It seems like he's just done studio work or live fill-in stuff for bands. Is this Mike's first real band? No wonder he was so happy to get the job, it must be a good feeling to find a permanent home after all these years.
Extreme was a real band, and they released an album with him as the drummer.
rumborak
He only did 3 songs on their album.
That may be, but he was considered a full member, not a temporary fill-in. It's just that Extreme disbanded shortly after. I saw them back in the day in that configuration.
rumborak
It seems like he was just temporary with most everyone he worked with. Filled in for Annihilator whenever Jeff Waters needed him, played only 3 songs for some reason on his album with Extreme, and although he played with Steve Vai, I don't have any clue if you can really call that being in a band since you're just backing up a well known guy like that.
It might be because I was around at that time and a huge fan of Extreme. He was intended to be a full member, and only because the new album didn't sell well and Nuno had solo aspirations, did they disband.
I know you want your theory to work, but it just isn't.
rumborak
BOOM
Mike just had bad luck in his timing when joining Extreme. It always killed me as a big Extreme fan that he never did a full album with them. Just glad that more people are being exposed to his immense talent and Dream Theater is the best place for him to be. Sometimes it all works itself out in the end.
Quote from: XB0BX on December 27, 2011, 09:24:54 PM
It seems like he's just done studio work or live fill-in stuff for bands. Is this Mike's first real band? No wonder he was so happy to get the job, it must be a good feeling to find a permanent home after all these years.
rumborak is correct that there was nothing about those other gigs that somehow didn't make them "real bands." But I think I get where you are coming from. I'm sure the Extreme gig looked like it was going to be a permanent, long-time thing at the time, but just didn't work out that way. Vai is definitely a real band, but probably feels like somewhat of a hired gun position. And, yeah, Annihilator just wasn't the same.
In DT, it
is the first time he is in a band that has a long-term plan and a track record for a regular album and touring schedule. So, yeah, this will be the first time he will have had that as a permanent, equal member, provided it continues to hold up and DT doesn't suddenly disband as Extreme did (which seems unlikely).
But Mike
could have been in a permanent band before this if he wanted to. I think what he is excited about is not just being in a band, but being in a band that is a good fit for his talents and creativity. There aren't many bands that fit that that are established and have such a regular album and tour schedule as DT.
Quote from: MasterLomaxus on December 28, 2011, 09:52:28 AM
Quote from: XB0BX on December 27, 2011, 09:24:54 PM
Is this Mike's first real band?
Yes.
Phew, good thing you settled that one. You knew, we were all discussing and bringing arguments and stuff....
BTW, I don't know exactly how long he was in Extreme, but he might very well get to the point where his stint in DT was the longest in any proper band (not really couting Vai as a "real" band, as little as I count Marco Minnemann a member of the Steven Wilson band).
rumborak
There's also the problem for him that since he didn't go to any music school (as he said in an interview that his dad would never help pay for something he could already do), he didn't get the connections to get in a band early-on.
Depends on what you call a 'real band'. Is that a band who has released an album or several albums? A band that people know of? Well known all over the world (i.e. The Beatles)?
I consider my band to be a 'real band', though we haven't played any gigs in our current lineup and haven't released a single thing, not even online. We're working on that though.
So, no. I don't think DT's is Mike Mangini's first band. Not in a long shot.