I want them to get an outside producer. Not Chycki, someone else. A fresh set of ears.
And I would like more Mangini involvement to have more creative rhythms.
Also, put the vocal arrangements centre-stage for once. I know that DT are known for instrumental performances, but you can still have great instrumental performance with stellar vocall arrangements.
I hear you with the outside producer thing, it's something people around here have been wanting since the Systematic Chaos days. (11 years, can you believe that?)
But it's not happening. They're commercially successful and they're a band that have pretty much dialed in with their sound and their musicality (if 13 albums that for several people range from good to incredible aren't enough proof of that, I don't know what could be). It makes no sense whatsoever to bring someone in at this late stage of the game to produce Dream Theater because:
1) John Petrucci seems very comfortable being the producer and the rest of the guys seem pretty happy with his job given there's no reason to think otherwise.
2) They've been around for 30 years. They've been arguably the most successful progressive metal band that the genre has given and will probably give, and a big part of that success was garnered under the self-producing helm.
Also, I've noticed a lot of people in the internet saying as of late to "Stop the wankery! We want more melody! More piano! Vocals taking the lead!" Have people even listened to The Astonishing? Or maybe they like to pretend it doesn't exist because it was way too daring to present as a DT album?
Not making fun in any way of your vocal arrangements comment, but definitely I find it something worth discussing. The Astonishing is as vocal-centered and melodic as a DT album can get, and I don't think anyone could argue against that.
One point I resonate fully with you, though, is the Mangini involvement thing. I find it kind of underwhelming to have one of the world's most virtuosic and mathematically competent drummers and have him take the backseat for most of the creative process doesn't make a lot of sense to me. That being said, I have a nice feeling that the next album will feature a healthy dose of Mangini's technical and musical prowess because it's about damn time.