treeduck Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 After many good listens to the latest Dream Theater album, I think the new drummer Mike Mangini has done a good job, his overall drum performance is very impressive... ...but, I don't think he's on the same level as Portnoy and I don't think he ever was. I went back and listened to some albums he played on in the past with Steve Vai and Extreme and reminded myself I was never that impressed with him. Don't get me wrong his DT performance is good, maybe the best he's ever delivered, but he's not as dynamic or interesting to listen to as Portnoy. I know why they picked him, he's more on their wavelength, more of a metal/rock guy, looks the part I suppose, but I would have chosen Marco or Lang or Donati (even though he made a mistake on the day). What say you DT maniacs and music fans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaldad Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) Portnoy . Mangini is great but it is just not the same . I have said it a 100 times, the best drummer did Not get the gig with D.T. BTW. There is nothing on the last D.T. album that Portnoy can't do. Mangini just took 90% of parts Portnoy has done in the past and rehashed it . It was D.T.'s time to prove they did not need Mike and they blew it Edited June 21, 2012 by metaldad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 QUOTE (metaldad @ Jun 21 2012, 12:56 PM) Portnoy . Mangini is great but it is just not the same . I have said it a 100 times, the best drummer did Not get the gig with D.T. BTW. There is nothing on the last D.T. album that Portnoy can't do. Mangini just took 90% of parts Portnoy has done in the past and rehashed it . It was D.T.'s time to prove they did not need Mike and they blew it I never would have picked Mangini, I was surprised seeing a lot of people talking about him as the obvious choice etc, I don't get it really, he's good, but not that good... Maybe they like his personality, and he'll do as he's told and he's good enough to be fair replacement as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metaldad Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 They already knew him from past tours. He got the gig because he had the "Look" and he is from close by, Boston . Marco and Lang run circles around him as a drummer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Not Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Going to take a few more years to determine this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 QUOTE (metaldad @ Jun 21 2012, 01:04 PM) They already knew him from past tours. He got the gig because he had the "Look" and he is from close by, Boston . Marco and Lang run circles around him as a drummer And Donati as well... Only the South American guy was obviously inferior, and maybe one of the other no names... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdFireYYZ Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 QUOTE (Ovningskora @ Jun 21 2012, 02:08 PM) Going to take a few more years to determine this. This. I can't vote since we've only heard one album with Mangini and most of the drum parts were written by Petrucci. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Jun 21 2012, 01:25 PM) QUOTE (Ovningskora @ Jun 21 2012, 02:08 PM) Going to take a few more years to determine this. This. I can't vote since we've only heard one album with Mangini and most of the drum parts were written by Petrucci. If Mange was really good he would have corrected the drum parts before he laid them down if Petrucci's effort was not up to scratch...unless he's too much of a yes man, and if he is maybe Petrucci will always write the drum parts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Who the heck voted for Gini and then didn't have the sack to make a post about it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdFireYYZ Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 QUOTE (treeduck @ Jun 21 2012, 02:29 PM)QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Jun 21 2012, 01:25 PM) QUOTE (Ovningskora @ Jun 21 2012, 02:08 PM) Going to take a few more years to determine this. This. I can't vote since we've only heard one album with Mangini and most of the drum parts were written by Petrucci. If Mange was really good he would have corrected the drum parts before he laid them down if Petrucci's effort was not up to scratch...unless he's too much of a yes man, and if he is maybe Petrucci will always write the drum parts... He didn't play the parts exactly how Petrucci wrote them. He changed them up to fit his style. We just don't know how much he changed them. And I think the band said that he'll be writing for the next album. I've never seen Portnoy live but Mangini was great with Dream Theater. Even though I don't really like drum solos his was actually enjoyable. I'd still rather have another song though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nappy2112 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 They are both great drummers , but Portnoy is a better front man from the back than LaBrie is up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The K Man Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Petrucci did not write the drum parts for Mangini. He did drum parts on his demo, and Mangini then crafted the drum parts he wrote around the demoed drums, which is pretty common. Also, Portnoy certainly can NOT play everything Mangini played on ADTOE. That part in On the Backs of Angels that starts at 2:12 is something Portnoy could never do at once. Not that it matters since Portnoy almost always did a great job (although his style had gotten predictable and unimaginative on the last few albums), but Mangini can simply do things that Portnoy cannot. To answer the question, Portnoy had worn out his welcome, with the band and with a lot of fans, so a change was needed, so Mangini is easily better for the band right now, but that doesn't change what Portnoy did on the band's first 10 albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Portnoy. Though it's not really a fair contest since the only album I can recall ever hearing Mangini drum on is the new Dream Theater. I was very impressed with Mangini when I saw them on Sunday. If he's around for another album I think we'll see him shine more. It's just not possible to vote against Portnoy at this point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdFireYYZ Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (The K Man @ Jun 21 2012, 07:01 PM) Petrucci did not write the drum parts for Mangini. He did drum parts on his demo, and Mangini then crafted the drum parts he wrote around the demoed drums, which is pretty common. Thanks for clearing that up. I was under the impression that most of the drums parts were pretty much already written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemispheresserehpsimeH Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Mangini by far. It's not even debatable. We're talking about who is better for DT, right? Portnoy, while I love his contributions and his drumming in DT, is not even close to being the best option for DT anymore. As far as drummer skill goes, that's pretty relative and all depends on what style you prefer to listen to. But for DT, Mangini is a much better fit in the band now. I may have said Portnoy back in 1999-2002 when DT was still producing some extremely good albums and seemed to be in good sorts. But ADToE proves that DT can still make a fantastic album with another guy back there. They seem pretty happy about where they are. Sure, Mangini "looks" the part, but the guy is a walking smile. Which is something DT could use right now, instead of cookie monster egomaniac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron162 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Right now is difficult to compare Portnoy with any other drummer. He's easily second only to our beloved Neil Peart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The K Man Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (Akron162 @ Jun 21 2012, 11:04 PM) Right now is difficult to compare Portnoy with any other drummer. He's easily second only to our beloved Neil Peart. Is that a joke? Portnoy is great, but 2nd best in the world right now? No chance in hell. Gavin Harrison alone wipes the floor with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arushhead Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 i think they should have picked this guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akron162 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (The K Man @ Jun 21 2012, 11:39 PM) QUOTE (Akron162 @ Jun 21 2012, 11:04 PM) Right now is difficult to compare Portnoy with any other drummer. He's easily second only to our beloved Neil Peart. Is that a joke? Portnoy is great, but 2nd best in the world right now? No chance in hell. Gavin Harrison alone wipes the floor with him. Who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The K Man Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I suggest you listen to some Porcupine Tree from the last 10 years. Harrison's playing in Anesthetize alone destroys anything any other drummer has done in the last decade, and that includes Peart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (The K Man @ Jun 22 2012, 12:23 AM) I suggest you listen to some Porcupine Tree from the last 10 years. Harrison's playing in Anesthetize alone destroys anything any other drummer has done in the last decade, and that includes Peart. There's dozens of drummers on Harrison's level in rock and jazz and beyond. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (HemispheresserehpsimeH @ Jun 21 2012, 09:30 PM) Mangini by far. It's not even debatable. We're talking about who is better for DT, right? Portnoy, while I love his contributions and his drumming in DT, is not even close to being the best option for DT anymore. As far as drummer skill goes, that's pretty relative and all depends on what style you prefer to listen to. But for DT, Mangini is a much better fit in the band now. I may have said Portnoy back in 1999-2002 when DT was still producing some extremely good albums and seemed to be in good sorts. But ADToE proves that DT can still make a fantastic album with another guy back there. They seem pretty happy about where they are. Sure, Mangini "looks" the part, but the guy is a walking smile. Which is something DT could use right now, instead of cookie monster egomaniac. I don't get the worship Mangini gets from some DT fans, who now turn around and diss Portnoy. Maybe it's because you want the new guy to be a better player, but I don't see it. And you can't tell me Mangini was the best drummer in the DT drum audition video? Marco, Lang and Donati are clearly better and more versatile, despite Mangina acing the test. It seems to me that whole competition was a set-up for publicity for the new line-up and forthcoming album. Mangini knew he had the job well before the "audition" with his bad acting tears of gratitude performance. He probably knew what the audition consisted of and had weeks to prepare so he'd look the part. But even if it was legit, it's clear that they were gonna pick Mangini regardless, so why waste everyone's time with the drum drama demo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod in Toronto Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 QUOTE (nappy2112 @ Jun 21 2012, 05:36 PM) They are both great drummers , but Portnoy is a better front man from the back than LaBrie is up front. If we're talking drumming skills, maybe Mangini is better than Portnoy. I'm not a musician, so I wouldn't know. And judging by the audition clips is hard as well, since the whole video was done to lead us to conclude that Mangini was the best choice. When it comes to the overall contribution to the band, Portnoy wins by a VERY long shot. We'll see what happens in the next album, but I doubt Mangini will handle the stage props, communication with the fans, release of official bootlegs, choice of setlists, album production, composing, etc etc. And his stage presence is something I have never seen on any drummer in the world. I also challenge the idea that he wasn't doing any new stuff on the latest DT albums drum-wise. Systematic Chaos had some sick drum fills from beginning to end, BCSL had blast beats in one of the tracks and Count of Tuscany, easily one of the top 10 DT songs for me. I do think they needed a shake by the time BCSL came out, but that was hardly Portnoy's fault. The whole dynamic within the band changed when he left, and the songs on the new album sound exactly the same as the previous ones, apart from the drum sound which is not as much "in your face" as it was before. To be honest, I think the best solution for them would be to stop for 1-2 years and tour with different artists, then do another album. Just as Portnoy suggested in the first place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
launchpad67a Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 I was a big DT and Portnoy fan years ago and when they replaced him I checked out Mangini, and thought he was amazing. Much more "musical" of a drummer for sure, but probably doesn't have all the chops Portnoy has. Being able to play all that stuff is fine and all, but it should be musical, and Portnoy isn't very musical, Mangini is. Now Gavin Harrison is a guy with serious chops, and is a very musical drummer. Love his style. Notes are just notes, and lots of guys can play notes. Very few actually play musically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg2112 Posted June 22, 2012 Share Posted June 22, 2012 Mangini. Since he came in the band it was alike a weight was lifted. Saw them live this tour and they look like theyre having more fun than ever. Lots of energy. Portnoy is the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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