DREAM THEATER RETURN OVERSEAS TO HEADLINE THE “PROGRESSIVE NATION” TOUR IN 15 COUNTRIES

DREAM THEATER

RETURN OVERSEAS TO HEADLINE
THE “PROGRESSIVE NATION” TOUR IN 15 COUNTRIES

SPECIAL DELUXE EDITION OF THE ‘BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS’ ALBUM INCLUDES THE BAND’S INTERPRETATION
 OF THREE SONGS BY QUEEN

BAND RECEIVES PRAISE FROM BRIAN MAY OF QUEEN
AND OTHER MUSICIANS

Having wrapped the successful second incarnation of their summer North American “Progressive Nation” tour with a stellar performance at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, DREAM THEATER are taking a brief break before returning to headline the “Progressive Nation” tour overseas. From September 23 in Helsinki, Finland to October 31 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the progressive metal titans will visit 15 countries with Opeth, Big Elf and Unexpect.

With their current and 10th studio release BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS (Roadrunner)—hailed as “soaring prog metal” (Washington Post, 7/31/09) and “as highbrow as The Mars Volta, as grandiose as Muse and as heavy as Metallica” (Mojo, July 2009)–DREAM THEATER are enjoying the greatest chart success of their 25-year career. The June 23, 2009 release had a #1 debut on the Billboard European chart and 12 Top Ten album chart debuts around the world including the U.S. where it debuted at #6.

As always, DREAM THEATER–James LaBrie (vocals), John Myung (bass), John Petrucci (guitar, vocals), Mike Portnoy (drums, percussion, vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards, Continuum)–keep things interesting for their fans and have created a special three-disc deluxe edition of BLACK CLOUDS & SILVER LININGS. It features the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and another CD of six cover songs, including a startling eight-minute track bringing together three Queen songs from the legendary band’s classic 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack ("Tenement Funster," "Flick of the Wrist," "Lily of the Valley").

In fact, Queen guitarist Brian May became a huge admirer of DREAM THEATER after seeing them perform this past June at the Download Festival in the UK. He said: “The whole band are virtuosos … I'm kind of ashamed I never discovered them before. Their set was completely without any hint of 'playing to the Gallery'. They took their time mapping out their songs, which I can only say succulently drip with the best kind of complexity. Wonderful playing. I will be back for more.”

Read all of May’s quotes below, along with praise from other DREAM THEATER’s peers such as Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Steve Morse of Deep Purple, as well as Mikael Akerfeldt, the lead vocalist and lead guitarist from Opeth.

“…I was also, by one of those strange alignments of the planets, able to see the band who have just delivered what my mate Rog called (totally unprompted last week) "The best Queen cover job ever.” Yes, the redoubtable Dream Theater. IT was a revelation. Their scope is way beyond covering Ancient Rock Bands, of course … and actually way beyond Rock, I'd say. They are what would have been called, about 30 years ago–truly 'progressive, with more than a touch of fusion.’ But their musicianship is way beyond even that. The whole band are virtuosos … I'm kind of ashamed I never discovered them before. Their set was completely without any hint of 'playing to the Gallery.’ They took their time mapping out their songs, which I can only say succulently drip with the best kind of complexity. Wonderful playing. I will be back for more. So will about 80,000 Classic Rock fans who gave them a great reception in the old "Monsters of Rock" fields–what we all used to know as the Donnington Castle gig.”  –June, 2009

"Dream Theater is this generation's preeminent progressive rock band. They are peerless as a heavy, tight, and creative collection of soloists evolving with each new CD and tour."  –July, 2009

"I listened to the new Dream Theater record and realized that the band has crafted their art with passion and maturity and have succeeded in elevating their work to a new level of melodic intensity. It's really good stuff!" –July, 2009

“These guys just keep getting better, and always take on a challenge. Their incredible success on their own terms is something that I can always refer to when I give advice to musicians.” –August, 2009 

"I first heard DT as they put out their second album, "Images and Words" and they had a video rotating on Headbangers Ball at the time. The first thing that grabbed my attention was that James was wearing a Napalm death shirt, which immediately had me slightly interested since I came from the death/grind scene myself.

The music came across as hyper-complicated and extremely well-performed to me, and I was instantly hooked. Went out and bought the record, and virtually fell in love with it. It was exactly what I'd been looking for for some time. I'd just gotten into the whole symphonic rock scene with bands such as Yes and King Crimson, and DT reminded me of a heavier version of Yes.
 
I went top see them live for the "Awake" tour and it was a fantastic show. I loved every minute of it! Now I know the guys a little and they're all great people, great fans of music and individual musicians and still have their feet firmly on the ground despite their massive success. Yes, it's fair to say I'm a fan of DT and they made a massive impact on me and my writing, especially in the developing stages of my own songwriting and performing career." –July, 2009

www.dreamtheater.net
www.myspace.com/dreamtheater
http://www.progressivenation2009.com/

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