The best Of Times ( Mike Portnoy Vocal Demo)

[MAFiA303]

Sad. may his father rest in peace. :(

[Joo1401]

LaBrie is a better singer, but this version is more touching. To hear MIke Portnoy sing about his dad! I just can't hold my tears back. He makes such and impression on me! Right in my heart!

[hellsinkn]

THIS VERSION is not better than labrie's, for God's sake stop critcizing Labrie all the time. he is a great singer and the only reason is that he is old now, and singers get shaky when they are old.. FUCKTARDS!!

[hellsinkn]

SOlO takes me to another world altogether.

[zuschepet]

MP does it, as JP on Wither 10 times better.

MP should come back to DT and rape LaBrie together with JP on the vocals!

[matrixx29]

@zuschepet hahaahaha... Labrie is one of the best singers alive. i sing and his voice is just great man! i have a couple tubes up if ya wanna bash me..haha..

[zuschepet]

LaBrie is a great singer but i can´t stand him anymore, on the recordings since SDOIT somehow, since Portnoy left DT.

[Gurkmassa]

Mike Portnoy is like the god of music, thank you for everything Mike!

[WereEm0]

beautiful <3

[Rizzius90]

this is a lot more expressive than labrie version....this song is really felt by mike so there's passion in the singing......love this version, it's awesome

[MrIdontknowanyname]

so until 2:45 its just warming up

[MlKEPORNTOY]

Needs more growls.

[anqipiqi]

His voice is really adorable..

[Yossome]

Anyone know the significance of the elephant?

[DT2BLZ]

@Yossome im not very sure but people often link elephants with memories...therefore the elephant should mean the memory of howard portnoy.

[anqipiqi]

@Yossome And what about ants in Systematic Chaos? I don't get that

[adrianwhisnu]

awesome!!

[fdtrillo]

Simply awesome...

[davidamarat]

What a beautifu and sad song!!! Cheers for Mike Portnoy and the man who gave name to DT, Mr. Portnoy

[sergiudrummer]

I like it more than the album version

[marto6a]

Mike is the best Drummer.Great song!!!

[DreamMusicStudioRoma]

Great Mike, great!!!!!!!

[Jmansfie1]

the version with labrie is good but this is amazing mike is a god

[Luccamassa]

"Thank you for the inspiration, it carried me for miles" Sem mais palavras sobre Portnoy. Idolo

[anthrmthrfckr]

I can tell that Mike Portnoy is a loving son, father, husband and friend. I wish I know Mike personally as a friend.

[Alead666]

The best Drummer in the world singging... ^_^

[TheRochimgg]

I just love him ♥

[thefigure13]

Seeing Mike singing this, and playing it live would show truly how much of a god he is.

[TheJazzyDex]

For anyone who has lost a loved one, it is hard, just lost my father-in-law this year. Not a fun time, but he will forever be in my mind, I am sure as much as Mikes father was in his! Looking forward to the new AMOB album! My heart goes out to you Mike!

[TheSatchFPS96]

Thumbs up in memory of Mike's dad who died 3 years ago.

Rest in peace Mr. Portnoy

[mudslide88]

You can actually understand the words in this version, it's amazing what can happen when you have a decent singer.

[goblin2055]

@mudslide88 I don't know how you can't consider LaBrie a decent singer. I honestly prefer LaBrie's version in terms of the vocal work, but the meaning of the song and how it relates to Portnoy makes it great with Portnoy as well.

[mudslide88]

@goblin2055 I won't deny LaBrie's not a great singer, I just feel like he often chooses not to pronounce things so he can make the notes themselves more accurate which is easier, and some prefer it, and to me sounds less natural.

[mudslide88]

@goblin2055 In another band I think he'd be supremely awesome, or maybe if the vocal problem hadn't happened years ago, but in Dream Theater I hear him as the weak link in an otherwise beastly chain. Waiting for the next album before I decide on Manginni though

[jeremy0209]

12 people need to be kicked in the balls...hard...with steel toed boots.

[progdrummergreece2]

02:44 spirit of radio anyone?

[varatchaphon]

For those who commented about who sings better... it doesn't matter who sings the song, but the one who wrote this song and lyric... a great song from a GREAT man.

[Piscesryche]

Love this and the whole concept behind it. I'm sure it was very emotionally satisfying for Mike to do for his father.

[ss200612560]

la prefiero cantada por portnoy

[BryanFink1]

Awesome song! One of my favorites from Black Clouds and Silver Linings....But this version with Mike singing lead is not better in my opinion than the original version. This song is very emotional and it's cool that Mike wrote this for his father and cool he recorded a version with himself singing lead. But i think this version fails to convey the emotion in the lyrics the way that Labrie did on the album version. Labries voice and range have so much more emotional impact on the song....

[olminkanssa]

@BryanFink1 thäts why labrie does singing and mike the drumming, this is just a vocal demo. WE MISS U MIKE!!!!

[KyleParkePlaysDrums]

this is better than the one with james!

[rumacape]

I'm with Mike. I wish I could sing or play something like that for my father before he died.

[moisesespisan]

RIP Howard Portnoy

[zazajojua]

what kind of idiot dislikes this?

[YankeeNation009]

@zazajojua luckily there are only 12 of them haha

[ViperRob42]

This song got me though the death of my dad from cancer this past September, I mentioned it when giving my dads eulogy, thanks so much Mike for sharing it with the world and help others cope, even in the worst of times we can reflect back on the best of times, cheers!

[diegomanx321]

stick to drumingg man :P

[DrummerRF]

@diegomanx321 You don't understand life at all.

[fllins]

Somebody who owns the .mp3 upload this music on 4Shared or something of the sort so we can download it.

[fleshless]

It's not about the vocals it's about the love..............I wish I had an old man as in my corner as he was to his............These people that we mostly take for granted truly shape us and our future and judging by Mikes example he must have been a great man.......... I ain't blowing smoke either truly heart felt............

[StrangeNipples]

wow... mike can sing really well too. anybody know if he sings this and drums it at the same time?

[Ratkill9000]

Screw Labrie's version this is the one that should have been on the album

[anidroc]

Moving sentiment but badly sung (in my opinion)

[MrMardil]

Mike. I love this song. In Memorium.

[329Mortar]

I'm curious how it would sound if both versions were put overlapped, with Mike and James!

[sanandreasfreak44]

@329Mortar  I just did it... pretty cool!

[AhmedBadeeb]

Hearing this, I'd say James Labrie did hell of a job!

RIP Howard Portnoy.

[wfitch234]

while mike mangini is a good drummer and theyre all fantastic musicians in their own right, as a dramatic turn of events shows, but its just not the same without portnoy, and he was so good :D

[mumatrix]

DREAM THEATER ITS NOT DT WITHOUT PORTNOY :(

[dgxjerry]

Mike sure has a great voice and of course its good that he sings this version (for his dad), but LaBrie's voice just fits the vocal part better. You can hear that they had to use AutoTune a lot, especially in the high parts. Apart from that, awesome song. Gives me goosebombs evey time.

[evandrojcm]

ainda bem q o portnoy é um ótimo baterista

[daniju93]

Dang, where can I download it?

[jjpl2001email]

8 friends of LaBrie dislike this video!!

[VicLawliet]

Mike can't sing better than LaBrie, his voice is too much constant. He doesn't sing with vibratos...

[zangazoo2007]

WOW! Epic version.

[Drumvids93]

Mike sings better than Labrie.... fkyh!

[jjpl2001email]

@Drumvids93 whoever sings better than him!

[Drumvids93]

@jjpl2001email fuckyeah!

[azrelius]

I missed so much Dream Theater whit Mike, The music feeling in DT now is really strange

[Angstimwelt]

I always sort of thought MP should've had this one on BC&SL, at least from a purely emotional point of view... but then again, for the sake of... vocal quality, having LaBrie sing it on the album was probably for the best, heh...

[iAmPesukone]

If Portnoy sang more leads, his technique would get a lot better. It's good already, and the voice is really nice, but with practise, he'd get even better. He's got potential.

[shadeduncan]

I honestly think that "The Best Of Times" is the BEST song of all albums of Dream Theater. Paolo P.

[Drumvids93]

Mike is God!

[xalancampbellx]

Mike Portnoy facebook brought me here ImI

[zaopao123]

Me too!

[sourcegamer101]

Is it just me, or do I hear auto-tune in his voice?

[Angstimwelt]

@sourcegamer101 it's not just you :P

[masque1313]

i have nothing but repsect for portnoy and in the emotions it took to write this song.....and I think it's great there is a version of him singing it that he can have for himself BUT there is no way with a guy like james labrie around that anybody else should have sung this song on the official release. strictly speaking from a vocal performance standpoint james's version is far superior as it should be as he is the singer.

[lukasdeman]

Waw. How did you get this?

[DJTrijallic]

@lukasdeman BC&SL Special edition I think

[madmikefisk]

@DJTrijallic @lukasdeman It was on the Wither EP.

[162sparky]

@lukasdeman its on the wither single i believe. i think thats where i got my copy from

[RockTheOcean4me]

Pretty cool

[DTBeyondThisLifeDT]

Mike's version should be on the album. You really can feel with how many emotions he sings and you can feel that it comes deep from the heart. Every time I listen to that song I have tears in my eyes. Also right now.

[ogpicts]

Portnoy is a great drummer!! That's all.

[mariolecompt]

god, i miss this man so much.

[MlKEPORNTOY]

Should just be Dream Theater's lead singer.

[100saprissa]

@MlKEPORNTOY lol you´re called mike porn-toy

[GuitarAndWow]

RIP Howard Portnoy ...

[talos4020]

wey por que putas dejastte dream theater por que?????? mierda

[Fezek0]

Sounds like Nickelback.

[Stiftemaskin]

@Fezek0 Lol, no it doesn't...

[1waatb]

@Fezek0 are you kidding

[MlKEPORNTOY]

Portnoy-era Dream Theater = the best of times

[MaximumPayne12]

@MlKEPORNTOY Nope, the new album kicks the hell out of this one.

independently, this is a great song.

[jlgarzam]

@MlKEPORNTOY Al chile no jaja



[SgtZaqq]

His voice would be good for pop-punk lol

[tartw23]

why is this the only legit version on all of youtube?

[StratoSph3re]

this song is pure epicness! omg, how i love "black clouds and silver linings" ...

[mariolecompt]

shivershivershivershivershiver­shivershivershivershivershiver­shivershivershivershivershiver­shivershivershivershivershiver­shivershivershivershivershiver­.... god I love this band

[aturbulence]

chills.



[Unfanboy]

"But most of all, thank you for my life."

I'll sing the song to myself from beginning to end but I can't get to that line without getting completely choked up."

[Genarian]

You Rock Mike... You FUCKING Rock... *sob*

[metalfairytheater]

Life goes by in the blink of an eye!

Thank you for the inspiration, thank you for the smiles, all the inconditional love...

(amazing words)

[Menry9374]

I love this version much more than that on the CD. It's as if he's singing to his father. I like to sing to the instrumental version because this song made me realize, yet again, how much I love my father and how he inspired me to begin drumming when I was 10. I cried the first time I heard this song with Portnoy sing

R.I.P. Howard Portnoy

[anqipiqi]

Mike Portnoy has a really cute and lovely voice

[Parabellum13X]

This actually sound better than Labrie.

Umad?

[ozzcows]

@Parabellum13X why should anyone be mad that you need your ears checked?

[GuitarAndWow]

:(..portnoy

[anqipiqi]

portnoy :3

[jlanius]

4 people had the worst of times.

[bziakwfuckyou]

Imagine Geddy Lee singing this with his high voice!!!

[AMAZINGDOG402]

his voice is also oddly soothing, much like everyone else's voices of Dream Theater

[AMAZINGDOG402]

I was personally expecting his voice to be different... 0.o

[janick1532]

4:04 did he say's "the osama days" WTF?????

[rakionmu]

@janick1532 THE SUMMER DAYS ASSHOLE ¬¬

[AMAZINGDOG402]

@rakionmu Holy crap, I have a question, UMAD?

[ZachValkyrie]

@janick1532 "those summer days"

[AmiraHeavyStar]

='(

[zuzrwolrd]

I have never ever heard a drummer who could sing decently..

Mike Portnoy is a miracle.

[sonzy93]

@zuzrwolrd What about Phil Collins lol

[zuzrwolrd]

@sonzy93

never heard about him :P haha no, he is also a very good singer, but I dont believe his drumming got him very far.. not that it really matters, I really love his tarzan song!!

[SgtZaqq]

@zuzrwolrd because drummers don't sing.

[zuzrwolrd]

@SgtZaqq

That would be the point indeed.

[zorland876]

@zuzrwolrd Never heard of Phil Collins?

[zuzrwolrd]

@zorland876

See other comments.....

[BlackenedThunder]

@zuzrwolrd

Roger Taylor of Queen ?

[zuzrwolrd]

@BlackenedThunder

I don't listen to Queen that much,, but I believe you :)

[adarov]

@zuzrwolrd

what about roger taylor of queen?

[zuzrwolrd]

@adarov

Lol not less than 24 hours ago someone else said the same :P I dont really listen to queen that much so i wouldnt know..

[adarov]

@zuzrwolrd

lol well check "Im in love with my car" by queen

[irwin3036able]

@zuzrwolrd cough *Jimmy Sullivan* :)))

[zuzrwolrd]

@irwin3036able

nope never heard of him either..

[PrinceTrion012]

@irwin3036able i agree to you dude, JIMMY THE REV SULLIVAN is GREAT!! foREVer

[PhilipHuertas]

@zuzrwolrd the drummer of the band "Mastodon" sings very good too ;)

[SebaChannel]

@zuzrwolrd what about dave grohl, don henley or ringo starr?

[zuzrwolrd]

@SebaChannel

Nope never heard of them..

[arcanumi]

@zuzrwolrd Phil Collins

[zuzrwolrd]

@arcanumi

But he doesn't drum as good as Portnoy :)

[LMTR14]

@zuzrwolrd duh, can't you hear the awful autotuning...

[Sp4rk3rm3n]

@zuzrwolrd taylor hawkins , matt helders are just a few

[TAFG69]

@zuzrwolrd Dave Grohl, man..

[JulienDGrohl]

@zuzrwolrd Dave Grohl, Roger Taylor, Phil Collins, Taylor Hawkins, Ringo Starr, Jimmy The Rev Sullivan,

[heepdanny]

@johnnywinstrol: what a fucking shit.

[heepdanny]

@johnnywinstrol: what a fucking shit.

[BloodHarvest21]

I only clicked on the thumbnail cuz I thought it was a moose

[johnnywinstrol]

Even Chewbacca woud've sung it better than Labrie, anyway this is a beautiful version...

[MERTx123]

Nice! I think I actually like LaBrie's version better, but this feels very heartfelt.

[damiano13140]

big portnoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kiikasi]

This is the only Dream Theater song that moved me to tears.

[54MProductions]

@kiikasi A change of seasons did it for me......almost.

[jordonswannguitar]

one single person disliked this.... how?!

[meryuin]

@jordonswannguitar there is always one mother fucker even how awsome the song is.

[marHAVIK]

Mr. Portnoy was the one that gave the band the name of Dream Theater..... There literally wouldn't be a "Dream Theater" without him.

[gibsonandmarshall1]

Majesty.... Ytse Jam.... Howard Portnoy Thanks for contribute to create this Group that gives us so many emotions! RIP!

Mike Pornoy... just a question. WHY? :(

[immortalsoloist]

So epic!!!!

[Ithakaable]

Just amazing ...

[DJTrijallic]

My dad passed 3 weeks ago, this song brings me to tears every time I listen. I miss you dad, you have always been an inspiration to me, and I wish we could have more times together..

[wendepic]

@DJTrijallic I am sorry for you fathers death. ;( Same song brings me to tears everytime i listen it because i remember my grandgrandmothers funerals...... Sorry for your loss...

[mathor]

why does it sound exactly like rush - chemistry?

[Remaanahk]

RIP to the biggest contributor of Dream Theater.

[EricDanier]

@Remaanahk Jeez man, he ain't dead, he just left the band!

[Remaanahk]

@EricDanier  Sorry, I read wrong. I meant Howard, not Mike.

[147pablox]

@Remaanahk What? What are you talking about? The biggest contributor? Only for the name? He wrotes or composed for DT?..