I think it was around 2005 or 2006 when Portnoy said in an interview that he wished DT had a singer like Daniel Gildenlow. Imagine the shit storm at the time if JLB had said in an interview that he wished DT had a different drummer.
Exactly. Quite a double standard. I think he was free to be so open with it because JLB is sort of an easy target. Even before I listened to DT, a few of my friends that were fans talked shit about him (this was in the 90s). So I was surprised when I finally gave them a chance and loved his voice. It is very unique so I can see how some people might be polarized.
Even though he clearly doesn't like JM either, no one has ever accused Myung of being a crappy bassist so I doubt Mike would have ever said something about him despite leaving him out of all of his lists of favorite bassists even though JP and JR always made the list of guitarists and keyboardists.
I was a fan of JLB before I became a fan of DT, I love his voice and ability to express every emotion with it, nevertheless I can understand that people are polarized. But a BAND MEMBER telling in an interview that he'd prefer a different singer is just mean and disloyal imo. Not only unfair to JLB but hurting the band as a whole because it leads to a bad mood in the band and to fans taking sides.
I also heard a few times about either an interview or a post on his forum or something where MP said that he wouldn't have picked James as a vocalist if he ever was to form the band again. That feels like a stab in the back, if you ask me. After that, when James said on an interview that they would never allow Portnoy back in the band, lots of "fans" took it personal and started insulting James on most MP-related pages. Even Mike responded saying it was disrespectful and all that. Like Madman Shepherd said, quite a double standard there.
Also, don't know if anyone has though about the relationship between Mangini and Portnoy. We all know they were friends many years ago, but after MP left and MM joined, their relationship has, very understandably, shaken a bit. However, every time Mangini has been asked about Portnoy, he's always had something good to say about him. Never a negative thing. Never.
Instead, It really upset me that, on one of the few interviews that MP did about the new Neal Morse album, he was asked about his current role as a drummer and if he misses something from DT, etc. Well, he calls Mangini "their current drummer". Well, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but they actually know each other and were good friends, now, to MP, Mangini is just "their current drummer", you could at least mention his name, couldn't you?
I'll quote the part straight from the interview, which is MP doing his favorite thing, talking about himself and all things he can do/did with DT: (
https://noisefull.com/interviews/mike-portnoy)
Interviewer: Even though I pretty much agree with everything you said, I would like to correct you in one thing... You were never just the drummer in Dream Theater, you were so much more...
MP: Well, thank you! I guess I shouldn’t have put it that, way because I agree. And it bothers me when I see people compare their current drummer to me. You really can’t make that comparison, because he right now is just playing drums for that band, while I was always the songwriter, co-writing the music, writing lyrics and melodies, overseeing the fan clubs, the websites and producing the albums and directing the videos... So, yeah, I guess when I’m kind to just reduced to just the drummer for those 25 years it is a bit of an insult. So, thank you for making that correction even though I just said it... (laughs)