Ed is clearly a bitter man.
MK's solo band are the cream of session musicians and rocked as hard as any DS lineup when given the opportunity, plenty of rocking tunes in 96, Pyroman, Cleaning My Gun etc.
It's not the musicians that are the issue, it's the music. MK went away from rock with his solo output. Even before then, is OES a rock album, with pedal steel all over it?!