New DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Mangini, who replaces Mike Portnoy behind the kit, is featured in a new interview with AZCentral.com. An excerpt is available below:

Q: Do you feel like the new guy?

Mangini: "In some small circumstances, yeah, but that's because I am (laughs). However, for the most part, I don't. And the reason is I'm moving forward. I feel like I'm driving and I've got to pay attention to the road. I'm conscious of the past to respect it, but I can see the horizon a little bit. But if I don't concentrate on what's going on now, there may not be a horizon. So I'm really in the moment. I don't know any other way to live."

Q: How did working up the older songs for the tour compare to working on the new material?

A: "It was similar in that I don't want to come into this sticking out like a sore thumb. I don't want to join Dream Theater, a band with a 20-year history, and come into it thinking about me because this is a situation with a pre-existing history, and, lucky me, I'm a fan of the pre-existing history. Lucky me, I love the pre-existing drum parts. So that makes it easy for me to not have to try too hard to see the old songs as a different thing than the new ones. I'm not Mike. Mike's not me. But we definitely have the same influences and the same likes. So it's not a stretch. It's pretty easygoing for me, coming up with comfort on the old songs and pushing new boundaries now, not only on A Dramatic Turn of Events but on current things that we jam on at sound check. I'm really going further with my skills."

Q: You mentioned current. Are you guys already thinking about material for a next record?

A: "No. It's just for fun. I mean that from the heart. When I get on a set of drums, especially this set of drums that I'm using, I'm a happy kid. Not just a happy man. A happy kid. It's just immediate fun coming up with drum things that I would come up with if no one was around and when Jordan (Rudess, the band's keyboardist) or John Petucci come up with something they're doing at sound check, something new, I jump right in. We're not sitting there saying, 'Let's come up with stuff.' It's just pure fun."

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2011/12/01/20111201dream-theater-interview-phoenix-mike-portnoy.html#ixzz1gm5xcwqk

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Dream Theater recently announced that their show in Luxemborg has been moved to February 29th, at the same venue. As well, the Stuttgart, Germany show has been moved to February 15th and will take place at the Hegelsaal. This is located in the same complex as the venue that was previously announced (Liederhalle).

The changes have been made to accommodate the band's attendance at the Grammys - they were nominated for the A Dramatic Turn Of Events track On The Backs Of Angels'.

For full concert dates visit the band’s website.

As previously reported, Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess have listed their Top 10 albums of 2011 for Roadrunner Records. Check them out below:

John Petrucci:

1) RED - Until We Have Faces: "I just love everything about the Red album. The songwriting, playing and production are all stellar!"

2) TRIVIUM - In Waves

3) OPETH - Heritage

4) CHICKENFOOT - III

5) JOE BONAMASSA - Dust Bowl

6) YOUNG THE GIANT - s/t

7) THE ARISTOCRATS - s/t

8) ADELE - 21

9) BON IVER - s/t

10) STEEL PANTHER - Balls Out

John Myung:

1) DEATH CAB FOR CUTIES - Codes And Keys: "Chemistry, lyrics, and production."

2) OPETH - Heritage

3) MEGADETH - TH1RT3EN

4) YES - Fly From Here

5) RADIOHEAD - The King of Limbs

6) STAIND - s/t

7) TRIVIUM - In Waves

8) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS - I'm With You

9) BLACKFIELD - Welcome To My DNA

10) STEVEN WILSON - Grace For Drowning

Jordan Rudess:

1) STEVEN WILSON - Grace For Drowning: "Although yes, I did play on this album, that is NOT why I chose it! It is an album full of mystery and imagination, melody and sonic adventure. There is real inspiration to be found and the best music happens when one can tap into the muse like Steven Wilson."

2) OPETH - Heritage

3) MODESELEKTOR - Monkeytown

4) APPARAT - The Devil's Walk

5) THE ARISTOCRATS - s/t

6) BEARDFISH - Mammoth

7) BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION - 2

8) RADIOHEAD - The King of Limbs

9) SYMPHONY X - Iconoclast

10) DEVIN TOWNSEND - Deconstruction

The tracklisting for Dream Theater's new album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, is as follows:

CD1:

'On The Backs Of Angels'

'Build Me Up, Break Me Down'

'Lost Not Forgotten'

'This Is The Life'

'Bridges In The Sky'

'Outcry'

'Far From Heaven'

'Breaking All Illusions'

'Beneath The Surface'