- two, there are too many variables to play with. Three of the four are socially connected again, but while I'm now friends with my ex-wife I don't want to marry her again.
Dude, the dreaded marriage analogy!
But it does work in this situation actually.
Mending social (and some business) relationships does not mean they want Portnoy back in the band. I was surprised a while back when Petrucci was actually open about how unhappy he was with Portnoy touring with Avenged Sevenfold. I just figured they always had a policy of whatever they do in their own time is cool since they were always had other side projects. Even Jordan was pretty open about some dissatisfaction with the way Portnoy did things.
So even if 3 guys get along with Portnoy now, it doesn't mean they want to have to work around his schedule or even if Portnoy has offered to ditch 90% of his side project stuff, do they really want to be in a position where it could potentially cause tension again?