Impressed by 6:00? Laugh a little bit.

[rumborak]

Yup. I don't like The Who or Led Zeppelin all that much, but I've heard of those two a million times. Same with Buddy Rich. In fact I might never heard a single tune with Buddy Rich, and yet he is a very familiar name. That's legendary.

[Kotowboy]

Legendary doesn't always guarantee quality though.

[Knguro]

Legendary doesn't always guarantee quality though.

Ringo who?

[King Postwhore]

Legendary doesn't always guarantee quality though.

Ringo who?

Beatles as a whole are legendary.  Ringo has never been put in that category as a drummer.  Not even close.

[Knguro]

Legendary doesn't always guarantee quality though.

Ringo who?

Beatles as a whole are legendary.  Ringo has never been put in that category as a drummer.  Not even close.

Try to convince MP about that.

[SuperTaco]

I can't bring myself to construct an opinion about Lars without crossing the line into bashing territory, so I'll reserve my judgement.

MP's drumming makes me want to play drums again. If only I had somewhere to play xD

[Kotowboy]

Ringo is only legendary for being in the Beatles.

He is fondly remembered by drummers mainly for some reason. I'm a drummer and Paul is obviously a better drummer.

Most people are aware that Ringo wasn't that great and if there was ever good drumming on a Beatles song then Paul probably did it.

[Onno]

Now, the 7:1 Brazil-Germany game, that will be remembered and spoken of for decades to come. That was legendary.

It surely was!

[Knguro]

Now, the 7:1 Brazil-Germany game, that will be remembered and spoken of for decades to come. That was legendary.

It surely was!

If North Americans are talking about soccer of course it is legendary 

[Stadler]

That's one thing I would never fault MP for is his outstanding abilities as a drummer.  One of the best ever.  Lars on the other hand was just a time keeper for a much more famous and popular band.  I wouldn't call his playing legendary.  MP comes much closer to legendary than Lars.

You know, I actually can't think of a definition of "legendary" that would include MP. A legend, IMHO, is a person who, after all is said and done, a large number of people will speak of for many years to come.

Even in his heyday, MP was the drummer of an obscure prog metal band. He never got into the top echelon of drummers like Virgil Donati or Neil Peart. And these days he plays small clubs, with little chance of fronting anything big again.
I really like his early drumming (and the 6:00 opening is fucking brilliant), but I think few people will back in 30 years and say "remember Mike Portnoy? Best drummer in my book".

Are you compelled to speak ill of Mike at all opportunities?   Do you have an anti-Mike endorsement deal?   HAHA.  I say that to be funny, but pointedly funny.

And because I think you are likely wrong.  I think those that are being fair will regard Mike Portnoy in much the same way as people regard (and will regard) someone like Steve Morse.   "Legendary" at his instrument, legendary in his contribution to the furtherance of music as a profession and an artform, but maybe not "legendary" as a celebrity of music (ala Bonham, Moon or Starr). 

And your reference to Virgil Donati in this context is comical; you go up to 100 people at an airport and ask "have you ever heard of Mike Portnoy or have you ever heard of Virgil Donati?" your numbers for both will be single digits.  You show a picture of both, your numbers will still be low, but Mike would win that (if for no other reason than "That Metal Show").  You play a snippet of "Pull Me Under" and "Clonus", and Mike wins that too.   Donati is no more a legend outside of drum circles than Portnoy. 

[?]

Here's another one from the same episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kAmCyRIJLI

Lars looks like he's thinking "man, I wish I could still play it like that"

After all the drama and other crap I still think MP is a great drummer.

[Knguro]

Here's another one from the same episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kAmCyRIJLI

Lars looks like he's thinking "man, I wish I could still play it like that"

After all the drama and other crap I still think MP is a great drummer.

Is great to see that we can (now) talk about MP without a dumb-ass bashing on him.

[kirksnosehair]

I love Mike's drumming.  I actually slightly prefer him to Mangini as a drummer.   His drumming in Transatlantic, Neal Morse, Liquid Tension Experiment and of course Dream Theater are the reason I will always consider him among the elite.   I know it's always easy to pile on the guy, he often invites it with provocative social-media posts, but I've gotten to the point where I almost expect it once in a while.  He's a pretty reactionary guy from what I've seen. 


Oh, and the drumming on 6:00 is one of my favorite Portnoy performances ever.   

[MoraWintersoul]

Even in his heyday, MP was the drummer of an obscure prog metal band. He never got into the top echelon of drummers like Virgil Donati or Neil Peart.

I beg to differ. Dream Theater is the best known prog metal band, which IS a fringe subgenre, but they're pretty well-known both in the metal community (and metal is the largest and most mainstream genre of underground music, unless you count indie rock in underground music) and in the prog rock community. I don't think there's a single metalhead out there that hasn't heard of Mike Portnoy, and a lot of the people who don't listen to Dream Theater have massive appreciation for either Petrucci, Portnoy or Rudess. In fact, many more people would be prepared to single him out as one of the best drummers ever over Virgil Donati, because hardly anyone but drum geeks has heard of Virgil Donati.

[King Postwhore]

I think Rumbo means on a grandeur scale.  When your persona transcends into pop culture. 


DT is a leader in the rock rock community.  Are they globally known like U2?  Mothers in the Amazon know who Bono and U@ are.  Bono transcends.


That is what I think Rumbo means.  Maybe I'm wrong.........

[Knguro]

Even in his heyday, MP was the drummer of an obscure prog metal band. He never got into the top echelon of drummers like Virgil Donati or Neil Peart.

I beg to differ. Dream Theater is the best known prog metal band, which IS a fringe subgenre, but they're pretty well-known both in the metal community (and metal is the largest and most mainstream genre of underground music, unless you count indie rock in underground music) and in the prog rock community. I don't think there's a single metalhead out there that hasn't heard of Mike Portnoy, and a lot of the people who don't listen to Dream Theater have massive appreciation for either Petrucci, Portnoy or Rudess. In fact, many more people would be prepared to single him out as one of the best drummers ever over Virgil Donati, because hardly anyone but drum geeks has heard of Virgil Donati.

So much this. BEWARE PEOPLE, we are not talking about who's "better" or not. Is just that MP is more recognized by far.

[King Postwhore]

BTW I don't put Virgil in that group either.  He is loved by the drumming community no doubt but not outside that bubble.

[Sycsa]

Yeah, Keith Moon and John Bonham are legendary.

They both died tragically and way ahead of their time, that usually helps. From that era, I'll take Ian Paice or Carl Palmer over either of them any day.

You know, I actually can't think of a definition of "legendary" that would include MP. A legend, IMHO, is a person who, after all is said and done, a large number of people will speak of for many years to come.

Even in his heyday, MP was the drummer of an obscure prog metal band. He never got into the top echelon of drummers like Virgil Donati or Neil Peart. And these days he plays small clubs, with little chance of fronting anything big again.
I really like his early drumming (and the 6:00 opening is fucking brilliant), but I think few people will back in 30 years and say "remember Mike Portnoy? Best drummer in my book".

Yup. I don't like The Who or Led Zeppelin all that much, but I've heard of those two a million times. Same with Buddy Rich. In fact I might never heard a single tune with Buddy Rich, and yet he is a very familiar name. That's legendary.

You make it sound like it's all about fame and popularity, but then why did you bring up Virgi Donati (and to a lesser extent, even Neil Peart)? While Virgil is notorious in the drummer community and he's possibly the most technically accomplished drummer out there, he's so obscure that it's hard to track down all his albums (been there, done that) and he has a Wikipedia page in only 10 languages.

"Obscure prog metal band", come on, DT is mainstream as far as this genre goes, they pioneered it and they are (and have been been for the past couple of decades) by far the most well-known prog metal band in the world. Everyone who is into metal has at least heard of DT and MP was their most well-known member, which is quite a feat for a drummer. I've met dozens of metal fans who could name MP, but no one else in the band and he also has 1,2m likes on FB, which is quite impressive. I don't care for arbitrary and subjective titles such as "legendary" (that word became tainted anyway by that lame tv show), but considering the popularity of the guy, the fact that he helped pioneer a genre and the sheer amount of drummers who were inspired by him, I think you're selling him short.

[Mosh]

Try to convince MP about that.

Has MP ever called Ringo a legendary drummer? I've just seen him cite Ringo as a massive influence. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, "legendary" is such a meaningless title when talking about skill.

[KevShmev]

JP has 1.3 million likes on facebook.

[Knguro]

Try to convince MP about that.

Has MP ever called Ringo a legendary drummer? I've just seen him cite Ringo as a massive influence. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, "legendary" is such a meaningless title when talking about skill.

Well my friend, Ringo is extremely famous and known as the beatles drummer, therefore legendary drummer. Easy as that.

And yes, totally agree. 

[hefdaddy42]

Anyway, "legendary" is such a meaningless title when talking about skill.

Not "meaningless", it's just that it is apples and oranges.  People with skill and without skill can become legendary.  But they aren't necessarily related.

We are talking about legendary, not skill.

[Nearmyth]

I always thought Portnoy's drumming (at least when he's drum soloing) had plenty of flow. Maybe it's just his great drum sounds, but it all sounds "right".

But that's a hilarious video

[Mosh]

Try to convince MP about that.

Has MP ever called Ringo a legendary drummer? I've just seen him cite Ringo as a massive influence. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyway, "legendary" is such a meaningless title when talking about skill.

Well my friend, Ringo is extremely famous and known as the beatles drummer, therefore legendary drummer. Easy as that.

Not really though. He's hardly recognized for being a drummer as much as he's recognized for being a Beatle. That can apply to any of them really, with the exception of maybe Harrison, they weren't really recognized as instrumentalists.

[King Postwhore]

Um, Paul McCartney would like to have a word with you.

[Mosh]

Um, Paul McCartney would like to have a word with you.

As a bass player? I'm not sure about that. I've always found his bass playing to be really underrated actually.

[King Postwhore]

I would put him ahead of Harrison.  Hell, Paul played every instrument on some solo albums.

[rumborak]

I just don't think that MP has had the impact to be considered legendary. In the prog scene really only Neil Peart is legendary IMHO. And it's because Neil kept improving and expanding his skill; MP is an incredibly intuitive player and got him a long way, but 10 years into their career he started stagnating, and then he dropped from just about every drummer poll. For the last 10 years he has barely won any award.
Now if you want to talk about "notoriety", yes, I could give you that.

[Stadler]

...he's so obscure that ... he has a Wikipedia page in only 10 languages.

For some reason that made me laugh out loud. 

[Knguro]

...he's so obscure that ... he has a Wikipedia page in only 10 languages.

For some reason that made me laugh out loud.

hahahah Then I have to be the obscurest person on earth since I dont have a single page on Wikipedia... I DONT EVEN HAVE A FACEBOOK PROFILE!