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Dream Theater shakeup

Botch

MetaBotch Doggy Dogg Mellencamp
Superstar
Well.
Although I don't subscribe to many music magazines anymore (really, just Keyboard now) I thought I was keeping up with things in the music biz via the Intranetz, etc. Just learned today that drummer Mike Portnoy left Dream Theater... over a year ago!! :scared-yipes:

A buddy of mine (whose work you may already have in your home) posted this link:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L609JsPFmmI[/youtube]
Its part 1 of 3, twenty minutes long, and shows the breakup and the first new drummer audition (certainly only interesting to those of us who are musicians). I'm gonna be watching the last two parts now.
Although I've never played anywhere near DT's level, I totally get the "family" aspect of replacing a longtime band member (my longest-running band went 8 years, we sang at each others' weddings, kids were friends, etc) and the core of DT were together 25 years, really is a life-changing event.
 
Botch,

After following bands like Yes and Deep Purple, I have come to the conclusion that the relationships between the talented artists are way more complicated then their music and/or individual talents.

Therefore, love hate relationships develop.

Trying not to be on a soapbox here, however this has been my observation over the last 35 yrs of my musical life!

Sad, but true................as a fan, the musicians barely even know how some of them have impacted our lives with their music and their decissions to break up. Sorry my friend, it is truely sad!

:twocents-mytwocents:
 
I just watched all 3 parts, that was pretty cool. I knew Mike Portnoy had been gone for a while and Mike Mangini had replaced him, but that was interesting to watch the process.
 
I'll share these with my son...we both love DT. My son couldn't wait for their latest CD to comeout w/new drummer. His God Mother got him a copy for his birthday. I've listened to some of it..but haven't got to really sit down & do a full session in my boom-boom room.
 
I wish they would have gotten Roddy instead of the guy they settled for. :handgestures-thumbdown:

Portnoy is and always has been a douche.
 
Dude, Mike Mangini is an animal.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31c-FL0ZlZ0[/youtube]

and this one

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxJx_-JjDE[/youtube]

What is the deal with Mike Portnoy? I have never heard him act like a douchbag, but I don't know everything.
 
I have the new DT album, and it really rocks! I have almost no complaints about Mangini, the only obvious one being his overuse of double bass lines. The music is still amazing.

Portnoy can be a douche. As often happens, an extremely talented (and thus already arrogant) musician slowly rose in prominence until they became a legend and he could do anything he wanted, at all. he did a Keith Moon tribute tour with a exact duplicate of Moon's "Pictures of Lily" drumkit. He did years of highly regarded side projects. He was on the cover of every drummer magazine in the world, and he could sell out stadiums for drum clinics. He is a living legend in the world of drumming. That messes with your head and can be problematic.

Mangini is also a living legend in the drum world, but he has been in that spotlight for longer (he once set the record for most beats in a 60 second single stroke role and held it for nearly a year), but his fame as a band member was less pronounced. So he learned to deal with his arrogance and fame better.

Portnoy's new band, Adrenaline Mob, is not very good (IMHO). However, his work with Neal Morse is still nothing short of absolutely stunning. I don't know how he comes up with then executes the drum parts he pulls off with Morse.
 
A buddy of mine in LA attended Berklee the same time Portnoy, Myung and Petrucci were there, and he said all three of them were big douchebags. They don't come across that way in any of the "behind the scenes" videos I've seen, but I imagine you can always put on a front. The one that kills me is Myung; in the very early days he jumped around with extreme "guitar face" like he was god's gift to bass playing, but nowadays he's very sedate and doesn't hardly open his mouth. I guess maturity can do that...

Flint, what work with Neal Morse did Portnoy do, is it under Neal Morse's name? I'd like to hear some of it.

For any of you who are into the high-speed, high-difficulty stuff these guys are capable of, make sure to check out Liquid Tension Experiment. DT had taken a break, Sherinian was still in the band, and Petrucci and Portnoy did a couple of instrumental albums with Jordan Rudess (who later got the DT gig) and Tony Levin on bass/Stick. Some downright sick playing on those two disks!
 
Morse started working with Portnoy in the supergroup, Transatlantic. Then when Morse started making solo albums, Portnoy was his top choice. Portnoy is the drummer on nearly all of Morse's solo records. They even recorded a cover album where they played their favorite classic songs and released it. Portnoy also tours with Morse, even on his super-evangelical Christian tours.

Morse is also arrogant, but like most of these guys, he could claim genius and brilliance without lying. What's the saying?

"It isn't bragging if you can do it."
 
I didn't know Morse was a member of Spock's Beard (another recent discovery for me), I'll pick up a couple of his solo disks; thanks!
 
A member? He was the primary writer and leader of Spock's Beard. Without him Spock's Beard would never have happened. Neal and his brother started Spock's Beard with some fellow studio musicians.

Just like Kerry Livgren of Kansas, Neal was searching for purpose and meaning in life and his music and lyrics reflected that in Spock's Beard. His emotional and spiritual struggle made for some brilliant music. Then he found Jesus and his music changed. It was still very good, but it wasn't as edgy. He started recording straight up Christian music on his own and eventually decided he wasn't right for the Spock's Beard sound and style and quit the band. They continue today with the Drummer driving the band's sound.
 
I guess that all makes sense. I have no talent whatsoever and I am a big douchebag. If I had half the talent of any one of those guys I would probably be unbearables.

I have always dug DT, but I think Images and Words is by far my favorite album. Mike Portnoy has definitely been the poster boy for drummers. I think Botches comments about Myung are kinda the same, he jumped around with his guitar face like he was Gods gift to bass playing. Maybe not 100% true, but that dude is amazing too.
 
Roddy plays in a completely different style but around the two minute mark he shows why DT called him to audition. The guy is amazing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQmvFxzcvM8[/youtube]
 
I understand taste in music is very personal, while I don't own any Dream Theater, I'm always in the hunt for new and exciting tracks. Dream Theater album recommendations, please?

Rope
 
Ya, I wouldn't mind a rec or two either. I'm not sure it's exactly my normal style of music (not that there's just one style...) but I'd like to explore a bit, too.
 
Like Randy, I think Images and Words is one of their best, even though its an earlier work. However, I really like their Live at Budokan DVD; I like watching this kind of music being played more than I do just listening to it, if that makes any sense.
 
Botch said:
I really like their Live at Budokan DVD; I like watching this kind of music being played more than I do just listening to it, if that makes any sense.

'k, ordered! On blu... reasonably priced, too, which is nice.
 
Yup, Botch got it right. I have the Live at Budokan DVD also and it is killer.

I think Images and Words is really good start to finish and every time I put it in I listen to at least the first 4 to 5 songs.
 
PaulyT said:
Botch said:
I really like their Live at Budokan DVD; I like watching this kind of music being played more than I do just listening to it, if that makes any sense.

'k, ordered! On blu... reasonably priced, too, which is nice.

You didn't have to tell me its available on Bluray now... :angry-tappingfoot: :angry-banghead:



:doh: :mrgreen:
 
Well, got Live at Budokan and watched some of it this evening, couldn't finish because the girls had to go to bed and this is one concert that one must play LOUD.

But HOLY SHIT THESE GUYS ARE AMAZING! I'm totally floored. Metal isn't my usual preferred genre, but these guys are so far beyond any metal group I've ever heard, in terms of musical complexity, rhythm, technical skill... there's just no comparison. I've never seen a 6-string bass or 7-string lead guitar outside a jazz/blues band. The one that impresses me most is the bassist, actually, his lines are very interesting, definitely not your normal repeated-8th-on-the-root sort of crap of many rock bands. And the keyboardist is fantastic, his "duet" with the drummer in the ~ third song is great! Drummer is very interesting. Guitarist is quite talented, and I'm glad he doesn't do the usual "guitar god" sort of crap on stage. The only one I could live without is the vocalist... guess you gotta have a "front man" in a metal band, but IMHO he doesn't add much. But I've said it before, vocals are generally the least interesting part of a band for me.

Anyway Botch, I now get why you go on about these guys a lot. I'm totally impressed. I also got Images and Words, have listened to it a few times and enjoyed that one very much as well.

Now you just gotta get the BD so you can hear this concert in its full DTS-MA glory! :eek:bscene-buttred: Actually the SQ is quite good, really, you can hear all the different parts pretty well which seems unusual in a metal band.
 
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