Omster's Last.fm Journal

Pipo & Elo: Metropolis Part II: Scenes from a Memory

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:02:06 +0000

I just thought I'd give a shout out for Pipo & Elo's new release. They've now added a complete cover of Scenes From a Memory to their catalogue of acoustic Dream Theater covers!

Along with all their other work, it's freely downloadable from their website, and I'd definitely recommend all their stuff to any Dream Theater fans!

Although I do like pretty well everything they've done, the SFAM cover is really something else!

Enjoy, and give those guys the recognition they deserve!

poke dead profile - and random stuff you probably don't care about \o/

Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:56:09 +0000

So. Yeah.
This whole thing is dead.
Basically..I started 6th form in September and haven't had any time to sit around on sites like this :< But now it's the holidays and laziness starts to set in...

Still doing some random stuff, took (and passed \o/) the pre-entry assessment for the sailing instructor's course I plan to take at Easter :) The assessment was easy, but meh :p Yay for being officially qualified to whack people on the head with metal poles...

Musically..haven't really changed that much. Dream Theater have been my top group for a few months now, Nightwish finally fell off the top spot.
Other favorites at the moment are still Kamelot (especially their new album, One cold winter's night). Liquid Tension Experiment are pretty awesome too, some of their stuff is great to relax to after a long day.. Been getting into some slightly older stuff too, Rush and Pink Floyd prolly the best examples.. The Gathering, who I never really liked that much before, are growing on me too..

Gone off the gothic stuff a fair bit, After Forever, Sirenia, Sinergy, Theatre of Tragedy, Xandria, Within Temptation etc... Got boring :P I'll prolly get bored of the prog metal/rock too, but I haven't yet...
Lacuna Coil still rock though, they seem to have stayed a lot more interesting... *shrug*
Still listening to some of the straighter power metal too, Edguy, Avantasia etc..

Random 40-song quiz. I'm bored.

Mon, 4 Sep 2006 14:41:45 +0000

Put your music player on shuffle
Post the first 40 songs that come up. You can repeat artists if you want. If you have any repeat tracks, skip to the next track.

Tracks

1. Ghost Love Score (Live on End of An Era)
2. Enter Sandman (Live on S&M)
3. Frail (Live)
4. Leaves (Live)
5. Over the Hills and Far Away
6. Into the Fire
7. Until It Sleeps
8. Obire Mortem
9. As I Am
10. This Dying Soul
11. Crystal Mountain (orchestral version)
12. Deep Silent Complete (Live on From Wishes to Eternity)
13. Beyond Within
14. Seed Awakening
15. One of My Turns
16. Travel
17. Only a Matter of Time
18. I'm in the Mood for Love
19. Monkeytail
20. The Other Half (of Me)
21. The Earth Is My Witness
22. Intro
23. Forever Shine On
24. A New World
25. Our Truth (Radio Mix)
26. Victim of Fate
27. Builder Song
28. Misunderstood
29. Never Again
30. Mary
31. Strange Machines (Live)
32. California Dreaming (*stabs self for not deleting*)
33. Angel in the Dark
34. Senseless
35. Evil Warning (Different Vocals)
36. Once in a Million Years
37. I Will Remember You (Live)
38. Possession (Live)
39. Face Your Demons
40. Over the Hills and Far Away (Live on End Of Innocence (Live At Summer Breeze 2002)

Questions

1. Which song do you prefer, #1 or #40?
#1
2. Have you ever listened to #12 continuously on repeat?
Maybe for 3-4 plays
3. What album is #26 from?
Without looking it up, Walls of Jericho
4. What do you think about the artist who did #15?
They deserve their iconic status.
5. Is #19 one of your favorite songs?
Only got it recently, but I like it, yes.
6. Who does #38 remind you of?
Sarah McLachlan?
7. Does #20 have better lyrics or music?
I loathe the song, but probably the lyrics.
8. Do any of your friends like #3?
Ari might, don't know anyone else who might have heard it....
9. Is #33 from a movie soundtrack?
Given how well know the band is, I doubt it.
10. Is #18 overplayed on the radio?
Heh, it's probably the only one out of 40 that would be played on the radio at all. I couldn't say it was overplayed though.
11. What does #21 remind you of?
Mother Earth
12. Which song do you prefer, #5 or #22?
Close call, probably #22
13. What album is #17 from?
Without looking, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
14. When did you first hear #39?
A looong, looong time ago.
15. When did you first hear #7?
Not so long ago, a few months maybe.
16. What genre is #8?
Gothic Metal..with grunts, Gothic Death Metal?
17. Do any of your friends like #14?
I doubt it.
18. What color does #4 remind you of?
Orange.
19. Have you ever blasted #11 on your stereo?
No.
20. What genre is #37?
Signer-Songwriter/Easy Listening
21. Can you play #13 on any instrument?
It would sound interesting on the saxophone, but no.
22. What is your favorite lyric from #30?
Don't really know the lyrics...
23. What is your favorite lyric from #23?
Don't really know these ones either...
24. Would you recommend #24 to your friends?
Doubtful.
25. Is #2 a good song to dance to?
Headbang, maybe. But there's better songs even for that.
26. Do you ever hear #16 on the radio?
Nope.
27. Is #32 more of a "nighttime" or "daytime" song?
Daytime I guess. It's a crap song.
28. Does #36 have any special meaning to you?
Not really.
29. Do any of your friends like #31?
Again, Ari might. Don't know anyone else who'd know it...
30. Is #25 a fast or slow song?
Fairly slow.
31. Is #35 a happy or sad song?
Happyish I think, I was kinda distracted while it was playing...
32. What is one of your favorite lyrics from #9?
You expect me to remember lyrics back that far?
33. Is #34 better to listen to alone or with friends?
Alone, most of the kind of music is I think.
34. When did you first hear #27?
A year or so, maybe.
35. Name 3 other songs by the artist who did #29:
Lake of Tears (Awesome song)
Life Will Never Be The Same Again
21st Feburar.
36. Do you know all the words to #6?
Into the fiiire, into the fiiire, into the fiirre....no
37. Does #28 have better lyrics or music?
Music, usually the case for Dream Theater.
38. What album is #10 from?
Can't remember >_<

20,000...I think I need a life

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:25:39 +0000

Okay, as I'm writing this I haven't actually hit 20,000 tracks scrobbled, 19,941 and counting...but by the time I get around to finishing this I should have hit the milestone.

And before I start, this probably won't be anything that special. But it's a rainy sunday afternoon and I want something to do...just not so much I'd actually do anything useful...

So yeah, I guess that 20k has covered a lot of change musicwise, I think the start (November 2005, apparently) was around the time I was starting to get into gothic/symphonic metal. I'd had a few Nightwish song demos off their site and demos off a few other sites, liked the stuff there and started looking for internet radio stations that fit the genre (Little or no money to buy stuff, so little space on my poor old laptop to download anything even if I wanted to), I found two main ones: Here (of course) and Gotham Radio (when I could get onto their rather overworked servers...)
I can't remember very clearly what the other favorites I picked up around then were, I think I found all of Soulslide, Xandria, Within Temptation, Sirenia, Theatre of Tragedy, After Forever, Edenbridge, L'Ame Immortelle, EverEve and Leaves' Eyes around then. Basically..gothic metal...and nothing else.

After a bit of that - a week or two, I think - I got (understandly) a bit bored of that, and moved more over to last.fm and it's radio streams. I think I moved more towards symphonic metal and power metal around then, looking for new stuff..and found a lot of stuff I still listen to now - Angra, Avantasia, Edguy, Liquid Tension Experiment, Sonata Arctica - some I've gone off since... Haggard, My Dying Bride - and probably more..only one I can think of that might be worth a mention is Emperor...who I hated every song that ever came on from...and last.fm in it's infinite wisdom carried on playing at me >:|

About that time I both got a new PC with a hell of a lot more space (400mb free --> 230gb free was a nice change), I also had a little more money to play with..so I started with my own collection, Nightwish - who were one of the few I'd stuck with all along (and I still do..) - I'd only really known by a few of their better known but - to me - far from their best songs: Nemo, Dark Chest of Wonders, Elvenpath (okay, maybe not well-known, but it's far from a favorite now..), Dead to the World and End of All Hope are the ones which spring to mind as ones I heard a lot then.. But then I got some of their much, much better - in my opinion - stuff. 10th Man Down, Over the Hills and Far Away, Ghost Love Score, Beauty and the Beast (The live version with Tony Kakko (from Sonata Arctica) is my favorite)..sorry, getting sidetracked on Nightwish-raving...

Okay..so, I think this is getting to late-winter this year (February 2006, maybe?), started getting more into power metal and moving, for a bit, away from the symphonic and female fronted stuff, got more seriously into Edguy, Avantasia, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Helloween, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot (Karma is one of those tracks I liked the first time I heard it and I never go off) and DragonForce (and probably more..I don't remember everything...) stayed with that kind of genre (Avantasia probably being the overall favorite, closely followed by Edguy) for quite a while, eventually started to get bored of that, started listening to some of the gothic metal bands I'd liked before.

From there onwards..it's stayed fairly stable, more recently found Lacuna Coil, found a bit more by L'Ame Immortelle (only really knew Lake of tears before), Epica are the main recentish discovery, they seem to have something which..others don't somehow. Evanescence wandered in somehow, some more conventional stuff too, Sarah McLachlan (wheee, I finally mentioned someone who's not even vaugely metallic), Tenacious D (!), Queen and...Metallica, who I'd never really liked before - and I still hate most of - but Metallica - S&M (Disc 1 / Disc 2) is just..awesome, Metallica has some decent stuff too. Everything else is a little..crap though, to me, anyway.

Getting more recent I've found and liked some more progressive metal kind of stuff, I love Dream Theater at the moment, I think I said Liquid Tension Experiment before, but they deserve another mention, Opeth too... :) I also bought the Aina CD (Well, 2CD+DVD), which is quite good :)

I'm not going to rave more. Honest. But Nightwish still manage to come out on top, I don't think I've ever really got tired of them (:|), End of An Era was good too..

I don't think I've mentioned Apocalyptica yet either, liked their stuff recently too, especially the later stuff when it's not just Metallica covers...

Okay, more stuff. I need 48 more tracks before the title will be true... (the first part, anyway)

The Gathering..another recent 'discovery', not sure quite why I like them, they're pretty..boring in a lot of ways, but I seem to have listened to a lot by them while I'm doing schoolwork and stuff. I guess Blackmore's Night are another group I should mention, they seem to have managed to grab 5th on my overall charts. Somehow, I didn't think I listened to that much by them :\ A few nice tracks maybe, Fires at Midnight, Ghost of a Rose...uhm, probably some more I like too, the names escape me...

So yeah, finishing up my horrendously long and boring journal..a random list of songs which I think everyone should hear. Everyone :P
Ghost Love Score
The Seven Angels
The Beast Within
Judgement Day
Enter Sandman (Live on Metallica - S&M (Disc 1 / Disc 2))
Solitary Ground
When the Water Breaks
Lake of tears
Last Drop Falls

Okay. Enough.

*saves this to post when he's hit 20,000*

Oh, and the 20,000th song was Ghost Love Score - Live on the End of an Era DVD :>

No other ChatSpikers? :(

Sun, 6 Aug 2006 22:10:28 +0000

Not that this journal will make any difference..but isn't there anyone else who can join my so-kinda-not-sexy group ChatSpike? :( I know there's more of you, even just on my friends list, now wake the hell up and join >;(

Who knows, we might even get some charts, that would be..um..awesome, and pointful, and...something :<

Oh, and this was just a pointless excuse for a journal cause I'm bored, but hey! :<

:<

Even more blatant copyage..

Wed, 3 May 2006 16:31:40 +0000

Ok, so it seems like everything I ever put here is quizes and stuff I see in recommended journals...screw it, here goes.

Which bands/artist do you own the most albums by?
Nightwish - Three albums

What was the last song you listened to?
Victoria's Secret

What's in your CD player right now?
I rip all my CDs and listen to them on my computer, but the one in my CD drive is Highest Hopes: The Best of Nightwish

What was the last show you attended?
terrafolk (or here)
Despite what they look/sound like...they were pretty good/funny...Will You Be My Sunshine sung with death metal growls to folkish instruments was..something special.

What was the greatest show you've ever been to?
Probably the above

What's the worst show you've ever been to?
Some live concert in town here, don't know who was playing but it sucked.

What's the most musically involved you have ever been?
I play the soprano (and sometimes alto) saxophone, have been for a few years. I'm not *that* good though.

What show are you looking forward to?
I might try and go to Download, if not that...don't know

What is your favorite band shirt?
*duck* - I don't have any

What musician(s) would you like to hang out with for a day?
Dunno, I'd kinda like to meet Tuomas Holopainen, but that's just cause I love Nightwish so much...

Who is one musician or group you wish would make a comeback?
Dunno, another Avantasia album would be kinda cool

Who is one band/artist you've never seen live but always wanted to?
Nightwish

Name 4 or MORE flawless albums:
Can't think of any, most have downsides.

How many music related videos/DVDs do you own?
None, will get the new Nightwish one.

How many concerts/shows have you been to, total?
Not enough, probably 3-4 and a few festivals.

Who have you seen the most live?
All those 3-4 have been unique, I suck in I can't remember names...

What is your favorite movie soundtrack?
Dunno, LotR was pretty good, I like the theme from Titanic, The Phantom of the Opera?

What was your last musical "phase" before you wisened up?
Silence, didn't listen to anything until I was 13 or 14

What's your "guilty pleasure" that you hate to admit to liking?
Sarah McLachlan or Queen probably, not very guilty about anything I listen to.

My Mainstreamness

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 09:51:24 +0000

Saw someone else had done this, here, and thought I'd do the same :)
The start and end are blatantly copy/pasted :)

Find the number of listeners for each of your top 10 artists and add them up and divide by 10 to get the average.

1) Nightwish (81,278 listeners)

2) Sonata Arctica (45,245 listeners)

3) Blind Guardian (48,030 listeners)

4) Within Temptation (42,522 listeners)

5) Edguy (18,617 listeners)

6) Evanescence (134,401 listeners)

7) Blackmore's Night (8,454 listeners)

8) Leaves' Eyes (9,707 listeners)

9) DragonForce (28,394 listeners)

10) Avantasia (16,984 listeners)

My total score comes to (rounded down to the nearest whole number):
433,632 divided by 10 to give a average per-artist = 43,363

If I had listened to the same top 10 as all of Last.fm has, the artists would be Radiohead, The Beatles, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Death Cab for Cutie, Green Day, System of a Down, Gorillaz, Nirvana, and Metallica. The score for those 10 averages at 233,232 as I'm writing this.

So working out the average, I'm 18.6% mainstream :)
Bit of a pointless and meaningless statistic, but hey :)

Top 10 thingy

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 11:45:56 +0000

Blatantly copying MutantPenguin...
Take top ten bands, say which the first song you heard was, which was your first real favourite, and which is your current favourite...

Nightwish
First Song: Nemo
First Fave: Over the Hills and Far Away
Current Fave: The Riddler

Sonata Arctica
First Song: Full Moon, I think. Though I started listening to them after I heard their singer sang the male part of Nightwish's Beauty and the Beast.
First Fave: Last Drop Falls
Current Fave: Replica

Edguy
First Song: Sands of Time
First Fave: Sands of Time
Current Fave: Sands of Time

Within Temptation
First Song: Running Up That Hill
First Fave: Ice Queen
Current Fave: Candles

DragonForce
First Song: Heart of a Dragon
First Fave: Heart of a Dragon
Current Fave: My Spirit Will Go On

Xandria
First Song: Like a Rose on the Grave of Love
First Fave: Like a Rose on the Grave of Love
Current Fave: Forever Yours

Leaves' Eyes
First Song: Elegy
First Fave: Elegy
Current Fave: Senses Capture

Evanescence
First Song: My Immortal
First Fave: My Immortal
Current Fave: Whisper 2002

Blackmore's Night
First Song: Fires at Midnight
First Fave: Fires at Midnight
Current Fave: Rainbow Blues

Avantasia
First Song: The Seven Angels
First Fave: The Seven Angels
Current Fave: The Seven Angels

A-Z

Thu, 13 Apr 2006 13:31:47 +0000

This seems to be an 'in' thing to do so..

A: Avantasia
B: Blackmore's Night
C: Children of Bodom (probably...don't listen much)
D: DragonForce
E: Evanescence (Edguy, EverEve and Edenbridge all close behind)
F: For My Pain...
G: Gothica (only G* I can think of hearing)
H: Helloween (Haggard so close...)
I: Iron Maiden (though I don't listen to as much as I'd like)
J: Jimmy Hendrix (As with G, only one I can think of)
K: Kamelot
L: Leaves' Eyes (L'Ame Immortelle too...)
M: Mortal Love (Metallica close...)
N: Nightwish (hands down...)
O: Offspring
P: Penumbra (only one I can think of, barely know them)
Q: Queen
R: Rhapsody (only one I can think of, barely know them either..)
S: Sonata Arctica (also hands down...Sirenia the closest challenger)
T: Theatre of Tragedy (Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Tristania close)
U: Unshine
V: Vatican OF Sorrows (having a hard time coming up with anything...)
W: Within Temptation
X: Xandria
Y: ???, can't think of any
Z: ???, can't think of any

Edit: And of course I make some typoes...

And the extra special tribute to innocentlilgal :o

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 20:22:06 +0000

While she did get a brief mention in my last journal entry, I (she barely pushed me, honest) thought I should give her a full entry, for the female vocalist I love the most, innocentlilgal. Her voice has enthralled me since I first heard it a few months ago, I saw her perform live in her home town spectaculary despite a somewhat substandard audience which did everything to reinforce my admiration for her skills.
She has (now) been compared to Tarja Turunen and Sharon den Adel, and even with my very high opinions of Tarja and Sharon's voices I just love 'innocentlilgal' even more.
Even hearing her speak brings her music to my ears.