An asshole? Maybe. I think he just feels hurt in the way DT has treated him. When he wanted to rejoin the band, didn't he say he personally tried to call them but never once did they pick up the phone. To him I'm sure he felt very disrespected, and I don't blame him. Make no mistake, the band is as succesfull as they are because of him. Not saying the music is good because of him but they are where they are because of Mike's blood, sweat and tears he put into that band. Why do you think the band members have carried on with doing multiple interviews and updating of information on their music? Cause that's what Mike did. Mike gave them the blueprint on how to run the band and make it successfull. If they would have stopped and became a bunch of Neil Peart's, they would have gotten a shit storm from the fans. I think that might have been one of Mike's concerns for the band moving forward without him. So yeah when he hears James saying that their last drummer should have been more focused on groovin than trying to get attention or whatever he said, it's gonna piss him off. He's gotta be thinking, who the fuck does he think he is? Bottom line is he feels that DT is his baby, and the fact that the others members of DT wouldn't even pick up the phone to talk to him after all the hard work he's put into that band, he pretty much feels disrespected. Hence all the "so called" asshole behavior of his lately.
All that sounds nice in isolation, but no where in there is the fact that he told the band they should take an indefinite hiatus so he could play with other bands while the other members, particularly Myung and LaBrie, struggled for paychecks. When the other members said no, he chose to leave. At no point did they ever tell him to do that.
If you wanna say what the band's doing now is an imitation of what Portnoy did, I'd agree. But the idea they'd never do anything in the media without him is a bit silly. Rudess is clearly very, very interested in social media on his own, and Petrucci has always been active with making videos, solo albums, doing clinic appearances and interviews, and so on. MP deserves credit for the official bootlegs, trying to bring extras to the products, encouraging bootlegging (admittedly a huge part of the band's success, and one Petrucci might not have approved of if he was calling the shots), and encouraging the open attitude.
Maybe the recent events are tainting my perspective, and that's fine. But it's hard to be grateful when all MP can talk about is how under-appreciated he is and how we need to know that Dream Theater was HIS baby that he poured all HIS blood sweat and tears into. So Petrucci, Rudess, LaBrie, and Myung are a bunch of shitheads who sat around twiddling their thumbs while MP made them successful? Bullshit. MP admitted he never practices on the drums anymore. Rudess is investigating a whole new field of electronic instruments, LaBrie is working on enhancing his vocal techniques all the time, Petrucci practices an hour a day, and Myung actually warms down after shows. But MP's the one who puts all the work into the band's success?
Fucking bullshit.
And yeah, JLB has every right to be pissy about it. How's LaBrie supposed to feel when Portnoy's saying in the media that he wouldn't be the singer of DT if the position were auditioned today?
IF MP was really this amazing guy who would give everything he had to DT, why didn't he go into that band meeting and say he felt there were a lot of problems with the band's dynamics and that they needed to discuss them openly and reach some kind of resolution? Because he would have rather played with Avenged Sevenfold. And that's fine, but then why is he so devastated by the fact he left Dream Theater?
Topic: MIKE PORTNOY: It's 'Painful' For Me To Hear New DREAM THEATER Music - Aug. 6, (Read 14681 times)