Oh no! Definitely not. He's one man in a difficult situation. It'd be ridiculous to expect perfection out of him at any time, let alone in what must be a fairly stressful chapter of his career - and moreso for him than for the other guys.
But it's natural to hope, and it's natural to be a smidge disappointed when stuff doesn't go so smoothly. It's nice to have him whizzing around being a superhero, and to be able to forget that he's just another guy - albeit one with an extraordinary job.
...or an extraordinary CV, anyway.
Yeah, I just cannot join in the MP bashing. Even though I'm excited about the "new" Dream Theater. Hey, they're my favorite band. MP's been a fan's dream. He owes me nothing. Just because he "chose" to leave doesn't make him immune to feeling bad or hurt by people going "fuck 'im". No one has EVER worked harder to make their fans as happy as MP. I'm 42 years old and have been a rock fan since I was 12 (9 if you count Kiss..haha) and MP has been the most gracious and thoughtful "rock star" that I have ever experienced.
Sure, he'd do himself a favor and get off the computer, but I'm taking everything he says during this period with a grain of salt. I'm sure it's tough for him to see people being so easily dismissive of his hard work. Whether he asked for it or not, I'm cutting him a break on this.
-TAC.
I'm completely with you TAC, I don't really know why people find it so hard to understand how upset he is and thus how dickish some of his comments come across as, when really he's just venting.
Also the "we pay his bills" argument is rubbish. No we don't, we buy the products because we want them, not because we want the band members to have money. By that argument, surely we pay the bills of every employee of every company we buy products from?
The fans are why is where he is financially. That is just a fact.
Mike is angry because the band is happy about there future. Ok, I understand that. They didn't kick him out, he left. He wanted them to put there careers on hold indefinitely and they choose not to. That makes them the bad guys? I sure don't think so.
Has anyone considered for a moment the other members of DT have feelings too? Don't you think it bothered them to see Mike taking on so many projects he was completely energized publicly about? They pay attention to what he says. They recognized he was more excited by his side work then DT. No one has really brought this perspective to the table.
They have feelings just like Mike and when he doing his thing playing huge festivals with AV7, you don't think they feel a little slighted or maybe even jealous?
The bottom line is, take into account they way they may have been feeling about Mike's extracurricular stuff and how they probably felt when he said, hey I'm not into this band right now, why doesn't everyone wait around and amuse themselves with other things until I am.
Why are they bad guys in anyone's eyes but not wanting to do that? They want Dream Theater to work in 2011. These guys are not young anymore and you get get time back. Not to mention a year off can really loose you some of your fan base.
I am just saying to those who want to just give Mike a pass for his anger your wrong in doing so, its your right to. Just remember though there are two sides to every story and it seems the silence in the Dream Theater camp shows me what class acts they are overall.
In closing. I am not bashing Mike, I'm offering my perspective. I still love the guy and support his career.(away from AV7, which I can't stomach, and wont)
I watched Score last night and it made me sad.
This is the most level-headed response i've read on this topic so far.
Here's my opinion - I couldn't care less that Mike is gone.
Most people will call me a lesser fan because of that. But I don't care about the average DT fan either. Most DT fans are so narrow-minded it's unbelievable. (from what i've seen on this forum, that is not really the case - a very open-minded forum) But at gigs, and in person, i've seen some truly idiotic fans who think they some how have this 'advanced' opinion on music purely because they are DT fans. It's quite annoying in fact.
The fact that DT are willing to accept a change, makes me excited to hear their new music. And I think it will be new. I thank Mike for the memories, but i've always been under the impression he had a major influence in their overall sound. And i've found DT's last 3 albums to be a little stale. (with some great songs, mind)
This is an exciting time to be a DT fan. Mike made his decision, and while I think it's an
awful decision on his part, we should atleast respect that he is a human being, free to make choices. Good luck to him, and good luck to DT - who I hope have many years left making music.
As for Mike's comments. Well, i'm no psychologist, but it's obvious to me he's experiencing the gravity of his decision already. That's just the way things go in life. Actions have consequences. It's just not going to be a pretty sight when a new drummer is announced and new music is made available to the fans. I think he has too much pride to admit he made a mistake (if indeed this is truly the case) but either way, he should learn to get on with it.
How many times in our lives have we realised we've made mistakes, and simply moved on? We all go through it. Mike just probably needs to keep his mind occupied, and away from the backlash of angry DT fans.
Topic: Mike Portnoy leaves Dream Theater (Read 513986 times)
