Liquid Tension Experiment

Liquid Tension Experiment
Company type	Supergroup
Industry	Music
Founded	1997
Founder	Mike Portnoy
Headquarters	United States
Products	Studio albums, live albums, video releases

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Liquid Tension Experiment, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 29 November 20258 sources

Liquid Tension Experiment (abbreviated as LTE) is a United States-based instrumental progressive metal supergroup established by Mike Portnoy in 1997. The ensemble produced two studio albums during 1998 and 1999. A follow-up to their second album, recorded without John Petrucci, emerged in 2007 under the name "Liquid Trio Experiment."

The group remained active until 1999, when Jordan Rudess became a member of Dream Theater, but they reunited in 2008 for live performances. In 2009, a live album primarily featuring performances without Rudess was issued as "Liquid Trio Experiment 2," alongside three live albums and two video releases showcasing the complete lineup. They reconvened in 2020 to create a third studio album, which was released on April 16, 2021.^[1]

Origins, recordings, and touring

Dream Theater’s drummer Mike Portnoy initiated Liquid Tension Experiment after receiving full creative freedom from Magna Carta.^[2] He recruited keyboardist Jordan Rudess and progressive rock bassist Tony Levin (who also plays the Chapman Stick) known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel. Other musicians considered included bassist Billy Sheehan and keyboardist Jens Johansson.^[3]

Portnoy initially pursued guitarist Dimebag Darrell, but scheduling conflicts prevented collaboration. Alternatives such as Steve Morse and Jim Matheos were also unavailable. Ultimately, he chose fellow Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci, despite originally wanting LTE to remain distinct from Dream Theater.^[2] The project began as a side effort in 1997. LTE’s success played a role in Rudess eventually joining Dream Theater, after having declined an offer in 1994.^[4]

The band released two albums on Magna Carta Records: Liquid Tension Experiment (1998) and Liquid Tension Experiment 2 (1999). They also held selective concerts in major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and London. Portnoy has repeatedly expressed skepticism about a third LTE album due to overlapping personnel with Dream Theater and similar musical content; however, he later indicated that record label complications were the primary obstacle.^[5]

Disputes emerged when studio footage was used without authorization by a company releasing the Liquid Drum Theater VHS without Magna Carta’s consent. In response, Portnoy returned to Magna Carta in 2007 to publish the "Spontaneous Combustion" sessions under the Liquid Trio Experiment name.^[6]

Several riffs from LTE have been incorporated into Dream Theater’s live shows—for instance, the "Instrumedley" piece on Live at Budokan, which includes segments from "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind."

On October 4, 2007, LTE was announced as headliners for the 2008 edition of NEARfest. To celebrate their tenth anniversary and explore new musical ideas, six tour dates were arranged for June 2008.^[7]^[8]

A comprehensive boxed set documenting their 2008 tour was released, featuring complete performances from New York and Los Angeles on DVD/CD/Blu-ray formats, the Chicago Liquid Trio Experiment 2 recording, plus a disc containing improvisational material from the tour. The New York and Los Angeles concerts were also issued separately through Dream Theater’s official bootleg label Lazy Tomato Entertainment.

Liquid Trio Experiment

While working on their sophomore album, John Petrucci had to leave due to his wife's early labor. The remaining trio capitalized on the reserved studio time by improvising and composing new material. These sessions were later released on October 23, 2007, under the title Liquid Trio Experiment alongside the album Spontaneous Combustion. Since the original master recordings were misplaced, the release was derived from Mike Portnoy's DAT tapes. Notably, several pieces from Liquid Tension Experiment 2, such as "914," "Chewbacca," and "Liquid Dreams," trace their origins back to these improvisations.

Liquid Trio Experiment 2

An unplanned iteration of Liquid Trio Experiment took place during a Chicago show on June 25, 2008, when Jordan Rudess experienced a keyboard failure that forced him offstage. The other three members continued by improvising the performance. Eventually, Rudess returned playing Petrucci's guitar while Petrucci switched to bass, and Tony Levin contributed on Chapman Stick. Near the conclusion, Anthrax’s Charlie Benante joined on drums as Portnoy transitioned to bass. This spontaneous concert was officially released in 2009 as When the Keyboard Breaks: Live in Chicago.

Interim period

On July 19, 2012, Tony Levin appeared onstage alongside Petrucci, Rudess, and Dream Theater drummer Mike Mangini in Huntington, NY, to perform "Paradigm Shift."

Later that year, Mike Portnoy performed "Acid Rain" live with PSMS—a group featuring Derek Sherinian, Tony MacAlpine, and Billy Sheehan—capturing the performance for a live DVD recorded in Tokyo that included this track.

On February 10, 2017, Portnoy and Levin reunited onstage in Tampa, FL, delivering renditions of "Paradigm Shift," "Acid Rain," and "Universal Mind" together with members of the progressive metal band Haken.

In April 2019, John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess mentioned the possibility of reuniting Liquid Tension Experiment if their schedules aligned.

By May 2020, Rudess confirmed via Cameo that a reunion was likely, with scheduling conflicts being the primary hurdle.

Reunion and Liquid Tension Experiment 3

On December 14, 2020, Levin, Portnoy, Rudess, and Petrucci hinted at a third Liquid Tension Experiment album through social media posts showing themselves wearing masks spelling out "LTE 3." The following day featured a group photo with the same masks. Official confirmation came on December 17, 2020, announcing that Liquid Tension Experiment 3 would be released by Inside Out Music on March 26, 2021. However, manufacturing printing issues delayed the release until April 16, 2021.

The band premiered a video for "The Passage of Time" on January 22, 2021. This was succeeded by videos for "Beating the Odds" on February 26 and "Hypersonic" on March 24 of the same year.

In an interview with Revolver magazine, Portnoy disclosed that they had signed a two-album contract with InsideOut and humorously suggested that a fourth Liquid Tension Experiment album would probably not take another two decades to materialize.