Under a Glass Moon

Dream Theater, 1992. Solo by John Petrucci.

Petrucci's technical showpiece on Images and Words.

John Petrucci's solo on Images and Words is widely cited by fans as his best studio lead. Rather than one continuous shred run, it works like a string of short, contrasting episodes stitched into about a minute of music, moving between styles and phrasing ideas. Keyboardist Kevin Moore trades ideas with the guitar along the way. Because each phrase heads somewhere new, the solo feels unpredictable, unusual for a metal lead. Listen for the sudden changes of direction; just when you expect a run to repeat, Petrucci switches to a completely different idea.

Under a Glass Moon by Dream Theater is ranked #64 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by John Petrucci and the song was released in 1992. It appears on 10 lists, placing as high as #6 (Seymour Duncan).

The story of Under a Glass Moon

Under a Glass Moon is the sixth track on Images and Words, the second Dream Theater album and the first to feature singer James LaBrie. The music is credited to the whole band of LaBrie, John Petrucci, Kevin Moore, John Myung and Mike Portnoy, while Petrucci supplied the lyrics. At just over seven minutes it is a mid-length piece by the band's standards, packing heavy riffing, tricky meters and a showcase lead guitar section into a relatively tight frame.

Petrucci has explained that the words came to him while he sat alone in his car at night during a rainstorm, with a full moon visible overhead. The imagery that storm suggested, full of liquid shadows and silver tears, fills the lyric. It does not tell a clear story; instead it sketches a dreamlike, moonlit scene and leaves listeners free to decide what it means.

The album was tracked between October and December 1991 at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, and The Hit Factory in Manhattan, with David Prater producing and Doug Oberkircher engineering. The sessions were tense. The band clashed with Prater, who at times locked them out of the studio and pushed Mike Portnoy into using triggered drum samples, including a snare sound lifted from a FireHouse record.

Dream Theater had hoped to make a double album, but Atco refused, so some material, including A Change of Seasons, was held back. Images and Words came out on 7 July 1992 and, helped by the radio single Pull Me Under, reached number 61 on the Billboard 200. It became the band's only RIAA gold record and its best seller, and Under a Glass Moon grew into a fan favourite on the strength of its guitar solo.

The solo

The solo is John Petrucci's showcase on Images and Words and is widely cited by fans as his best studio lead. Rather than one continuous shred run, it works like a string of short, contrasting episodes stitched into roughly a minute of music, moving between styles and phrasing ideas with Kevin Moore's piano trading ideas with the guitar along the way. Because each phrase seems to head somewhere new, listeners often describe it as unpredictable and unusually non-standard for a metal solo. The specific guitar, amplifier and effects used on the 1991 sessions are not documented in the sources consulted here; Petrucci is best known as a long-time player of Music Man signature guitars and Mesa/Boogie amps, but those associations are not tied to this recording in the sources.

Legacy

Under a Glass Moon is one of the most celebrated guitar moments on an album that is itself treated as a landmark of progressive metal. An About.com guitar writer placed its solo 98th on a list of the greatest guitar solos, and a fan-voted ranking of Petrucci's solos puts it first. Images and Words has since topped Prog Report's list of the best progressive albums from 1990 to 2015 and appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest metal albums, keeping the song in the conversation for new generations of players.

Top 10 facts about Under a Glass Moon

John Petrucci wrote the lyrics while sitting in his car at night during a rainstorm, with a full moon in view.
Songfacts
The music is credited to Dream Theater as a band, with Petrucci as sole lyricist; the album version runs 7:03.
Wikipedia: Images and Words
Images and Words was recorded from October to December 1991 at BearTracks Studios in Suffern, New York, and The Hit Factory in New York City.
Wikipedia: Images and Words
Producer David Prater reportedly locked the band out of the studio at times and made Mike Portnoy use triggered drum samples, including a snare from a FireHouse album.
Wikipedia: Images and Words
An About.com guitar expert ranked the Under a Glass Moon solo as the 98th best guitar solo.
Wikipedia: Images and Words
Images and Words is the only Dream Theater album certified gold by the RIAA and remains the band's best-selling record.
Wikipedia: Images and Words
The song was filmed at Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo on 26 August 1993 for the video release Images and Words: Live in Tokyo.
Wikipedia: Images and Words: Live in Tokyo
A version from the band's 23 April 1993 Marquee Club show was left off Live at the Marquee and surfaced only on a CD bundled with the first edition of the Lifting Shadows biography.
Wikipedia: Live at the Marquee
Dream Theater played it at the Bataclan in Paris on 25 June 1998, but it was not included on the resulting live album Once in a LIVEtime.
Wikipedia: Once in a LIVEtime
A fan-voted TopTens ranking of John Petrucci's solos puts Under a Glass Moon at number one, praising how it links many short ideas into a coherent whole.
TheTopTens

Live versions

Images and Words: Live in Tokyo (Nakano Sun Plaza) (1993) Official video capturing the Images and Words tour lineup playing the song in Tokyo on 26 August 1993.
Live at the Marquee (Lifting Shadows bonus CD) (1993) Recorded at London's Marquee Club; issued only on a disc packaged with the band biography.
Score (Radio City Music Hall) (2006) Twentieth-anniversary concert recorded 1 April 2006 in New York; the song appears on disc one.

In our lists

Sources

What guitar was used on the Under a Glass Moon solo?

An ibanez through a Mesa/Boogie amp, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Under a Glass Moon rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#64 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 10 of them.

Who wrote Under a Glass Moon?

The music is credited to Dream Theater as a band, and guitarist John Petrucci wrote the lyrics.

What album is Under a Glass Moon on?

It is the sixth track on Images and Words, released by Atco on 7 July 1992.

Who plays the guitar solo on Under a Glass Moon?

John Petrucci, Dream Theater's guitarist, plays the solo.

What is Under a Glass Moon about?

Petrucci wrote it from imagery that came to him in his car during a nighttime rainstorm under a full moon; the lyric is deliberately open-ended rather than a story.

How long is Under a Glass Moon?

The studio version runs 7 minutes and 3 seconds.