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Formation and early years (19851987)

Founding members (from left to right) John Myung, Mike Portnoy, and John Petrucci in 1985.

Dream Theater was formed in September 1985 when guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung decided to form a band in their spare time while studying at the Berklee College of Music. The pair came across drummer Mike Portnoy in one of Berklee’s rehearsal rooms, where he was asked to join the band. The trio started off by covering Rush and Iron Maiden songs in the rehearsal rooms at Berklee.

Myung, Petrucci, and Portnoy settled on the name Majesty for their newly formed group. According to the The Score So Far… documentary, they were waiting in line for tickets to a Rush concert at the Berklee Performance Center while listening to the band on a boom box. Portnoy commented that the ending of the song “Bastille Day” (from the album Caress of Steel) sounded “majestic”. It was then decided that Majesty would be the band’s name.

The trio then set out to fill the remaining positions in the group. Petrucci asked his high school band-mate Kevin Moore to play keyboards. After accepting the position, another friend from home, Chris Collins, was recruited as lead vocalist after band members heard him sing a cover of “Queen of the Reich” by Queensrche. During this time, Portnoy, Petrucci, and Myung’s hectic schedules forced them to abandon their studies to concentrate on their music, as they did not feel they could learn more in college. Moore also left his college, SUNY Fredonia, to concentrate on the band.

“Another Won”

“Another Won” from The Majesty Demos.

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The beginning months of 1986 were filled with various concert dates in and around the New York City area. During this time, the band recorded a collection of demos, titled The Majesty Demos. The initial run of 1,000 sold out within six months, and dubbed copies of the cassette became popular within the progressive metal scene. The Majesty Demos are still available in their original tape format today, despite being released officially on CD, through Mike Portnoy’s YtseJam Records.

In November 1986, after a few months of writing and performing together, Chris Collins was fired. After a year of trying to find a replacement, Charlie Dominici, who was far older and more experienced than anyone else in the band, successfully auditioned for the group. With the stability that Dominici’s appointment brought to Majesty, they began to increase the number of shows played in the New York City area, gaining a considerable amount of exposure.

Shortly after hiring Dominici, a Las Vegas group also named Majesty threatened legal action for intellectual property infringement related to the use of their name, so the band was forced to adopt a new moniker. Various possibilities were proposed and tested, among them Glasser, Magus, and M1, which were all rejected until Portnoy’s father suggested the name Dream Theater, the name of a movie house in Monterey, California.

When Dream and Day Unite (19881990)

Dream Theater in 1989: John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Charlie Dominici, Kevin Moore, John Myung

With their new name and band stability, Dream Theater concentrated on writing more material while playing more concerts in New York and in neighboring states. This eventually attracted the attention of Mechanic Records, a division of MCA. Dream Theater signed their first record contract with Mechanic on June 23, 1988 and set out to record their debut album. The band recorded the album at Kajem Victory Studios in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Recording the basic tracks took about 10 days, and the entire album was completed in about 3 weeks.

When Dream and Day Unite was released in 1989 to far less fanfare than the band had anticipated. Mechanic ended up breaking the majority of the financial promises they had made to Dream Theater prior to signing their contract, so the band was restricted to playing around New York City. The promotional tour for the album consisted of just five concerts, all of which were relatively local. Their first show was at Sundance in Bay Shore, New York opening for the classic rock power trio Zebra.

After the fourth show, Dominici was fired because of personal and creative differences. Shortly after, however, the band Marillion asked Dream Theater to open for them at a gig at the Ritz in New York, so Dominici was given the opportunity to perform one last time. It would be another two years before Dream Theater had a replacement vocalist.

Images and Words and Awake (19911994)

“Pull Me Under”

“Pull me Under” from Images and Words.

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Following Dominici’s firing, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their contract with Mechanic, and set about auditioning singers and writing material for their next album. In their search for a new singer, they auditioned over 200 people, among them former Fates Warning front man John Arch; all were turned down. In mid-1990, at a gig in New York, Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. He performed just three songs with the band before he was fired for performing less than adequately. It was five months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental (under the name YtseJam). Until 1991, the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing additional music. It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become the 1992’s Images and Words.

In January 1991, Kevin James LaBrie, of glam metal band Winter Rose, was flown from Canada to New York for an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and was immediately hired to fill the vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows (still mostly around NYC), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring LaBrie. Derek Shulman and ATCO Records (now EastWest), a division of Elektra Records, signed Dream Theater to a seven album contract based on a three song demo (later made available as “The ATCO Demos” through the Dream Theater fan club).

The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was 1992’s Images and Words. For promotion, the label released a CD Single and video clip for the song “Another Day,” but neither made significant commercial impact. The song “Pull Me Under”, however, managed to garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label. In response, ATCO produced a video clip for “Pull Me Under”, which saw heavy rotation on MTV. A third video clip was produced for “Take the Time”, but it was not nearly as successful as “Pull Me Under”.

The success of “Pull Me Under”, combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and Japan, caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum status in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London’s famed Marquee Club. The show was recorded and released as Live at the Marquee, Dream Theater’s first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in with documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.

“A Mind Beside Itself: II – Voices”

“Voices” from Awake.

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Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. Awake, Dream Theater’s third studio album, was released on October 4, 1994 in a hail of controversy among fans. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore announced to the rest of the band that he was simply no longer interested in touring, nor did he favor the style of music Dream Theater performed and would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his own musical interests. As a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be considered. The album was received very well by both critics and fans. The album has been seen by some as Dream Theater’s darkest album mainly due to lyrical content with many of the songs dealing with internal conflicts. For example, “The Mirror” explores the topic of alcoholism, from which Portnoy was recovering at the time.

Jens Johansson, who would go on to become a member of Stratovarius, was among the biggest names to audition, however the band members were eager to fill the position with keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Portnoy and Petrucci had come across Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as “best new talent” in the readers’ poll. The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in Burbank, California. For the members of Dream Theater, the show went incredibly well, and Rudess was asked to fill the keyboardist position permanently, however Rudess opted to tour with The Dixie Dregs instead, since it granted him more personal latitude. Disappointed, Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus Derek Sherinian, whose previous work included stints with Alice Cooper and Kiss, to fill in for the Awake promotional tour. By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore’s full-time replacement.

A Change of Seasons and Falling Into Infinity (19951998)

“A Change of Seasons”

“A Change of Seasons” from A Change of Seasons.

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Once again finding themselves with a new member, Dream Theater did not immediately start working on new material. Fans around the world, united on the YtseJam Mailing List (the most popular form of communication between Dream Theater fans at that point), had started placing pressure on the band to officially release the song “A Change of Seasons”. It had been written in 1989 and was intended to be a part of Images and Words, but at almost 17 minutes, it was deemed too long for studio placement. However, the band did perform it live on occasion while continuing to revise it in the years leading up to 1995.

The petition was successful, and the group entered BearTracks Studios in New York in May 1995 to rewrite and record the 23 minute song with Sherinian contributing significantly to the final product. To disseminate “A Change of Seasons”, the band released it as an EP along with a collection of cover songs recorded live at the Uncovered fan club gig.

After a short run of small concerts to promote A Change of Seasons, Dream Theater took a break for a few months. To keep busy, however, the band released a special Christmas CD through their official fan club, consisting of rare live tracks recorded during the band’s early years. They continued releasing a new CD each Christmas until 2005. Also during the break the individual members set out to write compositions for their upcoming collaborative writing sessions.

Meanwhile, there were several changes at EastWest, and Dream Theater’s main contact within the label was fired. As a result, the new team at the company were unaccustomed to the relationship Dream Theater had with former EastWest personnel, and they pressured Dream Theater to write an album that was more accessible. In mid-1997, they entered the studio to write their next album. In addition to pressuring the band to adopt a more mainstream sound, EastWest recruited writer/producer Desmond Child to work with Petrucci on polishing the lyrics to his song “You Or Me”. The whole band substantially reworked the music to the song, and it appeared on the album as “You Not Me” with a chorus that was barely reminiscent of the original. Child also had a noticeable impact on the album, with a shift towards compositions that were less complex and more radio-friendly.

The band wrote almost two CDs worth of material, including a 20 minute long follow-up to the Images and Words song “Metropolis Part 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper”. The label, however, did not allow the release of a double album because it felt that a 140-minute record would not be digestible by the general public. James LaBrie also felt that the CD should be a single disc. The unused songs were later released in the Ytsejam Records release The Falling Into Infinity Demos.

The material that made it onto the album proper was released as Falling Into Infinity, which received a mixed reception from fans who were more familiar with the band’s earlier sound. While the album was moderately progressive-sounding, tracks such as “Hollow Years” and “You Not Me” prompted some to believe it was the dawn of a new, mainstream-sounding Dream Theater. Overall, the album was both a critical and commercial disappointment. Although Portnoy didn’t speak out publicly at the time, many years later, in the 2004 DVD commentary for 5 Years in a Livetime, he revealed that he had been so discouraged during this period he’d considered disbanding Dream Theater altogether.

During the European leg of the Touring Into Infinity world tour, two shows were recorded for a live album entitled Once in a LIVEtime, in France and The Netherlands. The album was released at around the same time as the video 5 Years in a Livetime, which chronicled the time from when Kevin Moore left the band up to the Falling Into Infinity promotional tour.

Scenes from a Memory and Metropolis 2000 (19992001)

In 1997, Magna Carta Records’ Mike Varney invited Portnoy to assemble a progressive ’supergroup’ to work on an album, which would become the first in a long string of side-projects for the members of Dream Theater. The lineup consisted of Portnoy on drums, Petrucci on guitar, Tony Levin on bass, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess, who had finished with the Dixie Dregs. The band assumed the name Liquid Tension Experiment, and would act as a medium through which Portnoy and Petrucci could once again court Rudess to join Dream Theater. In 1999, he accepted an offer to become the third full-time Dream Theater keyboardist, replacing Sherinian.

With yet another new member, Dream Theater entered BearTracks Studio once again to write and record their next album. As a result of an ultimatum from Portnoy, the label gave the band complete creative control. The follow-up to “Metropolis Part 1″, which was written during the Falling Into Infinity sessions (but not used on that album), was taken off the shelf for reworking. They decided to expand the 20-minute song into a complete concept album, with a story revolving around themes such as reincarnation, murder and betrayal. To avoid stirring up the fan base, a tight veil of secrecy enveloped the writing and recording process. The only things fans were privy to prior to its release were a track list that had been leaked against the band’s wishes, and a release date. In 1999, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was released to high critical acclaim. It was hailed as Dream Theater’s masterpiece by many fans and critics alike, despite only reaching #73 on the US album chart.

The album was mixed by David Bottrill, but only a few of his mixes made it on the final album. The bulk was remixed by Kevin Shirley. The rest of the mixes can be heard in the band’s official bootleg “The Making of Scenes from a Memory”.

A massive world tour followed recording the album, taking over a year to complete, by far their largest to that point. The concerts reflected the theatrical aspect of the album. They played the entire Scenes From a Memory album from start to finish, with a video screen on the back wall of the stage showing a narrative companion to the story of the album. In addition to playing the album in its entirety, the band also played a second set of Dream Theater songs, as well as a few covers and improvisations of old Dream Theater material. For one extra special show, at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, actors were hired to play characters in the story, and a gospel choir was enlisted to perform in some sections of the performance.

This show, the last North American date of the tour, was recorded for the band’s first DVD release. After many technical delays, the DVD, titled Metropolis 2000, was released in early 2001. Shortly after, the band announced that an audio version of the concert, with the entire four-hour long set-list (most of which had to be cut from the DVD to save space), would be released.

The cover for the CD version of the concert, titled Live Scenes from New York, depicted one of Dream Theater’s early logos (the Images and Words-era burning heart, modeled on the Sacred Heart of Christ) modified to show an apple (as in “Big Apple”) instead of the heart, and the New York skyline, including the twin towers of the World Trade Center, in the flame above it. In an unfortunate coincidence, the album was released on the same date as the September 11 attacks. The album was quickly recalled by the band and was re-released with revised artwork later.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)

“Overture”

“Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence” from Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence.

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Putting the whole ordeal behind them, Dream Theater once again entered BearTracks Studios to record their sixth studio album. Four years after they first petitioned EastWest to allow them to release a double album, they finally got their chance with Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. The first disc consisted of five tracks of 713 minutes in length, and the second disc was devoted entirely to the 42-minute title track, which is to date the longest song Dream Theater has written. The genesis of that song came when Rudess wrote what would become the “Overture” section of “Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence”, and the band took some different melodies and ideas contained within it and expanded them into chapters of a complete story.

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence ended up being received very well by critics and the press. It was the most publicized of Dream Theater’s albums since Awake, debuting on the Billboard charts at #46 and the Billboard Internet charts at #1. Throughout the next year and a half they toured the world once more, with an expanded live show including a select few special “album cover” gigs (see Cover songs section, below), in which they played Metallica’s Master of Puppets and Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast in their entirety.

Train of Thought and Live at Budokan (20032004)

During 2003, Dream Theater entered the studio to write and record another album. Since Scenes from a Memory was written and recorded simultaneously in the studio, in the spirit of change, the band took a different approach by setting aside three weeks for writing prior to recording. In the middle of the recording sessions for the album, a special tour with two other progressive metal bands, Queensrche and Fates Warning, was undertaken in North America. The “Escape from the Studio American tour”, as it was referred to in Dream Theater’s promotional material, featured Queensrche and Dream Theater as co-headlining acts with Fates Warning performing supporting act duties. As a finale for each concert there was an extended encore in which both Dream Theater and Queensrche performed together on stage simultaneously, often playing cover songs.

At the completion of the tour, Dream Theater returned to the studio to finish the recording of their seventh album, Train of Thought. They concentrated more on writing a great song-oriented album, a mindset inspired by covering Master of Puppets and Number of the Beast on a previous concert tour. As a result, the more straight-forward metal sound of those two albums seemed to creep into Train of Thought. The album was a critical success, but it alienated a fair proportion of Dream Theater’s fans[who?] who preferred traditional progressive rock, such as Yes or King Crimson. Regardless, it seemed to expand Dream Theater’s fan base into new territory, capturing many more metal fans.

Another world tour followed, during which Dream Theater performed support act duties for one of their major influences, Yes. A modest North American tour was completed by the two bands, after which Dream Theater continued to tour the world with their so-called “An Evening With Dream Theater” shows.

Their next move was to release another live CD/DVD combination, this time recorded at the famous Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on their Train of Thought world tour. Live at Budokan was released on October 5, 2004, and further propelled Dream Theater’s reputation as one of the premier live acts in progressive metal.

Octavarium and Score (20052006)

“I Walk Beside You”

“I Walk Beside You” from Octavarium.

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Dream Theater after concert in Paris (2005). Left to right: Portnoy, Petrucci, LaBrie, Myung, Rudess

Upon the completion of their Train of Thought promotional tour, Dream Theater entered the Hit Factory studios in NYC to record their eighth album. As it turned out, they would be the last group ever to record in that famous studio, and after they wrapped up their final session, the lights were turned off at the studio forever.

Octavarium was released on June 7, 2005, and took the band’s sound in yet another new direction. Among its eight songs is a continuation of Portnoy’s “Twelve-step” saga (“The Root of All Evil”, steps 6-7 in the 12-step plan), as well as the title track, a musically versatile 24 minute epic rivaling “A Change of Seasons”. Octavarium received mixed reviews from fans and has been the subject of spirited debate. Octavarium was the last album under their seven-album deal with Elektra Records, which had inherited the contract upon its absorption of EastWest Records.

Dream Theater toured extensively throughout 2005 and 2006 to celebrate their 20th Anniversary as a band, including a headlining spot on Gigantour. During a show on August 2, 2005 in Dallas, the band paid tribute to Pantera’s late guitarist Dimebag Darrell by performing the song “Cemetery Gates” as an encore. In addition was the unexpected appearance of fellow musicians Russell Allen, Burton C. Bell and Dave Mustaine, who joined the band on stage to perform parts of the song.

Dream Theater later departed from Gigantour and continued on with their own series of concerts. Several concerts were recorded and released for the Fanclubs. The 20th anniversary tour concluded with a show at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 1, 2006. Though the show had minimal promotion, it was sold out days after tickets were made available. This show, which was recorded for a CD/DVD called Score released on August 29, 2006 through Rhino Records, was the band’s first concert accompanied by an orchestra (the “Octavarium Orchestra”).

Systematic Chaos, Greatest Hit and Chaos in Motion (2007-2008)

Dream Theater’s next album Systematic Chaos was released on June 5, 2007. The record marked their first with new label Roadrunner Records, a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Roadrunner implemented increased promotion for the album, and as a result, Systematic Chaos reached number 19 on the Billboard 200. It also saw the release of a video for “Constant Motion” on July 14, the band’s first music video since Hollow Years in 1997. An authorized book entitled Lifting Shadows, detailing their first twenty years, was also released in 2007, with an updated and expanded edition released in 2009 Systematic Chaos contains eight tracks, but technically only seven songs. The album contains an epic titled “In the Presence of Enemies”, bookending the album as tracks 1 and 8, Portnoy’s continuing AA Saga with the song “Repentance”, and a song of political nature, “Prophets of War”.

The 2007/2008 Chaos In Motion World Tour started off in Italy. Dream Theater played in the Gods of Metal concert on June 3, 2007. Dream Theater also appeared at the Fields Of Rock Festival in the Netherlands on June 17, 2007. They also played at various other European festivals including the UK’s Download Festival and the French festival Hellfest Summer Open Air with other bands such as Megadeth, Korn, Mastodon and Slayer.

Dream Theater returned to perform the North American leg of the tour on July 24 in San Diego, California and wrapped up on August 26 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They played with opening acts Redemption and Into Eternity. The “Chaos In Motion” tour continued for the rest of the year and into 2008, playing shows in Asia, South America and, for the first time, Australia.

On April 1, 2008, a two-disc compilation album entitled Greatest Hit (…and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs) was released by the band. The title jokingly references the song “Pull Me Under”, the band’s only significant radio hit. It also includes three song re-mixes from their second album, Images and Words, five edited versions of previously released songs, and a track from a single B-side. Unlike most Greatest Hits compilations, Dream Theater was actively involved with the album, coming up with the tracklisting that they felt best represented their musical careers.

Mike Portnoy, after the release of Greatest Hit, organized a new tour called Progressive Nation 2008. Unlike previous Dream Theater tours, performances were held in cities that they had not visited before in the past (such as Vancouver, Canada) or cities they hadn’t played in for several years. This tour also marked the first time, since the release of Images and Words, where the group performed in small venues and performance halls.

After this tour, the band released a DVD set called Chaos in Motion 20072008, a compilation of songs from the tour supporting their 9th album, Systematic Chaos. There were two sets of DVDs released. One was a regular two disk set while the Special Edition set contained three CDs of music that went along with the DVDs. It was released on September 30, 2008.

Black Clouds & Silver Linings and God of War: Blood & Metal EP (2008resent)

Mike Portnoy announced on June 2, 2008 that the band would be entering the studio to record a new album. On October 7, 2008, Dream Theater began work on their 10th album. The album, which is titled Black Clouds & Silver Linings, was released on June 23, 2009. In addition to the standard CD, the album is available on vinyl LP, as well as a 3-disc Special Edition CD that includes the full album, a CD of instrumental mixes of the album and a CD of six cover songs.

On May 1, Mike Portnoy spoke to Metal Hammer about the new album for their podcast saying that while ‘The Shattered Fortress’ was the last in a series of songs about his 12 Steps recovery from alcoholism, ‘The Best of Times’ “is a real heavy personal subject about my dad who passed away during the making of the album,” adding, “He was battling cancer throughout its making.” The band has also announced a second Progressive Nation tour, including the tour’s first performances in Europe. Opeth, Bigelf and Unexpect supported Dream Theater in Europe, while Zappa Plays Zappa and Scale the Summit played the North American leg.

On June 22, 2009, Mike Portnoy announced, on his forum, that there was a lineup change for the Progressive Nation 2009 tour in North America. Pain of Salvation and Beardfish were unable to tour with Dream Theater and Zappa Plays Zappa due to financial troubles within their respective record labels. He also announced two bands that will be filling the vacated slots for the Progressive Nation 2009 tour in North America, Bigelf and Scale The Summit. On this tour Dream Theater has often done an extended jam on Six Degrees of Inner Turbulance’s “Solitary Shell,” making it around thirteen minutes in length. Similarly, they also did an extended jam on “Surrounded” during the Chaos In Motion tour.

On July 1, 2009, the album debuted at #6 on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart, with first week sales totalling 40,285. On November 12, 2009, Mike Portnoy announced that Dream Theater would enter the studio right after New Year’s to write and record a brand new instrumental track for inclusion on the upcoming PS3 game God of War III soundtrack. Titled “Raw Dog” (an anagram of “War God”), the instrumental was sent to Roadrunner Records January 8, 2010. This marked the first time that the band has written and recorded an exclusive track for an outside project.

In December 2009, during their Black Clouds & Silver Linings tour whilst visiting Australia Dream Theater appeared with one support act, Pain of Salvation, who apparently sorted out enough of their financial difficulties with their record label. In March 2010, they will tour South America with Bigelf.

On February 17, 2010, Avenged Sevenfold stated that they had entered the studio, along with Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy, to drum for the record, in place of The Rev.

Logo and imagery

Dream Theater wordmark and “Majesty” symbol

Despite the band being forced to change their name, Dream Theater adopted a custom logo (known as the Majesty symbol) and wordmark which has appeared on the vast majority of their promotional material and on the front cover of every Dream Theater studio album. The Majesty symbol is derived from Mary, Queen of Scots’ mark, which was re-worked by Charlie Dominici for use on the album artwork for When Dream and Day Unite. It consists of a capital Phi, a capital Mu, and a capital Lambda.

Live performances

Throughout their career, Dream Theater’s live shows have gradually become bigger, longer, and more diverse. The most obvious example of this is their rotational set list policy. That is, every single night of every tour has its set list devised by Portnoy using a meticulous process that ensures its uniqueness. Factors such as set lists from previous cities are taken into account to ensure that people who see Dream Theater multiple times within the same area will not see the same songs performed twice, and even the set list from the last time the band was in a particular city is taken into account for the benefit of fans who see the band on successive tours.

Rudess and Petrucci dueling in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2008).

For this to be possible, the band prepares to play the majority of its catalogue at any performance, depending on what Portnoy decides to program for that night. This process also requires the employment of a complex lighting system to load pre-configured lighting cues based on the individual songs.

Some of Dream Theater’s more notable touring partners include Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Iron Maiden, Joe Satriani, King’s X, Marillion, Megadeth, In Flames, Pain of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Queensrche, Riverside, Spock’s Beard, Fear Factory, Enchant, Symphony X, and Yes. In 2005, Dream Theater toured North America with the Gigantour festival, co-headlining with Megadeth, and have played with Megadeth and Iron Maiden physically on stage.

The band’s full world tours, since Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, have predominantly been so-called “Evening with…” tours, in which the band performs for at least three hours with an intermission and no opening act. The show that was recorded for Live Scenes From New York was nearly four hours in length, and resulted in Portnoy almost being hospitalized after acquiring severe food poisoning from the food he ate before the show.

“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, live at Nagoya, Japan.

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There is also a significant amount of humor, casualness, and improvisation attached to a Dream Theater concert. In the midst of “A Change of Seasons” it is quite common for themes such as those for Major League Baseball and The Simpsons to be quoted, and Rudess routinely modifies his solo section in the song and others, often playing the ragtime section of “When the Water Breaks” from Liquid Tension Experiment 2. Several songs included on Once in a LIVETime include snippets of others’ pieces, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” and Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee.” Other quotations include “Mary Had a Little Lamb” during “Endless Sacrifice” on the Gigantour, a calliope-inspired break between verses of “Under a Glass Moon”, a quote of “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”’s main melody played by Petrucci while performing the intro solo of “Through Her Eyes” in Buenos Aires, the Turkish March at a concert in Istanbul, and the opening riff of Rush’s “A Passage to Bangkok” at a show in Bangkok, Thailand. On the most recent “20th Anniversary World Tour” Rudess has even thrown in a short “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” theme in a break during “Endless Sacrifice”, and during a concert in Israel he started a spontaneous “Hava-Nagilla” later accompanied by the rest of the band.

Occasionally, a member of the audience is picked at random to perform on stage, an example of which can be seen during Portnoy’s drum solo on the Live at Budokan DVD. There have also been many impromptu renditions of “Happy Birthday” when a member of the band or crew has a birthday corresponding to a tour date, which normally results in a birthday cake being thrown at the subject.

Perhaps the best example of Dream Theater’s unpredictable concert structure is that during Derek Sherinian’s time with the band. At selected shows the band members all swapped instruments and performed an encore as the fictitious band dubbed Nightmare Cinema. They usually performed a cover of Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers”, and, on one occasion, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Suicide Solution”. At some shows, Sherinian, Petrucci and Portnoy would take the stage together under the name “Nicky Lemons and the Migraine Brothers”. Sherinian, wearing a feather boa and novelty sunglasses, would perform a pop-punk song entitled “I Don’t Like You” with Petrucci and Portnoy backing. In Chaos in Motion tour, in several concerts before “Trial of Tears”, Portnoy and Petrucci would change positions and play Van Halen’s “Eruption”.

Dream Theater’s largest audience as a headlining act was 20,000 in Santiago, Chile on December 6, 2005. This was during their first tour of South American countries other than Brazil (which they had visited in 1997 and 1998). The show was released on DVD through Portnoy’s YtseJam Records.

In the Score and Chaos in Motion DVDs, an animation has accompanied certain parts of the songs, showing the band playing along to the music as cartoon characters. On the Score DVD, during the song Octavarium, the band is seen performing in an octagonal shaped maze. As the animation continues Jordan Rudess spontaneously turns into Santa Claus and John Petrucci catches fire. In “The Dark Eternal Night” from the Chaos in Motion DVD, the band battles against a monster by shooting fireballs from guitars, throwing drum sticks, and screaming.

In 2008 Dream Theater started the “Progressive Nation ‘08″ tour, along with Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, and 3. The tour is the brainchild of Mike Portnoy, who stated, “I’ve been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I’ve been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk.”

On February 13, 2009, Dream Theater announced the official line up for their Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The tour was originally set to feature bands including Swedish bands Beardfish and Pain of Salvation, as well as Zappa plays Zappa. On June 22, 2009, Mike Portnoy announced that Pain of Salvation and Beardfish would not be touring the North American leg of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour due to record label complications. In the same announcement, Portnoy stated that the bands Scale the Summit and Bigelf would replace Pain of Salvation and Beardfish on the tour. This lineup change has put Bigelf on both the North American and European legs of the Progressive Nation 2009 tour. The tour’s North American leg ran throughout July and August 2009. On March 26, 2009 it was announced that Dream Theater would take the Progressive Nation tour to Europe for the first time alongside Opeth, Bigelf and Unexpect. The tour ran throughout September and October 2009.

Bootleg culture

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Mike Portnoy started an official bootlegs series in response to Dream Theater fans’ affinity for live versions of their concerts. Dream Theater is one of the most actively bootlegged bands in the progressive metal genre. Since their very first shows in New York as Majesty, fans have recorded almost every single show that Dream Theater have played (occasionally there are three or four versions of a single concert), and some very elaborate and professional recordings have been released.

However, not every member in the band condones the release of Dream Theater bootlegs. Portnoy is the most pro-bootlegging member, since he was an avid collector of many bootlegs in his younger days and keeps his own personal archive of Dream Theater material in his basement. Petrucci and LaBrie have voiced opposition to people recording their concerts. Petrucci takes issue with bootleggers because he prefers audience members to concentrate on the musicians on stage, and not the level adjustments on their recording device. LaBrie, on the other hand, argues that bootlegging takes ownership and control over Dream Theater’s performances away from the band themselves and into the hands of the public. Myung has expressed mild opposition to bootlegging, but in some interviews has mentioned that he does not particularly take great issue with it.

Dream Theater have released a series of official bootlegs, demos and other rarities through YtseJam Records, headed by Portnoy. They include demos the band put out before official albums, as well as many live shows, including shows where the band has covered a particular album. Albums covered include The Dark Side of the Moon, Made in Japan, Master of Puppets, and Number of the Beast.

Cover songs

Dream Theater has been known for covering other artists’ work throughout their career. They took this practice to a new level during the promotional tour for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. At three special gigs, one each in Barcelona, Chicago and New York City, they covered Metallica’s Master of Puppets album in its entirety after a full set of Dream Theater material. This came as a surprise to fans, as there was no sign that this was to occur, other than it being announced that the gigs involved, which were on the second night of a two-night stand in each city, would be “extra special”. This tradition can most likely be traced back to one of Mike Portnoy’s favorite bands, Phish, who began a series of performing “musical costumes” of entire albums from other artists each Halloween beginning in 1994. Portnoy devised this “album cover” as the first in a series of gigs to be played as tributes to bands that had been influential in the formation and development of Dream Theater. The covers set divided many fans who attended the shows, with some people saying that they went to a Dream Theater concert to see original music and not another artist’s work. Others, however, said that it was a bonus and not a replacement for a normal Dream Theater concert, since an ordinary gig had been played the night before.

On the next leg of the tour they covered Iron Maiden’s The Number of the Beast and received a similar reaction to Master of Puppets, although it was already known that a cover was to be performed that night because the tour itinerary included two successive gigs in a single city. On October 11, 2005, Dream Theater covered Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Dream Theater’s official webpage stated that the second sets of the second nights in Amsterdam, London, Buenos Aires, So Paulo and Tokyo (October 11, October 25, December 4, December 11 and January 13 respectively), and also the second set of the January 15 show in Osaka, would be a classic album covered in its entirety. The Dark Side of the Moon was played again on October 25 in London. However, in Buenos Aires (December 4) and So Paulo (December 11) the ‘classic album’ played was Dream Theater’s own Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, to make up for not having visited Argentina and Brazil in their Metropolis 2000 tour. On January 13, 2006 (Tokyo) and on the 15th (Osaka), Dream Theater covered Deep Purple’s live album Made in Japan. Portnoy says that he has one more cover show planned, but refuses to reveal when it will occur, or what album will be covered.

During Gigantour 2005, Dream Theater did a cover of Pantera’s “Cemetery Gates” as a tribute to “Dimebag” Darrel Lance Abbott. As an added bonus, they had Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, and Russell Allen of Symphony X do guest vocals and Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, do the main solo for the song.

In March 2006, Dream Theater played the rare Rush song “Jacob’s Ladder” at a show in Toronto. John Petrucci said a few days later in Asbury Park, New Jersey, prior to the night’s show, that “Rush wouldn’t play it, so we thought we’d play it for them.”

In addition, Dream Theater released several live cover songs on their EP A Change of Seasons, including songs from Elton John, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Journey, Kansas, and Dixie Dregs.

In 2008, they recorded a version of Iron Maiden’s “To Tame a Land” for a Kerrang magazine compilation entitled Maiden Heaven. This song was later included on the special edition of Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Dream Theater also recorded a number of cover songs for their 2009 album Black Clouds & Silver Linings. The songs came as a bonus disc in the special editions version of the album.

Dream Theater played “Hava Nagila”, the traditional Jewish song, during “Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper” at a sold-out concert in Tel Aviv, Israel on June 16, 2009.

On August 14, 2009 during a Toronto show, Dream Theater played the Rush song “The Camera Eye”, which was originally released on Rush’s Moving Pictures album.

Discography

Main article: Dream Theater discography

When Dream and Day Unite (1989)

Images and Words (1992)

Awake (1994)

A Change Of Seasons (1995)

Falling into Infinity (1997)

Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999)

Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)

Train of Thought (2003)

Octavarium (2005)

Systematic Chaos (2007)

Black Clouds & Silver Linings (2009)

In addition to the above official albums, the members of Dream Theater, past and present, have contributed to hundreds of bootleg albums, both official and unofficial, side projects, collaborations with other artists, and guest appearances.

Band members

Main article: List of Dream Theater band members

Current members

James LaBrie – Lead vocals, Percussion (1991-present)

John Myung – Bass guitar, Chapman stick (1985-present)

John Petrucci – Guitars, Backing vocals (1985-present)

Mike Portnoy – Drums, Percussion, Backing vocals (1985-present)

Jordan Rudess – Keyboards, Continuum, Lap steel guitar (1999-present)

Former members

Chris Collins – Lead vocals (1986)

Charlie Dominici – Lead vocals (1987-1989)

Kevin Moore – Keyboards (1986-1994)

Derek Sherinian – Keyboards, Backing vocals (1994-1998)

Awards and certificates

RIAA gold and platinum certification

Images and Words (Gold) – February 2, 1995

Metropolis 2000: Live Scenes From New York (Gold) – November 8, 2002

Live at Budokan (DVD) (Platinum) – January 26, 2005

Live in Tokyo/5 Years in a Livetime (Platinum) – March 22, 2006

Score (DVD) (Platinum) – October 11, 2006

Keyboard Magazine

Jordan Rudess was awarded the following Keyboard Magazine Reader’s Poll award’:

Best New Talent (1994)

Burrn magazine’s best keyboards player of the year (2007)

Modern Drummer

Mike Portnoy won the following Modern Drummer magazine Reader’s Poll awards:

Best Up & Coming Talent (1994)

Best Progressive Rock Drummer (1995-2006)

Best Recorded Performance (1995 for Awake, 1996 for A Change of Seasons, 1998 for Falling Into Infinity, 2000 for Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory, 2002 for Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and 2007 for Score)

Best Clinician (2000, 2002)

Best Educational Video/DVD (2000, 2002)

Hall of Fame Inductee (2004)

Guitar World

The album Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory was ranked #95 on the magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.

Total Guitar

John Petrucci won Guitarist of the year award (2007).

Other recognitions

At Dream Theater’s Salt Lake City show, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. signed a proclamation making July 30, 2007 “Dream Theater Day”.

In December 2007, Dream Theater was chosen as Xbox Live’s artist of the month.

Dream Theater’s music video “Constant Motion” was voted second in the Headbanger’s Ball 2007 competition.

Dream Theater’s music video “Forsaken” was voted fifth in the Headbanger’s Ball 2008 competition.

Dream Theater’s song “Panic Attack” off of their album Octavarium is featured in the video game Rock Band 2. Additionally, the song “Constant Motion” is downloadable content for the Rock Band series.

The song “Pull Me Under” from the album Images and Words is also featured on Guitar Hero: World Tour.

Since August 12, 2008 (Xbox 360) and August 14, 2008 (PS3), Dream Theater’s song “Constant Motion” has been available for download for Rock Band. For the first month, it was available for a promotional price equivalent to $0.99 USD, but later reverted to a normal $1.99 cost for Rock Band downloadable content.

Dream Theater played twice on Xbox 360s Game With Fame event. They played Halo 3 in December 2007 and Call of Duty: World at War in June 2009.

Notes

^ a b c d Billboard Chart history for Dream Theater can be seen at Billboard.com.

^ “February 9, 2007″. Nielsen Soundscan News. 2007. http://www.marketingtomenconference.com/marketingtomen/bb_article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003544204. Retrieved 2007-02-11. 

^ “When Dream Theater and Roadrunner Records Unite!”. dreamtheater.net. 2007. http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/artists/DreamTheater/video.aspx. Retrieved 2007-02-12. 

^ a b c d e This was referenced in the documentary “The Score so Far”, on the second disc of the Score DVD.

^ Portnoy, Mike (2003). “The Majesty Demos 1985-1986″ [CD Liner Notes]. New York: Ytsejam Records.

^ “The Dream Theater FAQ – Graphic Version”. Gabbo.net. http://www.gabbo.net/dt/faq/. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 

^ a b Portnoy, Mike (2004). And Nathan Edmonds help produce “When Dream and Day Unite Demos” 1987-1989 [CD Liner Notes]. New York: YtseJam Records.

^ Dominici, Charlie. When Dream And Day Unite liner notes (2004 re-release).

^ a b c d Please see MikePortnoy.com tourography for more information on this tourdate.

^ Portnoy’s tourography: June 9, 1990 tour date

^ EastWest Records Press Release.

^ Nine Christmas CDs were released through Dream Theater’s fan club before it was closed down in 2005. See DTIFC on Dream Theater.net.

^ LaBrie, James. (Summer ‘97) Images & Words No. 14, pg. 5

^ Falling Into Infinity Demos

^ Portnoy, Mike (1998). “Liquid Tension Experiment” [CD Liner Notes]. New York: Magna Carta Records.

^ “Mike Portnoy FAQ”. http://www.mikeportnoy.com/aboutmike/faq/answers/12.aspx#213. 

^ DreamTheater.net reported that Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence had reached #1 on the Billboard Internet Charts.

^ Mike Portnoy (2007) “In Constant Motion” Instructional DVD, Train of Thought album analysis.

^ http://digitalprosound.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=45690

^ “Lifting Shadows – The Authorised Story Of Dream Theater”. Dreamtheaterbook.com. http://www.dreamtheaterbook.com/. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 

^ Gods of Metal official website

^ “DREAM THEATER Begins Recording New Album, Seeks New Label Home”. Blabbermouth.net

^ “.”

^

^ http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/dream-theater’s-mike-portnoy-pens-tribute-to-late-father/

^ Holy Shit, Dream Theater debut’s at 6 on Billboard Top 200, The Gauntlet

^ http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2443312.aspx

^ http://www.dreamtheater.net/tourdates.php#dtnzaustralia

^ The mark used by Mary, Queen of Scots, is available on DreamTheater.net.

^ An embroidery showing the Mary, Queen of Scots, symbol in use

^ Dixon, Brad et al. “What is the ’symbol’ DT use?”.

^ Campbell, Courtney. “Mike Portnoy – Dream Theater”. Earplugs Required.

^ See the Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York DVD

^ Hansen, Scott & Portnoy, Mike. “What this I hear about Mike being really sick after the Roseland (DVD) show? What happened?”. MP FAQ.

^ Voices UK: Dream Theater Fan Club “Dream Theater News: Record crowd”

^ Octavarium animation

^ NADS Animation By: Mika Tyyska

^ “Progressive Nation 2008 – Press Release”. dreamtheater.net (Dream Theater). 2007-11-05. http://www.dreamtheater.net/news_dreamtheater.php#prognation. Retrieved 2008-05-11. 

^ http://www.dreamtheater.net/news_dreamtheater.php#pnlineup

^ http://www.dreamtheater.net/tourdates.php Progressive Nation Tour Dates

^ “YtseJam Records – The Official Dream Theater Bootlegs”. Ytsejamrecords.com. http://www.ytsejamrecords.com. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 

^ Hansen, Scott & Portnoy, Mike. “What are all the aspects involved in covering an entire album by another band? What does Mike take into consideration when picking an album?”. MP FAQ.

^ http://www2.kerrang.com/2008/06/maiden_heaven_track_listing_re.html

^ http://whiplash.net/materias/news_874/091017-dreamtheater.html

^ http://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/discography/page4.html

^ “RIAA”. Riaa.com. http://www.riaa.com. Retrieved 2009-01-02. 

^ Jordan Rudess biography

^ http://rateyourmusic.com/list/Boggs1027/guitar_worlds_100_greatest_guitar_albums_of_all_time

References

Bredius, Mark. Dream Theater – The Official Site. (Retrieved February-April, 2005.)

Dixon, Brad et al. Official Dream Theater FAQ. (Retrieved February-April, 2005, moved c. 2007.)

Hansen, Scott & Portnoy, Mike. Dream Theater Tourography. (Retrieved February-April, 2005.)

King, Brian. (2003). “JaM Progductions! Interview with John Petrucci and Mike Portnoy”. Theater of Dreams 29, pp. 1420.

Hansen, Scott. (2003). “James LaBrie: As this man thinks”. Theater of Dreams 27/28, pp. 2630.

Hale, Mark (1993). “1731 Majesty”. Headbangers (First edition, second printing ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Popular Culture, Ink. ISBN 1-56075-029-4. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dream Theater

Official website

Official English speaking fan club

HOME Dream Theater Official Turkish Fan Club

Video interview of Mike Portnoy, subbed in French

Photo Gallery: Dream Theater @ Brisbane Convention Centre 3 December 2009 – LifeMusicMedia.com

v  d  e

Dream Theater

James LaBrie  John Petrucci  John Myung  Jordan Rudess  Mike Portnoy

Chris Collins  Charlie Dominici  Kevin Moore  Derek Sherinian

Studio albums

When Dream and Day Unite  Images and Words  Awake  Falling into Infinity  Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory  Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence  Train of Thought  Octavarium  Systematic Chaos  Black Clouds & Silver Linings

Live releases

Live at the Marquee  Once in a LIVEtime  Live Scenes from New York  Live at Budokan  Score  Chaos in Motion 20072008

Compilations

Greatest Hit (…and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)

EPs

A Change of Seasons  Wither

Videos

Images and Words: Live in Tokyo  5 Years in a Livetime  Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York  Live at Budokan  Score  Chaos in Motion 20072008

Singles

“Another Day”  “Pull Me Under”  “Take the Time”  “Caught in a Web”  “Lie”  “The Silent Man”  “Hollow Years”  “Through Her Eyes”  “Home”  “As I Am”  “Constant Motion”  “Forsaken”  “A Rite of Passage”  “Wither”

Suites

A Mind Beside Itself  Twelve-step Suite

Associated acts

Dominici  Explorers Club  The Jelly Jam  Liquid Tension Experiment  MullMuzzler  Nightmare Cinema  OSI  Platypus  Transatlantic  True Symphonic Rockestra  Winterspell  Chroma Key

Related articles

Discography  Band members  Songs by lyricist  Majesty Demos  Lifting Shadows  G3  Gigantour  Roadrunner Records  YtseJam Records

Categories: Dream Theater | Musical groups established in 1985 | New York heavy metal musical groups | Berklee College of Music alumni | American progressive metal musical groups | Long Island musical groups | Atlantic Records artists | Musical quintets | 1980s music groups | 1990s music groups | 2000s music groups | 2010s music groupsHidden categories: All articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases | Articles with specifically-marked weasel-worded phrases from November 2009 | Articles needing additional references from November 2009 | All articles needing additional references

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For environmental campaigners this move is a huge gain because there will be less gas emission and the environment will be a safer and better place for all. Thus, the choice of switching to two wheels got the endorsement of almost everyone.

Smaller vehicles
One more device, recently noticed though, is the push by a growing number of drivers for smaller vehicles. In major cities like London there has been a concerted effort, via campaigns, to discourage the use of gas-guzzlers. But, in spite of higher charges, the trend seemed undeterred.

But a new study by Saga has shown a sharp reversal as more and more motorists are forced by the credit crunch to switch to a car with a smaller engine so as to pay less on car insurance. Apart from cheaper premiums enjoyed by those driving smaller models of cars, there is also the advantage of paying less on petrol, tax and other expenses associated with motoring. Up to 2.7 million UK motorists have found this a convenient way to beat down their expenses, all in a bit to sail through the credit crisis.

The Saga survey, in detail, revealed that the number of those choosing the option of cutting on cost by increasing their voluntary excesses represents 8 per cent of drivers across the country. Another 8 per cent have taken the downsizing option to reduce their insurance bill as well as related expenses. In the same manner there are 4 per cent of drivers that have expunged named drivers from their policies.

False economy
Whereas the above options are considered the right move at the right time, experts are however worried that there are motorist that are also increasing their financial risks by removing optional extras from their policies. The implication of not having a breakdown cover or legal expenses as part of one’s policy could be grave, at least financially. A few months ago experts warned that drivers without a breakdown cover pay as much as £90 to have their vehicle recovered and or fixed.

Of course cutting out unnecessary expenses could help a lot in surviving the financial crisis. But resorting to a false economy is certainly going to increase one’s financial problems at a time such things need to be avoided.

The shoparound option
Although times without number have insurance customers been reminded, there is still a need to mention that the best way to get both a quality and cheaper insurance product is by shopping around. Yes, downsizing, among other options, is a simple step towards taking more control of one’s finances. But by shopping around, comparing prices and going for the policy that best suits your needs you will be saving yourself a lot of troubles, financial and much else.

Increasing demand on existing Boeing 727 routes, which often eclipsed the capacity of even the stretched, -200 series version, coupled with advanced technology, dictated the need for either a larger variant of this venerable tri-jet or an altogether new design.

The first attempt, adopting the former approach, had featured a fuselage sufficiently stretched to accommodate 189 passengers and three refanned, higher-capacity Pratt and Whitney JT8D-217 engines, each developing 20,000 pounds of thrust.  Designated the 727-300B, it first appeared at the 1975 Paris Air Show in model form.  Despite initial interest from United Airlines, carriers had felt that it needed quieter, still-more advanced powerplants.

A fundamental redesign, retaining the 727’s nose, forward fuselage, and t-tail, and designated “7N7,” featured a further fuselage stretch and a new technology wing, mated, like the much smaller 737, to two pylon-mounted engines, of which the Pratt and Whitney JT10D-4, Rolls Royce RB.211-535, and General Electric CF6-32 had then been considered.  Although it had been intended, like its inceptional counterpart, for one-stop transcontinental sectors, its wing contained sufficient fuel tank volume for eventual, long-range deployment.

Because widebody comfort had been well received by passengers on intercontinental routes, one iteration had briefly explored a wider fuselage cross section for twin-aisle, 180-passenger accommodation.  The concept would have satisfied two needs: 1). It would have offered increased comfort, and therefore been more competitive with the then-pending Airbus Industrie A-300 on relatively short US domestic sectors, and 2). It would have avoided the excessively long fuselage needed to cater to any future capacity increases, obviating the requirement for long undercarriage struts to maintain proper take off rotation angles.

The envisioned width, however, had been too much of a payoff for these advantages, as evidenced by weak airline interest, since the weight and drag associated with a second aisle and only one more seat abreast had been impractical, and its cross-section, although wider than that of the 7N7, had still been too narrow to accept standard LD-3 baggage and cargo containers.

Reverting to its narrow body studies, Boeing proposed an advanced, large-capacity 727 which, by February of 1978, had featured its nose, cockpit, and fuselage cross-section, but had introduced a new wing and two turbofans for a 170-passenger complement, thus employing much of the commonality of the simultaneously-developed, twin-aisle 7X7 design.  Redesignated “757,” it would be Boeing’s fifth major commercial jetliner to carry the seven-dash-seven model sequencing numbers, after the 707, 727, 737, and 747, all but the last of which had been narrow bodies.

Compared to the 727 it had been intended to replace, it had offered a 15-percent lower fuel consumption, yet its significant wing area inherently fostered weight, range, and capacity increases for any future derivatives.

In order to reduce development costs associated with its 767, the widebody, twin-aisle, twin-engined counterpart initially also intended for one-stop transcontinental routes, Boeing, where feasible, incorporated maximum commonality in the two aircraft and the types therefore shared the same forward nose sections, windscreens, quad-wheeled main undercarriage units, avionics, and flight deck systems.  Indeed, the two aircraft, forming a new-generation of advanced narrow and widebody twinjets, would offer a common type rating, augmenting mixed-fleet flying of carriers which operated both types, and even the originally intended, 727-style t-tail had been deleted in favor of the conventional 767, low-wing configuration at the very end of the design phase, resulting in greater commonality with the 767 than the 727 it was intended to replace.

Launch orders, for 21 firm and 24 options and 18 firm and 19 options, were respectively placed by Eastern Airlines and British Airways on August 13, 1978, for Rolls Royce RB.211-535C-powered aircraft.  Featuring a 196-passenger capacity in a six-abreast, 34-inch seat pitch configuration, the 757, with a 220,000-pound gross weight, was optimized for 2,000-nautical mile sectors, while an optional, 230,000-pound weight would increase range to 2,500 miles.

Structural weight reductions, which lowered seat-mile costs, were achieved with advanced composite and aluminum alloy construction, the former comprised of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics used in the engine cowlings, ailerons, spoilers, elevators, and the rudder, and kevlar-reinforced plastics employed in the engine pylon fairings and the fin and tailplane tip fairings.  Copper and zinc aluminum alloys were utilized in the wing skins, stringers, and lower spar beams.  The alloy, offering strength increases of between five and 13 percent, combined with the composites, reduced structure weight by 2,000 pounds and resulted in an average annual per-aircraft fuel savings of 30,000 US gallons based upon a utilization rate of 1,400 1,000-nautical mile sectors.

The aircraft, in its initial 757-200 version, featured a 155.3-foot overall length.

The aluminum alloy, two-spar wing, whose center section passed continuously through the fuselage, offered a 124.10-foot span, a 1,994 square foot area, and five percent of dihedral, and shared a high degree of commonality with that designed for the 767, its aft-loaded profile delaying Mach drag rise.  But it was thinner at its root juncture point with the fuselage and offered 25 as opposed to 32.5 percent of sweepback.  Its traditionally higher drag had been counteracted by its standardly intended mission profiles, which, because of their shorter durations, entailed greater percentages of climb and descent cycles.  It had a 7.82 aspect ratio, or ratio of length to width.

Lift was augmented by full-span, five-section leading edge slats and double-slotted trailing edge flaps, while roll control was provided by al-speed, outboard ailerons, themselves assisted by five-section spoilers.  They could alternatively be deployed as speedbrakes in flight or lift dumpers on the ground, where two inboard spoiler panels could also be used.

Power, provided by two high bypass ratio turbofans pylon-mounted to the wing’s leading edge underside, and whose diameter would not have been feasible with the 727’s aft fuselage installation arrangement, resulted in bending movement relief.

The Rolls Royce RB.211-535C, the cropped fan version of the 42,000 thrust-pound RB.211-22B developed for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, employed composite pod construction to reduce weight and first ran on the 757 on January 23, 1982.  The three-shaft, 37,400 thrust-pound powerplant had been chosen by launch customers Eastern and British Airways.

The more advanced RB.211-535E4, incorporating wide chord fan blades, high pressure module increases, and a common exhaust nozzle for the fan and core streams, offered an eight-percent fuel reduction in its cruise mode and a four-point pressure ratio increase, from 23:1 to 27:1, over its earlier –535C version.  The 40,100 thrust-pound engine was certified on November 30, 1983 and first flew on the 757 prototype the following February.

The Pratt and Whitney PW2037, originally specified by American Airlines and Delta, had been the aircraft’s second, and only other, powerplant.  Initially designated JT10D, the two-shaft turbofan, inceptionally envisioned as a 26.700 thrust-pound engine when the program had been launched in February of 1972, had evolved into the current 37,000 thrust-pound turbofan whose high-pressure compressor efficiency had been improved with a smaller compressor coupled with higher core rotational speeds.  First flying on the 757 prototype in March of 1984, it was certified for 37,600 pounds of take off thrust and had a bypass ratio of 5.8:1.  The production version offered a thrust capability of 38,200 pounds, while higher gross weight derivations of the aircraft could alternatively be powered by 41,700 thrust-pound PW2040s.  

Fuel was carried in two wing-integral and one center section tank, with that stored in the outer tanks burned last in order to maintain wing bending movement relief.  Capacity was 11,253 US gallons.

The conventional, low-wing tailplane, adopted very late in the 757’s development program, facilitated an overall length reduction of 18 feet, yet resulted in a longer cabin than that of the 727 it replaced and improved ground maneuverability.  The variable incidence, elevator-equipped horizontal tail, built up of full-span, light alloy torque boxes, had a 542-square-foot area, while the vertical structure, comprised of a three-spar, dual-cell, light alloy torque box, covered a 370 square-foot area.

The tricycle undercarriage featured a dual-wheeled, forward-retracting nose gear strut and two quad-wheeled, laterally-retracting units comprised of Dunlop or Goodrich wheels, carbon brakes, and tires.

The cockpit standardly featured two operating crew and one observer seat, while the cabin, at 118.5 feet long, 11.7 feet wide, and seven feet high, had sported a widebody look with large, Kevlar, individually-closable overhead storage compartments; a sculpted ceiling; recessed lighting; molded sidewalls; and slimline seats.  Galley, lavatory, and wardrobe number and location varied according to customer preference, but could be installed forward, aft, or midships.

Numerous class, pitch, and density seating arrangements, again according to customer choice, were available.  A 178-passenger complement, for instance, entailed 16 first class seats in a four-abreast, two-two, configuration at a 38-inch pitch and 162 economy class seats in a six-abreast, three-three, arrangement at a 34-inch pitch, while 208 passengers could be accommodated in a 12 first class and 196 economy class configuration, the latter at a 32-inch pitch.  Single-class, high-density, and inclusive tour/charter densities, at minimum 29-inch pitches, encompassed 214, 220, 234, and 239 passengers, the latter of which exceeded the 727-200’s maximum by 50 passengers and undercut the widebody 767-200’s by an equal number.

Cabin access was provided by either three main passenger/servicing doors and two overwing emergency exits on either side or four main passenger/servicing doors on either side.

The two underfloor cargo holds, accessed by starboard side, lower-deck doors, offered 700 cubic feet of space in the forward compartment and 1,090 cubic feet in the aft one.

Boeing 757 systems included Honeywell-Vickers engine-driven hydraulic pumps and four Abex electric hydraulic pumps.  An Allied-Signal GTCP331-200 auxiliary power unit (APU) provided ground power for air conditioning, lighting, and engine starts.

Full program approval had been received in March of 1979 and final assembly, like all previous narrow body jetliners, occurred in Renton, Washington, with the first metal cut on December 10 and the first major assembly taking place 13 months later, in January of 1981.

First rolled out on January 13, 1982, or five months after its widebody 767 counterpart, and taking to the skies for the first time on February 19, the 757-200 prototype (N757A) was flown by Test Pilot John Armstrong and powered by 37,400 thrust-pound RB.211-535C turbofans, completing a successful two-hour, 31-minute inaugural sortie, during which it had attained a 250-knot indicated air speed (IAS) before landing at Boeing’’s Paine Field Flight Test Center in Everett.  Despite having introduced the first CRT display-equipped, two-person cockpit, and having been the first Boeing design to have been launched with a foreign powerplant type, it had demonstrated simple handling characteristics.

The five aircraft used in the flight test program ultimately revealed that, in comparison to the design’s original, 1979 specifications, that it had had a 3,650-pound lower operating weight, a 200-nautical mile greater range capability, and burned three percent less fuel.

FAA certified on December 21, 1982, the 757-200, Boeing’s longest single-aisle twinjet, entered scheduled passenger service with Eastern Airlines the following January 1 on the Atlanta-Tampa and Atlanta-Miami routes, while British Airways, configuring its aircraft for 12 first and 174 economy class seats, took delivery of the type on January 25 and inaugurated it into service on February 9, from London-Heathrow to Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The first Pratt and Whitney PW2037-powered variant, first flying on March 14, 1984, had been delivered to launch customer Delta Air Lines seven months later, in October, the same month that Eastern received its first, improved powerplant example, fitted with the RB.211-535E4.

So powered, the aircraft, with 186 mixed-class passengers, had a 220,000-pound maximum gross weight and a 198,000-pound maximum landing weight, offering a coincident 2,820-mile range capability, although medium-range versions had a 230,000-pound weight and long-range examples featured 250,000-pound gross weights, in which case 3,820-mile sectors could be flown.

Although maturing DC-9, 727, and 737 routes had conceptionally dictated the need for the 757, its increasing gross weight and, hence range capability, permitted longer, trans- and intercontinental sector deployment, partially in response to rising fuel prices, and it often served, if not replaced, 767-200 services, thus complementing, before usurping, its twin-aisle counterpart.  Both Delta and Eastern, for example, operated transcontinental segments from their Atlanta hubs, while USAir mimicked this pattern to Los Angeles and San Francisco from its similar Pittsburgh flight base.  Ladeco operated intercontinental service from Santiago, Chile, to Miami and New York, while Canada 3000, Icelandair, and Air 2000 all operated scheduled and chartered transatlantic services.  El Al deployed the type between Tel Aviv and many of its European destinations. 

II 

Other than the initial 757-200 passenger version, Boeing offered several subvariants utilizing the same fuselage length and wingspan, although these sold in limited quantities.

The first of these, the 757-200PF Package Freighter, was developed for United Parcel Service (UPS) when it had placed 20 firm and 15 optioned orders for the Pratt and Whitney PW2037-powered aircraft on December 31, 1985.  These featured a 134- by 86-inch, upward-opening, hydraulically-actuated main deck cargo door on the forward, left side; a smaller, 22- by 55-inch crew access door; a cargo loading system; a solid, sliding door-equipped barrier between the cockpit and the main deck freight bay; and the deletion of all passenger-related windows, galleys, and lavatories.  First delivered to UPS on September 16, 1987, the twinjet, with a 240,000-pound maximum take off weight, offered 6,680 cubic feet of main and 1,830 cubic feet of lower deck volume, permitting up to 15 pallets to be carried in the former passenger space.

A modified version, the 757-200M Combi, retained the passenger facilities of the –200 and the cargo loading elements of the –200PF, enabling three pallets and 150 passengers to be simultaneously accommodated on the main deck.  Although it had been available with a 250,000-pound high gross weight, only one, in the event, had ever been ordered, by Royal Nepal Airlines.

A conversion program, developed by Pemco Aeroplex in 1992, enabled carriers to modify existing passenger aircraft to mixed, quick-change, or all-cargo variants, with an 11,276 US gallon fuel capacity and maximum weights those of the –200PF.

The only military version, the C-32A, had been ordered by the US Air Force to replace its fuel-thirsty, outmoded, quad-engined VC-137s, and it had featured a 45-passenger interior.  First flying from Renton on February 11, 1998, the aircraft, ultimately comprising a fleet of four, had been operated by the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. 

III 

A representative, transatlantic 757-200 flight, operated by Icelandair from New York-JFK to Reykjavik, Iceland, is forthcomingly illustrated.

The aircraft scheduled to operate the daily, evening departure to Iceland, registered TI-FIH, had been powered by 40,100 thrust-pound Rolls Royce RB.211-535E4 turbofans and configured for 22 four-abreast, two-two, Saga business class, winged- and footrest-equipped seats and 167 six-abreast, three-three, economy class seats, all covered with subdued, blue upholstery.  The 250,000-pound, high gross weight aircraft, with an 8,800-pound average cargo capacity, offered a 3,900-mile range.

Pushed back from Gate 21 at JFK’s now-extant International Arrivals Building at 2050 abreast of a massive Korean Air 747-400 after a sweltering, 90-degree, early-summer day, the blue-trimmed, long-fuselaged 757-200, somehow reminiscent of the DC-8-63s it had replaced, but with only half the number of powerplants, was rendered an autonomous entity after towbar disconnection amidst the black dusk highlighted by the glow tracing the clouds on the western horizon.

The two-person, transitional-technology cockpit featured both the traditional analog dials and six advanced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays, the former comprised of an airspeed indicator, an altimeter, a vertical velocity indicator, a clock, and standby flight instruments, while the latter consisted of the electronic flight instrument system (EFIS), two electronic attitude and direction indicators (EADI), and two engine indication and crew alerting systems (EICAS), the latter located on the center panel.  The electronic flight instrument system, subdivided into the attitude director indicator (ADI) and the horizontal situation indicator (HIS), provided aircraft attitude and positioning information by means of the CRT displays in seven colors.

The attitude director indicator, specifically, provided aircraft attitude and pitch and roll data, along with ground speed, autopilot, autothrottle, and fight direction modes, operating in conjunction with the horizontal situation indicator, which itself yielded aircraft track, wind speed and direction, lateral and vertical deviations, and waypoint estimated times, and could be used in four basic modes.  The map mode, the first, generated weather radar returns in several scales, while the VOR mode provided the aircraft’s position relative to its selected VOR course.  The ILS mode yielded airplane relationship relative to its ILS localizer and glideslope, and the plan mode, the last of the four, displayed the desired portion of the flight plan with north located at the top of the screen.

The flight deck otherwise featured the standard control yokes; a center console between the pilots sporting the throttles, the flap lever, and the speedbrakes; and a console behind it with communication and navigation instrumentation.

Engine starting was achieved by turning the respective turbofan’s roof panel-located rotary ignition switch to one of its four start modes—“GRN,” “FLT,” “AUTO,” or “CONT”—after which the switch on the quadrant behind the throttles was flipped to channel fuel, while the required air to initiate fan rotation emanated from the tailcone-mounted auxiliary power unit.  Powerplant parameters, displayed on the upper, center CRT, included engine pressure ratio (EPR), fan speed (N1), intermediate rotor speed (N2), high-pressure rotor speed (N3), and oil temperature, oil pressure, and oil quantity.

The flight plan and waypoints had already been loaded before initial pushback.

A gentle throttle advance, after clearance from ground control, preceded the twinjet’s taxi, lateral movements made with the aid of the nosewheel steering tiller on the captain’s left side and ground velocity indicated by the EADI.

Third for take off, the 216,000-pound 757-200, operating as Flight FI 614 and monitoring the tower on a frequency of 119.1, was instructed to follow the United 767-300 to Runway 13-Right, the green light taxiway centerline progressively consumed by the nose wheel as the aircraft moved toward the jewel light-glittering Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on the horizon.

Once centered on the runway, the aircraft was instructed, “Icelandair 614, cleared for take off, Runway 13-Right.  Caution wake turbulence from United 767 heavy.”  Initiating spool-up of its two 40,100 thrust-pound Rolls Royce turbofans, it restrained its forward movement with the aid of its toe brakes, before depressing its thrust switch and unleashing itself into a lengthy, engine life preservation roll at reduced throttle settings and attaining initial control by means of its nose wheel until the rudder became effective at about 50 knots.  The green engine pressure ratio, exhaust gas temperature, fuel flow, N1, N2, and N3 indications, pinnacling on the CRT display, affirmed air- and fuel-generating thrust.

Ground speed calls commenced at 80 knots, the aircraft accelerating through its V1 velocity of 162.  Horizontal stabilizer-leveraged into an eight-degree, nose wheel-disengaging rotation, the 757 divorced itself from the concrete by means of its now lift-generating wings, retracting its tricycle undercarriage and engaging its vertical pitch mode as it climbed through 200 feet at a 175-knot, 15-degree attitude.

The exhaust gas temperature and fan speeds respectively registered 157 and 917.

Pursuing its standard instrument departure (SID), the aircraft aileron-nodded into a left bank over the Belt Parkway into dusk, surmounting the gold, green, orange, and white light splotch, like iridescent paint poured atop a black canvas, of Queens, contacting New York Departure on 126.8.

Climbing through 500 feet, it engaged its autopilot in order to control lateral navigation and rate of ascent, retracting its double-slotted trailing edge flaps from the five-degree position.

Ascending though 3,400 feet, it was instructed to pursue a 060-degree heading and to climb and maintain 11,000 feet.  Crossing Long Island on a diagonal track, it assumed a 6,000 foot-per-minute climb at a 220-knot airspeed, the cockpit becoming increasingly encased in slipstream.  The climb checklist was completed.

Further instructed to climb and maintain 17,000 feet, Flight 614 plunged through a smoky cloud deck toward Connecticut, surmounting its misty top at 24,000 feet where the last remnant of the icy blue sky had been temporarily floodlit by lightning flashes.

Seemingly caught in a black, vaporous, turbulence-incubating void, the slender, narrow body fuselage, propelled by its wide diameter, life-providing engines, settled into its assigned plateau at flight level 350, bordered off its port wing by a line of arctic blue over Portland, Maine.  The VNAV was engaged.

Dinner, detailed by the “Saga Business Class Menu” and preceded by a selection of aperitifs and spirits, included “pate diplomat” and jumbo shrimp on a bed of lettuce with fresh lemon and cocktail sauce; seafood in Pernod saffron sauce au gratin or filet of veal in mushroom cream sauce served with tortellini, green beans, and carrots; a selection of red and white vintage wines; a bread basket with Icelandic butter; Bel Paese soft Italian cheese, slices of gouda, crackers, red grapes, and walnuts; cheese cake in raspberry sauce topped with shaved chocolate; coffee; a selection of liqueurs; and French hazelnut-filled bonbons.

Caught in the black, referenceless void as it pursued its northeasterly, transatlantic track, the intercontinental Boeing 757 had traced its invisible path over St. John, New Brunswick; the Gulf of St. Lawrence; and Goose Bay, Labrador, before departing the North American continent over the foreboding ocean, the only light now visible outside the cabin the reflection of the flashing, under-fuselage beacon on the port engine cowling.

Because of the sun’s northern hemisphere location, however, day appeared quickly, at 0340 Iceland time, or 2340 New York time, in the form of a thin, barely perceptible line of cold, dull blue which separated the night sky above from the black, indistinguishable ocean surface and the smoky, slab-like layers of cloud below.  That line represented the horizon.  Somewhere, beyond the left wing, lay the tip of Greenland and, further north of it, Narssarssuaq.  The blue line intensified.

Dawn’s subsequent chartreuse glow, piercing the cloud layers with fiery intensity, transformed the sky into a series of dull red and copper streaks, floodlighting the arctic snow-resembling cumulostratus cloud deck which now became visible beneath the engine pylon-supporting wings.

Initiating its automatic landing, aircraft TI-FIH settled into a power-reduced, 3,500-foot-per-minute descent, transitioning through 32,000 feet as its airspeed indicator inched beyond the 300-knot mark.  Engine parameters, varying according to powerplant, included an engine pressure ratio of 096, a fan speed of 390, and an exhaust gas temperature of 307.  Landing weight, after enroute fuel burn, had been calculated as 180,000 pounds, or well below its maximum.

Bowing toward and penetrating the white and gray, turbulence-producing cloud tendrils at 16,000 feet, the twinjet bored through the obscurity with its bullet nose, now assuming a 1,800 foot-per-minute descent rate.  In order to adhere to the 10,000-foot speed restriction, the airspeed was set for 250 knots and the altimeter for 2,000 feet.

Descending through 9,000 feet at a shallow, 500 foot-per-minute rate, the captain clipped the ILS Approach Chart to Keflavik International Airport’s Runway 20 to his control yoke, tuning into the automatic terminal information service (ATIS) and noting cloud cover, rain, and a temperature of plus nine degrees Celsius for our arrival.

Penetrating gray density on a 089-degree heading, the aircraft descended through 2,900 feet, at which point the altitude alert light illuminated, indicating imminent approach of the previously-set 2,000-foot limitation.  Indicated air speed (IAS) was now dialed to the “215”-knot mark.

Maximum trailing edge flap extension speeds, according to the cockpit placard, indicated 240 knots for one degree, 220 for five degrees, 210 for 15, 195 for 20, 190 for 25, and 162 for 30.

The EHSI display, changed to the expanded ILS mode, yielded weather and traffic data, and the localizer captive mode button was activated.

Shedding the obscurity at 2,000 feet, the 757 emerged over the navy-gray, silver-capped Atlantic, briefly arresting its descent and leveraging into a right bank toward a 141-degree heading and the tip of Iceland.  The indicated air speed was dialed to the 180-knot setting.

Extending its double-slotted flaps to the five-degree position as airspeed bled off to the 200-knot mark, Flight 614 maintained a 201-degree final approach heading.

The undercarriage lever, lowered at 180 knots during review of the Final Approach Checklist, had been followed by incremental flap extensions, to the 20- and finally 30-degree positions, the latter, coincident with a noted, nose-down trim, at a 158-knot airspeed.  Needled by rain, the aircraft approached the red and white, runway-threshold lights, beyond which the white touchdown lines could be seen through the low-lying cloud sheaths.

Passing over the green, brown, and gold moss-carpeted lava fields and the multi-colored roofs of Keflavik, the 757-200 descended through the 1,000-foot level at a 500 foot-per-minute rate, its VREF speed pegged at 143 knots, and closed the gap to Runway 20 amid a progressive flare and automatic altitude calls: “100…50…40…30…20…10.”

Thudding on to the concrete with its quad-wheeled, outstretched main undercarriage units, the twinjet rebowed earthward until its nose wheel had made equal contact with the white light-centered strip, its thrust reverser and speedbrake handles already armed.

Ground speed calls, mimicking those transmitted during the flare, ensued: “80…70…60…50,” at which point the reverse thrust mode was deactivated and the concrete barely moved beneath the cockpit windows.

Turning off the active runway, now with the aid of the nose wheel steering tiller, the long, narrow body twin, somehow having assumed the mistaken identity of an intercontinental jetliner, taxied to Gate One next to an Icelandair 737-400 registered TI-FIB as the wand-instructing marshaller grew in size until he stood only inches from the nose, where the parking brake was engaged and the accordion-like jetbridge was extended to the second, port door. 

IV 

Increased demand on maturing 757 routes, coupled with the design’s inherent stretchability, resulted in the type’s first, and only, dimensionally divergent version, which offered ten-percent lower seat-mile costs and increased its passenger capacity and underfloor cargo volumes by, respectively, 20 and 50 percent.

First announced on September 2, 1996, after German charter carrier Condor Flugdienst had placed an order for 12 firm and 12 optioned aircraft, the type, designated “757-300,” featured a 23.4-foot fuselage stretch, comprised of a 13.4-foot plug ahead of the wing and a ten-foot plug behind it, producing a new, 178.7-foot overall length.  The world’s largest, single-aisle twinjet, eclipsed only in length by the quad-engined DC-8 Super 60 series, it could accommodate 289 single-class, six-abreast passengers at a 29-inch pitch, although a typical mixed-class arrangement more standardly entailed 12 first class, four-abreast seats at a 36-inch pitch and 231 economy class, six-abreast seats at a 32-inch pitch, all in the elongated, 141.9-foot-long, wide-look cabin modeled after that of the Next Generation 737.  Lower-deck volume equally increased—to 1,071 cubic feet in the forward hold and 1,299 cubic feet in the aft hold.

In order to cater to the increased stresses created by the longer fuselage, strengthening occurred on the wings, high-lift device, engine pylons, and undercarriage, and a tailskid ensured protection during excessive rotation angles.

Still powered by two Rolls Royce RB.211-535E4 turbofans, the aircraft had a 240,000-pound maximum take off weight and a 2,055 nautical mile range with 243 passengers.

The 757-300 prototype, NU701 and the 804th aircraft built, was first rolled out in Renton, Washington, on May 19, 1998, and took to the skies for the first time three months later, on August 2, completing a successful, 2.5-hour flight in which it attained a maximum, 250-knot indicated air speed and 16,000-foot altitude.  Employed in the initial airworthiness and basic controllability realm of the flight test program, it explored flutter, stalls, stability, and control, and demonstrated the need for vortex generator installation on the leading edge of the outboard flap to improve stall characteristics.

 Two other airframes, NU721 and NU722, permitted completion of the program after 356 flights collectively totaling 912 hours, and led to FAA certification, for 180-minute ETOPS sorties, on January 27, 1999, concluding the shortest, design-to-production cycle of any previous Boeing derivative, which had spanned 27 months.

Condor inaugurated the type into revenue service two months later, on March 19.

Improvements to existing 757-200s and –300s were attained with the Aviation Partners Boeing Blended Winglet Retrofit Program.  Winglets, featuring large radii and smooth chord variations in transition sections, avoid drag-producing vortex concentrations and provide optimum aerodynamic loading, resulting in smaller wing tip vortices than either straight wing or even conventional winglet systems with angular transitions produce.

The retrofit, which carried a system weight of 1,320 pounds, entailed outer skin and rib replacement, in-tank stringer reinforcement, lower cover fastener replacement, leading edge flap vortex generator additions, and new external position and anti-collision light installation.

The system, increasing wingspan from a former 124.10 to a current 134.9 feet, yielded numerous economic and performance benefits, including an average annual, per-aircraft fuel savings of some 300,000 US gallons.

The first eight-foot, two-inch winglet-equipped 757, a –200 series aircraft belonging to Continental Airlines, first flew on March 9, 2005 from Everett, Washington, and today the program qualifies as a resounding success. 

V 

On October 18, 2004, the 1,050th—and last—Boeing 757, an original-length –200 series, rolled out of the final assembly plant in Renton and was delivered to Shanghai Airlines of China the following year.

The aircraft, having been designed as a larger-capacity, twin-engined, advanced counterpart to the 727, and as a smaller-capacity, narrow body complement to the simultaneously-developed 767, for one-stop transcontinental routes, uniquely filled two markets and hence created one of its own, ultimately morphing into both higher-capacity and longer-range intercontinental variants.  Of the 1,049 aircraft delivered, 913 had been 757-200s, 80 had been 757-200PFs, one had been a 757-200M, and 55 had been 757-300s.

The victim of the recession and the post-9/11 reduction in air travel, the type was mostly usurped by Boeing’s own Next Generation 737 and the Airbus A-321, whose smaller passenger capacities more closely matched changing route demands.  Although the present 787-8 may provide limited replacement capability on high-capacity 757 sectors, no direct, advanced design counterpart is currently envisioned, with high-end versions of Boeing’s own eventual 737 replacement likely to qualify as its successor.  Nevertheless, the type represented the pinnacle of single-aisle, twin-engined airliner development, whose payload and range parameters far exceeded those traditionally associated with such a configuration.

Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga has undeniably reached phenomenal status. As book sales still continue to skyrocket like crazy and millions of fans all over the world (most of them composed of starry-eyed girls equipped with their ear-shattering screams) dreadfully anticipate the third film Eclipse to come out in the theaters, a thousand and one merchandises based on this vampire mania are probably starting to pop out like mushrooms from online stores as we speak.

The Twilight franchise is indeed booming and a lot of businessmen are benefiting from the ever-increasing fame of the book series and its movie stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. From Twilight magazines and Edward Cullen dolls in auction at ebay, to New Moon t-shirts and even 2010 Twilight-inspired print calendars up for grabs on sale, the mania is just everywhere here in cyberspace! The ideas are endless and what’s fascinating is there’s also no stopping the fans from biting into each and every one of them!

Speaking of calendar printing, if you are one of those fanpires religiously supporting the saga and actually contemplating about purchasing one of those Twilight-inspired calendars that will probably cost you an arm or two, better take a step back and think first. Because with some .jpeg pictures, glossy paper and a sane colored printer, you will get to have your 365 daily doses of Twilight and save $$$ at the same time by simply making your own calendar right at the comforts of your own home!

There are a lot of downloadable calendar templates that you can edit and jazz up. The internet is also a great source of amazing high-resolution pictures of Twilight scenes, posters, quotes and memorabilia you will need for this project. Search and save your favorites and start letting loose your creativity by designing the calendar pages based on your preference. You can put in text and even add your friends’ birthdays, party schedules and other special occasions for easy reference.

Aside from having the freedom to pick out the pictures and the design you like, calendar printing can take your creativity up a notch, plus you are sure to have loads of fun when you do it with your friends too. And if it comes out really awesome, you might even want to consider selling them too.

Playing as a young woman named Yu (quite a symbolic name, isn’t it?) you are supposed to travel across China. And be sure the skillfully drawn fabulous landscapes and oriental music will make you forget that it’s only a virtual adventure but not a real trip to East. The gameplot is rather catching as you’re not only looking for a mysterious jade staff but also belong to a rebellious clan. While fulfilling different tasks that are kindly reminded you permanently on the screen in the right corner below you meet various characters starting with common people and ending with dragons and spirits.

The game mostly consists of the hidden object levels where you are to find the items due to the list. Some of them are hidden so well, that even an experienced player cannot guess that it is needed to open the cupboard first in one of the episodes. And sometimes you are puzzled by the name of the object you have to find. Do you know, for example, what the calabash looks like exactly? Yep, sometimes you’ll look for something absolutely strange. But the hint button recharges really quickly so don’t be afraid to get stuck. Quite the same is with the mini-games that you find between the hidden object levels. Though they are rather challenging it is still possible to solve them thanks to the clear instructions.

Different levels are the chapters of the adventurous saga. Each saga is a big multitask mission. Passing the levels will bring you to various locations. Sometimes the script makes you come back to the place you’ve already visited, but the attentive to the details player will notice for sure that these places changes a little: some new objects may appear, the others disappear or change the places. So even if the place is already known it may look in a different way.

Wondering back and forth don’t be afraid to get mixed up with the questions what you’re supposed to do next. If you enter a location and press a hint button, the prompt will immediately appear above the inventory panel. Sometimes the tip is shown as a sparkling circle that points on the character you’re to address or the object you should work with.

The graphics of the game is notable for the pastel shades, smoothness and details. And the calm music perfectly suits the idyllic pictures. The only question that still bothers me is why the storyline between the chapters can be read and also heard (it is the first-person narrative) but when Yu speaks to someone the dialogues can be only read.

To make a conclusion it will be fair to note that one of the main merits of Shaolin Mystery: Tale of the Jade Dragon Staff is its truly oriental scent. Though the exotic countries are really popular nowadays among the tourists it is still impossible to experience their ancient prototypes. So everyone who’s not aware of the traditions, myth and way of life of the ancient China has a chance to know all that.

Besides the people who are tired of male heroes and believe that girls can also save the world will get some extra pleasure. Yu hardly looks worse than Lara Croft and for justice’ sake I can admit that it is hard to recognize her as a Chinese girl but not European one if not her costumes.

But enough cheep talks, the exiled emperor is in danger – it’s time to save him, it’s time to play!

There are many very good reasons why Senior Citizens will be buying lots of Christmas toys and gifts online this year. The biggest reasons are convenience and getting more for less money.

(I apologize for the long article. I realize that some of the younger folks may lose interest and not make it all the way through. Well, that just made this article even longer.)

Convenience

Okay, I’ll be the first geezer, er, Senior Citizen, to admit that I find shopping for Christmas gifts and toys the tradition way is a bummer; it unmellows my mood.

Christmas Shopping Saga: Here is a Christmas gift shopping saga. It has all happened to me, but I admit, not all in one trip:

Traffic: I hate traffic. Like a black hole in space, time slows down the closer you get to the mall or the mega-box store. Cars are everywhere and parking spots seem to be nowhere. Wait! One just opened up! No! That little hybrid just zipped in and took the spot.

Parking: After an hour of fruitless hunting and stalking, I finally find a parking spot that’s on the very far edge of the parking lot, so far away from the store that I need a GPS to find it and a GPS to find my way back hours later when I have forgotten where my car is.

Getting to the store:As I make my way to the store, I have to fight other drivers who are so intent on looking for phantom parking spots that they fail to notice me. I have never been a fan of the way parking lots mingle people and cars.

The crowd: I make it to the store. Behold the dreaded crowd! I see there must be a sale on pitch forks and torches this year. The mob’s mood takes an ominous turn when a store opens its doors. Those who have camped out overnight wake up sleepily to find that a bunch of last minute folk have just beat them into the store and gobbled up the new shipment of Christmas toys they were waiting for.

Inside the packed store, there is straight-up bedlam served with a jigger of pandemonium. Everyone is looking for Christmas gifts or toys. I make my way through knots of people who are twice as wide as normal because of their shopping bags full of loot.

Leftovers: In the distance, I see the Christmas toy I want but the supply that is left is running dangerously low. As I get closer, I seen first one, then another, snatched up by closer hands than mine. By the time I fight my way through, there is one left, on the floor, half opened, with parts hanging out. Like 3AM at the bar, this one looks pretty good, so I grab it.

The line: Then it’s more sniping, er, shopping for more Christmas toys and gifts. Hours later, with a weary sigh, I head for the checkout area with my Christmas gifts at hand. It doesn’t look that bad at first, but, oh no, the line for the register looks like the line for housing vouchers in the Atlanta area a few weeks ago. Somber medics with bottled water and smelling salts stand by for those not up to the challenge (okay, there are no medics).

Checkout: Finally, feeling utterly spent, it’s my turn at the cash register to pay for my Christmas gifts. Do I have a membership card? Do I want one? Do I want an extended warranty plan? Do I want batteries? The sign above says “NO RECEIPT-NO REFUNDS-30 DAYS”. I offer my credit card. The clerk snarls that I am to swipe it in the card reader. Silly me. I forgot. The crowd glares at me because I am an obvious rookie and holding up the line. People start to point at me.

The Gate Keeper: I pocket my receipt mindful of the sign above. I get to the door but a burly guy bars my path. “Not so fast, old timer,” he shouts. “Where’s your receipt?” So, chagrined, I dig into my pocket and show the nice man my receipt. He looks at it with suspicion, checks it once, checks it twice. Will he find me naughty or nice? Grudgingly, he finds nothing wrong, blinks, and thrusts my receipt back into my hands. So much for the dignity of being an elder.

A breathe of fresh air: Finally, I am out the swooshing door. Cool air greets me. I didn’t notice how hot and humid it was inside. And it smells better outside as well. Well, it smells better until I pass an idling Bronco full of Christmas toys, waiting for something. A gal in front of me lights up a cigarette and I get a lungful of second hand nicotine and exhaust fumes.

Donations: It’s dark now. It was day when I came, wasn’t it?. I swear it was. Several large fellows are asking for a donation to something. Whatever it is, they don’t look like they belong to it. They ain’t no Santy Clauses. I say no, and the biggest one argues with me, implying that I am guilty of something or another, or something.

Disorientation and danger: Where is my car? It looks different out here at night, and of course, everything is backwards now as I have to retrace my route. Where is my GPS? Wait, let me first get far enough away from those guys. That Bronco’s headlights suddenly turn on, all brights, and it speeds away from the curb nearly hitting me.

Lost and no island: I cross lanes, and search for my car. My GPS goes dead. I should’ve recharged it longer. Where did I park? Was it Z7 or 7YY? Why didn’t I write it down? The peach color parking lot lighting make car colors impossible to read. After about an hour, I recognize my license plate and breath a sigh of relief.

Surprise: I notice that the glass on my driver’s side door is frosted. Funny. It’s not that cold. As I unlock the car, the glass shatters into pieces and falls into the car. Someone has smashed my window. Ah yes, I had forgotten to take a few small Christmas gifts from the back seat and hide them in my trunk. They are gone now, and my car window is open to the night chill.

Finding the exit: After putting my hard-won Christmas toys and gifts in my trunk, I am off. I wander around a bit, looking for signs to the exit. Like Vegas, their priority is to get you in; you’re on your own to get out.

Chance encounter: As I get to an intersection, a car neglects to stop and nearly hits my left front fender. The driver yells and shows me his IQ with his middle finger and drives off, cursing me (I suppose) as I see his mouth working. I don’t take it personally.

The crunch at the exit: I reach the last turn into the last lane out of the parking lot. It is jammed. People are supposed to take turns but the cars already in the exit lane seem to not be letting anyone new turn into it. I wait for a timid one to come along so I can sneak in.

The lane change: Finally, I am in and ready to leave the lot once and for all. Now I need to get into the left lane for my final turn home. Easier said than done. I have to wait a bit and cars behind me honk furiously at me for holding them up.

The final traffic light: Finally again, I make it and get to the light. The light takes forever. There is no left arrow here (the city did away with them for some reason; I’m sure it was a good reason). Straight-through traffic coming towards me seems to have no end. It is lucky if one car can make a left turn per green light.

Crossing traffic: Finally, for a third time, it is my turn. I have to inch out part-way into the main cross traffic lanes to claim my right to turn. I dart behind the last car through the light. Of course, the last car went through on a yellow that turned red, and so now I am turning on red. The cross traffic takes no notice of me and is raring to go. I am in danger of being caught in a half turn sideways as cars in both directions bear down on me. Those nice people who started as the red was changing don’t help.

The way home: Well, I make it. I fight more traffic but traffic is getting a bit lighter as I get away from the black hole that is the mall. Time seems to return to normal. I begin to breathe easier. I get home. I was going to say “finally” but I will skip it.

Final insult: Under the street lights on my street, a pinkish light here, I now see fresh scratches on my driver’s side door from the mall that I missed. And so, I conclude my Christmas gift shopping.

Doh! And then it hits me. I forgot a Christmas toy! And, what about the Christmas gifts that were stolen? I’ll have to do it all over again tomorrow.

Buying Online with Auctions

If this sounds like your experience Christmas gift and toy shopping, then consider buying online this year. You can stay home. You don’t have to fight traffic or crowds. You don’t have to trek there and back again. And, you don’t have to find your car and get home safely.

Of course, online Christmas gift shopping is not without its perils and pot holes. I know a friend who wants to buy a Christmas toy in high demand and thinks he can save a bundle on an online auction. There are auctions there and there are fixed price items.

Auction prices: My friend goes for the auctions because he sees that this item has sold in the pass for less than the fixed price. He thinks he is smart. What he fails to understand is the price that his toy sold for was in an auction that he was not in. If he had bid, he would have had to have a bid higher than what it sold for. His presence in the auction would have altered it.

He might have gotten the Christmas toy for one bid increment higher, or maybe many increments higher. My friend will never know how high the winning bidder was willing to go, just how far he had to go to win. But he has it in his head that he could have had his toy for what it sold for last.

Auction risks: So, my friend bids on the item. It is a ten day auction. Bidding for a $200 item starts at a dollar. As the days roll by, the bids rise. By day nine, bids are close to what my friends thinks he can steal this toy for. In fear, he enters a bid higher than he wants “just to be sure”. In the end, it goes higher than he thought and now he has ten fewer days until Christmas. There is time risk and risk of loss in auctions.

My friend was smart, though, because he left a bid. Had he been there at the end bidding, he could have gotten into a bidding war and ended up paying too much. It’s easy to become emotionally involved and to believe that this one time is the only chance you will have. That my be true for some one-of-a-kind items, but not usually for electronics.

Shenanigans: Now my friend tries a fixed price item. What he doesn’t realize is that some sellers are really good and some, not so much. For example, selling refurbished items without disclosing it, or selling “grey” items for international use with a invalid US warranty, unbundling packages and selling the parts separately for more money, or selling counterfeits and rip offs. With gizmos, especially electronic gizmos, you have to really do your homework on the seller.

“Free shipping”: My friend thinks he got a deal because he got free shipping. He didn’t notice that the price he paid was higher to include the “free” shipping. Hey. It floats his boat.

Shipping time: My friend has to wait several weeks for his Christmas toy to arrive. The seller neglected to say, and my friend neglected to ask, if the seller had the toy actually in stock. In fact, the seller did not. The seller was using a drop shipper in China, and it takes about five weeks to fulfill the order.

Know the seller: Now, I am not saying all auction experiences are negative. Far from it. Deals and good merchandise can be had. But there are shenanigans to guard against. You really have to do your homework on the seller. Most people don’t. They don’t know what to ask and what to look for. It all boils down to how trustworthy the seller is.

Buying Online at Amazon

I used to just buy books and DVDs from Amazon, and I still do. I find that Amazon is a seller that I can trust. It has distribution points located across the country and usually can ship quickly. Amazon tells you its usual shipping time and whether your chosen Christmas gift or toy is available. You get good email updates from them so you know where your order is. You can always login to your account and see where your order is.

The anti-Amazons: As an aside, I hate online places that treat your order like it dropped in a black hole (there’s that black hole analogy again). I place an order, and I hear nothing. No one tells me that they are out of stock, so I sit there, waiting. Maybe it will never come. Maybe it will come in a few months where new supplies arrive.

Amazon is not like that. They are good at fulfilling your order and shipping quickly.

Two day shipping: I buy the Amazon Super Saver shipping and pay once each year. Then I get free two-day shipping on my Amazon orders. Because of Amazon’s service, I sometimes get an in-stock item the next day, in one day, if I order before the closing time for a day’s ordering. Even if it takes the regular two days, it’s still very, very fast shipping.

Lots of stuff: Did I mention that Amazon sells a lot more than books and videos? They sell electronic gifts, toys, and a huge variety of cool products.

Trust: I trust Amazon. Bottom line. Its products are fresh, unspoiled, and legal. For Christmas toys and gifts, they are hard to beat.

I don’t know for sure, but it appears Amazon has better control over third-party suppliers compared to fixed price sellers on auction sites. (Your super saver shipping does not apply to these folks.)

True story: I’ve switched to buying my Christmas gifts and toys from Amazon. I got a Garmin GPS navigator and some accessories for a travel Christmas gift. To be fair, Amazon said one of the accessories would ship from a third-party supplier with a small shipping charge, so I knew that going in. I got the GPS itself in two days, and some of the accessories the next day and the day or so after that.

Value: So, as a senior citizen I am convinced there are good reasons to buy Christmas gifts from Amazon. I find that Amazon prices are very good, maybe not the lowest every time, but since the items are new and not pawed through like at your local drug store or mass-market big-box-mart store, I think they are a better value. For an important Christmas gift or toy for a loved one, I would not take on the risk just to possibly save a few bucks. I usually knock out the highest and lowest offers, and take one in the low middle range.

Good deals in tough times: Times are tough and very uncertain. The economy has been down the tubes since 2008 and there is no sign that it is getting better. It’s wise to get good value when you do want to buy a nice Christmas toy or gift today more than ever. Even in hard times, we want to get Christmas toys, especially for our grand-kids. We can go for a lot of cheap Christmas gifts or a few good ones. Whichever way you go, it’s important to get a good deal.

Hits: And, what a waste it would be to buy someone a Christmas gift and have it turn out to be a dud. Below I post a link to a Christmas gift web site that features best-selling and most wished-for Christmas gifts from Amazon. Buying best sellers greatly increase your odds of getting a Christmas toy or gift that will be a hit and that you will be appreciated for getting it.

Wrapping it up: So, seniors, you have discovered the benefits of email and online news. I urge you to do your Christmas gift shopping online this year at a store you can trust, and get through your shopping in a breeze with none of the hassles of traditional shopping. You deserve it.

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This game surprised Nintendo by its extreme success. To test the popularity of Mario, Nintendo released an arcade game called Marion Bros., which included Mario and his brother Luigi. This game was an immense success for Nintendo. Because of the success of both Donkey Kong and Mario Bros., in 1983, when Nintendo release the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), they also release Super Mario Bros.

References to his original name appear in a couple of Mario games, such as in Paper Mario: the Thousand-Year Door, when an audience member refers to Mario as Jumpman before a battle, and in Mario Hoops 3-on-3, where his nickname is “The Jumpman.”

Mario’s look, even to this current day, can be blamed on the limitations that were placed on the programmers and artists back in the early 80s by their current technology.

The programmers couldn’t animate Mario’s arms when he moved without making them disappear, so they gave him overalls and a solid shirt color.

They also didn’t have room for a face or ears, and couldn’t animate his hair, so they gave him his mustache, sideburns, and a baseball cap. Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario’s creator, has stated in interviews that Mario wears a baseball cap because he finds it difficult to draw hair.

Mario’s surname or last name is also Mario, which explains the use of Mario Bros. as game titles, because Luigi is Mario’s brother, so they have the same last name. was first used in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and then again in 1993 in a movie called Super Mario Bros.. Nintendo as a whole has never officially confirmed it, but it was put up on Nintendo of Europe’s official Mario Megasite.

Ever since Mario has been popular he has been the unofficial mascot of Nintendo. He has been extremely and possibly over-merchandised along with his one time rival Sonic the Hedgehog, who came to be Sega’s mascot in the early 1990s.

They competed fiercely until 2001, when Sonic Adventure 2: Battle came out for a Nintendo console due to Sega’s new third-party status. Even though Sonic and Mario were now on Nintendo consoles, they still competed with each other, though not as much as before.

It hasn’t been until recently, that they’ve been seen working together in the newly released Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Wii. They will also appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl together as well.

Mario is a 5 foot tall, portly plumber from Brooklyn, New York who lives in Mushroom Kingdom. He is considered to be the most famous video game character in history, and his series of games has sold over 193 million copies.

Mario has not only appeared in plat formers, but in other genres as well. The other genres include reaching, with Mario Kart, sports games such as Mario Tennis, and RPGs such as Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars.

Although Mario’s said occupation is being a plumber, he is almost never seen doing any actual plumbing. With the exceptions being in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and in the original Mario Bros.. Pipes have still remained a mode of transportation, however, although the reason as to why might not be clear. However, in the original Donkey Kong games, Mario, who was still called Jumpman, was actually a carpenter.

Mario has also appeared as a doctor in Dr. Mario. He has even been shown as an archaeologist in the Game Boy game, Mario’s Picross.

Mario’s favorite pastime seems to be saving Princess Peach, and Mushroom Kingdom. Other ways he spends his time is battling villains, namely Bowser. In the role-playing games, Mario is given a heroic status for saving the Mushroom Kingdom so many times. In Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, he and Luigi are called “superstars”, which basically means huge celebrities.

Ever since his first appearance in a video game, Mario has been given the role of the hero, destined to save the damsel in distress. In the original Donkey Kong, he had to rescue his girlfriend, Pauline from Donkey Kong. Pauline obviously didn’t stay in the series, as she was replaced by Princess Peach, who was originally referred to as “Princess Toadstool” or just “the Princess” in the English releases, in Super Mario Bros.

In 1993, with the release of Yoshi’s Safari, Princess Peach was finally used in an English release of a Mario game, but it still wasn’t used as widely until the release of Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64, three years later. Pauline has only been seen twice since the original Donkey Kong, once in the remake for the Game Boy, and once in Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, in 2006.

She has since been described as Mario’s friend, not girlfriend, as that appears to be Peach’s position. Mario has received a kiss from her countless times, after each time he’s rescued her, but the true status of their relationship has never been officially revealed, most likely to avoid the problems experienced with Pauline, but there is obviously affection shared between Mario and Peach.

Most of Mario’s abilities come from the items that he collects and uses. In the platform games, there is the Super Mushroom, which makes Mario double in size. He is called “Super Mario”, when he is in this state, and he also gets an extra hit point.

Other examples of items include the Fire Flower, which turns Mario into Fiery Mario, or just Fire Mario. This allows him to throw fireballs at his enemies. Another item is the star, which makes Mario completely invincible, and allows him to defeat all enemies with a single touch.

In other versions of Mario plat formers, there are other unique items, such as the Raccoon Leaf, and the Cape Feather. The Raccoon Leaf turns Mario into Raccoon Mario, and allows him to fly short distances by whipping his tail around in the air, sort of like Tails from the Sonic the Hedgehog games.

The Cape Feather obviously turns Mario into Cape Mario, which allows him to whip his cape at enemies to attack ,and also allows him to fly. In Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Mario can pick up the Power Carrot, which transforms Mario into Bunny Mario and makes his falling speed reduced.

Obviously, Mario is an extremely popular character, who has been in many games, and has even inspired indie games and online flash games, which get tons of hits and plays because they are free. With the increasing demand for new games, you can look for Mario to keep evolving and testing the waters in new genres as well. The future is still as bright for Mario as it was 20 years ago.

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