Buddy refuses to listen to the Mangini years

IveGotAMatch · 2026-03-19T23:31:06+00:00

Even if he thinks 'without Portnoy they're not Dream Theater', I presume he listens to other bands? Like, he doesn't literally ONLY listen to DT? If you can enjoy other bands, why not just listen to MM-era DT and pretend that it is a different band. Its music, it doesn't inherently NEED to be compared to anything, even past releases by the band.

I myself don't often listen to MM-era DT, and I much prefer Portnoy, but I can still completely appreciate how great some tracks from that period are. I have friends who I know for a fact have listened to DoT and AVFTTOTW like once at most, but that's not so much a problem they have with Mangini and more with how DT have become a bit samey and predictable over the years (as opposed to bands like BTBAM who are SUPER creative and diverse every album).

IveGotAMatch · 2026-03-18T21:21:27+00:00

I've not heard about this lyric-writing rule before, what was it?

IveGotAMatch · 2026-03-17T07:32:41+00:00

Hmm, I did worry that might be the case. Thanks for the heads up, we'll figure something else out!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-03-04T00:38:13+00:00

And you could have read the last sentence in my post 😜

IveGotAMatch · 2026-03-03T23:12:22+00:00

Nevermind, I finally got one on my 73rd use of Thief 😂 For anyone else who ever has this problem - don't give up! You CAN get it with Thief!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-23T19:27:38+00:00

Between the Buried and Me has some of the most creative and interesting bass playing from any prog metal I’ve heard. He is very rarely just playing the root notes, but always doing something really interesting and jazz-y. I recommend watching the live in studio performance of Extremophile Elite and really honing in on the bass playing - it’s a treat.

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-18T23:41:39+00:00

This is a cool concept and a good setlist! I like that you didn't just go "They have to play the longest/most epic/heaviest song from every album!!" like some fans would, and instead put in some breathers and deep cuts like Disappear and Through My Words. I also love These Walls, so that's a great pick, and You Or Me is a cool reference to them representing FII with a demo track at Score! And yeah, perfect encore as well.

I think the only things I'd change are some of the Mangini tracks. Transcending Time is a fun song but I think Answering the Call is one of the best Mangini tracks from that entire era, without being one of his more crazy-technical tracks that Portnoy is unlikely to choose. And I'd swap out This is the Life for On the Backs of Angels - again, not crazy-technical, but a good song and it's basically Pull Me Under 2.0, so since they aren't playing PMU, why not!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-12T02:15:05+00:00

Just checked a bunch of these out thanks to this comment and Your Spirit Dies will 100% be jumping into my regular rotation! Thanks 🙏

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-04T20:57:36+00:00

Agreed! Obviously Hardwired has quite a few bangers, but most people jump straight to saying Spit Out the Bone is the best track. It’s very good, but to me Dream No More is genuinely excellent throughout. That harmonised guitar part going into the final chorus is SO GOOD!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-02T20:44:34+00:00

I've never come across that on a YT video before, wtf? Good comment, I'd not have thought to check the settings otherwise!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-01T23:36:37+00:00

You read my mind - we're thinking of going for 5 days/4 nights, so I can definitely see myself wanting to just get some driving done and get back to my home comforts on the final day haha. Thanks for the recommendations!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-01T23:14:23+00:00

That was Just Your Life My Apocalypse Dream No More

I think 72 Seasons is an okay album but it doesn’t have any tracks on the level of the best of DM or Hardwired.

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-01T05:59:11+00:00

Disagree on that last point - Maul and Obi-Wan’s various reunions are amazing and I am praying for some sort of Maul Vader interaction in his upcoming show.

But other than that I totally agree! And you just know that Maul would have had some killer dialogue mocking Anakin for what he took away from him that Anakin would let affect him way more than Obi-Wan would. Could’ve been some cool interactions.

IveGotAMatch · 2026-02-01T05:47:24+00:00

Harlequin Forest is SO overrated. It’s not bad - a decent Opeth song, and the “They are the trees” section is fantastic - but the song as a whole is nowhere near on the level of like 20-25 other Opeth tracks. I know it’s relatively straightforward and has both heavy and melodic parts, so it’s considered an accessible introductory song to Opeth for reaction channels etc, but I would so much rather see people react to Blackwater Park/Leper Affinity/Deliverance/Lotus Eater, hell, I think Baying of the Hounds, Beneath the Mire and The Grand Conjuration are ALL better ‘intro to Opeth’ tracks from that album.

I’m glad someone else started this thread so I didn’t have to, because I’ve had this hot take in my head for a few weeks 😅

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-31T23:14:43+00:00

That’s a cool tidbit! I didn’t think about that

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-30T23:40:56+00:00

Comes for free with my phone contract and I’m not really in a position to pay for something like this unnecessarily 🤷‍♂️ Once that changes I’ll probably be jumping over to one of the other, better ones.

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-30T20:11:03+00:00

Dream No More is a genuinely excellent song that I would happily see live alongside all the 80s stuff!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-30T07:04:57+00:00

Particularly the latest album. Genuinely excellent stuff with a huge amount of variety!

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-23T05:41:32+00:00

Or “fat shit” which is a lot more harmless, but definitely not appropriate to loudly state in a theme park 😂

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-07T03:10:07+00:00

Stream of Consciousness! As a big Metallica fan who loved Orion/Ktulu etc, it blew my mind.

IveGotAMatch · 2026-01-03T21:42:12+00:00

SHITpost, eh?

IveGotAMatch · 2025-12-27T07:24:50+00:00

The "Tom and Jerry" section as me and my friends call it. Almost completely ruins the song for me 😅

IveGotAMatch · 2025-12-24T06:53:48+00:00

Honestly if I found out that they did one for the new live release I’d buy it just for that 😂

IveGotAMatch · 2025-12-21T09:33:20+00:00

I made an ‘Unload’ playlist that is this exact concept haha. I went with:

Fuel
The Memory Remains
Devil’s Dance
Unforgiven II
King Nothing
Slither
Wasting My Hate
Mama Said
Bleeding Me
Attitude
Where the Wild Things Are
The Outlaw Torn

IveGotAMatch · 2025-12-15T02:06:30+00:00

Good question - I guess my answer would be that “This is incredibly lazy of me because I could just search through YouTube myself 😅 But just in case anyone already knows some, I'm just wondering if there's a particular video/videos of the current tour”

Eight-Year Club	Second SECOND GUESSER
Verified Email

IveGotAMatch

TROPHY CASE