Album Rating: 3.0

'don't end' appears twice in the 4th line of the last paragraph. Let this serve as a proof that I actually read the review. Haha. I may check it out. I tend to enjoy this kind of music from time to time.

Album Rating: 4.0

Dream Theater are putting the final touches on their highly anticipated new album A Dramatic Turn Of Events due out this

September. Guitarist John Petrucci sat down with Ultimate Classic Rock and talked about his influences and how he pushed

newcomer Mike Mangini to the limit. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-petrucci-dream-theater-interview-2011/







I programmed all the drums with a program, which was a lot of fun. I came up with some wicked stuff. When we finished, I sent

it, asking “Is this something that you can actually play? I don’t know, I’m not a drummer, is this a physically possible thing?”

But then he came in a couple of months later, and here he was, a human being doing this stuff. I was blown away. It’s fun

doing that kind of thing because you can just come up with stuff that’s beyond your wildest imagination, drum-wise, and then

make it happen in real life.





Well that clears that up! People need to realise this before saying that the drums are bland. Need to wait for the next album for

him to truly shine.

Or to put it better: it's not Mangini's fault the drums are bland, it's Petrucci's fault.

Album Rating: 4.0

Exactly my point, The next album will have amazing drum work.

"A dramatic turn of events" I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE! Dream Theater you so smart!

I find it laughable that someone reviewing an album fails to conduct even the most basic of research on the production of it prior to completing the review.

The reviewer claims that Mike Mangini is "bland" and does nothing exciting -- but fails to mention that all of the drums were written by John Petrucci on a drum machine prior to Mike Mangini even joining the band.

Pathetic.

Good review. I'm looking forward to giving this a listen- BC&SL did do it for me in certain places for sure, but Mike Portnoy's contributions would kind of ruin it for me (his god-awful chanting shit). His drumming was very interesting though.

good review Trey

I wanna listen to this soon, but I think i won't make it to the end

the only think that kinda encourages me is the Awake- Images feeling you mentioned in the review

Yea the drums on this album are surprisingly underwhelming, but in all fairness it's hard to jump right into recording an album with a band you just met. Once Mangini settles in and gets more comfortable I'm sure you'll see a less "safe" performance by him on future albums.

Though this isn't the metal-oriented album of awesomesauce that BC&SL was, I'm still really enjoying the first half I've heard so far.

Album Rating: 4.0

Drummers are also noticing the tiny subtleties Mangini uses throughout that are equally as complex as Portnoy, while non-drummers aren't. Sometimes he accents three different lines at once; I can't give too many examples because I haven't heard too much of the album (35 minutes or so), but I will be reviewing this.

Saying "give him time to get used to the band" or "you need to wait for the next album for him to truly shine" is kind of a dumb thing to say. If you release music, it needs to be good. And if an aspect of it is lacking right now, you need to be prepared to face criticism, constructive or not.

Mangini didn't write the drum parts, or any of the music, for that matter. Despite how well written it
is, a huge segment of the review is invalidated because of this (the criticisms of Mangini's
drumming). Sorry, but I can't pos it.

Well even if he didn't write the drum parts, it doesn't change the fact that they are bland and too quiet in the mix

That's fine, but saying that his drumming is bland compared to portnoys is unfair, because portnoy actually wrote his drum parts. Mangini hasn't. We won't know how well he can actually play in this band until he has writing duties.

I think that he should have written his own parts, or at least improved on Petrucci's beats.... I don't get why he would just rigidly stick to the drum machine parts. I mean, using those as a "base" is fine, but considering this album was so hyped (especially around his performance) you would think he'd be more eager to show off his stuff a little more.

Album Rating: 2.5

i never was i big fan of DT so i don't know when i will listen to this. Definetly i will dedicate some time at some point but i don't think i will find it interersting.



None of their forthcoming albums will ever surpass SFAM and IAW.

Album Rating: 3.5

that don’t end don’t end up utilizing the kind of song-killing



Found a booboo. Great review though.

Album Rating: 2.5

Mangini didn't write the drum parts, or any of the music, for that matter. Despite how well written it

is, a huge segment of the review is invalidated because of this (the criticisms of Mangini's

drumming). Sorry, but I can't pos it.





Would love to see you try and pos or neg this.

Would love to see you try and pos or neg this.

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

The ballads were among my favorites. Beneath the Surface is gorgeous.