On the Backs of Angels
john petrucci
['rob thomas', 'emanuel schikaneder', 'john cale', 'eminem', 'missy elliott', 'adrian smith', 'graham nash', 'glenn slater', 'brian wilson', 'joe melson', 'paul mccartney', 'jean villard gilles', 'joey tempest', 'henry blossom', 'stevie nicks', 'axl rose', 'dead kennedys', 'martin gore', 'betty comden', 'hikaru utada', 'shontelle', 'jerry herman', 'mahler', 'manu dibango', 'alain boublil', 'toby gad', 'lynn ahrens', 'stevie wonder', 'jack white', 'sam smith', 'robyn', 'william finn', 'herbie hancock', 'christina perri', 'robert burns', 'macklemore', 'alice cooper', 'rabindranath tagore', 'lou reed', 'ian tyson', 'kai hansen', 'kylie minogue', 'stephen sondheim', 'dan goggin', 'steven tyler', 'cat stevens', 'strummer', 'tom eyen', 'randy travis', 'don black', 'meghan trainor', 'diplo', 'michael john lachiusa', 'allen ginsberg', 'bert kaempfert', 'sheldon harnick', 'lenny kravitz', 'janis ian', 'kirk hammett', 'bret mckenzie', 'albert hammond', 'dan wilson', 'martin luther', 'demi lovato', 'tito puente', 'sean paul', 'bernie taupin', 'gene clark', 'nick cave', 'moby', 'johnny mercer', 'ian gillan', 'jimmy page', 'lee hazlewood', 'beenie man', 'hugh martin', 'professor green', 'ozzy osbourne', 'bono', 'billie joe armstrong', 'tuomas', 'psy', 'solange knowles', 'tim rice', 'bruce springsteen', 'neil diamond', 'jeremih', 'bart howard', 'edward kleban', 'carlos santana', 'hugo peretti', 'charli xcx', 'ray davies', 'dorothy donnelly', 'lewis allan', 'roger miller', 'adrian ross', 'pharrell williams', 'woody guthrie']
On the Backs of Angels
"On the Backs of Angels" is a song by American progressive metal/rock band Dream Theater, featured on their 11th studio album A Dramatic Turn of Events. The song was written by the band's guitarist and producer John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. "On the Backs of Angels" was released as A Dramatic Turn of Events' lead single via YouTube on June 29, 2011. A music video for the song was released on September 14, 2011. The song was nominated for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards, eventually losing to "White Limo" by Foo Fighters. In composing "On the Backs of Angels", on the advice from one of their fans and co-writers, Dream Theater tried to illustrate their signature sound. From the start, the band envisioned the song as an album opener that, according to Petrucci, would make their fans "feel at home". Clocking in at 8:43 long and with numerous time signature changes, the song is mostly played in 4/4 and 3/4 time. Its introduction features a moody and foreboding arpeggiated guitar pattern that was written by Petrucci and inspired by the music of said fan favorite, Pink Floyd. At 5:51, the song breaks down into a piano passage that was improvised by Rudess. Audiences were positively receptive of this song's music video, with some interviewed individuals referring to it as a true masterpiece, rivaling even Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It has been said that this song is the anthem of small groups of college students in the Northeastern region of the United States.