Not even MP will argue that JP and JR come up with the bulk of the music parts that make up DT's songs. BUT MP also did come up with different music parts included in the songs - not as many as JP and JR, but still enough that it is noteworthy. And he also was heavily involved in the arranging of the songs, which is also a significant part of songwriting.
He kinda did argue exactly that. His quote from FB literally states that a fan is making a big assumption by thinking JP and JR wrote the bulk of the music and then he basically goes on to try to prove why that assumption is wrong.
I think you missed a subtle point that I made - I specifically said "music parts" not music. As Bosk eloquently put it in his last post, it stands to reason that to a great extent, the riff/melody/chord progressions originally came from JP and/or JR, but MP was involved in the shaping and arranging of those ideas, as well as the song arrangements in general. And he did contribute certain riff/melody/chord progressions too - just not to the same extent as JP and JR.
Another thing that does get overlooked are the vocal melodies, which he certainly was involved with for all the songs he wrote lyrics to, but he was probably involved in to varying degrees in other songs. Even in the case of the JP-penned TDEN, MP came up with the idea to do more of a rap for the verses in that song, instead of singing a melody as JP originally written.
I certainly won't argue that the man has said things in the past that weren't cringeworthy, but you can't blame the man for getting exasperated when fans (or former fans) love to criticize every little thing he does, especially when people cast all sorts of doubt on to what his contributions to the band and songwriting were. I'm pretty sure just about every single person that posts on this board would get more than just a little irritated if whatever they worked so hard on and gave so much of their life to was discounted and credit was taken away from them, which is what is happening now and has numerous times in the past.
His supposed "passive-agressive" statement is stated as such to prove the point he's making - going beyond simply refuting them. And quite frankly, I'd rather have a detailed explanation instead of being left to wonder what proof there is.
I can understand his irritation, but more often than not, he seems to make things worse by responding to critics online. Scotty, I know you and Mike are friends, but even you have to admit that sometimes the best thing for Mike would be to simply not respond to this stuff?
And I'll state this again, I'm not hating on MP or trying to diminish his contributions, I'm just trying to look at this as fairly as possible (Translation - not through MP-hater glasses or through MP-fanboy glasses).
For starters, yes I am friends with him, and yes I agree that there are occasions where it was best for MP to keep his mouth completely shut. But should he remain quiet regards everything? Absolutely not. The man has a right to explain things - maybe the way he types things (as Enigmachine points out) doesn't help, but there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to respond. And here's the thing - how much of making things worse is MP's fault and not that of the critics who look to pounce on and read into every little single thing he posts or says?
And to be clear, I also try to remain neutral and unbiased - I'm not perfect, but I think I do a decent job of it.
As I said, I don't agree with everything he's posted (particularly shortly after the split), but it also pisses me off when I see stupid allegations lobbed against him just because he is now perceived as "the enemy" of our favorite band.
Don't you guys think it is reasonable to think that MP had more of a hand in writing the 12-Step songs than most of the other ones?
I think Bosk's post is fairly accurate. MP may have been a bit more involved than with the other songs - I'd wager he was fully in control of the arranging of the songs (in particular TSF) besides the lyrics and vocal melodies - but to what degree he contributed more riff/melody/chord progression ideas is up for debate.
MP doesn't play a "melodic" instrument does he ?
I know he played a bit of bass in "Nightmare Cinema"
But I don't think i've ever seen him or anyone else say he writes actual music on a melodic instrument.
Brann from mastodon sings his musical ideas to the guys and they work it out.
MP can play basic ideas on guitar - don't forget he actually played Van Halen's Eruption at the beginning of the encore in 2007-2008. But the man could still humm or sing ideas if he couldn't play them on guitar or keys. I have an MP3 soundbyte he sent me where he recorded himself humming the main riff for ARoP when he first came up with the idea.