The Analog Cub

If I&W could go through a remaster to sound like Black Clouds and Silver Linings - the late Portnoy-era drums and the perfect guitar tone Petrucci has maintained since 2009 onto the present day - it would be so much better.

If there's one thing I learned while going through Mastodon's catalog - Brent Hinds figured out how to put banjo-style picking into a metallic electric guitar and it f***ing works.

I understand why Leviathan's considered a classic. It really is one of a kind and is a landmark album for them. The harsher elements just aren't my brand. A few years ago I should've started with Emperor of Sand and worked backwards, like I did when starting with Dream Theater - still glad I did that instead of starting with WDADU or Images and Words, the production is hopelessly dated on those two and I rate I&W a lot lower than most DT fans.

Dry Bone Valley and All The Heavy Lifting are two good Hunter tracks that I've found as a new listener

Alright I took your advice and went on a post-Leviathan binge of the catalog. Holy shit, this is GOOD. Okay...The Hunter leaves a lot to be desired, but everything else is awesome. Hushed and Grim has such an awesome, eerie/cold vibe that I dig. I did go back and try Leviathan and Remission again, and Remission, while I respect their early angry years, just isn't for me. Leviathan at least has some really good bits sprinkled in and Blood Mountain is a good, albeit angrier counterpart to Crack the Skye. Where I'm currently sitting: 1. Emperor of Sand - perfect 2. Crack the Skye - near perfect, production is garbage IMO but the songs are awesome 3. Hushed and Grim - cut off a couple lesser songs (e.g. Dagger) and this would be #2 4. Blood Mountain - changing style to something I like but they kept the really good raw instrumental bits about the early years I like. The harsh vocals here are a little more tolerable. 5. One More 'Round the Sun - the highs are high but there's a couple duds that bring it down. A little inconsistent. EoS is an example of doing this so much better 6. The Hunter - they really swung and missed for the most part, but a few songs are really good 7. Leviathan - awesome instrumental parts like on Megalodon and such, but not my style 8. Remission - too angry/growly without the good parts of Leviathan

Hayden Wesneski sent down to Iowa for some refinement, with Hendricks on his way back soon. I got a feeling this will be Kyle's last season unless he has some extra breaking ball magic, he's just running out of gas.

At the moment it's Grace Under Pressure but it changes depending on my mood between that, Moving Pictures, Counterparts, Hemispheres, and Clockwork Angels. I am happy to see all the p/g love, though

With you 100%. Harsh vocals to me are an instrument to be used for color, not the main event. Devin Townsend does it really well, especially as he's gotten older. His screams always have a "note", though, so it works. I tried Mastodon a while back starting at the beginning but just didn't go further after Leviathan. I need to try it again and start with their later works to see if they stick.

At least the 4/5 slots and I'd agree. Steele has been a joy to watch

They should give the Padres and Giants metal bats just to see how far the ball will go. The altitude in Mexico City is sending the ball really far.

It's alright...Hardwired was better and Death Magnetic is still the only album that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anything pre-Load. They're a touring band at this point IMO, and Kirk hasn't really contributed any impressive leads in ages.

Rabin (and Horn/Downes, even) added some much needed balls to the elven music they did in the 70s.

For clarity here's where I sit with Dave and the boys 1. Wasting Light 2. ESP&G 3. TC&TS 4. Concrete and Gold 5. There is Nothing Left to Lose 6. Debut Bit of a quality dip 7. Medicine at Midnight 8. In Your Honor 9. Sonic Highways 10. One By One

C&G worked really well for me because it did the different dynamics and musical variety perfectly like they did on Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace, but failed miserably at with Sonic Highways. They're absolutely on fire with stuff like that when they get it right just like they're on fire with pure loud rage like they were on Wasting Light and TC&TS.

Sounds pretty good. Looking forward to this album and all the raw emotion that it'll bring after last year. If the new song's indicating the rest of the album, it should already sound better than their dance-obsessed Medicine at Midnight. Concrete and Gold was such a near-perfect album and then they really took a dive.

Welcome to the fun. This band is an absolute blast. Vector was a bit of a letdown but Virus is one of my faves.

At this stage in their career I think I'd be more excited to see Devin. LaBrie is really running out of gas live. The last two studio albums have been somewhat of a career renaissance, though. Some of their absolute BEST.

I'll do 2011-2020. 2011 1. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light 2. Haken - Visions 3. Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events 2012 1. Rush - Clockwork Angels 2. Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud 3. Lindsey Stirling - self-titled 2013 1. Haken - The Mountain 2. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork 3. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories 2014 1. Lindsey Stirling - Shatter Me 2. Devin Townsend - Sky Blue 3. Haken - Restoration 2015 1. Ghost - Meliora 2. Riverside - Love, Fear, and the Time Machine 3. Steven WIlson - Hand Cannot Erase 2016 1. Haken - Affinity 2. Devin Townsend Project - Transcendence 3. The Pineapple Thief - Your Wilderness 2017 1. Foo Fighters - Concrete and Gold 2. Starset - Vessels 3. Styx - The Mission 2018 1. Ghost - Prequelle 2. The Pineapple Thief - Dissolution 3. Tesseract - Sonder 2019 1. Tool - Fear Inoculum 2. Dream Theater - Distance over Time 3. Lindsey Stirling - Artemis 2020 1. Haken - Virus 2. The Pineapple Thief - Versions of the Truth 3. John Petrucci - Terminal Velocity

Yeah I'm looking forward to the umpire scorecard that'll show up on Reddit later for this one. Those are pretty neat at determining how much any missed balls/strikes affect the eventual score.

Wesneski needs to go back to AAA when Kyle gets healthy if he doesn't have a noticeable turnaround after tonight's uh...showing.

Mariners are such a perplexing, sloppy team. They have an awesome team but they need to fire a base coach or something, they have already given up a couple games because of sloppy play.

I expected the Cubs pitching to be more solid and the offense anemic, but it turns out it's the exact opposite. Behind Stroman and Steele, the rotation is abysmal so far. The bats have been hot. Hoerner and Swanson have been lights out. I don't have high expectations for Hendricks when he gets back, either, as much as I love the guy for everything he's done.

Predictable, sure, but if it's going to be predictable it better sound good. IMO this cover and the Land of Confusion cover do that very well

Not a Genesis fan, and they absolutely killed that. Sounds great!

Giving the 7-string a workout. Haken - Pareidolia