The magnum opus of the most important prog metal band of all time turns 15 years old this coming Sunday, October 26th. Where were you when you first heard it?

I knew “Pull Me Under” from MTV back in the day but had lost track of the band since. I was a freshman in college, and some cute marching band girl in my dorm that I kind of knew recommended I check out the track “Home,” so I fired up Napster and downloaded it in a few seconds flat, still a novel concept at the time. I was hooked! The track became my “getting ready to go out at night” song for the rest of the semester — super lol there @ my nerdiness, but it’s better than Nelly or whatever the other kids were listening to while they took shots of Bicardi Limon to feel badass.

Obviously I developed a massive crush on this girl, but she had some loser boyfriend and turned me down when I asked her to go to the Dream Theater show in Detroit a few months later. Her loss! That crush, of course, pales in comparison to the one I developed for Dream Theater in the wake of discovering that song — Ashley from Minnesota, wherever she is these days, has no idea how big of an effect she had on my life. It’s no exaggeration to say that if not for her there wouldn’t be a MetalSucks!

Jam Scenes From a Memory below and reminisce about what is unquestionably Dream Theater’s best album. Wouldn’t it be rad if they toured the album start to finish in celebration? With the narrator, chorus and everything, like they did for the DVD shoot. I doubt they’ll do it — would feel so weird without Portnoy, with how integral he was to all of it — but it’s fun to fantasize about.

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