It's bittersweet, I feel like Mangini had finally been fully integrated into the band, his work on the last two records DoT and View, I thought was incredible. I was blown away by his skills live and I always thought they did him a little dirty in the studio. This feels like the same gut punch I felt when I first heard Portnoy was leaving the band. Didn't see this coming at all, especially after all the members had been telling the fans to more or less "drop it" whenever they brought up Portnoy. Mangini is a class act in this whole situation. All of his podcast appearances post departure he is essentially saying, they asked him to leave and he understood their decision and left. But after everything he's put into this band I feel bad for him. He deserves a lot of credit and I personally will be following whatever he does next, his first two solo album singles are great and I already preordered that, excited to hear the rest of it. All this being said, I can't wait to see and hear Portnoy playing with DT again!! Really hope that he brings back the spark that revitalizes the soul of DT to create something truly special with this next album. Also can't wait to hear Portnoys take on some Mangini songs. And hopefully he can fix their live sound (last few shows have been waaay too loud imho) and he can try and bring back the rotating setlists.
Agreed - not only was the drumming itself phenomenal on DoT and AVFTTOTW, but the drums sounded massive and incredible as well. Which was such a relief after the disappointing drum mixes on DT12 and The Astonishing. MM played with one of the most technically proficient bands in existence, and the man damn near didn’t miss a single drum hit. As you said though it’s very bittersweet, as MP is my favorite musician of all time. And the MP albums are simply better than the MM era ones, so I am extremely excited to hear DT16. And yes! I literally think I acquired ear damage from my last DT show. My tinnitus got worse ever since that day. It was the loudest thing my ears ever had to endure for 2+ hours.
Exactly who I wanted to hear from! As a massive MP fanboy, this news was amazing and shocking. Happy to hear from you guys, and I know at the very least we’ll be getting a DT16 review from you sometime down the road
This was a nice watch. What I missed the most from Portnoy was how goofy and creative he was with the band. So hopefully we can see both of these things return. As for where I was when I got the news, I was in my school cafeteria working on math and my friend just send me these texts saying bro portnoy is back and I couldn’t believe it. We were shocked and after school and marching band practice going home he put on Awake in his car. Speaking of since its 30 years of Awake next year I can’t wait with how Portnoy will cook the setlists.🤘
Their business went downhill and maybe this will help. In Illinois they would fill the Chicago theater and last time they came through they ended up at a much smaller venue in Indiana, and tickets prices were $120 for the least expensive. This reunion might help, but whether or not MP rejuvenates the business, the Fan Boy club is happy and they will hear/see him which is great for the band's moral. That's all good, but the collateral damage is done and may be irreversible. It is truly a shame that they looked through rose-colored glasses and couldn't see the long-term end goal, so in desperation, they welcome MP back. I think the MM era was the best and the technicality of the music will be unrivaled by anything new. Anyway, cheers to MP and MM for their talent given to the DT business. 🍻
I heard the news scrolling on the Dream theater subreddit I thought it was a joke so I went on Instagram, Facebook and was like wow.. I’ll admit I’m curious about the whole Mike mangini and I was really shocked about it. I’m happy Mike Portnoy is back now I have a higher chance to go see my dream concert which is 00s Dream Theater lineup and all of the nostalgic albums for me is everything did in the 00s I got into Dream theater the last year they had Portnoy before he left the most current album at that time was black clouds and silver linings. So I’m really excited though I never really see anything bad between the statements with the members though I’m the type of guy that likes figuring things out I hope we get clarity in the next couple months. I thought the whole thing is shocking. Though happy Portnoy is back.
1 thing to note on this whole issue of timing and being so abrupt might also have to do with leading into the 40 year anniversary of the band. DT was already going to be on the new album writing routine this year, which would mean they wouldn't be writing next year (for 40 their year) and would be on full tour mode for the anniversary. There likely is a lot more money to be made with Portnoy in the seat and being able to capitalize on that story. I'm sure Portnoy saw his chance to get back with the crew and was able to justify it with a lot of lucrative talk with all the ideas that 40 years means to a band like this.
This is definitely an odd vibe, seeing as I grew up with the Mangini era and he had a massive impact on my drumming as well as Portnoy. Though I did get the vibe that A View From the Top of the World was kind of jumping the shark with Mangini, much like Black Clouds did with Portnoy (neither are bad albums), so I think this is smart overall.
Dream theater was never the same after Portnoy left, Mangini did his job well but Portnoy was also far more involved in the writing and production side of things, and the general sound and direction the band took from album to album
As someone who has not listened to the Mangini era, this news is still making me feel bad for Mike M. He seems like an authentic and great person. Glad to see you guys uploading! I hope you guys cover some Pain of Salvation soon!
13 years ago, I was sitting in a cafe in Trier, having breakfast before work, when I got the news that Portnoy was departing DT. Haven't listened to a single DT album since that fateful date. I'm sure they're great from a technical standpoint, but Portnoy was what gave DT's music life beyond being a musical exercise.
If I had a nickel for every time DT had to kick out a member to get "the right one" in, I'd have two nickels, which isn't too much but is weird that it happened twice. (Derek to Jordan, Mangini to Portnoy)
Good bit of commentary, I know this stuff doesn't come around often but itll be cool if this kinda content happens more often. Also Gizzard review when?
i agree it's a dirtbag move from them, and they've lost 1,000,000 points with me, for this. but i don't agree mp was better musically. for me, the second half of the portnoy period was the most boring of the band, musically, and his drumming always tended to overpower the songs, and sound metronomical and square, while the drumming on last two albums with mangini is almost magical. portnoy is the better showman, i'll give you that, and that probably impresses the kids in terms of what they think they hear, but that's also - partially - because portnoy i think didn't have the same ease mangini has, so he had to flap his arms around a lot more.
DT was great under Portnoy, DT sucked with Mangini. Mangini could not play the most popular DT tracks, Mangini could not play the more difficult songs. Mangini got confused, wasn’t a showman that Portnoy is, and couldn’t provide the flow and fills that only Portnoy can provide. As a drummer myself for almost 6 decades, Portnoy was the #1 drummer in the world many times, Mangini might be in the top 500.
Bro what? Mangini can play circles around Portnoy. He wasn’t confused. It’s the other way around because Portnoy can’t play some of the stuff Mangini does.
PORTNOY: "hey guys...um...so like you're not gonna make me play Mangini's parts note for note are ya?"
neah, portnoy is just gonna beat them up if they comment on his drumming.
It's bittersweet, I feel like Mangini had finally been fully integrated into the band, his work on the last two records DoT and View, I thought was incredible. I was blown away by his skills live and I always thought they did him a little dirty in the studio. This feels like the same gut punch I felt when I first heard Portnoy was leaving the band. Didn't see this coming at all, especially after all the members had been telling the fans to more or less "drop it" whenever they brought up Portnoy.
Mangini is a class act in this whole situation. All of his podcast appearances post departure he is essentially saying, they asked him to leave and he understood their decision and left. But after everything he's put into this band I feel bad for him. He deserves a lot of credit and I personally will be following whatever he does next, his first two solo album singles are great and I already preordered that, excited to hear the rest of it.
All this being said, I can't wait to see and hear Portnoy playing with DT again!! Really hope that he brings back the spark that revitalizes the soul of DT to create something truly special with this next album. Also can't wait to hear Portnoys take on some Mangini songs. And hopefully he can fix their live sound (last few shows have been waaay too loud imho) and he can try and bring back the rotating setlists.
Agreed - not only was the drumming itself phenomenal on DoT and AVFTTOTW, but the drums sounded massive and incredible as well. Which was such a relief after the disappointing drum mixes on DT12 and The Astonishing.
MM played with one of the most technically proficient bands in existence, and the man damn near didn’t miss a single drum hit.
As you said though it’s very bittersweet, as MP is my favorite musician of all time. And the MP albums are simply better than the MM era ones, so I am extremely excited to hear DT16.
And yes! I literally think I acquired ear damage from my last DT show. My tinnitus got worse ever since that day. It was the loudest thing my ears ever had to endure for 2+ hours.
Dude, big props for your avatar. Terraforming is one of my favorite albums.
@@MysticMungusSlungus Hell yeah! Wide Eyes are an underrated gem. Just doing my part to spread the good word-less instrumental music.
Exactly who I wanted to hear from! As a massive MP fanboy, this news was amazing and shocking. Happy to hear from you guys, and I know at the very least we’ll be getting a DT16 review from you sometime down the road
I just found your channel like 2 days ago. Glad to see you're back lol
This was a nice watch. What I missed the most from Portnoy was how goofy and creative he was with the band. So hopefully we can see both of these things return. As for where I was when I got the news, I was in my school cafeteria working on math and my friend just send me these texts saying bro portnoy is back and I couldn’t believe it. We were shocked and after school and marching band practice going home he put on Awake in his car.
Speaking of since its 30 years of Awake next year I can’t wait with how Portnoy will cook the setlists.🤘
I loved Derek Sherenien in falling to infinity and would love to hear his take on some of their later albums
Thank God I've been wanting to hear people talk about this
Their business went downhill and maybe this will help. In Illinois they would fill the Chicago theater and last time they came through they ended up at a much smaller venue in Indiana, and tickets prices were $120 for the least expensive. This reunion might help, but whether or not MP rejuvenates the business, the Fan Boy club is happy and they will hear/see him which is great for the band's moral. That's all good, but the collateral damage is done and may be irreversible. It is truly a shame that they looked through rose-colored glasses and couldn't see the long-term end goal, so in desperation, they welcome MP back. I think the MM era was the best and the technicality of the music will be unrivaled by anything new. Anyway, cheers to MP and MM for their talent given to the DT business. 🍻
I heard the news scrolling on the Dream theater subreddit I thought it was a joke so I went on Instagram, Facebook and was like wow.. I’ll admit I’m curious about the whole Mike mangini and I was really shocked about it. I’m happy Mike Portnoy is back now I have a higher chance to go see my dream concert which is 00s Dream Theater lineup and all of the nostalgic albums for me is everything did in the 00s I got into Dream theater the last year they had Portnoy before he left the most current album at that time was black clouds and silver linings. So I’m really excited though I never really see anything bad between the statements with the members though I’m the type of guy that likes figuring things out I hope we get clarity in the next couple months. I thought the whole thing is shocking. Though happy Portnoy is back.
1 thing to note on this whole issue of timing and being so abrupt might also have to do with leading into the 40 year anniversary of the band. DT was already going to be on the new album writing routine this year, which would mean they wouldn't be writing next year (for 40 their year) and would be on full tour mode for the anniversary. There likely is a lot more money to be made with Portnoy in the seat and being able to capitalize on that story. I'm sure Portnoy saw his chance to get back with the crew and was able to justify it with a lot of lucrative talk with all the ideas that 40 years means to a band like this.
This is definitely an odd vibe, seeing as I grew up with the Mangini era and he had a massive impact on my drumming as well as Portnoy. Though I did get the vibe that A View From the Top of the World was kind of jumping the shark with Mangini, much like Black Clouds did with Portnoy (neither are bad albums), so I think this is smart overall.
Portnoy wrote a lot of music though. Maybe that's where Mangini was lacking? Audience interaction is another thing that MP had over MM.
Dream theater was never the same after Portnoy left, Mangini did his job well but Portnoy was also far more involved in the writing and production side of things, and the general sound and direction the band took from album to album
As someone who has not listened to the Mangini era, this news is still making me feel bad for Mike M. He seems like an authentic and great person.
Glad to see you guys uploading! I hope you guys cover some Pain of Salvation soon!
You should give the Mangini era a listen, there’s some great stuff on there
13 years ago, I was sitting in a cafe in Trier, having breakfast before work, when I got the news that Portnoy was departing DT. Haven't listened to a single DT album since that fateful date. I'm sure they're great from a technical standpoint, but Portnoy was what gave DT's music life beyond being a musical exercise.
I enjoy the video but the stock music makes it feel like 10min ad
If I had a nickel for every time DT had to kick out a member to get "the right one" in, I'd have two nickels, which isn't too much but is weird that it happened twice.
(Derek to Jordan, Mangini to Portnoy)
Good bit of commentary, I know this stuff doesn't come around often but itll be cool if this kinda content happens more often.
Also Gizzard review when?
All very compelling ideas…
Skill level they're about the same? I'm a drummer and can tell you for a fact that MP is nowhere near the level that MM is. Not even close.
i agree it's a dirtbag move from them, and they've lost 1,000,000 points with me, for this. but i don't agree mp was better musically. for me, the second half of the portnoy period was the most boring of the band, musically, and his drumming always tended to overpower the songs, and sound metronomical and square, while the drumming on last two albums with mangini is almost magical. portnoy is the better showman, i'll give you that, and that probably impresses the kids in terms of what they think they hear, but that's also - partially - because portnoy i think didn't have the same ease mangini has, so he had to flap his arms around a lot more.
DT was great under Portnoy, DT sucked with Mangini. Mangini could not play the most popular DT tracks, Mangini could not play the more difficult songs. Mangini got confused, wasn’t a showman that Portnoy is, and couldn’t provide the flow and fills that only Portnoy can provide. As a drummer myself for almost 6 decades, Portnoy was the #1 drummer in the world many times, Mangini might be in the top 500.
Bro what? Mangini can play circles around Portnoy. He wasn’t confused. It’s the other way around because Portnoy can’t play some of the stuff Mangini does.