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Get your own Free Home Page"I remember I was wearing a Talas shirt that day and to them that was a dead giveaway," recalls Mike. "It was obvious that all our heads were in the same place and to find that they were from home was amazing because there are people from all over the world at Berklee. Finding two people that were completely in sync with me and the fact that they lived 40 minutes away was like a blessing from God."
During breaks from school they jammed with keyboardist Kevin Moore (who played with the Johns' in a high school band called Centurion and was attending Fredonia College in upstate New York at the time) and a vocalist named Chris Collins; a band that would eventually become Majesty. All decided to leave school to concentrate on the band while working regular jobs and giving private music lessons. Shortly afterwards they recorded a four-track, six-song demo tape which was sold to local fans and shopped to labels. Even back then the material was progressive and complex with an edge reminiscent of early Rush and to this day the band often sneak in bits of the songs in their live set.
Majesty was the first band to sign with a new label called Mechanic Records yet were focused to change their moniker as a jazz band already owned the name. Mike's father suggested the name Dream Theater as taken from a movie house in Monterey, California, but soon it became evident that another change was more essential: Chris simply didn't have the vocal range they needed for the album.
"It was then that we went on our first of vocalist searches," laughs Mike, "and found Charlie Dominici who was a lot older than us and came from a different background, but at the time we really couldn't find anyone else and he had the most potential out of everyone. He had the experience that Chris didn't, but after awhile it became evident that he wasn't the singer we were looking for. We would sit at practice and it would be like pulling teeth trying to get him to sing some of the stuff we wanted, but afterwards he would sit down behind the piano and start singing Billy Joel and the Beatles songs and feel right at home.
"When Dream And Day Unite" was recorded at Kajem/Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania in one month's time in the summer of '88 with producer Terry Date. Despite a shoestring budget and limited distribution, the album was received well by press around the world, not to mention American metal radio. Unfortunately, Mechanic didn't have the funds to take them one step further with tour support or a video, and because of this, Dream Theater's concerts were restricted to the New York tri-state area as they held on to their regular day jobs. It soon became clear that the band might be forced to start from scratch to reach their goals.
Charlie was fired in '90 but called back for one final concert supporting Marillion being the British band personally requested that Dream Theater do the gig. It was at this particular show they opened with a then new track called 'Metropolis' -- a sample of how the band had progressed since the debut album and what the future would bring.
Yet what they thought would be a temporary setback turned out to be an almost two year search for a front man. They kept themselves writing and performing new material as a four piece in local clubs; in fact, many of the tracks from "Images and Words" were first performed live as instrumentals long before the vocal melody was written. The encore was indeed a work of genius; a medley of the instrumental breaks from classic songs from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Yes, Queen, The Beatles, and Van Halen.
At one point the frustration to find the right guy became so intense they actually considered an all instrumental route -- especially after a series of really bad experiences -- yet they decided to persist. This revolving door included John Arch of Fates Warning who came very close to getting the job, but he decided against it. Then there was the Geoff Tate clone from Seattle named Steve Stone who actually sang a few songs with the band during one of the instrumental shows, but it was clear he didn't fit in. Finally, they found Chris Cintron who appeared to be the right man for the job, that was until the tape from Canada arrived.
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