Dream Theater

[littlegrooves]

I think it is pretty obvious that what the band is looking for is a drummer who will keep the chair warm for when MP returns.

My hypothesis was confirmed when they made it clear, multiple times, that they wanted all the old drum parts played the same. Being that I've been to a few DT shows, I know that 1/4 of the crowd is air drumming the drums parts, so they need to keep that there; however, they all know that these drummers could learn and nail MP's licks, if given enough time.

I believe they are looking from someone who will "be meat" from jump and know that they are supposed to play and shut up. Seriously. I mean, look when Virgil orchestrated his own part (after showing he could play the original)-- they "ooh and ahh" over it, then later imply that he was trying to change the parts too much (with negative connotation).

MP has always been in the driver's seat, and that band isn't going anywhere without him-- which is too bad as far as I'm concerned, as I lost interest in them years ago. For a minute I was naively hoping this would inspire them to do coming cool again. It just isn't going to happen.

Oh, yeah-- I forgot to vote: it's gonna be Mangini. They all know him and he is buds with MP and the band-- he'll be happy to hold the throne till MP decides to return, and then will happily return to teaching when he's done.

[deseipel]

Interesting that in one part, the keyboard player admits to writing it complicated on purpose = musical fail imo. But, that's their bag and I get it.

It was an exercise -- a test of aptitude -- and nothing more. He wasn't saying "This is going to be on our next album." I thought it was pretty clever way to see how fast these guys compile complicated information and was somewhat surprised how challenging it was for some of them. Made them look more human.

Yes, but it's certainly representative of what they write: stuff that changes meter frequently. In short, I'm not a fan of that type of song writing.

it was a good test though, agreed.

[Cheggs]

Ideally, I'd prefer the gig go to Virgil. As Rudess said "he eats that stuff for breakfast". He'd definitely push them creatively. The tunes he writes himself are extremely complex. Way crazier than any DT stuff. They might not like that though. Funny that he started a DT cover band before he left Oz.
As has been mentioned a few times, the videos are not very subtly pointing to Mike Mangini. At least they wouldn't have to learn a new name...

I do think it would be hilarious if the person on the other end of the phone call is Portnoy though.

[amoergosum]

I just watched the two episodes. Marco Minnemann was pretty incredible. I'd pick him.

[Matt Rosenblum]

I think Mangini definitely has done the best job so far. He is a very astute player and fits very well with the band. Marco Minneman probably has the best feel out of all of them, but in my opinion does not fit the band. I think Donati and Lang are fun to watch, but are very sterile. I also think that it is pretty impressive that the band had to get a bunch of guys of this caliber to fill Portnoy's shoes. They can all play circles around Mike, but he has a some creative ideas and plays odd time signatures pretty smoothly. It says a lot about him! My type of prog player that I like is Gavin Harrison. He is the type of player who can play odd time signatures that groove. Donati and Lang do not groove like that. Anyway, I bet Mangini gets the gig!

[Matus]

IMO, they had to call players of this caliber so MP fans wouldn't start whining about "MP was better than that". They had to go for someone so undeniably far above his level that it would never be an issue. Then came other factors like the chemistry and all, but seriously, as far as technical/musical ability you can go to any serious music scene, kick a stone and find a bunch of people who can play that stuff with ease and play odd meters way more smoothly than MP. After all, for him 3/4 and 6/8 are the same and 7/8 is just 4/4 minus one eighth note
And no, they're not a shitty band by any means. They've gone very dull on their later compositions but they've made a bunch of albums that still give me the chills 15 years later. It's ok if prog's not your thing, but there's great stuff there and they're great at what they do. I just miss their old better thought music and more driven attitude on stage, when MP wouldn't try to catch every spotlight and the rest would move around, play with the audience and all that. I've witnessed some totally brilliant moments by these guys on 2000 and 2002.
Money's still on Mike Mangini, of course.

[Gaddabout]

IMO, they had to call players of this caliber so MP fans wouldn't start whining about "MP was better than that". They had to go for someone so undeniably far above his level that it would never be an issue. Then came other factors like the chemistry and all, but seriously, as far as technical/musical ability you can go to any serious music scene, kick a stone and find a bunch of people who can play that stuff with ease and play odd meters way more smoothly than MP. After all, for him 3/4 and 6/8 are the same and 7/8 is just 4/4 minus one eighth note
And no, they're not a shitty band by any means. They've gone very dull on their later compositions but they've made a bunch of albums that still give me the chills 15 years later. It's ok if prog's not your thing, but there's great stuff there and they're great at what they do. I just miss their old better thought music and more driven attitude on stage, when MP wouldn't try to catch every spotlight and the rest would move around, play with the audience and all that. I've witnessed some totally brilliant moments by these guys on 2000 and 2002.
Money's still on Mike Mangini, of course.

I pretty much agree. They probably could've selected one of the kids from his website who knows every single part by heart. We've bashed on Portnoy pretty good over the past few years, but I give him credit for having decent facility and some thoughtfulness in constructing drum parts. As I've said in the past, most people here who get irritated with Portnoy are probably just taking out their frustrations with his fans on him. My only real frustration with his playing is he's one of those rock drummers that's always out on the front of the pulse, like Stewart Copeland, and there are a lot heavy grooves in those songs that he really should lay back on. I downloaded Score -- a live recording -- last night, inspired by these videos to check out some of their more recent efforts. There was Portnoy out in front on Octavarium and I'm shouting at my car stereo to get him to pull back. LOL If only ... I'd probably enjoy that music a lot more.

[JayD]

I could swear that I heard Mike asked to be back in the band when Avenged said they didn't want him anymore- and the DT guys said no.... ?

[Pocketplayer]

edit my post here...

Gonna pull an Oliver Stone move here.

If you look at the t-shirt the lead singer is wearing on day one, in particular during
the Mangini post fireside chat, it is the same shirt worn when he makes the teaser
announcement at the end of the second video, "Welcome to the family"

1. He alternates the same t-shirt every other day
2. He has two of the same shirts, wore it on day one and three.
3. He wears a different shirt on day two (video 2)

Therefore, he made the announcement on day one and told either Roddy or Mangini you
got the gig. It wasn't Roddy...they made it clear his feel wasn't there.

Draw your own conclusions.

[Matus]

Gaddabout, then don't watch "Live at Budokan". His pushing of the tempo throughout the whole concert is just hysterical, he's not just on top of the beat but rushing the whole band very noticeably. Just take a look at this, right after the stick intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXdazXcldVA
Holy timing issues, Batman!
JayD, that's correct. He did say that in his own forum. I guess if you go there and dig through his posts you'll find it. Or just look for some online metal magazine who covered the news, it was absurd to say the least.