Awake is the third studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on October 4, 1994 by East West Records. It was the last Dream Theater album to feature keyboardist Kevin Moore, who announced his decision to leave the band during the recording of the album.
Much of the material for Awake was written in writing sessions between February and April 1994, during which Dream Theater were under pressure from their record label to produce an album as successful as Images and Words with a single similar to "Pull Me Under". The label wanted the band to produce a more metal-oriented album, hoping it would be easier to market. John Purdell and Duane Baron produced, engineered and mixed the album. The album's cover, designed by the band, features numerous references to the album's lyrics.
Dream Theater auditioned for keyboardists to replace Moore for the upcoming world tour and eventually hired Derek Sherinian. He had just two weeks to learn two hours of complex music before the tour started. Sherinian initially took up the position on a trial basis and was asked to become a full member during the tour. After the first leg of the tour, vocalist James LaBrie suffered a violent case of food poisoning, severely damaging his vocal cords. His singing became unpredictable, leading LaBrie to become depressed for much of the tour. His voice only started recovering on the tour for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence in 2002. The Great Hanshin earthquake hit while the band was touring in Japan.
Released at the height of the popularity of grunge music, Awake received mixed reviews; more recent reviews regard the album as one of the band's finest. The album peaked at 32 on the US Billboard 200, the highest position a Dream Theater album would reach on that chart until 2007's Systematic Chaos. "Lie", "Caught in a Web" and "The Silent Man" were released as singles but failed to be as successful as "Pull Me Under" had been. The band's record label considered the album a commercial failure, which would lead to the band being pressured to write more radio-friendly songs on their next studio album, Falling into Infinity.Awake is the third studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on October 4, 1994 by East West Records. It was the last Dream Theater album to feature keyboardist Kevin Moore, who announced his decision to leave the band during the recording of the album.
Much of the material for Awake was written in writing sessions between February and April 1994, during which Dream Theater were under pressure from their record label to produce an album as successful as Images and Words with a single similar to "Pull Me Under". The label wanted the band to produce a more metal-oriented album, hoping it would be easier to market. John Purdell and Duane Baron produced, engineered and mixed the album. The album's cover, designed by the band, features numerous references to the album's lyrics.
Dream Theater auditioned for keyboardists to replace Moore for the upcoming world tour and eventually hired Derek Sherinian. He had just two weeks to learn two hours of complex music before the tour started. Sherinian initially took up the position on a trial basis and was asked to become a full member during the tour. After the first leg of the tour, vocalist James LaBrie suffered a violent case of food poisoning, severely damaging his vocal cords. His singing became unpredictable, leading LaBrie to become depressed for much of the tour. His voice only started recovering on the tour for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence in 2002. The Great Hanshin earthquake hit while the band was touring in Japan.
Released at the height of the popularity of grunge music, Awake received mixed reviews; more recent reviews regard the album as one of the band's finest. The album peaked at 32 on the US Billboard 200, the highest position a Dream Theater album would reach on that chart until 2007's Systematic Chaos. "Lie", "Caught in a Web" and "The Silent Man" were released as singles but failed to be as successful as "Pull Me Under" had been. The band's record label considered the album a commercial failure, which would lead to the band being pressured to write more radio-friendly songs on their next studio album, Falling into Infinity.false2022-12-12 00:19:29Awake8.319941994-10-041994-10-0475Art RockHeavy MetalProgressive MetalProgressive RockRock1121812142990e5544c68-43e9-4754-9239-b618454557f428503ab7-8bf2-4666-a7bd-2644bfc7cb1d676ab2e6-17e6-32e8-9060-191a931ea7b2/media/data/media5/Music/Dream Theater/Awake (1994)/folder.jpgDream TheaterAlbumArtistDream TheaterArtistDream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).
Dream Theater was formed under the name Majesty by Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy — all natives of Long Island, New York — while they attended Berklee College of Music. They dropped out to concentrate on the band. Petrucci and Myung have been the only two constant members. Portnoy had remained until 2010, when he was replaced by Mike Mangini after deciding to leave to pursue other musical projects before rejoining Dream Theater in October 2023. After a brief stint with Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater not long after the release of their first album), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's first keyboardist, Kevin Moore, left the band after three albums and was replaced by Derek Sherinian in 1995 after a period of touring. The band recorded one album with Sherinian, who was replaced by current keyboardist Jordan Rudess in 1999.
Dream Theater has released fifteen studio albums. The band's highest-selling release is their second album Images and Words (1992), which reached No. 61 on the Billboard 200 chart. The albums Awake (1994) and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002) also entered the charts at No. 32 and No. 46 respectively, and each received critical acclaim. Their fifth album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999), was ranked number 95 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It was also ranked as the 15th Greatest Concept Album in March 2003 by Classic Rock magazine.
As of 2018, Dream Theater has sold over 12 million records worldwide and has received three Grammy Award nominations (including one win in 2022). Along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, the band has been referred to as one of the "big three" of the progressive metal genre, responsible for its development and popularization.