Before we move forward, let’s take a moment to rewind. Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored Dream Theater’s earliest years, from their humble beginnings as Majesty to the release of their debut album, When Dream and Day Unite. We’ve dissected their raw energy, the lineup changes, and how that record laid the foundation for what was to come.
For those following along, here’s a quick reference of Cael’s deep dives so far and what’s coming next:
Previously covered:
When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
Majesty Demos – (1986)
Today’s focus:
- Images and Words (1992)
Coming next week:
- Awake – (1994)
Now, we’re stepping into the era that truly defined Dream Theater. The album that introduced James LaBrie, solidified their signature sound, and put them on the map globally: Images and Words.
With that, I’ll pass it over to Cael McLeish for his in-depth analysis of Images and Words—track by track, moment by moment.
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Hey, before we get into this, I want to be very clear here. This deep dive WILL contain spoilers for the setlist of the 40th-Anniversary Tour. If you were at one of the opening shows or have looked up the setlist already, you’re good to proceed. If you don’t want to know anything and have managed to avoid the spoilers up to here, this isn’t a safe place, I’m afraid.
One could assume that the void between When Dream and Day Unite and Images and Words was entirely bereft of gigs and almost entirely dedicated to the singer hunt, but that isn’t entirely true. In 1990, the band played Summerfest with a new singer named Steve Stone. It was their only show together as the band didn’t feel he really fit. There was another show played in Bayshore, which saw the band play an entirely instrumental setlist consisting of a few covers, early arrangements of new songs, and a few intros from WDADU.
1991 was ultimately a quiet year for the band, who found themselves holed up at BearTracks Studios (right?) in upstate New York. It was a studio owned by Jay Beckenstein from Spyro Gyra (?). Here, they found themselves working on eight new songs with a new singer named Kevin LaBrie. Now, Kevin was the new guy, and, already knowing the situation of having two Johns in the band, didn’t want to clash with Kevin Moore, so he settled upon going by his middle name, James.
June of 1992 was his first big test with the band. Having been asked to open for Iron Maiden‘s Fear of the Dark tour on the 8th, the band resolved not to have any issues with James by the time they played their biggest show to date and played three warm-up shows. These shows would feature four new songs: Pull Me Under, Under a Glass Moon, Learning to Live, and a completed version of a song they had started with Dominici called Metropolis.
As June gave way to July, the second album from Dream Theater released and put them on the map. Images and Words is most likely the album that brought you into being a fan on this forum right now, so it’s not a stretch to say that this album is huge and needs to be celebrated. It’s, very simply put, one of the band’s greatest accomplishments.
Opening with the band’s greatest hit of all time, with an intro so instantly recognizable to all Dream Theater fans, we have Pull Me Under. The main riff here is simple but oh-so memorable, and as it gives way to some much more proggy moments, like the asynchronous guitar and snare chug before the vocals take hold, a mere two minutes into the song. It’s honestly so easy and yet so difficult to point out why this song is great. Everything here is an absolute tour de force, with a very hooking chorus, set up with some great lead work by both Kevin Moore and John Petrucci. James LaBrie knocks it out of the park with his very first song with the band. Apparently, this song knocked Don’t Look Past Me from being on the finished album, and while that is a massive shame, I honestly feel it’s right. The lyrics go into Shakespearian themes, with quite a few Hamlet references thrown in, including the song’s closing stanzas. And yet, I felt kinda disappointed to see this in the encore of the 40th-Anniversary Tour somehow? It absolutely deserves it, it really should be closing this milestone tour, and yet, I just feel it’s had its time to an extent. In terms of Dream Theater, there are only two songs I’ve ever referred to as “overplayed,” and this is the top of that list. But I must say, coming back to the album right now, I’m realizing exactly why that isn’t a bad thing. I’m realizing exactly why it was ever overplayed in the first place. It’s because the song is brilliant in all senses, so we keep coming back to it. This is the single that absolutely blew up on MTV, and the reason why Images and Words sold as well as it did.
Yet, it wasn’t Pull Me Under that was meant to be the big radio sensation. Another Day was a song written to be a more accessible song for the band, as made obvious by the fact it’s one of only two songs on I&W to not hit the five-minute mark. Petrucci wrote the lyrics to Another Day about his father being diagnosed with cancer. I have to say that this has never been one of my favorite Dream Theater songs, despite the fact it has yet another example of Petrucci being an absolute guitar god. To me, Jay Beckenstein’s guest appearance on the soprano saxophone has never sat quite right with me. In all other aspects, this is a great song, I think the bridge is a great bit of songwriting, but for me, this is the song that falls even slightly flat from Images and Words.
Take the Time lifts the album right back up, though. Opening with an almost ethereal drone into John Myung’s SOS bass line and then opening into a furious guitar riff, Take the Time already has you hooked before breaking into the opening lyrics. Take the Time began life as an instrumental called Grab That Feel and was one of the songs played at the Summerfest show in 1990. The lyrics that came would end up being rather unique as they would be the only ones written by all five members of the band at the time. While I can’t tell you who wrote which verses, I can be pretty sure that Kevin Moore had the “unbroken spirit, distilled and disquiet” verse. This is a song that prominently features Kevin’s love for sampling, taking clips from Cinema Paradiso and songs by Frank Zappa, Kurtis Blow, and Public Enemy. The instrumental origins of this song can be very easily felt throughout the song’s progressive middle section. The difference between this and something like Light Fuse and Get Away is night and day, though I must say I really feel the ending section kinda reminds me of Only a Matter of Time in terms of tone. Yet another massive song that I really love!
Surrounded used to be my favorite song from Images and Words, and I may have to argue with myself as to whether it’s now second place or simply tied. The open intro feel is something special, leading into one of Petrucci‘s more laid-back solos to open into the main body of the song. While the meaning of the lyrics eludes me, as they do for many fans, I can say they definitely sound good. The keyboard hook that opens each verse is almost addictive to my ears, and I honestly can’t help but fall in love with this song every time I hear it. I love the final bridge, and how it leads back into the song’s intro to fully close out the song. It’s one of the rarer songs from the album, but it’s just a special one to me. I just can’t really formulate the words to explain why.
When you choose the opening song for your 40th-anniversary tour, you need to make sure it’s exactly right. With Metallica, they opened the 40th anniversary gigs with Hit the Lights, their very first song. Rush opened theirs with The Anarchist, opting to go from the most recent material to the start of their career. For Dream Theater, it’s Metropolis. And honestly, it really deserved to be. From the mysterious, magical opening to the band-defining instrumental section and the fact that this one song garnered so much attention that the band’s second most successful album is a direct sequel to the themes set up in this one song, how could it ever be anything else? Yes, the lyrics are rather vague, but we do get the nod to the lake of fire, to the “I was told there’s a new love that’s born for each one that has died”, and we even name Scenes From a Memory and The Dance of Eternity before the lyrics are done. But man, this song in and of itself is a powerhouse! James‘ voice is at its peak, the interplay between the band is insanity, the runs that JP and Kev play in perfect unison are just astounding. And that keyboard riff in the breakdown to the guitar solo is honestly one of my favorite tones that will ever be used on a Dream Theater song. And I haven’t even mentioned Myung‘s bass solo where he plays a bass solo! Man, this song just really defines Dream Theater for me. It’s all here! Can’t believe the “part one”moniker was just a joke to begin with, when it truly did spawn so much more.
One of the coolest opening riffs to any song kicks us into the next song, which is Under a Glass Moon. Portnoy‘s drumming on this is very cool, I love the double bass pattern he kicks this song off with. Another song that is in no way easy to decipher the lyrics for (man, I’m glad they got a little more literal once Awake kicks in so I can stop saying that), James‘ vocals soar over a rather chaotic backing instrumental. I love the turnarounds they do between each line of the first two choruses. But, for me, this song is all about two things. The intro riff, as I’ve already said, and JP‘s solo. Holy hell, Another Day was great, but Under a Glass Moon is where JP just solidifies the idea of “I’m John Petrucci, I can play a million notes in a second and make every single one of them sound better than you ever will”. This is just fantastic! Portnoy‘s drumming under the keyboard solo is another one of those quintessential drumming moments too. This whole song is a banger, nothing more needs said.
Wait for Sleep is a rather somber song, consisting of only piano and vocals. This is one of only two songs completely written by Kevin Moore, and another one that contains the album’s title as a lyric, like how “though the time will come when dream and day unite” was a lyric in Only a Matter of Time, here we get “Her images and words are running deep”. This song is said to be written about a friend of Kevin‘s who had a spiritual aura battling with her beliefs when a friend of hers passed. This is one I either tend to skip or only really listen to with the next song. It is beautiful, but I feel it really needs the context of the rest of the album, as to me, this acts as a breather between the chaos that’s just unfolded over Metropolis and Glass Moon and heading into Learning to Live.
Learning to Live is the first fully released Dream Theater song over ten minutes long. For a band with such a reputation for long songs, it seems almost difficult to believe it took two albums to get here. This song started life as an instrumental called Creep With Tonality, the other instrumental played at Summerfest 1990. This is Myung‘s first full lyrical credit, and what a great way to start with. The song is highly metaphorical but seems to be about the 1992 AIDS crisis. Learning to Live is the song that has either replaced or tied Surrounded as my favorite song on the album, definitively taking that number one spot. Everything about this song is perfect to me. Myung‘s lyrics are poetic and powerful, while James absolutely dominates with every chance he gets. John‘s acoustic solo is one of my favorite moments on this whole album, and come on? The high F#? The moment we wait for YouTube videos of every time the song is played live? Glorious! This song also uses the first musical callback Dream Theater would ever use, with an entire segment of the song being the instrumental of Wait for Sleep, now fully energized with a full band backing and killer solos from JP and Kev. Despite being over eleven minutes in length, the song feels like it’s only about five to me. It keeps moving along at such a steady pace and introducing new ideas that the whole song just washes over you in a beautiful way and removes any sense of “when is this going to end”.
To me, it isn’t just LaBrie‘s entrance that makes this the first true Dream Theater album. There are many elements here that have been refined since When Dream and Day Unite that are strongly implemented into the Dream Theater identity on Images and Words. The songwriting is so much stronger, the band seems to play with each other more than just playing their parts of the song here. All the progressive elements are brought to life completely and yet done so cohesively that it doesn’t feel weird, but rather mind-blowing. With Images and Words, we are truly introduced to the power of what this band can do. And while MTV picked up on a shortened version of Pull Me Under, the world soon knew who they were.
To me, this is the true beginning of the ride. And I’m fully on board. See you next week for Awake.
Tracklisting:
1. Pull Me Under
2. Another Day
3. Take the Time
4. Surrounded
5. Metropolis – Part I: “The Miracle and the Sleeper”
6. Under a Glass Moon
7. Wait for Sleep
8. Learning to Live
With the excitement around the band’s reunion at a fever pitch, Dream Theater will be heading out on the next leg of the An Evening with Dream Theater 40th Anniversary Tour 2024 – 2025 this month. The world tour continues December 7 in Mexico City, Mexico, at the Explanada Estadio Azteca, before wrapping up December 22 in Santiago, Chile. The North American leg is scheduled to kick off on February 7 in Philadelphia, PA, and runs through March 22, where it wraps in the band’s hometown of New York City. Dream Theater will be performing classics and fan favorites from their catalog in what promises to be an unforgettable evening of music. More information on all tickets and VIP packages can be found at: https://dreamtheater.net/tour/.
An Evening with Dream Theater 40th Anniversary Tour 2024 – 2025
February 14 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
February 15 – Dallas, TX – Texas Trust CU
February 16 – San Antonio, TX – Majestic
February 18 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Center
February 19 – Highland, CA – Yaamava Theater
February 21 – Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea
February 22 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater (Limited Tickets Remain)
February 24 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic
February 25 – Sacramento, CA – Safe Credit Union Performing
February 27 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theater (Limited Tickets Remain)
February 28 – Portland, OR – Keller Auditorium
March 2 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra
March 4 – Salt Lake City, UT – Maverik Center
March 6 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom
March 8 – Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 9 – Cleveland, OH – MGM Northfield Park (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 11 – Toronto, ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum
March 12 – Montreal, QC – Place des Arts (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 14 – Wallingford, CT – Oakdale Theater (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 15 – Boston. MA – Boch Center (Sold Out)
March 17 – Rochester, NY – Kodak
March 18 – Wheeling, WV – Capitol Theater
March 19 – Cincinnati, OH – Brady Music Center (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 21 – Washington, DC – The Anthem (Limited Tickets Remain)
March 22 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall (Limited Tickets Remain)
Find Dream Theater online:
https://www.facebook.com/dreamtheater
https://twitter.com/dreamtheaternet
https://www.instagram.com/dreamtheaterofficial
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