The Analog Cub

Again I think the set at face value is an amazing set, even if putting Aces High towards the end of the show is a bullheadedly stupid move that only Steve Harris could've come up with. Getting Seventh Son, Powerslave, and Mariner in one shot is incredible. It just doesn't quite meet all the hype they gave in the press and such leading up to it in terms of how unique/rare the material would b, and the fact that they advertised "the first X albums" or whatever, but (predictably) omitted No Prayer for the Dying. Their definition of rare doesn't match the vocal fanbase on the internet, if they think a well-catalogued song like Mariner is rare, that's a far cry from something like Infinite Dreams. I honestly think their biggest hurdle is that they insist on playing no more than 2 hours, and they absolutely must play FotD and Iron Maiden, and they must NEVER play a song that wasn't covered in its original album tour - have to wonder how hard of a battle it was against Steve to break that rule and play Alexander the Great last tour. I get it, they're getting older, the production is massive and hard to deviate from, etc. but I hear the frustration. Be nice if they quit playing Iron Maiden and Run To The Hills and mix it up a bit more. But Steve is gonna play his usual deck of cards.

No disrespect to Dawson as he's very good, but a big part of Maiden's sound for me is Nicko and all of those fills. Just doesn't feel right without him, and I truly feel all of those guys are irreplaceable at this point. I last saw them in 2017 and it was a fantastic show, but I think I'm done now.

That's a great setlist on its face, but apart from the Killers songs that kinda makes their messaging of playing rare songs or whatever a little over hyped. Seeing Mariner and Seventh Son back in the set is awesome. Putting Aces High towards the end of the set is stupid, too, I can't imagine Bruce has an easy time with that one when he's spent most of the energy for the night.

Blood Mountain really grew on me. Sleeping Giant, Capillarian Crest, some really good stuff. It's not perfect for me but of the first 3 it's far and away their best.

Dream Theater after giving the new album plenty of time to bake. Six Degrees Scenes Black Clouds Awake Distance over Time A Dramatic Turn of Events Images and Words Parasomnia A View From... Train of Thought Octavarium Systematic Chaos Dream Theater When Dream and Day Unite Falling Into Infinity Astonishing The new album isn't perfect but there are some genuinely great songs. A View From... I also thought was good but I wasn't convinced Portnoy coming back was what they needed. I'm not mad either way

For me the biggest one was Mastodon. I listened to Remission and Leviathan many years ago and wrote them off as not my style, then after I relayed that opinion 2-3 years ago, Mick convinced me to try Crack the Skye and that just opened everything up for me. I still can't do the first two albums, really. But everything else has so much I enjoy.

I have a hard time preferring one over the other. They're both two different flavors of excellent.

Potentially polarizing take, but Jordan Rudess with Dream Theater. He does just as much wankery as Petrucci but he brought an impressive sonic palette to the band. Moore was good and probably preferred by all the old school fans that gave up after Octavarium. Sherinian just never seemed like the right fit in terms of sound, but was an excellent performer.

Porcupine Tree when Gavin Harrison joined. The Pineapple Thief when Gavin Harrison joined.

Been trying out Chevelle. These guys are...angry. But the riffs are amazing

I'm into it. I like it more than Impera and it feels like an evolution of their sound, even if it's not exactly original overall. It doesn't come close to my preferred brand of Ghost with Meliora or Prequelle but it's good. I could do without the schmaltzy numbers.

I do for hockey, but not because of "increased play" or whatever. I try to get into regular season hockey but it's difficult for me, because it's simply always on too damn late for me. I root for the Avalanche and their games consistently don't start until at least 8-9pm Central time and I like my sleep. The entire Western Conference has later game start times for half the country, not even factoring in the population disparity between east/west. The playoffs seem to have earlier start times and it's so much easier to digest in real time as a result. At least with baseball, those west coast road trips with 9pm starts are few and far in between. College basketball playoffs are insanely good, but the regular season in the power conferences, and even some of the mid-majors (Missouri Valley Conference!) is consistently good, too. I'm a little spoiled rooting for a good alma mater (Iowa State) in a good basketball conference (Big 12), but even if you're not rooting for a good alma mater or something like that, it's still consistently high energy. It's pretty dull before conference play starts in the winter because the big teams are paying low-major teams to come to their arena and get their ass kicked, but it's gotten better in recent years with the non-con tournaments such as the Maui or Battle for Atlantis invitational. I don't really follow the NBA so I don't have a ton of valuable insight, but my perspective is it continues to be less about the game and more about the soap opera and celebrity culture, and that's just a huge turnoff for me. I don't give a shit what Lebron puts into his drinking water or what his friend said about his workouts or whatever. Maybe this is why the regular season is so un-hyped? I can't say. Hockey seems to get that way sometimes, too, but at least they beat each other up on the ice. Baseball is the best. The right amount of excitement/relaxation in the summer and the intensity turns up in October, and outspoken jackass personalities are either ejected or shunned by the culture. It's about the game and only about the game.

I enjoyed Satanized. I'm holding off on listening to anything else before release to get the full experience. I'm seeing them in August and am so pumped. I just hope this album is maybe a step back from Impera in terms of how poppy and theater kid it got at times, but it wouldn't surprise me if it ventures even further into that. I wish I was as into them when Meliora and Prequelle came out as I am into them now!

Oh, man, hard disagree. I discovered them a lot later in their career and am not into the emo stuff, so I find the Vaxis albums much more enjoyable. The Dark Sentencer in particular is such a heavy metal banger. 1. No World for Tomorrow 2. Afterman: Ascension 3. Vaxis I 4. Good Apollo I 5. Vaxis III 6. Vaxis II 7. Afterman: Descension 8. In Keeping Secrets 9. The Color Before the Sun 10. Year of the Black Rainbow 11. Second Stage Turbine

Made it through Opeth. What a ride. 1. Ghost Reveries 2. Blackwater Park 3. The Last Will and Testament 4. Pale Communion 5. Damnation 6. Watershed 7. Still Life 8. Sorceress 9. Deliverance 10. My Arms, Your Hearse 11. In Cauda Venenum 12. Heritage 13. Morningrise 14. Orchid The new album is a new creative peak. They figured out how to take all the best parts of their 2010s output and give it a dose of heavy. It sounds like ICV but the songwriting is spectacularly put together rather than disjointed like its predecessor. I don't even care that they brought back some metal, the songs and dynamics are just top tier.

Sorceress is probably gonna slot in somewhere around Watershed and Still Life. A much more challenging listen than Pale Communion but rewarding in many areas.

Yep, in account settings for me

That Bears double doink is a pretty recent big one

Your painstakingly curated Barry Manilow rankings are safe here! ...As long as you follow up with the heaviest stuff you can rank afterwards!

Firepower is moved up to the top category for me. That album is so damn good.

Call me a filthy casual but American Idiot, half of Dookie, and half of Nimrod are plenty Green Day for me.

I would've understood if he didn't get in on the first ballot, but I think his stats and individual hardware were more than enough to get in as a pitcher of his generation. The 00s and early 10s pitchers were absolute workhorses and we're not gonna see too many of them anymore. Sabathia might not be what I'd call the best of that group, but if anything, him getting in 1st ballot means the best of that group should be slam dunk 1st balloters. That means Kershaw, Verlander, Scherzer, and Greinke.

"Ruth wasn't unanimous, why should Ichiro be?" - some clown writer's opinion

One single jackass prevented Ichiro from being unanimous. The writers can be such clowns sometimes. I think Sabathia had a solid case. Getting to 3k strikeouts alone separated him from many, and his inning counts were nothing to sneeze at. With the continuing trends of using more of the bullpen creatively, pitchers continuing to destroy their arms in their early 20s as they chase velocity, I think the days of the Sabathia, Verlander, Kershaw types are ending.

Especially with Morningrise, the "black metal" style just doesn't work for me. It sounds muddy, and the songs are more just a disjointed collection of riffs or parts of songs. The MAYH album started to pull things together better, IMO. Still Life was where I felt they finally figured everything out.