DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY

[Shooters1221]

That is funny about Sheehan not knowing if true.  I am a little surprised they wouldn't wait until Portnoy's done touring with his current band to make the announcement.  I wonder if the person who handles DT's press jumped the gun before they were supposed to.

Or, it was going to be leaked so they made the announcement...I'm in the corner of both happy and a little sad...LOVE both Mikes!

[devieira73]

UPDATE: MP had to "audition" by proving to the rest of the band that he could play The Alien before this switch could go through.

MM could and can play any and all of MP's parts of the DT catalogue. I think there are MANY songs that DT wrote with MM that MP will not/could not play faithfully (as recorded) If they do MM era songs I'm sure MP will make it sound good because he's an unreal performer and I know MP and everyone always says it's not a competition and there is no 'best' drummer and so on....which I in principle agree with.....but MM is a freak on the kit and continually practices and hones his skill and while you posted this in jest I don't think MP is 'as good' as MM as far as technical execution.

So you mean all those songs will now have feel to them?






Oh, SNAP!

(I'll show myself to the door....)

Not to start negative discussions (really!), but I find interesting this youtube drummer that interprets DT Mangini songs like Portnoy would play them. Yeah, he exaggerates a bit, but I  think it's cool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av6tcJxx0kg

[Zantera]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

By the sounds of it he got canned, so it doesn't seem like much of his decision does it?

Well he's being a real good sport about it.

He might be furious behind the scenes for all we know but you gotta appreciate the professionalism by being nice about it no matter what. Even though there's negativity towards MM within the fanbase about certain aspects of him, I don't think anyone has anything negative to say about him as a person and that's a good quality to have.

[Zook]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

By the sounds of it he got canned, so it doesn't seem like much of his decision does it?

Well he's being a real good sport about it.

MM is a class act to the fullest. I would expect nothing less from him.

Not saying he wouldn't be, I'm just not used to it. I don't think he's capable of being mean or negative. Maybe he always thought this day would come.

[Progmetty]

To be sure, Mangini was a great replacement for Portnoy, what I celebrate is not the return of the drummer, but the return of the visionary, of the co-pilot, I feel like right now DT desperately needs someone to push back on JP's creative decisions.

This is one of the things that concerns me. I'm not against the idea of Portnoy getting back to the role he once had, but I question whether or not John would just hand over 50% of the reins after being in 100% control for the last 13 years.

I didn't think about that, but I sure fucking hope so. I don't think we can get anything fun or interesting out of JP's leadership anymore.
I would imagine he would wanna unburden himself, to just let Portnoy do most of the filtering through ideas like he did before. I don't think JR ever managed to effectively fill that role after Portnoy left, even though they made it sound like he was trying, it's just not in him though and that's completely fine, the best farmer in the world doesn't have to aslo to be a chef, but I digress.

[Dream Team]

Ironically they said that the MM version was the "final incarnation" of the band. Never say never.

No lead vocals please MP if you're reading, otherwise great to have this more mature version of you back.

[TAC]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

MM is teaching but this wasn't his decision.
You got the statement already. They reunited with Portnoy.

[RaiseTheKnife]

Simply stunned by this news. 
Feel dismayed for Mangini.  Such an affable guy, a talented monster and really brought some unique musicality to Dream Theater.  God speed good sir!
It will be interesting to see what kind of new chemistry this creates in the band.  I suspect it will be a combination of something familiar and unfamiliar.   

[CrimsonE]

I wonder if this news means we'll get the return of more varied setlists so that every show ends up being a unique experience. 

[Priest of Syrinx]

It's been a while since I last posted, but I had to come here and add my "Holy Shit!"

I'm feeling mostly surprised, with some happysad mixed in.  I enjoy Mike M's drumming and he seems to be a real good dude.  Not a huge fan of SC and BC&SL, and found several of the MM-era albums far more enjoyable.  That said, my top-5 DT albums are all with MP, so I am hopeful some of that magic can be rekindled.

However things work out... 

[wolven74]

I honestly don't know how to feel about this news. I'm disappointed for Mangini's sake. And I have to wonder if this has been the plan all along. Portnoy said he wanted the band to take a hiatus. I guess it took longer than he anticipated. As for "the final incarnation of the band"...
Didn't they say that when Mangini joined? 🤔

I'm not against Portnoy rejoining after 12 years, but it feels like this was the plan all along, and I wish they'd told the fans that Mangini was only temporary.

[CodyWanKenobi]

It's crazy, when I read the news that MP left DT I was 18 years old and a few months into dating this girl. When I read MP rejoined the band, at 31 years old I was laying in bed next to my wife (that same girl) and our first child (one week old!). Life is crazy man.

[MirrorMask]

Simply stunned by this news. 
Feel dismayed for Mangini.  Such an affable guy, a talented monster and really brought some unique musicality to Dream Theater.  God speed good sir!
It will be interesting to see what kind of new chemistry this creates in the band.  I suspect it will be a combination of something familiar and unfamiliar.   

I'd like to think that they had proper discussions about some key elements - suck as the live shows, the presentation and the click track - before deciding they wanted to reunite. I'd find it very unlikely that they get back together out of affection, then on day 1 of writing the new album MP shows up "so guys, let's go for an ass and balls rocker, alright?" and JP and JR stare blankly at him and go "well, to be honest we decided two years ago that the next album would be more mellow".

[CrimsonE]

It's crazy, when I read the news that MP left DT I was 18 years old and a few months into dating this girl. When I read MP rejoined the band, at 31 years old I was laying in bed next to my wife (that same girl) and our first child (one week old!). Life is crazy man.

When MP was last in the band, Barack Obama was in his second year as president (w/ Joe Biden as VP) and Donald Trump was nothing more than a real estate mogul turned reality show star. 

[Zook]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

MM is teaching but this wasn't his decision.
You got the statement already. They reunited with Portnoy.

Isn't there always a "why" though? I think we all saw this coming, maybe not everyone, but ever since they made up, and did LTE3, and he started attending DT shows, it all seemed obvious. Probably why I'm not shocked, but more indifferent. I guess I just feel for MM if he was let go just like that. That's usually how job terminations go, there isn't a warning, but as someone mentioned above, they said this was the final line up. Seems shitty. I'd like to think Mangini put it out there that he might not be sticking around much longer, so they got in touch with Portnoy.

Dream Theater is a business, but the guys aren't Jon Schaffer when it comes to firing band mates, are they?

[mikeyd23]

First post in years - crazy news to see. I'll echo what most here are saying, it's a mixture of excitement and a bittersweet feeling. Ultimately, I personally think this is a good decision for DT, for a number of reasons, but at the same time I feel for MM. Class act dropped into a tough gig, and he excelled.

[Anguyen92]

I'm not against Portnoy rejoining after 12 years, but it feels like this was the plan all along, and I wish they'd told the fans that Mangini was only temporary.

I think that's a fair assessment to have.  That said, in the entertainment business, when someone says this is final, it's never final and I don't think the band even thought about MP coming back at all during the Mangini era, but time heals all that wounds, I guess.

[TAC]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

MM is teaching but this wasn't his decision.
You got the statement already. They reunited with Portnoy.

Isn't there always a "why" though? I think we all saw this coming, maybe not everyone, but ever since they made up, and did LTE3, and he started attending DT shows, it all seemed obvious. Probably why I'm not shocked, but more indifferent. I guess I just feel for MM if he was let go just like that. That's usually how job terminations go, there isn't a warning, but as someone mentioned above, they said this was the final line up. Seems shitty. I'd like to think Mangini put it out there that he might not be sticking around much longer, so they got in touch with Portnoy.

Dream Theater is a business, but the guys aren't Jon Schaffer when it comes to firing band mates, are they?

Well, ask Derek Sherinian about this. This was DT's decision, definitely not Mangini's.

[TAC]

I'm not against Portnoy rejoining after 12 years, but it feels like this was the plan all along, and I wish they'd told the fans that Mangini was only temporary.

There's no way this was the plan "all along."

[Zook]

I wonder if MM wanted to go back to teaching. When do you think we'll get a statement on the reasoning?

MM is teaching but this wasn't his decision.
You got the statement already. They reunited with Portnoy.

Isn't there always a "why" though? I think we all saw this coming, maybe not everyone, but ever since they made up, and did LTE3, and he started attending DT shows, it all seemed obvious. Probably why I'm not shocked, but more indifferent. I guess I just feel for MM if he was let go just like that. That's usually how job terminations go, there isn't a warning, but as someone mentioned above, they said this was the final line up. Seems shitty. I'd like to think Mangini put it out there that he might not be sticking around much longer, so they got in touch with Portnoy.

Dream Theater is a business, but the guys aren't Jon Schaffer when it comes to firing band mates, are they?

Well, ask Derek Sherinian about this. This was DT's decision, definitely not Mangini's.

Is it mean that I always forget about Derek? Guess you got a point there. Well, with MM being the class act, always positive guy he is, we shouldn't see the next 3 years of Blabbermouth articles expressing passive aggressive jabs towards the band.

[MirrorMask]

I'm not against Portnoy rejoining after 12 years, but it feels like this was the plan all along, and I wish they'd told the fans that Mangini was only temporary.

There's no way this was the plan "all along."

And furthermore, what would they even say? "yeah I guess that if people won't start to come at our shows anymore, reunion is an option"?

Which band ever even admitted something like that? "of course we'd like to continue with the classic singer, but we got this replacement and hopefully in a couple of album cycles things will cool off and the guy will come back with us"?

[Trav]

It's kinda funny how people seem confused by this. "Did Mangini decide to leave?" Or "did he want to go back to teaching?"  Nah man. They said "Portnoy back, so bounce". Like, it's pretty cut and dry in the press release. "I understand Dream Theater's decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time," states Mike Mangini. First line.

[erciccio]

Good business decision
Bad musical decision
That's pretty much it

[bosk1]

A lot of assumptions about the circumstances surrounding Mike Mangini.  I wouldn't bet on anyone's particular hunches being true, since we really don't know.  It may have been a one-way decision where the guys in DT decided to move on and bring Mike Portnoy back in. 
But for all we know, it may have been the complete opposite, and may have been something initiated by Mangini where he decided to step away for whatever reason (wanted to go back to teaching, got another opportunity, decided that the itch to be in a full-fledged writing and touring band had now been sufficiently scratched and he was now ready to do something else, or what have you).  It could have been a mutual decision.  It could be any number of things.  We just don't know.  The only thing we do know is that everyone involved kept these secret locked down until the agreed time for it to be released.  And what I can glean from that is that any comments from anyone in the last few months about DT's plans would have been calculated to avoid even a hint of MP returning, so I don't really trust trying to read anything else into anything that may have been said fairly recently.  The band didn't want this to leak, and Mangini being the consummate professional he is wouldn't have jeopardized that by making comments that could fuel any sort of speculation about him leaving, even if he knew full well what was going on and even if, hypothetically, it was 100% his decision.

Along similar lines, it doesn't surprise me that Sheehan didn't know either.  Again, they kept this information very tightly buttoned up and did not want it to leak.  The ONLY way to do that is to keep strict limits on who knows what.  Telling anyone outside of the agreed-upon circle means loosening the control over a potential leak, and that would include musicians in other bands outside of the six involved, no matter how close they might be to any individual band member.  I don't know Billy, so I'm not suggesting Billy might do this, but it isn't hard to imagine a situation where, for example, Mike tells Billy last night and swears him to secrecy, but Billy is laying there alone later that night in his bunk on the tour bus, and says, "well, the press release is only a few hours away now, and most people are asleep.  Surely there's no harm in telling [closest best friend in the world], and swearing him/her to secrecy."  And that person has a similar reaction and tells his/her best friend, while swearing him/her to secrecy, and so on.  They kept a lid on this and did a good job.  It does not surprise me one bit that Billy didn't know ahead of time even though they are touring together. 

[Indiscipline]

Well, fock!

[DTiwbwMP]

MM is a class act, great technical drummer and all around nice guy. All the best to him going forward (there IS an opening in SOA ) and I hope he gets into another band. I never EVER felt though that he was looked at by DT as anything other than their drummer. I don't feel he ever got a chance to "move the needle" at all in DT! That being said, as you all know, MP is my favorite living musician and has been since 1992 and I could not be happier today! Now, going forward to the next album, I REALLY want a slight move away from the recent DT shred sound and a return to more of a prog with metal leanings sound. More, metropolis, pt.1 and less the alien sound. Just me.

[TAC]

Well, fock!

HOLY SHIT!!

[KevShmev]

I'd like to think that they had proper discussions about some key elements - suck as the live shows, the presentation and the click track - before deciding they wanted to reunite. 

Agreed.  I think anyone expecting them to go back to rotating set lists to the lengths they did in the early to mid 0ss will likely be disappointed, but I could see a compromise where a few spots per night are left open to rotate rather than the "anything goes" approach of their younger years. 

[TAC]

I'd like to think that they had proper discussions about some key elements - suck as the live shows, the presentation and the click track - before deciding they wanted to reunite. 

Agreed.  I think anyone expecting them to go back to rotating set lists to the lengths they did in the early to mid 0ss will likely be disappointed, but I could see a compromise where a few spots per night are left open to rotate rather than the "anything goes" approach of their younger years.

Either way, I bet most of that has been ironed out in discussions.

[mikeyd23]

I'd like to think that they had proper discussions about some key elements - suck as the live shows, the presentation and the click track - before deciding they wanted to reunite. 

Agreed.  I think anyone expecting them to go back to rotating set lists to the lengths they did in the early to mid 0ss will likely be disappointed, but I could see a compromise where a few spots per night are left open to rotate rather than the "anything goes" approach of their younger years.

I think this is the most likely result here - similar to what they were doing on the few tours prior to MP leaving.

[twosuitsluke]

Well, fock!

HOLY SHIT!!

Someone pin this man down for wrestling roulette 2.0!

[MirrorMask]

Now, going forward to the next album, I REALLY want a slight move away from the recent DT shred sound and a return to more of a prog with metal leanings sound. More, metropolis, pt.1 and less the alien sound. Just me.

That's what I was hoping as well, but with the most metal guy of the five back in the band, I'm not so sure they're gonna be relatively mellow. For sure after d/t and View I think a more melodic approach was needed, and that we don't need the third album in a row of a huge wall of metal riffs and heavy sections with the occasional more melodic section here and there.

I hope for something more diverse like Dramatic - concise songs, more than a long song, a piano piece, an acoustic piece.... some variety, these musicians can do anything, why limit yourself to just one style for an album? there are ways to make an album coherent and consistent even if the songs are not the same kind of songs. It's been a while since I heard View and if you play me 30 random seconds off Sleeping Giant, Awaken the Master or Answering the Call I probably wouldn't be able to remember which song is which.

[KevShmev]

That's what I was hoping as well, but with the most metal guy of the five back in the band, I'm not so sure they're gonna be relatively mellow. For sure after d/t and View I think a more melodic approach was needed, and that we don't need the third album in a row of a huge wall of metal riffs and heavy sections with the occasional more melodic section here and there.

I hope for something more diverse like Dramatic - concise songs, more than a long song, a piano piece, an acoustic piece.... some variety, these musicians can do anything, why limit yourself to just one style for an album? there are ways to make an album coherent and consistent even if the songs are not the same kind of songs. It's been a while since I heard View and if you play me 30 random seconds off Sleeping Giant, Awaken the Master or Answering the Call I probably wouldn't be able to remember which song is which.

I think the new album being a concept album with the continuation of The Count of Tuscany story (the last song on the last album with Portnoy) is the natural way to go. 

[genome]

That's what I was hoping as well, but with the most metal guy of the five back in the band, I'm not so sure they're gonna be relatively mellow. For sure after d/t and View I think a more melodic approach was needed, and that we don't need the third album in a row of a huge wall of metal riffs and heavy sections with the occasional more melodic section here and there.

I hope for something more diverse like Dramatic - concise songs, more than a long song, a piano piece, an acoustic piece.... some variety, these musicians can do anything, why limit yourself to just one style for an album? there are ways to make an album coherent and consistent even if the songs are not the same kind of songs. It's been a while since I heard View and if you play me 30 random seconds off Sleeping Giant, Awaken the Master or Answering the Call I probably wouldn't be able to remember which song is which.

I think the new album being a concept album with the continuation of The Count of Tuscany story (the last song on the last album with Portnoy) is the natural way to go. 

LET ME INTRODUCE

MAH SISTAH

[jammindude]

I would love to see something more varied. Sometimes super heavy, sometimes super mellow. Not a concept album...but possibly a "themed" album.