" He was a drummer from the past. " Just like you should be a singer of the past? Sorry, you're DT's singer, and I love what you do, but no, he was not a drummer from the past. He's the heart of Dream Theater, and he pretends he doesn't care but he truly does. He care's about that band more than each and every one of the band members, and these projects like TWD are just rebounds to fill the whole of his 25 year old daughter.
I disagree with this. At some point, yes, he WAS the heart of DT. But look at the circumstances, if MP cared so much about DT, more than EACH AND EVERY one of the band members, then he wouldn't have left. It's as simple as that. He's the one who said it was getting stale. He's the one who said it was time for a five year break. And he was right to leave, because if he stayed, he wouldn't have been happy. His heart wasn't in it. And if his heart wasn't in it, then how could he possibly be the "heart" of the band?
Yes, he did a lot for the band, and took on a ridiculous amount of responsibilities, but hey, if he was getting burnt out on that, he could've just left it there, and said, "Hey, guys, do you mind maybe picking up the slack in this and this department?" But no, he said flat out, they should stop. And when they said they didn't want to, he gave them an ultimatum. It's understandable that he'd be tired and exhausted and feel a bit stagnant in DT. It's normal. But the other guys, they were still excited and fired up, and they acknowledged DT as being their life, their bread and butter, and aside from their casual side projects, they didn't feel the need to go join other bands on tours and collaborate with 100 other people.
I just don't see how you can say that he cared more about it than they did. He was more protective of it, maybe, but that's not the same thing.
Sure, he started regretting it later, and asked to come back, but that just proves that he was taking DT for granted.