8 years after leaving DT we're seeing that nothing MP has thrown on the wall has stuck as a long term, full time gig.
Okay. But I'm not sure he has really tried to make any one project "stick" as a single, full-time gig. I mean, obviously, he misunderstood his role with A7X even though they had only contracted with him through December of that year and had said they were going to find a full-time replacement for Rev at the end of that. But aside from that, in every project he has been a part of, he hitched himself to other musicians who had other things going on. It looks a lot to me like he hasn't really wanted to hitch himself to a single, full-time gig. I mean, maybe he was hoping TWD would turn into that, and I think he is still hoping SOA will (time will tell). But I don't think he has shown that that is really what he is pursuing at this point, outside of SOA. I mean, maybe that would have changed if the right opportunity would have presented itself. But we don't know.
Good point. I remember MP saying a while back after the DT split that he's glad he has the freedom to be a part of all of these projects, or something to that effect. I can't help but wonder if he was in some small way hoping that something would turn into the main thing. Obviously, not Trnasatlantic, Flying Colours, or other groups where members are in a main band. Something like TWD or SOA or Neal Morse Band would be more apt for a full time band.
Honestly I think he thought Adrenaline Mob could be it. When I first heard them I thought, yeah this sounds pretty radio friendly. I could see sports using AM songs for promos and whatever. I think even his wife posted on his old message board that AM has the most potential to be really big.
Granted, I know nothing about that type of music. Is Disturbed still selling well? Doing big tours? I honestly don't know. I don't pay much attention to them but I haven't heard a whole lot about them lately so maybe that style of music is not too popular anymore. At one point it was but they missed the boat on that one.
It will probably never happen but if I ever get to have dinner with Mike and Marlene, I'm going to respectfully ask about that. I have ZERO doubt that in the wake of the separation, with the bad blood floating about, with the pretty toxic atmosphere at his site (I'm stunned he didn't shut the forum down then; there were more than one epic meltdowns there at the time, plus all the needless and baseless speculation that was running rampant) and the need to move forward, that they expected AMob to be an arena act. They were comparing Amob to acts like A7X and Disturbed and noting that those were PLATINUM bands (1,000,000 sold in the States). But to me, as someone who patently is NOT a fan - and so for whom all the Disturbeds, Godsmacks, A7xs, Chevelles, Chevrons, Finger Elevens, Finger Twelves (and yes, even Finger Thirteens), Hinders, Tinders, Grindrs, and Seethers all sound relatively the same - even I could tell that there was a lack of... authenticity for lack of a better word in Amob. "I'm mutherfuckin' psychosane" wasn't deep or dark or whatever, it was a JOKE. I literally LAUGHED when I heard that.
I just think - and who am I to judge, right? - that Mike might be too close to the situation. I think he's missing what made his incarnation of DT special. Yeah, it was the music, but it was so much more than that. It took 15 to 20 years to build that "it" up, and frankly, he doesn't have 15 to 20 years to do that again. He keeps trying to rely on the "MP Warriors" to make it happen, but - to the extent I am one (and I don't think I am) - I'm not interested in making it happen again. I HAVE my Images and Words. I have my Awake. I'm 50; I'm looking for something different; I'm not "mutherfuckin' psychosane" anymore (well, never was). Gimme something that rivals the cameraderie, the bon amie, the community that was early DT and I'm in. But that's not what SoA is to me; the closest he comes now is Neal Morse's gig, and that's Neal Morse's gig.