Instrumedley
| "Instrumedley" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Dream Theater from the album Live at Budokan | ||||
| Released | October 5, 2004 | |||
| Recorded | April 26, 2004 - Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan | |||
| Genre | Progressive metal, instrumental rock, progressive rock | |||
| Length | 12:15 | |||
| Label | Elektra Records | |||
| Composer(s) | Dream Theater | |||
| Producer(s) | Mike Portnoy and John Petrucci | |||
| Live at Budokan track listing | ||||
| ||||
"Instrumedley" (a portmanteau of instrumental medley), sometimes referred to as The Dance of Instrumentals, is an instrumental musical piece performed only during live shows by the progressive metal band Dream Theater.
This instrumental was first performed on Aug 10, 2002 in Los Angeles, CA during the second leg of their North American tour World Turbulence. The instrumental itself is actually a medley of several Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment classics. Using "The Dance of Eternity" from the Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory album as a skeleton, "Instrumedley" is played by inserting popular riffs and segments of other instrumentals and songs throughout "The Dance of Eternity." These segments are usually recognizable by avid Dream Theater fans, even when hearing "Instrumedley" for the first time, making the instrumental one of Dream Theater's most interesting musical pieces.
The instrumental was made popular when it was featured on the live 3-CD or 2-DVD release Live at Budokan.
It's also the only Dream Theater track that features songwriting credit from all three keyboard players (Moore, Sherinian, and Rudess).
Analysis
The following is a list of the instrumentals and songs that are sampled in "Instrumedley," as well as their locations within "Instrumedley" according to the time stamps based on the 12:10 version from Live at Budokan:
| Time | Song |
|---|---|
| 0:00 | "The Dance of Eternity" (Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory) |
| 1:42 | "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" (Images and Words) |
| 2:09 | "Erotomania" (Awake) |
| 3:29 | "The Dance of Eternity" |
| 4:20 | "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper" |
| 5:16 | "A Change of Seasons IV: The Darkest of Winters" (A Change of Seasons) |
| 5:48 | "When the Water Breaks" (Liquid Tension Experiment 2) |
| 5:56 | "A Change of Seasons IV: The Darkest of Winters" (A Change of Seasons) |
| 6:03 | "Ytse Jam" (When Dream and Day Unite) |
| 7:45 | "The Dance of Eternity" |
| 8:30 | "Paradigm Shift" (Liquid Tension Experiment) |
| 9:29 | "Universal Mind" (Liquid Tension Experiment) |
| 10:18 | "The Dance of Eternity" |
| 11:00 | "Hell's Kitchen" (Falling into Infinity) |
Personnel
Performed and written by:
Additional songwriting credits:
- Kevin Moore - keyboards in "Metropolis p. I", "Erotomania" and "Ytse Jam" sections
- Derek Sherinian - keyboards in "A Change of Seasons" and "Hell's Kitchen" sections
- Tony Levin - bass in "When the Water Breaks", "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind" sections
