Mike Portnoy leaves Dream Theater

[Ehwmatt]

I know we've got a few fans on here. Pretty shocking, but might be good for the band to get away from the shitty cheese metal direction they've gone in the last couple albums.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2585154.aspx

[Glenn]

Doesn't make sense.....Their last album was a nice return to form.

[Voyager]

No big deal, it will be easy to find a basic drummer to replace him.

NOT!

[Carlitto H@kk]

This is sad...
But I'm going to remain optimistic.
There is too much history here.
Portnoy is DT's founding member and
has been the band's main "visionary" since its inception...

The band's press release states that they will commence
recording a new album in Jan 2011...
I have a feeling time will mend these indifferences
and Mike will be back...

maybe I'm too optimistic but I just can't see DT going on
w/o Portnoy; it'd be like J going on w/o Schon.

[conversationpc]

I know we've got a few fans on here. Pretty shocking, but might be good for the band to get away from the shitty cheese metal direction they've gone in the last couple albums.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2585154.aspx

I couldn't agree less...I've loved the last two albums. This kinda bums me out. The one ray of hope I see is that it looks like he may be leaving the door open to return in the future.

[lfhlaw]

[quote="conversationpc"][quote="Ehwmatt"]I know we've got a few fans on here. Pretty shocking, but might be good for the band to get away from the shitty cheese metal direction they've gone in the last couple albums.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2585154.aspx[/quote]

I couldn't agree less...I've loved the last two albums. This kinda bums me out. The one ray of hope I see is that it looks like he may be leaving the door open to return in the future.[/quote]

I agree as well with conversationpc, The last 2 albums have been more to form, a mix of music. If you look at their albums, the music they perform has been diverse....some melodic, some heavier, some jazzier.

As a band, they've always taken break between recording and touring. But I guess during his break MP is drumming for avenged sevenfold, so I think he'd like another break after that ....which I can understand the guys in the band having a 6 month break and then waiting who knows how long after that for MP. What would you do? The problem i find here, is that

MP and JP do alot of the musical writing if you look at the credits. I'm sure JR,JM, and JL also contribute, but MP and JP do the majority of the writing. Begging the question, will Dream Theater be the same? I mean who could you get to Drum that would be just as brilliant as MP?

I guess I'm holding out hope that the other members of DT see the light between now and January of 2011 and fix things up.

[Hollywood]

I know we've got a few fans on here. Pretty shocking, but might be good for the band to get away from the shitty cheese metal direction they've gone in the last couple albums.

http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2585154.aspx

I couldn't agree less...I've loved the last two albums. This kinda bums me out. The one ray of hope I see is that it looks like he may be leaving the door open to return in the future.

I agree as well with conversationpc, The last 2 albums have been more to form, a mix of music. If you look at their albums, the music they perform has been diverse....some melodic, some heavier, some jazzier.

As a band, they've always taken break between recording and touring. But I guess during his break MP is drumming for avenged sevenfold, so I think he'd like another break after that ....which I can understand the guys in the band having a 6 month break and then waiting who knows how long after that for MP. What would you do? The problem i find here, is that

MP and JP do alot of the musical writing if you look at the credits. I'm sure JR,JM, and JL also contribute, but MP and JP do the majority of the writing. Begging the question, will Dream Theater be the same? I mean who could you get to Drum that would be just as brilliant as MP?

I guess I'm holding out hope that the other members of DT see the light between now and January of 2011 and fix things up.

Just to drum, I can only think of three drummers that could take the place of Mike Portnoy. Any drummer is going to have to have speed and feel. There are a ton of things that Portnoy does that go unnoticed that are extremely difficult. Just because it is not a million miles an hour does not mean it is not difficult.

The three guys I would pick are Todd Sucherman (Styx), Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy), and Virgil Donati (Steve Vai).

From the aspect of songwriting, leadership, stage presence, and the fact that he basically runs the fan club through his record label Ytse Jam. He may not be replaceable.

[conversationpc]

Just to drum, I can only think of three drummers that could take the place of Mike Portnoy. Any drummer is going to have to have speed and feel. There are a ton of things that Portnoy does that go unnoticed that are extremely difficult. Just because it is not a million miles an hour does not mean it is not difficult.

The three guys I would pick are Todd Sucherman (Styx), Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy), and Virgil Donati (Steve Vai).

From the aspect of songwriting, leadership, stage presence, and the fact that he basically runs the fan club through his record label Ytse Jam. He may not be replaceable.

I've heard Mark Zonder mentioned also. I think he might be a good "replacement".

[verslibre]

Anders Johansson (brother of keyboardist Jens, who auditioned for DT after Moore's departure) would be another candidate, IMO.

[Ehwmatt]

Gavin Harrison would be my top choice for replacement.

[Rhiannon]

I vote for Sucherman.

[verslibre]

Gavin Harrison would be my top choice for replacement.

The ex-Pokemon Tree drummer? Why?

[Ehwmatt]

Gavin Harrison would be my top choice for replacement.

The ex-Pokemon Tree drummer? Why?

He's not ex-Porc Tree drummer and because he kicks ass... five times the drummer the Portnoy is. It'd be an exciting musical direction for the band imo. I want to see them return to the earlier sound. BC&SL and SC did not stand the test of time for me, save a song here or there. Didn't care for their new direction with the cheese lyrics and crappy instrumental sections.

[verslibre]

Gavin Harrison would be my top choice for replacement.

The ex-Pokemon Tree drummer? Why?

He's not ex-Porc Tree drummer and because he kicks ass... five times the drummer the Portnoy is. It'd be an exciting musical direction for the band imo. I want to see them return to the earlier sound. BC&SL and SC did not stand the test of time for me, save a song here or there. Didn't care for their new direction with the cheese lyrics and crappy instrumental sections.

Unless they go WAY back to the sound of WDaDU and I&W, I don't care. When I discovered Fates Warning's Parallels, my DT fanboyship diminished rapidly.

Mark Zonder...now there's a guy who could make DT's sound a lot more interesting.

[Ehwmatt]

Gavin Harrison would be my top choice for replacement.

The ex-Pokemon Tree drummer? Why?

He's not ex-Porc Tree drummer and because he kicks ass... five times the drummer the Portnoy is. It'd be an exciting musical direction for the band imo. I want to see them return to the earlier sound. BC&SL and SC did not stand the test of time for me, save a song here or there. Didn't care for their new direction with the cheese lyrics and crappy instrumental sections.

Unless they go WAY back to the sound of WDaDU and I&W, I don't care. When I discovered Fates Warning's Parallels, my DT fanboyship diminished rapidly.

Mark Zonder...now there's a guy who could make DT's sound a lot more interesting.

I think part of me just truthfully outgrew the prog pomp stuff a bit over the last four or five years, as I don't even listen to the older DT stuff that I used to love nearly as much these days. But, I do think if they hearkened back a bit to the old sound that I'd be right back into them. At any rate, they're still a hell of a live act. The metal stuff is so much better live.

[Saint John]

Ending his letter with the word "sadly" tells me there's more to this than he's telling us. This is a bit telling as well "I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects ... " And there's this "I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves'... " Throwing the word "simply" in there implies that he pretty much viewed the decision as an easy one, but the rest of the band didn't. Anyway, he sounds waaaay too self-absorbed to let them go on without them, his letter sucked cocks and my guess is that he'll either be back or start an open feud with the rest of the band.

PS No one gives a fuck that your dad named the band, asshole.

[Ehwmatt]

Ending his letter with the word "sadly" tells me there's more to this than he's telling us. This is a bit telling as well "I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects ... " And there's this "I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves'... " Throwing the word "simply" in there implies that he pretty much viewed the decision as an easy one, but the rest of the band didn't. Anyway, he sounds waaaay too self-absorbed to let them go on without them, his letter sucked cocks and my guess is that he'll either be back or start an open feud with the rest of the band.

PS No one gives a fuck that your dad named the band, asshole.

lol... he always came off as a control freak to me. That's why I'm glad he's out of the band to be honest. Still shocking.

[verslibre]

The band doesn't need another drummer. More like another singer.

[S2M]

The band doesn't need another drummer. More like another singer.

Ever hear Labrie's former band, Winter Rose?

[conversationpc]

Ending his letter with the word "sadly" tells me there's more to this than he's telling us. This is a bit telling as well "I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects ... " And there's this "I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves'... " Throwing the word "simply" in there implies that he pretty much viewed the decision as an easy one, but the rest of the band didn't. Anyway, he sounds waaaay too self-absorbed to let them go on without them, his letter sucked cocks and my guess is that he'll either be back or start an open feud with the rest of the band.

PS No one gives a fuck that your dad named the band, asshole.

lol... he always came off as a control freak to me. That's why I'm glad he's out of the band to be honest. Still shocking.

He probably is...Had a really bad alcohol problem for a long time and he's admitted that he's very prone to addictive behaviors, so I'm sure that he's probably a type A personality to the max.