Damn. http://www.mikeportnoy.com/forum/m2586351.aspx But he's just having a "break" from DT. Give him a break. He deserves it. What's iffy to me is that he said DT chose to continue (and not take a break) without him. What's up with that?
I'll dig the "Chemistry" reason. Really. Money hasn't been a problem. Dream Theater has been raking money since they were Dream Theater. I think they're the most popular prog act in the world. Sometimes a person simply wants to turn a a new leaf, a new chapter in one's life.
So is he actually going to officially join A7X now? If he does, the band will get some serious backlash. From what I've gathered they are hated by a lot, as it is. But I love them personally.
So you expected Dream Theater to take a break since their drummer up and quits and joins a 3rd rate metal band? I'll DIG the MONEY reason, since they have the Hot Topic and...whatever else crowd firmly in their grasp. But chemistry? Are you kidding me? He's been with DT since '85. I guess they didn't have chemistry for over 20 years, he just wanted to play the drums, man! Mike can beg as much as he wants, but people are still going to blame Avenged Sevenfold. I personally blame them for existing, but, whatever. I'm not going on another rant about a band only to get warned when I actually explain why I hate them. So I'll stop here.
It didn't come from me, it's from Mike. Chemistry isn't permanent. 20+ years in DT... I think he just wants something new.
If you mean what I think you mean, I could have sworn you weren't warned just for disliking a band. Also this, then again I'm probably just too naive and not cynical enough.
I honestly don't think he's making a mistake as long as he's happy. People might be furious since he left Dream Theater, but if he wasn't happy and he couldn't get the band to agree to a break, what else was he supposed to do?
So he goes from one overrated metal band to another. Big whoop. The only difference is he'll be going to one that can actually make money and one that has a singer that doesn't sound like he's strangling a fucking cat. I don't care one way or another for Avenged Sevenfold, but Dream Theater is hardly any better with him, and definitely not any better without him. They have cliched metal lyrics and the only thing that really kept that band in any sort of spotlight was Portnoy's drumming. In fact, if you want to call Dream Theater "famous" in any sense of the word, they're famous for his drumming.
I don't have a problem with him leaving Dream Theater or joining A7X, it's just A7X is such mediocre band imo. Dear God is a great song though.
James LaBrie sounds like every other mediocre metal band's vocalist. At least M. Shadows can carry a tune and has some sort of distinctness about his voice. Neither have much range, though, but that's not really necessary in metal. @ Shayan86: They're hardly known for Petrucci's guitar. He's skilled, don't get me wrong, but when people talk about Dream Theater, they talk about the drumming. Again, I will never know why metalheads cream their pants over Dream Theater. They're alright, and Avenged Sevenfold is alright, just more commercial. Both get almost the same review scores, too.
Gotta disagree about M. Shadows' range. He can go from pretty low notes to extremely high notes (intro to Beast and the Harlot).