Dream Theater are going back to basics with their new 15th studio record, A View From The Top Of The World. Moving on from the heavier sound that dominated Distance Over Time, the band have returned with a collection that they believe captures them at their progressive best. Prog catches up with guitarist John Petrucci and singer James LaBrie to discuss the most “Dream Theater album” of their career so far.

Words: Rich Wilson Images: Rayon Richards

Dream Theater being as Dream Theatery as they can be.

Tucked away in an inconspicuous industrial park in the centre of Long Island, New York, is Dream Theater’s newly renovated bolthole. In the space of a mere 18 months, this studio/rehearsal space has been the setting for the recording of Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci’s solo album, the third Liquid Tension Experiment album, and, in October 2020, where Dream Theater reunited to record their latest album, A View From The Top Of The World.

“My solo album, Terminal Velocity, was the first thing that I actually did in there,” recalls Petrucci. “It proved we could make a record here and for me, at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, it kept my sanity because it’s only about 20 minutes from my house. So, it became my office and I’d go there every day to work on the record and do the thing that I love, which is to play the guitar and be creative. We knew that we could record there and that it would sound awesome. It’s nice being in a space where you’re not worried about hourly overheads, which you would have been in a studio. Even if you blocked it out for a couple of months that could really add up quickly.”

Although the band weren’t scheduled to write another album, the loss of touring over the last year provided them with the opportunity to reconvene in the studio. With his solo album and Liquid Tension Experiment records recently released, a dearth of fresh ideas would have been understandable. But Petrucci explains that ongoing musical inspiration and a different approach to writing led to a wealth of music being created.