metalmaniac777

Awesome! Heavy Harmonies now has almost as many CDs as Staryder1.

Latest acquisition... HALLOWEEN (Rob Zombie version)--some horror fans bitched that Zombie "butchered" (pun intended) a horror classic with this reimagining/remake, but I thought he did a pretty good job. This is the R-rated theatrical cut, which I actually prefer to the unrated Director's Cut version.

Great guitars, and a fairly decent Dokken vibe, but the choruses need to be better to make this a keeper, at least for me. Big improvement over their first CD though, particularly in the production department. There was a time when I would have happily picked this up, but nowadays there's so much good stuff out there, even in the Christian rock/metal realm, that only the strongest make the cut, and this just isn't quite strong enough. Good effort though, and I'll gladly check out what the band does in the future.

Finally pried this out of my stereo after a long run. Voted for "S.O.L.A.," but I just as easily could've tossed my vote to "Animal" or "MF of the Year."

Latest acquistions... Kick Axe: "IV" Dokken: "Lightning Strikes Again" (Thanks, Matt!)

Tesla: "Great Radio Controversy"

Here's what's been getting lotsa play-time in my stereo lately... Tesla: "Great Radio Controversy" Kutless: "To Know That You're Alive" Guardian: "First Watch" Motley Crue: "Saints of Los Angeles" Vamp Le Stat: "Bloodline"

Just heard this last night. I liked it. Lookin' forward to the new CD. Wonder if there'll be a single on it that gets as overplayed as "Lips of an Angel"... Great song, but good Lord, you couldn't turn anywhere without hearing it...

I agree...buried so I never have to hear it again. When you're done digging the hole, can you throw some Iron Maiden albums in there too? Thanks. (I can feel your hateful stares and I am not frightened. Pay no attention to that wet spot on the front of my pants...) Oh Mark, please say it isn't so, how can you not like Mindcrime...there aren't any keyboards in it. Sorry, boys, just not a Queensryche fan. Not one thing about "Mindcrime"--or any other Queensryche CD--strikes a chord with me. Takes more than an absence of keyboards to make an album good, it also takes an appealing vocalist, good hooks, and memorable choruses...all of which Queensryche lack. For the record, I don't hate Queensryche...but if all their CDs suddenly vanished from the face of the earth, I wouldn't lose one iota of sleep.

Nothing like stating the obvious, buddy...

Yeah, I hate it when that happens... If that happened to me my CD collection would be 15 times the size of Staryder's! Yes, but would your wife be getting quality-quantity sex? Or just quantity??

My brother, not much of a Kutless fan and not too impressed with this newie ("To Know That You're Alive"), was cool enough to give me his copy. He's correct, the single ("The Feeling") is easily the best song on the CD (and one of the heavier tunes they've ever recorded), but most of the other songs will still be perfectly acceptable to Kutless fans. Personally, I think it's better than the debut or "Strong Tower," but not quite on par with "Sea of Faces" or "Hearts of the Innocent." In other words, if you've liked Kutless all along, you should definitely pick this up...if you haven't cared for Kutless up to now, this won't convert you.

I agree...buried so I never have to hear it again. When you're done digging the hole, can you throw some Iron Maiden albums in there too? Thanks. (I can feel your hateful stares and I am not frightened. Pay no attention to that wet spot on the front of my pants...)

I agree...buried so I never have to hear it again. When you're done digging the hole, can you throw some Iron Maiden albums in there too? Thanks. (I can feel your hateful stares and I am not frightened. Pay no attention to that wet spot on the front of my pants...)

Yeah, I hate it when that happens...

Latest acquisition (courtesy of my brother, who didn't care for it)... Kutless: "To Know That You're Alive" (more of the same from Kutless, which ain't a bad thing for fans like me)

Shhhhhhhh...nobody tell Geoff that this is a Christian band and therefore he is not allowed to like 'em. Yeah, but this is one of "those" bands. Yes, they're a "Christian band" but I have heard all 3 albums and can't find one lyric that makes me want to stab someone's eyeball out by referring to Christianity. Granted, most of Kids in the Way's lyrics fall into that "take 'em any way you want" category, but songs like "Hallelujah" & "Scars That Save" off their debut weren't exactly hiding their faith. I think you just need to come out of the closet and admit you really do like Christian rock/metal. You know what they say when someone protests too much...

Shhhhhhhh...nobody tell Geoff that this is a Christian band and therefore he is not allowed to like 'em. Mate, seriously, you liked "Apparitions of Melody"? I thought it blew goat dick, and that's coming from someone who usually likes it when a band steers in a heavier direction. Really like the debut, though. But neither the debut or "Apparitions..." can touch the awesomeness that is "Love Hate Masquerade."

Latest acquisitions... Motley Crue: "Saints of Los Angeles" (surprise gift from my wife...sweet!) Spoken: s/t (newie from this Christian metal/screamo band)

Latest acquisition... CLOVERFIELD--some love it, some hate it, but to me it was a really good "monster movie."

Well, hotness, yeah. Not so sure about "pure" though...

Yeah, to each their own but I'm just not a huge fan of that type of stuff. You can pretty much be guaranteed that most the movie is going to occur at night. (I generally HATE night time movies), although 'Lost Highway' is a magnificent exception. And also it's bound to be very corny and would probably irritate me. Sorry mate, I know there's probably a couple of exceptions, but they're generally not my thing. And don't get me wrong with the whole night thing - it's not a deal breaker, just a preference. I love horror movies, but prefer they stay as far away from my most disliked genre - sci-fi - as possible. Actually, a large chunk of Undead takes place in the daylight. It's not corny either--most of the humor is of the gallows variety, such as zombie fish attacking a gunpacking fisherman, or a body obliterated from the waist up, but the legs keep stumbling around, guts hanging out. As for the sci-fi thing...it's part of the "twist" ending, and barely makes up a fraction of the movie's running time. But hey, to each their own. You like Donnie Darko and I think it sucks donkey balls, so maybe our cinematic tastes don't parallel as closely as our musical preferences.

That's the part that annoyed me, he assume we know nothing about music when not only are we ALL avid music fans, most are collectors and some of us are even musicians! Now, how much does he know exactly? Very little, he's just lashing out because he has a very small penis. I was going to ask you how you know this, uh, little fact, but then I figured it out: Levine is a Rockarma groupie. Correct, our target market is made up mainly of people with small penises. Explains why I haven't bought a copy yet.

Finished this one. I liked it. I like him as a writer....would very much like to get aquainted with his entire discography. Doesn't seem like there are many... "Doesn't seem like there are many"?? Geoff, here's a list of all of McCammon's books: Baal (not his greatest, but OK) Bethany's Sin (a little formulaic, but still good) The Night Boat (total gore-fest, but well-written) They Thirst (McCammon's take on vampires) Mystery Walk (one of his worst) Usher's Passing (solid, but not his best) Swan Song (his post-apocalypse tale...I like this better than King's "The Stand") Stinger (excellent) The Wolf's Hour (his masterpiece, in my opinion) Blue World (short story collection) Mine Boy's Life (haven't read this one) Gone South (not horror, per se, but a real page-turner) Speaks the Nightbird (bought it, but haven't read it yet) The Queen of Bedlam (sequel to "Speaks the Nightbird," but haven't read it) As you can see, at 15 books, his bibliography isn't exactly "lean." Plenty there to keep you reading for awhile. I just finished "Wildest Dreams" by Norman Partridge, a pretty cool book about a knife-wielding hitman who sees ghosts and comes up against a Satanic cult who believes one of his murdered victims will be the vessel by which the devil rises from Hell to walk the earth. Staccato prose, a cool antihero, lots of bloody violence and raw sex, and a few surprisingly touching moments. I enjoyed it. Haven't decided what to read next.

You said it, brother. After a summer of watching crap like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "America's Got Talent" (my wife watches 'em, so by extension, so do I), I'll be more than ready to hook back up with "The Shield" and some Vic Mackey shenanigans.