Written by:	Dane Train
Published:	October 16, 2010

I love Dream Theater and they have been my favorite band for over a decade. I have every studio album they ever released; every live album, EP, single and re-mastered/remixed track, the Fan Club releases, rare live recordings, cover song/album, demos and bootleg fill my shelves. My iTunes clocks Dream Theater's music in at 4.8 days. I own all releases from past and present members which equates to a solid week of music. I own a dozen Dream Theater t-shirts, hoodie, hats, wrist bands, posters, signed posters from OSI and Element of Persuasion, and a large collection of official and bootlegged concerts on DVD. I have with a big ol' Majesty symbol tattooed on my left arm to follow all of that up. I have driven over 700 miles to see them in concert. The point is that I have an obsession with Dream Theater!

The Kübler-Ross model describes five stages of processing grief of tragedy. The news came that Portnoy left Dream Theater last week. I experienced all five stages:

The obvious aspect of denial:

"Nah, this is some sort of joke or stunt?right? There is no way Portnoy would leave his band"

It was finally confirmed and I was just pissed off. How could he do this? What about all of the fans? What were the rest of the guys going to do? It won't be Dream Theater anymore! This was followed by:

Bargaining with him and the band:

"Please just finish one last album."
"One more world tour and I can rest easily!"


I sadly couldn't ask him. The depression stage set in and stayed for a while. The next few nights were filled with drunken sing-a-longs of "Another Day," "Space-Dye Vest" and "I Walk Beside You". I stayed barricaded in my cabin like some crazed, disgruntled, ex-Sociology professor.

I finally got that out of my system and it was time to move on. It was time for me to man up and accept the fact that Portnoy is not returning. It was time to me to wrap my head around this news. It was time for me come to terms and look to the future. I contemplated it for a long duration of time thanks to a 12 hour drive from North Carolina to New York. I am actually very optimistic about the whole situation. I am aware that the past decade has not produced the same amazing caliber of music that the 90's did even though I am an avid follower. Maybe this was the change that they needed.

You cannot deny that Mike Portnoy is one of the greatest drummers ever. Their musical talent is undeniable; even those who hate Dream Theater cannot escape this. Portnoy ran so much of the DT show. I have always wondered if that hampered their writing ability. The vast majority of my favorite songs were not written by Portnoy but by LaBrie, Moore and Myung now that I look at their back catalog. This is a good time for other members to start being more vocal on the public face of the band as well as the song writing.
What about the music itself? Where is it heading? There are a few options that come to mind right now. The concept of making the same exact type of music they have been making is the most logical thing which is my least favorite concept. The group always tends to change their sound when someone important leaves the band. One can only imagine that the sound will change if Portnoy leaves. A Portnoy carbon-copy is the last thing we need. Dream Theater needs someone who can keep up with him and add something fresh and new into the mix.

One of the most cliché comments made from Metal bands prior to their newest material coming out is "This is our heaviest release ever!" or something to that effect and that is a very likely option from Dream Theater. Let's face it, DT has never been known for being the heaviest band out there or anything typically associated with Metal stereotypes (which I think was one of my biggest draws to them). But after hearing the new James LaBrie album, Static Impulse, it is something that could work. Sonically a more brutal Dream Theater album could be really interesting, looking back at how dark and pissed off Awake was, something along those lines today might work. Realistically, that is just not who they are and it probably would just come off as a tad lame.

As opposed to getting heavier, there is the very real chance of going softer. Too often we think that when a band, especially within Metal, releases a softer album they get labeled as "sell outs" and become the target of ridicule for the community. While very often this does happen (Metallica's self titled, anyone?) there is a difference between releasing an album that is gentler than your previous works without making it more accessible to the mass markets. Remember that Dream Theater is not just a Metal band but a Progressive band too and in the mid to late 1990's showed that they had a really relaxed side to them that wasn't just ballads. Diehard fans know that 1997's Falling into Infinity was supposed to be a double length album, but the record company wouldn't allow a two CD release so about half the material was cut. The songs were great, and most of them were better than the majority of tracks that actually made it onto the album. That same time was there were a series of acoustic concerts and cover shows which revealed a very different side to the band than what was normally viewed within the Metal community. I am by no means saying they need to do a Damnation-like record, but maybe something a little more laid back and proggy like Marillion or Pendragon.

At the end of the day I need to take a step back and remind myself that this is not my band. I don't play or sing for them. Albeit I have met them before, none of them would remember me. My voice in the end doesn't mean anything to them. They'll continue to write the music they want to write and play the songs they want to play. While I felt like I lost something huge when Mike left it is nothing compared to what the other four (especially the Johns) are missing.

I am a fan. That is all I ever will be. Their music has deeply reached me in a way no other band has. Whenever I put on Images and Words there is something magical going on. Every time I see them in concert I am in awe. There really is no vocabulary to express how important this music is to me. Whatever the future holds for the band I know I can always look back and smile and think about my high school days driving around with friends and blasting Scenes From a Memory as loud as our little car speakers would let us. No matter what the future holds, Dream Theater's music is part of my life and I am thankful for that.





Special thanks to Kap'N Korrupt for giving me the title and edditing this.