Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci has his fair share of complicated riffs to play, and during a recent chat with Ultimate-Guitar.com, the musician rattled off two of the “most challenging” songs in the band’s catalog.
What Dream Theater Songs Are ‘Most Challenging’ to John Petrucci?
“Some of the instrumentals are pretty challenging,” confesses the guitarist. “We’ve been playing ‘Stream of Consciousness’ live, and that’s an instrumental that definitely takes a lot.”
The guitarist continues, “It’s a very ‘shred-driven’ song. So, that’s one that, again, has now turned into a highlight for me, a high point during the show, where it was something that was a little bit like, maybe anxiety-causing at first. Like, ‘Okay, I gotta relearn how to do all this stuff,’ and be in like, ‘Olympic athlete mode.’ And then you find yourself playing it every night and having fun and looking forward to it. So, that’s one of them.”
Dream Theater, “Stream of Consciousness”
The guitarist also called out another song that’s provided its fair share of challenges.
“There’s a song we’re adding into the set, ‘The Dark Eternal Night,’ which is a pretty crazy song,” says Petrucci. “We’ve been working on it for this tour. And it’s presented some need for a rehearsal and some challenges. But again, it gets to the point where you’re just playing it live, and it becomes like, second nature.”
Dream Theater, “The Dark Eternal Night”
The Art of the Challenge
Speaking about his approach to new music, Petrucci commented, “When I record a new album, I’m always trying to see if I could put something in there, do some new technique or something that maybe I haven’t done before, and just challenge myself. That keeps me on top of my game.”
“Every song has a moment in there,” he continues. “And then the interesting thing about that is that especially when you have to play those songs live, they become a little bit intimidating. Like, ‘Okay, now I have to try to learn how to do this consistently night after night.'”
“And what I find as a guitar player is that, eventually, you’re able to do those things that you challenge yourself on. And they become, now, a new part of your arsenal. In ‘Night Terror,’ there’s just like a crazy, fast kind of picking thing that I put in there as a unison section with Jordan. And it takes a lot of focus and dexterity to do, and now I could do it every night without an issue,” he adds.
Dream Theater in 2025
With a new album, Parasomnia, just released earlier this month, Dream Theater are currently in the midst of a tour supporting the record. This also is a tour celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band.
READ MORE: The Best Song Off Every Dream Theater Album
You can see all of their tour dates and get ticketing information through the Dream Theater website.
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