Author Topic: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?  (Read 7143 times)

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Offline bill1971

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Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« on: November 06, 2017, 12:14:49 PM »
No matter what clip on youtube and any article with comments OR some MP related clips or articles there are always the "Mangini is a robot" or "MP was the soul Mangini has no soul"...etc. I have seen Mangini play a few times and he is always energetic and engaging, anyhow not to create this thread to defend him but I am just tired of those comments. Anyone else?

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2017, 12:21:07 PM »
same
I just don't understand what they were trying to achieve with any part of the song, either individually or as a whole. You know what? It's the Platypus of Dream Theater songs. That bill doesn't go with that tail, or that strange little furry body, or those webbed feet, and oh god why does it have venomous spurs!? And then you find out it lays eggs too. The difference is that the Platypus is somehow functional despite being a crazy mishmash or leftover animal pieces

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2017, 12:25:07 PM »
Yes I agree.  I've always found MM very entertaining live, he may not be so much in your face as MP is, but for a drummer, he does a very good job being engaging while still performing at a high level.

Offline don_waka

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2017, 12:30:37 PM »
Mangini feels music a lot. Maybe he doesn't rock his ass off on stage, but he's got a very rocky attitude which is always appealing. Probably MP zealotry is really tiring.

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2017, 12:37:33 PM »
*raises hand*

To be fair, I'm no more tired of it than I am of folks who insist that shred guitar isn't "emotional".
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Offline Dublagent66

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2017, 12:58:20 PM »
Whomever calls MM soulless is most likely clueless.  Then again, maybe it's subjective, but I haven't seen anything to indicate that MM has no soul.  :biggrin:
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Offline Renzo

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2017, 01:02:43 PM »
Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?

Me.  :angel:

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2017, 01:05:19 PM »
Hear hear. And each time an album cycle comes round, we get this whole "MM should contribute more to the writing process" thing. What exactly do you mean by that? Writing lyrics? If it's that, does he have past experience as a lyricist? I don't know what more he can do besides what he already does, ie. contribute drum parts, as the drummer. If he has little or no experience in, say, guitar parts or keyboard parts, he can't really contribute to those, can he?

Offline Nachtmerrie

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2017, 01:10:34 PM »
I don't really care.  I thing he's a great drummer who seems to enjoy his job which makes me enjoy watching him perform.
If people can't stop comparing him to Portnoy that's their problem. Same for the people who can only enjoy the SOA album by comparing it to the TA.

Calling him soulless is just BS.


Offline The Walrus

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #9 on: November 06, 2017, 01:10:47 PM »
Me. Saturday he was an absolute joy to watch play. The guy loves his job, and I don't blame him. He played Images & Words with so much feeling. And the drumming he did in Metropolis... WOW.
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Offline mikeyd23

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #10 on: November 06, 2017, 01:13:56 PM »
Hear hear. And each time an album cycle comes round, we get this whole "MM should contribute more to the writing process" thing. What exactly do you mean by that? Writing lyrics? If it's that, does he have past experience as a lyricist? I don't know what more he can do besides what he already does, ie. contribute drum parts, as the drummer. If he has little or no experience in, say, guitar parts or keyboard parts, he can't really contribute to those, can he?

Well that's different though isn't it? The OP was talking about the soulless criticism - which I agree, has been overblown badly. MM tends to be very on the beat, but I certainly wouldn't call him robotic or soulless. What you are talking about is his writing involvement, which MM himself has said he wants a deeper involvement in that process.

Offline nattmorker

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #11 on: November 06, 2017, 01:26:02 PM »
I don't get it either, everytime I've seen him perform he has always been very entertaining to watch and engaging, not to mention he sounds powerful. Besides what he plays "moves" me, he has written awesome drums parts in the past DT albums, and not neccesarily because they're complex or whatever, I just hear them and think they're awesome. BTW because of this forum I've understood more of what he does, since I'm not a drummer.

Offline TheOutlawXanadu

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #12 on: November 06, 2017, 02:11:49 PM »
General adjectives like "uninspired", "soulless", "disinterested" and the like really irk me. I think that people use those way too often in place of "I don't like this".

To bring it back around to Mangini - The guy clearly loves music and puts his heart and soul into everything he does. Calling his playing "soulless" sounds almost objectively wrong to me.
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Offline Lethean

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #13 on: November 06, 2017, 03:18:00 PM »
Add me to the list as well. He was incredible the other night.

Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #14 on: November 06, 2017, 03:59:24 PM »
So sick of it. 

The dude was on fire Saturday.  Played with a ton of feel, emotion, etc.  Entertaining as hell to watch too so I would disagree with anyone who says Portnoy is more of an entertainer. 

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #15 on: November 06, 2017, 04:57:35 PM »
He'll never win with some people.  Anyone who says a single person was the soul of Dream Theater or Mangini is not entertaining as hell to watch clearly has their head up their ass.

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #16 on: November 06, 2017, 05:05:41 PM »
MM is actually quite animated and entertaining. Just watch him on LALP and BTFW dvd's. He's playing his heart out and smiles all the time. He takes a very unique approach to the drums and has amazing chops!
 People that say he is robotic or souless don't know what they're talking about..
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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #17 on: November 06, 2017, 05:06:50 PM »
He'll never win with some people.  Anyone who says a single person was the soul of Dream Theater or Mangini is not entertaining as hell to watch clearly has their head up their ass.

Eh, I still hold firm that Charlie Dominici was the soul of DT.

I mean, did you SEE some of his moves?
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #18 on: November 06, 2017, 05:09:29 PM »
MM is actually quite animated and entertaining. Just watch him on LALP and BTFW dvd's. He's playing his heart out and smiles all the time. He takes a very unique approach to the drums and has amazing chops!
 People that way he is robotic or souless don't know what they're talking about..

I don't think he helped himself with that drum set that had a lot on the sides and above his head, meaning there had be a large portion of crowds that had a tough time seeing him.  I know that drum set is fully functional for the way he plays, but from a visual live standpoint, I don't think it does him any favors.

Eh, I still hold firm that Charlie Dominici was the soul of DT.

I mean, did you SEE some of his moves?

Um, no. :lol :lol

Offline Madman Shepherd

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #19 on: November 06, 2017, 05:19:00 PM »
He'll never win with some people.  Anyone who says a single person was the soul of Dream Theater or Mangini is not entertaining as hell to watch clearly has their head up their ass.

Eh, I still hold firm that Charlie Dominici was the soul of DT.

I mean, did you SEE some of his moves?

I have to admit, when they played To Live Forever, I was enthralled, ecstatic, and right as James sang "acrossss the wooooooooooorld" I half expected him to do a little spin a la Dominici.  I was both equally happy and disappointed when he didn't. 
« Last Edit: November 06, 2017, 05:24:04 PM by Madman Shepherd »

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #20 on: November 06, 2017, 05:32:26 PM »
Eh, I still hold firm that Charlie Dominici was the soul of DT.

Um, no. :lol :lol





I rest my case.
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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #21 on: November 06, 2017, 06:48:36 PM »
That case needs to be rested.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
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Offline Drinktheater

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #22 on: November 06, 2017, 08:11:35 PM »
No matter what clip on youtube and any article with comments OR some MP related clips or articles there are always the "Mangini is a robot" or "MP was the soul Mangini has no soul"...etc. I have seen Mangini play a few times and he is always energetic and engaging, anyhow not to create this thread to defend him but I am just tired of those comments. Anyone else?

Well for one Youtube is always infested with trolls, It is really tiring to see those comments but I just learned to ignore them because if you will dig more deeper more than half of those folks saying he has no soul is not even a musician nor has even a basic understanding of what is really going on. 

They need to define what is soul?  Is it the appearance or the way Mangini plays the drums if they say yes then the next question what is more important the sound that Mangini creates or the way he looks?

Same with people saying Petrucci has no soul they better define what soul is in Music before they just throw out arbitrary none sense.
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Offline Drinktheater

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #23 on: November 06, 2017, 08:14:18 PM »
*raises hand*

To be fair, I'm no more tired of it than I am of folks who insist that shred guitar isn't "emotional".

Those people are nit pickers if they want soul on guitar they should just listen to BB.King (whicis is great blues guitarist BTW) or Guitarist that specializes in the Genre its like me complaining that a certain classical guitarist got no blues chops!

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Offline Lonk

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #24 on: November 06, 2017, 08:20:58 PM »
First of all: I like both drummers. I Think MM an amazing drummer and seeing him live is pretty satisfying.

With that said, I prefer MP simply because of the flow of the music. I understand why people say MM is robotic. I recently saw MP playing again live(last saw him for the progressive nation tour in2009) and his style to me is just so much better. MM is a better drummer, more technical. But MP has a better flow to his music which I prefer over technicality.
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Offline Sir Walrus Cauliflower

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #25 on: November 06, 2017, 08:30:53 PM »
Me for sure. I've seen the dude with DT 3 times and he's killed it every time. He's energetic, fun to watch, we all know he's got impossible chops/technical skills, but he puts his soul into every note he plays. You can hear it in his interviews about his playing as well. He's so passionate. I love MP's parts, but I love many of MM's just as well, and he's much more accurate live. MP is a great drummer but he has many timing issues even in recordings.

I prefer many of Portnoy's parts played live by MM over MP's actual album performance.
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Offline nattmorker

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #26 on: November 06, 2017, 08:33:13 PM »
First of all: I like both drummers. I Think MM an amazing drummer and seeing him live is pretty satisfying.

With that said, I prefer MP simply because of the flow of the music. I understand why people say MM is robotic. I recently saw MP playing again live(last saw him for the progressive nation tour in2009) and his style to me is just so much better. MM is a better drummer, more technical. But MP has a better flow to his music which I prefer over technicality.

For me it was the opposite, I saw MP playing (last time I saw him was in 2007) and I can say that I enjoyed much more MM behind DT's drumkit. I felt that MP overplayed the songs, besides hearing the same tricks. Of course both are really amazing drummers and actually both are on my list of favorite drummers, but I prefer MM.

Offline erwinrafael

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #27 on: November 06, 2017, 09:06:28 PM »
When I finally saw MM live last July, one of the things I really remember was when he was playing Breaking All Illusions. In the intro, in the parts where there were sudden transitions, he was messing with the crowd. He was acting as if he would hit the snare, then he won't, then he would make a funny face at the audience.  :lol

Then when the band played Metropolis, it was like the DT Philippines crowd finally giving their acceptance to MM as a worthy DT drummer. He passed the test.  :rollin

Offline Drinktheater

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #28 on: November 06, 2017, 09:14:59 PM »
When I finally saw MM live last July, one of the things I really remember was when he was playing Breaking All Illusions. In the intro, in the parts where there were sudden transitions, he was messing with the crowd. He was acting as if he would hit the snare, then he won't, then he would make a funny face at the audience.  :lol

Then when the band played Metropolis, it was like the DT Philippines crowd finally giving their acceptance to MM as a worthy DT drummer. He passed the test.  :rollin

The Pinoy DT crowd since to be more accepting of MM from the start offcourse there are still some FB and Youtube post saying "Portnoy parin" etc. But that does not mean they diss MM or say he is robotix or what not its just they prefer MP.

I think the departure of MP is much more complicated to accept for a Drummer who is a big DT fan and fan of MP as well that may be a bit tricky to reconcile as they still want to listen and play DT songs without MP.

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Offline erwinrafael

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #29 on: November 06, 2017, 11:57:05 PM »
Then there is this stupid Pinoy fan who shouted Portnoy while MM is doing his drum solo.

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #30 on: November 07, 2017, 12:01:59 AM »
For fairness sake, if people aren't allowed to say that MM has no soul in his playing, then people aren't allowed to say that he does. Especially since the argument generally seems to be a lack of definition or simply "nuh uh" "yuh huh".
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Offline Drinktheater

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #31 on: November 07, 2017, 01:04:57 AM »
Then there is this stupid Pinoy fan who shouted Portnoy while MM is doing his drum solo.

Hah..... that guy most be baked or stoned!

I am at the first row of the orchestra section and there is this annoying man in his mid 40s probably high with Marijuana or some drug and keep singing along but he sings the lyrics way in advance like two or three bars ahead its like he brags about that he knows the lyrics.

And during the Drum Solo he just Yelled a very corrnie Joke he yelled. Mike Mike Mike Manginii in a Bottle! 
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Offline Dreammajesty

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #32 on: November 07, 2017, 02:09:39 AM »
i was watching this drum cam of  Lost not forgotten from Mangini   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnqojyUeTc8  and i find it "swinging" a really good drummer i find nothing robotic.

on the other hand MP always was/is  one of my favorite drummers however a few days back i was watching some vid of his with DT and began to irritate on a little bit too much overplay from his side or  i began to notice it now.Although i love his drumming i quit the song.If i recall which one it was i'll post it here.

Offline DarkLord_Lalinc

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #33 on: November 07, 2017, 03:05:27 AM »
Personally, I think the 'this/that musician or song has more/less feeling than this other song/musician' dicussion point is absurd, almost to the point of being silly because everyone feels and lives music in a different way. A particular piece of music can be of extreme emotional impact to me and not to the person next to me, and that doesn't make such piece of music better or worse. One has only to see Mangini's expressions and body language to feel what he's feeling and going through while performing DT's music. If you feel he doesn't translate that well to you in the same way Portnoy did, that's totally fine; but that doesn't mean there's no 'feeling' involved in his performance, you know? I can only imagine that the vocal minority of people that spend 3+ hours on YouTube posting derogatory comments towards Mangini and his 'soullessness' are mostly Mike Portnoy diehard fans who either cannot accept their idol is not part of Dream theater anymore or that just refuse to listen with objective ears and hearts to this new iteration of the band or maybe people that just don't know how to deal with change in any given situation in life.

It's OK if you don't like Mangini's style or approach, but implying that he has no 'feeling' while performing DT music is just silly and pointless; and definitely one of the reasons I've stopped discussing Dream Theater (and progressive music, for that matter) with a lot of people throughout the years (with the exception of course being this lovely forum).

That's my take on the matter. I hope didn't bore you fine people with it. Love.  :heart
« Last Edit: November 07, 2017, 03:19:11 AM by DarkLord_Lalinc »
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Offline Mladen

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Re: Who else is tired of people calling Mangini soulless?
« Reply #34 on: November 07, 2017, 03:32:14 AM »
Mangini has his strengths and weaknesses like everybody else, but not having "feel" and "soul" in his playing isn't something I'd attribute to him.