Once Critic Matt Sorum About The Song November Rain, Mike Portnoy: No Intentions To Insult Other Drumers

Mike Portnoy (Instagram @mikeportnoy)

Mike Portnoy admits that he regretted the words he made 10 years ago regarding his observations of Matt Sorum's drum game in the song Guns N' Roses, November Rain. He emphasized that he did not intend to insult other drummers.

In August 2012, Portnoy used his Twitter account to ask a question: "November Rain is an all-time classic song... but why does Matt Sorum play WITH PERSIS filling every 4 bars? (exactly 23 times!)"

Two days later, Sorum replied to Portnoy, writing on Twitter, "Isian is Axl's idea [Rose, vocalist of Guns N' Roses] as a musical phrase that flows through trilogy, Don't Cry and Estranged. Combined with those albums, Use Your Illusion 1 and 2 have sold 20 million."

He added, "Remember, son, playing drums is not about luxurious drum fillings and cymbal splashes. Ask Charlie Watts, Ringo [Starr] and Phil Rudd."

Portnoy then replied, "Agree 1000%!! Ringo is one of my greatest heroes!! No disrespect bro... Just observing the song. Peace! : )"

Portnoy discussed his conversation with Sorum while appearing on the latest episode of the podcast "Appette For Distortion" which focuses on Guns N' Roses. Talking about how the "feud" should have come to light.

"It was a misunderstanding. It was one of Twitter's wars that continued to explode out of nowhere," Portnoy said.

"November Rain comes anywhere, and I heard it, and I realized, 'Oh my God. This really happens every four bars or every eight bars.' And I calculated it, and it's roughly 37 times, the same filling.

"Look, I really respect Guns N 'Roses and Matt Sorum," explains Portnoy. "Matt is a great drummer and he does amazing things both inside and outside Guns N' Roses. So I've never tried to insult any other drummer. I can find something impressive or inspiring from any musician out there, and I never want to demean or insult any of them.

"But I'm just posting random thoughts, like, 'Why did the same stuff happen 37 times?' or whatever. And I regret having done that because it might be considered an insult to Matt, and I didn't mean that. But he responded to something with the effect, 'Oh, at least I 'don't need a hundred drums to play.' And then I was, like, 'Wow, hey, you're talking to▁burung [Starr] fans and the biggest Beatles of all time. Don't try it.'

"And we ended up sending each other emails privately and I apologized and I said, 'Look, I really don't mean disrespect at all.' So I regret the tweet and have learned to be a little more careful about the observations I'm doing online."

In a 2009 interview with Music Radar, Sorum spoke in more detail about his drum game approach in November Rain, explaining, "The song that makes me sad the most, from the drummers, is November Rain. The reason I played the fillings tom many times was that I felt it was a musical part. Many drummers are like, 'Why do you often play the same fills?!'

"Axl and I sat in the studio one night drinking and listening to Elton John, a song called Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.

"Axl said, 'You heard that?' I was like, 'Yes, I love Nigel Olson, man'. He said, 'Do it to the song we're going to record tomorrow!' We've trained him but I don't have drum fillings and anything else, just the groove. At the end of November Rain's song, I followed the whole band's marching journey. "