Following Dominici's departure, Dream Theater fought successfully to be released from their

contract with Mechanic, and set about auditioning singers and writing material for their next
album. In their search for a new singer, they auditioned over 200 people, among them former
Fates Warning front man John Arch. John ultimately decided that his personal commitments
were more important and he opted not to join the band.[20] In mid-1990, at a gig in New York,
Dream Theater introduced Steve Stone as their new singer. Stone had successfully recorded
demos with Dream Theater, but he was fired following a single, ill-fated live performance.
According to Mike Portnoy, Stone moved around the stage in a rather odd manner, seemingly
doing a bad impression of Bruce Dickinson. Additionally, he shouted "Scream for me Long
Beach!" several times throughout the show (Dickinson can be heard saying this on Iron Maiden's
live album Live After Death), although they were actually performing in Bayshore.[21] It was five
months before Dream Theater played another show, this time all-instrumental (under the name
YtseJam). Until 1991, the band remained focused in an attempt to hire another singer and writing
additional music.[19] It was during this period that they wrote the majority of what would become
Images and Words (1992).

In January 1991, the band received a demo tape from Kevin James LaBrie, of glam metal band
Winter Rose.[22] The band had received the tape just before they were about to commit to another
singer. The band was so impressed by his demo that he was flown from Canada to New York for
an audition. LaBrie jammed on three songs with the band, and was immediately hired to fill the
vocalist position. Once recruited, LaBrie decided to drop his first name to avoid confusion with
the other Kevin in the band. For the next few months, the band returned to playing live shows
(still mostly around NYC), while working on vocal parts for the music written before acquiring
LaBrie. Derek Shulman and Atco Records (now EastWest), a division of Elektra Records, signed
Dream Theater to a seven-album contract based on a three-song demo (later made available as
"The Atco Demos" through the Dream Theater fan club).

The first album to be recorded under their new record contract was Images and Words (1992).
For promotion, the label released a CD Single and video clip for the song "Another Day", but
neither made significant commercial impact. The song "Pull Me Under", however, managed to
garner a high level of radio airplay without any organized promotion from the band or their label.
In response, ATCO produced a video clip for "Pull Me Under", which saw heavy rotation on
MTV. A third video clip was produced for "Take the Time", but it was not nearly as successful
as "Pull Me Under".

The success of "Pull Me Under", combined with relentless touring throughout the U.S. and
Japan, caused Images and Words to achieve gold record certification in the States and platinum
status in Japan. A tour of Europe followed in 1993, which included a show at London's famed
Marquee Club. The show was recorded and released as Live at the Marquee, Dream Theater's
first official live album. Additionally, a video compilation of their Japanese concerts (mixed in
with documentary-style footage of the off-stage portion of the tour) was released as Images and
Words: Live in Tokyo.

Awake and Kevin Moore's departure (19941995)

 "A Mind Beside Itself: II Voices"

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"Voices" from Awake.

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Eager to work on fresh material, Dream Theater retreated to the studio in May 1994. Awake,
Dream Theater's third studio album, was released on October 4, 1994 amidst a storm of fan
controversy. Shortly before the album was mixed, Moore had announced to the rest of the band
that he would be quitting Dream Theater to concentrate on his own musical interests, since he
was no longer interested in touring or the style of music which Dream Theater performed.[23] As
a result, the band had to scramble to find a replacement keyboardist before a tour could be
considered.

Former Yngwie Malmsteen/Dio keyboardist Jens Johansson, who would go on to become a

member of Stratovarius, was among the biggest names to audition, but the band members were
eager to fill the position with keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Portnoy and Petrucci had come across
Rudess in Keyboard Magazine, where he was recognized as "best new talent" in the readers' poll.
The two invited him to play a trial gig with the band at the Concrete Foundations Forum in
Burbank, California.[19] Although the show was a success, and Rudess was asked to fill the
keyboardist position permanently, he opted to tour with The Dixie Dregs instead, since it granted
him more personal latitude. Dream Theater hired fellow Berklee alumnus Derek Sherinian, who
had previously toured and recorded with Alice Cooper and KISS, to fill in for the Waking Up the
World Tour. By the conclusion of the tour, the band decided to take Sherinian on as Moore's full-
time replacement.[13]