| John Petrucci | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | John Peter Petrucci |
| Born | July 12, 1967 Kings Park, Long Island, New York |
| Genres | Progressive metal, instrumental rock, progressive rock, jazz fusion |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, bass, drums, programming |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Roadrunner, Sound Mind Music, Magna Carta |
| Associated acts | Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, Explorers Club, Eric Johnson, Jon Finn Group, Nightmare Cinema, G3 |
| Website | www.johnpetrucci.com |
| Notable instruments | |
John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American virtuoso guitarist and songwriter best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. Along with his former bandmate Mike Portnoy, he has produced all Dream Theater albums since their 1999 release, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. He is also a backing vocalist for Dream Theater. Petrucci was named as the third player on the G3 tour six times, more than any other invited guitarists. In 2009 he was named the No. 2 Best metal guitarist by Joel McIver in his book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.[1] He was also named as one of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time" by GuitarOne magazine.[2]
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John Petrucci was born on July 12, 1967 in Kings Park, New York to an Italian American family. He picked up the guitar at the early age of 8 because his older sister was allowed to go to bed later in order to practice the piano. However he decided to quit the guitar when his attempts to stay up late were unsuccessful. He would later pick up the guitar again at the age of 12 when his childhood friend and future Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore invited John to join his cover band.
John attended Berklee College of Music in Boston with childhood friend John Myung (bass), where they met future bandmate Mike Portnoy (drums). These three in addition to Kevin Moore, formed the band Majesty, which would later become Dream Theater.
While Dream Theater is what Petrucci is most commonly associated with, he is also a part of the project band Liquid Tension Experiment and has appeared as a guest on several records by other artists such as the Age of Impact album by the Explorer's Club.
Petrucci has released a guitar instructional video, "Rock Discipline", which covers warm up exercises, exercises to avoid injury while playing, alternate picking, sweep picking, chords and other techniques for developing one's guitar playing. Petrucci also has a book named "Guitar World presents John Petrucci's Wild Stringdom", which was compiled from columns he wrote for Guitar World magazine, bearing that same title.
In 2001, John Petrucci was invited by Joe Satriani and Steve Vai to tour with them on the popular G3 guitar tour, which exposed him to a massive number of new fans and inspired him to record a solo album. The album, Suspended Animation, was released on March 1, 2005, and was made available for order from his web site. Petrucci also appeared on the 2005 and 2006 G3 tours, and in 2007, went on G3 tour again, this time with Paul Gilbert and Joe Satriani. In a recent video with Larry DiMarzio, Petrucci revealed that he's been working on a follow up to his 2004 album, "Suspended Animation" along with the new Dream Theater album.[3]
Petrucci also wrote and recorded two instrumental soundtrack songs for a Sega Saturn game titled Digital Pinball: Necronomicon. Each track is roughly two minutes long and they are simply titled "Prologue" and "Epilogue".
According to the spoof rock band Nightmare Cinema (the Dream Theater members changing instruments playing a gig) he got the "alternate stage name" Johnny James.
Dream Theater bandmate Jordan Rudess revealed in an interview that Petrucci is a practicing Catholic.[4] He currently lives in St. James, New York with his wife Rena Sands, a guitarist in the all-female heavy metal band Meanstreak, and they have 3 children, Samantha and Reny (who are twins), and Kiara. He is also an avid fan of bodybuilding and dedicates much of his off time to weight training.[5]
He is a voting member of NARAS.
Petrucci is respected for his variety of guitar styles and skills. One of the most notable of these is his high speed alternate picking which, as he himself claims, requires a "strong sense of synchronization between the two [playing] hands." John is notable for frequent use of the seven-string electric guitar, which he states is used as a "writing tool", taking advantage of the extended range both for heavier riffing (The Mirror) and to play extended range runs as part of a solo (This Dying Soul). Petrucci has also been known to directly incorporate riffs and solos from other bands into live Dream Theater performances. For example, Pink Floyd's 'Have a Cigar' and Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' are referenced during the performance of 'Peruvian Skies' from the 'Once in a Livetime' live album. Another example occurs in Dream Theater's live DVD 'Chaos in Motion', during the extended version of 'Surrounded'. Here, Petrucci incorporates the guitar solo from 'Mother' by Pink Floyd. The varied examples of this further demonstrate Petrucci's wide range of influences.
In addition, Petrucci is the only band member to have contributed lyrics to every album; he's written lyrics for at least three songs for every single album. These include, among others, the fan favorite Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper, the heartfelt The Spirit Carries On, the politically-charged The Great Debate and the epic In the Presence of Enemies. Furthermore, Petrucci has used real-life experiences for lyrical inspiration, which includes songs as The Count of Tuscany, A Nightmare to Remember, and Endless Sacrifice.
Petrucci has been Dream Theater's backing vocalist since the Awake's Tour. His singing is much darker than James Labrie's and is often used in bridges like "Solitary Shell", and in choruses of songs such as "Forsaken" and "In The Name of God". On the EP Wither Petrucci performs lead vocals on an alternative, demo version of the title track. He had previously done his own vocals for "The Spirit Carries On". During live performances before the departure of Mike Portnoy, he only sang small sections of backing vocals or harmonies.
| Album | Amplifiers |
|---|---|
| Majesty/When Dream And Day Unite | Randall RG100ES |
| Images and Words | Mesa Quad Preamp, Mesa Triaxis/2:90, Marshall JMP1 for Metropolis Pt.1, Roland JC120 for cleans |
| Awake | Only album to be quadruple layered. 2 takes using Dual Rectifier, 2 takes using Mark IIC+ |
| A Change Of Seasons | Mark IIC+, Mark IV, TriAxis |
| Falling Into Infinity | Dual Rectifier, Mark IIC+, Mark IIB, Mark IV, TriAxis |
| Metropolis Pt.2: Scenes From A Memory | Mark IIC+, Mark IV, TriAxis, Formula, Dual Rectifier |
| Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence | Mark IIC+, Dual Rectifier (for The Glass Prison) |
| Train Of Thought | Road King Series I |
| Octavarium | Road King Series I, Mark IV, Lone Star |
| Systematic Chaos | Lone Star, Mark IV, Dual Rectifier (for Forsaken) |
| Black Clouds & Silver Linings | Lone Star, Mark IV, Mark IIC+, Mark V |
| A Dramatic Turn Of Events | Mark V, Roadking II |
| Suspended Animation | Roadking Series 1, Mark IIC+ |
| Liquid Tension Experiment | TriAxis, 2:90 power amp |
| Liquid Tension Experiment 2 | Mark IIC+, Mark IV |
Since the Train of Thought World Tour, John has used two footrests made by Patrick Slaats (who also designs Jordan Rudess's keyboard stands), such that they are book-ends for his pedalboard. These are utilised whenever Petrucci plays difficult-to-play passages within his songs, as he practices using proper classical guitar techniques - meaning that he must rest his guitar on his left thigh when sequences get difficult. Before this, he used regular stage monitors to do this. He stated in the Live at Budokan DVD that he also has "spit shields" around his cabinets, in order to avoid getting them defaced by Mike Portnoy's "gobs of goobers" (spat-out chewing gum). Now with Mike Mangini, he is'nt using the "spit shields" amymore.
| Year | Title | Label | Notes |
| 1986 | The Majesty Demos | The Original CD had no label. It was just for the students at Berklee. Ytse Jam Records then re-released the album in 2003 | A rare CD recorded for Berklee College of Music with Kevin Moore as their keyboardist and Chris Collins as their singer. Ytse Jam Records then re-released the album as an official bootleg. They play a song of this album called Another Won on their 20th Anniversary DVD, Score. |
| 1989 | When Dream and Day Unite | MCA/Mechanic | First Dream Theater studio album. |
| 1992 | Images and Words | Atlantic/ATCO | Again with Dream Theater, introducing the new lead singer James LaBrie. |
| 1993 | Live at the Marquee | WEA International | First Dream Theater live album. |
| 1994 | Awake | EastWest | The last Dream Theater album with Kevin Moore as keyboard player. |
| 1995 | A Change of Seasons (EP) | EastWest | Dream Theater EP, introducing Derek Sherinian as new keyboard Player. |
| 1996 | Working Man | Magna Carta | A Rush tribute. |
| 1997 | Falling into Infinity | Elektra | Last Dream Theater studio album with Derek Sherinian. |
| 1997 | Dragon Attack | CNR Music | A tribute to Queen |
| 1998 | Guitar Battle | Viktor | Various Artists |
| 1998 | Liquid Tension Experiment | Magna Carta | Project with Mike Portnoy, Jordan Rudess and Tony Levin |
| 1998 | Once in a LIVEtime | Elektra | 2CD recorded in Paris, France. |
| 1998 | Age of Impact | Magna Carta | Explorers Club |
| 1998 | Wicked | The Orchard | Jon Finn Group |
| 1999 | Liquid Tension Experiment 2 | Magna Carta | Second album with Liquid Tension Experiment |
| 1999 | Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory | Elektra | Jordan Rudess as new keyboard player for Dream Theater, the band's first concept album. |
| 2000 | An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess | Sound Mind Music | A live album with keyboard player Jordan Rudess |
| 2001 | Feeding the Wheel | Magna Carta | Jordan Rudess solo album, Petrucci is featured on guitar. |
| 2001 | Live Scenes From New York | Elektra | 3CD recorded in New York, U.S. featuring Scenes from a Memory in its entirety. First Official live album (audio of the DVD Metropolis 2000: Scenes from New York with featuring extra songs) with Jordan Rudess. |
| 2002 | Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence | Elektra | Dream Theater's first studio double album. Notably heavier than previous releases, containing more prominent guitar riffing and solos than previous Dream Theater records. |
| 2003 | Train of Thought | Elektra | Dream Theaters heaviest release to date. |
| 2004 | Live at Budokan | Atlantic | Dream Theater 3CD/2DVD combination recorded in Tokyo, Japan. |
| 2005 | Suspended Animation | Sound Mind Music | John Petrucci's first solo album. |
| 2005 | G3: Live in Tokyo | Sony | Plays on G3, with guitarists Steve Vai and Joe Satriani |
| 2005 | Octavarium | Atlantic | Dream Theater's last album with Atlantic Records Group. |
| 2006 | Score | Rhino Entertainment | 3CD/2DVD recorded at Radio City Music Hall on April 1, 2006 New York, U.S. for Dream Theater's 20th Anniversary. |
| 2006 | Blood of the Snake - Derek Sherinian | Inside Out Music | Played guitar on first track "Czar Of Steel". |
| 2006 | Loudspeaker - Marty Friedman | Mascot/Avex | Special guest guitarist on "Black Orchid". |
| 2007 | Systematic Chaos | Roadrunner Records | First album released under Dream Theater's new contract with Roadrunner Records on June 5, 2007. |
| 2008 | Chaos in Motion 2007–2008 | Roadrunner Records | A live album 3CD/2DVD documenting the band's 2007/2008 Chaos in Motion and Progressive Nation tours featuring several songs from the supporting album Systematic Chaos included extended versions of Take the Time and Surrounded and both parts of In the Presence of Enemies played as one song. Also features a medley of Trial of Tears, Finally Free, Learning to Live, In the Name of God, and Octavarium (using the final part Razor's Edge) titled Schmedley Wilcox. |
| 2009 | Black Clouds & Silver Linings | Roadrunner Records | Released on June 23, this is Dream Theater's tenth studio album. Last album with Mike Portnoy, also recording of the last part of the Twelve-step Suite dealing with Portnoy's alcoholism titled "The Shattered Fortress". |
| 2011 | A Dramatic Turn of Events | Roadrunner Records | First Dream Theater album with Mike Mangini on the drums. Released on September 13. |
| Year | Title | Notes |
| 1993 | Images and Words: Live in Tokyo | First Dream Theater live DVD. Includes extended version of Take the Time. |
| 1995 | Rock Discipline - VHS | John Petrucci does a DVD on guitar warmups, tricks, exercises, and his gear. |
| 1998 | 5 Years in a LIVEtime | The only live Dream Theater DVD with Derek Sherinian. |
| 2001 | Metropolis 2000: Scenes From New York | |
| 2002 | Rock Discipline - DVD | |
| 2004 | Live at Budokan | |
| 2005 | G3: Live in Tokyo | |
| 2006 | Score | 2DVD recorded at Radio City Music Hall on April 1, 2006 New York, U.S. Celebrated Dream Theater's 20th Anniversary. They performed this concert with a symphony orchestra. |
| 2007 | Chaos in Progress: The Making of Systematic Chaos | DVD included in the special edition of Systematic Chaos |
| 2008 | Chaos in Motion 2007–2008 | Released September 30, 2008. Documents the band's 2007/2008 Chaos in Motion and Progressive Nation tours. |
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