I really like mangini alot but Portnoys phrasing is just phenomenal as far as that dream theatre songs go I mean look what he did to revs parts in nightmare. There is no comparison. Truly I e of the best minds alive today now that Peart is gone
@@californiasux9826 I agree but I admit that Mangini's phrasing from Distance over Time and A View from of the Top of the World shows that he improved a lot as a composer.
The new generation will never realize how pioneering Portnoy and Petrucci were in their fields. Even in 91, playing stuff no one else was and on 7 strings with tones that wouldnt be seen in mainstream until Nu-Metal music in 95-97. Not to mention the musicality of Portnoys double bass grooves and stacks. When I listen to Petrucci’s riffs isolated from context in 94 its like holy sh*t thats actually “metal” lol
Thats another reason why i compare them with Rush so often. Regardless of the obvious Rush influence in DT, they were both real musical innovators in the type of stuff they did.
***** Nah. He chose to endorse Mapex drums and DW drum pedals since there were so many offers being thrown, he thought something like "Why not?" and signed with Mapex. Mapex flopped his agreement and he broke off to be with TAMA drums in time for the Falling into infinity recordings.
Not on concerts, though. Not that I play 1/10th of what he plays but on live concerts he usually rushes. Drummers like Gavin Harrison are true time keepers. Even Mangini maintains a more accurate tempo in concerts.
@@dcairol yes! I’ve been saying this for years. His live playing is very rough at times. It’s a discipline problem. He’s not being artsy. His figures and fills are often very rushed. Similar to how younger drummers starting out have to break habits. He got better in the last decade for to be in your 50s with these credentials thats a little awkward...
Probably my favorite DT-track because of the absolutely beautiful drumming. This song hasn't gone out of my head since I first heard it 20 years ago, and I listened to it 100+ times since. All hail King Mike!
When I saw this 10yrs ago, it inspired me to be a drummer... I don't know why but I think MP is the most charismatic drummer in the prog-rock/metal genre to have ever lived.
Saw them on this tour (awake) 3 times in small venues plus a special "Home for the Holidays tour" in CT. They played A Change of Seasons live for the first time. The crowd went nuts!....was awesome!
Yeah Portnoy was sponsored by Mapex for a short while, but they screwed him around after he got the kit and said he had to sign a 3 year deal for the full coverage of the cost, or something like that as the story goes, so he came back to Tama, plus Tama had just launched the Star classic maples at that time around 96 or so, google it if I am not 100 percent accurate though......
This song is basically an education in how to write seminal catchy drum parts. One memorable part after the other. Something that sadly was lacking in Mangini era DT.
that dude is like an angel .. besides his godlike percussion skills .... this is a classy man... good soul ... love the hair back then,.... I hear NY in there .... you remind me of home dude.. 💙🤙
Compared to other songs of DT (until now), idk but i found that Erotomania is one of my all time fav prog rock/metal song and it's indeed a special song, a song that has this very special drum line, i mean every part of this song need to play like this to give the same feeling in the song by the drummer, also don't forget the personal flavor that Portnoy gave in this, other surely can play the exact drum parts but won't be able recreating the same vibe as Portnoy.
He's actually using 24" basses here. These as well as the ones on the Purple Monster (and its clones) were 24". He went down to 22" for his main kick drums starting on the Siamese Monster. IIRC, he says on his website that he prefers the "punchiness" of the 22's to the 24's.
@@t74devkw Those were 24s as well, and that was the Purple Monster. As much as Portnoy is one of my idols, I'm really not a fan of his bass drum sound most of the time in general (too dead and slappy sounding), but I definitely didn't like the sound of the ones on the Purple Monster Kit...too many ugly low mid frequencies and high mid slap. Plus he used Pinstripes on the kicks on that kit IIRC, and not only do I not like Pinstripes, but I don't like two ply heads on bass drums in general, so that's a double wammy. Probably my favorite kick drum sound of Portnoy's is on the Live at Budokan album. That was probably the best overall drum mix IMO on any of DT's live albums and the mix overall was one of the better live mixes too.
He's the best as always. It's just something I've thought about for a while, and that's about the fact that he is from Italian descent, yet I think he looks more like on the Arabic side :P Just a thought.
for those of you who wanna criticize portnoy,portnoy was 28 when this album was made and you people knocking him wish you had the talent and success that mike has.
GuitarSlinger2112 Exactly. I don't know why you'd want a drums only track in a learning situation anyway. Taking away the rest of the instruments takes away the context. Use sheet music to learn difficult patterns and licks, and maybe even move towards a track WITHOUT drums to apply your own interpretation while playing or even recording.
The Mapex drums on this album sound pretty good. I'm not playing live and don't have time crunches so it almost makes me want to get a Mapex kit. My TAMA Rockstar kit has lasted almost 20 years, though so that's probably not going to happen any time soon.
For 9 years now I've been sticking up for mangini. But The more I listen to the newest album. The more I agree with you. They have lost their way. Portnoy had the personality and the creativity that is missing from dream theater.
I like Mangini, but Portnoy is more than just a drummer. I respect the fact that he did so much to contribute to DT. He is on better terms with Petrucci and Rudess. I just wish he and James LaBrie would work their shit out.
@POPmaster11 lol...actually the main point of this is to WATCH MP while playing the drums...reason? There are some drum parts which are pretty hard to understand just by listening them...THATS y people come to see him playing drums...or maybe some ppl who are not drummers just like to watch him play...and i have watched mp without sound, its still amazing
+Stefano Gioia No, they should not, without Kevin Moore and Mike Portnoy, and with the dried-out ruined voice James LaBrie has these days it would be a defilement of the original. I'll take the stupid triggers anyday if it means I also get to hear Kevin Moore on keys and James LaBrie in his prime.
Mapex U.S. Maples Series, that was actually made in the Gibson custom guitar shop back in those days. They were still a relatively new company & did not have the capability of providing quality drums at the time so they subcontracted out all endorsed artists kits to the Gibson Custom Guitar Shop in Memphis. They tried to use Portnoy to boost the Mapex brand however, there was a lot of controversy due to the fact that Mapex charged Portnoy for the drums at the end of the tour even though he was fully endorsed. The touring manager went ahead and paid the bill but this put an end the Mapex relationship. I often wonder how much farther along mapex would be today if this had not occurred and he went on to play Mapex for many years.. Also, there was also some delay in getting the kit built, almost did not make Studio deadlines.
@@DT2BLZ no problem 👍 anything you ever want to know about DT or Mike, just ask away. I will answer to the best of my knowledge. Years ago, I use to perform drum clinics with Mike & a few others, so I have first-hand knowledge about the dumbest crap cuz I lived it, back in the day. 😂 I am an ex session drummer and have played for various different groups over the years as a touring musician.. a couple of my main acts are "The Realm" & "Scars of Mourning" here is a rough copy of the last song we recorded, if interested. www.reverbnation.com/theofficalscarsofmourning/song/28390485-wash-blood-bury-gun-2011
Finding Dream Theater songs is hard if you don't know their entire discography. I've been searching for a song of there's I heard a while ago for a long time. It had some really cool guitar riffing, which is not enough detail to go by when you're listening through all their songs.
ya he signed with them sometime either during or after the Images and Words tour and was with them during the Awake album and tour. He signed with Tama after that :P!
@@MaelstromMephistoPEM Yup. You're correct. I just checked one of my old MD magazines, and that's the one. And the one on the left is an 18" AA chinese.