Dream Theater

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I'm not a fan, but I found it totally odd and unpredictable. He had said last week he was no more in the project with Akerfeldt and Wilson, but now we know which of the bands he was really quitting (although he still didn't make an announcement about returning to that project).

Well, it's not unheard, though - Blackmore and Lord left Purple, Hensley left Heep, Hansen left Helloween. All masterminds behind these bands.
 
The Dream Theater forum is going insane. A post every five seconds about it.

Although most of the hardcore DT fans seem to be cool with it. No point in MP being there if he's not into it anymore, right?

Plus, as one fan pointed out, this is a huge game changer. I can even put it in Star Trek terms: this is Riker ordering "Fire" at the end of Best of Both Worlds pt 1. This is the biggest cliffhanger in prog since Gabriel left Genesis.

What will DT sound like without MP? Who will step up to his leadership role?
I can only guarantee one thing: I'm gonna listen to DT at work all day tomorrow. A requiem for the MP era!
 
Wow, that's huge news in the metal world. Huge news. I don't want to say DT will miss him, because I don't know the band enough (though I know Portnoy is a genius). But I do know that prog will never be the same. "Fire!" indeed.
 
Damn, but this is heavy shit. This is affecting me more seriously than Dio did.

DT is my #2 favorite band. For Maiden fans who don't know DT: Mike Portnoy quitting Dream Theater is almost exactly like Harris quitting Maiden. It's unbelievable.

MP was the heart, soul, and driving force of that band. I'm sure DT can go on without him, but it will never be the same.
 
Yes, they could. They might have to change names; I suspect Harris owns the name. But the other five guys could find a new bassist and go on.
 
Most likely DT will release 1-2 albums without Portnoy until the ''great'' comeback.It's interesting to see who is going to replace him.

Now that he is gone I hope they abandon this progressive for the sake of being progressive approach they had on their albums.
 
Holy shit, how did this come to happen?

I never thought even in my worse nightmares that Portnoy would ever leave DT, it's his band. Hope the they all remain friends.
Anyway does anybody know/suspect what so interesting project(s) made him leave DT? He is only with Liquid Tension Experiment and A7X now right?

This is bad, I can't imagine DT without Portnoy :/
 
I don't think that there's anybody who is going to replace him, drumming to DT is technically demanding, also, Mike's style was unique.
 
There certainly will be some crazy Mike Portnoy addict out there that can play as complicated stuff as he does 10 times faster and waits to be discovered.If Mike can do it, I can't think why there shouldn't be anyone else capable of doing it.


Any ideas of already well known drummers that are up to the task?
 
Well it's certainly odd news. Totally out of the blue.
Mike has asked fans "not to blame" Avenged Sevenfold for his decision to quit Dream Theater and there is some speculation that he'll join Avenged Sevenfold full-time I think it's a long shot - can you imagine him wearing make-up? :lol:
As for his "other projects" all I know of are Liquid Tension Experiment and Transatlantic.
 
It would be AWESOME if he joined A7x full time, his writing will automatically make that band better and I already like them a lot.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
Yes, they could. They might have to change names; I suspect Harris owns the name. But the other five guys could find a new bassist and go on.

Even if they could, they won't. Harris is more important for Maiden than any other musician for any other band.

I never liked Portnoy's playing that much. From a DT fan's point of view I can imagine that this will feel like a black hole in the band, because he was the face of the band. His leadership seemed huge. But as a drummer I always thought he was one of the most overrated drummers. I always thought he sounded like a drummer who learned many things, without actually being a huge talent himself, and I also thought he lacked own identity, not really having an own style.

Still, this is a cliffhanger indeed! What will happen to the band? How will the new songs sound without him?
I think something good may come out of it.

I shouldn't forget to say that I really like Portnoy's letter. Very well explained, very honest and you see that he loves the other guys and means well. It all came down to the fact that they didn't want to slow down a bit, next year. Maybe there's a bit of jealousy, and who knows they want him to love DT at least as much as his other projects.
 
Forostar, I agree with you, something good could come out of this.

I don't know what the real situation was in the band, but it always seemed to me that Portnoy was the control freak and the Rule Imposer (TM) in the band. For example, the rule that lyrics can't be submitted without a musical arrangement, which made John Myung stop writing lyrics after Metropolis pt. 2. Another thing that I won't miss are the growling cookie monster vocals from the last album, hope I never hear them again on a DT record.

As for "taking it easy", it's Portnoy's own fault that he's been working non stop for the past 3 years. He could have turned down A7X and Transatlantic, but he didn't.

I'm certainly looking forward to hearing the next DT album and seeing who'll be the new drummer. He's gonna have some big shoes to fill, especially live. I guess they'll tone down on the setlist rotation for a while now.
 
Onhell said:
It would be AWESOME if he joined A7x full time, his writing will automatically make that band better and I already like them a lot.

Even better if Transatlantic got more active, since they're 100 times better. Easily.

Ranko said:
He could have turned down A7X and Transatlantic, but he didn't.

A7X, maybe. He did play on their album, so it does make sense to do the tour.

But TA? No. Mike is an integral part of that band: a founder, not a hired gun.
 
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