Dream Theater entered the studio in February v. No News is Good News

[Sycsa]

Back when Mangini first joined Dream Theater - it was nigh on impossible to find a video clip of him playing or soloing on YouTube that wasn't diabolical audio.

This video was on YouTube a long time ago, now they uploaded again after years of absence. It has by far the best audio quality of any MM drum solo, and the playing is extremely fun to watch and listen to as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxiMuk3FkIY

I prefer Donati's interpretation. I still think that DT would have done a huge step forward with him on drums, but nevermind.

I second this. Donati has such a unique style and technique, feels like he's in a different league than everyone else. I think if DT wanted to explore uncharted territories, freshen up their style, kick their technical side up a notch, and integrate technical fusion elements into their music, Donati would have been the way to go. Understandably, that never was their intention and, apparently, Donati wasn't keen on joining either. I'm perfectly happy with MM, ADTOE, DT12 and BTFW are among my very favorites, but still, a DT album with Donati is a big "what if" fantasy of mine.

But right now, frankly, the DT section has tumbleweed rolling through it.

Yeah, no kidding. I'm no veteran, but since I joined the forum (2012) it never was this deserted, not even close. Were there other slow periods like this or did we just hit rock bottom?

[Sacul]

I honestly prefer it this way, with very low expectations. I want the band to surprise me with whatever they do. Remember the hype towards DT12 was ridiculous, and it didn't do it favours.

[rumborak]

Yeah, no kidding. I'm no veteran, but since I joined the forum (2012) it never was this deserted, not even close. Were there other slow periods like this or did we just hit rock bottom?

Well, this is a bit of an unspoken reality around here, but DTF has been steadily dwindling. Check out https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?action=stats ,specifically when you expand the month-by-month stats at the bottom. These days we just barely make it over 10k posts per month, when even in 2011 is was still more than 3 times as many. Google Trends for the term "Dream Theater" looks very similar.

[Scorpion]

I don't know, don't you get the impression that the die-hards are dwindling too?

And maybe it's just me, seeing some studio footage always excites me, particularly when it has a few snippets of music in it. Steven Wilson's studio vignettes were freaking awesome.

Perhaps they are dwindling, it does seem that way. In fact, I didn't notice how deserted this was until just now - shows how much I still follow the band, I guess.

But I didn't find the studio footage from DT12 very exciting. I mean, SW's was great, but DT aren't SW and I'd rather not have them feel obligated to do something that they don't want to do and then fill it up with Jordan going nuts on the image-editing and James saying how much the new album will rawk and how it's going to be their best since Images and Words.

[425]

Yeah, no kidding. I'm no veteran, but since I joined the forum (2012) it never was this deserted, not even close. Were there other slow periods like this or did we just hit rock bottom?

Well, this is a bit of an unspoken reality around here, but DTF has been steadily dwindling. Check out https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?action=stats ,specifically when you expand the month-by-month stats at the bottom. These days we just barely make it over 10k posts per month, when even in 2011 is was still more than 3 times as many. Google Trends for the term "Dream Theater" looks very similar.

This is actually quite interesting to look at. I haven't thought about it too much, but personally, I just don't spend much time in the Dream Theater subforum, in part because I don't listen to the band all that much at this time, but more importantly because there are just very few interesting topics in here.

On the other hand, I think the General Music subforum is still going pretty strong. Probably because it's a collection of people who have some overlap in music taste talking about a wider variety of bands, instead of a subform that basically mandates that a number of users maintain a fairly strong interest in Dream Theater for a long time. The quality of the General Music subforum here is actually one of the big reasons why this is probably the forum on which I have maintained the longest period of activity. I think I joined very early into the DT12 hype, so I'm over two years now, which isn't a whole lot, but it's pretty high for me, and it's because the forum grew with me, so to speak, as I evolved from intense DT fandom to having a wider diversity of musical interests. The quality of General Music (and, realistically, Polls/Survivors, which I consider to be an offshoot of General Music), along with, of course, the quality of the forum staff and userbase, is really what makes DTF worth it for me.

Numbers aren't everything, though, and I'm not all that worried about DTF. There seems to be a core group of users of a pretty decent size who don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Same with DT's fanbase, really. While it's interesting to see the numbers on both DTF and DT, I don't really see them as a dying forum and a dying band.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, no kidding. I'm no veteran, but since I joined the forum (2012) it never was this deserted, not even close. Were there other slow periods like this or did we just hit rock bottom?

Well, this is a bit of an unspoken reality around here, but DTF has been steadily dwindling. Check out https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?action=stats ,specifically when you expand the month-by-month stats at the bottom. These days we just barely make it over 10k posts per month, when even in 2011 is was still more than 3 times as many. Google Trends for the term "Dream Theater" looks very similar.

That might be, but activity on online forums in general is down a lot over the years, largely because I think younger people tend to go now more towards social media rather than forums.  Activity on this site is still pretty high, especially considering we are in an in between period for the band at the moment.

[rumborak]

They're not a dying band, but I suspect the grand days of the big venues they played under RR are slowly coming to an end. They are not going to be a Rush who 40 years into their career still fill huge venues.

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

Speaking for myself (in the deserted forum topic), upon giving it a little thinking I came to the conclusion that the reason I don't hang here that much anymore is that every song, album, bootleg, performance and nuance in the band has already been discussed to death. That's not a bad thing, it's just the way it is. Also, considering that every now and then new members join the forum, discussions will always keep showing up. DT's discography isn't endless, so the 'new' conversation topics somehow got to an end; also taking into account that things have been dead quiet in DT land since the release of the Boston DVD.

I know most bands are like this, but not all fans were used to a Portnoy-ish type of treatment, in which we constantly received goodies, photos, rarities, etc. Now, when DT releases their new album, we will be discussing it for a couple of months; the setlist of their show won't change and we will discuss it for another couple of months and so on, until we reach once again a silent period. It's not a bad thing per se, it's just that DT has become more of a regular band, whereas back then I felt really embraced by the band for being a loyal fan.

My two cents. You may continue your conversation, gentlemen.

[Cyclopssss]

Hello, update, anyone?    They're in the studio since february. Portnoy would have kept the interest in the band going. No doubt about it. It will pick up around the time of a new release. It always does. 

[rumborak]

There's definitely no point in following any of their social media. They're all just auto-generated marketing entries generated by management.

[Prog Snob]

There's definitely no point in following any of their social media. They're all just auto-generated marketing entries generated by management.

Except for Jordan.  He's obviously been watching too much Scooby Doo in the studio. 

[BlobVanDam]

There's definitely no point in following any of their social media. They're all just auto-generated marketing entries generated by management.

Except for Jordan.  He's obviously been watching too much Scooby Doo in the studio. 

[Zydar]

[Prog Snob]

See what I mean.  Now we know why everything is so damn secretive and quiet. They've all had one too many Scooby Snax

[BlackInk]

That might be, but activity on online forums in general is down a lot over the years, largely because I think younger people tend to go now more towards social media rather than forums.  Activity on this site is still pretty high, especially considering we are in an in between period for the band at the moment.

DT's facebook likes have also dropped with 3,81% (almost 150'000) since september last year. Yeah I like statistics..

[ErHaO]

I am not worried. Could be the crowd is getting a bit smaller, but that happens to most artists really. 

DT does seem to have loyal buyers and often gets new releases in one way or another. For example, you can buy their vinyls in almost any recordshop over here and they are one of the very few metal bands of which new releases can often be found in regular media stores.

Also, I do not even have half of my favourite artists liked on fb and neither google most of them. I often look at the big release lists and check stuff out on streaming services nowadays (I use Deezer). Now that I think of it, do we have something like spotify numbers btw? And how does this affect the band?

[Zydar]

I posted it in the Haken thread, but I'll post it here too:

"With @mikeportnoy Max and @erenbasbug at the Haken and Next to None show in NYC tonight!"

[Prog Snob]

And I will repeat it here, that is so fucking awesome!!      

[BlackInk]

Now that I think of it, do we have something like spotify numbers btw? And how does this affect the band?

Dream Theater has 180'403 followers on Spotify. As to how that affects the band, no idea.

[SuperTaco]

I posted it in the Haken thread, but I'll post it here too:

"With @mikeportnoy Max and @erenbasbug at the Haken and Next to None show in NYC tonight!"

It's so nice to see Rudess and Portnoy hanging out, with such genuine smiles on their faces

Now then, Rudess... Studio update? 

[?]

That might be, but activity on online forums in general is down a lot over the years, largely because I think younger people tend to go now more towards social media rather than forums.  Activity on this site is still pretty high, especially considering we are in an in between period for the band at the moment.

DT's facebook likes have also dropped with 3,81% (almost 150'000) since september last year. Yeah I like statistics..

I've read that in March FB started to remove page likes from inactive accounts, and as a result all pages have less likes than they did at the beginning of the year.

[comment]

Love to get an update from the band since they went in about 2 months ago.  Kinda wish they would drop an EP soon too.

[Dani Helios]

Love to get an update from the band since they went in about 2 months ago.  Kinda wish they would drop an EP soon too.

I don't think they'll do that. The Wither EP was just a promo, and CoS was, if I remember correctly, because the fans wanted an official release of the song, but it had to be on an EP, not a full length, to keep the label happy...

[comment]

Love to get an update from the band since they went in about 2 months ago.  Kinda wish they would drop an EP soon too.

I don't think they'll do that. The Wither EP was just a promo, and CoS was, if I remember correctly, because the fans wanted an official release of the song, but it had to be on an EP, not a full length, to keep the label happy...

Yeah, I hear ya.  I'd just love to hear some word or new snippet about now...  I wonder how their side stuff is going.  Like JPs solo album for instance.  He mentioned it like a year ago or something.   

[FLEEBS]

Yeah, I hear ya.  I'd just love to hear some word or new snippet about now...  I wonder how their side stuff is going.  Like JPs solo album for instance.  He mentioned it like a year ago or something.   

We are way overdue for some news, that's for sure.

I saw and met Petrucci at a clinic in Colorado last year in April, and when someone asked if he would ever do another solo record, he said yes, and the way he made it sound was like he was definitely in the process of working on it. I don't remember the exact wording or the way it all went down, but it left me rather excited.

Break the silence, guys! Please?

[emtee]

Honestly what can they really say at this point in the process? They can't give any specific details about anything w/o giving too much away.
The big marketing push comes when they are much closer to release time. Interviews, a single, maybe a video..etc. but at this juncture
there really isn't much to say. You don't want to generate hype too early and then have it slowly fizzle out. You want mega hype at release
time.

[rumborak]

wtf. Thousands of artists manage to give studio updates without giving away "too much".

There is a lot of downtime/joking around in a studio. Take videos of that, upload.

[emtee]

That is true but it's never really been DT's style. They have always been guarded about details until it's gets closer to release date.

[Mladen]

Does it really matter? Maybe it would be more fun if they pulled a Bowie or Radiohead and simply went "The new album is coming out next week." I mean, whatever, updates and small videos are all fine, but it's not really crucial in my opinion.

[Madman Shepherd]

Now that I think of it, do we have something like spotify numbers btw? And how does this affect the band?

Dream Theater has 180'403 followers on Spotify. As to how that affects the band, no idea.

It means that each member gets an extra 35 bucks at the end of the year (James only gets $28.50 with the Canadian conversion rate)

[BlackInk]

Per follower, or in total? The first scenario is very much and the second is very little.

[Kotowboy]

Per follower, or in total? The first scenario is very much and the second is very little.

Probably in total. My music is on Spotify and despite me not having any middle men - just a distributor and me - I still only get £1 for every 10,000 plays.

[rumborak]

Does it really matter? Maybe it would be more fun if they pulled a Bowie or Radiohead and simply went "The new album is coming out next week." I mean, whatever, updates and small videos are all fine, but it's not really crucial in my opinion.

Dunno, just my personal taste I guess. To me, DT's allure often was that they were the parked Ferrari with the hood propped up.  You'd walk up, and just be mesmerized by how everything worked, all those intricate parts, and you knew how everything worked and still be enthralled by the orchestration of all those independently moving parts, coming together to produce that infernal roar you love.

Sorry, maybe a bit too nostalgic/poetic I just miss the days where there was no metal pretense, no neck beards; no click tracks, no taped backing vocals. They were the Beastie Boys of metal, the guys who wore sneakers, who played just plain good music because the world needed to have that music in existence.

[Bertielee]

Does it really matter? Maybe it would be more fun if they pulled a Bowie or Radiohead and simply went "The new album is coming out next week." I mean, whatever, updates and small videos are all fine, but it's not really crucial in my opinion.

Dunno, just my personal taste I guess. To me, DT's allure often was that they were the parked Ferrari with the hood propped up.  You'd walk up, and just be mesmerized by how everything worked, all those intricate parts, and you knew how everything worked and still be enthralled by the orchestration of all those independently moving parts, coming together to produce that infernal roar you love.

Sorry, maybe a bit too nostalgic/poetic I just miss the days where there was no metal pretense, no neck beards; no click tracks, no taped backing vocals. They were the Beastie Boys of metal, the guys who wore sneakers, who played just plain good music because the world needed to have that music in existence.

Or maybe it is that you are just old?!? Which reminds me that I am too....

B.Lee

[Zydar]

"Vibing in the studio on a beautiful Steinway grand."

https://www.facebook.com/jordanrudessofficial/videos/10152922658377989/?_rdr