Progressive metal legends DREAM THEATER have announced “Vol. 1”, a seven-LP vinyl box set dropping on September 27, 2024 via Rhino. The collection includes the albums “Images And Words”, “Awake”, “Falling Into Infinity” and “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory”.
“Vol. 1” traces DREAM THEATER‘s trajectory throughout the 1990s, highlighting the natural evolution of their signature sound in the span of an important decade and their uncanny interplay. Among many accolades, “Images And Words” (1992) not only reached gold status, but it also claimed a spot on Rolling Stone‘s coveted “100 Greatest Metal Albums Of All Time.” Not to mention, it housed signature staples such as “Pull Me Under”, “Another Day” and “Metropolis – Part 1: “The Miracle And The Sleeper”. Meanwhile, Guitar World placed “Awake” (1994) at No. 1 on its “Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994.” They maintained the momentum of this creative run with “Falling Into Infinity” (1997). Finally, “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory” (1999) has cemented a surefire legacy of its own. In a Rolling Stone poll, audiences overwhelmingly cast votes in favor of “Metropolis Pt. 2” as the “number one all-time progressive rock album.” Classic Rock chose it as the “15th greatest concept album.”
Limited to just 2,500 copies worldwide, “Vol. 1” will be followed by “Vol. 2” and “Vol. 3”, coming in 2025.
Drummer Mike Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER last October after a 13-year-absence.
Portnoy co-founded DREAM THEATER in 1985 with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung. Mike played on 10 DREAM THEATER albums over a 20-year period, from 1989’s “When Dream And Day Unite” through 2009’s “Black Clouds & Silver Linings”, before exiting the group in 2010.
Mike Mangini joined DREAM THEATER in late 2010 through a widely publicized audition following the departure of Portnoy. Mangini beat out six other of the world’s top drummers — Marco Minnemann, Virgil Donati, Aquiles Priester, Thomas Lang, Peter Wildoer and Derek Roddy — for the gig, a three-day process that was filmed for a documentary-style reality show called “The Spirit Carries On”.
This past April, DREAM THEATER announced the European leg of its “40th Anniversary Tour 2024 – 2025”. The trek — presented as “An Evening With Dream Theater” — is the first outing since Portnoy‘s return.
The European leg of DREAM THEATER‘s “40th Anniversary Tour 2024 – 2025” consists of stops in 23 cities and kicks off on October 20 and runs through November 24.