The bright side of Portnoy's departure: let's talk about it

[Aniland]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next record sees a musical response to Mike's presence. Perhaps they can have a song about it that has entirely NO drums at all, signifying his absence.

[zxlkho]

I wouldn't be surprised if the next record sees a musical response to Mike's presence. Perhaps they can have a song about it that has entirely NO drums at all, signifying his absence.

That could actually turn out well...

[Pirate]

Well the band used to go through keyboardists like toilet paper, and that gave us IW and Awake, ACoS and FII, and SFAM and SDOIT. Hopefully this time around we get something fresh as well.

[ddtonfire]

I am very excited to see where they go from here.

[El Barto]

I wholeheartedly approve of this.  I think we'll get much more quality music this way.  The other guys in DT will find one (or many) kick ass drummers and crank out some different but clever stuff.  MP always does good work on his side projects, and I gather that he's pretty much in side-project mode for the indefinite future.  The man never stops.  Should be plenty of good music to come out of this. 

Plus, we all know that he'll play with them again.  5-10 years from now, we'll all get to see them again in some capacity. 

[Dimitrius]

Sounds like they are going to start work very soon though. Maybe even before year's end. Lay down some guitar/bass/keyboard tracks and then do auditions over them?

They had stated that recording was to begin on January, very much doubt they will begin at that time now.

[M-boogie]

I always liked JPs lyrics more than MPs but sad see him go and excited about the next DT album, I think JP will take on the leadership role pretty well.

[Neon]

Hey, Fates Warning hasn't been doing much.

They should give Mark Zonder a call.

Just sayin'.

Because THAT would be awesome. 

[zxlkho]

I still thin Martin Lopez would be the best replacement.

[Rafael Guerra]

I still didn't get over it. And I still hope its a prank or hacker. Nevertheless, I am STARTING to see positive things.

01. It will bring us, from the forum, closer together. I really do think so. We will all feel the same bitter sadness for a while together. Together.
02. New direction. Let's face it, the four latest albums were great...but most of us miss Myung's writing, more LaBrie, less growls etc. It is the only way to fix these things.
03. It will help the other bands he will be part of. He will be able to share his amazing talent with at least 2 or 3 bands, and we will have a little bit of Mike everywhere.

I'm still sad...and skeptic, though.

[chrisbDTM]

marco minnemann?

[splent]

My hope is that with MP gone, that the sound of DT will lean more prog again.  But I know the sound is going to be completely different.  I'm just happy they are staying together and moving on.

[LeeHarveyKennedy]

A positive? It sounds like the door's still open for an MP return when he's ready to take on that responsibility again.

In the meantime, I look forward to their new Derek Sherinian and the changes this will bring to the band's sound.

[LCArenas]

A positive? It sounds like the door's still open for an MP return when he's ready to take on that responsibility again.

In the meantime, I look forward to their new Derek Sherinian and the changes this will bring to the band's sound.

I.... I.... I....










I Fucking lol'd.

Thanks, LHK. we needed this. A lot.

[Gorille85]

Mike was the only guy in the band listening to Opeth and stuff like that. I'm pretty excited to see the new direction and who the new drummer would be.

[Nic35]

Tell you what this feels like, to me?

It might be completely psychopathic. But, you know when you're really getting into a TV show, and then about halfway through the series they do something massively drastic and kill off a main character?

That. It's like a brilliant cliffhanger. This is such a gamechanger. I'm so so SO excited to see what they'll do next. But christ! Mike Portnoy! He was... the glue! Love him or hate him, he did so much. What'll the publicity be like?! Special editions, etc. etc.? I'm sure the others are capable, but... man! They've got their work cut out.

I'm intrigued, though. This is the start of series 5. Who's not excited by a new series? New stories, new characters. New showrunner. Ooh. I like that, the showrunner one. This is Steven Moffat taking over Doctor Who. Dream Theater regenerating into Matt Smith. Exciting. But so so scary. And sad! The end of an era!

My thoughts. Exactly.

It is a big shock. I tried listening to DT again, but I am not able. I don't know why, but I keep seeing him live being so passionate about what he does, watching him during the Score documentary saying how he got DT started and I am severely shocked.

Still, I fucking sad right now.

[Volk9]

I'm actually more excited for the band's future than I ever have been.

[SystematicThought]

The Press Release said they will return to the studio in January to record with a world tour to follow.

I am highly optimistic for the future, just to bad MP isn't involved

[orcus116]

A positive? It sounds like the door's still open for an MP return when he's ready to take on that responsibility again.

In the meantime, I look forward to their new Derek Sherinian and the changes this will bring to the band's sound.

I.... I.... I....










I Fucking lol'd.

Thanks, LHK. we needed this. A lot.

I'm pretty sure he was serious.

[7StringedBeast]

DUDE WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,  I JUST HEARD.  WTF WTF WTF.  Jesus I feel..... really awful.  I can't believe this is affecting me this much but holy fuck.   

[LCArenas]

I'm pretty sure he was serious.

Wait, maybe you are right. Maybe I read this the wrong way....

[MykeHavoc]

It pains me to say it...but I'm really looking forward to where the band goes next. With such a drastic change, I can only imagine some excitement. In the span of a few short hours, I've gone from hopeless to pretty optimistic. Let's wait and see.

[LeeHarveyKennedy]

I'm not sure how else you could have read it. Mike never said "I'm done with DT forever," the next drummer is always going to be unfavorably compared to him if not outright given the 'hired gun' label, and I'm genuinely excited for their next album, as it's officially do or die time.

[Nic35]

I can not imagine Mike looking back to his huge DT collection and not saying to himself ''What the fuck did I do?''

[j]

OUTSIDE PRODUCER

Absolutely!  This is definitely the biggest tangible positive that could potentially come of Portnoy's departure, IMO.

-J

[LCArenas]

I'm not sure how else you could have read it.

I thought that you were talking literally about Derek Sherinian.

[The Letter M]

Perhaps Mike will head up another Progressive Nation tour next year? He could run the whole thing and tour with other musicians if he wanted to play.

Mike will also probably do more covers - he always love doing them, be it with DT, TA, or his side-project cover-bands... I wouldn't mind seeing Yellow Matter Custard reunite for a different show because there's certainly enough Beatles songs he could do an entirely different show!

-Marc.

[setrataeso]

I'm actually more excited for the band's future than I ever have been.

After the initial shock, I can honestly say this is how I feel. I'm still super sad, but I'm growing optimistic now.

[Metropolis Pt. II]

I'm not sure how else you could have read it. Mike never said "I'm done with DT forever," the next drummer is always going to be unfavorably compared to him if not outright given the 'hired gun' label, and I'm genuinely excited for their next album, as it's officially do or die time.

This was sort of how things were when Jordan joined the band.
They had to prove that they could come out with a better album after FII, or else they were going to throw in the towel. (I think MP mentioned that on the Score documentary?)
So hopefully, if history does indeed repeat, then this change will more or less force DT to come out with an outstanding album and they will blow their load on every level.

[SystematicThought]

Maybe JP will decide to clean house for the next record, an outside producer, new engineer. It's a clean slate. I am excited

[rumborak]

I have to be brutally honest, I was kinda done with DT, and had been for a while. I think MP's departure will shake up things in DT, and that is something that, for better or for worse, will cause a more varied new album. Don't get me wrong, it's sad that MP left DT, but artistically it might have been what DT needed. Or, equally as likely, it will have been the beginning of the end of DT.

rumborak

[ScioPath]

The Rabbi at Rosh HaShanah services said something about how new paths emerge from sadness. He used the quote, "A heart that's broken is the most whole." and built it into an inspiring sermon.

He also said something about mutant seahorses.

[Killer123™]

JOHN PETRUCCI
He did drum before... for Nightmare Cinema

maybe he could play drum and guitar.. err... at the same time.... ?

[tjanuranus]

JOHN PETRUCCI
He did drum before... for Nightmare Cinema

maybe he could play drum and guitar.. err... at the same time.... ?

easily

[tri.ad]

My thoughts on some of the suggestions:

Outside producer: Possible, but not likely. I imagine JR taking over for MP.
More prog: Likely.
Martin López as the new drummer: That would be cool. He definitely has the chops and I think that he'd be a nice fit, at least musically. Personally, it'd be up to DT, of course.

I'm actually more excited for the band's future than I ever have been.

After the initial shock, I can honestly say this is how I feel. I'm still super sad, but I'm growing optimistic now.

This, too.