Dream Theater

• » From "Mike Manginni, the best choice for DT ?" // February 18, 2012 10:31:14 PM UTC

  I am a semi-pro prog-metal drummer (www.beguiled.co.uk) and I have to tell you, never mind the gigs, when I saw the auditions on Roadrunner's site, it was immediately obvious that Mike M was the man for the seat. actually, I was quite shocked and a little disappointed by how poor (all relative, these guys are all at least a 1000% technically further ahead than myself) some of his mate's and co-auditionees were. Marco M was the closest but his image & demeanour didn't gel with the rest of the band. Mike M was zoned in for the spot and has evidently learned almost the entire back-catalogue...truly awesome. Saw the band at Wembley in London 10 days ago and they really kicked arse and there, Mike's skills came shining through more so than on the album. I actually think the drums are slightly too low down in the mix on ADTOE, but of course we're so used to hearing Mike P's drums so prominent in the mix. My personal view is that MM is a superior percussionist and has better musicality or perhaps ego than MP and is more in tune with the rest of the band, although he doesn't hit them quite as hard as MP. For me, that is far out-weighed by the fact that his fills are totally sympathetic to the band, rather than some of the slightly OTT fills MP used to do all over the vocal lines, not to mention that at least we can now hear what JXfM is doing!! When I saw the band on the Octavarium and systematic Chaos tours I reckon they could've doe the gigs w/o him and no one would've known much different. JXfM, James and Jordan are now flourishing. I loved MP, I love his demeanour and I love Adrenaline Mob but for every back cloud there really is a silver lining; this was the best outcome for all concerned. I look forward to many more DT albums and tours with the Magician and to hearing him just a tad higher in the mix onn the next album God, I wish I was in his seat, although Beguiled's 'Soldiers Tale' is the next best thing! Thanks guys, you really rock!

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