I'm not too excited about the possible Charlie Z choice. Like most of you, I looked him up on Facebook and added him as a friend. And the first thing I see is a profile photo of him wearing sunglasses on a leather couch like he's some kind of cool dude. Egh. Makes him look like a cocky guy who thinks his sh*t don't stink. Like a rockstar wannabe-type, similar to Sherinian in the mid 1990s. It's not what Dream Theater needs. I then checked out his videos, which were good. But image is just as important as playing. He doesn't feel like the right choice to me. Plus, kinda unprofessional to advertise on FB that you auditioned, no? No other drummers have done that as far as I can tell.
I disagree; Sherinian's image may have been unusual for Dream Theater, but he made some great musical contributions to the band. Image plays a very small part.
And there is one thing I'd like to point out: regardless of whether or not the new drummer turns out to be a "hired gun", that is something that Sherinian was
not. When Rudess said no back in 1994, Sherinian was hired as the band's new keyboardist. Rudess was their number one choice, but Sherinian was a perfectly acceptable #2, and they probably expected him to stay around for a long time. But when circumstances with Rudess changed (LTE, etc.), Sherinian ended up being replaced. You can't call him a hired gun, because the rest of the guys in Dream Theater would not have had any idea that those circumstances with Rudess would change down the line.
And actually come to think of it, unless the band explicitly knows that Portnoy will return in
x number of years (which I'm pretty sure they don't), the new drummer shouldn't be seen as a hired gun, either.