TheAccountant

Not surprisingly I would rank it high than you did. Its another top 100 song for me.

Just got home from the theater where I saw Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny. Decent. Not the best of the Indiana Jones movies but ok. Come to think of it, I sort of preferred the TV series "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones" to it. I actually liked that series from the early 1990's. But the movie was ok. Glad I saw it.

Just saw it. Decent. Yes, I liked it. Not crazy about it but liked it. Not as good as the original or #3. Was it better than #2? Hard for me to say. I only saw #2 in the theater and just once. I don't think I ever saw it again. I remember I sort of liked #2. So I would have to say I liked #2 slightly more. But that might change if I saw it again. As for #4, I a think I saw part of it on TV. Don't really remember it well so I can't compare. So although I liked it it ranks down my list of Indiana Jones movies. Note - I also liked the TV series based on the movies. I think it was on during the early 1990's and was titled "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones".

I would rank this song much lower. But since its off VT thats not a shock - to say I dislike it is an understatement. The very bottom of the barrel for me is Dog Ears and Virtuality, then VT. Interestingly you ranked Peaceable Kingdom as the bottom of the barrel from VT. Not that I really like it but, for me, it and Ghost Rider are the 2 best song on the album. Next please - keep these fascinating rankings coming.

I would agree that its under appreciated although I rank it higher than you do. Easy top 100 song. Very enjoyable. Excellent lyrics. Much better (IMO) than Animate or Stick it Out or Leave That Thing Alone - the 3 dogs (again, IMO) of an otherwise excellent album.

Stratovarius - Stratovarius ok. I guess. Nothing special. Tolerable.

I might have skimmed though a book or 2 in the bookstore and not been very interested. Thats the extent of my interest in her work. Sadly fantasy has also gone somewhat the direction that music went for me. Loved it in the 1980's - read everything I could put on hands on. Katherine Kurtz, David Eddings, Raymond Feist, Robert E. Howard, Barbara Hambley, Tolkien, Robert Jordan (before he wrote the Wheel of Time he wrote some Connan The Barbarian books that were very good so I knew his name when The Wheel of Time came out and I grabbed it right away, b4 most folks were paying any attention to it), some Terry Brooks (his first 3 books), Tad Williams, C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander, Harry Turtledove - on and on. Then in the early / mid 1990's, a few years after the music scene just died for me, the fantasy scene mostly died for me. Not as bad. I continued finding some stuff now and then that I liked. But nothing like in the 1980's and early 1990's. I know a lot of folks love George R.R. Martin's books and I tried the first one and gave up about half way through. Did not interest me so I never watched Game of Thrones. So no, not into he stuff and I find it difficult to find good fantasy to read. Sad but true since when done right its my favorite genre to read.

#2 for me behind J.R.R. Tolkien's work. Wish Patrick Rothfus would finish the King Killer Chronicles - those might, perhaps challenge the Wheel of Time. Perhaps. Currently there are behind it. We will see if / when its done. Likely followed by Raymond Feist's Rift War Saga.

Blind Guardian - Live Beyond the Spheres Very good. A few nit picky complaints though. The album was clearly recorded during multiple shows in different locations. Not a big fan of that. I prefer my live albums to be recorded all at once (think Rush in Rio). Best song on the album? Cant pick - to many to chose from. Song that most made me go "Wow!! That was better than I anticipated" Twilight of the Gods. Song that most made me go "Hmm, that was the weakest link of the album". Majesty. Perhaps Wheel of Time - pity with that since the song is good and I really like that fantasy series. Song I would like to have have on the album that was not there? Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill) followed by Time For Dying. Still, excellent.

This is where the album takes off for me. Everything before it is unlistenable. This and everything after (with the exception of BU2B2) is rather good. How good? That an interesting question. There are songs you have ranked below it I would rank above it and vice versa. Its likely higher in my rankings. How much higher? Hard for me to say. Obviously there are multiple songs on the album I would rank below this song. Top 100? Likely but not in the top 50. Top 75? Perhaps. So its most likely in the 75 - 100 range. But thats just a guess off the top of my head.

Stratovarius - Intermission Good, decent solid album. Nothing that really made me say "Wow" but nothing bad either. Just solid decent songs. My favorite? Their cover of Judas Priests Bloodstone.

Not a terrible song but not thrilling. Might be a bit higher in my book only because there are songs that you have not ranked yet that I would rank below it. But basically I would mostly agree - no significant difference from your ranking for me. Next please.

One of the less objectionable songs on this album - which means its still ranked way to high. Should be ranked much lower IMO. Coming from me that comment should not be a shock as my lack of love for VT is well known. Onwards....

Stratovarius - Visions The title track was my favorite song from the album by far. Enjoying exploring this group.

For me its clearly VT (no brainer - just a terrible album) but I would also have to pick CA. That album is terrible at the start. Then it picks up speed with Halo Effect. After that there are a bunch of very good songs on the album. In fact, other than BU2B2, there is hardly a bad song after Halo Effect. But if I was not into Rush and just picked the album up cold I don't think I could have gotten far enough into the album to appreciate what was there starting with Halo Effect. CoS has a lot of music I don't care for but it does have some very good songs. The first time I heard the album I was really turned off so perhaps I could include it in my vote but I did not. Feeling charitable tonight I guess. I also considered voting for Presto. When that came out I was not crazy about it and it took me decades to get it. Now I really like it, but I think that negative reaction was more because I found it to be a let down after the greatness of HYF & Power Windows then a dislike of it. So I won't vote for it. Counterparts I considered as well. When it came out I was disappointed by it and again it took me decades to get it. Again, now I really like it - more for the lyrics then the music. But again, it followed an album I had liked (RTB - which has not aged well with me) so it was the change in producers and the change in their sound which negatively impacted me. So in the end I did not vote for it.

You have a good memory to remember that I tried at least 3 Rhapsody / Rhapsody of Fire albums before giving up on them. Since I am a glutton for punishment I tried one more A7 album - The Stage. Barely got though a couple of songs and gave up. Major difference between them and Rhapsody of Fire. Rhapsody of Fire, I could at least listen to the albums, even if I did not care for them A7, the more I listened, the less I could listen. I went from a full album, to a half album, to only a couple of songs. LOL point about BG but true. Although I would add that Hansi looks like he could be a dad at the pub who is actually an IT worker who had a business casual meeting that day. Good thing about him is that I just saw an interview with him in which he said that if his voice holds out he can see himself still recording and touring when he is 75. Given that he is my age (57) that means we might have a lot more BG to look forward to. Lets hope he keep on drinking whatever tea Rob Halford has been drinking. I saw Priest last fall and his voice is still holing out and he is in his early 70's. I don't know if you remember but you suggested I try Stratovarius and Dragonland. Both are on my list but I kept getting off the list with all the odd folk metal I keep finding. Well, you were right about Stratovaius. Based on the one album I finally got to try they are my cup of tea and I need to explore them more. Have an awesome rest of the day.

Worked at home this AM (took the PM off to start the holiday early) so that meant I fired up the record player and whatever came out of the moving box's go listened to. First out: The soundtrack to The Lord of The Rings. No, this is not the soundtrack to the Peter Jackson movie. This is the soundtrack to the 1978 animated movie that ends with the battle of Helms Deep. Don't know how many out there even remember this movie. I saw this movie in the theaters twice and my only regret is that they never made a squeal. I had seen an animated TV version of The Hobbit the year before and that got me to read The Hobbit plus the works of Lloyd Alexander & C.S. Lewis. This movie got me reading (at the age of 12) the LOTR's, The Sillmarilion and on and on in the fantasy genre. Still love this soundtrack. Next out of the moving box: The soundtrack to Star Wars. Excellent. Guess it was soundtrack morning. Of the 2 I actually prefer the soundtrack to The Lord of The Rings but I will admit that I may be biased as I prefer fantasy to sci-fi.

Thanks a lot. Given that they are metal core I am not surprised that I did not care for them. Thats not a genre I care for. I may take another quick listen (even though I said I would not) to a bit more of their stuff. I am a glutton for punishment I guess. Blind Guardian, I have been listening to a lot of their concerts on youtube and I keep asking how I missed out on them. If they ever come back to this side of the pond I will try to see them. Their most recent album I was not crazy about but most of their other stuff I just like more and more.

This won't be a shock, but this is another top 100 song for me. I agree that the lyrics you mentioned are among the best from the song Keep this thread coming. Even where I don't agree I find it very interesting.

Thanks for the suggestion - tried City of Evil and listened to about half the album and gave up. Had to go listen to some Scardust, some Brothers of Metal and some Blind Guardian to clean my ears out. It was better than Waking The Fallen but not at all to my taste. Good drum work though. But thats about the only good thing I could say about the album. Not a group I will pursue any further. Got plenty of other bands I want to explore.

Hmm - I may wind up reading these in the opposite direction of what you suggested. I found Poverty, By America at my local book store and started reading it and don't want to put it down. About 60 pages in and I can tell its very much to my liking.

Stratovarius - Episode Much more to my taste then A7. Very good vocals, good songs, good guitar and drums. This group has been on my list to explore for a while. Will have to try more of their music.

O - boy. Just saw this post. Sigh. I also watched a bit of a recent show at MSG and was not impressed - mostly due to the vocals.

If I do try them again I will try that. Thanks. I just hope the vocals improve (or, better yet, they just got another lead singer). Liked the drumming on the album and the guitar work was decent but the vocals - just horrible (at least IMO).

A7 - Waking the Fallen Not impressed at all. Not to my taste - not at all. Just terrible. I don't know if they did anything better but I don't think I would even be bothered exploring them. Just terrible.