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YtseJam Records

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The YtseJam Records logo
The YtseJam Records logo

YtseJam Records is a semi-independent record label set up by Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy in 2003. It is responsible for the distribution of Dream Theater-related material that would not normally be a candidate for general release, such as demos and 'official' live bootlegs.

YtseJam is operated exclusively through its website, with none of their releases being available in physical music stores or online outlets.

It is semi-independent in that it has the financial backing of Dream Theater's home label Elektra Records, but Portnoy has complete control over the contents and presentation of any material released. Elektra has also put limits on the scope of YtseJam, most notably restricting the number of pressings for each album produced.

Origin

Mike Portnoy has an astonishingly extensive archive of Dream Theater-related recordings. It contains almost everything from the band's history, such as their first recorded performances in their teenage years, outtakes from Dream Theater album sessions, and every single live performance Dream Theater has ever done. Mike captures each gig they perform with a DAT recorder, and stores the tapes in the basement of his home along with a lot of other Dream Theater-related memorabilia.

Dream Theater fans have long discussed these archives, and lauded them as a gold-mine for any hardcore collector of the band's music. Community pressure to release some of the more important moments in the band's history led to Mike forming YtseJam Records, much to the delight of said collectors.

The name

The word "YtseJam," pronounced 'yit-say-jam,' is the word "Majesty" spelled backwards. As the story goes, Dream Theater were originally named Majesty but were forced to rename the band after learning of another Majesty operating in the United States. On Dream Theater's debut album When Dream and Day Unite there is an instrumental entitled "The Ytse Jam," which was written before the band changed their name and is a reference to the now-defunct moniker.

As well as this, the word "YtseJam" has a strong place in the hearts of Dream Theater fans (who sometimes refer to themselves as "YtseJammers"), with numerous websites, magazines and the like being named after the instrumental. The most notable of these is the YtseJam Mailing List, which has been in operation since the early 1990s and was for a long time the main channel of online communication between Dream Theater fans.

YtseJams, Inc. is also the alias used by the band in publishing their music.

In keeping with this extensive use of the word "YtseJam" in Dream Theater-related ventures, Mike Portnoy named his label YtseJam Records.

Releases to date

The cover of the official bootleg from October 28, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan.
Enlarge
The cover of the official bootleg from October 28, 1995 in Tokyo, Japan.

Demo Series

Live Series

Studio Series

Cover Series

See also

External links

[ v]·[ d]·[ e]
Dream Theater
James LaBrie | John Myung | John Petrucci | Mike Portnoy | Jordan Rudess
Chris Collins | Charlie Dominici | Kevin Moore | Derek Sherinian
Discography
Albums and extended plays: When Dream and Day Unite | Images and Words | Awake | A Change of Seasons | Falling into Infinity | Scenes from a Memory | Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence | Train of Thought | Octavarium
Live albums: Live at the Marquee | Once in a LIVEtime | Live Scenes from New York | Live at Budokan | SCORE
Videos and DVDs: ' | 5 Years in a Livetime | ' | Live at Budokan | SCORE
Songs: Pull Me Under | Another Day | A Mind Beside Itself | The Glass Prison
Related articles
Jelly Jam | Liquid Tension Experiment | MullMuzzler | OSI | Platypus | Transatlantic | YtseJam Records

 


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