Dream Theater Album: “When Dream and Day Unite”

When Dream & Day Unite(1989). Dream Theater's debut studio album.

Most fans already know the story of Dream Theater: how the band originally started as "Majesty" but had to change it at a later time due to another existing band already using the name, how it was formed by virtuoso musicians John Petrucci(guitars), Mike Portnoy(drums), Kevin Moore(keyboards), and John Myung(bass), and how the original vocalist Chris Collins makes this album's Charlie Dominici sound like Bruce Dickinson in comparison to him(trust me on this). So I won't divulge much on that.

The first thing I noticed when listening to all the albums again is how much each album doesn't sound like the ones before and after it, yet they still maintain the signature style DT is known for. The same applies with WD&DU. It certainly doesn't have the clean and polished sound that Images & Words(1992), Awake(1994), and any of their later albums have, and the band hasn't quite found their niche yet. Its low budget production quality may be to blame for the lack of a top-end treble and bass, but the decent remastering job does help this. There is a real rawness and a sense of "urgency" in the debut's sound that hasn't been prevalent since then, and for this you can tell that DT didn't take the music too seriously and just wanted to rock out. Though DT were certainly influenced by many different bands most of these influences hadn't surfaced quite yet, and so at this point DT carried a sound which resembled a mid-80s Rush with 70s Rush's songwriting style and Queensryche's metallic edge. The fact that Dominici sings much like a nasally Geddy Lee makes the band lean into this quality even more. James LaBrie hasn't come along yet and his range definitely outclasses Dominici's, but he still isn't bad at all.

Still, taken for what it is, this sound is definitely a GOOD thing in my book because I dig every era of Rush (Older Rush fans shouldn't slag off their 80s stuff because they don't seem to realize that keyboards have always played an important role in a fair amount of good progressive rock, but that's a story for another time... 'ahem' moving on..). Kevin Moore not only knows how to write outstanding songs and melodies, but his atmoshperic keyboard flourishes and solos are quite unique. And everyone knows about the excellent musicianship interplay between Moore, Petrucci, Portnoy, and Myung, so I won't go into that. WD&DU has its own unique "feel" generating from it and you can't really say that about a lot of music. Not only that, but the song compositions combining Rush and metal here were ahead of their time! Before their breakthrough I&W and Awake albums came along and spawned HUNDREDS of clone bands (not all good I'm afraid), there was hardly ANYONE doing this kind of stuff in the late 80s. Prog metal had Queensryche, Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, Voivod, and even some Justice-era Metallica to an extent, but I think Watchtower were the only other band that was making complex metal like this at the time.

'A Fortune In Lies' starts the debut off well, which is still a concert favorite to this day. By the end of the track, you have a clear picture on what DT is all about. 'Status Seeker' comes next and it's actually a personal favorite of mine, despite being underrated. Everyone who's seen DT live has heard the concert staple 'Ytse Jam' (that's "Majesty" backwards), which sports some stellar instrumental musicianship, and it never comes across as "wankery" which sadly the band is often accused of doing by non-fans. The best song on here has to be 'The Killing Hand', containing incredible buildup throughout its 8-minutes and is probably the closest thing to their songwriting mastery on the following few albums. There's some other overlooked material on here, such as the ever-changing 'Light Fuse And Get Away', the melodic 'Afterlife', and the dark and mystical sounding 'The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun'. 'Only A Matter Of Time' finishes on a strong note.

This album marks as a solid entry in the DT catalogue, yet a lot of their later material still surpasses it, so for new fans I would NOT start here. It certainly doesn't have the instant appeal that I&W, Awake, 6 Degrees Of Inner Turbulence(2002), or even the new album Octavarium(2005) contains. However, like a lot of DT's albums, its charm and genius opens up over time. Despite being remastered, there are NO bonus tracks on here! And I KNOW DT is fully loaded with unreleased material. In fact, they probably have twice as much of it as officially released stuff, so there's definitely a potential to make a massive b-side box set collection someday. Do make sure to check the debut out. No DT collection is complete without this one.

Other recommendations:

-Rush's "Grace Under Pressure" and Marillion's "Fugazi" (both are different prog rock, but contain a similar atmosphere to WD&DU).

-Any other DT album. ALL are worth hearing (despite what many ridiculously picky fans will tell you).

-Any of the last few Symphony X albums and Kamelot's new "The Black Halo" album.

(ALSO: If you really don't like Dominici's vocals, go to the ytsejamrecords site and get the bootleg "When Dream & Day Reunite", which is a 15 year celebration of DT's existence where they play the entire WD&DU album live with LaBrie at the helm and Rudess on keyboards.)

This album is a must-buy for any avid Dream Theater fan that can appreciate complex music. One of the biggest complaints that I hear about this album concerns the vocalist, Charlie Dominici, and while I personally prefer James LaBrie as the lead, Charlie is still a fair vocalist and sings rather well in 'The Killing Hand' and 'Afterlife'. Also, the production admittedly is terrible, but if you can get past it the music itself is very much worth listening to. 'Fortune in Lies' is a fantastic opener with a great Petrucci guitar solo near the end. 'YTSE Jam' is my personal favorite; it is an extremely catchy instrumental that shows just how well in sync these guys can play at their best. 'The Killing Hand' is another classic song that is often underestimated. The rest of the album is good as well, but these three songs are the highlights. Hearing a young John Petrucci is very entertaining, and his riffs are a good indication of what is to come in future albums. Mike Portnoy's drums are okay but not that prevalent. John Myung's bass is great and is quite heavy during some songs. Kevin Moore, my favorite Dream Theater keyboardist, is incredible on this album, not for playing anything very difficult, but for rather using his keys to create a progressive feel to each song. Overall, a great album that I rate higher than Falling Into Infinity, and plus, it's always cool to look back and see how far the band has come. A very good buy for patient listeners who aren't too quick to criticize.

This is the debut album from the band that would go on to become arguably the most successful heavy progressive bands in history. Although they may not have invented prog metal, they were certainly pioneers in advancing the genre. This is the only album to feature original vocalist Charlie Dominici who would be replaced after this album by James Labrie. Keys man Kevin Moore is also on this disc, but would eventually leave. The rest of the lineup remains the same as today with John Petrucci on guitar, Mike Portnoy on drums, and John Myung on bass. Most, if not all, of the members of Dream Theater were graduates of the Berklee College of music in Boston. Every member of this band past and present have been virtuosos on their respective instruments. I personally consider this the band's weakest album, but there is still much here to enjoy. The all instrumental "Ytse Jam" is outstanding and a track they still pull out live now and then to this day. "The Killing Hand", "Fortune In Lies" and "The Ones Who Help To Set The Sun" are all great too. The vocals on this album are certainly different from the latter stuff with Labrie. Dominici has a decent voice, but is not at the same level as his instrumental compadres. The music at times delves into 80's hair metal territory and also appears to have a definite Rush and especially Queensryche influence. The production on the album is another issue. I have the re-mastered version where things have been cleaned up quite a bit, but the original version' sound was quite muddy. This is not an album for starters with Dream Theater, but for the completest it is a nice addition to their catalogue.

Funny thing about this CD - it was recorded where I grew up (Albany, NY) for probably a 'song', and what a great CD it is!!! Cannot be compared to anything DT has done since - don't even try - this is a 'fans' or 'folk who like the Queensryche sound of the 80's' CD - period. After playing Images and Words right after it, you may not even think it is the same band!

HOWEVER, the sound of early DT comes through - the prog-metal precise-ness of Petrucci, Portnoy, Moore and Myung. Sounds like they may have been doing something to please the public at the time, as there were other bands that had a 'similar' sound - but the intenseness of all of their effort cannot be ignored here...

DT today is something to be reckoned with - their shows are unreal, and their CD's deliver great music. I have everything they ever did, but still find this CD a great listen and a great perspective to a band that worked hard to get where it is today, in a world seemingly ruled by the latest trend. DT is rarely heard on the radio cuz their songs are more than 4-5 minutes, but go figure that one!! They played the heck out of 'Hey Jude', didn't they? Well, I guess a Beatles to DT comparison may be out of whack, but I cannot believe that you can hear LOTS of 3-4 minute NUMETAL at any time on the more 'progessive' stations...have written to them, and they cop the excuse 'no one asks for DT'.

Back to this CD - a gem, especially for folk that are already DT fans...a slice of history that they probably want to forget, but never will, as some really great stuff came out of their really early daze..that they still play today!!!

Ok, first of all don't expect to listen to this recording and hear I&W. It's an Indie-label record that was done on a shoestring budget and Charlie Dominici on vocals can catch you off guard if you're expecting to hear LaBrie. But it is a GOOD album and it's really cool to hear the humble beginings of such a great band. Like on other DT albums the playing is outstanding. John Myung espescially stretches his chops on bass in a way (for some reason) he hasn't done since, and Dominici does a greatly underrated job on vocals (I know first hand how hard it is to find a good singer and quite frankly they could have done much worse!). The songs themselves are not up to par with their other albums, but they are fun to listen to even though there is a slight element of 80's cheese (but nothing so bad as "Another Day"). Bottom line:If you're a DT fan, pick it up to complete your collection if for no other reason. Just make sure you listen to it.