Mike Portnoy says that he regrets publicly voicing his “statement” concerning the drumming within the GUNS N’ ROSES basic “November Rain”, explaining that he wasn’t “making an attempt to insult one other drummer.”
Again in August 2012, Portnoy, who usually does not shrink back from his two cents on any music-related dialogue, took to his Twitter account to pose the query: “‘November Rain’ is an all-time basic tune… however why on Earth did Matt Sorum play the SAME EXACT fill each 4 bars? (23 instances, to be actual!)”
Two days later, Sorum lastly replied to Portnoy, writing on Twitter, “That fill was Axl‘s [Rose, GUNS N’ ROSES singer] thought as a musical phrase that carried on by the trilogy, ‘Do not Cry’ and ‘Estranged’. These albums, ‘Use Your Phantasm’ [parts] 1 and a pair of have bought 20 million mixed.”
He added, “Keep in mind, youngsters, drumming is not all about fancy drum fills and splash cymbals. Ask Charlie Watts, Ringo [Starr] and Phil Rudd.”
Portnoy then replied, “Agree 1000%!! Ringo is one in all my biggest heroes!! No disrespect meant, bro… Simply making an statement of that tune. Peace! : )”
Mike mentioned his decade-old change with Matt throughout an look on the newest episode of the GUNS N’ ROSES-centric “Urge for food For Distortion” podcast. Talking about how the supposed “feud” unfolded, Portnoy stated (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It was a misunderstanding. It was a type of Twitter wars that saved blowing up out of nowhere.
“‘November Rain’ got here on wherever, and I heard the fill, and it dawned on me, ‘Oh my God. It is actually taking place each 4 bars or each eight bars.’ And I counted them, and it was one thing like 37 instances, the identical fill.
“Look, I’ve nothing however respect for GUNS N’ ROSESandMatt Sorum,” Portnoy defined. “Matt‘s an ideal, nice drummer and he is accomplished superb stuff each inside and outdoors of GUNS N’ ROSES. So I by no means am making an attempt to insult one other drummer. I may discover one thing spectacular or inspiring from any musician on the market, and I by no means wanna come down or insult any of ’em. However I simply form of randomly posted that random thought, like, ‘Why is that this similar fill taking place 37 instances?’ or no matter it was. And I remorse that I did that ‘trigger it most likely got here off as an insult to Matt, and I didn’t imply for it to be. However he responded one thing to the impact of, ‘Oh, a minimum of I do not want a hundred-piece drum equipment to play.’ After which I used to be, like, ‘Nicely, hey, you are speaking to the largest Ringo [Starr] and BEATLES fan of all time. Do not pull that card with me.’ And we ended up privately e-mailing one another and I apologized and I stated, ‘Look, I actually meant no disrespect by any means.’ So I do remorse that tweet and have realized to form of be just a little extra cautious concerning the observations I make on-line.”
In a 2009 interview with Music Radar, Sorum spoke in additional element about his drumming method on “November Rain”, explaining, “The observe I get probably the most quantity of grief for, from drummers, is ‘November Rain’. The explanation I did that tom fill so many instances is I felt it was a musical half. Numerous drummers had been like, ‘Why’d you play the identical fill a lot?!’
“Me and Axl had been sitting within the studio late one night time, having a few drinks and listening to Elton John, a tune referred to as ‘Do not Let The Solar Go Down On Me’.
“Axl goes, ‘Do you hear that?’ I am like, ‘Yeah, I really like Nigel Olson, man’. He says, ‘Try this on the tune we will report tomorrow!’ We would rehearsed it however I did not have all of the fills and stuff, it was only a groove. Ultimately of ‘November Rain’, I get into that entire marching band journey.”
