The Mike Mangini Thread (Thanks & Farewell)

[Infinite Cactus]

I think what reminds me of Amob is it sounds like that generic kind of "buttrock" from the early 2000s but like after it was popular. They both have a few neat parts and twists, but also silly cliche lyrics. Like good for Mike, I hope he's proud of it. Genuinely. But I did laugh at "torrid air always rises."


 Because farts.

[MinistroRaven]

I think what reminds me of Amob is it sounds like that generic kind of "buttrock" from the early 2000s but like after it was popular. They both have a few neat parts and twists, but also silly cliche lyrics. Like good for Mike, I hope he's proud of it. Genuinely. But I did laugh at "torrid air always rises."


 Because farts.

.

[Kyo]

I really like what MM brings to DT, so it saddens me to say that this song does absolutely nothing for me. And nothing he says in the interview gives me hope that the rest of the album will be any better.

It's ironic, but going by his comments regarding his songsriting approach - the "don't play anything too fancy except underneath the solo section" -, it sounds like he'd be a good fit for Sons of Apollo, who have used a similar approach to constructing their songs. I very much dislike it in both cases.

[Madman Shepherd]

I guess I can see the Adrenaline Mob comparison. But to me, this album is kind of fascinating in the Mangini basically wrote 95% of it. I'm excited to hear the rest even though the first sing isn't really doing much for me. I also listened to it on youtube through my car in the middle of a dense forest up north while driving back from vacation. I was thinking about holding out until the damn thing was released but I'm unclear on when that will be or even if Mangini is planning on a physical release. Kind of an odd way to go about releasing it but I guess it goes with the theme of doing 95% of it himself.

[Trav86]

I’ve listened to it about 10 times so far. I guess I’m looking to see if I’m just missing something. It is really just a straight groove oriented rock tune, which is exactly how Mike described it. The lyrics are meh. But no biggie.

Also this track reinforces my previous feeling that I prefer Mangini outside of DT. I literally love everything I’ve heard from him, from Extreme to Vai to Mullmuzzler and James LaBrie. I’ve heard him in guest spots and tribute albums as well. I always thought he was on the money. But his work in DT...weeelllllll

[hefdaddy42]

Didn't care for this song.  Like, at all.

Hopefully the rest of the album is more to my taste.  But if not, oh well.

[Stadler]

I’ve listened to it about 10 times so far. I guess I’m looking to see if I’m just missing something. It is really just a straight groove oriented rock tune, which is exactly how Mike described it. The lyrics are meh. But no biggie.

Also this track reinforces my previous feeling that I prefer Mangini outside of DT. I literally love everything I’ve heard from him, from Extreme to Vai to Mullmuzzler and James LaBrie. I’ve heard him in guest spots and tribute albums as well. I always thought he was on the money. But his work in DT...weeelllllll

Haha, I read that fast and it sounded like "The lyrics are meth. But no boogie."   

Haha, carry on. 

[Trav86]

I’ve listened to it about 10 times so far. I guess I’m looking to see if I’m just missing something. It is really just a straight groove oriented rock tune, which is exactly how Mike described it. The lyrics are meh. But no biggie.

Also this track reinforces my previous feeling that I prefer Mangini outside of DT. I literally love everything I’ve heard from him, from Extreme to Vai to Mullmuzzler and James LaBrie. I’ve heard him in guest spots and tribute albums as well. I always thought he was on the money. But his work in DT...weeelllllll

Haha, I read that fast and it sounded like "The lyrics are meth. But no boogie."   

Haha, carry on. 

[Fritzinger]

I really like what MM brings to DT, so it saddens me to say that this song does absolutely nothing for me. And nothing he says in the interview gives me hope that the rest of the album will be any better.

It's ironic, but going by his comments regarding his songsriting approach - the "don't play anything too fancy except underneath the solo section" -, it sounds like he'd be a good fit for Sons of Apollo, who have used a similar approach to constructing their songs. I very much dislike it in both cases.

Imagine Mike Mangini replacing Mike Portnoy in Sons Of Apollo for some reason 

[Trav86]

I really like what MM brings to DT, so it saddens me to say that this song does absolutely nothing for me. And nothing he says in the interview gives me hope that the rest of the album will be any better.

It's ironic, but going by his comments regarding his songsriting approach - the "don't play anything too fancy except underneath the solo section" -, it sounds like he'd be a good fit for Sons of Apollo, who have used a similar approach to constructing their songs. I very much dislike it in both cases.

Imagine Mike Mangini replacing Mike Portnoy in Sons Of Apollo for some reason 

The stuff nightmares are made of.

[devieira73]

Well if anyone is still interested in MM album... (I do, very much)
From his Facebook:
"...Next single is out in less than 2 weeks and full album in November."
So, I believe the next single is on 10/20.

[devieira73]

By the way, Freak of Nature in fact reminds me something in a modern rock vein like Halestorm's Vicious, that is a band (and album) that I really love.

[Fonzie]

Apropos of nothing else, I’m watching the 4th Wall blu-Ray for the first time in a while…

‘The Shattered Fortress’ is absolutely mental on all fronts. All the instrumentalists shine but Mangini really fucking delivers. Anyone doubting the passion in this guy needs to watch this again!

[RodrigoAltaf]

Apropos of nothing else, I’m watching the 4th Wall blu-Ray for the first time in a while…

‘The Shattered Fortress’ is absolutely mental on all fronts. All the instrumentalists shine but Mangini really fucking delivers. Anyone doubting the passion in this guy needs to watch this again!

 His finest hour with DT so far is that DVD. Shattered Fortress, Illumination Theory etc...he simply SLAYS.

[lucasembarbosa]

Listened yesterday to both Into The Great Divide albums, that's how MM was supposed to sound in DT... I think it's his best sound ever, specially in the second album! Great production by Richard Chycki as well

[Max Kuehnau]

The irony is that he only plays on the first ITGD album (and Rich Chycki only mixed that one), the second one was entirely programmed by Zack Zalon. But yes, both are great, although I much prefer the first one.

[gzarruk]

The irony is that he only plays on the first ITGD album (and Rich Chycki only mixed that one), the second one was entirely programmed by Zack Zalon. But yes, both are great, although I much prefer the first one.

Yeah, MM is only on the first one. IIRC, Zack wanted him for the second too, but Mike was in the studio with DT at the time.

[lucasembarbosa]

The irony is that he only plays on the first ITGD album (and Rich Chycki only mixed that one), the second one was entirely programmed by Zack Zalon. But yes, both are great, although I much prefer the first one.

The more you know... 

[gzarruk]

New single "Not Drowning" coming this friday

[Kyo]

New single "Not Drowning" coming this friday

I remain unconvinced by this music. And is he doubling guitar solo phrases on the drums in every song? Man, that will get old really fast if that is the case.

[Trav86]

New single "Not Drowning" coming this friday

I remain unconvinced by this music. And is he doubling guitar solo phrases on the drums in every song? Man, that will get old really fast if that is the case.

In interviews that’s basically what he said. Grooves in the verses and chorus and following the solos in the solo section.

Yeah, it’s a formula that gets old fast.

And for this song…it’s not great. The lyrics and vocal melody are kinda amateur. Sorry, that’s the only way I know how to describe it.

[Ben_Jamin]

New single "Not Drowning" coming this friday

I remain unconvinced by this music. And is he doubling guitar solo phrases on the drums in every song? Man, that will get old really fast if that is the case.

In interviews that’s basically what he said. Grooves in the verses and chorus and following the solos in the solo section.

Yeah, it’s a formula that gets old fast.

And for this song…it’s not great. The lyrics and vocal melody are kinda amateur. Sorry, that’s the only way I know how to describe it.

It's like Room 137 got turned up...It's fantastic stuff....I have no idea what you, or anyone else, is expecting from this project.

Also...From the YouTube video...

"While listening to the chorus part of this song sometime in 2018, I heard word sounds in my mind and the word “drowning” fit it pretty well. I didn’t want to write about it literally though. I used a thesaurus and the internet to find related words and topics because my lyrics are never about personal events or stories.

Searching terms related to "drowning" eventually led me to the word “confusion.” That made me think of the confusion surrounding the findings of Quantum Mechanics. I found instances of physicists and mathematicians saying that the test results seemed strange and “wrong," and that they could not reconcile it with their view of reality.  Some said there are things about it we cannot know, or maybe are not supposed to know.  It seemed to me that spending too much time immersing oneself in it can make a person crazy. Einstein died confounded by it spending countless hours trying to recocile it with the reality he knew. The myriad of unfounded conjectures outside the physics community conjured up a comedy skit in my mind. The lines “Not Drowning” and “I will breathe” each relate to the hope of clearing away what is blurring the reality of something in all kinds of situations.

For a song lyric, I suspected that singing about physics wouldn’t be as fun as the idea of jumping in a saltwater pool. I needed a descriptive location for it. “Backyard” didn’t work, so I used the word “nation” because everyone lives in one. That word led me to “radiation,” as that’s what heats up a pool and has a cool sound to it when sung. Mainly, words come to me as sounds, then I search around and form something cohesive, but try not to sacrifice how the words sound.

I thought this might be interesting to know about. At the end of the day, however, it’s just a song for rocking out!

And then there's the simultaneous 7/8 in Common Time and a wild solo section for the Musos!"

[Trav86]

I don’t like Room 137. So I guess that’s why.

[TAC]

I don’t like Room 137. So I guess that’s why.

Room 137 needs to thank Out Of Reach not it not being the worst song on the album.

[Trav86]

I don’t like Room 137. So I guess that’s why.

Room 137 needs to thank Out Of Reach not it not being the worst song on the album.

Ha. For me that coveted last place spot goes to Viper King.

[devieira73]

https://linktr.ee/mikemanginiofficial?fbclid=IwAR0AG5gV3D_S9HY0xV2tYf9FSfBpi33oIfyQjpNa1VX_2Fwq4GPJbvweWI8

[jadiggerdt]

Wen you hear Portnoy you hear a signature. when you hear mangini you hear 100 same drummers. So far a dull album.

[Trav86]

Wen you hear Portnoy you hear a signature. when you hear mangini you hear 100 same drummers. So far a dull album.

I partially agree with this. I think Mangini’s orchestral style of doing drum runs that follow the melody is sort of his signature sound. Like Bozzio pushed farther. But is that something that is noticeable, especially to non-drummers and non-musicians, as Portnoy? Probably not. Portnoy has a signature sound to his drums, not just the way he plays. Mangini’s drums sound different on everything he plays on.

[gzarruk]

MM's signature thing besides the orchestration like that is the fully lefty and fully righty playing with a mirror image kit. That and crazy polyrhythms.

[Trav86]

MM's signature thing besides the orchestration like that is the fully lefty and fully righty playing with a mirror image kit. That and crazy polyrhythms.

Yeah, I was mainly thinking of a style that you can hear. I don’t think you can listen and go “oh that’s all lefty”.

[Stadler]

MM's signature thing besides the orchestration like that is the fully lefty and fully righty playing with a mirror image kit. That and crazy polyrhythms.

And that's largely why it's lost on me.  Couldn't care less if he plays with his left hand, right hand, or his third hand.  Music for me is almost entirely visceral, even when I DO know what's going on behind the scenes.   There's NO DOUBT that what he does physically is impressive, but TO ME - and everyone can make their own determination, and there is no right answer - that doesn't translate, almost at all, into any visceral musical response.

[nobloodyname]

Yeah. Neither of these tunes has done anything positive for me. All a bit AI-sounding.

[devieira73]

I don't even know how to react to this, since I'm one who loves the sound of MM's drum playing without rationalizing any of his technique. I really love his work on DT, specially in the last 2 albums, truly incredible. And I also admire that he's still studying and pushing his playing forward. I guess if people don't feel it, nothing can be done. In fact, although I agree there's nothing groundbreaking in these songs, I'll buy and hear the album because of the drum work alone (and I do that for a few other drummers outside DT too).

[hefdaddy42]

MM's signature thing besides the orchestration like that is the fully lefty and fully righty playing with a mirror image kit. That and crazy polyrhythms.

And that's largely why it's lost on me.  Couldn't care less if he plays with his left hand, right hand, or his third hand.  Music for me is almost entirely visceral, even when I DO know what's going on behind the scenes.   There's NO DOUBT that what he does physically is impressive, but TO ME - and everyone can make their own determination, and there is no right answer - that doesn't translate, almost at all, into any visceral musical response.

For me, that technical piece is worthy of admiration in the same way that I admire any craftsmanship going into any product or piece of art.  But it loses some importance if the end product isn't aesthetically pleasing, or useful, as the case may be.

[Stadler]

I don't even know how to react to this, since I'm one who loves the sound of MM's drum playing without rationalizing any of his technique. I really love his work on DT, specially in the last 2 albums, truly incredible. And I also admire that he's still studying and pushing his playing forward. I guess if people don't feel it, nothing can be done. In fact, although I agree there's nothing groundbreaking in these songs, I'll buy and hear the album because of the drum work alone (and I do that for a few other drummers outside DT too).

That's awesome, though, man. There's nothing to react to; do you enjoy his music?  If yes, then stop posting and go listen to it!  I joke, of course, but there are plenty of acts that I can't really explain but I just like listening to them.  No need to analyze it, and I really couldn't care less if anyone else shares my interest.  I'm not really thinking about those people when I'm listening!!