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

[As I Am]

From the man himself:

RIP The Forum

I will continue to post tour dates and release dates as they come in as well as keeping the tourography up to date.
 

Honestly, this is all I care about anyway!

[mikeyd23]

  MP bringing Kotow out of retirement baby.

[Kotwoboy]

MP bringing Kotow out of retirement baby.

All this going on and i've had to just sit back and do nothing !!!!

NOTHING !!!

Derek has caught douche. Until he was in SOA he seemed like a cool guy. Oh well.

[Anxiety35]

I was on MP's forum for close to the 20 years. Had some good times. I was more of a reader than a poster. Kina got disappointed there in the last few months.

Now I'm here. Been an avid DT fan since Awake.

All the crud aside, I am looking forward to SoA release. I'll wait to give my final verdict when I can hear the album in its entirety.

[Bertielee]

I was on MP's forum for close to the 20 years. Had some good times. I was more of a reader than a poster. Kina got disappointed there in the last few months.

Now I'm here. Been an avid DT fan since Awake.

All the crud aside, I am looking forward to SoA release. I'll wait to give my final verdict when I can hear the album in its entirety.

Welcome to DTF, mate. Hope you enjoy your stay here.

B.Lee

[Kotwoboy]

My fave thing about DTF ?

MP can't do a thing about it

[El Barto]

My fave thing about DTF ?

MP can't do a thing about it

Nah, he wants us here. We validate his victim status.

[MinistroRaven]

The news got to BlabberMouth

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity/

[gzarruk]

The news got to BlabberMouth

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity/

 

[kaos2900]

At last no one has to worry about whether or not the quote function would work.

[SwedishGoose]

Any punlicity is good eh?

[The Walrus]

He wrote in a September 16 post: "When I hash-tagged #ProgMetal on the first day in the studio (before anything was written), that was the general idea *in mind*...but once we started writing together, the music ended up going in MANY places...and I think that is what will set this band apart from most in the 'prog' genre.
Read more at https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity.html#2P5OGIhZDUgUF82k.99

The more I read this quote, the more I think SoA is standing out in the 'prog' genre... by not being all that prog? Is that the new meta? Prog has gotten so prog that it's prog to play not prog. Proggity.

[bosk1]

He wrote in a September 16 post: "When I hash-tagged #ProgMetal on the first day in the studio (before anything was written), that was the general idea *in mind*...but once we started writing together, the music ended up going in MANY places...and I think that is what will set this band apart from most in the 'prog' genre.
Read more at https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity.html#2P5OGIhZDUgUF82k.99

The more I read this quote, the more I think SoA is standing out in the 'prog' genre... by not being all that prog? Is that the new meta? Prog has gotten so prog that it's prog to play not prog. Proggity.

Post-prog.

[The Walrus]

Post-prog: where you play with 2 necks even though you only need 1.

Just trying to have some simple, harmless fun.

[cramx3]

Post-prog, when you only play two songs at a concert 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/next-to-none/2017/center-stage-atlanta-ga-4be2df92.html

But seriously, I'm glad MP is coming out and saying that the music isn't actually all prog.  Since it's clear the first two singles aren't that after advertising as such (and honestly, I think that's where my dislike of the music is driven from since the songs aren't bad, it just isn't what I expected and taking it out of that expectations, I enjoy the two songs much more) hurts the music.  Just be honest, it's a hard rock album that has prog and other elements in it. (which is my assumption based on what I've heard and read)

[As I Am]

My fave thing about DTF ?

MP can't do a thing about it

Should've stayed retired! 

[El Barto]

Post-prog, when you only play two songs at a concert 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/next-to-none/2017/center-stage-atlanta-ga-4be2df92.html

When I turn somebody onto Transatlantic I'll give them a copy of Live in Europe, and I always tell them "don't worry, it's only 6 songs, and one of them's pretty short."

[Samsara]

Here's the thing...Bumblefoot, Billy Sheehan and JSS aren't prog guys. I mean, yeah, JSS does TSO, which has prog leanings for sure. But really, the only two "prog" guys in the band are MP and DS. And if they truly wanted to do prog, they should have gotten guys known for that.

I mean, I'm not an uppity prog-snob. I'm what I'd refer to as a fan of more intelligent hard rock/metal with prog leanings. A lot of bands fall into that category to a degree -- Queensryche, Alter Bridge, Fates Warning, DT (more prog), Alice in Chains, etc. So, I am going into SoA (I haven't listened to the entirety of the songs released so far) just expecting some damn good heavy rock with some prog flourishes, mostly coming from the drums. I'm looking forward to it.

I'd be lying, however, if I said I wasn't disappointed with the people MP and DS chose. I was really hoping they'd go for a voice with less...miles on it than JSS, and I'm not at all sold with Bumblefoot and Billy Sheehan. I mean, I was one of the first to guess JSS, and I was right, and that really bums me out. Not that I don't love JSS -- I do. Great vocalist, hell of a nice guy. Just not who I wanted on THIS project. And to be honest, while I really do appreciate the talent of Billy and Bumble, I'm just tired of seeing them on every fucking record I buy (it seems like).

But it's not our band, right? So you take what you are given. And I'll check SoA out, and I really hope I love the album, despite my disappointment in some of the musicians chosen.

I gotta admit, I mean, I'm a guy for reunions and happy endings in music stories. I'd love to see MP return to Dream Theater. No disrespect at all whatsoever to Mike Mangini. And while I am not rooting for SoA to fail, I am hoping MP at some point calls JP, and the two of them work it out. There's no need for SoA. Just put the gang back together.

That said, here's hoping SoA is really good.

Sorry, my thoughts kinda got jumbled.

[Zook]

I just wanted at least one post-DT band to sound good. I mean, for fucks sake, we had Russell Allen and Mike Portnoy in a band, and somehow that was a dumpster fire.

[Samsara]

I just wanted at least one post-DT band to sound good. I mean, for fucks sake, we had Russell Allen and Mike Portnoy in a band, and somehow that was a dumpster fire.

Seriously. I thought it would be amazing, but it quickly got pretty lame. I knew it wasn't a prog metal project, but I mean, MP and RA? How can you go wrong. Well, it did. Ugh.

[The Walrus]

Goin' motherfuckin' psychosane.

[gmillerdrake]

Calling out the (2) songs they've released as being non prog and giving them crap about it is perfectly warranted as DS has spent the past three months billing SOA and the new 'prog kings' and even as recently as yesterday hash tagged 'redefining prog' in one of his twitter posts.

You can't use 'prog' in every other sentence in your posts and interviews and then expect not to get called out and catch some grief when the first two singles you release have near zero prog elements.

Had DS not decided to wage a twitter war against DT and start the whole silly little 'kings of prog' crap and just released their songs and let them be what they were I think they'd have been received better. But you can't stand at home plate and call your shot then ground out on a weak dribble hit back to the pitcher and not expect to get made fun of.

[Samsara]

Goin' motherfuckin' psychosane.

 

So. Bad.

[The Walrus]

Calling out the (2) songs they've released as being non prog and giving them crap about it is perfectly warranted as DS has spent the past three months billing SOA and the new 'prog kings' and even as recently as yesterday hash tagged 'redefining prog' in one of his twitter posts.

You can't use 'prog' in every other sentence in your posts and interviews and then expect not to get called out and catch some grief when the first two singles you release have near zero prog elements.

Had DS not decided to wage a twitter war against DT and start the whole silly little 'kings of prog' crap and just released their songs and let them be what they were I think they'd have been received better. But you can't stand at home plate and call your shot then ground out on a weak dribble hit back to the pitcher and not expect to get made fun of.

The forum Facebook group is all about calling everyone over there who voiced criticism 'trolls' and 'scumbags' now. This divide amongst fans is only growing, especially with the forum shutdown. This has not been handled well at all from the very start. What is going to be the reaction if the rest of the album is not all that prog after all?

The complaints about the songs not being prog is 100% valid and somehow that is not seen as an acceptable criticism. Now people think everyone on that site was just saying, "Fuck MP, where's the Dream Theater stuff we were promised?" when that is anything but what has been happening.

This is really embarrassing all around now and it makes me sad. You're either all in or not apparently.

[Bertielee]

MP has the "fans" he deserves : with him, it's all black or white, so it is for a part of his fans. Frankly, given his attitude and DS's, it doesn't come as a surprise that some react the way they do. And no, we were not waiting for DT-type prog metal, we were just waiting for prog metal as had been announced. And the two songs released have nothing of that.

B.Lee

[bill1971]

The news got to BlabberMouth

https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity/

The headline reads.

MIKE PORTNOY Shuts Down His Official Forum After 18 Years, Says He Can 'Only Take So Much' Bickering And Negativity
Read more at https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity.html#4aK12vzATRyEoJxh.99

I thought it should read that after 2 weeks MP fires Derek for the second time because he can only take so much negativity.

[MirrorMask]

I went and listened to the two songs back to back.

Coming Home has quite a nice and addictive groove, the lyrics are quite meh. Enough with this "Yo I'm a tough guy" kind of stuff.
Sign of the Times has very nice vocals and melodies, not really caught so far by the instrumental section, looks like generic prog / rock doodling around on instruments but then again I was never a big instrumentals fan so don't mind me too much.

[Kotwoboy]

Not gonna bash MP for the sake of it...But he'll never change... Just when you think he might have learned and moved on and grown up...Nope.

And I expected SOA to at last sound like DT - not some really generic hard rock which sounds like every other virtuoso supergroup - as someone else said.

It just screams "virtuoso supergroup".

And Derek is being un-necessarily dickish and for literally no reason.

The best thing is that nobody from DT has responded. And the more SOA throw dirt - the worse they'll look when DT don't reply.

It's absolutely the best way. Just don't respond.

[Madman Shepherd]

He wrote in a September 16 post: "When I hash-tagged #ProgMetal on the first day in the studio (before anything was written), that was the general idea *in mind*...but once we started writing together, the music ended up going in MANY places...and I think that is what will set this band apart from most in the 'prog' genre.
Read more at https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity.html#2P5OGIhZDUgUF82k.99

The more I read this quote, the more I think SoA is standing out in the 'prog' genre... by not being all that prog? Is that the new meta? Prog has gotten so prog that it's prog to play not prog. Proggity.

Post-prog.

Alt-prog?

I thought it should read that after 2 weeks MP fires Derek for the second time because he can only take so much negativity.

That is what is the most disingenuous about this is that clearly he doesn't mind negativity as long as it is directed at his former band. 

Dare I say that had Derek not started with the dumb tweets, this whole thing wouldn't have exploded like it did, MP's forum would still be open, and it may have even tempered the mediocre reaction a bit?

[Kotwoboy]

That is what is the most disingenuous about this is that clearly he doesn't mind negativity as long as it is directed at his former band. 

This.

[King Postwhore]

Kotowboy!!!

[WheyWaffles]

This is really embarrassing all around now and it makes me sad. You're either all in or not apparently.

Bipolarity encouraging bipolarity. Imagine that.

[bill1971]

He wrote in a September 16 post: "When I hash-tagged #ProgMetal on the first day in the studio (before anything was written), that was the general idea *in mind*...but once we started writing together, the music ended up going in MANY places...and I think that is what will set this band apart from most in the 'prog' genre.
Read more at https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mike-portnoy-shuts-down-his-official-forum-after-18-years-says-he-can-only-take-so-much-bickering-and-negativity.html#2P5OGIhZDUgUF82k.99

The more I read this quote, the more I think SoA is standing out in the 'prog' genre... by not being all that prog? Is that the new meta? Prog has gotten so prog that it's prog to play not prog. Proggity.

Post-prog.

Alt-prog?

I thought it should read that after 2 weeks MP fires Derek for the second time because he can only take so much negativity.

That is what is the most disingenuous about this is that clearly he doesn't mind negativity as long as it is directed at his former band. 

Dare I say that had Derek not started with the dumb tweets, this whole thing wouldn't have exploded like it did, MP's forum would still be open, and it may have even tempered the mediocre reaction a bit?

That's very true, not much negativity towards the songs, some indifference  and some criticisms yes. Ironically in a weird way I agree with you Derek had a hand in shutting down the MP forums.  The fans, me included weren't outraged by the songs but by all the chest pounding and cheap shots.

[ariich]

Okay, just a reminder:  This thread is primarily for discussing SoA.  I understand that, in light of the context of mp.com shutting down, some discussion of that is related.  And I'm not one to be overly persnickety about going off on semi-related tangents.  But when we wander off into discussing and criticizing Mike's character, we have not only gone off topic, but are in violation of rules about personal attacks and bashing former band-members and their music. 

As we often say, and as it says in the forum rules, open, honest critique of the music is allowed, so long as it is constructive and not simply bashing.  Attacks aimed at the person, no matter how "justified" one might feel that they are, are not welcome.  SEVERAL posts over the last couple of pages have crossed the line.  Under the circumstances, I get it, and I am not going to hand out warnings for those.  But it needs to stop.  Further insults or attacks on Mike's character will not be permitted.  You can discuss his actions, and tactfully criticize them if you feel that is necessary and relevant.  But be careful before you hit the "post" button if your post may be too close to the line.

Just to remind everyone of this post from bosk. Keep it respectful.

[Kotwoboy]

Kotowboy!!!

Ko TWO boy actually.