"Soul in Your Mind" featuring John Macaluso, James LaBrie, Vitalij Kuprij

[Thystonius]

The sound of his setup reminds me how the drums sound in the exercise cabins of drum school, I could imagine myself listening outside to John going all out on a kit ;-)

[EvilEyester]

He's a great drummer but I can't stand the sound from his setup.

[osanan]

Swing metal!

[Petruccibear]

Dat hi-hat!

[fisicobatera]

This song is the best!!! Amazing solo also!!!

[intestinomedicino]

I think that in the studio version the little bell disk (or is it a latin percusion disk?) is used more often which to me kind of give it an off beat feeling.

[Longlivethe4th]

Contrary to some here, I really hope JMac won't be the new guy in DT, just because ARK stuff was 10x more emotional, diverse and well put together than anything DT (which I often enjoy a lot, but ARK, they could have been kind of the new Purple / Led Zep / King Crimson all at once).

[ryonafan]

@Longlivethe4th i listen one song of ark and didn't liked it not even a little bit i didn't even bother to listen another soo... i'll have to disagree with you I HOPE HE'S THE NEW DT DRUMMER! if it's not him that's it for me ,i couldn't listen to dt anymore

[Longlivethe4th]

@ryonafan Ark isn' everyone's taste sure, Personnaly I'm in love with every second on each of their 2 albums. But I won't flame you if you can't like them. But give them a second and even third chance, what was the song you didn't like ? Each of their song has a slightly different personnality then the others, a bit like what Queen, or QR do. My fav is Mother Love, if you want ultra-catchy pop-rock go for Feed the Fire, if you like pink floyd, go for Missing You or Can't Let Go, for metal->Noose

[ryonafan]

@Longlivethe4th can't remember the name of the song ,is the one that is on the page where someone named the posible remplacements for mike, anyway sounded old, you know... the mix and stuf

[Longlivethe4th]

@ryonafan the firts album was almost a demo, I like the warm, slightly blurry, 70s, early Di Meola mixed with old Purple kind of sound it has, but that's clearly not everyone's taste. The second album is top notch, but still with some warmth to it, lack of warm sound and lack of groove/swing in the playing is one the reasons why I rate DT under ark.

[oooooooooorly]

@Longlivethe4th

Yeah, the first ARK Album is one of my favorites.  I can't imagine how good it would have been with Randy Coven on it.

[Longlivethe4th]

@oooooooooorly I believe at one point they talked about re-recording it, but that was right before Jorn left... Well I saw them live once and yep, Coven brough some additionnal power and melody to the first album songs as well.

[Thystonius]

@Longlivethe4th Totally, I've got the Japanese version of Burn the Sun (because I really wanted the song Silent is the Rain) and it's in my all-time favs :-D

[Longlivethe4th]

@Thystonius ah yes, Silent is the rain... I searched a long time to get it, was worth the effort, it really closes the album so well.

If you happen to know any other band that kind of went into that "virtuose metal with a soul, an open mind, and some things to say" flavour, just let me know, there's only a handfull of bands I'm still following these days.

[tofee35]

If this was recorded professionally with 3 camera angles and mixed samples it would be easier to see how great this guy is.... It's the whole "guy in his basement" feel that throws people off...

[jarlmaster47]

he'll never be the new drummer for DT. good as he is he just doesn't have the finesse. that and the way he plays is technically very poor. I feel like he taught himself, which is not to say that that is bad. but portnoy was classically trained, which helps him be so epic. regardless macaluso is still epic!

[metabog]

@jarlmaster47 Portnoy isn't classically trained dude, they all dropped out of their studies to start DT.

[jarlmaster47]

@metabog no shit sherlock. but portnoy and DT went to some fancy music college for about 2-3 years prior. macaluso didn't do that. don't challenge me on DT.

[metabog]

@jarlmaster47 "Portnoy claims to be self-taught as a drummer, though he did take music theory classes in high school." That's not classical training. They were all in Berklee for a year afterward, and they dropped out. I don't know where you get your information (the Smug College of Smugness probably).

[jarlmaster47]

@metabog a year at a music college. end of story fool. thats classical training enough. besides you probably made up that quote. look at portnoy play. his technique is too good to NOT be classically trained. macaluso is obviously self-taught. but portnoy has the correct grip, and obvious training

[metabog]

@jarlmaster47 Lawl, alright, you're obviously only bent on throwing insults around. Where are your "references" brotha? A year at a school, where he didn't get a degree doesn't qualify as "classical training". JR is classicaly trained, he has a degree in classical piano from Juilliard. MP studied jazz, and dropped out. MP's technique is not "that" good, and frankly, while he can sure handle his time signatures, he doesn't "sound" like a classically trained drummer. But hey, let's argue.

[jarlmaster47]

@metabog are you a drummer? because I am and I know classically trained vs. self-taught.

[metabog]

@jarlmaster47 Yes I am not only a drummer, but a producer. I'm not going to talk about myself, just so you can accuse me of having an ego. We can agree to disagree then. How can you say he's classically trained dude, he may not have a weird posture, but a classically trained drummer doesn't punch himself in the head or make weird faces of stand up while drumming. He's just a classic "rock" drummer, but I wouldn't go as far as saying he's "classically trained".

[jarlmaster47]

@metabog punching himself in the head and making weird faces is called showmanship. he could be serious if he wanted to.

[olaguibel27]

@jarlmaster47 it seems that you are a big fan of MP, so I assume that you have looked the dvd's of DT and how they interact, play, etc. so stop saying that he could be serious if he wanted to, stop lying and embarrassing yourself dude. and please if you are thinking of questioning me about music and stuff, I believe that what the metabog dude already said enough for you to shut up

[metabog]

@jarlmaster47 I took piano lessons and had music lessons all through college, and not rock or jazz, but actual classical music. Doesn't make me classically trained, because I didn't care about it enough to actually learn at the time, and most of what I learned came from experience playing with other people. MP is the same, he took some lessons, but dropped out and most of what he knows to do comes from jamming along to Rush and Iron Maiden and with DT.

[Thystonius]

@metabog I tend to differ dude. The technique of Mike Portnoy is pretty good. I see the same kind of technicality when I see Carter Beaufort playing. Very controlled. But I agree with you that MP doesn't sound 'classical' :-)

John Macaluso rules, but his posture and technique shows that he probably did learn himself how to rip the kit!

[Sebbester88]

@jarlmaster47 They aren't finding a replacement portnoy, they're finding a replacement drummer. I hope they chose someone like this guy

[jarlmaster47]

@Sebbester88 well duh noone can replace portnoy. he's too epic and perfectly suited to DT. they want another portnoy but they wont get one.

[Andytheminstrel]

He's got the chops to play with DT, but his drumkit isn't big enough.

[yankovichi]

he's doing that funny head movement while stroking snare with left hand...but he kicks ass!!

[ryonafan]

he's the new dream theater drummer (rumor) he has to be man!

[intestinomedicino]

Can't wait for the next Album with ARK, mind blowing drumming dude.

[leomarcondess]

cara, eu acho que ele ta entre uns dos setes que tão fazendo audiencia pro DT

[leandroportnoy]

seria john o próximo batera do DT??? que sonho, hein?! sou fã desde já!

[keepntyme]

I also saw the article in MD. Thanks for the great post. That is some excellent playing, very tasteful. Very Cool !

[benniebull]

Saw your article in the Sept. 2010 MD and had to check this out. Loved it!  Excellent work.

[krangsas]

always intresting to watch you play.

[jgbuckley]

One of the coolest odd-time grooves ever. Fabulous work, John, as always.

[Thystonius]

@jgbuckley Totally agree with this statement :-)

[cbottgerc]

De la gran re puta mare!!!

[Mayhemmmmaniac]

My favourite song of the album!For example i say - Dream Theater never had a song like that !!!

[Sorantis]

this song is amazing, though DT has better :)

[jrjacques]

Awesome!!!!!

[drumz1959]

Good Stuff Johnny Mac,

Ray

[Neomabey]

adorable performance..

congratulations

[llorenth]

Very entertaining, thanks Johnny Mac!

[Tamabife]

Brilliant Performance.

Keep on Rock Mac.

Thanks for sharing the video!

[Kaosaur]

This album was fantastic, Mac. Thanks for putting this up.