Finally Free: The Drum Battle!

[Pettor]

Drum Battle Time!

Personally I am not much of a drummer but enjoy some nice drum rolling from time to time  . Finally Free is a favorite song of mine and the "drum solo" at the end is just a hell lot of fun. The studio version is just awesome and watching Portnoy go wild on those drums in Live Scenes From New York just brings me to laughter

Mike Mangini had a quite different approach when playing the song in the Break The Fourth Wall show. More down to earth approach (I guess?) which could be filled with complicated rythms for all I know?  Not really sure actually because it does sound very safe and personally it's not that satisfying.

What I want to know is if this is a general opinion or drummers all around the world go "Mangini does the most crazy tripped-caziddel-whatever-rythm" and thats just insane, or "Portnoy's passion is unbeatable"?

I should say I am not bashing Mangini's drumming. I personally think BTFW sounds awesome, I just think Finally Free always had that "YES! Now its drum solo time" and I just didn't feel the excitement on that part of the BTFW live show.

[TAC]

I went with MP. That's a great part on Live Scenes, which is one of my all time favorite Live Albums. When you are so used to hearing it played one way, end then the recent version gets scaled back, it is definitely noticeable.

But I think MM may have been in a no win situation here. If he played it like he did, he gets grief like in the OP. If he does a solo type thing, then he's only copying what MP did, and it still wouldn't be as special.

[jakepriest]

MM's Finally Free version doesn't feel as bombastic as the original / Live Scenes version, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad, just different.  I still prefer the original though.

[The Presence of Frenemies]

Live Scenes for me. Not that Mangini's thing falls flat, but it doesn't elevate the song (and the show) the way Live Scenes did.

[chaossystem]

It's beginning to look like "the bloom is off the rose" so to speak, where Mike Mangini is concerned. More and more people at least SEEM to be coming out and saying that Portnoy is as good or better, that they prefer him as Dream Theater's drummer, that they miss his OTHER contributions to the band, that they wish he was back in, or that BOTH of them were playing in the band at the same time...and this poll is another-and very good-example of that.

I'm not saying it's the MAJORITY, but the number of people who feel this way DOES seem to be growing...

Just SAYING...!...

[TAC]

Well, two reasons for this I believe.
1. DT has basically done NOTHING this year. They really have not communicated with the fans at all. This was an area that MP was good at, further highlighting his absence.
2. Not sure if Bosk can back this up, but with the link to the website, and the 30th Anniversary thread, there are a lot of new members that are making their opinions on such matters known. The MM/MP percentages may be the same, but the raw numbers on each side have certainly increased.

[pcs90]

I prefer MM over MP hands down as a whole, but for this particular song MP's playing was more interesting I'd say

[chaossystem]

Right, TAC. That was one of the things I MEANT. Sorry I forgot to specifically mention that Portnoy was always the group's (main anyway) spokesman and connection or liaison between the band and the public/audience.

[TheCountOfNYC]

Portnoy's version by a long shot. That drum solo is what makes the whole ending so epic.

[Ben_Jamin]

Portnoy's version by a long shot. That drum solo is what makes the whole ending so epic.

Same here.

[theseoafs]

Mangini's solo is just... not good. 

[BlobVanDam]

The FF outro is one of those few spots that I feel falls very flat now. I don't put that on MM specifically, but I think the use of click track changes the entire dynamic and arrangement of a song that hurts it here. I really don't like it. Gotta go with MP on this one.

[Rodni Demental]

Breaking the Fourth Wall is an excellent show, and I love MM. But that ending to Finally Free was a disappointment for me. Dunno why, but I guess I wasn't a fan of the new approach for that song. Seeing as I consider that drum outro one of the highlights of the song I guess I was expecting MM to do the craziest fills I'd ever seen or something. 

[Ben_Jamin]

The FF outro is one of those few spots that I feel falls very flat now. I don't put that on MM specifically, but I think the use of click track changes the entire dynamic and arrangement of a song that hurts it here. I really don't like it. Gotta go with MP on this one.

It really does. I don't mind using a click track, but this one really suffers for the ending. It'd be cool if it was a bit longer.

[Vandalism]

MP for me! Apart from just one bar of the ending riff MM didnt really do anything out of the ordinary!

That being said I have nothing else against MM. I really like his onus to complement multiple instruments simultaneously.

[Sycsa]

Mangini pulls out a better performance on BTFW than Portnoy did on any other live release, with a few exceptions, one of them being the Finally Free ending.

[Kotowboy]

Mangini's solo is just... not good.

Oh fuck all these years and I forgot to practice how to solo in 4/4 . . . HALP MEH

[Eldomm]

Mike Portnoy without question

[mikeyd23]

Portnoy's version by a long shot. That drum solo is what makes the whole ending so epic.

This

Mangini pulls out a better performance on BTFW than Portnoy did on any other live release, with a few exceptions, one of them being the Finally Free ending.

And also this.

[CharlesPL]

MP...

[hefdaddy42]

Portnoy's version by a long shot. That drum solo is what makes the whole ending so epic.

This

Mangini pulls out a better performance on BTFW than Portnoy did on any other live release, with a few exceptions, one of them being the Finally Free ending.

And also this.

Those.