Exactly. It's easy to wonder how far JLB would have gotten without Dream Theater, and it's even easier to wonder how far Portnoy would have gotten had he not lucked out and ended up in a band with good primary songwriters (of which he is not). Without Dream Theater, he never makes the connection he did to do everything else he has done since, and without Petrucci, Moore and Myung, he never gets off the ground.