DREAM THEATER – Lost Not Forgotten Archives; Live in NYC 1993 [remastered] (2022)

DREAM THEATER, the two-time GRAMMY-nominated and millions-selling legends of progressive music, are pleased to announce the ‘Lost Not Forgotten Archives’. This fresh collaboration between the band and record label InsideOutMusic will see the virtuosic quintet’s long-standing Ytsejam Records catalogue reissued, alongside some brand new additions to this special collectors series.
Ytsejam Records previously played host to Dream Theater’s official collection comprising of live shows, demos & studio outtakes from throughout the band’s prolific career. As part of the ‘Lost Not Forgotten Archives’, the entirety of the collection will be reissued on CD, as well as for the very first time on vinyl and digital, with brand new artwork and packaging.
“Lost Not Forgotten Archives; Live in NYC 1993” captures a homecoming performance by these New York State natives recorded at The Limelight – one of NYC’s most iconic clubs of the 1990s – in support of Images And Words, for many, their finest moment. The set includes the epic fan-favorite ‘A Change of Seasons’ and is one of the band’s earliest live recorded performances.
Re-mastered and available for the first time on vinyl, the release of this classic 1993 concert becomes a quintessential release for fans of the band.

This recording is something of a Holy Grail for the early DT fan. A complete show from the Images & Words tour, before Kevin Moore left the band, before James LaBrie busted his voice for years, and before they finished writing a certain song that is arguably (argued by me) their single crowning achievement, and instead played it as a work-in-progress version.
The more I listen to Images & Words and the rest of their output, the clearer it becomes that it stands head and shoulders above the rest of their full length albums. The reason most likely is that because of the label problems and the frustratingly unfruitful search for a new vocalist they had years and years time to hone the material, making it extremely colourful and sophisticated. Pure instrumental magic, and when they did in the end find their vocalist, he fit the material perfectly.

Recorded at home turf slightly before the Marquee show, the band is in great shape, if that’s a surprise to anyone. The setlist is obviously mostly excellent given the album they were promoting, and a couple of future B-sides make an appearance as well.
Detracting from the excellence is The Killing Hand, which could’ve been replaced by four or five better tracks from the debut album.

Historically the most interesting song is obviously the halfway-there-version of A Change of Seasons. And I say it was very very wise of them to leave it on the shelf for a few years. The structure of the song is very much ready, but the intro would be fleshed out a couple of minutes worth, a lot of the lyrics would be reworked, vocal arrangements would go through a lot of refining, and some soloing sections would be completely replaced.
It might me just the force of habit of listening to the final version, but I’m still going to say that every single change they made was for the better, and this version is valuable mostly for being historically interesting.

When you see the word “bootleg”, the first question is obviously the sound quality. And as far as bootlegs go, official or not, this one is rather a good one, even more now fully remastered.
A quite clear full soundboard recording, with some variance in quality. Most of the time the instruments are well in balance.
Highly Recommended

01 – Metropolis – Pt. I: The Miracle and the Sleeper (Live in NYC – 1993)
02 – A Fortune in Lies (Live in NYC – 1993)
03 – Under a Glass Moon (Live in NYC – 1993)
04 – Surrounded (Live in NYC – 1993)
05 – Ytse Jam / Drum Solo (Live in NYC – 1993)
06 – To Live Forever (Live in NYC – 1993)
07 – Take the Time (Live in NYC – 1993)
08 – Eve (Live in NYC – 1993)
09 – Pull Me Under (Live in NYC – 1993)
10 – Another Day (Live in NYC – 1993)
11 – Another Hand (Live in NYC – 1993)
12 – The Killing Hand (Live in NYC – 1993)
13 – A Change of Seasons (Live in NYC – 1993)
14 – Wait for Sleep (Live in NYC – 1993)
15 – Learning to Live (Live in NYC – 1993)

Mike Portnoy – Drums
John Petrucci – Guitar
John Myung – Bass
Kevin Moore – Keyboards
James LaBrie – Vocals

Pre order:
www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Not-Forgotten-Archives-Digipak/dp/B09P5GHWHV