Episode 9: James LaBrie (Dream Theater)

In early 1991, Dream Theater were dangerously close to calling it quits.  The promising young group, which formed at Berklee College of Music in Boston in the mid-1980s under the original name Majesty, had let go original lead singer Charlie Dominici shortly after their 1989 debut record When Dream and Day Unite.   For nearly a year and a half, they had auditioned countless frontmen, with none of them fitting the job description in the right way.  Doubt started to creep in, as the band members started to think that maybe Dream Theater, as they envisioned it, just wasn’t meant to be.

That all changed when days before committing to another singer, the group received a live recording of a Canadian band called Winter Rose, fronted by an aspiring metal singer named James LaBrie.  Founding members John Petrucci (guitar), Mike Portnoy (drums), and John Myung (bass) were so taken by LaBrie’s voice and look that he was immediately flown to New York for an audition on Long Island, and was hired as the band’s singer three days later.  Reenergized, the group even laid down demos for their legendary 1992 release Images and Words on that same trip before James returned to Canada. 

A little over thirty years later, LaBrie found himself at yet another pivotal moment in the band’s rich history.   Portnoy had famously departed the group in 2010, citing the need for a break while his bandmates were determined to carry on, and was replaced by drummer Mike Mangini.   During his time outside of the band, his relationships strained even further with his former bandmates, to the point where what was supposed to be a proposed hiatus started to look more like a permanent vacation. 

That all changed when Dream Theater played Beacon Theatre in New York on March 4, 2022.  At this point Portnoy had been back in Dream Theater's orbit, having recently played on John Petrucci’s solo album and subsequent tour, as well as the resurrected Liquid Tension Experiment's third album with Petrucci and Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess.  But the last domino to fall to make this now well-known reunion a possibility came with meeting LaBrie backstage before that show at the Beacon. 

Now that the fences have mended, the fruits of this historic reunion are being realized. Dream Theater is due to release its 16th studio album Parasomnia on February 7th.  It's the first Dream Theater album to feature their classic lineup with Portnoy on drums since 2009’s Black Clouds and Silver Linings.  The group is also due to kick off the North American leg of their 40th Anniversary Tour, which starts on February 7th in Philadelphia and wraps up on March 22nd in New York City.

Ahead of the release of Parasomnia, I had a chance to speak with Dream Theater's frontman about a number of other topics, including:

• the process of welcoming Portnoy back into the Dream Theater fold, the inspiration for the sleep disturbance-related theme of the Parasomnia, and how each member of the band interpreted that theme on the record during the writing process. 
• his approach for writing the lyrics for "A Broken Man," the contrasting lyrical styles of different members of the band, and why he takes a more humanistic approach to his prose. 
• how the band curates its setlist with such a deep discography, plans for a Live DVD from their recent European leg of the 40th Anniversary Tour, and a few stories from the 2002 Inner Tourbulence tour with King's X and Joe Satriani. 
• a discussion of that Winter Rose tape making it's way to Dream Theater, his initial audition, and reflections on what a fateful moment that was for both James and his bandmates. 

As a huge Dream Theater fan who has followed them religiously since my high school days, speaking with James was a true thrill and a dream come true.