Mike Portnoy's DRUMEO Breaking Down DT's New Album: "Parasomnia" NOW

[Kocak]

This might be a post for the controversial opinions thread, but I think Mike sometimes forgets he's back drumming for DT and not Twisted Sister or TWD.

Precisely what I thought when I listened to this particular interview. I do not think that kind of approach is what the majority of the listeners expect from Dream Theater. I had similar thoughts when Derek Sherinian talked about writing songs for Sons of Apollo and he said that they kept the verses and choruses simple so that it's easier for fans to remember. Albeit, there's a balance between keeping things simple and going apeshit, I reckon purposefully leaning towards the simple, groove-oriented rhythmic structures might not have the intended effect on the listener. I get what MP is trying to say, but I doubt that Dream Theater fans are those kinds of listeners. He might get more headbanging fans during live performances, but conversely, there would be those that might decide that the music isn't worth seeing live.

By the way, what you are saying isn't controversial at all. In fact, the first few things that MP tried after he left DT were attempts at replicating the arena success that he experienced with A7X. A more straightforward approach. It didn't work, but



I think MP thinks that they can appeal to more listeners by doing this, but I think quite the opposite is true given where the greater genre is at the moment.

[Schurftkut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9L0m9xers

Mike's new kit rundown

[CraftyCaleb2483]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_9L0m9xers

Mike's new kit rundown

He didn't go over the cymbals 

[Schurftkut]

It's a TAMA promo video, i believe he already did a Sabian video

[hefdaddy42]

He didn't go over the cymbals 

It's a Tama Drums video.

[Dream Team]

This might be a post for the controversial opinions thread, but I think Mike sometimes forgets he's back drumming for DT and not Twisted Sister or TWD.

I kind of agree. As awesome as MP is at coming up with cool stuff, I imagine it would be even better if he worked on it longer.

[Adami]

I kind of agree. As awesome as MP is at coming up with cool stuff, I imagine it would be even better if he worked on it longer.

It's actually pretty cool how interesting he gets with his parts, given how quickly they go from writing to recording.

I'm currently practicing drums to record in June, and after like 6 weeks of just doing the songs over and over, I'm STILL re-writing drum parts and making improvements. If I had to record my drums in the timeframe Mike does, I'd be quite disappointed with at least 60% of what I ended up doing because I didn't have enough time to really let it develop and see where I could go with it.

[tofee35]

It's actually pretty cool how interesting he gets with his parts, given how quickly they go from writing to recording.

I'm currently practicing drums to record in June, and after like 6 weeks of just doing the songs over and over, I'm STILL re-writing drum parts and making improvements. If I had to record my drums in the timeframe Mike does, I'd be quite disappointed with at least 60% of what I ended up doing because I didn't have enough time to really let it develop and see where I could go with it.

I'd be really curious to know how MP's approach has changed over the years too. Like, did he perfect his drum parts for SFAM over a long period vs. now? And did that change with an album like ToT where the write/record time was so short and he liked that appraach more? That's pure speculation.

Also, I know he's mentioned the fundamental differences between his playing compared to a guy like Neil Peart where the playing is so precise, and when playing live, Neil's perfect to the album. In a sense, MM was the Neil Peart of DT where MP is the Lars Ulrich (in the best way possible). It's not a perfect comparison, but you get my drift.

-Tof

[ZirconBlue]

I'd be really curious to know how MP's approach has changed over the years too. Like, did he perfect his drum parts for SFAM over a long period vs. now? And did that change with an album like ToT where the write/record time was so short and he liked that appraach more? That's pure speculation.

Also, I know he's mentioned the fundamental differences between his playing compared to a guy like Neil Peart where the playing is so precise, and when playing live, Neil's perfect to the album. In a sense, MM was the Neil Peart of DT where MP is the Lars Ulrich (in the best way possible). It's not a perfect comparison, but you get my drift.

-Tof

Wasn't SFaM when they started doing the "record each song as it was written" approach?

[hefdaddy42]

Wasn't SFaM when they started doing the "record each song as it was written" approach?

Yes.  They got it from doing the LTE albums that way.

[HOF]

The first two TWD albums had some of Mike's most creative playing of his post-DT projects IMO.