First off, It's nice to be back to the DT forums. I haven't been one of the regular posters since the forum was on DTs actual website years ago. I figured this was a good post to get started back up on again.
I haven't read much of the feedback coming from the DT fans about Portnoy's departure, but I certainly have an opinion of my own. To be honest, I haven't listened to the last 2 albums until a few months ago. I must say, they aren't DT's strongest albums for me. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I only gave the albums a couple listens only, but to be blunt without going into too much detail, some of the songs seem to not really go anywhere. Now, I'm not just some troll that's looking to rip on DT for no good reason or anything, if anyone even vaguely remembers me from the previous forum, I've always supported DT, been one of their biggest fans. Hell, I was even at both performances and recordings of Live Scenes from NY and Live and Budokan. Got a couple Metropolis 00 Jerseys, JPM100 in beat to hell from use condition, etc.
Anyway, to make this posting relevant, I'm going to give my two cents on the whole Portnoy leaving thing. I think Mike has the perfect mindset and I only wish the rest of the band would have followed. It's obvious and it came from the horses mouth that Portnoy never wanted to leave DT and he even looks forward to rejoining the band if it feels right again. See, portnoy has put himself in a unique position the rest of the band just doesn't seem to get at the moment. Myung contributes to the song writing occasionally and plays Bass, Petrucci steers the ship a bit as far as lyrics and song writing is concerned and he plays guitar. Jordan likes to play circus music and he's tried with all his might to incorporate that into the bands songs. James drinks a lot of water, takes voice lessons and uses concerts as proving grounds. (I kid, in other more serious words, they are all awesome artists and they have contributed, wrote, recorded and performed brilliantly throughout the years.) I can't imagine DT without these members. MP is no exception. But MP has a sort of oblique and omni directional perspective of band affairs and direction that the rest of the band doesn't really get at the moment. (I wish JP all the luck in the world trying to fill Mike's shoes.)
To simply put, Mike understands the feeling when you've been cramming for something, or writing, drawing, painting or trying to find some sort of inspiration for the longest time to create something, but all you end up doing is stressing yourself and you need to take a step back; a breather, in other words. He knows that through the act of doing nothing can a lot of times lead to the perfect solution. Detaching yourself from what you care most about can sometimes lead to the best result. There's an old romantic proverb that states that and I have no idea where it came from, but it sounds fitting "If you want to keep someone, you've got to be willing to lose them." or, "You don't know what you've really had until you've lost it" I probably butchered those a bit, but I'm sure you get what I'm getting at. In other words, Mike simply wanted some time to reflect. Mike felt it was time to bring things to an indefinite halt until that spark came back. 25 years is a long time to be engaged in something. A couple years is nothing if it means coming back bigger and better than ever with a head full of truly fresh ideas.
Mike knew best where the band has been headed since it's creation. Mike also knows best where the band is going. Unfortunately, it's not going in the direction that it felt it was going after Images and Words, after Awake, after Falling into Infinity, after Scenes from a Memory, etc. I think after the last Dream Theater album, it finally dawned on him that that feeling has faded a bit. Mike doesn't want to make music for the sake of making music. He's always wanted that sense of evolution for the band, that the music would always take the next great direction in it's path of evolution. I think that feeling was lost for him, and it's sort of stuck in a holding pattern. I don't think the other band members see that the way Mike does. After all, Myung still gets to play the Bass, John gets to play the guitar, Jordan keys and James sings. Sure, JP probably has a couple ideas of where to take the band from here and wants to give it a shot, but I think if the band would have taken a break, everyone else in the band would have said to Mike a year or so from now "Damn, this was a really good idea. I understand why you did what you did now. Those ideas that I had when you initially left seemed like shit in comparison to this."
I honestly think this is the best idea for the band. Myung, spend a year just touring the world with your family. Petrucci, buy a Ferrari California, a 64 iPod touch, jam pack it with all that music you've been meaning to listen to and take a year tour of the USA for a year straight. Jordan can play with his keyboards to try and find some more unique sounds. James, take some writing Journals, an acoustic guitar and just disappear for a year and develop a greater sense of writing music. I don't know, just do anything that will ultimately let you one day come to the conclusion "Wholey shite! I have an awesome idea that I never would have thought up before under the constants of the DT machine."
Ok, ranting now. But facts are facts, things aren't going to happen that way. I might be wrong in all of this, but it just feels right. Under the circumstances I hope I'm wrong and DT will just progressively get better and continue to put out awesome albums. We shall see.
-AytheSryche
Topic: Mike Portnoy leaves Dream Theater (Read 514728 times)
