TheAccountant

Blind Guardian - A Night at the Opera My favorite song? "And Then There Was Silence". Second favorite? "The Maiden & The Minstrel Knight". After that there are multiple other enjoyable songs - such as "Under The Ice", "The Soulforged", ""Age of False Innocence" & "Battelfield". But for me this album is greater than the sum of its parts - like Nightfall in Middle Earth and Somewhere Far Beyond the album just fits together. Rush were masters (IMO) at making albums that were greater than the sum of their parts and the more I listen to BG I am coming to realize they excelled at it a well. Overall I don't like it as much as Nightfall in Middle Earth or Somewhere Far Beyond but I do like the album more than Tales From the Twilight World and a lot more than Imaginations From the Other Side.

My exact thoughts as well!!!

Blind Guardian - Nightfall in Middle Earth This album has 4 giants on it ("Into the Storm", "Nightfall", "Time Stand Still at the Iron Hill" & "Mirror, Mirror"). Of the 4 I would rank Mirror, Mirror slightly behind the other 3 - and they are basically tied. Once you get through those 4 there is a bunch of other very good music on this album - songs like "The Tides of War", "The Curse of Feanor", "Harvest of Sorrow" and "When Sorrow Sang" are all very enjoyable. But the best thing is that they did a concept album for The Silmariion and it just fits tighter. A very enjoyable album. Their best IMO.

Hey - that was my album for tonight!! The first time I listened to it I was not a big fan of it and I will say it grew on me - a little bit. But not a lot. Best song? A Past & Future Secret. But thats hardly killer - its not on the same level as the songs I mentioned for either Somewhere Far Beyond or Tales From the Twilight World. Beyond that it has a bunch of songs that are not bad and have their moments. Songs like "The Script For My Requiem", "Born in a Morning Hall", "Another Holy War", the title track, "Mordreds Song", "Another Holy War" & "And The Story Ends". But I am not going crazy for them. Perhaps the album is a bit heavy for me? Maybe. But it does fit together well - the songs flow one into another well. It has grown on me a but but I am still not a big fan of the album. Its ok but not as good as Somewhere Far Beyond or Tales From The Twilight World. Not close. But not bad and worth listening to.

Agreed - I have not really given their albums a run through since I first listened but am making the time to do so now. Mostly i have been watching youtube video's of their concerts. Lot of fun - wish I could see them live. If they ever come back to the US I will try. I liked Somewhere Far Beyond a lot the fist time I listened but liked it even more now.

Got to listen to some more music on youtube today. Specifically: Blind Guardian - Somewhere Far Beyond Favorite song? The Bards Song - In the Forest. Second favorite? Hard to say. I really liked The Bards Song - The Hobbit, Time What is Time, Theatre of Pain, Journey through the Dark and The Quest for Tanelorn. It likely either The Bards Song - The Hobbit or Time What is Time or The Quest for Tanelorn but basically its a tie between them. The album fits together very well - the songs just flow one into another. Interestingly, I thought the title track was only ok. One of the weaker songs on the album. Really enjoyed the album.

Justice is Coming by Cenk Uygur. Very good book but that should not be a shock - I watch the Young Turks for news as much as I can and he is the host of the show. His views most align with mine. Mostly.

Been a while since I have sat down and listened to an album - just been doing a lot of work in the evening around the farm for my parents. Or been watching some concert videos on youtube. But the weather was terrible today due to the remains of yet another tropical storm (sigh). So I decided to revisit an album on youtube by a group I have been getting to like. So: Blind Guardian - Tales From the Twilight World Favorite song? "Lord of the Rings". Second favorite? "Welcome to Dying". I also really enjoyed "Lost in the Twilight Hall", "The Last Candle" and "Traveler in Time". Good album.

Last night my 93 year old mom decided to try something wild. She found a recipe for Chicken Tandroi so she tried making it. Turned out decent but we had leftovers so tonight we ate the leftovers and had chicken tandoori salad. For desert we had vanilla ice cream with strawberries on it.

Any idea how she obtained access to Neils drum kit? Not likely that you or I could find it an play it. Got to be an interesting story here.

I basically agree with you. I would only change your point to read "British Steel to Ram it Down is peak Priest for me". The work before that was good but not as good. After that you have Painkiller which I don't care for and then Rob left the group and the Ripper era started. Not remotely as good as the "peak" era or the 1970's Priest. When Rob came back the group got going again - but again, not as good as the "peak era". But better than the Ripper era and way better than Painkiller - which I rank at or near the bottom of the Priest barrell.

100% agree with you.

Have not listened to many youtube albums recently. For a while I was listening every night but not recently. But tonight I decided to give another band a shot there. Mentalist - Empires Faling Found out about this group as their drummer is Thomen Stauch who used to be Blind Guardians drummer. Thats what made me aware of them and got me to give them a shot. So what did I think? Decent album. Lot of decent songs including (in no particular order) the title track, "If You Realy Want", "Solution Revolution", "Generations Legacy" & "Out of the Dark". You can clearly hear Thomen's drum work - a real plus. The songs are decent / good, good guitar work and the lead vocals, well, they took a bit of getting used to but they were decent. The bass player on the album (although he did not write anything and is not in any video's) is Symphony X's bass player. Overall, enjoyable album. May try out the bands other 2 albums at some point. Not great but decent.

Worked from home for part of the day today (took part of the day off to take mom to a dr.'s appointment) so that meant I opened up the moving box's and whatever came out got listened to. First out: Foreigner - Records A greatest hit album Foreigner released in 1982 so it does not have any post 1982 songs. But it does have enjoyable songs like "Cold As Ice", "Double Vision", "Head Games", "Dirty White Boy", "Juke Box Hero" & "Hot Blooded". I may not be a big Foreigner fan but whats not to like? BTW - Even if I am not a big Foreigner fan I did see them 3 times live (twice in the 1990's and once in 2002). The first time I saw them live they were excellent, the second time ok. The 2002 show was terrible. I had the chance to see them recently on their farewell tour and I skipped that. Any way, good album. Next out of the box: Iron Maiden - 7th Son of a 7th Son When I listen to this album, I never skip a song. Solid & enjoyable. My favorite song is "Can I Play With Madness". No shock there. Next out of the box: Survivor - Eye of the Tiger Historically I just listen to the first side of this album and skip the second. its been many years since I listened to the 2nd side but today I listened to the entire album. What did I think? Not really impressed by side 2 & will go back to skipping it. Side one though, I don't skip and will not skip anything on it. All the songs (the title track, "Feel Like Love", "Hesitation Dance", The One That Really Matters" & "I'm Not That Man Anymore") are excellent. I esp. like "Hesitation Dance" and (perhaps even more so) "The One That Really Matters". Very enjoyable album side. Last out of the box for the day: Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance A masterpiece. My favorite Priest album. I never, ever skip a song on it. Funny story about the album though. In 1988 I was at college and was listening to the album. One of the guys who lived on the same floor in my dorm stopped by my room for some reason as the last song, "Devil's Child", was playing. This guy was not at all into metal. He listens to it a bit and Rob Halford is singing the chorus which has the line "I believe your the devil" in it. This guy hears it and goes "Did he just sing "I'm in league with the devil? I though Led Zeppelin was satanic but there nothing compared to a group openly singing about being in league with the devil." Yup - thats what being being brainwashed in certain ways about religion (and music) and not herring things correctly can do to people. Had to calm the guy down and explain what the lyrics actually were. Nice guy though. So all these years latter I still get a chuckle out that guys reaction to what he misheard.

I have noticed her standing during the songs you mentioned. Thats old news for me but the Pau-ounce (that is LOL funny BTW - thanks for making me laugh), no I don't think I have ever noticed it. Defiantly not to the extent that she was bouncing during this show. Her bounces were so overstated she was practically bouncing out of the seat. It was really funny to see her doing it while at the same time doing her awesome drumming and singing. Its just added to the awesomeness of Pau. As for Enter Sandman - I thought I was about the only person who did not care for it. What a shock to find I am not alone!! I 100% agree their originals are better than the cover -then again I think there originals are better than the original Enter Sandman. But again, not really a Metallica fan. Glad they have more songs recorded. Lets hope they are better than More. More is the first time I have heard one of their songs and been like "hmm, well, I guess its ok. Maybe it will grow on me". Every other song has impressed me right away. More was sort of ho-hum for me and really has not grown on me. Hoping its not a sign that their musical exploration is leading them in a direction I don't like. I will have a ton of patience as they explore but I would hate to see them wind up in some strange direction I don't like. Don't think it will happen but am a tiny bit worried - although I am a work wort by nature.

Just got done watching the show. So what did I think? It was a very good show. Good set list, good film quality, good sound & mixing. In some recordings (normally audience recordings) when they switch from the lead vocals of Danny to Pau's sometimes you don't really get to clearly hear Pau until about halfway through the song as the person mix'ing has to switch the emphasis from one to the other. Not here - right away you picked up that Pau had the lead vocals. Best song in the set for me? Dust to Dust. Second best? Survive. Third best? Good grief, thats a free for all. In no particular order it could be Error, Evolve, Disciple, Money, Hunter, Narcicista, Martirio, 23 or Revenant (I like those last 2 (basically I like every Warning song) but did not anticipate they would be that good). I know thats like half the set but yeah, they were good - and better as the set went on. Dany was Dany, Ale was Ale but Pau, o wow. Pau was on fire. Since I first found the warning about a year ago I have been impressed with her drum work - even looking back at their TED Talk her drum work impressed me but its really gotten much better over the last year. Interestingly I find her drum work to be much more impressive on their most recent albums work, even though QOTMS is my favorite album from them. Plus Pau's vocals just are so impressive. I have always liked them but I thought they stood out even more here. Another good part about the camera work was that it basically (at times) functioned like a Pau camera. Its funny in a way. I had never noticed that when Pau drums she practically bounces on her seat and almost jumps up at times. That might be a function of her being like 5 foot nothing. Somehow I had never noticed it before - but it was sort of funny. I guess it gives her some momentum to help with her drumming since she does not have the physical size and strength of a Neil Peart (for example). But man does she still beat the hell out of her drums and her work has become much more complex - very impressive. Good to see Dany and Pau's teachers joined them on stage again. Very entertaining show. Any negatives? Yeah. The lighting. I did not care for it - it was distracting and I almost had to look away at times. That style of light show I don't care for. But thats fairly minor. Basically it was a heck of a show. Note - I know they want to honor Metallica and I know they got started with Enter Sandman but I would vote that they stop covering it. They are now to the point where they have 3 albums that I will not skip a song on. Thats plenty of really good original material - no need to keep covering Enter Sandman. I know its a nod to Metallica but I say at this point you don't need to. They have more them demonstrated they respect Metallica. Spread your wings - no one will think the less of them for it. That being said - I don't really care for Metallica. Enter Sandman is a decent song but frankly The Warning have a lot of material I would prefer to listen to.

Vile, miserable monster - you paged me? LOL. I actually have no problem disagreeing with Dany but here I can't. Not because of Dany though. Rather its because of Pau - she was on fire during this song. Just awesome. Yes, it might be the best live version of this song. Pau was just a beast - that make the song for me. Big time enjoyable.

Ale actually has a nice voice but you could tell she was struggling a bit vocally. As we have said, she is not comfortable singing lead and IMO it showed. There was a definite "I screwed up" fort of look between Ale and Pau at the end of Hunter. Pity in a way, I was really wondering what would happen with that song - of the 2 I prefer it. Also, not certain if the sound mixing was ready for her to sing lead. The band sounded good but the mixing of her vocals might have been better - or perhaps it was just her lack of comfort with singing lead. Still, interesting to watch.

Hmm, that's hard to answer!! Its likely Circumstances followed by La Villa. Where would I rank them? Top 20? Circumstances might make it, depending on my mood. La Villa? No. Top 25? Not likely for La Villa. Top 50? Perhaps, somewhere in there for La Villa My top 11 are basically set in stone and have not changed significantly in over a decade. They are: 11 - Working Man 10 - Something For Nothing 9 - Xanadu 8 - By Tor 7 - Tom Sawyer 6- Limelight 5 - Red Barchetta 4 - Freewill 3 - Time Stand Still 2 - Subdivisions 1 - 2112 The only movement among these songs in, lets say the last 15 years, is that Red Barchetta moved up - it used to be below Tom Sawyer but it has moved up past Tom Sawyer and Limelight. After that it changes based on my mood. Songs that I think would be very likely to wind up in the top 25 would include (in no order): Working Them Angeles Presto Between The Wheels Big Money The Larger Bowl Mystic Rhythms Manhattan Project Analog Kid Afterimage New World Man Circumstances Everyday Glory Far Cry That being said, something could be 20 today and it could be 80 tomorrow. Depends on my mood. Part of it is that Rush has so many very good songs that I could listen to something and go "Wow! Thats awesome!" Then listen to something else and go "Forget that other song, this is awesome!" Then I could listen to the first song the next day and go "How could I over look this? Its awesome!". If I had to work out a top 100 Rush songs its fair to say it would include, besides my top 11 the following: Nothing from ST Almost all of FBN likely 2 songs from CoS (Bastille Day and Lakeside Park) All of 2112 Most of AFTK Depending on my mood it could be as few as 2 songs from Hemispheres or all of them Likely 3 songs from Permanent Waves Likely nothing else from MP. Perhaps the first 2 songs from side 2 - they might make it. Depends on my mood. A few song from Signals A few songs from Grace Under Pressure All Power Windows. All HYF except High Water All Presto At most 2 from RTB Several from Counterparts Likely nothing from T4E. There are 2 that could make it (Carve Away the Stone & Resist) but Rush just has better so they are likely pushed out of the top 100. Nothing from VT Nothing From Feedback A good number from S & A The more I think about it, likely nothing from CA. Their is some good material there but it might be hard for it to crack the top 100. That might be more than 100 so something would get bumped out but thats whats in contention for my top 100.

Once upon a time this was a top 10 song for me. Not any more. Not a top 20. Not a top 25. Top 50? Likely no. Top 75? Likely. Just has not aged well and I have come to appreciate many of Rush's other songs a lot more. Still good but Rush just a lot that I like more.

Very good song and their best instrumental. Clearly in the top 100 but lower than this. Not certain where but not in my top 25.

Very good song. Clearly in the top 100. Where? Not the top 15 . Likely not top 20. Top 50? reasonable guess although it could be lower. Put another way, not really certain. But very good.

Worked from home today so, after some time of not getting to listen to any albums (on youtube or otherwise )it meant it was time to crack open the moving box's and whatever came out got listened to. First out: Uriah Heep - Equator This album was recorded and mixed in late 1984 / early 1985 and, musically, it so sounds like a 1984 album. I don't mean that in a bad way. Its decent musically. Not great (far from it) but not terrible either. Decent. As for the layrics, again it sort of sound like 1984 and the group was struggling to come up with decent ideas for song lyrics. Not horrible but nothing very interesting. Put another way, the music is better than the lyrics. Best songs? That would be "Poor Little Rich Girl" and "Rockarama" Overall, its an ok album. Next out of the box: Uriah Heep Live - January 1973 Decent live album. Not awesome but not terrible either. Next out of the box: Cream - Goodbye Hey, its Cream. Even not at the best they were still very good. Next out of the box: Led Zeppelin - The Song Remains The Same Live Zeppelin. I may not be a huge Zeppelin fan but its still a very good album - esp, when Robert Plant does not sing. For some reason, his vocals just turn me off. Its part of the reason I prefer The Who to Zeppelin. Mind you, I also prefer Keith Moon to Bonzo and John Entwhisle to John Paul Jones. Plus live I much prefer The Who. Plus while Plants vocals turn me off I find Roger Daltry's vocals to be awesome. But still I find this to be an enjoyable album. Next out of the box: Cream - Disraeli Gears Excellent. A classic. Next out of the box: Greta van Fleet - Anthem of the Peaceful Army I was talked into trying Greta van Fleet by an ex co-worker who was a big Zeppelin fan. Think I bought this right before I moved, listened to it once and tossed it into the moving box. Is not bad but nothing I am wild about either. Could not tell you the title of any of the songs so you can tell its sort of forgettable (esp. with all the other awesome music I listened to today). Kind of filler IMO. Next out of the box: Bad Company - 10 from 6 Bad Companies greatest hits from the first 6 albums. Not a huge Bad Co. fan (although I saw them twice live in the late 1980's and enjoyed them both times). Still, whats not to like? Enjoyable. Next out of the box: Dio - Sacred Heart Ok, some call this Sacred Fart and while I agree its not close to The Last In Line or Holy Diver I still enjoy it. Good album with "Hungry For Heaven" being the best song (IMO) Next out of the box: Nightwish - Once. Yes, I have this on vinyl. Heck of an album. Awesome songs galore - "Dark Chest of Wonders", "Wish I Had An Angel", "Nemo", "Planet Hell", "Creek Marys Blood", & "The Siren". O, yeah - also a little song titled "Ghost Love Score". Lets not forget that one. Just excellent. The amazing thing is I actually prefer Century Child - but that I don't have on vinyl. Last out of the box: Def Leppard - Pyromania This is the album that got me into hard rock & heavy metal. An album I never skip a song on with 3 total classics (obviously "Fooling", "Rock of Ages" & "Photograph"). A total classic. Whew!! After not listen to any albums for a while I made up for it - started work early, worked though lunch and worked late. Never stopped listening to music.

La Villa is very good but not top 25 material for me. Not knocking it. Rush just has better. Limelight - my #6 Xanadu - My #9 The Enemy Within - clearly in the top 100 but not in the top 25. Likely not top 50. Good song but Rush has better. Freewill - My #4 Kid Gloves - ok song for me. Not terrible but nothing I am wild about. Might, or might not, make my top 100. Its ok but not special and Rush has better. The Anarchist - near the bottom of the barrel for me. Prime Mover - excellent song. Clearly in the top 100 but where? Not certain. Hemispheres - decent song but IMO its overrated. Good but I don't go wild for it. Likely in my top 100 but down the list. Not certain exactly where. Natural Science - a very hard song for me to rank. The studio version was always sort of there. Ok but nothing I went crazy for. Then I heard the live version on Different Stages and was rather impressed. Then I saw them play it live on the VT tour and was blown away. Collectively that made me re-evaluate it.. The result is that I have a split personalty reaction to the song - something that rarely happens with Rush songs. Normally, if I like a song on the album I also like it live. Dislike it on the album I am also likely not to like it live. This song is out of that normal pattern. Its good on the album but still not a song I go wild for. The live versions though - o my. Yum. So likely to be a top 100 song if we are talking the studio version. But clearly not top 25. Likely not top 50. But the live version is seriously awesome.

Freewill - #4 on my list.