DREAM THEATER Guitarist: 'What Would David Gilmour Do?'

DREAM THEATER guitarist John Petrucci recently spoke with Mojo magazine about his love for PINK FLOYD, whose classic album, "Dark Side Of The Moon", was re-released last month.

Said Petrucci: "'Dark Side Of The Moon' came along first for me when I started to get into playing guitar. I was younger so I was more into the rock and metal that was out ZEPPELIN, SABBATH and AC/DC. Then some of my friends suggested I check out FLOYD. They were like, 'You have to turn off all the lights and listen to the whole thing with headphones.' It was like a ritual. It ended up being a real influence on my desire to make records that had a certain flow, that encapsulated an experience. I like to listen to albums like you watch a movie. You don't just watch a scene or ten minutes and that's it you watch the movie. It's the same with 'Dark Side...' Start listening and you can't help but listen to the whole album.

"In 2005 DREAM THEATER did a cover of the whole of the 'Dark Side Of The Moon'. We played it from start to finish and had the fortunate experience of doing that in London. We had a couple of great saxophone players play and it was a lot of fun. The funny thing was sitting down to learn the parts, and discovering how well I already knew the songs. They were so ingrained!

"There's a song on our new album called 'Breaking All Illusions' where the guitar solo is totally influenced by those hypnotic PINK FLOYD breakdowns. And I admit that what's going through my head is, What would David Gilmour do? You think of the most memorable, melodic solos by him and people can literally sing them. That's the level you're looking to achieve as a guitar player.

"And also, there's a ton of space. PINK FLOYD are totally all about the spaces in-between. The space sucks you right into the song. You want to get lost in it. And it always, always comes down to the songs. All the things we're talking about like the sound of the guitar, the orchestration, the mood it wouldn't be anything if there weren't these incredible, great songs that are a part of everybody's lives. Perhaps you relate to them on a personal level, or maybe they bring you back to a certain time, or perhaps it's the power of the message... like 'Wish You Were Here'.

"I get asked that a lot by young guitar players, 'What's most important? My technique? My sound?' But more than anything, you have to have great songs, you really do."