Oh, Thank Heaven, It's My Best of 2011....

In no particular order....

Red Fang "Murder The Mountains"


Anthrax "Worship Music"


Fucked Up "David Comes To Life"


Cheeseburger "Another Big Night Down The Drain"


Social Distortion "Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes"


Battles "Gloss Drop"


Tension Generation "Rid The World"


Tom Waits "Bad As Me"


Mastodon "The Hunter"


Face To Face "Laugh Now, Laugh Later"


Russian Circles "Empros"



Frank Turner "England Keep My Bones"


The Twilight Singers "Dynamite Steps"


Mariachi El Bronx "Mariachi El Bronx II"


Crusader "Rise of the Templars" [EP]


Daniel Davies "Hidden Faces" [EP]

2000-2009

Finally found some time to put together my decade list.....thanx to Tim for putting the criteria and rules together.... bottom 25, next 15, top 10 - all alphabetical within each tier...

Bottom 25
Between The Buried & Me / Alaska / 2005
Bible Of The Devil / Freedom Metal / 2008
Death From Above 1979 / You're a Woman, I'm a Machine / 2004
Dropsonic / Insects With Angel Wings / 2005
Every Time I Die / The Big Dirty / 2007
Fu Manchu / King Of The Road / 2000
Hot Water Music / The New What Next / 2004
Incubus / Make Yourself / 2000
Johnny Cash / American IV: The Man Comes Around / 2002
Killers / Hot Fuss / 2002
Local H / Here Comes The Zoo / 2002
Longwave / The Strangest Things / 2003
Machine Head / The Blackening / 2007
Melvins / Nude With Boots / 2008
Muchacha / Plug In And Go! / 2001
Neurosis / Given To The Rising / 2007
Open Hand / You And Me / 2005
Ours / Distorted Lullabies / 2001
Pearl Jam / Pearl Jam / 2006
Pelican / City Of Echoes / 2007
Radiohead / Kid A / 2000
The Gutter Twins / Saturnalia / 2008
Trivium / Ascendancy / 2005


Next 15
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead / Worlds Apart /2005
A Perfect Circle / Thirteenth Step / 2003
Baroness / Red Album / 2007
Botch / We Are the Romans / 2000
Coldplay / A Rush of Blood to the Head / 2002
Corrosion Of Conformity / America's Volume Dealer / 2000
Dan Auerbach / Keep It Hid / 2009
Disengage / Obsessions Become Phobias / 2000
Doomriders / Darkness Come Alive / 2009
Eels / Souljacker / 2001
Fugazi / The Argument / 2001
Guster / Keep It Together / 2003
Houston / Bottom of the Curve / 2003
Nine Inch Nails / With Teeth / 2005
Probot / Probot / 2004


Top 10
Deftones / White Pony / 2000
Killswitch Engage / The End Of Heartache / 2004
Lamb Of God / Ashes of the Wake / 2004
Mastodon / Leviathan / 2004
Queens Of The Stone Age / Songs for the Deaf / 2002
Sigur Rós / ( ) / 2002
Social Distortion / Sex, Love, and Rock 'n' Roll / 2004
The Living End / Roll On / 2001
The Twilight Singers / Blackberry Belle / 2003
Velvet Revolver / Contraband / 2004

2009...a year in review

Top albums of 2009--by listen:

1. Baroness "Blue Record"
2. Mastodon "Crack The Skye" **
3. Lamb of God "Wrath"
4. Every Time I Die "New Junk Aesthetic"
5. Pearl Jam "Backspacer" **
6. Russian Circles "Geneva"
7. Big Business "Mind The Drift"
8. Doomriders "Darkness Come Alive"
9. Killswitch Engage S/T
10. Gallows "Grey Britain"**
11. Mariachi El Bronx "El Bronx"
    
12. Priestess "Prior To The Fire"
13. Red Fang S/T
14. Kylesa "Static Tensions"
15. Isis "Wavering Radiant"
16. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson "Break Up"
17. Muse "The Resistance"
18. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead "The Century Of Self"
19. Dan Auerbach "Keep It Hid"**^
20. Darkest Hour "The Eternal Return"
21. Dear Landlord "Dream Homes"**^
22. Devildriver "Pray For Villains"
23. Eels "Hombre Lobo"^
24. Franz Ferdinand "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand"
25. We Were Promised Jetpacks "These Four Walls"^
26. Alice In Chains "Black Gives Way To Blue"
27. Frank Turner "Poetry Of The Deed"
28. Pelican "What We All Need To Come"
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!"
30. Them Crooked Vultures **

THIS IS AN EDITORIAL--THESE ARE MY TOP 20 AFTER FURTHER ANALYSIS AND A FINAL LISTEN TO EACH RECORD
** denotes there were way more listens than indicated due to the fact that I listened to these on vinyl, too.
^ denotes that these should be higher on the list as they deserved more listens and stand out the most in my list as favourites of the year from first listen. That's not to discredit the top 10 by listen as those are "gimmes" for favourite records.


Top 10 Shows of 2009 (chronologically)

1. Buckcherry & Avenged Sevenfold (Nokia Theatre - 4/16)
2. Jeff Beck (El Rey - 4/21)
3. Green Day (Music Box at the Fonda - 6/4)
4. Epicenter Festival [Alice In Chains & Tool] (Fairplex at Pomona - 8/22)
5. Pearl Jam (Gibson Amphitheatre 10/7)
6. Reverend Horton Heat & Motorhead (Club Nokia - 10/9)
7. The Lawrence Arms (Troubadour - 11/14)
   
8. High On Fire, Mastodon & Dethklok (Palladium - 11/19)
9. Baroness (Reggie's Rock Club - 11/25)
10. Against Me! (Spaceland - 12/17)
    

as for movies, i can't quite remember what I've seen this year as it's been a nutty one....
in no particular order (based on memory of what I've seen):

1. I Love You Man
   
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. Pirate Radio
   
4. Hangover
5. Law Abiding Citizen
   
6. The Watchmen
7. Inglorious Basterds
8. Zombieland
   
9. Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
10. UP
11. Public Enemies
12. Up In The Air
    
13. The Informant
14. Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
    
15. Star Trek
16. Brothers
    

From what I can recall, the ones in bold stand out as my favourites of the year....I'm sure I saw at least 20 movies in theatres this year, but cannot recall all of them, nor are some worth mentioning...albeit, the company was always better than the movies themselves.

stay tuned for my DECADE list of music.....

...until then: Rock n Roll!
-Uncle J.

2008 in Review...

..a little late, but better than never.

top 20 of 2008 (no particular order)

1. Metallica - "Death Magnetic"
   
2. Scarlett Johansson - "Anywhere I Lay My Head"
   
3. Torche - "Meanderthal"
   
4. Nine Inch Nails - "The Slip"
   
5. Kings of Leon - "Only By The Night"
   
6. Beck - "Modern Guilt"
   
7. Fucked Up - "The Chemistry of Common Life"
   
8. Longwave - "Secrets Are Sinister"
   
9. The Melvins - "Nude With Boots"
   
10. Russian Circles - "Station"
    
11. Bible Of The Devil - "Freedom Metal"
    
12. Burning Brides - "Anhedonia"
    
13. Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"
    
14. Toadies - "No Deliverance" 
    
15. The Sword - "Gods Of The Earth"
    
16. Valient Thorr - "Immortalizer"
    
17. Murder By Death - "Red of Tooth and Claw"
18. Sigur Ros - "Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust"
19. The Raconteurs - "Consolers Of the Lonely"
20. The Gutter Twins - "Saturnalia"

Honorable Mentions:

Nine Inch Nails - "Ghosts I-V"

Norma Jean - "Vs The Anti-Mother"

Local H - "12 Angry Months"

Black Keys - "Attack And Release"

AC/DC - "Black Ice"

Made Out Of Babies - "The Ruiner"

Oasis - "Dig Out Your Soul"

Trivium - "Shogun"

Quatre Tete - "Art Of the State"

....and for the fact that it FINALLY came out, I can't NOT mention:

Guns N' Roses - "Chinese Democracy"

Movies of 2008:

"Iron Man"

"The Dark Knight"

"Incredible Hulk"

"Step Brothers"

"Speed Racer"

"Wall-E"

"The Wrestler"

"Burn After Reading"

"Forgetting Sarah Marshall"

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"

Back in time.....

In 1998, not only did I graduate High School, but there was some decent music coming out.  Here's a few titles I still listen to today: 

Deftones - "Around The Fur"

Cake - "Prolonging The Magic"

Afghan Whigs - "1965"

Bad Religion - "No Substance"

Avail - "Over The James"

Far - "Water & Solutions"

The Living End - S/T

Local H - "Pack Up The Cats"

Marilyn Manson - "Mechanical Animals"

Queens Of The Stone Age - S/T

Pearl Jam - "Yield"

Rancid - "Life Won't Wait"

Refused - "The Shape Of Punk To Come"

Stone Temple Pilots - "No. 4"

Turbonegro - "Apocalypse Dudes"

System Of A Down - S/T

VAST - "Visual Audio Sensory Theater"

Zeke - "Kicked In The Teeth"

I was only 8 in 1988, so I didn't know of many of these titles from then.  My excuse: a) nobody guide me, b) I'm sure mom wouldn't have bought me any of these:

Bad Religion - "Suffer"

Danzig - S/T

Iron Maiden - "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"

L.A. Guns - S/T

Metallica - "...And Justice For All"

Ministry - "The Land Of Rape and Honey"

Social Distortion - "Prison Bound"

Traveling Wilburys - "Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1"

Mudhoney - "Superfuzz Bigmuff"

Soundgarden - "Ultramega OK"

Slayer - "South Of Heaven"

Poison - "Open Up and Say..Ahh!"

The Pixies - "Surfer Rosa"

Motley Crue - "Dr. Feelgood"

1978 was a great year, though it was 2 years prior to my conception.  Here's some goodies that are now 30yrs old and still stand the test of time:

Misfits - "Static Age"

Cheap Trick - "Heaven Tonight" and "At Budokan"

Dire Straits - S/T

Rolling Stones - "Some Girls"

Ramones - "Road To Ruin"

The Police - "Outlandos d'Amour"

Van Halen - S/T

Bruce Springsteen - "Darkness On The Edge Of Town"

Black Sabbath - "Never Say Die!"

Led Zeppelin - "In Through The Out Door"

1968.....what can I say?  Some staples in the record collection:

The Who - "Magic Bus

The Beatles - "White Album"

The Doors - "Waiting For The Sun"

Jeff Beck - "Truth"

Otis Redding - "The Dock Of The Bay"

Cream - "Wheels Of Fire"

Velvet Underground - "White Light/White Heat"

Sly & The Family Stone - "Dance To The Music"

Free - "Tons Of Sobs"

California Love....

...1st compilation in Pacific Time.

I made it on the couch at my Mom-Mom's via-the i-pod's "on-the-go" function...enjoy.

1,000 Seconds: The Secret Machines: "Ten Silver Drops" 2006
Long As I Can See the Light: Creedence Clearwater Revival: "Cosmos Factory" 1970
I Was In Love With You: The Gutter Twins: "Saturnalia" 2008
In Sadding Around: Jawbreaker: "24 Hour Revenge Therapy" 1994
17 Ghosts II: Nine Inch Nails: "Ghosts I-IV" 2008
Low Light: Pearl Jam: "Yield" 1998
Ultra Violet (Light My Way): U2: "Achtung Baby" 1994
Writing It All Down For You: Pop Unknown: "Emo Diaries 2: A Million Miles Away" 1998
What Light: Wilco: "Sky Blue Sky" 2007
All the Young Dudes: David Bowie: "Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture [Live]" 1982 [Recordings from 1973]
Lies: The Black Keys: "Attack & Release" 2008
The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning: The Smashing Pumpkins "Batman & Robin Soundtrack" 1997

Who Will Lead Us?

...if you give a shit about GOOD music and know what's good for you and the fact that I rarely steer you wrong when I'm strong in my convictions, then you'll pick up the debut release, Saturnalia by The Gutter Twins.

"Who are The Gutter Twins?" you may ask. It is the perfect pairing of two great voices and song-craftsmen: Greg Dulli (Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers) and Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees/QOTSA/Mark Lanegan).

The album, which I've only listened to about 1-1/2 times thus far, has blown my head back in awe. My mouth is agape in wonderment, as to how Greg Dulli manages to outdo himself each time. Afghan Whigs was an incredible outfit and if that wasn't enough, he pulled the tablecloth off without moving a thing and brought Twilight Singers. His solo effort was just as amazing as anything else. Then there's Mark Lanegan; an enigmatic entity all on his own. Soft-spoken, yet commands attention when he opens his mouth (and mind). I like to refer to him as a younger Tom Waits--I'm not far off.

This mystifying pair will be playing at Metro (in Chicago) on Friday, March 7th, to which I've got my ticket and am clutching it ever-so-tightly in anticipation. I highly suggest you pick up the album, and if you can, a ticket to the show. If you don't live in Chicago, find where they're playing and go see it--you won't be the same after witnessing this event.



Church is in session. Genuflect in it's greatness, it's purity, honesty, and beauty.

-Uncle J.

2007 List...and then some

Here's some lists to get you in the mood for 2007's....If I Listed these, I own them and they're important enough to be in my I-tunes...as you know damn well that I have enough music in my collection that's NOT on the computer that i can open my own used cd store.....

40th Anniversary Albums (1967 for you mathematicians):
The Beatles "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" & "Magical Mystery Tour"
The Doors "The Doors" and "Strange Days"
Jeff Beck "Truth"
Jimmy Hendrix "Are You Experienced?" and "Axis: Bold As Love"
Velvet Underground & Nico "The Velvet Undergrond"
The Who "The Who Sell Out"

30th Anniversary Albums (1977 if you still can't find your calculator):
AC/DC "Let There Be Rock"
Cheap Trick "Cheap Trick" & "In Color"
Aerosmith "Draw the Line"
Dead Boys "Young, Loud, and Snotty"
Kiss "Love Gun"
Ramones "Leave Home"
Sex Pistols "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols"
T. Rex "Dandy In the Underworld"
Television "Marquee Moon"

25th Anniversary Albums...1982:
Aerosmith "Rock In a Hard Place"
Bruce Springsteen "Nebraska"
Dire Straits "Love Over Gold"
Iron Maiden "Number of the Beast"
Led Zeppelin "Coda"
Misfits "Walk Among Us"
Social Distortion "Mommy's Little Monster"
Van Halen "Diver Down

20th Anniversary Albums...(1987):
Aerosmith "Permanent Vacation"
Def Leppard "Hysteria"
Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"
Motley Crue "Girls, Girls, Girls"
Naked Raygun "All Rise"
Pixies "Come On Pilgrim (EP)" & "The Purple Tape (Fan Bootleg)"
Sepultura "Schizophrenia"
U2 "The Joshua Tree"

A mere 15 years ago, these were released....
Alice In Chains "Dirt" & "Sap (EP)"
Beastie Boys "Check Your Head"
Body Count "Cop Killer"
Chainsaw Kittens "Flipped Out In Singapore"
Danzig "Danzig III: How the Gods Kill"
Faith No More "Angel Dust"
Green Day "Kerplunk!"
Helmet "Meantime"
Iron Maiden "Fear of the Dark"
Jawbreaker "Bivouac"
Kyuss "Blues For the Red Sun"
Megadeth "Countdown to Extinction"
Ministry "Psalm 69"
Monster Magnet "Spine of God"
Mother Love Bone "S/T"
Nine Inch Nails "Broken (EP)" & "Fixed (Import/EP)"
Nirvana "Incesticide"
Pantera "Vulgar Display of Power"
Rage Against the Machine "S/T"
Screaming Trees "Sweet Oblivion"
Screeching Weasel "Wiggle"
Social Distortion "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell"
Sonic Youth "Dirty"
Sponge "Rotting Pinata"
Stone Temple Pilots "Core"
Sublime "40oz to Freedom"
Supersuckers "Smoke of Hell"
Tool "Opiate"
White Zombie "La Sexorcisto: Devil Music, vol.1"

10 years doesn't seem like that long ago....
Aerosmith "Nine Lives"
Bad Religion "Tested (Live)"
Blue Meanies "Full Throttle"
Blur "S/T"
Drain S.T.H. "Horror Wrestling"
Faith No More "Album of the Year"
Foo Fighters "The Colour and Shape"
Fu Manchu "The Action Is Go"
Godsmack "S/T"
Green Day "Nimrod"
Helmet "Aftertaste"
HUM "Downward Is Heavenward"
Machine Head "The More Things Change"
Metallica "Reload"
Offspring "Ixnay on the Hombre"
Radiohead "O.K. Computer" & "Airbag/How Am I Driving? (EP)"
Sevendust "S/T"
Shiner "Lula Divinia"
Silverchair "Freak Show"
Smoking Popes "Destination Failure"
Supersuckers "Must've Been High"
Triple Fast Action "Cattlemen Don't"
U2 "Pop"

and now for 2007's list(s)....
There may be some surprises and there may be some given choices, but here's my year end list..in no particular order....enjoy!

Devildriver "Last Kind Words"
Baroness "Red Album"
Machine Head "Blackening"
Against Me! "New Wave"
Smashing Pumpkins "Zeitgeist"
Clutch "From Beale St. to Oblivion"
Down "III - Over The Under"
Nine Inch Nails "Year Zero"
Soilwork "Sworn To a Great Divide"
Neurosis "Given to the Rising"
Arrivals "Marvels of Industry"
Kings of Leon "Because of the Times"
Burning Brides "Hang Love"
Avenged Sevenfold "Avenged Sevenfold"
Tiger Army "Music From Regions Beyond"
Every Time I Die "The Big Dirty"
Dethklok "The Dethalbum"
Battles "Mirrored"
Darkest Hour "Deliver Us"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club "Baby 81"
Velvet Revolver "Libertad"
Radiohead "In Rainbows"
Between The Buried And Me "Colors"
Fu Manchu "We Must Obey"
High on Fire "Death is this Communion"
Queens of the Stone Age "Era Vulgaris"
White Stripes "Icky Thump"
Wilco "Sky Blue Sky"
Shot Baker "Awake"
3 Inches of Blood "Fire Up the Blades"


Not total let-downs, but non-expectation-meeting albums:
Marilyn Manson "Eat Me, Drink Me"
Hot Hot Heat "Happiness, Ltd."
The Donnas "Bitchin'"
Foo Fighters "Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace"
The Stooges "The Weirdness"
Chris Cornell "Carry On"
Bullets & Octane "Song for the Underdog"


Honorable Mentions:
Feist "The Reminder"
Megadeth "United Abominations"
Bad Religion "New Maps of Hell"
Bayside "The Walking Wounded"
Black Light Burns "Cruel Melody"
The Cribs "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever"
Modest Mouse "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank"
Nine Inch Nails "Y34rz3R0r3m1x3d"
Tim Armstrong "A Poet's Life"
Weedeater "God Luck and Good Speed
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Is Is" (E.P.)
A Wilhelm Scream "Career Suicide"
Arctic Monkeys "Favourite Worst Nightmare"


Best compilations and/or live albums:
Death Proof (OST)
The Afghan Whigs "Unbreakable (A Retrospective)"
We Love Ennio Morricone
300 (OST)
Sigur Ros "Heim/Hvarf"
Chuck Ragan "The Blueprint Sessions"

♥,
Uncle J.

Slithero3?

So, I was rockin out to some music a few minutes ago (practicing/learning parts for the band I recently joined) and Steven Speilberg walks in my room. He was talking about that guitar player I love being in a commercial. I had to ask "Do you mean 'Slash'?" He replies abruptly, "yeah, that's him. he was in some video game commercial, i think."

so i google and find Slash is in a new ad for Guitar Hero 3. I love all things Slash, so I had to watch it--it's mildly amusing.



and if you're bored, here's the VW ad he was in, too.


and for shits n giggles...



♥,
Uncle J.

I want you to notice when I'm not around...wherever you are.

Saw QOTSA last night at the Riv. Talk about a horrible case of 'live-itis', every song was sped up to 'ludicrous'. Some of it worked, some of it was just too fast. Great set list, though, heard some great songs, missed a few, but in the scheme of it all, there were 17 songs played.

Monsters in the Parasol
Burn the Witch
Misfit Love
Run Pig Run
In the Fade
Turning On the Screw
I'm Designer
Little Sister
Make It Wit Chu
Do It Again
Avon
3's & 7's
You Can't Quit Me, Baby
Sick, Sick, Sick
Song for the Dead
You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire
No One Knows

I had fun at the show, brought someone who'd never seen em before, she seemed to like it, as I figured one should. I've seen better shows--excluding the Metro show w/ Dave Grohl on drums, as that's in a category of it's own. They did some great improvisation and some great jams in the middle of songs ('You Can't Quit Me, Baby'). The stage setup was great, too, some spiderweb-lookin chandeliers on what looked like giant spider legs. The lighting was great, and the pinnacle of it was during 'Sick, Sick, Sick'. The lights were flashing back and forth and on Josh Homme's (singer) face was split, so the left side would be eclipsed and then the right. Creepy lighting for a creepy-lyric song. I would say Mark Lanegan was missed on many songs, but the band managed to pull it off well.

Rock & Roll,
♥ Uncle J.

How to completely disappear and never be found....

I reckon I'm so-so on Radiohead's new marketing/album sales plan. I named my own price, 2.50 british pounds, which came to $5 and there was an additional $3 service. so i paid $8 for a digital download. I much prefer to have the ol'fashioned cd w/ case and insert w/ all sorts of knowlege useless to many like engineers, producers, studio info, etc....i figured, if i liked the album enough upon download, i'll make the $80 commitment for the uber-pack which has the download, a hardcopy of the album w/ artwork, a bonus cd w/ extra tracks, and i think a 2-record set on 180-gram vinyl.

upon listening to this album for the 3rd time round, it's growing on me. it was released digitally october 10th, i think, and i was skeptical, as i got very bored with Kid A, Amnesiac, and Hail to the Theif. Granted, I purchased all of them, and liked them at the time, i realized, they don't hold up as their 2 predecessors: The Bends and OK Computer. Those 2 albums were the apex of Radiohead's career. You can put them on at anytime, in any mood, in any year. I'm not saying they're 'timeless', b/c they're very dated--mid-to-late 1990's alternative, BUT, they hold up, nonetheless. Upon reading a bulletin posted (yes on the elusive and oddly infectious-slash-addictive 'myspace') by an acquaintence (i'd say friend, but we're only friends on myspace--though we'd both witnessed a truly amazing event, almost relgious experience known to us as 'church', but to others as the twilight singers'), i digress, Patrick wrote that he, too, was very into radiohead during the 90's, and then lost interest upon their alt-techno-avant-garde (dare i say 'hipster) era. He said 'In Rainbows', the new album, is as good as 'The Bends' and 'OK Computer'. I trust his taste in music, so I figured, what do ihave to lose, a few $ and maybe an hour...i went to www.radiohead.com, named my price: small enough to not hurt, but enough so i'm not asking for free shit, and it took all of 6minutes. Added the tracks to my itunes and put in my ipod. I like the album, but i miss thumbing through the insert and looking at the pictures..its a huge part of the music experience for me. Much like when listening to a record, you know, those big, black, vinyl, cd's your mom and dad used to put on when they were necking in grandma and grandpa's den. The smell of vinyl, the crackle of the sleeve in which the record comes in, the vastness of the album art (12"x12")....it's all part of music.

Check out Radiohead's album "In Rainbows", name your price, don't be a dick, but don't go overboard..unless you want to.

Choice tracks: "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi", "Reckoner", and "Videotape"

♥,
Uncle J

Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven

...so i'm losing my job. the big, fancy, record label job. yeah, the one with the health/dental insurance and 401K. yeah, it sucks. yeah, i'm bummed. it's just another obsticle to hurdle. i've been piecing another track listing together...it's been a while since i've been on here.

here's some playlists i've made as of lately...

Math
Refused "The Shape of Punk to Come"
The Rise "Reclamation Process"
Quicksand "Slip"

(the playlist is each album in it's entirety, in that order.)

Next:

I Ain't Myself Anymore: A Twilight Singers Comp.
1)Toward The Waves
2)I'm Ready
3)Twilite Kid
4)The Killer
5)Teenage Wristband
6)What Makes You Think You're The One
7)Forty Dollars
8)Hyperballad
9)Veri-Marte
10)There's Been An Accident
11)Decatur St.
12)My Time (Has Come)
13)Last Temptation
14)Number Nine
15)Strange Fruit

*this is, by far, one of the BEST compilations I've made in a long time--i made it back in December '06, and it remains to be one of my personal favourites--aside from the fact that it's friggn' Greg Dulli...

here's a fun one that i just picked out songs i'd not heard in a long time. I dubbed it:

Music Monster Purges the Sort-of Hits
1.A Pain That I'm Used To (Depeche Mode--Playing The Angel)
2.La Nina De Puerta Obscura (Paco De Lucia--Life Acquatic sdtrk)
3.Lordy Hoody (Tommy Blake--Rockin' Bones boxset)
4.Shining Light (Ash--Free All Angels)
5.Push The Hand (Toadies--Heaven Above/Hell Below)
6.Chicago Is Burning (Lawrence Arms--Ghost Stories)
7.I Want (Apples In Stereo--Velocity of Sound)
8.Fuck Her Gently (Tenacious D--S/T)
9.Rock N Roll Girl (Muchacha--Plug In and Go!)
10.Most Exalted Potente of Love [Cramps cover](QOTSA--Stone Age Complication)
11.Beyond The Wheel (Soundgarden--Ultramega OK)

..basically, i threw the Music Monster (iPod) on random and wrote down songs i'd not heard in a while...done.

here's a somewhat okay one.

88 Keys and 1 Way Out
1)Sunburn-Muse
2)The Great Gig In the Sky-Pink Floyd
3)Like Spinning Plates (live)-Radiohead
4)Life On Mars-David Bowie
5)Nightswimming-R.E.M.
6)Jessica-Allman Bros. Band
7)Buff's Bar Blues-Sensational Alex Harvey Band
8)Something I Can Never Have (Acoustic)-Nine Inch Nails
9)Layla-Derek and the Dominoes
10)My Father's Gun-Elton John
11)9 Crimes-Damien Rice
12)Estranged-Guns N' Roses
13)Shine A Light-Rolling Stones
14)Non Zero Possibility-At The Drive-In
15)Strange Fruit-Twilight Singers

Basically, i got into a conversation with a girl about the piano, and it sparked an idea for a comp. Find some great songs w/ some of my favorite piano parts in it...

and that's all for now. i'm goin to bbq and have some beers.

♥ Drunkle J.

"Put your two lips together and kiss...."

"...We're kissin' in Cleveland, Cincinnati, too. Way out in Chicago, I'll tell you what to do. They party all over, even in St. Lou. So, baby, get ready, and I'll be kissin' you..."

Happenings as of late, and the music I've been listening to.....

-Vacation to LA & Vegas (got a taste of where I want to live, and got my first lesson at the Tim Dralle School of Rock N'Roll)

-Sold the motorcycle, i'm sad, but didn't get to ride it as much as i'd have liked to, and it's an expensive extra to have around.....so i bought a Gibson SG Classic, and i love it dearly.....

-interviewed for a couple of different positions w/in the company, and got neither, but it's okay...i still love what i do.

-the band is throwing in the sweatrag.....last show will be Sun. Nov 5th @ Congress w/ the Reunion of NAKED RAYGUN!!!! (not to mention: Bolweevils, Blue Meanies, Deals Gone Bad, Effegies, Massacres, and more....)

-met a girl. i like her. she likes me. the rest is personal.

-wrote off some people, as they've become more like acquaintances, and further more have proven they don't have the slightest clue of what "LOYALTY" is...so fuck 'em....the ones i've chosen to remain close with, in fact DO understand Loyalty, not to mention, act upon that dying trait in this materialistic world.....

-started working at Estelle's and i love it...i never sleep as it is, so why not get paid to be awake and make some new friends, too....

-got some more ink done, i love it--elbow hurts like a motherfucker though, if you say it doesn't i'm coming after you w/ a flaming sledgehammer.

i must go, but here's some music i've been listening to:

KISS: "Kiss", "Dressed To Kill", and "Rock N Roll Over".
--top songs: "Love Her All I Can", "She", "Strutter", "Let Me Know", "Mr. Speed", and "Calling Dr. Love"

Cheap Trick: "In Color" and "Heaven Tonight"
--top songs: "Southern Girls", "Oh Boy", "Big Eyes", "Oh Caroline", "Auf Wiedersehen", "Heaven Tonight", and "Oh Claire"

Lamb of God: "Sacrament" and "Ashes of the Wake"
--top songs: "walk with me in hell", "curse the blackened sun", and "Omerta"

Mastodon: "Blood Mountain"
--top songs: "Bladecatcher" and "Pendulous Skin"

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band: "Framed"
--top songs: "Midnight Moses"

The Bronx: "The Bronx"
--top songs: "Rape Zombie", "Around The Horn", "Three Dead Sisters, and "White Guilt"

that's it for now....more later.

Keep it loud, keep it hard
-uncle j.

"You want it all...."

"...but you can't have it"

or maybe you can, at one point. I feel like a fucking 15yr old again....carefree, carfree, bill free, reseponsibility-less....(i make words up at my own whim). I saw Pearl Jam lastnight for the first time EVER. I'd been into them since just before "TEN" was released....how've I never seen them before?? I seriously fell in love with that band all over again after lastnight....and Mike McCready is one of the best fucking rock guitarists of today...
set list is as follows:

Release
World Wide Suicide
Life Wasted
Severed Hand
Comatose
Given To Fly
Low Light
Corduroy
I'm Open
I Got Id
Even Flow
Unemployable
Daughter/W.M.A.
Present Tense
Do The Evolution
Jeremy
Save You
Porch
-Encore Break 1-
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Better Man
Come Back
State of Love And Trust
Black
Alive
-Encore Break 2-
Go
Blood/Atomic Dog
Indifference
Baba O'Riley
Yellow Ledbetter

what a great set....2-1/2 hrs of rock n roll, and eddie vedder went through 2 bottles of wine. Granted the show didn't affect me until i got home, or woke up this morning...i had different feelings AT the show, and it took a bit for the emotion to set in...i felt that "Even Flow" was a bit lack-luster, until the last 1/3 of the solo--it felt as if they were just 'going through the motions', then eddie stepped back and let the band sort of just jam it out...the initial 2/3 of the solo were very noodley, and off, not McCready's greatest, but then all of a sudden, as if his in-ear monitors had been off, turned on, and the solo picked up and was just amazing. THAT is the Mike McCready guitar playing i know and have come to love more over the years...then the show sort of picked up...the crowd was sort of iffy, not really gettin into it until "Even Flow" b/c aside from the opener, "Release", the first 4 or 5 songs were from the latest album. But i suppose, w/ an arena crowd, that is to be expected. I got chills when they played "Given To Fly", "Low Light", and the hair stood on the back of my neck when they dug deep into one of my favourite albums, "No Code" and played "I'm Open"...I wouldn't say that this show was close to a religious experience, but i WOULD say that i feel a bit more complete for have finally seeing them...
...we snuck closer during the last encore break,and we were really close to Mike McCready. that's when the smile got huge on my face, and the chills kicked in full effect. to hear some great tracks off of "Vs." was amazing, and then to hear "Baba O'Riley" and last, "Yellow Ledbetter"-wow! During the end of "Yellow Ledbetter", Eddie sat down, smoked his cigarette/joint, nursed his 2nd bottle of wine and just watched in awe, as Mike soloed his ass off--just beautiful. Very soulful, and Hendrix/Page/SRV-infused style...just breathtaking.

Another funny thing about lastnight: it was only the 2nd show i've ever seen at United Center. The first show i saw there was The Who doing "Quadrophenia" on Oct. 31st, 1996--which was my first concert EVER. And if it weren't for The Who, there'd have been no Pearl Jam. And on a symbiotic note, if it weren't for Pearl Jam, i'd not have gotten into The Who--so it was a weird 'aligning of the planets' type thing that lastnight I saw one of my favourite bands for the first time, in the same venue as my first concert ever, which also happens to be another one of my favourite bands--10 years apart.

..and today i recieved Faith No More's "Double Feature" DVD set-which contains the following:
-"You Fat Bastards": Faith No More Live at the Brixton Academy, London
-"Who Cares A Lot": Greatest Videos

FNM was the band responsible for me getting into hardrock/metal, and i am forever changed and grateful to them for such a huge service....

"Consider me an object/put me in a vacuum/free of all that friction/and i'll be hangin upside down/and i, i will swing/for all eternity!"

love,
uncle j.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

holy crap-

this album is friggn amazing....i'm 2 songs into the 1st disc, and it seriously brought tears to my eyes.......not only am i exstatic that there's stil great music out there, but it hit me on a personal level, as well. When I was first really getting into music, on my own, i'd memorize the record labels and distribution, the producers, engineers, singers, songwriters, guitarists, etc....and now, i work in that facit--the behind the scenes area--i work for the label, and its friggn amazing.....

Pick it up, i highly suggest it.






Love,
Uncle J.

When I speak, I cross my fingers....

...Will you know you've been deceived? I feel a need to be the demon, a demon cannot be hurt. -Guster

So i can't seem to find the right music today, I test drove a comp.cd I made Michelle: "When She Begins..." a Social Distortion mix. Hope she likes it...i do.

so this day has been going to shit--Jenny got me all riled up, and now my mom tells me my mom-mom is in the hospital. shitty.

just got the new David Gilmour cd, its okay....

wish i had somethingmore to write--music-wise, that is.

have some more comp. ideas, as per chatting w/ the lovely michelle, yesterday...just need to get some cases, and we're gravy--also need to bring more cds' home from mom's house--and need shelves to put em on at home (this is a typed out mental 'shopping list' of sorts--enjoy my brain.)

i'm rockn' some Johnny Cash right now...

shows past:
Rock Kills Kid @ Double Door, 3/27
Calling All Destroyers @ some bar in Milwaukee, 3/19
Taste of Chaos (Deftones, SOTY, As I Lay Dying, Pelican) @ Rave/Eagles Ballroom, 3/18
Deals Gone Bad & Beer Nuts @ Double Door, 3/17
Calling All Destroyers @ some shit bar in Chicago, 3/17
Subways @ Empty Bottle, 3/14
Calling All Destroyers @ Gunther Murphys, 3/11
Michael Buble @ Auditorium Theatre, 3/11
Lawrence Arms/NOFX @ House Of Blues, 3/5

i can't remember much before that right now.....

upcoming shows:
"Moron-O-Thon" (Audio Violence, Juicehead...)@ Kinetic Playground, 4/1
Hank III @ Metro, 4/2
Strokes/Eagles of Death Metal @ Riv, 4/7
Rob Zombie @ Riv, 4/8
Dane Cook @ Allstate Arena, 4/13
Full On Clothing presents a Rock n Roll B-day Extravaganza (C.A.D., AV, D.D.R., & Phenoms) @ Kinetic Playground, 4/22


tha's about all i can muster up from memory right now....

sit tight, and keep your arms, legs, and oher malleable appendages in the boat at all times....don't forget your helmet and dodge the stray bullets...

love,
me.

"Mellon Collie & The 60-Minute Sadness"

So I was asked to post lists n whatnot, more often...so here goes...

My friend, Tim, tried to start a little thing amongst our 'circle of friends' called The Babysitters Club...j/k...no, he wanted to have a little "compilation" camp of sorts....there were like 8 of us or so...Tim, his GF-Rebecca, D.C., Pat, Ginny, Andie, Pete, and Me...wow that is 8, good guestimation on my part....he had the 1st 'assignment' due at the end o'november/mid-december which was simply "grab-bag" where you get someone's name and you have to make a comp. of whatever you wanted--whether it be things you think they would like, or things that the DO like or things you wish you can do to them using song titles, whatever...my name chosen (out of a hat-literally) was Pat..i didn't know, seeing as i really haven't hung w/ him or talked music in some time--i opted to get creative and use song titles to spell his name:
Patrick Wayne Thomas.

I thought it came out pretty kick ass, but alas, nobody but Tim, Rebecca, and myself have handed anything in...and on top of which, i've already done the next 'assignment' and Tim feels bad b/c i'm making everyone look like chumps....well, that'll happen when all i do is spend time on ze puter and stay up till wee hours of the night.....i should get a 2nd job...(right w/ what fucking time??)

this 2nd 'assignment' i speak of is teh subject of the blog---take the legendary double-album "Melon Collie & The Infinate Sadness" by Smashing Pumpkins, and make it into a 60-minute endeavor...holy fun project, batman..i'm all-in!!!!

so here goes, the cd i handed in, aptly titled:

Melon Collie and the 60-Minute Sadness

Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
Where Boys Fear To Tread
Jellybelly
X.Y.U.
To Forgive
Galopogos
Bodies
(Fuck You) An Ode To No One
Here Is No Why
Stumbeline
Muzzle
Thru The Eyes of Ruby
---------------------------------------
This magnificent endeavor has a running time of: 59min/54sec. which blew Tim's socks off, and rocks the shit out of the donkey (which pretty much goes w/o saying).

so try this out, and see how you likey...

till the next time--happy trails.

I'm hungry, let's get some fuckin french toast!

2005: Year In Review

Top 20 Albums
20) Wednesday 13 Transylvania 90210
19) Louis XIV The Best Little Secrets Are Kept
18) Jack Johnson In Between Dreams
17) Kings Of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak
16) Lagwagon Resolve
15) Funeral For A Friend Hours
14) Dredg Catch Without Arms
13) Chimaira Chimaira
12) Clutch Robot Hive/Exodus
11) Bayside Bayside
10) Shout Out Louds Howl, Howl Gaff Gaff
9) Stellastarr* Harmonies For the Haunted
8) Corrosion Of Conformity In The Arms Of God
7) Ash Meltdown
6) ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Worlds Apart
5) Trivium Ascendancy
4) Against Me! Searching For A Former Clarity
3) Queens Of The Stone Age Lullabies To Paralyze
2) Nine Inch Nails With Teeth
1) Avenged Sevenfold City Of Evil

Other great albums that didn't make it in the top 20:
Dane Cook (Retaliation); Darkest Hour (Undoing Ruin); Hot Hot Heat (Elevator); Judas Priest (Angel of Retribution); Mars Volta (Frances The Mute); Nashville Pussy (Get Some); The (International) Noise Conspiracy (Armed Love); Beck (Guero); BRMC (Howl); Dark new Day (twelve Year silence); Eels (Blinking Lights and Other Revelations); Foo Fighters (In Your Honor);

Honorable Mention
311 (Don't Tread On Me); Alkaline Trio (Crimson); Coldplay (X&Y); Danko Jones (We Sweat Blood); Everytime I Die (Gutter Phenomenon); H.I.M. (Dark Light); Rolling Stones (A Bigger Bang); Sigur Ros (Takk...); Static-X (Start A War); System Of A Down (Mesmerize/Hypnotize); Team Sleep (Team Sleep)

Best Live Performances
Avenged Sevenfold (11/10 Rave); C.O.C./Fu Manchu (7/21 HOB); Dimebag Benefit Show f/ Anthrax, Soil, Drowning Pool (2/23 Aragon); Disengage (2/6 Bottom Lounge); Dropkick Murphys (10/24 Rave); Goo Goo Dolls (12/8 LA); Green Day (8/10 Allstate Arena); H.I.M. (10/22 Riv); Head Automatica (6/21 Bottom Lounge); Jack's Mannequin (12/8 LA); Last Vegas (2/24ish Double Door); Lindsay Buckingham (12/8 LA); Motley Crue (8/27 Tweeter Center); Nashville Pussy (10/12 Double Door); New Order (5/3 Aragon); Nine Inch Nails (5/6 Congress Theatre); Ozzfest f/ Black Sabbath, Mastodon, Iron Maiden, Killswitch Engage, Rob Zombie, Trivium, Black Label Society, Shadows Fall, Mudvayne...(8/6 Alpine Valley); Q101 Block Party f/ Queens of the Stone Age, Rise Against, Sum 41, Hot Hot Heat (6/3 & 6/4); Queens of the Stone Age (4/5 Vic Theatre); Rise Against (2/20 Metro); Social Distortion (9/25 HOB); Sounds of the Underground f/ Lamb of God, Clutch, Gwar...(7/8 Tweeter); Static-x/Bloodsimple (7/26 HOB); Subliminal Verses Tour f/ Slipknot, Lamb of God, Shadows Fall (3/11 Allstate Arena); System of a Down/Mars Volta (9/30 Allstate Arena); Talib Kweli/Jean Grae (12/8 LA); Taste of Chaos f/ Killswitch Engage, My Chemical Romance, Underoath (3/9 Aragon); Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers/Black Crowes (7/15 Tweeter); ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (4/22 Metro); Vans Warped Tour f/ Avenged Sevenfold, My Chemical Romance, Dropkick Murphys, Trasplants...(7/23 Tweeter); Snocore f/ Helmet and Chevelle (2/12 Congress Theatre)

Best cover Songs
Death or Glory(The Clash) as done by Social Distortion
Nervous Breakdown (Black Flag) as doen by Rise Against
Emerald (Thin Lizzy) as done by Mastodon, live at Ozzfest
Savory (Jawbox) as done by Deftones
Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival) as done by Dropkick Murphys

Best Song Titles
Champagne For My Real Friends; Real Pain For My Sham Friends (Fall Out Boy)
Bulletproof Skin (Institute)
Forgot To Remember (Mudvayne)
Guitared And Feathered (Everytime I Die)
A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation (Trivium)
Pretendeavor (Norma Jean)
This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I'm On This Song (System Of A Down)
Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners (Against Me!)
With A Thousand Words To Say But One (Darkest Hour)

Top 5 Things Learned
5. Many cds makes for a heavy box…and a 3-month moving process.
4. “Chapstick” is FAR superior (and better for the lips) to “Blistex”.
3. Fingerless gloves are very comfy, but not perfect.
2. (I can’t decide which is better, so it’s a tie for #2)
a. Some-to-many girls like a guy in black eyeliner
b. The softest skin has to be on the bottom of a girls wrist…try it.
1. Break spaghetti noodles in half before putting them into a pot so you don’t overcook them and make an ass of yourself in front of your date.

"Summer has come and passed...

...the innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends."--Green Day


3 things that have given me chills in the past 7 days:

1) "Wake Me Up When September Ends" video...all 7:08 of it....

2) Finding that PERFECT song to open/close a really good compilation cd.

3) Listening to "Fix You" by Coldplay on headphones after seeing the concert....these fucking lyrics are amazing--and they're positive, which is a new thing to popular music....relatively...

When you try your best, but you don't succeed

When you get what you want, but not what you need

When you feel soo tired, but you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose somethng you can't repalce

When you love someone, but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below

When you're too in love to let it go

But if you never try, you never know

Just what you want

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face

When you lose something you cannot replace

Tears stream down your face and I

Tears stream down your face

I promise you I will learn from mistakes

Tears stream down your face and I

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

and there you have it....go get chills.

be good, or die.

ROCK!

"Your shit's like chocolate cake...

...your ass smells like a rose" exerpt from LOVE DUMP by Static-X


so....

Green Day/Jimmy Eat World 8/10: great show--J.E.W. was a bit thin sounding vocally, but was a good solid set, nonetheless. Green Day: WOW! great set, starting w/ the opening song "American Idiot" which b/c of B.J.'s antics, was a 7min rendition! Great frontman and not just for a few songs, but the entire 2hr set!!! He got the kids going from the first downbeat to the last audible frequency of the set. They played some hits, and some not-hits...."King for a Day" which is always fun, "Knowlege" the OP-Ivy cover they did on Kerplunk! and they picked kids out of the crowd to play the instruments for the last verse...and they played a bunch of stuff from American Idiot....many cellphones/lighters in the dark auditorium for "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Blvd. of Broken Dreams"........their final encore song was "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", so made my way back to the 'VIP' area (free beer and munchies)....if they'd played "Macy's Day Parade" , i'd have stayed.....and did i mention the PYRO?!!!

311--8/11...that looks weird.....what a fun show..and the rain held out! i've come to the conclusion (again) that i need to pick up the middle 3 albums (Soundsystem, Chaos A.D., and Evolver)...i have the first4 albums and the greatest hits, and now the new one Don't Tread on Me which is really fuckng good, though its short--37min....but great....

i'm sleepy....damn tryptohan!!!!

suggested listening:

Trivium "Ascendancy"
Green Day "American Idiot", "Dookie", "Insomniac", "Nimrod", and "Warning"
Jimmy Eat World "Clarity" and "Futures"
311 "Don't Tread on Me"
Tool "Lateralus"
Mastodon "Leviathan"
E.L.O. "All Over the World: The Very Best of E.L.O."
Shout Out Louds "Howl Howl Gaff Gaff"
Rise Against "Siren Song of the Counterculture"--->congrats to them, #1 on Billboard's Top New Artist chart!!!!

ROCK!!

"tell me why....

...you feel alright but still I don't" -exerpt from Lombardy St. by Avail

so....
what the hell have i done recently....well....

saturday (aug. 6th) went to my very first OZZFEST up at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI...

HOT TOPIC/2nd Stage:
..missed a few bands i'd wanted to see (the haunted, black dahlia murder, bury your dead), but caught most of the other ones....

Trivium--fuck me they're AMAZING! lots of energy
A Dozen Furies--they sounded good, i wasn't really paying attention....
Mastodon--these guys are going to rule the world, that's all i've to say....
As I Lay Dying--they're pretty energetic--i was kinda buzzed, but i liked what i saw...
Killswitch Engage--i always love seeing these guys play, the guitarist is a lot of fun....
Rob Zombie--holy buttnugget! A) he looks WAY different, he lost the "al jourgenson-esque" look, and went w/ his own self--major plus. B) how fun--he's super energetic, totally not what i was expecting, i loved it.
*note: all of the above bands, w/ the exception of rob zombie, trivium, and a dozen furies, were seen from the stage BEHIND the band (MAJOR DEVIL HORNS to JASON @ Heavy Hitter, Inc. and his lovely wife--the amazing A.J.--i love those 2!)--what a different perspective, especially for Mastodon, Brann, the drummer is fucking amazing--he's like a heavier-hitting, moderner, bad-asser Neil Peart--and Vinnie was drooling at the technique and precision....he was standing behind the drummer during every band possible, and his favourite was mastodon.

Main Stage:
In Flames--they were okay. i'd seen em open for Soulfly and Slayer a few years ago at the Riviera.
Black Label Society--never seen em--they were pretty good, and Zakk Wylde kicks ass on guitar, there were moments where it seemed a bit self-indulgent, but it still rocked nonetheless.
Shadows Fall--these guys kick fuckin' ass--Brian Fair, the singer, has these amazingly long dreads, and gets up on a block on stage and swings em everywhere...badass *note: i was talkin w/ brent, guitar (stage right) of mastodon, and brian came up--he's not very tall and his dreads are past his knees.
Mudvayne--WOW--lots of energy, not too bad, i needed caffeine at this point, but it was a strong set...the bassist is really fucking good.
Iron (fucking) Maiden: HOLY SKELETON METAL!!! they only played songs from the first 4 albums, and that was fine by me...these guys are amazing, bruce dickinson, the singer, has so much fucking energy, i thought he was gonna jump right into the crowd a few times....and eddie kicks ass!
Black Sabbath: ok, the thought of leaving after a few songs in order to beat traffic HAD indeed crossed my mind, but i'll admit that was definately a premature notion. once they started playing, i was in awe...taken back to my early teens, as an aspiring guitar learner...my first 2 or 3 songs i learned to play all the way thru were "War Pigs" and "Iron Man" and quite possibly "Snowblind"...needless to say Tony Iommi had back then become one of my top 5 guitar heroes...and after seeing them nearly 12years after i first picked up a guitar, i was reminded that he still does reign as one of my top 5 favourite guitarists of all time. SO fluent, SO precise...it was amazing....and OZZY....WOW! Ozzy was not as stuttery and incoherint as he normally seems....he was like a little kid again, running around stage throwing buckets of water on the crowd....waving his arms....at one point he heaved a waterbottle off the stage and it nearly hit me in the head (yes we were that close--thanx to mr DAVE, one of my fantastic bosses--and i happened to be oggling at a female walking past--oops--but you can't blame me, isn't the "SEX" first in the 3 most important things in life? "SEX, DRUGS, and ROCK & ROLL"?!)....
..so all in all, my first Ozzfest was a success, and i'll most likely be going back next year...assuming the bands are ones i'd like to see......tentatively, Vinnie and I are intending on riding our 'hogs' up there (i'm aiming at gettin one come late winter/early spring) and spending the night......

ROCK!!!

next up--Green Day/Jimmy Eat World @ Allstate on WEds (8/10)

some music i've been rockin' to in the past few days:

Mastodon "Leviathan" (currently)
Avail "Over the James"
Green Day "American Idiot"
Air "Virgin Suicides (original motion picture soundtrack)"
The Falcon "God Don't Make No Trash (Up Your Ass With Broken Glass)"
Misfits "Collection I"
Motion City Soundtrack "I Am the Movie" and "Commit This to Memory"
Mudvayne "Lost and Found"
Burn the Priest "Burn the Priest"
Lamb of God "As the Palaces Burn" and "Ashes of the Wake"
Neil Young "greatest hits"
Jeff Buckley "Live Al' Olympia" and "Live at Sine"

that should do it for now......enjoy.


ROCK!