Gibbo

Cashiers who carry on having a conversation with a colleague while they're serving you ... I make a point now of saying something like 'I am SO very sorry to interrupt your conversation ...' Agree that it is an enormously irritating trait, but you say that to cashiers in Southend? How are you alive? By the time they've levered themselves out from behind the till, I'm long gone

'Spellbound' is a great album, 'Crazy Nights' is okay ... I'd avoid the first Tygers album (which has a different vocalist - Jess Cox - who's an acquired taste), and pretty much anything they did after 'The Cage' ...

Ozzy Osbourne: Black Rain Thirty Seconds To Mars: This Is War 7 Days: Into Forever The Beatles: Revolver

'Appetite ...', no question ... Kill For Thrills were okay, but I don't listent to their stuff anywhere near as often as I do Guns' debut ...

Some very good albums in that list, BGF ... some odd choices, too ... Bad Company? I wouldn't have thought their particular 'ouevre' was your thing at all! Any album with a song as good as "Stranger Stranger" deserves recognition. Just a wonderful, wonderful tune! Same for Empire, really - pretty poor album overall, but with two fantastic songs (the title track and "Jet City Woman") that elevate it above the majority. You're an odd cove ... an album with (in my view) only one or two great songs wouldn't even be considered as a favourite for a particular year ... 'Empire' is, indeed, an utterly essential tune, but there are only two other songs on there that I'd still give the time of day to - 'Another Rainy Night' and 'Anybody Listening?' The rest of the songs on there are the main reason I stopped listening to Queensryche ... it still baffles me that the band that created 'Operation: Mindcrime' then went on to produce a stinker like this! Best three songs are 'Best I can,' 'Another rainy night' and, oh, only the best song on the whole fucking album!!! - 'Hand On Heart.' Said it before, I'll no doubt say it again ... one man's meat, etc.

You're an odd cove ... an album with (in my view) only one or two great songs wouldn't even be considered as a favourite for a particular year ... 'Empire' is, indeed, an utterly essential tune, but there are only two other songs on there that I'd still give the time of day to - 'Another Rainy Night' and 'Anybody Listening?' The rest of the songs on there are the main reason I stopped listening to Queensryche ... it still baffles me that the band that created 'Operation: Mindcrime' then went on to produce a stinker like this! BTW - didn't say it was a favourite, just that it deserves an honorary mention - due to the standouts, which I would maintain are "Empire" and "Jet City Woman". (I HATE "Another Rainy Night"!!! ) You can maintain all you like, 'Jet City Woman' is cack.

7 Days: Into Forever Ozzy Osbourne: Black Rain Thirty Seconds To Mars: This Is War

He's got a good voice ... but it's not 'Marillion' ...

Back on topic ... I made the mistake of listening to Tygers Of Pan Tang's 'The Cage' again the other day ... I used to quite like this album, but I could only sit through two songs (and one of those is a cover!)

Of the 'reunion' material, 'Brave New World' is a cracking album ... 'A Matter Of Life And Death' and 'The Final Frontier' have both been strong ... and 'Dance Of Death' really isn't that good, in comparison to other Maiden albums ... I have high hopes for this one.

Some very good albums in that list, BGF ... some odd choices, too ... Bad Company? I wouldn't have thought their particular 'ouevre' was your thing at all! Any album with a song as good as "Stranger Stranger" deserves recognition. Just a wonderful, wonderful tune! Same for Empire, really - pretty poor album overall, but with two fantastic songs (the title track and "Jet City Woman") that elevate it above the majority. Is that Bad Company with Brian Howe?

Some very good albums in that list, BGF ... some odd choices, too ... Bad Company? I wouldn't have thought their particular 'ouevre' was your thing at all! Any album with a song as good as "Stranger Stranger" deserves recognition. Just a wonderful, wonderful tune! Same for Empire, really - pretty poor album overall, but with two fantastic songs (the title track and "Jet City Woman") that elevate it above the majority. You're an odd cove ... an album with (in my view) only one or two great songs wouldn't even be considered as a favourite for a particular year ... 'Empire' is, indeed, an utterly essential tune, but there are only two other songs on there that I'd still give the time of day to - 'Another Rainy Night' and 'Anybody Listening?' The rest of the songs on there are the main reason I stopped listening to Queensryche ... it still baffles me that the band that created 'Operation: Mindcrime' then went on to produce a stinker like this!

I keep meaning to watch this ... and not just for the reason you've highlighted

Some very good albums in that list, BGF ... some odd choices, too ... Bad Company? I wouldn't have thought their particular 'ouevre' was your thing at all!

When it comes to 'Empire', I'm sure you meant to write 'ONE cracking song, a bunch of filler and some utter shite'? No?

Cuban Fury

What Geln said GLEN, even ... Are you sure you went to Grammar school? *sob!*

There are a handful of Leppard B-Sides that are pretty damn good - 'Tear It Down', 'I Wanna Be Your Hero' and 'From The Inside', for a start (two of them are available of the 'Retro:Active' compilation) ... W.A.S.P.'s take on Jethro Tull's 'Locomotive Breath' ... Bryan Adams and Melissa Etheridge's live version of 'It's Only Love' ...

VH is AWESOME period! What he said ... well, up until they got Gary Cherone to front the band ... it all went a bit 'tits up' after that ...

After some of the dodgy covers they've had ('Dance Of Death' - ugh!), it's nice to see a 'classic' Maiden cover!

Cashiers who carry on having a conversation with a colleague while they're serving you ... I make a point now of saying something like 'I am SO very sorry to interrupt your conversation ...'

Spy ... pretty funny (if you can get past Jude Law's awful American accent )

What Geln said GLEN, even ...

What Geln said

Grammar schools are 'selective' - basically, you have to sit a test to get a place. If you live locally, you're more likely to get a place if you pass the test, so for anyone outside of the catchment area it can be a bloody nightmare ... when my son applied to the grammar school that I went to, they were accepting something like 120 students - with only 30 places being offered to kids outside the catchment area.