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[BlobVanDam]

I think this is it in terms of popularity. I'm actually amazed at how far they've come.

rumborak

This, but at the same time I think they still have a little bit of room to go. They'll never have a hit, and they'll never be a household name, but they still seem to be getting more and more exposure. So I think they still have a little bit of room to grow, but I doubt they'll ever have a breakthrough, and they're not the type of band to need it.

[Chino]

I'm not sure if DT really wants a "break through"

[73109]

Everyone wants a break through. If you asked DT if they would like to release an album that sells 10 million copies and gets them to tour stadiums, they would dig it. But they have to keep up the "we don't give a fuck" metal image.

[KevShmev]

   I remember a review of 6DOIT in Entertainment Weekly.

Heh, I remember that.  I think I remember it making fun of them as being another of those prog bands that tries to be clever by having album titles that try to sound clever.

  They're already very well-known,

They might be very well-known amongst hardcore music/prog/metal fans, but among the general public, they are still a major unknown. 

[reneranucci]

Still, sometimes I find amazing how many people know and like them. When I mention them I sometimes get blank stares, but all the people from latin america in my class at the university know them: 1 peruvian, 1 colombian and 2 mexican girls, and a chilean and a venezuelan guys. I don´t know, it feels like from a collection of random people from all over the world, 7 out of 70 know them, which is great IMO.

[Shadoshi]

I think this is it in terms of popularity. I'm actually amazed at how far they've come.

rumborak

Same here. I felt like they were actually quite underground until just a few years ago really. I started listening to them around when Octavarium came out, and even then I was surprised when I met people who knew them.

[Chino]

Everyone wants a break through. If you asked DT if they would like to release an album that sells 10 million copies and gets them to tour stadiums, they would dig it. But they have to keep up the "we don't give a fuck" metal image.

I would not want to see DT at huge arenas. Part of the awesomeness of being a DT fan is the fact that in my mind, they are the greatest band on the face of this planet, because others haven't figured this out yet, I can get awesome seats wherever I see them.

[rumborak]

Well, it would wreak havoc to their old fan base, that's for sure. I mean, so far DT's audience was firmly composed of never-touched-a-girl-and-probably-never-will teenagers who know all the drum fills. Would you want to exchange that with denim jacket guys who still think their receded hairline looks good when long, and who, for the honor of the occasion, rode up in their motorcycle to the venue, only to entertain the surrounding people with their musky armpit smell?

rumborak

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I´m not any media specialist but here it goes my hypothesis:
One day people will realise they are just being brainwashed with the music hits like party in the USA or anything from Jonas. They will find out that it was a conspiracy all the time and that in fact, everything was just one song that was adapted from artist to artist. When that happens, they will come to a "retro" kinda thing and they will rescue the real music. I can already see my sons listening to Peter Gabriel again in the radio....and DT of course. That is just my crazy guess, its not based on facts, just on emotions....i hope so, at least.

"Party in the USA" gets really repetitive but I like it up until Miley sings the chorus for the 17th time. Plus, she's a babe in the music video.

Back on topic, I think this is as big as DT gets. Any prog or metal fan knows who they are. That's about all you can hope for from their brand of music.

[Cool Chris]

Also worth considering is that by rock/pop/entertainment standards, DT has had a very, very boring, uneventful career. Let’s face it, compared to other bands and their numerous line-up changes, feuds, drug-induced crimes, tabloid romances, and reality TV shows, DT is really rather dull. Bands often get more publicity for what happens outside the music realm than they do for their music.

[SilentFox]

Also worth considering is that by rock/pop/entertainment standards, DT has had a very, very boring, uneventful career. Let’s face it, compared to other bands and their numerous line-up changes, feuds, drug-induced crimes, tabloid romances, and reality TV shows, DT is really rather dull. Bands often get more publicity for what happens outside the music realm than they do for their music.

This.  It's a shame that their persistence isn't recognized, and that musicians that mess around more are given more attention because of it.

[ddtonfire]

They are as big as they can get now.  I remember a review of 6DOIT in Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,198712,00.html

[ZeppelinDT]

Does "the mainstream" even really exist anymore for music?  I mean, I don't think I really know anybody who still bases their musical tastes on what they hear on the radio or what they see on tv.  With so much music so readily available, people just don't really need to rely on media exposure nearly as much as they used to.  I think the industry is just changing so much that the entire concept of music media megastars is probably at the end of its run. 

On another note, w/r/t that EW review of Six Degrees....

... a concept album about mentally disturbed characters fending off forces of darkness...

wtf?!? 

[Phantasmatron]

Yeah, a lot of that review was way off-base, but the writer was hilarious.

"Keyboardist Jordan Rudess even sounds as if he is playing a goopy old-school Moog or Arp synth, for which he scores major period-detail points."

"...lead singer James LaBrie lacks the over-the-top vocal personality of helium-voiced prog frontmen like Geddy or Jon."

"Said album, by a band only about a decade old, also presents fretboard-frenzy guitar solos, concerto-chops piano, traipsing-through-the-meadow synthesizers, drum triplets, songs over a dozen minutes long, and a completely unironic use of the gong."

[emindead]

I´m not any media specialist but here it goes my hypothesis:
One day people will realise they are just being brainwashed with the music hits like party in the USA or anything from Jonas. They will find out that it was a conspiracy all the time and that in fact, everything was just one song that was adapted from artist to artist. When that happens, they will come to a "retro" kinda thing and they will rescue the real music. I can already see my sons listening to Peter Gabriel again in the radio....and DT of course. That is just my crazy guess, its not based on facts, just on emotions....i hope so, at least.

Look, the day you realize people like music that makes them happy (that's pop), that's good for parties (that's pop/pop rock... in the USA), that Miley Cyrus actually has a great voice, then you'll realize why pop will not fade out. Will it get less exposure in the future? Yes.

Brainwashing? I listen to the same music (in general) that you do, but I can enjoy pop music as well. You are being closed minded, just like people who listen only pop music. You are just in the other side of the spectrum.

[Phantasmatron]

Look, the day you realize people like music that makes them happy (that's pop), that's good for parties (that's pop/pop rock... in the USA), that Miley Cyrus actually has a great voice, then you'll realize why pop will not fade out. Will it get less exposure in the future? Yes.

Brainwashing? I listen to the same music (in general) that you do, but I can enjoy pop music as well. You are being closed minded, just like people who listen only pop music. You are just in the other side of the spectrum.

This post has been edited for accuracy. 

What you say is true.  I just would've picked a different pop star.  Christina Aguilera has a great voice.  Is she still around?

[TL]

They are as big as they can get now.  I remember a review of 6DOIT in Entertainment Weekly.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,198712,00.html

There's not enough facepalm in the world.

One part mentions "dungeons and dragons guitar wailing"... in Misunderstood... 

Also;

while the Frodo-like narrator of ''The Glass Prison'' goes on a ''new odyssey of rigorous honesty'' toward ''the temple of hope''

 

They also mention the band being "about a decade old", in 2002.

I know it's a 7 year old review, but still.

[Darkes7]

  This is the most awesome review I've ever read... Is it really a serious review?

[Gorille85]

Dream Theater ignoring, and thereby dissing, every style of music that's existed since 1976.

[Rafael Guerra]

Look, the day you realize people like music that makes them happy (that's pop), that's good for parties (that's pop/pop rock... in the USA)....

Well, I can see my extremist post sparkled some surpring responses.
I agree that today´s popular music are the ones associated with parties (and as a latin american, may I add the word "orgies") Although that would actually fall more into the category reggaton than Miley Cirus.
Miley Cirus is more like a commercial blast for 9 year old girls, her dolls might sell as much as her music in fact, but I´m not on the business world, its just an ironic guess.
I know this music is not going to fade, i wasn´t being realistic...i was just sharing what would I like to happen.
I am extremist indeed, and sorry if i offended anyone with those comments ( i wasn´t expecting since i am in a DT forum), but anyways...sorry.

[2Timer]

Everyone wants a break through. If you asked DT if they would like to release an album that sells 10 million copies and gets them to tour stadiums, they would dig it. But they have to keep up the "we don't give a fuck" metal image.

I would not want to see DT at huge arenas. Part of the awesomeness of being a DT fan is the fact that in my mind, they are the greatest band on the face of this planet, because others haven't figured this out yet, I can get awesome seats wherever I see them.

I agree with that. As much as I'd love to see them benefit financially from a sold-out arena tour, I think the intimacy of the theater-sized shows they do really adds to the experience of seeing them live.
As for the original question of this post...they will have their mainstream breakthrough when the general asshole public's musical attention span gets to be longer than four minutes. Furthermore, as much as I love JLB's voice and prefer it over anything I ever hear on the radio these days, I don't think the general public will ever agree that his voice is "better" than that of Dave Matthews, Sugar Ray or any of the other giants that you hear every day on the mainstream radio stations; it just doesn't have that commercial sound. Also, most people are listening to mainstream radio while they are working, and we all know that unless you can give a DT song your undivided attention, you don't really get it. At work you have to have your mind on what you're working on, so I think that's why they focus on simple, meaningless songs to tell the public that that's what they're going to listen to and like. I don't think they'll ever have a huge breakthrough because they're not that kind of band, and I'm okay with it. They deserve it, but I don't think they'll get it.

[emindead]

Look, the day you realize people like music that makes them happy (that's pop), that's good for parties (that's pop/pop rock... in the USA)....

Well, I can see my extremist post sparkled some surpring responses.
I agree that today's popular music are the ones associated with parties (and as a latin american, may I add the word "orgies") Although that would actually fall more into the category reggaeton than Miley Cirus.

I'm Latin American too and understand what you're trying to say.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Also worth considering is that by rock/pop/entertainment standards, DT has had a very, very boring, uneventful career. Let’s face it, compared to other bands and their numerous line-up changes, feuds, drug-induced crimes, tabloid romances, and reality TV shows, DT is really rather dull. Bands often get more publicity for what happens outside the music realm than they do for their music.

This.  It's a shame that their persistence isn't recognized, and that musicians that mess around more are given more attention because of it.

I don't disagree it would be nice for Dream Theater to get more "recognition". Artists' always love expanding their audiences, and the monetary gains from a breakthrough are usually large. If it happened, great.

But, honestly, how much more recognition do you want them to get? They have the most dedicated fanbase in the world. They make a good - great living. Their albums generally receive good reviews. They just got honored by Classic Rock Magazine as being the best prog band in the world. They're greatly respected by their peers. Every prog or metal fan has heard of them. Most musicians interested in the technical side of their instrument have heard of them. They have respectable quirks inside the rock community (MP getting his kids backstage to a Jonas Brothers concert - who knew who he was). And, finally, they're one of the most popular metal bands in the world when you look past the obscenely popular ones.

Bottom line is that DT is in an outstanding position. If they "break through" and become huge, that's great. They deserve it. But I get the sense some of you care way too much about them skyrocketing into the mainstream, almost as if you just want everyone to like them as much as you, which, believe it or not, lots of perfectly reasonable people don't and won't.

[BlobVanDam]

I think DT are in the perfect position really. They're popular enough that they have a huge fanbase, and can tour around the world and live off it, yet still obscure enough that they don't get mobbed in public. It's like the perfect middle ground.

[GuineaPig]

I think DT are in the perfect position really. They're popular enough that they have a huge fanbase, and can tour around the world and live off it, yet still obscure enough that they don't get mobbed in public. It's like the perfect middle ground.

I agree.

[kirbywelch92]

I think I lol'd the most in this review when it mentioned "drum triplets" as a typical progressive trait. Really? Are music reviewers so ignorant about music that they couldn't even know what a triplet is? Much less that it is a rhythm that commonly appears in all kinds of music? This is why DT doesn't need the mainstream, they're too good for that.

I personally don't want to see kids saying "did you listen to The Dark Eternal Night? It's the best them!", and not that I don't like that song, but it would be a very predictable song for children to pick. I see Dream Theater growing, it seems there are a lot of people who would be Dream Theater fans, they just haven't been exposed (properly) yet.

Honestly though, I'm glad DT isn't mainstream, it's almost like being part of some secret club that no one else understands (Free Masons?).

[setrataeso]

Probably never.

This.
DT will always be respected by a few select groups of people, and completely unknown to everyone else.

[TL]

I think DT are in the perfect position really. They're popular enough that they have a huge fanbase, and can tour around the world and live off it, yet still obscure enough that they don't get mobbed in public. It's like the perfect middle ground.

I completely agree.
If I were in a successful band, that's where I'd want to be.

[XianL]

Obviously they do have fans come up and talk to them (mostly visibly, Jordan's adventures). I wonder if it gets annoying, or whether they enjoy the level of public recognition they get.

[setrataeso]

Obviously they do have fans come up and talk to them (mostly visibly, Jordan's adventures). I wonder if it gets annoying, or whether they enjoy the level of public recognition they get.

Yeah, I've wondered that as well.
I know they don't think so, but there's a certain feeling of inferiority of a fan talking to a band member, athlete, or actor. With Dream Theater, I'm sure they're thrilled to be loved and respected by their fans, and for the devotion they receive from us. At the same time, I can't help but feel like I'm not on the same level as they are.

[Chino]

I think the members of DT are pretty pleased when fans come up to them in public. They know that for us recognize them in public, we must be true fans of their work. I think because of that it doesn't bother them. I mean, shit, I could recognize Kanye West and approach him pretending to be a fan, when in reality, I couldn't name you a single song of his.

[FlashCE]

So many pretentious prog fans in this thread. Also if you think pop music hasn't changed at all, you're not very familiar with it at all. It saddens me that some of you might actually think of DT as "deep" and radio music to be garbage. Ah well, prog fans ARE close minded after all.

[BlobVanDam]

Troll post is trollish.

[YtseBitsySpider]

My appologies to Flash.

Pop music hasn't changed.
It's gotten worse.
It's musical mcdonalds
DreamTheater is musical broccoli. People don't like broccoli,  it's hard to chew, hard to digest even though it's very VERY good for you. The analogy is sound. Dreamtheater's music is good for the mind, it makes you think - what am I hearing here?.....How did they do that?....
Current pop music is bad for the mind. It gives the masses what they want....society, more than ever, is a -right now- cluster of stupids. Give me my three chord Nickelback song, with samey sounds, and samey lyrics that require no thought on my part.
Pop music is a simply a sound-soother stuck in the mouthes of the masses.

DreamTheater will never have a major breakthrough with the media.

[Chino]

My appologies to Flash.

Pop music hasn't changed.
It's gotten worse.
It's musical mcdonalds
DreamTheater is musical broccoli. People don't like broccoli,  it's hard to chew, hard to digest even though it's very VERY good for you. The analogy is sound. Dreamtheater's music is good for the mind, it makes you think - what am I hearing here?.....How did they do that?....
Current pop music is bad for the mind. It gives the masses what they want....society, more than ever, is a -right now- cluster of stupids. Give me my three chord Nickelback song, with samey sounds, and samey lyrics that require no thought on my part.
Pop music is a simply a sound-soother stuck in the mouthes of the masses.

DreamTheater will never have a major breakthrough with the media.

That was a hell of a good post.