The Analog Cub

Visions is also an awesome album, basically their "Dream Theater" album.

Vector was one that didn't stick for me. Puzzle Box and Veil are pretty good but I have it near the bottom with Aquarius. Aquarius is arguably some of their most unique, but another one that doesn't stick. Big fan of Affinity and Virus!

Not wrong, but also an asshole. That's not particularly new from him, though.

Album still holds up really well for me. Dignity in particular is a real gem. Really excited to hear a live version.

No particular order Haken - Affinity Haken - Virus Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Iron Maiden - Powerslave Iron Maiden - Brave New World Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory Ghost - Meliora Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet. I'm counting this album as metal.

The definition of what's "metal" has certainly evolved over time. 2112 to me is Rush's "metal" album, because honestly it was some of the heaviest, loudest music to come out during its time. Idk. I just consider metal to be loud guitars, drums, and typically some kind of aggressive vocal style. The criteria's not that extensive from my perspective.

I'm happy to take recommendations where screams/growls are more of an exception than the norm. Examples of where I enjoy this are Devin Townsend's non-Strapping work. The screams are actually melodic and hold a specific note and aren't there for the sake of jarring, and he mixes it in with majority clean vocals. An example of where I'm not into unclean vocals is actually Haken's first album. I'm glad they moved away from the growls after Aquarius, because to me they were just unpleasant. Another one who does this really well is Dave Grohl! Some Dave screams are really fun in some of the Foos work such as Wasting Light.

Can't list 10 atm but these are consistently faves of mine: Iron Maiden Haken Dream Theater Devin Townsend Alice in Chains

Not enough Haken love in here!

Suzuki is off the IL and has wasted absolutely no time getting back to crushing the ball. Scherzer is back too and humiliated the Reds with a season high 11 K's, but in Mets fashion they lost the game 0-1

Porcupine Tree (2022) My top 2 have proven untouchable so far. At the moment C/C is sitting in top 5, duking it out with Deadwing and Lightbulb Sun. Lately I haven't found myself visiting Deadwing much, but Arriving Somewhere and Mellotron Scratch are some definite creative peaks. 1. Fear of a Blank Planet 2. In Absentia 3. Lightbulb Sun 4. Closure/Continuation 5. Deadwing 6. The Incident 7. Up The Downstair 8. Stupid Dream 9. Signify 10. The Sky Moves Sideways 11. On The Sunday of Life Signify and Stupid Dream seem to get a lot more love than I'm giving them. They never really click for me apart from a few really good songs (Dark Matter, Even Less).

I'm not one of them. Honestly forget he plays on there sometimes. I think it's simply got the best songs and sound.

At the moment, the new album for me is upper tier. FOABP and In Absentia transcend anything else they've put out, but C/C falls in the second tier with Deadwing and Lightbulb Sun for me. It's better than The Incident, which the band have expressed as something they would've rather not ended on. The new album requires patience. There aren't really any catchy hooks or melodies like you'd find on In Absentia, but I'm finding a lot that I really like on it, especially how much growth you can hear from Steven and Gavin in their projects during the hiatus, and Richard's expanded role on a lot of these songs. The album is leaving me wanting more because I feel like they can go further, but if this is truly it, it's a better ending than The Incident was.

It's still FOABP.

Foo Fighters 1. Wasting Light 2. The Colour and The Shape 3. Echoes, Silence, Patience, and Grace 4. Concrete and Gold 5. There Is Nothing Left To Lose 6. Foo Fighters 7. Medicine At Midnight 8. Sonic Highways 9. In Your Honor 10. One By One

Need more spins. I think I'll always prefer FOABP and In Absentia but this is upper tier. Better than The Incident and can contend with Lightbulb Sun and Deadwiing

See, it feels like somewhere between The Incident and Lightbulb Sun to me. Herd Culling could've been on Fear of a Blank Planet or Nil Recurring but the rest of this album feels closer to late 90s PT than it does 2002-2007. I'm thoroughly enjoying this album. Even the stranger bits like Walk The Plank. This feels like Barbieri's most important album in the catalogue alongside FOABP.

Crazy game. Officiating was pretty rough for both teams, quite a few missed penalties. Bolts looked pretty tough in the first period but the Avs woke up for the rest of the game.

I liked Future Bites quite a bit, tbh. A lot more than To The Bone. He's good at making this cold, impersonal sort of music that you get with 90s PT. To The Bone seems to be a necessary album for him but I'm glad he took a slight left turn for Future Bites instead of diving straight deeper. Hand Cannot Erase is probably most PT fan's favorite solo album, but I don't think he could ever make another "conventional" prog album under the solo name again to that quality. He's said what he needs to say in that vein. And to his point in a few interviews so far, PT can't continue any more without more input from the other guys.

This is an excellent album. I think this fits between The Incident and Lightbulb Sun in terms of direction. As it's always been with PT, the sound and production quality are off the charts. Still need to listen to this with headphones. Harridan and Dignity are my current favorites. Dignity feels like it could've been on The Division Bell or Raven. Gavin and Richard are the consistent stars of the show for me. I hear a lot of Pineapple Thief-esque dynamics (quiet/loud and rhythms I'd hear from Dissolution).

Busy this weekend with some personal stuff but I'm gonna give this a loud spin when I get back home. I did not listen to the last two singles because I want to experience the album in whole. Harridan and OTND are awesome but they basically released half the album early and I'm gonna keep away from that for just a bit longer.

You've got it. Those verses are definitely 7/8 after I gave it another listen. Gavin is a real trickster. Any Gavin-era Porcupine Tree or Pineapple Thief song I'm just constantly gravitating towards his drum parts and having my mind blown. Barbieri's keyboards are the icing on the cake, too.

One of my favorite songs with odd times is one I still can't figure out because Gavin is insane with his polyrhythms and trickery. I think it's in 4/4 in the verses but the drum groove makes it impossible for me to really know for sure. The heavy refrain is definitely in 5/8.

This Cubs team sucks ass. Morel has been a nice surprise, though.

BURAKOVSKY