Dream Theater Reunites: Do Band Reunions Matter If Nothing Changes?

Recent news has been that the classic lineup of Dream Theater is reuniting for the first time in a dozen years, with Mike Portnoy leaving his journeyman status behind. These developments have been met with plenty of fanfare from the fans, which is an interesting bit of psychology. While I am not a huge Dream Theater fan, I was aware enough of what they were doing to know that Portnoy was not so beloved when he left the band at the time.

The last couple of albums of his tenure were controversial among the fans. Portnoy was bringing new influences into the band's sound that not everyone was a fan of, and that perhaps weren't integrated with the kind of care and nuance we would expect from an 'intellectual' band.

They made "Train Of Thought", which was obviously inspired by their love of Metallica and classic metal. It is by far their heaviest record, and it was also where some more modern, rhythmic vocal lines started to creep in. Without knowing the context, one listen makes it clear it was an album from the days of nu-metal, and as such it sticks out like a sore thumb. This record was still well-received, since metal fans rarely complain about there being too much metal in their metal. Personally, I find it to be rather difficult to listen to these days. The production is stifling with its insistence on everything being heavy, so much so the record comes out sounding monotone and rather boring. On top of that, there are a few songs that don't break that up with solid melodies, and instrumental widdly that has almost no transition to justify its existence. This is where the band's penchant for writing in the studio became clear, because it sounds like the first draft of pieces put in order, but without the edges sanded down to make sure they fit together.

Further down the road, we would get riffs that sounded like they were bringing in influence from Muse, who were big at the time, but had nothing at all in common with Dream Theater. The complaints started to grow.

They reached their head when "Black CLouds & Silver Linings" came out, as that record encompassed everything Dream Theater fans were getting frustrated with. Portnoy took on the role of harsh vocalist on "A Nightmare To Remember" for some unknown reason. "The Shattered Fortress" finished off his decade-long conceptual suite about recovery, but did so by pasting together many themes from the older entries. Not only did this feel rather cheap, but to be frank, those songs are often the dullest numbers on their respective albums. And then there was "The Count Of Tuscany", which would be one of the band's best epic songs, if not for the fact the lyrics are on the level of a low-budget schlocky horror movie.

I say all of this to illustrate my confusion for why the reaction to the news has been so strongly positive. Not only was Dream Theater not exactly firing on all cylinders when Portnoy left, but little of the music Portnoy has done since leaving has given me reason to think he is the missing piece that will revitalize the band. His work with The Winery Dogs is good, but isn't really any different than what Richie Kotzen can do on his own. Sons Of Apollo was a disappointing attempt to make a more modern prog metal band, and might actually represent where Dream Theater was headed in an alternate universe. And his work with The Neal Morse Band got less interesting with each self-indulgent album.

In that same time, Dream Theater made albums that ranged from great ("A Dramatic Turn Of Events" - their best record) to downright horrible ("The Astonishing" - one of the worst concept records ever), but for the most part did what Dream Theater is supposed to be doing. You didn't have to keep up with the charts to know what was influencing them on any given day, which was a nice development. Were the record less exciting because they stuck to being Dream Theater? Perhaps, but since fans tend to complain as much about bands changing as they do bands not changing, it's not as if they could win anyway.

With Portnoy returning, it seems inevitable the next record will be billed as a 'return to form', and they will trot out all the hallmarks of the Dream Theater sound. That means... the next record will likely be just like the last few. So what exactly is the big deal here if all that's changing is which order the drums are hit during the fills?

Look, I'm not trying to dump on the reunion. While I'm no die-hard, I do enjoy some Dream Theater from time to time, and I'm sure I'll be listening to their reunion album when it comes out. On a personal level, it's great for them that their relationships have healed to the point they can be back together as the group that has spent most of their lives together. On a musical level, I just don't see how it is going to change things very much, which means I'm not sure why the excitement among the fans is so high.

Does this prove that sometimes our reaction to music isn't actually to do with the music, but rather the psychology of our own relationships with bands? I'm thinking that's the case, and it's rather interesting. More interesting to me than the actual news sparking the discussion.