DREAM THEATER's JORDAN RUDESS: 'We Like Music That Is Not Necessarily So Complicated Or Filled With A Million Notes'

In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, DREAM THEATER keyboardist Jordan Rudess once again spoke about the band's reunion with drummer Mike Portnoy after a 13-year absence. Asked what extra dimension Mike's return to DREAM THEATER has brought to the band, Jordan said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, Mike Portnoy was there at the beginning and was instrumental in creating the sound of DREAM THEATER. There's no denying it; it is what it is. So his return is amazing. It's, like, welcome home and let's continue on what you started. And here's the thing: Portnoy is not only a really great drummer, but also he has so many other skills that he offers, that he puts into the band that — it's unique; it's really unique. I mean, when Portnoy was gone and we had 13 years without him, we managed fine. We won a Grammy, we played amazing shows all over the world, and it was good. Now that he's back, though, there's a reality to the fact that there's so many things that he does that he specializes in, like setlists, like thinking along the lines of a movie director when it comes to albums and placing themes and all kinds of stuff that he's just really good at and we really all appreciate so much. And not only that, but having him with us when we're out there performing. I mean, he's a unique performer with a certain kind of charisma that's really welcoming and the fans really are engaged with and it means a lot to the way the band comes off in a live experience. So, there's a lot to it, there's a lot to having him back that's notable."

Asked what he thinks makes DREAM THEATER "such an irresistible sonic force", Jordan said: "I was talking to somebody earlier about it, and I think what we were talking about kind of covers that rather well, which is that DREAM THEATER, everybody in the band, we're all really serious musicians — we practice our instruments and we wanna have really good techniques so we can express things that are fast and things that are slow and do it all with accuracy and do it really well. And there's that, let's call it virtuostic and, for kind of more boring term, academic kind of side of what we do. But at the same time as we do that, we also are very aware of the heart and emotion side of music and what it means to people. Like when we go out and play, we see what people react to, we feel it. We ourselves as music listeners, we like music that is not necessarily so complicated or filled with a million notes. We like when it's just a beautiful melody. So I think what happens with DREAM THEATER is that since we have this shared passion for music that's not only technical and involved, but we also really love the heart of music. And I think that that creates the difference. When we go out and play, like we're doing the show in, let's pick Italy for an example, everybody at certain points of that show is gonna be singing along. There's a lot of places during the night where they're just singing these melodies; they're just really pretty melodies or they're comfortable melodies to sing. And I believe that DREAM THEATER has captured that combination in a way that no other band has. And I get why — I really do — because as a musician who comes from a classical background and has practiced many hours a day, a musician wants to show what they can do, they wanna play their involved music, and it's hard to step back and go, 'But you know what? People around the world, they don't care so much about that. They care about other things.' So if you give them the right mix, which I do believe DREAM THEATER does, then you can really get somewhere."

On DREAM THEATER's upcoming spring 2026 tour of Latin America, the progressive metal giants are continuing their "An Evening With Dream Theater" run that celebrates DREAM THEATER's latest album, "Parasomnia", by performing the LP in its entirety, as well as playing the entire seven-movement masterpiece "A Change Of Seasons" for the first time since Portnoy's return as well as other classics and fan favorites from the band's catalog.

DREAM THEATER played its first concert with Portnoy in 14 years on October 20, 2024 at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom. The drummer, who co-founded DREAM THEATER, played on 10 of the band's albums over a 20-year period, from 1989's "When Dream And Day Unite" through 2009's "Black Clouds & Silver Linings", before exiting the group in 2010. Portnoy returned to DREAM THEATER in October 2023 after being replaced by Mike Mangini, who played with DREAM THEATER across five studio albums and accompanying world tours.

DREAM THEATER kicked off its summer/fall 2025 "An Evening With Dream Theater" U.S. tour on September 5, 2025 at Santander Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. The 30-city trek ran through October 25, 2025, when it wrapped in Long Island, New York.

DREAM THEATER launched the spring/summer 2025 leg of its "40th Anniversary European Tour" on June 3, 2025 at Logomo in Turku, Finland.

"Parasomnia" came out on February 7, 2025 via InsideOut Music. The LP was produced by John Petrucci, engineered by James "Jimmy T" Meslin, and mixed by Andy Sneap. Hugh Syme returned once again to lend his creative vision to the cover art.

"Parasomnia" is an eight-song, 71-minute set which was recorded at DREAM THEATER's DTHQ studio on Long Island, New York. It is the follow-up to 2021's "A View From The Top Of The World", which debuted at in the top 10 of Billboard's Top Hard Rock Albums, Top Rock Albums and Independent Albums charts. Six songs on "Parasomnia" are over seven minutes and the closing epic "The Shadow Man Incident" clocks in at nearly 20 minutes.

The North American leg of DREAM THEATER's 40th-anniversary tour kicked off on February 7, 2025 at The Met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The trek was "An Evening With Dream Theater" and was the first tour of North America since Portnoy's return to the lineup,. The tour concluded on March 22, 2025 in New York City.

Portnoy, Petrucci and bassist John Myung started DREAM THEATER as MAJESTY in 1985, after meeting at the Berklee College Of Music in Boston. Singer James LaBrie came on board in 1991, while Rudess joined in 1999.

Prior to Portnoy's return to DREAM THEATER, the drummer and Petrucci worked together on the latter's 2020 solo album, "Terminal Velocity", and toured together. Portnoy and Petrucci also joined Rudess and bassist Tony Levin for a third studio album as LIQUID TENSION EXPERIMENT in 2021.