en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal The Last.fm journal for Stubbsy67. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/04/16/2nl2uo_masu_at_helsinki_setlists_%2526_review_-_best_gig_ever%2521 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:19:39 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/04/16/2nl2uo_masu_at_helsinki_setlists_%2526_review_-_best_gig_ever%2521 Sun 12 Apr – Machinae Supremacy, SoulCage

Before I start let me first state that my girlfriend ClamLydia and I travelled especially from England to attend this gig. It wasn't cheap doing so, but it was worth every goddamn penny!! So I urge anyone, especially those who live closer to the band's usual tour destinations (eg Norway) to bite the bullet and travel to see MaSu, you won't regret it.


Soulcage

01 You Get So Alone
02 I See
03 My Canvas, My Skin
04 Ride On
05 Until You Find Me
06 Satellite Children
07 Stranger In You
08 Bleeding
09 Origin
10 Flaming Flowers (Send in the Clowns)
11 MIA

Soulcage were a great choice of warm-up act. Having downloaded their debut album Dead Water Diary several months ago I was semi-looking forward to seeing them; the album is good but it really is far from outstanding. I was therefore pleased to see the release of Soul for Sale several days before the gig - the album is so much better than Dead Water Diary, with better songwriting and riffs, and far superior vocal clarity. In fact, I got so hooked on this album that when the singer noticed we were the only people singing along he looked genuinely flattered, and came off the stage towards us and I sang a couple of lines of Satellite Children!

Obviously the frontman was speaking Finnish in between songs so we couldn't understand. Fine, until he asked a question and everyone raised their hands! Perhaps someone from Finland can enlighten me as to what was said? ;-) Anyway, great band - they have potential and we were particually impressed by the singer's strong, powerful voice and wide vocal range. Soul For Sale can be streamed in its entirety for free on their MySpace, check it out: http://www.myspace.com/soulcageband


Machinae Supremacy

01 Truth of Tomorrow
02 Violator
03 Gimme More (SID)
04 Overworld
05 Need for Steve
06 Rogue World Asylum
07 Fury
08 Dark City
09 Conveyer
10 Edge and Pearl
11 Kings Of The Scene
12 Radio Future
13 Reanimator
14 Seventeen
15 Stand
16 Ghost (Beneath the Surface)
17 Through The Looking Glass

As soon as SoulCage finished we rushed forward and got, without doubt, the best spot in the house for Machinae Supremacy. First row, dead centre - my girlfriend spent most of the time leaning on the amp the band kept putting their feet on as they played! After some delay the band finally took the stage at 11pm, and right from the opener Truth Of Tomorrow the crowd were going nuts - it was clear that all the people around us knew all the words as I did :-)

MaSu were absolutely spot on - the sound quality was terrific where we were stood, the band were as tight as possible and the SID sounded great! I can't think of a way to improve the performance! The setlist consisted mainly of songs from Overworld and Redeemer and was practically flawless. Sure, it would have been nice to hear some older songs such as Hero or Winterstorm (though it was very nice indeed to be treated to Kings Of The Scene), but with so many killer songs to choose from you have to prioritise and I wasn't at all disappointed.

Almost more importantly, the after gig drinks. By chance we happened across mumppis, who recognised we were the English pair who posted on the Official Forum and gave us free CDs (Redeemer (Retail Edition) for me, Redeemer (Underground Edition) for Lydia) for actually showing up! Needless to say, we grabbed a pen and headed to the band to get 'em signed. The news of our voyage travelled fast, and we soon found the band to be almost as pleased/flattered to meet devoted English fans as we were to meet our heros!

I have honestly never met such modest, genuine and all around awesome people as MaSu, and for this reason (as well as the kickass music, of course) we're making it a personal endeavor to spread the word in the UK by distributing their music and contacting venues/radio stations/etc with the eventual goal of bringing them to the UK! It would be fantastic if we and hundreds of other English fans could have such an incredible band come to our doorstep, and I'm sure we wouldn't disappoint with our support. Expect a Facebook and maybe Last.fm group to appear soon...

Two very pleased fans,]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/03/14/2ke5h3_personal_top_12_album_discoveries_of_2008 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:54:46 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/03/14/2ke5h3_personal_top_12_album_discoveries_of_2008 So this entry is almost exactly 3 months late - my two year anniversary on Last.fm was 16th December last year, and I've been meaning to do this ever since but never got around to it. Yes so, as usual picking just 12 albums to encompass a whole year of discoveries is very taxing indeed, so expect the order to be vague to say the least! Also, to avoid what happened last year I've limited myself to one album per band, though I trust there will still be some controversial albums included ;-)

Here goes, reverse order:

12. Disturbed - Indestructible


This was somewhat of a surprise. I've owned a copy of Ten Thousand Fists for a fair while now, and whilst it's pretty good it never really blew me away. I picked up Indestructible partly because I read very good things about it in Metal Hammer, and partly on impulse when I saw it for £5 in HMV. The opening two tracks are very strong, especially Inside the Fire. After Deceiver (which doesn't do much for me) we have The Night, my favourite track on the album boasting a chorus so catchy I can't help but sing along! Other strong tracks include Haunted, Criminal and Façade. All in all a great album, and I would urge any metalhead who's already dismissed Disturbed as nu metal (as I once did) to rethink and buy this album, you might find you enjoy it!

11. Anthrax - We've Come for You All


Here's Anthrax' newest material to date, and is no doubt a collection of some of the catchiest, almost pop metal songs I've ever heard. Regardless, with rockin' tunes such as What Doesn't Die, Refuse to Be Denied and Nobody Knows Anything; the fantastic ballad Safe Home and brilliant chorus' throughout, all metalheads should own this when they fancy something a bit lighter. On that note, don't look for anything deep or complex here, you won't find it. This album is a great swansong for John Bush with Anthrax, I think he's a great vocalist for the more heavy/groove side of the band, though I'm also looking forward to hearing the apparent return to thrash with the new vocalist Dan Nelson. Oh, and make sure you get the special addition for the cover of We're a Happy Family!

10. Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys (Part 2)


Only got this album right at the end of 2008 (for Christmas in fact), but it occupied most of my listening well into the first week of new year. After the blah opening instrumental, Eagle Fly Free kicks off the album properly and the great songs never really let up. We've got some fantastic typical power metal songs in March of Time and I Want Out, the nice ballad We Got the Right, and a couple of songs that make me chuckle from time to time (Rise and Fall and Dr Stein). It's nice to see bands with a sense of humour. Keeper of the Seven Keys is a very strong epic, though I have to say that it loses out to Halloween from Keeper 1. Also, the bonus tracks on the 2006 reissue are good fun - I thought Livin' Aint No Crime and Don't Run for Cover were covers at first due to the stylistic difference.


9. Steely Dan - Aja


Having bought 7 Steely Dan albums last year and the remaining 3 at the start of 2009, there needed to be a least one here. Aja is the ultimate smooth, jazz rock album. Peg and Deacon Blues are near perfect songs and two of my favourites by the band, whilst Black Cow and Josie also stand out. As with all of the Dan's discography, they never really write bad songs, the worst that can happen is for a song to just glide by; to be enjoyed but not really noticed. Having already pointed out that four of seven tracks stand out, there's not much room left for filler here, and even Home at Last has grown on me over time. Steely Dan are so remarkably unoffensive and interesting I'd recommend them to anyone, and I'd like to say one last thank you to daaussie for getting me into them!


8. Metallica - Death Magnetic


I was one of hundreds of thousands highly anticipating this one, and I have to say, I'm not disapointed. As much as I've enjoyed all of Metallica's output up 'til now, I never expected them to thrash again! Got some great riffs in That Was Just Your Life and The End of the Line (though the latter sounds a little like Endless Sacrifice, huh?). The Day That Never Comes is a worthy track 4, and I really digg the groove of Cyanide. I'd say there isn't really a weak track on the album - I really enjoy them all though I think the album as a whole can drag on a little, so maybe a few songs could lose 30 seconds to a minute.

7. Subterranean Masquerade - Suspended Animation Dreams


This was a recommendation by a passerby here on Last.fm as a means to get into death metal vocals, but this album has so much more to offer. Under the guise of progressive metal, I don't think I've heard so many instruments or such a wide range of influences on a single album. For example, my favourite track on the album The Rock n' Roll Preacher starts with a mix of distorted & acoustic guitars and simularly a mix of clean & death metal vocals. Following a smooth transition we have the second movement - piano driven with soft vocals and female harmonising in the background. Finally, following a moody instrumental section, trumpets burst in with death metal vocals overtop, finishing with a lengthy saxophone solo and an occasional refrain from the trumpets. Elsewhere in other we have harmonicas and an assortment of other instruments I can't name for a really diverse sound. Other highlights include Wolf Among Sheep (Or Maybe The Other Way Around?), No Place Like Home (interesting lyrics) and Six Strings to Cover Fear. Highly recommended for fans of progressive looking for something a bit different.

6. Testament - Low


As with Steely Dan, I bought all 10 of Testament's albums in 2008 and saw them live last month, so this was a difficult choice! Low is neither the heaviest nor softest, fastest nor slowest, and captures the transition of the band from their streamlined The Ritual to the death metal effort Demonic. The first four tracks here excel - Low, Legions (in Hiding), Hail Mary and the ballad Trail of Tears. Testament sure write some great ballads, and this is no exception. Other highlights for me are the funky instrumental Urotsukidoji and Chasing Fear. However, Testament haven't (in my opinion) released a perfect album, and this is no exception since I find Shades of War and P.C. rather fillerish. As mentioned earlier, I'm only including one album per band this year, and for this reason The Legacy and The Gathering narrowly lost out to Low.

5. Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos


As above, bought all but one album last year, and had to make a difficult choice, selecting SC over the equally brilliant Metropolis Pt. II: Scenes From A Memory and Train of Thought. Here we have some brilliant songs and choruses, I hardly know where to begin. In The Presence Of Enemies is a captivating epic, especially In the Presence of Enemies - Part II, whilst The Ministry of Lost Souls is a beautiful piece of music. I also like the idea of all the famous musicians speaking on Repentance, and the catchiness of the Muse-esque Prophets of War. I know some people are offended by the strange vocal style on The Dark Eternal Night, but given a little getting used to I believe it's one of the best tracks on the album.

4. R.E.M. - Accelerate


Just as it was nice to hear Metallica thrashing again after so long, it was great to hear R.E.M. rockin' again! From the opening riff of Living Well Is the Best Revenge to the final 'woo-hoo' of closing I'm Gonna DJ, this album only lets up the speed once for the Automatic for the People style Until the Day Is Done and mid-paced rocker Mr. Richards. Other stand-outs for me are the super catchy Man-Sized Wreath, lead single Supernatural Superserious, and Sing for the Submarine, which name drops several other R.E.M. songs and comes second only to Victory by Megadeth for most self-referencing song in my library. As if R.E.M. would ever fail to please me, I found this album particuarly spot on. Was also great to hear most of these songs live at Twickenham! :-)

3. Blind Guardian - A Twist in the Myth


This was the very first album I bought in 2008 and I listened to it non-stop, so it's been a while since I properly listened to it now. Nevertheless, this is a splendid album and challenges 2007's Framing Armageddon, also #3, as my favourite power metal album. Most tracks on this album stand out, so to name a few - Fly, Another Stranger Me and This Will Never End and Lionheart are incredibly catchy power metal anthems, while Carry the Blessed Home and Skalds And Shadows are nicer for a softer sound. It's probably redundant to say at this point in my list that there are no weak tracks on this album but er, yeah, there aren't. All in all thoroughly enjoyable, and makes me think I can sing when I belt it out at top volume which I most certainly cannot!

2. Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold


Almost certainly the biggest surprise this year is Avenged Sevenfold's fourth self-titled album. As the main support act of Iron Maiden last year (who, needless to say, rocked!), I dutifully purchased the newest album as I always do when I go to gigs, despite reading predominantly bad things from the narrow minded, bandwagon-hopping metal community here on Last.fm. No it's not the heaviest album, perhaps it is a sellout from their routes and maybe the vocals aren't he most "metal", but this album is solid gold. All 10 tracks are rated 5 stars on my iTunes - there's nothing overlong, great riffs and lyrics by the shedload and super catchy choruses. Almost Easy, Afterlife, Brompton Cocktail, the querky A Little Piece Of Heaven - everyones a winner. I like the chance they took with Dear God too. However, the clear winner here is Unbound (The Wild Ride), which currently sits on 62 plays on my iTunes and is without doubt one of the best songs I discovered in 2008.

1. Machinae Supremacy - Overworld


Well to anyone who read the journal from last year this was no surprise - sorry for being so predictable! Overworld is as near as an album can get to being perfect, if we take Redeemer to be perfection. Every chorus is epic and catchy; the riffs are crunchy and memorable; and the lyrics are (for the most part) engaging. Overworld, Edge and Pearl, Radio Future, the beautiful Skin, Conveyor, Dark City (riff!), Violator - what's the best track?! Who knows. I can tell you what it isn't; it's not Stand - being the only track on this album which doesn't blow me anyway. Gimme More (SID) deserves a mention for possibly being the best metal cover of a pop song, nay, best cover, ever. I've introduced many people to the band via that song, and every single person I've played it to (regardless of musical preference) has preferred it to the original. Hell I love this band so much, I'll be travelling all the way to Helsinki with my girlfriend especially to see them one month today - can't wait!!

So yeah, that's that for another year! Finally, I'd like to highlight The Crucible Of Man by Iced Earth for being the only album on my list of highly anticipated album for 2008 not to make this list, since to be quite honest, it can't even be mentioned in the same breath as the brilliance of Framing Armageddon. Don't get me wrong, I think Matt Barlow is a great vocalist, and there are some strong songs such as Sacrificial Kingdoms, I Walk Alone and Come What May, but overall I was rather disapointed in this album.

Anyway, the end. That took far too long.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/02/15/2hky8y_priest_feast_sheffield_setlist Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:51:57 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2009/02/15/2hky8y_priest_feast_sheffield_setlist Fri 13 Feb – Priest Feast

What an awesome gig! Megadeth was my favourite overall because I know the songs/lyrics inside out, but there's no doubt that Priest were technically the best and put on an amazing show! Testament I was looking forward to the most, and was a little let down by average sound clarity on the vocals but still really enjoyed them.


Testament
1 For the Glory Of...
2 Over the Wall
3 The New Order
4 Into the Pit
5 The Persecuted Won't Forget
6 D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)
7 3 Days in Darkness
8 Practice What You Preach
9 The Formation of Damnation


Megadeth
1 Sleepwalker
2 Wake Up Dead
3 Take No Prisoners
4 A Tout Le Monde
5 Washington Is Next!
6 She-Wolf
7 In My Darkest Hour
8 Hangar 18
9 Symphony of Destruction
10 Peace Sells
11 Mechanix
- - - - -
12 Holy Wars...The Punishment Due


Judas Priest
1 Dawn of Creation
2 Prophecy
3 Metal Gods
4 Eat Me Alive
5 Between the Hammer & the Anvil
6 Devil's Child
7 Breaking the Law
8 Hell Patrol
9 Death
10 Dissident Aggressor
11 Angel
12 The Hellion
13 Electric Eye
14 Rock Hard, Ride Free
15 Sinner
16 Painkiller
17 Hell Bent for Leather
18 The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)
- - - - -
19 You've Got Another Thing Comin']]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/06/16/20z4al_sonic_3_ost_-_what_is_the_correct_tag%3F Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:41:14 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/06/16/20z4al_sonic_3_ost_-_what_is_the_correct_tag%3F Before I start, let me make clear that I've already researched into this a fair bit, so I know about the whole scandal involving Michael Jackson and the simularities between some Sonic 3 tracks and MJ songs. (Incidently, for those who don't know take a look at this video).

So all I want to know is what to tag Sonic 3 music so I can listen to it and not mess up scrobbles! I was pretty angry that I had to scrobbles loads of Sonic 2 tracks as Masato Nakamura 2 instead of the 中村正人 because of the bug in iTunes, so I don't want to be there again!

Cheers.

Related links: SEGA, SEGA Sound Team, sonic the hedgehog, sonic the hedgehog 2, sonic the hedgehog 3, Sonic Team, Howard Drossin]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/05/13/1ck5_filling_out_discographies%252C_st_et_%2526_3000th_track Tue, 13 May 2008 23:01:39 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/05/13/1ck5_filling_out_discographies%252C_st_et_%2526_3000th_track A collection of ramblings not important enough to warrent their own journal.

No new bands for May
I'm on another kick of trying to finish off band catalogues, since I have this awful habit of buying 80% of a band's discography and then moving on. Of highest priority are Slayer (Show No Mercy, Hell Awaits) and Anthrax (Stomp 442 (ordered yesterday), We've Come for You All) since I love both bands and have been listening to them for over a year and a half now, which is far too long to not be owning all of them! I've discovered and bought 14 Iron Maiden albums in that time, ha! Also we have:

High priority:
-Dream Theater (When Dream and Day Unite, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and Train of Thought).
-Testament (Souls Of Black, The Ritual, Demonic and The Gathering).
-Rob Zombie (just Educated Horses)
-Iced Earth (The Dark Saga, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Horror Show (their 3 most praised albums!) & The Glorious Burden).

Others:
-Helloween & Blind Guardian. Only own 1 album of each, but love both! I'm going to focus expanding my power metal collection on these bands for the time being rather than discovering new ones.
-Opeth. I've only got Deliverance and Still Life so far, and they take me a damn long time to get into but it's well worth it! Deliverance is a masterpiece, and listening to Still Life today I'm starting to realise it might be even more so (The Moor and Face of Melinda!). I'm still treating the death metal vocals as an instrument though... (ie I don't hear words :-p)
-Dire Straits. Meh, one day I'll buy On Every Street...


Saint Etienne
Just want to give a shoutout to this masterful 3 piece - I went on a real kick on Sunday & Monday with the nice weather and listened to over 200 St Et tracks! Last.fm hasn't updated since, but this'll firmly knock Megadeth off their longtime #3 spot, no doubt for good. It wouldn't be long 'til Anthrax pushes them to #5 too, especially since I just ordered Stomp 442 (I love Volume 8: The Threat Is Real and I hear this is simular, so despite bad reviews I have high hopes).

Also finally got around to ordering Tiger Bay and Good Humor online - my first two St Et albums by far but ones that I never owned officially. Tiger Bay is such a fucking awesome album, perhaps up there in my all time favourites!


Fever?
Strange observation. I went to put on Screaming for Vengeance (Judas Priest) in my CD player last night, and looking at the back I noticed the track Fever sandwiched between You've Got Another Thing Comin' and Devil's Child. "Odd" I think to myself, "probably just the wrong artwork showing a bonus track not on my CD". Popped it in and it was there - turns out my iTunes had neglected to import it and I never noticed! Nice going Mr. Observant.

Anyways it sounds pretty good, and after wondering what my 3000th library track would be for a good week now this was an entirely unexpected candidate! :-p

That's all. :-)]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/04/01/1ck4_goodbye_masu_promo_-_reviews_of_origin%252C_arcade_%2526_fury Tue, 1 Apr 2008 13:19:46 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/04/01/1ck4_goodbye_masu_promo_-_reviews_of_origin%252C_arcade_%2526_fury Machinae Supremacy launched their new website recently, and with it they reorganised their webography into 3 compilation albums - 'Origin', 'Arcade' and 'Fury', all with their own fancy hi-res artwork. Anyway, after much deliberating over whether to follow suit or not, I finally arranged the songs into the 3 compilations on my iTunes yesterday, therefore completely dissolving the Promo album, which up until now is my most played album on Last.fm with 827 plays.

Being the geek that I am, I rate all my songs in iTunes, and naturally I slip into rating songs relative to the album they're on. Thus, it was interesting to see how a bunch of 30 songs previously rated compared to one another would hold when divided into 3 seperate albums. Here's my personal review.



Origin
Described on the website as collecting some of the "defining moments" for the band, Origin immediately comes across as the most varied, or inconsistent, in terms of quality of the 3 compilations. Leading the way are 3 of my favourite, if not my top 3 promo songs - Hero, Winterstorm and Masquerade (Earthbound also follows closely). A notch below are the 4-star songs such as Nemesis, The Wired and Hybrid, which are of pretty standard quality as far as Promo as a whole goes, in my opinion. However, Origin also carries some of my least favourite Promo songs. I Turn To You had potential if Rob's voice wasn't so... well, bad; and fighters from ninne v2 is just plain irritating. The now title-track Origin is actually quite good, but the grating voice on the line "see through my eyes" is just unforgivable.

Summary: Inconsistent - collects the cream of the crop with the nadirs.
Overall: 7.5/10




Arcade
This one "features some of the band's earliest works", collecting songs released online between 2000 and 2002. At first glance this one seems the strongest of the 3, if only because it's the only one to lack a song tha I've given less than a 4-star rating. In fact, this compilation seems to collect many of the songs which I personally overlook (or, to use the dreaded word, underrate). Y'kno, the songs that you enjoy when they're playing, but they never really catch fire nor do you ever get the urge to deliberately play them. For me, the songs Kings Of The Scene, Follower and march of the undead (part2) match this description perfectly. Where the album really takes off is from tracks 5-7, with Missing Link being very strong lyrically during the chorus, Arcade being the only Promo song able to challenge the top 3 I mentioned above on Origin, and sidstyler (freestyler) being one of their most energentic and fun songs to date. The album is also book-ended by a pair of solid instrumentals, which actually works quite well.

Summary: Generally solid across the board, with a few highlights but no real filler.
Overall: 8.5/10




Fury
Again the website tells no lies - Fury does indeed contain "most of the instrumental tracks" of the band's webography. This immediately made me sceptical of how much I'd enjoy listening to Fury as a whole, as whilst I love MaSu's instrumentals, I generally like instrumentals to be mixed in with songs as they are on Origin and Arcade. Neverthelss, Bouff is one of my favourite MaSu instrumentals and a great way to start the album, and the Sidology trilogy can't really be faulted by any fan of the band. The rest of the instrumentals are of a general high standard, with the obvious (for me) exception of Steve's Quest, which I find so happy and plinky-plonk that it rapidly becomes nauseating. Of the songs on this album, I didn't include Soundtrack to the Rebellion or Fury since I left them on their respective albums where they belong, so it's only Legion of Stoopid and Hubnester Inferno left here. Thankfully, both are strong songs and are amongst the top 25% of the promo songs in terms of quality.

Summary: I'll have to be in the mood to listen to a bunch of instrumentals back to back, but taking that into consideration the selection is very strong.
Overall: 8/10


MaSu fans: which is your favourite, and do you think these confirm the end of freely-distributed webography songs?]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/02/17/1ck3_challenge%3A_identically_titled_songs_%28not_covers%29 Sun, 17 Feb 2008 23:06:42 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/02/17/1ck3_challenge%3A_identically_titled_songs_%28not_covers%29 I've kept a playlist of identically titled songs for quite some time now, but I never thought to make a challenge out of it until I saw Quiplash do it in this journal. (not all of his have been answered, so give that a go too).

Allow me to emphasize that these are NOT covers. The songs bare no relation to oneanother, they just happen to have identical titles. So to use the same example as Quiplash:

Patsy Cline; Gnarls Barkley

ANSWER IS: Crazy (i.e., both artists performed *different* songs with the title "Crazy")

Give it a shot! :-)

1. Black Sabbath; Iced Earth - Solitude
2. Anthrax; Machinae Supremacy - Death From Above
3. R.E.M.; Radiohead - You
4A. Machinae Supremacy; R.E.M. - Stand
4B. Machinae Supremacy; R.E.M. - Endgame
5. Metallica; Guns N' Roses - My World or Attitude
6. Black Sabbath; Carnal Forge - Hand Of Doom
7. R.E.M.; Anthrax - Imitation Of Life
8. Iced Earth; Iron Maiden - Invasion
9. Tool; R.E.M. - Undertow
10. Megadeth; Sex Pistols - Liar
11. Sex Pistols; Machinae Supremacy - Seventeen
12. Coldplay; R.E.M. - Low
13. Kasabian; Metallica - Seek & Destroy
14. Slayer; SOiL - New Faith
15. Testament; Blind Guardian - The New Order
16. The Rasmus; R.E.M. - The One I Love
17. Anthrax; Dire Straits - One World
18. Machinae Supremacy; Pantera - Rise
19. Machine Head; SOiL - Halo
20. Iron Maiden; Saint Etienne - Lightning Strikes Twice
21. Kasabian; Machinae Supremacy - Empire
22. Led Zeppelin; Dido; Space - Thank You
23. Muse; Milburn - Stockholm Syndrome
24. Megadeth; R.E.M. - Wanderlust
25. Rammstein; Saint Etienne - Spring
26. Blind Guardian; Metallica (cover) - Turn The Page
27. Iron Maiden; Pantera - Killers
28. Bobby Prince; R.E.M. - Untitled (and also Endgame)
29. Milburn; Red Hot Chili Peppers - Storm In A Teacup
30. Iced Earth; Testament - Burnt Offerings]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/01/26/1ck2_shaun%27s_mix_1_-_sept_1999 Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:14:44 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2008/01/26/1ck2_shaun%27s_mix_1_-_sept_1999 Rediscovered this little gem at the beginning of last term (October 2007) when moving back to uni. Previously I had picked and chosen which cds to bring to uni or not, but this time I just said "fuck it" and brought everything in a jewel case. Since coming back and being discovered by my housemates this compilation has achieved nothing short of cult status, and is almost guarenteed a spin at every house party/gathering/pre-drinking session.

So as the name suggests, these songs were what I chose to put on a CD in 1999, age 11. I will never forget how fascinated I was when my brother bought his first cd rewriting (2 speed, haha!) and told me I could make my own CD, and put whatever I wanted on it. :-p

Most interestingly, what was my music taste then is now a collection of mostly classic songs, which everyone loves, loves to hate, or at least induces nostalgia. You wouldn't believe how many compliments we had on this CD the first term we played it last term, but what you probably can believe is their shock when we told them who it belonged to ;-) And over 9 years on and with such a radical evolution in music taste, I still fucking love this cd! \m/

1. Lou Bega - Mambo No.5
2. Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)
3. House of Pain - Jump Around
4. Alice DeeJay - Better Off Alone
5. Eminem - My Name Is
6. The Wiseguys - Ooh La La
7. Supergrass - Pumping on Your Stereo
8. Morcheeba - Part of the Process
9. Madonna - Beautiful Stranger
10. Vengaboys - Overwhelm Yourself
11. Ricky Martin - Livin' la Vida Loca
12. Texas - In Our Lifetime
13. Prince - 1999
14. Fun Lovin' Criminals - Scooby Snacks
15. Gala - Freed From Desire
16. Will Smith - Wild Wild West
17. Sash! - Mysterious Times
18. ATB - Don't Stop
19. Phats & Small - Feel Good

And in case you're wondering, there never was a Shaun's Mix 2!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2007/12/19/1ck1_12_months_on_last.fm%2C_top_12_albums_i%27ve_bought_since Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:51:26 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2007/12/19/1ck1_12_months_on_last.fm%2C_top_12_albums_i%27ve_bought_since Sunday the 16th marked my one year anniversary here at Last.fm (ignore the 'Registered' date to the left, see 'Scrobbling since' instead). Here's a journal to mark the occasion.

Before I get to the albums, just a little bit about what Last.fm has done for me in that time. I can honestly say Last.fm is the site I'm most addicted to, more than any other. You hear of people saying they're addicted to Facebook; I could never use FB again at the drop of a hat (though I do like it) but Last.fm is so much more.

I've discovered some of my now favourite bands, either entirely through or with the help of Last.fm and the people I'm met here. Machinae Supremacy, Iced Earth, Evile, Sanctity and Dream Theater to name a few, but there are countless more on my ever growing "list of albums to get". Last.fm also took my music geekery to new heights, given the way I monitor my charts. In fact, here's a look at my chart toppers in my 52 weeks of being here:

http://img2.putfile.com/main/12/35216242760.jpg

And then of course, there's the people. Besides having Roobai breathing down the neck of my music taste (love you really! :-p), I've also met some awesome people here, the closest of whom are of course McMartin and Whitey. I'm not just mentioning you guys out of obligation to return a favour, I mean that, and I fucking can't wait til Megadeth! \m/ (McMartin, will eventually get around to sending you a pic so you can tell me apart from all the other 'typical metalheads' :-p)

Okay the albums, in an attempted but very vague reverse order.

12. Slayer - Christ Illusion

I know saying this is going to rattle a few cages, but I think I prefer new Slayer to anything they've done previously. Well, thier 80's work is masterful too, but I certainly prefer their 00's material to their 90's stuff. Christ Illustion starts fantastically with Flesh Storm; easily one of my favourite Slayer songs now. Other highlights include Skeleton Christ, Jihad, Black Serenade and Supremist. The album is by no means perfect - songs like Catalyst are easily forgotten and Catatonic can be irritating; and perhaps overall it isn't as altogether polished as albums such as South of Heaven (which was beaten to a spot on this list by a hairline). What can't be denied is how much I enjoy this album, and perhaps it is greater as whole than the sum of it's parts but so be it. Slayer have promised one more album before they call it a day, and if it's Christ Illusion mkII I'll be more than happy.

11. Rob Zombie - The Sinister Urge

I bought this album because a friend recommended Zombie. I later found out that friend had only heard one song - Dragula... once! But hey maybe it was meant to be, I love this album! I don't listen to much industrial, but the tight riffs and catchy chorus' on this album had me hooked from the first listen. Songs like Demon Speeding, Dead Girl Superstar, Never Gonna Stop (The Red, Red Kroovy) and Iron Head are almost impossible not to sing along to, and the crunching guitar sound is always appealing. Again, the album isn't perfect, but nothing beats it for the fun factor. I bought Hellbilly Deluxe 2 days ago and am loving it so far, who knows, it might be here in a years time...

10. Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat Is Real

Controvesial! "Volume 8 over Spreading the Disease, you're crazy!". Yep, Volume 8 is a fantastic album which reminds me of a crazy mix between Pantera and new Metallica, which is odd. Songs like Inside Out, Born Again Idiot and Killing Box could very well be Pantera songs (yes, I know the Pantera boys guest on them), whilst Catharsis and the brilliant Harms Way have the new Metallica groove going on. Then we've got the System of a Down-esque 604 and Cupajoe, topped off with a fully blown country effort in Toast to the Extras (also one of my favs on the album). So I guess it's the variety that makes/breaks this album, love it or hate it: I love it.

9. Slayer - God Hates Us All

More of the new Slayer, this time my favourite Slayer album... *dodges flames* GHUA is solid nearly all the way through: Disciple, New Faith, Cast Down, Exile, Seven Faces, Here Comes the Pain, Payback... okay that's most of the tracks on the album already! Strangely the only song that doesn't appeal quite so much in Bloodline, which seems really popular even with the haters. To me, it grooves like a Diabolus in musica outtake, and that isn't a good thing. Oh, and this album is the ultimate anger release album.

8. Anthrax - Persistence of Time

Couldn't work out whether this should be above GHUA or not... as I said the order is vague. This is probably my favourite 'thrax album, Among the Living would come close but I bought that more than a year ago. I love most of the songs on this album, the least of which is again one of the most popular - Keep It in the Family. Don't see the fuss there. Best songs for me are Blood, In My World, Gridlock, Belly of the Beast and Discharge.

7. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

If you don't like Maiden, skip to number 3. Sorry, this is just the way it fell, bare in mind they're my top artist and I bought all 14 of their albums in the past year! SSOASS was the joint second Maiden album I bought after The Number of the Beast and along with Powerslave. This album has some weaker songs, namely The Prophecy, but the overall feel is very song. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is almost certainly my fav Maiden title track (and they've got some bloody good ones, think about it!), and I generally like the mellow production of the album coupled with the fantastic song writing. Hey, I even love Can I Play With Madness!

6. Iron Maiden - Powerslave

Aces High is definitely one of my favourite Maiden opener, it rocks very hard. Many people complain about the middle 4 songs of this album being filler - whilst I wouldn't go that far, I agree that 3, 5 and 6 aren't as strong. But Flash of the Blade, filler?! No no no no no!! Possibly my fav on the album, that riff, the chorus, awesome! Elsewhere, Powerslave rocks with some nice lyrics, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner holds a place as my first 10+ minute song. Overall this album just wins out over SSOASS.

5. Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death

Again this will rattle a few cages but I don't care. AMOLAD is tough to get into, but once you do it's totally worth it. Different World is uncharacteristic of the album but equally brilliant. All the other songs are in a simular style, but the likes of Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, The Longest Day, For the Greater Good of God and The Legacy are definitly some of my favourite tunes from Maiden. The lyrics of this album are also consistently top notch for me, particually during the softer opening/closing of some songs. I would even rate The Pilgrim 5 stars :-p

4. Iron Maiden - Brave New World

Here lies my favourite Maiden album. I always feel too generous rating every song on an album 5 stars (Ride the Lightning achieved it), so Ghost of the Navigator currently sits on 4 in my iTunes. Put on any other album it would probably have 5; this album is so good! I'm considering very strongely bumping this up to #3 as I type, but I'll keep it with the rest of Maiden for simplicity. Not much more to say, this album is the epitomne of Iron Maiden and the heavy metal genre as a whole, buy it now even if you think you don't like metal. The Fallen Angel (linked as it needs some love!)

3. Iced Earth - Framing Armageddon (Something Wicked Part I)

I got into Iced Earth about April time with Dark Genesis and I really liked them, but it wasn't until it's October release that I found what made me fall in love with them. Every proper 'song' (there's lots of interludes etc) on this album absolutely blows me away... every time I hear it! So so good. I can't wait for 'Something Wicked Part 2', though I'll admit that I'm a little saddened that Ripper as left since he's so brilliant on SWP1 *dodges flames again*. Setian Massacre, A Charge To Keep, Ten Thousand Strong, Order of the Rose, The Domino Decree and When Stars Collide (Born Is He) take the cake from this album.

2. Machinae Supremacy - Deus Ex Machinae

Probably the toughest choice of this journal was choosing which MaSu album to place first. Yes folks, they really are that good. Eventually I went with Redeemer, but DXM has to take an equal amount of credit for being the album to get me into them having heard nothing about them previously. Every song on this album ranges from very good to mind blowing. Favourites are Flagcarrier, Return to Snake Mountain, Player One, Throttle and Mask and recently, Tempus Fugit. This album is the most SIDtastic of their overall releases, a sound that was to some extent lost with Redeemer in favour for the epic sound...

1. Machinae Supremacy - Redeemer (Underground Edition)

...and epic is the only word to describe this album! Well, along with ridiculously-awesome. MaSu certainly have reason to be arrogant in Elite. Rise and Fury/Fury 2007 are also fantastic with good riffage. As is Ronin. I think I'm in the minority of people who think the Japanese works really well in Kaori Stomp, but I'm certainly not alone when it comes to Oki Kuma's Adventure. Rogue World Asylum also deserves a mention, just for that chorus. I think what sets MaSu apart from the rest for me, besides the SID and Rob's voice, is the quality of the lyrics. Maybe they just really appeal to me, but MaSu consistently put out some of my favourite lyrics ever. Same goes for DXM above. Finally, it's not on either album but Winterstorm deserves a mention, for probably being the single best song I've discovered in the past 12 months!

Well that's that, I'm gonna go make a cuppa tea. If you read all that and you still have a pulse, cheers, let me know! :-)]]> http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2007/12/05/1ck0_splitting_hidden_tracks%3F Wed, 5 Dec 2007 14:43:13 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/Stubbsy67/journal/2007/12/05/1ck0_splitting_hidden_tracks%3F How do people feel about splitting up hidden tracks from the track they're attached to in order to eliminate the annoying silence? Personally I hate having to skip over the silence, and sometimes it deters me from even listening to the song. Also, while listening to Stealing From a Thief by Anthrax the other day I realised that I prefer the bonus track Pieces to 'Stealing from a Thief', and want to be able to listen to it independently.

These are the tracks with hidden tracks which could be split in my library:
Anthrax - Stealing From a Thief / Pieces
Dido - See the Sun / Closer
Placebo - Peeping Tom / Black Market Blood
Placebo - Swallow / Hong Kong Farewell
Placebo - Burger Queen / Evil Dildo
Rob Zombie - House of 1000 Corpses / Unholy Three

Does anyone know of an editing utility I can use to split and crop the songs? The one I have won't edit m4as, and if I use it to edit mp3s then last.fm refuses to scrobble them.]]>