The return of Mike Portnoy, co-founder, drummer, songwriter, producer and all-around creative dynamo of Dream Theater, the world's biggest and arguably best progressive-metal band, has been a long time coming - 14 years, to be precise. Guitarist John Petrucci, a fellow original member, previews the Grammy-winning US/Canadian group's 40th-anniversary tour, which includes a date at London's O2 Arena, and looks further ahead to a brand-new studio album.
In a parallel life where you work as a bookmaker, what odds would you have given on Mike Portnoy returning to Dream Theater in their 40th-anniversary year?
Ha ha. That's a great question. Not too long ago I would have given very long odds on that. But life is funny that way. Time passes, things change and events unfold. Mike played on my solo record and he toured with me, and I could sense the fans suspecting something might happen. But I must stress that we really were not in that head-space yet. It just happened so quickly and felt right.
For long-term fans invested in the band's history, it was great to see Mike and singer James LaBrie finally bury the hatchet.
Absolutely, and for me too. There are no reasons why brothers should not be able to resolve any trauma that they've been through. At that point [when they reconnected] Mike's coming back still was not being discussed, and in the ethos of the universe it felt really, really positive to no longer have that sort of negativity in our lives any more.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Joan Armatrading
The singer-songwriter on her new album, inspirations, being a 'band', what her key was about, meeting Nelson Mandela...
Meat Loaf: I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)
It was the power ballad to end all power ballads, and 30 years later people still ponder what the it’ is that the singer wouldn't do.
Kris Kristofferson: June 22, 1936 - September 28, 2024
Kris Kristofferson, the iconic, Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and actor who played a key role in advancing a strand of country music into a more raw and confessional direction now recognised as outlaw country, has died peacefully at his home in Maui, surrounded by family. He was 88 years old.
"I have come a very long way in the last two-and-a-bit years"
Back from the brink: the Thunder vocalist who survived major medical trauma returns.
EVER MEET LEMMY?
He's heard Lemmy's unreleased solo album, had dinner with Chris Holmes, told Paul McCartney to get a round in, been told gangster Reggie Kray wanted to have a word with him... He is Dogs D'Amour frontman Tyla 7 Pallas, and these are some of his stories.
"LET'S NOT FORGET ABOUT HAVING FUN"
With their ninth studio album In Murmuration, Finnish rockers Von Hertzen Brothers have replaced their erstwhile prog epics for a more honest approach to songwriting reflecting their personal lives.
IN THE BEGINNING
With previously unseen photographs from their early days as featured in the new Queen | Collector's Edition, Sir Brian May talks us through sights of the band in the early seventies.
BASS-IC INSTINCT
Plucked from obscurity in 1975 to be in David Bowie's band, then unceremoniously out of the picture five years later, bassist George Murray looks back on his time with the Thin White Duke.
High Rollers
When Ronnie Wood, the Stones and some A-list mates holed up at his house to help with his solo album, it sparked a days-long party, a Rolling Stones hit and the last album by arguably their finest line-up.
THE NAME OF THE GAM
When ABBA-mad Opeth leader Mikael Akerfeldt met one of their singers, he lost it”. She didn’t sing on their new concept album, but some other, perhaps unlikely, big names did.
