DREAM THEATER released their third album, "Awake," on October 4th, 1994 through East West Records, recorded from May to July at One on One and Devonshire Sound in North Hollywood with John Purdell and Duane Baron producing. It is the last album with original keyboardist Kevin Moore, who announced he was leaving during the mixing sessions; John Petrucci, a childhood friend, took the news hardest. Written under label pressure to repeat the success of "Images and Words" and produce another "Pull Me Under," the band delivered a darker and markedly heavier record instead. It peaked at 32 on the Billboard 200 — their best US placing until 2007 — but the label counted it a commercial failure. Initially reviewed as mixed, released at the height of grunge, it is now widely regarded as one of the band's finest works.