Dream Theater - When Dream and Day Unite (1989)^{Release ID: 1299}

I first heard of Boston progressive metal icons Dream Theater while browsing through an imported metal magazine in late 1989 or early 1990. It was through an article that chronologically detailed all of the most important metal records of the 1980’s with Dream Theater’s 1989 debut album “When Dream & Day Unite” falling very close to the end of the list. I remember being intrigued (presumably because they were one of the only artists that I’d never heard of before) but our paths wouldn’t cross again until my growing passion for the more technical end of death metal saw me starting to break out into less extreme forms of progressive music around 1997. It was in a tiny metal record store called Rock ‘n’ Roll Warehouse which was located in the Hoyts Cinema complex on George Street in the CBD area of Sydney where I enquired as to which new technical bands I should check out with the store attendant who I’d been close mates with since my band Neuropath had played a gig with his band Kilswitch three or four years earlier. Paul told me that I needed to look past the Atheists & Suffocations of the world so that I could join him in bowing down to the true gods of progressive metal music in this group of dudes from Berklee College of Music. I trusted Paul’s judgement so I took a punt on Dream Theater’s 1994 third album “Awake” & would find myself being blown away by both the band’s level of technical proficiency & their ability to harness it in a way that still allowed for engaging & catchy song-writing. It would only be a matter of a couple of weeks before I would also have purchased Dream Theater’s classic 1992 sophomore album “Images & Words” & also their 1995 E.P. “A Change of Seasons”. I believe “When Dream & Day Unite” came a little afterwards if memory serves me correctly but it didn’t have anywhere near the same impact as those releases, perhaps being disadvantaged by my having already come to terms with the shinier, more polished James LaBrie-fronted version of the band. I never disliked it in any way but it certainly seemed a little inessential after having experienced a next-level record like “Images & Words. It’s been several decades since I last revisited “When Dream & Day Unite” though & I haven’t listened to much Dream Theater of late so it seems like a good time to reassess my position on one of progressive metal’s more divisive albums.

My initial impressions were clouded by a stark realization. Having come into my first listen straight off the back of pumping out Japanese heavy metallers Anthem’s 1989 fifth album “Hunting Time”, it immediately became clear that “When Dream & Day Unite” could not even come close to competing from a production point of view. Record label Mechanic/MCA had engaged well-credentialled metal producer Terry Date for the sessions & his resume would have left them with a lot of confidence in achieving a high-quality result with Date having worked on a string of classic US power metal records such as Metal Church’s self-titled, “The Dark” & “Blessing in Disguise”, Fifth Angel’s self-titled & Liege Lord’s “Master Control”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be though as “When Dream & Day Unite” suffers from a mix that sees the guitars sitting too far back with an intrusive snare drum sound & an unusually warbled bass guitar tone also detracting from what really should have been a much more expansive soundscape. Thankfully, a couple of full listens through the album saw me becoming accustomed to it production quirks & by the end of my third revisit it didn’t seem to bother me too much at all.

The other major detractor for most fans can be found in the vocals of front man Charlie Dominici who would be fired shortly after the album was released. I have to admit that I was well onboard that train when I first heard “When Dream & Day Unite” all those years ago but I find him to be much more enjoyable now. In all honesty, if you treat the album as coming from an entirely different band then I doubt too many prog fans would have too many problems with him as he sounds very similar to Rush’s Geddy Lee. This shouldn’t be a surprise as Dream Theater have made no secret about their passions for Rush who were clearly the major influence on their debut album along with Fates Warning & Queensryche. What was a surprise though is that I actually find most of the highlights of the album to come during Dominici’s most memorable vocal hooks & there are far more than I remember too. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I really enjoy his performance these days, particularly his ability to work with some incredibly odd time signatures.

The instrumental component is also far more impressive than I remember it being too. I’ve seen some people questioning whether the band were at the same level as they were for their more classic records but, as a trained musician myself, I can assure you that they were already totally on top of their game here. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that “When Dream & Day Unite” may challenge Fates Warning for the most complex release to the time. The way the various musicians feed off each other while playing completely different melodic & harmonic lines & sometimes in disparate time signatures is pretty incredible for such a young band. The core members in guitarist John Petrucci (Liquid Tension Experiment), bassist John Myung (The Jelly Jam/Platypus) & drummer Mike Portnoy (John Arch/Metal Allegiance/Liquid Tension Experiment/Sons of Apollo/Adrenaline Mob/OSI/Twisted Sister) all put in absolutely mind-blowing performances & it’s a real shame that the production issues don’t allow for them to be better represented. I’m really grateful that I’m able to see past that because there’s a whole world of quality to discover as you dig your teeth into this record over multiple listens. Keyboardist Kevin Moore (OSI/Fates Warning) has his moments here too but he can certainly sound a little dated & cheesy at times if I’m being honest & he isn’t done any favours in having been placed too far forward in the mix.

The song-writing is very strong & consistent across the whole 51 minute run time if you examine it in detail. I actually think that popular opener “A Fortune In Lies” is poorly placed as I find it to be both the least appealing track & also the one that’s most effected by the production flaws. The other seven tracks are all nothing short of excellent but the real highlights come in transcendent instrumental “The Ytse Jam” (which was clearly an attempt to create something similar to Rush’s classic “YYZ”), the driving “The Ones Who Helped To Set The Sun” & the melodic hooks of “Afterlife”. In fact, those three are all classic Dream Theater tracks for mine (particularly the first two) & sit reasonably comfortably alongside the band’s best work. 

Jeez…. I’ve gotta level with you here. Production issues aside, I’m really struggling to see how this isn’t a classic progressive metal record. If you put it into the context of what was going on around it you’ll find that there was very little that comes anywhere near this level of sophistication & scope. I’m blown away that a young band could deliver this on their first attempt to be honest. It certainly helps that my all-time favourite guitarist Petrucci absolutely slays every time he steps up for a solo but there’s so much more to this album than I gave it credit for. It may not quite match Dream Theater's most presigious releases like "Images & Words" or "Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory" but I'd probably take it over a record like "Train of Thought" these days which isn't something I would have contemplated a week ago. I’d suggest that every proghead out there needs to push aside their Symphony X, Rush & Liquid Tension Experiment records for a while & give “When Dream & Day Unite” a few active listens because the common consensus on its merits (or lack of) is drastically out of whack.

Quietly unleashed upon the world in 1989 to approximately no fanfare, radio airplay or any kind of recognition, 'When Dream and Day Unite', the debut album of progressive metal band Dream Theater, was the birth of a legend that approximately nobody saw coming.

It's a debut that has garnered mixed reactions since its release, despite the bands later successes. Personally, I think this is an incredible effort with some fantastic compositions, especially for such a young band. The band clearly know who their influences are, and hold no gripes against showing it, as there are definitely similarities here to bands such as Iron Maiden, Queensryche and most notably, Rush.

Vocalist Charlie Dominici, making his only appearance on a studio album, has always been a common complaint of fans. His pop-inspired singing grating to some, I think his voice has a very majestic tone to it that perfectly fits the raw sound of this album, especially when accompanied by Kevin Moore's 80's sounding keyboards. As for the others, guitarist John Petrucci, drummer Mike Portnoy and John Myung are all serious musicians (having met at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston), who are only just starting their incredible journeys to becoming some of the most revered and respected musicians in the world.

Another strong point of this album of "young" musicians is the lyrics, which contain some of the most random and yet, well thought-out passages I've ever heard. Especially on the track 'Only a Matter of Time'. Other gems worth checking out are 'A Fortune in Lies', 'The Killing Hand' and 'Light Fuse and Get Away'.

An incredible debut. Not as polished as ‘Images and Words’ and lacking the production values of ‘Scenes from a Memory’, but strip away any faults and there are some truly great songs here.