Customer Reviews

When Dream and Day Unite

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I'm a sucker for a remastered CD. Especially when they're of classic albums I've known and loved for years.

If you've read my review of When Dream and Day Unite, you already know it's my favorite DT album -- or, at least, it's in the top two or three (with Scenes From a Memory and Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence also jockying for the top slot).

So it goes without saying that I just HAD to have this remastered, limited edition pressing of DT's classic first album.

I have good news and bad news regarding this release.

First, the good news.

The sound is an improvement. At least, I think so. When I A/B the old CD with this one, I THINK I detect an improvement in sound quality. I can tell you this much: the remastered edition is definitely louder. Whether or not it's any clearer and deeper is still in question. To my ears, it sounds better, if only marginally so.

The instruments that seem to enjoy the remaster treamtent more than others are: bass, keyboards and vocals. The drums are about the same, from what I can tell (although I must admit the drum sounds on "Ytse Jam" seem much crisper on this release). Likewise with the guitar tracks.

Okay, now the bad news.

In typical One Way fashion, the band photos appear to be taken directly from the previous CD. The head shots on the back cover are small, but that's probably because they're woefully fuzzy. In other words, One Way might have had the original master tapes of the album, but it doesn't appear they had the original master graphics.

Also, what happened to the lyrics? In the original CD released by MCA/Mechanic, there's a fairly thick booklet containing larger band photos and -- surprise! -- lyrics. The One Way release doesn't include lyrics.

Also, and this may be a misunderstanding on my part, but the essay about the band by Greg Prato contains the following sentence: "But Dream Theater now had a sturdy foundation to build on, and with a little more tweaking (switching Dominici with newcomer Kevin Moore), would soon connect with the metal masses."

Say what? Did Prato mean switching (vocalist) Charlie Dominici with (their second -- and still current -- vocalist) James LaBrie? Dominici wasn't switched with Kevin Moore. Moore was their first keyboard player, and an oustanding one at that.

All in all, I was expecting a more royal treatment for such a stellar album -- especially since this is called a "limited edition." Usually such terms are reserved only for truly special packaging or content.

Here's what I recommend: Buy this One Way remastered CD and put the CD in the old MCD/Mechanic jewel box. That way you'll have a more pristine sound coupled with a much better CD booklet, one that contains better band photos and lyrics.

THAT, my friends, would be a nice edition to have.

At this point in the evolution of Dream Theater, their full potential had not yet been grasped. Their music would not reach levels of perfection until later records like IMAGES & WORDS or AWAKE. This cd also features singer Charlie Dominicci - he would only be a member on this one album.

However, this does not take away from the beauty that embodies this important Prog Metal release. Some of the songs featured such as 'A Fortune in Lies' and 'The Killing Hand' are songs that the band had written when they were in their early 20's and under the name MAJESTY. When you think about all the material Dream Theater has recorded over the years, and you think about these early songs, it should give you the chills, because you know that most human beings lack that type of musical ability at such an early age.

I wouldn't recommend this album as a fair place to start, simply because James LaBrie is not in the band yet, and while these songs are prog metal classics, it is clear that the band was still musically immature. Most importantly, you can hear their influences, such as Rush, Kansas, Yes, and Metallica, but they had not yet established a sound that was uniquely 'Dream Theater'.

If you love extremely progressive and indulgent metal, this is a great place to look. Songs like 'The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun,' and 'Light Fuse and Get Away' are juggernauts of extreme proportions by way of complex time meters, random key changes, polyrhythms, harmonies, and amazing solos. There are also some more 'commercial?!?!?!' sounding tracks such as 'Afterlife' and 'A Fortune in Lies.' Another highlight is the instrumental 'Ytsejam' which is still a popular fan favorite at concerts, and often includes some sort of extended drum solo from Mr. Portnoy. It is truly a labor of love from a few good friends on Long Island.

On a side note, I own both the original release and this limited edition remastering, and either I'm going deaf, or I hear absolutely no difference between the two!

While it has certainly been eclipsed by the albums that immediately followed it, Dream Theater's debut album When Dream and Day Unite is still an excellent album in its own right.

Like many other fans, I discovered Dream Theater with their breakthrough Images and Words album, and only picked up WDADU after I had all of their other studio albums. The vocals are always my top priority in a band, and I wasn't really excited about a Dream Theater album without James LaBrie. I wish I hadn't waited so long to get this disc. It is clear that Charlie Dominici is no LaBrie in terms of talent or emotion, but he still gave a solid performance, and more importantly the rest of the band was in great form on this album. It is full of great songs that I regard as some of their best (Ytse Jam and the Killing Hand are just two examples), and is probably a more consistent album than some of their later albums like Falling Into Infinity or Octavarium. It sounds even better now since it was recently remastered and re-released.

Front to back, this is a great album, especially considering when it came out. In terms of maturity and complexity, there were very few bands in 1989 that could stand up to Dream Theater. Images and Words may have set the progressive metal standard, but When Dream and Day Unite is still a great album, and should be a must-have for fans of the band and the genre.

NOTE: When Dream and Day Unite was reissued in 2002 and featured digitally remastered sound, which is a nice improvement over the original. Early versions came in a neat digipack (but without liner notes/lyrics), while later versions came in a standard jewel case (but with the full liner notes).

Don't get me wrong, Labrie's vocals are good and all, even though it kinda bugs me at times when he tries to reach for those high Jon Anderson-esque pitches/notes. But what happened to Dominici after this debut. I think his voice is awesome, in an operatic way. In fact, IMO he looks and sounds a lot like Steve Perry. This record took me a while to really appreciate and enjoy, as I've since noticed is rather characteristic of prog in general. By now, this is one of my most faves from DT or anyone else. But in general, though, I love the instrumental side of these guys' sound.

If this rare 1989 album had featured James LaBrie instead of Mr. Dominici on vocals, it would have been, and still would be; a huge favorite. The music, though sometimes not mixed well, is remastered in this limited set. The trio of Petrucci, Myung and Portnoy already were playing swift and diverse instrumental-ised material, and the album is very well done.
I have a "LIVE" bootleg of the album and some 'outtakes' with James LaBrie, including the not included on this disc "To Live Forever", a song featured on the 1991 VHS "Live in Tokyo" concert, a superb concert promoting "Images and Words." The European release "Live at the Marquee" features a couple of the songs from "When Dream and Day Unite."
DT fans likely have this CD already, but this limited addition is a nice addition to your collection! Of note: The playing of Mike Portnoy is not nearly as insane as on "Six Degrees." John Petrucci displays some nice fretwork. But John Myung and Kevin Moore are superb. Enjoy!

To be the first one, without the actual singer, it can influences to not approach this album like it deserves it. More I listen to this album, more I think why DT has become one the most talented band. It's a fresh album, with a lot of different ideas, innovating a style combining the progressive music with metal elements. With this new edition, you will get the better sound you can get for Dream and Day Unite (not a big production). Listen to careffuly, it's as good as the others DT's albums, just different...

This is one HORNY Dream Theater CD - the musical talents of these lads are well up front, the only thing distracting is the Queesryche-ish vocals of Dominici. Just listen deeper and one will find what is to become one of the best prog-metal bands EVER. I really like this CD as it shows them at their early, horniest selves, really wanting to put something out that will catch your attention to their talent. Not really sure if this one ever did (as we all know I&M did with the James on lead vocals).

The only thing I can really say is that this ole classic contains stuff they still play today (Fortune in Lies, etc), so one cannot dismiss this as part of the whole DT 'history'. I find it one great CD to listen to, as I always make a point to get the 'first' CD of bands that are my favorites. This hilites the Petrucci/Portnoy forefront that is what DT is today, yet does not bury the awesome keyboard work of Kevin Moore (who I still think was their best) and of course Myung on the bass...the most overlooked and truly awesome bass player!!!

Basically one for DT fans, but anyone fond of 80's hard rock/metal/glam/prog would definitely appreciate it!

Amazing,breathtaking,thrilling,magnificent.Progressive metal at it's best.the whole album is maybe a bit to "Progressive" in some moments but surely all those changes of atmosphere and tempo are making it so special and great.Charlie Dominici on Vocals is not that bad as some may say - his vocals are interesting and full of melodies.gorgeus lyrics.best tracks -"Matter of time","light fuse and get away","fortune in lies".

Get this one - it is so much different from new Dream theater albums but it is gorgeous - turn it up loud!

In a way, first releases are always great, at least if the band eventually turns out to be really good (which certainly is the case here). I like this record very much, in particular Afterlife and the famous Ytse Jam (just in case you don't know: Before Dream Theater was founded, the core band members used to be in a band called Majesty ... spell that backwards and you get a smashing song title). What particularly strikes me is the classical influences ... they forgot about them in the next 2 albums (Awake has some short classical licks in track 4). The mix is also quite different, with the bass being quite more up-front and the guitars a little cheesy, together with the poor drum sound ... but it's not quite different than other releases of that time and certainly better than previous progressive metal releases like Fates Warning.

The best thing about first releases is that the musicians normally weren't very successful (in a commercial sense) when writing and recording the music, so you get a raw and sometimes vague version of the band's style.

Other bands that - in my opinion - have stellar first releases are Pain Of Salvation (Entropia), Shadow Gallery and Symphony X (they are currently re-recording their first record, that tells you something about the importance of first releases for the bands themselves).

To cut it short: If you really like a band, listen to their first record. Regardless of the production quality or personnel changes, it will enhance your understanding of their music.

This is a must own for any Dream Theater fanatic! This CD is jammed packed with the classic material that started these unique progressive gods to where they are today, which is at the top of the progressive game. This coming from the only band that still brings the recognition to public that commercial music can be put aside for just one dam second so this extremely well written music can be accepted for what it is, pure talent! The quality of this CD is really good and the Re-mastered copy that you will own if purchased is uniquely stamped with it's own limited edition number. I thought that was really cool! There was only 10.000 copies made so this is a jump at the opportunity while you can type of thing! So stop hesitating, I have my copy do you have yours?

In the words of the great Mike Portnoy;
Carpe Diem