DREAM THEATER ANNOUNCE THE RETURN OF DRUMMER MIKE PORTNOY

[Setlist Scotty]

Make or break, as in the future of DT?

Not the whole band, but perhaps this lineup.

[nikatapi]

I agree that live is where it's really going to be make or break.

As for the new album? It's gonna be loved by a big chunk of the fan base, will be hated by a smaller chunk of the fan base and the remainder will be somewhere in the middle. Just as is always the case, although there will probably be a bigger chunk that love it just because MP's back.

I agree on this 100%
What i can imagine is that the band will put extra effort on the album to have something that is very solid and not rush the process, to get it right.

On the live aspect, it will be interesting, since i don't see MP playing live with a click, and this is something that the band used almost all of the years with MM on the drums, to sync visuals, backing vocal tracks as well as patch changes on guitar (and maybe keys?).

Of course, James' voice is not the same in the years post-Astonishing era, and i'm pretty sure this will also have an impact on the live shows, especially if no backing tracks are used to "cover" some of the shortcomings on that front.

Maybe they'll downtune older stuff (like they did for I&W) to help James be more comfortable.
But definitely the bar is set high and the stakes are high for the band, to "keep" people who will come back due to MP rejoining.

I also think that MP has thought about various things during these years, as i recall he already had a "masterplan" when he proposed the break to DT back in 2010. So he will definitely have ideas on setlist, show presentation and various other ideas to engage with the fans.