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When Portnoy rejoined Dream Theater, the group briefly wondered whether they would find time for another NMB record. The answer came when Portnoy unexpectedly found a short break in his schedule. Randy George: "Mike came back to us and said, ‘Hey, I have a stretch in April where I can record an album.' So we just said, okay, let's make it happen."
That window of time became the spark for L.I.F.T. The band gathered in April 2025, just a week after Cruise to the Edge, to begin writing. The plan was simple: make the most of their limited time to write and track Portnoy's drums before he had to move on. The first few days proved slow until Morse suggested, "Let's outline a concept, something to write to." That suggestion unlocked the creative floodgates, and within days, the track Fully Alive had taken shape.
NMB – Fully Alive (Single Version) (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
Watch Mike Portnoy and the band play Fully Alive in a very comfortable setting.
Conceptually, L.I.F.T. stands toe to toe with NMB's greatest works like their much-acclaimed concept album "Similitude Of A Dream", combining emotional depth with the band's trademark progressive rock grandeur. The sessions were engineered by longtime collaborator Jerry Guidroz, with all drum tracks recorded on-site before each member continued working individually from home studios. For the first time, NMB worked entirely outside their familiar recording environment, at Eric Gillette's studio in Tulsa, adding a layer of uncertainty to the process.
Neil Morse explains:
"In short, L.I.F.T. is a prog concept album that follows the journey of someone seeking to belong to something greater than themselves. It starts with feeling connected to the world and life, then there is a break in belonging, after which comes the turmoil and desperate cry, leading to a return to that place of profound connection."
The album title came late, though its meaning remains intentionally vague. "We thought it could stand for different things," says Randy. "It's kind of whatever the listener wants it to be."
True to the band's collaborative spirit, L.I.F.T. began with the usual whiteboard full of ideas, with columns under each member's name filled with riffs and snippets. However, few of them made it onto the final album. While Bill Hubauer contributed a few early sketches, and Morse improvised piano pieces that evolved into key themes, much of the music took shape spontaneously.
Randy George:
"We hardly used any of the ideas on the board. Most of it was written right there in the room, more so than in the past. It was strange not being in the usual studio. But hearing the final mixes, it all came together beautifully."
Mixing once again fell to longtime collaborator Rich Mouser, who has been refining NMB's complex sound for years. The drums, in particular, stand out. Mouser will experiment by removing or combining elements "to see what it sounds like if this isn't there." The result is another brilliant showcase of the band's trademark sound.
Tracklist of L.I.F.T.
Mike Portnoy plays
