Talking Into Infinity - A Dream Theater Podcast

Brian is off, but we have a very good friend of the show filling in – creator of the stage production and music videos for the last two Dream Theater albums/tours… Wayne Joyner! Wayne has been gracious enough to come on a few times in the past and now that he’s filling in for Brian, we decided to let him pick the topic and he decided to deep dive one of his desert island records – Pantera’s killer...

Portnoy vs. Mangini, Mangini vs. Portnoy – it doesn’t matter. Both drummers are INCREDIBLE and have given us several records of kickass prog rock – highlighted by some AMAZING drumming, no matter who is behind the kit. On this episode, we give our picks for our favorite drumming moments throughout the Dream Theater catalog!

We are celebrating Jon's birthday (a few days early) by letting him pick the topic - so, of course, he decides that it's finally time to deep dive his favorite record - Falling Into Infinity! This has been a somewhat polarizing record among the DT fanbase - is it a top-3 album as Jon thinks it is, or is it near the bottom due to it's obvious attempts at a hit single? We discuss!

It’s the next entry in our series of “you can’t have DT”, so… it’s 1995 and you walk into the record store to buy A Change Of Seasons… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to choose something else… what records are you grabbing? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!

We are back with our first show of 2023… and we’re heading back to 2010 and the start of a whole new era in DT history! This was the band’s first effort not to feature fan favorite and band leader Mike Portnoy – and just so happens to be one of Brian’s favorite records (spoiler alert!) We dig deep into Mike Mangini’s first outing with Dream Theater – A Dramatic Turn Of Events!

It's finally here... our second annual Fan Hangout show! This one is a freeform musical discussion about anything the fans want to talk about - driven by fans who have graciously agreed to jump out from the chat and into the limelight as they guest host the show with us! From a debate about Octavarium (the song) to Dream Theater hot takes to Gorilla Farts… we cover everything (and then some!) Happ...

It’s a very special episode of TII as we belatedly celebrate Brian’s 94th birthday! Since it’s his special day, he got to pick the topic – and he decided that he wanted to pose a question. If you were stranded on a desert island (he also said “have you ever seen a desert with an island? I digress…”) – what ten albums would you want with you? On this episode, we give OUR list of must-have desert is...

We return from seeing JP absolutely tear down the House of Blues in Cleveland, Ohio with Dave LaRue and Mike Portnoy and give our thoughts on an incredible performance! This got us thinking… what are some of our favorite all-instrumental records? We each give a list of albums we think everyone should check out!

Coming off of the critical and commercial success that was Distance Over Time, Dream Theater were under pressure to deliver a follow-up that lived up to its predecessor’s standards. Their offering was 2021’s A View From The Top Of The World… how did it fare? Did it live up to the lofty fan expectations or was it a letdown? We give our thoughts on DT’s most recent studio release!

It’s 1994… you walk into the record store to buy Awake… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to buy something else… what records are you buying? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!

In our third episode discussing bands that influenced Dream Theater, we dig into one of the best-selling rock records ever (and the album Jon lists as the most influential of his life) – Van Halen’s 1984! From Panama to Hot For Teacher to Jump – the band’s only #1 single! – this record is jam-packed with phenomenal tunes and, of course, is one of the absolute highlights of Eddie Van Halen’s record...

From Kevin Moore to Derek Sherinian to Jordan Rudess, Dream Theater has had an embarrassment of riches at the keyboard post throughout their career. On this episode, we dig into their discography to detail our favorite keyboard passages! Be they mellow, dark, classical, or a sound like a snarling pig, we cover them all!

You know him, you love him… he’s Rich Wilson – the author of Dream Theater’s authorized biography Lifting Shadows (if you haven’t gone back and watched/listened to our interview with him about the book; what are you waiting for??) – and he’s back on TII with us to dig into one of DT’s most well-received records – Octavarium!

It’s time for Album Cage Match #5! This time we pit the record that started it all… 1989’s When Dream And Day Unite versus 2007’s Systematic Chaos! Will the band’s stellar debut take the title, or will one of DT’s most eclectic releases take the title? Let’s find out!

In our second episode discussing bands that influenced Dream Theater, we dig into the seminal record of Rush’s career (and Brian’s favorite album) – Moving Pictures! Most Rush fans agree that this is the best record the band ever released – we go track by track and give our thoughts on this prog masterpiece!

Brian is off, but leaves the show in very capable hands as our good friend Adam Rishaug joins Jon to dig into one of DT’s top two most popular records… 1999’s Scenes From A Memory! Whether you prefer this one or Images and Words, there’s no denying that this album is a masterpiece from start to finish – and we dive into it track by track! Adam takes it one step further and digs into the story itse...

It’s 1992… you walk into the record store to buy Images & Words… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to buy something else… what records are you buying? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!

You’ve got two 90-minute sets and one encore… and you have to create your ultimate Dream Theater live concert setlist! What songs are you choosing, where are you placing them… and why? On this episode, Jon and Brian give you THEIR ultimate setlists!

On this special bonus episode of TII, we dive into James LaBrie’s new solo album A Beautiful Shade Of Grey with co-writer Paul Logue, Chance LaBrie, and none other than James LaBrie himself!!

On this very special live episode of Talking Into Infinity - we bring on Rich Wilson, author of the officially licensed DT biography Lifting Shadows!

Jon is off tonight… but the show is still on! Brian brings on esteemed author, podcaster, radio shock jock and leader of the insanity that is the Classic Metal Show – Chris Akin! Chris’s stories are NOT to be missed!

We've been working on this for a while now and are finally able to confirm the content for our very special bonus episode on June 25th at 2:00pm EST! We will be doing an album deep dive into James LaBrie's new solo record A Beautiful Shade Of Grey with co-writer Paul Logue, Chance LaBrie and the man himself - James LaBrie! Check out our interview with Paul here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjI...

On this episode, we bring on none other than The Wizard himself… keyboard master Jordan Rudess! We talk about his upcoming solo tour, his love of combining music and technology and, of course - Dream Theater!

It’s 1989… you walk into the record store to buy When Dream And Day Unite… and the clerk tells you that you CAN’T buy it! You HAVE to get something else… what records are you picking up? We give OUR choices for what we’d buy when we can’t have what we really want – the new Dream Theater record!

We are stepping out of our DT comfort zone and doing our first-ever off-DT episode! In the past we’ve discussed talking about bands that influenced Dream Theater, and on this show – we are finally putting our money where are mouths are! We are digging into one of the very best concept records of all time… Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime. The only challenge here… can we find ANYTHING negative to...