Eighth part:
JAMES LABRIE'S MULLMUZZLER 2 by JAMES LABRIE'S MULLMUZZLER
Tracks played in:
Afterlife
Venice Burning
Confronting the Devil
Falling
Stranger
A Simple Man
Save Me
Believe
Listening
Tell Me
Re-listening to this record now, I realized that this is the first time the Mike Mangini that we would hear in A Dramatic Turn of Events showed up. His work with Extreme and Steve Vai had the different elements of his drum style, but MullMuzzler 2 has the combo that we would similarly hear in ADTOE, although in a less polished version. Amazing bass drum control, highlighting the different instruments in the orchestration, melodic use of the different elements of the drum kit, limb independence, speedy drum fills - this album has the Mangini that Dream Theater fans would recognize.
In my analysis, the much better quality of drumming in MullMuzzler 2 compared to MullMuzzler's first album, Keep It To Yourself, was driven by the more appropriate musical arrangements of the songs. There is no pretension to sound metal and badass all the time, so we got more disciplined, more appropriate, and more technically proficient drum parts. There were some rough parts where Mangini sounded like he's doing too much, for example, in songs like Stranger and Listening where there were fills that sounded awkward. But overall, this album is a very good drum album. Not yet at the level of the drumming in the Dream Theater albums, but the signs that he's going to reach that level are in this album. MullMuzzler 2 also boasts one of the best sounding studio drum production for Mike Mangini.
MullMuzzler 2 further highlights that Mangini's drumming specialty is in orchestration and in rhythmic drumming, not in drum fills. He does not do drum fills much, and it seems like a stylistic choice to concentrate the creative energies more on drumming within the context of the song. This is important to note because this could explain why the drumming in Mangini-era Dream theater albums sound different from the Portnoy-era Dream Theater albums, and I don't expect that it would change much in future albums.
For drumming highlights, make a playlist of these three songs:
1. Venice Burning - For some reason, there are no active uploads of this song in Youtube. The drumming in this song would really pass for drumming in ADTOE, reminding me a bit of his drumming in Lost Not Forgotten. The bass drum parts are amazing, especially in the instrumental part where the bass drums did all the work while the other limbs maintained the beat. Must listen if you want to learn bass drum control.
2.
Save Me - Bam baBam baBam. Killer drum riff. Very good straight-up metal drumming.
3.
Tell Me - My favorite drumming in MullMuzzler 2. Mangini plays blast beats while hitting half-notes in the hi-hat with his right arm. Aggressive drumming, with amazing phrasing in the bass drums and accents in the cymbals. Groovy drumming in the chorus. This is perfect.
Coming next, an underappreciated gem of a rock album. Mangini stretches his playing style yet again and plays industrial.