"I am elated and thrilled to be recognized for my work,” says Petrucci, adding that “everyone in Dream Theater is excited by the launch of the first Prog Awards. All the musicians who keep it progressive have to fight harder for attention, and this will honor their work while raising the level of awareness of music that is truly guided by the spirit of adventure. As always, we thank the fans who have joined us on this ride."
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In a recent interview with Music Radar, Petrucci discussed what he considers the 11 greatest prog albums of all time. An excerpt is available below:
IRON MAIDEN - Piece Of Mind (1983)
“A lot of people might not see Piece Of Mind as being progressive, but I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it. I got into Maiden with The Number Of The Beast, but this is the record that I played to death. I think this is the first album where I was compelled to learn every song on the guitar. I had to know how to play every note of every solo on the entire album. And by doing that, I learned a lot about how the band wrote and arranged songs. They were also into storytelling. Whether that story was from a book or a movie or something original, there was a lot of vivid imagery going on.
I love both guitarists, for different reasons. One of the biggest things I picked up from Adrian Smith was how to use vibrato well. I’d put Piece Of Mind on the turntable, slow down the speed, and when I heard a note being held out at half-speed – ‘rrraaaaahhhh, rrraaaaahhhh,’ you know, the wobbling? – that’s when I really figured out vibrato.
And Dave Murray’s solos were so fun. He did a lot of legato and whammy bar stuff, and wah-wah stuff, too – that whole rock ‘n’ roll thing. A great player.”
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Dream Theater launched a major North American headlining summer tour on June 15th in Rochester, New York. They are touring behind their 11th studio album A Dramatic Turn Of Events which had 14 Top 10 debuts around the world. Check out a tour kick-off video below:
The North American tour schedule is as follows:
July
6 - San Antonio, TX - Majestic Theater
7 - Austin, TX - ACL Live
9 - Grand Prairie, TX - Verizon Theatre
12 - Richmond, VA - The National
13 - Washington, DC - Warner Theatre
14 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
16 - Boston, MA - Bank of America Pavilion
18 - Huntington, NY - Paramount Theater
19 - Huntington, NY - Paramount Theater
21 - Chester, PA - Harrah’s Chester Downs
