When Dream and Day Unite

When Dream and Day Unite is a vivid debut on which Dream Theater presents long, complex song construction, odd meters and technical playing along with a youthful, powerful impulse. The outstanding playing of John Petrucci, John Myung, Mike Portnoy and the others already intertwines at extremely high density at this point. A record by the early lineup, with Charlie Dominici on vocals and Kevin Moore on keyboards. From the powerful drive of the opener “A Fortune in Lies” and the virtuosic instrumental “Ytse Jam” to a cut like “The Killing Hand,” every song is engaging, while cuts like “Status Seeker” and “Afterlife” convey the work’s fullness. While evoking influences such as Rush, its own musicality is already clear. A record on which, though there are certainly rough parts compared to the later polished form, a vigorous drive toward experiment appears all the more vividly for it. The outstanding playing aesthetic at the band’s core already appears strongly from the first stage. A powerful, ambitious debut showing a sure starting point toward the progressive-metal genre — the band’s origin here.