Album
Images and Words
Images and Words is the second studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, following their 1989 debut When Dream and Day Unite. It came out on 7 July 1992 through ATCO Records, and it is the first record to feature James LaBrie on vocals, a change that gave the band's intricate playing a new voice at the front.
It has remained the band's most commercially successful studio album, and "Pull Me Under" is the only Top 10 hit they have had. That song found new listeners when it turned up in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero World Tour. If you want to hear where progressive metal, heavy metal and progressive rock meet in the band's early work, this is the record to start with.
Images and Words: tracklist, credits and charts
8 tracks · 57:06Tracklist
- 1Pull Me UnderLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy8:14
- 2Another DayLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy4:23
- 3Take the TimeLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy8:21
- 4SurroundedLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy5:30
- 5Metropolis, Part I: The Miracle and the SleeperLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy9:32
- 6Under a Glass MoonLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy7:03
- 7Wait for SleepLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy2:32
- 8Learning to LiveLaBrie, Moore, Myung, Petrucci, Portnoy11:30
- Produced by
- David Prater
- Recorded at
- Bear Tracks Recording Studio (Suffern, New York), The Hit Factory (New York City)
- Recorded
- October–December 1991
- Mixed by
- Doug Oberkircher, David Prater
- Mixed at
- Bear Tracks Recording Studio
- Engineered by
- Doug Oberkircher
- Labels
- ATCO Records, ATCO
- Length
- 57:06
Line-up
- Kevin Moore · keyboard
- John Myung · bass guitar
- John Petrucci · guitar
- Mike Portnoy · percussion, drums (drum set)
- James LaBrie · background vocals, lead vocals
- Jay Beckenstein · soprano saxophone · guest
Singles
- “Pull Me Under” · August 1992
- “Another Day” · July 1993
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1992–93 | 61 |
| US Heatseekers · 1992–93 | 2 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1992–93 | 30 |
| Italian Albums · 2005 | 88 |
| German Albums · 1992–93 | 94 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Japan · 1995 | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
80.4
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
5.9k
ListenBrainz listeners
92k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
35k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 7 July
Every year →
More from Dream Theater
Full discography →
When Dream and Day Unite
1989
Live at the Marquee
1993
Awake
1994
A Change of Seasons
1995
Falling Into Infinity
1997
Once in a LIVEtime
1998
Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory
1999
Live Scenes From New York
2001
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
2002
Train of Thought
2003
Live at Budokan
2004
Octavarium
2005
Score: 20th Anniversary World Tour
2006
Systematic Chaos
2007
Greatest Hit (…and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)
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
A View From the Top of the World
2021
Parasomnia
2025
The Studio Albums 1992–2016
2025
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More on ATCO Records
The label →
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1992-07-06 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 6 July 1992 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 7 July 1992 | |
| Wikidata | 7 July 1992 | |
| US release | 7 July 1992 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 6 July 1992 | earliest UK or European date |
15 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| — | US | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| — | AR | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| 1992 | AU | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| 1992 | XE | ATCO Records | 7567921481 | other |
| 6 July 1992 | XE | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | original |
| 7 July 1992 | US | ATCO Records | other | |
| 7 July 1992 | US | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| 1994 | XE | ATCO Records | 075679214829 | other |
| 15 December 1997 | JP | ATCO Records | 4988029311344 | other |
| 24 June 2009 | JP | ATCO Records | 4943674090631 | other |
| 19 October 2010 | XE | ATCO Records | 0081227979638 | other |
| 19 February 2013 | US | Brookvale Records | 850372002160 | other |
| 24 June 2013 | XE | ATCO Records | 8718469532919 | other |
| 15 July 2014 | XW | Atlantic | 075679214867 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · cropped: cropped from 2808x2794 to 2794x2794
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 2808×2794 | cropped: cropped from 2808x2794 to 2794x2794 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |