Oracle

U2 - Bad, Where the Streets Have No Name, One Tree Hill Those are the three songs that get me *nearly* each time I hear them. Mostly because I think of the person who introduced me to U2. My aunt introduced me to a lot of bands actually, but these three songs really make me think of her more than anything else. Seeing U2 this past weekend in Indianapolis was very emotional for me. I never got to see a concert with her, but she was very much there.

Definitely sounds like a Signify/Up the Downstair track. Not terrible to my ears, but can certainly see why Steven may not like it.

WOW! These are absolutely amazing shows! Considering how tight PT management has been about fan recordings/bootlegs, this is a great find. Wish I could find a reliable source for soundboard recordings of PT. Live material from them is just so perfect.

YES is one of those bands that takes time and patience to appreciate. Pink Floyd was a band anyone could enjoy, they were so well rounded in just keeping things simple. With that said, I would take any of the people who played in YES over the people who played in Pink Floyd (with the exceptions of David Gilmour and Richard Wright).

I respect and value your opinion. You can have the worst music taste in the world, just do it somewhere that is far away from me! :P That's why I despise radio. That's the reason for radio though. Most people aren't looking for deep cuts or underplayed songs. Majority of listeners want songs they know from front to back. Shameful, yes, but that's life! I will say, though, that Led Zeppelin around here isn't really played all too often, but there's a good rotation of songs instead of the same old Whole Lotta Love, Stairway and Black Dog. I've heard Hey Hey What Can I Do, That's The Way, and Tangerine more often than I heard the most played Zeppelin radio songs!

I've only been working full time for the last year and a half. First full time gig had good vacation and sick time accrual, but using it? Better off finding Bigfoot in New York City. Started a new job working as a custodian at the local high school and won't be getting sick days, but I will be getting 40 hours of vacation after one year of employment. Plus I get paid 10 bucks an hour, which, for a job in this area, is at least three rungs above normal. My last job capped me out at 8.65 an hour with a list of responsibilities that kept growing by the day. I loved the job because it really brought out my people skills more than my retail experience had. Working in an old folks home isn't always THAT bad, though there were times I wish I had quit before I did! Great job, great coworkers, but a boss that didn't think it was paramount to have the department run efficiently and didn't want to hear our concerns. C'est la Vie, I suppose. Benefits were incredibly shitty as well. If I wanted health insurance, the minimum deductible was $9000 a year. For someone like me, who doesn't go to a doctor's office more than maybe twice a year, it was just too much. I was barely making any money anyway, so I had to settle for the dental and vision, which weren't much better with their $30 co-pays. The 401k plan, however, was relatively decent and I'm glad I got that started as soon as I could.

I believe it was Dr. McCoy who said that people never really die, so long as you remember them. I'm so sorry for your loss, Lucas.

Nope. Not entirely impressed by Dream Theater as a live group. Just sounds underwhelming.

For those who may have missed it, Steven did a live Q&A on Facebook recently: Some interesting comments from SW in this video. On the controversy surrounding the album before release: "Some of it was negative, some of it was positive, but it's the reason why we've been doing so good in the charts this week [No. 3 on UK charts, No. 1 in Finland, No. 2 in Germany]. It's because everybody is talking about this record, and people wanted to hear it because of all the controversy." At least he's good at marketing!

They were more organized writers in Phase 2. Much better overall direction and flow in releases. However, all of my all time favorite PT records are in Phase 1 (Signify, TSMS, Up the Downstair). It's nearly impossible to pick between the two, but I go to Phase 1 more often every time I decide to listen to some PT.

I personally think this is a good thing. Perhaps this opens the door for collaborations between the band members on different projects. It would be great to see Gavin and Steven together again. I believe Richard and Colin have also done a collaboration together, right? Might be something to explore. Maybe we'll be in for some surprise releases from the PT vault. Would be great for Steven to go through whatever live recordings he has and publish them. Coma Divine got expanded way back in 2004, but not by much. There's plenty of stuff to include on a possible new edition of that album. I believe they recorded Dark Matter and a lot of material from the Signify album along with the original phases of Voyage 34. Would be interesting to hear, as I've never been able to find any Porcupine Tree bootlegs.

I remember a small group on the floor in Columbus during the Time Machine tour that did this and I joined in. Very fun. I think the culture of Brazil with soccer chants is what caused them to do it, and that YYZ has an energy to it that others just don't. The cheesiest Rush lyrics...other than the obvious ones, here's the one that really stick out to me: You can do a lot in a lifetime If you don't burn out too fast You can make the most of the distance First you need endurance First you've got to last

I am fully convinced that Trey Anastasio is my spirit animal. And that's all I got to say about that.

There's a difference though. The word "times" is pretty universal. Political artists from the 60s referencing the "times" obviously reflects that period of time, but they can easily be adapted to the modern era. The difference between something like that and some of SW's lyrics (e.g, referencing iPods, Xbox, Facebook, etc.) is that the latter's lyrics become dated. When people hear the word "iPod", they're probably thinking of the mid-2000s when that product took hold. iPods today are nowhere near as encompassing as iPhones (and, consequently, other smart technology). Referencing Facebook is only going to date the lyrics 10 years down the line, assuming Facebook isn't gone by that point. We've been listening to Steven make a fuss about Facebook, iPods, etc. for the last 10 years. A 50 year old dude complaining about Facebook is the most eye rolling lyric I've ever heard. It ruins an otherwise spectacular song, but I can easily overlook it because of the inclusion of Ninet. Otherwise ruins? Wow. :D What's to say the song is about him though? Just because he wrote it doesn't mean it's meant to be him complaining. Not every topic and line uttered is about the author. Knowing Steven's track record, it comes across as complaining. The interviews he did around the release of FoaBP and parts of the documentary for Insurgentes are mostly him stroking his dick about how much he hates modern technology and the culture that revolves around it. Nothing wrong with that opinion, and I mostly agree with it to some extent, but this material certainly dates itself. FoaBP referencing iPods and Xbox certainly did not age the album very well. As a concept, it's still a great piece of work, but it shows its own age because of those lyrics.

We've been listening to Steven make a fuss about Facebook, iPods, etc. for the last 10 years. A 50 year old dude complaining about Facebook is the most eye rolling lyric I've ever heard. It ruins an otherwise spectacular song, but I can easily overlook it because of the inclusion of Ninet.

One of the better tunes from the synth era. It's a favorite of mine as well. Definitely a good track to open Power Windows and pretty good as a setlist opener. It's definitely above average for 80s Rush.

Honestly, I'm not sad. More than anything, I'm relieved that the band has been put to rest. There's nothing worse than dragging your fans on for nearly a decade when it comes to the question of when another album is coming. Looking back at it, it's clear that the quality of material being put out was sub-standard to what they had done earlier. Put in the factor of the members all doing their own separate projects away from each other, that probably had a lot to do with the dissolve as well. At the end of the day, Porcupine Tree is more than the sum of its parts. As big as Steven has gotten, especially over the last 10 years, I think people have inflated him as being the true genius behind PT. I certainly don't see the guys having any ill will towards each other. They stayed together for nearly a quarter century, obviously they have a good friendship. But their paths just separated. I would hope they could get back together again, but if they don't feel they would be able to make good material, there's nothing to be done. Steven seems to be in a much better form as a solo artist than as the member of a band. Ever since Grace for Drowning, he's proven over and over again that his talents as a solo writer justify it.

For me: 1. Houses of the Holy 2. LZ3 3. LZ4 4. Physical Graffiti 5. LZ2 6. LZ1 7. Presence 8. ITTOD 9. Coda

They had been touring/recording almost nonstop since the R30 tour. Geddy has taken care of his voice, but the wear increasingly showed. I can't really listen to R40 because his vocals are just strained. You could tell he was trying, but couldn't quite get there. Compare R40 to Clockwork Angels and Time Machine, you'll hear a noticeable difference. I'm just glad he never got sloppy with his bass playing.

Ahhh.... to be Frank Zappa! RIP! I love the narration. I hate when Neil clicks his sticks in "Didacts And Narpets." That bugs me more! LOL! Earl, I've often wondered about that It is a click of the sticks, right ?? ... sometimes it just sounds like the set creaking or coming apart at the seams You mean @ :46 ?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Qc1BxQF4ak Those are just the sticks clicking. I've done it before. It's mostly just from stick positioning. They probably just scraped each other. I honestly never heard that before now!

I like Phil, I really do, but you're trying to compare two completely different drummers who play in completely different ways. The drum fill of "In the Air Tonight" can be played by anyone who is competent enough to listen to the song a few times and take 15 minutes of trial-and-error playing to learn it. Phil is more of an improvisational drummer than Neil Peart. Listen to Brand X's albums Moroccan Roll and Unorthodox Behaviour. Better yet, try to find some live recordings of Phil playing with Brand X. It's un-f***ing-believeable that this is the same guy that made pop songs like Sussudio and One More Night. Hell, even the 70s Genesis albums that feature Phil are great examples of intricate drumming. Take a closer listen to The Cinema Show, Firth of Fifth (specifically the bridge going into Hackett's guitar solo), Los Endos...I can go on with more. Phil is just as one-of-a-kind as Neil, but both of them have different philosophies to playing and composing, and I can't compare the two based on that. Absolutely. Duke, do you love the Genesis album "Duke?" Two of my best friends think it's the greatest Genesis album of all time. I simply can't get into it. Duke is SEVERELY underrated in their discography. Nearly every song on that album is perfect from beginning to end. Duke's Travels is such a great piece as well and I wish they would have played it more. Songs like Heathaze and Cul-de-Sac, which Tony Banks wrote, were never done live and I can't understand why.

You sure you've been to a Rush concert? I only got to see them once, but people were noticeably dancing to some songs. They also played air guitar/drums, head-banged, and even did fistpumps! Now, as a Deadhead, dancing is basically my nature, and I can dance to whatever music I listen to. Rush is no different. Music moves in more ways than one, and I've seen Rush fans dance.

Fountain of Lamneth is much better in terms of writing, instrumentation and pacing. The narration really kills Necromancer for me, to be frank.

As much as I enjoy post-rock (Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros, etc.), I can't help but feel it can be perceived as the most repetitive genre in the rock music spectrum. There's a reason why many people call it crescendo-core.

Maybe the earliest PT when he was basically experimenting but it's nothing like the Signify/Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun stuff and it's even more different than In Absentia/Deadwing. Not even close, to my ears. That's what I meant. Early PT is always MILES better than anything else, and that includes his later PT albums. It went downhill from In Absentia I don't know about that. In Absentia and Deadwing, combined, are better than Fear of a Blank Planet and The Incident. I still hold the years of 1993-2002 as being the peak years for Porcupine Tree. After listening to this new album about six or seven times since release...I can't really put it in any category. There's definitely some catchy stuff, but there's also a lot of what sounds like recycled ideas from Insurgentes and Grace for Drowning. My reaction to this is actually similar to Grace for Drowning. That album took me a good seven or eight months to fully appreciate as a work of art. As far as To The Bone ranks, it'll take a while for me to appreciate it.