metalmaniac777

Watched "The Card Player" last night, the latest offering from Italian horror maestro Dario Argento. I gotta tell ya, I haven't been so bored with a movie in a long time. No gore (not until the end kill, anyway), ridiculous lapses in logic, atrocious dialogue that sounded like sixth-graders had written it, and a total lack of the wild directing style that made Argento a household name among horror afficianados. The whole thing came across as a piss-poor, ultra-boring knock-off of a "CSI" episode. Avoid at all costs.

THE POODLES: "Metal Will Stand Tall" Just got this CD and I am lovin' it!

"Night of Passion" ~ THE POODLES

No, it's not their best, but I still gave Jaded Heart: "Slaves & Masters" my vote; however, I could have just as easily given it to Johnny Lima (that shit be catchy, yo!), Gotthard, or Freefall.

Back in my teenybopper years, Marx was my favorite vocalist, and though my tastes have evolved into something much harder & heavier, I still think the guy has one of the best voices in pop/rock. I don't own any of his CDs anymore, but everytime I come across one of his songs on the radio, I stop fiddling with the dial and give it a listen. My favorite song by him is "Children of the Night." I had the cassette single of that song back in the day and literally wore it out playing it over and over again.

Couldn't agree more. "Love Bomb Baby" perfectly encapsulates what glam/hair-metal is all about.

As a whole, I like the debut better, but "Imaginator" contains my all-time favorite Nelson song, "Kiss Me When I Cry." Penned by Jack Ponti, that track has a super-killer chorus hook, and combined with the massive harmony vocals, results in a melodic hard rock masterpiece. Unfortunately, like most Nelson albums, this one had too many fillers and came up short in the consistency department. If you compile all the best songs off Nelson's releases, you come up with an awesome bunch of melodic hard rock tunes; the actual albums themselves are too patchy. Just my opinion, of course.

This wasn't a "Tuff" decision for me, as I think "Religious Fix" kicks some serious rear-endage.

Just popped in UNFORGIVEN for the first time in a few years. Just a great, classy western. "You just shot an unarmed man!" "Well he should have armed himself, if he's gonna go around decorating his store with my friends."

HOOBASTANK ~ "Without a Fight"

TRANSPORTER 2 The ending kind of sucks, but otherwise this is a fun little action flick with some sweetly-choreographed, over-the-top fight sequences. And Jason Statham's character is just flat-out cool.

INNOCENT: s/t I keep thinking about getting rid of this one, but then I listen to the song "These are the Words" and change my mind. Great song!!

Just picked up (off eBay) a DVD of an Australian western called "The Proposition" (which is having a limited theatrical run here in the States). A real grim, gritty, bloody film, with a whipping scene that is so graphically gory it might just surpass the scourging sequence from "The Passion of the Christ."

What do you think, Mark? Disappointment? I was actually expecting a pretty cool disc, even though I only liked 1 or 2 songs off the first two albums... but this really did little for me - I think it's their worst yet. They sound much worse than before, IMO, and the the crappy single sort of reflects the feel of the entire disc... IMO. Actually, I like it. I thought it'd be a little bit better, but I'm still happy with it. Not as good as their last one, but better than their debut. Really, what it boils down to is that this is just more of the same. The band hasn't evolved one iota and I think most fans of their previous releases will be content with this one. I do think the overwhelming "sameness," though, is going to hurt their sales, and nowhere on this new CD is a breakout commercial hit like "The Reason." Still, it's a keeper for me.

GLADIATOR No matter how many times I watch it, it's still an awesome movie. "Are you not entertained?"

HOOBASTANK: "Every Man for Himself"

That makes two of us. I claim they are there for my wife, but we both know better...

Much like a generous portion of chocolate syrup makes everything better (well, sex & ice cream, anyway! ), a liberal dose of Desmond Child's songwriting/production talents makes just about any hard rock band better. Get Tyketto to reunite and record some Desmond-penned tracks and I'd buy a copy sight-unseen, or unheard, or whatever. I responded to the news that Desmond was producing the Scorpion's next CD by doing enthusiastic cartwheels, which wasn't pretty, 'cause I wasn't wearing clothes at the time (don't ask).

Nah, Geoff, you didn't miss anything with "Miracle Mile"...except for some kickass hard rock!! Seriously, as much as I love this album, I can admit that not every song would be considered masterful, with tracks like "Long Way Home" & "Sweet Mystery" (for example) begging for bigger hooks. But even if you want to call half this album filler (I don't, but some might), the other half is flat-out awesome. "Mr. Do Wrong," "Curiosity Killed the Cat," "You and I," & "Do You Know What Love Is"...these are all monsters in my book, and all on their own make this CD a Guardian classic. I do like "Fire & Love" a little bit better, but not by much, and quite frankly, I think the debut blows donkey dick compared to "Miracle Mile." (That's not to say I don't like the debut, because I do...just think it pales in comparison to "Miracle Mile.") But hey, it's your opinion and you're entitled to be wrong if you want to...

I went with Warrant...the debut was a really good album, but they really hit their stride with "Cherry Pie," serving up bigger hooks and better production (that Beau Hill knew how to work some magic back in the day, eh?).

Mediocre bands? Are you kidding? Tyketto is in no way mediocre. The Waysted cd Danny recorded is in no way mediocre. From the Inside is in no way mediocre. I can see where someone might think that some of the Vaughn songs are mediocre but after I listened to them over and over I really learned to like them also. Don't get me wrong I do feel like Danny could do something better with Vaughn ( something like Tyketto would be nice ) but I still enjoy everything he's released with Vaughn with Fearless being my favorite. Well, mediocrity is subjective. Some people think Taco Bell is the epitome of mexican food, others think it's just one step shy of dogshit. All depends on personal preference. Same goes for Tyketto--Danny Vaughn & company give MJ more pleasure than a nuclear-powered vibrator , but when I hear the band I remain emphatically unimpressed. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, their highly-regarded status in the melodic rock community is undeserved. There are hundreds of better bands out there, even hundreds of better mediocre (or third tier, to use Jim's phrase of choice) bands. I respect that others love Tyketto, but to me, they are boring and banal.

I cast the sole vote for James Christian: "Rude Awakening." Not only the best solo album of all time, but damn near perfect melodic/AOR rock. I think I could listen to "The Warden" every day for six years straight and not get sick of it...love that song!!

They may be everybody's favorite whipping boys nowadays, but back in the 80s, nobody did heavy metal better than Metallica, and "Master of Puppets" gets my vote. "Leper Messiah" still ranks as one of my favorite metal tunes.

Guardian by a mile--or should I say, a miracle mile --for me. Adriangale is good, but not as good as Guardian in their prime ("Fire & Love" and "Miracle Mile").

This ain't gonna be a popular statement, but here goes...I think Danny Vaughn falls into the category of "good singer wasted in mediocre bands." The boy can belt out the tunes, of that there is no doubt, but not a single project he has been involved with has been anything I would call special. That said (and I can hear MJ sharpening her claws and oiling the meat grinder as I speak ), I voted for Tyketto, the best of a so-so bunch.