John Petrucci's Response to Blind Melon's Interview:

I find it really weird that somebody would say that about me or Dream
Theater because a couple of guys in the band are into Smashing Pumpkins,
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the like.  It's just the same crap I heard at
Berklee, where you had the jazzers vs. the rockers, who always argued and
fought with each other.  Without sounding too idealistic, it's all music and
hopefully there is a quality in all styles that can reach you. Condemning
another genre is something I would never do.  And for the record, the
members of Dream Theater are definitely not stuffy prog-rockers who condemn
songs if they're not in 9/8 time.  That's ridiculous!  We're into all
different styles.  I listen to a lot of different things myself:
classical music from Beethoven, Bartok, and Ravel,  jazz from cats like
pianist Billy Taylor and non-traditional jazz from John Scofield and Mike
Stern, who's a monster.  And then I dig metal, too- Rage Against the
Machine, Metallica, Alice in Chains, and so on.  Of course, I'm not going
to say that I listen to everything; I don't particularly care for rap or
country-pop.  Then again, I really try to have a diverse listening palette.
It helps me keep an open mind to music.