The Majesty Demos

The Majesty Demos are the first recorded attempts of progressive band Dream Theater, under their original name, Majesty. The original 1986 tape contained six tracks which were recorded on Mike Portnoy's analog 4-track recorder, and another 4-track recorder obtained from friends at Berklee College of Music. All the band members were about 19 years old at the time of the recording. Only 1,000 copies were recorded on cassette tape and distributed to fans and rock and metal magazines. Portnoy gave one copy to Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, a move that was instrumental in the band's break into the progressive rock scene. The line-up on the initial recording was keyboardist Kevin Moore, bassist John Myung, guitarist John Petrucci, and drummer Mike Portnoy. Chris Collins, the band's singer at the time, had been introduced to the band after a friend heard a demo of him singing a note-for-note version of Queensrÿche's "Queen of the Reich".

The Majesty Demos
YtseJam Records re-release artwork
Demo album by Dream Theater
Released	June 1, 1986 2003 (YtseJam re-release)
Recorded	1985–1986
Genre	Progressive rock, progressive metal
Length	37:18 (original release) 74:19 (Ytsejam re-release)
Label	Independent YtseJam Records (re-release)
Dream Theater chronology
The Majesty Demos (1986) When Dream and Day Unite (1989)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Seventeen tracks were released by Ytse Jam Records under the title The Berklee Demos and were recorded earlier by Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung at Berklee Music College. These tracks are instrumental. Tracks 11-17 (seven guitar miniatures, recorded by Petrucci and Portnoy late one night to demonstrate double-tracking the guitar). The songs on The Berklee Demos does not include keyboards, except for the cover of Rush's "YYZ" on which Portnoy plays keyboards. These recordings include versions of "Another Won," "Two Far," and "Your Majesty" which would all later appear on The Majesty Demos, though originally they were instrumentals without keyboards. It is for this reason that these three songs actually appear twice on the Ytse Jam Records re-release, as the CD is a combination of the Berklee Demos and the Majesty Demos.[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Another Won"	John Petrucci	5:27
2.	"Your Majesty"	Petrucci	3:45
3.	"A Vision"	Kevin Moore	11:24
4.	"Two Far"	Moore	5:25
5.	"Vital Star"	Moore	5:44
6.	"March of the Tyrant"	John Myung	5:34

Ytsejam Records re-release track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Particle E. Motion"	1:38
2.	"Another Won (instrumental version)"	5:26
3.	"The Saurus"	1:23
4.	"Cry for Freedom"	6:31
5.	"The School Song"	6:12
6.	"YYZ" (Rush cover)	4:03
7.	"The Farandole" (Talas cover)	3:16
8.	"Two Far (instrumental version)"	5:40
9.	"Anti-Procrastination Song" (S.O.D. cover)	0:13
10.	"Your Majesty (instrumental version)"	3:56
11.	"Solar System Race Song"	0:17
12.	"I'm About to Faint Song"	0:09
13.	"Mosquitos in Harmony Song"	0:12
14.	"John Thinks He's Randy Song"	0:10
15.	"Mike Thinks He's Dee Dee Ramone Introducing a Song Song"	0:16
16.	"John Thinks He's Yngwie Song"	0:15
17.	"Gnos Sdrawkcab"	0:23
18.	"Another Won"	5:27
19.	"Your Majesty"	3:45
20.	"A Vision"	11:24
21.	"Two Far"	5:25
22.	"Vital Star"	5:44
23.	"March of the Tyrant"	5:34

Personnel

• Chris Collins – vocals on tracks 18-23
• Kevin Moore – keyboards on tracks 18-23
• John Myung – bass
• John Petrucci – guitars
• Mike Portnoy – drums; keyboards on track 6

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Inside Sleeve of Dream Theater - Official Bootleg - The Majesty Demos 1985-1986 - Ytse Jam Records