Mike Portnoy quits Adrenaline Mob, but...

[Strong PROGress]

I have been a Portnoy fan since Images and Words and while Adrenaline Mob isn't really my cup of tea, I'm surprised to hear that Mike quit. Not too long ago I read that the Mob was his number one priority, like his "full time band" thing. I can only imagine with so much going on that the feeling can change. I believe the Transatlantic boys are recording in Nashville which I'm very pleased with. I'm not yet familiar with the Winery Dogs (his project with Billy Sheehan and Ritchie Kotzen). I'm a huge fan of Liquid Tension Experiment, all of Mike's work with DT, his work with Neal Morse, yadda yadda yadda; call me a fanboy if you will, that's ok.

NP: Tesseract "Altered State"

[Scott Bails]

Smart move, IMO. AMOB is by far my least favorite of his projects.

I'd much rather hear Flying Colors and Transatlantic. And The Winery Dogs sound pretty cool, too.

[ScottAM]

Yeah, I am THRILLED with this announcement! I love everything else that Portnoy is involved with (you gotta check out The Winery Dogs -- not prog by any stretch, just great rock 'n roll. It delivers for me where Chickenfoot and Them Crooked Vultures fell flat), so I'm very happy that he's going to have more time to devote to the Dogs, TA, FC and hopefully Neal's solo output.

And before everyone starts hurling insults about him quitting too many bands -- come on, it wouldn't be rock and roll WITHOUT change, and some drama! I'm sorry for the fans of AMOB, but aside from that, this is a very good move in my book.

[MoonK9]

He's also working with Bigelf now. Not sure if it's just in the studio though.

[Wounded Land]

The Winery Dogs tracks I've heard have been extremely cool. It's blues-based rock and roll, but with interesting little twists here and there and great singing from Kotzen. Somebody on another board described it as Chris Cornell-fronted Mr. Big, and that's not that bad of a description.

I, too, wasn't that into Adrenaline Mob, although I love MP and Russell Allen. The guitarist (Mike Orlando) can rip the poop out of his guitar, but the songs never really did anything for me.

NP: Dream Theater A Dramatic Turn of Events

[Strong PROGress]

I'd much rather hear Flying Colors and Transatlantic. And The Winery Dogs sound pretty cool, too.

Oh yeah, Flying Colors. I kinda forgot about that. Infinite Fire is my fave on that one. I will have to check out The Winery Dogs as well.

A guy like Mike probably has such a crazy schedule it's hard to do much of anything 100%. I would be so amazed if TA would tour a little so I could experience them in Minneapolis. The Progressive Nation tour that happened was a cool event; I was able to catch Scale the Summit, Between the Buried and Me, Opeth and DT. If only another tour with a grip of Prog Metal could materialize...

[Progatron]

Smart move, IMO. AMOB is by far my least favorite of his projects.

I'd much rather hear Flying Colors and Transatlantic. And The Winery Dogs sound pretty cool, too.

I agree with this entire post!

Yeah, I am THRILLED with this announcement! I love everything else that Portnoy is involved with (you gotta check out The Winery Dogs -- not prog by any stretch, just great rock 'n roll. It delivers for me where Chickenfoot and Them Crooked Vultures fell flat), so I'm very happy that he's going to have more time to devote to the Dogs, TA, FC and hopefully Neal's solo output.

And before everyone starts hurling insults about him quitting too many bands -- come on, it wouldn't be rock and roll WITHOUT change, and some drama! I'm sorry for the fans of AMOB, but aside from that, this is a very good move in my book.

And this one!

Personally, I think Neal Morse brings out the best in Mike. Both in his playing, his general demeanor, and his overall approach. I like lots of metal, but when Mike himself gets too far into the metal side of things he loses that part of him that makes him so unique. When he's immersed in the prog world (Transatlantic, Morse, the proggier DT stuff) he's just fantastic IMO. There's more to MP than technical ability and knowhow with difficult arrangements. There's a melodic, poppy Beatles sensibility that balances perfectly when he has someone else in charge to 'rein him in' (Morse).

[JIF]

Wow, PE seems to have a lot of wimps. Was AM too heavy for you guys? Not I. I think that there is something wrong with Mr. Portnoy. He seems to get bored with his main projects quick. I predict that he will get bored with WD, TA, and FC. I wish his project with John Sykes would've panned out, but he was apparently too busy with that, too.

[Christopher Henry]

Wow, PE seems to have a lot of wimps.

It's true! We need tough guys like you to protect us.

[Scott Bails]

Wow, PE seems to have a lot of wimps. Was AM too heavy for you guys?

No, it just sucked.

I think that there is something wrong with Mr. Portnoy. He seems to get bored with his main projects quick.

No, he's always juggled many different things. Now that he's not in DT, he's a bit of a free agent. It sounds like there's just too much schedule over-lapping right now. No big deal, really.

I predict that he will get bored with WD, TA, and FC.

Very doubtful. Transatlantic has been on-going for almost 15 years.


And there's no reason to believe that he won't do stuff with AMOB again. Hell, people are still clamoring for him to get back with DT.

[JIF]

It's true! We need tough guys like you to protect us.

I guess I like these guys because they came along at the same time as I became a Pantera fan. I think that we really needed another Pantera.

[Plasmatopia]

Try not to get your Panteras in a bunch...

[JIF]

No, it just sucked.




No, he's always juggled many different things. Now that he's not in DT, he's a bit of a free agent. It sounds like there's just too much schedule over-lapping right now. No big deal, really.



Very doubtful. Transatlantic has been on-going for almost 15 years.


And there's no reason to believe that he won't do stuff with AMOB again. Hell, people are still clamoring for him to get back with DT.

Omerta got a great review on Sea Of Tranquility. I may be wrong, but didn't Mike start AM before FC? Also, wasn't Transatlantic on a break? I'm just saying he could've just stuck with AM and TA, and not started another band.

[dropforge]

Omerta got a great review on Sea Of Tranquility. I may be wrong, but didn't Mike start AM before FC? Also, wasn't Transatlantic on a break? I'm just saying he could've just stuck with AM and TA, and not started another band.

The Winery Dogs is a reality thanks to Eddie Trunk. Eddie is friends with those guys and when Billy and Mike were ready to work together, they couldn't decide who should sing and play guitar. Eddie told them he knew just the guy who could do both. Richie is a stellar guitarist whose vocals uncannily resemble Chris Cornell's. The two singles really cook and Eddie says it's his favorite album of 2013 (even with over half the year left). I'm looking forward to it.

People not liking AM has nothing to do with being turned off by heaviness. The band has a cookie cutter vibe and some other drummer can play with 'em.

[mnprogger]

AM wasn't even his idea, it was Russell Allen and Mike Orlando's project originally, and the music they first wrote, Portnoy was not even in the band at that point.

[KingCrimson776]

Portnoy won't get tired of TA. It's pretty clear in his comments and attitude towards it that it's by far his favorite thing to play in. No other band has he said "I don't want to do it too often, because I want it to stay special" about. You could tell he meant it too.

Man I didn't even know TA was recording again, or maybe I forgot. This is awesome.

[arabicadabra]

Matter of fact, if I'm not mistaken, Winery Dogs IS the project that started with John Sykes and I believe Sykes is the one who bailed.

[Scott Bails]

Matter of fact, if I'm not mistaken, Winery Dogs IS the project that started with John Sykes and I believe Sykes is the one who bailed.

I think you're right. But I don't think Sykes bailed so much as Portnoy and Sheehan got tired of waiting for him. Evidently Sykes isn't exactly prolific.

[progholio]

He's also working with Bigelf now. Not sure if it's just in the studio though.

you mean those Deep Purple-y sounding Mellotron wielding retro-hippie guys?

that seems like a very odd fit.

[Jerjo]

I wouldn't mind hearing another Liquid Tension Experiment CD again but I doubt if that would happen. I'll be fine with new Transatlantic material.

[dregsfan]

The new TA backing tracks are all done. The cd proper will contain two epics and three "normal" length tunes. The bonus cd will have eight(!) covers. Due to everyone's other jobs, overdubs will take months to finish. The projected release date is early 2014 and MP has said they will tour (just don't expect a massive world tour).

Winery Dogs is totally new, nothing leftover from the Sykes project. MP said he had much more input on these tunes than the Sykes material.

Since MP is a "free agent," projects like TA and FC are much more doable as he really only needs to book studio time. Even their tours are typically less than two weeks. With AMob, he toured much more. Also, since they were more of a band (which requires more time) than a project, he sort of had to choose between Amob and the Winery Dogs. I'm also guessing that the relative lack of commercial success for Amob was a factor, whereas WD have already sold out some shows in Japan.

[JIF]

I think you're right. But I don't think Sykes bailed so much as Portnoy and Sheehan got tired of waiting for him. Evidently Sykes isn't exactly prolific.

Don't you have that backwards? Portnoy had started Flying Colors and AM, while Sykes had nothing going on.

[Yanks2014]

Wow, PE seems to have a lot of wimps. Was AM too heavy for you guys?

I don't think the heaviness factor was much a problem at all. It just didn't interest me, heard some of it and wasn't thrilled. I like quite a few bands much heavier than them, so no, that was not a problem. I'm much happier to hear there is a second Flying Colors on the horizon, along with another Transatlantic. I'd like to hear another heavy band from Portnoy at some point, but he's got enough to juggle at the moment.

[TheLongshot]

Don't you have that backwards? Portnoy had started Flying Colors and AM, while Sykes had nothing going on.

Actually, Sykes is working on a new album (as of Dec of last year, when he last gave an update).

[Scott Bails]

Don't you have that backwards? Portnoy had started Flying Colors and AM, while Sykes had nothing going on.

I don't know what's backwards - they agreed to do something together, and Sykes dragged his feet and kept Portnoy and Sheehan waiting. They got tired of waiting and moved on.

In the meantime, Portnoy, as always, had other irons in the fire.