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

[ProfessorPeart]

Just dipping my toes in the water here. I'm from both the old DT.net board and the MP board.

On Sunday, I started typing something in the SOA thread over there to warn people the their behavior could end up with MP pulling the plug, then scrapped it (common practice for me). That board had been his 3rd, 4th or 5th place to actually post news regarding himself. We had become an afterthought really. In some cases, we never got some updates.

Guess my gut feeling came true. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner than it did. It had become a ghost town with mostly us hardcore folks remaining.

On topic, I liked the 2 songs so far. If I cared about how certain musicians behaved or carried themselves, my collection would be much smaller. Derek is pushing buttons, I get it. Probably not the right time. Wait until after the album is out. Whatever, it's the music I care about.

I guess this is my new home now. Try to cut me some slack while I settle in.

[SwedishGoose]

Welcome to your new home Professor....

[gzarruk]

I think the best thing coming out of MP shutting down his forum is that many users from there will find a new home here and will realize that all the crap MP said about DTF is not true at all.

[SwedishGoose]

For me personally I guess the best thing is that I don't have to leave by myself....
Quite a few times that I have been about to leave because of stiffled discussions and disappearing threads for instance.

[Bertielee]

I think the best thing coming out of MP shutting down his forum is that many users from there will find a new home here and will realize that all the crap MP said about DTF is not true at all.

Or they will play the MP fanboys to the extreme and this place will become Hell for us who are not, who knows? Yeah, I know, I'm on the pessimistic side of things.

B.Lee

[gzarruk]

For me personally I guess the best thing is that I don't have to leave by myself....
Quite a few times that I have been about to leave because of stiffled discussions and disappearing threads for instance.

That sucks.

I think the best thing coming out of MP shutting down his forum is that many users from there will find a new home here and will realize that all the crap MP said about DTF is not true at all.

Or they will play the MP fanboys to the extreme and this place will become Hell for us who are not, who knows? Yeah, I know, I'm on the pessimistic side of things.

B.Lee

Don't think so. All of them are on the MP Facebook group, I guess.

[WheyWaffles]

I think the best thing coming out of MP shutting down his forum is that many users from there will find a new home here and will realize that all the crap MP said about DTF is not true at all.

Or they will play the MP fanboys to the extreme and this place will become Hell for us who are not, who knows? Yeah, I know, I'm on the pessimistic side of things.

B.Lee

Can you be so sure? MP won't be watching, so they won't feel the need to suck up to him here.

I'm just kidding, MP reads this thread daily.

[bill1971]

I think the best thing coming out of MP shutting down his forum is that many users from there will find a new home here and will realize that all the crap MP said about DTF is not true at all.

Agreed. It was unfair that he went after this board and at the end of the day only this board remains. Forum karma. I think people coming here will realize that this a great place.

[Dave_Manchester]

I was looking at a tweet MP

How are we not even pictured on this front page?? Show them that Sons Of Apollo is the most anticipated release... https://fb.me/6iVZBzjD6

It's kind of sad. I think they think they are way bigger than they are. It's like a Spinal Tap moment almost, between Derek's bravado, MP being oblivious and the rest of the guys who although talented are being touted as a "super group"

I saw that, then voted for GWAR.

I voted for Marilyn Manson, and I'm grateful MP tweeted that because I had no idea Manson had a new album coming out.

[The Walrus]

Even on Reddit there's like, no discussion of this, no hype at all.

Fucking schadenfreude, man.

[Skeever]

Voted for Ne Obliviscaris in that loudwire poll. Not even a huge fan of the band, but it was an easy decision, really.

[Dave_Manchester]

Just dipping my toes in the water here. I'm from both the old DT.net board and the MP board.

On Sunday, I started typing something in the SOA thread over there to warn people the their behavior could end up with MP pulling the plug, then scrapped it (common practice for me). That board had been his 3rd, 4th or 5th place to actually post news regarding himself. We had become an afterthought really. In some cases, we never got some updates.

Guess my gut feeling came true. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner than it did. It had become a ghost town with mostly us hardcore folks remaining.

On topic, I liked the 2 songs so far. If I cared about how certain musicians behaved or carried themselves, my collection would be much smaller. Derek is pushing buttons, I get it. Probably not the right time. Wait until after the album is out. Whatever, it's the music I care about.

I guess this is my new home now. Try to cut me some slack while I settle in.

Welcome buddy! Maybe we should make a thread in the General Forum for the MP Forum refugees to introduce themselves? The DTF old guard can provide the welcoming tea and cakes.

[ganpondorodf]

Mine's a black coffee, cheers

[FlamTap]

I'm another who migrated over from MP.com. I've been a member here too for a couple of years but rarely post. Like most, I'm more of a lurker than a poster but this seems like a great place. Cheers !

[bosk1]

Correct if I'm wrong, but I think a majority of folks from MP.com are also members here already (although some may not have been very active here).  I don't think there is a lot of mystery about this place from the general population of MP.com.

Oh, and FlamTap, is that Ricky from Better Off Dead in your avatar?  Love it!

[Bertielee]

Welcome to you all, refugees from MP.com! This is indeed a nice place, peopled with nice fellas! And what is even nicer, MP can't shut it down!

B.Lee

[bill1971]

Correct if I'm wrong, but I think a majority of folks from MP.com are also members here already (although some may not have been very active here).  I don't think there is a lot of mystery about this place from the general population of MP.com.

Oh, and FlamTap, is that Ricky from Better Off Dead in your avatar?  Love it!

Yes. I am as well. I posted under bill1971 over there.

[mikeyd23]

Leprous - Malina is a must listen as well. I get that it might not be heavy enough for some compared to their previous material, but it's a great album.

I don't know how well known Need is so I'll leave this here - give it a listen or two, and ignore the video if you don't like that style.

https://youtu.be/NEt3O3vMogI

Never heard of them before, but that was really good.

Umm, yeah not to get off topic but that was awesome. Checking these guys out on Spotify now.

[The Walrus]

So I was looking at Mike's Facebook on that post about SoA not being on the front page of that site -- and some comments I've seen that were like "Eh, good tunes, but I voted for (x)" or similarly, not praising the music, have been deleted.

I said I voted for Ne Obliviscaris, and now my comment is removed, and I think he blocked me from even commenting on the page now (which I almost never do anyway). Good lord, Mike.

[Architeuthis]

Correct if I'm wrong, but I think a majority of folks from MP.com are also members here already (although some may not have been very active here).  I don't think there is a lot of mystery about this place from the general population of MP.com.

Oh, and FlamTap, is that Ricky from Better Off Dead in your avatar?  Love it!

Lol, Flam Tap wins for best avatar!! 
 Remember in the movie when Ricky lost his balloon after the school dance and went running after it with a small jump trying to get it? Priceless! 

[WheyWaffles]

"Hugo Adrian Mg I'm sorry but you have to face it, this is by far the worst band you've ever been in"

Soon to be deleted.

Personally, what would hurt my ego more than reading something like that about my new band of session players is the realization that my psyche is so fragile that I felt compelled to delete it.

[SwedishGoose]

So I wrote something like:

Voted but not for SoA. Based on the two songs released I don't think this will be my cup of tea.
Will listen to the album on Spotify and hope the other songs resonate better with me.

The post has now been deleted.... was that so offensive to Mike that he had to delete it???

[emtee]

Kind of sinking in a little more today that the place I visited multiple times a day and met hundreds of awesome people is GONE.
I lurked there for probably 3 years before joining to post a bucket list "Thanks" to MP and fell in love with it and stayed for all these
years. I'll miss it for sure but from every angle it wasn't necessary any longer. All the other social sites reach more people and it
was unnecessary overhead that served no purpose. So a final farewell to MP.COM from someone who spent a bunch of time there over
the last 14 or 15 years.

[ProfessorPeart]

Correct if I'm wrong, but I think a majority of folks from MP.com are also members here already (although some may not have been very active here).  I don't think there is a lot of mystery about this place from the general population of MP.com.

Oh, and FlamTap, is that Ricky from Better Off Dead in your avatar?  Love it!

I have always been aware of this place but stayed away. I had a bad experience on the old DT.net board where I got into it with some dude over baseball and it tainted my opinion of this place, wrongfully so I hope. It had something to with Red Sox and Yankees and him going at me non-stop about defending any bad behavior my team did (note, I'm from Chicago and a life long Cubs fan, could care less about Red Sox/Yankees). That obviously wasn't the only reason. I was growing tired of the behavior of many over there. I just abandoned it entirely and stayed at MP's.

I actually do recognize some names here from my DT.net days. My handle has always been the same across all 3, although I'm no forum star. More lurker and wise-ass comment maker.

[El Barto]

Correct if I'm wrong, but I think a majority of folks from MP.com are also members here already (although some may not have been very active here).  I don't think there is a lot of mystery about this place from the general population of MP.com.

Only the management. 

I think you're probably correct, but aside from some noob MP refugees, there will also be some with different nics. I certainly fit into that category (damn, I might need to actually change my name to El Jesus now), and there are one or two folk that have caught me by surprise posting under different names.

[majo]

Release of the year, no way! To be that, you have to release something that really stands out because it is very original, well-written...which the 2 SoA tracks released so far are not, imo.

B.Lee

Completely agree with you. The VUUR debut album is being released the same day and I'm much more excited about it than SOA. They (Vuur) promised a prog metal album and the two songs they've released are exactly that: prog metal, and, imo, are much better than Sings of the Time and Coming Home.
Who's in that band? Well, Anneke Van Giersbergen and no other big names, but still they managed to create a fresh new sound/approach for prog metal. You don't need an all-star lineup, just good writers and a clear direction for your music.

Maybe Mike or Derek could learn a thing or two from them.

+1
Currently, there isn't better example out there...

[RodrigoAltaf]

I voted for SoA, and I'm genuinely interested and excited about this project. But Mike's attitude just keeps getting stronger and stranger. I genuinely want to believe that he's having fun with all his projects, and it appears so. But his attitude towards those who are not on board with EVERYTHING he releases is what gets most of us. I get that he wanted to explore different genres, but why not keep the focus on a handful of projects and keep them more or less constant? It feels like he's always latching onto his next project/band to be his full time thing, but never gives time for them to grow. If I were Mike right now I'd be focusing on the third albums from FC and TWD. In the past, bands took two or three albums to take off - look at DT, for example! Now, it's either topping the charts or scrapping the plans and moving on to the next best thing...

[kaos2900]

So I wrote something like:

Voted but not for SoA. Based on the two songs released I don't think this will be my cup of tea.
Will listen to the album on Spotify and hope the other songs resonate better with me.

The post has now been deleted.... was that so offensive to Mike that he had to delete it???

Wow, that's pretty ridiculous that they're deleting posts saying they voted for someone else. I guess you're a troll if you like other bands not named Sons of Apollo.

[SwedishGoose]

So I wrote something like:

Voted but not for SoA. Based on the two songs released I don't think this will be my cup of tea.
Will listen to the album on Spotify and hope the other songs resonate better with me.

The post has now been deleted.... was that so offensive to Mike that he had to delete it???

Wow, that's pretty ridiculous that they're deleting posts saying they voted for someone else. I guess you're a troll if you like other bands not named Sons of Apollo.

At least I am not blocked..... was about to write something about disappering posts but thought better of it and added:

Would be a miracle if a new band, even with the collective talent in SoA, was more anticipated than  big established groups.

We'll see if that sticks :-)

[The Walrus]

Ah, so that's who you are

[SwedishGoose]

Ah, so that's who you are

Should be easy to spot with the same profile image...

[majo]

Even on Reddit there's like, no discussion of this, no hype at all.

Fucking schadenfreude, man.

looks like Mike just killed the biggest hype this band actually had 
(btw, also migrated mild poster/lurker (LIVESTRONG) from mp.com)

[Nick]

I know I'm late on this, but a couple of things:

I'm a little surprised that MP shut down the MP.com forum simply because he has always been forward about that being his outlet to the fans. I know other outlets exist now, but that place was kinda sacred in a way. On the other hand it was running towards that path I suppose.

While I think Mike is correct in that forums are a little dated, I will say this. Yes, there are absolutely better places for promotion, but not for discussion. FB groups get to a certain size and just become a giant clusterfuck, frankly. Message boards still serve a good purpose, but in tying in with my next point, Portnoy is clearly looking for promotion and not discussion.

It's frankly quite appalling the level of censorship around Mike at this point. Let me say he is completely within his rights to do these things on his pages/groups/profiles/whatever. That said just because he can do it doesn't mean it should. Every time someone posts something neutral or not immediately positive you delete it, mute the person, ban someone, etc, it just sends a message, and it has to be turning people off. Is Portnoy paranoid, does he really think everyone is out to get him? Is he really in need of the safe space for himself? I don't know exactly what the cause, but it just doesn't look good.

Through all this crap I'm *still* looking forward to the music from Sons of Apollo. I just wish it didn't come with quite so much baggage.

[Polarbear]

Good to see that a lot of people have migrated from MP.com to DTF!

Not to advertise, but this is truly a great forum. I've been a semi regular poster since something like 2011. Don't at all regret my time in here. A lot of great discussions about music in general, movies and everything in between. Dream Theater discussions are only a small part.

You guys should stick around!

BTW i'm still going to give the SoA album a fair chance, since i've liked the two songs released so far!

[Hourglass Prison]

So I was looking at Mike's Facebook on that post about SoA not being on the front page of that site -- and some comments I've seen that were like "Eh, good tunes, but I voted for (x)" or similarly, not praising the music, have been deleted.

I said I voted for Ne Obliviscaris, and now my comment is removed, and I think he blocked me from even commenting on the page now (which I almost never do anyway). Good lord, Mike.

...*sigh*...