''Falling into Infinity'' is the fourth studio album by American
progressive metal
Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...
band
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 the ...
, released on September 23, 1997 through
EastWest Records
East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England.
History
Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...
. It is the band's only studio album to feature keyboardist
Derek Sherinian
Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...
, following the departure of
Kevin Moore
Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is an American keyboardist, composer, and founder of the Chroma Key music project. He is also a former member of the American progressive metal/ rock band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supe ...
in 1994.
''Falling into Infinity'' was produced by
Kevin Shirley
Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...
. 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
Power Station at BerkleeNYC, formerly known as Avatar Studios (1996–2017) and Power Station, is a recording studio at 441 West 53rd Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City. The bui ...
(previously known as Power Station Studios) in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Background
Following a brief tour in support of the ''
A Change of Seasons
''A Change of Seasons'' is an EP by progressive metal band Dream Theater, first released on September 19, 1995, through East West Records. It comprises the 23-minute title track and a collection of live cover songs performed at a fan club con ...
''
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
Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...
, who replaced
Kevin Moore
Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is an American keyboardist, composer, and founder of the Chroma Key music project. He is also a former member of the American progressive metal/ rock band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supe ...
in 1994. Around this time,
Elektra Records
Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...
was exerting pressure on the band to write concise, radio-friendly songs.
Consequently, creative conflicts arose, with guitarist
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 201 ...
accepting the label's plea for change and drummer
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 departur ...
fighting against it.
For over a year, Dream Theater wrote songs without being given permission to record them; according to Portnoy, at one point they became so frustrated that they considered retirement. In March 1997, the band was finally given the go-ahead to record the new album with
Kevin Shirley
Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...
producing. By May, the band had enough material for a
double album
A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...
but was told to keep it to one disc for budget reasons. As a result, certain songs were not included on the final cut of the album, including "Raise the Knife", "Where are You Now", "Cover My Eyes", "Speak to Me", "The Way It Used to Be", and "Metropolis Pt. 2", the latter of which was later expanded into its
own album, with the rest being included on the 1999 fan club CD "Cleaning Out the Closet". Shirley made significant alterations to some of what was left on the album; most notably, he took the middle section out of "Burning My Soul" and turned it into what would become "Hell's Kitchen". Shirley also recommended that the band work with
Desmond Child
John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...
to re-write "You or Me", resulting in Petrucci being flown down to Florida to work on the song with Child. Following the sessions, the song became "You Not Me".
Actual recording for the album began on June 2 at
The Power Station recording studio, known then as Avatar Studios from 1996 to 2017 (and reopening in 2020 as Power Station at BerkleeNYC), located at 441 West
53rd Street
53rd Street is a Midtown Manhattan, midtown cross street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, that runs adjacent to buildings such as the Citigroup Center, Citigroup building. It is 1.83 miles (2.94 km) ...
between
Ninth
In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second.
Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...
and
Tenth Avenues in the
Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...
neighborhood in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, New York City. In contrast to the difficult writing and pre-production stages, the band considered the recording sessions trouble free and enjoyable. The album, titled ''Falling into Infinity'', was completed on July 30.
Originally, Petrucci and Portnoy wanted to call it ''Stream of Consciousness'', but the rest of the band rejected the name because they felt it was too pompous (although the phrase "Stream of Consciousness" is found in the song "Lines in the Sand" and would later become the title of the instrumental piece on ''
Train of Thought
The train of thought or track of thought refers to the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to ...
''). Its eventual title was proposed by Petrucci, and its
cover art
Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game (box art), music album (album art), ...
was designed by
Storm Thorgerson
Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...
.
Composition
![20121021-215634-250 Portnoy-Sheehan-Sherinian-MacAlpine Boerderij Zoetermeer (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/20121021-215634-250_Portnoy-Sheehan-Sherinian-MacAlpine_Boerderij_Zoetermeer_%28cropped%29.jpg)
''Falling into Infinity'' is the first Dream Theater album to feature multiple songs with lyrics by Mike Portnoy. Portnoy and the rest of the band were forced to write more lyrics following the departure of Kevin Moore. All of Portnoy's lyrics were inspired by his frustration with Elektra Records: "New Millennium" and "Just Let Me Breathe" are aimed at the music industry and label, and "Burning My Soul" targets
A&R man Derek Oliver. John Petrucci wrote six lyrics for the album, including those for "Peruvian Skies"; lead singer
James LaBrie
Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead singer of American progressive metal band Dream Theater, which he has been fronting since 1991.
Early life
Kevin James LaBrie was born in Penetanguishene, Ontar ...
and bassist
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 King ...
each contributed lyrics to one song each, "Anna Lee" and "Trial of Tears" respectively; while "Hell's Kitchen" is an
instrumental
An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...
. Both "Peruvian Skies" and "Anna Lee" deal with the subject of child abuse. As is the case with most Dream Theater albums, the songs were given working titles during production; for example, "Lines in the Sand" and "Burning My Soul" were originally called "Cat's Tail" and "Carnival of Clams", respectively.
In the official Dream Theater biography ''
Lifting Shadows
Rich Wilson is a UK-based freelance rock music writer who has written for publications including '' Classic Rock Magazine'', ''Metal Hammer'', ''Record Collector'', ''Rock Hard'', the ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', and '' Prog magazine' ...
'', author Rich Wilson described ''Falling into Infinitys musical style as having an "accessible nature".
In his review of the album for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Jeremy Ulrey noted of the album: "Like many other progressive bands playing difficult music, Dream Theater inevitably chose to trim down both their bombastic production and intricate songwriting for a more laid-back approach, both live and in the studio."
[ Its writing was inspired by a multitude of artists including ]Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
.
Release
''Falling into Infinity'' was released on September 23, 1997. In America, the album debuted at number 52 on the ''Billboard'' 200. ''Falling into Infinity'' received mixed reviews from critics and fans. In a three out of five star review for AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Jeremy Ulrey called it "the band's weakest effort since their debut."[ Rich Wilson has described it as "one of the patchier albums in the band's catalogue."]
According to ''Lifting Shadows'', ''Falling into Infinity'' was considered a commercial failure, failing to break any new ground for Dream Theater or increase their sales despite its more commercial direction. As a result of the creative and personal tensions experienced during the album's production phase, it has been described as the band's "most difficult album", and eventually led to their demanding to be free from record label interference for all future albums. Mike Portnoy has mentioned that if Elektra Records, Kevin Shirley, and Desmond Child were not involved in the making of the album, he would have made a "completely different record". In 2007, the band released a demo version of the album reflecting Portnoy's original song arrangements and track listing, including a live rehearsal of the original "Metropolis Pt. 2".
In contrast to Portnoy's comments, John Petrucci has spoken fondly of the album, and in a 2014 interview stated, "Maybe I could set the records straight: I think that’s a really big misunderstanding. The label didn’t have an influence on the album. We wrote the kind of album we wanted to write."
Track listing
Personnel
Dream Theater:
*James LaBrie
Kevin James LaBrie (born May 5, 1963) is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead singer of American progressive metal band Dream Theater, which he has been fronting since 1991.
Early life
Kevin James LaBrie was born in Penetanguishene, Ontar ...
– lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
and backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...
, arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
*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 201 ...
– guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
, background vocals, arrangement
*Derek Sherinian
Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...
– keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, backing vocals, arrangement
*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 King ...
– bass, Chapman Stick
The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines ...
on tracks 1 and 8, arrangement
*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 departur ...
– drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
, percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
, backing vocals, harmony vocals
Vocal harmony is a style of vocal music in which a consonant note or notes are simultaneously sung as a main melody in a predominantly homophonic texture. Vocal harmonies are used in many subgenres of European art music, including Classical chora ...
on track 1, arrangement
Additional credits:
*Doug Pinnick
Douglas Theodore Pinnick (born September 3, 1950), sometimes stylized as dUg Pinnick or simply dUg, is an American musician best known as the bass guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and songwriter for the hard rock and progressive metal band King's ...
– additional vocals (track 7)
*Kevin Shirley
Kevin Shirley (born 29 June 1960), also known as The Caveman, is a South African music producer, engineer and mixer for many artists,Spencer et al, (2007Shirley, Kevinentry. Retrieved 4 February 2010. such as the bands Journey, Iron Maiden, ...
– engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
, mixing, production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
*Rich Alvy – engineering assistance
*Barbara Lipke – engineering assistance
*Dave Swope – mixing assistance
*Leon Zervos
Leon Zervos is a mastering engineer who has worked with many world-renowned artists, including Pink, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys, and Willie Nelson.
Life and career
Leon Zervos began his mastering career in 1982 at the then EMI Studi ...
– mastering
*Storm Thorgerson
Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English graphic designer and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other a ...
– cover art
Chart performance
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falling into Infinity
Dream Theater albums
1997 albums
Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson
East West Records albums
Albums produced by Kevin Shirley