Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy Lists His 10 Favorite Albums of 2024

Dream Theater‘s Mike Portnoy has unveiled what his 10 favorite albums of 2024 are, as well as the TV shows and movies he loved the most this year.

It’s something the legendary drummer does every year and, as one metal’s most savvy and avid consumers of music and TV/film, the recap is something we as fans look forward to before setting our sights on the year ahead.

IMPORTANT: Portnoy has noted in his social media post that everything he lists is in “no particular order.” So think of these groupings as a “best in class” for 2024!

Mike Portnoy’s Favorite Albums of 2024

Expectedly, progressive rock and metal dominates much of Portnoy’s list, including some acts he’s been a fan of for a long time, as well as some good friends.

• Opeth, The Last Will and Testament
• Blood Incantation, Absolute Elsewhere
• The Lemon Twigs, A Dream Is All We Know
• Redd Kross, Redd Kross
• Leprous, Melodies of Atonement
• Frost, Life in the Wires
• Neal Morse & The Resonance, No Hill For a Climber
• Category 7, Category 7
• Kerry King, From Hell I Rise
• The Warning, Keep Me Fed

Back in October, Portnoy dedicated a post solely to Blood Incantation’s Absolute Elsewhere and it’s brilliant sense of duality, balancing death metal and ’70s prog.

The drummer exclaimed at the time, “The brutality of Opeth meets the beauty of Pink Floyd… all in one epic prog metal album (just two 20 [minute] epics!),” adding that it was “definitely a contender for my [Album of the Year].”

And considering Portnoy took part in The Prog Report’s “Wheel of Prog” video series back in 2023, helping tier-rank Opeth’s catalog, seeing The Last Will and Testament among the Top 10 was no surprise at all.

The prog icon also shouted out Knower Forever, a 2023 album by electro-dance duo Knower as an “honorable mention.” He said he didn’t discover it until this year and he it “was an absolute favorite.” It’s tough to keep up with everything — we know, Mike!

READ MORE: 11 Best Progressive Metal Albums of 2004

Mike Portnoy’s Favorite Movies of 2024

Here are Portnoy’s favorite movies of 2024 and if you want to see every flick he watched this year, check out his Letterbox profile.

• Anora
• Strange Darling
• The Substance
• Here
• MaXXXine
• Longlegs
• Late Night With The Devil
• Saturday Night
• Joker: Folie à Deux (yes, really!)
• Love Lies Bleeding

Mike Portnoy’s Favorite TV Shows of 2024

Also a TV buff, Portnoy shares his favorite shows from this year, the one in which we all bid farewell to Curb Your Enthusiasm.

• Disclaimer
• Curb Your Enthusiasm S12 (RIP)
• Fargo S5
• The Penguin
• Presumed Innocent
• Baby Reindeer
• The Curse
• Squid Game S2
• Monsters: The Lyle & Erik Menendez Story

See the full post below, which includes tributes to important people we lost this year, as well as Portnoy’s beloved dog Mickey.

To see the drummer’s annual wrap-ups since 2001, head to the Mike Portnoy website.

Dream Theater in 2025

Next year is going to be a big one for Portnoy and Dream Theater. Not only is the band continuing the 40th anniversary tour that launched earlier this year (which is also their first with Portnoy since 2010), they’ll be releasing their 16th studio album, Parasomnia, on Feb. 7.

So far, two of the album’s eight songs have been released — “Night Terror” and “A Broken Man.”

The “evening with” styled North American leg of the trek kicks off the same day the new record drops and will wrap up on March 22 and all the dates can be seen here.