Ok I’m a fan of Mike Portnoy

[Bo Eder]

Since seeing Sons of Apollo a couple of days ago, the level of live musicianship on stage was pretty incredible. So I also downloaded their debut album from iTunes and have spent the day listening. It’s really progressive with a lot of odd-times and a horrendous amount of notes flying by. Listening to the album is a lot like what I heard live: it was super clean, uncluttered, and scary. Thinking of how these guys pull that off on stage must’ve taken ALOT of work. Unison Ensemble figures between the three instrumentalists and then Portnoy doubling that on drums and it not turning it into sonic mush takes musical steroids. I was impressed.

It is not, however, a “date” concert. Do NOT take your new girlfriend to this show unless you already know she loves this kind of stuff. Like the G3 shows of yesteryear, there aren’t a lot of females in the audience

I never listened to Dream Theater, so I was never a Portnoy fan, but he gets a pass in my book for this work. His playing wasn’t like those blast beat drummer just blurring away while the band plays on top. His playing is part of the musical phrases, which means his bass drums aren’t machine-gunning, but they’re doubling what the ensemble is playing. It was very cool.

I’d say check them out if you get a chance. They’re supposed to have started a tour by now on the east coast I think.

 

[Swiss Matthias]

And importantly, he has tons of great energy and stage presence, right?
I like the Sons Of Apollo album too, even though my Dream Theater fan
days are long gone. I think the album (SOA) is very musical, too, which
in my book is always a compliment when it comes to prog music, because
quite some bands get very lost in the technical side of the music and forget
the fact that a good song is the most important thing in the end, no matter
how few or how many notes there are in it.

 

[Tamaefx]

Being a Portnoy fan (though I don't like that word), I followed him since the beginning. I especially like his work with Transatlantic and flying colours (more easy listening kind of prog). Of course he can seem to show off, but it's always in the music. Mangini, may play the same notes, he doesn't sound the same, Portnoy is fluid and musical even when he plays blast beats, he sounds human. Most blasters don't. Difficult to explain though.
What impresses me also is his resistance. He can play two and half without fatigue, without partition. his amount of concentration must be out of reach.

Ps I don't know sons of Apollo, gonna check them out on iTunes too ;-)

 

[mikyok]

He gets the thumbs up for Images and Words and Scenes From A Memory. Drum parts are very well written as is the rest of the music. The Neal Morse stuff is more old school prog which I love.

He did a vid in the 90s which was like an idiots guide to counting odd time. I still have it somewhere and it was a great learning tool. It also had basic double bass drum fills which you can put onto a single pedal fairly easily.

Towards the end of his DT stint he got a bit annoying trying to sing all the time and they'd descended into playing everything as loud and fast as they could just for the sake of it.

 

[Drumolator]

I have been a fan of Mike Portnoy for many years. Prog is one of the many genres of music I love. I really like all of Neal Morse's music and Transatlantic. I have many discs (CD's and DVD's) of that stuff. What amazes me is how they can remember all of that music and the arrangements. Peace and goodwill.

 

[rebonn]

I liked him before and even more since leaving Dream Theater because I realized how musical he is compared to the current drummer who to me seems to try to make the next measure more difficult than the previous and seems the goal is to see how intricate and difficult each measure can be and string them all together. Portnoy has that musical flow I like. Of course the other members have input on things as well so I'm not dissin on Mangini, just the direction of things made me realize how much I like Portnoy.

 

[Mendozart]

I liked him before and even more since leaving Dream Theater because I realized how musical he is compared to the current drummer who to me seems to try to make the next measure more difficult than the previous and seems the goal is to see how intricate and difficult each measure can be and string them all together. Portnoy has that musical flow I like. Of course the other members have input on things as well so I'm not dissin on Mangini, just the direction of things made me realize how much I like Portnoy.

To me, "Octavarium" was DT's last good album, I like Mangini, but they've lost that feel since Portnoy left.

 

[Bo Eder]

He gets the thumbs up for Images and Words and Scenes From A Memory. Drum parts are very well written as is the rest of the music. The Neal Morse stuff is more old school prog which I love.

He did a vid in the 90s which was like an idiots guide to counting odd time. I still have it somewhere and it was a great learning tool. It also had basic double bass drum fills which you can put onto a single pedal fairly easily.

Towards the end of his DT stint he got a bit annoying trying to sing all the time and they'd descended into playing everything as loud and fast as they could just for the sake of it.

He sings ALOT in SOA. There's a couple of tunes where it's like a duet with the lead singer. Being part singer, I liked it. I certainly don't sing songs in odd times so it's impressive. But it's nice to see a band that can sing these intricate parts as a group, and then they turn around and become another Long Hair rock band. It's like how they described Zeppelin as having enough for the modern man, yet spoke to the cave man too. I think that's rare.

 

[Bo Eder]

I have been a fan of Mike Portnoy for many years. Prog is one of the many genres of music I love. I really like all of Neal Morse's music and Transatlantic. I have many discs (CD's and DVD's) of that stuff. What amazes me is how they can remember all of that music and the arrangements. Peace and goodwill.

I suppose you'd never hire these guys to play "Mustang Sally"?

 

[mikyok]

He sings ALOT in SOA. There's a couple of tunes where it's like a duet with the lead singer. Being part singer, I liked it. I certainly don't sing songs in odd times so it's impressive. But it's nice to see a band that can sing these intricate parts as a group, and then they turn around and become another Long Hair rock band. It's like how they described Zeppelin as having enough for the modern man, yet spoke to the cave man too. I think that's rare.

I really need to check them out before I see them. My mates got us tickets so I'm kind of going in blind.

I'm a singing drummer too, I love seeing a band that can sing well, Eagles and Toto are up there with the best I've seen live, for odd times and general amazing playing and singing, Zappa plays Zappa is the best I've seen (Wish I was old enough to have seen his old man!).

I'd love to be in a band that gets paid to play outside the confines of 4/4, 3/4, 6/8

 

[Drumolator]

I suppose you'd never hire these guys to play "Mustang Sally"?

Certainly not! (LOL) If I could hire them, I would ask them to play fusion. Peace and goodwill.

 

[Bo Eder]

I really need to check them out before I see them. My mates got us tickets so I'm kind of going in blind.

I'm a singing drummer too, I love seeing a band that can sing well, Eagles and Toto are up there with the best I've seen live, for odd times and general amazing playing and singing, Zappa plays Zappa is the best I've seen (Wish I was old enough to have seen his old man!).

I'd love to be in a band that gets paid to play outside the confines of 4/4, 3/4, 6/8

As Bill Bruford once said, "I want to be able to play in 17/16, but I don't want to do that in my closet!"

I'm just happy to be able to get out and play. Anything. Bless those guys who can push the musical envelope and make a living.

 

[J-Boogie]

I really need to check them out before I see them. My mates got us tickets so I'm kind of going in blind.

I'm a singing drummer too, I love seeing a band that can sing well, Eagles and Toto are up there with the best I've seen live, for odd times and general amazing playing and singing, Zappa plays Zappa is the best I've seen (Wish I was old enough to have seen his old man!).

I'd love to be in a band that gets paid to play outside the confines of 4/4, 3/4, 6/8

Z plays Z is freakin' wonderful!! Joe Travers is an unbelievable player. I read that Bozzio said he's his favorite Zappa drummer, the Steve Gadd of Zappa drummers I believe he said....he aint lying!

I saw Living Colour, Billy Idol, and Girl Talk this weekend, also jammed non stop, then came back and totally jacked this thread, apologies for that.

Is it ok that Bo's a MP fan?? Undecided here, may need to listen this Apollo or what have you.

 

[mikyok]

As Bill Bruford once said, "I want to be able to play in 17/16, but I don't want to do that in my closet!"

I'm just happy to be able to get out and play. Anything. Bless those guys who can push the musical envelope and make a living.

Same here man! Hats off to those lucky few .

Brufords late 70s stuff was on another level. The UK project and Bruford album are pretty tasty.

You can tell Portnoy is a fan!

 

[Mastiff]

I wish I liked Sons of Apollo. I really tried. I'm afraid to say it, but the songs I heard all sounded "derivative". Like I couldn't put my finger on it, but they often sounded like songs I'd heard before. Maybe a bit heavy for my personal taste too.

The one I like is Liquid Tension Experiment. One problem with Dream Theater for me was the vocals (a common problem with prog for me), so it's nice that LTE is all instrumentals. A similar-ish thing is Gordian Knot, great instrumental prog. Bruford plays some on their second album.

 

[Bo Eder]

I wish I liked Sons of Apollo. I really tried. I'm afraid to say it, but the songs I heard all sounded "derivative". Like I couldn't put my finger on it, but they often sounded like songs I'd heard before. Maybe a bit heavy for my personal taste too.

The one I like is Liquid Tension Experiment. One problem with Dream Theater for me was the vocals (a common problem with prog for me), so it's nice that LTE is all instrumentals. A similar-ish thing is Gordian Knot, great instrumental prog. Bruford plays some on their second album.

The way I see it, if SOA sounds a little like something you’ve heard before, that’s ok. Otherwise, there would be NO females in the audience

 

[oldskoolsoul]

..The way I see it, if SOA sounds a little like something you’ve heard before, that’s ok. Otherwise, there would be NO females in the audience ..

Lol..

Is anyway a challenge to find something that sounds like something thats never been heard before..At least for me that is, but the search will always go on..

 

[Mastiff]

Lol..

Is anyway a challenge to find something that sounds like something thats never been heard before..At least for me that is, but the search will always go on..

If I remember tonight, I'll listen again and see if I can report back here just for the fun of it. It wasn't like "not super original", it was like "that sounds just like Welcome to the Jungle (or something)"...

 

[DrumEatDrum]

I liked him before and even more since leaving Dream Theater because I realized how musical he is compared to the current drummer who to me seems to try to make the next measure more difficult than the previous and seems the goal is to see how intricate and difficult each measure can be and string them all together. Portnoy has that musical flow I like. Of course the other members have input on things as well so I'm not dissin on Mangini, just the direction of things made me realize how much I like Portnoy.

IMHO, DT started doing that long before Portnoy left.

I recall, thinking when Portnoy left, maybe the band was would return to actual songwriting, but they didn't.

I agree with Mendozart, the last good DT album was Octavarium, and even then, it has some terrible songs on it.

Though I have seen DT with Mangini, and in terms of technical ability, Mangini is a much better drummer than Portnoy ever was. But musically, I can't listen to them anymore. I can barely stomach the early stuff that I used to love.

I agree with Bo, I've always been impressed with Portnoy's ability to fly through different time signatures and make it sound cohesive. How he throws in all those fills and doesn't get lost is impressive. But his technique is questionable, he tends to overplay, and at times, he can be really sloppy.

 

[Bo Eder]

I agree with Bo, I've always been impressed with Portnoy's ability to fly through different time signatures and make it sound cohesive. How he throws in all those fills and doesn't get lost is impressive. But his technique is questionable, he tends to overplay, and at times, he can be really sloppy.

Maybe that’s why I like him - we’re identical! Just take out the “different time
Signatures” part, and take out the “doesn’t get lost” part. We’d be identical twins