Rod in Toronto

Ja, cara!!! Sensacional!!!! ME chama no Facebook - Rodrigo Altaf

Nice to see yet another fellow Brazilian here in TRF!

I did an interview with Mark Zonder about his new band with Ray Alder, called A-Z. their second album came out last Friday, and it's absolutely incredible. Check it out below:

I'm not a fan of this setlist...way too safe, and a repetition of recent tours. I think they sold this tour on the premise of playing songs they never did before, and a focus on rarities. I lost track of how many videos I saw with very ambitious setlist predictions. And instead, we got Fear of the Dark, The Trooper, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Aces High, Wasted Years...I've seen almost every Maiden tour since 1992, and I've decided to give this one a miss.

I'm Canadian, but also non-Canadian, just like I'm Australian but also non-Australian. This whole "elbows up" thing is silly. I know Trump is trolling Canada with this "51st State" thing - it will NEVER happen, and quite frankly, if it happened he would be bringing into the U.S. a bunch of left wing nuts and a struggling economy. I fail to see the benefit of this. But instead of criticizing, Canadians should look inward and discuss their own problems, which are MANY, and most of them self-inflicted.

It's ALWAYS time!

You guys mentioned No Exit, The Spectre Within etc...but to me, the great period of Fates Warning came with Parallels, Perfect Symmetry, Inside Out and A Pleasant Shade of Grey. The latter is one of the best concept albums ever, and came at a time when grunge was dominating the airwaves. It was weird, because the albums is proggy and dark, and sold well, but at the time, all the music executives cared about was artists playing with their pajamas, complaining about life and looking down. But Fates Warning remained strong for a number of years, only to call it quits with their last album, the amazing "Long Day, Good Night", from 2020. Nowadays, Jim Matheos and Joey Vera are together in the Kings of Mercia project, while Ray Alder and Mark Zonder put together A-Z. I much prefer A-Z, but both are good.

I'd call it "melodic prog". The album is a story about a messiah, but only two songs came out so far...and I was only able to listen to those two.

And this is one of the two singles revealed so far:

I know there are tons of topics about Dream Theater here, including several ones named "the official Dream Theater thread". But I wanted to share a brand new interview I did with Mike Mangini and his bandmate "Motley". The band is called Monolith, and they have an album scheduled for release in a few months. I wasn't able to listen to the album before the interview, but it still came out great - Mike is great to chat with!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3yJ7XSwH9Q&t=456s

Thank you!

This is one of the coolest interviews I did...Don Felder of The Eagles didn't want to be shown on camera, but gave me one of the most endearing interviews ever, with lots of details about his new album, his relationship with (some of the members of) The Eagles, touring etc. Check it out below!!

I got there at 07:20am and was number 58 in line. People had been there since midnight! He stayed until all the Geddy/Rush items were signed. They had copies of the new EP, My Favorite Headache, his autobiography and ONE copy of R50 on vinyl.

The two bonus tracks from Geddy's solo album - "Gone" and "I Am...You Are" were released on vinyl in an EP entitled The Lost Demos, for Record Store Day. Geddy did an appearance at the "Dine Alone Records" in Toronto. Out of curiosity, the store is across the road from Revolution Studios, where Clockwork Angels was recorded!

My pleasure man! Really glad you liked it!

Thematically it sticks out like a sore thumb. It doesn't fit anything they have done before or after it came out.

When it comes to Rush I think the bar was set VERY high, so none of their songs are objective bad. With that said, there are ones that I really don't connect with. In most cases, I find that these are internal jokes or concepts that didn't translate to a larger audience: 1. I Think I'm Going Bald 2. Rivendell 3. Color of Right 4. Spindrift 5. Good News First 6. Bravest Face I love Snakes and Arrows, but it would be a top 10 Rush album without the 3 songs from it I mentioned above.

Why not?

Man...baseball is not my thing, by any stretch. But...if Geddy wants some help to promote it, I wouldn't mind having a chat with him on Zoom!

I shared the interview with Andy Curran, who is Alex' bandmate and was Rush's A&R for years. He liked it!

Thanks so much!

Glad you liked it!

You mean you don't have access to it? How come?

Here's the video!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYeh03mlgqs

Here it is! I think for now, as I post this, only the interview transcript is showing, but the video will come out soon: https://www.sonicperspectives.com/interviews/interview-with-alex-lifeson/ I apologize in advance for so many ads on the page...and if you can read it, watch it, comment on it, share it etc. etc, that would be MUCH appreciated!