The What If? Thread

[Pragmaticcircus]

Here's one . . .

What if Charlie Dominici stayed with the band to record IAW? Do you think it would have had the same success? Less? More?

And what would their career be like? Would most of us even know about them?

WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH aaaaaaaaaaaah!

I'm new to the forums, still don't know what and what not to say (as you will see if you look at my activity)

..and you joined a day before me,  so where kindred spirits 

But seriously, even though I've followed DTF for months on the sidelines without signing, I'm still learning this stuff too 

[CDrice]

Here's one . . .

What if Charlie Dominici stayed with the band to record IAW? Do you think it would have had the same success? Less? More?

And what would their career be like? Would most of us even know about them?

WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH aaaaaaaaaaaah!

I'm new to the forums, still don't know what and what not to say (as you will see if you look at my activity)

Oh no I wasn't meaning to anything negative to you. And I'm relatively new too. I think I joined in june, but I don't post a lot, so I'm also still learning things 

I was just poking a bit of fun at how Charlie sings the ending of The Killing Hand where he switch to falsetto (I am the Killing haaaaaaand). Except that to answer your ''what if'' question, I applied the same idea to Learning to Live instead. Sorry for the confusion 

[Pragmaticcircus]

Could you imagine Dominici singing the Canadian rap or TDEN?

[Nomaniac]

Here's one . . .

What if Charlie Dominici stayed with the band to record IAW? Do you think it would have had the same success? Less? More?

And what would their career be like? Would most of us even know about them?

WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH AH! WOAH AH aaaaaaaaaaaah!

I'm new to the forums, still don't know what and what not to say (as you will see if you look at my activity)

Oh no I wasn't meaning to anything negative to you. And I'm relatively new too. I think I joined in june, but I don't post a lot, so I'm also still learning things 

I was just poking a bit of fun at how Charlie sings the ending of The Killing Hand where he switch to falsetto (I am the Killing haaaaaaand). Except that to answer your ''what if'' question, I applied the same idea to Learning to Live instead. Sorry for the confusion 

  No, no, not your fault . . . leave it to me to misinterpret (that's one of my great talents) xD

I see now . . . 

[Nomaniac]

Could you imagine Dominici singing the Canadian rap or TDEN?

. . . Maybe my idea wasn' t so great *shivers* . . . 

[Pragmaticcircus]

Could you imagine Dominici singing the Canadian rap or TDEN?

. . . Maybe my idea wasn' t so great *shivers* . . . 

I'd love to hear that though! 

[Pragmaticcircus]

What about this DT lineup?: (for fun)

Guitar - John Petrucci
Bass - John Myung
Drums - Mike Mangini
Keyboard - Derek Sherinian
Vocals - Charlie Dominici

 

[BlobVanDam]

Here's one . . .

What if Charlie Dominici stayed with the band to record IAW? Do you think it would have had the same success? Less? More?

And what would their career be like? Would most of us even know about them?

With no offense to Charlie Dominici, I think the answer to that is pretty obvious.

[Train of Naught]

What if.. we live in a world where CDrice's jokes aren't justified?

[MirrorMask]

So, my "what if" is, "what if Portnoy didn't leave; what was the next album covered?" and a follow up, "what was the next batch of Ytsejam releases?"

First answer: Moving Pictures.

THANKS! Now I finally now, always wondered that.

Well, not really "always" but I really wanted to know at some point.

[CDrice]

What if.. we live in a world where CDrice's jokes aren't justified?

Is it not the world where we already live in though?

[Train of Naught]

Oh my bad, looped it around.

[Agalsed]

Okay how about this . . . what if Dream Theater had kept the line-up of LaBrie-Petrucci-Myung-Moore-Portnoy all the way until today? How specifically do you think their music would be different and how would it be similar?

Sorry if that's too far out there for this thread 

This was my first thought. Moore had such a different place and effect on the band than Jordan does. I think the biggest thing would be that the lyrics may have stayed more philosophical, poetic, and introspective than they are now. I love Jordan, so I am glad I didn't see this happen but it is a very interesting thought. Moore was a fantastic lyricist and songwriter. I would have enjoyed seeing how the band evolved with his continued input. We also would have seen SDV played live a lot sooner

[Agalsed]

/\ Funny you should mention meshuggah, I was actually wondering how interesting DT's version of Bleed would sound like. Of course, they'd have to invite Jens to sing over it, but I think it would sound pretty cool. With weird Rudess solos, of course!

What if... the final version of Nightmare to Remember actually had the real "cookie monster" vocals by MP on the final version? I think that would've alienated people from that part of the song more than it already did (for my money I think MP actually sings great in that part. Really!)

Ah I wish this what if were true! When I heard that clip of the death growls in ANTR I almost crapped. Those vocals sound SO much better than MP's final vocals. Then again, I am very into death and black metal, so I'm sure that keeping those vox would have alienated plenty of fans.

[Agalsed]

What if JP left instead of MP?

I think that DT would cease to exist at that point. MP was important but JP is the main songwriter and really defines the sound of the band.

I agree. I've always thought that if Petrucci left, the band would collapse. Honestly, as much as some might disagree, I think MP was only the third most important member of the band when he left. Most devastating would be JP leaving; next would be James leaving. I couldn't Imagine DT with anyone but JLB singing 

[Pragmaticcircus]

What if SDOIT was released as a single Cd? Would that have improved the album or made it worse? (not sure how to word that)

[BlobVanDam]

What if SDOIT was released as a single Cd? Would that have improved the album or made it worse? (not sure how to word that)

It's already perfect from start to finish, so removing any material would have been less perfection and thus worse.

MP did say what songs they would have removed to make it a single disc. Pretty sure it was Disappear and something, maybe Blind Faith?

[Train of Naught]

What if SDOIT was released as a single Cd? Would that have improved the album or made it worse? (not sure how to word that)

It's already perfect from start to finish, so removing any material would have been less perfection and thus worse.

MP did say what songs they would have removed to make it a single disc. Pretty sure it was Disappear and something, maybe Blind Faith?

Hey waddya know, my bottom 2. But it would still be a tragedy not to have them.

[IDontNotDoThings]

What if SDOIT was released as a single Cd? Would that have improved the album or made it worse? (not sure how to word that)

MP did say what songs they would have removed to make it a single disc. Pretty sure it was Disappear and something, maybe Blind Faith?

I think Disappear & Misunderstood, but I think he just said that because they were the two shortest songs.

[BlobVanDam]

What if SDOIT was released as a single Cd? Would that have improved the album or made it worse? (not sure how to word that)

MP did say what songs they would have removed to make it a single disc. Pretty sure it was Disappear and something, maybe Blind Faith?

I think Disappear & Misunderstood, but I think he just said that because they were the two shortest songs.

I just found this on MP's FAQ, which is probably what I was thinking of-

"MP: That's a question I didn't want to have to come up with an answer for when we finished the record, and luckily we were able to sidestep having to come up with a solution. I did lay awake a few nights pondering that thought, and the problem was that we had 95 minutes of music. I think off the top of my head that Blind Faith or Disappear would have been the first to go. But either of them by themselves would still not be enough to bring the album down to 80 minutes, so we would have been stuck in the position of having to cut *two* songs if Six Degrees wasn't one of them. It would have been a horrible puzzle to try to figure out, and I'm glad that I didn't have to come up with a solution to that one."

[AboutToCrash]

What if Dream Theater had stayed with EastWest?

[Stadler]

Here's one . . .

What if Charlie Dominici stayed with the band to record IAW? Do you think it would have had the same success? Less? More?

And what would their career be like? Would most of us even know about them?

Honestly, no knock on Charlie specifically, because I don't think he sucks or anything, and in my experience, he's been a classy guy, but I can say for me, I would not be a DT fan.  I heard "Pull Me Under" when it was first released in the summer of '92, and went out and got the record, and was BLOWN AWAY by James LaBrie.  I couldn't believe someone was singing like that.  I warmed to the rest of the band pretty quickly, but I don't know that I would have given them the attention I did if it wasn't for James.

[MajorBoobage]

What if JP let his beard grow even longer and they became ZZ Top?

[Nomaniac]

What if JP let his beard grow even longer and they become ZZ Top?

You sir, just won the internet for today

[Setlist Scotty]

What if JP let his beard grow even longer and they become ZZ Top?

You sir, just won the internet for today

Too late!
https://youtu.be/VXTp2pFj9dg?t=196
:-p

[V_R11]

What if John Myung left?

[CDrice]

What if John Myung left?

It wouldn't matter since we can never hear his bass anyway.

[Art]

What if FII was a HUGE commercial hit, with a nš 1 single? How would it affect the band? Would they keep Derek? Would they try to make the next album even more radio-friendly? Would Desmond Child write more songs with them? Would SFAM exist?

[Nomaniac]

What if FII was a HUGE commercial hit, with a nš 1 single? How would it affect the band? Would they keep Derek? Would they try to make the next album even more radio-friendly? Would Desmond Child write more songs with them? Would SFAM exist?

You know I think that's the best question we've had so far . . . interesting!

I honestly think it would have changed the band's direction . . . I think they would still be DT and awesome like that but they would have also tried to pander to their "newer fans." I think they would have still released "SFaM" but it perhaps might have been a bit different, maybe even with Desmond Child on some songs (oh no  ).

I think eventually though, as the limelight faded away, they would have gone back into their normal style

[MirrorMask]

Portnoy would have quit then, the frustation of seeing that he was "wrong" in trying to stick to their guns and Petrucci (and the others) were "right" in giving in would have drove him away I believe.

He's the one that suffered the most from the FII sessions so I'm not sure he would have stuck around with the label telling him "See? we were right, here's Desmond Child, make him your new best friend".

[OleMP]

What if DT added a second guitarist? Who would you guys want? I would personally chose Andy James. He is talented enough, and his style would fit perfectly along John Petrucci.

[MirrorMask]

Derek Sherinian 

[OpenYourEyes311]

"what was the next batch of Ytsejam releases?"

I realize this has been answered already, but wanted to share the link to where MP said it: https://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/fb.ashx?m=2782918

EDIT: It really breaks my heart that these were never released.

The acoustic show is an amazing show, with all four unreleased tracks that they had played at the time (excluding Raise the Knife), plus a bunch of cool covers. Having a great version of that would be fantastic.

The BC&SL shows would be really cool, especially since the Japan show would have five tracks that have not been released on DVD anywhere else (4 from BC&SL and Prophets of War)

The Six Degrees CD would be great since that's my favorite album, I'd love to hear it come together. I actually sometimes go back and listen to the other Making of CDs. They're pretty fun.

And the Rush disc would be great. I enjoy Rush a lot and would love to hear DT cover some of their stuff. Interested to know if the Rush Medley from the acoustic show would have made this disc as well, or if it would be a different version from another night, or included at all.

[Pebsie]

Okay how about this . . . what if Dream Theater had kept the line-up of LaBrie-Petrucci-Myung-Moore-Portnoy all the way until today? How specifically do you think their music would be different and how would it be similar?

Sorry if that's too far out there for this thread 

It might've just been the 90s but I've noticed them get more and more cinematic following Rudess' arrival. As much as I love Jordan, I think that I preferred Moore's somewhat strange sounds, same with Sherinian.

[Darkstarshades]

I'm resurrecting this thread, it's such a good idea.

What if Jordan had agreed to join DT when he was first given the chance to? This way we wouldn't have had Derek, and vertainly not the same FII we had.

However, pretty sure that wouldn't have changed the record company's idea of making commercial songs, so I can't really tell what would have been of SFAM.