You be you. I stand by my statements. I'm not speaking for Mike, nor would I, he's more than capable of speaking for himself (and I wouldn't bet my DT collection that he wouldn't have means to know of this conversation). I don't at all agree that anything can be said with a caveat of "only my opinion" and have it be valid. I cannot say "Scenes From a Memory is the greatest rap album of all time" and caveat it with "in my opinion". I took most offense to the line of reasoning that said "he's pissing his career away". You're entitled to like DT more than other things he's done (honestly, I love the stuff he's done, but my favorite MIKE album is still Images and Words) but I think it's fundamentally wrong to dictate to an artist what they should do. I'd LOVE to hear Billy Joel write new music, but that he doesn't is his call and his call only. I do not have the right - even with "in my opinion" - to say "he's wasting his talent". He's doing what he wants to do.
I have no interest in fighting with you. I'd rather enjoy our common bond of DT music.
A statement of "In my opinion, Scenes from a Memory is the greatest rap album of all time," of course can't be valid - because it isn't a rap album. An opinion cannot trump fact. However, an opinion that an artist is not maximizing his or her career, legacy, and what he or she is capable of, is very much a VALID opinion. You may not LIKE that type of discussion (which you have admitted), but trolling someone who has put it out there isn't the right way to go about it either, Stadler.
Yes, fans DO have the right to express their OPINION that an artist is "wasting their talent," if they believe that. It's called being a fan. Now, I grant you, if I saw Mike, I would never offer that opinion in personal conversation unless he specifically asked me my thoughts on what he's doing. Then I'd explain it probably a lot more gently than I did above. But the message would then be the same.
But this, DTF, is a message board. This is where fans SHARE those opinions. And I suggest -- if you don't like where a fan's opinion on something goes, then simply don't reply, or reply to a different aspect of the conversation. Because trying to impose your own sense of morality on other people, particularly when what was expressed was well within the rules, is a mistake, and insulting of the rest of us in the community.
Here's to Mike Portnoy -- may he be living the life and career he really wants, with as much happiness as possible. Carpe Diem!