ENTERTAINMENT

Magic - Entertainment For Children and Adults

2009-06-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Do you remember growing up watching magic occasionally, in your life, as an art of entertainment and how simple prestidigitation has transported you to an unknown world where it was all mystery, illusion and entertainment? It is not surprising that magic has historical importance although it gained respectability and strength in eighteenth century. Modern magic art owes a lot to Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin who performed in France and England. The 19th century magician of prominence, Harry Houdini magic guru took his stage name from French Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. The world remembers these two great names as magicians who brought respect to an otherwise, what was thought and practiced as an art of, occult and conjure practice. How Is Magic Performed None of the performers of this day claim to possess any supernatural powers baring a few who may be called as 'charlatans'. Performers establish an unspoken relationship with audience even as they enter the stage, achieved through sleight of hand. And then what follows next is an illusionary and mind numbing combination of deception, misdirection, connivance with a member of the audience, mirrors, equipments and other apparatuses with mysterious mechanisms, and lots of other trickery. The bafflement the audience falls into is beyond explanation that audience thinks it lost senses as they can't believe how anything that has happened, albeit before their eyes, has happened at all. Dumb stricken, having lost comprehension and thinking abilities, audience, in no time give in to the tricks and just become a part of the show before beginning to pay a role themselves. Where Does It Stand Today Unfortunately, for much of the 20th century, this great art of entertainment was ignored and marginalized. This is mainly because of the rise of celluloid entertainment which added stories to make believe shows. Stalwarts and enthusiasts have been at it for reviving this 'children's entertainment', as it is regarded now. But the result, which, for much of the last 2-3 decades has been elusive, appears to be a distant possibility. The expression 'all smoke and mirrors' which gained coinage coinciding with the decline in interest has also contributed too magic's present state today. Some of the famous acts of magic are Escape Art, The Great Indian Rope Trick, Teleportation, Vanishing Act just make a small partial list of great acts interspersed with the routine fillers like innumerous number of card trick, pulling rabbits from hats etc. The term magic has become synonymous with great performance in other fields too, especially sports. Can anyone forget Magic Johnson, at all?

Children's Entertainment and Comedy

2009-06-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Only parents with Victorian attitudes would insist all children's programming be 'improving' and educational - there should be room for fun and entertainment, as in adult schedules.

Popular new genres of the 1950s included live theatre variety and the game show and Children's TV replicated both. Crackerjack (BBC, 1955-84) was a mini-version of series like Sunday Night at the London Palladium (ITV, 1955-67; 1973-74), comprising variety turns, comedy sketches, pop music, party games and simple quizzes.

Both children and television have changed greatly since Crackerjack began. The 1960s produced Top of the Form (BBC, 1962-75), an austere inter-schools general knowledge quiz with serious-minded questions addressed to uniformed pupils. Film quiz Screen Test (BBC, 1970-84) used a similar static, sit-down panel format, albeit enlivened by movie clips. Runaround (ITV, 1975-81) brought the quiz format to life - active youngsters sprinted across the studio to answer trivia questions, egged on by a noisy audience. After the first series of Cheggers Plays Pop (BBC, 1978-86), BBC Head of Children's Edward Barnes remarked, "It's the most vulgar thing I have ever seen - but I'll recommission it!" It mixed music guest spots, pop quiz and action games involving inflatable contraptions and messy gunge. The latter ingredient, influenced by TISWASFun House (ITV 1989-99) and Get Your Own Back (BBC, 1991-). These shows allow free rein to natural childish energy; quizzes of the 1950s and '60s were an extension of the classroom. (ITV, 1974-82), became de rigeur in the likes of

Cheggers Plays Pop and Crackerjack included pop performance, but ITV provided dedicated music shows in the 1970s and '80s, Muriel Young producing several for Granada in the 'glam rock' and 'teenybop' eras - Lift Off With Ayshea (ITV, 1969-74), including a legendary 1972 appearance by David Bowie, Shang-a-Lang (ITV, 1975) a showcase for the Bay City Rollers, and Marc (ITV, 1977), a vehicle for Marc Bolan. Get It Together (ITV, 1977-81) was a durable mix of performance and quiz, let down by a poor guest roster and dubious cover versions sung by host Roy North.

Pop interview, performance and - from the early '80s - music video also became a regular part of Saturday morning shows. Music video and its ubiquity, via satellite channels, has removed much of the impact enjoyed by shows like Lift Off, then a rare opportunity to see music idols perform.

Comedy for children usually deals in physical slapstick, farce and bad puns. In this vein, doddery old Mr Pastry (BBC, 1950-62) was an early comic hero, as were the grotesquely greedy schoolboy Billy Bunter (BBC, 1952-61) and the similar comic strip schoolroom antics of Whack-O! (BBC, 1956-60; 1971-72).

Broad pantomime traditions informed Pardon, My Genie (ITV, 1972-3), Grandad (BBC, 1979-84) and Rentaghost (BBC, 1976-84) - faces were blackened by exploding ovens and struck by flying cream cakes. Such series used experienced comic actors like Roy Barraclough or Clive Dunn, but farcical events and comic misadventures also befell child actors in Here Come the Double Deckers! (BBC, 1971), Graham's Gang (BBC, 1977-79) and Jossy's Giants (BBC, 1986-87). Such physical comedy has nonetheless taken in satire (Educating Marmalade, ITV, 1982) and strong character writing (Worzel Gummidge, ITV, 1979-81; Channel 4, 1987-89).

Absurdist pre-Python series Do Not Adjust Your Set (ITV, 1967-8) was a rare example of truly innovative sketch comedy. While nothing since has matched its influence, the earthy humour of various 1970s Thames series like You Must Be Joking (ITV, 1975-76) and Pauline's QuirkesPlay Away (BBC, 1972-84), a colourful mix of corny jokes and songs, was the longest running of all children's comedy series. (ITV, 1976) proved both popular and controversial.

What is Entertainment

2009-04-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

In a world where we find ourselves ever more overwhelmed by—and drawn to—bright images and flashing screens, it is worth asking a few questions about that most important of consumer goods: entertainment. What makes entertainment entertaining? Why do we need it, or do we? What is entertainment, anyway?

These are a few of the questions I set out to answer in a class I taught a year or so ago: Entertainment in America. And while we couldn’t quite come up with satisfactory answers, even after a semester of reading and discussion, I’d like to try to set down a few of the thoughts that came out of that course here. But I don’t want to shove the partial answers I’ve come to down your throat—that’s no fun for anybody. Rather, what I’ll do in the following is offer a list of questions that you might ask yourself, along with a few resources that might be worth looking at as you search for your own answers to these increasingly crucial questions. I’ll also note, from time to time, the conclusions I have tentatively reached regarding these questions.

Are you ready? Here goes…

What is entertainment? (Too obvious, but we’ll come back to it. If you keep this question in mind as you go down the list, you may find a definition beginning to come together. Try it out.) Even if you know it when you see it, does it bother you if you can’t come up with a good definition of what it actually is?

Is there such a thing as "only entertainment"?
Only Entertainment—Bad Religion
That’s Entertainment—The Jam
That’s Entertainment—Judy Garland
When you read the lyrics of The Jam’s and Bad Religion’s songs, and read about the history of the Judy Garland highlights film, what is your sense of the kind of material that makes for entertainment?

Who needs entertainment? What for? When you are entertained, what are you feeling? Read a Dilbert or Doonesbury comic strip, and try to record what happened inside of you while you were looking at the comic. Did you feel happier? A sense of release? The resolving of tension? Was that entertainment? Would you say that reading the comic strip was the same kind of experience as watching a television show? How? How not?

Are some kinds of entertainment better for you than others? Which kinds? Is it better to play internet poker or to watch a video? Try doing each for a little while and record your feelings. Was one more entertaining than the other? How? Why? Did one make you more aggressive? Less likely to do something productive in the world around you? Did either change the way you felt about yourself? How?

One of the things I was struck by while teaching this course was the way entertainment can work as a substitute for action. If I can identify with a character on TV—on a soap opera, for instance—then I get to feel all the feelings that character feels, without having to do the actions that result in those feelings. I get to feel jealous without having a cheating spouse, excited by the intrigue of adultery without being an adulterer, and intimate without ever actually talking to a living human being. In short, I get to feel. Some researchers believe that feelings are the way we human beings experience our world most fully, but is there a price to pay when we feel our emotions in a way that’s disconnected from the physical world around us?

That is, if we get to feel feelings without taking risks, do we start to lose our ability to risk emotion in the "real world"? I don’t have a definite answer to that for you, but I do have one for me. I’ve come to the conclusion that entertainment is—while maybe necessary for emotional and psychological health—definitely a dangerous substance. Like fire. So, for my part, I’ll still watch a film now and then. But I’ll also think afterwards about how watching that film, getting that emotional satisfaction, affects my ability to act in the real world. You might consider doing the same; it actually turns out to be pretty entertaining.

Critical Sinking

2009-04-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Plain Dealer music writer Donald Rosenberg covered the Cleveland Orchestra for 28 years. That is, until his critiques of Franz Welser-Möst apparently unseated him from the prestigious role. What happened along the way gives a rare look at two powerful institutions and raises the question of what it means to be a critic.

Donald Rosenberg never brings a reporter’s notebook to Severance Hall.

A classical music writer for more than a quarter-century, he jots notes on the night’s program for fear that the flip of a page might be a distraction.

Though many others in the audience have cast aside their formal attire, some even refusing to change from their denim, thePlain Dealer critic sports a coat and tie out of respect for the institution.

Tonight, music director Franz Welser-Möst is conducting the Cleveland Orchestra through the music of the less-popular Strauss brother, Josef, whose waltzes are tinged with melancholy.

But Rosenberg has scrawled his disappointment in the margins before the first piece, “Dynamiden,” is over. To Rosenberg, the waltz, beautiful in its blend of the bittersweet and the exuberant, is plodding along in Welser-Möst’s hands. The nostalgic moments, he will write in his review, are “overly weighty and restrained.”

And the lively passages? “Essentially joyless.”

For Rosenberg, a man who relishes the details and who co-workers describe as meticulous, this is pointed criticism. Compared to the review by the other critic at the spring 2007 concert, Rosenberg’s words are harsh. TheAkron Beacon Jounal’s Elaine Guregian will describe the music as “dreamy,” “wistful” and creating a sense of “lush extravagance.”

And while all critics occasionally disagree, Cleveland Orchestra officials and others have grown increasingly frustrated by Rosenberg’s views on how Welser-Möst interprets music. They complain, in a steady trickle of letters to thePD and in public, that Rosenberg criticizes the conductor relentlessly, even when he praises the players.

Back in 2005, Richard Bogomolny, the chairman of the orchestra’s parent company, even wrote to thePD to say Rosenberg had lost credibility and was hurting the newspaper. Orchestra executives lobbied for more positive coverage, going so far as to document every sentence Rosenberg had written about Welser-Möst over 12 years.

“Every time he wrote an article, he was asking the board to remove the music director,” says Robert Duvin, the lawyer for the orchestra’s parent company.

In the 18-month crescendo following the Strauss concert, Rosenberg will say that Welser-Möst “sapped the music of all character,” led an “unformed account” and was guilty of “pressing the orchestra to ear-shattering harshness.”

In the same time frame, the orchestra will extend Welser-Möst’s contract to 2018, essentially ensuring his stay with the Cleveland Orchestra through the rest of Rosenberg’s writing career. AndThe Plain Dealer will demote Rosenberg from one of the premier music-critic positions in the world, drawing international scrutiny among fellow critics and causing others to question whether the newspaper bowed to the orchestra’s gravitas.

Rosenberg will ultimately sue both the orchestra’s parent company and his employer.

But on this May night, Rosenberg sees himself as just doing his job, without fear of retribution. When the performance ends, he scoots out of Severance Hall. He doesn’t want anyone to influence his perception of the concert. He heads to the parking garage underneath the concert hall, drives home and writes his review first thing the next morning.

Donald Rosenberg’s first foray into newspapers came in 1977 while working at a Westwood, N.J., bagel shop.

Fresh out of Yale with two master’s degrees in music and no job prospects, he was boiling dough to support himself and his new wife, who he’d met in the school’s horn section.

He’d been playing the French horn seriously for 11 years, his talent putting him on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center and the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont.

He had played under legendary conductor Pablo Casals and alongside music icons Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and Franklin Cohen (who is now principal clarinetist in the Cleveland Orchestra).

One day, Joseph Polisi called the bagel shop. The admissions officer and eventual president of the revered Juilliard School told Rosenberg a newspaper in Akron, Ohio, was looking for a music critic. TheBeacon Journal called five minutes later. The interview went well, until they asked for some examples of Rosenberg’s work. All he had to send was his master’s project on the Wagner tuba.

Rosenberg’s musical chops had way more bite than his writing experience, but they invited him for a tryout anyway. By October 1977, he had his first newspaper job reviewing concerts by the Cleveland Orchestra, 35 miles away.

His first reviews took him four hours to write. But he learned on the job, writing for theBeaconfor more than a decade before making a quick stop atThe Pittsburgh Press. Then in 1992, he reassumed his role as critic of the Cleveland Orchestra, this time forThe Plain Dealer.

During Rosenberg’s time as a critic, three different music directors — Lorin Maazel, Christoph von Dohnányi and Franz Welser-Möst — have led the orchestra; Severance Hall has undergone a $36 million restoration; and Rosenberg has toured the world, covering concerts in some of classical music’s most prestigious venues — including the orchestra’s regular engagements at Austria’s Salzburg Festival.

In 2000, Rosenberg penned a 768-page history of the Cleveland Orchestra. A year later, his peers selected him to lead the Music Critics Association of North America for two terms.

Now, Rosenberg says, he can write and file reviews in a half-hour, always turning in meticulous copy with not even a comma out of place.

Over the years, Donald Rosenberg and Gary Hanson, the orchestra’s top executive, had practically become friends, enjoying an occasional glass of wine and dinner at each other’s house.

Hanson’s rise through the ranks in the Musical Arts Association, the orchestra’s parent company, included a stop in the communication department — which deals with the news media and thus, Rosenberg.

It’s not surprising the two men enjoyed each other’s company. Some of the same words can be used to describe them: professorial, meticulous, confident, thoughtful, connoisseurs.

They shared lunch at an upscale restaurant in Central Dublin in 2004, while the orchestra was on its summertime European tour. It was just days after Rosenberg published a story in thePD that included comments Welser-Möst made to the Swiss weekly Die Weltwoche.

Welser-Möst called the Friday matinee audience members at Severance Hall “blue-hair ladies ... who are too tired to attend performances at night.”

In describing the city, he said: “Cleveland is an island. Here we have a world-class orchestra in what I call an inflated farmer’s village. For me, who loves the country, it is wonderful to live there among the green.”

The article went on to say, in Welser-Möst’s words, what large donations will buy you in Cleveland. $5,000? “You don’t get a handshake.” $10 million? “Of course, you go to dinner.”

Rosenberg understood that Welser-Möst was speaking to Europeans, and in Europe, it is unfathomable that the public would donate much. The state funds the arts. Rosenberg printed the conductor’s comments as the second item in a roundup of news from the orchestra’s tour across Europe.

The orchestra’s administration wasn’t pleased. Rosenberg says he received a stern phone call from public relations head Nikki Scandalios, warning there would be “consequences.” (Scandalios would not comment on the incident for this story.)

But Rosenberg expected that any lingering concerns could be worked out with Hanson at lunch.

At the restaurant, Hanson was surprised he didn’t get a heads up about the story, but otherwise didn’t discuss the article much.

In retrospect, Rosenberg says, “I don’t think [Hanson] had pondered the ramifications of it. It probably took him another week or two to realize how Franz’s comments had played in Cleveland.”

When the neworchestra season began that September, Rosenberg was no longer permitted to use Nikki Scandalios’ office to file deadline reviews forThe Plain Dealer. He was redirected to a small office with no windows. Rosenberg says it resembled a “broom closet with a desk.”

TheBeacon’s Elaine Guregian, who often criticized similar points as Rosenberg, but did so less bitingly, continued to write from the office next to Scandalios’.

Not all of Rosenberg’s comments about Welser-Möst were negative. Many times he complimented him, especially when working with operas. But there were plenty of criticisms: “Welser-Möst was the wrong maestro for the job,” he wrote about the playing of a January 2005 Maurice Ravel piece. “Welser-Möst insisted on soft dynamics that became meaningless, and he was unable to inspire the ensemble unity that is a hallmark of this orchestra,” he commented in a review of a concert later that month, as the orchestra played Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4.

Robert Duvin, the Musical Arts Association’s lawyer who spoke for the orchestra due to the lawsuit, says the reviews of the music director’s performances became increasingly harsh. And while the “blue-hair ladies” story was distressing to the orchestra, it is not what caused its ire to rise.

“That was a spat that came and went in days,” Duvin says. “This is about music.”

By May 2005, Rosenberg struggled to nab interviews with Welser-Möst. What used to take a single request took 10 weeks. When they finally met, Hanson sat in on the interview, something he’d never done before.

In June, in the middle of the orchestra’s West Coast trip, Rosenberg was informed his normal courtesy ride on the orchestra’s tour bus had been revoked. To get from San Francisco to Sacramento, he took a Greyhound bus.

And in Vienna in the fall, he was removed from two rehearsals and told he was no longer allowed backstage while the orchestra was on tour.

“I always had free access. I thought it was crucial I be able to observe the activities backstage, talk to the musicians and staff, in order to write stories. I got a lot of color that way,” Rosenberg says. “The whole process of touring and music-making needed to be explored in all its aspects.

“I tried to take the high road and be as professional as possible,” he says. “My editors wanted me to maintain a certain distance. I just tried to do my job within the new constraints.”

Rosenberg says it felt like a campaign to oust him by one of the most powerful institutions in the city — one people throughout the globe associate with Cleveland.

Duvin says it was just frustration by lovers of the revered orchestra sick of Rosenberg’s downer attitude.

“In my opinion, what happened is the people who love music — some of them directly associated with the orchestra and some of them not — couldn’t take it anymore ... and fought back,” he says. “But they didn’t fight back illegitimately. They didn’t go on a smear campaign. They presented their opinions toThe Plain Dealer and exercised their First Amendment rights. They didn’t carry pickets. They didn’t engage in harassing phone calls. They didn’t run around saying bad things about him personally. They strenuously disagreed with his professional criticisms.”

Letters complainingabout Rosenberg’s reviews of the orchestra had been arriving at a steady pace of two to three per week during 2005. Editor Doug Clifton heard criticism of Rosenberg all the time.

Newspapers routinely get negative comments about critics, but the complaints about Rosenberg were lobbied everywhere. Clifton heard them at benefits, out socially and, because he and his wife regularly attended orchestra performances, at Severance Hall as well.

He even agreed with some of the detractors.

“As a person who went to the orchestra, I did feel he was hypercritical,” Clifton says. “That was just my observation, and it was an uninformed observation, because I would never stack my experience and expertise against Don Rosenberg, who is well schooled in classical music.”

Clifton says he even heard gripes from the publisher ofThe Plain Dealer, Alex Machaskee, a board member with the Musical Arts Association. (Machaskee did not return calls seeking comment.)

“Alex never once asked me to remove Don,” Clifton says. “He bitched and moaned about Don. No question.”

Then in June, Clifton received a letter from Richard Bogomolny, the chairman of the Musical Arts Association board. In the letter, Bogomolny said, “A legitimate goal of a great newspaper is to publish news with appropriate commentary. In the case of criticism, opinions can encourage discourse, even controversy. As a result of lack of credibility, Mr. Rosenberg has made himself the subject of this controversy. It has become all about Donald Rosenberg, not about the music where it legitimately belongs. ... Mr. Rosenberg’s bias runs the risk of damaging the credibility ofThe Plain Dealer. I, for one, would not like to see that happen.”

Clifton responded in a letter back two days later: “We must tread lightly on the independence of our critic. To overrule him in the face of protest would make a mockery of the critical process.”

Gary Hanson asked Clifton for a meeting to discuss Rosenberg further, and Clifton agreed.

For the meeting, Julie Clark, working for the orchestra’s media relations department, assembled a point-by-point critique of all 150 sentences Rosenberg had written about Welser-Möst, from his guest-conducting performance on Feb. 12, 1993, to the latest concert before the meeting. She rated each sentence as “positive,” “mixed” or “negative.”

They met at 10 a.m. on Aug. 3, 2005, inThe Plain Dealer offices downtown. The orchestra wanted the paper to stop sending Rosenberg on tour, to balance him with other critics, not to allow him to choose the alternate critics and to remove Rosenberg from his duties covering the orchestra for news stories, according to an internal orchestra memo sent to prepare key Musical Arts Association officials for the meeting.

Clifton now says he doesn’t even remember this meeting.

He does recall, however, that he began to preface conversations with Gary Hanson with a predicate that Rosenberg would not be removed from his job as music critic. “We don’t let the news sources dictate who will cover them,” he says.

Tom O’Hara, the No. 2 editor at the paper at the time, says the paper had confidence in Rosenberg. “For somebody like me, who knows virtually nothing about symphonic music, it is difficult to determine whether the critic is being even-handed or not. Don had a tremendous background and a long history of covering these things. He had the expertise. At no time did Doug talk about yanking Don out of the job.”

The conversations did lead to some changes, including asking revered dance writer Wilma Salisbury to review some concerts.

“I thought at the time there was a problem being one critical voice speaking about the orchestra,” says Karen Sandstrom, former features editor. “Whether it’s criticizing the orchestra or fawning on the orchestra, it’s one voice. We did invite Wilma to take some of the concerts. She’s knowledgeable, and she had a different take.”

But adding another voice didn’t quiet the critics, Sandstrom says. The complaints about Rosenberg never slowed.

“One of the things I respect about Don is I’ve always believed his issue is he’s always wanted the best for the orchestra,” she says. “He’s wanted the leadership to always get the most out of the orchestra, and for the city to get the most out of them musically. I truly think he always operated with that in mind.”

Not every co-worker felt that way. There seemed to be universal respect for Rosenberg, but some say they don’t think anyone could have put aside the feelings Rosenberg had to have experienced with such major changes to his access.

“I would say that any critic who has the kind of experience like Don had would on every conscious level be doing everything to avoid a situation where it becomes personal,” says one staff member. “But everyone knows all kinds of circumstances influence how you think below that level.”

According to Rosenberg’s lawsuit, Clifton did step in once, deciding not to run a column in which Rosenberg said the orchestra sounds better under guest conductors than Welser-Möst. Clifton, however, does not remember killing such a column.

“Most of the performances he led during the 2005-06 season lent credence to the growing belief that mediocrity takes up residence at Severance Hall when Welser-Möst is on the podium,” the unpublished column provided toCleveland Magazine argued. “At the end of his fourth season, the music director has had few positive effects on the orchestra, aside from helping to secure European engagements and going out into the public to schmooze on radio programs and appear in TV and print ads.”

When new Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg arrived in May 2007, she quickly learned of the discontent surrounding Rosenberg. The letters never ceased. The complaints levied to Clifton were now levied to her.

Rosenberg took Goldberg to the see the orchestra in July. They talked throughout the night, and he asked if he could send her the spiked column. He wanted to know if she would have run it.

She replied to his e-mail: “I had a great time Saturday! Thank you. As for the decision to kill the column ... I might have some word-editing thoughts, but I don’t understand why the column was killed. S.”

Four months later, though, things had changed. She received a pointed letter from Robert Baumann of Gates Mills, an adjunct professor of history and philosophy at Cuyahoga Community College and Lakeland Community College. He argued that Rosenberg’s columns could be used “as examples of informal fallacies” in his courses.

Goldberg responded to the letter in February 2008 after Baumann wrote a second time, again complaining about Rosenberg.

“I agree that we have a credibility problem when it comes to Don’s reviews. He clearly does not care for Welser-Möst’s musical interpretations the vast majority of the time. We are discussing ways to deal with this, including adding other voices for our orchestra coverage. ... Don is very well schooled in the field of classical music criticism; most of us are not, and we are proceeding with great caution.”

Goldberg says her letter was an honest response to an honest reader inquiry. “I think the letter speaks for itself,” she says. “It’s a letter to a reader who wrote with a concern. People write me letters all the time. What the letter shows is this was a matter of discussion atThe Plain Dealer for a long time.”

Baumann, an orchestra subscriber since 1971, says he has no other affiliations with the orchestra. He wrote simply because he found Rosenberg’s critiques to be “mean-spirited, not objective” and “quite personal.”

Goldberg’s response, Baumann says, was a surprise. “Only because I thought she was quite frank about her own dismay. Usually, people are not that forthcoming.”

In June, according to e-mails obtained byCleveland Magazine, Gary Hanson offeredThe Plain Dealer “advance information and exclusive access to Franz [Welser-Möst]” and himself for questions if the paper assigned Zachary Lewis to cover the music director’s contract extension.

ThePD agreed to assign the story to Lewis, a former intern for Rosenberg who went on to cover the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra forThe Patriot-News before returning toThe Plain Dealer.

But Debra Simmons, managing editor, later e-mailed Hanson to add a caveat: “If the announcement is significant, it may warrant our pulling in a second writer.”

The result: A story about Welser-Möst’s six-year extension written by both Lewis and Rosenberg.

“That tells you people can ask for whatever you want, but in the end, we make our own decisions,” Goldberg says. “It is not wildly unusual to be approached by a news source wanting to embargo information and sometimes suggesting one person cover it over another.”

Features editor Debbie Van Tassel told Rosenberg they needed to talk. It was September, just before the orchestra’s season was to begin. As he headed for her office, she redirected him.

That’s when he knew it was coming. “I was not surprised that this could happen, given the events of the year, the escalating sequence of undermining my position,” he recalls.

Susan Goldberg was already waiting there in the cold conference room when Van Tassel led Rosenberg in.

Goldberg did almost all of the talking, Rosenberg says.

“She said, ‘I’m removing you as the critic covering the Cleveland Orchestra.’ She said that the situation had become untenable forThe Plain Dealer, and that I had been covering the orchestra for a long time and we needed to make a change.”

Rosenberg protested: She was caving to outside pressures. She was going to have to answer a lot of questions. He wanted to know how he was supposed to respond to this. Should he lie?

“No, do what you see fit,” he recalls her saying. “I know you’ll do it in a classy way.”

She told him to think about what he’d like to do at the paper and asked him not to say anything to anyone until the official announcement.

The Newspaper Guild called for an all-staff meeting in which Susan Goldberg spoke. With Don in the middle of the room, she stood before her staff to explain. The situation, Goldberg said, became “untenable.”

Much of the newspaper staff was shocked Rosenberg, 57 at the time, had been removed from his beat. There was a gut reaction: Did the paper bow to a powerful institution? And a personal reaction: What would happen to Don?

Goldberg assured the staff this was not acquiescence to a powerful institution.

That assertion was met with some grumbles, according to one staffer. “Clearly, there was a feeling that his independence was being punished,” the staffer says.

Goldberg offered to answer questions.

One by one, she gave the answer journalists hate to hear: “I’m not able to comment on that.”

It was a personnel matter, and she wasn’t willing to discuss it, even though Rosenberg was happy to consent. The questions started out journalistic but eventually turned emotional: “How could you do this to Don?” asked one staff member.

Same answer.

“I’d be leery if I started writing stories critical to Forest City,” says one reporter now. “Maybe that’s not a fair comparison, but it’s still something you have to think about.”

Critics throughout the world wrote in Rosenberg’s defense, including two former Pulitzer Prize winners. They wrote a letter to Goldberg.The New York Times,Washington Post andThe Wall Street Journal all published stories.

Even with such criticism, Goldberg maintains that the decision was her own, not the orchestra’s. “We made a decision, a journalism decision,” she says.

Goldberg says she wants to make it clear that the paper is committed to strong journalism: “We want, and we currently have and will continue to have, vibrant arts coverage inThe Plain Dealer. We want our critics to be critical, fair and honest with readers about what they hear. That has been a tradition at the paper. We have continued it and will continue it in the future.”

But over time, the hullabaloo died down. The Newspaper Guild did not protest. No writer atThe Plain Dealeror any of the music critics at other papers pulled their bylines in a symbolic sign of solidarity.

And Rosenberg fell from the critic of one of the most prestigious music institutions in the world to covering general assignment arts and dance.

This conflict, he says, has ruined the remainder of his career.

“It’s a very special honor and responsibility to write about one of the great orchestras of the world, and very few critics in America have the opportunity to do so,” he says. “There’s no question that it’s not nearly as compelling to go to work as it was before. I was covering one of the great orchestras of the world, and nothing can replace that.”

Goldberg replaced Rosenberg with Lewis, whose first bylined piece since taking over full time as music critic was a front-page story on Welser-Möst, the misunderstood conductor.

“It is a little awkward,” says Lewis. “I talk to [Rosenberg] every day. We work on stories together. Personally, we’re very close. This topic is just something we don’t address.

“I have tremendous respect for Don,” he adds. “I grew up reading him. I’m in this business because of him. I trust his opinions, even though I don’t always agree with him.”

Two and a half months after his reassignment at the paper, Rosenberg filed a lawsuit against bothThe Plain Dealer and the Musical Arts Association.

AgainstThe Plain Dealer he alleged defamation and violation of Ohio’s free speech principle. He accused the orchestra’s management of both defamation and performing acts with malice against his economic, employment and business relationships.

He eventually dropped all claims against the paper except for those of age discrimination, hoping to keep the case out of federal court.

Rosenberg’s lawyer, Steve Sindell, says this is a special case because it touches on larger issues that should be addressed by a court. He takes issue with the idea that, because Ohio is an at-will employment state, an employer can demote someone for any nonprotected reason.

“The employers of the world have more power in many ways over the lives of people than does the government itself,” he says. “It’s time that we started to recognize that unlimited laissez-faire corporate power, which goes under the name ‘at will,’ shouldn’t be some automatic, unbridled corporate right.”

In the suit, he points to the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics. He says he believesThe Plain Dealer violated that code.

But how is that against the law? “The law has to be a living, dynamic thing that applies old principles to new circumstances,” Sindell says. “I’m not real comfortable with people who say that’s not the law right now. The law is what the courts and legislatures say it is.”

Sindell says other claims in the suit are more traditional. Interfering with an employment relationship, as Rosenberg accuses the Musical Arts Association, is well rooted in the law. And to be a victim of age discrimination doesn’t mean you have to be fired or have your pay cut. He says a decrease in prestige is damaging as well.

“There was a huge reduction in force at thePD,” he says. “Don was not terminated, but he was demoted in the sense that he was exiled from writing about the main thing a music critic would write about. It’s like telling someone who is covering the Cleveland Indians that now you’re covering high school softball.”

The orchestra’s lawyer, Duvin, says he can’t believe the pomposity of this suit.

“The hypocrisy of a music critic challenging the right of other people to respond to his criticism is based upon the arrogance of modern media in general,” he says. “That they believe they actually own the First Amendment and it belongs to them. And they believe it’s their right. It isn’t opinion. It’s gospel. Like they carried it down on a tablet from the mountain.”

He says the orchestra administration had every right to complain about Rosenberg. He says reading other critics provides the perfect defense to their complaints.

“It wasn’t just the people from the Cleveland Orchestra that responded to Don Rosenberg,” he says. “Every time the Cleveland Orchestra got a rave review in New York or Chicago or San Francisco or Vienna or London or Paris, it stood there in stark contrast to the often angry and harshly critical reviews of Rosenberg.”

Duvin says he doesn’t question Rosenberg’s free speech, and he can’t believe Rosenberg would call the orchestra’s free speech into question.

“He has a right to that opinion. But he doesn’t have the right for others not to have an opinion on him. And he doesn’t have a right to be the sole critic for the hometown paper of the Cleveland Orchestra.”

Rosenberg puts on his sport coat and tie — the same ones he used to wear whenreviewing a concert.

He drives to Severance Hall and parks in the same attached lot.

Herbert Blomstedt is conducting the November concert, Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony, one Rosenberg has been anticipating for a while. He’s enjoyed Blomstedt’s work with the orchestra before, and the piece has a special place in his heart. Rosenberg once played the Wagner tuba in Bruckner’s Eighth.

He decides to go at the last minute. His wife, a fifth-grade teacher in Shaker Heights, doesn’t want to give up her sleep, even though she’s a classically trained musician and orchestra lover herself. So he goes alone.

While he contends its management is responsible for his job loss, he still loves the orchestra. For 28 years, when he attended the orchestra, he was working.

This time, there is a difference: He buys a ticket.

The ushers escort him to the balcony. He is above his normal seat on the main floor, but the acoustics are beautiful in the balcony.

“The ushers recognized me. They were very welcoming and very sweet, and very happy to see me,” he says. “I even saw a few of the orchestra players, and they were very happy to see me. It was very nice to be back, but then again, it still hurts. It’s probably going to hurt for a long time.”

As the crowd applauds, he doesn’t linger. He files out of the balcony with everyone else and heads to his Toyota Camry Hybrid. He didn’t take any notes in the program. But he’s sure of his analysis.

The concert was phenomenal. He would have given it a glowing review.

How to Play Fast Guitar

2009-04-07T08:45:00.000-07:00

Guitar lovers will love playing fast guitar and aspire to be like Slash or Metallica. Yet, no matter how hard we try, we find that trying to play fast, ends with us playing something that just does not sound right. Now is not the time to throw the towel in, instead we can try analyzing what is slowing us down and trying to fix that problem.

Tips To Play Faster

There are certain things that you can do everyday to improve your speed. The first and most important thing to do is to practice each day. Many people desire to become experts but do not actually making an effort. People simple do not say that practice makes perfection, indeed it is 100% true as far as playing the guitar is concerned. It is necessary to practice each day at least for half an hour. Practicing will not only help improve your skills but also be good for your hands. Your fingers may ache initially but with continued effort you will soon stop complaining and start enjoying it.

You can decide on a particular piece of music and start practicing it bit by bit. You can play a particular bit over and over again and soon you will notice that your speed has improved. You can then try playing the whole piece of music each day and will notice your improvement each day.

Your choice of picks also influences the way your speed improves. Soft or flexible picks slows your pace where as harder picks are designed to improve your speed. You can try playing a portion of the scale ascending and descending without stopping.

Many people dislike using tools such as the Metronome but if you want to improve, there is no harm in trying them. If you are a novice you can set the metronome at say 40 BPM. This essentially means that the metronome will click forty times each minute. You have to ensure that each note corresponds to each click of the metronome. If you are able to keep up to it, you can try increasing the tempo to 60 BPM. Try increasing the tempo each day until you are able to play fast without losing the tempo. You can set your own limits and work on improving your skills accordingly.

It is important to take your time. Do not try playing faster than you are capable of until you have practiced and perfected a particular speed.

You can look up the internet and search for exercises to help improve your speed. You have to periodically set certain goals such as playing a difficult piece of music at a high BPM. Do not play if your hands start aching.

When you analyze and identify areas that need improvement and work on them, your speed will automatically improve. You can use metronomes that are available for free online and save yourself the cost of investing in one of them.

These are a few things that you can work on each day without fail. Soon you will notice that your improvement is steady and consistent. Each week you will find that your tempo increases yet you are making less mistakes. Soon you will be able to play fast without worrying about making mistakes. Get your guitar and start practicing from today and watch your playing speed improve beyond expectations.

The Beatles

2009-04-06T12:35:00.000-07:00

Induction Year: 1988

Induction Category: Performer

(guitar, sitar, vocals), (guitar, keyboards, vocals), (bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals), Ringo Starr (drums, percussion, vocals)

The impact of the Beatles has often been noted but cannot be overstated. The “Fab Four” from Liverpool, England, startled the ears and energized the lives of virtually all who heard them. Their arrival triggered the musical revolution of the Sixties, introducing a modern sound and viewpoint that parted ways with the world of the previous decade. The pleasurable jolt at hearing “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” - given the doldrums into which rock and roll had fallen in recent years - was comparable to the collective fever induced by Presley’s “That’s All Right (Mama)” and “Heartbreak Hotel” nearly ten years earlier.

The Beatles’ music - with its simultaneous refinement (crisp harmonies, solid musicianship, canny pop instincts) and abandon (energetic singing and playing, much screaming and shaking of mop-topped locks) – ignited the latent energy of youth on both sides of the Atlantic. They helped confer self-identity upon a youthful, music-based culture that flexed its muscle in myriad ways - not just as music consumers but also as a force for political expression, social commentary and contemporary lifestyles.

Landing on these shores on February 7, 1964, they literally stood the world of pop culture on its head, setting the musical agenda for the remainder of the decade. The Beatles’ buoyant melodies, playful personalities and mop-topped charisma were just the tonic needed by a nation left reeling by the senseless assassination of its young president, John F. Kennedy, two months earlier. Even adults typically given to dismissing rock and roll conceded that there was substance in their music and cleverness in their quick-witted repartee. Between the lines, and without obvious disrespect, the Beatles announced the ascendancy of youth - and the inevitable coming of a generation gap as a result.

The long journey resulting in the mob scene that greeted the Beatles’ arrival at Kennedy Airport began in Liverpool. In 1958, formed a skiffle group called the Quarrymen. Lennon was raised on Fifties rockabilly and was especially partial to and . He met a similarly rock-smitten schoolkid named . Impressed by McCartney’s knowledge of song lyrics and ability to tune a guitar, Lennon recruited him into the Quarrymen. A schoolmate of McCartney’s, , came next. The youthful Harrison’s mastery of guitar licks by impressed the skeptical Lennon.

With a rhythm section consisting of bassist Stu Sutcliffe (a sharp-looking art student with negligible musical ability) and drummer Pete Best, the group eventually settled on the Beatles as their name. They became a fixture on the rough-and-tumble club scene in Hamburg, Germany, where their five-set-a-night marathons helped mold them into a tight performing unit. Their repertoire comprised well-chosen rock and roll and rhythm & blues covers by such trailblazers as and . In April 1961, Sutcliffe left and McCartney switched from guitar to bass. On the local scene in their hometown of Liverpool, the group landed a lunchtime residency at a club called The Cavern, where they were discovered by a local record merchant and entrepreneur, Brian Epstein, who became their manager in December 1961. In January 1962, a fan poll in Mersey Beat declared them the top group in Liverpool.

Epstein helped polish the group’s appearance. He attired them in dapper collarless gray suits, which made them appear more accessible than the menacing leathers they’d worn in Hamburg. The Beatles signed with EMI-Parlophone in April 1962 after impressing producer . In August, fellow Liverpudlian Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey), then a member of Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, replaced Pete Best. The group’s first single, “Love Me Do”/”P.S. I Love You,” briefly dented the U.K. Top Twenty in October 1962, but their next 45, “Please Please Me,” formally ignited Beatlemania in their homeland, reaching the Number Two spot. It was followed in 1963 by four consecutive chart-topping British singles: “From Me to You,” “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Can’t Buy Me Love.”

They conquered the U.K., even inducing a classical music critic from the London Sunday Times to declare them “the greatest composers since Beethoven.” Moreover, they were the greatest rockers since the composer of “Roll Over, Beethoven” - i.e., . The freshness and immediacy of the Beatles’ sound stemmed from the fact they assimilated and synthesized the most vital sources for rock and roll that preceded them.

Writing in the Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll, Greil Marcus observed that “the form of the Beatles contained the forms of rock and roll itself. The Beatles combined the harmonic range and implicit equality of the Fifties vocal groups with the flash of a rockabilly band (the Crickets or ’s Blue Caps) with the aggressive and unique personalities of the classic rock stars (Elvis, ) with the homey, this-could-be-you manner of later rock stars (Everly Brothers, , ) with the endlessly inventive songwriting touch of the Brill Building, and they delivered it all with the grace of the Miracles, the physicality of ‘Louie, Louie,’ and the absurd enthusiasm of Gary ‘U.S.’ Bonds.”

The Beatles’ success can be attributed to a combination of factors, including Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting genius, Harrison’s guitar-playing prowess, Starr’s artful simplicity as a drummer, and the solid group harmonies that were a hallmark of their recordings. Personally, they had youthful high spirits, good looks, quick wit and refreshingly down-to-earth dispositions to commend them. ’s production and Brian Epstein’s management were important elements as well.

The Beatles’ conquest of America early in 1964 launched “the British Invasion,” a torrent of rock & roll bands from Britain that overtook the pop charts. The Fab Four’s first #1 single in the U.S. was “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” released on Capitol Records, EMI’s American counterpart. This exuberant track was followed by 45 more Top Forty hits over the next half-dozen years. During the week of April 4, 1964, the Beatles set a record that is likely never to be broken when they occupied all five of the top positions on Billboard’s Top Forty, with “Can’t Buy Me Love” ensconced at #1. Their popularity soared still further with the release of their anarchic Marx Brothers-as-rock-stars documentary film, A Hard Day’s Night (1964) and its equally playful followup, Help! (1965).

When all was said and done, the Beatles charted twenty #1 singles in the States – three more than runner-up . It is estimated by EMI, their British record company, that the Beatles have sold over a billion records worldwide. For feats of sales and airplay alone, the Beatles are unquestionably the top group in rock and roll history. Yet their significance extends well beyond numbers to encompass their innovations in the recording studio. The Beatles’ legacy as a concert attraction, during their harried passage from nightclubs to baseball stadiums, is distinguished primarily by the deafening screams of female fans more overcome by their appearance than the music they played.
Consequently, the Beatles began to indulge their creative energies in the studio, layering sounds and crafting songs in a way that was experimental yet still accessible. This retreat from the ceaseless mayhem of pop celebrity yielded such musically expansive and lyrically sophisticated albums as Rubber Soul (1965) and Revolver (1966). The former, with its acoustic leanings and thoughtful lyrics, betrayed the influence of upon the band, while the latter stands as a tour de force of tuneful, concise pop psychedelia.

The Beatles retired from touring for good after a San Francisco concert on August 29, 1966. Like Brian Wilson of , who abandoned touring to focus on his music, the Beatles thereafter became creatures of the studio. Ten months later, they released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album that has almost universally been cited as the creative apotheosis of rock and roll, a watershed event in which rock became “serious art” without losing its sense of humor - or, in Lennon’s case, sense of the absurd. Realizing the band members’ collective ambitions took four months and all the technical wiles of producer could muster. A completely self-contained album meant to be played and experienced from start to finish, Sgt. Pepper broke the mold in that no singles were released.

The album’s artistic reach further cemented the notion of a viable counterculture in the minds of youthful dropouts everywhere. Anyone who was alive in the summer of 1967 can remember the pleasant shock of hearing it and the reverberations it sent outward into the world of rock and roll and beyond. As writer Langdon Winner observed, “For a brief moment, the irreparably fractured consciousness of the West was unified, at least in the minds of the young.” Sgt. Pepper was followed by perhaps the greatest two-sided single in rock history, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane,” which exhibited the creative sensibilities of and , respectively, at their zenith.

In the wake of Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles began to splinter in ways that were initially subtle but gradually grew more pronounced. Subsequent events included the death of manager Epstein due to an overdose of sleeping pills; the release of the TV film Magical Mystery Tour, which earned the Beatles some of their first negative reviews; a trip to India to meditate with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, about whom Lennon wrote “Sexy Sadie”; and the launching in January 1968 of Apple Corps, Ltd., a well-intentioned but ultimately mismanaged entertainment empire that helped bring down the Beatles.

Through all the chaotic events of the late Sixties, however, the Beatles retained their ingenuity and focus as recording artists. Released in August 1968, the single “Hey Jude"/"Revolution" became their most popular single. The Beatles (1968), a double-LP popularly referred to as the White Album, found the group refracting into four estimably talented individuals. This 30-song tour de force included such Beatles classics as “Back in the U.S.S.R,” “”While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” “Blackbird,” “Birthday,” “Helter Skelter” and “Revolution.”

The album and film Let It Be, recorded in 1969 but shelved until 1970, documented the Beatles’ dissolution. Internal squabbles and the discomfiting presence of ’s new soulmate, Yoko Ono, revealed widening cracks within the group. Even in this tense atmosphere, the Beatles playfully harked back to their origins with impromptu performances of early rock and R&B classics in the studio.

The Beatles exited on a high note, coming together in the summer of 1969 to record a fitting swan song, Abbey Road. That album included numerous highlights: a playful pastiche of shorts songs, with as chief instigator, on the second side; a pair of ’s most emotionally unguarded songs ("Come Together,” “Don’t Let Me Down"); and impressive contributions from ("Here Comes the Sun,” “Something").
On April 10, 1970, announced his departure from the Beatles, and the group quietly came to an end. Throughout the Seventies, fans hoped for an eventual reunion, while the group members pursued solo careers with varying degrees of artistic and commercial success. Those hopes were dashed by the senseless murder of in New York City on December 8, 1980.

The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. did not attend the ceremony, leaving surviving Beatles Harrison and Starr and Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, to be inducted by fellow British Invasion legend Mick Jagger, of . McCartney released a brief statement that read: ‘’After 20 years, the Beatles still have some business differences which I had hoped would have been settled by now. Unfortunately, they haven’t been, so I would feel like a complete hypocrite waving and smiling with them at a fake reunion.’’

In 1995, the three ex-Beatles regrouped harmoniously for The Beatles Anthology, which produced a six-hour video documentary aired over the course of three nights on ABC-TV; three double-disc anthologies of Beatles music, including much rare and unreleased material; and a massive coffee-table book with new and archival pictures and interviews. Yoko Ono provided home demos of two unreleased Lennon songs for the project, and McCartney, Harrison and Starr completed the recordings under the guiding hand of their longtime producer, . This resulted in the first new Beatles singles in 25 years: “Free as a Bird” (#6) and “Real Love” (#11). It was the closest the group came to a reunion since their breakup in 1970.

One of the latest eruptions of Beatlemania occurred in 2005 with the release of 1, a single-disc collection of 27 songs that topped the American and/or British charts. In July 2006, LOVE – an elaborate Cirque de Soleil production that pays tribute to the Beatles - opened at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

Though popular music has changed considerably in the decades since the Beatles’ demise, their music continues to reach and inspire new generations of listeners. Half a century after their humble origins in Liverpool, the Beatles remain the most enduring phenomenon in the history of popular music.

TIMELINE

July 7, 1940: Richard Starkey - a.k.a. Ringo Starr - is born in Liverpool, England.

October 9, 1940: John Winston Lennon is born at Oxford Street Maternity Hospital in Liverpool, England, to Julia Stanley and Alfred Lennon.

June 18, 1942: James is born in Liverpool, England.

February 24, 1943: is born in Liverpool, England.

1956: ’s mother, Julia, buys him his first guitar through a mail-order ad.

July 6, 1957: meets at the Woolton Parish Church after a performance by Lennon’s skiffle group, the Quarrymen. McCartney is invited to join the group.

October 18, 1957: makes his performing debut as a member of the Quarry Men at a club in Liverpool.

February 1, 1958: introduces to the Quarrymen at the Morgue, a basement club in Liverpool. Harrison, a guitar-playing schoolmate of McCartney’s, joins the group.

1959: The Quarry Men change their name to Johnny and the Moondogs.

January 1960: Stuart Sutcliffe joins , and – a.k.a., Johnny and the Moondogs, the Silver Beatles and the Beatles - on bass guitar.

August 1, 1960: The Beatles debut in Hamburg, West Germany, with Stu Sutcliffe on bass and Pete Best on drums.

January 1, 1961: The Beatles peform at Liverpool’s Cavern Club for the first time.

November 1, 1961: 1961: Brian Epstein becomes the Beatles’ manager, having checked out the band at the Cavern Club after receiving requests for their single “My Bonnie” at his Liverpool record shop.

January 1962: Decca Records passes on the Beatles after their audition, leaving A&R Dick Rowe with the unenviable reputation as “the man who gave away the Beatles.”

March 7, 1962: The Beatles debut on the BBC, performing Roy Orbison’s “Dream Baby” and two other songs.

April 10, 1962: Stu Sutcliffe, who’d played bass in the Beatles, dies of a brain tumor.

June 1, 1962: The Beatles audition for at Parlophone/EMI Records. He agrees to sign the group but insists that drummer Pete Best be replaced.

August 1962: Richard “Ringo” Starkey, the popular drummer for Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, joins the Beatles.

September 4-11, 1962: The Beatles hold their first recording sessions at EMI Studios in London, with as producer.

October 1962: “Love Me Do” becomes the Beatles’ first U.K. single for the Parlophone label, reaching #21.

March 22, 1963: The Beatles’ first album, Please Please Me, is released in England.

November 22, 1963: The Beatles’ second album, With the Beatles, is issued in the U.K. on the same day President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

December 26, 1963: “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” by the Beatles, is released. It is their first release on Capitol Records.

February 1, 1964: “I Want to Hold Your Hand, by the Beatles, tops the Billboard singles chart for the first of seven weeks.

February 7, 1964: The Beatles arrive in America and hold a quip-filled press conference that sets the antic tone for their two-week stay.

February 9, 1964: The Beatles make the first of four appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Their TV debut in the U.S. is viewed by a record-breaking audience of 75 million.

February 11, 1964: The Beatles kick off their first U.S. tour with a sold-out show at the Coliseum Theater in Washington, D.C.

February 15, 1964: Meet the Beatles!, the Fab Four’s first album on Capitol Records in the U.S., tops the charts for the first of 11 weeks.

April 4, 1964: “Can’t Buy Me Love,” by the Beatles, reaches #1. The next four positions on the singles chart are held down by the Fab Four as well. It is a feat that’s never been matched before or since.

July 6, 1964: The Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night, premieres in London.

August 19, 1964: The Beatles’ first American tour begins at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

September 20, 1964: The Beatles’ first American tour ends with a charity performance at Brooklyn’s Paramount Theater.

April 1, 1965: composes “Help!” the title song for the Beatles’ second film. He later reveals the lyrics were a cry for help and a clue to his confusion at the time.

July 29, 1965: The Beatles’ second film, Help!, premieres in London.

August 15, 1965: The Beatles play for nearly 60,000 fans at New York’s Shea Stadium.

August 27, 1965: The Beatles spend the evening talking and playing music with at Graceland, his Memphis estate.

October 9, 1965: “Yesterday,” by the Beatles, hits #1 for the first of four weeks. It is the most covered song in pop history, with more than recorded 2,500 versions.

October 26, 1965: The Beatles are awarded England’s prestigious MBE (Members of the Order of the British Empire). Lennon later returns his in opposition to Britain’s involvement in the Vietham War.

March 1, 1966: The London Evening Standard publishes an interview in which says the Beatles are “more popular than Jesus now.”

July 31, 1966: ’s controversial comments on Christianity – made in March, but only recently picked up in the U.S. - spark protests and record burnings on the eve of the Beatles’ 1966 American tour.

August 29, 1966: After performing at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, the Beatles declare that their touring days are over.

March 18, 1967: “Penny Lane,” by the Beatles, reaches #1, and the flip side, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” peaks at #8.

June 1, 1967: The Beatles’ magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, is released in Britain. It appears a day later in America.

July 1, 1967: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles, tops the U.S. charts for first of 15 weeks.

August 1, 1967: Beatle and his wife, Patti, stroll through the streets of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district at the height of the hippie movement.

August 19, 1967: The Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love” hits #1.

September 1, 1967: composes “I Am the Walrus” while under the influence of LSD. It will be one of six new Beatles songs included in their quixotic TV film, Magical Mystery Tour.

December 30, 1967: “Hello Goodbye,” by the Beatles, reaches #1 for the first of three weeks. The flip side, ’s experimental opus “I Am the Walrus,” peaks at #56.

February 15, 1968: The Beatles depart for Rishikesh, India, for an advanced course in transcendental meditation with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They are joined by Donovan, Mike Love (of ), and sisters Mia and Priscilla Farrow.

May 1, 1968: The Beatles launch Apple Corps, Ltd., a business venture that includes Apple Records, in London.

September 28, 1968: The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” a seven-minute song highlighted by an extended singalong coda, tops the charts for the first of nine weeks. It holds the record among Beatles singles for most weeks at #1.

Novenber 22, 1968: The Beatles’ sprawling, self-titled double album – generally referred to as the White Album – is released. It tops the U.S. charts for nine weeks.

January 30, 1969: The Beatles make their final live performance with an impromptu, five-song set on the rooftop of Apple headquarters, on London’s Savile Row, during the filming of Let It Be.

May 24, 1969: The Beatles reach #1 with “Get Back,” which features Billy Preston on keyboards.

September 26, 1969: The Beatles release Abbey Road, which tops the American charts for 11 weeks.

November 29, 1969: The Beatles reach #1 with “Come Together.” Only four months later, the Beatles will come apart.

April 10, 1970: announces he is leaving the Beatles due to “personal, business and musical differences.”

May 8, 1970: Let It Be, by the Beatles, is released. It is followed five days later by the Let It Be documentary film.

June 13, 1970: “The Long and Winding Road” becomes the Beatles’ 20th and final #1 single.

April 14, 1973: Two simultaneously released double-album compilations – The Beatles/1962-1966 (“the Red Album”) and The Beatles/1967-1970 (“the Blue Album”) – enter the Billboard album chart. They will peak at #3 and #1, respectively.

January 2, 1975: The Beatles’ formal legal dissolution takes place in London.

June 19, 1976: The Beatles, now defunct for half a decade, have a Top Ten hit with “Got to Get You Into My Life,” a song that had been recorded a decade earlier.

December 8, 1980: is shot by a deranged assailant as he and Yoko return to the Dakota after a recording session. He is pronounced dead at New York’s Roosevelt Hospital.

April 10, 1982: “The Beatles’ Movie Medley,” a seven-song mashup, enters the Top Forty, where it will peak at #12.

March 7, 1987: The Beatles enter the digital age with an initial release of three albums in the compact disc format. The CDs are configured like the original British albums, not the altered American versions.

June 1, 1987: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, by the Beatles, is issued on compact disc exactly 20 years after its original release.

January 20, 1988: The Beatles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 3rd annual induction dinner. Mick Jagger, of , is their presenter.

December 6, 1994: The Beatles’ Live at the BBC, a 56-song double-disc collection assembled by producer , is released.

November 19, 1995: “Free as a Bird,” a demo from 1977 that’s been newly overdubbed by the three surviving Beatles, enters the singles chart, where it will peak at #6.

November 19-23, 1995: The Beatles Anthology, a comprehensive documentary based on archival footage and fresh interviews, airs on ABC in three parts.

December 9, 1995: Anthology 1, the first of three archival double-disc releases by the Beatles, tops the Billboard 200 for the first of three weeks.

March 23, 1996: “Real Love,” the second “new” Beatles single based on a demo, enters the charts, where it will peak at #11.

Octobe 5, 2000: The Beatles Anthology, a 368-page coffeetable-book companion to the 1995 TV documentary and three double-CD sets, is published.

November 29, 2001: dies at age 58 after battling lung and brain cancer.

November 13,2000: 1, a collection of 27 Beatles songs that topped the U.S. and/or U.K. charts, is released. Demonstrating the Beatles’ undiminished appeal, it will top Billboard’s Top 200 album chart for eight weeks.

November 11, 2004: At a ceremony in London, the Beatles are inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame in its first year. The other inductees, each representing a particular decade: , , Madonna and .

November 16, 2004: The first four Beatles albums that were issued in the U.S. by Capitol Records in 1964 are reissued on CD as the box set The Capitol Albums, Volume 1. All four albums appear in both mono and stereo mixes.

April 15, 2005: The Beatles’ 1 hits collection is certified diamond (10 million copies sold) by the RIAA.

July 1, 2006: Cirque du Soleil salutes the Beatles’ legacy with LOVE, a multimedia production featuring over 100 Beatles songs, collaged and remixed by .

Slank - Generasi Biru [Full Album 2009]

2009-04-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

Slank Not Acting in the 'Generasi Biru'.

When the film syuting 'Generasi Biru' of Garin Nugroho, the band with a million fans, Slank not have trouble means. In fact, according to Bimbim, itself does not remove the ability his acting slightest.

"Not much we play it. So freely explore what we do acting," said Bimbim at a press conference in the 'Generasi Biru' in FX Plaza, Jl. Jend Sudirman, South Jakarta, (11/2/2009).

Only Kaka is a constraint, it is difficult to wake up when sleep should syuting morning. "His calling too early", said the vocalist.

However, to realize the goal to use film, the band that already exist since 1983 that have to be willing to wait for 25 years. Until now, the personnel shall not be Slank imagine what happens as the film is also actress star Nadine Chandrawinata it.

"No show happens this movie is like. Slank actually have the intention of ever since a long time, 25 years ago", said a word.

Slank is deliberately to give the title 'Generasi Biru' film in their prime. Bimbim reveal that the blue band is the philosophy of the album owners 'Anthem For The Broken hearted it'.

"Biru is the philosophy of Slank. Slank want successor generation blue like blue sky, wide and deep oceans", said Bimbim.

Track List:
01 Slank Title Hits Song 'Slank Dance'.
02 Slank Title Hits Song 'Monogami'.
03 Slank Title Hits Song 'Generasi Biroe'.
04 Slank Title Hits Song 'Bang Bang Tut'.
05 Slank Title Hits Song 'Gossip Jalanan'.
06 Slank Title Hits Song 'Terbunuh Sepi'.
07 Slank Title Hits Song 'Pulau Biru'.
08 Slank Title Hits Song 'Loe Harus Grak'.
09 Slank Title Hits Song 'Missing Person'.
10 Slank Title Hits Song 'Utopia'.
11 Slank Title Hits Song 'Bendera ½ Tiang'.
12 Slank Title Hits Song 'Indonesiakan Una'. (Live)
13 Slank Title Hits Song 'Mars Slankers'. (Live)
14 Slank Title Hits Song 'Cekal'. (Remake '09)
15 Slank Title Hits Song 'Koepoe Liarkoe'.

Big Albums in 2009

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In the coming year, there is also much to look forward to on the recording front, including major releases by U2, Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam.

In one of the biggest album rollouts in memory, U2 is making its upcoming “No Line on the Horizon” available in five versions, among them a $96 box set with 60-page hardcover book, as well as a poster and DVD of the new Anton Corbijn film about U2.


		Getty Images
	U2 (members Bono, left, and The Edge are pictured) is making its upcoming “No Line on the Horizon” album available in five versions.

Also available the first week of March are a standard CD, a double-vinyl package, a digi-pack version in folded sleeve (with 36-page booklet, poster and the Corbijn film as a download; $35.98), and a magazine version (with a CD enclosed in a 60-page, soft-cover magazine-style book and downloadable Corbijn film; $49.98).

One of the songs, “Crazy Tonight,” features will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.

“Working on a Dream,” Springsteen’s album due Jan. 27, already has been “leaked” in the form of a single of “My Lucky Day,” which was available in early December on AmazonMP3 and MySpaceMusic for one week.

The new album follows Springsteen’s previous album, “Magic,” by only 15 months. Springsteen has said in an AP interview that the momentum from “Magic” created “more than enough fuel for the fire to keep going,” resulting in another album.

Springsteen, recently nominated for two Grammy Awards, performs during the halftime show at the Super Bowl Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla.

On March 24, Pearl Jam is re-releasing “Ten,” the debut album that sold more than 12 million copies, in four expanded editions.

The “Ten” reissue launches a two-year Pearl Jam campaign to re-release albums from its catalog before the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011.

Each “Ten” package includes the remastered version of the original album, as well as remixed version by Brendan O’Brien, the band’s longtime producer, who has worked with Springsteen, AC/DC and Audioslave, among many others.

“The band loved the original mix of ‘Ten,’ but were also interested in what it would sound like if I were to deconstruct and remix it,” O’Brien said in a statement.

“The original ‘Ten’ sound is what millions of people bought, dug and loved, so I was initially hesitant to mess around with that. After years of persistent nudging from the band, I was able to wrap my head around the idea of offering it as a companion piece to the original — giving a fresh take on it, a more direct sound.”

Coldplay

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In this generation of pop stars, Coldplay has still been one of those remarkable alternative rock bands that storm the world with hits like “Yellow” and “Fix You.” The musicality of Coldplay really captivates the heart of the millions around the world. Their heavy but soft lyrical music reflected the meditative aspect of the soul.

Humble Beginnings

The group hailed from London, England. It was the group’s lead vocalist, Chris Martin, and the lead guitarist, Johnny Buckland, who started the formation years of Coldplay. Chris and Johnny met during the orientation week at University College of London (UCL) in 1996. Chris Martin’s longtime friend, Phil Harvey, became their manager. Will Champion also joined the group where he played percussions. Out of nowhere, an engineering student in UCL by the name of Guy Berryman approached Chris Martin and from that moment on, Berryman became the bassist of the group.

Coldplay’s Success

“Parachutes” was the title of Coldplay’s debut album in 2001. One of the hits in this album is “Shiver,” which became Coldplay’s first single in Top 40. Their breakthrough and hit single entitled “Yellow” reached number four at UK Singles Chart.

Due to this success, Coldplay’s “Parachutes” was also released in North America and reached double-platinum status in record bars. The group also have guest appearances in Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman.

In Grammy Awards 2002, “Parachutes” also won Best Alternative Music Album.

Coldplay’s second album was released in August 2002. “A Rush of Blood to the Head Tour” was the name of the album and it notably released popular hits such as “Clocks,” “The Scientist,” and “In My Place.” The album promotional tour was in fact extended resulting in the release of their DVD live album, “Live 2003.”

In 2003 and 2004, Coldplay received three of the most prestigious awards under their belt. First was the Rolling Stone’s Best Artist of the Year. The second and third award was in the Grammy: Best Alternative Music Album for “A Rush of Blood to the Head” and Record of the Year for “Clocks.”

Coldplay’s third album also went on a commercial board. “X&Y” became the bestselling album in 2005. Upon its release in 2005, the album garnered worldwide sales of 8.3 million. There were two stand-out singles in the album. First is the slow-tempo hit “Fix you.” The single earned positive reviews from Rolling Stone, NME Magazine and PopMatters. That’s why; it reached number 18 in US Billboard Modern Rock and number four in UK. The second hit, “Talk,” reached number one in Dutch Top 40 and the band performed it live at 2005 MTV Europe Music Awards and at 2006 Gammy Awards at Los Angeles.

It took three years after Coldplay completed their Hispanic-inspired fourth studio album, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends”. In an interview in Entertainment Weekly, Chris Martin said,

“We’re slightly terrified about this record, because we’ve thrown away all our tricks. The truth is, we tried to find new ones.”

Yet the good side paid off and the album was a success again. Rolling Stone gave it three and a half stars, The Times with also three stars and NME with eight out of ten. The album already sold 125,000 copies on its first day at UK, 41,041 in Australia and 316,000 in US. It’s also named as the most-paid downloadable album online. There were four singles released from the album. “Violent Hill” in April, “Viva La Vida” in May 2008, “Lost!” in November 2008 and the only US-released “Lovers in Japan” in December 2008.

The second of the four became the Coldplay’s first Translantic number one hit, reaching the top spot of US Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. It was also named as the Song of the Year at 51st Grammy Awards.

Metallica rocks Hall of Fame

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CLEVELAND (Reuters) - The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gave fans a trip through modern music history on Saturday, inducting a variety of performers into its ranks from "Queen of Rockabilly" Wanda Jackson to rappers Run-D.M.C and rockers Metallica.

The climax for the Hall of Fame's induction ceremony came when Metallica, whose hits include "Enter Sandman," took the stage to play a medley of their hit songs. Two of the group's bassists, Jason Newsted and Robert Trujillo, jammed together.

Singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich hugged onstage after giving speeches, and both thanked fans who have followed the band through its ups-and-downs that included the death of first bassist Cliff Burton in 1986.

"Dream big and dare to fail," Hetfield said to the audience. "I dare you to do that, because this (Metallica's success) is living proof that it is possible to make a dream come true."

The Rock Hall of Fame began naming new inductees in 1986 and opened its doors in Cleveland in 1995. In recent years, the induction ceremony has been held in New York City, but it moved back to Cleveland for the 2009 version.

Metallica got their start in the 1980s and made their mark with albums like 1986's "Master of Puppets" and 1991's self-titled "Metallica," which proved to be a smash hit.

But their influence extended beyond just making music. In the early 2000s, Metallica sued song-sharing website Napster, alleging copyright infringement. Eventually their battle led to legal downloads and the rise of sites like Apple's iTunes.

The heavy metal group was only one of many bands and performers to whom the rock museum paid tribute on Saturday.

Run-D.M.C. -- composed of rappers Joseph "DJ Run" Simmons and Darryl "D.M.C." McDaniels, as well as Jason "Jam-Master Jay" Mizell spinning records on two turntables -- helped usher rap music and hip hop into mainstream pop culture with hit albums like 1986's "Raising Hell."

That album featured the lead single "Walk This Way," a cover of the classic Aerosmith song of the same name that fused rap and rock and thrilled fans of both genres.

Simmons, McDaniels and Mizell, who was shot and killed in 2002, were inducted into the Hall of Fame by rapper Eminem, who said he first heard them at age 11.

Run-D.M.C. was "something fresh, something tough, something dangerous and something unique. Two turntables and a microphone," said Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers.

Inductees on Saturday night stemmed from the roots of rock and roll, embodied by Wanda Jackson, who got her start playing alongside Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash, to classic rocker Jeff Beck, who was inducted by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

Soul singer Bobby Womack received his key to the Hall from Rolling Stone guitarist Ron Wood, and Motown legend Smokey Robinson welcomed his friends, Little Anthony & The Imperials, into the ranks of modern music legends.

Inductees are picked by 600 voters from a pool of performers who are eligible 25 years after their first record was released. Being named to the Hall of Fame is considered a great honor among rock musicians from the 1950s onward.

(Reporting by Aaron Josefzyk in Cleveland and Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles, Writing by Bob Tourtellotte, Editing by Philip Barbara)

Dream Theater

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History

Formation (1985)

Founding members (from left to right) John Myung, Mike Portnoy, and John Petrucci in 1985.

Dream Theater was formed in September 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung decided to form a band in their spare time while studying at the Berklee College of Music. The pair came across drummer Mike Portnoy in one of Berklee's rehearsal rooms, where he was asked to join the band. The trio started off by covering Iron Maiden and Rush songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.

Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy settled on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to the The Score So Far… documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song "Bastille Day" (from the album Caress of Steel) sounded "majestic." It was then decided that Majesty would be the band's name.

The trio then set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci asked his high school band-mate Kevin Moore to play keyboards. After accepting the position, another friend from home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of "Queen of the Reich" by QueensrÿcheDuring this time, Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung's hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in College. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.

The Majesty Demos and the birth of "Dream Theater" (1986–1987)

"Another Won"

"Another Won" from The Majesty Demos.

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The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos are still available in their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD through Mike Portnoy's YtseJam Records.

In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins left the band due to creative differences. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was far older and more experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici's appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.

Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas group also named Majestythreatened legal action for intellectual property infringement related to the use of their name, so the band was forced to adopt a new moniker. Various possibilities were proposed and tested, among them Glasser, Magus, and M1, which were all rejected until Portnoy's father suggested the name Dream Theater, the name of a movie house in Monterey, California.

When Dream and Day Unite (1988–1990)

Dream Theater in 1989: John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Dominici, Kevin Moore, John Myung

With this stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the attention of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988 and set out to record their debut album. The band recorded the album at Kajem Victory Studios in Gladwynne, PA. Recording the basic tracks took about 10 days, and the entire album was completed in about 3 weeks

When Dream and Day Unite was released in 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to Dream Theater prior to signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were relatively local. Their first show was at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for the classic rock power trio Zebra.

After the fourth show, Dominici was fired because of personal and creative differences. Shortly after, however, the band Marillion asked Dream Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was given the opportunity to perform one last time.It would be another two years before Dream Theater had a replacement vocalist.

Images and Words (1991–1993)

"Pull Me Under"

"Pull me Under" from Images and Words.

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Following Dominici's firing, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their contract with Mechanic, and set about auditioning singers and writing material for their next album. In their search for a new singer they auditioned over 200 people, among them former Fates Warning front man John Arch; all were turned down. In mid-1990, at a gig in New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. He performed just three songs with the band before he was fired for performing less than adequately. It was five months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental (under the name YtseJam). Until mid-1992 the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing additional music.It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become the 1992's Images and Words.

In late 1991, Kevin James LaBrie, of glam metal band Winter Rose, was flown from Canada to New York for an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and was immediately hired to fill the vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows (still mostly around NYC), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring LaBrie. ATCO Records (now EastWest), a division of Elektra Records, signed Dream Theater to a seven album contract based on a three song demo (later made available as "The ATCO Demos" through the Dream Theater fan club).

The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was 1992's Images and Words. For promotion, the label released a CD Single and video clip for the song "Another Day," but neither made significant commercial impact. The song "Pull Me Under," however, managed to garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In response, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under," which saw heavy rotation on MTV. A third video clip was produced for "Take the Time," but it was not nearly as successful as "Pull Me Under."

The success of "Pull Me Under," combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and Japan, caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum status in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London's famed Marquee Club. The show was recorded and released as Live at the Marquee, Dream Theater's first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in with documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.

Awake (1994)

"A Mind Beside Itself: II - Voices"

"Voices" from Awake.

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Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. Awake, Dream Theater's third studio album, was released on October 4 1994 in a hail of controversy among fans. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore announced to the rest of the band that he was simply no longer interested in touring, nor did he favor the style of music Dream Theater performed and would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his own musical interests. As a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be considered. The album was received very well by both critics and fans. The album has been seen by some as Dream Theater's darkest album mainly due to lyrical content with many of the songs dealing with internal conflicts. For example, The Mirror explores the topic of alcoholism, from which Portnoy was recovering at the time.

Jens Johansson, who would go on to become a member of Stratovarius, was among the biggest names to audition, however the band members were eager to fill the position with keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Portnoy and Petrucci had come across Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as "best new talent" in the readers' poll. The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Burbank, CA.For the members of Dream Theater, the show went incredibly well, and Rudess was asked to fill the keyboardist position permanently, however Rudess opted to tour with The Dixie Dregs instead, since it granted him more personal latitude. Disappointed, Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus Derek Sherinian, whose previous work included stints with Alice Cooper and Kiss, to fill in for the Awake promotional tour. By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-time replacement.

A Change of Seasons and Falling into Infinity (1995–1998)

"A Change of Seasons"

"A Change of Seasons" from A Change of Seasons.

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Dream Theater with Derek Sherinian in 1995. Left to right: John Myung, Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherninian, John Petrucci, James LaBrie.

Once again finding themselves with a new member, Dream Theater did not immediately start working on new material. Fans around the world, united on the YtseJam Mailing List (the most popular form of communication between Dream Theater fans at that point), had started placing pressure on the band to officially release the song "A Change of Seasons". It had been written in 1989 and was intended to be a part of Images and Words, but at almost 17 minutes, it was deemed too long for studio placement. However, the band did perform it live on occasion while continuing to revise it in the years leading up to 1995.

The petition was successful, and the group entered BearTracks Studios in New York in April 1995 to rewrite and record the 23 minute song with Sherinian contributing significantly to the final product. To disseminate "A Change of Seasons", the band released it as an EP along with a collection of cover songs recorded live at the Uncovered fan club gig.

After a short run of small concerts to promote A Change of Seasons, Dream Theater took a break for a few months. To keep busy, however, the band released a special Christmas CD through their official fan club, consisting of rare live tracks recorded during the band's early years. They continued releasing a new CD each Christmas until 2005.Also during the break the individual members set out to write compositions for their upcoming collaborative writing sessions.

Meanwhile, there were several changes at EastWest, and Dream Theater's main contact within the label was fired. As a result, the new team at the company were unaccustomed to the relationship Dream Theater had with former EastWest personnel, and they pressured Dream Theater to write an album that was more accessible. At the end of 1996, they entered the studio to write their next album. In addition to pressuring the band to adopt a more mainstream sound, EastWest recruited writer/producer Desmond Child to work with Petrucci on polishing the lyrics to his song "You Or Me". The whole band substantially reworked the music to the song, and it appeared on the album as "You Not Me" with a chorus that was barely reminiscent of the original. Child also had a noticeable impact on the album, with a shift towards compositions that were less complex and more radio-friendly.

The band wrote almost two CDs worth of material, including a 20 minute long follow-up to the Images and Words song "Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper". The label, however, did not allow the release of a double album because it felt that a 140-minute record would not be digestible by the general public. James LaBrie also felt that the CD should be a single disc.^[13]Ytsejam Records release The Falling Into Infinity Demos. The unused songs were later released in the

The material that made it onto the album proper was released as Falling Into Infinity, which received a mixed reception from fans who were more familiar with the band's earlier sound. While the album was moderately progressive-sounding, tracks such as "Hollow Years" and "You Not Me" prompted some to believe it was the dawn of a new, mainstream-sounding Dream Theater. Overall, the album was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Although Portnoy didn't speak out publicly at the time, many years later, in the 2004 DVD commentary for 5 Years in a LIVEtime, he revealed that he had been so discouraged during this period he'd considered disbanding Dream Theater altogether.

During the European leg of the Falling Into Infinity world tour, two shows were recorded for a live album entitled Once In A LIVEtime, in France and The Netherlands. The album was released at around the same time as the video 5 Years in a LIVEtime, which chronicled the time from when Kevin Moore left the band up to the Falling Into Infinity promotional tour.

Scenes from a Memory and first live DVD (1999–2001)

In 1997, Magna Carta Records' Mike Varney invited Portnoy to assemble a progressive 'supergroup' to work on an album, which would become the first in a long string of side-projects for the members of Dream Theater. The lineup consisted of Portnoy on drums, Petrucci on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who had finished with the Dixie Dregs. The band assumed the name Liquid Tension Experiment, and would act as a medium through which Portnoy and Petrucci could once again court Rudess to join Dream Theater. In 1999, he accepted an offer to become the third full-time Dream Theater keyboardist, replacing Sherinian.

With yet another new member, Dream Theater entered BearTracks Studio once again to write and record their next album. As a result of an ultimatum from Portnoy, the label gave the band complete creative control. The follow-up to "Metropolis Part 1", which was written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions (but not used on that album), was taken off the shelf for reworking. They decided to expand the 20-minute song into a complete concept album, with a story revolving around themes such as reincarnation, murder and betrayal. To avoid stirring up the fan base, a tight veil of secrecy enveloped the writing and recording process. The only things fans were privy to prior to its release were a track list that had been leaked against the band's wishes, and a release date. In 1999, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was released to high critical acclaim. It was hailed as Dream Theater's masterpiece by many fans and critics alike, despite only reaching #73 on the US album chart.

A massive world tour followed, taking over a year to complete, by far their largest to that point. The concerts reflected the theatrical aspect of the album. They played the entire Scenes From a Memory album from start to finish, with a video screen on the back wall of the stage showing a narrative companion to the story of the album. In addition to playing the album in its entirety, the band also played a second set of Dream Theater songs, as well as a few covers and improvisations of old Dream Theater material. For one extra special show, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, actors were hired to play characters in the story, and a gospel choir was enlisted to perform in some sections of the performance.

This show, the last North American date of the tour, was recorded for the band's first DVD release. After many technical delays, the DVD, titled Metropolis 2000, was released in early 2001. Shortly after, the band announced that an audio version of the concert, with the entire four-hour long set-list (most of which had to be cut from the DVD to save space), would be released.

The cover for the CD version of the concert, titled Live Scenes from New York, depicted one of Dream Theater's early logos (the Images And Words-era burning heart, modeled on the Sacred Heart of Christ) modified to show an apple (as in "Big Apple") instead of the heart, and the New York skyline, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, in the flame above it. In an unfortunate coincidence, the album was released on the same date as the September 11, 2001 attacks. The album was quickly recalled by the band and was re-released with revised artwork later.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)

"Overture"

"Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence" from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

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Putting the whole ordeal behind them, Dream Theater once again entered BearTracks Studios to record their sixth studio album. Four years after they first petitioned EastWest to allow them to release a double album, they finally got their chance with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. The first disc consisted of five tracks of 7–13 minutes in length, and the second disc was devoted entirely to the 42-minute title track, which is to date the longest song Dream Theater has written. The genesis of that song came when Rudess wrote what would become the "Overture" section of "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", and the band took some different melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into chapters of the complete piece.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence ended up being received very well by critics and the press. It was the most publicized of Dream Theater's albums since Awake, debuting on the Billboard charts at #4 and the Billboard Internet charts at #1. Throughout the next year and a half they toured the world once more, with an expanded live show including a select few special "album cover" gigs (see Cover songs section, below), in which they played Metallica's Master of Puppets and Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast in their entirety.

Train of Thought and Live at Budokan (2003–2004)

During 2003, Dream Theater entered the studio to write and record another album. Since Scenes From A Memory was written and recorded simultaneously in the studio, in the spirit of change, the band took a different approach by setting aside three weeks for writing prior to recording. In the middle of the recording sessions for the album, a special tour with two other progressive metal bands, Queensrÿche and Fates Warning, was undertaken in North America. The "Escape From The Studio American tour", as it was referred to in Dream Theater's promotional material, featured Queensrÿche and Dream Theater as co-headlining acts with Fates Warning performing supporting act duties. As a finale for each concert there was an extended encore in which both Dream Theater and Queensrÿche performed together on stage simultaneously, often playing cover songs.

At the completion of the tour, Dream Theater returned to the studio to finish the recording of their seventh album, Train of Thought. They concentrated more on writing a great song-oriented album, a mindset inspired by covering Master of Puppets and Number of the Beast on a previous concert tour. As a result, the more straight-forward metal sound of those two albums seemed to creep into Train of Thought. The album was a critical success, but it alienated a fair proportion of Dream Theater's fans who preferred traditional progressive rock, such as Yes or King Crimson. Regardless, it seemed to expand Dream Theater's fan base into new territory, capturing many more metal fans.

Another world tour followed, during which Dream Theater performed support act duties for one of their major influences, Yes. A modest North American tour was completed by the two bands, after which Dream Theater continued to tour the world with their so-called "An Evening With Dream Theater" shows.

Their next move was to release another live CD/DVD combination, this time recorded at the famous Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on their Train of Thought world tour. Live at Budokan was released on October 5, 2004, and further propelled Dream Theater's reputation as one of the premier live acts in progressive metal.

Octavarium and Score (2005–2006)

"I Walk Beside You"

"I Walk Beside You" from Octavarium.

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Dream Theater after concert in Paris (2005). Left to right: Portnoy, Petrucci, LaBrie, Myung, Rudess

Upon the completion of their Train of Thought promotional tour, Dream Theater entered the Hit Factory studios in NYC to record their eighth album. As it turned out, they would be the last group ever to record in that famous studio, and after they wrapped up their final session, the lights were turned off at the studio forever.

Octavarium was released on June 7, 2005, and took the band's sound in yet another new direction. Among its eight songs is a continuation of Portnoy's "Twelve-step" saga ("The Root of All Evil", steps 6-7 in the 12-step plan), as well as the title track, a musically versatile 24 minute epic rivaling "A Change of Seasons". Octavarium received mixed reviews from fans and has been the subject of spirited debate. Octavarium was the last album under their seven-album deal with Elektra Records, which had inherited the contract upon its absorption of EastWest Records.

Dream Theater toured extensively throughout 2005 and 2006 to celebrate their 20th Anniversary as a band, including a headlining spot on Gigantour. During a show on August 2, 2005 in Dallas, the band paid tribute to Pantera's late guitarist Dimebag Darrell by performing the song "Cemetery Gates" as an encore. In addition was the unexpected appearance of fellow musicians Russell Allen, Burton C. Bell and Dave Mustaine, who joined the band on stage to perform parts of the song.

Dream Theater later departed from Gigantour and continued on with their own series of concerts. The 20th anniversary tour concluded with a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 1, 2006. Though the show had minimal promotion, it was sold out days after tickets were made available. This show, which was recorded for a CD/DVD called Score released on August 29, 2006 through Rhino Records, was the band's first concert accompanied by a full symphonic orchestra (the "Octavarium Orchestra").

Systematic Chaos (2007)

Dream Theater's latest album Systematic Chaos was released on June 5, 2007. The record marked their first with new label Roadrunner Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Roadrunner implemented increased promotion for the album, and as a result, Systematic ChaosBillboard 200, marking the highest initial charting album in Dream Theater's career.It also saw the release of a video for "Constant Motion" on July 14, the band's first music video since the mid-1990s. An authorized book entitled Lifting Shadows, detailing their first twenty years, was also released in 2007. Systematic Chaos contains eight tracks, but technically only seven songs. The album contains an epic titled "In the Presence of Enemies", bookending the album as tracks 1 and 8, Portnoy's continuing AA Saga with the song "Repentance", and a song of political nature, "Prophets of War". reached number 19 on the

The 2007/2008 Chaos In Motion World Tour started off in Italy. Dream Theater played in the Gods of Metal concert on June 3, 2007.Dream Theater also appeared at the Fields Of Rock Festival in the Netherlands on June 17, 2007.hey also played at various other European festivals including the UK's Download Festival and the French festival Hellfest Summer Open Air Megadeth, Korn, Mastodon and Slayer. with other bands such as

Dream Theater returned to perform the North American leg of the tour on July 24 in San Diego, California and wrapped up on August 26 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They played with opening acts Redemption and Into Eternity. The "Chaos In Motion" tour continued for the rest of the year and into 2008, playing shows in Asia, South America and, for the first time, Australia.

Greatest Hit and Chaos in Motion (2008)

On April 1, 2008, a two-disc compilation album entitled Greatest Hit (...and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) was released by the band. The title jokingly references the song "Pull Me Under", the band's only significant radio hit. It also includes three song re-mixes from their second album, Images and Words, five edited versions of previously released songs, and a track from a single B-Side. Unlike most Greatest Hits compilations, Dream Theater was actively involved with the album, coming up with the tracklisting that they felt best represented their musical careers. The album was their last with longtime label, Atlantic Records.

Dream Theater recently finished their package tour dubbed as "Progressive Nation Tour 2008," which started on April 29. Joining them on the tour were Opeth, Between the Buried and Me as well as 3. Unlike previous Dream Theater tours, performances were held in cities that they had not visited before in the past (such as Vancouver, Canada) or cities they hadn't played in for several years. This tour also marked the first time, since the release of Images and Words, where the group performed in small venues and performance halls.

After this tour, the band released a DVD set called Chaos in Motion 2007–2008. It is a compilation of songs from the tour supporting their newest album, Systematic Chaos. There were two sets of DVDs released. One is a regular two disk set while the Special Edition set contains three CDs of music that go along with the DVDs. It was released on September 30, 2008.

Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)

Mike Portnoy announced on June 2, 2008 that the band would be entering the studio to record a new album. On October 7, 2008, Dream Theater began work on their 10th album. The album, which is titled Black Clouds & Silver Linings, will be released on June 23, 2009. In addition to the standard CD, the album will be available on vinyl LP, as well as a 3-disc Special Edition CD that will include the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs, the titles of which will be revealed at a later date.

When announcing news of the album's progress on his forum, Mike Portnoy described the album as "a DT album with 'A Change of Seasons', 'Octavarium', 'Learning to Live', 'Pull Me Under' and 'The Glass Prison'....all on one album..."Jordan Rudess later explained, "...We've been entering into the Gothic domain quite a bit on this album. There's nothing like a really, really powerful and cool choir sound..."

On February 27, Mike Portnoy confirmed on the Eddie Trunk Radio Show that Dream Theater has completed recording and that mixing would begin March 2.Audio and video updates are available through Jordan Rudess' website.

Logo and imagery

Dream Theater wordmark and "Majesty" symbol

Despite the band being forced to change their name, Dream Theater adopted a custom logoMajesty symbol) and wordmark which has appeared on the vast majority of their promotional material and on the front cover of almost every Dream Theater studio album. The Majesty symbol is derived from Mary Queen of Scots' mark, which was re-worked by Charlie Dominici for use on the album artwork for When Dream and Day Unite.It consists of a capital Phi, a capital Mu, and a capital lambda. (known as the

Live performances

Throughout their career, Dream Theater's live shows have gradually become bigger, longer, and more diverse. The most obvious example of this is their rotational set list policy. That is, every single night of every tour has its set list devised by Portnoy using a meticulous process that ensures its uniqueness. Factors such as set lists from previous cities are taken into account to ensure that people who see Dream Theater multiple times within the same area will not see the same songs performed twice, and even the set list from the last time the band was in a particular city is taken into account for the benefit of fans who see the band on successive tours.

Rudess and Petrucci dueling in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2008).

For this to be possible, the band prepares to play the majority of its catalogue at any performance, depending on what Portnoy decides to program for that night. This process also requires the employment of a complex lighting system to load pre-configured lighting cues based on the individual songs.

Some of Dream Theater's more notable touring partners include Deep Purple, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, King's X, Marillion, Megadeth, In Flames, Pain of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Queensrÿche, Riverside, Spock's Beard, Fear Factory, Enchant, Symphony X, and Yes. In 2005, Dream Theater toured North America with the Gigantour festival, co-headlining with Megadeth, and have played with Megadeth and Iron Maiden physically on stage.

The band's full world tours, since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, have predominantly been so-called "Evening with..." tours, in which the band performs for at least three hours with an intermission and no opening act. The show that was recorded for Live Scenes From New York was nearly four hours in length, and resulted in Portnoy almost being hospitalized after acquiring severe food poisoning from the food he ate after the show.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", live at Nagoya, Japan.

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There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. In the midst of "A Change of Seasons" it is quite common for themes such as those for Major League Baseball and The Simpsons to be quoted, and Rudess routinely modifies his solo section in the song and others, often playing the ragtime section of "When the Water Breaks" from Liquid Tension Experiment 2. Several songs included on Once in a LIVETime include snippets of others' pieces, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" and Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee." Other quotations include "Mary Had a Little Lamb" during "Endless Sacrifice" on the Gigantour, a calliope-inspired break between verses of "Under a Glass Moon", a quote of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"'s main melody played by Petrucci while performing the intro solo of "Through Her Eyes" in Buenos Aires, the Turkish March at a concert in Istanbul, and the opening riff of Rush's A Passage to Bangkok at a show in Bangkok, Thailand. On the most recent "20th Anniversary World Tour" Rudess has even thrown in a short "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" theme in a break during "Endless Sacrifice".

Occasionally, a member of the audience is picked at random to perform on stage, an example of which can be seen during Portnoy's drum solo on the Live at Budokan DVD. There have also been many impromptu renditions of "Happy Birthday" when a member of the band or crew has a birthday corresponding to a tour date, which normally results in a birthday cake being thrown at the subject.

Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater's unpredictable concert structure is that during Derek Sherinian's time with the band. At selected shows the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed Nightmare Cinema. They usually performed a cover of Deep Purple's "Perfect Strangers", and, on one occasion, Ozzy Osbourne's "Suicide Solution." At some shows, Sherinian, Petrucci and Portnoy would take the stage together under the name "Nicky Lemons and the Migraine Brothers". Sherinian, wearing a feather boa and novelty sunglasses, would perform a pop-punk song entitled "I Don't Like You" with Petrucci and Portnoy backing. In Chaos in Motion tour in several concerts before Trial of Tears Portnoy and Petrucci would change positions and play Van Halen's Eruption.

Dream Theater's largest audience as a headlining act was 20,000 in Santiago, Chile on December 6, 2005.This was during their first tour of South American countries other than Brazil (which they had visited in 1997 and 1998).

In the Score and Chaos in Motion DVDs, an animation has accompanied certain parts of the songs, showing the band playing along to the music as cartoon characters. On the Score DVD, during the song Octavarium, the band is seen performing in an octagonal shaped maze. As the animation continues Jordan Rudess spontanously turns into Santa Claus and John Petrucci catches fire. In The Dark Eternal Night from the Chaos in Motion DVD, the band battles against a monster by shooting fireballs from guitars, throwing drum sticks, and screaming.

Dream Theater just wrapped up their highly successful "Progressive Nation '08" tour, along with Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, and 3. The tour is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, who stated, "I've been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I've been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk."

On February 13, 2009, Dream Theater announced the official line up for their Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The featured bands include Swedish bands Beardfish and Pain of Salvation, as well as Zappa plays Zappa. The tour is scheduled for a North American run throughout July and August 2009. Official dates have not been announced. On March 26, 2009 it was announced that Dream Theater would take the Progressive Nation tour to Europe for the first time alongside Opeth, Bigelf and Unexpect. The tour is scheduled to run throughout September, October and November 2009.

Bootleg culture

Mike Portnoy started an official bootlegs series in response to Dream Theater fans' affinity for live versions of their concerts. Dream Theater is one of the most actively bootlegged bands in the progressive metal genre. Since their very first shows in New York as Majesty, fans have recorded almost every single show that Dream Theater have played (occasionally there are three or four versions of a single concert), and some very elaborate and professional recordings have been released.

However, not every member in the band condones the release of Dream Theater bootlegs. Portnoy is the most pro-bootlegging member, since he was an avid collector of many bootlegs in his younger days and keeps his own personal archive of Dream Theater material in his basement. Petrucci and LaBrie have voiced opposition to people recording their concerts. Petrucci takes issue with bootleggers because he prefers audience members to concentrate on the musicians on stage, and not the level adjustments on their recording device. LaBrie, on the other hand, argues that bootlegging takes ownership and control over Dream Theater's performances away from the band themselves and into the hands of the public. Myung has expressed mild opposition to bootlegging, but in some interviews has mentioned that he does not particularly take great issue with it.

Dream Theater have released a series of official bootlegs, demos and other rarities through YtseJam Records, headed by Portnoy.They include demos the band put out before official albums, as well as many live shows, including shows where the band has covered a particular album. Albums covered include Dark Side of the Moon, Made in Japan, Master of Puppets, and Number of the Beast.

Cover songs

Dream Theater has been known for covering other artists' work throughout their career. They took this practice to a new level during the promotional tour for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. At three special gigs, one each in Barcelona, Chicago and New York City, they covered Metallica's Master of Puppets album in its entirety after a full set of Dream Theater material. This came as a surprise to fans, as there was no sign that this was to occur, other than it being announced that the gigs involved, which were on the second night of a two-night stand in each city, would be "extra special". This tradition can most likely be traced back to one of Mike Portnoy's favorite bands, Phish, who began a series of performing "musical costumes" of entire albums from other artists each Halloween beginning in 1994. Portnoy devised this "album cover" as the first in a series of gigs to be played as tributes to bands that had been influential in the formation and development of Dream Theater. The covers set divided many fans who attended the shows, with some people saying that they went to a Dream Theater concert to see original music and not another artist's work. Others, however, said that it was a bonus and not a replacement for a normal Dream Theater concert, since an ordinary gig had been played the night before.

On the next leg of the tour they covered Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast and received a similar reaction to Master of Puppets, although it was already known that a cover was to be performed that night because the tour itinerary included two successive gigs in a single city. On October 11, 2005, Dream Theater covered Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Dream Theater's official webpage stated that the second sets of the second nights in Amsterdam, London, Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Tokyo (October 11, October 25, December 4, December 11 and January 13 respectively), and also the second set of the January 15 show in Osaka, would be a classic album covered in its entirety. Dark Side of the Moon was played again on October 25 in London. However, in Buenos Aires (December 4) and São Paulo (December 11) the 'classic album' played was Dream Theater's own Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, to make up for not having visited Argentina and Brazil in their Metropolis 2000 tour. On January 13, 2006 (Tokyo) and on the 15th (Osaka), Dream Theater covered Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan. Portnoy says that he has one more cover show planned, but refuses to reveal when it will occur, or what album will be covered.

During Gigantour 2005, Dream Theater did a cover of Pantera's "Cemetery Gates" as a tribute to "Dimebag" Darrel Lance Abbott. As an added bonus, they had Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, and Russell Allen of Symphony X do guest vocals and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, do the main solo for the song.

In March 2006, Dream Theater played the rare Rush song Jacob's Ladder at a show in Toronto. John Petrucci said a few days later in Asbury Park, NJ, prior to the night's show, that Rush "wouldn't play it, so we thought we'd play it for them."

In addition, Dream Theater released several live cover songs on their EP A Change of Seasons, including songs from Elton John, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Journey, Kansas, and Dixie Dregs.

In 2008, they recorded a version of Iron Maiden's "To Tame a Land" for a Kerrang magazine compilation entitled Maiden Heaven

Discography

Main article: Dream Theater discography

When Dream and Day Unite (1989)
Images and Words (1992)
Awake (1994)
Falling into Infinity (1997)
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Train of Thought (2003)
Octavarium (2005)
Systematic Chaos (2007)
Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)

In addition to the above official albums, the members of Dream Theater, past and present, have contributed to hundreds of bootleg albums, both official and unofficial, side projects, collaborations with other artists, and guest appearances on albums.

Festival Entertainment

2009-04-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

No doubt that festivals are going to have to utilize more marketing tools in order to engage the public to attend. There is always some form of entertainment at festivals. These can range from strolling acts all the way to a big name celebrity entertainer. If a festival’s budget is being strained, one way to get more people is to use the majority of the entertainment budget for a big name celebrity. This may sound a bit ridiculous, but hear me out. Instead of using your entertainment dollars for a lot of small time acts which may not have much pulling power in terms of audience attendance, you find out your target market and book the appropriate celebrity. One big name star has much more power than a bunch of smaller acts. You may even have some funds left over after booking the celebrity in order to book some local talent. Booking a celebrity can be tough if you have a lot of stage time to fill and need lots of acts. One creative way to fill the slots is to hold a talent show and select the best acts to come and perform at the festival. This works for everyone, as the acts gets needed exposure and the festival gets great local acts to fill a time slot.