What are your personal drummer rankings?

[robwebster]

Minemmann, he is an oustanding and out of this world drummer, but he simple looks soooooooooo goofy for DT, he´s a perfect match for Gilbert or someone else, not DT. Sorry if someone will get mad at me.

I am very mad at you.

Go to your room.

[Infinite Cactus]

In terms of skill/technique I would say
1.Donati
2.Lang
3.Mangini
4.Minneman
5.Wildoer
6.Priester
7.Roddy
in terms of audition I would say
1.Mangini
2.Minneman
3.Wildoer
4.Lang
5.Donati
6.Roddy
7.Priester

[bodiesinflight]

1. Marco Minnemann
2. Mike Mangini
3. Peter Wildoer
4. Virgil Donati
5. Thomas Lang
6. Derek Roddy
7. Aquiles Priester

[CrimsonSunrise]

1. Mangini
2. Wildoer
3. Minnemman
4. Lang
5. Priester
6. Donati
7. Roddy

**Edit - this is a Documentary ranking.

[xShammas]

Edited-
1. Mangini
2. Minneman
3. Wildoer
4. Lang
5. Donati
6. Priester
7. Roddy

[Tunnel Vision]

Lang
Mangini
Wildoer
Minnemman
Roddy
Priester
Donati

[ariich]

Ok update after seeing all the auditions.

1. Minnemann (I personally love his goofiness and sense of fun)
2. Wildoer (genuinely brilliant)
3. Mangini (also genuinely brilliant)
----------------
4. Lang (big drop here, although he was still very solid)
5. Donati
----------------
6. Priester
7. Roddy

And even those last two were very good. Everyone came across well. And although Mike was my third favourite, it was so close between those top 3, and in terms of a fit for DT, I think he is the best, so I am very happy with the decision!

[redfish71]

not to sound like a suck ass, but i agree with ariich exactly!!

[ariich]

not to sound like a suck ass, but i agree with ariich exactly!!

You will go far here.

[redfish71]

not to sound like a suck ass, but i agree with ariich exactly!!

You will go far here.

so that's what it takes!!!? 

[ReaPsTA]

I'll just rate them as drummers for Dream Theater:

1. Mangini (Clearly)
2. Wildoer (The only other guy I felt really got it)
--------
3. Minnemann (I didn't enjoy his take on the music, but they would have made music with some solid energy to it.)
--------
4. Lang (Something was missing, but at lot was there too)
5. Donati (His stuff would have at least been interesting)
--------
6. Priester (He really tried, but he wasn't at the same level)
7. Roddy (Didn't want to do it, didn't fit in at all)

[Adami]

Personal and creative chemistry aside.

1. Thomas Lang
2. Mike Mangini
3. Marco Minnemann
4. Virgil Donati
5. Peter Wildoer
6. Aquilies Priester
7. Derek Roddy.

[Jamesman42]

Dang Reapsta, my list is close except switch 2 and 3.

Rating them from the documentary.


1. Mangini - It's tough, but man, he has a hunger for it and has the chops (and I love the drumset pic we saw earlier, that has me ecstatic). And his intensity is unmatched. He can play flawlessly as well. For Dt, the best out of the 7 once we see the auditions.

2. Minnemann - Like JR said, his smiling and energy really shows, and his chops are great. his chemistry also worked so well, and the choice of him wouldn't have been surprising.

------------

3. Wildoer - Really surprised me, like JP I was unfamiliar with him but he was super impressive, and such an awesome personality. A very warm-hearted person.
4. Lang - My initial vote based off of Youtube. He is a beat on the drums. He was a bit distant but who knows what could cause that (regional difference, bad week, not into it as much as the others, personality).

------------

5. Donati - Very fun to watch, but the styles just seemed too different. Still, wonderful to watch.
6. Priester - Only ranked lower because...well, I am not sure. He did really well. And I'm not counting the slip-up, because his dedication shows that, with more time, it would be easily avoided. But like Donati, not in the same league.

------------

7. Roddy - Really not impressed with his comments in the doc and on his forum. Tasteless...but he knows how to hit the skins, I'll give him that.



Really, the top 6 totally impressed me. Roddy was good, but his comments, again, really make it hard to say he impressed me overall.

[Mladen]

After seeing the auditions, I guess I'd probably rank the guys like this:

1. Mangini - The perfect fit. Technically, he nailed everything, his chops were interesting during the riff test, so I'm sure he'll deliver the goods on the next album. And he's also a cool guy, I hope they'll allow him to give some interviews. Finally, he's apparently the only guy that really wanted to be in the band.

2. Minnemann - Insane drumming, and obviously a fun personality. I don't know if there's anything about him that I don't like, and it's hard for me to find the actual reason why I liked Mangini better. I'd be happy with him in the band as well, so obviously it was very close choice between him and Mangini in my book.

3. Wildoer - He was my first choice even before the auditions started. The fact that he knows James well and that he played incredibly on Static impulse was enough for me. But after seeing the audition, I realized that he would actually fit like a glove in the band. Why third place? I don't know, maybe he's a bit too metal for a band with prog influences? Yeah, dull reason, I know. 

4. Lang - Incredible player. I liked what he did during the riff test, so he would obviously have a fine chemistry when it comes to creating new music. However, he lacks certain charisma, visually he is just a player. Unlike Mangini and Minnemann, watching those guys play is a special experience - and that would be important live.

5. Priester - This guy pleasantly surprised me. What made it for me about him was dedication, he really wanted to do his best and he took the audition very seriously. We didn't hear too much from him unfortunately, but what we have heard is really good. Unfortunately, during the riff test, he seemed like he wasn't too interested, so maybe he wouldn't be comfortable in the band.

6. Donati - A world class drummer, that's for sure. However, he's just not for Dream Theater. The riff test sounded amazing and very original, but his interpretations of the three songs missed something. There were some good ideas, his drum fills at the beginning of A Nightmare to remember sounded cool - but that's just not it.

7. Roddy - Once again, we didn't hear enough from him. But from what we've got, I got the impression he just didn't care. He played most of the stuff well, but he didn't even try to play with the guys during the riff test. Oh well...

[jamhet]

1. Thomas Lang - like LaBrie said and Petrucci confirmed: "His interpretation was magical", perfect style
-. Peter Wildoer - extremely tasteful with great awareness for odd times and polyrhythms
-. Marco Minnemann - extremely creative with great awareness for odd times and polyrhythms

4. Virgil Donati
5. Mike Mangini

6. Derek Roddy
7. Aquiles Priester - too robotic, lacks finesse

7. Roddy - Really not impressed with his comments in the doc and on his forum. Tasteless...but he knows how to hit the skins, I'll give him that.

WTF?!?! He is the nicest and the most sencere guy ever. Stop being so full of yourself.

[ariich]

7. Roddy - Really not impressed with his comments in the doc and on his forum. Tasteless...but he knows how to hit the skins, I'll give him that.

WTF?!?! He is the nicest and the most sencere guy ever. Stop being so full of yourself.

Right, first of all, it is not acceptable to attack other users here, so I suggest you have a read of the rules.

Secondly, before you start having a go at established members of the community, have you actually read any of Roddy's comments? Particularly those that he posted before the documentary had even finished airing and which pretty much gave everything away, and indeed generally made him sound whiny and bitter.

[jamhet]

I do apologize for my comment, I didn't intend it to come off as rude. It's just that I'm very displeased with all the negative comments about Roddy.

-------------
I'm surprised at so many people being thrown off by Minneman's supposed goofiness!
I think it was his T-shirt more than anything that made people have that impression. Because Mangini's facial expressions were as intense as Marco's, whereas you can't call the enthusiasm for music goofiness.

I believe the montage of the video was also meant to amplify that impression. It was James who made Marco laugh by changing the lyrics and singing about him.

I'm sure that had Marco worn a black tr00 metal T-shirt, the perceived dissonance wouldn't have been there. Just watch some YouTube clips with him playing with Necrophagist.

[ariich]

I do apologize for my comment, I didn't intend it to come off as rude. It's just that I'm very displeased with all the negative comments about Roddy.

I can understand that, and it's definitely a shame but unfortunately Derek kinda brought it on himself. He came across very well in the documentary and if he hadn't said anything I think everyone would have felt that he was good and a nice guy, but just not the right fit for DT. But when he started making whiny comments about the documentary and essentially revealing who was chosen before it had even finished, I think that's when some people lost a bit of respect for him.

I'm surprised at so many people being thrown off by Minneman's supposed goofiness!
I think it was his T-shirt more than anything that made people have that impression. Because Mangini's facial expressions were as intense as Marco's, whereas you can't call the enthusiasm for music goofiness.

I believe the montage of the video was also meant to amplify that impression. It was James who made Marco laugh by changing the lyrics and singing about him.

I'm sure that had Marco worn a black tr00 metal T-shirt, the perceived dissonance wouldn't have been there. Just watch some YouTube clips with him playing with Necrophagist.

I'm not sure it's the t-shirt at all, I think it's just everything about his personality, but I agree with you that it's a shame if anyone is put off by it, because personally I love it. But in terms of being a more suitable fit for DT, perhaps after MP had that kind of goofiness, they want someone who still has a sense of fun but takes themselves a bit more seriously.

[Metal]

1. Wildoer
2. Minneman
3. Lang
4. Roddy
5. Donati
6. Priester
7. Mangini

[DarkLord_Lalinc]

1. Marco Minnemann
2. Mike Mangini
3. Thomas Lang
4. Virgil Donati
5. Peter Wildoer
6. Derek Roddy
7. Aquiles Priester

[Lowdz]

1. Lang
2. minnemann
3. Mangini
4. Wildoer

Would be happy to hear DT with any of those four. Mangini impressed in the documentary but that was the idea, and I like that he is so into it.
I would just have loved to have seen DT with my 1 and 2. Hopefully more footage will surface.

[Metropolis pt.-1]

1.Marco Minnemann
2.Mike Mangini
3.Peter Wildoer
4.Thomas Lang
5.Virgil Donati
6.Aquiles Priester
7.Derek Roddy

It was extremely close between Marco and Mike for me, but really I just prefer Marco's personality over Mike, even though Mike is still a really awesome guy . As for Derek, I just think his style is too metal for DT.

[Jamesman42]

7. Roddy - Really not impressed with his comments in the doc and on his forum. Tasteless...but he knows how to hit the skins, I'll give him that.

WTF?!?! He is the nicest and the most sencere guy ever. Stop being so full of yourself.

How does what I said equate to me being full of myself? Logic troll?

[psychdoc]

After watching the documentary several times and recognizing that we only got a snapshot of each drummer's audition, like all of the other posters here I'll rate the drummers for who I think would fit in Dream Theater, not on overall technical ability.

1. Mike Mangini: I think JP and JR summed up better than I ever could why MM as a player was a great fit and why he nailed the audition.; he was simply a beast of a player with a geniunely amiable yet passionate personality. Plus, when JP said in the interview section that the drummer would "have to be a real person", I kind of took that to mean that he would have to be reknowned in his own right as a musician, which MM certainly fits the bill (although the same could be said for all of these guys to varying degrees).

2. Peter Wildoer: Peter was amazing for the few minutes that we got to see him. He hit the metal aspects of DT out of the park and also was able to grip the subtleties and nuances. It makes sense that he was among the top 3 under consideration since he joined MM and Marco among the drummers which the band said they could hit the stage with that night and play an amazing gig without extensive rehearsals. That says a lot IMO. At a minimum, I'm hoping that Peter will drum on another JL solo album.

2.5. Marco Minnemann: He was incredibly impressive with clear virtuosic abilities. His personality also seemed very infectious in a friendly but less passionate way than MM. I would have loved to see the full discussion with Marco after the song and jam session. I suspect that the reasons for why he isn't the new drummer for DT are there. I agree with many here that  Marco is a great fit for side projects with JR and JP.

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3.5 Thomas Lang: As a drummer, the little snippet of his audition confirmed for me that he is a indeed a beast of a drummer. However, it seemed fairly clear to me that his personality just didn't gel with the rest of the band. I'd love to hear his entire audition though, particularly the "flubs" to see if indeed it was a matter of his interpretations altering the flow of the songs to a degree that the band was losing their places.

5. Virgil Donati: I'll admit that from a creativity standpoint, I would be interested in hearing what a collaboration with Virgil on the drums would sound like. However, again with the limitation of having only a couple of edited minutes to make a judgement, it just didn't seem like Virgil's style fit with the songs that were selected for the audition, particularly ANTR. It seemed to me that all of the drummers that I ranked ahead of him really made more sense for DT based on the little bit that we saw. Similarly to Marco, I would love to hear Virgil in a side project with JR and/or JP.  

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6. Aquiles Priester: I am essentially giving Aquiles an "A for effort" here because although from the documentary it appears that he made the most mistakes (I'm guessing he must have made many mistakes since I would think that for these brief documentary snippets the production team and band would want to do their best to accentuate the positives of each of the candidates while demonstrating clearly why MM was their final choice), you can't really argue that he really seemed to want the gig. When Helloween replaces their drummer again (which will inevitably happen), or another major, more traditional metal band is looking for a new drummer, I would think that after this Aquiles should rocket up to the top of the list (if he wouldn't have been already).

7. Derek Roddy: Although he did come across as a pleasant guy in the documentary, what we've heard from him in recent days has tarnished this image. Also, it seems from the documentary and from statements that he's made that Derek prepared the least of the candidates (and it showed). I'd be curious though to hear him collaborate with any of the DT guys on side/solo projects if that's in the cards.

[moltr3z]

1. Peter Wildoer --> I wasn't familiar with him at first, but after I saw him on that video, I fell in love with him  I think he's amazing as a drummer and as a person. He brings such a positive aura to everybody. It's fun to listen to him talking and playing drums.
2. Marco Minnemann --> looks like a fun, creative guy. And I love his T-shirt 
3. Mike Mangini --> I think the way he played is the most similar to MP. He is also very comfortable with them.
4. Derek Roddy --> I saw him on another video on youtube, and it looks like WOW, but when I saw him on the audition video, he doesn't look like that WOW... maybe that's because his part of the video is just a little bit, and it was not so good to me...
5. Thomas Lang --> Looks like he nails it.
6. Virgil Donati --> He's the only one with different grip... I'm not a drummer but I guess it called the traditional grip?
7. Aquiles Priester --> Although he is very honest (I like that part).

[ReaperKK]

1. Thomas Lang
2. Peter Wildoer
3. Virgil Donati
4. Mike Mangini
5. Marco Minneman
6. Aquiles Priester
7. Derek Roddy

[ricky]

as a drummer, i do have some insight.

it's hard to rank a drummer due to the fact that each has his own "style".

but to look at it from an impartial perspective by judging on simply on technique and pure playing ability, it's Thomas Lang.


...even thought Mangini was a better fit for other factors, if that makes sense.

[reneranucci]

Why is everybody saying Priester did well? Can anybody point out at some time stamps of footage showing him doing something good? (not counting the first bars of TDOE which should be easy for anybody). I'm not attacking him, but we didn't really have much video from him to judge from.

EDIT: I'd say the footage does not do justice to Priester, compared to what they showed of the other guys. We only have 3 seconds of him jamming, 5 seconds of him playing straight-forwardly to TDOE intro, and around 45 seconds of him making mistakes and apologizing. I'd like to see how the rest of his audition went.

[ytsejamon]

1-Mike Mangini : hey, I win.
2-Marco Minnerman : Funny personality... and he knows how to play drums
3-Peter Wildoer: He must prove with Pain Of Salvation
4-Thomas Lang: Cold but OK
5-Derek Roddy : Maybe he is annoyed. ¿Why?
6-Aquiles Priester : Muito obrigado.
7-Virgil Donati: I dont know but it seems wasn´t fitting very well.
Is only my opinion
saluDTs

[Adami]

3-Peter Wildoer: He must prove with Pain Of Salvation

Huh?

[ytsejamon]

Pain of Salvation: another prog/metal band with problems with drummers..... or not?

[ariich]

Why is everybody saying Priester did well? Can anybody point out at some time stamps of footage showing him doing something good? (not counting the first bars of TDOE which should be easy for anybody). I'm not attacking him, but we didn't really have much video from him to judge from.

EDIT: I'd say the footage does not do justice to Priester, compared to what they showed of the other guys. We only have 3 seconds of him jamming, 5 seconds of him playing straight-forwardly to TDOE intro, and around 45 seconds of him making mistakes and apologizing. I'd like to see how the rest of his audition went.

I think it's a combination of the snippets that we can see, and the band's reaction to him.

[Adami]

Pain of Salvation: another prog/metal band with problems with drummers..... or not?

As far as I know they don't have a problem with drummers. Their drummer of 6 albums quit, and they replaced him. Was pretty quick too.

[reneranucci]

Why is everybody saying Priester did well? Can anybody point out at some time stamps of footage showing him doing something good? (not counting the first bars of TDOE which should be easy for anybody). I'm not attacking him, but we didn't really have much video from him to judge from.

EDIT: I'd say the footage does not do justice to Priester, compared to what they showed of the other guys. We only have 3 seconds of him jamming, 5 seconds of him playing straight-forwardly to TDOE intro, and around 45 seconds of him making mistakes and apologizing. I'd like to see how the rest of his audition went.

I think it's a combination of the snippets that we can see, and the band's reaction to him.

Ah Ok. I hope we'll see more of the auditions at some point to make a better judgement of how they went for each drummer.

[Wildoer]

Once again very flattering reading here, thanks! I'm soo happy that a lot of you enjoyed my audition. 

Cheers,
Peter