FatherAlabaster

Alright, so tonight: Stone Oak Aged Old Guardian, Great Divide Yeti (original), a decent Ommegang (they're a NY state Belgian-style brewery that got bought by Duvel), home for some Brooklyn EIPA and a bit of Willett bourbon. That makes it a good night. You guys in CA are lucky to have some of the country's best breweries, seriously. Oh, just found out that Bell's won't officially distribute in NY at all. No problem finding them when I go visit down south... Funny how that works.

Portishead, self-titled.

It's like riding a bike, it comes back really quickly. I was back up to speed within a month after I started playing again, though the pain didn't stop for a while. Most important thing to do is heal up properly first. Good luck, dude.

Bergraven - Dodsvisioner

I can turn on Massive Killing Capacity in the background, like I said... but I'm really not too into anything of that particular bent, I'm only suggesting it for someone who really digs the death'n'roll sound. My love for the early Swedish sound is given to "You''ll Never See" and "Karelian Isthmus" (Karelian Isthmus is still one of my all time favorite albums) - the rock influence in later stuff turned me off for years. I'll look for Craft, I know some of my friends listen to them but I've never gotten around to it.

Yes, it all depends on your budget. If you can spend $1400 on an Explorer or LP Studio, do it. The bridge, pickups and tuners on Epiphones aren't usually as of high quality as you'd find on a "real" Gibson. But good setup is 80% of the battle. You can set up a $600 Epi to play really well. Trad Pro, that's a really nice guitar! No contest there. My favorite guitar for about 12 years was my 1998 Gibson Gothic Explorer. I still play it sometimes. My other Explorer and my Epi LP were my live backups, and they're project guitars right now. I've been swapping pickups and bridges, and I don't have the money to give them any TLC. In the past couple of years, my Steinberger baritone has become my main guitar - its clarity, sustain, and intonation in any tuning beat even my beloved Gibson hands down.

This one didn't do anything for me. I like Carl McCoy's voice a lot better on FON albums, and this song just doesn't go anywhere. 5.5/10 With apologies to Jeff Hanneman: 5eR2MC3e8ss

That's entirely up to you. But, the construction quality on all of them should be decent enough, so it's all about body shape and what kind of bridge and pickups you want. And of course your budget. I like the Tune-O-Matic bridges better than anything with a tremolo - easier to set up and play as long as you don't need a whammy bar. I really hate the sound of EMG pickups compared to good magnetic ones, but I haven't played through most of what comes stock on Epiphones these days. And I was always an Explorer guy, although I have an Epiphone Les Paul that's good fun to play. As a bigger guy, I've always felt like the SG body shape was too small for me. Just go play a bunch of them and pick the one that speaks to you. Usually, if you start writing riffs in the store and lose track of where you are, you know you've found a guitar you can get along with.

Katatonia: Dead End Kings

Banned for being far too sympathetic and reasonable.

If you like Wolverine Blues, check out that Dismember album "Massive Killing Capacity". It's a little simplistic for me but still fine for putting on and cleaning the house. Grave had some kind of similar stuff later on, but I never liked their take on it that much. For black'n'roll shit, I like Khold, pretty much every album, and Satyricon's "Volcano". Also later Darkthrone like "Sardonic Wrath". One of my friends just played me a really good new black'n'roll band with a bit more melody, I will post back when I get their name from him.

Fear Of God (Swiss band): Pneumatic Slaughter crappy, crusty grind

Bell's is a fantastic brewery as well, though harder to find here in NYC than farther south. Two Hearted Ale is a favorite, but I liked all of what I tried. Flying Dog from Maryland also makes a few really solid brews, like their Snake Dog IPA or their Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.

What happened to your shoulder? I broke my right arm about five years ago. One of the worst six-month periods I've had, not playing, and then about a year and a half of pain whenever I'd play fast. It comes back, just takes a lot of time. Good luck.

Epiphone. If you're looking in the Epi price range, they have BC Rich beat by a mile. I've owned and played both.

Dude, that sucks. One of my favorites. They're Colorado I think. I'm honestly surprised you can't find it. ...If you ever can: All Day IPA, Centennial IPA, Old Curmudgeon, and Red's Rye are dope. I will also say that Green Flash has them on the ropes for hop character, and Stone has some amazing beers as well. It's not like you're living in a dry state!

In the spirit of that, I'm drinking a Founder's All Day IPA right now. Probably my favorite readily available summer IPA. I've had better, but not by much.

Banned for quirky misspellings.

On a personal, subjective note: I completely agree with this. Thank you.

Check out "houblon chouffe" by la chouffe brewery. It's a true Belgian IPA. If you can find it un-skunked (green bottle WTF?) it's one of the best summer beers I've had.

Re: Soundgarden - It's certainly not for everyone... just like anything else. But they've been one of my favorites for 22 years! I'll say the same thing about Pantera, Pearl Jam, or Rush, I have no idea whether I'd like it today if I was hearing it for the first time, but this music has been a huge part of my life for so long that it's just a part of who I am. Also, I didn't fully appreciate them as musicians til I saw them live a couple of years ago. Kim Thayil was flawless. "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Fourth Of July" are awesome heavy tunes. Fourth of July live was unexpected and crushing, made me want to punch my friends. That's what it's all about.

Can't you just make it two books? Volume One and Volume Two. Bam, you've just finished your first* book. *edit, assuming you haven't already written something else...

Soundgarden - King Animal Badmotorfinger and Superunknown are untouchable classics from my youth, but man I fucking love this album. They nailed it.

Banned for avoiding a perfectly pointless argument - one can only assume it's from an excess of moderation.