Interests:i haven't updated this in a while. i like a lot of music, just to name a few, bands like Loudness, Metallica, Sex Machineguns, Paul Gilbert, and Buckethead. Expertise:blah. doing nothing of significance usually. Occupation:Student
I'm really unoriginal when it comes to making lists. this one i took from fang. or the hundreds and hundreds of people who've done lists of 3, 5, 10, 15, whatever, i just felt like making a post to look back later on, think more about the music i listen to, and overall just share it with you readers i guess. gotta have to do a bit of copy pasting for this one, more details such as band lineups/release date stuff, even album covers just to pretty it all up.
10. Toxicity - System of a Down Released: 2001 probably one of first albums i really liked and still do (8th grade was when i started listening to soad. this is undoubtedly their best work (the newer albums are interesting but not as polished and melodic as toxicity.)
9. Fragments of the Moon - Concerto Moon Released: 1998 just a great japanese metal album, wow. Concerto Moon plays a
form of power metal/neoclassical, but they pull it off way better than
the other japanese yngwie ripoffs. at first the album is just
reminiscent of malmsteen, but it gets good. the riffs are heavier,
different, and memorable. all the songs are great, but its definitely
not for those who don't like power metal/neoclassical in general.
8. United Abominations - Megadeth Released: 2007 My favorite megadeth album, very melodic. Has the newer version of A tout le monde,
washington is next, gears of war, etc. again, most megadeth fans would
choose "Rust in Peace" (I think? i don't know too many megadeth
listeners in real life) it's a solid polished album to me. Megadeth's a great band that never really detuned or sucked like the other thrash bands.
7. Grace - Sons of All Pussys released: 2003 Okay before you get offended by the band name, they meant cats maybe (ken's
got a cat inlay on his LD-85kk guitar). or are just referring to both,
even though its never really referenced to the female part at all,
whatever. This album was an eye-opener for me. ken's composition,
vocals, and guitar riffs are definitely very different from his l'arc
work, but the music was just awesome after a few listens to get over
the fact that ken's vocals aren't the most pleasant. overall the music
is something that works well. ein and sakura do a good job making SOAP sound more like a band than just backing up ken on his guitar and vocals. too bad the other 2 mini-albums didnt
come up as good, though the paradise single was great. 6. Awake - L'Arc~en~Ciel released: 2005, Yukihiro-L'arc-lineup Just an amazing album, L'Arc~En~Ciel pulls off soft slow songs with being boring in
"Jyojyoshi" (叙情詩), aggressive rock in "Killing Me", and almost all songs are really good including New World,
"Jiyuu e no Shoutai" (自由への招待) . One of the few groups where all the members are just noticeably really good/comfortable with the instruments they play/hyde's strong and soft voice.
5. Moving Pictures -Rush released: 1981 I feel weird getting in the band Rush so late, I had listened to Tom Sawyer many many times before but I guess it didn't really strike me as interesting cause i was into nu-metal and poppunk back then ><. but i do remember geddy lee shrieking voice being very mysterious and unique, and the song was just an amazing work i had trouble understanding completely. I had a really hard time choosing a "favorite" album by Rush, but this is one of the more solid ones (was close to choosing 2112 as well) 4. Soldier of Fortune - Loudness released: 1989, Vescera Line-up yeah i know this isn't the typical choice album for a loudness fan, but its just so different/fast from all the other ones you'd forget that minoru was in the band just a couple years ago. this is the album where the original singer, minoru niihara, was first absent from due to him being fired from the band (i'm not sure why). They added Mike Vescera to the band to get most english speaking fans(to those who don't know of both, Loudness is a japanese metal band and Vescera's an american vocalist who would later be in Yngwie Malmsteen's "Rising Force" band.), and the combination ended up to be really really good, probably one of the few examples of japanese and american rock musicians in one band. Vescera's vocals are just excellent (and still are, wow-ie), Akira Takasaki's guitar work is probably the best ever (this album is known as the peak of his playing speed), Vescera's clear english is a small bonus too, but don't get me wrong, Niihara does a great job singing english, seeing how he never actually learned it (its called pronunciation imitation, and he does one of the best jobs i've ever heard)
3. Advance to the Fall - Galneryus released: 2005 i remember the first time i listened to this album, especially the song "silent revelation", it just blew me away. other than the couple boring power ballads (their attempt to have slower songs), all the songs are just awesome in every aspect. yama-b's vocals are top-notch, syu's guitar is great (still a bit robotic compared to the newer stuff, but he's so flawless you could care less), and the keyboard/guitar solos are impressive and interesting than most yawn power metal bands. Galneryus is definitely one of the best japanese metal bands 2. Get Out of My Yard - Paul Gilbert released: 2006
I'm kinda tired of typing, sorry, basically this is Paul Gilbert's best
instrumental work (so far). almost all the songs are good, and he
really pushes to have interesting melody lines and riffs cause he's not
singing at the same time (as he is in other solo albums). Silence
Followed by a Deafening Roar also comes close, but it felt too soft to
me. This is the album that got me into shred and all other shredders =D 1. Heavy Metal Thunder - Sex Machineguns released: 2005, Stage IV Sex Machineguns Lineup
this is the album that slowly got me into metal(american and japanese
alike), especially other forms of metal such like thrash, speed, power,
and just plain heavy. Another great band where all the members just
blend together so well, nobody is left behind in terms of speed and
power, the title song's riff is just exactly what'd you expect from the
title (maybe even more), Anchang's vocals/rhythm guitar is just
great/better than usual =D, Circuit.V.Panther's guitar feels much more
developed compared to the Ignition album, Kenjilaw's bass playing is up
there with Noisy (surprisingly), and S.S.S.Joe is back and just as good
as he was when he left. and the fast and heavy riffs make this album a
great starter/gateway album into japanese metal. honorable mentions: Suspended Animation - John Petrucci, Use Your Illusion - Guns N' Roses, Perpetual Burn - Jason Becker, Sexy finger I and II - Circuit.V.Panther, Colma - Buckethead, Second Heat - Racer X
also for those who might traffick my xanga/facebook and have different opinions, yes these are just opinions. I'm somewhat biased because i've really gotten into electric guitar/metal, and i'm not exactly the most open person (especially to modern mainstream music). also i tried really hard to stray from overall album popularity commercially, fans, if the album had one really great song that made it so you had to buy it just to own it (non-download/burning wise of course), and also influential-ness. I mean, sure, lots of classic rock bands helped create/pioneer early metal and guitar instrumentals, but only some of them are worth mentioning, like black sabbath, led zeppelin, etc. and of course, there are the honorable mentions since i didn't want to type too much.
ive been up to a lot, there's summer school, being forced to work at least 20 hours a week on top of that, etc. going out with friends every other other day or so, getting to see priscilla more than the once a week thing that i was kinda forced to thanks to school, team fortress 2 pyro updates =D, overall just packed with things to keep me bz i guess. but i've been a bit depressed how i did in school last quarter, its even worse than usual, but i've been going to my summer school class, not being late, doing hmwk, studying like i should be, and hopefully i won't be too lazy by the time regular school starts.
new pyro unlockable weapons flare gun
backburner
axtinguisher
buy TF2 it's only $20! then add me on steam its xephyr88 so i can beat you silly
summary : two bands opened for dethklok. chimaira was worth listening to and soilent green was meh. dethklok was awesome. i've never been to a metal concert, so being next to moshers was... ehh. surprisingly werent too many smokers so i didnt half suffocate from asthma.
pictures i took with my camera phone (if you're reading this from facebook and have seen the album pictures im sorry, just click that arrow up top that points to your left)
so today i finally decided to visit jess's room, it was fun for the short time i was in there. have to admit i've never played guilty gear before today o_0 even though its really heavily rock influenced.
also met mdonut in TF2. that was interesting. also been modding out a lot of my gta san andreas, its so buggy right now but i have hi res textures/reskins for all the weapons and some new cars =D
tomorrow (well today really), gonna go see dethklok live at the wiltern with lulu! i'm really tired right now and not too enthusiastic so i'm not really thinking straight.
the reason why i wrote this post was to write about how awesome L'arc~en~ciel is. some of their songs, really touching. not that poppy romance junk with badly written music and just good lyrics. well i've said it before that l'arc is a solid band but i just havent been really listening to recently (thanks to metal and guitar instrumentals). so i'm gonna replace the top video with something epic by l'arc.
first year of college is almost over. honestly i did really shitty and didn't work too hard throughout the whole thing. kinda disappointed in myself but at least i've been fixing a lot of the habits i developed over the year. and i'm also glad i had a lot of free time compared to at home, i've gotten a lot better at playing guitar, and i've met some really nice/cool people here. hopefully i'll eventually meet some people at UCR i can play guitar with, and if not guitar i'll probably end up getting a decent bass guitar or a keyboard, and maybe bring my drumset to the apartment next year =D
gotta start living life with no regrets, my time living a pretty carefree life is gonna end in the next couple years.
i was bored, so i decided to practice my photoshop chops after i dug up the original from a usb stick. the original was a drawing i did for fang's old music myspace name (heh phantoma's embrace)
