Messages

Now today: "Maybe I'm just too stubborn to go away" 

Milking is my Business....And Business is Good!

His unusually high wealth is a combination of ghost-writing songs for pop and/or country artists (business must be particularly booming now) and his wife being involved in property. He wrote three Van Halen-like solo albums for a computer game recently (I think two of which were released) and said he made more from them than anything he made off Annihilator.

I love the first four Annihilator albums and Criteria of a Black Widow. The other albums might have two excellent tracks per album but diminishing returns. It just all sounds the same.

Aaron's irreplaceable, but like others I think their last great and consistant album was The Dreadful Hours. I could imagine Aaron and Andrew hooking up again after an album or two.   

Remember reading some court document of his crimes thinking I could handle it, and ended up feeling nauseous for hours. Truly sick cunt

From yer wan, in part:

"We'd like to issue a statement in response to the most recent one by Dani Filth. We consider it a positive step.

We know your mother is battling cancer and we wish her well in this. As I recall I'm one of the first people in the band that you told. I've been praying for her ever since, and I condemn anyone who tries to drag her into this. [...]"

 

I don't believe Dani's explanation of the new contract, which is contradictory: nobody his side looked at it before handing it out but also it was the foundation of a negotiation. Similarly, he's going to use the current drama (now that is has happened and it's public) to 'draw up a more elaborate contract that makes everyone feel protected'. This is also suspect, effectively, 'everybody has just received their publishing advance [presumably from an album released months ago]'.

Dani's references to yer wans alcoholism and suggestions of mental instability are possibly correct but this sentence is a bit undignified, which no doubt will prolong the drama: 'Also, no one knew anything about her pregnancy [and miscarriage] and if she was pregnant, why was she drinking at all?'

Haven't listened yet but Alan Averill weighs in: https://player.fm/series/agitators-anonymous-the-alan-averill-podcast/analysing-the-cradle-situation-and-what-is-the-job-of-a-session-musician

Fucking hell that is wild that Devin Townsend only gets 60k a year.

Devin doesn't like touring much and I suspect he looks after the people he hires, far better than most. His own salary is effectively coming from profit. 

It does seem the band members can work other jobs, just not with other bands

That's super restrictive though. How could they in all honesty find work that allows them to tour at the calling of Dani.

I'd agree it's restrictive, but from his point of view replacing members or finding new members with approaching tour dates must be difficult and a stress. They'd see it better just restricting the contract and, if necessary, threaten there are enough talented and desperate musicians who would jump at the chance. I recall Hamish (I think his name was) from My Dying Bride was fired for something similar: he had already booked a tour with the Paradise Lost's guy's side project. I haven't really heard anything from him since, as per almost every ex-CoF member. Real race to the bottom stuff.   

Yeah, Devin Townsend said he makes about that much although I recall the number being a bit higher - maybe 90K, therefore kinda middle class. He also said the money going through his company can fluctuate wildly, which would make sense, and that makes me curious on what bonuses (if any) CoF were giving their members. Davy implies we're not getting the full truth and these bonuses alluded to in the contract might be what he's talking about - I can't actually think of any other way he's comes out of this looking good.

The fact the guitarist said he doesn't want some song released implies to me he didn't sign a contract for that work. 

Cruelty and the Breach

From a quick read of the contract, it's a lot worse and more onerous than I would've imagined. However, looking at the band's post-gig photos, their audiences are much smaller than I would've expected. I'd be more interested to see how much Davy gets in comparison. It does seem the band members can work other jobs, just not with other bands, and, on my reading, the members likely have a separate contract in relation to royalties and the label 'advance' that yer wan was complaining about initially, which is probably the biggest lump sum any member would be entitled to. Thinking about it from Davy and the managements point of view, it's possible the day-to-day payment is very low to stop the band going into the red, especially when touring, but each member might get substantial bonuses from profits. There are allusions to this in the contract. 

I'm not sure the band have two albums with the same line-up.     

Lost much interest after The System Has Failed, but they have a more consistent body of work than Metallica, say. Mustaine will be back though

I was wondering why Blabbermouth was down. Well that's shit news My first Ozzy-related album was Bark at the Moon as a teen in the 90s, which took a while but grew to love, and still listen to regularly. Then a few years later I picked up the boxset 'Black Sabbath: The Ozzy Osbourne Years' and the rest is history. Still, my abiding memory of him was falling off a fucking chair!

I wonder if he died as a result of another neck surgery which I think he mentioned some months back. I thought he seemed relatively well at the gig, all things considered. 

RIP Les Binks. Least we forget, co-wrote Beyond the Realms of Death.

Rust in Peace

1. The Number Of The Beast
2. Gangland
3. The Prisoner
4. Children Of The Damned
5. Invaders
6. Run To The Hills
7. 22 Acacia Avenue
8. Hallowed Be My Name

I was thinking about tracklisting lately and this album in particular. I've never liked the album and felt it might be the tracklisting. Your list feels better on paper and will test it out. I'd agree that the Eclipse song adds nothing and prefer Gangland. It's not great but it's distinctive.

As a stand-alone track Anesthesia is shit, but it is the most different track on the album and gives a little breather. It sets up Whiplash well, but the album probably would've been better without it.

On Metallica, I always felt there was a better sequencing on the Black Album available, it always felt very front heavy, and Nothing Else Matters into Of Wolf sounds awkward.     

I always felt Sad Wings of Destiny is better in its original tracklisting, whereby the current side two starts the album, i.e. from Prelude to Dreamer Deceiver, and end on a better high.