Awake is the third studio album by American progressive metal band Dream Theater, released on October 4, 1994, through East West Records.

Much of the material for Awake was written in writing sessions between February and April 1994, during which Dream Theater were under pressure from their record label to produce an album as successful as Images and Words (1992) with a single similar to "Pull Me Under".

The fighting never came to blows, but there was a lot of bickering over every single element, like the fine details of what the third note on the sixty-fourth bar should be.

"I think it paved the way for many of our strongest and heaviest later songs like 'A Change of Seasons', 'The Glass Prison' and 'The Dark Eternal Night'.

"[4] Vocalist James LaBrie described his vocals on Awake as "more varied and a lot more aggressive" than on Images and Words to the extent that people may think the band had a new singer for the album.

[6][7] John Purdell and Duane Baron, whose credits included Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears (1991), were hired to produce the album.

[6] The band, which had a difficult relationship with David Prater, who produced Images and Words, enjoyed working with Purdell and Baron.

[11] The band's business manager, Rob Shore, suggested that the idea of prolonged touring was a contributing factor in Moore's decision.

[12] Describing Moore as "a very private person",[12] Portnoy thought that he might have left because "the whole machine of the music business just wasn't his cup of tea".

"When David Prater mixed Images and Words it was really unfortunate because he forgot to bring some sections out and he really didn't understand what we wanted from the final music.

"[13] The album's opening track, "6:00", features lyrics written by Moore, hinting at the growing distance between him and the rest of the band.

[20] The song eventually took on a darker tone as the tempo changed and guitarist John Petrucci began writing lyrics about depression.

The lines inspired by "Rock the Casbah", while present on the working demo, were removed entirely for the final release.

As with Images and Words, the band instructed Freemantle to include several lyrical references in the cover, such as a clock showing the time 6:00, a mirror and a spider in the middle of a web.

What we're basically talking about is the awareness of your existence - becoming closer and more in touch with yourself and ultimately discovering what works best for you as an individual as you try to get through life.

The accompanying music video featured the band, then a four-piece, playing the track at various locations in New York City, including the Brooklyn Bridge, Tribeca and a tunnel in Manhattan (which had to be temporarily closed in order to complete the shoot).

Portnoy was keen to direct the music video for "The Silent Man", but East West only offered him a co-directing credit with Pamela Birkhead.

On the day of the shoot, Portnoy became violently ill, and when not needed to perform rested in his tour bus bunk.

[24] With Moore no longer a member of Dream Theater, the band needed to find a replacement keyboardist for the forthcoming world tour in support of Awake.

At the same time, he had received an offer to perform with the Dixie Dregs for shorter runs of shows and had a job with Kurzweil.

[30] He was offered the position on a trial basis at the beginning of October 1994, giving him just two weeks to learn two hours of highly complex music.

But it is amazing what one will do to ascend... when I was in New York at the rehearsals, I would play the songs at night over and over on a loop so that I would be subliminally programmed and it would ingrain it in my head.

[34] Upon his return home he consulted an ears, nose, and throat specialist, who told LaBrie that he had ruptured his vocal cords, advising him not to sing for six months to a year.

This would remain the band's highest-charting release in the US until Systematic Chaos in 2007, which was eventually topped by 2009's Black Clouds & Silver Linings, which peaked at No.

The British press in particular seemed dazzled by the work of Kurt Cobain and his cohorts, and anything that wasn't based around three chords or packed with lyrics championing depression as a lifestyle choice was in for a hard ride.

Q wrote that "fans of Marillion may well love this, and even the sceptical listener can enjoy the crunching, radio-friendly choruses of "Scarred" and "Caught in a Web".

"[44] Guitar World ranked the album as one of the top ten releases of the year, stating that "this shred party left me punch drunk and, for once in my life, fully Awake.

"[43] Metal Hammer dismissed Awake as "musical masturbation":[21] "Progressive rock is basically a very adolescent notion of what 'grown up' music might sound like - more notes, longer solos and, best/worst of all, convoluted concepts... Their propensity for pomposity extends to the ballad "Silent Man", which would probably like to be Queensrÿche's "Silent Lucidity" but in fact sounds like Stryper on a particularly pious day".

Phil Carter of AllMusic highlighted Petrucci and Portnoy's performances;[41] Metal Storm praised LaBrie and Portnoy;[52] Murat Batmaz of Sea of Tranquility praised all the performances, but singled out Moore's contribution as "immense" and complimented him on "a lucid layer of atmosphere around [the album] built by none other than Kevin Moore.

[52] In a 1995 Guitar World interview, Chuck Schuldiner praised Awake and the band Dream Theater in general, claiming that "their music is very complex, but they definitely have hooks, which is crucial to making music listenable", citing them as an influence on the more progressive nature of his band Death's later material as opposed to the stagnant death metal scene at the time.