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Falling into Infinity (1997)

Where the lyrics of Falling into Infinity take you, and where it was really made.

The album was recorded at a studio that had been renamed from the Power Station, and its title was proposed by guitarist John Petrucci after the band rejected his first choice as too pompous.

Key places

Where the album was recorded (1997)

Recording site Power Station Studio — Recording for the album began on 2 June 1997 at Avatar Studios, which was previously known as Power Station Studios. The album was completed on 30 July 1997. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Falling into Infinity: fourth studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater
• Released 23 September 1997 through EastWest Records
• The only Dream Theater studio album with keyboardist Derek Sherinian
• Sherinian replaced Kevin Moore in 1994
• Produced by Kevin Shirley
• Writing and pre-production were stressful, with constant label pressure for a radio-friendly album

Background

• Early 1996: band entered Dream Factory Studios in East Rutherford, New Jersey to write new material
• First time writing with Sherinian
• Elektra Records pressed the band to write concise, radio-friendly songs, which created creative conflicts
• Guitarist John Petrucci accepted the label's request for change; drummer Mike Portnoy fought against it
• For over a year the band wrote songs without permission to record them
• March 1997: go-ahead to record the album with Kevin Shirley producing
• By May the band had enough material for a double album but was told to keep it to one disc for budget reasons
• Songs left off the final album included 'Raise the Knife', 'Where Are You Now', 'Cover My Eyes', 'Speak to Me', 'The Way It Used to Be', and 'Metropolis Pt. 2'
• Shirley recommended reworking 'You or Me' with Desmond Child; Petrucci flew to Florida for the job, and the song became 'You Not Me'

Recording

• Actual recording began on 2 June 1997 at Avatar Studios (now The Power Station) in New York City
• The band found the recording sessions trouble free and enjoyable, unlike the difficult writing stage
• The album was completed on 30 July 1997
• Recorded and mixed at Avatar Studios in June and July 1997
• Additional mixing at Sony Studios in New York; pre-production at Prince Studios in New York; mastered at Absolute Audio in New York

Cover

• Cover art designed by Storm Thorgerson

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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

• Debuted at number 52 on the Billboard 200 in America
• Received mixed reviews from critics and fans
• AllMusic reviewer Jeremy Ulrey gave it three out of five stars and called it the band's weakest effort since their debut
• Rich Wilson described it as one of the patchier albums in the band's catalogue

Reappraisal

• Lifting Shadows describes it as a commercial failure that broke no new ground for Dream Theater and did not raise their sales despite its more commercial direction
• Described as the band's most difficult album because of the creative and personal tensions during production
• The tensions led the band to demand freedom from record label interference for all future albums
• Mike Portnoy said that without Elektra Records, Kevin Shirley and Desmond Child involved, he would have made a completely different record
• In 2007 the band released a demo version reflecting Portnoy's original song arrangements and track listing
• In a 2014 interview, John Petrucci spoke fondly of the album and said the label had no influence on it, and that the band wrote the album they wanted

Records

• Billboard 200 (US): number 52
• Billboard Mainstream Rock Singles: 'Burning My Soul' number 33, 'You Not Me' number 40

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Shirley took the middle section out of 'Burning My Soul' and turned it into 'Hell's Kitchen'
• Petrucci and Portnoy first wanted to call the album Stream of Consciousness, but the rest of the band rejected it as too pompous; the phrase is found in 'Lines in the Sand' and later became the title of an instrumental piece on Train of Thought
• The album's title was proposed by Petrucci
• The band's sessions with Shirley were trouble free and enjoyable even though writing had been stressful
• Pre-production took place at Prince Studios in New York
• The Metropolis Pt. 2 song cut from this album was later expanded into its own album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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