I have to say, this is the first time in my life I've seen an interview with all precise, relevant and interesting questions. I didn't even face palm once, great job!
I was looking for this comment. An interviewer who knows about on-stage and backstage rock (almost teaches you a bit of how things work or which things are important, just by listening the questions) and who let's the interviewee talk
I never would've thought in a million years to hear WatchMojo and my beloved favourite band; the holy, one and only Dream Theater being uttered in the same sentence!
Portnoy wanted to take a break from DT while the others wanted to go straight to the recording studios after the Maiden tour. The Avenged Sevenfold gig was just temporary. At some point, Portnoy though he could get back in DT but it was too late, they had moved on already.
I just think it's awesome you guys have an interest in Dream Theater. I'm sure this video introduced many of your subscribers to what may be one of the best bands of our generation / all time.
I really hope Mike P. gets back soon... Mangini is great and the 2 albums he has made with the band awesome, but I think Portnoy is pat of the heart of the band. Every fan waits for that day
Mangini is great, but he can't supply the vibe That portnoy did, nor is he as cool :/ it's sad to see MP not be in, and I know he wanted back in but everyone thought margins had "settled in"enough for MP to not be allowed in.
You do realize that I wrote live performance. Studio versions of the songs have got nothing to do with the energy the drummer shows in the live performance.
+Suresh Gaur This. I still love him.. and I still think he's the only person on the planet who could have replaced Mike.... but yeah. He's nothing like he was in the audition when he plays live. Just shows it was a bit of acting :(
Ofcourse not, but there was this joke clip someone made, lars explain how he was air-druming for practice and the guy overdubed his horrible ringy snaresound over portony his playing. Look for it, still funny.
The producer is John Petrucci; him and Mike produced all the records from Scenes from a Memory through to Mike leaving the band and John has done then all since on his own.
I love you guys, Petrucci (top class) I dont know what happened, but you all are the best.. I love Petrucci. Hes has the best demeanor. God bless you guys.
The day that I learned that Mike Portnoy had quit the band and that the band intended to continue on and find a new drummer, the VERY first name that popped into my head was Mike Mangini. The reason for this comes down to one song that Mangini played on that I knew well: The Fire Garden Suite, by Steve Vai. I'm a guitar player, not a drummer but that is one of the songs I've ALWAYS been impressed by the complexity and musicality of the drumming. If you haven't heard it, check it out.
I'VE GOT TO SAY WHAT DREAM THEATER DID BY RECORDING ALL THESE AUDITIONS HAS TO BE JUST FANTASTIC NOT ONLY FOR THE BAND ITSELF , BUT FOR THE MILLIONS OF FANS THAT ADORE THEM !! WHO THEY FINALLY DECIDED ON WAS THEIR CHOICE AND THEIR CHOICE , NOT OURS , SO PLEASE , EVERY ONE , RESPECT THIS , AND I WISH THE DREAM THEATER THE VERY BEST IN THE FUTURE !!
I've been a drummer for 27 years and can say MP has an infinite creativity and a perfect technique, but a complete musician has to have also attitude, which is part of the heart and soul an artist pours in his music, that's how it's possible to actually communicate something through your work. MP will always be one of the best drummers in the world but it's been a while since he became a little arrogant. Mangini is a great drummer with lots of feeling and a BIG PLUS: he is humble and nice.
I've seen DT live twice on their current tour which is nearing its end. Mangini is great and their current album is superb. Im really looking forward to their next album when Mangini is able to contribute on a larger scale. I think their next album will be mind blowing!
Poor JP, you can really tell that he's heartbroken by the way he answers the questions about MP. Especially the one about whether they still have a relationship or not. :/
Though MP is missed, the band is way better with MM. MP was gradually leading the band to a harder metal sound, while MM brought them back to their basic prog roots. IMO, ADTOE is the best album since M2-SFAM. ADTOE is a piece of art that brought back that characteristic DT prog feel that had been lost over the years, mainly due to MP's musical preference towards a harder metal influence.
ADTOE was written in it's entirety BEFORE Mangini came into the band. Mangini has said as much, as has the band. So for that album, he was essentially a session drummer. The self titled album in my opinion is the worst album the band has done. Sounds like they were eager to pull a Marillion by going pop with the new guy...
kind of late reply but m2sfam = Metropolis Part 2: Scenes From a Memory. I don't know what adtoe is though lol Edit: Never mind, it's A Dramatic Turn of Events
Mangini played very well in that audition, he played very hard and with passion, but now if you see their concert the drum sounds so low because he just played what he knows and also the sound it doesn´t the same...something weird over there. I remember that M.Portnoy always played with all and the sound was better.
I was in the military for 23 years, and there was a day(among quite a few toward the end of my career) when it all felt like 'This has been great, but it's time to move on.' And when you reach that stage, there's no going back. He was in DT for 25 years and I would imagine that it was much the same, except with a lot more money and women. :)
Interesting that no one ever cares about the MP sides of story how he was being a drummer, manager and co-producer of DT for 25 years. The hell anyone can get tired of doing so much work besides music itself...
Not to mention Portnoy's dad had just died, and I remember an interview back from 2008 of Mikael Akerfeldt where he says one time Portnoy caught the Opeth guys just hanging out talking and shit, he commented on how much he missed being in a band where he could just hang out and be friends with like that, even back in 2008 Portnoy was already unhappy and feeling a distant from the other DT member
I cant help feel that JP tiptoed around talking about MP leaving the band. I also cant believe how people think that MP was the bad guy in all of this. ive been to forums where people were saying the rest of the members took a vote and kicked him out of the band but having heard and seen a video of MP talking about the issue himself - giving *HIS* account of what happened and why he decided to leave DT people have just totally demonized him. I cant remember where i saw the video - it was most likely some place on YT but he said that they just came off a huge tour promoting their album and such (as JP has mentioned in the video) and MP wanted to take a break from it all and relax for a bit after literally touring non-stop for 25years. He also mentions that he felt relations with other band members were strained and took a turn for the worst and he called a timeout so everyone could relax and 'save themselves' Do something together that wasnt DT orientated. hangout with each other or go do their own thing. Let all the stress thats kicking up all the dust between the members settle so they can come back and resume band activities with a clear mind. none of the other members seemed keen on this so it was either MP or Labrie that called a vote (i think it was MP that called for a vote) All of them voted to carry on with band activities - touring/promoting/writing etc etc and MP was burnt out after being on the road for so long and decided to bow out which i think must of been a real heartbreaking decision for MP as he has put in so much time and effort into DT and his grandfather helped him name the band. MP was involved with DT on every level and i cant even begin to imagine how the pain in his heart felt when he decided to call it a day. ALso in the video he talks about drumming for A7X and how it made him happy and lifted his soul a little because he was doing something different and working with people he'd never worked with before. I remember him saying that it felt refreshing. People seem to make out that MP was going to join A7X permanently but that was never the case as he already stated that he was more of a guest drummer until A7X found a replacement for The Rev(R.I,P) It disgusts me how the fans have demonized MP and given him so much shit and grief about leaving DT & joining/leaving A7X when most of them havent even heard his side of the story. MP probably doesnt like to talk about it much, but as soon as the news was out that he had left. Labrie was one of the first people to make a press statement about MP leaving even though he didnt go into ANY detail about why and just more or less tiptoed around the issue instead of letting the fans know what really happened. afaik even now none of the current DT members have ever really commented on it and i think its still a very sensitive topic give how JP avoided going into the topic let alone the details of it. IT doesnt mean that i will listen to DT any less - Im a huge fan of theirs and I will continue to support them, at the same time i will be keeping an eye on MP because that man also deserves my support
SaberTigerLover I agree with you man on this touchy subject. I don't have anything against the band or Portnoy for that matter. I understand neither of them wanting to talk about it, because of all the sensitive topics about it. At least they are no enemies and there isn't any bad tension. Because it sounds like they all have moved on. I knew the real story when the news was first out about it. And it sounds like you did too. True fans like us, know all the truth and facts about the band. And no I am not bragging or thinking I am better than anybody else. Just stating my opinion and loyalty to all the members of the band past and present. I wish them all the best, and will continue supporting all of them.
***** portnoy was asking to take a break from 24/7 touring/ writing because the music they wrote in black clouds and silver linings werent as much of his style as other albums have been and he felt like a break was needed. its just taking time off from a job, which theyve earned after 25 years of touring and recording
Portnoy originally approached rhe band because he believed 20 years of non stop write, record, tour had strained their original workflow and creativity. DT has never been as monumebtal since the days of Kevin Moore and taking years to write a single record. They have becone amazing at writing an above expectation record in 3 months. DT is the height of Prog .
I completely agree. I mean I'd love to go to a concert and think "Whoa, that was a pretty cool thing they just slipped in there I sure didn't expect that!" Adds a whole new factor of "What are they gonna do tonight" instead of just what songs. I wish they would add some stuff in sometimes that would sound pretty wicked, and surprising.
- Hey, Lars... Myung on the phone... We're doing auditions and we want to know if you'd like to join the other guys - ... REALLY? I MEAN SERIOUSLY!? I'M IN, FUCK METALLICA... THEY ALL MOCK ME ON EVERY GIG AND DREAM T... - LMAO! I was just kidding, Lars. Can you hear John, Jordan and James laughing? TROLOLOLOLOL. Oh Lars, you never fail, man. - **shotgun sound** - ... Where's your sense of humor, Lars? Did it die faster than St. Anger? Lars... Lars, you there?
Who cares if Mike Portnoy is gone. In the end, he took care of himself and his own agenda. I can't postulate walking away from a work such as Dream Theater after years of dedication. In the end, Mike Portnoy put himself in front of everyone else in the band. He placed his own ambitions before that of the group. Besides, all of the drummers that DT auditioned are worlds apart from Mike Portnoy in terms of talent and overall ability. I consider Portnoy's departure as a blessing.
i miss portnoy :( .. why?.. becouse i listen to dreamtheater since i whas about 4-5 years old.. now im 26 still listening.. i have herd all songs from all albums they play iw bin in several concerts in poland. .. bat wythut "MP" its not the same :((.. mike come back...
I totally agree with octavarium11... bought tickets to the 2011 show.. without knowing portnoy was gone.. never had seen them before, and was very looking forward to seeing mike portnoy on the drums... weeks before the concert, was heartbroken to hear he wasn't with them anymore...but... have to say... mike mangini, did a great job, and was a great concert anyway
The album in question concluded Portnoy's love child (presumebly) the Twelve Step Suite. So that album was a closure, in that aspect. And the tour with Maiden was a testament to where DT was as a band. Portnoy was content with where DT had gotten, and felt no need or lust to go any further. I think he was content earlier, but wanted to end the suite. That's what I think.
@otherside65: Fun fact: I met MM 3 years ago when he had a clinic here in MNL. So, as far as talent, yes, he could play MPs parts w/ ease. Knowing him and his technicality, he might have breezed through it. BUT, he attracts a different crowd... Point here is, there are things MM can make that MP can, vice versa. I know because I am also a part time drummer. I have a pop-rock band w/c cover several Alterbridge and Dream Theater stuff. So, I know what I'm talking about.
Worst mistake of JP's life was letting that happen. Now we have JP2 and LTE3 but i'd rather have REAL DT if i had to choose. And i say that with all due respect to MM's talent.
I don't think they could have found a more perfect drummer to fit in with DT! I am still, and will always be a Portnoy fan, but Mangini is ALSO awesome. No one could ever REPLACE Portnoy, which is something Mangini has admitted he is not trying to replace Portnoy. There are many awesome drummers in this world, and all are unique in their own way. No one will ever be able to play those songs the way Portnoy did, but Mangini does a very AWESOME job!!!
Look what it says on Wikipedia: "When Avenged Sevenfold later decided to also sever ties with Portnoy,[7] he announced that he had asked to return to Dream Theater, but had been turned down by their lawyer[8] since the band (as later revealed) had already brought Mangini on board." He left and then asked to come back! Wow
Sounds harsh the way it says that A7X severed ties with MP. He was only ever supposed to be there for a certain amount of time. He knew that, but he also hoped that maybe they would keep him longer than they did.
I just like Mr. Portnoy, that sound can't lie, relay acoustic drum (Truely Progressive Metal). Everything about the music that he made, so crunchy.. Love U So Much...... But to Mr. Mangini the sound of drum like electric drum..
Mangini actually reminds me a lot of Terry Bozzio, which I'm sure was a hugely influential drummer on him. I think they made a wise choice with Mangini, and I hope everything works out for the best for Portnoy, Mangini, and Dream Theater.
i'm kind of sad that portnoy left. i had the privledge (like millions of other fans) to see him with DT. i've identified portnoy so much with DT, thats kind of hard to see him in any other band.
Not if you rip CDs at a high-enough bitrate that make them not just "listenable", but a truly enjoyable audio source as well. The whole Black & White "iPods good/iPods bad" is WAY old news. Since getting my first one it's given me the freedom to listen to both my favorite bands more often in different places but also musical genres I wouldn't have if not for the capacity & portability. But when I want to get deep into an album, out comes the CD/Vinyl & high-end headphones.
Because most often you're NOT going to hear "an exact replica of the album version" as there are changes to the material when played live. Not to mention that the "Live Experience" can be what the Artist WANTS the audience to experience, and the audio is simply one piece of the puzzle. I submit Roger Water's "The Wall" (both the original 1980 shows with Pink Floyd as well as his ongoing 30th Anniversary Concerts) as a complete audio/video/"thought" experience for the Audience.
If it ain't broke then don't fix it.....Mike P had a good thing with DT but wanted it all. Sometimes you have to pick your battles. Sorry he didn't want to stick around for the next album "A Dramatic Turn of Events" which is awesome in my opinion. I can't say if I like MP or MM better as drummers, they both rock and I am at peace with things as they are. Sill love and always will love DT with or without MP.
Dream theater devrait faire une pause. Gros manque évident d'inspiration depuis le départ de Portnoy. Ce groupe est devenu l'ombre de lui-même. Et c'est un fan qui le dit. Triste de voir ce qu'ils sont devenus 😔
I was at the Seattle (White River) Iron Maiden show on that tour. I like both bands.The place was packed and unfortunately, DT was ignored by all but about a hundred people. It was depressing to witness.I'm assuming that's why he left.
Well, not just auditioning and being able to play their music, it's how they fit in with the band, how everything flows...since they lost their drummer and best friend of 25 years.
well, MP had a fairly big part. That's not to say the JP & JM haven't done a lot. I'm not the biggest fan by far, but I know that DT made the 12-step suite after his alcoholism & he wrote "The Best Of Times" on BC&SL. He helped decide the name to Systematic Chaos, and did vocals on there as well as having constant motion (my fav DT song to play on guitar) written about him. I don't know about the rest of the albums as I haven't listened to those as extensively as the others.
what I heard from Portnoy was he wanted to take a break to pursue some other projects but the band passed on that so he bailed as far as Petrucci being shocked I find that hard to believe I also heard that Mangini had the gig before the auditions even began though out of the lot I'd have gone with Marco clearly the best drummer there imo
@felphero i know what you mean, all the power and heaviness went into the new Avenged Sevenfold record. totally different but Mike did an incredible job. very tastefully done.
Yes, i get it. Mike needed a break. When you do something for 25 years, the same thing over and over, the knife gets dull, so you have to re-sharpen it. But I am glad Mangini is DT now. He, IMO, is the best drummer alive besides Danny Carrey. But Marco would have been awesome too. I actually want to see a Danny Carrey DT collaboration now tho. Then again, It makes me sad they wont let portnoy back in, because he still is the true drummer and will always be for DT.
m0nstaman Haha yeah man Danny has probably been my fav since I started listening to tool, which was like 10 years ago. One of the best bands/drummers ever! And yeah, he's very underrated! The reason why is probably because they're alot less mainstream, but that's perfectly ok with me.
We should have known that mangini funny snare drum sound has been shown in his audition footage.. Then petrucci told him to crank up the mids because it sounds good on his mesa and there we have it. The snare drum that changes the world like St. Anger..
I think it's really cool bands film auditions, let's us get closer to the band and see who else besides Mangini was auditionned. I'm really going to miss Mangini in Annihilator though.
Portnoy wanted back in AFTER Mangini had quit his teaching job and was hired by the band. Portnoy committed to leaving, DT committed to Mangini, so what would you expect? Also, wasn't DT Portnoy's baby by his choice? Maybe no one did the administrative production to Portnoy's satisfaction so they backed off. Even Portnoy's admitted to being OCD--things have to be a certain way. That in itself could have been a big issue. But I don't think any of us has heard the whole story yet.
You're kidding...right? The last album (Dream Theater) has some amazing, heavy melodic drumming on it. Incredible. I love what Mike P did but he wanted to go....so be it!
so many MP vs MM comments - they're very different players so can't really be compared. but one thing MM does not bring to DT and that is ENERGY! having seen both line ups live, the ball of energy that is MP was definitely lacking with MM. portnoy is a born performer, loves the stage and live performance, and that always comes across. the fun he has is a joy to watch, it's infectious, and he brings it to every project he's involved in. DT live with MM is just not as fun and enjoyable to watch in my opinion.
@AdrenalineThrob What? The Rev was in A7X until he died, and Portnoy stepped in for him for the tour. Mangini only played in Extreme, Annihilator and for James LaBrie and Steve Vai to name a few...
Altough i kinda agree with Petrucci that their songs must be played live as recorded... I've felt that feeling his talking about something different every time i hear Mangini play... Metropolis for example... OMG... soo different... and small details and fills... dunnoo..
I've wanted to hear Mangini with dt for years, since I picked up Mullmuzzler II. It finally happened, and was better than I ever imagined! I never saw Portnoy as a "great", and thought he was musically the weak link of the band. It's nice to see them with a true virtuoso. I would have also liked to hear what Thomas Lang would sounded like!
@otherside65: I'd like to see you play those songs. Man, even highly skilled drummers like Donati and Mangini had a tough time playing those songs while having just a month of practice.
I read in an interview that he tried to rejoin them after they had already chosen Mangini to replace him or during the auditions. It would hardly be fair to the other drummers, who traveled and spent hours practicing and planning for the audition. I still don't understand why Portnoy left in the first place. He said he wanted a break, but that doesn't seem to be very true, considering Adrenaline Mob, Flying Colors, and his other projects. Arguably, this has been the busiest year ever for Mike.
Your only beef with AM is their singer? That's Russel Allen from Symphony X - he's phenomenal. Listen to Paradise Lost and you'll see how well-rounded he is as a vocalist to bring "that side of him" to Adrenaline Mob.
