His take should not surprise anyone. He has always been on record as not being a fan of shredders. Even when working with guys like Jordan Rudess and Guthrie Govan, he usually kept their playing pretty restrained (relative to their skills). I remember the story about the making of one of the solo albums Govan played on where Wilson directly him several times to slow down. To me, this is not a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of taste. He is not a fan of shredding in general. Some are. Not a big deal.
Def not a big deal.
I love Steven, but he totally cracks me up.
The dude spent two decades churning out one massive, bloated, prog-indebted masterpiece after another, but dislikes the word 'prog.'
The dude has numerous tracks with minutes of 'shredding' in his catalog, but he dosen't like shredding.
That all said, I am totally with him.
When it comes to music, I've long embraced the fact that I am essentially a walking contradiction.
I'll rail against Malmsteen, but totally embrace Petrucci. I'll dismiss a band the second I hear 'growling,' and then I'll get in my car and blast Opeth all the way home from work. I have no use for bands that wear masks on stage, but I freaking love KISS.
I've read a ton of interviews over the years and Steven is, without a doubt, a quirky guy...I suspect we'd get along swimmingly