Dream Theater
The Studio Albums: 1992-2016

Based in a love of the sophistication of YES, the virtuosity of RUSH, and the heaviness of IRON MAIDEN, DREAM THEATER had a desire to create complex, heavy, and progressive from the very beginning. Guitarist and bassist PETRUCCI and MYUNG grew up together on Long Island, New York. After high school, both received scholarships to the esteemed Berklee University of Music, where they met drummer PORTNOY, who, incidentally, grew up in a nearby area. The trio soon became friends and began making music together and settled upon the name MAJESTY. This name came about when PORTNOY described RUSH's song "Bastille Day" as "majestic" as they were waiting outside a Rush concert to open. As the band became more "serious," they went out looking for a keyboardist and vocalist. Eventually the band found PORTNOY's high schoolmate Kevin MOORE to play keys as well as schoolmate Chris COLLINS to sing in 1986. The new 5-piece recorded a 6 song demo titled simply "The Majesty Demos" in 1986 on PORTONY's analog 4-track cassette recorder, making an initial run of 1,000 tapes. The tapes, to the band's surprise sold out relatively quickly, which was aided also by the band's distribution of the tapes to friends, family, local rock and metal magazines. Only a few months after the release of the band's demo, vocalist Chris COLLINS was fired from the band. Even before this, all four instrumentalists had dropped out of college because they could not balance their hectic schedules and the four musicians, with their constant independent study of music, did not feel music school could teach them much more than they already knew. As an independent band, MAJESTY resorted to playing live as consistently as they could at local New York bars and clubs. The band found a new vocalist, the significantly older and more experienced Charlie DOMINICI, late 1987. With this added stability, the band's tour schedule increased and the band began to develop a small fan base and significant amounts of experience. However, not long after the hiring of DOMICI, the Las Vegas rock band MAJESTY contacted the New York MAJESTY and threatened legal action if they did not change their name. As a young fragile band, the five had no choice but to go on the hunt for a new name. Various names bounced around in their head, ranging from Magus to M1 to Glasser, among others. Eventually PORTNOY's father suggested "DREAM THEATER," a name he got from a small theater he ran in Monterey, California, and the name stuck. With the threat of legal dissolution behind them, DREAM THEATER began to focus more steadily on playing live and making a name for themselves. This touring paid off, as the small record label Mechanic Records contacted the band late June of 1988. Ecstatic at the prospect of being signed, the band eagerly made a meager contract with the label to release their debut record. The label bought them time at a small studio in Pennsylvania, and the band set to record their debut album in the summer of 1988. After about 3 weeks, the band's debut "When Dream and Day Unite" was finished. On March 6, 1989, DREAM THEATER made their official debut into the music world. As an early progressive metal band in a music scene dominated by punk and hair metal, the album did not sell as well as the band had wanted. Nevertheless, the band initiated a small supporting tour for the album, even after the unsupportive label cut contractual ties to the band after the album's failure. The tour was comprised of five shows, and after the fourth tensions led the band to let DOMINICI go. However, as the fifth show was opening for the popular neo-prog band MARILLION, DOMINICI was allowed to sing one last time.