''The Majesty Demos'' are the first recorded attempts of progressive band Dream Theater, under their original name, Majesty. The original 1986 tape contained six tracks that were recorded on

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 ...

's analog 4-track recorder, and another 4-track recorder obtained from friends at Berklee College of Music. All the band members were about 19 years old at the time of the recording. Only 1,000 copies were recorded on cassette tape and distributed to fans and rock and metal magazines. Portnoy gave one copy to Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, a move that was instrumental in the band's break into the progressive rock scene. The line-up on the initial recording was keyboardist

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 ...

, 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 Lo ...

, 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 ...

, and drummer

. Chris Collins, the band's singer at the time, had been introduced to the band after a friend heard a demo of him singing a note-for-note version of

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche is an American heavy metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record. The original lineup ...

's "Queen of the Reich". Seventeen tracks were released by Ytse Jam Records under the title ''The Berklee Demos'' and were recorded earlier by Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung at Berklee. These tracks are instrumental. Tracks 11-17 are seven guitar miniatures, recorded by Petrucci and Portnoy late one night to demonstrate double-tracking the guitar. The songs on ''The Berklee Demos'' do not include keyboards, except for the cover of Rush's "YYZ", on which Portnoy plays keyboards. These recordings include versions of "Another Won," "Two Far," and "Your Majesty", which would all later appear on ''The Majesty Demos'', though originally they were instrumentals without keyboards. It is for this reason that these three songs actually appear twice on the Ytse Jam Records re-release, as the CD is a combination of the Berklee Demos and the Majesty Demos.Inside Sleeve of Dream Theater - Official Bootleg - The Majesty Demos 1985-1986 - Ytse Jam Records

Track listing

Ytsejam Records re-release track listing

Personnel

* Chris Collins –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

on tracks 18-23 *

– keyboards on tracks 18-23 *

– bass *

–

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 strin ...

s *

– drums; keyboards on track 6

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Majesty Demos Dream Theater albums Demo albums 1986 albums