Awake (Dream Theater Album)
''Awake'' is the third studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on October 4, 1994, through East West Records. It is the final Dream Theater album to feature original keyboardist Kevin Moore, who announced his decision to leave the band during the mixing process of the album. Much of the material for ''Awake'' was written in writing sessions between February and April 1994, during which Dream Theater were under pressure from their record label to produce an album as successful as '' Images and Words'' (1992) with a single similar to "Pull Me Under". The label wanted the band to produce a more metal-oriented album, hoping it would be easier to market. John Purdell and Duane Baron produced, engineered and mixed the album. The album's cover, designed by the band, features numerous references to the album's lyrics. Released at the height of the popularity of grunge music, ''Awake'' initially received mixed reviews, though the album was later referred ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would eventually become Dream Theater. Their current lineup consists of Petrucci, Myung, vocalist James LaBrie, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Mangini. Over the course of various lineup changes, Petrucci and Myung have been the only two constant members, and Portnoy remained with the band until 2010, when he left to pursue other musical endeavors and he has since been replaced by Mangini. After a brief stint with Chris Collins (singer), Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater not long after the release of their When Dream and Day Unite, first album), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's first keyboardist, Kevin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Audio Mixing (recorded Music)
In sound recording and reproduction, audio mixing is the process of optimizing and combining multitrack recordings into a final mono, stereo or surround sound product. In the process of combining the separate tracks, their relative levels are adjusted and balanced and various processes such as equalization and compression are commonly applied to individual tracks, groups of tracks, and the overall mix. In stereo and surround sound mixing, the placement of the tracks within the stereo (or surround) field are adjusted and balanced. Audio mixing techniques and approaches vary widely and have a significant influence on the final product. Audio mixing techniques largely depend on music genres and the quality of sound recordings involved. The process is generally carried out by a mixing engineer, though sometimes the record producer or recording artist may assist. After mixing, a mastering engineer prepares the final product for production. Audio mixing may be performed on a mixing ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Twelve-step Suite
The Twelve-step Suite (also known as the Twelve-step Saga or Alcoholics Anonymous Suite) is a set of five songs by American progressive metal and rock band Dream Theater. One song was featured on each Dream Theater studio album from ''Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence'' to ''Black Clouds & Silver Linings''. The lyrics to each song, written by the band's then-drummer Mike Portnoy, deal with his experience of alcoholism. Each song represents a certain number of the Twelve Steps. Various lyrical and musical themes run through the Suite. It was written by the band with the intention of eventually playing it live as one piece. Background By the end of Dream Theater's tour to promote their 1999 studio album, '' Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'', former drummer Mike Portnoy considered his alcoholism and drug abuse to have gone out of control: Portnoy went through periods of using other drugs, including marijuana, prescription drugs, and cocaine, though he considered alcohol to b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompaniment of a musical composition. Though riffs are most often found in rock music, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, classical music is also sometimes based on a riff, such as Ravel's Boléro. Riffs can be as simple as a tenor saxophone honking a simple, catchy rhythmic figure, or as complex as the riff-based variations in the head arrangements played by the Count Basie Orchestra. David Brackett (1999) defines riffs as "short melodic phrases", while Richard Middleton (1999) defines them as "short rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic figures repeated to form a structural framework". Rikky Rooksby states: "A riff is a short, repeated, memorable musical phrase, often pitched low on the guitar, which focuses much of the energy and excitement ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Seven-string Guitar
The seven-string guitar adds one additional string to the more common six-string guitar, commonly used to extend the bass range (usually a low B) or also to extend the treble range. The additional string is added in one of two different ways: by increasing the width of the fingerboard such that the additional string may be fretted by the left hand; or, by leaving the fingerboard unchanged and adding a "floating" bass string. In the latter case, the extra bass string lies next to the existing bass strings, but free of the fingerboard in similar fashion as the archlute and theorbo. Such unfrettable bass strings were historically known as diapasons or bourdons. Some types of seven-string guitars are specific to certain cultures such as the Russian, Mexican, and Brazilian guitars. History The history of the seven-string guitar stretches back more than 230 years. During the Renaissance period (), the European guitar generally had four courses, each strung with two gut strings, an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Groove Metal
Groove metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that began in the early 1990s. The genre achieved success in the 1990s and continued having success in the 2000s. Inspired by thrash metal and traditional heavy metal, groove metal features raspy singing and screaming, down-tuned guitars, heavy guitar riffs, and syncopated rhythms. Unlike thrash metal, groove metal is usually slower and also uses elements of traditional heavy metal. Pantera are often considered the pioneers of groove metal, and groove metal expanded in the 1990s with bands like White Zombie, Machine Head, and Sepultura. The genre continued in the 2000s with bands like Lamb of God, DevilDriver, and Five Finger Death Punch. Characteristics Groove metal is heavily influenced by thrash metal, but is focused more on heaviness as opposed to speed, even though fast songs are still common within the genre. Emphasis lies in heavy guitar riffs, often accompanied by syncopated rhythms, and guitar solos are commonplace. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alternative Metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ... that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by heavily Downtuned guitar, downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a mixture of accessible melodic vocals and Screaming (music), harsh vocals and sometimes unconventional sounds within other heavy metal styles. The term has been in use since the 1980s, although it came into prominence in the 1990s. Other genres considered part of the alternative metal movement included rap metal and funk metal, both of which influenced another prominent subgenre, nu metal. Nu metal expands the alternative metal s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Myung
John Ro Myung (; born January 24, 1967) is an American bassist and a founding member of the progressive metal group Dream Theater. Background and personal life Born in Chicago to South Korean parents, Myung grew up with John Petrucci on Kings Park, New York, Long Island. After taking violin lessons from the age of five, he started playing bass guitar at fifteen. After graduating from high school, he and Petrucci enrolled at the Berklee College of Music, where they met Mike Portnoy. The trio became the nucleus of Dream Theater, which became Myung's primary professional focus. Style Myung mainly uses a two or three finger picking style in his playing. He sometimes uses slapping and popping on some songs, such as "The Dark Eternal Night", and also uses tapping and harmonics in his bass playing. Myung's use of harmonics is frequently accompanied by a chorus effect, as in the opening of "Lifting Shadows off a Dream". The songs "These Walls" and "The Dark Eternal Night" feature ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Portnoy
Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the former drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure from Dream Theater after 25 years, with Mike Mangini taking his place as drummer of the band. Since his departure Portnoy has remained active, with a variety of bands and projects, including Adrenaline Mob, Transatlantic, Yellow Matter Custard, Flying Colors, The Winery Dogs, Liquid Tension Experiment, Metal Allegiance, Sons of Apollo, the Neal Morse Band and BPMD. Early life Portnoy was born April 20, 1967, and raised on Long Island in Long Beach, New York. His father, Howard Portnoy (1940–2009), worked as a DJ at a local radio station. Mike and his father later moved to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, to work at KRML radio station after watching the 1971 film ''Play Misty for Me''. His mother died on November 16, 1984, when t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Petrucci
John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced (often with former member Mike Portnoy before he departed the band in 2010) all of Dream Theater's albums from '' Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'' (1999) to ''A View from the Top of the World'' (2021), and has been the sole producer of the band's albums released since ''A Dramatic Turn of Events'' (2011). Petrucci has also released two solo albums: ''Suspended Animation'' (2005) and ''Terminal Velocity'' (2020). Early life and influences John Peter Petrucci was born on July 12, 1967, in Kings Park, New York, to an Italian American family. He picked up the guitar at around the age of eight because his older sister was allowed to go to bed later in order to practice the organ. However, he decided to quit the guitar when his attempts to stay up late were unsuccessful. He picked up the guitar again at the ag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the List of United States cities by population density, most densely populated major city in the United States, and is more than twice as populous as second-place Los Angeles. New York City lies at the southern tip of New York (state), New York State, and constitutes the geographical and demographic center of both the Northeast megalopolis and the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban area, urban landmass. With over 20.1 million people in its metropolitan statistical area and 23.5 million in its combined statistical area as of 2020, New York is one of the world's most populous Megacity, megacities, and over 58 million people live within of the city. New York City is a global city, global Culture of New ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Falling Into Infinity
''Falling into Infinity'' is the fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on September 23, 1997 through EastWest Records. It is the band's only studio album to feature keyboardist Derek Sherinian, following the departure of Kevin Moore in 1994. ''Falling into Infinity'' was produced by Kevin Shirley. The album's writing and pre-production phases were stressful periods for the band, as they were feeling constant pressure from the record label to deliver a more radio-friendly album. It was recorded in June 1997 at Avatar Studios (previously known as Power Station Studios) in Manhattan, New York. Background Following a brief tour in support of the ''A Change of Seasons'' EP, Dream Theater entered Dream Factory Studios in East Rutherford, New Jersey in early 1996 to begin writing material for a new album. It was their first time writing with keyboardist Derek Sherinian, who replaced Kevin Moore in 1994. Around this time, Elektra Records was exer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |