Dream Theater

It's pointless to review his drumming for this album. The song writing process took place completely without him which is HUGE. He was probably on a tight schedule when recording the drum tracks as well. I'm sure that he'll do some crazy stuff on the live shows. And I have absolutely no doubt the next album when he's actually involved with the writing process the drums will be a whole different animal. His drumming on this album sounded absolutely fantastic none the less, but it didn't have the Portnoy style fills and what not. Judging Mangini on this album is comical at best. Bottom line, he performed great on the recording, he'll perform even better live, and the next album we'll get to finally hear his creative input.

On the flip side we didn't judge Portnoy on his recording of Nightmare with A7X because he didn't write those drum tracks either. (I think he got a little creative freedom with the last song "Save Me" but that was it.

I like the drumming on this album a lot, not too flashy. I think that is exactly what MM had in mind.

But I like others think the mix and drum sounds are not done very well.

In spots where you would expect to get an earful of drum fill, there is some faint toms being heard. Maybe I'm getting old and deaf but the tones seem muddled to me. Tighten those heads and make some noise!

I really can't wait to hear the next album ;). Where MM is involved from the get go and his place / role in the band will be much more defined than when he did this recording.

DT still rules.

The drums are so low key on this album. They might as well used a drum track. The mixing of the drums is terrible. A huge part/basis of any successful prog rock band ins the drums. All of the songs are missing a certain vitality that was prevalent on all other DT albums. I certainly don't think it's the quality/talent of musicians...the drums are just not driving the music like they did before. It certainly sounds like the drums were added as an afterthought to the album. The bass drums have no bottom end sound - they sound very VERY flat. Again, I think it's the mixing. Hope the next effort is better.

Mike Mangini approached the drumming on this album like a musician should. He knew his role at every given point. He tastefully fullfilled his primary role as drummer by having impeccable timing and supporting the melodic voices, taking his own moments only when musically appropriate. Notes for notes sake doesn't equal good drumming. As a drummer/percussionist myself, I loved it.

Here's the problem: After seeing them live on this tour, they DEFINITELY need to look at the drum mix. After watching mangini, there are so many accents that can't even be heard on the album that he performs live. on the album, the bass drum is just awfully flat, the snare has no tone, the cymbals are not mixed well enough to have the impact to accent the parts they are trying to represent. Live, it was a whole different story and he is as great of a drummer as we all knew he'd be. I hope they will fix this for the next album.

I love the very end of Bridges in the Sky. The drums on the last part are just awesome! I agree that the mix on the album seems a bit low.

I agree with Sephiros,MM wasnt there in the songwriting process so I cant really comment much on the quality or best drum parts on the album as to me they just sound like straight ahead drumming and nothing really fancy Like MP used to do.
I look forward to the next album so MM can have full input into what he plays and I bet it will be something really special.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc99b5JWIrc&feature=related

Listen from 2:12 to 2:27

The polyrythyms going on there are incredible. Absolutely insane to play (IMHO)

=Keysman said:I agree with Sephiros,MM wasnt there in the songwriting process so I cant really comment much on the quality or best drum parts on the album as to me they just sound like straight ahead drumming and nothing really fancy Like MP used to do.
I look forward to the next album so MM can have full input into what he plays and I bet it will be something really special.

Just my 2 cents. This is the first DT album in a long time where the drumming hasn't been over the top. It's one thing to play the drums on a song. It's quite another to beat the crap out of the drums for every song. After a while that just gets old.