Metal Wani’s Carl O’Rourke recently sat down with keyboard wizard and Dream Theater legend Jordan Rudess to talk about his new solo album, Wired For Madness, what Dream Theater is up to, and the likelihood of a Liquid Tension Experiment reunion. CHeck out the interview below.

On returning to a full sonic sound, with synthesizers and electronics boldly up front

Jordan: "It’s been a while since I’ve done an all-out studio rock, electronic extravaganza, and I really wanted to do that. Synthesizers, exploring sounds, it’s one of the new ways of expressing sound with technology, it’s a passion of mine. I’m always interested, always ready to find outlets to do that and of course, the ultimate outlet is in creating a big solo work like this. But for many reasons, it wasn’t the right time to do it before. For scheduling reasons, for the fact that I hooked up with Mascot Records which is really great, it kind of enabled me and inspired me to do this big project. So yeah, I dove in a said ‘Okay, this is it, I’m making it happen’, and I managed to compose all this music and produce all this stuff and find all the guests that I wanted to include on the album and great Wired For Madness."

On whether his well versed musical mind has demystified music for him

Jordan: "The reason I do music, primarily for almost a self-healing kind of concept. Not to get too spiritual, but the reality is, music for me has been very healing. And I’m interested in, not only how I can communicate, but also bring a kind of resonance, a kind of peace, if you will, even if something’s really rocking, into my own life. So, very often people will find me in front of my piano just kind of vibing out. I might put the camera on to share it with other people, but to create something that just feels, that just feels good and resonates for everybody. So that’s the main concern. After that, it’s about taking people on a musical journey and entertainment and all that kind of stuff. But the reason I do this is because of the way I can make me feel and make other people feel as well."

On whether or not his concept songs could lead to a book 

Jordan: "A friend of mine, Peter O’ Rullian, who handled writing a book around The Astonishing concept, which was the last Dream Theater album, has been very inspired by this concept that I wrote this title track to. And he is writing a book with this concept in mind. So it’ll be done very soon and we’ll point people to that to check out."

On the possibility of a Liquid Tension Experiment reunion

Jordan: "I recently had a little musical experience with my old friend Mike Portnoy and we were talking about it. I hadn’t played with him in like, nine years I think. So it was kind of fun getting together and banging out one of the old pieces. I’ve always gotten along with Mike, really. I mean there was definitely that period of time when it was a little bit rough for everybody just ‘cause it was, you know, what was going on. But we were talking about that, it’d be something really fun to do. I would love that. It’s a matter of scheduling. Everybody’s really busy. I mean Mike himself has, how many bands? I’ve lost count of things he’s balancing. And we’re so busy, and I’m so busy in our world. I mean there are so many things we want to do. But to get the point, I think that it’s gonna happen, but we don’t have it in the schedule yet. We just need to figure when the best time to do this really would be and then make it happen."

Liquid Tension Experiment (LTE) was an instrumental progressive metal band founded by former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy in 1997. It featured himself, Rudess (who had not yet joined Dream Theater), Tony Levin (King Crimson / bass, Chapman stick), and John Petrucci (Dream Theater / guitars). They released two albums: Liquid Tension Experiment (1998) and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999).

Jordan Rudess has been the full-time keyboardist with Dream Theater since 1999's Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory, as well as releasing his own acclaimed solo works with accompanying solo tours, developing his own range of award-winning keyboard apps, writing instruction books and teaching online keyboard courses.

And now comes his latest solo release, Wired For Madness. Bursting and flowing forth with all of the drama, technique and melodicism that have become his musical hallmarks, the album also features the keyboard wizard handling many of the vocals. It blends old-school prog and piano with a ferocious and typically ambitious oeuvre that’s as tasteful and classic as it is outrageously expansive

Renowned guests include drummer Marco Minnemann, Dream Theater singer James LaBrie, guitarists Vinnie Moore, Guthrie Govan, Joe Bonamassa and Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci. But the true star here is Rudess - equal parts classical master, prog monster and interstellar master of the musical universe. There’s even some blues!

Says Rudess: “’Just Can’t Win’ is a dirty blues song! The Dream Theater guys call me 'Blues Man' because, at 8 AM, after sleeping on the tour bus, I sound like a reincarnation of an old blues man soul. I called in Joe Bonamassa and a full brass section to help make this song really happen. For my prog fans, this is Jordan Rudess in an alternate universe!”

It all started with a curious mind and a furious set of little hands. He has gone to change the world of music in many wondrous ways, and his latest solo release is the next dynamic chapter in a book that's still being written.

Tracklisting:

"Wired For Madness - Part 1"
"Wired For Madness - Part 2"
"Off The Ground"
"Drop Twist"
"Perpetual Shine"
"Just Can't Win"
"Just For Today"
"Why I Dream"

"Why I Dream" lyric video:

"Wired For Madness - Part 1" lyric video:

"Wired For Madness Pt 1.3" lyric video:

EPK: