Has anyone heard "A Dramatic Turn of Events" in its entirety yet? I've only heard one leaked song and a part of another leaked song. I'm pretty disappointed with what I heard, even though it's just one song. Not just because Dream Theater has taken a different direction, they often do that, and I'm almost always at least satisfied with the results. It seems to be lacking the musicianship that Dream Theater is known for. Even if a song is lyrically contrived or cheesy or even poorly written, there's a good solo or two to make up for it.

This is the first Dream Theater album to be written without Mike Portnoy. I had mixed feelings about Portnoy leaving the band. He left the band to tour with some guys half his age, but he filled in for a drummer who died and saw Portnoy as an idol.. He wasn't entirely clear if he'd return to Dream Theater, which to me, was sort of a slap in the face of the guys in the band. He also made it sound as though he was the driving force behind Dream Theater. I was thinking that he was a great drummer and probably was a large part of the song writing process, but cmon, did he write those exploding solos or the lyrics and structure to every song?

Maybe Mike had more of an influence in the writing process than previously thought or they're just adjusting without Mike. Could also just be this one song or a personal feeling on this new direction. There's some ratings on Prog Archives and they're pretty high.

Your opinions on the new album and Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy?

I haven't heard any of the new album, but here are my thoughts on the new era of DT.
Petrucci, Rudess and Myung wrote all of ADTOE, which can only be a good sign, being three of the four prime movers in the songwriting process. The new 'heavy' direction they seem to be taking is a little meh, but it's still essentially DT. I'll miss Portnoy's lyrics, and Zappa/prog influence he brought to the band, however the three other guys are so talented that they will be able to choose a direction with full control.

As for Mangina? He seems promising, and I'm sure that we will see his style in the album.
What do I hope for the album? Technicality, musicianship, PROG INFLUENCE, long instrumentals and Rudess masturbation. Hey, it's Dream Theater. I'll buy the album nevertheless.

I like the new song. Don't care whether band members re-shuffling affects the quality of the music, the proof of that will be in hearing the whole album.

I loved the new song. I was impressed that a song called "On the Back of Angels" was actually good. I'd lost touch with my love of Dream Theater lately, but I gotta say, I'm re- stoked for the new album. I would like to say that I think Marco would've been a great choice of drummer. He's technically amazing and the guy's got so much heart and love for music!

Just heard their new song and I'm very happy. And the cover art! The art and the song remind me of earlier DT, and I'm impressed with the amount of prog they put into the song. A lot of it echoes of Liquid Tension Experiment.

Woo!

Just heard their new song and I'm very happy. And the cover art! The art and the song remind me of earlier DT, and I'm impressed with the amount of prog they put into the song. A lot of it echoes of Liquid Tension Experiment.

Woo!

Wow you're right, sounds pretty excellent start to end. It's even kinda groovy.

Here's a link to the new Dream Theater song (official): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oasnbzEMV08

After hearing the song I'm very excited about the new album. If -THIS- is the Rite of Passage or Constant Motion type of "poppy" first single, the rest of the album must have some nice little cards up it's sleeves. The song has a SFAMish or 6DOITish sound to me and that's not a bad thing!

Here's a link to the new Dream Theater song (official): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oasnbzEMV08

After hearing the song I'm very excited about the new album. If -THIS- is the Rite of Passage or Constant Motion type of "poppy" first single, the rest of the album must have some nice little cards up it's sleeves. The song has a SFAMish or 6DOITish sound to me and that's not a bad thing!

I agree with you on every point - if this is the hook of the album, which they've released as 'representative' of the album as a whole, then I'm very excited to hear the rest. And I too get a 'Scenes From A Memory' vibe, very encouraging considering I really didn't like Systematic Chaos or Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

Link to Breaking all Illusions: (apparently a fake)

I agree with the 6DOIT sound. Doesn't sound anything like SFOAM or Awake to me like some people are saying. It's going to take some listens before I decide if I like this or not. I'm still looking forward to hearing the entire album.

I wonder if the cover is a reference to the original Live Scenes from New York cover that was pulled because the album was originally intended for release on Sept. 11 and depicted the twin towers in flames?

^ apparently that's just a song from an old LaBrie solo album

Thanks Ben. I have higher hopes for the album since the real single isn't bad and it's only one song off the album.

^ apparently that's just a song from an old LaBrie solo album

Hah, so it is.

Still good though.

All right, I have to say my piece. I had lost touch with Dream Theater anyway but I really like it when a band is in touch with fans, is open etc... Mike Portnoy pretty much ran DT completely- cited as band leader- on a management scale, not entirely musically, but that being said he is a technical musician and I'm sure he played a very big role in that aspect too. To me it felt like he had the personality, he seemed like the frontman of the band which is pretty hard to do as a drummer. La Brie kinda annoys me. The others, apart from Myung cuz he's just awesome, the others are just... Seem like average people, no spark, musicality aside, and I know that a band should be all into the music and the personality shouldn't matter, but it totally comes through. I think it is majorly affected. With Portnoy he just seems to leak passion out of his pores.

He filled in for Avenged Sevenfold's Rev, which seems like a really nice gesture to me- it didn't interfere with DT. I've been through the interviews and I've been following DT for awhile and I was always aware and really marvelled at his dedication to the band, that he ran the management, all of the fan related things- a couple friends of mine met him and were so surprised at how easy he was to talk to, little bit like our Dev here, and I feel like that's what makes 'em special, being down to earth off stage but letting it all our on stage. And he has like the largest collection of Dream T memorabilia heh! I'm not totally sure where his lyrical input was, I know what were his songs for sure and I feel they are the strongest. Some Petrucci lyrics are just cringey, and that alone kinda puts me off following DT now. I mean really the Count of Tuscany. Really. Petrucci *facepalm*

That being said I watched the vids for the hunt for a new drummer and Mangini seems really nice, seems like he has that same gusto. But he wasn't a founder, and hasn't been with the band and done as much for the band as Portnoy - his father even gave the band it's name. However the rest of DT must feel, I can't imagine what Portnoy must have felt. It just seems like after putting 200% into the band non stop for however many years he wanted to go on hiatus, have a break. Seems unfair that the band just kicked him out because it does seem like yeah they were musicians but he was so much more than just the drummer for the band. I have reservations about their future work but I am happy to see Portnoy is moving on and pretty excited to hear Adrenaline Mob, the new band he is in.

Holy crap so many new people D:

What grabs me is the similarity the new song has to early (good) DT. Really floaty kind of sound, at times it reminds me of A Change Of Seasons (by far my favourite). Portnoy was a champion, he put up with so much shit to keep the band going. After a four year tour-record-tour-record cycle, I don't blame the guy for leaving. His lyrics were the most heartfelt, his musical influences were so diverse, and the overall vibe and humour he added to Dream Theater is unparalleled.
It was sad to see a surge of Portnoy hate after his departure.

That said, the future looks great for DT.