As they continue to tour in support of their acclaimed album A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS (Roadrunner), progressive hard rock icons DREAM THEATER have received their first-ever Grammy nomination for the album’s first single “On The Backs Of Angels” in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Category. The band–James LaBrie (Vocals), John Myung (Bass), John Petrucci (Guitar and Vocals), Jordan Rudess (Keyboards and Continuum) and new member Mike Mangini (Drums)—released this statement:
“2011 has been quite an amazing year for us. We watched ‘A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS’—our eleventh studio album—enter the Top Ten in 14 countries around the world including the U.S. And now we land our first-ever Grammy nomination [for the song “On The Backs of Angels” in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category]. It’s the icing on the cake–we’re honored and thrilled, no doubt about it. It took us a while to receive this Grammy attention–and we’ve done it on our own terms musically, so it feels particularly sweet. What keeps you going as a musician is the love and support from the fans–they are always there for us on this crazy adventure. So we give them a big shout-out as we celebrate our Grammy nomination. See you all on the road…and let’s all keep dreaming big.”
Meanwhile, after wrapping their U.S. dates on December 4 in Mesa, AZ, the band will perform three nights in Mexico (Monterrey December 7, Guadalajara December 9 and Mexico City December 10). In early 2012, they head overseas for a European concert tour starting January 23 in Finland and wrapping on February 26 in Portugal.
Here are some critical soundbites from the media about A DRAMATIC TURN OF EVENTS.
“The group’s members are clearly enjoying a rediscovered melodicism and experimentation in their songwriting. Dream Theater digs in with impressive might into hook-heavy twisting journeys like ‘Bridges In The Sky,’ ‘Breaking All Illusions’ and ‘Outcry,’ yet also softens into a vulnerability never heard before on songs like ‘Far From Heaven’ and ‘Beneath The Surface’…Fans, rejoice: The spirit carries on, every much intact.”
–Chuck Taylor, BILLBOARD, October 15, 2011
“Produced by Petrucci and mixed by Grammy Award winner Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine), it’s an album that keeps revealing its many splendors even after repeated listens. Its nine cuts run the gamut from grinding; progressive metal (‘On the Backs of Angels,’ ‘Build Me Up, Break Me Down’) to mind-numbing musical workouts (‘Lost Not Forgotten,’ ‘Outcry’) to a surprisingly stripped-down yet altogether moving ballad (‘Far from Heaven’).”
–Joe Bosso, GUITAR WORLD, November 2011
“’Spine-tingling’ is a term that can be applied to the whole of the album… Dream Theater’s stunning new masterpiece, which sees the band – Petrucci, LaBrie, bassist John Myung, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and new drummer Mike Mangini – performing at the top of their game. Mixed by Grammy Award winner Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine), it’s a sonic wonder that keeps revealing surprises even after multiple spins.”
–Joe Bosso, MUSICRADAR.COM, August 17, 2011
“Dream Theater returns with A Dramatic Turn Of Events. Marking the debut of new drummer Mike Mangini, the album is an evocative collection of fully-realized soundscapes that stands alongside landmark Dream Theater albums like Images And Words and Scenes From A Memory with an even greater prestige, ambition and cunning. It strikes the perfect balance between the bands’s intimate history with all that is heavy, progressive and melodic, each element fully realized. Over twenty-five years since their formation, Dream Theater continues to cultivate, curate and protect their status as worldwide niche tastemakers on this their eleventh studio album, which was produced by the band’s own John Petrucci and mixed by sonic magician Andy Wallace.”
— DRUMHEAD, September 2011
The Rock Tribune 