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Dream Theater => Dream Theater => Topic started by: zappafrank2112 on May 02, 2019, 10:07:03 AM
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I'm a fan from back when Pull Me Under debuted on MTV, and was immediately mesmerized by the band, but knew nothing about them and didn't see anything in the zines of the time.
I ask about WDADU specifically b/c back when I got into them, that album was almost like a secret not many people knew about unless they'd been familiar with the band on I guess a local level.
There was a pretty small new/used CD store near me and sometime in I guess mid '93 or so, I was perusing the used cd's when all of a sudden I saw a cd by Dream Theater, but it wasn't Images and Words! I looked at the liners and everyone was there except James Labrie! I immediately bought it and as I've made clear other places (heh), I adored the album from the get-to.
Suddenly the notes in the I&W liners about "other singers" and a prior tour made sense!
I point to mid '93 as when I found it b/c I got the Live at the Marquee import (was at another music store and BOOM, there it was) soon after it was released, and I already knew AFiL and The Killing Hand on it.
I know the album has been budget re-released over time, and the original Mechanic Records version is available via Ebay at decent prices, but I have a small sense of hipster-ish pride knowing I came across it on my own, in its original form, back in the day and before the band took off.
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I went to Google and looked for a list of their albums.
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I was walking through the CD store and saw it. Eventually, I bought it. This was around 2003
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After I became a DT fan. :justjen
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The first DT album I ever heard was Once In A Livetime and Ytsejam was on it. I thought I&W was their first album when I first got into them but once I discovered that this song wasn’t on Awake, Images, or FII I knew there had to be another album I missed. I loved WDADU from the first moment I heard it and still think it has a vibe unlike all their other albums (though DT12 comes a bit closer than others to recapturing it).
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I first heard about DT in 1992 thanks to PMU on the radio and a friend who lent me I&W. From there I was a fan, though at that time I knew nothing about them beyond what was in the CD liner notes, which is to say not much beyond their names and what instruments they played.
I either found out about WD&DU via the internet, or by one of their DVD commentary tracks, either of which would have been much, much later. Which is so weird to think about now… being a big fan of a band and completely unaware of an album in their discography.
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I remember finding out about it in the first half of the '90s at some point. I ran into some guys that were talking about Dream Theater, and they mentioned that there was an album before Images. I remember eventually seeing a copy somewhere a bit later on. But although I enjoyed I&W, I was only really a casual fan, and I wasn't interested in hearing the band with a different singer. I'm guessing it was around the time of Six Degrees that I ended up picking it up. I didn't listen to it much at all, but wanted it for completeness, as I was fully into the band from SFAM on and was going back and getting the back catalog. The last three pieces I needed to fill that in were WDADU, LatM, and OIALT. I believe WDADU was the first of those that I got.
I didn't really become familiar with the WDADU songs until much later, for the most part. I liked the versions of The Killing Hand and A Fortune in Lies from LatM. And I was vaguely familiar with Ytsejam from OIALT, but didn't really care for it. WDADRU was what really got me familiar with the songs. And thanks for the reminder. I think I'll listen to that now. :D
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I either found out about WD&DU via the internet, or by one of their DVD commentary tracks, either of which would have been much, much later. Which is so weird to think about now… being a big fan of a band and completely unaware of an album in their discography.
Well, in fairness, unless you were a fan club member or had lucked into discovering them during the WDADU cycle, it wouldn't have been very easy to find out back then. It's really not that uncommon a thing.
Back in the day, before Y&T got picked up by A&M Records and released Earthshaker in 1980 with the "Y&T" name, they had released two albums under "Yesterday & Today" on a small label (London Records). It was kind of a similar situation, where only the die hards or those who were along for the ride since the beginning knew about those first two albums, since they were out of print almost immediately and almost impossible to find.
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I liked the versions of The Killing Hand and A Fortune in Lies from LatM.
I forgot about LatM. I knew it existed, I think my friend who lent me I&W had it, but I never bothered to check it out. Not sure why in retrospect.
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Yeah, I got it relatively late myself (around the SDOIT or TOT cycle--I'm guessing the latter). I got the U.S. version first, and then hunted for quite awhile before I found the Japanese version with Another Day instead of Surrounded so that I could hear the transition from Another Day to Another Hand/The Killing Hand.
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I first heard about DT sometime in the spring of 1989 -- must have been shortly after WDADU was released. Queensryche was still riding high with Operation: Mindcrime, and I saw a little snippet on MTV about "bands you might also like if you like Queensryche." They mentioned Fates Warning and Dream Theater, and I think the third was Crimson Glory. I went out to look for albums by these bands.
The first one I found was No Exit by Fates Warning. I immediately bought it, and FW has been one of my favorite bands since then.
I saw some Crimson Glory CDs but never bought one. I think the singer's stage name and the fact that he wore a mask turned me off.
Unfortunately, I never found anything by DT. I didn't know they had only released one album at that point, and I'm guessing that the original release of WDADU may not have been available at all in Southern California. I kept checking for a while but probably had forgotten about it after a couple years
Fast forward to 1992, and "Pull Me Under" broke on a local radio station, and I went out and bought I&W. I remembered having heard about DT a few years earlier, and I saw DT four times between November 1992 and June 1993. They played OAMOT, YJ, TKH, AFIL and SS. I don't recall specifically when I bought WDADU, but I assume it worked its way into local record stores in late 1992 or 1993 and that I had bought it before the end of 1993.
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I was introduced to the band by my cousin, he did all the work of discovering DT. At some point he mentioned the first album which had another singer while he thought Images and Words was their first. I was a slow learner, took me like 4 months to realize The Mirror, stuck at the end of a cassette tape he made for me (feeling old yet?) was awesome, that song started the avalanche effect that made me a DT fan back in 1999.
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Oh, and then the Images and Words Live in Tokyo VHS was another thing I picked up right when it dropped. I'd already seen the vids for PMU and Take the Time (which came out after I already had I&W), but was like, "oh wow, there's a video for Another Day."
And then of course To Live Forever is on the VHS, so I consider it a part of my initial fandom. And then how surprising it was to hear The Mirror for the 1st time and recognize the intro as that little bit they played (Puppies on Acid) before Take the Time.
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Oh, and then the Images and Words Live in Tokyo VHS was another thing I picked up right when it dropped. I'd already seen the vids for PMU and Take the Time (which came out after I already had I&W), but was like, "oh wow, there's a video for Another Day."
And then of course To Live Forever is on the VHS, so I consider it a part of my initial fandom. And then how surprising it was to hear The Mirror for the 1st time and recognize the intro as that little bit they played (Puppies on Acid) before Take the Time.
My experience with the LIT VHS was similar to yours. They played TLF at the June 1993 show I saw. As I've posted elsewhere, I assumed it was an incomplete song that might show up on the album that became Awake.
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Some time in 1989 I was lucky to hear AFIL and OAMT on the BBC Friday Rock Show hosted by Tommy Vance (i think) and I was half paying attention to the music until these 2 songs came on which blew me away. I went to my local independent record shop who had the album on Vinyl and the rest is history!
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A buddy at school had it and played it a bit. Also introduced me to Mindcrime. QR stuck straight away but I wasn't taken with WDADU. Years later was looking for something new and stumbled over the recently released SFAM on Amazon and remembered that guy from school.
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I actually didn't hear it until after I discovered them through I&W in 1992 but looking back at it I had read about them (JM & JP specifically) in an interview in Guitar Player magazine back in 89 when it had just come out.
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Google lol. For years I saw it as the icky first album with a bad singer since that was the impression I got from it from most fans. I decided to listen to it one day and I loved it, I think it's very underrated.
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I just went backwards from SFAM once I discovered DT. Once I got to WDADU I went "Oh ok so I&W is as far back as I needed to go" heh, not really; I loved Ytse Jam but couldn't get into any other songs.
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I'm a fan from back when Pull Me Under debuted on MTV, and was immediately mesmerized by the band, but knew nothing about them and didn't see anything in the zines of the time.
I ask about WDADU specifically b/c back when I got into them, that album was almost like a secret not many people knew about unless they'd been familiar with the band on I guess a local level.
There was a pretty small new/used CD store near me and sometime in I guess mid '93 or so, I was perusing the used cd's when all of a sudden I saw a cd by Dream Theater, but it wasn't Images and Words! I looked at the liners and everyone was there except James Labrie! I immediately bought it and as I've made clear other places (heh), I adored the album from the get-to.
Suddenly the notes in the I&W liners about "other singers" and a prior tour made sense!
I point to mid '93 as when I found it b/c I got the Live at the Marquee import (was at another music store and BOOM, there it was) soon after it was released, and I already knew AFiL and The Killing Hand on it.
I know the album has been budget re-released over time, and the original Mechanic Records version is available via Ebay at decent prices, but I have a small sense of hipster-ish pride knowing I came across it on my own, in its original form, back in the day and before the band took off.
The Spirit Of Rush Fanzine Number 8 from the spring/summer 1989.
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Went to a DT concert on a whim in 2000 with some friends. Liked what I heard but too much prog noodling. Still bought SFAM afterwards and slowly got into the band. When 6DOIT was coming out, my friend had a bootleg of it before it was released and we listened to it. I asked how he got it and he says he can get lots of stuff like the super hard to find first album that doesn't have James LaBrie. But he warned me, the vocalist was terrible. We listened and I agreed, which was stupid and closed minded because now I love Charlie.
After the WDADRU concert and the bootleg release, I was really getting into the history of DT and how cool of a story it was. I loved that they brought back Charlie and I wanted to give him another chance. I think I got the official bootleg before the album. So later I finally found a copy of WDADU (never took my friend up on his bragging of getting rare stuff. I prefer the ethical way). His voice was a bit of a shock. I didn't listen to Rush at the time but it sounded like them to my ears but I really dug what I heard. Despite the rough sound, I fell in love with the album and had that and WDADRU on a solid rotation. Soon got the WDADU demos from Ytsejam.
Followed Charlie online and bought all of his solo band stuff, which I gotta admit, am bummed that it didn't turn into something bigger. I especially love Part 3 of the trilogy. In fact, I think it's much better than The Astonishing :biggrin:
Made conversation with a guy at a concert in Milwaukee in 2007 and asked his opinion on Charlie and he said that's what made him like DT to begin with when he read a review that compared him to Geddy Lee, he bought the album within a few weeks of it's release.
I kind of have hipster-ish pride knowing a met someone that was a DT fan from the beginning because they are so few and far between.
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Back in 1989, I was in college in Rhode Island, and I did the Heavy Metal Show on Sunday nights at our college radio station. One night during the show, I came across a new album in the bin by a band called Dream Theater. I thought that was a great name for a band. When Dream And Day Unite. That's a cool title too. I thought the front cover was um..a little queer, and the band pic on the back was worse..
During a song on the show, I dropped the needle on it "in cue", which in DJ talk, is the mode you use to line up the beginning of the next song. Unfortunately, the sound "in cue" doesn't give you the full sound. Kind of like only hearing one stereo speaker. Anyway, the keyboards really dominated the sound, and the singer sounded a little tinny. I put the album back in the bin, and completely forgot about it.
Flash forward to late 1993. By this time, I "discovered" Dream Theater at Iron Maiden's 1992 concert at The Ritz (I took my avatar pic the day of the show), had seen DT 5 times, and also owned Live At the Marquee. I understood they had a "first" album with a different singer. I ended up ordering it on import. (I used to use Worldwide CD out of Chicago). When WDADU was delivered, I opened it and ...OMG..I immediately recognized (cue the Psycho theme) the cover. HOLY SHIT, THIS was the album I sampled 4 years earlier!
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Was watching Headbanger's Ball on MTV late one night when Pull Me Under was played.
Either I or my friend phoned (as we used to do when something noteworthy came up).
He had When Dream and Day Unite. He had found it via a vinyl of various artist.
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As I mentioned in Rob Webster's podcast for WDaDU (pronounced "wuh-dah-doo") - https://www.robdwebster.com/dreamtheater/2019/2/2/full-circle-when-dream-and-day-unite - I discovered them when reading the album reviews in an issue of RIP! magazine back in the summer of 1989. What grabbed my attention was the fact that the review stated they were influenced by Rush, which I never saw mentioned in any other album reviews. So I had to check this Dream Theater band out. Been a fan ever since.
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I became a fan with Pull Me Under, so once I had Images & Words, I got I&W Live in Tokyo and LATM as soon as they came out. They both had songs I didn't know, and I eventually learned that most of them were from a previous album (maybe from a magazine interview?), so I went on the hunt.
I finally found a copy of WDADU in a record store when I was on vacation in 1994, a few months before Awake was released.
What a letdown.
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What a letdown.
Said no zappafrank2112 ever!!!
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I became a fan with Pull Me Under, so once I had Images & Words, I got I&W Live in Tokyo and LATM as soon as they came out. They both had songs I didn't know, and I eventually learned that most of them were from a previous album (maybe from a magazine interview?), so I went on the hunt.
I finally found a copy of WDADU in a record store when I was on vacation in 1994, a few months before Awake was released.
What a letdown.
was finding WDADU so late a letdown for you or the album itself?
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I didn't get into the band until about 2008. By then Wikipedia was a thing so I was made aware of an album existing before Images & Words. My Dad generally regarded the DT canon to begin at I&W, though, because he couldn't stand Dominici's voice. I think he used to have the WDADU CD but got rid of it at some point. He kept around later, live renditions (mostly from Live At The Marquee) of The Killing Hand, A Fortune In Lies, and Ytse Jam. I probably listened to WDADU on Youtube or something a few times, but honestly I don't pay it much mind. I don't understand how an album's production quality can be so awful, honestly.
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I became a fan with Pull Me Under, so once I had Images & Words, I got I&W Live in Tokyo and LATM as soon as they came out. They both had songs I didn't know, and I eventually learned that most of them were from a previous album (maybe from a magazine interview?), so I went on the hunt.
I finally found a copy of WDADU in a record store when I was on vacation in 1994, a few months before Awake was released.
What a letdown.
was finding WDADU so late a letdown for you or the album itself?
Definitely the album itself.
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What a letdown.
Said no zappafrank2112 ever!!!
Yeah, we know.
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I became a fan with Pull Me Under, so once I had Images & Words, I got I&W Live in Tokyo and LATM as soon as they came out. They both had songs I didn't know, and I eventually learned that most of them were from a previous album (maybe from a magazine interview?), so I went on the hunt.
I finally found a copy of WDADU in a record store when I was on vacation in 1994, a few months before Awake was released.
What a letdown.
was finding WDADU so late a letdown for you or the album itself?
Definitely the album itself.
By that, do you mean primarily the production and Charlie's voice, or the songs as well?
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I became a fan with Pull Me Under, so once I had Images & Words, I got I&W Live in Tokyo and LATM as soon as they came out. They both had songs I didn't know, and I eventually learned that most of them were from a previous album (maybe from a magazine interview?), so I went on the hunt.
I finally found a copy of WDADU in a record store when I was on vacation in 1994, a few months before Awake was released.
What a letdown.
was finding WDADU so late a letdown for you or the album itself?
Definitely the album itself.
By that, do you mean primarily the production and Charlie's voice, or the songs as well?
Primarily the production and Charlie's voice.
But there is also an amateurish feel to some of the songs. The band just isn't quite there yet.
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Must have been 2002-ish. I only had a few DT albums and was looking to expand the collection. I found WDADU in a record store and it was much cheaper than the others. Perfect! :lol
From my first listen I remember I was a little put off by the vocals (I didn't know about Charlie!!), and I fell asleep some time after The Killing Hand :blush
Cool album though! It sounds like it was recorded inside a bucket, but it is what it is. A Fortune in Lies, Ytsejam, The Killing Hand and Only a Matter of Time, what's not to like? From a bunch of teenagers? Hell yeah.
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Wikipedia. I can’t exactly remember how I chose what order to listen to DT’s catalog, but I do remember choosing WDADU last knowing JLB wasn’t the vocalist. The most I’ve heard from the album before hand were the live versions with JLB. Oh man, it was really rough listening to to the album the first time! I really did not dig the vocals and the production was not very good. I believe I gave it two listens before saying f*** this album! :lol
I one day matured and gave it a second chance. I actually really like it a lot now! It’s not bad for the time and budget, and CD’s vocals fit the songs pretty well. JLB would still have done a far better job though.
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What a letdown.
Said no zappafrank2112 ever!!!
Yeah, we know.
Yeah, and I know lot of people here don't like the album, and that doesn't stop them from stating as such.
Deal with it, son.
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What a letdown.
Said no zappafrank2112 ever!!!
Yeah, we know.
Yeah, and I know lot of people here don't like the album, and that doesn't stop them from stating as such.
Deal with it, son.
People don't go out of their way to state it. Only if it comes up (like a thread on that very subject).
Please don't call me son.
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When I first listened to WDADU, I had no idea that there was a different singer. It threw me for a bit of a loop and I put it down after the first song. Not long after that, I gave the whole album a try. It clicked and resonated with me intensely. It was a very organic experience, and a special one. This was almost 13 years ago. I still love the album very much today. It makes my heart feel alive.
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When I first listened to WDADU, I had no idea that there was a different singer. It threw me for a bit of a loop and I put it down after the first song. Not long after that, I gave the whole album a try. It clicked and resonated with me intensely. It was a very organic experience, and a special one. This was almost 13 years ago. I still love the album very much today. It makes my heart feel alive.
That was my experience with Images And Words when I stumbled on it at a record show. Had no idea there was a different singer. Hell, I thought the band had broken up. I thought it was great to finally have new album after more than 2 years of radio silence.
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I probably learned about WDADU from DT's website. I knew there was a different singer and that people had mixed opinions on his voice. I think it's a good album, but I definitely prefer DT with James. I'd love to hear the ones I haven't heard live like The Killing Hand.
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I think I discovered WDADU through Columbia House, though I'm not 100% sure. No, I think I found it in a record store in Grand Rapids, MI a few months after I had picked up I&W. I remember listening to it on a school bus trip to a marching band competition during my sophomore year of high school, so that would have been fall of 1992. I remember getting it on cassette, and thinking they had a thing with putting all the really good stuff on side two. Either way, I dug it a lot. Charlie's singing wasn't the greatest, but the songs were pretty cool. I don't listen to it much these days, but I think I'll put it on this afternoon.
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I cannot exactly remember when I first got WDADU, it was in an old second hand store sometime in the late 90s I guess. I had known about it since I&W and seeing a MP/JLB interview at that time, but to me it was the holy grail as I couldn't believe it was available in UK. Unfortunately the production and (at that time) Charlie's vocals were a disappointment to me, but it was good as a completist acquisition. In 2002 at the same time as SDOIT, WDADU was rereleased as a remaster, so I bought it again hoping for a better sound... not much improvement there, but I learned appreciate it more. Although I consider WDADU DT's lowest ranking album, it has its charm and some good songs, just not their best.
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Some time in 1989 I was lucky to hear AFIL and OAMT on the BBC Friday Rock Show hosted by Tommy Vance (i think) and I was half paying attention to the music until these 2 songs came on which blew me away. I went to my local independent record shop who had the album on Vinyl and the rest is history!
EXACTLY the same as myself :) It was of course the late, great, Thomas the Vance who hosted that unmissable Friday night essential listening show and I also remember MP being a guest on the show either just before or just after Images was released and some songs from that being played. I will never forget TV talking about one particular track (i think it was Under A Glass Moon, but it could have been a few others) when he said to Mike that it sounded like the band threw everything, including the kitchen sink, into that song!! :)
30 years ago!!!!.....that seems unbelievable!
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I also remember MP being a guest on the show either just before or just after Images was released and some songs from that being played. I will never forget TV talking about one particular track (i think it was Under A Glass Moon, but it could have been a few others) when he said to Mike that it sounded like the band threw everything, including the kitchen sink, into that song!! :)
30 years ago!!!!.....that seems unbelievable!
I remember listening to that particular show also (in spring '93 - I was in the bath at the time ;D). I already had I&W by then and it had quickly become one of my all time favourites. The song TV raved about was Metropolis 1, to which he exclaimed "Oooofff", praising the technical expertise.
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I also remember MP being a guest on the show either just before or just after Images was released and some songs from that being played. I will never forget TV talking about one particular track (i think it was Under A Glass Moon, but it could have been a few others) when he said to Mike that it sounded like the band threw everything, including the kitchen sink, into that song!! :)
30 years ago!!!!.....that seems unbelievable!
I remember listening to that particular show also (in spring '93 - I was in the bath at the time ;D). I already had I&W by then and it had quickly become one of my all time favourites. The song TV raved about was Metropolis 1, to which he exclaimed "Oooofff", praising the technical expertise.
Thank you for refreshing my memories :)