Mike Portnoy's "Prog Metal" supergroup: Sons of Apollo

[MinistroRaven]

Why is "left" in quotes?

I am guessing it is because, although he ultimately had the say in leaving vs. being let go or only being a hired gun for a limited time, in both situations it was complicated and wasn't simply a matter of him unilaterally just packing his bags.  In the case of DT, for example, while it was his decision, I know he feels that, from his perspective, he didn't have a choice because he had a need that the band inflexibly (from his perspective) refused to meet. 

Even though he wanted the other guys to quit their jobs while he went off and continued making money.

Hiatus: a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

Sounds very different than what you said.

PROBABLY Mike thought the other guys could do something with their own projects while on HIATUS (see above for definition) and still make money

He might have thought that, but how much money would they make in their relatively unknown side projects while Mike is making bank with Avenged Sevenfold.

If I took a hiatus from my job, I wouldn't get paid. He didn't ask to go on vacation, but I'm pretty sure musicians don't get vacation pay anyway. It was an unfair proposition.

@bosk: OK.

There's absolutely nothing stopping any of them from doing the same thing that he did in that situation. They're all world class musicians that could work with any number of higher paying acts under the right circumstances.

But why would they, they all are already in a high profile successful band. So MP can play with Avenged Sevenfold? A band is a relationship. Imagine Neil telling Geddy and Alex "Guys, I would like a break because I want to tour with Panic at the Disco"

I am sure MP explained himself pretty well why he wanted the hiatus. And the band refused, that's all we know, that's what we have, that's the end of the discussion I think.

But yes, I can imagine Neil asking those guys to take a break because he wants to tour with Panic at the Disco if that's what he wants to do. Of course Geddy and Alex can agree or dissagree with Neil and tell him to fuck off. Or, they can say, sure Neil, take your time while you are at it we will do other things, or do nothing at all. Many people here have said that DT it's a pretty stable/succesful band and I agree with that, so I don't think money it's an issue for taking a break, but that's my thoght, perhaps money IT IS an issue. But at the end it is only speculation on our part.

[gmillerdrake]

song doesn't "wow" me, but its still better than anything on The Astonishing.

Ehhh.....let's not get carried away. It was an alright single or whatever but certainly nothing musically 'better' than the many instances of virtuosity in Astonishing. Just comparing drums alone any of MM's Astonishing songs blows MPs effort on this one away. The knack on MP is that he has a bag of tricks and he just rehashes them and it's really more of the same in this song.

Anyhoo......

[Sycsa]

song doesn't "wow" me, but its still better than anything on The Astonishing.

Ehhh.....let's not get carried away. It was an alright single or whatever but certainly nothing musically 'better' than the many instances of virtuosity in Astonishing. Just comparing drums alone any of MM's Astonishing songs blows MPs effort on this one away. The knack on MP is that he has a bag of tricks and he just rehashes them and it's really more of the same in this song.

Anyhoo......

All that matters to me is that I could get through The Astonishing only once, while Psychotic Symphony will probably end up as one of my most listened to albums of the year. Also, since MM joined DT, I'm craving a good, warm drum sound, which MP delivers here.

[bosk1]

Why is "left" in quotes?

I am guessing it is because, although he ultimately had the say in leaving vs. being let go or only being a hired gun for a limited time, in both situations it was complicated and wasn't simply a matter of him unilaterally just packing his bags.  In the case of DT, for example, while it was his decision, I know he feels that, from his perspective, he didn't have a choice because he had a need that the band inflexibly (from his perspective) refused to meet. 

Even though he wanted the other guys to quit their jobs while he went off and continued making money.

Hiatus: a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

Sounds very different than what you said.

PROBABLY Mike thought the other guys could do something with their own projects while on HIATUS (see above for definition) and still make money

He might have thought that, but how much money would they make in their relatively unknown side projects while Mike is making bank with Avenged Sevenfold.

Not Mike's fault.

Yes, but it's not about "fault."  It's about the fact that he knew or should have known that he was putting them in a difficult situation.  None of them were involved in big projects outside of DT other than Portnoy with A7X.  Again, that's not about fault or blame.  There's nothing "wrong" with that.  But he should have realized that, because DT is the primary income source for the other members, and that they do not make money from any small side projects or solo albums they might do, and putting DT on hiatus puts a halt to their revenue stream, that a hiatus would put them all in a financial situation they weren't willing to put themselves in.  Obviously, as you acknowledge, there is a lot of additional detail we don't know.  But that fact alone justifies the band saying "no" to the proposition if that is what they were inclined to do.

I hear some Symphony X, mainly the vox melodies.

song doesn't "wow" me, but its still better than anything on The Astonishing.

It's really not.

Listen to Zook in all things.

[MinistroRaven]

Why is "left" in quotes?

I am guessing it is because, although he ultimately had the say in leaving vs. being let go or only being a hired gun for a limited time, in both situations it was complicated and wasn't simply a matter of him unilaterally just packing his bags.  In the case of DT, for example, while it was his decision, I know he feels that, from his perspective, he didn't have a choice because he had a need that the band inflexibly (from his perspective) refused to meet. 

Even though he wanted the other guys to quit their jobs while he went off and continued making money.

Hiatus: a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

Sounds very different than what you said.

PROBABLY Mike thought the other guys could do something with their own projects while on HIATUS (see above for definition) and still make money

He might have thought that, but how much money would they make in their relatively unknown side projects while Mike is making bank with Avenged Sevenfold.

Not Mike's fault.

Yes, but it's not about "fault."  It's about the fact that he knew or should have known that he was putting them in a difficult situation.  None of them were involved in big projects outside of DT other than Portnoy with A7X.  Again, that's not about fault or blame.  There's nothing "wrong" with that.  But he should have realized that, because DT is the primary income source for the other members, and that they do not make money from any small side projects or solo albums they might do, and putting DT on hiatus puts a halt to their revenue stream, that a hiatus would put them all in a financial situation they weren't willing to put themselves in.  Obviously, as you acknowledge, there is a lot of additional detail we don't know.  But that fact alone justifies the band saying "no" to the proposition if that is what they were inclined to do.

I hear some Symphony X, mainly the vox melodies.

song doesn't "wow" me, but its still better than anything on The Astonishing.

It's really not.

Listen to Zook in all things.

I agree with all what you said Bosk1

[gmillerdrake]

song doesn't "wow" me, but its still better than anything on The Astonishing.

Ehhh.....let's not get carried away. It was an alright single or whatever but certainly nothing musically 'better' than the many instances of virtuosity in Astonishing. Just comparing drums alone any of MM's Astonishing songs blows MPs effort on this one away. The knack on MP is that he has a bag of tricks and he just rehashes them and it's really more of the same in this song.

Anyhoo......

All that matters to me is that I could get through The Astonishing only once, while Psychotic Symphony will probably end up as one of my most listened to albums of the year. Also, since MM joined DT, I'm craving a good, warm drum sound, which MP delivers here.

What good does a good drum sound get you when your going to listen to the same fills, same odd time signature triggers and so on? I can totally get on board with the fact DT needs to have a better drum sound but I would bet my left eye that the actual playing MP produces on this record will be his bag of tricks just splattered in a different manner than the last album he recorded.

MP is a fantastic drummer....IMO bag of tricks or not his playing on Neal's Similitude of a Dream may be his top performance ever BUT MM is far more creative especially when it comes to bass kicks and fills.

This SOA album may be fantastic, we will know soon enough but all I've got to go off of right now is that release and IMO there was nothing on it that made me excited enough to jump up and down. It was all pretty tame and heard before.

[gmillerdrake]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

[bosk1]

What good does a good drum sound get you when your going to listen to the same fills, same odd time signature triggers and so on? I can totally get on board with the fact DT needs to have a better drum sound but I would bet my left eye that the actual playing MP produces on this record will be his bag of tricks just splattered in a different manner than the last album he recorded.

But what's wrong with any of that?

[gmillerdrake]

What good does a good drum sound get you when your going to listen to the same fills, same odd time signature triggers and so on? I can totally get on board with the fact DT needs to have a better drum sound but I would bet my left eye that the actual playing MP produces on this record will be his bag of tricks just splattered in a different manner than the last album he recorded.

But what's wrong with any of that?

I suppose nothing. Like I Said, Similitude of a Dream is IMO if not his best then one of his best ever. It was the implication that this generic song was 'better' than ANYTHING on the Astonishimg. That was silly in my eyes.

[Sycsa]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Yeah, Derek needs to curb his enthusiasm.

[bill1971]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Exactly. See where you are at in 30 years, or even 10 years.

[bosk1]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Exactly. See where you are at in 30 years, or even 10 years.

...or even one year?   

But, yeah, at the very least, those sorts of accolades are given by others and shouldn't be given to oneself. 

[NoseofNicko]

Good song. And yes it does sound like modern Symphony X.

[Schurftkut]

i hope they throw in a Queen cover in the live setlist. Jeff does a great job performing those songs

listen: https://youtu.be/Yob0Wpgcxns?t=3600

[ronnibran]

I like it quite a bit!  Even though the chorus makes me feel like I'm trapped in a Rocky movie somehow...

Love the guitar solo also.  Can't wait for the whole album.

[KevShmev]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Sherinian strikes me as the kind of guy who makes those kind of bombastic statements with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.  Remember his "making history, AND YOU?" comment at the beginning of 5 Years in a Livetime?  Sure, it's easy to think that he is becoming another Portnoy in the sense of being his own biggest cheerleader, but he has never struck me as having that kind of personality.

[King Postwhore]

I agree Kev. 

We all remember the intro for 5 years ......

[gmillerdrake]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Sherinian strikes me as the kind of guy who makes those kind of bombastic statements with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.  Remember his "making history, AND YOU?" comment at the beginning of 5 Years in a Livetime?  Sure, it's easy to think that he is becoming another Portnoy in the sense of being his own biggest cheerleader, but he has never struck me as having that kind of personality.

I can see that being the case.

[bill1971]

I agree Kev. 

We all remember the into for 5 years ......

I agree, I think he is just playing around.

[Madman Shepherd]

He probably needs to stay off social media, but I don't really see anything wrong with what he said there.

I don't think he did either.

Except out if the full time bands he's been in (dt,am,wd, and I guess Neal Morse band is considered full time sort of) he's quit 50% of them and one of the two he's in now is in on extended hiatus. Not his choice but still not the immaculate track record he makes it out to be.

[ErHaO]

I like the new song. Plenty of good hooks and I like the vocals. A bit less djenty riffs would be better for my taste, but it wasn't overdone.

Overall nothing new, but I don't expect this album to sound something new nor does it need to be for me.

[Destiny Of Chaos]

I like the song, but honestly, every DT first song released was better to me. Still look forward to the album as a whole.

[ReaperKK]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Exactly. See where you are at in 30 years, or even 10 years.

...or even one year?   

But, yeah, at the very least, those sorts of accolades are given by others and shouldn't be given to oneself. 

Yea but Derek has always liked to play the larger-than-life rock star role.

[Anguyen92]

Heard the track.  It's all right, I guess.  Probably something I would not listen too often.  Not too keen on the vocals.  Didn't enjoy this song as much as say Art of Anarchy's, which is another band that Bumblefoot is in that involves Disturbed's John Moyer and ....... Creed's Scott Stapp, The Madness and I'm meh on Art of Anarchy as well.

Still, I wish them luck and if Portnoy and Sherinian wants to make prog metal with this line-up, so be it.  Hope there are some songs I like in this album.

[Madman Shepherd]

Sherinians latest tweet says "meet the new Kings of Progressive Metal"

Shouldnt that be an earned title? At least see if the band sticks together for a year before getting 'King' status 

Exactly. See where you are at in 30 years, or even 10 years.

...or even one year?   

But, yeah, at the very least, those sorts of accolades are given by others and shouldn't be given to oneself. 

Yea but Derek has always liked to play the larger-than-life rock star role.

It's funny because when I was first getting into Dream Theater the friend that got me into them was actually getting out of them. He couldn't admit that he just lost interest in the music and would rip on their personalities, their shredding their metal Style etc. He told me about their home movies where the guitarist actually hired somebody spray his hands because they got too hot. He also told me the keyboardist is the most arrogant musician he's ever seen.

When I finally saw the videos the person that was spraying the guitarist hands was actually the first keyboardist and was doing it just to make sure that they were well lubed for a specific part of the song. They actually had a good humor about it. Didn't seem arrogant at all. Then in the other video the keyboardist said he was making history. My friend was like "see! He is so arrogant." And I'm like "what the hell dude? that was clearly a joke." Actually got into an argument with him because I was so sick of him ripping on this group that I was just getting into. He finally admitted "yeah I guess it was a joke." I love that about Derek.

Social media on the other hand is something that can be taken the wrong way. And pronouncing yourself the king of prog metal doesn't really come across as a joke unless you've got feather boas around your neck and lava lamps surrounding you. Not a very wise thing for Derek to do and some of his statements are kind of putting me off. This goes beyond simply him "making history."

[ReaperKK]

I guess that makes sense. I guess seeing Derek in the OIALT video you realize he is joking, if you didn't know anything about him then it could be taken differently.

[JayOctavarium]

Wait...

Is that the video where he's spraying Fast Fret on JP's guitar during the recording of Space Dye?

[devieira73]

Changing the subject, I guess that everyone here already saw that there will be a limited editon, with 2 CDs:
https://www.insideoutshop.de/Item/Sons_Of_Apollo_-_Psychotic_Symphony_-Ltd-_2CD_Mediabook-/16367
It's not specified, but it seems that the second CD is an instrumental version of the album. I guess no band hadn't done this before, but I would like a instrumental version of an album, with the vocal melodies replaced by an instrument, like guitar or keyboard. This would somenthing out of the ordinary! Well, I'll buy that edition anyway 

[Mosh]

I'm pretty meh on instrumental versions of the albums. I'd much rather see a bonus DVD with a documentary or demos or a studio jam. I'm never going to listen to an instrumental version because it'll just sound like something is missing (and I can selectively listen to ignore the vocals if I want anyway).

[Madman Shepherd]

Wait...

Is that the video where he's spraying Fast Fret on JP's guitar during the recording of Space Dye?

Yes, I think it's in the 5 Years in a Livetime video, Kevin Moore is spraying that stuff on Petrucci's hand.  Petrucci screws up at the end and they all bust up laughing. 

I think its funny my dumb former friend insisted to me that Petrucci hired somebody to spray his hands to cool them down while he's soloing because they get too warm.  This was also before the "pycho excercises."

[Polarbear]

My thoughts:

I love it more than I expected (not sure WHAT I expected to be honest, but it's a lot better than It could have been). It reminds me of like... FII era DT, aged 20 years, with a bit of  Symphony X sprinkled in. (I have listened to some SX on and off... over the years). I totally get the slight  Russel Allen feel, but it's slight.

And as others have said... if this is more of a straight up rocking preview of the album, and the best is yet to come, color me excite.

My thought's also!

Excited to hear more!

[Sycsa]

Wait...

Is that the video where he's spraying Fast Fret on JP's guitar during the recording of Space Dye?

Yes, I think it's in the 5 Years in a Livetime video, Kevin Moore is spraying that stuff on Petrucci's hand.  Petrucci screws up at the end and they all bust up laughing. 

I think its funny my dumb former friend insisted to me that Petrucci hired somebody to spray his hands to cool them down while he's soloing because they get too warm.  This was also before the "pycho excercises."

Out of curiosity, how old is your friend (or how old was he back then)? Sounds like he's about 16.

[Madman Shepherd]

Wait...

Is that the video where he's spraying Fast Fret on JP's guitar during the recording of Space Dye?

Yes, I think it's in the 5 Years in a Livetime video, Kevin Moore is spraying that stuff on Petrucci's hand.  Petrucci screws up at the end and they all bust up laughing. 

I think its funny my dumb former friend insisted to me that Petrucci hired somebody to spray his hands to cool them down while he's soloing because they get too warm.  This was also before the "pycho excercises."

Out of curiosity, how old is your friend (or how old was he back then)? Sounds like he's about 16.

This would have been early 2000s so I think he was early to mid 20s.  He was influenced by his older brothers though and they were late 20s early 30s.  They were of the breed that listened to Dream Theater because it was intellectual music and then moved to only listen to jazz because Dream Theater music was too dumb while simultaneously talking about how arrogant DT was.  I wish I was joking. 

I mentioned in another post that he couldn't admit he had just grown out of DT and basically said I&W and Awake were the only two good albums. I did finally get him to admit he had just grown out of the music and it wasn't DT's fault.  It happens.  There are bands I still have tremendous respect for that I don't listen to anymore.  I don't trash them.  I just don't listen to them anymore.

[SoundscapeMN]

Derek sounds good on this 1st song.

Listening to it, I couldn't help but think: the idea of Mike and Derek playing prog metal sounds intriguing, but from the way this song sounds, some other people on the roster, might have appealed to me more. I.e. a different singer and guitarist.

However it's only 1 song; perhaps the rest of the record will be better. But I'm kind of skeptical, just for the fact Jeff Scott Soto is the singer. Not sure if his voice works well doing this kind of music, beyond sounding somewhat cliche prog metal.

[Lowdz]

Derek sounds good on this 1st song.

Listening to it, I couldn't help but think: the idea of Mike and Derek playing prog metal sounds intriguing, but from the way this song sounds, some others people on the roster, might have appealed to me more. I.e. a different singer and guitarist.

However it's only 1 song; perhaps the rest of the record will be better. But I'm kind of skeptical, just for the fact Jeff Scott Soto is the singer. Not sure if his voice works well doing this kind of music, beyond sounding somewhat cliche prog metal.

I associate prog metal singers as being in the higher registers rather than JSS's more rock voice.