The following is the official biography from one of the most progressive rock bands in the world - and one of my personal favourites.

James LaBrie -- vocals
John Myung -- bass
John Petrucci -- guitars
Mike Portnoy -- drums
Jordan Rudess -- keyboards

Octavarium is not only the eighth studio album from progressive heavy rockers Dream Theater, but it also marks 20 years of existence for this majestic outfit. "It's pretty incredible," says drummer Mike Portnoy, "Especially given the nature of what we do. I think maybe that's probably been the secret to our longevity, is that we've never fit in. But it's still incredible that here we are, 20 years later, and we're not one of those bands that's just sticking around on the downslide. We're still growing and progressing with each album and tour."

Not only has the five-piece resolutely defied both popular trends and fickle public tastes throughout its career, but Dream Theater's sound and approach is more vibrant, powerful and wide-ranging than ever. Octavarium, produced by the longtime tandem of Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci, and mixed by Michael Brauer, encompasses the many varieties of heavy, epic, complex rock that has drawn legions of fans to the band's monumental catalog of releases and dynamic, marathon live shows.

"We had two goals this time," explains Portnoy about the band's focused-like-a- laser approach. "The first goal was a reaction to our last album, Train Of Thought (2003), which was intentionally very, very dark and heavy from start to finish. It was definitely the heaviest album we ever made. So when it came time to make this record, we knew we didn't want to do that again. We wanted to go back to a more traditional Dream Theater style, which is a variety of everything. We still have heavy songs, but also have some lighter songs, some epic, progressive songs -- it's more of a balance."

Portnoy adds that the group's second goal was to challenge themselves as songwriters by composing shorter pieces than the band is famous for. "Our last three or four albums, almost every song was very long. I mean, we've always had long songs our whole career, but -- we kind of did that formula to death. So we wanted to challenge ourselves this time to try and write shorter songs. For most bands, it's a challenge to write a long song, but to us, the challenge is to go the other way. There are three or four songs on the album that are very short and concise, but are still Dream Theater."

Indeed, tunes such as "I Walk Beside You" and "The Answer Lies Within" clock in at five minutes or under -- largely unexplored territory for a band known for "double digit" masterpieces like "A Change Of Seasons" and "Metropolis." But what's even more surprising about those two new tracks -- both highlights of Octavarium -- is the diversity of material they represent. "Songs like those are kind of new for Dream Theater," says Portnoy. "There's almost a Coldplay or U2 influence. It's something that we've always had and tried to tap into, but I don't think we've ever truly nailed it as strongly as we did with these songs. And then you have songs like 'Panic Attack' and 'The Root Of All Evil' which are so dark and heavy and progressive and technical, and then something like 'Octavarium' and 'Sacrificed Sons,' which are true epics."

The latter two cuts both feature an orchestra, something the band has never utilized before, while the 24-minute title cut is sure to become one of the band's signature pieces. "I think it's one of the best things we've ever written, because it encompasses a little bit of everything that Dream Theater is about in one statement," says Portnoy proudly. "I think most of our fans' favorite songs from our catalog tend to be those type of songs."

That catalog extends back to 1989, when Dream Theater released its debut album, When Dream And Day Unite. The group has formed several years earlier, in September of 1985, when Berklee School of Music students Portnoy, John Myung and John Petrucci decided to start a band together. Originally known as Majesty, the fledgling act recruited keyboardist Kevin Moore and singer Chris Collins into the fold. Collins eventually left, replaced by Charlie Dominici, while another band forced them to drop the Majesty moniker in favor of Dream Theater, named after a demolished California cinema.

When Dream And Day Unite made an immediate impact on the underground progressive rock scene, but Dream Theater wanted to push further. Replacing Dominici with James LaBrie, the group signed to Atco (later absorbed by Atlantic) and recorded 1992's groundbreaking Images And Words. Featuring the hit, "Pull Me Under," the album introduced Dream Theater to hordes of new fans that continue to support the band to this day.

Many more albums followed, including 1994's Awake, 1997's Falling Into InfinityScenes From A Memory. At the same time, Kevin Moore gave way to first Derek Sherinian, then Jordan Rudess. Personnel changes, label turnover, and the ill-timed release of 2001's Live Scenes From New York -- which arrived on September 11th, 2001, with cover art featuring a New York skyline against a backdrop of flames -- roiled the group but never truly deflected it from its musical path. "The biggest reason we've been able to endure that is our devoted fan base," says Mike Portnoy. "Our fans are as big a part of the story as we or our music is. They're the reason that we're able to keep a major label deal and go and play sheds and large theatres and stuff like that without mainstream exposure. It's due to this incredible fan base that stands by us through thick and thin from year to year."

And now that fan base is about to be rewarded once again with the June 7th release of Octavarium. The last album to ever be recorded at New York's legendary Hit Factory before it closed its doors for good in March of 2005, this record is sure to please every single diehard Dream Theater fan out there, and will continue to draw new ones to the band's skillful medley of heavy metallic power, delicate melodicism, and brilliant, literally award-winning musicianship. "There's always gonna be an audience for musicians and artists and people who actually want to create something that's valid and unique," concludes Portnoy. "The rock stardom thing and being on MTV and selling millions of records and being part of a trend has never been interesting to us. We're just five musicians that like to play and write together, and luckily there's this devoted audience that's been behind us all this time." and 1999's

Band Histories - Guns n' Roses

FORMED: 1985

At a time when pop was dominated by dance music and pop metal, Guns N' Roses brought raw, ugly rock & roll crashing back into the charts. They were not nice boys; nice boys don't play rock & roll. They were ugly, misogynist, violent; they were also funny, vulnerable, and occasionally sensitive, as their breakthrough hit "Sweet Child O' Mine" showed. While Slash and Izzy Stradlin ferociously spit out dueling guitar riffs worthy of Aerosmith or the Stones, Axl Rose screeched out his tales of sex, drugs, and apathy in the big city; bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler were a limber rhythm section that kept the music loose and powerful. Guns N' Roses' music was basic and gritty, with a solid hard, bluesy base; they were dark, sleazy, dirty, and honest -- everything that good hard rock and heavy metal should be.

Guns N' Roses released their first EP in in 1986, which led to a contract with Geffen; the following year, the band released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction. They started to build a following with their numerous live shows, but the album didn't start selling until almost a year later, when MTV started playing "Sweet Child o' Mine." Soon, the album shot to number one and Guns N' Roses became one of the biggest bands in the world. By the end of 1988, they released G N' R Lies, which paired four new, acoustic-based songs with their first EP.

Guns N' Roses began to work on the follow-up to Appetite at the end of 1990. In October of that year, the band fired Adler, claiming that his drug dependency caused him to play poorly; he was replaced by Matt Sorum from the Cult. During recording, the band added Dizzy Reed on keyboards. By the time the sessions were finished, the new album had become two new albums. After being delayed for nearly a year, the albums, Use Your Illusion I and II, were released in the fall of 1991. The Illusions showcased a more ambitious band; while there were still a fair number of full-throttle guitar rockers, there were stabs at Elton John-style balladry, acoustic blues, horn sections, female backup singers, ten-minute songs with several different sections, and a good number of introspective, soul-searching lyrics. In short, they were now making art; amazingly, they were successful at it.

While the albums sold very well initially, the band soon fell out of favor. Stradlin left the band by the end of 1991 and with his departure the band lost their best songwriter. Once Nirvana's Nevermind hit the top of the charts in early 1992, there was a distinct division between what was cool in hard rock and what wasn't; Guns N' Roses -- with all of their pretensions, impressionistic videos, models, and rock star excesses -- were very uncool. The band didn't fully grasp the change until 1993, when they released their album of punk songs, The Spaghetti Incident?; it received some good reviews, but the band failed to capture the reckless spirit of not only the original versions, but their own Appetite for Destruction. By the middle of 1994, there were rumors flying that the band was about to break up, since Rose wanted to pursue a new, more industrial direction and Slash wanted to stick with their blues-inflected hard rock.

Band Histories - Aerosmith

Aerosmith, one of the most original hard rock bands of the century has officially become a rock legend in their own right. On March 19, 2001, Aerosmith was inducted into the 'Rock and Roll Music Hall of Fame' for their contribution to hard rock music. Their musical achievements are nothing less than impressive with 4 Grammy Awards, 9 MTV Music Awards, 2 American Music Awards, 13 multi-platinum albums, 5 platinum albums, and 4 gold albums. The band's success has insured that Aerosmith will be a band the world will never forget.

Aerosmith was formed in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1970. The original band members were Steven Tallarico (drummer and lead vocals), Joe Perry (lead guitar), Tom Hamilton (bass), and Ray Tabano (guitar). Steven Tallarico later changed his last name to Tyler because it was easier to pronounce. A year after the band formed Ray Tabano left Aerosmith and was replaced by Brad Whitford. Also, the band took on Joey Kramer to play drums so that Tyler could focus on

the his role as lead singer/front man. The band's first big break came in 1972 when they signed a record deal with Columbia Records for $125,000. The contract offer was the result of Clive Davis catching one of their extraordinary shows.

In February of 1973, the band released its debut LP, Aerosmith. The LP sold over 2 million copies in the U.S. and later went platinum twice as the result of later LP's success. "Dream On" the first single for the Aerosmith LP did not do so well. However, it was re-released in 1976 and became the first Top 10 hit for the group. Next, Get Your Wings was released in the summer of 1974. Wings stayed on the charts for a year and a half and since its release it has gone platinum three times.

Aerosmith knew they had hit the big time as they headlined with bands such as Kiss and ZZ Top. In the early spring of 1975, Toys in the Attic was released. "Sweet Emotion," became the band's first Top 40 hit. Aerosmith release "Walk This Way" as a single and its remake later was greatly received by the 80's pop culture music audience. Success was sweet for Aerosmith and became even sweeter when the boys were asked to be on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine in 1976.

In the years that followed Aerosmith released one hit album after another such as Rocks (1976) platinum four times, Draw The Line (1977) platinum twice, Live Bootleg (1978) platinum, Night In The Ruts (1979) platinum, and Aerosmith's Greatest Hits (1980) platinum ten times. After the release of Night In the Ruts, Joe Perry, the band's lead guitar player, decided to move on with his musical career and he began to pursue his own solo career by recording 'The Joe Perry Project'. A contributor to Perry's decision was the fact that the band's personal relationships were being torn apart by substance abuse, which in turn affected the band's music. Eleven months later Brad Whitford, back up guitarist, left the band even though their greatest hits LP was a complete success selling over 9 million copies in the U. S. alone.

The band's issues with substance abuse and the fact that they were no longer creating platinum records caused Columbia Records support to fade. Substance abuse had a tight grip over the group and soon their troubles went public. In 1983 during the era of "Just Say No To Drugs," Tyler was arrested for possession of cocaine and narcotics paraphernalia. Tyler was facing, not only a fine, but possible jail time too. Eventually, the charges were dropped because Tyler pleaded guilty. He was placed on three years probation and fined $5,000 which, to a huge superstar like Tyler, was not much more than a slap on the wrist.

Much to the band's benefit, in 1984, Perry and Whitford re-joined Aerosmith and they set out on a reunion tour called "Bank In The Saddle" tour. However, substance abuse apparently had not loosened its grip on lead vocalist Tyler since he collapsed on stage one night during the tour. Soon after the tour, Geffen Records picked the band up and signed them to a contract. They released Done With Mirrors in 1985 under their new label. However, Mirrors would never reach the platinum status of their other LPs. During the record's release, Tyler and Perry agreed to get help for they drug addictions and began substance abuse programs.

Run-D. M. C., famous for their rapping and B-boxing style in the 80's, decided to remake Aerosmith's single, "Walk This Way." Tyler and Perry made cameo appearances in the music video. As a result of this video, the band received the exposure they needed to make an amazing comeback. Aerosmith releases two live LPs, Classics Live and Classics Live 2, featuring live performances of concerts between ‘77 and ‘86. Classics Live would eventually go platinum over the years and Classics Live 2 would only remain gold.

Soon Aerosmith was back on the charts with the release of their five time platinum album, Permanent Vacation. Power house hard rock songs like "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)," "Ragdoll," and heartfelt ballads like "Angel," would soon return the band to their status as platinum LP producers. All of 1988 was a big year for Aerosmith as they release the hit compilation Gem and watched the success of Vacation sky rocket. MTV began to stand up and recognize them for their talented videos and stage performances. In September 1988, Aerosmith was nominated for MTV's Best Group Video and also Best Stage Performance in a Video for "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)." Aerosmith was giving the world what they were asking for in hard rock music and declaring that there was more where that came from.

Due to the success of Permanent Vacation, the fans were on pins and needles waiting for the groups next album to be released. The late 80's audience was sick of the feel good techno dance sound and desired music that was either rebellious and fun or told stories of their lives. Audiences wanted hard rock songs that they could either head bang to (a form of keeping time with the music or ballads that expressed every raw emotion they had inside). Aerosmith did just that with "Love In An Elevator," "Janie's Got A Gun," "The Other Side," and "What It Takes." All of these songs became smash hits for their 1989 release of Pump and the group was back in the Top 10 once again. Another of the contributing factors in these songs success was the insight on the band's part to take advantage of the popularity of music videos. In doing so, they created outstanding music video's for each single and their audience ate it up.

Pump went on to platinum success, seven times over. Aerosmith received 2 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Metal/Hard Rock Video and the Viewer's Choice Award for "Janie's Got A Gun."

Aerosmith finally felt accepted by their fans, however, how did the music industry perceive their comeback success? On February 1991, Aerosmith received their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It was a major triumph for the group to know that not only the world had accepted them but also that their fellow colleagues accepted them as a legitimate music group that was dedicated to their profession. This achievement gave the band the inspiration to continue writing, recording, and releasing more successful albums.

While touring for Pump, Aerosmith signed a lucrative contract with Sony Records. However, they still owed 2 more LPs to Geffen Records, so Aerosmith later released Get A Grip and Big Ones. Later that year while on tour for their Pump LP, the band released a collection of their past hits in a box set entitled Pandora's Box that went platinum.

In order to fulfill their contractual commitment to Geffen Records the group released the first of two owed LPs titled Get A Grip. The album caused quiet a stir with its astonishing cover of a cow with one of its teats pierced. Although, the cover was a bit controversial, it became a huge success. Songs like "Livin' On The Edge," "Cryin'," "Crazy," and "Amazing" really showed America just what the band was made of and also earned the bad boys of Boston another Grammy.

The last LP for Geffen Records was recorded and released in 1994, Big Ones, also a greatest hit's compilation. Award after award poured in and Aerosmith was the band they always dreamed they would be. However, inevitable change was in the air for the band as conflicts with their manager cause the two to part ways. However that didn't stop the release of Nine Lives (1997) which earned the band 2 more Grammy Awards, one for the album and the other for the single "Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)". Once again, Aerosmith was on top of the world with or without a manager.

Throughout the band's success they still had yet to record their all time biggest selling single. In 1998, the boys recorded "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing," a song written by Diane Warren. This single was added to the Armageddon soundtrack (a movie Tyler's daughter, Liv stared in) which went number one. Because of that single, the soundtrack has gone platinum four times, and is still going.

Again, Aerosmith released a live LP, A Little South of Sanity. However, the tour was cut short due to a knee injury Tyler (now 50 years old) sustained in1998 during a performance. Tyler had to have surgery on his injury and go through physical therapy. However, he was eager to return to the music life he so loved and would not let an injury stop him. After months of rehabilitation, Tyler was back doing the one thing he knew best how to do, being the lead singer/front man for Aerosmith.

Most recently Aerosmith has released Just Push Play with Columbia Records once again backing them. The first single they released was titled "Jaded". This song quickly climbed up the charts added another notch to their collection of hits.

Aerosmith was, is, and will be one of the most remembered and accomplished hard rock bands of their time. They continue giving the world music that they love and they in turn reward them publicly for it. It takes a lot of work, dedication, and desire to keep a band going for three decades and remain outrageously successful at it. Aerosmith has given us songs to make us laugh at the world, let us cry when we are hurting, allows us to hope when all is hopeless, causes awareness of politics and families, and shows us that when we pop in one of their cd's they will entertain us beyond our wildest imaginations.

So yes! Aerosmith has rightfully earned their place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their legacy will shape the face of tomorrow's music in ways only rock legends can.