Mike Portnoy back in Dream Theater

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Press release: https://dreamtheater.net/

DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY​

October 25, 2023

(New York, NY) – GRAMMY®-winning, progressive music titans Dream Theater are announcing the return of drummer Mike Portnoy to the group. Portnoy will reunite with guitarist John Petrucci and bassist John Myung – the trio formed the band at the Berklee College Of Music in 1985 – along with longtime members, vocalist James LaBrie and keyboardist Jordan Rudess. Dream Theater will be going into the studio to begin working on their 16th studio album and the first with Portnoy since 2009’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings.
 
Woah! Glad to see that actually.

I saw that Portnoy is sitting in with Umphrey's McGee on December 29th as well. Interesting mix.
 
in retrospect over the last year or so, this isn't surprising.

one of the few bands I still enjoy, and their new releases.
 
Bummed.
I far preferred Sons Of Apollo to anything Dream Theater has done since “Awake”.
Plus, Sons of Apollo were absolutely killer as a live band.
And The Winery Dogs were a kicka$$ band all three times we saw them.
 
I’m really, really, really fucking stoked.

DT was the soundtrack to my teens. I lost my virginity to Once In A Livetime :LOL:

I started caring less and less before he quit and I’m assuming for the same reasons he quit; the music was sounding very uninspired and paint by numbers. Octavarium was the start of me not caring and I remember rolling my eyes at the one that came after. I’m a huge Mangini fan and was nearly 20 years before he joined DT and I was really excited when he got in, but the music that came out was not what I was expecting and ultimately, he was used as a living drum machine instead of the badass shit he’s capable of.

I’m not putting any expectations on new music and how it’ll sound, but I really fucking hope they drop the click tracks live. That’s the biggest reason I haven’t seen them since Portnoy left, it just sounds like the fucking CD live.
 
Did not see that coming! I absolutely love Mangini but knowing that DT are probably approaching the end of the careers in the next few years, the move makes sense, especially to bring more life back into that band. I thought Distance Over Time was the best Mangini-era album but their newest release (AVFTTOTW) lacked any identity and feel, something that Portnoy definitely helped bring.

DT is my favorite band, so definitely was a big news drop for me!
 
spanny said:
Did not see that coming! I absolutely love Mangini but knowing that DT are probably approaching the end of the careers in the next few years, the move makes sense, especially to bring more life back into that band. I thought Distance Over Time was the best Mangini-era album but their newest release (AVFTTOTW) lacked any identity and feel, something that Portnoy definitely helped bring.

DT is my favorite band, so definitely was a big news drop for me!
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Distance Over Time was definitely my favorite from the Mangini era and the only DT album I’ve listened to more than 5x since Train Of Thought was released. Not surprisingly, it’s the one album they all wrote being in the same room together and jamming out the songs. My biggest gripe with them for years now is that once they started writing/recording in the studio they lost everything that made me love them.

LTE/SFAM were lightning in a bottle and I get why they wanted to keep working that way, but I really think the music suffered as a result. I&W/Awake were mostly written in rehearsal rooms, no Pro Tools rigs to arrange in, just jamming the songs out and letting them write themselves. That’s where you get that space that exists within “Voices” or “Learning To Live”, “Lines In The Sand”, etc….when you’re throwing all the parts up on a dry erase board and saying “Ok, let’s do the Metallica riff for 4 measures, then 1/2 measure of Marillion then Jordan can ragtime for 8 bars….” none of that awesome shit comes through because it’s being dictated instead of discovered.

IMO, of course.
 
Sounds like this is 10 years too late.. I haven't bought a DT album since before he left in the first place. I have always thought that as awesome as Mangini is, a lot of the vibe of that band was in the way Portnoy played his parts. Like GnR' without Adler. Just not the same or as interesting.
 
RevDrucifer said:
Distance Over Time was definitely my favorite from the Mangini era and the only DT album I’ve listened to more than 5x since Train Of Thought was released. Not surprisingly, it’s the one album they all wrote being in the same room together and jamming out the songs. My biggest gripe with them for years now is that once they started writing/recording in the studio they lost everything that made me love them.

LTE/SFAM were lightning in a bottle and I get why they wanted to keep working that way, but I really think the music suffered as a result. I&W/Awake were mostly written in rehearsal rooms, no Pro Tools rigs to arrange in, just jamming the songs out and letting them write themselves. That’s where you get that space that exists within “Voices” or “Learning To Live”, “Lines In The Sand”, etc….when you’re throwing all the parts up on a dry erase board and saying “Ok, let’s do the Metallica riff for 4 measures, then 1/2 measure of Marillion then Jordan can ragtime for 8 bars….” none of that awesome shit comes through because it’s being dictated instead of discovered.

IMO, of course.
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I agree
 
NorCal_Val said:
Bummed.
I far preferred Sons Of Apollo to anything Dream Theater has done since “Awake”.
Plus, Sons of Apollo were absolutely killer as a live band.
And The Winery Dogs were a kicka$$ band all three times we saw them.
Click to expand...

I saw Sons of Apollo here in Pomona, CA. They kicked! It was a killer bill with Tony MacAlpine and they did a combined jam at the end of the show.... Killer!
 
They should have done a bigger overhaul by telling Rudess the carnival is over and brought Derek Sherinian back in order to have some tasteful, moody keyboard lines once again. Then Rudess would be free to join Devin Townsend's band to make goofy ass cartoon music.
 
thegame said:
They should have done a bigger overhaul by telling Rudess the carnival is over and brought Derek Sherinian back in order to have some tasteful, moody keyboard lines once again. Then Rudess would be free to join Devin Townsend's band to make goofy ass cartoon music.
Click to expand...
You know, I prefer Derek as well....
 
Now if only they threw out Rudess (maybe) and LaBrie (definitely, that seafood eating competition was legit).
 
nightlight said:
Now if only they threw out Rudess (maybe) and LaBrie (definitely, that seafood eating competition was legit).
Click to expand...
Yes, please!! They could be such a great band, but the cheese holds them back. At this point I don't know who is worse, but they both have to go.
 
The two times I saw them, Portnoy sort of stole the show. Him and Petrucci to me were the heart of the band, and Myung too to a lesser degree.

But yeah, LaBrie has always to me been the eyebrow raiser.

“Hey Mike…can you get Richie to sing for DT?!?!?”
 
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