Talking Into Infinity - A Dream Theater Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jon Drake
Talking Into Infinity is a live video podcast focusing on all things Dream Theater! Album reviews, stories, discussions, concert reviews, opinions, you name it - if it's related to Dream Theater, hosts Jon and Brian will be talking about it!
We're back with a special episode deep dive intoQueensryche's multi-platinum classic Empire! To help us out, we are bringing on friend of show and James Labrie cowriter Paul Logue of Eden's Curse! Everyone is familiar with Jet City Woman and Silent Lucidity - are those tunes the BEST that this incredible record has to offer? Or are the deep cuts where this album makes its bones? We discuss!
It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”,so… it’s 2005 and you walk into the record store to buy Octavarium… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose something else… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
Jon recently discovered a list of the top 25 metal albums of all time – and Dream Theater made the cut! It got us thinking… what other albums made the top 25, and are they good choices? We break the list down and give our thoughts on each selection – along with the most metal guest host we could find – the mighty Chris Akin from Chris Akin Presents and The Classic Metal Show!
With Jon having recently attended Sammy Hagar’s Best Of All Worlds tour, it got us thinking… what would WE list as our top ten favorite Van Hagar tracks? We each provide our list – and we’re bringing on Steve Wright, host of the Podder Than Hell podcast to provide us with HIS favorites!
Brian is off tonight, so Jon is rolling solo – with a littlehelp from the viewers/listeners! Brian isn’t as well versed on the live stuff as Jon is, so… tonight we’re digging into the ten live DT releases to see which one comes out on top! Everyone knows that Jon has a soft spot for Score, but… could there be a dark horse candidate waiting in the wings to take the top spot?
It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”,so… it’s 2003 and you walk into the record store to buy Train of Thought… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose something else… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when wevcan’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
We’re getting back into the cage for this special non-DTepisode of TII! This time, we’re pitting two of the greatest metal albums ever recorded head to head – a pair of Metallica classics! It’s 1986’s Master of Puppets against 1988’s …And Justice For All! Yes, it’s sad but true… we have to pick a winner… (see what we did there?)
We’re back with Part 2 of our Dream Theater album rankings – this time we’re hitting the top halves of our lists as we rank albums 7 through 1! The bottom halves of our lists had some controversial selections – will the top halves be more of the same? It’s time to find out!
Well, we’ve put it off long enough… it’s time to strap ourhelmets on and go to work. We’re ranking the 15 Dream Theater studio albums in our own personal worst-to-first lists! This is a labor of love and it’ll hurt placing some albums where they’ll eventually be ranked, but it’s gotta be done and let’s face it – DT is like pizza. Even when it isn’t our favorite, it’s still excellent! On this episode we're ranking numbers 15 through 8!
Loudwire recently released a top albums list that onlycontains records by the Big Four of prog metal… Queensryche, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and of course – Dream Theater! We’re going through the list andgiving our thoughts on all of their choices… the good, the bad, and the ugly!
DT has finally announced the first leg of their long-awaited reunion tour with Mike Portnoy, beginning with dates over in Europe! We have some thoughts on choosing Europe as the first destination, but we got tothinking… can we guess what their setlist might look like? We take OUR stab at seeing if we can read the band’s minds and play a little game of Guess The Setlist!
It’s our fourth installment of ranking the songs on a Dream Theater record, and this time – as always, at random – we’ve been tasked with Systematic Chaos! It’s one of the most eclectic records in the band’s catalog and Brian and Jon can’t agree on whether or not In The Presence of Enemies needs to be considered as separate tracks – but how do these songs rate when pitted against each other?
Brian recently returned from the Monsters of Rock cruise and had a thought... if we could each book our own "dream cruise" with Dream Theater headlining, what bands would we choose to open for the mighty DT? Also, Brian tells us all about his experience on the MOR cruise - and Jon details more TouchTunes DT-related shenanigans!
Brian is on the Monsters of Rock Cruise, so Jon brings on personal friend – and friend of show – Joseph Wren (discussmetaljoe in the chat!) to, well… just bullshit about Dream Theater for an hour-plus! From The Astonishing to the Portnoy/Mangini debate to fans being jerks to each other for no reason… this episode is basically a bunch of DT fans hanging out and shooting the shit together – driven by a LOT of incredible points brought up by our listeners/viewers!
It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”, so… it’s 2002 and you walk into the record store to buy Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose something else… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record! – along with special guest cohost Chris Akin from The Classic Metal Show!
Jon here. Full disclosure - this is NOT a normal episode. My dad passed suddenly and we went online to announce that there wouldn't be a show tonight - but instead ended up talking about mymemories of my dad for over an hour. From music to golf to humor, this is the most raw episode of TII we've ever done.
To any of you who listen to the whole thing - thanks SO much for doing so.
It’s a new year, and it’s DEFINITELY going to be a wild one for DT and their fans! To ring in 2024, we give our thoughts on the possibilities of what might be in store for the next 12 months!
It’s back for the third time and it’s better than ever – the annual Fan Hangout show! Gorilla Farts will be flowing, Brian will beswigging off of some unholy swill he’s created, but… best of all – we get the FANS on to host the show and we spend a few hours talking about Dream Theater and anything else that comes to mind! It’s our chance to say “thank you!!” to everyone who TRULY makes the show happen, so grab yourself a festive beverage,warm up those chat fingers – and get ready for the most spirited episode of the year on Talking Into Infinity!
It’s our third installment of ranking the songs on a Dream Theater record, and this time – as always, at random – we’ve been taskedwith Octavarium! It’s the backbone of the band’s infamous 20thanniversary tour, it contains one of their most celebrated epics – but how do these songs stack up when ranked one through eight?
It’s our 6th Album Cage Match, and this time Brian – since it’s his birthday - has picked the opponents and a special guest cohost! We’re stepping outside the realm of Dream Theater with our good friend Chris Akin and pitting two classic Iron Maiden albums against each other as Powerslave takes on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son! It’s Two Minutes to Midnight as these two Duellists go head to head. Are you Clairvoyant enough to see what our picks will be? (OK, enough puns for one show description…)
It’s a very special episode on TII as we bring on legendary guitar writer Steven Rosen to discuss the second edition of hisFANTASTIC new Eddie Van Halen book Tonechaser – Understanding Edward: My 26-Year Journey With Edward Van Halen! It’s 500+ pages detailing EVH as no other author has, and Steve is here to give us all of the incredible details about this unique, riveting and extremely personal work! It’s DEFINITELY amust-have for any diehard Edward Van Halen fans!
Well, it’s official… Dream Theater co-founder Mike Portnoy is returning to the fold and will be back behind the kit!! What does this mean for the immediate future of the band? We give our instant reaction to this monumental announcement - with some help from our good friend and Dream Theater biographer Rich Wilson!
It’s a very special episode of Talking Into Infinity as we chat with the alien himself – Mr. Mike Mangini! He’s got a solo record coming out later this year titled Invisible Signs and recently dropped the killer first single Freak of Nature – he’s here to tell us all about his newest musical adventure!
After that it’s fan vs. fan on TII as a grudge match that has been boiling for months on the show finally explodes! Longtime listeners and sometime cohosts Sean Faust, Chastadi Crawley and Cael McLeish jump into the Octagon to settle it once and for all – is the title track to 2005’s Octavarium an absolute masterpiece – or an overblown, bloated mess? Jon moderates this once-in-a-lifetime battle of DT superfan heavyweights!
After having ranked the songs on DT’s debut record, we’re back with another song ranking – pulled at random – and this episode we fall on 1999’s masterpiece Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes from a Memory! How do you rank the songs on a concept album? We’re about to find out!
It’s been 35 years since the release of Metallica’s masterpiece …And Justice For All, so we decided to deep dive the album and give our thoughts on this absolutely classic slab of metal! This is one of the two most influential records in Jon’s life, and fans worldwide have continually ranked this album either #1 or #2 in the band’s entire discography! We give our thoughts on this landmark album!
It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”, so… it’s 1999 and you walk into the record store to buy Scenes From A Memory… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose somethingelse… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
We’ve done a deep dive into DT’s debut record – but we haven’t discussed how we would rank the songs in order from worst to first. Let’s face it, Dream Theater is like pizza – even when it isn’t great, it’s incredibly good – so how can we possibly pit great songs against great songs? It’s time to find out, and we’re starting where it all began – 1989’s When Dream and Day Unite!
We are back from the Mammoth WVH/Sevendust/Alter Bridge show in Cleveland and we have plenty to talk about! Tonight we are winging it and discussing anything musical that comes to mind!
Jon is headed to Burgettstown, PA to catch Pantera on their current tour, so what better time to dig into what almost every Pantera fan considers their greatest record – the absolute CLASSIC Vulgar Display Of Power! We don’t have many superlatives to present here that haven’t already been used, so… grab a Black Tooth Grin, getcha pull, and let’s do it Lone Star State style once again with Wayne Joyner – as well as the mighty Chris Akin!
Jon is back from Newport, Kentucky where he caught the Dreamsonic tour and he has some stories to tell! Since we’re on the topic of DT live, we attempt to write a setlist using only ONE song per album – and we CAN’T use songs we have gushed over a LOT on the show previously!
Brian is back and we are FINALLY talking some Sons Of Apollo on TII! We’ve dug into some seriously kickass records on the show and it’s about time that we talk about Psychotic Symphony, the amazing debut from SOA! Sheehan, Soto, Bumblefoot and, of course - Sherinian and Portnoy – what’s not to like? We go track by track and give our thoughts on one of the most criminally underrated prog records (and bands) you’re likely to find!
Brian had a last-minute commitment come up – so we’re switching gears on this week’s show! One of Jon’s good musician buddies – a self-professed huge Van Halen fan – is just NOW discovering the David Lee Roth era of the band! What are his impressions of the seven DLR records? How do they stack up against the Sammy albums? And, most importantly – how can this happen?? Grab your brown M&M’s and get ready to dance the night away as we dig into some untouchable rock classics! Booz-de-booz-de-bop!
We are FINALLY talking some Sons Of Apollo on TII! We’ve dug into some seriously kickass records on the show and it’s about time that we talk about Psychotic Symphony, the amazing debut from SOA! Sheehan, Soto, Bumblefoot and, of course - Sherinian and Portnoy – what’s not to like? We go track by track and give our thoughts on one of the most criminally underrated prog records (and bands) you’re likely to find!
We're digging into one of the final DT albums we haven't touched on yet - 2013's self-titled record! The band were trying to incorporate all of their huge prog ideas into a much more concise, to-the-point song format for this release - did they nail it or did they miss the mark? We discuss!
It's a big double episode on TII! We welcome bassist Conner Green of prog technicians Haken onto the show to discuss their upcoming tour in support of their new record Fauna! After that we bring on the mighty Chris Akin for a spirited discussion about Metallica's brand new album 72 Seasons!
We are back from our trip to the suburbs of Pittsburgh to catch Queensryche and Marty Friedman! The show was killer… and we’re going to tell you all about it! (There WILL be setlist spoilers, so if you’re like Jon and want to avoid those – fast forward.) After that, we dig into Queensryche’s latest record Digital Noise Alliance… is this another solid step for the La Torre lineup or have QR lost a step? We give you our thoughts!
Brian is off, but we have a very good friend of the show filling in – creator of the stage production and music videos for the last two Dream Theater albums/tours… Wayne Joyner! Wayne has been gracious enough to come on a few times in the past and now that he’s filling in for Brian, we decided to let him pick the topic and he decided to deep dive one of his desert island records – Pantera’s killer major label debut Cowboys From Hell! Grab a few Black Tooth Grins and getcha pull, because we’re about to do it Lone Star State style on TII!
Portnoy vs. Mangini, Mangini vs. Portnoy – it doesn’t matter. Both drummers are INCREDIBLE and have given us several records of kickass prog rock – highlighted by some AMAZING drumming, no matter who is behind the kit. On this episode, we give our picks for our favorite drumming moments throughout the Dream Theater catalog!
We are celebrating Jon's birthday (a few days early) by letting him pick the topic - so, of course, he decides that it's finally time to deep dive his favorite record - Falling Into Infinity! This has been a somewhat polarizing record among the DT fanbase - is it a top-3 album as Jon thinks it is, or is it near the bottom due to it's obvious attempts at a hit single? We discuss!
It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”, so… it’s 1995 and you walk into the record store to buy A Change Of Seasons… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose something else… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
We are back with our first show of 2023… and we’re heading back to 2010 and the start of a whole new era in DT history! This was the band’s first effort not to feature fan favorite and band leader Mike Portnoy – and just so happens to be one of Brian’s favorite records (spoiler alert!) We dig deep into Mike Mangini’s first outing with Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events!
It's finally here... our second annual Fan Hangout show! This one is a freeform musical discussion about anything the fans want to talk about - driven by fans who have graciously agreed to jump out from the chat and into the limelight as they guest host the show with us! From a debate about Octavarium (the song) to Dream Theater hot takes to Gorilla Farts… we cover everything (and then some!) Happy New Year to you all… and thanks for the support!
It’s a very special episode of TII as we belatedly celebrate Brian’s 94th birthday! Since it’s his special day, he got to pick the topic – and he decided that he wanted to pose a question. If you were stranded on a desert island (he also said “have you ever seen a desert with an island? I digress…”) – what ten albums would you want with you? On this episode, we give OUR list of must-have desert island albums!
We return from seeing JP absolutely tear down the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio with Dave LaRue and Mike Portnoy and give our thoughts on an incredible performance! This got us thinking… what are some of our favorite all-instrumental records? We each give a list of albums we think everyone should check out!
Coming off of the critical and commercial success that was Distance Over Time, Dream Theater were under pressure to deliver a follow-up that lived up to its predecessor’s standards. Their offering was 2021’s A View From The Top Of The World… how did it fare? Did it live up to the lofty fan expectations or was it a letdown? We give our thoughts on DT’s most recent studio release!
It’s 1994… you walk into the record store to buy Awake… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to buy something else… what records are you buying? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
In our third episode discussing bands that influenced Dream Theater, we dig into one of the best-selling rock records ever (and the album Jon lists as the most influential of his life) – Van Halen’s 1984! From Panama to Hot For Teacher to Jump – the band’s only #1 single! – this record is jam-packed with phenomenal tunes and, of course, is one of the absolute highlights of Eddie Van Halen’s recorded work!
From Kevin Moore to Derek Sherinian to Jordan Rudess, Dream Theater has had an embarrassment of riches at the keyboard post throughout their career. On this episode, we dig into their discography to detail our favorite keyboard passages! Be they mellow, dark, classical, or a sound like a snarling pig, we cover them all!
You know him, you love him… he’s Rich Wilson – the author of Dream Theater’s authorized biography Lifting Shadows (if you haven’t gone back and watched/listened to our interview with him about the book; what are you waiting for??) – and he’s back on TII with us to dig into one of DT’s most well-received records – Octavarium!
It’s time for Album Cage Match #5! This time we pit the record that started it all… 1989’s When Dream And Day Unite versus 2007’s Systematic Chaos! Will the band’s stellar debut take the title, or will one of DT’s most eclectic releases take the title? Let’s find out!
In our second episode discussing bands that influenced Dream Theater, we dig into the seminal record of Rush’s career (and Brian’s favorite album) – Moving Pictures! Most Rush fans agree that this is the best record the band ever released – we go track by track and give our thoughts on this prog masterpiece!
Brian is off, but leaves the show in very capable hands as our good friend Adam Rishaug joins Jon to dig into one of DT’s top two most popular records… 1999’s Scenes From A Memory! Whether you prefer this one or Images and Words, there’s no denying that this album is a masterpiece from start to finish – and we dive into it track by track! Adam takes it one step further and digs into the story itself, so if you love this record but have never been sure what's happening in the story - this is DEFINITELY the episode for you!
It’s 1992… you walk into the record store to buy Images & Words… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to buy something else… what records are you buying? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
You’ve got two 90-minute sets and one encore… and you have to create your ultimate Dream Theater live concert setlist! What songs are you choosing, where are you placing them… and why? On this episode, Jon and Brian give you THEIR ultimate setlists!
On this special bonus episode of TII, we dive into James LaBrie’s new solo album A Beautiful Shade Of Grey with co-writer Paul Logue, Chance LaBrie, and none other than James LaBrie himself!!
On this very special live episode of Talking Into Infinity - we bring on Rich Wilson, author of the officially licensed DT biography Lifting Shadows!
Jon is off tonight… but the show is still on! Brian brings on esteemed author, podcaster, radio shock jock and leader of the insanity that is the Classic Metal Show – Chris Akin! Chris’s stories are NOT to be missed!
We've been working on this for a while now and are finally able to confirm the content for our very special bonus episode on June 25th at 2:00pm EST! We will be doing an album deep dive into James LaBrie's new solo record A Beautiful Shade Of Grey with co-writer Paul Logue, Chance LaBrie and the man himself - James LaBrie!
Check out our interview with Paul here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjId3TBgOYc&t=1577s
On this episode, we bring on none other than The Wizard himself… keyboard master Jordan Rudess! We talk about his upcoming solo tour, his love of combining music and technology and, of course - Dream Theater!
It’s 1989… you walk into the record store to buy When Dream And Day Unite… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to get something else… what records are you picking up? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!
We are stepping out of our DT comfort zone and doing our first-ever off-DT episode! In the past we’ve discussed talking about bands that influenced Dream Theater, and on this show – we are finally putting our money where are mouths are! We are digging into one of the very best concept records of all time… Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime. The only challenge here… can we find ANYTHING negative to say about it?
Here we go… Album Cage Match #4! Outside of Train of Thought, many DT fans consider these two records as the heaviest in the band’s catalog! This is a heavyweight slugfest between two fan-favorite records – and two that Brian gained appreciation for after doing a deep dive into each on previous episodes. Which of these two slabs of thunderous prog metal will come out victorious?
We are finally revisiting the lost episode of TII… greatest guitar moments! If Jon DOESN’T have a power outage during this episode (inside joke for those who were there the first time) – we will be digging into what we think are the best, most inspiring and most jaw-dropping John Petrucci moments in the Dream Theater catalog!
We planned for this interview to be part of a later show, but the conversation flowed so well and was so intriguing that we decided to release it as a special standalone bonus episode! Paul Logue of Eden’s Curse discusses his collaboration with James LaBrie on James’s upcoming solo record A Beautiful Shade Of Grey! From the songwriting to the inspiration - and everything in between – Paul provides a great perspective on what promises to be one of James’s most interesting and personal solo records yet!
One of the hallmarks of the DT catalog are the monstrous, massive and majestic epic songs – you know, the REALLY long songs the band is known for! All of them are fan favorites, but some are obviously stronger than others. On this episode… we pit them against each other and rank them from bottom to top!
Going out by request to Gibson Les Paul in our chat room… we dig DEEP into one of DT’s most progressive records! From Repentance to In The Presence Of Enemies to fan favorite The Dark Eternal Night… we discuss one of the most eclectic and wide-ranging DT albums ever!
It’s another double episode on TII! First, we bring on Chance LaBrie of Falset to discuss their killer new single Lullabies and their upcoming tour dates with DT!
Second, we have been to several Dream Theater concerts together… but never one during the existence of the show! For the first time ever – we get to see the band live and present our review of the performance to you, the kickass DT and TII fans!
WARNING This show will contain a LOT of spoilers for the current tour, so… if you are trying to remain spoiler-free – like Jon was – do NOT listen to this one!
Let’s face it… even those of us who love the heavy stuff have a soft spot for some of DT’s most tender moments. On this episode, we give our thoughts on what we each consider to be Dream Theater’s very best ballads!
It's Album Cage Match #3, and this one’s a doozie for Jon - this time we pit Falling Into Infinity against Scenes From A Memory! It’s Jon’s controversial favorite record versus an album that many fans have ranked ahead of Images and Words as their best! How will it all play out?
On our first episode of 2022, with Dream Theater’s North American tour on the near horizon, we decided that we would jump into the live arena and dig into the first live release of the Mike Mangini era – Live At Luna Park!
YouTube link to this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv1BVbRK7qM
It’s the holiday season, so we thought we’d open up a special off-cycle show to the fans and see what’s on THEIR minds! We have NO idea what will come up on this one, so strap in… things get interesting! From grandma's to actually SEEING Pantera before they were signed... our fans bring some AMAZING content!!
On this special double episode, we dig deep into what is predominantly hailed as Dream Theater’s best record – the infamous Images and Words! In addition, we bring on special guest Monty Colvin of the Galactic Cowboys to talk about their tour with DT in ’93 as Pull Me Under was making the band a household name!
We’ve previously ranked all of the 14 album openers on the show – now we tackle ranking the album closers! Will Brian’s unfounded hatred of Space Dye Vest continue? Will Jon make his #1 the most obvious choice in show history? Tune in and find out!
Brian and Jon go off-script on this episode and dig into a freeform discussion regarding all of their favorite DT side projects!
James LaBrie is one the best and most recognizable vocalists in prog rock/metal history – with a career spanning over three decades. We break down our favorite James moments from the DT catalog! (And also ask the question… can Jon hold back from going FULL fanboy on this episode?)
Today’s the day – the official release of Dream Theater’s new album, A View From The Top Of The World! We give our immediate reactions to the record – will it prove to be a worthy successor to Distance Over Time? Will it be a clunker? Is 8-string guitar on a DT record TOO much Petrucci? Is it a Top 3 DT record? We give our first thoughts on the new album along with our guest cohosts Cael McLeish and DT's graphic artist Wayne Joyner!
With only two weeks to go before the release of Dream Theater's new record... we dive deep into the new album's predecessor - Distance Over Time!
Brian is out sick and had to call off of the show at the last minute (no, it isn’t COVID) so Jon flies solo! Lots of stories about meeting the band, interviewing the band… and blowing a chance to play onstage with Mike Portnoy at Madison Square Garden!
Brian is off this week… but! Jon is digging deep into what many fans consider DT’s best live release – Score – with his good friend Matt Wardlaw from Ultimate Classic Rock! Matt and Jon WENT to Radio City Music Hall together for the show – they have a lot of good insight into the show, but also some great stories from their roadtrip getting there and back!
It's Album Cage Match #2 - this time we pit Octavarium versus Dream Theater! A return to DT's prog roots against songs specifically written to be shorter, more concise - but still DT... which one will come out on top?
On this deep dive, we dig into the final Portnoy-era record - Brian and Jon have been VERY vocal about their love of the bookend tracks, but where do they stand on the rest?
So far there have been 14 studio albums released by Dream Theater, all of them with great opening songs... but how would we rank them? Check out our rankings and let us know if you agree in the comments! Also, the band just announced their 15th studio album A View From The Top Of The World - we give our reactions!
We dive into arguably Dream Theater's heaviest record - 2004's Train Of Thought! Jon prefers the heavy side of DT... Brian prefers the melodic... where will each of us come out?
We bring on our very first two listeners ever.. Cael McLeish and Adam Rishaug... as special guest hosts as we each draft our "fantasy setlist"! Ten rounds... 40 songs... what makes the cut and what doesn't? Who drafted the best setlist, and... are there any BIG surprises?
On this episode, we go in depth with the graphic artist who designed Dream Theater's amazing staging and graphics for the Distance Over Time Tour, Wayne Joyner!
As most fans know, there are a LOT of side projects that the members of DT (both past and present) have recorded over the course of their career. On this episode, we sort through the pile and give our thoughts on some of the tracks that stand out the most to us!
We feature our first album vs. album cage match on Talking Into Infinity - this first "battle" pits Train of Thought against A Dramatic Turn of Events! Which album will come out on top?
We bring vocalist and prolific author Peter Orullian onto the show! Peter is best known to Dream Theater fans as the author of the novelization of The Astonishing, but he has also novelized Jordan Rudess's Wired For Madness, written a host of novels and short stories, and hosts his own music-centric podcast Breaking Absolutes!
We welcome former Dream Theater front of house sound engineer Bill Fertig onto the show! Bill began his career in 1983 running sound for Metallica on their tour opening for Raven and has since run sound for some of the biggest names in the music industry. We discuss touring, live sound, road stories and... of course... Dream Theater!
On this episode... our most spirited episode, by the way... we dig into Dream Theater's third album Awake. Jon is a huge fan... Brian? Not so much. Will Brian soften his stance after repeated listens prepping for this epsiode? Hit play to find out!
This is the second part of a question that we were asked during our first episode! On episode 3, we gave our lists of gateway DT songs - on this show, we give our lists from the exact opposite end of the spectrum... the most progressive DT tunes we can think of!
Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence is definitely one of Dream Theater's most challenging listens... is it TOO much of a good thing, or is more Dream Theater NEVER a bad thing? We discuss!
On our third episode of Talking Into Infinity, we answer a question that was posed to us in our first episode: if you had to suggest songs to someone who wasn't familiar with the band, what songs would you choose to ease them into the craziness that is Dream Theater's music?
On our second episode of Talking Into Infinity, we take an in-depth look at one of Dream Theater's most unheralded and underrated albums - their 1989 debut When Dream And Day Unite.
On the inaugural episode of Talking Into Infinity, we discuss how and when we got into Dream Theater, our personal favorite albums, and take some questions from listeners!