I use to be a huge Dream Theater fan, now I am not. I still like awake and a change of seasons, but DT is one of those bands that you get tired of hearing after a while. One thing that really pisses me off about them is how overrated Mike Portnoy is. I myself am a drummer, and there are so many better drummers out there that can rip him to shreds, yet they don't get the recognition. In the most recent modern drummer Portnoy got best prog drummer, best clinician(over donati), best video, and 1 2 and 5 on best recorded performance, might I say OVERRATED. Petrucci is good, I like him, but I would have to say Paul Gilbert and Ron Jarzombek beat him out over originality, emotion, and technical ability. Portnoy compares himself to peart, there is no way in hell he deserves to be compared to him. For one thing, Peart is not a conceited bastard who thinks he is the best drummer ever, and Peart writes for the song, not for the song plus 5 million more notes to fill in between those notes for the song. Repetition is another thing DT has. I would have to agree with Roamer, they need a new singer, LaBrie can't hit a lot of notes live and his voice cracks, it gets annoying. I also totally agree with rhavin2112 about bands like vanden plas, PoS, and ice age. DT is becoming mainstream. I use to like those guys, until they got boring. Give me spiral architect, vanden plas, ice age any day. Take Gamma Ray for instance, they aren't getting more technical with every cd like DT. They are getting more simple and just writing damn good music with good harmonies and everything else. Plus, if you haven't heard the new DT, I don't reccomend getting it, it is boring as hell, atleast IMHO. Glass Prison is good, but even that song is too repetitive and too long. If it was shortened a lot, it would be a better song. DT, you need to mature as musicians and quit trying to show off. I liked their more stripped down approach on falling into infinity, even though the cheesiness of derek brought that cd down.