Should Portnoy ever Return?

[Bongasti]

Definitely yes for a reunion night. But it's not gonna happen if the relationship between MP and DT doesn't get better. It's ridiculous how they can't be friends anymore.

[deadtotheworld]

Definately YES get Portnoy back! I loved the more metal direction the band where going in as i loved metal before i loved DT. Time is a healer. Mangini was fantastic when I saw DT live with him, but although i started to appreciate ADToE a bit more, i just prefer the style and the sound of Portnoy.
I may be wrong, but im under the impression DT wanted Jordan before they hired Derek, but later fired Derek and got Jordan, so I have no doubt that if the situation arose they would release Mangini and get Portnoy back if they wanted. Once the honeymoon period is over they may start to miss Mike.
Lets see how the next album is... Personally i wouldnt want another I&W or Awake, i wouldnt want a similar sound to ADToE, i would like a slightly heavier album, but ultimately I hope they reinvent themselves again, if they dont change their sound and keep using all the same guitar tones and Jordan keeps using 10 different patches per song, i think it could get stale quite quickly and I actually think DT should have had a break... Maybe for just 2 or 3 years.
Mangini is great, Mangini could be far superior to Portnoy, but for me MM isnt Portnoy. The DT I love is MP, JP, JM, JLB and any of the keyboardists. The DT album without MP doesnt sound like DT to me. I try not to get caught up in squabbling musicians and the soap opera of it all - i dont care, i just care about the music so im not gonna hold any of his outbursts against him and his drumming. Portnoy is the man!

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

It seems MP has the biggest problem with LaBrie and Myung, in which case, LTE reunion would be the more likely thing to happen imo.

[Bertielee]

Definately YES get Portnoy back! I loved the more metal direction the band where going in as i loved metal before i loved DT. Time is a healer. Mangini was fantastic when I saw DT live with him, but although i started to appreciate ADToE a bit more, i just prefer the style and the sound of Portnoy.
I may be wrong, but im under the impression DT wanted Jordan before they hired Derek, but later fired Derek and got Jordan, so I have no doubt that if the situation arose they would release Mangini and get Portnoy back if they wanted. Once the honeymoon period is over they may start to miss Mike.
Lets see how the next album is... Personally i wouldnt want another I&W or Awake, i wouldnt want a similar sound to ADToE, i would like a slightly heavier album, but ultimately I hope they reinvent themselves again, if they dont change their sound and keep using all the same guitar tones and Jordan keeps using 10 different patches per song, i think it could get stale quite quickly and I actually think DT should have had a break... Maybe for just 2 or 3 years.
Mangini is great, Mangini could be far superior to Portnoy, but for me MM isnt Portnoy. The DT I love is MP, JP, JM, JLB and any of the keyboardists. The DT album without MP doesnt sound like DT to me. I try not to get caught up in squabbling musicians and the soap opera of it all - i dont care, i just care about the music so im not gonna hold any of his outbursts against him and his drumming. Portnoy is the man!

Talk about fanboyism!

B.Lee

[Metal]

I noticed 6 people thought MP's the man, but other than Marla (no surprise there) nobody wanted to comment on why he should be back.

I was one of the "MP's the man" voters.  I'll probably get angry responses for it, but oh well. 

One reason I would like to see him come back is the fact that Portnoy wrote some of my favorite DT songs.  To be more specific ACOS, The Mirror, The Glass Prison, and Finally Free.  Those last three are probably my favorites on their respective albums.  Another reason is just his presence, on stage and off: he has a ton of charisma on stage, and off stage I've never seen another musician maintain such a connection with the fans.  I'm voting for him because of all he's done to build one of my favorite bands.

I know that Mangini is an amazing drummer technically, and I'm sure he's a great guy, but he has never really been a contributing member of a band.  He's always been a hired gun, session guy, or teacher, and honestly I think he'll decide he wants to go back to that sometime in the future.  I believe that's what will open the door for MP's return.

But whatever happens with the drummers, as long as JP is the guitar player I'll be a fan.

I agree with everything you have said, sir.

[deadtotheworld]

Bertielee Im entitled to my opinion and im not a sheep that just says what everyone else says.... If you dont like opinions same or different, dont look at an opinion pole. You could say the same about all the Mangini love and Portnoy hate being fanboyism - so your comment is just stupid. I thought i was quite complimentary towards Mangini, which makes your comment even more pathetic as its very easy to dismiss a difference of opinion as fanboyism.

[jcmistat]

If the two sides ever make amends and Mangini decides to leave then yes. He needs to change his ways, he can't have that much control.

I think Mangini has found his home. Judging from his reaction when DT told him he was the new drummer, he was so emotional.

[Metal]

If the two sides ever make amends and Mangini decides to leave then yes. He needs to change his ways, he can't have that much control.

I think Mangini has found his home. Judging from his reaction when DT told him he was the new drummer, he was so emotional.

I think that was to be expected given his history of never being in a band full-time as an official member. 

[Loser1]

Feel free to post comments after voting

I voted YES! Mangini is the man, and a great drummer. But I'd like to see the previous lineup of DT intact once again. Maybe a Yes style reunion.

[jcmistat]

If the two sides ever make amends and Mangini decides to leave then yes. He needs to change his ways, he can't have that much control.

I think Mangini has found his home. Judging from his reaction when DT told him he was the new drummer, he was so emotional.

I think that was to be expected given his history of never being in a band full-time as an official member. 

Yeah I don't see him leaving the band or getting canned. I think Mangini will be there until DT is done.

[Metal]

If the two sides ever make amends and Mangini decides to leave then yes. He needs to change his ways, he can't have that much control.

I think Mangini has found his home. Judging from his reaction when DT told him he was the new drummer, he was so emotional.

I think that was to be expected given his history of never being in a band full-time as an official member. 

Yeah I don't see him leaving the band or getting canned. I think Mangini will be there until DT is done.

I share the unpopular opinion on the matter (wanting MP's return ASAP), however I fear that you are correct.

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

I love how everyone's saying they can't see Mangini getting fired, when DT totally fired Derek because they wanted Rudess.

Total bummer if you think about it. Poor Derek.

[Metal]

I love how everyone's saying they can't see Mangini getting fired, when DT totally fired Derek because they wanted Rudess.

Total bummer if you think about it. Poor Derek.

I guess I could see it, just judging by the current comments regarding the band by the band members it seems to be going pretty well at the time being. 

Poor Derek indeed. 

[jcmistat]

I think the situation is completely different. Portnoy and DT are not on good terms and won't be for a long time. Just released a new album about to go on tour and aren't looking back. As for Derek, well yeah poor him.

[TheLordOfTheStrings]

I think the situation is completely different. Portnoy and DT are not on good terms and won't be for a long time. Just released a new album about to go on tour and aren't looking back. As for Derek, well yeah poor him.

Oh, I totally understand that. I was just trying to point out to everyone that it's not like DT is afraid to fire anyone, you know?

[SjundeInseglet]

I voted no as I think the band's way better off with Mangini at the moment. Plus, the way I see it most reunions only come about for financial reasons and usually show the bands' heyday magic is long gone (even with a classic lineup). You hardly ever get an actual new record out of these reunions and when you do... well... it usually leaves a whole lot to be desired. And on top of that there's absolutely no garantee that they would even want to regroup with MP if (for whatever reason) MM left band. They might as well audition a new drummer (or ask one of the drummers they auditioned last year to join the band).

[Metal]

I voted no as I think the band's way better off with Mangini at the moment. Plus, the way I see it most reunions only come about for financial reasons and usually show the bands' heyday magic is long gone (even with a classic lineup). You hardly ever get an actual new record out of these reunions and when you do... well... it usually leaves a whole lot to be desired. And on top of that there's absolutely no garantee that they would even want to regroup with MP if (for whatever reason) MM left band. They might as well audition a new drummer (or ask one of the drummers they auditioned last year to join the band).

MP created the drum sound that has defined their music, MM will basically be playing the style that MP created for his entire tenure of being in DT.  MM is an excellent drummer, but as being an excellent drummer I would imagine that would start to grind him at some point.  When you listen to ADToE, all of the drums used are drums that MP used, timing seems like something that MP might have done (in many cases anyways, IMO), etc.  I would think that MM would eventually want to carve something for himself rather than being the MP 'replacement'.

[Banny]

Day by day, MP loses more and more of my respect. He has been playing the victim card since day 1, and that's just simply not cool. There is no victim here. He wanted a break, they chose not to quit their day job. Basically as no brainer there. Watching him act childish wish spreading his each and every thought over the internet like a 16 year old is ridiculous. Watching him trying to clean up his mess afterwards is even more priceless.

When MP left DT, I wasn't remorseful but I wasn't pleased.
A year later, I find I am thrilled. I hope he never returns. Yes he has done as much as he can for the fans, but that doesn't right all of his recent wrongs in my eyes. And he holds himself in much to high regard when it comes to the past of Dream Theater:

John Petrucci and myself were, and I think will always be, the sound and the style and the heart and the soul of DREAM THEATER.

 

It's fucking hard to be the heart and soul of a band you walked out on. And the fact that Dream Theater's signature sound in still intact with the release of ADTOE just shows that Portnoy has his heads in the Mike Portnoy ego-clouds.

[kirksnosehair]

Portnoy who?

[bss4life15]

Definately YES get Portnoy back! I loved the more metal direction the band where going in as i loved metal before i loved DT. Time is a healer. Mangini was fantastic when I saw DT live with him, but although i started to appreciate ADToE a bit more, i just prefer the style and the sound of Portnoy.
I may be wrong, but im under the impression DT wanted Jordan before they hired Derek, but later fired Derek and got Jordan, so I have no doubt that if the situation arose they would release Mangini and get Portnoy back if they wanted. Once the honeymoon period is over they may start to miss Mike.
Lets see how the next album is... Personally i wouldnt want another I&W or Awake, i wouldnt want a similar sound to ADToE, i would like a slightly heavier album, but ultimately I hope they reinvent themselves again, if they dont change their sound and keep using all the same guitar tones and Jordan keeps using 10 different patches per song, i think it could get stale quite quickly and I actually think DT should have had a break... Maybe for just 2 or 3 years.
Mangini is great, Mangini could be far superior to Portnoy, but for me MM isnt Portnoy. The DT I love is MP, JP, JM, JLB and any of the keyboardists. The DT album without MP doesnt sound like DT to me. I try not to get caught up in squabbling musicians and the soap opera of it all - i dont care, i just care about the music so im not gonna hold any of his outbursts against him and his drumming. Portnoy is the man!

Talk about fanboyism!

B.Lee

Yes, it's fanboyism because the guy liked the direction they were going in and you don't.  I don't agree with him, but it's not fanboyism to say he liked the other direction better, it's called an opinion.

[johncal]

So it turns out there is no lawsuit after all. I wonder if people's votes would have been different. (particularly the 25 people who voted for the new 4th option)

Interestly his positive poll numbers went up as well. so his defenders had a good impact for him. i don't know how the others would vote if the option weren't there, BUT he did stasrt a lawsuit in motion wether he went forward or not, and that in itself sucks.

Now we also don't know why it DIDN' proceed. He may have had second thoughts and realized it was the wrong thig to do, or it could be his lawyer convinced him moving forward would only cost a lot of money and he couldn't win anyways.

Another interesting point was that MP's wife mentioned to the moderator for the MP Forum that hundreds of thousands of dollars were on the linefor Mike, etc. That would indicate to me at the very least that there are some negotiations going on to try to button this up and the cloudy followed by shitstorm that hit last night wasn't helping the situation out..

[Snow_Dog]

I love how everyone's saying they can't see Mangini getting fired, when DT totally fired Derek because they wanted Rudess.

Total bummer if you think about it. Poor Derek.

Might be because they had a chance to build a relationship with him in LTE first, which is one of the key things they were looking for when trying out different drummers. Personally, I would have loved to see Minneman get the job because I like his style more than Mangini's, but I don't know how serious about it he was in the first place. In the end it looks like they got along with Mangini the best and went with him (not that that's the only factor they considered, but it seemed like a big one).

It would have been interesting though to see what they could have done with Sherinian if he stayed, I mean c'mon, we only got ONE album with him, yet on the other hand we got SFAM, SDOIT, TOT and Octavarium (yes, I'm in the minority with those last two) with Jordan. Back on topic though, I don't think they'll so easily let him go as they did with Derek. If anything, he's such a class act that I could honestly see him stepping down for Portnoy to come back at some time.

[rush-signals]

Who's Mike Portnoy? 

[ReaPsTA]

I'm not sure why people are bringing up DS.  It's become clear over time that JP and MP at least wanted Rudess the whole time.  With MM, it's pretty clear that at least for the moment MP isn't wanted back.  And out of all the drummers who auditioned MM was definitely the guy they wanted.

[Steve2911]

Well he's my favourite drummer, so of course I want him back in my favourite band asap. That said, MM's doing an amazing job, and seems to be having the absolute time of his life, so it'd not only be unfair to drop him, but it'd be a loss to the band to lose such a talent.

I'd love to see it happen, but only if MM either left of his own accord first or if unexpected circumstances forced him to leave. Yeah, a reunion project is more realistic at the moment when things are patched up, it'd be great to see.

[Cable]

Not anytime soon. Down the road probably. My feeling of MP fucking too much with the band's sound was confirmed on this album. Myung higher up in the mix and lyrics, and no stupid aggressive vocals. Or in other words, no more trying to shoe horn a square DT into MPs current round hole tastes. Clearly MP is at a different place than DT musically and personally.

[dongringo]

Never. MM is a better drummer and better fit for DT.

[kiwiclapton]

No.