Are your surprised? Mike Portnoy leaves Adrenaline Mob...
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Mynock
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Justin G
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AeonicSlumber
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AeonicSlumber
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I totally agree, spending 25 years with one band is pretty bad ADD, I mean common dude why are you such a commitaphobe?
edgeofthorns
24 Hours Ago...
I'll be that guy and say, I liked the Adrenaline Mob CDs! They're fun CDs to listen to...I take it for what it is...straight up, mainstream metal. Yes, Russell is the main draw for me, but still.
~Brian~
~Brian~
As long as we're speculating, here's my two cents. It's based on AeonicSlumber's post above. Portnoy spent a decade building up DT to a certain level, and then plateau'd from there. That's 1999-2010. I'm not talking about the finer points of their DT's music so much as an evident point past which Portnoy was obviously satisfied with his life and career as a musical artist and was no longer really chasing something.
No longer being in DT, Portnoy finds himself wanting to regain that comfort-level but is now facing the reality of having to build up to that plateau for years. When you're in your 40s, you don't want to start from square one again. You just want it now. By forming all these big-name groups, Portnoy's trying to find a way to do a band that IMMEDIATELY satisfies in the same way that the latter half of DT's career did - but without having to work up to it via the first half.
No longer being in DT, Portnoy finds himself wanting to regain that comfort-level but is now facing the reality of having to build up to that plateau for years. When you're in your 40s, you don't want to start from square one again. You just want it now. By forming all these big-name groups, Portnoy's trying to find a way to do a band that IMMEDIATELY satisfies in the same way that the latter half of DT's career did - but without having to work up to it via the first half.
nomisofsiman
Member
'Cuz I was totally talking about his time in Dream Theater...NOT! Since DT, he just can't stay in anything; hell, even when he was in DT he kept participating in these half assed projects (for the most part). I just think if he stuck to one thing and maybe one side thing it would have a much better result for him than what he's currently been doing.
He has stuck to one thing....drumming. If he's happy with what he's doing and is enjoying his multiple projects, who are we to question his choices. Wait... maybe it would better if he got on this message board and railed against the jobs we've chosen to do. Wouldn't that be great?
I think TychoCelchu made a pretty good point there, but I feel that there's something else to it. In my opinion, Portnoy is going through a major mid-life crisis. He spent 25 years with the "wife," got a "divorce," and now wants to screw everything that moves. Eventually, he'll want to be in that comfort zone that he had with Dream Theater once again, but he's not quite ready to get that "newly freed man" feeling out of his system.
That said, Adrenaline Mob sucked the suck out of suck. Playing awesome covers only makes you a great cover band. Those originals were the worst slab of Disturbed-wannabe bullshit I've ever heard, and the fact that two of the biggest names in progressive metal were involved is just a kick to the nuts. I'm much happier now that Portnoy is focusing on The Winery Dogs, at least for the immediate future.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
That said, Adrenaline Mob sucked the suck out of suck. Playing awesome covers only makes you a great cover band. Those originals were the worst slab of Disturbed-wannabe bullshit I've ever heard, and the fact that two of the biggest names in progressive metal were involved is just a kick to the nuts. I'm much happier now that Portnoy is focusing on The Winery Dogs, at least for the immediate future.
Stay metal. Never rust.
Albert
SF Metal Man
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I just saw that the Winery Dogs are playing the Monsters of Rock cruise. Will the ship be big enough to hold his kit?
AeonicSlumber
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I was poking at the fact that you forgot about the fact that he was in DT for 2.5 decades, so of course I know you were not talking about it.
I don't think you get it. Mike Portnoy isn't a basement musician playing in band because he wants scratch his artistic itch. He's a *professional musician* that plays music for a living. Now, you can make the argument that leaving DT in the way he did, completely contradicts what I said one sentence ago, and to some extent I agree with you. But regardless of his intentions, feelings, etc, he has to keep the lights on and feed his kids. So therefore, he's going to dip his toes in as many projects as possible and see what sticks. It's as simple as that. Sticking to one thing in this day and age would be career suicide, as evidenced by Adrenaline Mob not breaking out in a way that those guys probably were hoping it would. Maybe in the long term it would have done well, maybe in 10 years it will be as big as FFDP or whatever, but Mike can't afford to stick it out 10 years. He needs a gig that can keep his kids fed and his lights on. Simple as that.
You legitimately sound like doing cover band shows once or twice a year, or side things like OSI/Transatlantic for fun when DT was off actually bothers/upsets you. I will NEVER understand that attitude. Really a testimony to how shallow music fans can get - people complain when they don't get enough music from an artist, and people complain when they get too much music from an artist.
Adrenaline Mob wasn't that great on the songwriting front, but damn that guitar player was amazing. Actually, the whole band has incredible talent, I just wish they'd tried to do something else.
Maybe after 20+ years in DT, Adrenaline Mob felt like something different to do for him. Hell, he was in "the" progressive metal band for so long, this project and others, could be a breath of fresh air, where he can play other types of music he enjoys.
I think people were too hard on this band and wanted "Symphony Theater", "Dream X" or whatever. The whole idea of doing side projects, solo albums and such is to do something different than your current one.
I enjoyed most tracks on Omerta, and I think the cover of High Wire is amazing.
I think people were too hard on this band and wanted "Symphony Theater", "Dream X" or whatever. The whole idea of doing side projects, solo albums and such is to do something different than your current one.
I enjoyed most tracks on Omerta, and I think the cover of High Wire is amazing.
Purveyor Of Evil
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AeonicSlumber
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Yeah I agree. They're all super talented musicians, some of the best you can get. I don't hate AM as much as everyone in the thread hates it, but I'm not into it either. I think they could have written better hard rock songs.
As far as I'm concerned, he can do as he damn well pleases. He spent almost as long in Dream Theater as I've been alive, who am I to judge him for going forth and playing the field? He's earned the right to use the music world as his playground for a little while. If you had world class talent like him and had spent a quarter of a century focusing exclusively on one thing, wouldn't you want to go explore something different to stretch your legs?
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