Your first introduction to the Gods of Prog metal. The Technical skills and virtuoso levels of musicianship is there in each individual musician. And they have been doing it for pretty much 3 decades. John Petrucci one of the all time best guitarists in my opinion.

Cosmic, I found DT about 10 years ago. I didn't like what I had heard (outside of Pull me Under), and one morning, I was walking alone in a part of town I was not familiar with, tears in my eyes because life was so hard at the moment, and I decided I would listen to Dream Theater as I walked. A song called Space Dye Vest came on. I couldn't believe how good it was, and how much it was touching my soul. For the next year, I went down the rabbit hole of DT. During this time is when I found other Progressive Metal bands, and I to this day thank Dream Theater for being the gateway for me.

My friend used to say "I don't remember their songs, just riffs and transitions from which I've learned. They make music for other people who make music."

YES!!! More Dream Theater please!!!!

I liked the band and the backup singers. These guys are great musicians.

You begin with a masterpiece. Hard to understand all part or this music. Discography of DT is rich and diverse. Please listen any title, everthing is gold. Great reaction.

Dream theater is high skilled band it’s hard to be compare them with other bands, They’re the best ever

Yes, DT is always amazing. I really recommend you to try the count of Tuscany, so beautiful song.

More Dream Theater stuff please!! Especially other songs from this same concert

"Are you like talking to me.?".... I feel ya there. You had me at Nightwish, but Dream Theater is a long time favorite for me. Love the reactions, and even more the positivity and joining in with an even broader community

God I wish it was also my first time listening to them :) Well you started by something clearly in their top 10. You'll see that with DT you basically have long epics like this (please react the them "live", like Octavarium, the Count of Tuscany...), a LOT of mid length masterpieces (breaking all illusions, the shattered fortress, a nightmare to remember, fatal tragedy,in the presence of ennemies part I or II, trial of tears, in the name of god ...), but also great melodic stuff (barstool warrior, this is the life, the spirit carries on...), instrumentals (the dance of eternity, stream of counsciousness...) and even shorter singles (the ennemy inside, forsaken..) Anyway, you're gonna have a great time diving into their discography :)

So back in late 1992 I was a massive Megadeth fan. Countdown To Extinction had just came out. I had tickets to see them for the first time at the American Theater in St Louis. But my buddy kept bugging me about this other unknown band named Dream Theater. They had a song on the radio at the time Pull me under. They were also playing in St Louis the same night at Mississippi Nights. Begrudgingly I went to the Dream Theater show. It changed my life. It changed how I think of music. Seeing them preform Images And Words live was truly a spiritual experience. They returned to St Louis the next year and played at the same place Megadeth had played a few months before. I've seen them 7 times. Still have yet to see Megadeth and I'm OK with that.

I’m so glad you picked the live version

Dream Theater have been pretty solid throughout. That was a BIG track to take your first dive into these guys! I latched onto them back in 1992 when they released the rack "Pull Me Under" from the "Images & Words" album. My mate was DJ'ing on a Friday night around March 1992 and he pulled this promo disc out.. I loved it and grabbed the album when it came out. It's one of the few albums I've played through twice in the first sitting. Still great now.

Funny you mentions Devin Townsend. John Petrucci (guitar) had Devin and Tosin Abasi come play with him and Dream Theater on a collab tour called Dreamsonic. Bunch of Prog metal goodness. 🤘🤘

Another outstanding reaction brother!! Now this is music. All masters in their own right. Dream Theater is in my top 10 favorite bands of all time. Would love to see you react to one of their earlier performances of Under A Glass Moon, live in Japan.

As a lifelong DT fan I love seeing new people get introduced to them and they ALWAYS have the same reaction. Minds blown. This is my favorite song of theirs (maybe Octavarium too). I even walked down the aisle to the middle orchestra section at my wedding lol. Great video. Subscribed!

They have the power to control time with their music it doesn't seem like 20 minutes

DREAM THEATER YEEEEEEE

Hey my favorite band of all time, ever! This was a nice intro song for you haha glad you liked it! A few thoughts.. they have some core elements that stay the same but every album has a fairly different style and feel. None of it gets boring, ever, to me anyway. You notice something different and new every listen. And yes they are all my favorite musicians and could be argued to be individually the best alive at their instrument, or at least top .000001%. Also, of course this was a special performance at Berklee where they all studied classical and jazz and met .. but the majority of their songs, especially the longer epics like this one which end up feeling like an emotional journey, all feature a very cinematic grand giant sound even without a live orchestra and choir. Jordan, the keyboardist, is the current king of tech in the music industry, and is a master at using a lot of strings and cinematic effects that sound like live instruments but it's just his keyboard or iPad (yes he plays that iPad in live shows too). A good example of this is, in the studio recorded version of this very song, that entire middle string section was played only on Jordan's keyboard! That grand full cinematic sound is one of their signature sounds, along with unison solos between Petrucci on lead guitar, and Rudess on keyboards. It sounds like one instrument a lot of the time but they play the craziest runs ever. Also im really glad you loved the vocals! Some folks either hate or love James, but i am in the love him category. Their older stuff was more operatic and as he got older those songs got tougher and folks complain sometimes about his live vocals but ive seen them live 13 times and he's been on point every time. The range of styles he's asked to sing is NOT easy especially live! It may have been suggested already but might I suggest The Alien, which won a Grammy, and features some of the craziest drumming Mangini has done (its in 17/8) and several of those keyboard/guitar unison runs. Ok one last edit i promise! Lyrically they have some of the deepest emotional powerful ideas I've heard! The range is crazy .. there are songs like Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, a 42 minute epic fictional suite that tells a story of teenage characters growing up with six different mental illnesses and the challenges of them .. then songs that tell true stories like A Nightmare to Remember, which is about an accident John Petrucci got into with his parents when he was really young and ended up in the hospital .. then you have just wild fictional dark stories like Ministry of Lost Souls, about a girl who was saved from drowning but her rescuer died in the process and his spirit vowed to protect her, but her entire life was so miserable in her grief knowing someone sacrificed themselves for her that she can't go in living, so his spirit kills her. Then you have songs like this which is about life in general and what it means to be human and discovering our own personal reasons for living and fighting! Bahahah its a wild ride, this band! Hope you dive in and enjoy!

I recommend the albums IMAGES & WORDS and AWAKE. Thanks!!!

Good to see Petrucci reacting to Petrucci. 😮

Try Breaking All Illusions from Dream Theater for another epic piece. Also When The Water Breaks by Liquid Tension Experiment. Its instrumental but most of the members are from Dream Theater aside from the bass player.

Musicians for musicians

You are definitely broke in this song reminds me of my journey lots of tears the first and last time

Seen them 3 times live. Life changing experience.

I don't know what to say. That blew me away.

Please, grab some popcorn, sit down and listen to the beautiful 42 minute long monster of a song that is Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. It is the song that truly got me addicted to Dream Theater, it is a journey you will not forget

You had the same reaction I had the first time I listened to dream theater, cheers!

If you're looking for examples of their range and some great story/meaning, I'd recommend doing the 12 step suite. The original drummer (not the one from this show) wrote songs describing his journey with the twelve steps of AA with the steps covering 5 songs. IMO those songs are a great example of their range and writing skills. The Glass Prison (steps 1-3) This Dying Soul (steps 4,5) The Root of All Evil (steps 6,7) Repentence (steps 8,9) The Shattered Fortress (steps 10-12)

Hey i'm new to your channel and i loved a few of your reactions. I really liked your ''no reaction'' for like 30 sec after the song ended, and that speaks a lot! Dream Theater is my favorite band and there's a lot of reasons why! I hope you will listen to more songs from them and it's hard to recommand a few. But i would say any of their long epic 15+ minutes epic song are all amazing, especially live AND with an orchestra. Thanks for your reactions!

You have discovered quite a rabbit hole. Enjoy.

Glad I could help with the suggestion! 🤘🏻 First time and you went for a mega track! Some of the other tracks are Pale Blue Dot and Panic Attack.

Its funny that you mention Devon Townsend. You should watch the interview that Rick Beato did with John Petrucci, Devon Townsend and Tosin Abasi that posted recently.

"What the--", "This is insane!", "Dude, this is literally--". Welcome to DT! A lot of professional and famous musicians are fans of them. 🤫

Wonderful reaction. I really appreciate your immediate reaction of just silence and sitting with it. I’d watch more DT reactions from your channel!

Unbelieveable sense of music❤❤

Your reaction to this was so similar to my first experience with DT, roughly 20 years ago. It's no exaggeration to say that discovering this band has molded me into the person I am today, musician or otherwise. If you choose to delve into their discography, you have an actual mountain's worth of treasure to dig through... and they're also in the studio writing the next album as I type this!

Been a fan since 1992 Petruci is Godlike Rudess is Godlike Myung is Godlike LaBrie in his prime is Godlike But I miss Portnoy I've been waiting for you to experience Dream Theater Flawless live band Devin Townsend just finished a tour opening for Dream Theater and he sang along with LaBrie for the Encore

Your response is the correct response upon first exposure to DT. And you picked a big one. Good on you! There is a LOT more ; )

Welcome to the Family

Glad you liked it man. Cheers

Mangini!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait until you get your hands on the entire Systematic Chaos album and the rest of their catalogue ... Train of Thought will kick your ass in a wonderfully technical and brutal fashion ❤

This band is the reason I fell in love with Loverboy! Still the hottest band from Canada!

The DT rabbit hole will be just as enjoyable as your current journey down the Nightwish rabbit hole...BUCKLE UP!!!

Excelente reaccion!! Saludos y bienvenido al mundo de Dream Theater, te recomiendo reaccionar a Breaking all ilusions de ese mismo concierto es hermoso

This dude gets it ❤

Check out some of their other loooong songs like Change Of Seasons and Count Of Tuscany

Speechlessness is appropriate, especially for this song. I have listened to them from the beginning and this is still my favorite of all time.

Try the Illumination theory, also insane.

My first exposure was As I am and then the Dance of Eternity, best band ever. You just swim in their music

If you liked this one, there's another masterpiece in that same concert... the song "Breaking all Illusions" ... one of my favourites from Dream Theater... If you want to check some more my recommendation is the whole album "Metropolis part 2", an impressive journey of a story of love, treason and assasination distributed along all the pieces of the album...

Masters of music

I love choirs in metal

I see/watch DT reactions, I sub! If you ever get to Scenes From a Memory, well, I’ll leave it at that

MIKE MANGINI🎉

Do Braking all Illusions from the same show :)

Since you love this look Liquid Tension Experiment. Same guys yet its the more experimental music they have. Also have to check Jordan Rudess solo stuff, no one plays keys like that man

would be glad to see you reacting to one of my favourite song from them, "In the Presence of My Enemies" both pt. 1 and 2

You just gained a new subscriber right here. Please please please do more Dream Theater

Do a reaction to D.T. - Live at Budokan. You might need to have a Defibrillator nearby. Lol !!

Hoping for a Portnoy reaction now that our minds were blown by the news yesterday.

And people think Cardi B, is great smh The talent these guys have is off the charts. Having grown up with prog music, they fill my heart and mind with joy. If you want to hear one of the songs that started prog, you need to listen to the song In Held Twas In I by Procol Harum off their Shine On Brightly album in 1968. This was one of the very first epic prog songs. I think you would like it!

Recomend this music of Dream Theater Octavarium

Masters! You gotta do more DT!!!!!! Newly subscribed….🤟🏻

Please more of DT

Seen this band opening for rush

broooo ngl i thought youre Petrucci haha lol just kidding, more dream theater reaction vids to come bro goodluckl!!

Funny you should mention Devin Townsend (and also, funny you don't know Dream Theater but do know who Devin Townsend is - (btw, even though Townsend's initials are DT, when someone talks about DT, they're referring to the almighty Dream Theater!), they just finished a tour in the US with Devin Townsend and Animals As Leaders called Dreamsonic. Deep, deep rabbit hole stretching over 35 years. John Petrucci (guitar) and John Myung (bass) were friends from grade school in Long Island, and purportedly they met Mike Portnoy (DT's first drummer and a HUGE influence on the band for 2 decades) while waiting in line to buy tickets to a Rush concert. You started with a behemoth like Illumination Theory (and especially the live version you watched, which was a special one-off with an orchestra made up of students from Berklee College, where John&John met Mike (Jordan Rudess, keyboard, went to Julliard, and James Labrie, singer, is from Canada). So this is one of about a dozen epic masterpieces by the band, some of which I'll list below in no special order, other than to mention that my 2 favorites are Octavarium and the entire concept album Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory, in my eyes it's their pinnacle, this and Octavarium are their finest work. . Songs worth mentioning in this list: 1. Octavarium. An absolute master composition. 24 minutes of awesomeness. The album of the same name has a couple more gems, like Sacrificed Sons, The Root of All Evil or Panic Attack. 2. A Change of Seasons - originally meant to be part of the groundbreaking Images and Words album, the record company said they already had lots of material and the song was way too long for it not to become a double album. So they released it later as an EP. 3. Illumination Theory (self-explanatory, you watched the video!) 4. In the Presence of Enemies (Parts I & II), the two parts open and close their underrated Systematic Chaos album. 5. I especially love side 1 of their monster album Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, with 4 songs: The Glass Prison, 2. Blind Faith, 3. Misunderstood, and 4. The Great Debate. 6. The Count of Tuscany, another epic and long song (23 minutes I think) off their A Dramatic Turn of Events album. On and on... Their best albums for me are: 1. Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory - A concept album, all the songs are tied together and tell an intricate and tragic love story/murder mystery from beginning to end). 2. Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - In addition to side 1 mentioned above, side 2 is the actual song called Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, six separate stories of six separate people dealing with different mental health issues. Timewise, I think it's like 42 minutes long. 3. Awake - Seriously underrated, the production is impeccable and all the songs are fantastic, with Voices standing out for the atmosphere and what I think is one of Petrucci's best guitar solos ever. 4. Train of Thought - Their heaviest album, it is also majestically produced and the songs are all full-on, in-your-face heavy metal goodness. Like I said deep, DEEP rabbit hole!

It will always bother me that some of the lyrics are wrong in that upload lol

There’s a lot to unpack with Dream Theater, but it’s very worth the effort. Their music is complex and cerebral in a lot of ways, and they are absolute masters of their craft. Not gonna lie, this one isn’t my favorite song of theirs by a long shot, I tend to prefer their older songs from the Portnoy days as they tend to be more structured and melodic in their own crazy way, but these guys are easily one of my favorite bands. A few pieces to add to the list, in no particular order, judging by what reactions of yours I’ve seen. As I Am Misunderstood Root of All Evil Sacrificed Sons Panic Attack Octavarium Glass Prison Change of Seasons Count of Tuscany Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance (MASSIVE song with multiple parts) Scenes From A Memory (concept album) Another Day On The Backs of Angels One thing to note, however. As great of a group of musicians they are, sometimes their live recordings can be a bit inconsistent. Instrumentally they absolutely kill it every time, but sadly their singer James LaBrie has had some damage done to his voice over the years and depending on what year it is and how long in tour they’d been he can struggle to keep up with the rest of the band at times. He’s fantastic in the studio versions, though, given that he has time to properly rest and exercise his voice. Live at Budokan and Score are generally the most consistently good concerts they have recorded and in my opinion show off what the whole band is capable of at their best.

Can't wait Portnoy play this song...

I miss mike mangini 🥲💔

Activa los subtitulos en el audio. en español

See i like prog, i listen to several groups. But for some reason DT eludes me. I tried a couple and they just didn't do it for me. Maybe it was the metal part, maybe it was just too complex. This one tho i liked, and appreciated a good deal of it. I'll have to give a few more listens, but i could grow to like it. I'm sure we'll hear more from them on the channel and i may try again myself. This performance however was outstanding, with all the elements of orchestra and added stuff. Let's see where this goes. ❤ and ✌️

If you like DT, have you listened to older Savatage stuff? : D Just thinking you might like that, too. :D

Great tune to react, not the best tho. IMHO you should react to Octavarium or The View From the Top of The World. If you like heavier stuff maybe Glass Prission or Count of Tuscany.

I love your eyes and your beard! Am I gay?

Over the years I’ve tried to get into DT, but there’s something that stops me. I know they’re god tier level prog, maybe I’m just not cut out for them.. Some prog/ melodic death metal I’m certain you’d enjoy is Persephone - Merkabah. Another band to check out is Fallujah - The Void Alone.

You can’t react to your own band John. Can’t slap on a pair of glasses and pretend you’re not the real Petrucci.

I am going to miss you Mike Manginni. I don't want Portnoy back.