get a job, get my own clothes...
I'll go to the mall whenever I like... they tell me I'm much too
young..."

Irene Raceu (maj...@voyager.net) explains that the documentary is about
child abuse. As Irene explains, "The show was filmed by some researchers
because the parents supposedly complained that Evan was a problem child,
had all sorts of behavior problems, etc. So they set up cameras in the
house for many months and filmed what went on." Sander Moes
(mo...@geof.ruu.nl) also helped to compile this information.

7.4 Where are the samples from "The Mirror" from?

Mark "Itchy" Bredius wrote to the YML with the following
information, which to date has neither been confirmed nor proven wrong by
anyone else (so feel free to help out!). He says that the woman's voice
("Everything you need is around you. The only danger is inside you.") is
Mary Beth Hurt's, from a movie called "Lightsleeper," directed by Paul
Schrader in 1992. It also starred Willem Dafoe and Susan Sarandon.

Mark also wrote that the male voice is Jeremy Irons' from the
movie "Damage," from Louis Malle, also in 1992. Mark transcribed the
passages this way:

(Jeremy Irons in Damage)
The feeling that (3:23) I HAVEN'T BEHAVED AS I SHOULD.
You know, what you were saying in Hartley about passion...
You were right. I was distanted. I know I was.

(Mary Beth Hurt in Lightsleeper)
(3:26) EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS AROUND YOU, THE ONLY DANGER IS INSIDE YOU

(Jeremy Irons in Damage)
(3:34) YOU SEE, I THOUGHT YOU COULD CONTROL LIFE...
(3:39) BUT IT'S NOT LIKE THAT... There are things you...
(3:42) THERE ARE THINGS YOU CAN'T CONTROL

Mike Portnoy also pointed out that the man and woman saying "What
are you doing?" after the first verse are Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep
from the movie "Falling In Love."

The low spoken parts, such as "Resistance", etc., at the beginning
of the song, are Mike speaking.

7.5 Where are the samples in "Voices" taken from?

They're actually not samples. As noted in the liner notes to
"Awake", the dialogues in the song were provided by Prix-Mo, who is a rap
artist that was recording in the same studio at the time of the Awake
sessions. He was reading lines from the book "Cultural Revolution," which
inspired John to write the lyrics.

7.6 Where are the samples in "A Change of Seasons" from?

Most of the samples were taken from the movie "Dead Poets Society."
The part of the song after "Goodbye" and before the now-infamous "Please
Don't Go!" were taken from the movie "Table For Five." The voice is John
Voight's.

7.7 Where are the samples in "Don't Look Past Me" from?

The version of this song on Subconscious, with Jon Hendricks
singing, contains samples from two movies. The sample at the beginning
of the song is Robert DeNiro from "The Deer Hunter." The "Let me feel
bad about this" lines, spoken by Timothy Hutton, are from the movie
"Ordinary People."

8. Miscellaneous 8.1 Who is Mike Bahr and what's the deal with all these CDs
I keep hearing about?

Mike Bahr is one of the members of the YML. Sometime in 1995, he
decided that his collection of rare bootleg tapes and early demo material
could be edited into a really cool collection for the die-hard Dream
Theater fan. After some amazing editing and remastering, he culled the best
of his collection into a CD called Subconscious. He created 500 of these
CDs and sold them for $25 each. They sold out in no time. Since then,
Mike has been hand-crafting rare collectibles ever since. Here is a list
of titles that Mike has produced, both DT and non-DT:

Title: Release Date: Status:
Subconscious April 1995 500 copies, sold out
Cygnus July 1995 1000 copies, sold out
Acoustic Dreams September 1995 500 copies, sold out
When Dream and Today Unite December 1995 1250 copies, available
Antiquities March 1996 500 copies, sold out
Scenes From A Memory June 1996 500 copies, available
Critical Mass July 1996 500 copies, available
Inside The Storm September 1996 150 copies, sold out
The Wrath of God December 1996 100 copies, sold out

More titles are coming soon! Be sure to check out his web page at
http://www.goodnet.com/~durnik.

8.2 Did the band "Blind Melon" bash DT? What did they say?

Yes - in the magazine "Guitar For the Practicing Musician", two
members of Blind Melon were asked to listen and critique several
recordings. There is a transcription of the article at
http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/dt-melon.html

8.3 What is the correct pronunciation of the word - 'YTSEJAM'?

Per Mike Portnoy, the correct pronunciation is 'yit-say-jam'.

8.4 What are 'Ytsecons'?

Ytsecon I was an event that drew lots of those on the Dream Theater
mailing list together to meet the band at a 'convention' like atmosphere.
The event was organized through the Ytsejam mailing list by Barb Battaglia
(ba...@sgenva.cc.geneseo.edu) and Jeff Chew (jc...@columbia.edu). Ytsecon
took place on June 3, 1995 at the Smithtown Sheridan in New York. For the
first hour, all of the ytsejammers gathered in the "conference" room and
mingled, got to know each other, etc. Finally, Mike, John Myung, and Derek
came in to meet everyone. They signed autographs and there was a poster
raffle of rare Dream Theater European tour posters. Afterwards, Mike
popped in a tape of the studio recording of 'A Change Of Seasons'. No one
else had heard it yet because they had just recorded it a few days before
the Ytsecon. When everything came to an end and the three left, a bunch
of people were cleaning up, and Jeff Chew pulled out a freshly autographed
acoustic guitar and played the Silent Man, with everyone singing along.

There was also a Tokyo Ytsecon on May 14th, 1995 in Shimo-Kitazawa. Can
anyone give me more details...?

YtseCon II was held on December 28, 1995 at the Holiday Inn in Rockville
Centre, NY, the day of a DT performance at Malibu Night Club in Lido
Beach, NY. The second YtseCon was organized by Trey Allen
(tal...@junix.ju.edu).

YtseCon III was held on October 12, 1996 at the LaGuardia Marriott in
Queens, NY, and was organized by Jeff Chew.

8.5 Misheard Lyrics

"Did I really hear that?" Probably not. :) Taken from the YML and
compiled with the help of Scott Herman:

If you think you heard: You probably heard:

"Death is the first dancing turtle" "Death is the first dance eternal."
Metropolis Part I: The Miracle and
the Sleeper
"And my son's not so bright" "And my sun's not so bright"
A Change of Seasons
"I was blinded by a pair of dice" "I was blinded by a paradise"
A Change of Seasons
"Breaking delicate winds" "Breaking delicate wings"
Lifting Shadows off a Dream
"F--- this whore" "Thought Disorder"
Voices
"The vulture has stood on his head" "The fortune lies still in his
hands"
Take the Time
"This world is spinning in sodomy" "This world is spinning inside of
me"
Pull Me Under
"They took pictures of our trash" "They took pictures of our dreams"
Another Day
"She's been trying to leak again" "She's been trying to link again"
Wait for Sleep
"Sharing flashlights and vacations" "Sharing flesh like envy in cages"
Innocence Faded
"Watching mortality, I mow the lawn" "Wanting mortality, I'm all alone"
The Killing Hand

8.6 Have the FAQ Maintainers ever played any practical jokes on the readers?

Funny you should ask. For April Fools Day 1997, Chris replaced the FAQ with
a joke page, which you can still see at
http://www.emba.uvm.edu/~cmerlo/aprilfools97.html.

That's a FAQ, Jack.

If you would like to mirror this FAQ List, please drop me an e-mail at
cme...@cs.uvm.edu.

Again, for any corrections, information, or to discuss the NFC, mail me at
cme...@cs.uvm.edu. :)

---oooOOOooo---

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