Topic: The Music Thread

@ShaiHulud It’s not that metal fans are all white supremacists - it’s that metal as a genre does have ties to that mentality. You don’t get boy bands or DJs making songs about the Third Reich. I can only think of a couple of black band members as well, the guy from Animals as Leaders and... Ice-T I guess because of Body Count. The metal fans I’ve known have always been the sort that stick to their own and only listen to a very select group of bands, which is just a bit silly.

@nessisonett I still think it's a bit blown out of proportion. Most genres probably have connection to more unsavoury things in society. Heck, some lyrics I hear on a general pop music station are so misogynistic they make me turn the radio off.

@Jimmer-jammer Sorry to hear about your less-than-pleasant experiences. As I said before, as with all things in life there isn't a black-and-white distinction here either unfortunately. Experiences can differ for everyone, but I've been to loads of metal festivals when I was younger and still frequent a concert or two nowadays, and I've always had good experiences. I'm not really into metalcore generally but I'm always willing to give it a shot so I'll check August Burns Red out later!

@RogerRoger Nicely put!

@Jimmer-jammer I used to be a huge fan of 36 crazyfists (do you like them?) and loved Brock Lindow's ability to do both kinds of vocals, but he was a much better clean singer in the sense that he seems like such a nice person and a genuinely good guy, so coming off as heavy metalcore guy with the unclean vocals he did was a harder act to pull off imo, but still, both sets of vocals work really well, and, like he said in an interview, it's interesting to hear heavy music/vocals coming from a place of positive energy on their second record.

@ShaiHulud Just to steer the conversation in a more affable direction, what are your top 5 metal albums?

Mine are:

1)Eden Maine - To You, the First Star
2)Slayer - Seasons In The Abyss
3)Elder - Omens
4)Megadeth - Rust In Peace
5)Metallica - ...And Justice For All

As I've said before, I mostly listen to and play jazz nowadays though.

@Jimmer-jammer Guitar, I used to sing, but not so much now, I don't really do that any more. I was attracted to jazz by my former guitar teacher transitioning from metal to jazz, and, starting with fusion guitarists like Allan Holdsworth and John McLaughlin branched out to "purer" jazzers like John Scofield, Pat Metheny and Bill Frisell. I like the intellectual sophistication of the music and the fact that engages both my mind and my emotions when I listen to it - vocal jazz more for the emotional side of it. Why? Do you like any jazz?

N.B Metal guitar didn't really suit me in the first place, it was just a genre (classical with distortion, as you've said before) for loners and misfits so I felt like I had something in common with that crowd and that's why I started a band as a teenager, but we didn't get very far. So, jazz, as another outside and niche genre which was calm and melodic and emotional, reflective even for the most part appealed to me much more because I was able to identify with it much more on a personal level, but still able to be an interesting guitarist. Which jazz artists do you like, if any?

My cousin's daughter has just released her debut single. The language is rather strong so I won't directly post it, but if you'd like to give it a listen her name is Issey Cross and the song is titled "Who".

@Jimmer-jammer I can recommend some albums if you'd like?

@TheBrandedSwordsman Top 5 metal albums? Oh dear, that's a hard question. I liked that you picked ..And Justice as it's my favourite Metallica album too, which is quite unusual I think. Anyway, here's my favourite three albums for the moment, in chronological order:

Agalloch - The Mantle
Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down
Opeth - Still Life

@Jimmer-jammer John Scofield - Pick Hits Live (that's a great place to start with him) Bill Frisell - Unspeakable then Nashville if you like that one, then try History, Mystery if you're really a fan of it. If you're a fan of the melodic side of Sco's playing, try Time On My Hands next, or if you like faster tracks like Protocol try Rough House (the album) next, I know less about Pat Metheny than the other two, but his last album 'From This Place' garnered a lot of enthusiasm from me. Those are all guitarists though, Oscar Peterson's Walking the Line is great for jazz piano, and try the album @nessisonett recommended to me, by Herbie Hancock, Sextant, for more great keyboard playing. Let me know what you think if you listen to any of it!

@Jimmer-jammer did you listen to any of those albums yet? What do you think of Brian Eno, if you're familiar with him?

Oh jeez, SOPHIE seems to have died in an accident. I’m crushed, I’ve been a fan for years and her latest album showed that she had loads to offer and she was on the up and up. She meant a lot to loads of people. I honestly have no words.

@Jimmer-jammer She was as much a producer as a singer, produced for Charli XCX, Madonna, Vince Staples, Nicki Minaj and others. I’ve been a big fan of the PC Music label for almost as long as it’s been around and she was a big influence on a lot of those artists. 34 is no age at all.

@nessisonett Sorry to hear about SOPHIE dude.

@Jimmer-jammer Have you heard the live version of Protocol off Pick Hits Live yet? How metal is that for a jazz song eh?!?!? Glad you're enjoying it though.

I done it. I got to the top of the Reddit Dreams thread!!!

Progressive house track!

@themcnoisy
Mate, that is awesome, well done! Very impressed. Any plans to use this soundtrack in an upcoming level?

@themcnoisy Seriously well done, that’s proper impressive. Cool to see you on the up and up!

@themcnoisy Class tune that, Noisy. Seriously impressive beats. Top job.

@LieutenantFatman it's being used in fluffynsassy next game, it's a shoot em up. Thanks for listening LF.

@nessisonett yeah I got top of the dreams Reddit page. Never got anywhere on that before so pretty chuffed

@ApostateMage thanks AP, been a tough time recently so glad something has come from 2021 so far!

Made up y'all replied 😁

@ShaiHulud Yeah Justice is a classic album despite what they were going through eh? Channeling their grief and anger into their art, rather than bumming out and getting lost and making something like Load. Which might be more what you'd expect - I'm just spitballin' here. Anyway, good shout with Katatonia, did you hear the recordings Mikael Akerfeldt made with them back in the day? Great stuff. I've kind of gone back to heavy music now anyway, listening to Zappa now and just ordered Legend of the Seagullmen.