History Music / DreamTheater

* ArcNumber: "Octavarium" uses the idea that [[WhereItAllBegan everything ends where it began]] and uses the number 8 and the octave as examples. It's the eighth track on their eighth album and its length in minutes ([[EpicRocking twenty-four]]) is divisible by 8. Various other elements in the song also allude to cycles and/or the number 8. According to ex-drummer Portnoy, the album's concept stemmed from his realising that (a), ''Octavarium'' was to be their eighth studio release, and (b), they had just released their fifth live release (''Live at Budokan'').

* BreatherEpisode: On ''Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory'', the soft ballad "Through Her Eyes" is placed between the extemely heavy epics "Beyond This Life" and "Home".

* DownerEnding: ''Awake'' has one with "Space-Dye Vest" and [[spoiler:''Scenes from a Memory'' has a SuddenDownerEnding, though it might not be obvious at first listen, but it's confirmed by WordOfGod]]. Some of their other albums could also qualify, with "In the Name of God" from ''Train of Thought'' being a heart-wrenching response to the Branch Davidian siege in Waco.

** "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", from ''Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence''. (''42:04'', was on its own disc, and was split over 8 tracks)

* EveryoneKnowsMorse: "In The Name of God" has Morse code hidden during one of the instrumental breaks. Decoded, it literally translates to "Eat my ass and balls."

** Heck, they have even done this between albums. For example, ''Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence'' begins with static, which ''Scenes from a Memory'' ended with. The next album, ''Train of Thought'', begins with by fading in with the same chord that ''Six Degrees'' fades out with. To cap that off, the last note on Train of Thought is the same one that starts ''and'' ends Octavarium - making a "lasso" of those four albums.

** "The Glass Prison", which starts ''Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence'' immediately where "Finally Free" left off--with gramophone static.

* LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn: At the end of "Finally Free" the outro vamp is revealed to be playing on Nicholas' car radio.

** ''Images and Words'' closes with "Learning To Live" (11:30).

** ''Train of Thought'' closes with "In The Name of God" (14:15).

** ''Systematic Chaos'' closes with "In The Presence of Enemies (Part II)" (16:38).

** In "Illumination Theory", the end of the serene string section cuts abrubtly to a very dry bass and drum riff.

** And then "Dream Theater 3.0" came about with ''A Dramatic Turn Of Events'', an album that dialed back on the heaviness of the previous four records and found a happy medium between [=DT 1.0=] and [=DT 2.0=].

* ReligionRantSong: While they have several song that qualify as AmbiguouslyChristian, they also have several anti-religious songs, such as "In the Name of God" (which generally protests religious war and terrorism, though it's specifically about the Branch Davidian siege in Waco in the early '90s) and "Blind Faith" (which protests the use of religious faith as an excuse for ignoring terrestrial suffering).

** "In the Presence of Enemies" {{bookends}} ''Systematic Chaos'' in much the same way "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" bookends ''Music/WishYouWereHere1975'', fades in and out with wind sounds, and opens its second segment with a bass line. The long instrumental opening to "Octavarium" also seems like a tribute to "Shine On", which opens much the same way.

** "In The Name of God" has a hidden Morse Code message that translates to "Eat my ass and balls".

** There are plenty of musical call backs to other songs in the Twelve Step Suite during "The Shattered Fortress" from 2009's 'Black Clouds and Silver Linings'. For example, 1:44 into the song, the melody from the intro to "This Dying Soul". At the 3-minute mark, there is another reprise of a riff from the same song. (Actually, every song in the suite contains at least one musical and/or lyrical reference to at least one previous song from the suite, but "The Shattered Fortress" has the most of these by far. The suite is also a direct sequel to "The Mirror" and several of its songs contain references to that song as well.)

%% * BreakupSong: "Space-Dye Vest" is one of the most haunting examples of this trope ever recorded.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: Most present before James experienced his vocal injury, like the scream during the build up of "Learning to Live".

%% * CastFullOfPrettyBoys: Back during the ''Images and Words/Awake'' era.

** "Build Me Up, Break Me Down", from ''A Dramatic Turn of Events'', is about how the media intrudes the private lives of celebrities.

%% * DistinctDoubleAlbum: ''Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence,'' ''The Astonishing,'' and ''Greatest Hit''

%% * GenerationXerox: The subject of the first movement of "Octavarium", "Someone Like Him".

%% * HauntedHouseHistorian: The Older Man from "Fatal Tragedy", and the eponymous Count of Tuscany.
%% * HeavyMithril: ''Systematic Chaos'' is full of this, including "In the Presence of Enemies", "Forsaken", "The Ministry of Lost Souls", and "The Dark Eternal Night". All of these were written by John Petrucci.

%% * MurderBallad: Some parts of ''Scenes from a Memory'' fit under this, such as "Fatal Tragedy" and the first parts of "Beyond this Life" and "Finally Free"

%% * WhamLine: [[spoiler:"Open your eyes, Nicholas"]]
%%* WhereItAllBegan:
%%** Played straight in "The Killing Hand".
%%** To an extent in "A Change of Seasons".
%%** "Octavarium" is about this trope.

* BookEnds: The first song of the Alcoholics Anonymous Suite, "The Glass Prison", begins with the sound of static, followed by the sound of a church bell, then the actual music starts. The last song in the suite, "The Shattered Fortress", ends with the song fading out to the sound of a church bell, followed by static.