Album
A View From the Top of the World
A View From the Top of the World is Dream Theater's fifteenth studio album, released on 22 October 2021 through Inside Out Music. It was the first record the American progressive metal band made at their own studio, DTHQ, which gave them a new home base after decades of working elsewhere. It follows Distance Over Time (2019) and comes before Parasomnia (2025).
It's a tighter set than some of their sprawling past efforts, with fewer than nine tracks, and it closes on its longest piece, a run of over ten minutes. Opener "The Alien" won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2022. It also marks the last album with drummer Mike Mangini, who left in October 2023 when original drummer Mike Portnoy returned, so it captures a distinct chapter in the band's story.
A View From the Top of the World: tracklist, credits and charts
7 tracks · 1:10:14Tracklist
- 1The AlienLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess9:31
- 2Answering the CallLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess7:35
- 3Invisible MonsterLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess6:30
- 4Sleeping GiantLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess10:04
- 5Transcending TimeLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess6:24
- 6Awaken the MasterLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess9:47
- 7A View From the Top of the WorldLaBrie, Mangini, Myung, Petrucci, Rudess20:23
- Produced by
- John Petrucci
- Recorded at
- DTHQ (Long Island, New York)
- Recorded
- October 2020 – March 2021
- Mixed by
- Andy Sneap
- Mixed at
- Backstage Studios
- Engineered by
- James “Jimmy T” Meslin
- Mastered by
- Andy Sneap
- Label
- Inside Out Music
- Length
- 1:10:14
Line-up
- Mike Mangini · drums (drum set)
- John Myung · electric bass guitar
- John Petrucci · electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Jordan Rudess · keyboard
- James LaBrie · lead vocals
Singles
- “The Alien” · 13 August 2021
- “Invisible Monster” · 22 September 2021
- “Awaken the Master” · 00 December 2021
- “Transcending Time” · 00 January 2022
- “Answering the Call” · 15 June 2023
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 2021 | 21 |
| US Billboard 200 · 2021 | 52 |
| Finnish Albums · 2021 | 1 |
| German Albums · 2021 | 2 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2021 | 2 |
| Dutch Albums · 2021 | 3 |
| Swiss Albums · 2021 | 3 |
| US Hard Rock · 2021 | 3 |
| Austrian Albums · 2021 | 5 |
| Polish Albums · 2021 | 6 |
All 28 charts
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2021 | 8 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2021 | 8 |
| US Independent Albums · 2021 | 8 |
| Italian Albums · 2021 | 9 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) · 2021 | 9 |
| Scottish Albums · 2021 | 10 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2021 | 10 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2021 | 11 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2021 | 12 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2021 | 13 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2021 | 16 |
| Spanish Albums · 2021 | 21 |
| Swedish Albums · 2021 | 21 |
| Czech Albums · 2021 | 27 |
| French Albums · 2021 | 30 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2021 | 32 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2021 | 42 |
| Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI) · 2021 | 62 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
61.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
1.3k
ListenBrainz listeners
42k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
10k
Deezer fans (all editions)
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Full discography →
When Dream and Day Unite
1989
Images and Words
1992
Live at the Marquee
1993
Awake
1994
A Change of Seasons
1995
Falling Into Infinity
1997
Once in a LIVEtime
1998
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1999
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2001
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2002
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2003
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2004
Octavarium
2005
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2006
Systematic Chaos
2007
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2008
Forsaken EP
2008
Chaos in Motion 2007–2008
2008
Black Clouds & Silver Linings
2009
Wither
2009
A Dramatic Turn of Events
2011
Dream Theater
2013
Live at Luna Park
2013
The Studio Albums 1992–2011
2014
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Live From the Boston Opera House
2014
The Astonishing
2016
Distance Over Time
2019
Distant Memories: Live in London
2020
Parasomnia
2025
The Studio Albums 1992–2016
2025
The best of 2021
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More on Inside Out Music
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 22 October 2021 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 22 October 2021 | |
| Wikidata | 22 October 2021 | |
| Deezer | 22 October 2021 | |
| US release | 22 October 2021 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 22 October 2021 | earliest UK or European date |
7 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 October 2021 | XW | Inside Out Music | 886449065479 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | XE | Sony Music | 194398731629 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | JP | Inside Out Music | 4547366523874 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | XE | Inside Out Music | 194398731711 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | JP | Inside Out Music | 4547366523867 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | XE | Sony Music | 194398731520 | original |
| 22 October 2021 | US | Inside Out Music | 194399254127 | original |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 4496x4496, downscaled to 3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 4496×4496 | native: native 4496x4496, downscaled to 3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |