Formation
Dream Theater was formed in Massachusetts in 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John
Myung, and drummer Mike Portnoy decided to form a band while attending the Berklee College
of Music. The trio started by covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms at
Berklee.
Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy joined together on the name Majesty for their newly formed
group. According to The Score So Far... documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a
Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box.
Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "Bastille Day" (from the album Caress of Steel)
sounded "majestic". It was then decided that Majesty would be the band's name.[13]
The trio then set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci asked his high school
bandmate Kevin Moore to play the keyboard. After he accepted the position, another friend from
home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of
"Queen of the Reich" by Queensrche.[14] During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung's
hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did
not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to
concentrate on the band.
"Another Won"
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"Another Won" from The Majesty Demos.
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The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New
York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty
Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette
became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos are still available in
their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD, through Mike Portnoy's
YtseJam Records.
In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins was
fired. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was far older and more
experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the
stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of
shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.
Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas group also named Majesty[15] threatened legal action
for intellectual property infringement related to the use of their name, so the band was forced to
adopt a new moniker. Various possibilities were proposed and tested, among them Glasser,
Magus, and M1, which were all rejected, though the band did go as Glasser for about a week,
though fans reacted poorly to this decision. Eventually, Portnoy's father suggested the name
Dream Theater, the name of a small theater in Monterey, California, and the name stuck.[16]
When Dream and Day Unite (19881990)
With their new name and band stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material
while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the
attention of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record
contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988[17] and set out to record their debut album. The band
recorded the album at Kajem Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Recording the basic
tracks took about 10 days, and the entire album was completed in about 3 weeks.[18]
When Dream and Day Unite was released in 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had
anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to
Dream Theater prior to signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New
York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were
relatively local. Their first show was at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for the
classic rock power trio Zebra.[19]
After the fourth show, Charlie Dominici was let go because the band was starting to feel the
limitations of his voice based upon the vocal style they wanted. The band was looking for a
singer with a style more like Bruce Dickinson or Geoff Tate, and Dominici's stage presence was
not what they wanted for a front man. Shortly after, however, the band Marillion asked Dream
Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was given the
opportunity to perform one last time.[19] It would be another two years before Dream Theater had
a replacement vocalist.
