MP interview (what he feels on a DT reunion)

[Millais]

Despite all of the MP-JM drama, it's so great to see JM live now. You just need to take a glimpse at some of the European tour footage and the High Voltage performance to see that Myung is much more active, much more involved and they really do work and look like a band who is having a lot of fun. In Kyoto's interview with JLB, JLB expresses how Myung is much more involved than previously.

[ariich]

I honestly didn't think his live performance was really any more animated than in previous tours. In fact, the only person I thought seemed more into it at High Voltage than in previous years was JP, but it might be that he's stepping up his on-stage presence because of MP's absence, and because he's now effectively leading the band.

[rumborak]

In Kyoto's interview with JLB, JLB expresses how Myung is much more involved than previously.

But that's also what the fans want to hear, so they're giving us that.

rumborak

[ariich]

In Kyoto's interview with JLB, JLB expresses how Myung is much more involved than previously.

But that's also what the fans want to hear, so they're giving us that.

rumborak

Yeah this occurred to me as well. I mean, it really does sound like he's been more involved in the studio and generally, but in terms of how "active" he is on stage, I think people think there's been a huge change because they want to see a huge change.

[rumborak]

It always struck me as weird how many fans don't put a "bullshit filter" between themselves and what they read from their favorite band. History has shown that so many statements from DT have been plain bogus, an (understandable) effort to even out waves and create positive expectations in the fans. I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

rumborak

[ariich]

Indeed, but I find that with most people in general. Most people seem ready to believe hype (positive or negative) and I'm never exactly cynical about either, but I generally take everything with a pinch of salt.

[3xodus]

I love MP and all of the contributions he made to DT over the years. The band wouldn't be the same without those contributions. He didn't say anything wrong in this interview, he was just expressing honesty about how he feels. He's been doing this all along in my opinion. Everything he says really is blown out of proportion to DT fans. This whole thread is making something out of nothing. He even said that in the future he'd like to reunite in some way. He also expressed his love for us DT fans. What more do you people want from him? Saying he built the band is just him saying he put in a shit ton of work and dedicated his entire life to it. I wish some of you would quit making him sound so selfish and controlling when he has been so giving and caring to all of us fans. He really extended himself to those of us that were interested in his personal life and musical tastes etc. He was an awesome spokesman for the band we all love. No reason to hate him.

[rumborak]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

[Liberation]

I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

This also used to make no sense to me, but once I read an interview with Daniel Gildenlow and it struck me as fairly obvious: "Of course I think Scarsick is our best album, why would I want to record an album which is worse than our previous ones?".

[ariich]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

You call that a middle ground? That's full of conjecture and personal opinion, dude. He didn't get "kicked out of the band" and didn't push the band in any direction by any accounts. Marginalising band members is something that seems pretty likely though, from everything we've heard.

[BlobVanDam]

I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

This also used to make no sense to me, but once I read an interview with Daniel Gildenlow and it struck me as fairly obvious: "Of course I think Scarsick is our best album, why would I want to record an album which is worse than our previous ones?".

Surely people by now realize that every artist says it for every album ever recorded in the history of ever, right?
But while that is obviously an element of PR (you're not going to admit you recorded a turd), I would think many bands genuinely feel their new material they just recorded is their best.
And why not? They're just spent a chunk of their time getting involved and writing/recording the music that represents what they want, and it's the freshest music in their mind, and they have an emotional involvement that nobody else does. You view it differently to the guy who just hears the finished disc. It's the same with any artistic creation.

[rumborak]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

You call that a middle ground? That's full of conjecture and personal opinion, dude. He didn't get "kicked out of the band" and didn't push the band in any direction by any accounts. Marginalising band members is something that seems pretty likely though, from everything we've heard.

Watcha talkin about, Willis? The whole failed growling business was his doing, his "inspiration corner" he seemed to have crowbarred into 8V. And yes, he got himself kicked out, because he presented his stance in a way that left no choice for DT than to play hardball. Just because it's you who walks out first doesn't mean you didn't lose the battle.

rumborak

[3xodus]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

You call that a middle ground? That's full of conjecture and personal opinion, dude. He didn't get "kicked out of the band" and didn't push the band in any direction by any accounts. Marginalising band members is something that seems pretty likely though, from everything we've heard.

Watcha talkin about, Willis? The whole failed growling business was his doing, his "inspiration corner" he seemed to have crowbarred into 8V. And yes, he got himself kicked out, because he presented his stance in a way that left no choice for DT to play hardball. Just because it's you who walks out first doesn't mean you didn't lose the battle.

rumborak

To me he just stood up for what he wanted. Yeah he changed his mind later but at least he said something about it and stopped ignoring the fact that things were't really working for him. That takes balls to me.

[rumborak]

I can see your argument, but I think a lot of use here had the impression that MP stood up disproportionally more for his stuff than the other members. I know it's dangerous to base something on a single occurrence, but the way he shot down JM in that audio commentary was just really telling.

rumborak

[BlobVanDam]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

You call that a middle ground? That's full of conjecture and personal opinion, dude. He didn't get "kicked out of the band" and didn't push the band in any direction by any accounts. Marginalising band members is something that seems pretty likely though, from everything we've heard.

Only on DTF can MP being kicked out of DT be considered reality, and a "questionable musical decision" be considered objective. It seemed to me from what both parties said that neither side was happy with the split. I get the impression that MP underestimated the finality and reality of his decision, but at the end of the day it was MP alone who made that decision.

[Liberation]

I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

This also used to make no sense to me, but once I read an interview with Daniel Gildenlow and it struck me as fairly obvious: "Of course I think Scarsick is our best album, why would I want to record an album which is worse than our previous ones?".

Surely people by now realize that every artist says it for every album ever recorded in the history of ever, right?
But while that is obviously an element of PR (you're not going to admit you recorded a turd), I would think many bands genuinely feel their new material they just recorded is their best.
And why not? They're just spent a chunk of their time getting involved and writing/recording the music that represents what they want, and it's the freshest music in their mind, and they have an emotional involvement that nobody else does. You view it differently to the guy who just hears the finished disc. It's the same with any artistic creation.

Well some don't say anything really; I generally only hear that from bands which still feel genuinely creative and not just copying themselves. Of course it is a matter of personal opinion if it really is the best album or not, but I think bands have the right to think their new album is the best for this very simple reason. When doing something creative it's very common that something you did which felt amazing back then seems weak to you over time, and you feel what you just created is much better - I guess it's the same for them due to a change of perspective. But since fans are generally very varied they may see it differently.

Also, the "effort" part is very important to me. Which is why I don't ever reject an album as garbage if it sounds like it has some effort put into it, because it probably did require a lot of effort.

[ariich]

The reality is somewhere in the middle, dude. MP wasn't all roses either, he's pushed the band into questionable musical decision, has marginalized band members etc, and has now managed to get himself kicked out of the band due to a miscalculated show of power.

rumborak

You call that a middle ground? That's full of conjecture and personal opinion, dude. He didn't get "kicked out of the band" and didn't push the band in any direction by any accounts. Marginalising band members is something that seems pretty likely though, from everything we've heard.

Only on DTF can MP being kicked out of DT be considered reality, and a "questionable musical decision" be considered objective. It seemed to me from what both parties said that neither side was happy with the split. I get the impression that MP underestimated the finality and reality of his decision, but at the end of the day it was MP alone who made that decision.

Yeah, this exactly. They didn't let him back in when he wobbled over his decision, but the decision to leave was entirely his.

[Perpetual Change]

A "miscalculated show of power" is a perfect way of describing it, actually. As Mike said, he never intended to leave Dream Theater. He just never imagined they'd move on without him. Basically, Mike never wobbled over his decision to leave because that decision was just a means to an end (getting the hiatus he wanted). When he realized the band were moving on "for realz" that's when the regret set in.

[ariich]

Yep, I'd agree with that.

[Mladen]

I honestly didn't think his live performance was really any more animated than in previous tours.

Same here. I saw DT live this year and two years ago, Myung was pretty much the same, fairly animated. However, comparing it to Budokan or CiM, he did improve. 

[Super Dude]

I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

This also used to make no sense to me, but once I read an interview with Daniel Gildenlow and it struck me as fairly obvious: "Of course I think Scarsick is our best album, why would I want to record an album which is worse than our previous ones?".

Surely people by now realize that every artist says it for every album ever recorded in the history of ever, right?
But while that is obviously an element of PR (you're not going to admit you recorded a turd), I would think many bands genuinely feel their new material they just recorded is their best.
And why not? They're just spent a chunk of their time getting involved and writing/recording the music that represents what they want, and it's the freshest music in their mind, and they have an emotional involvement that nobody else does. You view it differently to the guy who just hears the finished disc. It's the same with any artistic creation.

'Scuse me Blob, I think Candice is broken.

[3xodus]

From everything I have read I just get the feeling he liked being in A7X and how close the band was. And from a lot of the videos I have seen he looked incredibly burnt out during some of the studio writing sessions with DT. I think marginilizing is just a different word than I would choose. I think after being burnt out and fighting for his different ideas on musical direction for the past couple of albums, he had a little disdain for some of the process and probably some of the members personalities. He went to great lenghths describing the "brotherhood" of A7X. He seemed to really be enjoying himself and the music he was playing. To date I have only seen one real conclusive reason that he didn't stay with them and that was money. Somehow A7X didn't seem to think they could afford him, which seems weird but maybe they have a shitty record deal or maybe they are thinking they may not be continuing after this album and need all the money they can get. Either way you can't blame a guy for being unhappy, seeing greener pastures, and wanting to be a part of something like that.

[Super Dude]

Even so, that's something he could've discussed with his fellow bandmates, rather than requesting a break outright.

[ReaPsTA]

I honestly didn't think his live performance was really any more animated than in previous tours. In fact, the only person I thought seemed more into it at High Voltage than in previous years was JP, but it might be that he's stepping up his on-stage presence because of MP's absence, and because he's now effectively leading the band.

I've never seen JM do the rocking out with the drumming thing before this tour, and he seems more interactive with JP than before.  The only member of the band that actually seems less animated to me is JR.

It always struck me as weird how many fans don't put a "bullshit filter" between themselves and what they read from their favorite band. History has shown that so many statements from DT have been plain bogus, an (understandable) effort to even out waves and create positive expectations in the fans. I mean, hasn't every album been so far the "best album they've done"?. (not just DT, but every band on this planet). And it shouldn't be surprising; it's called PR.

rumborak

I know what you mean, but I swear there's generally two reasons to believe what they say:  (a)  Even if it doesn't make sense later, it reflects what the person felt in the moment.  I have a feeling that MP now would probably tell you BCSL was an okay album, even though at the time he said it might be their best ever.  I can totally believe that when he was promoting BCSL that he had talked himself into believing it was great.  JP seems to genuinely believe his most recent albums are his best.  The fact that I don't remember him saying this after BCSL might be interesting.  (b)  There's really no reason for them to be dishonest.  DT's very good at controlling the narrative more through what they don't say than making things up.

Plus, at least with this album, they've openly contradicted each other in interviews, which makes it hard for me to believe there's a set DT narrative they consciously think about.  JLB, JR, and JM talked enthusiastically about how JP produced ADTOE differently than the previous albums, and at about the same time JP made a big deal in an interview about how to him the way the band worked hadn't changed in a meaningful way.  JLB seems to have little-to-no lingering fondness for MP, whereas JP said he could never say anything publicly negative about him.

EDIT:  Also, if you want to talk about calculated PR strategy, the best thing to do would be to emphasize how they haven't changed, considering that in real life most of the DT fans I've spoken to are extremely nervous about how Portnoy leaving the band will shake things up.  Talking about how things have changed as a PR strategy is potentially very counter-productive to them.  Maybe this is why Petrucci (who I think is the cagiest interview in the band) didn't want to play it up.

EDIT 2:  Also, you said that the members of DT have made bogus statements "so many" times.  It's probably because of my fanboy blinders, but I can't think of too much.

[KevShmev]

Speaking of "real life"/non-forum DT fans, a friend and I were out a few weeks ago, and we got to talking with two guys at the restaurant bar about music, and it turned out that one of the guys was a big Dream Theater fan, or more specifically, a huge Mike Portnoy fan.  When I asked him what he thought of him leaving DT and the addition of Mike Mangini, he was like, "What?  Portnoy left the band?"  Really.

[BlobVanDam]

Wow. It's been getting close to a year ago now, right? Even if you don't hang around any of the forums, if you're a fan of MP, you'd have seen the news on ANY Dream Theater or Portnoy related site, and many other general prog/metal sites. You should have asked him if he's heard of this new internet thing that's apparently getting kind of popular.

[fleaman]

I really dont like the way MP is thinking and acting!He is so selfish and arrogant that i really cant stand him..but watching the band performing live with MM i really missed his drumming..I hope MM will become more comfortable in the future cause his sound was SO tiny compared to the beasty MP..

[bosk1]

I really dont like the way MP is thinking and acting!He is so selfish and arrogant that i really cant stand him..

Fleaman, you've already been warned.  Enjoy a week vacation.