| The Ytse Jam | |
| When Dream and Day Unite | |
| Length | 5:46 |
| Working title | (Unknown) |
| Release date | March 16th, 1989 |
| Lyrics | N/A |
| Music | Dream Theater |
| First live performance | Stage Door, Deer Park, NY, USA on Oct. 25, 1986 |
| Total live plays | 307 |
| Recorded | Kajem/Victory Studios |
| Other appearances | Once in a LIVEtime, Live at Budokan, When Dream and Day Unite Demos, When Dream and Day Reunite |
| Previous song | Status Seeker |
| Next song | The Killing Hand |
The Ytse Jam is a song by Dream Theater. It is the third track on their first album, When Dream and Day Unite, and the only instrumental on the album. It is the most popular song on the album, and is a staple of the band's live shows.
Personnel[]
- Mike Portnoy - Drums
- John Petrucci - Guitar
- John Myung - Bass
- Kevin Moore - Keyboards
Notes[]
Ytse Jam's name comes from the band's original name "Majesty" which was reversed and broken into two words. It is pronounced "Yit Say Jam". The song has lent its name to a variety of things related to Dream Theater, such as YtseJam Records. Some fans refer to themselves as "Ytsejammers". A fan sequenced piano version of the song was made and featured on the credits to Metropolis 2000.
The track has its origins in the founding members tenure at Berklee, where they initially developed the famous opening riff before shelving the piece to work on it later. The band played an early version of Ytse Jam at the last concert with Chris Collins, similar to the first demo of the piece found on the "When Dream and Day Unite Demos" Official Boot CD.
Live Perfomances[]
Out of all the songs from When Dream and Day Unite, Ytse Jam receives easily the most plays live, often with the band extending the solo sections greatly. Some versions of Ytse Jam will include full solos from Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung, and instrumental snippets of other songs have been known to appear. Some live versions of Ytse Jam can last nearly 20 minutes, the band usually using this as a way to fit in various solos within the context of a song.
Appearances[]
- When Dream and Day Unite - Original recorded version
- Once in a LIVEtime - Live version
- Live at Budokan - Live performance as a part of Instrumedley
- When Dream and Day Unite Demos - Demo version
- Los Angeles, California 5/18/98 - Live version
- When Dream and Day Reunite - Live version
- Old Bridge, New Jersey 12/14/96 - Live version
- New York City 3/4/93 - Live version