They all seem fairly happy to me, maybe Mangini would like to be more involved but TA was a one off Petrucci project and not a standard DT album. I'm sure he will be more involved this time around as he was with DT12. Glad they haven't got involved in all the "banter" with DS/MP as they are far too classy to do so. Their albums sell themselves based upon one of the most stellar, consistent back catalogues in rock/metal history.
Do we know any of this or is it speculation? I admit I didn't follow it as closely as I perhaps should have (DT isn't "that band" for me anymore) but I never got the sense that it was a "one-off Petrucci project". I know Jordan took great pride in his contributions to the record. There is also little to indicate that he will again be "more involved this time".
As for the last sentence, I'd be very surprised. VERY surprised. This is not the Maiden or Rush catalogue, after all.
I'm not suggesting that Jordan did not contribute but this whole project (including whatever spin offs have happened or are intended) was Petrucci's vision. He wrote the story and all the lyrics, he shut out the rest of the band apart from his writing partner Jordan when composing the music as he needed that focus as it had to be meticulously planned out. It was not a flat out solo project but it was a one off in the way the album came together, very different to any of their other albums and, from stuff I've read, we will be going back to a more standard DT album next time around.
Maiden and Rush both also have excellent back catalogues, I agree, although there are one of two duds in the Maiden catalogue (Virtual XI and No Prayer For The Dying spring to mind). Not many bands though have 13 albums released and not a bad one in there. Sure there are some I like more than others but there's not one, I would say is a bad album or was just phoned in. Maiden, Rush and DT are the exception rather than the rule.
Anyway I digress, this is not the DT thread, it is the SOA thread. I will still give this a listen when it comes out despite the circus around it but it won't be a blind purchase like MP projects used to be.