Heavy Metal Soap Opera (The Mike Portnoy vs. Dream Theater Saga)

[Slunk Dragon]

Originally Posted by Ralyks

Ok, as hilarious as it is, that may be taking it a bit too far.

To be honest when Portnoy first broke up with Dream Theater, I could accept the creative differences and the varying in goals. Sure he probably vented in an interview or two, but I think it would have been long enough for this man to let it go. Yeah it's a band he started, but he didn't want to be in it anymore, and then he wasn't allowed back in because the band was moving on and had already gotten themselves another drummer by then.

But Portnoy suing Dream Theater, minus Mangini, for whatever reason isn't exactly something I'd call a respectable move on his part. I can imagine he's upset, pissed off, etc etc, but why the hell would you sue your former band mates? IMO he always seemed a bit egocentric, but when you're part of a massively success prog-metal outfit like Dream Theater, you have some room to gloat. Now... I really can't fathom what the hell goes through a man's head like his.

Plus it's the internet, do you think people are really going to keep it civil forever? Someone's got to piss in the soup eventually.

[Alberto7]

I think it's now safe to say that I dislike Mike Portnoy. I always kept hoping for the best, and liked to assume he was being genuine... And, somehow, I still am hopeful to see this whole thing come to a happy ending and DT being good buddies with MP once again. But now that scenario is extremely unlike, if not impossible, to become reality. As a "Dick....," he truly stands.

Now it's just a matter of time to see which band member gets raped by a psychopathic fan right outside of their homes... I agree that court cases are a matter of public record, but putting all of those addresses online knowing how the internet is and how big the fanbase of these boys is... ... But oh well.

With that said, I'm off to get some popcorn, maybe some nachos, and one of these http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__NN6L_0B4b...0/beer-hat.jpg

[flo]

Originally Posted by Slunk Dragon

Plus it's the internet, do you think people are really going to keep it civil forever? Someone's got to piss in the soup eventually.

This last metaphor made my day

[thedonal]

You know. I'm still going to withhold judgement.

We've no idea what was going through Mike's mind- I can imagine he was amazingly upset by the whole affair and people can tend to act rather irrationally in that situation, as much as the band were very upset when he quit.

It's just a big messy divorce with the webnet fanning the flames...

[BigPhi84]

Originally Posted by SirMyghin

I can see the outcome now, Dream theater force to sacrifice 2/3 of their name to the 1/3 of founding members that left and will now be known as

rEm thEtR

Wouldn't that be funny if they started touring as Nightmare Cinema again?

[ArrowHead]

Originally Posted by decypher

And Charlie Dominici.

Is he in a band these days? My buddy prefers him as well, so I've heard bits and pieces of the old stuff.

[Repner]

Originally Posted by ArrowHead

Is he in a band these days? My buddy prefers him as well, so I've heard bits and pieces of the old stuff.

He had a career selling cars after he left. After doing the When Dream And Day Reunite anniversary show, he decided to get back into music and did a trilogy of concept albums.

[ArrowHead]

Thanks man, I repped you. I should have googled it myself, but instead you took the time to inform my lazy ass. I'm gonna go grab my headphones and give this a listen.

[Repner]

Thanks

[RevDrucifer]

Crazy shit.

I can't believe this stuff wasn't taken care of when he first left. I figured with the lawyer-to-lawyer talks this was EXACTLY what they (the band members) were having sorted out.

I know a lot of times in this business that these situations pop up and have nothing to do with the artists themselves, it's generally a lawyer or manager going after a pot of gold that the artist doesn't even want to cash in on. I could also be completely wrong and it could be Portnoy being a jealous little kid, seeing everyone go nuts about the album and not really giving a shit about his 10,000 projects and deciding ".... you, I'll show you who DT really belongs to.".

Every thread about it is being deleted on JP's forum, as per request from either management or the band.

Basically what I got from the court doc is that Portnoy wants them to stop using the name for recording/touring purposes and is suing for damages. And that he was "wrongfully excluded from the band"....!?!?!?!

I can only think that the last part is some legal thing, like in some way, his partnership with the band was never officially/contractually dissolved and business decisions were being made while he was still technically, on paper, IN Dream Theater.

I'm just speculating, like everyone else.

I know Portnoy's dad is the one who offered the name 'Dream Theater' after they found out they couldn't use Majesty back in the day.

You'd think when bands are getting higher up in the pay scale, they'd have clauses in their contracts like, "If you ever quit or leave, you'll get this and that, we keep the name but pay you a royalty on it." or whatever the case may be.

This is nuts.

[SirMyghin]

Originally Posted by Lon

Actually, people get paid all the time because other people are using their work to generate revenue, although mike maybe has gone a bit too far in claiming the name dream theater, but am i the only one who thinks that he has somehow of a legitimate right to get some financial compensation from the revenue the band generates with the work he majorly contributed to create?

(and i think i am right under the assumption there was no amicable agreement between the parties involved)

The subpoena seemed more oriented on current events than back catalogue revenue though. I am pretty sure he wouldn't be neglected his cut of the back catalogue, that would be a huge oversight.

[Whitestrat]

Originally Posted by JPMike

I would trade Ruddess for Kevin Moore or Derek Sherinian anyday.

Ruddess bores me.

In a Top 3 order, it would be,
1. Sherinian
2. Moore
3. Ruddess

Sherinian had an edge, this rock kinds of sounds, amazing keys sounds in general.
Damn.

Moore for me... IAW and Awake were amazing because of his keyboard work and compositions. After he left, the band's sound changed DRASTICALLY. Even "A Change Of Seasons" was different, which almost sounds like the DT you hear today. The melodic themes he used... Wow...

Sherinian was good, but I think not the right fit. I Much prefer him in Black Country Communion today with Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa and Jason Bonham. THAT is a supergroup!!!

But Dominici for me was always a no no... I hated the way he sung. Labrie was what really turned my head when I first heard IAW playing at a local CD store back in 1992. What I heard first was "Surrounded". Then I went to check out the CD at the store, and when I heard "Pull Me Under", I was hooked. Completely stunned later by what I heard in the rest of the CD. But no mistake, Labrie was what got my attention in the first place.

Then I went back to look for the Dominici CD, and when I got it (bought it without trying), I was extremely disappointed.

No... It's Labrie for me who defines the "Voice" of Dream Theater.

[guitarister7321]

Mike Portnoy Sues Dream Theater? | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Yup.

EDIT: Just saw this got moved to this thread, didn't realized there was a whole ongoing thread about this.

I think it's stupid he is suing, despite the fact he himself left the band.

[7 Strings of Hate]

kevin moore is hands down the best keyboardist DT has ever had. Images and words, and awake ARE what dream theater is all about.

As for portnoy, he already damaged me too much from the shitty vocals he was laying down on the last few albums. He cant hurt me anymore

[edsped]

Originally Posted by ArrowHead

So you consider JR talking about mike in the context of his current band's new release that month and how it was effected for TWO questions in a much longer interview the same as Mike P STILL talking about the band he is no longer a part of for an entire interview a year after the fact?

I don't consider it even similar.

Where the hell did I even imply that I thought the two were similar? Jesus, I was merely responding to your post about having not seen an interview in quite some time where they spent "any time at all talking about him." Jordan certainly seemed to have no problem talking about Mike "at all" when questioned about him, or at least he wasn't bothered enough to forgo calling him the Dream Theater police.

[SirMyghin]

Originally Posted by Whitestrat

Moore for me... IAW and Awake were amazing because of his keyboard work and compositions. After he left, the band's sound changed DRASTICALLY. Even "A Change Of Seasons" was different, which almost sounds like the DT you hear today. The melodic themes he used... Wow...

I think on keys what made Moore better in a band setting, was he used many less embellishments (compared to JR), much more no nonsense, and this lead to a stronger melodic foundation, where JR may rush into the embellishments a bit quickly, which may undermine your message. That said this album was a little leaner in that sense and I appreciate it.

[Tapaska]

Originally Posted by guitarister7321

Mike Portnoy Sues Dream Theater? | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Yup.

EDIT: Just saw this got moved to this thread, didn't realized there was a whole ongoing thread about this.

I think it's stupid he is suing, despite the fact he himself left the band.

Few pages back.

[thedonal]

Originally Posted by SirMyghin

I think on keys what made Moore better in a band setting, was he used many less embellishments (compared to JR), much more no nonsense, and this lead to a stronger melodic foundation, where JR may rush into the embellishments a bit quickly, which may undermine your message. That said this album was a little leaner in that sense and I appreciate it.

I know what you're saying- sometimes (perhaps often), Rudess can't just play a chord on the piano without a quick flourish up to the top of the keyboard and back.

I think it's a symptom of his level of virtuosity.

That said, he put some great hooks into Breaking All Illusions which were pretty straight up...

[ArrowHead]

Originally Posted by edsped

Jesus, I was merely responding to your post about having not seen an interview in quite some time where they spent "any time at all talking about him."

Sorry, I thought you were responding to the post where I said "I haven't seen one in quite one time that spends any time at all talking about him, and have seen several times they've outright refused to talk about it beyond the context of having a new drummer and how it changes things."

So I was confused that your example was just such a case as I had described.

[JosephAOI]

[RevDrucifer]

And in the end, everything was blown out of proportion. Unless this is simply being stated to get people to shut up.

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - There Is No Pending Lawsuit Between MIKE PORTNOY And DREAM THEATER

And from the horse's mouth-


Stadler is correct (as he has been throughout this whole ordeal)

I did NOT sue them....and second of all, I DESPERATELY tried to discuss matters with them personally to avoid ANYTHING LIKE THIS and yet THEY insisted on only using lawyers...so my lawyers filed those papers (BACK IN APRIL mind you) as that was the position they chose to take...if the band wouldve talked to me, it wouldve NEVER come to that!!!

All that aside, this was 6 months ago....so yes indeed, we have all moved on since then...

I'm still really not allowed to discuss any of this publically, but I feel everybody's hasty and half-truth filled witchhunt yesterday deserves to be addressed to help at least try to clear my name and reputation that was so wrongly tainted by yesterday's false conclusions...

The fact is, when you have a band (or a corporation or marriage) for 25 years there are business and financial things that need to be sorted out behind the scenes...however, it was incredibly LAME of Blabbermouth to exploit these private issues and divulge personal information that is clearly nobody's business other than our own.

They are creating hate and negative propaganda and poisoning the minds and spirits of music fans around the world...shame on them.

MP

[edsped]

Originally Posted by ArrowHead

Sorry, I thought you were responding to the post where I said "I haven't seen one in quite one time that spends any time at all talking about him, and have seen several times they've outright refused to talk about it beyond the context of having a new drummer and how it changes things."

So I was confused that your example was just such a case as I had described.

Considering Mike's name shows up all over the place in that interview and is not just restricted to two questions and that one of the questions is just straight up "have you talked to Mike recently?" I don't really think it was such a case.

[ArrowHead]

Originally Posted by edsped

Considering Mike's name shows up all over the place in that interview and is not just restricted to two questions and that one of the questions is just straight up "have you talked to Mike recently?" I don't really think it was such a case.

Enough, man. The interview was about the new album. I already excluded that context pretty clearly in what you responded to. I even put it in bold for you the second time. If you can't see the difference, I won't be the guy to convince you.

[datalore]

It's weird that the summons listed what appear to be home addresses for each band member.

[edsped]

I never said the focus of the interview wasn't their new album.