Rich Wilson is a UK based rock journalist who has contributed articles to magazines such as Classic Rock, Record Collector, Discoveries and Metal Hammer over the last decade. He has spent over three years researching and writing this definitive book on Dream Theater’s history. Along the way, he has carried out extensive and detailed interviews with:

Current Band Members:

Mike Portnoy, James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung.

Former Band Members:

Charlie Dominici, Chris Collins, Stephan Erickson (a.k.a Steve Stone), John Arch, Derek Sherinian, Chris Cintron.

Album Producers/ Engineers:

David Prater, Kevin Shirley, Terry Date, Doug Oberkircher.

Cover Artists:

Larry Freemantle, Amy Guip, Dung Hoang, Hugh Syme, Storm Thorgerson, Peter Curzon, Dave McKean.

Band Managers/ Record Label Personnel:

Derek Oliver, Dante Bonutto, Jim Pitulski, Derek Simon, Rob Shore, Rikk Feulner, Bill Barclay, Frank Soloman, Janna Glasser, David 5-1 Norman, Derek Shulman.

Various:

Bruce Dickinson, Pete Trewavas, Ben Huggins, Jamshied Sharifi, Jens Johansson, Chris Jericho, Sebastian Bach, Erik Neldner and Eric Gandras.

For once, I actually got in at the start. Back in the late eighties, the UK was blessed with a national radio station that dedicated vast chunks Friday and Saturday evenings to blasting the airwaves with flawless rock shows. Tommy Vance and Alan Freeman were the respective DJ’s, and although I can’t actually remember which one of them first played a Dream Theater track – or which song it was – I was instantly blown away and I’ve been appreciating their music ever since.

The Dream Theater story may not be as gory as that of Mötley Crüe, or as littered with as many casualties as Def Leppard’s, but it’s no less intriguing. When you discover the inner turmoil the band have endured, the seemingly relentless industry battles and the “unfashionable” music they’ve created, it’s amazing that they have survived for so long. Throw into the mix five talented musicians with diverse personalities and their own idiosyncrasies; along with the fact that their popularity is continually rising, their story becomes even more remarkable.

In collating together the material for this book, I’ve endeavoured to track down and interview as many of the characters that have been involved in the Dream Theater story so far. Where possible, I’ve also let those people tell their story without too much pontificating or over-analysis from myself, taking the view that the people who were actually there are best placed to interpret events. The fact that they were all keen and readily donated also their time speaks volumes about the regard that the band are held in the industry. The members of Dream Theater have also approved of this project and, in an effort to ensure factual correctness, they read the book prior to release. No changes to the content were suggested or made, which ensured that this book remained authorised but not sanitised. Of course, there were some who didn’t want to be interviewed, which is regrettable but I respect their decision. That said, if any of you come across Kevin Moore, give him a gentle nudge from me – there’s always the second edition!

This project really has been a labour of love, especially my desire to ensure that the book was released in this luxury format rather than a cheap paperback. It may be a cliché, but I genuinely I hope, from one fan to another, that you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it . . .

Rich Wilson

Manchester, England. April 2007