Welcome to Rangerhood Ringfacwen!

You have a lot of concerts to go to!

Whoopie!!! I managed to download Grendel by Marillion today. I've been after it for ages, ever since my old 12" EP version became too scratched to play properly. Now I've got a beautiful shiny CD version.

Val has a huge grin across his face (as he also pulled down Nantucket Sleighride by Mountain)

Technically we should all like Marillion, seeing as they are one of the very few bands out there named after Tolkien's work (yes, true story, they just didn't like the Sil part) unfortunately, I think they're very very dull. Though I like Fish, he's a very funny guy. Lavenders Blue dilly dilly indeed...

I'd rephrase that to say I like early Marillion. Their first couple of albums, in my opinion, carried on where Genesis left off just after Peter Gabriel left them. Once Fish stopped painting his face, however, and they released Misplaced Childhood, I think they went really dull.

Their first two albums, Script for a jester's tear, and Fugazi are really good. Grendel, as far as I know was never on an album but appeared on the B-side of the Market Square Heroes 12" EP (which was released prior to Script for a jester's tear). The EP, by the way, could almost class itself as an album because Grendel is almost 20 minutes long and the two tracks on the other side are around 12-13 minutes between them.

Try looking on LimeWire. That's where I found them.

Rhodry there what's calssed as wuz rock!

Yeah it gets crazy when the mosh pits start going, just make sure you don't get dropped!

Prog you are from NJ and you are not a Springsteen fan? That's kind of surprising!

I moshed at a Kiss concert once...I got close enough that I swear Gene Simmons did that tongue thing in my general direction. woohoo!

Springsteen just plain sucks, really, truly, did you hear about the time Alice Cooper and Keith Moon made him drink Vodka out of his boots? That's funny. And yeah, i did hear Lonesome day, and he still sucks.

Jethro Tull on the other hand are one of my favourite bands ever, you have great taste Rhodry, definitely.

Springsteen need I say more!

I just downloaded Planet Funk Chase the Sun, but whilst surching for it I kept getting country and christian ska, waaaaghhh!

Any Metallica fans 'round here? Word has it that their next album, St. Anger, will come as a pleasant surprise to long time fans. It's been compared to bands like Meshuggah and Hatebreed (Which are in turn, HEAVILY influenced by EARLY Metallica. kick ***! *bangs head*) and Lars said the owner of a German record label described St. Anger as "commercial suicide." Sounds like all good news to me...

Meanwhile, they've got themselves a new bass player: Rob Trujillo, ex Suicidal Tendencies and Ozzy Osbourne.

If you're a 'tallica fan or just a casual admirer or whatever, checkout their site, if you haven't already:

http://www.metallica.com/

I highly recommend signing up for the Jump in the Studio thingy (it's free)... there's a few hours worth of studio footage and band interviews available via streaming video through windows media player or real player. Lots of hints of what's to come and some hilarious Lars Ulrich/Kirk Hammett babble sessions.

I can't for the life of me figure out what some people's problem with the Black album is. Slower and less complicated but heavier than... well, pretty much anything before or since. Maybe the sound is too heavy? Do you find it annoying that you can actually HEAR the bass guitar? Listen to ...And Justice for All and I challenge you to pick out the bass lines... not to mention Lars' drums sound like they're made of plastic and cardboard.

That's not to say I think Justice is a bad album... I would rank it above Black actually... it's just that I think production values on Black are leaps and bounds above anything that came before it.

But just so there's no confusion, here's my breakdown starting with my favorite:

1. Master of Puppets (The ultimate metal mastepiece... "all is fair for Damage Inc. you see... step a little closer if you please")
2. Ride the Lightning (The Call of Ktulu... *goosebumps*)
3. ...And Justice for All ("Darkness, imprisoning me, all that I see, absolute horror...")
4. Metallica (the Black album... blowing out speakers since 1991...)
5. Kill 'em All
6. Garage Inc.
7. Load (yes, I think it had a couple good songs on it... The Outlaw Torn for example)
8. S&M (waste of money, except for For Whom the Bell Tolls and No Leaf Clover)
9. Reload- (really shabby... Fuel was okay... good lyrics on The Memory Remains but the "la di da" part with Marianne Faithful got old pretty quick)

The first five are pretty much carved in stone. The last four fluctuate frequently. Who knows, if St. Anger lives up to the hype, I may forget about those last four altogether.

Rick Wakeman's playing King's Lynn next month. Anyone heard any of his recent stuff? Is he worth forking out ’15 to go and see now days (considering I paid just ’3.50 to see him in 1982)?

I just wanted to pay my respects to someone in the music world that I personally have a tremendous amount of respect for, her name was Nina Simone, and she passed away yesterday at her home in France at the age of 70. Nina was typically classified as a jazz (and is a legend in that genre) artist, but her style was really far too diverse to be categorized as she covered everything from gospels to Gershwin. Nina was a piano prodigy at the age of 4, and she attended the famed Julliard School of music, which was a rare opportunity for a black woman in the 1950’s.

Nina recorded her first record in 1959 at the age of 26, and had her first hit with ’ I Loves You, Porgy’ from the classic George, and Ira Gershwin musical Porgy, and Bess. She is also well known for a number of other songs (whose titles I won’t mention here) that marked her as a very outspoken voice of protest during the civil rights movement. Her signature song was called ’To Be Young, Gifted, and Black’, and was inspired by the Lorraine Hansberry play.

Throughout the 1960s and early '70s, she delved deeply into popular songs, seeking new meaning and emotion to tunes such as Screaming Jay Hawkins' ’I Put a Spell on You’, George Harrison's ’My Sweet Lord’ and ’Ain't Got No/I Got Life’ from the musical Hair. Her influence was also undeniable during the British invasion in the 1960’s, as Eric Burdon, and the Animals scored top 40 hits with remakes of her songs like ’The House of the Rising Sun’, and ’Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’.

Nina was as eclectic of an artist as they come, turning every song that she did into an expression of self so precise, and so revealing, that it seemed like every song she sang had its origins from deep inside her, earning her the moniker ’The High Priestess of Soul’. If you have never heard of her (and no offense, but I’m quite sure most people around here haven’t), and want to hear a real artist (unlike most people, or bands on the radio nowadays who can’t play their way out of a paper sack), do yourself a favor, and go pick up a couple of her records! I listened to you this morning Nina! You will be sorely missed, but your music, and tremendous influence will never be forgotten! God Bless!

I also want to give props to my personal favorite bass player of all time Mr. Charles Mingus who would have been 81 today!

Thanks guys, I appreciate that! I just had to pay my respects. If one person out there who didn’t know about Nina sees that post, and discovers her music, then it was well worth it!

No???

That sort of reminds me of that old joke. I'm into Sado-Masacism, Necrophilia and Bestiallity. So you could say I'm flogging a dead horse!

now that thats said :P

time to show some of my favorite music..


Well I used to wake the morning before the rooster crowed
Searching for soda bottles to get myself some dough
Brought 'em down to the corner, down to the country store
Cash 'em in and give my money to a man named Curtis Loew

Old Curt was a black man with white curly hair
When he had a fifth of wine he did not have a care
He used to own an old dobro, used to play it across his knee
I'd give old Curt my money, he'd play all day for me

(Chorus)
Play me a song Curtis Loew, Curtis Loew
I got your drinking money, tune up your dobro
People said he was useless, them people are the fools
'Cause Curtis Loew was the finest picker to ever play the blues

He looked to be sixty, and maybe I was ten
Mama used to whip me but I'd go see him again
I'd clap my hands, stomp my feets, try to stay in time
He'd play me a song or two
Then take another drink of wine.

Chorus

Yes sir

On the day old Curtis died, nobody came to pray
Ol' preacher said some words, and they chunked him in the clay
But he lived a lifetime playin' the black man's blues
And on the day he lost his life, that's all he had to lose

Play me a song Curtis Loew, Hey Curtis Loew
I wish that you was here so everyone would know
People said he was useless, them people all are fools
'Cause Curtis you're the finest picker to ever play the blues

uh.. I dont know.. because I forgotted too

and thanx.. I love Lynyrd Skynyrd!!! not to sure on the album though.. i know a lot of their songs.. but mostly off of hits collection types, i dont think I have any of their true albums....

eyy, now I don’t really know what this thread is about but Evanescence is one of my fav bnds and they should not be shot!
Bands like Iron Maiden should be though (sorry if there’s someone here worshiping them)

Heh, I'm with you guys. I love Tool, and I can't tell the difference between one Evanescence song and the next. Amusingly enough, we had the album on in the car not so long ago, and when I asked my gf if the song playing was the single, she said yes, it then transpired that it wasn't, proving that even those who like them cannot tell the difference between their songs.

ok now that’s mean Ross! and honestly I need someone to help me out in this topic...sure Iron Maiden has been in the buisness for a very long time and it was dumb of me to say what I did just cuz i don’t like metal. But that dosn’t mean you guys have to say those things about Evanescence! You saw what Aster wrote right? What he said makes a really good point!

lol, yeah right Ross! Noone is perfect which means that you’re not either which also means that noone can always be right even if they’re wrong. (ok, now I’m upset so everything I say comes out understanable)

Evanescence is just commercial food for the kiddies out there, like Pepsi and Pizza Hut. And i am not even mentioning MacDonalds.

To each its own : whether u listen to it or not, is one's own business. I know i won't.

No, I don't like Avril Lavigne, she is just irritating.