JonoBlade

A place to post your best examples of songs that give you goosebumps, preferably with a timecode of exactly when the stars align and it sends shivers down your spine. Not just long lists of favourite songs, but ones where it repeatedly hits you in the feels. Some examples of mine: The monk chant bit at the end of part IV "Requiem for a Soulless Man" from Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 × 10−8 cm−3 gm−1 sec−2 (Type O Negative) Tides of the Mourning | Void Of Sleep (bandcamp.com) (7.00 onwards) ▶︎ A Doomed Lover | My Dying Bride | Peaceville (bandcamp.com) (4:35 onwards unto oblivion) The Writ (quiet bass noodly intro then slams into Ozzy's vocal) @navybsn posted: Raining Blood Slowly We Rot Holy Wars Victim of Changes I am the Black Wizards/Inno a Satana Precious and Grace (ZZ Top) Spacegrass (Clutch) Skull Fracturing Nightmare (Demolition Hammer) I know most of these except the last couple I'll check them out.

I've realised I more often get those goosebump moments when vocals and music meet, but there are a few guitar solos that do it. Paradise Lost - Jaded (the Draconian Times album is the sound of a band trying to sell out, but that song is still great) ▶︎ A Doomed Lover | My Dying Bride | Peaceville (bandcamp.com) (4:35 onwards unto oblivion) The Writ (best Sabbath song, best Sabbath album) Seasons in the Abyss is probably Slayer's most epic song. A masterclass from start to finish. That sure shivers me timbers. Again, I observe that ALL OF THESE are closing tracks. The closing track on an album has always been the most important one to nail for me.

What are you, the nicest guy on the internet? Forums are for hate-filled and spiteful rhetoric designed to belittle and ruin. While I can't agree with Redeemer being anywhere near the top 5 of anything, a lot of other people seemed to really like Firepower. My main gripe is that it could have been great if they just trimmed it to the best 10 tracks. I don't want everything they've got, just the best. Priest is a peculiar band in that the extra session tracks they have released as bonuses over the years have been quite terrible* which shows that they've got 40 good minutes of songwriting in them at any given time and were wise to quit while they were ahead. I started writing a rebuttal of @GoatmasterGeneral's comment about Firepower sounding like it is written by AI, but then realised my own opinion is based on Ritchie being the epitome of paint by numbers song writing. One could argue he has been trained on a dataset of classic metal such that his output is indistinguishable from a competent AI engine. However, "sounds like it was written by AI" is a charge you could level at practically any band that is past their prime. Even the filth GG listens to could be accused of being written by AI if it merely ticks off multiple tropes of the genre. Nevertheless, I would Iike to give due credit to KK's songwriting on his new albums. It does sound a bit derivative of a genre he helped invent but the songs hang together well enough. I always assumed he played second fiddle to Glenn's superior playing and writing talent, since Tipton has sole songwritiing credit for my favourite track, Hell Bent for Leather. Also, Sinner, which KK seems to use as his conceptual basis for everything, is a Tipton song! What I am getting at is, if Sermons of the Sinner were released 40 years ago, it would have been considered very good, if not great. I certainly would have loved it because the production would have been authentic. As it is, it's a decent album for a trad metal fanboy to get their fix, and it does show that KK was a better songwriter than I realised. *there is a bonus track from the British Steel sessions called "Red White and Blue" which is so awful, eventually I really liked it.

I consider Vengeance and Defenders two sides of the same coin. Both have some not-great tracks but the highs are high and overall sets well balanced. Heavy Duty/Defenders of the Faith still gives me goosebumps all these years later. Few songs achieve that mainline of pure joy. Does anyone else get that? Y'know, that shiver that can only be borne of sonic perfection. I should keep a list of those, because surely that would be the playlist at one's funeral. One other I can think of is the monk chant bit at the end of part IV "Requiem for a Soulless Man" from Gravitational Constant: G = 6.67 × 10−8 cm−3 gm−1 sec−2 ..and not always old nostalgia tracks. This one gets me at around 7.00 onwards Tides of the Mourning | Void Of Sleep (bandcamp.com) There is a pattern here....outro tracks. Just me? Nevermind.

The new KK is on Bandcamp: The Sinner Rides Again | KK Downing / KK's Priest (bandcamp.com) I hadn't heard anyone say "Ripper is one of my favorite metal vocalists in existence" before. I like the guy, but he's a bit one dimensional in his delivery. However, he is in great shape at the moment. I presume he stopped drinking that Monster Energy drink shit. Priest is the Ritchie show now. His solos and writing style are so prevalent on the last two records that there is not much left of the original DNA. And most here would say Priest haven't done anything great since 1984. As infuriating as that sounds, it is probably accurate. Of the latter day Maiden albums I always liked A Matter of Life and Death, although I did enjoy Senjitsu today.

I've had a varied morning o' metal: Chaos Horrific | Cannibal Corpse (bandcamp.com) New one. Haven't bought it yet. It's as you would expect. Murder's Concept | Yattering (bandcamp.com) FA randomly posted this band name and it sparked a memory. After a bit of digging I am pretty sure I was really into the Genocide record but I can't find that on bandcamp. That album was on Candlelight...so it should be on bandcamp but it ain't. However, that randomly lead me to... Sonderkommando | The Meads of Asphodel | Candlelight Records UK (bandcamp.com) Meanwhile, I have been pretty taken with Wiegedood, which I have now taken the time to learn to spell, although not sure how to pronounce. They have two albums on Century Media, and therefore out of my reach as I search for a legit lossless download. I am reduced to listening to you tube like an animal. In my quest I went to secondary download service 7digital, who had let me down a few months ago when I could no longer retrieve the Senjitsu download I had paid for. No CM Wiegedood albums (although they do have the bandcamp ones...cheaper than on bandcamp!). However, magically Senjitsu had reappeared. Today is a good day, despite my Wiegedood fixation going unsated.

Halford was a dirty Priest QuitterTM but seemed to get away with it. That really rubs KK the wrong way because he was instrumental in getting Halford back. The reasons seem tied up with management and ego. Glenn, who can't even play anymore, is married to the manager and they just don't like KK. I think Glenn is jealous because KK's hands still work. It's all pretty sad that a bunch of old guys in leather can't just shake hands (especially when Glenn is a fully qualified hand shaker). Ken seems quite genuine, although not immune to dickish behaviour. But these guys were never intellectual giants, so all can be cut some slack. If I were to fall asleep I'm more likely to end up in London because it would be going the other way. Hilarious how I once flew to Sydney to see Priest with Tim Owens singing, not even our Lord Rob Almighty, but hesitate to get on a train up the proverbial road.

Ha. There can't be many of us pining for the new KK album (a better band name would have been "Priest Quitter"), but I was listening to the LP yesterday. It is as good as anything actual Priest has released since Nostradamus. I have given serious thought to making the trek to see KK live in Birmingham in a few weeks. Paul Dianno is opening and there won't be too many more chances to see that guy. He's in a wheelchair and morbidly obese the last time I looked. I really liked Killers "Murder One" back in the day and of course he was the superior vocalist of Maiden (not best frontman as Bruce is, for all his faults, a great showman - just Dianno had a cooler voice).

New Sulphur Aeon! Seven Crowns and Seven Seals | Sulphur Aeon (bandcamp.com) Also: Unmaker | LLNN (bandcamp.com) ...which I have just realised have more albums I should check oot.

It sure is a head scratcher. Whether it is bad writers or suits playing it safe, most plots are highly recycled. I forgot about Witcher. I did see the first few episodes of the 3rd season but that was months ago. I wasn't angry at it. I literally just forgot to watch again because it was so disposable. You are right about Andor, maybe I should even watch it again. The characters had more shades of grey. I do remember thinking it was better towards the end, but quite slow moving and the political intrigue was not that interesting. Few premises are original, or even make much logical sense. Firefly, the greatest of all sci-fi television shows, was a pretty silly concept but the characters made it awesome. Most episodes were based on well tested plotlines - train heists, rescuing colleagues, another heist. Another heist. If you have a great cast and half decent script/character interaction you can make anything work. And then the suits will mangle the release schedule and cancel it. Many have hoped for a Firefly reboot, but Joss Whedon has pretty much detonated his legacy, so not sure what the chances are for that.

W.A.S.P. - Live...In the Raw Queen - The Game (feat. Another One Bites the Dust, GG's favourite band and song, which backwards is "start to smoke marijuana" Led Zeppelin - IV (feat. Stairway to Heaven, everyone's favourite song, which backwards praises "sweet satan") Judas Priest - Stained Class (feat. Better By You, Better Than Me - not even written by Priest - which backwards includes the command "do it" for every last gas station attendant in the world to kill themselves) John Denver? Wasn't he a devil worshipper?

As a second to last nail in the coffin I played D&D too. Alas, it was a missed opportunity choosing not to be gay. I would have possessed the trifecta of supreme evil. There can't be that many of those. Save Satan themself.

That is being generous. Most of it is, at best, barely watchable. But, I think, many of us grew up craving that something like what is now available would exist one day (high production values, visually stunning, plentiful sci-fi), so we watch it no matter the poor execution of the story. While it has become technically feasible to make this stuff for television, the quality of writing has not evolved accordingly with the technical production capability. A movie about three men in a boat and a plastic shark still beats the shit out of the latest Star Wars spectacular. The technical staff must hold their collective heads in their collective hands and say "shit guys, we do our job, why can't you come up with a half decent/original plot!?" Of course, the irony is that Star Wars has broadly sucked since Return of the Jedi. It just became this cultural phenomenon which took off despite shoddy writing. I guess with a history like that it is no surprise it continues to suck. But like a numpty I still watch it to derive some small level of enjoyment in a world now past salvation.

The Guardian gave Ahsoka a scathing review. Which I thought was hilarious because I swear the critic there gave the first episode of Obi-Wan 4 stars which is a joke. That show started shit, continued to be shit and ended shit. We waited to get started on Ahsoka, partly because of that bad review, but I reckon it is pretty good so far (4 episodes in). It is basically a continuation of the Star Wars Rebels storyline which was the most fun of all the spin offs I have seen. However, it would be horrendously confusing for anyone who hasn't seen Rebels. The casting isn't quite right to replicate the animated characters, but you're forced to get used to it. I found Andor pretty boring, although my recollection is it picked up toward the end of the season. Not that I could tell you what happened because it was pretty disposable. Book of Boba Fett, the same. Bad Batch is good when it is good but, as with Mandalorian, they don't have that much of a dense, rich central plotline and have to pad it out with bog standard episodic tropes. Clone Wars was like that too. Over the course of the seasons it covers a lot of ground but is also padded out a lot. I napped through a lot of it while my daughter watched. The Mandalorian had a genius central premise of a babysitting bounty hunter but quite a lot of it is really bad and paint by numbers. There are several episodes centred around slaughtering megafauna which is merely going about its business. I found that really lazy writing. I am enjoying the second season of Foundation. I can't tell you what is going on because its high concept sci-fi well above my pay grade, but is visually great and with characters you can take time to get invested in. As a family we also watch this thing called Manifest. It is a bit like Lost where something supernatural is going on in the background but the big reveal is always just over the horizon. Not great, but entertaining.

I think this is relevant to a few observations of @Dead1 about Singapore. Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones Documentary Explores Areas of the World Where More People Live Longer - Netflix Tudum Apparently, Singapore is the happiest place on Earth (not Disneyland as they would have you believe) which is surprising for an Asian country where you'd have thought they were under high pressure to perform at school, at work etc. What struck me about the last episode (I only watched the last episode because my wife flagged it) was that politicians in Singapore actually seem to implement policies that are best for their citizens, even if not popular to begin with. I was really shocked by that. The nerve of those people.

It wasn't just the States. I have an image in my mind of seeing footage of Venom (mainly Mantas who had blonde hair and sunglasses) which quite probably was on the six o-clock news or some current affairs program in NZ in the 80s. The satanic danger of metal definitely was a thing everywhere, when parents didn't know what to make of it. Let's not forget those dangerous subversives Knights-In-Satan's-Service. Credit to my mum, she was shit-scared of me becoming a devil-worshipping wastrel, but didn't actually do anything to stop me, because Doctor Spock's guide to parenting says that if you try to forbid something, your kids are just going to be even more intrigued by that thing. So, they didn't really make a big deal out of it, even though I am sure it bothered them.

To this day I have never heard an entire Venom record. A while back I looked to see if I could find some early press LPs on eBay. I didn't care quite enough to lay done 50 squid or whatever it was. The covers of Venom "classics" I have always liked tho'. My favourite Indiana Jones themed black metal band Sallah did a cover of "Black Metal" on: Fortune and Glory | Sallah (bandcamp.com) It was the last track which might be a hidden bonus on the download, because it doesn't seem to be listed on this link. Also, Slayer did a cover of Witching Hour on the Live Intrusion VHS with half of Machine Head which was probably my favourite track of that set. Being filmed during the Divine Intervention tour, it wasn't a high point. So, my appreciation of Venom is living vicariously through others. I did see Mpire of Evil (now Venom, Inc) opening for Obituary years ago. I loved the vibe....but mostly in anticipation of hearing abovementioned tracks being performed live. I guess Venom is a bit of an Anvil. Allegedly some massive bands were influenced by them, but they never quite had the goods themselves.

ABSCISSION by 𝐓 𝐎 𝐑 𝐏 𝐎 𝐑 For The Good of The Realm by Weald and Woe Couple of new ones today. Torpor do that kind of sludgy thing I can listen to for hours. The Weald and Woe one, really just buying because I'd listened to it three times and Bandcamp told me I should. I am easily manipulated. It's enjoyable, although seems quite short. Goddammit, is Jono now complaining an album is too short? You just can't please this guy. (not that guy)

I prefer Night Prowler too, and I like MF and all but I don't see how that cover is any better than the original. It seemed a bit disjointed and the original is tight. If silly. A Type O Negative cover of The Ripper. That would have been worth it. As a Type-Oed version of anything was worthwhile.

I listened to it at lunchtime for old times' sake. I have seen H2H cited as the perfect recorded drum sound, whereas BiB has the perfect guitar recorded tone; for that hard rockin' style anyway. Down the rabbit hole of wikipedia, did you know: -Eddie Kramer (Hendrix, or Among the Living for something closer to home base) was first slated to produce H2H but the Young boys thought he was "a prat." They recorded a bunch of demos in secret when they told Kramer they were taking a day off and sent them to Mutt. -Mutt Lange left Shania Twain for her best friend, whose husband then married Shania Twain. -In 2014, Lange protected 53,000 hectares (130,000 acres) of his land as Queen Elizabeth II National Trust covenant; this is the largest private conservation covenant in New Zealand. I'm sure that is it. When I heard it today, it sure did bring back memories....not of being a Night Prowler...but those words are burned into me for all time. Its guitar solo was one of my favourites, but it does seem fairly basic now. It is the background playing that makes it.

As I said. Dodgy as fuck. Breaking and entering, rape and presumably murder. Maybe not the most upbeat way for Bon to go out, since he had specialised in fun fat chicks, big balls and simple musings on the life of a rock n roll singer. However, the "Shazbot, nanu nanu" line is quite profound given it was his swansong. Night Prowler (song) - Wikipedia Highway to Hell used to be my stock answer for "what is your favourite album" when I was 15. Over the years I have gone off it a bit. Still some great tunes and excellent production, but now I prefer Dirty Deeds (Australian release), Let There Be Rock and Powerage over it.

I didn't say every Bon Scott penned lyric was a winner. But, come on, Big Balls is genius. I liked the way he took you on a journey. The generic "hot chick in a bar" tired trope songs not so great.....but Whole Lotta Rosie? Am also especially fond of Jailbreak* and a lot of Powerage is quite introspective. However, Night Prowler....one of my favourite songs, but those lyrics are dodgy as fuck. Creepier than Chris Barnes ever managed, and inspired an actual serial killer. There can be no greater accolade. *this song was used as a musical interlude/dance scene in my 1989 high school drama production. The script was written by a teacher who had no interest in AC/DC but we campaigned for its inclusion. By utter coincidence the crime described in the lyrics was exactly the same as the character in the play committed, who was in a chain gang about to break out of prison. The heroine was called Liberty. "Big man lying on the ground, with a hole in his body where his life had been.....but it was all in the name of Liberty..." Spooky. There is a definite line. Sometimes an album's music might be decent but I'm thinking "I just can't handle that drum sound, and there's other things I could be listening to" I listened to half of Born Again at lunchtime yesterday. The record sounds like it has peanut butter smothered over it and the needle is fighting to cut through. I watched it spin around and it defo doesn't. Just awful and woolly. However, one has to be careful what one wishes for with a remix. Mike Exeter is Tony's engineer and he co-produced Priest's Redeemer of Souls which sounds really cheap.

I think Tony mentioned that they have the master tapes for this so it could be remixed. The production has been universally accepted as bad ever since it was released, which overshadowed its actual content. I'll spin again at lunchtime. It is musically not great but not that offensive. Better than Seventh Star. However, the lyrics are pretty terrible. Ian Gillan always wrote off the cuff shit lyrics with no thought to them at all. To get a writing credit for crap lyrics never seemed fair to me. Truly great lyrics like a few of the Bon Scott ones deserve the co-writer credit, but so many don't.

Probably Fetus get blamed for deathcore/slam or whatever that is. I've never heard any of those modern bands, but Fetus produced Destroy the Opposition over 20 years ago now and, to me, it is a 10/10 death metal album with oodles of groovles. Sits next to Tomb of the Mutilated, Cause of Death, Necroticism, Once Upon the Cross, Dreams of the Carrion Kind et al as an example of how it's done. Admittedly, all recent Fetus sounds fairly interchangeable and relies a bit too much on gore themes rather than political lyrics which I presume Jason Netherton introduced and then spun off into Misery Index. However, I still get some enjoyment out of it. This morning's listening: The Baddies Are Coming | El Schlong (bandcamp.com) Unholy Deification | Incantation (bandcamp.com) Make Them Beg For Death | Dying Fetus (bandcamp.com) INFESTATION / RAT RACE | Pest Control (bandcamp.com)

I couldn't imagine getting a separate pair of headphones to leave at work (which I presume is what you mean). I just got some custom IEMs from ACS which are great for commuting and in the office on the rare occasion I go in. They are basically ear plugs so I can't hear anything going on around. However, they fit so deep it is a bit of a hassle pulling them out if someone wants to talk to me. But I'd want to discourage that. @navybsn's Meze 99 do look pretty cool, but for home I have HD650s which is as much as I would ever spend on headphones. During the day in the home office I have Focal Shape 40 powered monitors. They hardly ever got used until I started working from home, but I'm getting good value from them now.