Maps of Music

Distance Over Time (2019)

Where the lyrics of Distance Over Time take you, and where it was really made.

Distance Over Time was the band's fastest-written album, finished in 18 days, yet it became their most successful album on the charts.

Key places

The cabin studio in Monticello (2019)

Recording site Yonderbarn Studios — Dream Theater recorded the album in a cabin in Monticello, New York. This point marks the Yonderbarn Studios listing for that recording. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Distance Over Time is the fourteenth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater
• Released 22 February 2019
• The band's first release on Inside Out Music
• Announced together with a tour of North America
• The tour supported the new album and celebrated the 20th anniversary of Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)
• Lead single "Untethered Angel" and its music video released 7 December 2018
• Second single "Fall into the Light" released 11 January 2019
• Third single "Paralyzed" and its video released 8 February 2019

Background

• The band aimed for a "tight and focused" album with a heavier sound than The Astonishing (2016)
• "At Wit's End" was the first piece written
• Writing for the whole album took 18 days, the fastest written album of the band so far
• The speed and style of the writing were compared to the 2003 album Train of Thought

Recording

• Recorded in a cabin in Monticello, New York
• Just under 57 minutes long, not counting a bonus track
• First studio album under one hour since Images and Words (1992)
• Shortest album since the 1989 debut When Dream and Day Unite
• Third studio album with no song longer than ten minutes, after When Dream and Day Unite and The Astonishing
• "Room 137" is the only song with lyrics written by Mike Mangini

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts.
• Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy formed the band under the name Majesty while attending Berklee College of Music.
• The band was renamed Dream Theater in 1988 after a legal challenge from a Las Vegas group also named Majesty.

Members

• Current members are John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), James LaBrie (vocals), Jordan Rudess (keyboards), and Mike Portnoy (drums), who rejoined in October 2023.
• Petrucci and Myung have remained in the band since its founding.

Career

• The band has released 16 studio albums; Images and Words (1992) is its highest-selling release.
• Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) received high critical acclaim.
• By 2018 the band had sold over 12 million records worldwide.
• The band has been referred to as one of the "Big Three" of progressive metal, along with Queensrÿche and Fates Warning.
• A View from the Top of the World's lead single "The Alien" won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2022.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Consequence of Sound reviewed the album positively; it was shorter than the 34-song The Astonishing, yet its expansive arrangements and complex songwriting were not scaled back
• Kerrang! said the album is the band at their most accessible, losing nothing of their musicianship
• AllMusic's Thom Jurek praised the album as a reaffirmation of the band's identity and its freshness and energy

Reappraisal

• Metacritic average of 82/100 from 6 reviews, indicating universal acclaim
• Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019

Records

• Top 10 in 19 countries, the band's most successful album on the charts to date
• Reached number one in Germany and Switzerland
• Reached the top spot on the iTunes Top 100 Albums list on its release day

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The live album Distant Memories - Live in London and its DVD came out on 27 November 2020, presenting this album alongside the 20th anniversary of Metropolis Pt. 2
• "Paralyzed" was added as an extra on that DVD
• "Room 137" is the only Dream Theater song with lyrics by Mike Mangini
• It is the third studio album with no song longer than ten minutes

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

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