As we continue our deep dive into Dream Theater’s discography, we’ve already uncovered the foundations of their sound—from the raw beginnings of When Dream and Day Unite to the breakthrough success of Images and Words. Each step has shown us how the band evolved, refining their musicianship, expanding their creative ambitions, and carving out their place in progressive metal history.
Now, we arrive at the turning point. Awake (1994) is where Dream Theater embraced a darker, more aggressive sound, balancing technical precision with raw emotion. It’s also the album that marked the end of an era, as Kevin Moore would depart shortly after its release, changing the band’s trajectory forever.
For those keeping track, here’s what we’ve covered so far and what’s coming next:
Previously covered:
- When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
- Majesty Demos (1986)
- Images and Words (1992)
Today’s focus:
- Awake (1994)
Also featuring in this chapter: To Live Forever, Eve and A Change of Seasons.
To Live Forever on Spotify
Eve on YouTube
A Change of Seasons on Spotify
Coming next week:
- Falling Into Infinity (1997)
With that, I’ll hand things over to Cael McLeish for his deep dive into Awake—an album filled with power, precision, and personal transformation.
It’s safe to say that Images and Words was a pretty big deal, yeah? Pull Me Under was doing very well, airing on MTV five times a day at certain points. But the thing with success is that people in power always want more of it, and your new followers want to get the same rush again. Enter 1994’s Awake, the first album that the band ever wrote with expectations weighing on them. The label wanted more hit singles, the fans were now along for the ride. One of the big asks from the label was to make a more “metal-oriented” album, feeling that it would be easier for them to market.
Written and recorded in a mere four months, with only a month break to recover from the Images and Words touring cycle, during which time bands like Pantera, Nirvana, and Rage Against the Machine were starting to come into mainstream notoriety, and that influence definitely isn’t held back in any way. Recorded at the legendary One on One Studios, which saw birth to the biggest metal album of all time a mere three years prior, let’s dive into Awake, an album currently celebrating its 30th anniversary.
I can’t say I know of too many albums that open with a drum groove, but Awake sure does. 6:00 takes its time to establish the drums and keyboard before being joined by the guitar stabs. Setting the song up with one of the most iconic samples in DT history, we’re into 6:00, with lyrics by Kevin Moore about a man being stuck in his situation and unable to get out, which Mike Portnoy would later reveal to be a weaker metaphor for his want to leave the band. This is a great opening to the album, greeting us with hard-hitting riffs with maybe a slight touch less of the progressive elements that we came to know on Images and Words. The song features a cool extended keyboard solo as its main instrumental feature, but the highlight to me is honestly the bridge. It’s the one moment of clean guitar and laid-back synth. It really pulls back into something quite beautiful amidst all the chaos that came before and is to come after. I also feel like 6:00 helps to establish the tone of Awake really well and gets you ready for all that’s to come.
Caught in a Web is up next, marking the first appearance of a seven-string! This is more of a groove metal track, and I love it. While being a bit more straightforward, there are some cool little proggy moments like the riff into the first chorus and the whole instrumental section. The lyrics by John Petrucci and James LaBrie talk about a web of deceit that a person can trap themselves in by lying to themselves, but ultimately deciding to accept the truth and embrace who they truly are. I’ve read some people say this could be about a closeted gay person, and while I personally don’t agree, I can see that interpretation could be in there somewhere, especially after the themes of Learning to Live. This is one that’s important to highlight before getting into Falling Into Infinity, as this song would end up getting twisted into something quite different in 1996 as Caught in Alice’s Nine Inch Tool Garden, which turned the song into more of an industrial metal-type jam. Certain elements of that version would end up appearing in New Millennium. Ultimately, these two songs would end up together as part of a medley on Live Scenes from New York as Caught in a New Millennium, but we can talk about that particular version at another point. Caught in a Web, as it appears on the album, is a banger, though when it comes to ranking the songs on the album, it probably winds up in the lower half. That’s just how good Awake is to me.
A more upbeat song is up next in the form of Innocence Faded, though with somewhat darker lyrics. Innocence Faded is another Petrucci-penned lyric, which he has said is “not solely about but definitely inspired by” his deteriorating friendship with Kevin Moore. This song is an absolute powerhouse for everyone involved—I love Kevin’s keyboard hook before the choruses, and the drumming is groovy as all hell. James’ voice is in absolute peak form here, with the second verse featuring another huge note, much like that of Learning to Live. However, the highlight of the song is definitely that guitar outro. Holy hell, if you’re someone who still wasn’t onboard with Petrucci after Under a Glass Moon and Another Day, you’ll be hooked in by the intro and then absolutely be floored by the last minute and a half of this song. This is so good that it would later be played after Scarred for the first part of the Six Degrees tour. Man, Petrucci really is on fire here!
Up next is an epic suite called A Mind Beside Itself, which is broken up into three songs. The first is an instrumental called Erotomania, which is an absolutely killer track. This is really just a big old structured jam, with the Johns holding down a riff while Kevin holds massive chords over it. After a few rounds of this almost verse/chorus progression, we get a breakdown into a solo and then the song starts changing. While very much being its own piece, I love that it serves as almost a mini-overture to The Silent Man, with the chorus melody and the acoustic breakdown being used here. The really cool thing to note with Erotomania is that quite a chunk of its back half was originally used in Pull Me Under in its demo form, check that out here:
The entire segment from 4:32 to about 5:20 was originally placed just after the solo of Pull Me Under, but was cropped down to make the song that we know today. As Erotomania draws to an end, we get something of a clean bridge with a manic flurry of bass notes. The word erotomania is defined as when you think someone is in love with you, but they aren’t.
This serenity quickly turns dark as Myung sets up the next riff, leading us into Voices, the biggest section of this suite. Voices speaks of mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. This is a very dark song, there’s no way to deny that. The imagery that Petrucci employs to really makes what he’s saying pop is bleak to say the least. Voices is a great song though, and another shining example of James’ peak vocal prowess, especially in the second verse where he’s full-on screaming. Lines like “I feel elated, I feel depressed. Sex is Death, Death is sex” really speak to the volatile state of this character’s mind. The song starts to blur the lines between religious beliefs, sex, and overall insanity. This is also a song that features a guest artist, with the rapper Prix-Mo coming in to record the spoken word section at the song’s midpoint, featuring the classic line “Everything is immaterial, ‘n’ you know that reality is immaterial. This is not reality.” Something I’ve noticed recently is that the keyboard in this section starts to play the riff from Erotomania as the guitar chugging reaches a climax. While I’ve given the nod to James, I really have to point out that this is another one of John’s best solos. Equal parts technical and emotional, it’s perfect for the song.
Once again, another clean bridge between the two songs leads us into the acoustic conclusion of the suite, The Silent Man. This was the second single from the album, which I find equal parts confusing and fitting. It’s a song that I don’t think follows the sound of the album whatsoever, being very much stripped back to just JP and James. There was even a music video for this song, which featured some great imagery from the album’s artwork, but which features a strange sight of John Myung holding a guitar! Anyway, The Silent Man is ultimately about communication breakdown and not really being able to get through to someone anymore. Once again, continuing with the religious iconography from Voices, the song serves as a rather somber epilogue to the ending of Voices. The chorus line of “Tonight I’m awake” is most likely where the album title stems from, but it could also be from a line in Innocence Faded, “the faithful live awake, the rest remain misled.” It’s also the shortest song on the album, so there isn’t too much to say. The band would usually perform this song in a full-band arrangement, as you can hear on the Live Scenes from New York album, which is kinda more fun to listen to, but also doesn’t overly suit the song in my mind. Which version do you prefer? I’d like to hear from you!
Let’s get into the album’s second half with one of the heaviest songs DT has ever made, and the first released song with Portnoy’s lyrics! This is The Mirror, a song that these days serves as something of a precursor to everyone’s favorite suite, the Twelve Step Suite. The intro to this song was written in rehearsals for the Images and Words tour and was often performed as an intro jam to Take the Time called Puppies On Acid. This song speaks to Portnoy’s struggles with alcoholism, which he wouldn’t fully address until the end of the Metropolis 2000 tour. There’s a lot of anger in James’voice, asking deep, self-reflective questions in the realization of how far the alcoholism had gone to ruin him. The Mirrorcuriously features the main riff from Space-Dye Vest, which, as we will delve into in that song, helps to sell the sense of isolation, especially going into the song’s outro.
However, The Mirror doesn’t end in The Mirror. Lie actually serves as somewhat of an interception at the ending, turning into another song instead. The two pieces were originally written together, I know, but I digress. This is a Kevin Moore-penned lyric, which deals with two different viewpoints on not wanting to give up on someone who is a bit of a lost cause, but ultimately realizing it’s worthless in the end and walking away. Once again, Kevin’s lyrics on this album seem to indicate his detachment from the band at this point and wanting to walk away from it all. Lie was the first and most successful single from the album, which featured a much shorter version, ending with a shortened version of the rapid rhythmic pattern that would instead serve as a bridge back to The Mirror’s closing solo. The music video for Lie is interesting, as it features the band as a four-piece, since Kevin had left the band but had not yet been replaced by Derek Sherinian.
After such a heavy piece, it’s time for things to slow down a little bit. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream is a ballad based on a poem by John Myung about two people who are very different and how they complement each other in a relationship. I have to say, John’s lead playing in parts of this song really reminds me of U2, with the short notes and a bit of delay style. Legend has it that this song was inspired by a jam that the band had felt was unsuccessful, but they came back and decided to rework it into a great song.
This isn’t a common song to hear live, and I’d be somewhat surprised if it returns again after the Along for the Ride tour, where the second half of this album was played in its entirety. It’s not one of my favorites on Awake, but it is a beautifully atmospheric song that gives us a good breather after the chaos of The Mirror and Lie. It’s okay to think a song is a little weaker but still love it for what it is, and the purpose it serves here is pulled off very well.
With the last of Myung’s bass harmonics ringing out from the previous song, Mike’s ride cymbal begins to chime with a bit of a jazz swing to it. Opening into a killer bassline with Myung tapping chords and a lower riff, Scarred starts with a somewhat laid-back solo. As James begins singing, the song stays somewhat tranquil. Then, the song opens up into a killer riff that I can’t help but headbang to!
Scarred is, lyrically, a summation of everything that this album has delved into. While the early verses and choruses drum up a lot of the religion and betrayal themes, I feel like the quieter bridge is a message to Moore from Petrucci, asking what’s going on as they start to drift further apart. And then we reach the instrumental section, which has one of Dream Theater’s all-time best riffs before the solos kick off. Honestly, this song really offers everything that’s been great about this album in one eleven-minute package. It’s absolutely my favorite song on Awake, and the final lyrics:
“Learning from misery, staring back at dissent, leaving distrust behind, I’m inspired and content”
feel like a perfect way to say that “hey, we’re only getting stronger, we’re learning from the world around us and making it all count.”
As the final chord progression fades out, it’s safe to say that Scarred is a perfect way to close this al— Hang on, Spotifyjust started playing some piano ballad. Can’t be right, it’s meant to repeat the album, and it just ended perfectly. Sounds like James though…
Okay, yes, there’s another song on Awake, which I’ve already mentioned, so I can’t really escape from it. Space-Dye Vestis a dark and moody piano ballad, which, in my opinion, absolutely tanks the ending of this album. This song deals with Kevin Moore’s detachment perfectly, considering it was brought into the band as a fully completed piece. As Jameswould later explain, this song is about a model in a magazine that Kevin fell in love with but started to realize that the only way he could stay in love with her was if she only ever stayed on the page—because if they ever met, it would ruin everything.
This is a pretty depressing song all up and really leaves the album off with a downer, instead of the great uplifting twist that Scarred would have left off on. For anyone wondering why James sounds quite different here, apparently, Kevinactually sang the lead underneath, which wasn’t known to the band until it came to the mixing process. This is quite easily my least favorite song on the album, even if it does give context to the sense of isolation in The Mirror.
Awake is a pretty great album, and on the right day, I’d probably give it the edge over Images and Words. This is a direct reaction to the musical landscape of the mid-’90s, and it’s done perfectly. The ten main songs form a damn near perfect album to me, even if I think Lifting Shadows is a bit on the weaker side. Awake has better production in my ears, mainly because of the lack of sample-replaced snare drums. It’s just a brilliant album and one that I feel may have been a little overlooked until the 2014 tour brought it back to life.
The only problem that holds it back from being a lock for my favorite album is Space-Dye Vest. It’s a song I genuinely don’t care for, and I’d be a lot happier if it weren’t here.
Space-Dye Vest was ultimately placed on the album in an attempt to please Kevin Moore’s different tastes in music, back when his departure from the band was only under consideration. Mike Portnoy later said that if he had known Moore’s exit was certain, the song would have never made it onto the album, naming To Live Forever as the song that would have replaced it. However, To Live Forever did serve as a B-side to the Lie single, and it’s a great song that’s worth mentioning.
To Live Forever is a beautiful, somewhat melancholy ballad. As revealed in the Live in Tokyo commentary, this song came about when the band saw U2’s Rattle and Hum movie back in 1988, meaning it actually predates the release of When Dream and Day Unite. You can feel a bit of the U2 influence, especially in John Petrucci’s lead breaks. While the music sounds hopeful, the lyrics paint a much different picture, speaking of distrust, starvation, revenge, and ultimately longing for an end to life rather than dragging on forever. My interpretation is that the lyrics describe a man who has fallen on hard times and tried to influence the world around him to no avail. All in all, I wish this had made the cut for Awake—it’s almost a breath of fresh air that only Innocence Faded even hints at offering.
There was another B-side with The Silent Man single, dating back to the Images and Words tour: Eve, an instrumental piece that used to precede Learning to Live in the encore of the 1993 tour. It’s always hard to say much about instrumentals—despite being a musician myself, I find it difficult to put instrumental music into words. With Eve, I once again feel a major sense of melancholy, almost as if revisiting a piece of nostalgia and yearning for that time again. This feeling was certainly enhanced in the live versions, where a children’s story was read during the quieter sections.
Petrucci’s final lead, the only lines in this song that use distortion, really sing to me—almost in tears. If there were ever a deluxe version of Awake that reincorporated the two cut songs, I think this would be perfect between Lifting Shadowsand Scarred. Letting that final bit of synth fade out into Portnoy’s ride cymbal would have flowed nicely, and I can even imagine the last bass harmonic transitioning into the breathy synth chords that open the song.
A Change of Seasons
Now, as we’ve reached something of a second main event.
Back in 1992, the band had wanted to release Images and Words as a double album, hoping to include one extra song. While the label ultimately pushed back against the idea, this song did make appearances on the Images and Words tour. It was drastically different from what we’re about to review. However, when Derek Sherinian joined the band, this was the first song he got to help create—rewriting the intro and helping to rework the composition.
This is A Change of Seasons.
This is the first time I’m going to be writing about a single song in multiple paragraphs, because there’s a hell of a lotto talk about here.
Opening with the new Sherinian intro, the song feels right at home with the Awake material. The depth of the seven-string guitar and the overall melody fit seamlessly with the darkness of Awake. Something I really love is Portnoy’soctaban rolls, which echo the original intro from the Images and Words era. There’s even a riff here that reminds me of Erotomania, with similar organ chords layered on top. As the intro jam, The Crimson Sunrise, suddenly transitions into Innocence, we hear James LaBrie’s first studio vocals post-vocal rupture.
This first section tells the story of a young boy observing the world with wonder and innocence, only to grow into a man who sees the world as it really is—filled with a sense of existential fear.
As the song calms into an acoustic passage, we enter the third movement, Carpe Diem. The lyrics here tell us to cherish life, and as part of that, the man returns home. His mother is leaving for a flight, and in a brief exchange, he says:
“I love you. Goodbye.”
Through movie samples leading into the next instrumental segment, The Darkest of Winters, we learn that something happened—she was killed.
The instrumental section that follows is a brilliant representation of anger, confusion, and denial. This also features one of the sickest riffs at 12:18, where the guitar, bass, and keyboards all lock into an intricate and fast riff, modulating the key three times before reaching a plateau for three mini-solos. This leads into Another World, where our protagonist feels lost, alone, and betrayed.
James delivers one of his greatest vocal performances at the key moment of the song—the “I’m sick of all you hypocrites”bridge. This moment oozes anger and resolve, and I just love James in that instant.
One final instrumental section, The Inevitable Summer, leads into the closing movement: The Crimson Sunset. Years later, our character reminisces about being older and wiser, having learned that life goes on no matter what. Ultimately, the song ends with the character dying, knowing that, despite his body being gone, he will live on in the memory of his son.
The acoustic intro returns to finish the song—ringing out with a resolution, yet never quite feeling fully complete. I wonder if that’s meant to be a metaphor for life in some way.
The Legacy of A Change of Seasons
A Change of Seasons was Dream Theater’s first song to surpass 20 minutes, whereas A Mind Beside Itself is more of a suite (even more so than Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which we’ll talk about before too long). It’s also the first song that Portnoy ever wrote lyrics for, and they hit hard.
This track is deeply personal, dedicated to Portnoy’s mother, who died in a plane crash in 1984. Given that his sister recently passed away, it feels like a tragic coincidence that we’re talking about this song right now.
Released alongside a few cover songs, this EP is actually longer than both When Dream and Day Unite and Images and Words. However, the band insisted on calling it an EP to avoid confusion with their next full-length album.
To me, A Change of Seasons has always felt like the perfect summation of the Kevin Moore era, and it’s one of the only songs to feature elements from two different keyboardists.
I was fortunate enough to see A Change of Seasons as the encore during my (so far) only Dream Theater concert in 2017—and I’m incredibly grateful that I did.
Well, that’s probably enough from me.
We’ve just done a massive deep dive through one of my favorite albums, its B-sides, and a 23-minute epic.
I’d better give you a chance to recover before we look into a few of the demos from Falling Into Infinity.
Tracklisting:
1. 6:00.
2. Caught in a Web.
3. Innocence Faded.
4. Erotomania.
5. Voices.
6. The Silent Man.
7. The Mirror.
8. Lie.
9.Lifting Shadows Off a Dream.
10. Scarred.
11. Space-Dye Vest.
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
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
http://twitter.com/dreamtheaternet
https://www.instagram.com/dreamtheaterofficial
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