What are you listening to right now?

  • While I can appreciate the talent most metal guitarists have, I have to agree with Noni and say that their repetitive riffs can sound a bit monotonous. As for metal vocalists who are trained opera singers, like Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden and James La Brie of Dream Theater, I personally cannot stand that style of singing. Screaming your lyrics is not a talent. I do enjoy some of the classic metal bands though, like Uriah Heep, Scorpions, Triumph.


    Now, if you move from the popular rock and roll metal genre and into the less popular progressive metal genre, there are numerous bands that I enjoy; ie, Riverside, Ayreon, Haken, etc, due to their ability to make the listener think, with lyrics that rise above those of the popular rock and roll metal bands who tend to promote a lower consciousness by singing of depression, devil worship, apathy, etc. I think the progressive music genre, in general, displays a much more positive attitude in their music than does heavy metal.


    As Noni was saying, one person may not always like what another person listens to. I certainly don't.

    If you're going to criticise something, then it helps to know what you're talking about as opposed to simply throwing out glib remarks that have no basis in the truth. Iron Maiden's lyrics deal with a whole host of issues from history (Alexander The Great, Run To The Hills, Paschendale, Empire Of The Clouds) to sci-fi (Somewhere In Time, To Tame A Land) to popular literature (Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, The Phantom Of The Opera).


    You mention depression and Iron Maiden have written about that, too: Still Life and Tears Of A Clown (which deals with the death of Robin Williams). Should bands not write about depression? Do you know not think that mental health awareness is something that should be encouraged? Rather than promoting a "lower consciousness" these songs encourage open-mindedness about the issue of depression, something which affects a huge amount of teenagers (a demographic who make up a large proportion of heavy metal fans because they find the passion and sheer volume of the music very appealing, if only because it annoys their parents).


    As someone who was diagnosed with depression seven years ago and as someone who is a mental health advocate, working with Time To Change, an organisation who helps raise awareness of mental health issues, working in the community with many young people who find it hard to open up about their mental health, I find your remark deeply offensive. Comments like yours serve as a sad reminder of how much work has to be done to remove the stigma of depression from society. Shame on you.

  • If you're going to criticise something, then it helps to know what you're talking about as opposed to simply throwing out glib remarks that have no basis in the truth. Iron Maiden's lyrics deal with a whole host of issues from history (Alexander The Great, Run To The Hills, Paschendale, Empire Of The Clouds) to sci-fi (Somewhere In Time, To Tame A Land) to popular literature (Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, The Phantom Of The Opera).


    You mention depression and Iron Maiden have written about that, too: Still Life and Tears Of A Clown (which deals with the death of Robin Williams). Should bands not write about depression? Do you know not think that mental health awareness is something that should be encouraged? Rather than promoting a "lower consciousness" these songs encourage open-mindedness about the issue of depression, something which affects a huge amount of teenagers (a demographic who make up a large proportion of heavy metal fans because they find the passion and sheer volume of the music very appealing, if only because it annoys their parents).


    As someone who was diagnosed with depression seven years ago and as someone who is a mental health advocate, working with Time To Change, an organisation who helps raise awareness of mental health issues, working in the community with many young people who find it hard to open up about their mental health, I find your remark deeply offensive. Comments like yours serve as a sad reminder of how much work has to be done to remove the stigma of depression from society. Shame on you.

    I don't think COT was referring to personal issues!..


    We are talking about music!!..........


    Can we actually enjoy what we hear!.........:?:

    Edited 3 times, last by Noni ().

  • I don't think COT was referring to personal issues!..


    We are talking about music!!..........


    Can we actually enjoy what we hear!.........:?:

    I don't give a tinker's cuss what you enjoy; this is the comment to which I was responding: "due to their ability to make the listener think, with lyrics that rise above those of the popular rock and roll metal bands who tend to promote a lower consciousness by singing of depression"


    Whilst I'm sure the original poster would appreciate your robust defence, your ambivalence to the remark really makes you part of the problem as far as I'm concerned.

  • I don't give a tinker's cuss what you enjoy; this is the comment to which I was responding: "due to their ability to make the listener think, with lyrics that rise above those of the popular rock and roll metal bands who tend to promote a lower consciousness by singing of depression"


    Whilst I'm sure the original poster would appreciate your robust defence, your ambivalence to the remark really makes you part of the problem as far as I'm concerned.

    Great!! :D

  • Great!! :D

    Might I suggest greater tact on your part? I note the speed with which you posted this useless remark. Better to think before you type in future, or best not to type at all. Not only are you causing direct offence to someone with a registered disability but also to a great many others whose mental well-being I value greatly as a mental health advocate.

  • This is a very "Sunday" album to me. Sombre, reflective and moody. I read recently a comment from Steve Hackett who said that the lyric to Inside And Out (from the Spot The Pigeon EP of material recorded for this album) was written by Phil. This surprised me. It's a great piece of social commentary (addressing the issue of date rape long before the issue was spoken about as openly as it is now) that would have fitted well on the album along with the other social piece, the outstanding Blood On The Rooftops.

  • Might I suggest greater tact on your part? I note the speed with which you posted this useless remark. Better to think before you type in future, or best not to type at all. Not only are you causing direct offence to someone with a registered disability but also to a great many others whose mental well-being I value greatly as a mental health advocate.

    Firstly, if I offended you, I deeply appoligise.... I'm not here to offend. In regards to the subject matter, any heavy metal music does not gel with me, it's purely on the listener.. I like positive music that gives me joy :)

  • Started this morning with my favourite Phil Collins album


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    For quite a while, Phil didn't rate this album that highly. I think his feelings were coloured by the fact that the only single from the album to achieve success was a cover version. The first single, Thru These Walls, was not a big hit (hardly surprising, given the subject matter and the rather lazy use of "that" drum fill which he admitted to biographer Johnny Waller in the eighties was a "mistake"). Also the cynicism of lyrics such as I Cannot Believe It's True (a scathing attack on his wife who was increasingly asking for more money in the divorce settlement) and It Don't Matter To Me as well as the unbridled anger of I Don't Care Anymore and Do You Know, Do You Care might be a tad embarrassing to him now.


    Revisiting the album for the remix he recognised he'd been "a bit harsh" in his assessment. There's some beautiful work here. Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away could be a Paul McCartney song and then there's the tribute to the Buddy Rich big band sound with The Westside. The uptempo numbers may be treading the same ground as some of the tunes on Face Value but there's a brightness to them that's hard to ignore. Overall, I think the album is a perfect companion piece to Face Value.

  • Firstly, if I offended you, I deeply appoligise.... I'm not here to offend. In regards to the subject matter, any heavy metal music does not gel with me, it's purely on the listener.. I like positive music that gives me joy :)

    Thank you, Noni. As you can tell, on both a personal and a work-related level, the issue of mental illness is something very close to my heart and I get very protective over my disability and the well-being of those in my care.


    Now, as you say, back to the music :)

  • Decided it is going to be a Genesis related day today. Have already played an album from Phil Collins and Genesis. Now I am nearing the end of


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    My favourite Mechanics album. Saw then live during that tour. Support were iQ, who became one of my favourite bands in the years following.

    First we learned to walk on water.

    Then we tried something harder.

    - Red Seven -