What a Lucky Man He Was

What is wrong with kids these days??

Back in the day, some of the biggest bands on the planet were prog bands. The biggest of them were Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Pink Floyd, and mid-period (Thick as a Brick) Jethro Tull (sorry, Genesis doesn't count). An honorable mention goes to King Crimson but they were never as huge as the big four. The records sold in millions and the concerts were packed.

These bands delivered the utmost musicianship. Lengthy, complex song structures, classical influences, side-long opuses segmented into "movements". This stuff was not easy to play. My father, who was for half of his life an accomplished musician, and hated hard rock, even would comment on occasion if I happened to be playing, say ELP, and say "that guy is good". Meaning Keith Emerson. Sure he was good, just listen to this shit!

Kids today do not like this stuff. I wonder what happened over the last few decades to change it? Rap? Britney Spears? I think it's more the fucking iPOD that ruined everything. Kids don't care about hifi or good sound anymore, and prog rock really needs good sound.

In any event, what we have here is a new ELP live album "Live at the Mar-Y-Sol Festival 1972". It could be the best ELP live document mostly because it's not weighted to the Brain Salad Surgery stuff like the other live albums are. A shorter, more to-the-point Pictures at an Exhibition is on here. But the real gem is the finale, the 18 minute "Rondo" where they just go apeshit and tear the house down. YOu can see some of the Rondo madness on the Isle of Wight DVD.

A must purchase for prog fans (I guess that means old people)....play it loud on a good quality stereo!!

Vinyl Reissues

I really hate computers and all computer audio and video. The stuff is all junk.

For example, I had a Panasonic VHS VCR player that worked for 15 years. It still worked when I gave it away. You buy a DVD player now, and it will break in a year or two. Hell, it won't even play a fucking movie.

I bought a Blu Ray movie, and put it into the Sony Playstation 3 I have. An error message comes up "need firmware upgrade to play movie". Jesus Fucking Christ it won't even play the movie. I don't care about all the other shit on the DVD, I just want to play the fucking movie!! I don't need to connect to the fucking internet to watch a movie!! After spending 2 hours downloading the upgrade to a flash drive, I put the flash drive into the Sony and start the upgrade. Everything seems OK, then about 15 minutes into it, the thing crashes with an error "upgrade failed: files corrupt" message. WHAT THE FUCK. This stuff is all JUNK!!!

So my point is, whenever I can get analog, I will. A lot of stuff is being reissued on vinyl and i've been picking it up thru eBay, Acoustic sounds, All That's Heavy, and Elusive Disc. Here's the latest acquistitions:

1. Alice Cooper: Easy Action/Pretties for You/Love it To Death.

The early albums aren't that heavy, but theres some good stuff especially on Easy Action.

2. Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous. The best live Lizzy.
3. Hendrix: In the West. The best live Jimi.
4. Trouble: Plastic Green Head. On purple vinyl!!
5. Smashing Pumpkins: Gish. Whatever happened to these clowns. They really sucked towards the end...but Gish is good!

6. Grateful Dead: Live Dead. The Dead when they were acid tripping jammers and not country rockers.

7. Riot: Fire Down Under. A classic!!
8. Kyuss: Blues for the Red Sun. Desert rock!
9. Black Sabbath: Sabotage. Side One is killer!!
10. Yes: Tales from Topographic Oceans. For sides, four songs!!
11. King Crimson: In the Wake of Poseidon. Last album with Greg Lake.

I challenge anyone to show me a current production solid state or digital amplifier, disc player, or other piece of junk that will last more than 20 years. McIntosh amplifiers (the tube ones) like the 275, made in the 60s, are still around today and still work!!

Long live analog!! Digital Sucks!!

Album of the Year 2011

And now fellow losers it's time for my revelation of the 2011 Album of the Year. Relatively speaking it was sort of a quiet year. A few releases stand out as contenders:

1. Mastodon-The Hunter. Mastodon continues to morph from a prog-metal band to a straight prog band. I'm not sure I like the direction. This album ain't bad, but if you listen to "Leviathan" right after it, you realize just how they've softened up.

2. OFF- The First 4 EP's. OFF are the best punk band i've heard this millenium since the Colombian Neckties. Keith Morris ex-Circle Jerks is on vox and damn if this doesn't sound like vintage Black Flag. Awesome.

3. Rory Gallagher- Notes from SF. Not the first disc, but the live CD which totally smokes.

4. Anvil- Juggernaut of Justice. Gotta love Lips for still doing this.

5. Megadeth- Thirteen. Talk about ripping off an Anvil album title! Megadeth really don't play thrash anymore, this is straight up hard rock.

AND THE WINNER IS.................

WARBRINGER-Worlds Torn Asunder. Whew baby, leave it to Warbringer to carry the thrash torch. This is violent, aggressive, bordering on chaotic thrash at its best.
The heaviest album of 2011!! All hail Warbringer!!

My Annual Yuletide Rant

Well, you will notice that i've been absent from this for quite some time now, recovering from my first, unsuccessful suicide attempt. I can't even get that right.
Next time it will be different, as i've purchased a Ruger LC9 9mm pistol, and also a Taurus Judge 45 colt revolver. That should do it.

And it probably won't be long, as the goddam holiday season approaches once again.
I'm not sure I can take it.

Here we go again, with all bullshit being shoved down everyones throat about how happy you're supposed to be, and how some hottie is supposed to love you so much, etc etc. Of course I realize it really is all marketing and crass capitalism. But still.

Once again, i'll probably spend Xmas and New Year's Alone, watching porn, playing loud doom metal, and getting drunk. I can't wait.

There is a FEAR song that really sums it all up:

FUCK CHRISTMAS!!