In my opinion, over the years, Mike Portnoy's focus has shifted from MP as a drummer to MP as a brand, as such, he has stopped practicing regularly, has put more emphasis on the marketing aspect of his work. Post-DT, he has largely been the least instrumentally capable member of the bands that he has been in. His strategy has been to surround himself with rather capable musicians to compensate for his own inability to play.
He's compensating for the shift in the music industry with the marketing. He seems to think he's pretty good at it but he doesn't realize that a loyal part of his fan base isn't on social media.
As far as practicing (or lack of) goes, he's never kept that a secret. What you see is what you get. I think is still as capable as being musical as ever, he gave up on technique a long time ago if he even bothered with it at all.
As you know albums don't make money anymore so I would think it wouldn't make much economic sense to spend much time on them if you are as busy as he likes to keep himself.
Oddly enough, your opinion of surrounding himself with good musicians is the exact opinion I had when Derek started Planet X post-Dream Theater (Which is my favorite work by him, but appears to be the outlier since he doesn't seem to enjoy doing that kind of thing very much.)
Thank you for your comment.
The whole "spending time on what makes economic sense" thing is a closed loop I'm afraid. Another aspect of this approach is that if you don't give fans something to drool over, fans are going to opt out of your concerts and concerts are the main source of income for musicians these days.
I'm aware that he has made no secret of not practicing anymore, I've read several interviews of him stating it, it's why I alluded to it in my original post. However, I've seen countless drummers perform in a live setting and in the studio, multiple times over and what I can say is that there's a difference between adding new flare to your performance as a musician and still being capable of what you used to do 20 years ago. It's the intersection of creativity and technical capability that separates the great from the "That'll do.".
There's also a difference between making X amount of money from 10X projects and making that same amount of money from one project. I totally understand that it's a matter of choice, but alluding to your comment about the shift in the music industry, with the amount of choice that is available to the listener today, it is possible to have a main focus and maintain your life. Otherwise it just becomes, "Oh look, another project from.." and how many of those have we seen since September 2011? When it launched, The Winery Dogs was a "main focus" for all involved and suddenly, that disappears and we have 2018 as the
Year of the Apollo.
But you are indeed right, what you see is what you get. It is also true that when fans don't like it, their money and attention is what MP does not get.
Long time lurker here.
Took the plunge and made an account.
I've read most of the comments on this thread while I waited for my account to get approved - would like to contribute my own two cents regarding this album and band.
On March 1st, I'll be marking my 10th year in the audio industry, I've worked on a number of albums, live shows and other productions - including a couple with MP himself. I discovered heavier styles of music with Train of Thought when it came out and never looked back.
In my opinion, over the years, Mike Portnoy's focus has shifted from MP as a drummer to MP as a brand, as such, he has stopped practicing regularly, has put more emphasis on the marketing aspect of his work. Post-DT, he has largely been the least instrumentally capable member of the bands that he has been in. His strategy has been to surround himself with rather capable musicians to compensate for his own inability to play.
I have a number of problems with this album with the first one being, I think when you go into a studio and write songs with the mentality of "throw everything on the wall and see what sticks", it devalues the album. An album needs time to mature and refine. It's not an easy thing to write an album, however, we have seen MP tweet regularly about how he and *insert band* have banged out an album in a week. It's not a criterion of success to have written and recorded an album in a week, substance is what matters.
In the studio, it's obvious when a musician has prepared properly for a session - even more so when they have neglected it. There's a dangerous line between perfection and "That'll do." and some musicians tend to get rather comfortable within the boundaries of "That'll do.".
MP closed down his own forum because he was unhappy with all the negativity surrounding the hype for SOA. You can't expect fans to jump on everything you do when you fail to reviatlise over the years and the gourmet meals you serve become slightly better microwave meals. This album does exactly that and serves up more of the same.
There are some interesting moments, but I sense the same old formula over and over again.
This is an interesting post and definitely gives some food for thought. I agree with a lot of it, but have a different perspective on some of it as well. I'm not a drummer or an audio person, and to my "normal person on the street" ears, MP hasn't developed an inability to play. I get the criticism that he's become predictable, especially from drummers who really pay attention to that sort of thing and who are looking for some innovation. So to use the meal analogy - I wouldn't say his drumming has gone from a gourmet meal to a microwave meal. I still like to watch him play. I still enjoy the drumming that he does, even if it doesn't change much. The gourmet meal probably hasn't changed much over the years either - so you might get sick of it, but it hasn't gone from a gourmet meal to a microwave one just because of that.
On the other hand, if you're talking about the music itself, yeah, I'm with you. For my tastes, DT albums are gourmet meals, Flying Colors is a damn good meal, and Adrenaline Mob was a microwave meal, and so is Sons of Apollo. I also agree with TAC that there's no life in the album, and maybe putting more time and effort into it would have yielded a different result.
As for the MP marketing brand - I don't see why he couldn't do both. Market himself, stay connected to his fans, etc, but put just a little more time into making quality music.
Thank you very much for your comment, indeed.
I accept that I have failed to clarify what I specifically meant by saying "his inability to play". His technical ability has lost it's edge over the years and he has become predictable. Can you imagine the SOA lineup with the likes of Marco Minnemann or Gavin Harrison? Technique is not just a way to show off, it also provides a musicians body with the ability to execute a musical vision. Over the years, I went from paying attention to the individual musical ability to caring more about a musical piece as a whole - so I guess I was alluding to the music itself and how MP fits into what's going on around him. I am not a fan of overplaying, nor have I ever been, so I don't expect MP to defy gravity in any shape or form.
About MP as a brand, I think people who are willing to spend the money on his output are more concerned with his abilities as a musician rather than his image. I for one, could not care less about what he posts on social media or his latest photoshoot with *insert photographer name*.
When I look at myself as an Audio Engineer, I know that there is a lot of competition in the industry and I think that I
cannot expect people to pick me over a colleague if I ever become stalled or lose my creative edge. It's about continuous development, not about becoming the McDonalds of music. (To continue the food analogy.)