TheAccountant

Thanks for recommending - another one to add it my list to try.

Resurrection? The live album - correct? Very good live show. A rare glimpse of light during the (IMO) musical darkness of the 1990's / 200's. But the music and lyrics I don't go wild for. But I agree with you - very good performance (assuming we are talking about the same album). As for the Bruce albums you mentioned, I don't believe so. I really enjoyed Tattooed Millionaire and then had another solo Bruce album but sold it as I was not impressed. Thanks for recommending these, I will try to check them out.

1990? that may help to explain why I never heard of them. Once you get to the 1990's I drifted away from a lot of music because well, it drifted away from my tastes. Basically for me the 1990's and 2000's until now represented a dark age that is just starting to lift. Their were occasional ray's of light, and I am finding more than I was aware of, but unlike in the 1970's and 1980's they did not get a lot of regular airplay - at least not that I was aware of. So I am having to dig through Youtube to find these fragile becons of light. Given how you describe them I am not certain that would fall into my taste range but I will add them to my list to try. Thanks for the recomendation.

I agree with you 100% that this is not a band chasing the past - I hear it using that past to move along to the future. Must confess though, I am not at all familiar with Paradise Lost. Glad you mentioned them - I will have to check them out. My guess is they never broke big in the US if they date to the 1980's. If they date to the 1980's and had broken big over here I would be familiar with them. As for Maiden I find them to be a very different band from Priest and (perhaps surprisingly) a bit hard to compare. Its like comparing Rush and Triumph. On paper, similar bands. Once you get listening, not similar. That being said, I historically ranked them about equal. Priest had good music in the 1970's when Maiden was not around. Then they both had their glory years in the 1980's. But Maidens glory years involved slightly more albums (# of the Beast through, and I am being very charitable here, Fear of the Dark - although most would argue just 7th Son of a 7th Son vs. Priest British Steel through Ram It Down. Yes, most include Painkiller but I don't - I think its a dog). Plus Bruce had a very good solo album in Tattooed Millionaire. Rob had no such album. Both went through a down spell after they changed lead singers in the 1990's. Then reenergized when their original lead singers came back. Maiden had a strong album in Brave New World and from Dances With Death they had Paschendale (which is my favorite Maiden song). But otherwise their music since Bruce came back had not really thrilled me. Priest is a different matter. Yes, they did Nostradamus which I don't go crazy for but all their other albums have been very enjoyable. So, 1970's - edge for Priest. 1980's - edge for Maiden. 1990's - who cares. But post return of Bruce and Rob - edge Priest. So its close but I rank Priest very slightly ahead of Maiden. Maiden at its best may be better than Priest at its best but their is just more good quality music from Priest and late career they have been on fire. Like you said, I can't wait for the new album.

Ok -this is showing real signs of potentially being one hack of an album. They are 2 for 2 with the songs released so far in my book. Very good stuff.

Been so busy over the last month I missed out on this coming out. Good golly - this is excellent. Rob's vocal are still amazing, tremendous lyrics, strong music. I did not think they could match Firepower (which, IMO, was their best album since Screaming for Vengeance) but if the entire album is this good they might match or exceed Firepower. Call me impressed - big time.

Been a while since I had the time to listen to any music - either been taking care of my parents or working or watching the news. But today I worked from home so that gave me the chance to fire up the record player and whatever came out of the moving box got listened to. Turned out this was an awesome thing to do. First out of the box: Bryan Adams - Reckless I remember when this album came out I listened to it and my first reaction was that it was almost to good. That mostly still holds true. My 2nd reaction was that the best song on the album was not what had been getting airplay - at that point I thought right away that "Summer of 69" was the best song on the album. It eventually got a ton of airplay and time proved me right, IMO its the song that has aged the best. Side 1 is just loaded with really good songs ("One Night Love Affair", "She's Only Happy When She's Dancing", "Run To You", "Heaven" & "Somebody"). Side 2 starts with the amazing "Summer of 69". Then it continues with the good ""Kids Wanna Rock" & "Its Only Love". It ends with 2 weak songs 'Long Gone" and the really weak "Ain't Gonna Cry". Minus the 2 weak songs on the 2nd side its still one heck of an album. Next out of the box: Triumph - Allied Forces The album has 2 of Triumph's best songs ("Magic Power" & Fight The Good Fight") plus it has a bunch of other strong songs like the title track and "Fool For Your Love". A very good album. Next out of the box: Triumph - The Sport of Kings Ok, I am going to say something crazy here. IMO this is Triumph's best album. While none off the songs can match "Magic Power" or "Fight The Good Fight" from Allied Forces or "Spellbound" or "Follow Your Heart" from Thunder 7 or "Never Surrender" from that album, this album just fits together amazingly well. One song just flows into the next. Its much more than the sum of its parts. Individually the songs just don't match with some of the songs from the other Triumph albums but together they do. Rush were masters of making their albums fit together and here Triumph put together a complete album. Its an album I never skip a song on. Note - I was lucky enough to see Triumph on this tour and it was an awesome show. Pity Triumph has been somewhat forgotten over the years. They should not have been. Next out of the box: Cinderella - Night Songs Side one loaded with strong songs (the title track, "Shake Me", "Nobody's Fool", "Nothin' For Nothin'" & "Once Around The Ride"). Side 2 has "Somebody Save Me" but is otherwise only ok. But side one make it an enjoyable album. Next out of the box: Ozzy - The Ultimate Sin Another album I never skip a song on. That being said, I think its not on the same level as Bark At The Moon or the Randy era work. Still very good. Not a bad song. Next out of the box: Journey - Greatest Hits A Journey greatest hits album. Nuff said. Just wish it was longer than 1 record - Journey has way more awesome songs than you can put on one record. I have a 3 CD set of the greatest hits and thats more like it. The only thing I can really complain about the album though is "Stone in Love" is not on this record. I would have removed either "Girl Can't Help It" or "I'll Be Alright Without You" (both from their Raised on Radio dog, um, album) and replaced one of them with "Stone In Love". Actually, I might have replaced both but I am not being greedy. Anyway, I saved the best for last by chance. So last out of the box today: Savatage - Hall of The Mountain King A masterpiece. Brilliant. Another album I never skip a song on. Never have right from when I first got it back in 1987 and can't imagine that I ever would skip a song on it.

Must confess I am not at all familiar with Slomosa or Seen - never heard of either band. But Unleash the Archers are awesome. Those 2 albums are just amazing. Wish I could like you comment more than once.

Went out to see a movie for the first time since July when I saw the last Indiana Jones movie. Tonight it was "The Marvels". Good standard supper hero flick. Enjoyable. Not great but decent. Fun escapism on a Saturday night. Not a big move goer but felt the need to go out tonight. I like the 3 Marvels so this was an easy move to go see. Worth while? Yes. Would I go see it again? No. It takes a special move for me to go see it more than once. But it made for nice night out.

I did not watch the Monterrey show - will check that out. Thanks for the recommendation. Not certain whats going on with me and HYCAD either. But so far not thrilled. Perhaps over time.... I had been away on business most of this week and while I was waiting in Penn Station for my train to return home I ran into a guy with a Nightwish T--shirt. We got talking about bands as I also like Nightwish - my second favorite band behind Rush. Turned out he saw Nightwish twice (lucky guy - I have only seen them once). I mentioned Unleash The Archers to him, which he said he would check out. Then I mentioned The Warning. He was like "Yeah, the band with the 3 sisters from Mexico?! Their really good. Not Nightwish. Not Within Temptation. Not Epica. Not Kamelot. Not Delain. But really good. Right behind them". Guess thats high praise for The Warning in his book. I would rank The Warning ahead of all of those bands except Nightwish. But still, good to get talking to somebody else who actually had heard of them and liked them. Even better since it was at random in NYC.

"...heavy metal classic, possibly the greatest metal song of all time." Clearly I don't agree with you on that - and I like Dokken. To each their own I guess, but I could not call it either a heavy metal classic or possibly the greatest metal song of all time. For me, Dokken's 5 best songs would be: 1. Breaking The Chains 2. Just Got Lucky 3. Into The Fire 4. Alone Again 5. The Hunter After that it would almost certainly be other work from Tooth & Nail. Perhaps the album that followed it. Those were the best albums (with Tooth and Nail being by far the better album). Back For The Attack is decent and an album I will enjoy it every so often, but for me its a significant drop off from their 2nd and 3rd albums (although overall its better than Breaking The Chains). Guess I have to go with the "not even top 10" option.

I watched the show from the Pepsi Center last night and waited till tonight to comment on it. Wow!! Highlights for me was Back Holes and Breathe. Pau's expression about 1:30 into Black Holes when she stopped singing and the crowed just picked up the song for her was priceless. You could tell she was in tears by the end of that song but Breathe (which as I understand it had never been played live b4 and was added to the album at the last second as the record company wanted something more tacked onto the album) totally reduced her to tears. Watched several versions of those songs and it so emotional. Awesome. Other Highlights (and frankly there are a ton of them) would include Dany's solo / acoustic version of When I'am Alone and the group playing XXI Century Blood. I really like that song so it was good to see it played live. Things that did not thrill me? Hmmm, Enter Sandman. I have beat that one to death in prior posts so I won't say more there. Speaking of More, that would be another things that did not thrill me. Nor did Hell You Call A Dream. Sick was better than the other version I have heard. Some of the music appealed - somewhat. So perhaps its growing on me. The light show did not thrill me, as I get older I get picky with my light shows at concert. But overall it was an awesome show. Just fabulous. BTW - adding the string ensemble was a move that took guts but it worked. I get real twitchy when bands add string ensembles, most of the time it does not really add much of anything or it outright detracts from the songs. When Rush tried it on the CA tour I was like ok, thats nice. But can we get them off the stage and get back to the Rush concert? It really added nothing. But here, with Black Holes, it really added to the song. Very well done.

Amazing - just amazing. There are a few bands I like more but for my money The Who were the best live rock band of all time (and yes, that includes Rush). Keep in mind they went out and put on this show at 5:00 AM. Awesome.

100% agree. Nothing after ANATO has been as good as the strong albums that came before. I also agree that The Machine was a let down. Great vocals - thats a given - but otherwise a dud to my ears. I have watched a recent show on youtube and even the live performance of the songs from The God Machine did not thrill me.

Thats a very good question and I am going to frustrate you because I don't really have a good answer. The short answer is that until now their music has moved me, that its touched me on some level. Its resonated with me in some way. These songs have not. More was sort of pop which I did not go crazy for but I was willing to let it sit and hopefully grow which, so far, it has not. The 2 newer songs are hard rocking but not in a direction I am crazy about. I sort of feel a Hailstorm influence (understandable in a way) but thats not a good thing. Any Hailstorm I have heard has not turned me on - rather I tend to turn it off fairly quickly. I do appreciate that they are expanding their sound and trying different things. Rush did that its one of many things that makes them special. I would also note that some of Rush's albums literally took decades to catch on with me but when they did they really did. So perhaps The Warning will do the same thing. I guess I am concerned they could become another Def Leopard. DL's first album was good, their 2nd and 3rd albums are amazing albums I never skip a song on. They had changed their sound with their albums but then came a big change in sound with Hysteria. Yuck. It does have some good moments and they were trying something different but it does not work for me (although I saw them twice on the tour and still have the album). Their next album sort of pulled back and changed their sound back in their original direction - aa bit. Still have that album as well and saw them on that tour. But the damage was done. After that they went one way and I went another. That was the last studio album I bought by them (although I have seen them live a number of times and when I saw them in the 2000's and 2010's they were better live than back in the day). Like I said, I will give The Warning a lot of lee way to experiment but the most recent sound changes have not thrilled me. Wish I could answer your question better - its frustrating that I can't. I must sound like some sort of troll when I am not, not at all. Like I said their first 3 albums are awesome and they have reignited my interest in Rock music which, other than Nightwish, was basically dead as of the early 90's. Sorry I can't explain it better.

At the time I posted this I was only part of the way through hits. Now that i have finished it and thought about it for a while I am less positive. The general point he is making I mostly agree with but I have several significant criticism's. They are: 1. Much of the material in chapter1 should have been in chapter 2 and much of chapter 2 should have been in chapter 1. That would have made the book flow better. 2. Chapter 4 is very good however Kurt Anderson in his book "Evil Genius's" does it much better. Both talk about the Lewis Powell memo. I don't recall if Kurt talks about some of the 1970 court decision involving money and politics but Cenk does and does it well. However, in her brilliant book "On Corruption in America and What is at Stake" Sarah Chase does it way better. Cenk does not explicitly talk about the Freedmen doctrine while Kurt does. Advantage Kurt. But Kurt just does much better job putting it together & Sarah Chase is way, way better than either of them. 3. Chapter 5 which deals with the media is good - but I felt it lacked something. Finally, his theory about justice coming - I will believe it when I see it. So I have to revise my original reaction. Not very good. Ok, decent. Did I get something from it? Yes. But others have gone over the same sound and done it much better.

Exactly my reaction when I read it a number of years ago!!!

Hmm. I have a different take here. When I first found The Warning a year ago August I was blown away and they reignited my interest in Rock music - an interest that had mostly died since the early 90's. All by themselves they gave me hope that their was good music out there and I can't thank them enough. After finding them I found Blind Guardian, Unleash The Archers, Brothers of Metal, Scardust, Gloryhammer, Feurerschwanz, In Extremo, Symphony X, The Hu and a number of other bands that I really like. Without finding The Warning I don't believe I would have found them. The first Warning album, XXI Century Blood is awesome. QOTMS was even better, The 3rd album was a step back and was only awesome. 3 albums that, when I listen to them, I never skip a song. All 3 I was blown away by right from the start. Their new music - hmmm. More I had reserved opinion on for some time but having listened to it live a number of times now I have to admit it does not impress me. The 2 new songs, same thing. Not impressed at first (and second and 3rd) listen. Guess I am in the minority, but I am getting a bit concerned about where they are going musically. Still, with those 3 albums they have a lot of good will built up. Will just have to keep listening and hope for the best.

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror Best song is (IMO) "The Holy Grail". 2nd best is a tie between "The 9th Wave" & "Twillight of the Gods". Glad its a concept album because it feels like one. I mean that in a good way. The songs sort of mesh together with nothing really standing out but nothing is bad either. Decent, enjoyable album. Not wild about the album but it does not feel like it has any weak points either. I could understand how some might not like it but I found it to be ok. Not much more than ok, but clearly ok.

Worked from home today so that meant it was time to open the moving box's and whatever vinyl came out got listened to. First out: Foreigner - Head Games Decent album. Best songs are the title track, "Dirty White Boy" & "Rev it on the Red Line". The rest is nothing special. Next out: White Lion - Pride Very good album. Typical mid - late 1980's album, with some decent song writing, good vocals, decent drum work and very good (like very, very good) guitar work. The songs "Wait", "Tell Me" & "When the Children Cry" all got airplay and they deserved to - all are still very enjoyable. The song "Lady of the Valley" should have also gotten airplay - its also very good. The song "Don't Give Up" was a bit of pleasant surprise for me. Not really in the same category as the above mentioned tunes but it did have some interesting lyrics. Must confess, perhaps I have a bit of a soft sport for this band - I saw them live in Glens Falls NY back in the late 1980's with Vixen and Ozzy. Ozzy was excellent (no shock there) White Lion was excellent (I bought a White Lion t-shirt and still have it) and Vixen was much better than I had anticipated. Very enjoyable show. Any way, next out of the box: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damm the Torpedoes This has the awesome "Refugee" (a stone cold classic), "Even The Losers" (if not a classic then its still awesome - but its a classic in my book) and "Here Comes My Girl" (very good). Other than that I don't think the album has much. "Don't Do Me Like That" does not do much for me. "Louisiana Rain" is sort of ok. Barely. But the rest of the album is just filler. Then again I think this is the only Tom Petty studio album I own. Just not a big fan. I did see him in concert once and I thought Jackson Browne who opened for him was much better. Anyway, next out of the box: Eddie Money - Eddie Money This has "2 Tickets to Paradise" (excellent) & "Baby Hold On" (good but otherwise its filler (IMO). Next out of the box: Samy Hagar - 3 Lock Box This has the very good "Your Love is Driving Me Crazy" and the also very good (and overlooked) "Remember the Hero's" but otherwise I am not wild about the album. Next out of the box: Whitesnake - Slide it In This album start out with the excellent title track, "Slow an Easy" and the even better "Love Aint No Stranger". Then it sort of goes down hill. Next out of the box: Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive Excellent. Is legendary and holds up after all these years. Last out of the box: Reo - Speedwagon - You Get What You Play For Live Reo (a band I saw live a number of times and alway enjoyed - although the same is also true of Frampton). Even thought its from the 1970's, so it does not include some of their bigger hits, still, what not to like? So, album I enjoyed the most today? Studio - Pride by White Lion. Yes I liked it more than Damm the Torpedos. Live? Frampton

totally agree - wish I could hit the like button multiple times in response to that comment.

Not a shock that you rank Ram it Down near the bottom of the list - I would likely rank it somewhat higher. But what I find very interesting is that you rank Painkiller so low. Guess I am not alone in not being thrilled by it!!! I would actually prefer Ram it Down to Painkiller. I would rank British Steel and Screaming for Vengeance (or perhaps Screaming for Vengeance and British Steel) as my #1 & #2 Priest albums. Which one is #1 will flip flop based on my mood. I will also toss out the shocking opinion that I would rank Defenders of the Faith fairly far down my list. For some reason I have never been a huge fan of it. Must confess though, I have never really sat down and ranked all the Priest albums. So I don't know exactly what is where (other than the #1 & #2 albums).

Blind Guardian - At The Edge of Time Good album. Liked it much more than A Twist in the Myth. About on par with Tales From The Twilight World. But its not as enjoyable as Nightfall in Middle Earth, A Night at the Opera or Somewhere Far Beyond. Favorite song? Clearly "Tanelorn (Into the Void)" Second favorite would be a 3 way tie between "Curse My Name", "Valkyries" & "Wheel of Time". There are some other good songs on the album such as "Road of No Release", "Control the Devine" & "A Voice in the Dark" but those first 4 clearly stand out. Production value of the album was better than A Twist in the Myth.

Good thing you like differing opinions - since music is art its a 100% guarantee that one persons treasure will be another trash. Want to be shocked some more? Well, I aim to please. For example my top Rush albums would be: 1. 2112 2. Power Windows 3. HYF 4. FBN 5. Presto 6. AFTK 7. S & A Rush has 19 original studio albums. Notice 3 albums that I have not yet mentioned? Namely Hemispheres, Permanent Waves & MP. So that means for me those 3 (plus Grace Under Pressure, Signals & Counterparts) are jumbled together behind the 7 I mentioned. Not exactly certain of the order of these 6 albums. Yes, I said it. I like Presto, S & A and HYF more than MP and Hemispheres. Hows that for a shock?! But it is my honest musical taste. Interesting that you mention The God Machine. Here we see alike. I have listened to it and I was not impressed - not at all. I had a hard time getting through it to be honest. One of these days I will take another run at it but even when I have listened to some of the individual songs I have not been impressed. Great vocals but the songs just don't do much for me. I prefer Imaginations over it and perhaps, maybe, the speed metal albums as well. I need to give them all another shot - although they don't thrill me much either.

100% agree with you that A Night at the Open is terrific. Interesting that you mentioned A Twist in the Myth because that was the next album I listed to. What did I think of it? It ok. Favorite song would be "Skalds and Shadows". 2nd favorite would be a toss up between "Another Stranger Me" and "Fly". But there are a bunch of other songs that have their moments - "Turn the Page" (would be interesting if it was a cover of either the Rush or the Bob Seger song, but its not), "This Will Never End", "Carry the Blessed Home", & Lionheart. I found them to be ok. I can see why you might not like the album though. Its sort of, I guess you could say, thin. To use a Rush analogy it sort of reminds me of Presto or RTB. Mind you, I like Presto a lot (its my 5th favorite Rush album) so thats not a turn off for me. Might remind me a bit of HYF in a way - but HYF is my 3rd favorite Rush album so again, for me, not a turn off. For me its better than Imaginations From The Other Side but not as good as the rest of their work. Still, I find it to be decent.