Messages

The Knebworth show was good although Bruce was struggling with a cold/flu of some sort and about halfway through the set his voice went. He coped alright for most songs but Run To The Hills required the crowd to help out on the chorus and The Trooper was... not great. Recovered somewhat for the encore which was fine, although Aces High should really be dropped as even when 100% fit Bruce struggles with that song in particular.

I thnk the London show I saw last year was better overall but yesterday had some decent energy to it. Seeing Infinite Dreams played live at last was a major highlight, all the Powerslave songs (apart from Aces High) sounded fantastic, and the Seventh Son title track sounded particularly heavy and brutal. I think the band were pushing it a lot as at times things got slightly ragged although not hugely so.

The support acts were all good - I didn't see The Almighty but Airbourne were fantastic, The Hu (Mongolian folk metal band) were good and The Darkness (who I hadn't seen live since 2003) were entertaining - Justin Hawkins has his own distinctive character as a frontman.

Only complaints were the weather (30 degrees all day) and the somewhat shambolic nature of accessing Knebworth; traffic was so bad that we gave up the idea of using the shuttle bus/taxis and walked to and from the site from Stevenage station (3 miles each way).

Good day out, though.

Yeah FOTD is way more consistent than people give it credit for.

My pick is A Matter Of Life And Death. But Somewhere In Time is VERY close to the top spot as well.

Black Gives Way To Blue

This.

Also Painkiller and the 2000s Maiden albums qualify. Probably Dehumanizer as well. The early 2010s Accept albums are another one. Also Sleep - The Sciences, and Saint Vitus - Lillie: F-65.

RIP. He was an excellent guitarist, especially live.

How do ships keep up with the news?

Seafax.

What do you call a school of philosophical thought that originated from Shropshire?

Salopsism.

Scotland winning it would be great for the tournament, been decades since they won it.

I've added an overrated/underrated category.

Black Sabbath
Best: Sabotage
Worst: Forbidden (although it's not as bad as folk say)
Overrated: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, but I should also add that a bewildering amount of people seem to regard the Tony Martin albums as lost classics.
Underrated: Dehumanizer


Iron Maiden
Best: A Matter Of Life and Death or Somewhere In Time
Worst: Killers
Overrated: Piece Of Mind
Underrated: The X Factor


Metallica
Best: Ride The Lightning
Worst: St. Anger (duh)
Overrated: Kill 'Em All
Underrated: Load


Judas Priest
Best: Painkiller or Stained Class (depends on the day)
Worst: Ram It Down
Overrated: Killing Machine/HBFL
Underrated: Sin After Sin or Jugulator


Cathedral
Best: The Carnival Bizarre
Worst: Caravan Beyond Redemption
Overrated: The Ethereal Mirror
Underrated: Endtyme


Megadeth
Best: Youthanasia
Worst: Endgame
Overrated: Rust In Peace
Underrated: Killing Is My Business


AC/DC
Best: Let There Be Rock
Worst: There isn't an obvious one. Can't recall being too impressed with Stiff Upper Lip though
Overrated: Again, no obvious contender
Underrated: Ballbreaker


Thin Lizzy
Best: Thunder And Lightning
Worst: Shades Of A Blue Orphanage maybe?
Overrated: No obvious contender here. I could say Jailbreak because folk tend to cite that album and ignore the rest of the discography, but no album with 'Emerald' on it as the closer can really be criticised that much.
Underrated: Vagabonds Of The Western World or Chinatown


Motorhead
Best: Another Perfect Day
Worst: I wasn't too impressed with Rock N Roll but it's been ages since I listened to it.
Overrated: No obvious contender again
Underrated: Bomber

Recovering from gastroenteritis and feeling able to eat again and return to the world.

I's also go for Life/Live over Live And Dangerous for Thin Lizzy, mainly because the former is actually live.

This has been debunked. A deluxe box set was released a few years ago with all the raw full concert recordings that the album was put together from, and it shows that there wasn't that much overdubbing done at all.

I should point out that a good example of an artist where you really need the live albums more than anything else is Rory Gallagher. I'm not a huge blues rock fan and threfore I don't listen to his studio output much. But his live albums are something else and that is where he shines. So Irish Tour 74 and Check Shirt Wizard 77 are my go to, along with this, which is absolutely phenomenal:

Rainbow - Live In Germany 1976

One of the two or three greatest live albums ever made.

Grand Magus - Monument

Still their finest hour.

I love live albums. You have to determine the ones which have the least amount of overdubs (though I still like some of the more obviously fixed ones) but a good live album is usually better than practically any studio one.

The best example is Rainbow. Live In Germany 1976 is Blackmore's peak - he's absolutely wild on it, shredding everywhere - and the energy is unreal. Compare the studio version of Sixteenth Century Greensleeves to the live one on here, it's no contest. More energy, more of everything.

Most times the definitive version of a song will be the live one.

Some of my favourite live records:

Hawkwind - Space Ritual
Rainbow - Live In Germany 1976
Allman Brothers - At Fillmore East
Iron Maiden - Beast over Hammersmith and Rock In Rio
Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Year of the Horse and Live Rust
Deep Purple - Mk 3 Final Concerts
Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From The Road
Black Sabbath - Live At Last
The Who - Live At Leeds and Live at The Isle Of Wight 1970
Judas Priest - 98 Live Meltdown
Metallica - Live Shit: Binge and Purge
Rory Gallagher - Check Shirt Wizard Live '77
Joy Division - Les Bains Douches 1979

This isn't including bootlegs......... there are so many great performances out there.

Unearthly Trance - In The Red
Black Sabbath - Born Again
Judas Priest - Sad Wings of Destiny

Playing the vinyl tonight.