New PIG - The Merciless Light
I get excited when I see a new PIG release… until i actually listen to it. Then all enthusiasm dies. Most of it is just generic and uninspiring. The most intriguing thing about these new releases is the iconoclast art… that’s it.
Great for Watts to be engaged again I just wish he would’ve gotten back on the horse in the 00’s when he was still innovative and interesting. Pigmata was a really good fucking album I wish was followed up on.
I never gave a single fuck about Clutch until a few years ago when they preceded Danzig on a featival bill. I arrived a bit too early and caught a couple of the final songs in their set and they sounded really cool and swanky.
Then they’d show up in streaming mixes when I’d be listening to something in my wife’s car. For me, it finally connected with me when I stopped thinking of them as a metal or rock band and decided they were a BLUES band. Because, Goddamn, they can get grimy as fuck and make me feel that shit! Maybe that’s not their whole catalog, but whatever their album with some eagle motif image on the cover… that seems to be the one that gets in my blood and makes me move.
I’m not shitting on them, btw – they’re not a BAD band. They just fall into that (highly personal) category of bands that work well on paper but leave me cold in execution: Dream Theater, Sonic Youth, and so on.
(Before you throw rotten bologna at me, I’ll happily concede Sonic Youth’s position as one of the most important bands of all time. But listen to it? No thanks.)
I really like Goo and Dirty. The obvious ones. Don’t care much for their artier 80’s stuff but I do own Daydream Nation on vinyl, just because it’s such a beautiful looking vinyl. The music is ok too but not really my thing.
I hear ya. His last 3 releases or so have been very similar and not much to the point of big stand outs. I’m just happy he’s back. I’d say better output than KMFDM.
I really liked The Gospel and that tour was so rightness.
Carpenter Brut - Leather Terror (2022)
Buck 65 - Entire Bandcamp Discography.
Queen - Flash Gordon OST
Bruce Dickinson - Accident Of Birth
Kingdom Come - Hands Of Time
I love Dickinson’s solo albums so much.
A lot of it even trumps Maiden in my book.
Yeah we have discussed those Bruce solo albums in the past on the board…I’m with you in that some of that stuff stacks up against Maiden… especially Chemical Wedding and Accident at Birth(both of which just happen to feature Adrian Smith)…and I also have a soft spot for Skunkworks ,which is just vastly overlooked…Bruce at his most prog yet catchy…
The BD solo albums are pretty decent.
Personally I only really like 80’s Maiden. After Seventh Son it gets pretty sketchy.
Dance Of Death is great though.
Listened to my Halloween favorite “Too Dark Park” by Skinny Puppy yesterday and liked it so much I jumped into “Last Rights” which has never been my favorite Puppy - but something about it hit just right and I loved it. Strange how an album you’ve thought wasn’t the greatest for literal decades can just turn around in your estimation so many years later.
I prefer 80s Maiden but I like a lot of stuff after Seventh Son(although unlike you I wasn’t fond of Dance of Death- also their worst album cover art by far,imo)…I love Fear of the Dark and the Bruce come-back album and especially A Matter of Life or Death…I completely skip the Blaze albums…the newer stuff is good but really doesn’t stick with me…will still go see them live every time they roll through and will drink a fuck load of Troopers and have a great time…
Funny you say this because I went through the same thing with Last Rights…Too Dark Park has always been my hands down favorite SP album …Last Rights never grabbed me as hard initially but later I went back and fell in love with it… generally can’t go wrong with their catalog…
Do you like the Ohgr stuff? I really like those albums and seeing him do that material live a couple times really helped
THIS. Had it in some form/media for over 30 years, and it never gets boring. Especially the part near the end where the Hawkmen fight Ming’s minions. I used to play Nintendo to that part on repeat, it never got old.
ot: A friend of mine (Jason) and I spent a good number of hours one afternoon sketching out a Flash Gordon prequel. It was going to be about Ming, a nerdy archaeologist, finding the ring of power on an asteroid. And it was all about his rise to power, and how he became who he was in the original FG. We were gonna name it “Merciless.” After hours and hours of (fun) work, I went online and found out someone had done this over 14 years prior. sigh They did it as a graphic novel, but still. If you have a good idea, kids, don’t wait – someone else has it, too.
I like Devil In my Details a heap (probably my favorite work of his since Puppy broke up the first time) and I thought Undeveloped was really fun though I don’t think his lyrics hold up these days like they used to. Welt I liked a lot when it came out but haven’t listened to in ages and the other 2 don’t really do it for me at this stage. Considering how Last Rights just flipped for me I don’t rule out my opinion changing though.
I may have asked you this before but do you subscribe to cEvin’s Patreon? It’s $2/mo and he posts a ton of demos plus weekly interviews with a wide range of folks. I’m close to broke these days but I still pay for it- blown away by some of the material he posts.
I am not subscribed to that,although I meant to at one point so thank you for reminding me…I’m gonna jump on that…I met cEvin one time down here in Miami (he has a place down here or at least he used to)…he used to DJ around town all the time…he has lots of music people and DJ friends down here…spoke with him for 20 min or so and he is a totally interesting dude…knows a ton about electronic music…
Strapping Young Lad- City
Memento Mori- Rhymes of Lunacy
Opeth-Still Life