Editing Liquid Tension Experiment (section)

===Formation, studio albums and tours===
Liquid Tension Experiment was formed by Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy after [[Magna Carta Records|Magna Carta]] gave him the green light for "whatever he wanted to do".<ref name="ugportnoyLTE">{{cite web |last1=Jomatami |title=Mike Portnoy Recalls Jordan Rudess Declining to Join Dream Theater & Why He Didn't Want John Petrucci for Liquid Tension at First, Shares Opinion on Mastodon |url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/mike_portnoy_recalls_jordan_rudess_declining_to_join_dream_theater__why_he_didnt_want_john_petrucci_for_liquid_tension_at_first_shares_opinion_on_mastodon.html |website=[[Ultimate Guitar]] |access-date=January 20, 2021 |date=July 23, 2020}}</ref> Portnoy first invited keyboardist [[Jordan Rudess]] and progressive rock icon [[Tony Levin]] (bass, [[Chapman Stick]]) of [[King Crimson]] and [[Peter Gabriel]]'s band to join him. Portnoy also had bassist [[Billy Sheehan]] and keyboardist [[Jens Johansson]] on his shortlist.<ref>''Liquid Tension Experiment'' CD edition liner notes.</ref>

In his second instructional video "Liquid Drum Theater", Portnoy said that his first choice for the guitar was [[Dimebag Darrell]], but he was unable to join because of conflicting schedules. Two other primary choices, [[Steve Morse]] (formerly of [[Dixie Dregs]] and [[Kansas (band)|Kansas]], at that time of [[Deep Purple]]) and [[Jim Matheos]] ([[Fates Warning]]) were also unavailable. Portnoy then turned to fellow Dream Theater member [[John Petrucci]] to fill the position (despite initially wanting to keep the project completely separate from Dream Theater<ref name="ugportnoyLTE"/>). The combo was formed as a side project to [[Dream Theater]] in 1997. Both Mike and John confirmed on the [[5 Years in a Livetime]] DVD commentary, that Rudess was asked to join Dream Theater largely because of the success of Liquid Tension Experiment, and the chemistry of the three working together. Rudess had previously declined to join Dream Theater in 1994 and instead became a member of the [[Dixie Dregs]], known for complex, "Southern fusion" instrumental music.

Liquid Tension Experiment released two albums, ''[[Liquid Tension Experiment (album)|Liquid Tension Experiment]]'' (1998) and ''[[Liquid Tension Experiment 2]]'' (1999) on [[Magna Carta Records]]. They also played a few live shows in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and London.  Mike Portnoy had stated in numerous interviews (and on his [https://web.archive.org/web/20050408055200/http://www.mikeportnoy.com/about/mpfaq/default.asp?menu=about&fldAuto=1 web site FAQ]) that there would not be a third LTE album, as three of the four band members were also part of Dream Theater and the material would be too similar. In 2007 however, he said that a third release is possible, but that his problems with the Magna Carta label are more of an obstacle than getting the band members together to record.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/upcoming_releases/liquid_tension_experiment_3_is_possible.html|title=Liquid Tension Experiment 3 Is Possible?|website=Ultimate-guitar.com|access-date=October 15, 2020}}</ref>

A situation that had to do with the company that released the Liquid Drum Theater VHS tape using video footage of Liquid Tension Experiment in the studio without getting the required permission of Magna Carta.  Mike Portnoy came back to Magna Carta in 2007 to release Liquid Trio Experiment's "Spontaneous Combustion" Sessions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/l3e.html |title=Liquid Trio Experiment |publisher=Magnacarta.net |access-date=July 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814083820/http://www.magnacarta.net/releases/l3e.html |archive-date=August 14, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Several songs and [[riff]]s from the project have been incorporated into Dream Theater's live performances, such as "[[Instrumedley]]" from ''[[Live at Budokan (Dream Theater)|Live at Budokan]]'', which includes excerpts of the songs "Paradigm Shift" and "Universal Mind."

On October 4, 2007, it was announced that LTE would headline [[NEARfest]] 2008 in June. On March 29, 2008, six Liquid Tension Experiment tour dates in June 2008 were announced to celebrate the bands 10 year anniversary as well to create a "whole new musical experiment".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1974753 |title=LTE - 10th Anniversary Reunion Tour Dates! |publisher=Mikeportnoy.com |access-date=July 16, 2011 |archive-date=August 27, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827084039/http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=1974753 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Mark Bredius |url=http://www.dreamtheater.net/tourdates.php#lte2008tour |title=Dream Theater Official News |publisher=Dreamtheater.net |date=June 14, 2011 |access-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716150258/http://www.dreamtheater.net/tourdates.php |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

Liquid Tension Experiment released a multi-disc boxed set of tour highlights from their 2008 tour, including complete shows from New York and Los Angeles on DVD and CD (the L.A. show also on Blu-ray), the Liquid Trio Experiment 2 recording from Chicago (q.v. below), and a disc of improvisations from other shows on the tour.  The New York and Los Angeles shows were also released separately on CD or DVD, all through Dream Theater's official bootlegs website, YtseJam Records' subsidiary, Lazy Tomato Entertainment.