DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY

[HOF]

I wish they would strip back the over-production on the sound.
It's brick wall mastering to the max with the modern DT.

Strip back the sound and music so there's more space between the instruments.
And room for the vocals to move and thrive. 

Production sound in the vein of  Scenes from a Memory or Failing Into Infinity or Awake would be great.
And let's get away from the "heavy metal" sound.  Enough of that already.
Let's make a prog rock album like Scenes.
No more cookie cutter prog metal please.

Great productions, but that was in the 90s. It was so long ago. I was still young and thought life would be wonderful.
It seems unlikely.

It would be easy for them to do.

Scale back on the brick wall mastering.
Don't layer so many guitars and get rid of the "chocolate cake" sound that Petrucci is so enamored with.
Portnoy's drum sound will already have more dynamics and sound more natural than Manginis drum machine sound.
Take away all of the vocal tricks and auto tune on Labrie's voice. Create a natural less Layered and less synthetic vocal sound.  With Labries vocals lately...you might as well have a computer sing the lines.
Listening to Scenes now...and his vocals sound so much more pure and natural and HUMAN.

Production-wise, I agree.  JP should also dial back on the "chocolate" layered live sound in his rig.

I thought the 3rd LTE album sounded pretty good production wise. At least not especially brick-walled. Maybe that bodes well for what DT might sound like with MP back in the band.

[El JoNNo]

I only want Nicky Spanjaards' opinion on this.

[MinistroRaven]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

[TAC]

That doesn't really jive with his post the other day about letting the cat out of the bag, no?

[porcacultor]

That doesn't really jive with his post the other day about letting the cat out of the bag, no?

Re-reading that "cat out of the bag" post, I think he worded it (unintentionally I guess) in an ambiguous way. Like, he might've meant "I guess now that this is out there, I don't have to answer questions about SoA coming back", but instead he wrote it like he knew. Maybe he wanted to make it sound like he knew. It's all weird and now I'm overthinking it so you don't have to.

[TAC]

That doesn't really jive with his post the other day about letting the cat out of the bag, no?

Re-reading that "cat out of the bag" post, I think he worded it (unintentionally I guess) in an ambiguous way. Like, he might've meant "I guess now that this is out there, I don't have to answer questions about SoA coming back", but instead he wrote it like he knew. Maybe he wanted to make it sound like he knew. It's all weird and now I'm overthinking it so you don't have to.

Well, gee, I appreciate that.

[jammindude]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

I see the quote, but you have to remember that they are friends. I can tell my friend "I'm pissed at you" and it can basically be the equivalent of "why didn't ya tell me bro?"

[Skeever]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

I see the quote, but you have to remember that they are friends. I can tell my friend "I'm pissed at you" and it can basically be the equivalent of "why didn't ya tell me bro?"

This was my read also.

[gmillerdrake]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

I see the quote, but you have to remember that they are friends. I can tell my friend "I'm pissed at you" and it can basically be the equivalent of "why didn't ya tell me bro?"

This was my read also.

Yeah there's nothing to that. It's Blabbermouth trying to create a headline. That's nothing more than a brotherly/friendly 'pissed' reference.

[Madman Shepherd]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

I see the quote, but you have to remember that they are friends. I can tell my friend "I'm pissed at you" and it can basically be the equivalent of "why didn't ya tell me bro?"

This was my read also.

Yeah there's nothing to that. It's Blabbermouth trying to create a headline. That's nothing more than a brotherly/friendly 'pissed' reference.

I wouldn't say "nothing" because Blabbermouth nearly always provides a more broad context in the article (which people don't read) and Soto does sound like he's, let's just say, not NOT a little mad.

Of course, in print things lack context like the tone of the voice and later Soto is talking about Mike Mangini saying "he talks funny." I thought he was taking a shot at his longed-windedness and then I remember Soto is originally from NY (I think) so he was probably jabbing MM for being from Boston

[King Postwhore]

Who cares if he's pissed.  It means nothing to me.

Hell, Bumblefoot cane out before the MP news saying SOA are done.

[jammindude]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

I see the quote, but you have to remember that they are friends. I can tell my friend "I'm pissed at you" and it can basically be the equivalent of "why didn't ya tell me bro?"

This was my read also.

Yeah there's nothing to that. It's Blabbermouth trying to create a headline. That's nothing more than a brotherly/friendly 'pissed' reference.

I wouldn't say "nothing" because Blabbermouth nearly always provides a more broad context in the article (which people don't read) and Soto does sound like he's, let's just say, not NOT a little mad.

Of course, in print things lack context like the tone of the voice and later Soto is talking about Mike Mangini saying "he talks funny." I thought he was taking a shot at his longed-windedness and then I remember Soto is originally from NY (I think) so he was probably jabbing MM for being from Boston

I promise you that I read the entire article before I made my post, and my post is based on everything I read....in the entire article.

[gzarruk]

Jeff himself replied to a few comments on the article saying the headline lacks context and that he meant it in a friendly way (what jammindude said). I think the only one here who's really pissed off by this is Derek

It's also been said the MP just wanted a hiatus, which indicates that he always intended to come back. So, to me this says that MM was the replacement for as long as MP needed to sew his wild oats. And while I think almost 14 years is a bit too long away, MP was always in contact with the band. They were always family to him. I think in his heart — and the band's — this was always what they wanted.

I get what you're saying, but you're missing A LOT of public (and most likely private too) drama between them. There's been plenty of negative comments made from both sides (mostly MP, who got really bitter at some point), comments made by the band that the MM lineup would be the last one, as well as MP saying he didn't want/need to return. He even made the infamous "LTE is like DT but without the annoying vocals" comment.

Things change, obviously, and here we are, but I don't think this reunion was "always what they wanted" at all.

[TheRich13]

Thankfully witnessed MP play with JP on his solo tour at the Town Hall NYC ! These two are just magical together....it was like old times , so as I thank MM for all the great music and shows , I happily welcome MP back home ! Now, ..Let's have Metropolis Pt.3 . Sights Unscene !

[Wim Kruithof]

Really can't follow the no-more-Portnoy-vocals opinions in here. Last TA V's Looking for the Light and Reaching for the Sky (indeed KevShmev) are brilliant and his raw voice could - in some cases - be very beautiful. When the lyrics are filled with pain, envy, fury or wrath, he's the go-to, I would say.

And back-vocals to express those, I always really loved in Dream Theater.

[MirrorMask]

I remember MP saying that it was important for him to have his and JP's backing vocals on the albums, so that when they would actually do them live, "they would not sound like a weaker version of James".

Makes sense after all; if you're used to a studio song when James layers his vocals to do all the parts, when they play it live and someone else sings backing vocals you're gonna notice the difference. If the guys doing backing vocals live are already on the studio version, it sounds right.

[DoctorAction]

I'm loving hearing the frequent calls to ditch the click live and get a more natural sound in the studio.

I've frequently posted about wanting a more natural sounding studio album (I remember being very surprised some people were outraged about the idea that using a click in the studio is detrimental to the end product...).

Recording basic tracks live as a band WITHOUT a click, great drum sound, leaving in some noise and clatter. With MP I can see this could even be a possibility.

EDIT: Basing this on absolutely fuck all.  I've never heard MP talk about it but wishful thinking on my part. He seems like the kind of guy who might dig it to me.

[Shattered Glass]

Welcome Back MP. Looking back on when Mike left I can certainly say I am not proud of some of my reactions. I pretty much avoided MP's non DT stuff - I didn't listen to SOA until I saw MP doing "I want to stay home" with his daughter during covid on YouTube and realised that I missed him and life is short to not listen to a musician you love. I am a James guy but MP is the reason I started listening to DT. I do think James and MP will most likely drive each other crazy but also think MP won't be coming back to white ant JLB- i think they clash because they are so much alike. For the people upset about MM - I am sorry. I do think though - I mean I have lost my job in a few places and it  can be traumatic but it's also not the end of the world. Dt have always been my favourite band since 2009 but I pretty much have an antipathic reaction to their last album (when I loved D/T) and on rhe while my favourite MM era albums are the ones where his input was limited  (astonishing and ADTOE) - I wanted to love him but didn't.  I really don't see their last few albums as metal but more as loud prog. What I have learned from the last 13  years is that the metal bit in the prog metal  label means something  to me and that I love all the JP/JR/MP albums- and MP brings the metal. I am grateful to MM for his graciousness which I think was a gift to the fans tired of drama but yeah this feels like a wound has healed. (Sorry I know this isn't really partaking in a conversation it is just my thoughts)

[MirrorMask]

I do think James and MP will most likely drive each other crazy but also think MP won't be coming back to white ant JLB- i think they clash because they are so much alike.

I think they're both older, wiser and softened by age, and know that life is too short, and they both understand the need of the "classic" line-up.

MP understands that James is the voice of Dream Theater and that no one, even singers who could potentially deliver live better than him, could ever replace him and make it feels like it's still DT.

James understands the importance of MP as a founding member and how much he was beloved and missed by the fans.

They both know Dream Theater has to have them both, and end with them both.

[javidt]

Musically, I don't expect nothing new or interesting from MP, but I'm sure that he'll give to the fans a lot more than we have had during all these years in every other aspect.

Honestly, I was more excited when he left than now, but the rest of the band hasn't filled the 'hole' during all these years.

On the other hand, AVFTTOTW is, IMHO, the best thing they have done since SDOIT or TOT, so I'm a little bit disappointed with the fact that they have got rid of MM.

Anyway, interesting times are coming for sure...

[RoeDent]

I've just realized that this big change for the band comes after another five-album run. You can split DT's career into three eras, with them now about to enter a fourth.

Albums 1-5: The 90s
Albums 6-10: The 00s, the Portnoy/Rudess lineup solidified, the 12SS and all.
Albums 11-15: The Mangini era.

[MirrorMask]

And now, for the "famous last words" (or first words) from band members, of course not to be taken literally...

Charlie went saying it was only a matter of time.

James came lost in the sky, not afraid to be pulled under.

Kevin went saying he would never be open again.

Derek came with a crimson sunrise and left under the New York rain.

Jordan came in 1928, safe in the light that surrounded him.

Mike went away in Tuscany and with the sound of seagulls, what will he do next?

Mike Mangini came standing on the backs of angels and left having built a legacy.

[Trav]

And now, for the "famous last words" (or first words) from band members, of course not to be taken literally...

Charlie went saying it was only a matter of time.

James came lost in the sky, not afraid to be pulled under.

Kevin went saying he would never be open again.

Derek came with a crimson sunrise and left under the New York rain.

Jordan came in 1928, safe in the light that surrounded him.

Mike went away in Tuscany and with the sound of seagulls, what will he do next?

Mike Mangini came standing on the backs of angels and left having built a legacy.

[Indiscipline]

And now, for the "famous last words" (or first words) from band members, of course not to be taken literally...

Charlie went saying it was only a matter of time.

James came lost in the sky, not afraid to be pulled under.

Kevin went saying he would never be open again.

Derek came with a crimson sunrise and left under the New York rain.

Jordan came in 1928, safe in the light that surrounded him.

Mike went away in Tuscany and with the sound of seagulls, what will he do next?

Mike Mangini came standing on the backs of angels and left having built a legacy.

Splendid work

Mike Portnoy came back after atoning in the Temple of Circadia, perhaps?

[Trav]

A lot of people seem to think MP being back is gonna make the next album sound like BCSL 2. The main composers of BCSL are the same as AVFTTOTW. JP and JR. More than likely (in my humble opinion blah blah) the next album won't be too far off from View. But hoping for a little more variety, something a little more catchy and some MP lyrics and backing vocals.  I think the biggest difference is MP's drumming has a little more rock n' roll groove to it than MM's does when they're just playing straight back beats.

[Wim Kruithof]

And each new chapter of this groundbreaking book is closely observed by Rich Wilson and his pen. To lift all remaining shadows when the curtain falls.

[Wim Kruithof]

But hoping for a little more variety, something a little more catchy and some MP lyrics and backing vocals.

It could very well be a huge bias of mine, but I can't follow the criticism of A View lack variety.

There's pure metal (Awaken the Master), there is a harmonic ballad (cello-part Rapture of the Deep)... Invisible Monster and The Alien are both easy on the ears as they are proggy with plenty time signature-changes. There 's an epic and Ansering the Call has that magnificant Awake-vibe... a 30 years-flashback. Then there's the uplifted minor Transcending Time and Sleeping Giant can't be captured in any corner.

LaBrie (twice) and even Myung contributed lyrics... I mean, this album has so many elements of the wide Dream Theater-spectrum. What more is there to wish for...

[KevShmev]

It's also been said the MP just wanted a hiatus, which indicates that he always intended to come back. So, to me this says that MM was the replacement for as long as MP needed to sew his wild oats. And while I think almost 14 years is a bit too long away, MP was always in contact with the band. They were always family to him. I think in his heart — and the band's — this was always what they wanted.

I get what you're saying, but you're missing A LOT of public (and most likely private too) drama between them. There's been plenty of negative comments made from both sides (mostly MP, who got really bitter at some point), comments made by the band that the MM lineup would be the last one, as well as MP saying he didn't want/need to return. He even made the infamous "LTE is like DT but without the annoying vocals" comment.

Things change, obviously, and here we are, but I don't think this reunion was "always what they wanted" at all.

Agreed.  I think some either missed or have forgotten how bad it was the first couple years after Portnoy's departure.  It seems all good now, and it is nice to see, but it's disingenuous to act like everything was always good between them and that this was always inevitable.  It appeared inevitable in the last couple years once he played on JP's solo album, LTE3 happened, and he made amends with James, but prior to that, it was anything but inevitable.

[wolfking]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

Good thing no one gives a fuck what you think Jeff!

[Dellers]

I wish they would strip back the over-production on the sound.
It's brick wall mastering to the max with the modern DT.

Strip back the sound and music so there's more space between the instruments.
And room for the vocals to move and thrive. 

Production sound in the vein of  Scenes from a Memory or Failing Into Infinity or Awake would be great.
And let's get away from the "heavy metal" sound.  Enough of that already.
Let's make a prog rock album like Scenes.
No more cookie cutter prog metal please.

Great productions, but that was in the 90s. It was so long ago. I was still young and thought life would be wonderful.
It seems unlikely.

It would be easy for them to do.

Scale back on the brick wall mastering.
Don't layer so many guitars and get rid of the "chocolate cake" sound that Petrucci is so enamored with.
Portnoy's drum sound will already have more dynamics and sound more natural than Manginis drum machine sound.
Take away all of the vocal tricks and auto tune on Labrie's voice. Create a natural less Layered and less synthetic vocal sound.  With Labries vocals lately...you might as well have a computer sing the lines.
Listening to Scenes now...and his vocals sound so much more pure and natural and HUMAN.

Except for being a bit too brickwalled like everything else and the awful pitch correction on the vocals (James absolutely lost his ability to sing in tune, sadly) I think the last album is the greatest sounding metal album in existence. The mix itself is perfect IMO. Even the drum sound is fantastic, unlike on the other Mangini albums. Sounding like a drum machine on the other albums seemed like an obvious mixing issue to me, and all those albums had mixing issues in general to my ears. AVFTTOTW also has the best bass mix in metal IMO, it's audible at all times and sounds great. I absolutely hate most metal mixes for burying the bass, but on this record it's where it should be. I'm gonna be super disappointed if they go back to the usual less great sounding mixes on the next album.

[TheBarstoolWarrior]

Jeff Scott Soto is pissed at MP
https://blabbermouth.net/news/jeff-scott-soto-says-mike-portnoy-didnt-tell-him-he-was-rejoining-dream-theater-im-pissed-off-at-him

Good thing no one gives a fuck what you think Jeff!

That stinks if Sons of Apollo is done but at the same time I am not overly sad. I felt that it was sort of an underachieving group based on the insane roster they had. I am sure MP will find a way to do some other projects going forward.

[crystalstars17]

I'm gonna be super disappointed if they go back to the usual less great sounding mixes on the next album.

In general, what I'm hoping for overall is a best of both worlds situation, and no loss of the recent level of polish.

[SwedishGoose]

I sure hope Portnoy allows the writing recording to take it's time.... please no two weeks and we are done

[Wim Kruithof]

I sure hope Portnoy allows the writing recording to take it's time.... please no two weeks and we are done

Train of Thought was done in 3 weeks. I would be over the moon of they drop #16 at this high stakes.

[SwedishGoose]

I sure hope Portnoy allows the writing recording to take it's time.... please no two weeks and we are done

Train of Thought was done in 3 weeks. I would be over the moon of they drop #16 at this high stakes.

While I do like ToT it is no where near the top of DT's output.
To me it's too one dimensional.