Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy sat down with Classic Rock and picked ten albums that changed his life.
In the interview, he picked albums from bands such as Led Zeppelin, KISS, and Rush. The drummer also picked one album from his own band, 1992’s ‘Images and Words.’ He said of the album:
“We made that album at a point in Dream Theater’s career where we almost threw in the towel. We made that record after sitting around for almost two years, in the wake of the failure of our debut album [‘When Dream and Day Unite’]. And at that point, we changed singers, record companies, we spent two years writing this material with nothing going for us – no audience, no fanbase, no management, no singer, no record label.”
Portnoy revealed that it was the band’s darkest times and they almost gave up:
“We came close to breaking up, but we stuck with it, got a singer, got a new label, made this album, and even once it came out, it kind of sat on the shelf for a few months, before anybody even noticed it. But then once ‘Pull Me Under’ broke around October of ’92, it changed everything. It changed the course of the band and my life. Forever. It gave us an audience that has been with us ever since.”
Is Dream Theater Coming To An End?
Although the band is now working on a new album and has had a successful past, Portnoy thinks this album might be their final act.
In an interview on The Prog Report, the drummer talked about coming back to Dream Theater. The rocker said although Dream Theater is his main focus, he also suggested that this might be the end of the road for the band because of their ages. He explained:
“We start working on a new album after the New Year. And I cannot wait to tour and get on stage with those guys again. That’s gonna be the most exciting thing about it, of it all. So, where the future lies for any of my other bands and projects, time will tell. Some will probably slip away; some will survive. And we’ll see; it might have future chapters. But right now, my focus is just on Dream Theater.”
You can listen to ‘Images And Words’ down below.