Though Dream Theater recruited drummer Mike Mangini to replace Mike Portnoy on 2011's A Dramatic Turn of Events, his drum parts had all been scripted before the change, leading to the rather stilted feeling of the album. This self-titled offering, the band's 12th album overall, marks the first time Mangini was involved in the writing and creative decision making from the jump and it shows. Produced by guitarist John Petrucci and recorded and mixed by Richard Chycki, this is one of the more dynamic, far-reaching albums in DT's catalog. Opener "False Awakening Suite" is a brief but cinematic near-instrumental with twinned guitars and keyboards riffs from Petrucci and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, all underscored by a string section and layered choral vocals by James LaBrie…

Few bands could have conceived of, let alone pulled off, the exercise in excess that Dream Theater have with The Astonishing. In a vast catalog that includes several album-length conceptual statements - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence - this is so extreme that it pushes at what their fans (a fanatical lot) may accept. Guitarist John Petrucci has written a double-disc sci-fi rock opera, set in a dystopian future in an invented country (the package contains maps). In it, music created and/or performed by humans has been outlawed by the state. Only government-sanctioned and programmed machines are entrusted with those functions. A small band of rebels cling to and fight for the vision (and redemption) of human music…

The Majesty Demos 1985-1986 is a tape created by Dream Theater in their early days when they went by the name "Majesty". The demos were pressed onto cassettes and distributed at shows and sent out to various music press. The demos were also copied and distributed eagerly by fans, eventually also being available on CD. In 2003, Portnoy released an official version of The Majesty Demos through YtseJam Records, which contained many other tracks recorded during that time, as well as the original six tracks.

Train of Thought Instrumental Demos 2003 is a collection of instrumental demos by Dream Theater for the album Train of Thought. It was released in 2009 by Mike Portnoy under his YtseJam Records label.

Images and Words Demos 1989-1991 is a collection of demos by Dream Theater released by Mike Portnoy on his YtseJam Records label. The album contains both instrumental and pre-production demos of songs from Images and Words as well as rare vocalist audition demos and The ATCO Demos.

Awake Demos 1994 is a collection of demos by Dream Theater of songs from the album Awake. It was released by Mike Portnoy on his YtseJam Records label. Unlike previously released demo collections, no instrumental versions of the songs are included, and the song Eve is notably absent, as well as several other demos.

When Dream and Day Reunite is an Official Bootleg released by Dream Theater by Mike Portnoy on his YtseJam Records label. The album contains the second set of a show in Los Angeles in 2004 where the band performed the entire album When Dream and Day Unite to celebrate it's 15th anniversary. Also included is the encore, in which the band was joined onstage by former members Charlie Dominici and Derek Sherinian.
With a grand set list including the entire When Dream and Day Unite tracklist, plus two very special encore tracks, the live bootleg is essential for any Dream Theater fan's collection. LaBrie's vocals actually work very nicely over the unpolished compositions that made up the band's overlooked debut, giving new life to the sometimes dilapidated-seeming songs.

With demos like these, 'Falling Into Infinity' had the potential to be the greatest Dream Theater album. Sadly, the castrated label-influenced final version simply does not share the glory of it's demos. Dream Theater had been sitting on the fence waiting to record this album for three years, and in this time, they had developed enough songs to fill up two discs! However, the label rejected the idea of releasing a double disc album, and the group had to pick and choose which songs to put on the record. With this official bootleg release, fans could at long last hear the songs as they were meant to be heard. This is without a doubt the best of these releases, because of all the alternate and unreleased songs…

The Number of the Beast is a classic heavy metal album by Iron Maiden, which has been covered several times by Dream Theater. Dream Theater released one of these performances of the album as an Official Bootleg through YtseJam Records.

Master of Puppets is a classic metal album originally by Metallica, which has been covered numerous times by Dream Theater. Dream Theater have released one of the performances of Master of Puppets as an Official Bootleg.

This official bootleg from Dream Theater was compiled over a two year period and pays tribute to a wide variety of artists including Queen, Yes, Black Sabbath, Kansas, Journey, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera and The Who.

Great CD of Dream Theater paying homage to one of the most influential bands of hard rock Deep Purple and their 1973 classic album Made In Japan. Deep Purple's original release is considered one of the greatest live albums with outstanding interplay between guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, vocalist Ian Gillan, and keyboardist Jon Lord. Dream Theater recreate MIJ as well as any band could. It's a steep hill to climb, and overall they do a very good job especially on Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, and Lazy. Mike Portnoy does a great job on The Mule (originally by Ian Paice). Child in Time, Strange Kind of Woman and Space Truckin are good as they are the most difficult to replicate (especially Child in Time).

Easily the best album of their official bootleg cover series. The band seamlessly and almost effortlessly transition from track to track as if they had written the album themselves, and in a live setting no less. The second disc contains bonus Floyd songs performed throughout their career including the song, 'Echoes' in its entirety, 'Hey You,' and an awesome simultaneous performance of 'Comfortably Numb' with Queensryche.