Hello! If you have already commented on some of my pages, or intend to do so, but haven't yet visited this page, now's the time to speak up! Remember, you are not obliged to contribute to this page, but keep in mind that this is necessary for the other readers of this site - a little personal information on you and your tastes will greatly aid them in understanding and evaluating your actual comments. You can tell anything, as long as it's not five pages long and doesn't involve any intimate disclosures, reports on top secret government policies or adult site banners. However, this is the kind of information that would be particularly useful:

I. Personal data. Name, age, country and city of birth and residence, social status, etc.

II. Personal non-music related interests. How do you escape the misery of this life now and how are you planning to do so in the future?

III. Music-related questions (the most important part). Your musical tastes: favourite and most despised bands/artists/musical genres. Are you more of a branching-out eclecticist or a more restricted fan? What are, or would be, your criteria for rating music (if you have them at all, that is?) What's your attitude about music reviewing? Would you like to have a site of your own? Are you a musician? What instruments do you play or would like to play? Who's your favourite bass player? What colour are the socks of George W. Bush (oops, sorry, wrong program). You get my drift. Anyway, be the first one on your block to win the Certified Music Review Commentator tag! As for me, plans involve putting up links from your previous (or future) comments to this page so that everybody could easily access this personal info from any of your comments. This will be a hassle, of course, but it might be worth the entire game. So enter the game!

The following people have responded so far: Jamie Anthony, Tomas Arias, Kevin Baker, Michael Battaglia, Eric Benac, Tim Blake, Mark Blakemore, Jeff Blehar, Oleg Bocharoff, Chris Boehm, Eric Bukowski, Rich Bunnell, Matthew Byrd, Fernando Henrique Canto, Koka Chernov, Kevin Coleman, Brett Collins, Richard Craig, Isaac David, Mike DeFabio, Christina DeGailler, John DeMagus, Adrian Denning, Richard C. Dickison, David Dickson, Ben Dominici, Brian Donovan, E, Vincent Earley, Lindsey Eck, Seth Edwards, Nick Einhorn, Eric Ericson, Darren Evan, Sandra Ewing, Morten Felgenhauer, Federico Fernandez, Carlo Fiore, Josh Fitzgerald, Chelsea Frank, George Freedman, Chris Gage, Geronimo Springs, Stefan Gill, Gary Gomes, Jon Gray, Ben Greenstein, Ilya Grigoriev, Adam Harrington, James Hitt, Dan Hogg, Ratimir Hribar, Phillip Hutcherson, Helen Janees, Bob Josef, Bob Jurczyk, Panos Kakaviatos, Balaji Kannan, Nick Karn, Akis Katsman, Dmitri Kazantsev, Jenny Ketchmark, Nikita Kokorin, Kevin Kozeluh, Ben Kramer, Yevgeny Kuzmenko, Nicolas LaBonte, Joel Larsson, Richard Lewis, Laureano Lopez, Mattias Lundberg, John Lynch, David Lyons, Maximilian Makovec, Philip Maddox, Ryan Maffei, Steven Maginnis, Raghu Mani, Lionel Marechal, Jean Marlow, Benjamin Massey, Fatima Matieva, Brendan McCalmont, John McFerrin, Ryan McKay, Thomas McKeown, Jeff Melchior, Dan Miller, Thomas Mitchell, David Monroe, Jon Morse, Brian Morton, Maher Mughrabi, Ryan Mulligan, Tagbo Munonyedi, Matteo Musella, Rovshan Mustafayev, Nguyen Viet Dung, Ilya Nemetz, Arianne von Niedhart, Thomas Norton, Patricio Novoa, Gerard Nowak, Daniel O'Connell, Henry Olsen, Jeremy Olson, Edgar Allen Pedigo, Anna Peppard, David Perez, Kiel Pidgeon, Ivan Piperov, Steve Potocin, Dmitry Proskuryakov, Alexey Provolotsky, William Quiterio, Luke Redgen, Denis Robitaille, Sean Rodgers, Eric Rogozin, Steve Root, Chris Rosario, Jason Saenz, Herbert Salzmann, Samir Roy, Nicolas Perez Santoro, Peter Schlenker, Andy Schuster, Bruno Seraphin, Brian Sittinger, Lior Skuzesky, Caleb Smith, Caroline Smith, Robert Smith, Zack Smith, Jur Snijder, Oleg Sobolev, Ksenia Sterjanova, Anthony Stewart, Derrick Stuart, Adrian Subrt & Aaron Carpenter, Lyolya Svidrigajlova, Alexis von Sydow, Robert Tally, Fredrik Tydal, Aleix Vallejo, Jaime Vargas, Mark Walker, Jon Walter, Jacob Wareham, Glenn Wiener, Billy Williams, David Williams, Alexander Zaitsev, Vasiliy Zavorochayev, Ainars Zhebeerklis, Sergey Zhilkin. My deepest thanks to all of them.

My name's Jamie Anthony and I was born 1981 in Edmonton, Canada, to Scottish parents who 3 years later divorced and moved back to Scotland where I've lived ever since.  I presently live in the ABSOLUTE back of beyond, a small island community called Orkney in northern scotland.  Since social life relies on being a redneck (which I am NOT) i have lived inside my computer for virtually my entire teenage years and am now at University in Dundee.  I have a few friends, which I like but can't really be arsed socialising with much.  I have never had any sort of relationship with a female, in fact I've never even kissed a girl.  My non-musical interests include films, computers, history, and a little bit of literature & art.  My top 5 favourite films are Apocalypse Now, One flew over the cuckoo's nest, Bladerunner: the director's cut, Taxidriver, and Unforgiven (1992 version).

Now onto the music... My favourite artists (at present) would have to be Jethro Tull, Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Moody Blues, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, The Beatles, Genesis, Marillion, Camel, Caravan, Gentle Giant, Dire Straits, King Crimson, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Van Morrison, ELP, The Smiths, REM, and a few others...  I also like loads of classical like Stravinsky, Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Brahms, and even Beethoven wrote some good tunes.  Basically, I LOVE progressive rock, and just can't wait to discover another great prog band I didn't know about.  No, not Van der Graaf Generator, I've tried (and failed) them.  I haven't got a clue what the future may bring, and quite frankly, I don't care (I have NO ambitions).  My deepest admirations for the creation and constant growth of this page, George, it is truly a work of unparalleled art on the web.  Oh, I also agree with most of your opinions a LOT more then I used to.  Wayhay! 

tomas arias. date of birth: 1982. born in panama,panama.studying in north carolina

i enjoy reading, going to the beach, etc.

i enjoy listening to pink floyd, the doors, beatles, bob dylan, cat stevens, jimi hendrix, nirvana, breeders, etc.

20.02.2002

I. Kevin Baker   

15

Texas!!!!!!!!

II. I greatly enjoy reading, and following Indecision 2000 has been very memorable.  School occupies much of my time though :-(

III. My favorite band changes quite often; one week the Beatles, one week the Stones, next week Led Zeppelin and so on.  I absolutely hate rap, but most else is fair game for me to listen to.  My taste is pretty eclectic, but I'm a bit prejudiced towards the Byrds, Three Doors Down (not that they'd ever appear on this site), and ZZ Top since I'm from Texas.  Generally speaking, my opinion of music is not so much centered on qualities of the songs or the band beyond how much I actually like the music.  Originality and uniqueness do sometimes play a part in my opinions, but I love a lot of not particularly groundbreaking music just because...wel, I dunno, I guess it just rubs me the right way.  I am learning to play guitar, I have my own site (www.geocities.com/andreea_n_byrdsfan/index.html), John Entwhistle was a fabulous bassist, and go Dubyah!!!!!!!!!  Sorry, it' that Texas instinct again.

13.12.2000

I. Name: Michael Battaglia

Age: 21

Country: USA

Birth/Residence: New Jersey

Social Status: Um, does pharmacy student still living at home count as an answer?

II. Non Music Stuff: Hm, I guess school is one of those things, as much as it drives me crazy half the time.  I read an awful lot and try to read as many things as I can in science-fiction or literature (no Russian authors yet alas, but I'm working on it . . . I figure I should try War and Peace at least once).  And even though they rot my brain, I read comics too.  To round out my meager life, especially since I don't want that much TV, I try my hand at being an amateur writer.  When all else fails, I work at a library, when I should be working in a pharmacy.  Oh well.

III: Music Stuff: Here's the fun part.  I really do try to listen to almost anything, I've got a general record collection of a few albums of just about every band you review, though I'm more slanted toward the late seventies and beyond.  My favorite band is probably REM, for the same reason you love the Beatles so, it was the band that got me into music and I know they're not perfect but as far as my subjective little head is concerned, they can do no wrong.  Other than that I'll give just about anything a try, I love Genesis and Bob Dylan and the Beatles and the Who and Elvis Costello but I listen to a lot of obscure 80's/90's bands like Neutral Milk Hotel, Pavement and Yo La Tengo.  For some reasons I can't really get into the blues or rap, it just all sounds the same to me.  The only genre I really find myself disliking is the whole "manufactured" boy/girl/thing band thing because to me it seems to be the total opposite of what music is about, though once in a while a song stands out as forgettably catchy.  I figure everyone's allowed at least one good song.  So I guess that makes me the "branching out eclecticist" type.   Go me.

My criteria for rating music and music reviewing are basically the same.  In my little world (and on the review page I tried to work on once before school got in the way) any album that contains a series of absolutely perfect songs, all of which are memorable and enjoyable, deserves a ten out of ten.  So I'm more the subjective type, I don't know enough about music to attempt to be objective, I can barely make out melody or chords or any of that stuff.  I'm more a lyrics guy, so they could be banging on pots for all I know, if the words are good, I'm sold.  So when I did attempt to write some reviews, I mostly just described why I like the song and I figure if the reasons why I like a song coincided with someone else's, then they might go out and try it.  One day I'll get my site up and running (I got about a hundred decent reviews right now) and . . . and you'll all see.  You'll all see how good I am.  Or not.

But as you probably figured I am not a musician, I barely know which way to hold a guitar and I wouldn't know two chords if they stood on either side of me and slapped me.  But I figure that shouldn't stop me from enjoying music and how it sounds, I may not know why I like a song, but the fun's in trying to explain.  For me at least, you might not be finding it as fun reading this.

06.12.2000

I. i'm eric benac. i live in michigan in the US of AMERICA. boo. any ways, i'm a college student and single. just turned 21 recently: fun.

II. going to college to uh become a teacher. non music related things? i like to read and write, i fancy myself something of a poet and author. and i wrote a nice review for calling all stations that i'm sure george would like. :D that is a bad album. i disgress. i like to be around friends, i guess i'm personal, even though i do spend alot of time alone. right now i'm living with my parents, but in the fall i'll be up at my new apartment going to school again. i'm single, and have been for about a year. not really looking too hard: it can be a pain in the ass, but it would be nice at the same time. i work at A&W and it's an alright job.

III. Favorite bands (no order, just whatever comes to mind) The beatles, the rolling stones, the who, Yes, Genesis, the beach boys, kate bush, ween, elvis costello, led zeppelin, talking heads, the kinks, frank zappa, the pixies, the stooges, beck. the mama's and the papas, john lennon solo, paul mccartney solo, black sabbath, the cure (and many more :) )

Least favorite bands: ooh this will be fun. I despise "the boss" springsteen. i hate hole, and i also strongly dislike "dream theater". aerosmith is pretty bad too. plus, i hate with a passion all these "new rock" bands like the strokes and the white stripes. boring retreads of past "garage rock" (if it can even be called that: it's just mostly boring dated easy guitar pop rock) weezer (MY MOST HATED BAND EVER). also i hate punk rock (most of it any ways) and i'm going to write an essay about why punk rock is the most boring, conservative, useless music i've ever heard in my life (asides from the ramones, the minutemen, fugazi, and a few others). :D! i'm probably an elitist.

oh, i prefer to like as much music as possible, but i've never been able to dig much funk, soul, or jazz music (it all sounds the same, what the?). so i guess i mostly only like rock, but i like a wide range of bands and styles within that genre: i do prefer "older" bands, but there are some great "newer" bands like ween doing great music. i'd like a site of my own but that'd be like so much work and i don't know html or any of that crap and don't have the patience to make one. i play guitar bass and keyboards poorly, and i do write music, some on paper, mostly on guitar pro on my comp though cuz i can write really complicated stuff and listen back to it! i could never play the music i write.

30.05.2003

I. Personal data.

Name - Tim Blake

Age - 22

Country - New Zealand

City of birth - Auckland

Current residence - Wellington

Social status - ? Hrm. Quiet, music obsessed type prolly. Usher, data entry guy + guitarist, vocalist, bassist, drummer, song-writer, etc.

II. Personal non-music related interests.

How do you escape the misery of this life nowand how are you planning to do so in the future?

Don't really have much to say about my own life. It's just kind of... there, y'know. It just is. Really not much more to say about it...it's missing all kinds of social elements, devoid of a lot of emotion (thanks to lack of interaction + lack of social skills + ability to get through to others), extremely predictable and uneventful. But...I fill that void with, less playing and recording the music but more dreaming about it I suppose. I'm sure once I manage to actually work on my music as much as say, you've come to work at your reviews, I'll be set. It's all there waiting for me to take it up, and I'm hoping (in my dreamingness), I'll get around to applying all of it soon. I guess the main thing to conquer is the fear that what I make won't be good, which is stupid because after all you can only become awesome after practice, and part of practice is being bad and working on that, no matter what you are doing. And some are bad for a long long amount of time, but you can still find what you are good at if you just try, and often. And if I was truly doomed to make mediocre music, I'd still be doing what I love and I suppose that is enough to make up for it. (Not that my music is bad per se, but making it original is tough, and my favourite style of music isn't particular original, at least these days, but what is?). I fill the time spent not achieving much by playing my guitar and learning songs, which I do alot...almost everyday, so I guess that is constructive...and of course listening to music which is by far my biggsest past-time. Exploring genres (mostly older artists) and acquiring new stuff is where it is at for me. Plus lots of games, pointless vacuous hanging around with friends (though not always pointless and vacous, just often, and my fault frequently, but we do get through a lot of beer...hooray), lots of movies, and other such things. I guess the non-music question turned all music-y...well, wut can ya do.

III. Music-related questions (the most important part).

Your musical tastes: favourite and most despised bands/artists/musical genres.

My most despised bands and artists and genres are all pretty obvious ones...y'know, pop (radio + tv masses kind), rap (extremely limited genre with moments of goodness here and there), a lot of electronic music barring the more atmospheric kinds...techno, drum n'bass, house...sure they sound ok sometimes but they pretty much have no soul, no emotional resonance, they are empty forms of music that stunt your ability to appreciate music horribly. Electronica and more ambient electronic mixes do manage to mix in a human element of emotion via atmosphere, even if they lack any real 'human' contribution. I guess what I really hate is just ear-candy electronic music, usually it is the stuff that sounds 'cool', but that is basically all is has. Pretty much is the trademark of something like drum n' bass. All flashing sounds and colours, no substance, no need to exist except mindless consumption. It has skill (usually of the production and vinyl spinning kind) and it has the 'whee, cool sounding' thing going for it but that is not near enough of anything for me. The more my friends blast it the less I like it. And I'm no elitist, I like a lot of 'shallow' music (which I often find are nowhere near as shallow as some objectivity brigade would say, for reasons they can't bring themselves tounderstand. I use '' marks to illustrate that what I've been told about what is and what isn't shallow is often utter bollocks...maybe they'd tell me I'm shallow, well the typical music critic is the shallowest person alive, scoff), I can just tell when something is having utterly no effect on me (because when music does it floors me), and the entire freakin' genre of drum n' bass even registers. The preceeding paragraph is a mess, but I dislike most current modern pap, particularly that the mainstream is producing, and rap, a lot of electronic, and others, the end.

Are you more of a branching-out eclecticist or a more restricted fan?

I would want to call myself an 'eclecticist' thanks to having been into quite a lot of 'eclectic' stuff over the years, whatever you consider that to be, but...I can't really. The reason is because I am aware that in my heart of hearts I have the most appreciation for simple, to the point music. When I say simple I don't mean, simple-stupid, or simple-emotionless, I mean it doesn't mess around TOO much with trying to go off on exploratory tangents, or it isn't quirky/experimental to the point of excess and so on. That said, a decent amount of my listening goes to what I'd think of as 'eclectic' music like, King Crimson, Yes (all those prog greats) and various other whacky artists, a lot of them being some of my very favourites, but the majority of what I really, really enjoy the most is straight-ahead, no-nonsense ass whooping rock n' roll (like Deep Purple, or The Doors, heck even The Beatles), and next emotionally orientated music that isn't too 'out there' (i.e Nick Cave, or Camel, even Pink Floyd), with ass-kicking metal still there strong but trailing a little. That said I don't tolerate stupidity that much in music, but I don't find a lot of artists people consider 'stupid' to even be that way. I have a strong dislike of elitists and their circular, frozen thinking. And I also dread all this 'objective' shite. Not for fear of it's 'truth' (hah!), but it's ability to systematically shut itself off from all kinds of potentially good albums, songs and artists. It's embarrasingly fickle. The reviews here have at least allowed me to get the opinion of a semi-champion of 'objective thinking' that actually has a clear justification for framing it that way, and they are all reasonable even when they are slagging off some of my favourite artists/albums (one exception: the Uriah Heep reviews which I saw as somewhat disgraceful not for the opinion stated but for the extreme bias totally clouding the writing, unlike with say, Black Sabbath, where the bias (I know it is there) was kept somewhat in check).

What's your attitude about music reviewing?

It's useful only if the person who is writing isn't extremely biased against some element of what he is reviewing (and that can be told by a general sense that I've found imbued with most reviews I've read), and is above bashing, and would opt instead for a more constructive tact of opining. Blind praise isn't so great either. Barring those, a sense of humour can always save the day no matter what the opinion expressed. Are you a musician? What instruments do you play or would like to play? I play guitar, have been doing so for about 8 years but my practicing has been extremely sporadic over time, so I'm not near as good as that figure would have you believe. Only for the past 1-2 years have I consistently practiced all the time, and I think I've got a lot to learn still. Also other stuff I mentioned earlier. Working on my song-craft a bit and trying to get more things recorded, got a nice back-catalogue of things I've made but it isn't so impressive to me, need to get my quality up to my expectations, which is the tricky part.

Who's your favourite bass player?

Geezer Butler, I'd say.

Final thing - brief history of my music appreciation. I started off in music listening where most anybody does, with The Beatles. When I was a small kid we had Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road vinyls, and my parents played it a lot for me and my sisters. It was mainly a curiosity for me and for years my only musical interaction was The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and repulsively, Michael Bolton. I had my first musical brain explosion around 14-15 when I first heard Sparkle And Fade by Everclear. Years before I had heard Nirvana and decided that it wasn't for me, but I was into like Michael J. then so whatever. Things must have been different because Sparkle And Fade was the most radical music thing to ever happen to me and it remains the first landmark album in my listening. The Beatles were good but seemed more a distraction, at the time.

This lead me into a spiral of crap music listening, I'll admit. I started to get big on things like Disturbed, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and other such pap, interspersed with a few good artist like System Of A Down (whose first album I still love), and Soundgarden. I was feeling apathetic one day and started browsing through extreme metal review sites (horror). I come across a review of this little known metal band called 'Opeth'. Oddly, it is described as...beautiful extreme metal...full of acoustic passages, soft vocals and eerie atmospheres in between all of the growling and distortion. Intruiged, I listen to their album 'Blackwater Park' at the music store, and that was the one, singular album that forever changed all of my tastes, to the horror of my friends and family. It was by far the most radical, powerful album I had heard. My friends all denounced my tastes for it but I know that they would never allow themselves to even begin to understand that an album that has growled vocals in it CAN be incredible. That led me into a big 'metal' period. Stuff like Opeth, Edge Of Sanity, In Flames, all great stuff. Then doom metal, My Dying Bride, Candlemass...black metal...Emperor, Dissection, Bathory...classic metal...Iron Maiden, art-metal...Maudlin Of The Well, Arcturus, Ulver, gothy metal...Katatonia, Anathema, viking metal, Enslaved, prog-metal...it goes on and on. One of the most diverse genres that ever existed ever, metal is, because you can mix it with just about anything and if you're creative enough it will work. The last revelation I had was maybe three years ago and it was Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Another whim purchase, this served as the gateway through which I've begun to explore the wealth of old music. It led me to King Crimson, which had me get into prog, it led me to Budgie and Deep Purple, my other two current favourite bands, Camel, Pink Floyd, even punk, finally to the 60s...The Doors, Blue Cheer, rediscovering The Beatles, Cream...leading onto Talking Heads and Depeche Mode and The Moody Blues, so on so on so on. My recent thing is solo artist, David Bowie didn't impress nor did Bob Dylan, but I've found The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed and that is well making up for it. So that is basically the story so far. There are about a bazillion other artists I could list off but this message is already far too long. Your site is awesome. Thanks for your time.

01.06.2006

1) Personal data

I've just started to add my two-pence worth to this great site so I guess I should add my details now. Well I'm Mark Blakemore, I'm 28 and I live in London.......and I'm a music junkie.

2) Non music stuff

I lived in Liverpool for my first 18 years, then did a degree and doctorate in Cardiff, before following the jobs to god old frantic London. I currently reside in Chiswick which is more relaxed and greener than my previous base in Tooting. I got a wondeful gal Dawn who puts up with my music and is slowly getting brainwashed too!!!

My work has nothing to do what-so-ever with my PhD - which was the psychology of vision. 4 years training unfortunately wiped out my inspiration for the topic unfortunately. I work as an analyst for the BBC - that pays ok and keeps me in CD's I guess. My dream job would involve music, a journalist perhaps? Tough to get into mind and i would'nt want to a) work for free Or b) report positively on any old crap.

My other interests involve playing football for perhaps the worse 5-a-side football side in Europe and avidly following the nerve-shreddingly inconsistent Liverpool Football club. Enough about who I am.....

3) Music interests.

Well where do I start. I've kinda gone through all kind of phases and I guess (thanks to sites like these) I always come across new, expensive ways to depreciate my bank balance. I destroy large ammounts of shoe leather trawling through Londons many record shops looking for bargains and rarities and I probably need some kind of help if the truth be told.

My love affair started with Queen and Led Zeppelin and my thirst for knowledge then led me to hit the books and find out about these guys and who they liked. That led to a two year obsession with da' blues, Free, Cream etc...

My mother is a huge soul music fan and she always warned me that I would one day really like Stevie Wonder. I always declared I could never respect a musician capable of 'I just called to say I love you' or 'Ebony and Ivory'. Then a strange thing happened at about 16 - I fell totally in love with a girl, cut off my Jimmy Page hair cut and binned my rocker-hippy look. Then she paid me no notice and I became a miserable git wallowing in the more self -pitying sides of my mothers Atlantic and Motown record collection. Then that was it...soul, RnB, blues and Funk for about 3/4 solid years - through Uni. Lots of great stuff here and its still the genre that makes up the bulk of my purchases and collection. The atrists I really admire here are probably the obvious ones - Stevie, Marvin Gaye, James Brown as well as some that are less well known : Tower of Power, War & Donny Hathaway to name but 3.

Then I got hooked on Jazz big time - particularly Miles Davis (In a Silent Way may be in my top 5 of all time), Wayne Shorter, Roland Kirk and Eddie Harris.

In the last couple of years I've widened my tastes again and revisited some of my early fav's - e.g. Free. I've also got into, and been heavily impressed by, in particular Frank Zappa and Todd Rundgren. I also like King Crimson - although I wish they'd lighten up. I'm less impressed by some other things I've checked out of late , e.g. Yes, Robin Trower, although most things have their merits.

Of late, I think I'm being irreversibly drawn towards latin music - and I think Bossa Nova may be its focus. Thanks to Todd's odd but beautiful - 'With a twist', a re-recording of his classics in this style.

So shucks I like everything bar crappy manufactured, untalented pop and robotic, unsoulful dance music. I also can't get into Bob Dylans voice.....love his songs but by other people. Listened to too many good soul singers perhaps?

Musician I most admire - Probably Stevie, Todd or a British bloke called Lewis Taylor. He's a one man band who has made two albums in the last 5 years that fuse Marvin Gaye with prog rock elements in a maddenling wonderful way.

Favourite albums include Talking Book(Stevie Wonder), Abbey Road, A Wizard/ A True star (Todd), In a Silent Way (Miles Davis), Here my Dear (Marvin Gaye), Overnite sensation (Zappa)....the list goes on and on.

Best gig - Tower of Power last year. the tightest funkiest band ever - really scary musicianship (although maybe not that many great songs to back it up!).

I do play (guitar, Keys and bass - pretty ordinary in all of them and I can't read music which does me no favours whatsover) and I've been in bands for over 10 years off and on - from crap rock (Funkadelic Shack, Bogus Toadstool) to goodish Jazz-funk (Planet Janet). I used to be the singer in all of the above and my voice is tuneful if unremarkable. I'm currently trying my hand at DIY with a cheap keyboard and a 4-track. The stuff I've recently done is a kind of 4th rate Stevie Wonder - harmonies are coming along though....

I've really been going on.... apologies...but once you start these things its hard to stop.

I. Personal Info:  

Name: Jeff Blehar

Age: 20

Country: USA

Birth/Residence: well it's kind of hard to hide since (see line below).

Social Status: Student at Johns Hopkins University

II. Non Music-Related Bunkum:

I'm an avid historian-in-training of totalitarian/authoritarian regimes (esp. the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany), and a voracious reader of pretentious literature.  Favorite authors: Thomas Pynchon (natch), Woolf, David Foster Wallace, and the great 19th-century Russians (Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Pushkin, Chekhov), who I have a soft spot for.  Also a writer of sorts.  I enjoy public speaking, debating, and any sort of opportunity to deliver philosophical or political polemics (I love fighting over stuff which is so pointless).  I fear and distrust computers: I don't understand them, and even more inexcusably, they don't understand me.

In the future I see myself doing Lord-know-what.  College professor?  Eminence grise-like political advisor?  Music reviewer?  Rock star?  I've seriously considered each possibility, and I'm just vain enough to think I could pull any one of them off.  Hey, you gotta believe in your dreams.

III.  Music-Related Bunkum:

Egads.  I've made a long circuitous journey (okay, relatively long - since 1995) from 60's rock snob to musical eclecticist.  Pretty much every preconceived notion I've had about any genre of music or particular band has been tossed to the wayside as I learn to listen without prejudice and appreciate what's GOOD, not what's hip.  I've been wrong in my prejudices (Fleetwood Mac is shitty cocaine-fueled pop crap, Yes is despicable, Genesis is the scourge of all that is good, all music made after 1990 is worthless, etc.)  too often to have any these days - nothing is bad per se until I've heard it.  And I've heard a lot at this point.  I've got a LOT of CDs (at this count, something like 2000, plus 50+ boxed sets), since when other people buy drugs or clothes I just go and get used discs at the local mega-used CD store (never buy new!). 

My tastes reflect George's in many ways; perhaps that's why I like his site so much.  My collection is HEAVILY skewed towards 60's and 70's rock, with a shameful lack of material from the 1990's, though I'm working to correct these mistakes.  It runs the range from pop to rock to blues to hardcore punk to free jazz to trip-hop, art-rock, prog-rock, and soul/R&B.  The only genres I don't care for are rap and techno, though I won't dismiss them outright; it's just not for me.  I'd place The Beatles, Stones, Who and Dylan right up there in the pantheon of the greatest, although to be honest I can't get too excited about them anymore - my love for them has settled into a comfortable, lived-in appreciation.  I also adore David Bowie up until about 1983 or so, and Elvis Costello and The Clash get my highest Punk/New Wave recommendations, though I highly recommend Graham Parker to anyone who has never heard of him - fabulous stuff.  The music which I'm most excited about moves in shifts; while my critical estimation of groups stays more or less the same, the size of my collection requires me to listen to stuff in "rotation" so if you catch me at different times I'll be grooving to different people - right now I'm slapping myself for ever thinking Genesis were either a) an atrocious pop band or b) an atrocious prog band.  Turns out they were superlative examples of the best of each genre.  I think Led Zeppelin and The Doors are horribly overrated (especially The Doors; while I still enjoy listening to most of Zep's stuff, I can barely make it through a Doors album these days without gagging on the overweening pretentiousness and cheesy Manzarek keyboards, even though I once loved them and own all their LPs).   Randy Newman is criminally underrated, as are The Byrds, who nobody wants to talk about these days.  The only band I currently WORSHIP is Radiohead - although I'm not in a "they can do no wrong" mindset, I really think they're flat-out brilliant in all ways melodic, lyrical, production-wise, etc., and that their last three albums are required purchases for anyone with a passing interest in quality modern music.  I'm also impressed by Blur's (and to a lesser degree Pavement's) versatility and general ability to wring interesting SOUNDS out of their instruments, and R.E.M. are the outstanding American group of the 1980's. 

As an aside, I used to despise prog-rock as the epitome of everything that was unlikeable, smug, pretentious, and overreaching about western rock music, but I've since had to come around and admit that bands like Genesis, Yes, and King Crimson are actually pretty damn good, if not UNBELIEVABLY GREAT like some would say.  And Emerson, Lake & Palmer is still perhaps the worst major group of all time, despite my repeated attempts to assimilate their music.  Ugh.

Generally speaking, my predilections have tended towards art-rock: Bowie, Eno, Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel, VU, The Who's more ambitious work.  This would reflect my general bias towards atmosphere and intellectualized music.  Three things make a song good for me, in no order: melody, production/atmosphere, lyrics.  The first two can be interchangeable if done well enough, but I'm pretty permissive on lyrics.  I rarely listen to the lyrics of a song the first time through, and except in special cases like Dylan, Costello, and The Clash (where the lyrics are 3/4 of the appeal), I'm more than happy if a song has a great melody or feel even if its lyrics are banal.  Lyrics only become a problem when they're forehead-slappingly bad, i.e. when they prevent me from enjoying the song without feeling like a dip.  They can brilliantly enhance a song (and oftentimes do), but it takes a lot for them to detract.  If I may be allowed to contradict myself, I also sometimes like music that is intentionally quirky or difficult - I'd put much of Zappa and the art-rockers and even groups like Pavement and Radiohead into this category, at least partially - music that makes me engage it to understand it.  This is not the same as saying I like strangeness for strangeness' sake - there NEEDS to be something substantial underneath or else it's hopeless crap - but something about my musical head loves offbeat, crazy-sounding music.

Speaking more of music, I'm a musician.  And I'd like to be one professionally, even.  Primarily I'd say I'm a singer with a ridiculous range (I guess naturally my voice falls into that Bono/Thom Yorke archetype, but as far as I know I'm the only person I've met who can (shamefully) sing along to everything Jon Anderson has written in the correct octave without falsetto), but that's only because I trust my voice more than my piano skills (I've been playing since age 5, and I'm pretty good, though nowhere near as accomplished as I should be for that amount of time spent) and my guitar skills (just learning now).  I write and perform, and I have a relentless desire to make music that other people somewhere will get and appreciate - a drive to be famous.  Who knows?  Maybe it'll happen someday.  Probably not.  Either way, playing music is an absolutely crucial factor in my love of music - 9 times out of 10 I gravitate towards songs that I can sing (all part of my incessant tendency to personalize the music I listen to - it's about ME, you see, not about whoever wrote it). 

Best album ever?  Impossible to say, though I've settled on a compromise solution with The Who's Quadrophenia.  But trying to hold me to that would be like trying to nail jelly to a tree, so don't gimme any flack.

Alright then, that's the sweet & lowdown.

12.12.2000

I. My name is Oleg Bocharoff. I'm from Moscow and now i'm 33 (and I hope for more). I think your web-site is THE best resource for classic rock and this is the great reason to join your community. I used to work in a couple records labels, also worked for MTV-Russia. Radio Russia and was the editor-in-chief for a couple of heavy metal magazines. I'm an author of several books about punk rock, Metallica, Depeche Mode, etc. Now I'm an editor of russian MAXIM mens magazine (see www.maximonline.ru) My collection includes more than 2.000 CD and some vinyl records never counted by me (now i'm use their covers to decorate home walls)

II. Non musical interests? Nothing that is really great. B-movies, Apple Computers, two children and more beer.

III. My music interests? Almost any kind of music, except for Russian Rock. I hate it, and my article about (publiched in PLAY Magazine) it was an smash bomb among russian-rock haters. I listen for rock, old rock'n'roll, punk rock. indie rock, punk rock (in which many cite me as a biggest expert in Russia), all metal genres from hard rock to grindcore, reaggae, dub, pop, old school hip-hop, classical music, etc. My favourite bands? The Kinks, The Ramones, Pixies, closely chased by The Beatles, ABBA, The Who and The Byrds.

03.08.2006

I. Hey, my name is Chris Boehm and I live in Sea Cliff, NY(on Long Island). I was born on February 8, 1981, making me 20 years old. Currently, I'm a junior at SUNY Geneseo, located in Western New York, about half an hour from Rochester. Recently, I changed my major from Accounting to History and Secondary Education. I'm on the quiet side, but I can be humorous when I feel comfortable.

II. My non-musical interests include reading, looking up history, cars, and computers. School and friends are also big priorities which I highly value.

III. Ahhhhhhh, music. I enjoy Classic Rock and some Heavy Metal immensely. I'll be honest, I used to be a typical teenager who liked the typical bands, so my first favorite band was...Green Day(feel free to laugh here.) I loved the album Dookie for a long time, because it was hard and very, very catchy. After this I grew up a little bit and moved on to Black Sabbath, and from there to Ozzy Osbourne's solo career. Although much better musically than Green Day, the heavy guitar tones started to depress me after a while, so I moved on to the fast twin guitars of Guns 'N Roses. Although less heavy than Sabbath, my hormones were slowing down and I moved into softer music, although I still pop these bands in a good amount of the time.

After GNR, I moved into Pink Floyd, which I consider my favorite band. I know everything from Piper to Pulse, and I enjoy most of it. The atmosphere that they manage to create in much of their music is simply stunning. I consider Gilmour's guitar to be among the best in the business, even though many people consider it soul less. Other bands that I enjoy are Dire Straits, The Who, The Doors, The Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Billy Joel, Dylan, Cream, Deep Purple, Metallica, Van Halen, Grateful Dead, and Pearl Jam, who I consider to be the last great hope of original rock music today.

I hate Rap. I despise Rap. I LOATH Rap. Rap is not music.

If I haven't been clear, I don't like rap that much, and I don't like Country or Hip-Hop either. I also dislike light pop, i.e. Britney Spears, Back Street Boys, etc and I guess that's why I've always had a thing against the Beatles, for providing a model for this type of music. I steadily lose faith in most of today's music, because all that I think of is that the band I am listening to was fitted to the tastes of today's youth, and are not playing what they really feel or believe. Because of this, there will never be another Pink Floyd, Beatles, Stones, or Who. There will only be inadequate replications of these bands. I'd better stop talking, this is depressing me more than remembering that at one time my favorite band was Green Day :-) I often think about starting my own review site, but I just feel that I don't know enough about music to really be respected. I know what I like, and why I like it, but when I read the depth of George's reviews, or the humor of Mark Prindle, I don't think I could compete with either. But who knows, my taste has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, and my friends usually go to me with music questions.

That's all for now, great site George, I admire and respect you for your work on it.

My name's Eric Bukowski, 24, part Polish, and part white too. I was born in New Castle, PA but currently reside in Philadelphia, PA. You ask for social status? I'm a partyer with better musical tastes than my friends.

I escape the misery of my life by playing instruments, I've played piano since I was four and picked up bass and guitar along the way and can play some drums. I write music and like to jam with other musicians, none of which are ever as good as I am, which is really, reallly sad. As far as my future, who knows what it holds. At the moment, I'm working mundane, shit-paying jobs, struggling financially and continuing my hobby as a music lover. Whenever I'm totally sick of it I'll go to culinary school (I love to cook) or learn a boring trade so I can at least make halfway decent wages. Music school is out of the question, I'm not sure I'm keen on turning a personal hobby into work. I'm figuring I'm at a sad state now where my purchasing of a turntable this week is considered a money-saving investment on my part so I can hear more music cheaper than buying CD's via used vinyl.

I'm biggest on prog-rock, but I like most any other genre of music. After all, prog incorporates almost all the other genres so it would be stupid to dislike or dismiss those who did those other genres in a simpler fashion. I'm hardly a prog snob. I like the best ABBA had to offer as much as Yes.

As far as hating musical genres, hardcore rap is the only genre I absolutely can't stand. I can see the fun in Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff or MC Hammer (it's not like I actually like them or think they're good, mind you) but serious, hardcore rap bores the shit out of me. I'll take the most asinine, banal, nu-country schlock over that any day, not that it's a great 2nd choice, but still, it's at least real music played by real musicians.

As far as having a site of my own, forget it! I need plenty of time to go out drinking.

As far as playing instruments, scroll up about a dozen paragraphs. Favorite bass player? Chris Squire. Technically not the greatest but he always played tasty shit. As far as my favorite keyboard player, since that's my main instrument? Rick Wakeman, and I feel it's criminal that you hate him more than I do and you have 5 times the solo albums by him that I have. I've had the chance to meet him too, he's super cool and signed my copy of Six Wives. My other claim to fame? Annie Haslam lives about a half hour away from me, in Doylestown. Oooo-eeee-wow!

As far as George Dubbaya, I don't think he's smart enough to remember to wear socks. I'm not looking forward to him fudging his election for a 2nd term.

Anyways, your site rules and I go on it most every time I'm online, which isn't too often since I'm usually out drinking. Actually I come here every day for ideas on mp3's to download. Then, when I come home drunk I listen to what's downloaded since I've been gone. Sometimes I stay home and drink and impatiently sit by the computer waiting for my downloads to finish. Nevermind that, I'm online all day and don't even drink. I'm a total loser.

10.08.2004

[Taken off due to personal request.]

I. At the moment I'm 17 years old, having been born on June 26, 1983. According to my birth certificate, I was born on June 26, 1982, because the morons at the records department were not sufficient in the use of a typewriter and MADE A TYPO ON MY BIRTHDATE. So they think I'm 18, which is good for getting smokes and porn (nah) but annoying with regard to Selective Services and verifying my age for my driver's license (which I should hopefully be getting finally within the month). I live in Milpitas, an annoyingly badly-structured city on the southern tip of California's SF Bay Area, which places me smack-dab in the Silicon Valley, near the strongholds of Ebay, Yahoo, and Intel, and with close to nil of hope of being able to buy a house following college. I'm single and lacking a girlfriend, in large part because of the fact that I attend a non-co-ed all-male school (insert gay jokes [here]) and also because I'm a fairly shy and restricted person around people I don't know.

II. I wouldn't really call life a "misery," just more of an "itch." Kind of annoying sometimes, but nothing to get worked up about. I'm a huuuuuge fan of The Simpsons, having watched it since it was a short on the Tracey Ullman show (keep in mind that I was FIVE at the time) and having been a dedicated fan ever since then. I'm also addicted to Saturday Night Live, hit-and-miss as it is these days (there has never been a show surrounded with so many interesting backing stories), Futurama, which is a hell of a lot funnier than Simpsons has been for the past three seasons, and most of the shows on Comedy Central, excluding South Park and a few other lame ones. Like Mr. Greenstein, I'm a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut (it helps that I'm a teenager and thinks it's funny when an author draws a picture of an asshole in the intro to one of his books) and my favorite books of all time are "Catch-22" and "The Phantom Tollbooth"(the best children's novel ever). I used to be addicted to video games, but as high school set in I kind of grew out of them. I'm still indebted to the Mega Man series (the epic that never changes) and a few RPG's like Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series (not 8). I used to play Sierra computer games, like George, before that company turned into absolute festering crap. The latest King's Quest game has a freaking lifebar, for Christ's sake! IT'S AN ADVENTURE SERIES, not an action game! -TANGENT OVER-

III. Music-wise, I like to consider myself an eclecticist but I'm simply not a fan of rap, reggae, or roots-rock (though I might be coming around on that last one). Unlike many people I know, I don't judge music based on my first listen-- the most annoying thing to me is when I play music like Bowie in my drawing class and my friends in the class dismiss nearly every song from merely the first 30 seconds. Whatever. Stylistically I've carved myself into a rut of post-punk new wave, progressive rock and '80s alternative, with some classic rock fit in. My favorite bands being XTC (DUUUUH), the Beatles, They Might Be Giants, The Who, Talking Heads, Bowie, the Police, R.E.M., Genesis, Yes, The Jam and Midnight Oil. Regardless of how George has pigeonholed me in the past, I am NOT a fan of synth-pop, as a good 95% of the genre is absolutely lame, but since I did review pages of Depeche Mode and the Pet Shop Boys (two of the only good synthpop bands ever, even if the former has put out some really lame crap) I'm automatically an afficionado. Whatever. When I listen to music, I usually try to find its good points rather than approaching an album with an automatic bias; that's why my reader comments are on the average more positive than other commentators.

And that's all I have to say about that. Oh yeah, and despite what some people who don't like to have fun might tell you, "Weird Al" Yankovic is a god. So is Gumby, but that's another story.

13.12.2000

Ok, my name is Matthew Byrd and I live in Primghar, Iowa (in the U.S.A. if you're not familiar with U.S. geography). Well, I'm 17 so I my 'social staus' is student, I guess. I DID used to live all the way over in South Korea.... so, I'm not a fully-realized country-bumkin... or is it bumbkin? Ok, well that's enough of this nonsense.

I do read a bit more than some people (not nearly enough, though).... I play no sports adequately... or musical insruments. I escape the misery of this life by.... well, realizing I'm better than everybody I'm around.... ok, maybe not. It does kind of bother me though, no one around this area (i.e. my family, but do they count?) agrees with me about ANYTHING especially music, oh well though.

I would say I like almost every genre of music.... and almost every-type of rock 'n' roll (almost). ok, here's my patented 'greatest albums' list

1.Seargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (No Comment)

2.Blonde On Blonde - Bob Dylan (It really is a step up from the great 'Highway 61 Revisited' but doesn't contain a scrap of politics in it.... does anybody else think that 4th Time Around is more of an insult than a compliment to John's (Lennon, of course) Norwegian Wood?)

3.Abbey Road - The Beatles (Absolutely, a grandeur statement... the 2nd half really does it for me, though.

4.London Calling - The Clash (I really enjoy all the meledious... err meledies in this new wave statement. 'From the hundred year war to the crimea, with a lance and a musket and a roman spear' from The Card Cheat is perhaps my favorite part of this one.)

5.Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan (What can I say? Really, what can I say, one of the best)

6.Exile On Main Street - Rolling Stones! (Ok, fine maybe a bit overrated, but I think I like the feel of this album more than any other album on this list. Mixing R&B, soul, and country this is really a clasic album.... with a few throwaways, though. 'Tumbling Dice' may be their best song.

7.Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen (Ok, here we go, I'm not going to defend this album, but wow, this is truely a masterpiece from the streets of New Jersey.)

8.Beggar's Banquet - The Rolling Stones (Is there a greater song than 'Sympathy For The Devil'..... I absolutely love the feel of this album.

9.This Year's Model - Elvis Costello (Can anybody make so much good pissed-off music?)

10.What's Goin' On? - Marvin Gaye (Ok, a wee bit overrated, but how can you resist his sweet voice?)

11.Quadrophenia - The Who (Townsend is showing what he's made of on this huge epic.... 5:15 and Love Reign O'er Me are excellent.)

12.Blood On The Tracks - Bob Dylan (Who can write a more personal song than Dylan?)

13.Purple Rain - Prince (Right now I am pretty enamored by this one, it will pretty drop down the list soon.)

14.Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon And Garfunkel (mmm mm, the sweet melodies and volcals are great.)

15.The Beatles (White Album) - The Beatles (This one drops a few places thanks to Reolution 9.)

16.Let It Bleed - Rolling Stones (I'm gonna stick a knife right down your throat, and baby it hurts hm hm hm mmm duh de duh, whoops I got a bit carries away... an blues-rock triumph.... but does anybody else just not buy 'You Can't Always Get What You Want'?)

17.Darkness On The Edge Of Town - Bruce Springsteen (Hey, he sounds as pissed-off as Elvis Costello, what happened?)

18.Revolver - Bealtes (I don't appreciate this one as much as some.)

19.The Doors - Doors (The End.... Freud and the rest of the psychoanalysts are drooling to get their hands on something like that.)

20.My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello (This made Costello a force to be reckoned with, and with good reason.)

21.Are You Experienced? - Jimi Hendrix (This is one of the greatest debuts in rock.)

22.Who's Next? - Who? (ok, I'm getting tired of commenting on each one of these.)

23.Sticky Fingers - Rolling Stones (I agree with you on 'I Got The Blues' and 'Wild Horses' sounds contrived when put next to 'Sweet Virginia'.)

24.Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen

25.Physical Graffiti - Led Zeppelin - (Is there a better riff-maker than Page? Kashmir is excellent.... but Plant's vocals are almost uneeded.)

26.Graceland - Paul Simon

27.Bringin' It All Back Home

28.1999 - Prince

29.Rubber Soul - Bealtes (I have never liked this one as much as some)

30.Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen (This one, I like, a lot)

31.Green River - CCR

32.IV - Led Zeppelin (When The Levee Breaks is really on par with Stairway To Heaven)

33.Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello (not an ounce of rock 'n' roll on this one)

34.Remain In Light - Talking Heads

35.Nashville Skyline - Bob Dylan (Underrated, underrated, underrated)

36.At Folsom Prison - Johhny Cash

37.Between The Buttons - Rolling Stones

38.Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere - Neil Young

39.Harvest - Neil Young (I like this one, George)

40.Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John (The sweet meledies really win me over)

41.The Wild, Innocent And The E-Steet Shuffle (Each song is like a play)

42.Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (Explosive tales from New Jersey)

43.Tommy - The Who

44.Steely Dan - Aja

45.Some Girls - Rolling Stones

46.ok, ok......... this conclude the list for now.... the top of the list will probably not change a lot but the rest will probably change drastically....

27.06.2004

My full (boring) name is Fernando Henrique Canto (aka Fernie), but I discard the middle name because it makes me sound like I'm the former Brazilian president. Yes, I live in Brazil, and I like it! I think. I was born in August, 1985 - which makes me 18 at the time of writing. I'm a little bizarre kid who doesn't comb his hair, and sometimes looks like Philip Glass, other times like John Deacon, but that doesn't really matters.

One of my main interests is computers - especially programming - and it has been since I was, uh, 6. I am from the time when DOS still ruled our lives, and CD-ROMs were a distant dream. My other interest is The Simpsons. Okay, in fact, I'm a maniacal psychotic Lisa Simpson fanatic. You know. She was the reason of my life around 5 years old, and since then, she has been like a goddess to me. My love for her transcends human comprehension: you either have to be a schizoid, or see her in the same light as I do. I often write Simpsons fanfiction, and I frequent a group of Simpsons fans that ALSO write fanfiction that call themselves the Groening FanWorks Central and meet themselves at www.simpworks.com . Visit us!

And then, there is music. It's not just an interest, you know. It's the reason of my life. It's the only thing in this terrestrial world that I can have faith on (I'm serious). My love for music started with Queen, around 6 years ago, and since then, I've been collecting music like a madman. Favourite artists now include The Who, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, Radiohead and The Residents (how I love these guys). I adore Mike Oldfield, who is, in my humble opinion, hideously underrated as a composer and guitarist. Also, I love Jean Michel-Jarre, who is unfairly neglected, and has written one of the best songs in the universe: 'Equinoxe 5'. I also write music on the computer. I have been doing so since 6 years, mostly, and my latest album - Musics For Highways (yes, MUSICS) - is available for sale on www.lulu.com/sirmustapha . Sorry for the spamming, but we oughta advertise! If you're interested on instrumental pop-art-rock, check it out! I play the keyboards, but not that much. I'm taking classes at the moment, too.

But in general, that's it. I have a little thing for artists that somehow do something DIFFERENT, you know. I'm getting into Brian Eno (my God, is that man a genius), and I love Bob Marley. I like music when it's SPECIAL, somehow. I don't care what it is, it just needs to do SOMETHING with me. If I can have fun with a piece of music, any kind of fun, it's valuable to me.

So there you have it. I have a music reviewing site of my own, at www.geocities.com/sirmustapha . I know, Geocities sucks, but what can I do? Thanks for your attention for reading this. Bye!

12.11.2003

Hi. My name is Koka (Konstantin) Chernov. My friends gave me a funny nickname - Blackmore (in Russian Chernyi means Black).

I'm 19 years old. I was born in Zarechny town, Urals, Russia (somewhere between Europe and Asia). Currently a 3-year student of USTU, physical-engeering department. Obviously, I've got some interest towards physics and math. I've graduated from language liceum and therefore should have become George's counterpart someday. But I've decided that humanitarian path is too easy & dull to follow it, so I drastically changed my direction and I'm still happy with it. Right now i'm digging stuff, connected with artificial intellect, neurocybernetics and so on.

So, I read quite a lot. But, frankly speaking, 90% - specialized literature (it's sad, I know). However, I try not to forget sweet taste of real literature. Orwell, Bradbury and Frish are my favourites. I was taught to appreciate classical English prose in school and I sincerely admire it. I've read several Camu & Sartr compositions lately and I found 'em rather impressive. Apart from literature I'm interested in programming/hacking/formula one. Also I consider watching movies a stupid, worthless occupation.

Like Sabs, I sold my soul for Rock'n'Roll once (aged 9 or 10, I think) and therefore I'm doomed to be a rock'n'roll soldier till my dying day. Queen, Sabbath, Floyd, Maiden, King Crimson, Zeppelin are the best. Other worthy groups/artists (imho): hundreds , so I won't abuse your attention with needless listing, I hope my comments will speak for themselves. Don't get me wrong - I'm quite tolerable to all kinds of music, except cheap pop and modern trash/doom metal.

Anything else? Oh, I almost forgot about my drums. Yeah, I'm a drummer (although I never took lessons), and I play piano time after time (ditties like "Fluff", "November Rain"). Rhythm is burning inside of my soul, and I can spend hours, hammering life out of my poor snare. What about quality of my drumming: well, I think it's alright, at least my friends enjoy it and at least I can reproduce some interesting drumbeats.

Accordingly, I'll try to devote, whenever it's possible, certain time for analysis of drummer's style and mistakes.

In conclusion - list of my heroes.

Best album: Queen II.

Best guitar players: May, Van Halen, Satriani, Vai, Iommi.

Best bass players: Butler, Jones.

Best Drummers: Bonham, Taylor, Burr, Baker.

Best keyboardist: Richard Wright.

28.08.2002

Arlington VA and now happy in Cleveland (the HOME of Rock and Roll). Known on your review site as "WhoJonGalt".

II. I let out the tension with a little bit of exercise. In a one-year period between March 2000 and February 2001 I either biked or jogged 2,466 miles. That's Cleveland to Mexico City...Love being a dad and husband. Future plan is to be the Poet Laureate of the USA. Joseph Campbell is my mentor. I enjoy German Wheat Beer with a shot of raspberry syrup. I have traveled the world and found the happiness Dorothy Gale found; in the back yard

III. In reviewing the CD case it is dominated by The Kinks as I have everything I can get my hands on - even UK Jive! I also dig The Who (collectively and individually), 10cc, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Procol Harum, Neil Young, The B-52s, Joe Jackson, Fats Domino, Louie Jordan, the Beatles (collectively and individually), Eric (God) Clapton, and such obscure folks as Basia, Fishbone, Ben Dover and the Screamers, and Michael Franks. Those who have peeked say I am stuck in the 50s and 60s but I know what I like. Most despised are Stevie Nicks, country, Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson (although my wife dragged me to her concert as payback to taking her to The Who) and all that Brittany ATeen N'Sync Radio Disney crapola my kids like, and Stevie Nicks. Who ever told her she could sing, and her dancing...(Gee I sound like my dad...)

I don't consider my self stuck as I also love classical from DeBussy to Prokofiev. My criteria for rating music is simple - does it strike the cord deep in my soul? Reviewing is a free exchange of ideas and opinions and who can argue with that? They are like belly buttons - everyone has an opinion, and one must consider the source. If the review has a crude attitude it will be a crude opinion. During a diet when I lost a bunch of weight my wife bought me "a stratocaster with a whammy bar" (like Frank Zappa) and I have taught myself. The stuff I like seems to be a different combination of three cords and it helps work out the tension along with the exercise. Favorite bass player is Paul. If you ask Paul who, why are you reading this? I truly enjoy reading the opinions of others and think this is a great web site. God Save The Kinks!

18.10.2001

Hey...the name's Brett Collins in case you haven't already noticed.

I enjoy listening to music, playing music (on any assorted instrument; guitar being a personal favorite), reading about music, and in this case, writing about music.

Favorite artists are:

1) Led Zeppelin (whom is despised by the looks of your reviews)

2) Pink Floyd

3) The Who

4) Radiohead

5) David Bowie

P.S. I'd like to see some Radiohead reviews in the future, you do a great job with the other artists. Thanks. :)

15.07.2003

My name is Richard Craig. I am 17 and am from Belfast in Northern Ireland.My favourite band without question is Genesis but I also like Led Zeppelin, Yes, Pink Floyd and Deep Purple.

The joint award for my least favourite band goes to just about every single band formed after about 1980, but hey i'm stubborn. I make an exception in the case of mid-90s band Kula Shaker, who were really from the late 60s but had to split up because the general public has no taste in music.

The sort of music I really hate with a passion is watery British toss like Coldplay and Travis. This music tries to be deep but Steve Hackett's left ear had more talent than any of these bands put together.

To while away the tedious hours of my life I drive my car,having just passed my driving test,watch Formula One, cycle and of course study, as obtaining a university degree is essential to the earning of money,a transaction that needs to occur in order for me to obtain a Rickenbacker bass guitar, something i genuinely desire.

In reality I would like to transport myself to the world exemplified by 'Dancing With the Moonlit Knight' but you can't have everything.

I play the bass guitar, quite well. I sound a bit like Michael Rutherford, surprise surprise. My favourite bass player is probably John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. He is a hugely talented musician.

My favourite guitarist, in appearance(at least in 1971) as well as style, would have to be Steve Hackett.

31.03.2001

1.Hello George, my name is Isaac David, I'm 17 years old (18 in january) I born and live in Mexico ¡¡¡VIVA MEXICO CABRONES!!!! My house is in Pachuca, my social status is "middle".

2. I'm a student of "preparatoria" (A grade before getting in the university) I want to study "Computation" or something related for it, Now I'm in the Mathematics assignatures. The people think that mathematics are very bore, but I don't think so, I like the mathematics and so, I want to study something related to computers ( I love the computers!!!!!) and mathematics.

My hobbie is ¡¡¡play piano!!!! ( I study piano since my 5 years old), guitar and drums ( I'd like to study bass), I compose my own songs and i want  to get in a rock band, Please wish me luck (deséame suerte) to be a rock star, And I hope that you'll revise my albums in the future please.

Otthers hobbies is: play videogames in the computers and hear a LOT OF MUSIC of course. My fathers don't understand why I hear a lot of music, the reason is that music is MY LIFE.

3. I'm just interested for ROCK, is the only style that I hear, I like the classic rock and some bands of today. I hate a lot of styles that destroy my ears ( ha ha) (And i hope that you hate too) : the teenage pop, rap, electronic (dance, house, techno, ...)  latin (cumbia, merengue , cha cha cha, ska...), nu metal, music in spanish ( not at all), opera, etc, etc, etc.

My favorite groups: They are not a lot, I started to hear rock music since my 5 years old, but I began to buy albums frecuently in 2002. This is my personal ranking: 1. Beatles 2. Pink Floyd 3.Queen 4 The who 5 Led zeppelin 6 Rolling stones 7 Red hot Chili Peppers ( do you know them???) 8 John Lennon 9 Radiohead ( I wish that you revise them, is the best band playing today) 10 George Harrison 11 Paul McCartney ...this last bands are my favorites of all the times, I have anothers but they are the best for me.

I have put in the web a very very very young page of reviews: www.angelfire.com/rock3/thewall 

I hope that it'll grow in the future, in the page I explain my rating scale, How I put a note to a album ,etc. My scale is 0-10, it's very easy...The albums that I've put a 10 are: Abbey road, White album, Animals, A night at the opera, wish you were here, magical mystery tour and sgt. peppers ...they are the BEST albums for me.

21.08.2003

Christina DeGailler

18

Portland, Oregon

Here is the list for the best of the best musicians.

LEAD GUITER: GOD (duh! Eric Clapton), George Harrison, Pete Townshend, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Ted Nugent,Tom Scholz, Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Paul Kossoff, Jimi Hendrix, Alvin Lee, Toni Iommi, Joe Walsh, Mick Ralphs, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Joe Perry, Randy Rhoades, Neal Schon, and Phil Collen

RYTHYM GUITER: John Lennon, Malcolm Young

BASS: Paul McCartney, Andy Fraser, Dale Peters, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, John Entwhistle, Geezer Butler, Geddy Lee, Cliff Williams, Les Claypool, Boz Burrell, and Noel Redding

Drums: Bonzo, Phil Rudd, Keith Moon, Simon Kirke, Ringo, Bill Ward, Jim Fox, Ginger Baker, Randy Castillo, and Mitch Mitchell

PIANO: Steve Winwood, Elton John, Freddy Mercury, Andy Fraser

VOCALIST: Wilson Picket, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Marvin Gay, Robert Plant, Burton Cummings, Bon Scott, Brian Johnson, OZZY (mesmerizing electric), Roger Daltery, Steve Winwood, Paul Rodgers, Brad Delp, Joe Elliott, Joe Cocker, John Kay,Andy Fraser, Steven Stills, Freddy Mercury, Jim Morrison, Etta James, Pat Benatar, Janis Joplin, Arethra Franklin, Lydia Pense (Cold Blood)

COMPOSERS: THE BEATLES!!, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan, Ian Anderson, John Lennon (solo), Freddy Mercury, Tom Petty, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, Fraser/Rodgers, Mars Bonfire, and Van Morrison

BEST GROUP: THE BEATLES (If you do not agree with me thus proves you do NOT like music)

BEST GROUPS: Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Jethro Tull, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Free, The Who, The Doors, Boston, James Gang, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, (the real) Bad Company, The Band, Grand Funk Railroad, CCR, Steppenwolf, Heart, Humble Pie,and The Eagles.

CHRISTINA'S FAVORITE SONG: "In the City" (Joe Walsh- Warriors soundtrack)

WORST VOCALIST: Mick Jagger and David Bowie

WORST DRUMMER: Charlie Watts (think about it!)

01.08.2001

I. *Personal data*. Name, age, country and city of birth and residence, social status, etc. John DeMagus, 54. I was born in the UK and lived there until 3 years ago. I now live in Stockholm, Sweden with my partner (she's Swedish). Social status? Pariah, I hope.

II. *Personal non-music related interests*. How do you escape the misery of this life *now* and how are you planning to do so in the future? I drink. I plan to keep on drinking.

III. *Music-related questions* (the most important part). Your musical tastes: favourite and most despised bands/artists/musical genres. Are you more of a branching-out eclecticist or a more restricted fan? What are, or would be, your criteria for rating music (if you have them at all, that is?) What's your attitude about music reviewing? Would you like to have a site of your own? Are you a musician? What instruments do you play or would like to play? Who's your favourite bass player? What colour are the socks of George W. Bush (oops, sorry, wrong program). You get my drift. Anyway, be the first one on your block to win the Certified Music Review Commentator tag! As for me, plans involve putting up links from your previous (or future) comments to this page so that everybody could easily access this personal info from any of your comments. This will be a hassle, of course, but it might be worth the entire game. So enter the game!

My musical tastes were formed in the mid-sixties to early seventies and most of the music I listen to is still from that era. Specifically I like the Stones, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Joy Division, the Doors, Nick Drake and Tim Buckley. Generally I like some metal (actually MOST metal), some Goth, blues, traditional English folk music, punk, post-punk, some New Country, Southern rock (especially the Allmans and Lynyrd Skynyrd), a lot of 60s pop, psychedelic, some techno and trance (especially Astral Projection). I'm busy hunting down rare 60s psychedelia. I used to play drums, and I also sang and wrote song lyrics for a briefly lived folk-rock band called The Otter in the early 1970s.

12.05.2006

Mike DeFabio.

18 last time I counted.

Richmond, California, USA.

High school senior with no money and too much free time.

I tend to escape the misery of this life by either listening to music, or making music that I'd like to listen to if I run out of pre-made music to listen to. I'm in a band called the Other Leading Brand that's weird as all get out (what's a get out, anyway?) and when I'm not up to my eyesockets in meaningless homework I'm probably pounding away on a drum machine. I don't watch television much unless someone else is watching it. The last movie I saw was "Brazil" and it was fantastic. The last good book I read was... er... Kafka's "Metamorphosis."

Favorite bands? Hoo boy. Radiohead, Pink Floyd, early Genesis, Beatles, the Fall, DJ Shadow, Can, the Police, Frank Zappa, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Steely Dan, etc.

Least favorite bands? Sheesh. Air Supply, Limp Bizkit, Korn, AC/DC, ABBA, Kansas, Slayer, Ted Nugent, Metallica (not because of Napster, but because they don't write very good songs), Supertramp, Bread, Puff Daddy, etc.

Favorite albums? Oh MAN. OK Computer, The Wall, Foxtrot, Revolver, Perverted By Language, Endtroducing, Tago Mago, Zenyatta Mondatta, Apostrophe, Brain Salad Surgery, Countdown to Ecstasy, etc.

I wholeheartedly embrace any and all genres. There's plenty of good rap, plenty of good country, plenty of good techno, plenty of good metal, and plenty of good new age. Would you like me to name some? Okay! Jurassic 5, Johnny Cash, Meat Beat Manifesto, Tool, Tangerine Dream. There's plenty of good avant-garde, too! Like Karlheinz Stockhausen!

I'd like to have my own site if I didn't have to maintain it myself. Albums would be rated according to a big complicated graph that no one can read.

Mike DeFabio's Supergroup:

Guitarist: Jonny Greenwood.

Bassist: Les Claypool.

Drummer: The guy from Can.

Keyboardist: Keith Emerson.

Singer: Blixa Bargeld.

Music written by: Frank Zappa Lyrics written by: Bob Dylan and Roger Waters.

What else can I say about me? I have three dogs. I use the computer too much. I'm wearing blue pants. Right now I'm working on a Low Maintenance Perennials remix album. I like ice cream. If you met me you'd hate me. I'm a music geek. You've seen "High Fidelity," right? Jack Black's character? I AM that guy.

28.03.2001

Hi. My name is Adrian Denning, i'm twenty seven years of age and was born and raised in England. I'm still in England but I hope to see the rest of the world before I die. I grew up in the countryside and my favourite color is green. I also have green eyes and, when it get's out of hand, Bob Dylan hair.

I don't believe i've had a particularly sucessful life uptil this point. I am however a hopeless romantic and just want to 'arrive' at some stage with a nice house and a nice person to share it with. However long it takes me to reach that point and have a nice job I enjoy into the bargain - i'm not too concerned about. I'd like to get there in the end though!

I write poetry as a hobby. I live with six cats and some sort of dog who is almost as soppy as I am. My musical tastes? I adore sixties groups such as The Beach Boys, The Byrds and The Kinks. I also like weirder stuff such as Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Stereolab and The Fall. I like to think I have open minded tastes and have a wide variety of music in my collection. I also appreciate artists such as Erykah Badu, Marilyn Manson and one of my favourite songs is Abba's 'Dancing Queen'. So, that about sums it up then!

12.12.2001

Name: Richard C. Dickison (AKA Randomkill)

Date Of Birth: Sept. 11th 1963

Location: Rio Nido, California USA

Job: Web Admin - Wells Fargo Bank

2. Just bought a house with 36 Redwood trees that needs allot of attention, the house that is.

I hang on allot of sites and mod on a Farscape (TV, Sci-fi oriented) discussion board www.ultimatefarscape.com

I have been overcome by the work George did on this board. It really is huge now and I remember when there were only three comments on the Pink Floyd area. I also am currently creating several sites for different reasons. It helps to see wonderful boards like this, well thought out and enjoyable, informative and just plain fun.

3. Favorite band would be hmmmmm. OK! I give, I like so many here. OK, Mid-Fleetwood Mac, Early-Elton John, add Mid-Jethro Tull, and sprinkle with Late-Beatles, Brian Eno, Clannad, David Bowie, and a dash of various 90's industrial and dance for texture.

07.12.2000

My name is David Dickson. I am currently a junior at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and I am a popular music addict. I was born in Topeka, Kansas, home of the tallest capitol building in the United States. (It's true; taller even than the National Capitol by a foot.)

I escape the misery of this life by constantly getting shot down by girls with more social experience than twenty of me. (Yes, even at Rice, most people seem to have lives. It's the very opposite of fair.) I plan to either start an art-rock band and get booed off the stage in every punk-addicted dive in Texas, or move to Russia and build a highway connecting Anchorage to Moscow via a tunnel under the Bering Strait, in the process making enemies of everyone from Russian nationalists to Irkut separatists to paranoid McCarthyites in the U.S., to the very environmentalists that I contribute to. Either way, I will make people hopping mad.

I am currently embarking on an extensive and very expensive project: finding out what the 125 best albums of all time are. So far I have come to but one conclusion: Revolver is NOT number one. It's good, and it's on the list, but it ain't nearly the best. Many other albums that are widely considered to be the most influential of all time have been entirely eliminated from my list: Beggar's Banquet, The Velvet Underground and Nico, Never Mind the Bollocks, Tommy, and The Chronic being but a few of those unlucky ones. However, since I was 16, my tastes have become eclectic in the extreme: Public Enemy and Shania Twain both get the chance to rub shoulders with the Who and Def Leppard in my chronicles of the best in popular music. I would say honestly that my favorite styles of that multitude largely consist of big, bombastic, calculated schlock: King Crimson, Boston, The Smashing Pumpkins, and early '70's-era Pink Floyd being prime examples of my preferred kind of popular pomposity. My favorite band of all time, though, is the same one that 90% of all other music fans love--you know, that one that did "Yesterday". . . Of all the myriad artists of the last four decades, the Beatles seem to be the only ones to have been consistent AND innovative AND catchy AND popular all at the same time, on all their releases. I mostly rate musicians on how good their LP's are; you can write great songs but still have mediocre albums. Also, I tend to focus more on the music of a song than the lyrics; if a piece has good lyrics, fine; if not, that's also fine. Occasionally, the lyrics are so good that they push a song over the borderline between "great" and "extraordinary"; "The Last Resort" on the Eagles' Hotel California being a case in point. (Yeah, I'll admit it. I'm one of those Hotel California fanatics. So shoot me.) I disagree with George about the Rolling Stones; I think their albums are fairly overrated. (Then again, all I've heard of them is Beggars Banquet, Sticky Fingers, Tattoo You, and Forty Licks, so who am I to judge. . .) I wholeheartedly agree with him about Led Zeppelin; only one of their albums qualifies as a masterpiece, (though it isn't George's pick, in my opinion. Sorry, George, we have slightly different tastes. But you knew that already.)

So far, I've found forty-five albums that sound absolutely amazing enough to make the list. Here they are, in order from least incredible to most incredible. One more thing: influence very often has little, if anything, to do with the quality of any of the albums on this list. Though the two traits often correlate with one another, they do not necessarily go hand in hand.

45.) Loaded (VU, 1970) Derivative, yes, but oh so fun.

44.) Stand! (SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE, 1969)

43.) Tracy Chapman (TRACY CHAPMAN, 1988)

42.) Before and After Science (ENO, 1977) Thanks for introducing me to this masterpiece, George. You da man.

41.) Who's Next (THE WHO, 1971)

40.) War (U2, 1983)

39.) Jagged Little Pill (ALANIS MORRISETTE, 1995)

38.) Another Side of Bob Dylan, 1964

37.) Source Tags and Codes (AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD, 2002) Yes, that really is their name.

36.) Cosmo's Factory (CCR, 1970)

35.) Sticky Fingers (ROLLING STONES, 1971)

34.) Violator (DEPECHE MODE, 1990)

33.) Superunknown (SOUNDGARDEN, 1994)

32.) 1999 (PRINCE, 1982) Best party album ever. You don't have it, and you have a life; buy it.

31.) Blood, Sweat, & Tears (BS&T, 1969)

30.) Pet Sounds (BEACH BOYS, 1966)

29.) Pronounced Leh-nerd skin-nerd (LYNYRD SKYNYRD, 1973)

28.) In the Court of the Crimson King (KING CRIMSON, 1969)

27.) Pretty Hate Machine (NIN, 1989)

26.) Play (MOBY, 1999)

25.) Little Earthquakes (TORI AMOS, 1991)

24.) Songs from the Big Chair (TEARS FOR FEARS, 1985)

23.) Cracked Rear View (HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH, 1994) Innocent, yes, but loaded with hits.

22.) AEnima (TOOL, 1996) Death-metal meets Yes. What can I say?

21.) Hysteria (DEF LEPPARD, 1987) Even if you hate the entire '80's, George, you have to admit, all twelve songs on here are agonizingly catchy.

20.) Come On Over (SHANIA TWAIN, 1997) Highest-selling album of the 1990's. Seriously.

19.) Ziggy Stardust (DAVID BOWIE, 1972)

18.) Revolver (BEATLES, 1966) Sorry. It's just not this album's lucky day.

17.) OK Computer (RADIOHEAD, 1997)

16.) Siamese Dream (SMASHING PUMPKINS, 1993)

15.) The Wall (PINK FLOYD, 1979)

14.) The White Album (BEATLES, 1968)

13.) untitled (LED ZEPPELIN, 1971)

12.) Bat Out of Hell (MEAT LOAF, 1977)

11.) Metallica (METALLICA, 1991)

10.) Highway 61 Revisited (BOB DYLAN, 1965) Brrr. "Desolation Row" gives me the shivers. In a good way.

9.) Odelay (BECK, 1996)

8.) Blood Sugar Sex Magik (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, 1991) All the albums from here on have not a single bad song on them:

7.) It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (PUBLIC ENEMY, 1988)

6.) Boston (BOSTON, 1976)

5.) Rubber Soul (BEATLES, 1965)

4.) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (ELTON JOHN, 1973)

3.) Hotel California (THE EAGLES, 1976) Sorry, George. It just IS one of the best albums ever made. Nothing personal.

2.) Abbey Road (BEATLES, 1969)

1.) Dark Side of the Moon (PINK FLOYD, 1973)

Quadrophenia also definitely makes the list, but I can't yet figure out where to put it. Definitely above Who's Next, though. Kiss my ass, Tommy.

Les Claypool is the best bass player of all time; he's the only one, other than John Entwhistle (God rest his soul) who truly forged new frontiers in bass playing. George W. Bush's socks are probably pink with polka dots.

--David Dickson, music freak extraordinaire, currently seeking a life in the real world.

23.10.2002

PERSONAL DATA:

Name: Ben Dominici Age: 23 Home: San Francisco, CA Social Status: ???

PERSONAL NON-MUSIC RELATED INTERESTS:

Hmmmm, let's see...music is such a prominent part of my life, in so many ways....... Okay, I like the forest and the beach, writing, reading, animals, movies, art, animation, dancing, laughing, unselfish people, unspoiled children, San Francisco, The Simpsons, Salvador Dali, Calvin & Hobbes, Peter Sellers, Dustin Hoffman, Ren & Stimpy, The Daily Show, Robert Crumb, Woody Allen, BBC's The Office, Arrested Development(The TV Show), Richard Pryor, M.C. Escher, Vincent van Gough, Hunter S. Thompson, Ray Bradbury, The K Chronicles, The Far Side, John Callahan, Seinfeld, Fleischer, Warner Bros. and Disney cartoons...... That's all I can think of off the top of my head.... I want to hurry and proceed to the music part.

MUSIC-RELATED INTERESTS:

In addition to writing/recording/performing songs, singing, and playing guitar and drums, I enjoy LOTS of different types of music. There are far too many mucicians/composers/bands/groups to mention, so I'll just list my favorites: Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band, The Red Krayola/The Red Crayola/Mayo Thompson, The Mothers Of Invention/Frank Zappa, The Soft Machine, The Bonzo Dog Band, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Dolphy, Leadbelly, Syd Barrett, The Residents, Louis Armstrong, Nick Drake, Howlin' Wolf, The Freestyle Fellowship, Sly & The Family Stone, Moondog, John Lennon, Sun Ra, Os Mutantes, The Zombies, Robert Wyatt, Billie Holiday, Gong, Ray Charles, Procol Harum, Nirvana, Mikah 9, Renaldo & The Loaf, Sonny Rollins, Lee Perry, Skip James, Thelonious Monk, Moby Grape, Django Reinhardt, Blossom Toes, The Beach Boys, The Nice, Caravan, The Kinks, Sidney Bechet, Snakefinger, Can, Kevin Ayers, Giles Giles & Fripp, P.E.A.C.E, Slapp Happy, Daniel Johnston, Desmond Dekker, Chick Webb, Harry Nilsson, The Pretty Things, Spike Jones, Busdriver, Of Montreal, Max Roach, The Small Faces, Pere Ubu, The United States of America, Al Green, Tomorrow, The Everly Brothers, Buffalo Springfield, Grapefruit, and Mississippi John Hurt.

Phew. That was tough. Anyway, like I said earlier, there's much more. I had to pick and choose, believe it or not. Maybe I should have seperated the list into genres. Oh well. There's Rock, Psyche, Prog, Blues, Jazz, Reggae, Soul and Hip Hop up there, as well as a few sub-genres that I won't bother mentioning.

One last thing: As far as my criteria is concerned, composition is generally what I pay the most attention to. I say "generally" because I believe artists' success within certain genres (like Jazz, Blues, and Reggae, for example) can have as much (if not more) to do with performance, but as a songwriter, that's usually what catches my interest.

Some of the artists on my list haven't released that much material, and some have released a great deal. Whatever the case, the inclusion of an artist or group doesn't necessarily mean that I enjoy everything they've put out. Some are there because, when I average the quality of their material, it puts them at the top. Some are there because of just a couple of albums, or, in a few cases, just one album, whether they've released one, two, or 15 of them during their careers.

I guess I don't really have much of a method to my criteria, and maybe it just goes to show that logic doesn't really apply when it comes to critiquing music, or any art for that matter. What it really comes down to is, certain music either grabs you or it doesn't. So cut George some slack. I disagree with him a lot of the time, but I appriciate how difficult it must be to listen to and review all the stuff on this site. I know I'd never attempt it. Besides, even if you think George is wrong most of the time, you'll have to admit that his stuff sure makes for an interesting and extensive document of opinions that you may or may not agree with.

26.08.2006

I really appreciate this website, since the popular music of the sixties and early seventies is one of my life's passions.

My real name is Brian Donovan, and I was born precisely one year after the Riot On Cell Block #9. (That made yesterday pretty significant.) Guess I'm a frustrated rock guitarist but I make my money as an attorney.

I come from Grand Rapids, Michigan which is where Al Green grew up...also Del Shannon who came from Coopersville just west of town.

Musically it all flows from The Beatles...like so many others, it was a real milestone in my life when I first saw them on the Ed Sullivan Show. Before that I was listening to my dad's Dixieland and Broadway show albums, also Danny Kaye and some classical stuff. Afterwards I would get the mono Beatles albums right when they'd come out.

I spent a lot of time listening to AM rock radio stations lie WLAV and WGRD, and also WLS out of Chicago. When I got the "Nuggets" double LP in the mid-70s I think I knew at least half of those songs from all that radio.

Around 1969 I started branching out and getting other groups' albums, like Moody Blues, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver, Butterfield Blues Band. I got my first job and an awful lot of that money went into buying albums. Stones, Who, S&G, CSN, Zeppelin, Canned Heat. As the 70s went on I picked up on Procol Harum, Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, Randy Newman, Dire Straits, Talking Heads. As the 80s began a lot of my interest in current rock began fading. I'd keep going back to the 60s and 70s instead. I'd go through various phases of getting into acts of the past, like Beach Boys, Otis Redding. Actually that still goes on. This past year I got a lot of the Kinks, even found a copy of Face To Face at a local used CD shop.

I played guitar in a couple of classic rock hobby bands in the last ten years or so, better late than never I say. I still jam with a couple of friends but we need to find a rhythm section...bass players and drummers are hard to come by.

Beyond saying the Beatles are my favorite band, it's hard to pick out other favorites because there are so many. One last thing...certainly music has changed since the sixties, but I'm struck by how much of that sound has remained. Even now, the difference between now and then is much less than the difference between the sixties rock I grew up with and the big bands and show tunes my folks listened to.

03.07.2004

I like to think that my tastes are rather diverse, and in actuality I've enjoyed contributions from all genres (except rap, unless you count Subterranean Homesick Blues or Anyway the Wind Blows or something). I won't list my favorites because they're far too obvious and predictable, but suffice it to say my tastes are very similar to George's. I'm an amateur songwriter with many songs and no feasible way to convey their melodies. I love reading, writing, listening to music, watching movies and swimming. I have a dog. I'm very liberal. How far is this personal synopsis supposed to go anyway? Well, I guess this is adequate, if not I'll correct it on a future occassion. Well, peace, I guess.

14.09.2002

I. Personal data. Vincent Earley, 40, USA; Born in New Mexico

II. Personal non-music related interests.

My non-music related interests would be family. My wife and son's interests and our time together. I escape the misery through music and . I want to write and perform music in some capacity in the future....but that's another question, huh....

III. Music-related questions (the most important part).

My musical tastes are very broad. I have been around music my entire life. From nickelodeans in the Ozark Mountains to the kid busting rythm on his knees to the Beatles to the latest from Staind. I love music and I especially love hearing the recordings of people that started new things. I hate the packaged bands that the industry shoves at us, but they are so obvious they never go the distance anyway. I am anchored, though, in the classics. Mostly because I believe that much of everything we will ever love about pop music has already been done. There is alot of good music out there today that is simply being regurgitated. Not that I don't like that. I am pining to hear some really good Elvis covers and if anyone thinks the Beatles didn't already produce much of the so called grunge alternative sound, all they need do is listen to "Yer Blues" or "Happiness is a Warm Gun" and they should be able to see the connection. I don't need to belong to a music genre when I can clearly see the things that all musical genres have in common. From folk to blues to country to R&B to rock.......all popular music owes itself to the collective. Resistence to that fundamental truth is futile.

My criteria for rating music would be that it should be an original work of the artist or, at least, a passionate display of expressing what he/she loves about the artist being covered. I hate rules in music. I think music theory should be used to open the door to aspiring creators, not tie them down. And if they tune their instruments to something totally strange and manage to produce their own chord structure that is musically appealing........good for them. It was the edgy new blues chords with their dark character that the early rockers were chasing down, not the common stuff found in music class. I despise the fashion/lifestyle package that is the demon we have to live with as long as the music industry is in control, which....joyously may soon come to an ugly end. I have a passion for the process of recording. I get into the details of the session. Where was it done? Under what limitations? I try to pick out the individual sounds and the effects of the room. I think there should be more left in. It is too damn clinical. Jimmy Page didn't bother cleaning up his guitar solo's and I believe the character of his music will endure the test of time because of it. I already like a musician (or band of them) for taking the time to record their music for me even before I hear them, especially if they did it themselves. I think I enjoy the simple more than the complex; however, I believe a complex piece of music that is successfully passed off as something simple is a true accomplishment and sign of genius.

My attitude about music reviewing is that the endeavor is actually kind of silly....especially in this day and age where we find more and more musicians circumventing the process of professional production and publishing via the internet and poor-boy home studios. The idea that any one person can effectively disect a recording with regards to musical content for the masses is kind of absurd. That said, I do believe; however, that once a person can be trusted with a good grasp of a particular brand or genre he/she can be a good place to start where it's new talent is concerned. I, personally, am more inclined to go to great lengths to hear anything a critic bashes because I feel like the band deserves a chance for the effort. I admit, though, that I often discover the critic to be right more times than not...heh heh. It's like when a friend tells you a band sucked.............aren't you more inclined to dissmiss them? But what if the band played alot of wonderful blues/love ballads and your friend just had a divorce? The point is, a critic should stay close to home to be useful.

I don't think I would call myself a musician; however, I do play guitar. My favorite bass player is Paul McCartney. I like his melodies and the fact that he plays melodies with the bass. He may or may not have benchmarked that technique, but he has certainly used it effectively. I suppose as far as showmanship, he could be compared to Ringo Star. Neither really did more than what was necessary with their instruments and they were right on time. It's easy to have a favorite bass player. I don't play bass and I don't know that many of them. Ask me who my favorite guitar player is, narrow it down to those alive, and I would still be afraid that I was betraying the other dozen or so. I suppoes it would be cool to have a website of my own, in fact I have often thought that I would like to start up a site that featured local ameteur talent that was recorded and mixed right there. But I can barely find time to practice guitar, which is my first love.....so I doubt I will do something like that until I retire, at least. So there you are.

22.07.2002

I was born in 1957 and consider myself fortunate to have lived through an incredible era in popular music. I am a musician myself, writing my own songs and more extended compositions, playing several instruments (guitar most prominently) and owning my own recording studio where I am engaged in finally recording my own album of original songs. I grew up in Massachusetts but studied as an undergraduate at William and Mary, in Virginia, as well as spending one year of university in the U.K., where I was exposed to their much different musical scene. For over a decade I have lived in Texas. So I believe I have a good background in Southern and British rock as well as the mainstream 1970s product. I also have a background in classical music, also American and Anglo-Celtic folk, even a little jazz.

My own arts-related Web site is The Corner Oak.

I am employed as an editor of online documents, which also involves a lot of HTML coding, and I work as a technical assistant for a contemporary (crossover) classical composer in Austin, Texas. I write reviews of theater, television, and musical events. Those interested in a sample of my classical writing may visit this page on Corigliano's third symphony.

Oh, my first name is androgynous, but I'm very male.

Favorite albums and artists: Gee, that's tough; I'm more of a musical gourmand than a gourmet. I grew up idolizing the Beatles and, to a lesser degree, the Stones (high peaks but a lot of filler). I was also a Who fanatic and saw a great concert by them in 1975. Between 1974 and 1978 I was also blessed with having seen George Harrison, the Jefferson Starship, Crosby and Nash, the Grateful Dead, Zappa (twice), Little Feat (with Lowell), the Marshall Tucker Band, Billy Cobham and George Duke, Jimmy Buffett, the Beach Boys, and many others. I went through a serious prog phase, especially Yes and ELP (but they both started to shit the bed after a few years, I'm afraid; Love Beach??), also King Crimson, and I was a big Floyd fan when they were classic. In the later '70s I got into fusion, which burned out for lack of new ideas after a few years. Never liked disco a whole lot, though I'll give the Bee Gees their due. In the '80s I liked a lot of early New Wave: Police, Split Enz, Flash and the Pan (now nearly forgotten, but groundbreaking at the time), Cars, Talking Heads, etc. Other '80s faves included early U2 and most of Dire Straits. Also reggae starting in the mid-'70s. I like '90s alt-rock more than most of my contemporaries, having a son who has turned me on to a lot of bands from that era, including Alice in Chains, Third Eye Blind, the Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Beck, many others. Recent favorites: Damien Rice's O, Green Day's American idiot.

29.09.2005

I'm Seth Edwards, an 18 year old born/living in Seattle, Washington. Currently unemployed, yet still attending school at a local community college. I plan to transfer to the University of Washington when I have enough credits.

Outside of music I enjoy moves quite a bit, some personal favorites being The Godfather 1&2, The Big Lebowski, Pulp Fiction, Batman, and This is Spinal Tap (of course). I used to act in high school productions (which were quite good) but haven't done anything like that in awhile. In fact as of right now most of my hobbies are music related, although I still read and do some writing.

Now for the important stuff, my musical tastes/interests/obsessions/etc. I think the first album I ever heard was Revolver by the Beatles, when my parents used to play it. I remember hearing side 2 quite a bit more frequently than side 1, for reasons unknown to me. In elementary school I wasn't really into Vanilla Ice or anything like that...unlike my peers if I remember correctly. The first band I really liked was Guns N' Roses, to this day I still consider their debut album a classic hard rock release. Soon enough I had gotten into Metallica, and later the grunge bands (how could I not?). For a long time Metallica was my absolute favorite band, I don't listen to them much now. Right around, maybe 1 or 2 years ago, I started getting heavily into classic rock. I started out with Led Zeppelin. I don't care for them much anymore, either, for pretty much all of the reasons George lists on his Zeppelin page. After Zeppelin, it was the Beatles. My favorite band hasn't changed since getting Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper on the same day. In addition to the Beatles, I am also into other Brit-invasion bands such as The Stones, Who, and Kinks.

I also enjoy Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Van Morrison, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Elton John, Velvet Underground, David Bowie, The Stooges, Miles Davis, Cream, The Allman Brothers Band, Badfinger, The Clash, the Police, U2, Black Sabbath, and many others.

I play guitar, and sing (tenor range I guess), so I also like to think I have the ability to write songs. Right now I just jam around with my friends.

Favorite Guitarists: Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page Favorite Bassists: Paul McCartney, John Entwistle Favorite Drummers: Keith Moon, Charlie Watts, Stewart Copeland

Some of my favorite albums: Any Beatles album, Blonde on Blonde (Dylan), Let it Bleed (Stones), Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), The Joshua Tree (U2), Disraeli Gears (Cream), Raw Power (Iggy and the Stooges).

19.01.2001

Name: Nick Einhorn

Birthdate: Oct. 22, 1984 (making me 16)

Residence: Connecticut

Status: High school student

Interests: I’m a heavy reader. My favorite authors are all of the Beat writers, as well as Kurt Vonnegut, Aldous Huxley, Lewis Carroll, and Arthur Rimbaud. I write a bit, too. I’m a musician myself; I play piano/keyboard and I sing (I’m a bass). Other interests include playing tennis, sleeping, and avoiding work.

Music: The first band I got into was (surprise, surprise) the Beatles, when I was in eighth grade. After that, I got into the Who, the Stones, and pretty much the rest of classic rock from there. I like to think of myself as an eclecticist: I like everything from folk (Woody Guthrie, Nick Drake) to punk (Clash, Stooges) to occasional rap (Beastie Boys, Public Enemy). But my main areas are British invasion rock and late sixties art/psychedelic music. You know, just to make it easier, here’s my personal favorites (in approximate order).

Top 10 bands/artists: Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Who, The Kinks, Procol Harum, Jefferson Airplane, The Clash, Traffic, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan

Top 10 albums: Animals (Pink Floyd), The Who Sell Out (The Who), Big Hits (Rolling Stones), Arthur (The Kinks), Shine On Brightly (Procol Harum), Ars Longa Vita Brevis (The Nice), Fifth Dimension (The Byrds), Magical Mystery Tour (The Beatles), All Things Must Pass (George Harrison), Live 1966 (Bob Dylan)

Top 7 guitarists: George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi, Joe Strummer, Keith Richards

Top 8 keyboardists: Ray Manzarek, Matthew Fischer, Rick Wright, Garth Hudson, Rick Davies, Al Kooper, Alan Price, Keith Emerson

Top 4 bassists: Jack Casady, John Paul Jones, John Entwistle, Chris Hillman

Top 4 drummers: Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Ringo Starr

Top 5 vocalists: Grace Slick, Bob Dylan, Annie Haslam, Joe Strummer, David Crosby

Hello! My name is Eric Ericson. I've gone under a few different names too, just as "The Killa" during my Radio Disc Jockey days, and "RedSabbath" as I'm known through the Internet. I currently live in Alpharetta Georgia USA, but grew up in Tampa Florida, the late 1980's home & birthplace of Death Metal. I was born in May of 1969, so that makes me a little older than some of the reviewers here, but the wiser can sometimes be the better, right?

But let me explain a little of what brought me here to George's review site in the first place:

I worship Black Sabbath.

Now I don't mean I like say "Paranoid", "Iron Man", and "War Pigs" like any casual fan, I mean I like anything & everything ever released with the name of Black Sabbath on it. I like the Ozzy Years, The Dio Years, the work with Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, Glenn Hughes...all of it! In fact here's some personal history:

....Dio actually was one of the main reasons that drew me to Sabbath in the first place (Gasp!)! When I got into Black Sabbath, I was twelve years old in 1981, when I saw the film Heavy Metal, in the theatre no less (My Mom got me & my two friends in)! The song that stuck in my head was "The Mob Rules", with it's heavy sound & loud powerful vocals. When I heard this, I was hooked, but more so on Dio's voice than Black Sabbath as a whole. A few years later, I finally started to buy albums (records at first, then pre-recorded tapes) with my own money. The first related album I bought was Holy Diver and loved it. Wore the Hell outta that tape! Almost immediately after, I bought The Mob Rules and loved it even more! After that I was hooked, buying Heaven And Hell. But then after two Ozzy purchases (Blizzard/Diary), I dug into the Ozzy Sabbath years, and realized that Black Sabbath were becoming my favorite band of all time. But even though the solo releases by Dio & Ozzy! were incredible in their own right, they just didn't compare to the colabration of them with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler (with special mention to Bill Ward as well). But there was one difference though, the performance of the members as a whole, and as the band called Black Sabbath....

That's a quote of mine posted on one of my main Internet hobbies. You see, awhile back I was offered the job of being one of the main moderators of the offical "Tony Iommi Forum". I of course accepted! Now keep in mind, this isn't just some fansite, this one is actually ran by the management of Mr. Tony Iommi himself! In fact, he's thanked me on several occasions for the work I've contributed on his forum site! Everyone here is welcome to check us out and discuss your views on this legendary guitarist and his incredible band by following this link:

http://www2.iommi.com/forums/index

Anyway, while doing research, I stumbled upon George's site and his somewhat harsh (yet honest & well written) reviews on Black Sabbath's various eighteen studio albums (and the live ones too). After reading them, and later writing & communicating with George, I got a better view on why he shows these opinions on Sabbath's classic recordings. To me, no matter how harsh he is to a Sabbath album I find quite enjoyable, his opinion still holds merit and still should be read by even the most critical of fans. Since then, I've been writing alternative views on Black Sabbath albums for his site (as well as on the forum I mentioned earlier), to help give another point-of-view to say an upstart Sabbath fan, from someone like myself who knows Black Sabbath's work inside out, and maybe be helpful as to which album to buy next. Of course, I enjoy many other bands too, but here I'll probably be concentrating on the Black Sabbath family most.

Well, that's enough for now. If anyone wishes to contact me on any of this, or have an opinion of your own concerning one of mine, please EMail at this address below:

ericericsonthekilla@budweiser.com

Thanks for reading & long live Tony Iommi and the greatest Metal band of all time, Black Sabbath!

12.06.2003

I love music. Jazz, folk, blues, rock and roll, beat, skiffle, soul, hip-hop, bluegrass, country, and all genres to come. I spent five years swimming thru the music of Bob Dylan, there are no stones left unturned, and I have such a great appreciation for the man and his music. It is an honor to be a part of this forum.

20.08.2001

I. Name is something with an a and n

as of 2001 a psychology major

born in 79

social status: seeking and wanting to be... nevermind

II Video games and anything thats fun. Dating, walking, running, eating out, going out, staring at the sky, etc. I like fun and hate boring. I can't emphasize how much I like fun. I'll do anything any psychollogically healthy person would do just as long as its fun.

III I like music thats mystifying and good. Like Pink floyd, led zeppelin, yes, nirvana, badfinger. I also like the beatles because their good. Kudos for elton john and stevie wonder. I'm also into classical and anything thats good. I like specifc songs more than any specific group, that philosophy tends to distance myself (a little) from being too attached too any one group or solo artist. My criteria for rating music is simple: is a song good or not? (I don't really care about rating music artists themselves. General ratings on music artists tends to factor in NON-MUSIC factors like influence, popularity, lifestyle issues, personal info that ultimately may predispose one to dislike a song). So the criteria is, put simply, "is the song good or not?" Then it leads to, are most of the songs on this album good/great?... then its good/great album. Are most of these bands (or solo artists) song's good/great?... if so, their good/great band (or solo artist).

03.03.2001

1. Personal data

Morten Felgenhauer, born 1973 in Norway and still live there. I am married with no children. I work daytime 5 days a week which is OK, because it's a good compromise between money and spare time.

2. Personal non-music related interests.

Apart from family and friends and semi-interests like books and movies there is really just one thing that I grabs my attention in addition to music (see below). That thing is Scotch single malt whisky. There is/was over 100 destilleries in Scotland and each and every one have their own unique product. I intend to test each and every one of them. I'm roughly half way there now. NB - this is not boozing - just pure enjoyment of the best drinks ever made by man.

3. Music-related questions

As you may have guessed, music is my main interest and it occupies most of my spare time. It does so in three ways:

a. I play instruments myself. My main instrument is the bass, but I also fool around with guitar, drums and keyboards. My main inspirations are Paul McCartney and diverse players from Motown and 60s soul records (James Brown, Otis Redding & Wilson Pickett). I cannot and will not ever want to learn to "slap". I am also self educated in music theory. That, along with my knowledge of playing, makes me able to understand what band members are doing and the context in which they are doing it.

b. I collect LPs and CDs, of course. These are divided into 3 categories: * Favourites. I started with the Beatles as a ten-year old and progressed to the Stones one year later. Since then I have never looked back and have more or less complete collections with the following artists: Stones, Beatles (including solo), Who, Kinks, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen, REM & U2. There are others as well - I just can't remember them all at the moment, but you get my drift. It's not very original is it? Take comfort in that I'm able to aprreciate almost every artist that has made a name of themselves in the last 50 years, from Hank Williams to Prodigy. It's just that I don't need every album Vanilla Fudge ever made.

* Other important names. There are many other good artists that I love, but they were not that consistantly good that I need all of their recorded output. These are represented by single album compilations (Little Richard) or box sets (Elvis Presley). Many artists never made good albums but came up with brilliant singles. Then it's better with one "Greatest Hits" than two ordinary albums. I often make my own CD collections and sell the original albums. Why should I keep records I don't listen to?

* Historically important artists. These are the ones that were big names, but I'm not very fond of. I have these of historical interst because I want to understand the complete rock and pop picture of the last 50 years. You can't critisize what you haven't heard. Isn't it also interesting to hear original folk music, when we know that the purists reacted so violently when Bob went electric? Is there such a vast difference? Was rock 'dead' from 59-62? Have you heard representative work from all the greatest artist of that era?

To sum it up - I plan to make my collection into a complete "History of Rock".

PS! I also listen to blues, jazz and classical music (especially baroque), but only when I can't figure out which rock album to play.

c. I also take great interest in compiling complete discographies of all the interesting artists. I get most of the information from the excellent British magazine Record Collector. Hopefully I can put this piece of work on the Internet sometime.

04.01.2001

1. Name: Federico Fernández

Current age: 19 years, 11 months and a few days (I'll be 20 on september 11th)

Born in: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Live in: Buenos Aires, Argentina too!

Social status: middle-class; not too rich, not too poor.

2. I study communication, but the educational approach in the public university here is too much theorical, european, abstract, encyclopedic, twisted (read: boring) for my mental configuration (I'm pragmatical) so right now I'm just struggling. After all I need a degree in order to find myself a god job, and that's pretty hard here in the far-south. I picked the career since I'm keen on writing stuff: reviews, issues, critics, strories, poems, but I don't give a damn for communication theories, frankly speaking. In the future I'd like to be musician, magazine editor or having a radio programme. The things that distract me heavily when I should be studying: music (listening and playing), reading (the stuff I like to read), cooking (& eating what I cook), writing (music reviews, short stories), and that sort of things. I play keyboards. I'm not very gifted and my technical skills are laughable but I write tons of chord-based songs and melodies that I find quite worthy... and since many great composers where not very good musicians (Lennon) and most of the successful stuff today is so crappy I guess I could be a pretty decent musician.

I don't like to go dancing or partying at night, and that's weird, since every teenage around here loves that stuff. I'm too shy and I'm not very receptive to new people and I defenitevely hate to have loud techno pounding in my ears during the six hours during which I should be sleeping. I have my group of friends with whom I have great times ocassionaly... but there ain't no women among them so sometimes I find my existence somewhat miserable. I guess sometime something will happen... nevermind.

I love walking down the streets and explore the city. Buenos Aires is one of the most wonderful, unique and overlooked metropolis in the world. Argentine society is doing everything wrong nowadays so the city is somewhat depressed, facing decandence and poverty right now. But it's still a great city; the urban textures are mostly european, but the american way of life prevales. I just can't imagine myself living anywhere else.

3. Music stuff. I hate much the of the music around and that's sad, cause I Iove music. I hate rap, I hate metal, I hate teenage pop, I hate adult-oriented pop, I hate techno and dance, caribbean crap etc. Maybe "hate" is too harsh (In fact, I only really hate rap and teenage pop) It's simply the kind of music I'd never listen to actively. For me there are no logical reasons to love or hate some music; when some combination of notes manages to shake that string in your soul or hurt your brain till you get sick, or making no impact at all... there's no rational explanation. It just happens, like when you fall in love with someone.

Made that statement I'll make an attempt of explaining my musical tastes, call me crazy. When Iistening music I dig four things: power, beauty, identity and diversity. I don't mind such values as technical complexity, originality, or incredible virtusism too much really. Those are important facts but they are not indispensable. Example: something can be musically admirable and original (never made before) but at the same time horribly dull (Some prog, some classical). Also, I prefer the classic Pink Floyd of "Dark Side" to the psichedelic Pink Floyd of "Piper"; no doubt that "Piper" is far more original than "Dark Side", but in power and beauty "Dark Side" kicks butt. I can love something totally unoriginal but powerful and beautiful like "Let It Bleed" but if something is original but ugly and tuneless you can bet I'll hate it. Get it??? I call "power" to the capacity of the sound (and lyrics) to grab you by the neck, shake you, smack you, impress you, impulse you to get up and sing, dance, cry, rave and unleash all your repressed instincts.

I call "beauty" to the capacity of the sound (and lyrics) to inspire you pleasant sensations, heavenly images, relaxing moods, haunting memories... in a few words, to fill your soul with happiness.

I call "indentity" to the capacity of the band of being distinctive, of having something unique about it respect everything else, of being inmediatly recognized by everyone. Some would confound identity with originality but there is a considerable reason: originality is doing something that nobody else does. Identity can be applied to common music made in a very distinct way. For example; The Beatles mainly did pop and many other groups where doing pop at the time (and before them) so they weren't exactly original, but John and Paul's voices, George's style and their crafted sense of arrangement made their songs unique and nearly impossible to unrecognize. Creedence is a totally unoriginal band that nonetheless has its unique style. Kiss, on the other hand, is a completely generic and undistinctive band whose music sounds exactly the same as many other moderated metal bands.

I call "diversity" to the capacity of the band to explore different genres and styles in a competent and comprehensive way. These are the bands whose albums sound all different.

The bands that can accomplish good standards in these four fields equally will rank among my absolute favourites: Beatles, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, King Crimson are the four that inmediately come to mind If some band happens to be really strong at one but somewhat lacking on the others I will still like them a lot: Creedence, for example, are masters in the "power" and "identity" deparments but they can't manage to make impressive achievements in the "beauty" and "diversity" fields. Genesis are incredibly great in "Beauty" and "Identity" but I don't feel they have great "power" or "diversity". (Uf! I said I was pragmatical and here I am, making a filosofical issue about the impact of music) Apart from the metioned bands I listen to Yes, Queen, Byrds, CSN, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman Brothers, Cream, Derek & Dominos, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Hendrix, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, The Police etc.

I also like The Doors and The Who but currently I don't have any of their albums.

I like classical music. It has a lot of power, beauty, identity... it lacks a little in diversity but sincerely I find that Beethoven's (my favourite musician and composer of all times) musical genius could make us see Lennon & McCartney as two clumsy and unuseful jerks. I love piano music so Chopin and Debussy are the other two referents of mine. Still, since I said I didn't consider musicianship such an important value in the entertaining and impact matter, classic rock is my favourite music. The period I worship is 1964 - 1977 and I consider 1969 the climax of classic rock: (Woodstock, Abbey Road, Let It Bleed, Led Zeppelin's debut, Tommy) I'm not impressed at all by rock music nowadays. No matter how I try, I find them all pale shadows of the old glories.

I run a personal reviews site in spanish and I plan to translate it as soon as I have time: www.angelfire.com/rock3/drmusicstudio

01.09.2002

Hello,

Here is Carlo Fiore,

I'm from Naples, Italy, the city where I was born 27 years ago.

Actually I work as bussiness expert, but my dream is to re-form a rock band. The last one I joined, the "Schegge Impazzite", won two rock contests in my area and supported sometimes "more important" bands. My role in that group was playing keyboard and writing the songs( our trademark was a song called "Non ho bisogno di te"). Genre? you'd call it keyboard-pop...a little bit influenced by jazz and rock.

No-musical interests: I love soccer (I'm a big fan of Naples team...that actually is going downdowndown...), women (of course..), I adore the summer and I hate the rainy days.. I also love livin' the "movida" of my town and travelling when I can.... About other types of arts: I'm not a Cinema expert but personally love the Scorsese and Tarantino movies...my favourite is "Goodfellas"...An absolute masterpiece for me, with De Niro and Joe Pesci at their best, about literature I'm an avid reader of Moravia and Calvino, two basical italian writers.

Musical interest: Well. my favourite music is the british pop and rock from 1964 to 1972. Beat, hard and art-rock. Personally I'm not impressed by psychedelical bands and I'm not a fanatic of prog rock (mostly for the lyrics, that I find childy...).

My favourite bands( alphabetical order): Argent Beatles Deep Purple (1970/1973) ELP Hollies Kinks Manfred Mann (the first version) Procol Harum Queen Zombies. That's all!

03.06.2004

I- Josh Fitzgerald

Age: 16

Place of Residence: New York

II- There's not much non-musical to discuss, aside from the fact that I'm also an avid movie fan. I also like to do things that stimulate the mind, such as puzzles, etc. Also, aside from school, I really don't have much to talk about.

III-Musically, I love ALL music, and listen to anything, except country music, and some hip-hop. I am a firm believer that people should be open to all kinds of music, and not limit themselves. Also, when I read music reviews, I really find it as a major turn-off when the reviewer/commentator is being biased, and puts down an album just because of it being of a certain genre, or by a certain band. That really annoys me. Musically, in my life, I play piano, guitar, baritone horn, and jawharp (hehehe). I also hate music that's pre-packaged and fake, a la Britney Spears, N Sync, etc. It's not real music, It's just a way to make a buck. That's really about it.

02.05.2001

My name is Chelsea, I'm seventeen and I live in Texas. (USA, obviously...) Typical middle class white girl, thrown head first into the melodrama that is middle class morality.

My escape from the 'misery of life' came at the hands of a certain Pete Townshend, whom i was fortunate enough to discover at the hands of a friends obsessed with the Tommy movie, only because of it's supposed similarity to 'Rocky Horror'. I suppose you could say the Tommy album (with all its brilliance, subtlety and lack of pretension) was what sparked my real interest in music.(my interest in real music?)

My favorite artist quickly became, and remains to be, The Who. The reasons are not techical (although there are MANY things to love where technique is concerned), they are only based on the volume of sheer energy present in most of Townshend's work. My least favorite band of the moment is Linkin Park, mostly out of pure musical snobbery.

I thought, upon discovering an armload of dusty creative genius in the classic rock section of the used cd store, that i had unique and eclectic taste, only to be rudely awakened to the fact that teenagers are in the midst of some sort of 'classic rock resurgence' of which i was unaware. Music being one of my great loves, oddly enough second only to the antiquated and utterly useless field that is existential philosophy, I would love to be talented at some sort of music related 'thing', however after several failed experiments with guitars, flutes, harmonicas etc. I see now that is just not going to happen.

Anyway, moving right along, people often disagree with my judgements of music because i have a hard time explaining them. I base music less on technique and more on the passion and energy the group produces in their work, that makes an undefinable and uniquely lovable quality in the overall sound. For example, this is why i love the oh-so controversial group Nirvana. Not because 'Cobain was the best songwriter' or 'im lovin that angst filled rage', but because when I heard Nevermind for the first time I felt something there, something I don't feel when listening to Linkin Park and their contemporaries.

02.06.2004

I. My name is George Freedman. I not only share my first name with you, Mr.Starostin, but also my country of birth!! I was born in Sochi, Russia, on the 22nd of February of 1986, and my birth name was Georgiy Arkadievich Semenov. Now I'm 17, and I've been living in Glendale, California, for the past 5 years.

II. I graduated from high school last year and now am attending college, with the intent of finishing all my general courses here and transferring to a major university after about two years. My hobbies include sports, and I'm especially a huge fan of basketball, my favorite team being the LA Lakers and my favorite player Andrei Kirilenko!! I enjoy going to concerts (have seen Ray Charles/Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck/BB King, the Allman Bros, Steve Vai/Joe Satriani/Yngwie Malmsteen all in the last several months)

III. My favorite music is soul music. But, I have a very diverse taste, as I am into jazz (esp. fusion, cool, and vocal), classic rock (hard rock, soft rock, southern, psychedelic, acid, prog, etc.), blues (Delta, electric, modern), r&b, funk, latin, and just about everything else that is performed with feeling and passion and has at least some spiritual and musical depth -- music that I don't get tired of listening to over and over and actually discover something new in it with every listen. I am very passionate about music and like to not only enjoy it but also learn about it and discuss it.

Here are some of my all-time favorite artists, in approximate order:

Marvin Gaye Stevie Wonder Prince Van Morrison Beatles Santana Ray Charles Sam Cooke Al Green Earth Wind & Fire Led Zeppelin Donny Hathaway Rolling Stones James Brown Allman Brothers Band Four Tops Beach Boys some others: Malo, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Police, Temptations, Doobie Brothers, Derek & the Dominos, Cream, Sly & the Family Stone, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Elton John, Sting, Bob Marley, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Cliff, Chicago, Impressions, Otis Redding, Yardbirds, Bill Withers, Staples Singers, War, Edgar Winter Group, Isley Brothers, Jackson Five, Clash, Jackie Wilson, Lenny Welch, Robert Johnson, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Commodores, Van Halen, Roy Ayers, Des'ree, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Chambers Brothers, Terry Callier, Chris Rea,... I could go on forever!! I am very passionate about all of these artists and many others.

favorite drummers: Stewart Copeland, Mitch Mitchell, John Bonham, Danny Seraphine, Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Santana's classic cast of percussionists (Mike Carabello, Coke Escovedo, Jose Chepito...)

favorite guitarrists: Carlos Santana, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keith Richards, Roy Buchanan...

favorite bassists: James Jamerson, Paul McCartney, Sting, Bootsy Collins, John Paul Jones, Larry Graham...

favorite keyboardists: Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Elton John, Herbie Hancock, Booker T, Donny Hathaway, Dr.John, Art Tatum...

favorite singers: Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Ray Charles, Philip Bailey, Brian Wilson, Prince, Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Jackie Wilson, Al Green, Levi Stubbs, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Van Morrison, Mavis Staples, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, Sting, George Michael, Otis Redding, Des'ree, Steve Winwood, Sly Stone...

Also, I play the guitar, both acoustic (classical, flamenco) and electric (own a Strat).

21.10.2003

I. My name is Chris Gage, and you'll probably see my comments done by either gramps5299@aol.com, or paranoidwarpig@aol.com. I live in Pennsylvania, USA, I'm about 16 going on 17, and I'm a student.

II. I like cartooning (I LOVE Gary Larson's work) and reading, that's most of it actually. Not a huge TV watcher (although Monty Python is an excellent show), and I'm not very athletic. I hope to be a professional cartoonist (at least on my free time, outside of a solid job) in the future.

III. It's hard to say what my favorite band/artist is, I really like Alice Cooper's work, I think he's entirely underrated both in his innovations and quality of his music. Exept for him I have some wide-ranging tastes: Pink Floyd, Danzig (not Misfits, though), Black Sabbath, the Beatles, George Harrison, John Lennon, Rolling Stones, the Who, CCR, CSN(Y), Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa (and the Mothers), the Doors, Flogging Molly, Santana, the Clash, Billy Joel, Elton John, Grateful Dead, the Police, Deep Purple, AC/DC, and many many more. I try to be eclectic, but when I find a band I really like I focus on them for a period until I've sucked their carreer for all its worth (I even ventured into Alice Cooper's dark ages, the mid-late eighties) and move on to other bands. You could say I'm restricted that way, in that I try to develop my collection of some bands, but only choose to own a specific album or two by others (I only have American Beauty by the Grateful Dead, and I only have a best-of for the Police), but I try to be eclectic.

My attitude about music reviewing is that it's mostly subjective, so I don't get as worked up when George gives a bad Alice Cooper review as some people might, although I do try to point out if he may have made a mistake. My only judgements for music is A) is it original/of historic importance? B) is it good? C) do I enjoy it? As you can see with somewhat derivative bands like Danzig, I'm willing to drop the first question if it's enjoyable enough (I really can rock to Danzig's music) or good enough (Danzig).

I'm not much of a musician, I play the trumpet for my school but that's about as far as I go (I barely practice.) Given my little musical experience, I'm not good at seeing what is objectively "good" music, all I care about is catchiness, complexity (I can at least tell when there's a new time signature), atmosphere, lyrics, etc. I can appreciate minimalistic music (AC/DC, for example) when it's done right, because sometimes it works well. I can tolerate abominable lyrics, as long as the music enjoyability makes up for it. One of the only reasons I like Marilyn Manson is because of what he is able to convey in his lyrics, he says things that most people know and are too afraid to say. I have to respect him for that.

11.06.2003

My name is Dennis. I was born in Oklahoma in 1956, but have spent most of my life in Missouri. I have been married to my best friend for the last twelve years. I have no children of my own, but my wife has two sons from her previous marriage. The younger son - now 18 - is a senior in high school and still lives at home with us.

My wife and I work together as pharmacy technicians at a local hospital. Our social status is working class hippie. We own our own home in a good neighborhood, work our jobs, and try to spend as much time together as we possibly can.

I escape the misery of life through listening to music, the company of my wife and other good friends, reading, and physical fitness. I work out in a gym 5 or 6 days a week.

I like the blues and jazz of the 1950's, but rock music is my passion, and always will be. I am particularly fond of the English bands of the 60's and 70's (the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Kinks, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Procol Harum, Traffic, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, etc.) and the better American groups (Simon & Garfunkel, the Butterfield Blues Band, Buffalo Springfield, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, the Band, the Doors, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Spirit, the Allman Brothers Band, Santana, Crosby-Stills-Nash & Young, etc.) and many individual artists (Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Dave Mason, Elton John, David Bowie, Bob Seger, Todd Rundgren, John Prine, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, etc.). I also love 1960's soul (Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Al Green, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Martha & the Vandellas, the Supremes, Sly & the Family Stone, etc.). And there are literally hundreds of other bands and artists from the 1950's to the present day that I enjoy and listen to often.

I never listen to country music. I never listen to classical music. I hate punk, electronica, and rap.

I am not open-minded enough to call myself a "branching-our eclecticist", but it would be equally inaccurate to say I am a "restricted fan". Like many people my age, I enjoy classic rock. But a steady diet of any one thing - no matter how much I may love it - eventually becomes stale. So I try to remain open-minded about rock. There are several of today's young bands and artists I like to listen to. After all, rock 'n' roll is for the young. And I believe listening to and enjoying rock helps keep me young.

My criteria for rating music is a combination of several factors. Probably the single most important criteria in rating a song, or an album, is the performance itself. How does the band sound? Is it evident in the playing and singing that they care about the song? In the performance, does the artist get the emotional content of the song across to the listener?

Then there is the song itself. Is it lyrical? If not, does the melody or arrangement of the music make it interesting anyway?

I respect musical virtuosity. But hell, this is rock 'n' roll we're talking about! I appreciate a sincere, emotional, heartfelt performance by an average artist over a sterile, soulless, masturbatory performance by the greatest technical virtuoso in the world. The Beatles almost always managed to sound genuine - and occasionally even spectacular - in their performances, even though they weren't the most skilled instumentalists. They did this by believing in their songs, and by working hard in their performances to put the emotional content of the songs across to the listener.

I have mixed feelings about music reviewing. If done correctly, a music review can be a useful tool for a music enthusiast who is curious about an artist or album he or she has not heard before. It can also help a listener more fully appreciate a piece of music by calling attention to a particular part of a song or performance that had not yet caught the listener's attention.

Done incorrectly, a music review subjects the reader to the personal biases of an opinionated, inobjective reviewer. I understand it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to remain completely objective when one is writing about something he cares about. And it is probably good to be emotional when writing about rock 'n' roll. After all, it is the emotional content of rock music that makes it so much fun to listen to! But there is nothing I hate more than reading a review in which the writer blasts a particular piece of music because he simply does not like the artist who performed it. If you do not like a particular artist or genre of music, then don't waste your time or the reader's time by writing about it.

I have no desire to have a website of my own.

I am not a musician. I have no talent for music. I cannot sing or play any instrument. That is the saddest fact of my life.

My favorite bass player is John Entwhistle.

I hope I have provided you with all the information you need to consider me worthy enough to be a Worthy Commentator.

10.03.2001

My name is Stefan Gill. I am 16 years old and live in Hungerford, TX. I live in a small church community called "Striaghtway" (well, its been called Lifeway and lots of other names, but I tend to call it that). I love God with all my heart (I've seen too much to doubt him, but I don't want to bore you with stories. If you ever want to hear some I'd be glad to tell, though). I have found out that it is best not to bring down people's beliefs, but rather just do yours the best you can. Most people are turned off of christians because of christians, I fear. I don't want to hold a match in your face. Rather, I'd like to help you build your home. Of course, my goal is indeed to convert people, but can you blame me? This is my belief, and if there is one thing to be biased about in life it is your faith. I just feel that I can't convert people with fancy words, so I try to let my actions do the talking...which is kinda hard to do on the internet, but hey, don't worry, I an't going to shuve myself down your lunges.

Anyway, about my music tastes, I can say that I never like a specific music untill I descoverd a little gem by the name of "Elephant" by The White Stripes. It is, my friend, some of the most fantastic rock music ever stuffed into a disc. For the longest time that was the only album I listen to, untill one glorious day when I walked into target, and what do I see? "The Best of Led Zeppelin vols. I and II". I once watched a thing on VH1 called "The 100 Greatest Artist of Hard Rock", and Led Zeppelin was numero uno, which made me ever curious about their music. So, I bought the discs...and that, my friend, was the end of Stefan Gill....haha, not really, but I never had quite a facination with a band quite like this. I quite possibly have listen to "Stairway to Heaven" over 10,000 times. I absolutely love Led Zeppelin to death. Well, slowly my knowledge and disc collection of Led Zeppelin grew and grew, and I found out that Stairway wasn't even my favorite song by them! But what could it be? Well, it turns out my favorite song is from there most critically hashted album, "presense". The song is "Achilles Last Stand", the most satisfying rock song I have ever heard.

Well, I never thought I would be crazed quite like that again, but then one day my whole family was riding in our car, and my dad pulled out a cd sent from a friend. It was an album called "Slow Train Coming" by Bob Dylan. At first it was weird hearing this stuff, because his voice was quite acward (I can never spell that word right), and it was rather obtuse. But...I could never quite get over the album... it truely grew on me, and now it is my all time favorite album. After that I got curious of Mr. Zimmerman. I always thought he was a bad voiced chainsmoker who just put some random gambling songs out, but after a while I learned he was (and still is) nothing like that. Honestly, Dylan right now is fresher on my mind than Led Zeppelin, but only because there is so much left for me to uncover in the Dylan legacy for me. I am stupid, because I still think he is a Christian (I've read many athing), which might seem stupid, but I can beleive.

When it comes to critic reviews, I tend to believe them too much, and it is hard for me to make my own dicisions. One reason, really, is because I don't have enough money to buy anything so I need reviews to show me what to get or what to avoid. Someday I hope to not have to worry about stuff like that. But I love finding reviews and especially reviews with perfect scores. I try my best to search for five star album reviews on Rolling Stone.com, but it is hard. I just like reviews, really, alot.

I guess I should list some things:

Favorite Albums: 1. Slow Train Coming: Bob Dylan 2. Elephant: The White Stripes 3. The Beautiful Letdown: Switchfoot 4. Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin 5. Going Aganst the Wind: Luke Kirschke (its a long story, but our chuch has our own recording studio and does a drug prevention program in schools in Texas, and Luke is the main guy really. This was a solo album he did of sorts. I can't think of another album to put so might as well.)

Favorite Songs: 1. Achilles last Stand: Led Zeppelin 2. I and I: Bob Dylan 3. Twenty-Four: Switchfoot 4. When the Levee Breaks: Led Zeppelin 5. Slow Train: Bob Dylan 6. Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin 7. Seven Nation Army: The White Stripes 8. That's the Way (Live 1972): Led Zeppelin 9. The Weight: The Band (I acctually have never truely heard this song the whole way, but I heard it on a commercial and it sounded fantastic. I hope that was the original version, becuase I have come accrous other versions that wern't as good.) 10. ........oh there are too many!!!!!!

01.06.2006

48 years old. Government bureaucrat, United States.

I grew up in the 1960's and so had personal exposure to many of the groups that are being discussed on the site. I actually heard groups like Creedence (a San Francisco group, if I recall), Jethro Tull, Ten Years After at a time when they were considered underground. I have a very strong bias towards progressive and experimental rock, and used to write about it when I was in college (sometimes occasionally now.

Here is a list of some of the groups that I had the pleasure of seeing live back in the late 1960's through the mid-1970's

The Young Rascals

Cream

Terry Reid (opener for Cream)

The Chambers Brothers ("Time Has Come Today")

Led Zeppelin (right after the first album George!)

Sam and Dave

Country Joe and the Fish (with the Big Brother rhythm section)

The Nice

The Allman Brothers (twice)

Fairport Convention

Traffic (twice)

Tony Williams' Lifetime (with Jack Bruce)

The Mothers of Invention (the Flo and Eddie version through the Captain Beefheart version)

Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (6 times-from the Spotlight Kid era to the Shiny Beast band-the Unconditionally Guaranteed/Blue Jeans and Moonbeams concerts were the worst; the other shows were quite amazing)

Dave Mason (twice)

Mahavishnu Orchestra

Genesis (twice-once during the Selling England by the Pound Tour, the other The Lamb tour-I think I caught them at their best period)

Henry Cow (they opened for Beefheart)

Magma

King Crimson (twice during the Larks' Tongues, Starless and Bible Black tours-same reaction as for Genesis-quite amazing

Steeleye Span

Snakefinger (a Residents protege-1979)

Fred Frith (former guitarist with Henry Cow--1979)

Peter Gabriel (1987)

Roger Waters (1987)

The Who (sadly, in 1989 after Keith Moon was long gone)

In the span between 1973 and 1987 I was quite a "jazz wanker" as well, seeing everybody from Willie the Lion Smith to the "Avant Garde" guys, like Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, etc.)

I also reviewed records, debuted groups on the radio, etc. which just means I had a little nerve and a lot of opportunity when I was at college.

I also play organ.

That's it for me!

14.08.2001

Jonathan Paul Gray

I. I am 19, was born in Boise, Idaho and am living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I am a student at college, but I plan to quit due to the lack of bang-for-buck and parlay my current wait-staff job at a formal catering outfit into a tour of great American cities, living in one different city each year. I am unmarried and have no children. I am dirt poor.

II. I read, chiefly. I am a dedicated "eclecticist" when it comes to books. I am currently working on "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," Aurelius' "Meditations," Hobbes' "Leviathan," and Philip K. Dick's "Dr. Bloodmoney." Oh, and Verne's "Mysterious Island." I also paint, sculpt and write--both poetry and prose, although I am much much worse at the former. I am also a dedicated independent student of languages, and have good working knowledge (reading, grammar and syntax, pronunciation) of about four live languages and two dead ones. I am currently working on Modern Greek. And of course the standard social distractions.

III. I listen to nearly everything I can get my hands on. Libraries are still for me the ultimate source of music, at least until I have enough funds to actually build a collection. For this reason up until two years ago rock was utterly peripheral to classical for me, and because of this many of my prejudices may be a bit skewed from the standard "Beatles, Stones, Who, Floyd" heirarchy. I do remember two years ago being almost cataclysmically crestfallen in hearing Sgt. Pepper all the way through for the first time. I was expecting something a little too revolutionary than I had any right to, I suppose. I prefer melody and presentation over perceived attitude and context (i.e. revolutionary qualities, "protest" music etc.) but am willing to recognize either. For that reason a lot of the punk people love I don't, and a lot of the pop people love I don't. I play the guitar, but mostly stick to classical works. I did, however, take it upon myself to learn the entire catalogue of Jimmy Page compositions by ear, which was exciting at the time (tip for guitarists, learn "Black Mountainside/White Summer" and "Bron Y Aur," they are quite easy and very pleasant sounding). I also sing, and for this I mainly learned Coltrane solos (a la Robert Wyatt) and all of Sting's vocal tricks on the Police's first four albums (excluding Zenyatta Mondatta, which the Mineapolis public library is missing) by heart. I try to say something new and/or personal in my reviews, or more likely I have a comment to make on my perceived fairness of a review, because I truly rarely have anything new to say. I have no real established criteria for rating music. My sole criterion would be longevity--something I could listen to for many years, and the genre easiest to return to is of course pop/funk/soul/motown for its ebullient and unpretentious pleasantness. Most progressive rock seems ridiculous when stood next to classical works (or even jazz), but some truly weird and hypnotic acts such as Pink Floyd stand out from the pack. As to favorite bass player: Larry Graham, no contest. No one could play the four strings quite so well, let alone compose such moving riffs.

19.10.2002

Name: Ben Greenstein, but I'm sure you've figured that out by now.

AKA: Duke, Marc Bogaev

Age: 20

Country: USA!!!! USA!!!!!

City: None of your business, you gawdamn net stalker.

Social Status: Um... great? What are does that mean exactly?

Marital Status: None, I'm way too young to even be thinking about that (although that doesn't stop a lot of people my age!)

Personal Non-Music Related Interests: Uh, not many. I manage the misery of life with music, and my plans in the future involve music, so I don't have many non-music interests. I like film, both good and really tacky and bad. I read sometimes, but mostly Kurt Vonnegut and comic books. I'm not a nerd, I swear. I like to (and I know how teenage this sounds, but it's really not) "hang out with my friends" - although there's only about seven people I know who I can really relate to and whose company I fully enjoy. The rest are more or less just acquaintances. I write stories for my college newspaper - journalism is a definite career possibility if rock stardom doesn't work out.

Music Related Questions: I was really surprised to see that a lot of the people who have replied so far are into the same progressive rock stuff as I am. Maybe I'm not as unique as I thought - although I still think Pink Floyd are tremendously overrated. My favourite group of all time is XTC, and I guess my favourite genre is that kind of well-written pop also including the Beatles, 10cc, Elvis Costello and such. I hate lazy pop hooks, though - part of what I demand of music is that it takes you somewhere, and bands like Matchbox 20, with their predictable riffage and generic melodies just don't cut it. The New Radicals are a great group, though. I also really love progressive rock, like Genesis, King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, all of that - although they, too, have their Van Der Graaf Generator to ensure that not ALL of the genre's bands are fantastic. Kansas, Styx, and Marillion are awful as well. Frank Zappa is also amazing - in terms of solo artists, his work is rivaled only by that of Peter Gabriel and Randy Newman. I like Bjork a lot, at least I did before she got a little too into the techno side of her work. I like a lot of obscure bands - The Billy Nayer Show, The Bogmen, Mike Keneally and Beer For Dolphins, Heavy Vegetable - but I don't like "underground" music in general, because it's often an excuse to make bad punk rock. I hate most punk rock (except for the Clash, who are very good), and I really dislike "goth-pop" (Cure, Smiths, Depeche Mode - not for me). I don't mind 80's style synthesizers as long as they're tastily used - not like Flock Of Seagulls or something. I really like a lot of jazz - especially jazz fusion, Mahavishnu Orchestra rocks harder than Hendrix, Weather Report is tighter than Yes, and Herbie Hancock is funkier than Parliament, of whom I'm also a huge fan. Funk is great, Curtis Mayfield is god, too. I don't mind rap as long as it's not the stuff that really borders on self-parody, and I don't mind classic country music - it's just that totally non-country Shania Twain stuff that sickens me. I don't mind electronic music, either - it's just that a lot of it is made out of a lack of ideas. I'm not much a fan of the "big" roots rock groups, although I do think that there is good roots rock out there. Hard rock was cool before it became heavy metal - Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin always had the coolest guitar and bass tones. Power pop like Cheap Trick and The Cars is pretty good. Novelty rock is great, mostly. Alternative rock is more or less a joke. Pink Floyd are tremendously overrated. I'm not as much a fan of the Lou Reed/Iggy Pop type stuff as I used to think I was, but I still really like some of those early REM records. Krautrock is okay, except for Kraftwerk, who are the WORST! "Hardcore" music is awful, although it's not right to say that until I've heard all of it. Haven't got too into classical yet - but I did hear some Mahler recently that really excited me. New age music encompasses a lot of different stuff, most of it awful. I don't mind disco at all - there are some really great disco songs. Any band that doesn't write it's own music doesn't have any respect for me. Avant-garde is good, but a lot of people use it as an excuse for not having very many musical ideas. In case you can't tell from my list, I consider myself to be in the eclecticism category.

I would have a music review site, but I would be too busy to devote too much time to it. Music reviewing is something I do in my spare time - sometimes, I just post a hotheaded comment or two to vent, sometimes I actually write about an album because I really care about it, sometimes it's just to pass time. I would definitely have a different criteria for reviews than you do - whereas Steely Dan would only be a two star artist in my book, their Royal Scam album would easily be a nine which rivals any nine for a King Crimson album. The only artists I would hold as "immortal" would be XTC, the Beatles, Genesis, and Frank Zappa.

Yep, I'm a musician - at one time, I was a sad Elvis Costello-wannabe who really sucked. I wrote the shittiest songs and thought they were these great confessionals. I've since decided that I don't want to take music so seriously. You can hear this in evidence on MP3.com, where I release recordings under the name "The Monkey Syndicate." I think that I'm getting better - some of the songs I've written for the unrecorded third album have got great melodies, in my opinion. If you're interested, check out the songs "Monster Bar Mitzvah" and "Do The Lobster." Oh, and I'm a self-taught multi-instrumentalist - I play guitar, keyboards, bass, accordion, percussion, harmonica and more on my last album, don't mean to brag. I think that it's good to know how to make good noise on a variety of instruments, because, as a songwriter, it gives you more of a palate to work with.

My favourite bass player is either Chris Squire, John Entwistle, or Jaco Pastorius. Maybe Tina Weymouth.

George W. Bush wears black socks with the words "I am retarded" embroidered on them (sorry, I know that was lame, but I just had to say something about how much of an idiot the guy is).

Well, that's it, I know it doesn't give too much of a picture of my life outside of music, but that's because I don't have one. No matter what I'm doing, music is always there. I take music classes in college, work in a music store, and listen to music no matter what I'm doing. To quote Frank Zappa - "music is the best." Oh, I also hate pretentious people - anyone who claims to be "deeper" than anyone else is an egomaniac waiting to happen. Poetry magazines make me sick, especially when they come with a warning like in "The Voice" where it says "if you don't like the views expressed in the voice, it is because of your own ignorance." And these are supposed to be open minded people. The worst thing you can do is think you know it all - or at least more than anyone else - in order to be truly strong, you've got to realize that you have weaknesses and admit what they are. I'm a very picky eater, for example, which impedes on my social ability to eat, and I have a hard time with self-control when it comes to flirting - I've ended up on many a date with women who are simply not a good match for me. But I've got to ADMIT to myself that I have these flaws, because that's what separates me from people like Jason Cox who view themselves as mini-dieties who are fully justified in taking advantage of others. God, it's sick - people who think they can't do any wrong. It's such a dumb attitude, especially for someone my age who is, by their very nature, naive and inexperienced in the world. To think you've got it all figured out is foolish, because you don't leave any room for growth.

Okay, that's all for now. I hope I DID'NT make a difference in anyone's life, because for me to do that would make me as pretentious as the people who I like to put down.

06.12.2000

I'm Ilya Grigoriev

My story began on the 30th of april 1987 in Moscow. Passing London and Berlin I finally stranded in a little town called Germering near Munich. What I normally do is I lay on my fucking couch the whole day long and play guitar. Or I watch movies (the works of Tarantino, the Coens and Scorsese). I am actually thinking of creating a site similar to this one but all about movies, since my movie collection is quite the same as George's music collection.

Anyway my musical favourites include Nirvana, the Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, the Stones, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton. My favourite Bass player...I heard of Jaco Pastorius being a fucking monster but I never experienced any of his works...either John Paul Jones or Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers who just kicks any sort of ass you'll ever run into. My favourite guitar players are 1. (tied) Hendrix/Page 2. Clapton 3. Richards 4. Knopfler and 5.(tied) John Frusciante (RHCP)/Curt Kirkwood of the Meat Puppets. I never thought Cobain was a good guitar player even though he is on all sorts of lists on the net, Kurt was just a smart and honest guy and that is very rare in the rock business. I never thought anything good of Paul McCartney who always seemed pretty pathetic to me. Decent bands are rare nowadays but i think that of all of the 'new' rock movement, the most talented are 1. Radiohead 2. Coldplay 3. The Strokes 4. Marilyn Manson (no joke!)

30.10.2003

Name: Adam Harrington

Born: November 9, 1980, Chicago, IL Still live there

Current occupation: College student, University of Chicago

Personal non-music related interests: I am constantly busy taking classes with 100 pages of reading a week on a notoriously dull and dry campus. I am also the publisher of one of the student newspapers here (where I have gotten in trouble for making fun of criminals in our police blotter). I am kind of a political junkie (and I stand WAY to the left of center on all but a few issues) and read a lot (Kurt Vonnegut, Stephen King, William S. Burroughs, etc., etc.) I am a writer by trade -- just don't know what kind I'll end up being. But expect to see my name on a book sometime in the next 20 years.

Music related questions: This will have to be broken up into a few paragraphs.

My main criterion for whether music is good or not is whether it is expressing some kind of strong emotional struggle -- both lyrically (although it can be done even in instrumental music) and in terms of arrangements -- and whether it evokes a like emotional response in the listener. That said, the Beatles were always great at that (I've been listening to them since I was 2), but they were a lot better at it in their later stages (starting with Revolver) than in their early, teen pop period. And I know how many people on this site have said Pink Floyd is overrated, but I think nobody, not even the Beatles, is able to capture the emotional angst of human condition as well as Roger Waters and his cohort can. Beyond that, I very much like Crosby, Stills, Nash and sometimes Young (and Neil Young by himself), the Velvet Underground (and the whole underground post-rock movement that followed them), Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and a lot of metal (Metallica, Megadeth, etc), alternative and prog rock. I listen to the occasional rap -- Wu Tang Clan and things like that, and European lounge music (ever heard of Kruder and Dorfmeister?), and a lot of jazz, folk and blues. And classical (both Eastern and Western).

I DETEST the commercial, lightweight pop produced by non-groups like the Monkees and ABBA; which does nothing for me emotionally other than making me want to leave the room. Even if they can sing more than one note, groups like these thrive on empty lyrics and corny arrangements that only appeal to the lowest common denominator -- the tasteless public (I'd like to think that constitutes a minority, but I fear it does not). This also applies to most recent teenybopper pop -- Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, etc. And I thoroughly despise the "geek rock" genre created by groups like They Might Be Giants and the Barenaked Ladies -- with pedantic lyrics that ultimately say nothing, simplistic chord progressions, and stupid gimmicks and schtick that take the place of any real emotional content. Spending a year in a band with two guys who thought these kind of bands were God's gift to mankind didn't help matters.

I play guitar, piano, sitar (yes, sitar), and blues harp. I have written about a dozen songs -- I consider it a very therapeutic process -- and am working with two other guys on starting a new band (any drummers in the audience?) Oh, and George W. Bush doesn't wear socks.

07.01.2001

James Patrick Hitt, Jr.

b. March 4, '83 Singapore, raised in Raceland, LA USA

I play guitar (6 years or so), some piano.

I went through many musical "stages" in life: Led Zeppelin/Hendrix-my introduction to rock music, STP/Nirvana/Soundgarden/grunge, my metal phase- Metallica, Slayer, etc., punk stage-NOFX, Bad Religion,etc., and eventually back around to good ol' classic rock. I have Jethro Tull to thank for bringing me back home to the golden age of rock. I am a HUGE Tull fan (got 40 of their cds) and I like a lot of prog-rock, but my musical taste is MUCH broader than that. I guess its a combination of everything I ever listened, and then some. I love the Beatles, the Who, Cream, but I do not like the Stones. I love Tull, big fan of King Crimson, ELP, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd and more. Fan of Sabbath, Mountain, and others. Theres too many classic rock bands that I love to count. George got me into many of them: Gentle Giant, Rory Gallagher, and others. Generally I like complex music, or if not complex or progressive, something that really stands out to me: Harry Nilsson, Rory Gallagher, etc. I like much metal: Emperor, old Metallica, Slayer, Acid Bath, Goatwhore, Ministry. I still like some punk: NOFX, Bad Religion, the Vandals, the Clash, the Ramones, though that's about all the punk I still enjoy. I like classical music, some country even (Cash, Nelson, Jennings, Williams, Daniels). I try to be open minded to different tastes. There are a TON more bands that I enjoy that I didn't list.

I love to read, I like history, the arts, etc.

I think reviewing music is good, but is prickly business. George Starostin does it well. Although he has his biases, like everyone, he is still good at being as objective as he can.

Music, like any art, should be taken with an open mind. One doesn't have to like all of it, but should at least try to understand it, or at least the artist's intention behind it, whether it be humble and simple, or very grand. It is difficult for me to say "This Tull album is better that that Beatles album" or whatever, because they come from very different schools of rock music. Sure the Beatles were infinitely more influential, but on a purely artistic level, who's to say one album is better than another? It is all different in the eye of the beholder.

Well, as for my favorite musicians, Rory Gallagher is my favorite blues guitarist (in my opinion, he had more soul and emotion than BB King ever did). Ian Anderson has truly one of the most diverse and unique voices, as does Harry Nilsson. Neil Peart is one hell of a drummer, as is Barrie Barlow. As far as songwriting, no one was more prolific than the Beatles. Townshend is a genius. Hmmmm....I've gone blank. Oh, my favorit flautist . . . guess who? Heh, heh.

Well, that's a rough outline of my musical tastes. Favorites often shift and change, but this will suffice.

Great site, George. Keep up the great work.

05.12.2001

I. My name is Dan Hogg, I’m 17, a junior at Borah High School in Boise, Idaho (why yes, we DO grow potatoes here). I was born here, and I have only moved once. Even that was last summer, to the other side of town. I’m single, and I live in a middle-class family, as far as I know. As far as social status, I’d like to think I’m in between popularity and unpopularity. I mean, I’m kinda quiet, but I talk to a lotta people at school. I have never had a girlfriend, mainly because I’m REALLY shy to asking them. Not that girls don’t LIKE me, it’s all good. Anyways, enough on that....

II. Well, school takes up a bit of my time, esp. homework. I’ve heard junior homework is a drag, and I can’t disagree. Besides that, I’m copy editor on the school newspaper and in 3 choirs at school. Yeah, I’m a choir geek, it’s great though. My only instrument is my voice, even though I occasionally dabble at the piano. I love watching football during the fall, and attending sporting events of almost any kind. As far as TV goes, the Simpsons is still my all-time favorite show, despite its decline in quality for 4 years. Other favorite shows include Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Whose Line is it Anyway?, and Win Ben Stein’s Money.

III. Uh, sure, I listen to music. Music is a big part of my life, always has been. Most of what I listen to falls in the rock category: classic rock, punk, heavy metal, grunge, punk-rock, etc. I’m even getting into choral and jazz music, thanks to choir training. My all-time favorite group would be (how original) the Beatles, that’s all I listened to in 5th and 6th grade. My other favorite groups through the years include Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Beck, Weird Al Yankovic, solo Beatles, Elton John, Monkees (ya heard right), Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, Traveling Wilburys, Ramones, Barenaked Ladies; plus a little bit of REM, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Eric Clapton, Who, U2, Metallica, Byrds, Steve Miller, Doobie Brothers, Sting/Police, and the Beach Boys. I’d say my least favorite music is whatever’s in the popular mainstreamnow. That’d include teen-pop, nu-metal, most rap, and anything by so-called “divas” (Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, etc.). I used to hate country but now I accept some of the older stuff, but none of that country-pop crossover garbage. I frequently check out music review sites, and this is my favorite one, no doubt. It takes someone with a real passion for music to churn out so many reviews, ones that are informative and lengthy (that’s a good thing, many reviews don’t get in- depth). And that fact that you took your time to review all Monkees albums, when 90% of everyone else would just dismiss them, scores another point in my book. Kudos to you.

29.01.2002

It's time for a confession. My real name isn't Thomas Paar, that's just my alias name. Since I wanted to remain anonymous for personal reasons, I didn't plan to sign my comments at all. But then, for some reason or another, I took this name. Well, since those personal reasons are pretty much gone now, it's time to give you my REAL name. And if I hear ANY sneering, I'm gonna find you and be done with you once and for all. Now, I say that because my real name is Ratimir Hribar, and we all know what "rat" means in English. Anyway, I'm sorry for all this mystery about my real name, but unfortunately, I didn't have any other choice. Actually, I had a choice. I didn't HAVE to comment on those reviews, but I just wanted to do it so bad that I couldn't wait any longer. Oh, well, what's in the past, is in the past. Oh yeah, I think I also commented on Prindle's site under my alias name, but I won't be doing that now.

Okay, since I'm incredibly LAZY, in the near future, I probably won't sign my comments at all. However, you can find my old comments under the name of Thomas Paar on George's Deep Purple and Rainbow pages. All my other, NEWER comments will be signed under my real name or they wont be signed at all. If they wont be signed then you can easily recognize them because I have the word "stormbringer" in my e-mail address. That is all that I have to say about this topic.

On a much heavier note. If you are offended by something I wrote in my comments please do remember that it wasn't my intention to insult fans of certain bands. My only intention is to give a more-or-less objective comment to George's reviews. If I get overexcited in some of my comments and accidentally insult someone, I apologize in advance. However, don't send me hatemail, or any other type of e-mail's cause I wont read them, and I won't reply to them. If you feel that you have to say somethin' to me please post a message on George's MESSAGE BOARD. If you do that, there is a good enough chance that you'll get a reply from me.

On a lighter subject. I'll give you some boring personal information about me.

I'm from Croatia, and I live in the proximity of Zagreb which is the capital of Croatia. I'm 18 years old right now, and my main interest is everything and anything, but mostly music. Currently, I'm still in high school, but that will change very soon. In the near future I'm going to study economy. What more can I say ? I have my share of free time, so I'll try to give a few objective opinions (or subjective) about some of the featured albums and artists on this site. I didn't learn English at school (I learned German), so please have understanding when you notice some spelling mistakes in my comments. Needless to say, I will try to reduce them to the minimum. Because of all that, it's very obvious that my vocabulary is still pretty limited, but that will change with time. Be patient !!!

Okay, now that we cleared that up, let's talk about music.

I don't have a too big CD collection, but I've heard an obscene amount of different albums and I'm working on enlarging my MP 3 collection day by day. I don't have a favorite musical genre, and I do try to maintain a vide musical view, so I'm selecting different artists from different genres. Needless to say, I try to select interesting, groundbreaking and influential artists (hmm, and quite a lot of commercial ones, too).

My main preoccupation at the time is hard rock and my absolutely favorite band is early Rainbow.

Except for Rainbow, I like the following artists: Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Rolling Stones, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Dylan, Jethro Tull, The Who, Nazareth, Doors, AC/DC, Clannad, Blackmore's Night and Mike Oldfield. Of course, I like Brahms, Händel, Bach, Mozart, Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Than there's some artists to whom I'm kinda indifferent like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Queen, Nirvana, Aerosmith, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles, T-Rex. They're all extremely hard to find in my CD player, although, I do have some of their compilations or albums, because I just presumed that I have that obligation to them.

Finally, I don't like Kiss, Uriah Heep, Kansas, Styx, Foreigner, Boston and The Scorpions, but I don't hate them either.

My favorite albums are Rainbow's Rainbow Rising and Long Live Rock 'N' Roll, Black Sabbath's Master Of Reality, Ozzy's Blizzard Of Ozz, Deep Purple's Machine Head and Abandon, Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde, Dio's Holy Diver, Accident Of Birth from Bruce Dickinson, and Brutal Planet from Alice Cooper (man, what a funny record !). One more thing, this isn't really my personal top 10 albums chart in the true sense of the word, because in that case there wouldn't be so much rock artists here. I just happened to be thinking about those albums right now, for one reason or another.

What are my criteria for rating music ? The main condition I put before any band, or act, or artist, is that they must have either professionally played music (it can even be a rip-off, if it's a good one), or an awesome singer. I don't care so much who made what first, as long as the song sounds catchy and entertaining. It can be generic, and I don't care if it's all that fresh or not, although, the freshness is always welcomed. I always listen the albums I rate at least four times, cause I never have love at first sight with any of them.

I can't play any instruments, but I do however know what is a chord, bass, riff and all that stuff. I don't plan to learn playing anything, and I have no ambitions of making my own website (that would be a shameful incarnation on the web, I'm sure of it).

However, this website here is certainly able to eat up a large amount of anybody's time, including mine. I also think this is simply the best review site I found on the web so far, and very likely the best I will ever find. And yes, as I already said, I visited Mark Prindle's reviews but I'm not all that impressed by them. Prindle is very witty, for sure, but I personally like to read a bit longer and more detailed reviews.

Sorry for this being so damn corny, it kinda happened.

08.09.2001

Hi, my name is Phillip, or Phil, if you'd prefer. :) I'm 17 as I type this, and living in the great great city of Chicago. As of right now, I'm living at home, trying to finish school and (hopefully!) get out of my mother's house and all, get myself a little apartment and a job and go from there......such high hope I have for myself, I know. ;)

The best indication I can give you about my musical tastes is my simply giving you a list of all the CD's I own, so if you're interested, here you are: http://www.cd-tracker.com/~morby

I started out as a jazz fanatic, and while I still love jazz to this day, it's kind of died down for me now - I'm not as much of a fanatic about it as I used to be, although I still get pleasantly surprised by a new discovery every now and then in the genre. I got turned on to rock in a big way after discovering Jimi Hendrix - Are You Experienced? turned me on to rock in a big way, and showed me that it wasn't all just a bunch of screaming, thrashing mess that I thought it would all sound like. And because of that, I tend to hold dear ol' Jimi close to my heart because of this - granted, I do realize it could have been anybody who changed my views like that - however, Jimi will always be a favorite of mine because of that.

As you may also have surmised by my list (if you went over it), I'm a big big big Prince fan - and that would have never come about had I not discovered an album of his called The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale, which has a lot of neat jazz stuff on it, which perfectly suited my tastes at the time. So yeah, he's definetly my all-time favorite recording artist. As far as BAND goes? I'd have to go with Blind Melon, simply because I like every single song they ever recorded, basically, so I guess you could say that they get the top slot by default.

I'm not a big fan of picking favorites (to an extent); however, as far as the art of "guitarring" goes, I greatly enjoy Hendrix (and I agree with George when he says that he doesn't even consider him when it comes to discussing "the greatest guitarist ever"), Jeff Beck (who would probably be my pick for greatest ever, like Clapton for George), Prince (well, duh!!! :D ), Van Halen, Clapton, Page (well, his work on the first Led Zep album, anyways), Kurt Cobain, Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn of Blind Melon, and numerous, numerous others. I'd also like to mention Jaco Pastorius as far as bass playing goes; I've personally never heard anyone come close to his level of wizardry on the bass. In the world of jazz, I'm also a huge John Coltrane fan (the first artist I ever got into, period), as well as Miles Davis, Clifford Brown (the person I try to emulate most - I play trumpet, if I didn't mention it already), Duke Ellington, and others.

Oh, and one more thing (one favorite I will gladly point out): my personal favorite album is Sign O' The Times by Prince. And that's me in a nutshell. :)

20.12.2003

Name:Helen Janees

Age:23

Status:Single

Residence:Ealing(West London)England.

Social status:Err?Like all english i suppose - upper class.(just kidding)

Non music related interests:Men of course(not net stalkers though guys)I work as an interpreter(i speak 9 languages - including Russian Mr Starostin)for the British Police.I cycle lots,i hate dance clubs and dance music but i love pubs.I live with 2 girlfriends in an apartment and we party loads.

Music related interests:My first exposure to music was basically awful - 80's crap like Culture club,Duran Duran,UB40 etc..i then progressed or regressed(delete as you wish)to hair bands like Van Halen and Def Lepperd until i stumbled across my uncles vinyl collection - every 60's 70's artist you can think of.This changed my perception of music completely - My favorite band of all time is hard to define,but i suppose i have a greater interest in The Who than other groups.I'm pretty restricted in what i listen to until i get really into it - i have to really get deeply involved in a group before i make a full assessment of them.I just like rock really and it's many branch off's - i hate rap,dance,commercial pop.I have about 2000 cd's of 50's 60's and 70's music and have listened and opinionated on all of them.

28.09.2001

Name: Bob Josef

Residence: New Haven, CT, USA

Year of birth: 1957, making me one of the grand old men on the board here. Or one of the old farts, depending on your point of view. I waited to post so at least I wouldn't be the OLDEST here. :))

Social status: Single, but I have been seeing someone utterly wonderful since last December. Only problem: her music tastes are WAY too mellow. :))

Non-musical interests: I make my living as a transportation engineer for a consulting firm, helping to bring you toll roads, toll bridges and toll booths worldwide. No need to thank me. I mentor a kid in the Big Brother/Big Sisters of America program and am also a member of our local chapter of Amnesty International. As of this writing, I have started my final course before receiving a Master's degree in Roman Catholic philosophical theology. Which is a whole story in itself. I also play acoustic guitar at about the level of a 6 year old, which helps me appreciate how hard it is to be a musician. I could never do it. My almost total lack of talent might have something to do with it, too..

Musical tastes: I was kind of stereotyped by George here as a prog rock nut because my first posts were all about proggers. Not that I mind - I do love the stuff. If it's big, bombastic, melodic, well sung and pretentious, I'm there with no apologies. (I'm currently going through a Renaissance/Annie Haslam phase, for instance.). But I do tend to run the gamut -- I like some of the more poppy acts here, like Elton, Beach Boys, Alan Pasrsons, for example. The great 60's bands are high on the list (Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, etc.) I have classical music going on all day in the office, and I credit the prog acts (especially ELP) for leading me in that direction. I don't have a lot of affinity for more American roots based music -- blues music I can only take in very small doses because I find it really boring. I ABHOR rap and hip-hop (hanging out with a 12 year old can be torture); and most '77 era punkers (big exception: the Clash), who were just as pretentious in their own way as the proggers; heavy metal; and just about anything by Lynyrd Skynyrd and Jackson Browne (bleah!). My rock music tastes have pretty much stalled (with a couple of exceptions such as Wilco and the High Llamas) -- the only current releases I would buy at this moment are albums by U2, R.E.M. and Blues Traveler. I would rather buy CD's by the great classicists, Gregorian chant or mellow fusion music like Shadowfax or Pat Metheny. I could go on and on, but you get the gist here.

As for music reviewing, I like reviewers who show some smarts (like the folks here). If they don't have their facts straight, it annoys me, but that too can be taken to an extreme (paging Konstantin..) Personally, a well-written review can turn me on to a group or album I might not have checked out, like Talking Heads, the High Lllamas or the Tokens' Intercourse, for example. Reviews that are too far at one extreme ("this album by this group sucks because anything they do sucks so it can't possibly be good in any way") or the other ("this is no worse than a good album because everything this band does is great and anyone who doesn't think so is an idiot") are never helpful. I, for example, would never post comments on a Judas Priest or latter-day CD because I hate that kind of music as a whole. It's not like I can be objective, so why bother? It adds nothing to the discussion.

As for my own site-- yeah, like I have time! Besides, I could never compete with this site here. :))

15.05.2001

Nomen est Bob Jurczyk, age 50. I became a rock & roll fan at about the time of the Beatles debut in the States. As Does Don McLean, I believe the music died, but I think the music died in the early '80s. I have since become a jazz fan. Actually, I probably always was a Jazz fan, as I liked Blood Sweat & Tears, which was the closest thing to jazz played on the radio, be it alternative, top 40 or rock in the late 60's/early 70's. Being a jazz fan, my favorite bassist is Marion Hayden. I do not know what color the President's socks are, much less do I care. I do remember that the last duly elected president had a cat named Socks, however. He also played the sax.

24.10.2003

George, Great site. Not sure about your quest for absolute scientific objective grading, rating of music (at least I think that is what I read in one of your essays), but you have done a very nice job indeed.

So, I am Greek-American, living for the last 10 years between France and Germany and working in media-related jobs, whether journalism (AP, AFP and other media) or in press relations in the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

Music is a passion, and I like classical music, jazz, and I can appreciate almost any form of music (perhaps the most difficult for me to appreciate is country music. I mean, I would really have to be in the mood, like at a barn with some rural folk and a couple of musicians strumming on their guitars. Yes, that would do it).

Otherwise, I was brought up in the 70s on the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Who, Led Zeppelin as well as Abba, some disco (which I could not stand at the time but have mellowed and actually appreciate now to some extent), pop music (I think I had bought almost all Beatles solo efforts at one point, for example, only to sell some of the used LPs - stupid move, because they may have become rare) etc with far less a focus on folk, though I appreciate Bob Dylan, too. For a time I was almost obsessed with... the Yardbirds, interested in the three well known guitarists who played in that band, and I wrote occasional music reviews for both my high school newspaper as well as for the university newspaper at George Washington.

So I fully agree with your stress on the classical period: early 60s up to 1975 as the golden era, though I appreciate some aspects of punk and new wave more than you. But hey, I am digressing here. This is supposed to be biographical.

I am also into wine. Big time. Write about it a lot for various magazines and go to barrel tastings in Bordeaux. Not making gobs of cash, but following my passion. May be moving back to the States, but it depends on some job offers both in Germany and France - and also in the US. All media related.

16.02.2006

hmm.. name's balaji kannan, born in Madras, India. 23 years old. right now i'm in berkeley, california doing graduate work.

school occupies up most of my time and when i'm not listening to music i read lots of novels (the likes of james ellroy, frederick forsyth, ian fleming- u get the drift, right?). i am a huge movie freak too- love watching hollywod classics of yesteryears- 50's, 60's, 70's mostly.

music- i love classic rock- 60's and early 70's, though i should admit that i started off listening to 80's bands like U2 and dire straits. slowly i discovered the 70's- the zepsters, floyd, 70's clapton and later the 60's- cream, the who, the yardbirds etc. (if you are wondering abt. the beatles, i am not THAT crazy about them, but i think they are pretty good). i guess you could say that my tastes are pretty much centered around the 60's and 70's. my favourite band is cream-despite only 3 albums, their sound (esp. the psychedelic numbers) is so amazing and memorable. the stuff i hate most is the 90's boys bands like the backstreet boys, nsync etc. and teen idiots like britney spears and christina aguliera (or whatever)... but i also love ABBA- the only pop group that i ever listen to. my favourite guitarists are eric clapton and jimmy page and my favourite bassit is definitely john paul jones.

30.07.2001

I. Name: Nick Karn

Birthdate: September 24, 1979

Birthplace: Willingboro, NJ USA (now residing in Riverside)

Social status: As of December 2000, I'm almost finishing up the fall semester in my third year at a community college (and unsure of where I'll transfer afterwards). I'm currently unemployed, but have been known to do occasional janitorial and secreterial work, though that's just stuff on the side. I'm also the oldest of four and single as hell, also debating whether or not either of those things are good.

II. Probably my most common non-musical interest is sports (not playing them, though - I'm hardly athletic at all). I'm probably a certified baseball fanatic (or at least was at one time), and for years I even used to do scorekeeping for my brother's games, also knowing more about the game's history and other miscellaneous crap than most sane people probably would. I've also been known to engage heavily in football pools (American football, for all you foreigners who'd yell at me for dissing soccer), where I'm fairly decent at picking the games. Not as much into basketball, hockey, golf, or bowling or whatever, but they're fun sometimes. I also enjoy writing poetry a lot (mainly introspective stuff, sometimes nonsensical, sometimes awfully bleak and depressing, whatever fits my mood), and a creative writing class I've taken has only heightened my interest in this. It's excellent to be able to express your own personal thoughts on paper.

I also used to be heavily interested in computers and gaming, but now that interest has sort of faded out a lot, probably due to the fact that my machine is so behind the times (it's hard enough to surf the web at a sufficient enough speed anymore). I'm not as much into television shows and movies as a lot of people are, but I can't deny the sheer cartoonish genius of The Simpsons n particular. And as for movies I particularly enjoy mostly comedies and fantasy type things.

III. My most notable musical favorites are progressive and hard rock/metal. Combine the two (Dream Theater) and I'm in heaven. I can appreciate almost all forms of rock, though, and some of the classical, jazz and folk stuff I heard sounds promising enough. I've been awakened to much more classic rock than ever before (thanks in part to this site and a few others!) I can acknowledge The Beatles as the greatest band ever at this point (I'd put THREE of their albums in my top 10 as of now, and I haven't even heard Magical Mystery Tour or A Hard Day's Night yet), and the only reason I don't have all their albums right now is purely due to their expensive prices (it's the same thing with Pink Floyd). Hey, there are so much other bands I'm into and there's not nearly enough cash in my hands, so give me time. I'm still pretty big on 80's and early 90's alternative (R.E.M. was my first musical love and my favorite band for a long long time, though my bias for them has since faded just a little). Right now the completist in me is attempting to gather all the major works by the bands I've recently got into (though don't worry, George, I'll probably wait awhile on Calling All Stations). Heck, I've always been a completist to an extent, it's just that a lot of the bands I liked didn't have an overwhelmingly huge catalog ala The Rolling Stones, mainly cause they hadn't been around long enough. But I'm starting to get into a few bands with a lot more of an output.

I'm a lot more open-minded than I used to be (five years ago I would have absolutely ripped apart a lot of the music I like now, just because it sounded different than what I normally listened to at the time - I'm so ashamed). There's not a whole lot of kinds of music in particular I despise actually - most of the commercial teenybopper stuff that sounds obviously fake is probably number one, and a lot of rap seems pointless to me (though there are others I'm not terribly familiar with like Wu Tang Clan or The Beastie Boys that may be quite good). I have a lot less of a bias against country and blues music than I used to - those that don't sound so obviously rudimentary I can give more of a chance. These days albums I mostly dislike are the ones from bands that sound either obnoxious or all-important like 'we're the greatest band in the world' when they're a lot less talented than they think (cough KISS cough), from those that clearly are not even attempting to find any sort of unique bones in their body and don't even care, or albums who present me with 'ideas' and melodies that are either way too generic, boring, grating to the senses, or all three. Those are the ones that probably fit in my 5 or below rating range.

My criteria for rating music isn't all that different from the 1-10 reviewers out there. I'm probably subconsciously influenced by the 10 'best of artist' Prindle scale a little more than I should be, but that's probably so you could figure out more easily which bands and records are my favorites. And plus the criteria for a 10 record today is a lot different than what it was 20 years ago. The quality of one may be as great as a record from the past (Belle And Sebastian's The Boy With The Arab Strap, for instance), but for whatever reason (originality, listenability, or consistency), it just feels less vital. Nevertheless, those highly rated records are always ones I love. I just set up that 'all time favorite albums' section to show exactly what records I truly consider my favorites, since the scale can be a little hard to figure sometimes - I don't think there is a definite answer to what makes a 9 quality album so much different from an 8.

My attitude about music reviewing is that it's basically a way to share what impressions I get from any particular album, whether it be certain moments that stand out the most, what it seems the overall sound of it is, the vibes I get from individual songs, and sometimes where the band/artist was at that point in their career. I started a review site just because a lot of the impressions I read differed too strongly (and vaguely) from my own. I also wanted to incorporate the interactivity feature in, because it helps a lot to be able to have your own say on someone else's opinion of an album when in obvious disagreement. Plus the commentator can share information that the reviewer may have forgotten to incorporate.

As for instruments, I'm at least making an attempt to play keyboards (I'm not even gonna bother with the guitar anymore). While I'm far from very good at it, I'd like think I've at least gotten to the point where I can write and record my own amusing little songs and have them sound bearable, rather than just sounding like I'm banging away on the thing aimlessly. Other than that, I don't have any musical experience in terms of playing - I never took band in school for whatever reason that's now beyond my comprehension.

Well I think I've rambled long enough, so here is probably a good place to stop. This is a great idea, BTW. It's awesome you hold reader interests in such a high regard.

07.12.2000

I am 18 at the time I write this.

I live in Athens, Greece but I was born in Salonica.

I’m single and I live with my mother, my uncle and my black cat.

I used to be very very fat but now I am somewhat thin.

I often wear a hat. And I wear white socks.

My non-music interests aren’t that many. I sometimes enjoy reading books, though I’m not an avid reader. I rarely watch films or TV. Sometimes I play with my cat, while other time I’d go out and play football. But I usually surf through internet and look for music-related information (Mark Prindle’s Record Reviews is my home page!). I’m anxious about the future, but I will indulge into art (books, music etc.) to forget my future problems. I hope so.

I listen to many genres, but mainly classic rock and prog-rock.

MY TOP FAVOURITE ARTISTS/BANDS (this time): Pink Floyd, Camel and Jethro Tull.

OTHER FAVOURITE ARTISTS/BANDS: Deep Purple/Rainbow, The Doors, King Crimson, Alan Parsons, Procol Harum, ELP, Rush, Genesis, Marillion, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Van Der Graaf Generator, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Animals, The Who (though I can’t stand Tommy), The Moody Blues, Dire Straits, Joy Division, Depeche Mode (not all stuff), Anathema, Bruce Springsteen, Cat Stevens, Al Stewart, Eric Clapton etc.

MY FAVOURITE ALBUMS: All of Pink Floyd, Mirage, The Snow Goose, Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung, Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, The Doors, In The Court Of The Crimson King, Eye In The Sky, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, Emerson Lake And Palmer (the debut), A Farewell To Kings, Foxtrot, Misplaced Childhood, Images And Words, Promised Land (a sadly underrated masterpiece), Still Life, Pronounced…, Who’s Next, Days Of Future Passed, Dire Straits (the debut), Unknown Pleasures, Closer, Judgement (fantastic album, but underrated) Born To Run, Year Of The Cat etc.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been that much into The Fab Four, Bob Dylan or The Stones, but I like their stuff.

I hate most rap and today’s techno/trance. I can’t get into soul music (Talking Book disappointed me). I also try to get into jazz, although it’s a tough genre and hard to get into. I used to be a heavy metal fan in the past (listened to Metallica, Manowar etc.) but now I don’t listen to metal, save for few great bands such as Savatage and Queensryche. I also like some classical and new age music. And some country, too.

I think good music is that which keeps you interested and hooked. And has a good melody.

I like music reviewing and I spend much time looking for record reviews on the net. I would like very much to have a reviewing site, maybe in the future.

I play the keyboards for 7 years, although my playing is somewhat amateurish. I cannot sing well, but I’d like to learn to play the flute (hail Ian Anderson!) or the saxophone. I’m in a rock/metal band called Realms Of Fire and we have released a demo called Thoughts Of Melancholy. It’s good, trust me.

My favourite bass player has to be Geddy Lee, although I don’t care a lot about the bass.

I don’t know about the socks of this bastard (Bush, not Lee).

This is the supergroup I dream of:

Peter Gabriel (or Fish) – Lead Vocals (Band: 70’s Genesis)

Martin Barre – Guitars (Band: Jethro Tull)

Geddy Lee – Bass (Band: Rush)

Keith Emerson – Keyboards (Band: Emerson Lake And Palmer)

Keith Moon (r.i.p.) – Drums (Band: The Who)

Ian Anderson – Flute (Band: Jethro Tull)

Ian MacDonald – Saxophones (Band: King Crimson)

Pete Sinfield – Lyrics and concepts (Band: King Crimson)

I hope they can work together well!

02.06.2003

I. Personal data.

Dmitri Kazantsev

Born in Moscow 26 December 1971

Working as a Graphic Designer / Art Director

Playing and singing in Dr. Nick band in Moscow

II. Personal non-music related interests.

I play music and I listen to it too. I hope it will help.

III. Music-related questions (the most important part).

This one is too complicated. But I'll try.

I like acoustic blues, folk, old rock (not too heavy), funk, soul, reggae, jazz, fusion, Nick Cave :)))

I am eclectical person and my tastes are changing all the time, but I don't destroy my old records and never say that the music I was listening when I was 15 sucks. Although I think Metallica & Iron Maiden suck (I used to have couple of tapes of them).

I judge the music with this factors: honesty, taste, good melody & rhythm, good playing & singing, depth, good production & sound, smart or funny lyrics, etc.

I am a musician, I play guitar, sing and I compose.

My favorite bass player is Marcus Miller. I was trying to be very short :)))

10.09.2001

Hello, fellow Who fans! My name is Jenny Ketchmark, and I'm a 22 year-old college student from the U.S.A. - Illinois, to be exact. I'm a double music-education major (vocal and instrumental), so music is pretty much my life. I'm an alto and I play the clarinet, piano, and assorted other instruments (I've only recently picked up the guitar).

Besides the classical/jazz that music ed majors are required to love, I'm pretty much a hard-core classic rock fan (the term "oldies" just doesn't apply). I know I'm going to get flack for being unoriginal, but the Beatles are my favorite group, and have been since junior high. However, I consider the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who to be in a group by themselves, which proves that I was a British "mocker" in another life. I also like the Beach Boys, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Clapton/Cream, BB King, Randy Newman, Elton John, CSN&Y, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, REM, Pearl Jam, Queen, Aretha Franklin, Joe Cocker, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Led Zepplin, the Kinks, and David Bowie. So, basically, I like a good mixture of acoustic stuff and hard rock. As for groups I despise....it's really more of a genre thing with me. Teen pop, shrieking divas, and country music generally have me running for the door.

When it comes to judging music, I tend to llean towards the lyrics. That's probably why Lennon, Townshend/Entwistle, the Glimmer Twins, and Dylan are my favorites. All of them are exceptionally gifted lyricists, and I think that, especially with Dylan and Townshend, a lot of their words could stand alone as poetry. (I'm thinking of "Sunrise" especially). 3-chord songs are forgivable if there's talent to back it up and keep it from being monotonous, which is why Britney/N'Sync/etc can't cut it, in my book.

This is a very cool site - I like seeing what everyone else thinks about the Who. I have to admit, I got into them late, but I'm making up for lost time :) Keep it up.

13.01.2002

I. My name is Nikita, I'm from Moscow, 20 years old now.

II. My personality holds lots of various interests and interesting stuff, mainly for myself, of course. I don't want discuss a lot about it. Some moments, only. I like logical, scientific approach, some esoteric and psychologic literature, fun, of course. Ordinary, sure. And unique in some ways, so we're all.

III. About music-related topic. I started to listen Classic Rock & Pop in 2001 and quickly lost any kind of interest to generic Russian Rock Music that I used to like before. My first band wasn't The Beatles - luckily, so I think I'm not biased towards them now, just adore them as the music that defines word "quality". I started to listen Electric Light Orchestra, King Crimson, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Doors, Jethro Tull and others from Sixties and Seventies and often was blown away with their music. Our Russian rockers very rarely write great songs and almost never entire album.

Then, I casually discovered Web Reviewing Community and started to learn something about bands, fortunately in Moscow anybody can get cd-s and mp3-s without any serious money spending. From all Community I liked George Starostin's, Mc'Ferrin's and Nick Karn's reviews the most, because I like useful, informative and thoughtful approach to music. Mark Prindle is great when I needed comedy and fun, and Adrian's site seem to be useless to me because of it's non-thoughtful, disjointed and biased reviews - towards Smiths and against Who, for instance (sorry).

And, with my love about music in general, I quickly (in couple of years) became in "eclectic listeners" category, trying to establish my own principles about "good and bad music". I like to search objectivity (of course, inside of subjective paradigm), search some words to describe individual, unique artistic vision of an artist that I listened with enough precision. My main criterion about rating music is songwriting talent, and make things look clear on "what is songwriting" is very hard (probably impossible). In short, "songwriting talent" is the dexterity of composer to combine his own original "world of artistic vision" with some traditional, "hooks"-based rules. And there are exceptions and unclear moments, of course. But, in general, there is list of the most interesting musicians and bands, based on my logical, intuitive and heartfelt principles. Beatles, Who, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, Frank Zappa, Genesis, King Crimson, Sparks, Brian Eno, ! Kinks, Tom Waits, Police, Doors, XTC, Nick Cave, Creedence Clearwater Revival... and some else. There are too much to like!

10.06.2005

I. Hello. My Name is Kevin Kozeluh. I was born in 1982, so as of now I am 20 years old. Im from Lockport, which is south of Chicago, and I still live here. I am single; not married

II. Right now I am enrolled in college, so I have no other things planned for the next few years. Guess I'm just the average white middle-class male.

III. Music-related questions

My musical tastes have changed over the course of my life. As a young child I listened to an oldies radio station playing pop hits from the sixties. The first Album that I purchased was Original Masters, a Jethro Tull hits compilation, circa 1969-1976. Shortly thereafter I also got a Chicago hits compilation, and also an excellent Jimi Hendrix Collection, properly named The Ultimate Experience. If it is one thing that I regret, it is buying any greatest hits album. Everyone says that a greatest hits compilation is a nice introduction to an unfamiliar artist. So I listen to the compilation, and I dig it, and I pretty much listen to it all the time. Listening to a Compilation of an artist has its punishments when I try to listen to an album by the same artist.

So I will list all the artists which I bought the Best of and now I cannot fully Appreciate or Relate to their albums: Jimi Hendrix The Clash Tom Waits Bruce Springsteen Bob Marley Creedence Clearwater Revival ZZ Top David Bowie Queen

In Addition to the afore-mentioned artists I am also a fan of Prince, George Michael, The Sooges, Frank Zappa, The Velvet Underground, Steely Dan, I like some of the Doobie Brothers, AC/ DC are awesome (saw them in concert), Alice Cooper is vastly under rated, Doors Beatles Stones of course, I like some Queen Guilty Pleasure: Eighty POP hits, particularly one- two hit onders I'm SORRY I'm TAKING SO LONG! the bands that I am not too fond of or hate: Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Rush, Yes, Kiss, Styx, Kansas, Journey, Foreigner, Elton John, Progressive-Era Who.

My Criteria for rating music: Whatever I Iisten to pretty much grows on me. I try to find a consistenly good artist; I will not buy a one- album wonder.

My favorite bass player is Noel Redding, I guess. I dunno.

My Favorite Guitar Player is Frank Zappa; maybe Robert Fripp

My Favorite Drummer is John Bonham or Clive Bunker

24.09.2002

1.) Name - Ben Kramer

Age - 15

Location - New York, USA

2.) My main intrest outside of music is tennis. I play at least three times a week and this upcoming spring I will play for the school team. I am also into math and physics. I am working on a project for the Intel Science Fair at this current time.

3.) Music is one of my most important intrests. At this time, my collection is fairly limited (only 98 albums) but my collection is growing very rapidly. Ebay is my main source for cds (Bkramer2000@hotmail.com) and I am expecting 5 or 6 albums coming in the mail within the next week. At this time, my favorite artist is probably the who, and my favorite album is Quadrophenia, though many come close. Some of my favorite artists who aren't the Who are The Beatles, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Peter Gabriel, Cream, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison (no Ringo yet, but I will get some, I don't actually own any McCartney, but I have 3 of his albums on Napster.), The Police, The Talking Heads, U2, The Beach Boys, Fleetwood Mac CCR (The list goes on and on...). I started with Led Zeppelin and got their complete sudio recordings boxset and eventually got bored with most of it. Then, I got into Pink Floyd, and at that time, I thought the Wall was by far, the greatest piece of music ever released. (You have to realize at this time that I didn't hate the Beatles, but I had a bias against them because my parents loved them and as a teenager, it is ones job to disagree with your parents. The only Beatle songs I knew were 'Hey Jude' and 'Strawberry Fields Forever'. At this time, I started to get into Pink Floyd extensively, and I am only missing 2 essentials ( I don't include Gilmour led Floyd, I have heard it and it frankly sucks). I will hopefully get them within the month. Then, getting bored with the 25 or so albums in my collection, I downloaded a couple songs by the Who ('My Generation' and 'WGFA'). I liked them a lot so I picked up their most popular album, Who's Next. Soon afterwards, I picked up Tommy and Quadrophenia. Around this time, I screwed over my bias against the Beatles and bought the most famous album in history, Sgt . Pepper's Lonely Heartsclub Band, which I didn't love then and still, I think that it isn't one of the Beatles best works (now I have Rubber Soul, MMT, Abbey Road, The Beatles, not Revolver, but I know that one like the back of my hand, I will definately buy it soon, I don't know how long I can go without having it. This summer I Improved my Beatle collection, and Who collection. I also familarized myself with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, picking up Let it Bleed and Desire, both on sale at the local used cd shop. Let it Bleed is one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time. I have since picked up Beggars Banquet, Exile on Main Street, Hot Rocks, and Get Your Ya Ya's out. At the same time, I discovered the Doors. They had a sound like no other band, so I decided to get some of their albums. I didn't buy until I had them on Napster. When I familiarized myself with them, I picked up the 7 cd Box set. Just today, I ordered the 4 cd boxset. Here is a list of some of my favorite albums, owned and futue owned - From the Beatles - The Beatles, Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, from the Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed, Beggars Banquet, from Pink Floyd - Animals, Darkside, Meddle, from Led Zeppelin, 1, 3, BBC, from The Who - Quadrophenia, Who's Next, Live at Leeds, Live at Isle of Wight, The Who Sings My Generation, Tommy, from Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding, From the Doors, Strange Days, L.A. Woman, from Simon and Garfunkel - Sounds of Silence, Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme, from Genesis - Selling England By the Pound, Foxtrot. That is all for now. I hope to expand my collection and make it more diverse.

04.11.2001

I. Name: Yevheni Kuzmenko

Age: 26

Country: Ukraine

Birth/residence: Sumy City

Social status: journalist for a local newspaper, teacher of German

II. Non music stuff. I simply adore playing chess (once played professionally), enjoy reading (with Boulhakov, Conan Doyle, Seamus Heaney, Strugatsky Brothers and early Charles Dickens among my favourite writers). Note: I am an absolute Sherlock Holmes fanatic, the atmosphere of these novels and stories is a pure delight! Bakhtin, Lotman, Mamardashvili and Pyatigorsky also occupy an important place on my bookshelf. See, I like quiet, pleasant reading for mind and soul. Cinematography: Can`t help mentioning Soviet Holmes TV-series, as well as brilliant BBC series starring Jeremy Brett.

I always pay notice to everything with Anthony Hopkins in it - what a great actor! Mmmmm , at the moment cannot think of any all-time fav among films. Being a journalist, I write about Politics, Ethnic problems, Sports, Music. No wonder I take special interest on readin press related to these subjects. I`d like to travel more - especially to Ireland which is a virtual second Motherland for, although I`ve never been there, but I thouroughly liked all the people I met...errr, too long to explain!

III. This section begins in the same point where the previous one ends. Irish folk music is a thing that can wake me up from a coffin, with Chieftains, the Bothy Band, Planxty being only the top of the iceberg. And, moving into the rock territory, Waterboys and Pogues are, naturally, beloved as well.

The process of my meloman self-education is extremely typical for ex-Soviet residents. Beatles (Hard Day`s Night and a horrible selectiong of first two albums plus Beatles for sale edited in Union), then Zeppelin, Purple and Doors, ex-Beatles. Things have changed when I heard Dylan and started seriously studying his lyrics. I don`t want to explain it long, I will make it plain: I`m a biggest Dylan fan in my city. Hats off to George, by the way! Pat Garrett and Billie the Kid is a hell of a soundtrack, and I thank God there is a man who told people the truth! Jesus, I have to stop right now before I will start discussing each song...:) My music crede is simple: all styles do well, as long as actual artists have ideas, melodies, intellect and creativity. So my chain of names and titles looks pretty eclectic: Dylan, Talking Heads, Pogues, Genesis, Nick Drake, later-period Metallica, Lou Reed, Susanne Vega, Simon and garfunkel, Thin King Plague, Pasarea Colibri (a Romanian band). Antonina Krzhyshton` (a Polish singer and composer), Brian Eno, The Who and J.J.Cale. Recently I have discovered (hope it doesn`t sound like the beginning of some hygienic tampons` ad!:) a world of a unique Italian singer, poet and composer Fabrizio de Andre. What can I say? majestic...

29.10.2001

Bit #1: Okay, my name is Nicolas LaBonte. I was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, USA and have lived there all of my life. At the time I'm writing this (Nov. 2003), I'm almost 18 years old. Mostly a quiet person, but I'm outspoken when I want to be.

Bit #2: I'm not really sure how I escape from life. I do know I want to escape from my hometown, there's nothing here of great interest. Oh, what the hell... I walk a lot. I guess that's how I escape.

Bit #3: My favorite band (officially) is King Crimson, but I tend to change focus a lot. For all I know, next week I might be really in the mood for some Robert Fripp soundscapes (don't ask) or another round of Dark Side of the Moon. Or maybe I'll have finally bought that Godspeed You Black Emperor! album I've been waiting for. The "artist" I absolutely hate??? 'N Sync. Before a few months ago, I just hated them for reasons pertaining to artistc values (didn't bother to write any of their own stuff, mostly pandering to young girls with too much spending money, stuff like that), but now it's personal. Why? Because a couple of months ago I decided to give 'N Sync a chance by listening to all of their albums... AND THEY BLEW IT!!! They went from mercifully mediocre to making Rod Stewart's Camouflage look like Revolver. No. That's a bit too extreme... Okay maybe the first Led Zeppelin album. Favorite genres of music: prog-rock (I refuse to call it progressive because it hasn't r! eally been progressive since 1973), early punk-rock, the classic '60s stuff. A little bit of folk. A healthy portion of Heavy Metal. A nice chunk of pop and other stuff I can't really think of. I absolutely hate EMO (because I think it's pretensious and done by a bunch of whiney maggots who are completely self-absorbed and spend too much time on writing banal and disgustingly superficial lyrics and not enough time on writing good music. If they want to hang their hearts on a sleeve, they should be poets, not musicians.), modern punk (I agree with George that punk was essentially a retread of rock'n'roll. Which means that all the punk crap nowadays is really a retread of a retread. Is that crazy or what?), soulless R&B crap that you get on MTV (some of it is okay, but most of it turns me off), and gangsta rap (it's like glam rock... only worse).

I have actually developed my own album rating scale which goes from +5 (absolutely essential music) to -6 (beyond awful). I even have my own equation for determining overall rating and the artists' subjective record rating, but it's very long and would take too long to explain. I'll just say it involves quite a bit of math...

27.11.2003

I feel that my personal information-letter disappoints me. Could you please post this one instead?

1. Name: Joel Larsson, 14, Karlstad. That city is in Sweden, in case that someone don't know? Suppose there are lots...

My "original" mother died when I was 5, dad married again and now I fortunately have two brothers.

2. I use to excersise as much as possible, I definitely love to copy CD's and, hard to say, I play chess. No, no, no, I'm NOT a pointexter. I only used to be one, but I hardly enjoy school nowadays.

I read a lot when I've nothing else to do. I've read all fantasy and Stephen King/Dean Koontz I've found, so now I'm reading John Grisham and that kinda stuff. I like to discuss anything, it must be my revolutionary teenager virus living in me.

3. I play the double-bass and classic guitar. I'll begin with electric bass soon, too. (inspiration exhausted) Well, now I'll go to the important part. My first bands was, hmm, ZZ Top, Roxette and some Swedish jokers calling themselves Ronny & Ragge. This was when I was about 6 years old, and I later proceeded into the commercial music. Even later, I began to listen at B B King, Aerosmith and Deep Purple, so I kept proceeding, now into hard rock; Zeppelin, Sabbath, Heep, Ted Nugent, Tommy Bolin, well I s'pose ya got da picture. I suddenly realised that King Crimson was good so I bought Red, and have since then been a 70's prog fan, with King Crimson as my absolute favourites while they were my first prog band. Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant and lots of other proggers are enjoyable, too.

I also enjoy blues, love B B King! John Lee Hooker and Howlin' Wolf are also good. Rock'n'roll from the fifties is always fun, too.

I'm not that big fan of Beatles, but their early period was great. John Lennon kept doing good music after Beatles ('I found out' is one of the best rockers ever written in the 70's, that's sure!), and the Beatles-copies Klaatu did create an own style after 1975, even if they still were a Beatles-copy.

My favourite musicians may be boring to read, but that revolutionary teenager that lives in me likes to telling others my opinions, so here we go: Bass player: John Wetton, Greg Lake, maybe John Paul Jones, guitarist: Robert Fripp, Steve Hackett, maybe Jimmy Page or Jimi Hendrix, singer: John Wetton, Greg Lake, Peter Gabriel, Howlin' Wolf, keyboardist: Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, percussionist: Carl Palmer, Bill Bruford... Well, you got the picture?

08.12.2000

Richard Lewis 15 from the great land of England! A little dead in town of Bolton is my current residence but am soon going to move to New York and set up a band there! I am a lowly student. Football and films are the way I like to relax. My favourite film is Taxi Driver or maybe Fear and Loathing or possibly Monty Python and the Holy Grail I don't know it depends really on my mood, I am a teenager after all.

I like music (and other things) that I a teenager shouldn't. I love most things of a weird nature but The Beatles are my favourite. They are followed closely by The Beach Boys, Love, Focus, Dr Feelgood, Dylan and The Flying Burrito Bros. I hate Queen for some reason and if I could explain that I wouldn't hate them! I like to twinkle on the old piano and I'm a bass player in waiting. I am studying from the great book of Entwistle (who is my hero and idol).

I have not always liked good music though. I was a avid listener of The Stereophonics and Travis. But when the musty grip of post Brit pop released me, I was free to rummage through my dad's vinyls! Long live Haughton Weavers!

29.04.2003

I don't know if my comments are "worthy", but I'm in the mood for writing this. Which is a really exceptional mood (where exceptional implies “an exception”). My English sucks (I learned most of it from the Internet and some short trips, and always hated sooo much my English classes), so I’m sorry. Or not. Why should I be anyway? You can avoid reading this whenever you want. If you perceive the text is a little complicated, the explanation is actually simple: I think in Spanish.

My name is Laureano López (you can omit the accent if you don’t have it configured). Well, at least that’s what my ID says. My father was drunk when he thought about that name (really), and it’s strange even in Spanish, but I like it. Most people call me using apocopes of that name; I prefer any of my usual pseudonyms –each one defining one aspect of the self of myself–, like Le Lale Lop, LLO (he’s dead anyway), NN NNN (or 2n3n), Hwi (don’t even ask), Testigo Universal (Universal Witness; hey, that should be a band’s name), Carlomagno (he’s alive again), Manteca (Butter), Rey Cocoroto (King “Cocoroto”, where “cocoroto” means… nothing). Ah, and the most important one, Iê Kamede. Le Lale Lop is my common way to refer to myself. Most of the time. I was born in Cipolletti, a small city in the south of Argentina, but I liv! e in Córdoba now, the second one after Buenos Aires in population. My neighborhood is a little dangerous, but nothing I can’t stand. I’m not that poor, definitely not rich, and I don’t think I’m the typical medium-class idiot. I might be an idiot of my own kind. The world received me in 1984, which gives me 19 years until now.

Usually, I don’t escape very much from the misery of this life, and just drink it trying to taste its flavor. Anyway, I look regular, given the fact I study an engineering in information systems after having graduated from a supposedly good high school. That’s a mask, I think. I pass the rest of my time writing little shitties that some persons call literature or music (I call them good crap). I pretend to sing, to play the piano and to study composition and, once more, piano. I don’t think I really do it, since I don’t find a possible comparison between me and the real singers, pianists and composers I know of. I think I would insult them calling me any of those. Some afternoons I even pretend I’m a philosopher and formulate the new theory of everything, laughing at me at the same time.

I like music a lot. It’s a big and often good part of my life. I actually wake up with music, and sleep with music too. I started with traditional music of my country when I was a kid, and progressively learned that folklore doesn’t really exist, since people changes and music is fed on that. Piazzolla, Ginastera, Guastavino, Ramírez and Falú are still some of my favourite composers of all time. I love tango and Brazilian bossa nova (Jobim was a genius). I like Spanish music very much, too. When I moved to rock music, I discovered that the whole “rock sung in Spanish” thing started here, so I listened to the masters of that, like Spinetta or Charly García. Soda Stereo and the Mexican Café Tacuba are great too. Hey, there are really many great musicians, I won’t name them all. I think it’s obvious The Beatles were the greatest thing in rock, so I don’t question it. I listen to King Crimson, ol' good Genesis and Radiohead regularly. I respect punk, trash and rap, but I don’t put them very often in my player. I’m strongly convinced that rock is dying, and something will grow from its ashes. My firmest candidate to best rock album ever: Quadrophenia.

When you’re a jerk like me and pretend to compose, you usually like classical. Well, I do. Bach is one of the most fascinating geniuses this our Earth has given. Period. Listen to The Art of Fugue (now). As a matter of fact, I think the real revolution started with Beethoven. I don’t like Haydn or Brahms very much, and I used to hate Tchaikovsky, but there are worse things around. Debussy and Bartók are great. Especially Debussy. You should listen to La Mer, or the Etudes. Blissful.

Some composer whose name I don’t remember said that music is the passage from emotions to sounds through any kind of structure. Form is the bridge from the mind to the air. That’s my criteria when analyzing music. I don’t like very much any music that reflects an intellectual form only. I think that calling that music is like calling a treatise in Maths literature. It may be great, but it’s not art: when something is art, it ascends you (or descends you, hehe) to an emotional or spiritual state. It’s not just communication. Sometimes the form is not very clear (Kid A, Firebird), but the results are worth the try. My mind prefers to be defied rather than satisfied, so I like originality and diversity. Anyway, if somebody plays or composes something that’s absolutely uniform and not revolutionary at all and, despite that, it touches ! me showing evidence of form, I like it too. I'm pleased when people play their instruments decently, but I don’t focus on that. Virtuosos can be dangerous. They use to ruin a good arrangement.

Well, I’m boring you, so bye-bye. I should listen to some Chinese music; it may be good. As for now, I’ll go finish my cigarettes box. Good night.

20.07.2004

I: My name is Mattias Lundberg, and I am 24 years old. I was born and bred in Atvidaberg, Sweden. I've been living in the U.K. for a couple of years now, I am a student at The Univ. of Liverpool. (Doing music of course, in fact I think it's a bit of a false prejudice this thing about 'only classically trained musicians can really appreciate proggressive rock'. Most of the people I've met, here and on an organist's diploma course in Sweden, can't stand it. I think you need to be a great fan of all kinds of music to 'understand' what prog is all about).

II: My hobbies are Geneology, Chess, Fishing and Film (my favourite films are 'Metropolis','Ben-Hur','A Matter of Life and Death', 'Death in Venice' &c.&c.).

III: My main interests in music are Early Music, 70:s Progressive Rock, Jazz and Post-tonal,non-serial Music (See my web page on Max Reger: http://1freespace.com/music.reger.com). My favourite albums/band by some of the biggest prog bands are: Gentle Giant - Aquiring the taste, Jethro Tull -Thick as a brick, Yes - Tales from topographic oceans [Arguably one of the best albums ever], King Crimson -Starless and Bible Black, Chris Squire - Fish out of Water [also one of the best albums all categories incl.], Van der Graaf Generator- H to he..., Kraan - Let it out, Camel The Snow Goose, E.L.P. - Tarkus, Kansas - Masque. If I had to name a favourite band it has to be Yes, but some periods (up to a year's length) it has been E.L.P.

That's it, Thanks for a great page, and it's nice to see so many people who like Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The internet is really great for this kind of things....

12.04.2001

I am 49, born in New Jersey,and have lived in Memphis (the true home of rock and roll) for the past 30 years. I have been fortunate to have seen virtually all the great bands from 1967 on. Best show was in 1973, David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars. That album, Ziggy Stardust remains my favorite album, and in my opinion the greatest rock album ever recorded. My other favorite groups are: Wishbone Ash,The Kinks, B52's, Talking Heads,the Cars, and the best band I have heard in the last 20 years, DADA. Unfortunately, they are presently in abeyance. They have put out 4 albums starting in 1992, but never got any tangible air play or recognition. What a shame. These albums by DADA are so great, I can't find words to describe them. Two of the 3 members can be found in Butterfly Jones, who have a great album out now. George, I wish you would put your opinion of DADA out. List of best albums after Ziggy Stardust: Drastic Plastic- an incredible album by BeBop Deluxe,Sleepwalker-Kinks, Rubber Soul, Can't Buy a Thrill-Steely Dan, Talking Heads 77, Strange Days-Doors, Puzzle-Dada, Front Page News-Wishbone Ash, Wild Planet-B52's,and Actually- Pet Shop Boys. My real love,however, is literature. Favorites are: Aldous Huxley, John Fowles,Graham Swift, Oscar Wilde, Jeannete Winterson, P.D. James, Julian Barnes, Don DeLillo, and A.S. Byatt. For an intense read, check out "The Sea Came in at Midnight" by Steve Erickson, and "Veronica" by Nicholas Christopher.

18.11.2001

1) Personal Info

Bloke, kind of a giveaway in the name. Recently had the misfortune to become 29 years old, but was fortunate enough to attain said status in Manchester, England (as immortalised in the musical 'Hair' for non-brits, as immortalised by guns, drugs, The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays and Freddie And The Dreamers for brits and obsessively musically minded non-brits. Oh, and some gits called Oasis, apparently). Social status? That would be 'adequate', I guess.

2) Non Music Related Personal Interests.

Being a know-all clever clogs show-off. And an unbearable git. A personal mission of mine is to know just enough about everything to best most people, but never enough about anything to be of any use. Naturally enough, this includes reading anything vaguely 'profound' or 'worthy', but not for the worthwhile reasons of others.

3) Music-related Questions

An eclecticist of the highest order. If there was an award for the World's Greatest Who Fan, I'd enter (against some stiff competition, having perused the site thoroughly). Yet one of my favourite ever albums is Surf's Up by The Beach Boys. I am anally knowledgeable about late eighties/early nineties 'indie' music, yet at the same time feverishly collected hip-hop records for a number of my teen years. I adore Pink Floyd (sorry, but patented dentistry just seems to affect me somehow), yet have met and interviewed Prince Buster and Isaac Hayes. You get the idea (if you don't, let me add that reading the original fold out 'newspaper sleeve' of Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull is one my of odder pastimes). I have a penchant for genuine sixties psychedelia (most easily accessible via the 'Nuggets' collections, to save an exhaustive listing of bands),especially Love and even including The Doors, for all their pomposity, cheesiness and seeming self importance (but they do have a sense of humour- the soft parade actually makes me laugh heartily and wince at the hokey symbolic imagery in equal measures). I am devoted to The Who (as every healthy person should be) and am moderately attached The Small Faces (despite the clash of allegiances that it raises - Ian McLagan, get your hands off Keith's wife, hehe). One thing I have noticed, is that my musical tastes goes in cycles, and big ones at that. For instance, I adored The Doors with neither question nor reason as a mere callow youth. Then, as my later teens progressed into my early twenties, I realised that they weren't half as clever as they thought, and that there was a certain cheesy whiff to some of the tunes. So I started my own personal Doors backlash, some two decades after they'd effectively ceased to be. Then, as I voyaged through my moderately roaring twenties towards the endless expanse of all-too impending middle age, I thought sod it, I like cheesy hammond organs and to hell with the consequences.

Given my stated eclecticism, this section could expand into unmanageable proportions, so I'll stick to a brief round-up of notable and more importantly, applicable, others (no sense wasting space and time wittering on about the relative merits of the superlative Pulp given the stated aim of the site). Mudhoney (trap-rattling non pareil from good ol' dan peters - nirvanas loss was my own personal gain), The Beach Boys (I know I mentioned them earlier, but they deserve the plug. And no, I don't mean the first four hundred and eighteen surf albums in the first nine months (although I have a soft spot for them), nor do I mean Pet Sounds - I mean those scant, cherished years between Brian's mental collapse and their rebirth as 'America's Favourite Band'. Ugh, Kokomo). Most things Stax and all things Solomon Burke. Jeff Buckley and his Dad, both global treasures (Jeff would have edged it over Tim due to his untimely-demise-based quality control if his relatives hadn't insisted on doing a 2pac and releasing every bit of half-arsed music he'd ever looked at). I could go on, but I'll bring the paragraph to a merciful end.

Musical instruments? I have misconceptions over my drumming and piano abilities (which, in an ideal world, I'd restrict to merely appreciating others skills - but no, I persist in endeavouring). Other than that, I was prohibited from practising the recorder as a child, on account of my parents concern over their ears and mental wellbeing.

Finally, my own personal musical ethos is only like it if its any good. Simplistic, but it works for me.

p.s. I thought I'd get in on the act and assemble a mythical supergroup. So here goes.

Drums: Easy one this - Keith Moon (with Charlie Watts or Ginger Baker on hand should any of the songs require strict time-keeping)

Bass: At the risk of appearing Who-centric, it'd have to be John Entwistle (besides, he could double up on French Horn and his skeleton outfit would be an unexpected bonus)

Guitar: This is such a tough one to call that I've taken the drastic step of disqualifying all the obvious front runners and appointing Phil Manzanera, partly for his superb 'fly-eye' spectacles, but chiefly for tha wonderful, one-off solo on 'Virginia Plain' (the very essence of inspiration - he's never once been able to recreate it. When asked how he did it, he replied "I dunno, my fingers just went 'Blam'")

Vocals: This one's even tougher. Do I want the lion-roar of Roger Daltrey? Or perhaps the untrainded, transporting delight of Jim Morrison? Perhaps the curdling scream of Ian Gillan (not to everyone's taste, I know)? Sod it, none of the above, I'll stretch a point and go for Jeff Buckley (well, his dad Tim does qualify for 'Rock's Golden Age')

Right, that's the regular four-square band. Now onto the supplementaries.

Flute: Ian Anderson (well, can you name anyone else?)

Saxophone: Andy Mackay (again, not too many dedicated players around in rock, and I'll be damned if I'll have Clarence Clemons in MY band)

Keyboards: Alan Price. Less cheese than Ray Manzarek.

Effects: Brian Eno

Inspiration, Hanging Out and Weirdness: Arthur Lee, Don Van Vliet and Syd Barrett.

Triangle: Yes. All of them. That'll teach 'em.

20.12.2000

Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste.....

Well, at least I hope it is so. My name is Maximilian and I'm a German guy. I live in a suburb of Munich and I'm currently 17 years old. To start with my interests: first of all music (SURPRISE!!! No one of you thought that...) and my CD's and LP's, but later I'll bore you more with that.

I'm interesed in finishing school in two years, so that I'm ready to study nautical science in northern Germany. My deepest wish is it to earn my money with a job which has something to do with seefaring, but I don't know if it'll work. I'll see. To my hobbies apart from music: I enjoy spending my time with people I like. I try to read a lot, especially I inform myself about Hitler's dictatorship, the second world war, and all the unbelievable and cruel things happened at that time. I know, the German people carry much guilt, but it makes me a bit sad that some people outside from Germany don't accept me only because I'm German as it happened last summer when I was in Scotland. But only by the way. It leads me to another hobby of mine, journeys. Up to that point, not far away, but I love it to travel around and see the world. I try to inform my always on German and international politics and read the newspapers. The rest of my time I mostly waste with playing the piano ( and sometimes more or less good the guitar), doing some sports and sitting in front of computer- and TV - screens starring at them. But for all of that I haven't got much time, because I have to spent much of that for school.

So, are you already sleeping? Fine, then I'll continue with my musical interests.

For about two years I'm now in process of collecting CD's and LP's, everthing (from McCartney to Fleetwood Mac to some German artists you might not know to Irish music to everything). Most people on this page seem to love only the "high-quality-artists' like Dylan, Pink Floyd, REM etc. I love them too, I even was in several live concerts given by some of that (Dylan, Roger Waters from Pink Floyd, Santana, Neil Young ...) and every time it was great, but I have to admit that I'm also listening to some 80's-charts-synthi-crap (such like Soft Cell or Duran Duran or Eurythmics). I like nearly every style of modern pop (if I don't have to listen to the 'bubble-gum-pop' of today as some user here said so accourate, or to the hardest hard rock, or to the schmaltzyest soft rock or or or). I'm planning the rest of the little time I have to have a try with some comments in your site, because I sometimes disagree with your mostly fantastic and clever reviews, and I'll start maybe with McCartney, because I have really everything of him. George, I'm glad to having found your site, it's great. Sorry for my bloody bad English, hope you'll understand a bit...

24.09.2002

Hi, everybody! Philip Maddox here, music lover extrordinaire. My love of music has been around as long as I can remember. When I was as young as 1 or 2 years old, my sister would play me old Moody Blues records, my dad would play me lots of John Prine, Bob Dylan, and Weavers albums, my mom always played the Doors and Neil Young, and my brother cranked up punk rock records by the likes of the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedys. According to my folks, as soon as I could walk and operate a turntable, I'd get up, play a record over and over, and groove around our entire house in my trusty Kermit the Frog slippers. This explains quite a few things, actually - first of all, it explains why I never held any feelings towards any particular band or style of music as the best due to it getting me into music, because I've had so much music coming at me for so long that I honestly have no idea what came first for me. Secondly, it explains why I love so many different forms of music - when you grow up hearing Bob Dylan on one shelf and the Dead Kennedys on the next and hear them both constantly, you like a lot of stuff.

Well, here's a little bit about me - I was born on February 17, 1983 in Culpeper County, Virginia in the United States of America, where i still live as of today and will live until I go off to college. I was always a really shy kind of person and never made any friends until I was about 13 years old, partially because of my lax attitude to personal hygene (which I've corrected by now, of course), my interest in stuff that nobody else cared about (what 12 year old child in the nineties wants to talk about the Moody Blues?), and the fact that I weighed about 300 pounds (which I've pared down to about 200 by now). Around 7th grade, I started to lose weight and meet a few people as weird as I was. I was always a hypergeek, so, naturally, I fit right in with the weirder guys in the school. You see, where I'm from, most people don't like much besides wrestling, hunting, and football, so finding people with more unique interests was a bit of a problem. I started to fit in more and more as I found people who actually shared some of my interests (more on those later). Though I did snap for a while back when I was in ninth grade, I've recovered somewhat and remain a perfectly happy person. Sure, I'm not winning any popularity or beauty contest, and it goes without saying that no girls really want much to do with me, but I'm not concerned. I have fun (and all of it legal! No drug culture for me, thank you, though I know a few too many people that got involved in it) and do pretty good in school at the same time (almost straight A's! Yes, I'm that much of a dork, even though I'm not too concerned about how I do - it's just always come naturally to me).

My interests? Glad you asked! I'm a bit of a science and math kind of guy. I like learning what makes things tick and trying to learn why things are the way they are and how things got to be the way they are. I play the saxophone, though I';m not particularly good at it (I was second chair in the high school band out of 9 people, but that doesn't say as much as you'd think). I quit the band eventually because the teacher had some issues with rage and would flat out threaten his students, and he dang near gave me an ulcer as a result. I still play a little on my own, though. Of course, like any person with an interest in rock music, I want to play guitar, and fully intend to learn how, and soon. I read quite a bit (though not quite as much as I used to - I need to read more), mostly good old Tolkien styled fantasy books. And, of course, Mad Magazine, though the humor contained therein lately has been a bit too bathroom oriented for me - I like 'em better whan they're clever. I've always loved artwork and cartoon drawings, though my actual ability to draw is nil (which is one of the things I really need to correct - when you like art stuff as much as I do, it sucks to not be able to draw). Comic strip collections, old Looney Tunes, the better of Disney's films (especially the 2 Fantasia movies, which were absolutely beautiful), and even a few Japanese anime films (though I'm nowhere near a hardcore fan - sometimes it just gets stupid, some of the animation looks pretty damn sorry, and the style can get repetitive. Princess Mononoke is one of the best movies I've ever seen though!). I like goofy comedies both in films and on television. Guys like Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd crack me up. Love the Simpsons, of course, for its inspired blend of social satire and physical humor. Ditto for Matt Groening's other show, Futurama. As far as television shows go, however, my favorite is the extremely clever Mystery Science Theater 3000. If you don't know, the show is basically a guy and his 2 robots (well, puppets, actually, but the show is very low budget) making fun of really cheap sci fi movies. They're smart, literate, and very, very funny. Great show. I tape it and all. If there is any single show that I am close to being fanatical about, that's the one. Too bad they had to go and cancel it...

Now for the most important thing for people reading this page - my musical tastes! Like I said, it ranges pretty far. Right now in my CD changer, I'm listening to a Beastie Boys album, which rests next to Neil Young's Mirror Ball, Sgt. Pepper, and a black metal compilation CD called Beauty In Darkness. Pretty far reaching. The only styles of music I really can't stomach are country music of the Hank Williams Jr. variety, most rap music (though I do like the Beasties quite a bit), extremely pointless death metal of the Cannibal Corpse variety, modern, bland rock of the Matchbox 20/Creed variety, most disco music, and dumb 70s AOR rock like Foreigner. I prettyy much spend all of my money on CDs, so I've literally got hundreds and I buy more all the time, so my list of styles of music in my collection grows pretty rapidly. Though I do listen to a lot of different music, I guess you could say that either psychadelic or progressive rock are my favorite styles, though anything that strikes me as really creative might hit me as being unbelievably excellent and the style of the day. Roots rock, folk, and, well, everything else is OK by me, and I love a lot of it. I've been interested in music review sites like this one for quite a while, as it helped me find a lot of mew music to listen to (without this site, I'd have never gotten into Genesis, Zappa, or a lot of other stuff). Even when I disagree with the reviewers, it's usually an entertaining read. I had my own record review site for a while (and still do, I guess, though I haven't updated it in a while, but I may in the future if I ever feel like it), but I eventually decided to just jump aboard at the Music Junkies Anonymous site, seeing as how it asked nicely. My system for rating records is pretty much similar to how everybody else does it - 1-10 scale typically, 1 being horrible, 10 being nearly perfect, 7 being your typically "good" album.

Well, that's it. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. If you didn't, I can say anything I want to about you right now, and you'd never know it! Heh heh heh... ah well, I guess I'll be nice. For now.

05.12.2000

Right. Hey everybody, my name's Victor Prose (I also go by Ryan Maffei, and while neither are my real names, er...I'm not sure how to finish that sentence). I have a few scattered comments on this page, some amazingly banal (being from my early stages of critiquing things), but most of my commentator work is on the Prindle page, where I have a Phish review page and scores of little notes on records I like and records I hate. I'm not gonna tell you how old I am, but whatever you speculate my age may be, I'd just like to let you know that I'm remarkably mature and educated a person. Even if you think I'm 47, this still goes, although I may be just (once bitten twice) shy of 16 when you stumble upon this page. I live in that wonderfully self-centered country called the USA, was born and bred in New Jersey (I'm a good person, dammit) and I now reside in Texas. Social status?: The overly artistic and sensitive outcast. Rock on.

'Kay, so that's me. I'm also a thespian (not quite officially), and I like to...um...do stuff besides music...I think...but besides all (ahem) of that, I'm a singer-songwriter, writing song after song and recording it all alone on my lovely little four-track. Being a classically trained pianist who was introduced to rock through Billy Joel and now likes everything from Ramms+ein to the Left Banke and has spent nights toiling over his Rolling Stone Illustrated Histories and such, I'm highly educated about rock, and also being a well-influenced critic (you're up there with 'em, Georgie!), this gives me the advantage when writing, and so my songs are ultra-clever commentaries on everything I hate (think Frank Zappa with a more down-at-home melodic sense). Alongside piano, I play harmonica (sometimes at the same time! Wow! Yeah, I know...), keyboards, a bit of acoustic guitar, and bassoon. I do arrangements, too. A regular old Roy Wood I'll be, until I either get a bassist, guitarist, and drummer to back me up, or I forget how to play the bassoon.

Right, now onto the most important part: Me and how I feel about music! Yay! ('Cos music is the best damn thing in the world, dontcha know, Jimmy). Let's see, who do I like? I've got such a diverse collection it's hard to tell...right. Here goes...

My favourite genre's gotta be rock, but it's such a wide term in its classification that it's hard to say I don't also like soul, rap, classical, and anything else besides new age and country crossover (let us all unite in vomiting!). My favourite artist?: Gotta be the Beatles, though ELO and all of those other crossbreed bands of the 60's (Procol Harum, Left Banke, Chicago) come pretty close, influentially, at least. But the Beatles gave us Rubber Soul, probably the best record of all time next to Zappa's debut, Zappa being one of my main musical influences as well(sheesh). More on influences--I take quite a bit form Lennon, lyrically, though my use of poppy undertones and descending basslines are pure McCartney. Least Fave Artist?: Well, it's really hard to say I hate artists, though stuff like Tommy Tutone, any teen-pop band, and Marilyn Manson (just because it's so difficult to listen to) come to mind. Eclectecicicicist?: More than anyone else, as far as I know. I can listen to Trent Reznor's various production indulgences and enjoy them just as much as "Uncle John's Band" or "Piano Man", and all are exceedingly different. Give me Gram Parsons, The Turtles, The Doors, or Dream Theater and I'll eat 'em all up in one day (unless one of the albums is Waiting for the Sun). And my love for Zappa is probably a fine testement to my eclceccelcletictivity. As for my music reviewing techniques? Dare I reveal my secrets? Generally I go by four main factors when judging: The quality of the album's songs averaged up, how original/landmark the album I'm reviewing is, the record's enjoyability, and the arrangements/production/instrumentation, with a few biased factors from my education coming in (i.e., no matter how great Battle of the Bands is, I still know it's all just slightly smarter Turtles fluff, so it's a B+ on my grade-ratings scale). Usually, I like to write concise but wordy reviews, yet I feel stuff like Mark Prindle's and Lester Bangs' work (if less rambling on the latter's part) is the ideal, most fittingly accessible way to write. David Browne's work is the perfect melding of the two techniques; see my Phish page and you'll catch some of my more mainstream stuff. Eventually, I hope to have a site of my own, considering I have thousands upon thousands of records I'm able to access, but me and my session musician-cum-car finance manager father both have the inescapable problem of not finishing artists' discographies. Eesh. So, that's me, and I bet you already hate me. In conclusion, here are my votes for the most talented rock guitarist, keyboardist, bassist, and drummer of all time! Yeah!

Guitarist: Bill Nelson of Be Bop Deluxe--the man is inexplicably fast and talented...Keyboardist: Elton John--he's got ability and soul...Bassist: Les Claypool of Primus--so innovative it kills me...and Drummer: Cozy Powell of Black Sabbath--so powerful it kills me. Now you may berate me even further! Good day!

23.10.2001

Name - Steven Maginnis

Born - Alive

Mother -Yes

Father - One

Siblings - Rivalries

Age - Wouldn't you like to know!

Taste In Books - Chocolate

Personal Ambition - To open a liquor store in Utah

Ha ha, I'm kidding. Anyway, I'm from New Jersey in the USA (Motto: Who's Running for Senate This Week?) , my musical tastes are mostly in sixites and early seventies rock, with a strong interest in the fifties, and my criteria for reviewing an album is straightforward enough - Will I want to listen to it over and over again?

Nonmusical interests include movies (especially French ones), cycling, swimming, watercolor painting, and calling George W. Bush an idiot. I belong to a group that supports better public transit in AMerica and other hopelessly lost causes.

Good to be able to offer my two cents' worth. Cheers!

03.10.2002

My name is Raghu Mani. I am 34 years old and was born in Madras, India. I lived in India for 24 of those years and for the last 10 I have lived in the USA - first as a computer science student in Michigan and for the last 6 years as a software engineer in California. I am married and have a 3 year old daughter (who is fast becoming a big Beatles fan).

My musical tastes are pretty much along the same lines as yours. Though I am not as negative about post-60s rock as you seem to be, I have a distinct preference for 60s rock and R&B. My favorite acts are Dylan, the Beatles and the Stones. I love most of the other 60s rock and R&B acts and a lot of my favorite post-60s albums are by these people. I do, however, like other post-60s stuff - including some R&B, prog-rock, and some punk (we differ on that). I have listened to some reggae (mostly Bob Marley and a few others) and I rather like what I have heard till now but I haven't listened to enough albums or artists to form an opinion about the genre. I am not a fan of country music and rap (though every now and then I'll hear a song that I like).

18.01.2001

I. personal data

name : Lionel Maréchal

born in France, 04/18/1984

http://www.ryusenshi_2@yahoo.fr

Student in maths and physic

II. personal non-music related interests

I'm a student and my studies don't let me lots of time. I used to read a lot and to be interested in science but no longer (see below). I like movies, computers, video games (my favourite genre is RPG), and manga (Japanese comics). I hate sports and "real TV" (Big Brother, this kind of crap).

III. music-related questions

My musical journey is strange. As I'm French, for a long time I've only listened only to French singers-songwriters. I'm a fan of Renaud (a French singer-songwriter) since I'm 4 ; he's really well-known in France (and a little in Belgium and Canada) but not elsewhere, 'cause you've got to have a good level in French to understand his slang and his puns. But he's one of the cleverest, funniest, and emotionnal lyricist I've ever heard. I listened also to George Brassens (a real poet, though he dismissed this title), or Serge Gainsbourg (who's mainly a composer and a songwriter). You know, in France we are used to paying much attention to the lyrics' signification. In fact I began to really like music only three years ago. I bought a second-hand record of the Scorpions (a German hair-metal band) because there was a song I had heard on TV some years before ("Wind of change", yeahh...). And I realized that I had totally missed something really huge : Rock Music ! I listened to my father's records : Hendrix, the Police, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton... and now I'm a music addict and I listen to lots of music. As I listen to music for a short time, there are lots of great artists I haven't heard yet. For example I didn't know much of the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, until last year.

I listen to lots of music : from blues to thrash metal through jazz and (of course) classic rock. I am currently in a "classic rock phase", I'm trying to find the Who's and Stones' albums. I have a strange attitude towards lyrics : I don't speak English very well (you must be aware of that if you've read my letter...) and I cannot understand the lyrics unless I read them. That's why, when I listen to someone who makes interesting lyrics (ex: Dylan, Who) I try to find them written, otherwise I don't give attention and stupid lyrics don't bother me. I consider there are two ways of writing lyrics :

1) try to make lyrics with a sense, to give a message (ex: Renaud, Dylan, sometimes Townshend)

2) simply try to make "good songs" ; that's what I call "songwriting" (in this aspect Lennon and McCartney are two of the best songwriters of all time ; but I can't see any message in most of their songs, sorry) (other ex: Gainsbourg, Jagger)

I don't care about making lots of covers : I prefer a band who makes covers that seem original than one who makes unoriginal new songs. Playing is like acting : an actor (or actress) can create a character more than the scenarist or the director, can't (s)he ?

I like (in no particular order) Renaud (you can't reny your first love), Hendrix (favourite album : Electric Ladyland. Strangely, Hendrix fans prefer this one whereas others tend to prefer Are you experienced), Zeppelin, the Who, Rolling Stones, the Police, Eric Clapton, Deep Purple, the Doors, Bruce Springsteen, and of course the Beatles (though I think they're a bit overrated, especially concering diversity. Their first albums make me sleep. But White Album, Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road are fantastic). And I like making long sentences. I love live albums, too (Leeds, Ya-Ya's, Made in Japan, How the west was won (an immediate classic), Royal Albert Hall (Hendrix), ...)

Guilty pleasures : Motörhead (the most kickass band I've heard ! with the most kickass bass player ever !), Metallica, Guns'n'Roses (the evidence that heavy metal and melody aren't incompatible), Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Dream Theater (I've heard only one album but what an album !) and a bit of Yes and Queen, too. I'd have to listen more blues and jazz, but I cannot understand these musics. When I have the time...

I hate : techno, prefab music (Star Academy : the perfect meeting of shitty TV and shitty "music". the result ? Shitty ? you guess), rap (though I have nothing against it, contrary to the others) ; grindcore and death metal when my young brothers play it at peak volume. I've listened to Dark Side Of The Moon yesterday and it's sooooooo overrated...

Favourite bass players : John Entwistle, Jaco Pastorius (jazz-rock), John Paul Jones (at least I can play his lines, unlike Entwistle or Pastorius !), Lemmy (but don't follow his example ! he's the only bass player to play chords !).

rhythm guitar : Pete Townshend, Keith Richards, Hendrix (yes !!), Malcolm Young (sort of)

lead guitar : Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Clapton, Ritchie Blackmore drums : Keith Moon, Mitch Mitchell, Steward Copeland, John Bonham Keyboards : Jon Lord, Ray Manzarek, Nicky Hopkins, JP Jones (not joking).

vocals : Ian Gillan (YAaAaAaAaA !), Roger Daltrey (YEEAAHH !!! 'nuff said), Mick Jagger, Axl Rose (of Guns'n'Roses ; not that he has a beautiful voice, I just like the way he uses it)

I realize I've listed the four members of the Who on their relative instrument ! they're a kind of supergroup, but only better !

I play the bass and a bit the guitar (especially lead). I'd like to sing but...eh...my voice doesn't agree... (neither do my relatives...)

26.04.2003

Name: Jean Marlow

Age: Staring 50 in the face, but not for another three months. This makes me older, but not necessarily smarter, than most of the other people here. If you don't mind, nor do I!

Place: I live just outside Sydney Australia. Born in Melbourne, but raised in small country towns.

My local radio station played both styles of music: Country AND Western. When I moved to Sydney after I finished H/School, I was like a kid in a lolly shop, my record collection has never looked back.

Non-Music Life: Married twice. First time a long time ago, second for the past 25 years. Two adult children, two grandsons, one due in August (the junior loves of my life!) Two geriatric Australian cattle dogs. I am/was an accountant, but after the company I worked for retrenched me in 1997, I got a life! I do volunteer work with children, and we do respite, crisis and medium term foster care. Numbers are so dependable, but I never met a balance sheet as valuable as a child.

Music life: Can't play a thing, and love to sing, though slightly off-key at times. Have a couple of hundred records (as in 12" vinyls), and almost as many CDs; EVERYTHING!!! Classics, jazz, blues, country (and western!), lots of rock and roll. James Taylor; CSN&Y; ELton John; Moody blues; Billy Joel; Eric Clapton. I will listen once to pretty much anything, but rap and synthesiser stuff and hip hop leave me cold.

I hope to visit often and review as I see fit.

20.04.2004

Hello, you poor sod who chose to read this page. :P I'm Benjamin Massey, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I have no children, possibly because I'm not married, and I'm fanatically addicted to classic rock music despite the fact that I was born in the mid-Eighties, which I think qualifies as, with sincere apologies to Don McLean, 'the few years the music died'.

I believe that Pink Floyd is the best band in history, just like the other two hundred million people on Earth. Mind you, them and the Beatles are the only bands I'd rate 5/5, and if the scale were out of ten, I would _seriously_ give Pink Floyd, my favourite band in the world, 9/10. Why? Because 10/10 is perfection. And Pink Floyd is not perfect. I don't care what you say. :P

Anyway, other favourite bands/peoples include Genesis, Supertramp, R.E.M., Peter Gabriel going solo, Jethro Tull, da Stones, and Dire Straits. My favourite album is probably 'Foxtrot' by Genesis, and the single favourite song is Don McLean's 'American Pie'. I KNOW I'm Canadian, I haven't forgotten!

I'd want my own music review site about as much as I want a flaming hole in my head...not because I don't like reviewing stuff and making people think the way I want them to, but because I'm too lazy to update with any kind of regularity. (As a matter of fact, there was an hour-long lapse between this paragraph and the last, because I didn't feel like writing. Seriously. :P)

My all-star band, you ask? Well, here it is...

Drums - Keith Moon

Flute - Ian Anderson

Keyboard - Peter Gabriel

Guitar - Paul McCartney

Guitar - Roger Waters

Guitar - Keith Richards

Honorable mentions, of course, to be sent out to Mark Knopfler, Phil Collins, and Pete Townshend. Huzzah!

30.07.2002

Hello, everybody! Happy to be here. To see the people who love real music. My name is Fatima Matiyeva. I was born in 04.02.1980 in Russia, Chechnya. Now I live in Russia, Ingushetiya.

Now about what I love. About music. I love Rock.N.Roll, Rhythm.N.Blues, Country Rock. My favourite group is THE BEATLES. I simply adore them. I have been listening them from the very childhood. It.s not only music. It.s a unique art. Also I love Rolling Stones, Animals, Credence, Who, Doors, Country Joe & the Fish, Byrds, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Janis Joplin, etc. I prefer classical music too (Beethoven, L. Bernstein, Schubert, etc.). I love cinema (Al Pachino, Dustin Hoffman, Val Kilmer, etc.)., musicals and Rock Operas.

I.m going to be a musician. I compose music and verses. I sing and play guitar. I love to read. My favourite books is .The Picture Of Dorian Gray., Oscar Wilde, . Alice in Wonderland., Luis Carol, The Catcher in the Rye., Selinger, etc.

Dear, George! You are a great man. You are doing a great work. I join to you and send you million thanks for the page.

06.01.2004

1. Brendan S. McCalmont 18 y.o. Sydney Australia, Student.

2. Non-music info, study study study. I am [sometimes unfortunately] a very sensitive person and yes I do get hurt [not offended, it just hurts to see your fav song being pissed on] when someone rubbishes my favourite songs/albums/artists but I'll read it anyway, because in the end it's a matter of personal opinion.

3. This is 99% of my life! I love the 'later years' of Elton John though he's 70's stuff is very good too, and I also like listening to ZZ Top, Cat Stevens and Billy Joel. I have a huge admiration for the pop music of the 60's, too, like Phil Spector and that stuff. I basically like anything musically. I also can [barely] play the guitar, metallic xylophone and write some weird songs too, but if the world'll hear them or not ... I don't know. You can read more of my comments on Amazon.com

05.06.2004

I.

Name: John Philip McFerrin

Birthday: June 3, 1980

Birthplace: Hinsdale, IL USA

As of today, December 5, 2000, I am a junior in finance and mathematics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

II.

My life isn't that exciting, but not horridly boring either. I have a review page of my own (visit it if you haven't already!) that takes up some time but doesn't suck up my whole life. I spend a good deal of time with each of my two clumps of friends. One clump is people with whom I attended the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, IL, and the other chunk is a bunch of people my age that go to church with me.

I like to waste time listening to music (duh) and playing computer games. I'm currently preoccupied with Homeworld, the fabulous creation of Sierra from last year. I gave it up for a while because I had more or less made it impossible for myself to win, but I started from the beginning recently and have slowly-but-surely been making my way through. I also greatly enjoy sports computer games - NHL 2000 is my favorite, currently.

Eventually, after getting a masters in finance, I want to hook up with an investment company and be one of the guys sitting at a computer all day analyzing stock data and pulling companies in and out of our fund's portfolio. Then, after I have my second or third ulcer (and given the stress of such a position, I'm counting on them) and have made a good nest egg, I'd like to go teach high school mathematics and try to convince people that knowing how to derive the fundamental theorem of calculus kicks ass.

III.

First, a bit of background about myself and my musical development. I grew up in a household where music was very important. My mother was a piano major, and hence it couldn't really be any other way. In elementary school, I took piano lessons from my mother. I actually became quite good for my age, but my mother overestimated my ability and threw me into more difficult pieces before I was ready for them. Out of frustration of being unable to play them, I gave up (and don't think that I don't kick myself to this day for doing that).

I also played clarinet for about five years. There, too, I was quite good for my age. Unfortunately, my lack of lung-power (asthma) and inability to always keep a tight seal with my lips on the ligature (sp?) ultimately doomed me. I had wonderful technique, but was unable to really use it. So, ultimately, I gave that up too.

Still, both of these did one great thing for me - I know a decent amount of music theory. Not a _ton_ (ie if you asked me to sit down and write fugue with counterpoint, I'd just stare at you), but enough to tell a pizzacatto from a stacatto, allegro from presto, an accidental from just a random change in key signature, and so forth.

I never really bothered to listen to popular music when I was younger. It wasn't until my sophomore year at IMSA that I even _heard_ 'Stairway to Heaven'. My roomate from the second semester of that year had about 50 tapes of seventies music, however, and so I began to receive a heavy dose of classic rock.

Eventually, I began to go through my first fanatical period. The band? The Moody Blues. For the last year and a half of my stay at IMSA, I was a militant Moody Blues fetishest.

Then I went after Pink Floyd in earnest. I liked their stuff a lot, though it may surprise many to know that the album of theirs that I listened to most was the Ummagumma live album. Heh.

Then I discovered Yes, and my musical tastes began to form in earnest.

What do I like in music? Well, I'm basically a junky of classic rock and art rock. I'm much more eclectic than I used to be - I once figured that the Rolling Stones were overrated junk, but now I have no problem chasing Tarkus with a nice glass of Exile on Main Street. Mmm.

What do I _not_ like in music? It can be summed up in one word - _genericism_. I HATE albums that, when I listen to them, make me think, "I probably could have grabbed any one of 50 albums that would sound exactly like this, and they might have done it better." In that way, I somewhat fall into your (George's) ideology of "original is better." After all, an album can't imitate if it comes first, right?

That being said, I'm fairly lenient about what can be called a "differentiating" characteristic. I enjoy Open Your Eyes by Yes, even though it's certainly based in 90's pop, because (a) I have NEVER heard pop that has such a strange mix, and (b) the vocal harmonies are spectacular. Yeah, they probably didn't require quite as much work as the harmonies on TYA, but I really don't care - they sound fabulous. But I'm getting off track.

I like catchiness. I don't think that catchiness by itself can save a song, but it can certainly try. I also think that a catchy song can take all shapes and forms. It can be a two-minute pop song, and it can just as easily be a side-long track. Makes little difference to me. And it annoys me when people try to judge the quality of a song on the basis of long/short or complex/simple when they should be going on good/bad. But again, I digress.

I guess that's a simple start. But now it's dinner time, and I'm starving.

05.12.2000

I. Personal data: My name's Ryan McKay, I'm 28 (for most of 2004, that is), and live in Sydney, Australia. I hail from a small town in the south-west of Western Australia. Social Status? Um, pretty low I'd say. I'm a PhD student, 'nuff said...

II. I escape the misery of this life by reading (I'm trying to plough through some of your great Russians at present, purely for pretension's sake), watching movies, hanging out with my friends and family, playing the guitar and of course listening to music. I have a girlfriend but sadly she's recently moved to London. I'm planning to join her soon when I've finished my PhD, which is in Psychology, on the topic of "delusions". I'm lucky enough to have travelled a fair bit, and have also lived in the UK and Hungary.

III. Music-related questions: I love (some) music very passionately, but probably wouldn't describe myself as that much of an eclecticist. Range-wise I'm fairly eclectic I guess (my biggest musical obsessions have been Metallica and Beethoven), but within each of the many genres I like my taste and experience is probably pretty conservative. I love loads of Classical stuff, especially Beethoven (I must confess I'm probably more of a drooling fan of his stuff than a discerning objectivist, but I know what I like). My favourite single piece of music is Beethoven's incredible mass the "Missa Solemnis". But of course I also love Rock music, otherwise I wouldn't be here. My favourite bands/artists at present are probably The Beatles (and not just to piss in your pocket either George), Lou Reed, The Velvet Underground, Radiohead, The Strokes, CCR, and (the much maligned) Bruce Springsteen. I play guitar, but sadly the only stuff I ever really enjoyed (and got any good at) playing was metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura etc.). In some respects therefore my musical tastes have kind of diverged from my "musicianship". I still listen to this stuff though, but it feels more like nostalgia I guess than anything else. For what little it's worth, my favourite guitarists are Randy Rhoads (George you should really check out the Ozzy Osbourne tribute to Randy - it's a phenomenal live album), Marty Friedman (well only really from Megadeth's Rust in Peace, but his playing on that album still makes me all misty-eyed), and Brian May.

Anyway, there's my info, take it or leave it!

18.02.2004

Name: Thomas McKeown

Born: 12th March 1984

From: Norwich, England

Social Status: I suppose I'm middle class, not that that means anything.

So, what am I actually like? Well, I suppose I'm your average White Middle Class English Heterosexual Male With Glasses. My main interests are listening to music, hiking, reading, lounging about, history, loafing, watching and performing theatre, inane chatter with friends and Not Doing Anything - oh, and of course, music review sites! I'm have a mildly split personality - one for Theatre Studies, the other the rest of the time. When I am not doing theatre related stuff, I am just an all-round Decent Guy, who gets on well with most people he meets and has a reasonable sized group of friends, but who unnacountably never gets invited down the pub or to parties; in other words, an alright guy, but not very interesting. In Theatre, all my usual reservations vanish and I just say what I want to say, as soon as it enters my head, and not bothering to pass it buy Mr. Brain. This has led to me gaining a reputation as a bit of a wierdo; an exciting, vibrant, unpredictable character who, unnacountably, never gets invited down the pub or to parties. Oh well!

I first started getting into this web reviewing thing about a year and a half ago, when I stumbled upon Bryan's Reviews whilst looking for information on Pink Floyd. From there I found my way to Prindle's site, and also Creative Noise. I steared clear from this particular site and from Wilson and Alroy's because they both sounded too snobby (I know you're not snobby, but dealing exclusively with 'Classic Rock' put me off a bit). I only visited the Wilson and Alroy site a few times, and after seeing this site, and Prindle's, and Brian Burke's, I couldn't really see what the fuss was about. Just for references (you might find it useful in your commentator database thing), here are my ratings for the various reviewing sites I am familiar with, presented in no particular order.

Reviews of Classic Rock - I didn't visit your site and till it had reached maturity, and was very impressed by what I saw; to my mind (this isn't just flattery) you seem to be the most intelligent of the web reviewing guys out there; you don't write anything sensational without backing it up, and you have a very persuasive style of writing; having said that, I have to say I much prefer your essays and band introductions to your actual reviews; I don't know why, but the things that make the former exciting and absorbing make the reviews seem a little dry: 9 out of 10.

Mark Prindle's Record Review Site - the main things here are the diversity of the bands covered and Mark's own infectious brand of humour; plus it's where you find reviews of those two venerable old seers, Ben Greenstein and Rich Bunnel ( I know that they are not very old, but I like to imagine them as venerable!). 9 out of 10.

Creative Noise - like no other reviewer on the web, Brian Burke's can really get my dander up - by this I mean he REALLY PISSES ME OFF! I don't know why, but I just find his reviewing style highly offensive.None the less, this is apretty good reviewing site: 8 out of 10.

Those three sites are my personal favourites; I used to enjoy Bryan's Reviews when the site was fully active, but The World's Unluckiest Web Reviewer was hit by so many problems that I kind of gave up on the site, though salvaging the reviews from it and putting them up on this site was a very heartwarming action, George; Bryan's reviews were the first I ever read, and so I have a special place in my heart for them; when the site was in it's prime, I would have given it an 8 out of 10. I also like Music Junkies Annonymous, although I find the style of writing a bit hard-going sometimes. Wilson and Alroy I don't like at all; they're not funny, they don't write interesting reviews and don't write essays, they are not nearly as intelligent or as eclectric as they think they are, and the site isn't even interactive. 5 out of 10. So there.

And now, my own very own musical tastes. I'd say I'm pretty eclectric by most people's standards; I listen to a wide range of styles from a wide range of periods, although they tend to fall into the Pop-Rock spectrum. At the moment I'd say my favourite bands and artists would be Super Furry Animals, the Beatles, the Stone Roses, Crowded House, Bob Dylan, Roy Harper, Paul Simon, Blur, U2, the Waterboys, Radiohead and Massive Attack; however, because I don't listen to any of that crappy nu-metal stuff, people keep telling me to "expand my musical horizons". I am also a casual listener to various other musical styles; dance music, which I think to many people diss just because of the dominance of the beat and never attempt to get to the heart, the actual substance of the music (it does have one you know); hip-hop or rap or whatever, which I have to say I admire more than actually like ( though, as I'm a bit of a lyric's man myself, I can forgive practically anything of the music if the words capture my imagination); and classical, which, because I come at it from a pop lover's view-point, I tend to regard as vaguelly interesting muzak, wallpaper, the precursor to ambient. I would be hard pressed to name my favourite band of all time, but for the moment I think I'll go with the flow and say the Beatles, simply because the next best contenders (in my mind, anyway), the Stone Roses, only released two albums.

15.12.2000

Before I get into what goes on in my furry little head, I have to go into a slightly sexist rant here. Where are the women on this site? I'm afraid it only confirms my strongly-held belief - from lengthy and sad experience - that women, in general, have very poor taste in music - younger ones and older ones (honestly, how many guys are buying all those Matchbox 20 and N'Sync CDs, unless they're pansiasses who should be required to turn their penises into the proper authorities post haste?). At least none of my girlfriends ever have, but I digress.

Anyhoo, my name is Jeff Melchior. I'm 27 years old and live in Canada, where I work as the editor of a weekly newspaper in a town I'm embarrassed to mention in a province I just won't mention. Socially, I span the range between party animal and extreme introvert - a point I'm actually lingering around right now (oh, and believe this or not, George, your site helps heal the soul - I discovered your site after a recent shattering break-up and it's helped me while away many lonely hours).

As far as stuff that I do that doesn't involve listening to my favorite bands, it's surprising to note that I do a lot of - believe it or not - dancing to crappy music I don't like . It's nasty work and it's a sellout thing, but it gets the girls. I'm not at all ashamed of what I really like, but very few people would mistake me for the classic rock/prog rock/hard rock fan that I am, especially to the extent that I am, which is considerable.

My own musical tastes have never been on the horrendous side. There's still a lot of stuff I listened to as a kid (ie. The Police, Bruce Springsteen, U2) that I'm not ashamed to listen to now. I probably would have been a fan of REAL music earlier had I been exposed to it sooner. The rare times I heard a classic rock song on the radio I knew it had something that the overprocessed crud of the '80s didn't have.

I was 16 when - out of massive curiosity - I got one of the hipper guys in school to make me a tape of Pink Floyd songs. Although I consider Floyd pretty mainstream now, it was the strangest thing I had heard up to that point (ironically, most of it was from The Wall, which is probably their least "strange" album, but to ears used to Roxette, well...). At any rate, it was the start of a domino effect that soon got me into the Stones, Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Doors and as my tastes became even more refined, Yes, early Genesis, King Crimson, Kansas (even though everybody else hates them) and the much-vilified ELP, who - believe it or not - came pretty close to being my favorite band at one point.

George won't like to hear this, but I do hold a soft spot for metal, as long as it's not the hair-band variety (and sometimes even that's a guilty pleasure). Sabbath, Ozzy, Maiden, Priest, Rainbow, Van Halen, EARLY Scorpions, Dio, Thin Lizzy. I've been discovering the perennially-underrated '70s metal band Budgie lately via MP3 (the ONLY way I've been able to get ahold of anything by them despite much effort). In fact, discovering them through Metallica is the ONLY thing I thank Metallica for anymore - sellout losers (I bought a lot of crappy '90s albums of theirs before I finally came to that conclusion - the whole Napster lawsuit pushed me over the edge).

On to more savoury subjects: right now, my favorite band is - hands down - The Who. I've always liked them, but it's only been recently that I've truly come to appreciate Pete Townshend's compositional and lyrical genius. I don't think there's ever been a more passionate album than Who's Next - Quadrophenia's a close second. I still think the guy may have a masterpiece in him yet, and I don't say that about any of his contemporaries. After all, he's never given up on Lighthouse and today the ahead-of-its-time concept would actually make sense to a mass audience.

I've went through some nasty musical phases. Trendy bastard that I am, I soaked up the whole alternative thing for years before I realized how much of it was crap. That's not to say there wasn't some good music that came out of it - when Kurt Cobain was actually singing rather than shrieking there were some melodic sensibilities at work - nothing close to almost any of the bands on this page, mind you.

I think the '80s had a lot of good stuff - you just never heard it on the radio. I can see myself getting into bands like The Replacements or Husker Du in the near future. I really like The Church, for my money one of the most underrated bands of all time.

I've probably used enough space here, but I just want to warn all you youngsters out there: as you get older your tastes WILL mellow out somewhat, no matter how heavy the stuff you listen to now is. Thankfully, my "mellowing out" hasn't been too lame: I've come to appreciate Fleetwood Mac (who I always liked, although I was somewhat embarrassed about it), EARLY Elton John (none of his stuff past 1978, thanks anyway) and Steely Dan, who marry some of the mellowest arrangements to some of the most hilariously caustic lyrics ever recorded. That alone earns my admiration. Katy Lied would probably be slapped with a Parental Advisory sticker if released today if anybody got past the MOR arrangements and got to the lyrics.

b. 1968

Foothill Ranch, California (~ 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles)

Married w/ 1 Child & 2 Pitbulls

I currently work for a leading managed health care company. That's how I pay the bills and can afford to buy all my CDs! I love my wife, my son and my pits. I enjoy writing, and keep up the talents with some creative works that I have been sustaining for years. When I'm not working, writing or listening to music, I'm either fixing up the house or watching TV, especially "Law & Order," "The Shield," "Everybody Loves Raymond" and "The O'Reilly Factor."

I was a music major through most of college where I took classes in theory and practice. I am French horn and bass guitar proficient (just like John Entwistle! ... well, not as good as John Entwistle) and dabble in piano and euphonium. I sing in the church choir (it's a second job - I get paid by the church!), have written and arranged contrapuntal piano pieces as well as four-part choral music and even conducted. So, I have a broad musical background.

My favorites (spanning mostly progressive rock, heavy metal and classical [related?]), alphabetically include Alice in Chains, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Anton Bruckner, Deep Purple, Dream Theater, ELP, Elida y Avante, Genesis, Steve Hackett, Iridian, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kansas (* hey!), King Crimson, Megadeth, Moody Blues, Scorpions, Dmitri Schostakovitsch, Slayer, Supertramp, Pam Tillis, Tool, Uriah Heep (* ouch!), The Who, Yes. Favorite songs include "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber, "Firth of Fifth" by Genesis, "Starless" by King Crimson and "The Gates of Delirium" by Yes.

Other favorites:

ALBUMS: Genesis Selling England by the Pound (My favorite album by my favorite line-up of my favorite band); King Crimson Red (The punks who derided progressive rock in the '70s forget about this one);

UNDERRATED/FORGOTTEN/UNKNOWN ALBUM Deep Purple, Perpendicular (Who'd have thought a DP album without Blackmore - Come Taste the Band doesn't count - would sound so good? Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice, with new guitarist Steve Morse, really step up to deliver one of the finest hard rock - let alone DP - albums around. None of their contemporaries, or even "heirs" to their throne, comes close).

BASSISTS: John Entwistle (George said it best, so I won't expound. He left this world too damn soon ... fuckin' cocaine); Geddy Lee (Say what you want about Rush - or his voice - but his bass guitar work is incredible); Chris Squire (Intricate, complex lines amongst intricate, complex music. Awesome!); Martin Turner (The original bassist/singer of Wishbone Ash often played his bass like a rhythm guitarist); John Wetton (His string-breaking, pre-punk/metal distorted riffs help define King Crimson's best line-up);

MOST UNDERRATED/FORGOTTEN/UNKNOWN BASSIST Gary Thain (Hate the Heep all you want, but Gary brought a melodic, full sound to the band's bottom end for too brief a period in the band's entangled history. I never heard him until recently, and when I did, I finally found the player with the sound and style that most closely resembles my own. Check out "Why" on the remastered Demons & Wizards. RIP).

GUITARISTS Ritchie Blackmore (His speedy solos and classical style inspired generations of lead guitarists and whole genres of music); Rik Emmitt (His leads are as incredible as Eddie Van Halen's; his acoustic/Spanish guitar work even better); Robert Fripp (His technical discipline and myriad sounds and styles have often been copied, never equaled); Steve Hackett (The Genesis veteran can do just about everything: prog, metal, classical or blues, and more); Justin Hayward (He lays down acoustic/electric guitar lines with tremendous restraint, taste and beauty);

MOST UNDERRATED/FORGOTTEN/UNKNOWN GUITARIST Michael Schenker (No hard-rock/heavy metal guitarist plays with such fluid melody and clarity as this UFO, Scorpions and MSG veteran, nobody! "Light's Out," indeed, and Yngwie Malmsteen my ass. Michael, like Ritchie Blackmore before him, is the pre-eminent classically influenced guitarist).

DRUMMERS Bill Bruford (The ultimate progressive rock drummer is a percussionist in the truest sense of the word); Phil Collins (He's the premiere balding crooner of adult-pop schlock, but when he plays the drums, fuhgeddaboudit!); Dave Lombardo (A human octopus, his speed and power prevented Slayer from spilling into a cacophonous mess); Ian Paice (What he can play with just a bass, snare and a tom sounds better than what most players do with a full-on kit); Neil Peart (Nothing to add to what's already been said. Too bad the music Rush makes today wastes his talent);

MOST UNDERRATED/UNKNOWN/FORGOTTEN DRUMMER Aynsley Dunbar (Okay, so he's not underrated, unknown or forgotten, but when it comes to discussing the greatest drummers in rock, his name is often overlooked. His work with the Retaliation and Frank Zappa stand out, but there's a reason Journey's, Jefferson Starship's and Whitesnake's best albums have Dunbar behind the drum kit).

KEYBOARDISTS: Tony Banks [* stop it!] (He is the cornerstone of the Genesis sound and a fine architect of complex chords and chord progressions); Rick Davies (His piano gives Supertramp its signature sound; the whole Crime of the Century is a piano clinic); Keith Emerson (The master, plain and simple. Those who despise ELP can't deny this man's impact on popular music); Jon Lord (His sound, style and compositional skills are unparalleled in hard rock and spawned numerous imitators); Patrick Moraz (Many feel he ruined the Moody Blues in the '80s. Balderdash, I say! Remember Relayer?).

SINGERS Roger Daltrey (After Live at Leeds and Who's Next, the role and style of lead singer would be forever changed); Ian Gillan (As long as "Child in Time" exists in this world, there will be no rock vocal equal anywhere, ever); Rob Halford (The best, truest heavy metal singer of all time. From a whisper to a scream, he can do it all. Too bad he's gay); Justin Hayward (like Justin the guitarist, Justin the singer brings passion, emotion and beauty to the Moody's best-known tunes); John Wetton (A model of vocal consistency and delivery: not a screamer or a crooner, he's just right!)

MOST UNDERRATED/FORGOTTEN/UNKNOWN SINGER Elida Reyna (OK, maybe Tejano music shouldn't qualify for this site, but the genre can certainly count as a "pop-ified" take on more traditional Mexican Folk, Mariachi and Rancheras styles. This Elida y Avante singer is among the best in Latin music; not only is she the true heiress to the throne Selena left behind, but - on a technical level - she's better than Selena)

Okay, enough already. In terms of playing rock reviewer, I'm afraid my tastes are too eclectic to be valid or objective, plus sometimes I like to defend the downtrodden (see Uriah Heep). I try to base my views on the music theory I learned in college, so chances are I will like a band if they possess at least some musicality and intelligence, but utter stupidity or brain-numbing three-chord fodder certainly can be enjoyable, especially if it's Twisted Sister. I only have opinions, but I have strong opinions about my opinions (i.e., I like them!). I mean, look at all that crap I wrote above! Sure, George's statements about Tony Banks, and especially Kansas, make me cringe, but I am delighted by his praise of Selling England by the Pound and his appreciation (or acceptance) of Love Beach. This is a wonderful site, a great research tool and a terrific place to exchange ideas. Kudos, George!

* denotes George throwing darts at me.

31.01.2003

Age: 26

Born: Philadelphia, PA

Residence: Dresher, PA

Social Status: I am a medical editor who works for a cancer treatment journal. I am engaged (to be married September 24, 2004).

I don't have many non-musical interests to escape the misery of this life. I like to communicate, however vague that sounds. I write essays and humor pieces. I ask friends and family to tell me stories about their lives. I read regularly. I like to cook and enjoy trying new foods, but only when these involve good conversation.

My music-related interests are more exciting (in my opinion). I write a great deal about music, usually near-rants that only people like George would care to read. I collect music (my CD collection is up to 565 unique titles, not bad). I collect 45 RPM records; mostly old R&B music. I go to shows. I also write and record my own music. I have played guitar since I was 7. I also sing (1st tenor) and play piano, mandolin, and bass. I record regularly, multi-tracking the parts kind of like a one-man band. Music is my life. Aside from my personal relationships, music represents just about everything I live for.

Most of this is thanks to those groups I was exposed to as a child. Big ones: the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, and David Bowie. My family was a major part of my formation as a musician and amateur musicologist. From my mother, I gained an appreciation for many melodic songwriters of the late 60s and early 70s (like those I mentioned, plus Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, and Elton John). From my father, I learned a great deal about soul, R&B, and jazz music (Buddy Miles, the Temptations, Miles Davis, just to give three examples). My grandfather (despite being Italian-American and living in the heart of West Philadelphia which is/was not exactly the "country") was a major Johnny Cash fan. My uncle rocked the Philly soul groups almost exclusively (Delfonics, Stylistics, Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, etc.) My aunt had the 70s/80s thing locked up: Elvis Costello, CSN, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder (again), etc. You get the picture...I heard a lot of different kinds of music when I was growing up.

My favorite band is the Beatles. My second-favorite (actually quite close) is Guided By Voices. I also love Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Beck, De La Soul, Sebadoh, and A Tribe Called Quest. My favorite genre is probably vocal group music from the 50s and early 60s (some call it "doowop" but I would call it "R&B"). Stuff like the Flamingos, the Spaniels, the Moonglows, etc. My next favorite genre is power pop, melodic rock music. Big Star is a good example. I also really enjoy psychedelic music, particularly when it has a nice melodic touch to it. I enjoy rap music a great deal, particularly late 80s/early 90s golden-age stuff like Gangstar, del, and Boogie Down Productions. This paragraph is in danger of going on for a long time, so I'll sum it up by saying I am definitely a "branching-out eclecticist." The only thing I out-and-out reject is assembly-line pop garbage with no individual artistic vision.

As far as "most despised," I have two kinds of groups/artists that I dislike. They are: 1)Groups/artists with minimal artistic and emotional appeal and 2) Groups/artists who don't deserve the commercial and/or critical success lavished upon them. Using these criteria as a guide, I would say that two of my most despised artists/bands are the Eagles and Sean Paul. There are so many terrible popular groups today that it's too time-consuming to note each one. I prefer criticizing and deflating artists/groups that I consider "over-rated" (particularly those of the "classic rock" era). These are also too numerous to name, but I'll give you a hint: Mr. Zimmerman is a regular target of mine!

My criteria for rating music is straightforward. I learned it in a class in college (University of Pittsburgh) called "History of Jazz." The instructor (Dr. Nathan Davis) said that you can recognize "art" if it fits one or more of the following criteria: 1. If it shows evidence of form; 2. If it shows evidence of technique; and, most importantly, 3. If it provokes an emotional response.

I use this as a guideline for rating music. Bands who excel in all three areas get props from me. Bands who only excel in one area generally leave me unimpressed. For example, when I was in high school, most kids where I lived couldn't understand why I liked Public Enemy. At best, their only observation was that the music was angry. While that was/is true, there is also evidence of form (stanzas, repeated lines, metered rhyming, etc) and evidence of technique (even non-rap fans are hard-pressed to diminish the sonic assault created by PE in their prime). Conversely, PE's rap/metal followers of the late 90s/early 00s were almost all awful because, the way I see it, they lacked in form and technique are relied too heavily on anger.

The trump card is originality or (more likely) an *attempt* to be original and come at the music from a different angle. I enjoy artists and groups who do this. That's why I'm inclined to love Guided By Voices. Even their most devout fans agree that GBV has recorded plenty of bad or half-assed songs. But when GBV is "on," the freshness and immediacy of what they produce is astounding. Therefore, to my original list of three criteria, I would probably add "originality" (quotes intentional).

With my criteria in mind, I would like to include a very small list of some of my favorite albums:

Beach Boys Pet Sounds; Beatles Revolver; Beck One Foot in the Grave; Big Star #1 Record; Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded; David Bowie Diamond Dogs; Manu Chao Proxima Estacion...Esperanza; De La Soul 3 Feet High and Rising; Nick Drake Pink Moon; Gangstarr Hard To Earn; Guided By Voices Alien Lanes; Donny Hathaway Extension of a Man; Neutral Milk Hotel In the Aeroplane Over the Sea; Liz Phair Exile in Guyville; Public Enemy Fear of a Black Planet; Radiohead OK Computer; Rolling Stones Exile on Main St.; Todd Rundgren A Wizard/A True Star; Sebadoh III; Bruce Springsteen The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle; Super Furry Animals Rings Around the World; Tribe Called Quest Low End Theory; Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot; Stevie Wonder Songs in the Key of Life.

My favorite bass player is Motown session man James Jamerson, no doubt! And, yes, someday I would like to have a music review website of my own.

15.04.2004

Name: David K. Monroe

Born: 1964

Location: USA; born in Vermont, now in Georgia

Musical credentials: Bass guitarist/vocalist since 1978. I was a semi-professional musician for several years. I also play the Celtic harp and slide guitar purely for my own amusement.

Areas of critical expertise: I have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of rock music covering the 60's and 70's, and most of the 80's. I stopped following music during the 90's, and have only recently rekindled my interest in it.

Non-musical interests: Christian theology and philosophy, history (especially medieval and renaissance), literature, conservative politics.

Musical interests: My musical interests are two-pronged: on the one hand, I like all flavors of pre-Baroque music, especially Gregorian chant, Orthodox chant, and the works of Hildegard von Bingen. My favorite classical composition is Bach's Mass in B Minor. My favorite modern composers are John Tavener and Arvo Part, and they both complement my interest in ancient music. On the other hand, I still enjoy the 60's and 70's rock of my youth, such as the Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd (especially 1967-1972), and Led Zeppelin. The phenomenon of remastered CD's with bonus tracks has done a lot to rekindle my interest in rock music. I'm an irrepressible information junkie when it comes to music: I can't just listen to it, I also have to know everything I can know about the artist and the music. I eagarly devour interviews and music criticism.

BEST GUITARIST: Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple). More style pinched from more sources that I can count. Startling in his evolution over the years.

BEST UNDERRATED GUITARIST: Brian Jones (Rolling Stones). I've spent 20 years trying to discern what's Brian and what's not on the Stone's albums. The style he created still propels the Stones today. The first Englishman to play slide guitar.

BEST BASSIST: Paul McCartney (Beatles). One of the most "musical" musicians in all popular music. His mastery of melody and counterpoint are without peer.

BEST UNDERRATED BASSIST: Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper). Melodic, inventive, audacious, forgotten. A player of bewildering talent.

BEST DRUMMER: Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones). If you don't appreciate Charlie, you don't understand rock drumming.

BEST UNDERRATED DRUMMER: Ringo Starr (Beatles). If you don't appreciate Ringo, you don't understand rock drumming.

BEST MALE VOCALIST: Elvis. Stop laughing. ELVIS!

BEST FEMALE VOCALIST: Janis Joplin. For all of its flaws, her body of work still towers over every other pretender to the blues. What Jimi was for rock guitar, Janis was for rock vocals.

BEST KEYBOARDS: Ian Stewart (Rolling Stones). Posessed of a peculiar artistic integrity, he only played on the songs that he liked. No-one else connected with the Stones was capable of such a level of self-determination. Nevertheless, his imprint on rock's Silver Age is unmistakable.

BEST MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST: Brian Jones (Rolling Stones). Guitar, slide guitar, harmonica, marimbas, bongos, sitar, mandolin, "mando-guitar", recorder, flute, sax, piano, mellotron, and dozens more I can't remember. It didn't matter that Keith crowded him out of the guitar department - he could literally play anything he touched.

BEST PRODUCER: Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin). Bash his guitar playing all you want, but JP was the architect of the post 60's hard rock sound. That's where his real enduring legacy will be.

WORST BY-PRODUCT OF THE 70's MUSIC THAT I LOVE: 80's hair metal. Would to Heaven that it never happend!

BEST MODERN INTERPRETER OF THE 70's HARD ROCK TRADITION: Collective Soul. To me, they sound EXACTLY like Deep Purple, only with a pop sensibility.

WHY DON'T I MENTION ANYTHING MODERN?: Actually, there's a lot of new songs that I like on the radio, but I can never find out who does them, because incompetent Atlanta DJ's can't be bothered to announce the artist. If you're in the radio business, please remember, IF I DON'T KNOW WHO DOES IT, I CAN'T BUY IT!!!

04.09.2001

I: I'm a UNIX System Administrator for a Very Large Company outside Washington, DC.  I was born in 1966 in southwest Missouri, and grew up in the Kansas City area in the 70s and 80s, more on which later.

II: When I'm not staring blankly at the ceiling listening to whatever, I'm usually staring blankly at some sporting event on the tube, staring blankly at the pages of some fantasy or science-fiction novel, or staring blankly at my computer monitor while playing some form of multi-player computer game (which I'm taking a break from as I write this).  That, of course, assumes I'm at home; I have a tendency to hop in the car on days off and road-trip to strange places, during which time I'm staring blankly at the road listening to whatever, rather than at the ceiling.  ;)

III: Mmm, music.  It's tempting to consider myself an eclectic, except that most things which are commonly referred to AS "eclectic" bore me to tears.  Perhaps the history is in order...

I grew up in a household where my mother worshipped at the altar of Patsy Cline and Elvis Presley, and my father insisted that the Beatles were the only act worth listening to.  Unlike the normal sort of American youth, rather than growing up to despise what my parents listened to, I actually tend to appreciate it -- well, the Beatles and Elvis, at least.  Pure country music makes me ill (sorry, Patsy, wherever your soul is).  By the late 70s, I had discovered formula stadium rock, which has left me in the uncomfortable position of having to defend to people why I don't think Styx, Kansas, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Boston, and Journey suck.  Well, not all their stuff, anyway.  At the same time, I was also introduced to Rush, Yes, and Genesis.  Ironically, with the exception of Marillion, I've never been able to stomach any derivatives of the latter two (not for lack of trying, either).

It wasn't until after this period - around 1980 or so - that I was finally introduced to the bulk of the late-60s/early 70s classic acts.  I never got into the Stones at all for some reason, though they have their moments.  Experience with a local culture which seemed to think that every party was an excuse to play the first 5 Led Zeppelin albums, then play them again, pretty much burnt me out on the entire metal/blues conglomeration, including Clapton, Free, et al.  I can appreciate them for what they are, but to this day I still can't voluntarily listen to the genre.  (Notably excepted, however, are the last two Zeppelin stuido offerings, which I actually can still enjoy.)  This was also a time when I listened to a lot of Brit-invasion metal, much of which I'm embarrassed to have spent money on concert tickets for, except for Sabbath and Iron Maiden... (Did I really go see the Scorpions TWICE?)

Around the time that Yes and Genesis decided to actively try and sell records via pandering, New Wave was in full swing, and while I didn't care for much of what was current, I fell in with someone who'd been on the boat early and as a result discovered Japan, Roxy Music, and discovered that Gary Numan actually had recorded something other than "Cars."  From this point until the mid-90s, I was mostly on the Modern Rock bandwagon, but it was a rocky ride, mostly resulting in me becoming bored with upcoming acts before they even caught their first real break.  Call it elitism, or possibly call it a realization that they weren't so much "good" as they were "Not Being Played on the Same Station as Don Henley and Michael Jackson," which was always a benefit.

Around 1993, Dream Theater turned up, and not only did I drift back into listening to more progressive metal, but I was again drawn back toward progressive rock in general.  Since then, I've kept myself in the alternative pool as well.  I still can't really abide any blues/rock, I never really appreciated pure punk, and I don't even consider the blight of rap/hip-hop to be "rock," but every other rock genre is pretty much open game.  I'm not really a "fan" of anything, per se; if I tend to like a band's output, I'll go completist on the album level.  Probably the only real exception would be Dream Theater, but that takes flight in a slightly different manner; as the members of that band continually get involved with all sorts of interesting artists in side projects, I tend to check them all out just to see what they're doing.

And then there's the guilty pleasures... I confess to actually enjoying Madonna.  Shoot me.

My attitude toward reviewing is very simple:  bad reviewing is when you have no backdrop to compare against, while good reviewing is when you have one.  For instance, while I disagree with nearly every word Dave Marsh writes, he's a good reviewer.  He lets you know why he dislikes something, and generally that lets you know if you WILL like it.  Subjective review which is inconsistent -- for instance, praising five different acts which all sound alike, yet panning a sixth which isn't any different -- is useless.  Objective reviewing, on the other hand, I'm just getting used to... and I wouldn't ever dream of trying to review records myself.  What I like, I like, and what I don't, I don't, and I can't begin to explain it.  (There's no REASON why I dislike the Rolling Stones; how can I then express my feelings regarding Sticky Fingers in a useful manner?)

My own musical background was brief and uneventful, having played bass and keyboards, and sung, in a few bands in the 80s.  We're mostly talking garage here, though a couple of efforts actually resulted in money.  It being the 80s, we weren't talking about any great stretch of musical expression... the best gig for the wallet, but most frustrating ethically, involved doing covers of Ratt and Bon Jovi tripe.

Favorite individual musicians... leaving vocalists out of it, I'll give props to Squire, Claypool, Dream Theater's John Myung, and Japan's Mick Karn on bass, and Copeland, Peart, and DT's Mike Portnoy on drums.  Guitar's a different matter entirely, as while I don't like listening to them, the Clapton-Beck-Page axis ranks up there in appreciation value.  And, of course, Steve Howe...

15.12.2000

I. Personal data

Name: Brian Morton

Age: 15

Location: Northern Virginia

Born Oct. 7, 1986, in Neptune City, New Jersey

II. Non-musical interests

I'm pretty much your typical teenage slacker. I don't really have many long-term goals aside from those set by my parents. I'm trying to study psychology, perhaps even going to college for a degree, though I'm more interested in sociology. I do very well on Virginia's SOL (Standard Of Learning) tests, so maybe I'll be lucky enough to be blessed with a scholarship of some sort. More or less, though, I'm trying to make a career out of music.

III. Musical interests

I try to be open to all kinds of music, and in every genre I see there are people to be respected and people to be shunned. Good music, to me, is something that genuinely invigorates you. However, due to my being a musician, I see many things from a technical point as well. I've begun to think that this can taint someone's musical viewpoints... by no means does a song have to be complex to be good.

Anywho, currently I mostly listen to older bands like CCR, The Beatles, Pink Floyd (though I agree with George about them being overrated), Cream, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Santana, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, and so on. I also like a few current bands such as Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and System of a Down (I've always had a soft spot for some good heavy stuff).

I really enjoy eccentric qualities in music, hence why I love the Doors, early Pink Floyd, and System of a Down. Predictable music is excruciatingly boring music (take heed all you angst-ridden "hard" rock bands). An unexpected chord change, a short fast screech coming out of nowhere, or some really good lyrics littered with irony/sarcasm are all welcome in my book. I just wish they were used a tiny bit more often these days.

About my musical abilties... I play guitar and bass, and I'm not too bad. I know my fair share of music theory, and I've written a few acoustic folk songs (minus lyrics). I'm trying to get the band I'm in to get their... ah... stuff together so I can get some experience playing live. Unfortunately, I'm going to be stuck doing covers of Nirvana, Incubus, and Steppenwolf (ohhh, you know what damn song I'm talkin about) with only a few orginals stuck in there to compensate. I, myself, am more interested in playing either acoustic folk music or good rock music with funk, ska, and whatever else mixed in. Whatever I do, though, I'm gonna try to be as original as possible.

Favorites

Guitarist: John Fogerty... never overplayed a lick... at least with CCR

Bassist: John Paul Jones... very good bassist, maybe not technically, but when I think of what a bassist is supposed to do, John does it, and then some. He wrote some good stuff, too.

Vocalist: Any of the Beatles... sorry, but I even love Ringo's voice...

Drummer: Mitch Mitchell... I've always loved the way that he played like a fricken' maniac behind a kit.

Songwriter: Any of the Beatles, minus Ringo (sorry mate), Bob Dylan, John Fogerty

04.08.2002

Name: Maher Mufid Mughrabi

Age: 28

Country and city of birth: Perth, Scotland

Residence: Glasgow, Scotland

Occupation: Journalist (full-time since 1995)

Non-music-related: My great passions since childhood have been reading, writing and speaking. The Greek philosopher Epictetus said 'If you are a reader, read; If you are a writer, write.' Of course it's more complicated than that, but by the time you reach 28 you do realise that you have to take the plunge and write some substantial stuff of your own. The problem is being aware of how much you still have to learn. I thought I could write a great novel at 16. As Bob Dylan said, I'm younger than that now. Still, I am working on a series of poems (though I'm no poet, yet) entitled Naming Names which I hope to have finished by my 30th birthday.

My journalistic career began in Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, in 1995 on an English-language daily called The Khaleej (Arabic for Gulf) Times. Most of my colleagues were from South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) and my time working with these wonderful people was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far. In addition to editing the various sections of the paper, I wrote about music, sport (especially football, a consuming interest of mine), cultural and political matters.

Since then I've worked as a sub-editor in Aberdeen, Scotland, for The Press & Journal; putting together the official programmes for the Sydney 2000 Olympics in Australia; as a reviewer and interviewer for Inpress, a music magazine in Melbourne; as a freelance sub-editor for The Scotsman and The Daily Mail; and as a freelance writer for newspapers and websites in Britain, Australia and Pakistan. I've also spoken to audiences around the world about the causes dear to me, particularly Palestine and Middle Eastern affairs. Perhaps the single most important thing that happened to me was meeting in 1998 the woman I plan to spend the rest of my life with, Heather Shipp. She's from Tasmania, and a journalist too.

Music-related: When I was a kid, I listened to what my parents listened to (Fairuz, Abdelhalim Hafez, Anne Murray, Helen Reddy, Tony Orlando & Dawn, Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, The Monkees, Stevie Wonder) and the radio (mainly the UK Top 30 with Kid Jensen on Mondays and the Billboard Top 40 with Casey Kasem on Saturdays, when he'd play every single song on the chart - how strange it was to discover much later that he too had Arab roots). Eventually I started putting together cassettes of stuff I liked, a practice I've kept up ever since.

As you can imagine, this meant much of my early listening was pop (Chic, The Jam, A-ha, Nik Kershaw, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Jackson, Madonna and so on) with whatever snuck onto the charts also sneaking into my consciousness. It wasn't until a guy at school called Philip LaPierre threatened to kick my ass unless I got into Heavy Metal that I started listening to rock as rock (I had of course heard stuff like Journey, Heart and Boston on the charts). He drew up a massive list of stuff and I tamely went off and got a compilation called Masters of Metal with a few of the named artists on it (you can find the track listing for this seminal album in my life at http://www.dio.net/biography/discography/Dio_sampler_C.html). The track that really swung me was Ace of Spades by Motorhead.

For years I was perfectly happy listening to Scorpions, Accept, Tygers of Pan Tang, AC/DC, Guns 'n Roses, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Cream, Yes, Rush, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Rainbow and telling myself what a broad church metal and rock was and that the problem with everything else was it had no guitars. But I still enjoyed pop, dammit, plus taping Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' for a friend gave me a moment's pause. Into that moment came Papa's Got A Brand New Bag by James Brown and Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours by Stevie Wonder. Suddenly a whole other musical world sprang into view, which I was amazed to discover I loved. At around the same time, excavations round the back of the multiplexes called Led Zeppelin and Cream led me to the shacks of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James.

Since then I've followed my nose. I don't care a whit for reputations. If I like something I like it, and genre and fashion considerations have no bearing (I have a Billy Idol CD and love it, I still think Andy Williams is magic). Being a reviewer for various newspapers has meant getting to hear things which would never normally interest me (I used to pick six albums every week based on the sleeve - no prior listening). Some of them I've loved (Magic Box by Bel Canto, Sensations of Tone by Gol) others I've hated (Operatic Reggae by Yuri Ogawa, Forever by Beautiful World). But, to quote a Rush song, 'the point of the journey is not to arrive - anything can happen'. Name that tune!

06.11.2001

Name: Ryan Mulligan

Age: Born 5/15/82

Occupation: College Student

Residence: New Jersey (No, I don't like Bruce Springsteen)

I enjoy watching wrestling and collecting wrestling tapes...does that hurt my credibility? I also like that show ER. College is at the top of my list of least favorite things right now. Music is pretty cool too.

My musical tastes rule. My favorite bands/artists are Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead and REM. I admire Dylan for his lyrics(nobody's even close here, if you ask me). I love the pop melodies of The Beatles(though I wouldn't give most of their albums ratings as high as George does). Led Zeppelin rocks. Yeah, they might have stolen some stuff, but let me know when something sounds better. Radiohead's my new obsession, though they've only released 2 amazing albums, 1 ok one, and one that's very hard to get into, but still good. REM's good, but I don't feel like explaining why. My collection includes over 30 Dylan albums, most REM, everything The Beatles, Zep and Radiohead released, and a bunch of odds and sodds.

I'll listen to anything else that's good(some Doors, Pink Floyd, The Who, Cream, solo Beatles, etc.). I despise Kiss, Billy Joel, Nirvana, today's popular music and more! The best bassist is John Paul Jones(Entwhistle's close). Even though you didn't ask, Jimmy Page is the best guitarist.

My comments on this page haven't been very insightful so far. I plan to change that. I also plan on making my very own album review site soon. I also plan to increase the amount of parentheses I use. I "play" guitar...ok I know the basics and can play "Day Tripper". The best album ever is Blonde on Blonde (Highway 61 Revisited comes close). Goodbye!

14.12.2000

My name is Tagbo Munonyedi, I'm 42 at present and I was born in Birmingham, England, on 23 - 2 - 63, which is a week after the Beatles hit no.1 for the first time with "Please Please Me". I think it was a weirdly historical beginning, my parents were Nigerian students in England at a time when black faces were as rare as hen's teeth on these here streets - a far cry from today ! The world as most people knew it was at the dawn of some far reaching changes....I'm presently married with 2 young kids of 4 & 1 and after living all over the place, I live in North West London. I do delivery work and I also work with teenagers.

My non musical interests;well, first off I'm a christian and while that may bring a host of assumptions [ some positive, some negative ] I think it gives me a realistic view of the world and of humanity. I find that a relationship with God enables me to come to terms with my own flaws as well as loving all people for what they are. I see artistic expression as being a reflection of God himself and an essential part of us - even though we can be so negative -and that is partly why I love music. But only partly. I also love reading, various sports [ mainly football & snooker ], history, photography, composing, playing [ I play guitar, bass, percussion and a few other bits & pieces ], recording and producing, politics, driving, writing, teaching; over the last year, I, who for 20 years had no interest in computers have rather gotten into them and I have gotten into "childish" things in a big way as my 4 year old has become very conscious of " Star Wars ", " Spiderman " and alot more besides, and when I get the chance, I like watching telly [a rare thing in our household ] ! God forgive me, I even like Power rangers SPD !!

Musically I have, like " Hey, Arnold " a wide head. I dig rock in virtually all it's forms, folk in virtually all it's forms, jazz in virtually all it's forms, soul, funk, disco, reggae, pop in virtually all it's forms, classical in virtually all it's forms, some avant garde, ska, blues, rap, gospel, gospel rock in virtually all it's forms, Indian, Latin in virtually all it's forms, R & B, rock'n'roll, some African, and a variety of other "ethnic" sounds. Basically, the only sounds I'm not too hot about are ragga [ a variant of reggae ] and C & W, although paradoxically, I do like country rock.Although it became fashionable to knock the 70s, I feel priviledged to have grown up in that decade because there was some great stuff and I experienced much of it first hand. I tend to be someone that doesn't outgrow songs - once I like a song, I like it for life and I cannot think of 10 tunes that I have stopped liking once I liked them.You could say I'm shamelessly eclectic ! My record collection is pretty varied with both well known [Beatles, Stones, Stevie Wonder, ACDC, Bob Marley, Who, Weather Report, Jackson 5,Cream, Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Seal, Suzanne Vega, Kansas, Gil Scott Heron, Kinks, Oasis, Lauren Hill, Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Styx, Elvis, Status Quo, Chuck Berry, Miles Davis, Grand Funk Railroad, Chick Corea, Gladys Knight, Deep Purple, Monkees, Aretha Franklin, Black Sabbath, Roberta Flack,to name but a few ] and the slightly more obscure [ Mahavishnu Orchestra, Amalgam, Larry Norman, Away, Erykah Badu, Horslips, Omar, Resurrection Band, Mushroom, Undisputed Truth, Sweeneys Men, Melanie, Andrae Crouch, Return To Forever, Wailing Souls, Blue Oyster Cult, Seawind, Milton Nascimento, Lone Star, T. Bone Burnett, Roadmaster, Gato Barbieri, Nucleus, Thin Lizzy, Bruce Cockburn, Isotope, Tony Rich project, Lifetime...]. I'm not that up on alot of todays stuff although I do hear songs that I like ( I recently heard stuff by Outkast and Franz Ferdinand that knocked me out ! ). I do tend to be motivated by particular songs as opposed to genres and as trite as this may sound, my primary criteria for reviewing a song is whether I like it or not ! In my opinion, there is no such thing as good or bad music. I think there is only music we like, music we don't like and music we are indifferent to. There are certainly songs I can't stand [ too many to mention ] and I can't really say why because one could argue some of the ones I like are no different.......Who can tell ? What I can say is that I love the innovators, the imitators, the obscure, the uninventive, the bandwagon jumpers, the soppy, the groundbreakers, the popular, the unheard of, the pretentious, the untrained, the disciplined, the progressives.....they're all there !

I can't say I'd like my own site, but I do like contributing my two pence worth. My contradiction is that on one hand, I think that record reviewing is such a bizarre art, and almost pointless - yet I love reading people's opinions about records I love [whether for or against ] and I have been motivated many times to check somene out based on a review I've read.

04.02.2006

Matteo Musella

I. Personal info: My name's Matteo Musella Born Sept 22nd 1977 I live near Milano, Italia I'm an engineer

II. Non-music interests: quite many I'd say. Well leaving girls aside... I'd mention bird-breeding, gardening, history and latin poetry as the main ones.

III. Music stuff: well, I play guitar (used to play it maybe in a decent way some time ago but while doing the univesity i just left my guits take dust...). I like many different things (also Opera and sinfonic music) but if we speak of ROCK-like stuff I have a taste for the late 60s - early 70s. AND I must say I'm not much ab prog, so sorry George:)) CONFESSION: favourite band... LED ZEP, though as always in my life I try not to be a fanatic:)

12.06.2004

Hi!

Sorry for my English. I never studied Eng especially, only in Baku State University.

I live in Baku, Azerbaijan. 45 years old. Senior lecturer on Programming. I visited this page after advise of my friend. My interests in music: jazz, jazz-rock and good old rock. From Cream, Hendrix to EL&P, from Alvin Lee to John McLauglin and Weather Report, from BS&T to Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.

My favourite group is Blood, Sweat and Tears. Chase - I think he was one of the best trumpet players in the history. Chicago: 1, 2, 3 and 7-th albums. Emerson, Lake and Palmer - really fantastic group. Cream: I prefer LIVE! records, not studio. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple - no comments, GREAT bands.

A lot of instrumentalists in jazz-rock.Chick Corea, Billy Cobham, Joe Zavinul, Jean-Luc Ponty (viola) etc, etc, etc. This is really difficult to write the full list of my favourite musicians here.

But my favourite musician is John McLauglin. I am sure that he is the greatest guitarist. The range of music he plays is very, very wide. I strongly recommend his records to all of you, but one of my favourite is "Friday Night at San-Francisco". This is LIVE! with Al Di Meola and Paco De Lucia. And, of course, all other albums.

Non-music hobbies: chess, movies, tennis.

Favourite bass players: Stanley Clarke, Jim Fielder, Nils Pedersen, Jack Bruce, Graig Lake, John Paul Johnes.

Guitarists: John McLauglin - 1 place, and all others: Steve Vai, Satriani, Blackmore, Page, Wadenius, Alvin Lee, Al Di Meola, Zappa, Robert Fripp, Clapton (up to 1971), Santana, Beck, John Tropea etc.

Drums: Billy Cobham, Palmer, Bob Colomby (from BS&T), Baker (Cream), etc. Keyboards: Keith Emerson, Chic Corea, Deodato, etc.

01.05.2001

Hi.

My full name is Nguyen Viet Dung, but everybody calls me Mike. I was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, but I live in Poland, and right now I'm in Decatur, In, on a foreign exchange program (pretty complicated, ain't it?). I'm 18 years old, single, and I'm a senior in high school.

Except music, I love playing soccer (call it football if you want), I'm interested in philosophy, psychology, and sometimes poetry. Guess what, I got no idea what I wanna be. Computer programmer? Mathematician? Psychologist? I can do everything , but I can't choose.

Alright, let's talk about music. First, I wanna thank you for getting me into many really great bands. I never knew of groups like Who or Kinks, and I always thought of Genesis as of a poppish band whose greatest album is We can't dance.

In my life I've listened to a wide variety of sounds. When I was in 3rd grade, I used to love Boyz II Men. Then something got me into Pink Floyd (I can't remember what it was). I thought it was the best music there could be, while I was listening to "Shine on you crazy diamond". I changed my mind when I got King Crimson's In the court... I couldn't even imagine there could be anything better than "Epitaph" and "The court..." Then I began listening to rap, and by rap I don't mean crap like Dr. Dre or Snoop, but more intelligent kind of rap, like The Roots, Common, Rakim, Arrested Development. 2 years ago, probably bored with rap, I got out my old good tape of In the court..., which I hadn't used for more than 4 years. Something struck me, as the old emotions were arouse in my heart (or rather ears). I couldn't believe I forgot about it.

Inthe court..was the only album I knew by King Crimson, but I thought they must have had at least some good albums, so I began looking for reviews on the internet and ran into your site. Right now I have listened to all Kng Crimson albums reviewed on your page and I have to admit that most of your comments match my opinions, although I can't understand why you didn't mention as great songs as "The night watch" or "Bolero" of "Lizard"

Since the first time I checked out your page, I got hold of many albums you reviewed. Sometimes I totally disagree with you, but it's only exceptions from the rule. I admit, at first I was surprised you gave The Beatles 5, when King Crimson got only 3. Now, having listened to most of Beatles' albums, I understood that what I was wrong when I thought of Beatles as a banal poppish boys band.

Anyway, I think I'm quite eclectic in listening to different kinds of music. I hate Britney Spears, though, and I can't really understand thrash metal, but it doesn't bother me as boys bands.

AS you could easily figure, I love King Crimson, although I can't stand some of their experimental or industrial stuff. Apart of it, I really adore Dire Straits. I don't know why you didn't give them a whole page, and you didn't mention albums like "Brothers in arms" or "Making movies". I love songs like "Tunnel of love", "Telegraph road", "Brothers in arms","Romeo and Juliet", and I think Mark Knopfler is the best guitarist in the World, along with Robert Fripp and maybe Eric Clapton. I haven't checked out many bands to ehich you gave high ratings, for example Rolling Stones, but I'm gonna do it soon. (By the way, did you buy all those records? Geeez, you gotta be really rich)

I'll tell you how I would rate a couple of bands, according to your scale: 5 - King Crimson, Beatles, Dire Straits

4 - Bob Dylan (I can't get used to his voice, although his songs are perfect), Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Clapton, Procol Harum

3 - Doors, REM (why you have nothing about them?), Frank Zappa, Eagles (even if their only record was Hotel California), Genesis (some of their stuff is good, but not so much), Tom Waits (again, why you have nothing on him?)  

Alright, I gotta go to sleep. Once again, thanks a lot for getting me into good music. Your site is great, although you gotta add some artists like REM, Dire Straits, Tom Waits, Radiohead, etc. Bye

I. Personal data.

* Ilya Nemetz, 25 years old (as of 27.04.2004), Haifa, Israel. 

II. Personal non-music related interests.

* I'm currently working on my doctorate in Classical Studies (main areas of expertise: Ancient Greek philology and Graeco-Roman drama). I earn my living as a quasi-professional translator (Hebrew-Russian-English-French). Lots of non-music related interests and hobbies: role-playing, war-gaming, trivia -- to name just a few. Writing fiction and poetry, too (it's sort of 'special', so I decided to mention it separately). 

III. Music-related questions.

* My musical tastes gravitate, quite naturally, towards art- and prog-rock. Psychedelia, glam and New Wave (vague as these definitions are) are very much acceptable and enjoyable, too. Also, I happen to like some singers/songwriters, especially Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Generally (and quite naturally, too, I think), I'm strongly biased against punk: I don't like my music stupid, sorry guys. To be honest, some 'clever' punks are listenable and even marginally enjoyable (i. e. The Clash), but the main bulk of the genre is definitely not.

* While I'm no eclectist, I'm not a narrow-minded fanatic of particular band(s)/artist(s), either. My approach in this respect may be described as 'liberal genre-oriented', I guess. Consequently, my record collection is not that big (less than 500 CDs, all in all).

* My rating criteria are, in fact, very close to your own, though I'd probably put more accent on technical skill than on emotional resonance.

* I'm well aware of 'official' music criticism's confines, and quite fond of web music reviewing community as a whole.

* Regarding the site of my own: sure, why not? The main problem is it's extremely time-consuming.

* I'm not a musician, although I do play guitar and piano quite well.

* Ah, the favourites section. Okay, so it goes.

Best Guitar Player: Fripp or McLaughlin. A tie here.

Best Bass Player: overall, Tony Levin is beyond competition.

Best Drummer: a tough choice between Keith Moon and Bill Bruford. The latter still sorta wins by virtue of his impeccable technique.

Best Keyboard Player: Ryuichi Sakamoto. No doubt. Sorry, all you Emerson lovers.

Best Vocalist: Bryan Ferry or David Sylvian. Really impossible to choose.

Best Lyricist: David Sylvian or Peter Gabriel. Very different approaches, both equally impressive.

Best Band: King Crimson, of course. The first incarnation of The Mahavishnu Orchestra is close, but still not touching.

Best Solo Artist: it's obvious here. In terms of output quality, consistency and originality, no one can compete with Peter Gabriel. Still, honorary mention goes to Tom Waits. He would be my second pick in this category.

Some of my favourite albums: III, Passion and Up by Peter Gabriel, Larks’ Tongues In Aspic and Absent Lovers by King Crimson, Rain Dogs and Blood Money by Tom Waits, Tender Prey and No More Shall We Part by Nick Cave, Stranded by Roxy Music, Fear Of Music by Talking Heads, Disraeli Gears by Cream, Strange Days by The Doors, Ege Bamyasi by Can, Secrets Of The Beehive by David Sylvian.

28.04.2004

I. Arianne von Niedhart. i was born in north carolina and currently live in asheville. i was born in 1984 ^_^

II. i do a lot of art and planting things. i love traveling and hope to do a lot of it once i'm out of school. art has been in my family since long before i was born, and it wasn't forced on the children to get into, we all just sort of slipped into it because it was what we grew up with. i've only had one art show outside of school art classes, but i feel like i could make a proffession out of it. i enjoy reading alot. some of my favorite books are the beach, fight club, the golden compass, and the subterraneans. i also like acting, although i haven't ever really done much of it seriously other than just with a couple friends goofing off. i really liked the movie moulin rouge. baz is one of my favorite directors (i loved romeo and juliet, too). his movies inspire me to get creative ^_^

III. music is my thing... i listen to all sorts of types, and don't even know what half of it is that i'm listening to. i like a lot of indie rock, techno, blue grass, alternative rock, hip hop, jazz, classical, blah blah blah blah blah. bands i listen to most of the time consist of: radiohead, the beatles, jump little children, built to spill, ani difranco, sarah mclachlan, allison kraus and the union station, blink 182, good charlotte, hanson, led zeppelin, joni mitchel, smashing pumpkins, incubus, portishead, bjork, the cranberries, sting, shawn colvin, stacey kent, alanis morissete, erika badu, lauren hill, van morrisson, david gray, silverchair, no doubt, sublime, pink floyd, rage against the machine... i guess i could go on. really it depends on what mood i'm in. i play the bass with a couple other friends who play the drums and guitar, and we alternate instruments. i also play the fiddle, dulcimer, mandolin, guitar, percussion, and love singing, although i'm too shy to do any solos ^_^ i've grown up with music in my house: my oldest brother has been playing the piano since he was 4 (he's now 26) and the middle brother has been playing the guitar since he was 8 or 9 (and he is now 23). my dad plays the guitar and my mom also plays the guitar, piano, and sings, although not professionally. classical musicians like pachabel and mozart i find to be very soothing to listen to. i listen to classical music mainly to relieve my stress or something. i'd really like to be in a musical, because i love the combination of music and acting. when your words fail you, you can just turn to music because it shows so much more emotion.

22.05.2002

I. My name is Thomas Norton, and I am 19 years old. I live in a rented house [sharing with 4 girls (all fit as) and 2 blokes (won't comment)] in London and I was born in a town called Tunbridge Wells, in the UK. My social status? Well, I'm a medical student at Imperial College London.

II. My misery of life revolves around the periodic nature of exams at uni. To escape it all, I do little revision and instead in winter play football and in summer play tennis and laze about on Hyde Park (the two are not always mutually exclusive). And any time of the year I listen to music and cook. At the same time, if I can. Well, in the future, I hope to actually complete my course (in July 2008!) and become a qualified doctor. Then I will have no life to escape to as I will be resigned to 24 shifts in run-down NHS hospitals...

My absolute favourite band is Pink Floyd. Hands down. Beyond Floyd I do like Sophie Ellis Bexter's later work, Coldplay, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and classical piano music (Rachmaninov is immense). My most despised artists include many, however a sample of the worst includes: Spice Girls (with exception to, if I'm feeling generous, Mel C. She can sing a little and her voice certainly is distinctive), Boy band members (cite Justin Timberlake as an example) and anybody who comes out of a pop-stars like competition. The latter is not because they enter the music world in the way they do, but that once they are there they rely on covers to sustain a level of success. I don't like nursery-rhyme pop (Justin Timberlake, Brittany Spears, Geri bloody Halliwell...) and I loathe rap. Beyond that I am game for anything really.

I suppose I am a restricted fan in the sense that I will always return to Floyd. However, since my friends don't really have the same penchant for Floyd as I do, I have adapted to keeping my mind open to alternatives.

My criteria for music vary and just because a song doesn't meet all my ways of measuring how good it is, it doesn't mean I don't like it. I simply try to apply the appropriate criteria:

1) Did the artist write the song?

2) Has the artist ever written a song?

3) Can he/she/they perform the song in question in a way that makes it distinctive to him/her/them?

4) Does the song in question have anything useful to say (if it has lyrics) other than sex and relationships (cue something original from Justin Timberlake)?

5) How good it the quality of sound? How well has the timbre of the music been mixed (e.g. Vocals too quiet, bass too strong...)? How well has the artist used the stereo nature (or indeed 5.1 surround sound) of the media available to them?

6) How good is the artist live?

7) Does the artist's music sound too similar from one track to the next (or indeed one album to the next, or does the artist's music vary in style)?

8) Is the artist prepared to experiment?

9) Does the artist need their good looks to maintain appeal? If Brittany Spears got burnt and scarred over one side of her face in a car-crash, would her music continue to sell?

Criteria that I definitely do not take into consideration:

1) How competent is the artist musically (i.e. are they the best at their respective instrument at their time)?

2) What the artist's personality was like.

The latter two are important to me. I noticed that Floyd get criticised for not being the greatest at playing their instruments. But does that matter? Surely it is the final product that is under scrutiny. Otherwise modern songs sung by such artists as Brittany Spears, and Geri Halliwell should surely be slated for a lack of singing talent, not for the production (though this aspect certainly comes under scrutiny as well...) I understand that another reason some dislike Floyd is due to their character. I make a personal point never to judge anyone on here-say. I take people as I meet them and since I have never met any members of Floyd, I have nothing against them personally what-so-ever.

I must say that just as explaining a joke kills it, over analysis of music derides it too. This is not to say that reviews do not have their place - however slating Floyd for being too precise and mathematical (especially when music and mathematics have so many ties) seems over-kill. I hate (and I don't use that word often) people saying that so-and-so is the greatest rock-band, and I also switch off to reviews who deride other people's opinions. I can like my music and no-one can ever take that from me. Beyond that subjectivity creates diversity of opinion and one just has to respect that. That is the way everyone should look at music. I don't play an instrument. I suppose for me, it is because I would really dislike the years when I would be just average at the instrument. I like to be amazing or shite at something - in between just doesn't suite me. I would love to be able to play the piano to the degree of skill required to play Rachmaninov Piano Concerto 3, or the guitar to the level of Santana. That's about it, really.

29.05.2003

I speak and write a little english, If I try I get it, but for better understand, I prefer write in spanish. Mi nombre es Patricio Novoa, soy un Ingeniero Forestal de 48 años, nací en Temuco en el sur del país, soy casado y tengo dos hijos de 23 y 18 años, actualmente vivimos al interior de Valparaíso, trabajo en el Servicio Forestal Chileno. Mis interes no musical es la botánica, tengo algunos artículos en la revista botánica on-line www.chlorischile.cl y en un tiempo mas subiré un sitio web sobre orquídeas de Chile, en la misma revista.

En música me gusta todo rock cuya raíz es netamente blusera y bandas contestatarias, soy fan irrestricto de, Cream, especialmente sus presentaciones en vivo, C.S.N. & Y., Jhonny Winter, Frank Zappa, Allman Brothers Band, Lou Reed, Canned Heat, Byrds, Jethro Tull, Blind Faith, Traffic, Cats Stevens. También tengo y disfruto a J. J. Cale, Affinity, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Guru-Guru, Mahavishnu Orquestra, Eric Burdon & War, Mountain, Flying Burrito Bros., Robin Trower, John Mayall, T-rex, Stepphenwolf y Beatles a cuya música me acerqué hace unos 10 años. En el rock chileno, me gusta Agua Turbia (muddy water in spanish), Blops, Los Jaivas (primera etapa).

De niño (baby) no fui educado emocionalmente, soy una especie de tullido emocional, y en mi primera juventud la música canalizó mis emociones, pude identificar mis emociones a traves de la música, ella me hacía brotar emociones que difícilmente podría haber sentido de otra forma. Especialmente recuerdo las emociones que sentía con Hendrix y Cream y toda la música de Woodstock (la vi 18 veces).

Mi criterio para hacer un rating musical, sería buscar aquellas bandas que mueven el alma de las personas, que generan atmósferas, traen olores, imágenes y colores de esa maravillosa época, también aquellas bandas cuyas canciones son como himnos. La música en esos años era la banda de sonido, el himno épico, de los que ibamos a cambiar este mundo.

No soy músico pero toco un poco de guitarra, mi hijo fue drummer de una banda de hardcore.     Tu sitio web y tus preferencias coinciden grandemente con las mías, pero yo no pondría a ABBA entre bandas de rock, también me parece notoria la falta de The Animals, su tema "Sky Pilot", es para mi gusto, una suerte de himno épico de toda una generación.     Saludos, y te felicito por tu excelente sitio, es el gran deseo de un fanático de la música rock de los 60-70.

28.07.2002

NAME: Gerard Nowak

AGE: 26

LOCATION: Poznan, Poland

JOB: Teacher of English

M.A.THESIS TITLE: Phonostylistic Status of Rock Singing

FIELDS OF INTEREST: mountains, meadows, forests

MUSICAL SKILLS: guitar playing (average), harmony singing (good), songwriting (decent)

I SEEK IN (ROCK) MUSIC: strong melodies, lush vocal harmonies, warmth, colours, unexpected chord changes, clarity/depth/remoteness (i.e. what George tends to shrug off as the atmospheric)

I HATE IN ROCK MUSIC: soloing, R&B element, rawness, noise, references to drugs and evil

MY TOP 10 ALBUMS: 1)Hayward/Lodge Blue Jays 2)Moody Blues Every Good Boy Deserves Favour 3)Tomasz Budzynski Taniec Szkieletow 4)Yes Fragile 5) Armia Triodante 6)Roy Wood Boulders 7)The Move The Move (Repertoire 98) 8) Genesis: sth btw A Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering 9) Blur Modern Life Is Rubbish 10)The Hollies ...at Abbey Road 66-69

I guess that the following list will reveal all as for my personal taste and something as for me myself. This is a list for today, tomorrow there would be another. Here are (some of) the songs I find the most complete and satisfying. In other words, here are (some of) my ultimate RED songs:

YES The south Side of the Sky * MOODY BLUES One More Time To Live * GENESIS Undertow * PINK FLOYD A Pillow of Winds * ARMIA Piesn przygodna (ha,ha) * MOODY BLUES House of Four Doors * BLUE JAYS This Morning * RADIOHEAD Lozenge of Love * ELO Standing In the Rain * BLUR Blue Jeans * JETHRO TULL Jack-in- the-green * JOHN MICHAEL TALBOT Psalm 127 * BEE GEES Cucumber Castle * THE HOLLIES Don't Run and Hide * MOODY BLUES What Am I Doing Here? * THE SCAFFOLD Jelly Covered Cloud * QUEEN Mustapha * THE MONKEES Pleasant Valley Sunday * THE SEARCHERS Goodbye My Love * THE MOVE Useless Information * THE HOLLIES So Lonely * The NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND Buy For Me The Rain * THE RUTLES Doubleback Alley * HERMAN'S HERMITS (oh yes!) Museum * SIMON and GaRFUNKEL Scarborough Fair (at last some evergreen!)

31.12.2002

Name: Daniel M. O'Connell

Age: 7.17.73

Areas of Mastery: Sculpting, Digital Arts, and Painting

Drugs of Choice: LSD and Cannabis, though I no longer use either.

Favorite Book: Dune

Favorite Artists & Artisans: H.R. Giger, Nivek Ogre, Frank Herbert, Antonio Gaudi, Salvador Dali, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Ridley Scott, Mark Mothersbaugh, UNDERWORLD, John Lennon-Ono, Phil Hale, J.R.R. Tolkien, Toshiro Mifune, Akira Kurasawa, Lebbeus Woods, Beethoven... there's more, but this list is long enough.

Reason For this Extension of Self: I absolutely despise Pink Floyd, and seek to undermine them in any way possible. I would not feel this way if I didn't always seem to end up living in close proximity to people who listen to The Wall and Dark Side of The Moon with religious repetition daily, at extreme decibles. I am entirely fed up with stoners and pseudo-intellectuals who are content to let other peoples' art speak for them, or even worse, to foist it upon others (namely myself) with no regard as to whether or not I've already gotten the message: LOUD AND FUCKING CLEAR. Therefore, I submit myself to you in the hope that I might become a member of your exclusive panel of experts. I seek this exalted status for no greater reason than to lash out with vengeful fury upon those who ascribe wholeheartedly to any form of pop-cultism. I promise to be biased, unfair, demeaning, hostile, and altogether uncharitable in my opinions. I put forth the proposition that followers are fools, and I intend to uphold this view, no matter the consequence.

Born January 1, 1986 in Madison, WI (USA)

Currently a senior in high school, planning to go to college next year

In my free time, I participate in Soccer, Track/Field, Drama, surfing the Internet, video games, hanging out with friends. Whatever. I'm thinking about majoring in philosophy in college. Oh, and I like watching movies, and enjoy making home movies and my own music videos.

In terms of music, I listen to lots, and I'm an aspiring musician. It's always been hard for me to pick favorite bands, but in general, I listen to alot of 90's alternative music and grunge, although my tastes tend to shift every few years, so it could be completely different in a couple of years. As far as musicianship, I play guitar, drums, piano, and a little bass guitar. I sing too, and I suppose I'm kind of a singer/songwriter, although I play mostly rock. Anyway, I hope to do something in music, although I don't have a desire to be a music major (It's not for me, simply because I don't like the idea of going to school simply to learn music, I'd rather discover for myself).

At the moment, my top 5 favorite bands are probably Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, and Helmet. Though these may be my current favorites, they're far from the only things I listen too, and I still have great respect for some of my past favorites, like The Beatles and Radiohead.

Although I'm mainly a rock fan, I'll listen to just about anything (although most modern pop, R&B, and country tends to get on my nerves). I'll listen to techno, rap, jazz, blues, classical, whatever. As long as it's good, I'm more interested in looking for good music than caring about what genre it is.

Anyway, I've said enough...I look forward to adding some comments to your site...and in fact, upon seeing this, I've been thinking about creating my own review site. My collection of CDs is only at about 200 at the moment, but it's grows every week...and that's probably an okay number to get started on. Anyway, comments will be coming soon!

08.02.2004

My name is Jeremy Olson. I'm 21 years old (I was born on a Friday the 13th in June 1980), and currently reside in the cultural mecca of West Warwick, Rhode Island USA (please note the sarcasm). I'm a senior Business Management major at Providence College, in Providence RI (a town best known for a corrupt mayor, and where the King Crimson song "Providence" was recorded (at least, that what I have read elsewhere). Very little in my life doesn't involve music; I'm a huge Boston Red Sox fan, and I like to drink lots of beer. I like shopping at thrift stores for cheap, old clothes, and doing silly things with friends. That's about it on the non-music side.

Music consumes a huge portion of my life. I've played the drums and various percussion instruments for over 10 years now, and play in two bands at my college (with a third in the works). I get no greater joy then sitting at my drum set and going absolutely crazy (my roommates and neighbors don't like it all that much though!). On the listening side, I'm a huge prog rock fan (King Crimson is my favorite band, closely followed by ELP and Yes), big fan of the "classic" rockers (Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Who, Pink Floyd), as well as a number of great bands I would have never discovered if not for this site (Gong, Spirit, etc.). I also particularly enjoy Atomic Rooster and the Crazy World of Arthur Brown...I was so thrilled to see you review them! I dislike virtually all music and bands of the last 15-20 years, with very few notable exceptions (REM, old U2, the Clash, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and the Offspring). New music is just too derivative and unimaginative for my tastes, not to mention bands like Limp Bizkit, who add nothing positive to music at all. And oh yes, I love Rush!

06.11.2001

ok my names Edgar Allen Pedigo, yes im named after poe but i hat the name edgar so i go by allen. im 16 and i live with my mom and step dad who have both influenced my musical taste very much, in fact my first concert was with them, Poison Skid Row and Vince Neil. but i live for music and ide give up anything for music, i play bass guitar and my top 5 favorite bands are

1. Pink Floyd

2.ZZ Top

3.Led Zeppelin

4.Metallica(old preferably with Cliff Burton)

5. Well 5 is kinda an open space that changes from time to time to everything from Dimmu borgir to Cradle of Filth to Marylin Manson to slaty dog to jethro tull all just depends currently though its a band called Black Stone Cherry, they havn't released their first album yet but you can find there single Lonely train, seriously recomend checking them out

19.06.2006

My name's Anna, not Lloyd, although that's probably the name that shows up on my e-mail as I'm a destitute student who can't afford my OWN computer (that works properly). Anyway, I'm not going to risk calling myself a music junkie like most of the other people on this site, because, although I absolutely love music, I'm not one of those people who know absolutely everything about every band that's ever existed.

About me, I'm Canadian, and a University student, who's just started learning how to play guitar. I've only really been "into" music for a couple of years (before that I listened to pop trash, so that doesn't count). I first got really "into" music when I first heard Radiohead, and since that I was hooked. Anyway, now I'm discovering the seventies, and... well, and David Bowie, really. Hearing Moonage Daydream was what started it all. Then I got hooked, but it was good because it got me to listen to a lot of other stuff like Iggy Pop, T. Rex, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, the Talking Heads... The list goes on. So I'd say I'm a LEARNING music junkie...

My favourite albums? I wish I had one of those lists but it's always changing. I know Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, Low, and "Heroes" will always be great, as will Radiohead's Kid A, along with Iggy's Raw Power and Lou Reed's Berlin. So I guess that's a list.

I don't usually do stuff like this (reviews) but I'm doing it now since I noticed the almost complete lack of female commentators on the site. Nobody at all with any (admitted) opinions about how sexy Mick Jagger is at all... Especially when he's kissing David Bowie... Like I said, no ADMITTED opinions, but anyway...

02.03.2003

My name is David Perez and this is the best web site on the whole internet, thanx a lot George. I know this page has meant hours of listening to such crap as Styx. You really know how to take one for the team because I know about all these horrible bands yet I will never have to soil my ears nor my CD player with that garbage. All of my friends that know about this website have thanked me for introducing them to the "crazy Russian" who is usually right on with his reviews. Ive been on your site at 5 or 6 AM getting incensed at some of your reviews and smiling as I read your warning on the Led Zep page about posting "flames." Hope everything is well with you George and good luck in the future.

That being said, I'm 22 years old and I love Rock and Roll. In May 2003 I'll be graduating from SUNY Albany in New York, with a degree in American history and Im going to take a year off then go for my history Ph.D. at NYU. I live at home in a NYC slum called Washington Heights (Northern tip of Manhattan). I workout a lot so I'm 5'9" about 225. I always sing with along with whatever is playing in my CD player, and its quite a kick to see people react to a large Black man singing "Let it Be" and playing air guitar on my campus! Of course my size deters people from telling me to shut up (Or is it my nice voice?)

I've been a rock and roll fan for two years now and Ive loved every minute of it. My first introduction to rock and roll was Bob Marley and the Wailers. Then I became a huge reggae fan and still am. My first real rock band was the Beatles, after I got the Beatles 1 album and it totally left me speechless. After a year of listening to nothing but Beatles and reggae I discovered Pink Floyd and they are now my favorite band. I think Roger Waters is simple and I love that, just like Marley (except Marley was way more authentic). I think being able to understand the lyrics is essential for being universal, that and great music, as most people in this world do not speak English, nor do they have college degrees. I think Bob Marley and the Wailers is one of the best groups of all time. Bob Marley is a lyrical genious and is regarded by millions of people as a religious icon and prophet (I agree), but that is because he gave (and gives) hope to millions of People of Color who have nothing to hope for.

I guess my top five bands would be Pink Floyd, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and the Jimi Hendrix Experience, but the top four are always changing positions. The who is always in there too, Pete Townshend being a lyrical genious, John Entwhistle the greatest bassist of all time, and Keith Moon the best drummer of all time. I love Roger's Daltrey's voice too. I also love the Police (Stewart Copeland is GOD. Why must I deify rock stars?!) Cream, Sublime, Phish, the Allmans, The Band, CCR, the Dead and jam music. As far as solo artists John Lennon is at the top of the list, so is Dylan, I also love George Harrison. I also am very politically to the left so I am a huge punk fan. My favorite punk bands are the Clash, the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, but I also love hardcore punk from the early 80s, such as Millions of Dead Cops, Anti-Flag, Black Flag, Pinkerton Thugs, NOFX etc... I love funk and soul and the blues. James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, and Parliament are my favorite funk and soul musicians. I love Stevie Wonder, but there is no way he is better than Marley!! I also love spanish music such as salsa, bachata, and merengue. Im also a huge jazz fan. I love music.

I agree with much of youre musical philosophy, George. I think rock and roll is dead and that the crap that is put out today is overproduced and way too digital, and its also highly derivative. I don't think because something is derivative that it's necessarily bad, but you're right to say that there is no originality left in all of it. However, I do think Nirvana did save rock for a while when Nevermind came out, and I think Kurt Cobain is a genious. Bob Marley is one of the greatest song-writers of all time and as a huge reggae fan and Marley fanatic I disagree with your rating of Marley, but I guess by your musical standards you have good points and forced to reevaluate Bob. Marley, however, is "Rebel Music" so casual listeners not interested in African Liberation and the Movement of Jah People will not dig a political album like SURVIVAL, which was meant to be a counterpoint to the smooth relaxing and musically better KAYA. The thing was that a lot of people thought Marley sold out with KAYA so he had to make this album, but he also knew he was gonna die so he had to leave his message for posterity, but I digress. Also you seem to have it in for political albums. OK they might lose points on melody and maybe they don't hold up as well as regular albums, but they make up for this with inspirational and revolutionary lyrics, which I dig.

I like some of the stuff from the 90s like Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, the Chili Peppers and Alice in Chains. Sublime is on of my favorite bands from the 1990s because its a mix of punk, reggae, rock and rap; you can't go wrong with that. The 80s were filth. Rap is dead. Classic rap of the 1992-1998 era is what I listened to growing up and I love it. Tupac for me is the rap equivalent of John Lennon and Bob Marley. Nas is a poet-prophet, but rap isn't really for people not from the hood so I understand why some people complain about all the violence and shit but that's what happens in the hood in the good old USA, (just like the Stones wrote about their junkie lifestyles, though of course it was more original) so that's what people are gonna sing about. It might be banal, but I feel it because that's what Ive been around all my life. Of course now its pop and its fucking garbage (Nelly), so I don't listen to it, but I got the classic shit in my computer so Im happy. There are certain bands that you hate that I love like Skynrd (even though they had the big rebel flag) and especially Pink Floyd. I just don't think rock and roll should be that complex if its simple so what? Rock is highly emotional for me, kind of like some cathartic shit. That's why I love SOMETIME IN NEW YORK CITY by John Lennon cuz it speaks to things that happened and its set to some crazy music. My musical philosophy is fairly straightforward: I want something with great lyrics, great music and some kind of message. I rarely listen to music for its entertainment value; instead I opt for music that is uplifting and has something to say all set to some great tunes. I don't rate albums numerically because I can't look at music objectively. Music for me is an almost spiritual experience. I am a fanatic (well thats what my Mom says) with certain groups. Probably just with Bob Marley and the Wailers, Pink Floyd, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. I kind of am one of those people who takes their rock stars way too seriously, close to the point of deification, which of course is not good. But this is in moderation and only includes artists such as Bob Marley, John Lennon, Pink Floyd (esp. Roger, that scumbag) the Stones (Keith Richards is the coolest guy in the history of rock and roll) and of course the Beatles. I mean I don't worship them but when I hear something by Marley like "Africa Unite" or "The Heathen" I might yell "Marley is GOD!!" of course I don't mean it, but musically they are gods and as a Black man I look at the Marley concert footage and wonder if that really happened, could it happen?

I guess Im one of those lost soul types who needs music to keep me going. I am a human dichotomy, at least thats what my friends say. I will play Led Zepp. 1 [you're right on Led Zep, I told my friends that you wrote "Two discs of cock-rock and flatfoot heavy metal? I'll pass." (Physical Graffiti) and they were on the floor laughing] and then immediately put on Nas right after. I love rap because it speaks to me. I am a Black man that could be killed by the cops at any time and am extremely alienated from society and yet I'm just a chill guy who wants to have fun and listen to music. At my school i wear my "People for Peace" bandanna yet I would fight anyone who stepped up to me about it; its weird, but I guess ill just be a hypocrite. See you on the reviews everyone. Much love and peace. Oh and ANIMALS bY Pink Floyd is my favorite album of all time.

07.03.2003

My name is Kiel Pidgeon I live in Seattle, Wa and have my whole life.

I don't really have a favorite style of music I just like good music, but if I really had to choose I would say punk and all that is punk like. A few of my favorite bands at the moment are Minutemen, Fugazi, Pearl Jam, Pixies, Nirvana, The Wipers, The Kinks, The Who, Minor Threat, Blind Melon, Mission of Burma, Bad Brains, Gang of Four, Sunny Day Real Estate and The Smashing Pumpkins. Favorite bass player is Mike Watt. The one record that I think should be in everyone's collection is Double Nickels on the Dime by the Minutemen. I must add also that Ian MacKaye is my hero.

16.12.2002

I. My name is Ivan Piperov and I'm 22 years old. I come from Bulgaria, but I live in Germany in order to suck their system out! I study at the Goethe-uni in Frankfurt.

II. I have lots of luck the whole time; I don't know how long this will last. I rent a flat with a friend in Frankfurt, I am very sensible and that's why I never have material problems. I want to become rich and famous some day. I have almost no non-musical interests except that I read Don Quichote by Cervantes now and...

Favourite actor: Sylvester Stallone

Favourite Film: Star Wars

Favourite town: Bexhill-On-Sea

III. Without music life would be a torture. The Beatles and Queen are my favourite bands along with Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Megadeth, Ben Folds Five, The Kinks, Shturzite i FSB, ELP, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Brand X.

I particularly enjoy solo artists from the above-mentioned groups. George Harrison, Syd Barrett, David Gilmour's About Face is cool and I totally like Patrick Moraz's first solo-album, and Anthony Phillips's debut with Phil and Mike! Steve Hackett and Wings. For some reason I am very fond of Roger Taylor from Queen, his debut Fun In Space is among my favourites. Frank Zappa is cool, I enjoy 70es Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre stuff a lot, but my favourite solo artist is Mike Oldfield. Last year I discovered the Tubular Bells and they completely knocked me out!

I mainly listen to and buy new CDs all the time. Since I heard the McCartney album back in 1992, my dream is to overdub all instruments myself. Now I have a really good soundcard and I'm sometimes fooling aruond with gutars and drums, but mainly I'm a singer in three bands, The Mess, Wayward Soul and a yet no-name project. Since it's ass-kickin' and commercial, I do lots of heavy rock music, sometimes metal too!

Hello, Steve Potocin is the name A.K.A epoggi@cox.net.I've only shared my thoughts on The Hollies so far, but plan more participation! Hometown- Cleveland Ohio,USA. Age-44 Occupation-Owner, Royal Builders.

I am a hack guitar player and a collector of high end rock memborabillia.

Favorite arists: 1 The Hollies 2 The Beatles 3 Beach Boys 4 The Zombies 5 The Who 6 The Hoo Doo Gurus 7 The Replacements 8 The Kinks 9 The Raspberries 10 Tie- Marshall Crenshaw- Tommy Keene.

This is a great site, with alot of bright people making me think twice about some of my own ideas. Great job George!

Thanks Steve Potocin.

23.11.2002

Name: Dmitry Proskuryakov.

Birth: 8.10.76.

Location: Perm city, Russia.

Education: Perm State University, historical faculty.

Present social state: aspirant (post-graduate).

State of private life: married for 1,5 years.

Hobbies: reading books (Strugatskie, Lem, Sheckley, Vonnegut, Akunin), collecting & listening to the music, a bit of making music (playing drums in a group & creating experimental musical stuff on computer).

Work: operator in the local computer club.

e-mail: RipVanWinkle@rambler.ru.

TOP 15 of my nowadays favourite muzik? (Not more than 1 album per band? No!.. I can`t!.. Well, perhaps...)

-Pink Floyd`67 Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

-The Velvet Underground`67 VU & Nico

-The Beatles`68 White Album

-King Crimson`70 Lizard

-Magma`70 Magma

-Can`70 Soundtracks

-ELP`71 Pictures At An Exhibition

-Fripp & Eno`73 NoPussyfooting :-)) that`s not music? i quite don`t agree... it`s just ANOTHER music!

-Gryphon`74 Midnight Mushrumps

-VanDerGraaf Generator`76 World Record

-Dead Can Dance`96 Spiritchaser

-Brian Eno`77 Before & After Science

-Future Sound of London`96 Dead Cities

-Orbital`96 In Sides

-Red Snapper`96 Prince Blimey

Favourite guitarists: Robert Fripp, Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore

Favourite bassists: Paul McCartney, John Wetton, Roger Waters

Favourite Keyboardists: Keith Emerson, Ray Manzarek, John Lord

Favourite Drummers: Michael Giles, Jaki Liebezeit, John Bonham, Bill Bruford, Ian Paice

Favourite Vocalists: Lennon & McCartney, Peter Hammill, Jim Morrison

Favourite Piper: Ian Anderson! :-))

28.07.2001

[Removed by personal request.]

04.08.2005

Greetings one and all, and thanks for reading.  

I.  My name is William Quiterio (though I often refer to myself as "WQ" for some bizarre reason I can't be bothered to explain) and I'm 17 years old. I'm an army brat (in other words, I come from a military family) and I currently reside in Cranston, Rhode Island, USA. In my comparitively short life, I've been all over the place. I've visited or lived in several parts of the USA, Germany, France, Italy, England, Whales, Portugal, Swizerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Canada. I'm your typical, American, white, middle class teenage boy.  Awkward and graceless, but not without my charm.

II. I am an avid fan of B-movies, especially the 70's drive-in classics. What can I say? I love men in rubber monster suits, screaming women who can't act, and loads of gratuitous sex and violence. I was probably a sociopath in another life. I've always had an affinity for cartoons and comic books as well. I enjoy outdoor activities in small doses. Hiking and rock-climbing have always been fun for me.

III. I am certainly NOT a music expert. I don't play any instruments and only have my experiences listening to music to inform me. My musical taste runs towards classic rock, with Brit-Pop and Art-Rock making up the lion's share of my listening. I am expanding into other genres, though. The Kinks, the Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, The Moody Blues, Brian Eno, King Crimson, Renaissance, Caravan, Soft Machine, XTC, Van Der Graaf Generator, The Byrds, The Doors, The Zombies, The Move, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Uriah Heep, Captain Beyond, Black Sabbath, Bob Dylan, Frank Zappa, The Velvet Underground, They Might Be Giants, The Rolling Stones, Nirvana, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, Genesis, ELP, and The Residents are some of the bands/artists I actively enjoy. I tend to hate pretty much all Rap and MTV-style pseudo-R & B, and I'm not too fond of Divas and boy bands either. I don't really have a consistent "musical philosophy" yet, but that may change as I hear more and more music. I try to keep an open mind and try new things as often as possible. I do hope to make my own Review website at some point in the future, but I currently don't have enough faith in my writing abilities or musical knowledge to start one now. I think I'll try my hand at commenting on George's site and see how I take to it.

Thanx and God Bless.

16.04.2003

My name is Luke Redgen, I was born in 1985 in Melbourne, Australia. Most of my life I have been a music adict, my humble beginings in Australian guitar pop-rock (still some of the greatest music in my opinion), I then discovered some more interesting British and American rock music (The Smiths, Radiohead, Dave Matthews Band, Phish). My love of Phish exposed me to the wonders of the more classic artists, The Beatles and Pink Floyd mostly.

My top 5 favourite bands: 1. Pink Floyd 2. Genesis 3. The Beatles 4. The Smiths 5. Yes

Non musical stuff: My greatest passion is equines. Horses are the most amazing creatures on our planet. I am also vegan, I enjoy reading and writing, and am very eager to finish school. My dog is my best friend, and I miss my pony very much.

That's about all, but this site is really great, and given me some very interesting opinions to analyse. Great work George, you are a reviewing god!

23.06.2002

I. Personal data.

Denis Robitaille, 41, Canada, Quebec City, working as a computer programmer, single at the moment.

II. Personal non-music related interests.

Uh ... chess, the writings of CG Jung, serious writings on the nature of consciousness related to a)possible artificial intelligence b) the nature of artistic inspiration. Good S-F. Things I hate: wacko writings on the nature of consciousness (even some Jung stuff), bad S-F. The Star Wars movies are an example of VERY bad S-F IMHO.

III. Music-related questions (the most important part).

Bands : Gentle Giant are a clear favorite of mine. My first rock concert was GG in 1974 and it convinced me to learn bass and try to make a living as a pro musician (which I did for 10 years). I still have not completely recovered from the shock of the 'Cogs in Cogs' opening of that particular concert. Other faves : King Crimson, bits of Yes, Jethro Tull and Genesis, early Mahavishnu, Miles Davis... Even though I'm evidently a progger, I don't have much respect for the majority of so-called 'neo-prog' bands. They sound more retro than prog to me. These days I mostly enjoy 20th century classical stuff. I see myself as a more 'restricted' type (not to the point of being anal retentive, though :-) ). Things I like in music : groove and intensity, clear orchestration. Things I despise in music : the absence of groove and intensity, muddy orchestration. Stravinsky grooves. So do Bartok, Berg, Lutoslawsky and a bunch of others. Schoenberg doesn't, but can be very intense. Criteria? Hmm... does it have intensity, groove and purpose ? Attitude towards music reviewing : I believe Hegel made a fool of himself when he wrote that artistic judgement can be objective so God bless you George ;-) Site: I don't have a site of my own, but my bands (old and new) do: www.miriodor.com for the old and www.poligrafmusic.com for the new ;-) Favorite bass players : Ray Shulman of Gentle Giant for making the ungroovable groove, Tony Levin for Mastery of the groove despite severe technical limitation, John Wetton of King Crimson for the shredding tone and John Entwistle for showing us all the way rock bass should be played. Bass player I sometimes can't stand: Chris Squire of Yes for not always knowing when to shut up. Same goes for Steve Howe. Fave guitarists : Steve Hackett of Genesis for the imagination, the textures and the restreint; Robert Fripp of King Crimson for the tone and John McLaughlin for the abandon and the intensity. Fave drummers : Bruford for the tone and the groove (Crimson's 'Absent Lovers' is a lesson in groove), John Weathers of Gentle Giant for the groove and the restraint. Keyboard players : Rick Wakeman of Yes for the textures. Musicians that I respect but not all of the time : Chris Squire and Steve Howe of Yes for not always knowing when to shut up.

24.11.2001

I. Birthdate: December 26th, 1981

Age: Nineteen

Current Residence: Toronto, Canada (May-August), Kingston, Canada (September-April)

Status: Single, and not particularly eager to change.

I'm currently a student at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada, where I'm completing my Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in History and Latin. As of this date (June 2001), I'm living at home in Toronto during the summer break, working for the Licensing & Compliance Department of Thomas Cook Travel. In other words, I sort and file travellers cheques all day long, which is not interesting but at supports my music habit.

II. Aside from music, my main interests in life revolve around my academic studies- I am very interested in history/sociology/philosophy, especially of Europe from the 15th-19th centuries. I eventually plan to go to graduate school for my doctorate, which will most likely be on some aspect of the formation of Western culture...my favourite authors from this time period include Edward Gibbon, James Frazer, Victor Hugo, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Voltaire. I've read a few Russian authors, but have only really enjoyed Dostoyevsky. I also read plenty of science fiction, fantasy, and historical fiction (some of my favourites include Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Tolkien, Stephen King, James A. Michener, and Gore Vidal). I occasionally watch TV and aside from working out infrequently at the university physical education centre, don't participate in athletics. I have a few good friends and a slightly larger group of people from both high school and university that I hang around with. I'm not a social butterfly but I'm pretty comfortable with the amount of socializing I do nowadays.

III. Naturally, music is my main obsession at this point in my life, and has been for about four years now. As a kid, I mostly listened to whatever was lying around the house- especially The Who, The Rolling Stones, and The Moody Blues. However, my favourite album had to be Meat Loaf's "Bat out of Hell," which I still love. As an adolescent I listened to a great deal of classical music, such as Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Chopin, and some hard rock groups- mostly Led Zeppelin, Rush and The Doors (don't ask me how I explained to friends and family about such diverse tastes- I can't honestly remember). The first group I really became a devoted fan of was Pink Floyd, followed by The Beatles, both when I was about sixteen. I don't listen much to either one anymore due to having memorized most of their albums, but I still rank them very highly. Soon after that, I branched out and started listening to Peter Gabriel, R.E.M. Radiohead, Yes, The Beach Boys, The Clash, Jethro Tull, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and most recently, The Kinks, Deep Purple, U2, and The Tea Party.

The five artists that have had the most impact on me, personally, have been The Beatles, Pink Floyd/Roger Waters, Peter Gabriel, Radiohead, and R.E.M. (in no order). My favourite album is Pink Floyd's Animals, but Abbey Road and Highway 61 Revisited are the best ones I've heard to date. However, I'm still in the midst of discovering more and more artists, so who knows how much these will have changed in a year's time?

28.06.2001

1. My name is Eric Rogozin (full name - Ernest Vladimirovich Rogozin), I was born on 24th June 1983 in Moscow, Russia (that time it was Soviet Union) and I still live in Moscow, Russia. I am a student and study computer technologies in business.

2. My non-music related interests include history (especially European Middle Ages history), reading, films (cinematography), collecting coins. I was a big adventure books admirer in the childhood (W.Scott, R.-L..Stevenson), I still like it now, also one of my most favourite writers is Steven King (I have read almost all his books), E.-M. Remarque (I have read him even in German, by the way, besides English I speak German (I lived in Germany sometime and my relatives still live there) and understand French a little bit) and James Joyce. My favourite Russian writers are Gogol and Dostoevski.

3. My musical tastes: It all began when I heard timeless "Yesterday" in the age of 10, then I found the old cassette with four Beatles songs on it ("Girl", "Yellow Submarine", "Oh! Darling" and "Let It Be") and listened it to the holes! Then in the same age of 10 I heard Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "The Show Must Go On" and was blown away! The first cassette I bought was Queen Greatest Hits 1. Then I started collecting Beatles (and solo Beatles) albums and Queen (and solo Queen) albums on CDs. Approximately at the same time I heard two songs of Scorpions ("Wind Of Change" and "Still Loving You"), liked it a lot and bought some Scorpions albums. In the age of 11 on the music lesson in school I heard "Child In Time" and since that time my passion for classic hard rock began ("Smoke On The Water" was the first Deep Purple song I heard but clearly I remember hearing "Child In Time")! Along with Deep Purple I began listening to Nazareth. And to Rainbow of course. In the 1997 I heard "Stairway To Heaven" (why it took me so long to hear "Stairway To Heaven"? Because they are less popular in Russia then in the West) and admired it! By the way, it was not the first Led Zeppelin song I heard, much earlier I heard Led Zeppelin II and...haven't liked it (this album is one of my favourites now) but my passion for Led Zeppelin began since I heard "Stairway To Heaven". Along with Led Zeppelin I began listening to Uriah Heep and Kiss.

My favourite bands/artists now are : The Beatles, Queen, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Nazareth, Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Electric Light Orchestra, T.Rex, Jethro Tull, The Who, Slade, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Cream (and Eric Clapton), AC/DC, Buffalo Springfield (and Neil Young).

The bands/artists I consider to be overrated: Pink Floyd (Dark Side Of The Moon is the most overrated album of all times), Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Helloween, Yes, ELP, Police/Sting, Bon Jovi.

The bands/artists I'm quite indifferent to (to name a few): David Bowie, Rod Stewart (these guys have a good songs for sure).

The bands/artists I despise: Cannibal Corpse, Limp Bizkit, Backstreet Boys, Deicide, Morbid Angel.

Favourite music style: Classic Rock of course! To be more detailed I'd like to say - 60's rock, 70's rock, hard-rock, glam-rock. I like also funk and reggae a little bit.

Most despised music styles: thrash metal, black metal, death metal (these styles do have talented performers but they are extremely few), alternative (I like classic alternative (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rage Against The Machine) a little though), 90's pop crap like Backstreet Boys.

My main criteria for rating music is my pleasure. And the good vocals (by saying "good vocals" I mean "beautiful vocals" most of all) mean much for me.

Attitude towards music reviewing? I like reading it a lot.

Would I like to have a site of my own? Perhaps no, colossal Internet space is enough for me.

Yes, I am a musician, I play guitar, piano and bass. I'd like to be a rock musician most of all but I understand that it's almost impossible. I still hope though. My favourite bass player is Paul McCartney. Oh, it's the time to name my favourite musicians...OK:

VOCALS: Freddie Mercury, Paul McCartney, Ian Gillan, Joe Lynn Turner, Klaus Meine, Dan McCafferty, David Byron, Paul Stanley, Robert Plant, John Lennon. GUITAR: Jimi Hendrix, Ritchie Blackmore, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Brian May, George Harrison, Ace Frehley. BASS GUITAR: Paul McCartney, Glenn Hughes, Gene Simmons, John Entwhistle, Steve Harris. DRUMS: Ian Paice, John Bonham, Darrell Sweet, Keith Moon, Herman Rarebell, Mitch Mitchell, Ginger Baker. KEYBOARDS: Jon Lord, Ken Hensley, Ray Manzarek.

Well, I guess, that's all. Thank you for your attention.

28.09.2003

Name: Steve Root

DOB: 1960

Country: UK, specifically England

Non-musical interests include running a site for old Jap motorcycles and reading books on bumblebees.

Adherance to your top 4: Small, although I have most of the Beatles major output, I only listen to Abbey Rd and A Collection of Beatles Oldies. I have nothing by the other 3 except a battered but unlistened copy of Live At Leeds. I'm more yout Class B/C kinda guy then.

Bio: I've been rivetted by your site for days now, since although I am actually too young to have been there for your top 4, I was right there at the time and place where most of your higher (and lower) rated progressive bands were the New Music, and were yet to be cynically and mindlessly written off for 'pretentiousness'. For people who liked music of any sort, there were only two choices when I started secondary school. It was Osmonds vs Slade. This translated directly into Girls vs Boys, I doubt if music preference has ever been so tribal amongst the white middle classes before or since. After all everyone liked the Beatles, and Mods vs Rockers was a media inspired sideshow. Slade it was then, and the Boyz felt the Noize, and tried very hard not to notice how good Crazy Horses was. Good and boppy as Slade were, they were slightly unfulfilling at some deeper level that I didn't quite understand, I wasn't moved. They were a one-trick pony, but what a trick; take a bow Mr. Holder, you got me into music. From the ridiculous, so the sublime. Intrigued by Virginia Plain I used my entire paper round money to aquire Roxy Music - and the track wasn't even on the album! What I got instead was a jazzy, artsy tour de force which was not so much music as atmosphere. This was music as poetry, where to listen was to change your feelings about life. Leastways that's how it seemed to me, at 12. That album set a gold standard, what I've wanted from any track I've ever listened to: the ability to induce emotion. Although the air guitar is a rightly derided instrument, any track that makes you want to deploy it has something. As a spotty teenager, what I wanted most was something in tune with my hormonal angst - step forward Mr. Waters. Million upon million teenage boys ticked away the moments of a dull day with Dave and Rog, and we neither knew nor cared what they looked like, they did it for us. Once we'd resolved whatever issues we had with life, we needed a kind of Slade Plus. That's why fate placed Made In Japan in our hands, the first live album a lot of my generation ever heard. We had no way of knowing what a unique, seminal work it was, thus laying the downfall of every other live effort since. Then punk came, it all went to shit and stayed there for TWO DECADES! How youth coped with nothing to express their emotions but Duran Duran and the Eurythmics I have no idea, but I feel that my society has been deeply scarred as a result. Blur and Radiohead finally stopped the rot, and a gradual recovery is on the way, although sadly the new breed hails from Stateside in the form of the Scissor Sisters and Eminem.

footnote: In a music night at my local pub a youth who had just barely learnt to pick up a guitar stepped forward and manfully failed to play Wild Wood (Paul Weller) and Wish You Were Here. Brought a tear to my eye it did.

28.01.2006

I. My name is Chris Rosario. At the time of writing, I am 15 years old. I turn 16 in six days. August 26, 2005. An American citizen I be, and wish I was not. Well, being American is fine, but Canada or some trendy European country would be a lot better.

I reside in Columbia, South Carolina. I'm also a homosexual. Notice the juxtaposition? It isn't quite as bleak as you'd think. Though I just have to say, Bob Jones is a moron. =)

II. How do I escape the misery of this life? Well, that's easy. My best friend. He's also on here. Phillip Hutcherson. His info now is kinda dated and stupid, but the Jimi stuff still holds true to most of the extent it is. Sadly. But he's still awesome.

Aside from him, just soaking up education/info. Anything you can "teach" me, or tell me, I'll gladly learn. Just recently I had a fairly detailed definition of arbitrage, and how it's used now. I thought it was interesting, anyway.

III. My musical tastes. Well, most people tend to look at my tastes rooted in generally "pretty music." Comes with the territory of being a fag, I'm sure. The raw, gritty sounds and styles of Jimi Hendrix and all don't impress me. It's safe to say Jimi has never impressed me aside from his taps into stuff that wasn't "rawk" with guitar.

What does impress me however, is studio ingenuity. Like Brian Wilson. You aren't going to find many people more of a Brian/Dennis/Beach Boy than I am. =) Alongside them, the Smiths, Cure, Blur, Talk Talk, Pearls Before Swine, Of Montreal, Parliament, Tim Buckley (I hate Jeff! Rock on!!!), and all I love. I'm also a fairly big fan of jazz - it's still ameliorating. My favorite artist so far would probably be either Sonny Sharrock or Eric Dolphy. I'd like to say I'm a fan of classical, but I think I'm just too rooted in album-oriented music to say I've tried enough.

Also, I hate guitars. Well, not entirely. I just find distortion bland for the most part. Acoustics, fine, clean electrics, fine, distortion just doesn't sit well with me unless some wacky effects are added to it. I'm more of a key/percussive person. Synths, keyboards, pianos, Mellotrons, clavinet, blah blah. Also, my friends make fun of me about my hard-on for orchestral arrangements. I'd love to play viola or cello one day.

I think that's enough. Ring me sometime. =)

20.08.2005

Personal info: Jason Saenz, I was born in houston texas, I currently am a resident of the beautiful-dirty industialized city of Monterrey Mexico, but I've been here and I've been there and I've been in between. I was born at the near beginning (Feb 10th) of the same year (1981) that Discipline and Ghost in the machine were released.

Non musical hobbies: Well i play bass and write some non-poetry truths and observations about society, movie watching is allright but it's not the best, reading and research is better. I do a lot of skateboarding ever since I was 5 years old and i still do that.

Musical Tastes: Hmmmmm, where can I start, well first of all I want to congratulate You for having (finally!!!) such a COMPLETE review page, I mean you have got everything in such deatiled manner, I have been reading your page daily for 3 years now.

Ok now enough with the bootllicking and on with the music!, Now I love many types of music, except for total sellouts and new pop, nu metal sucks too but anyway, I do think that there are way too many overrated artists and bands such as: Clapton, Beatles, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, G' N' R, and the list could go on, I'm not saying that these guy's suck, I'm just saying that there not "God's". My alltime fav's are: Frank Zappa, E.L.P., Amon Duul, Can, Gong, some Jethro, some Zep (overrated), some Who, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Yes, Crimso, Radiohead, Steely Dan, E.L.O., Chicago (Kath era), Rush (70's era only), Moodies, some Stones, John Zorn, Gentle Giant, Eno, Vangelis, Pink Floyd (pre- The Wall), Oldfield, etc, etc, etc. 60's, 70's and few 80's, Radiohead are pretty much all that is good in these poor times. Fav musicians: Well almost every musician in the 60's 70's and part of the 80's had their own style so it's difficult to name one or a few, but well it wont do any harm to put a name like Sting or Wetton in the list.

08.07.2004

1. Samir Roy, 23 yrs old,USA, born and still live in San Diego CA., social status: non-existent

2. Before music, movies were and still remain the true love of my life. I devote all my time and money to film and music.

3. Favorite bands and singers: most of them are from the 60's and 70's; Velvet Underground, The Beatles, The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, The Beach Boys, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Nico, but I also love Broadway musicals (Cabaret and Into the Woods are particular favorites), film scores & soundtracks, and am partial to a lot of jazz like Miles Davis, and vocalists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Eva Cassidy, and I'm partial to some blues like Etta James and Skip James, and plenty of cheesy pop from the 50's through today. And I also love modern groups like Radiohead, Bjork, I loved Jeff Buckley when he was alive and Fiona Apple before her pain became a conscious commodity, Weezer and Tenacious D. I would have to say that I try to branch out and experience music of many different varieties because I see no excuse to remain idly fixated on any one genre or style. Beauty and invention can appear in many forms and I would like to think that my musical taste reflects that.

In regards to rating or reviewing music, I believe that ratings are worthless tools for gauging quality or accessibility. I see no point in giving, hypothetically speaking, REVOLVER a 10 rating and then giving RUBBER SOUL a 9. Both are masterpieces, and saying that one is perfect and one is slightly less perfect accomplishes nothing. I prefer just giving a detailed and insightful review that expounds on the reviewer's opinions on the given subject of the review. If the words are not enough to reflect the writer's opinion, then the number or letter grade is even more useless and confusing. Saying CITIZEN KANE is a better movie than VERTIGO by way of a "10 best films of all time" is pointless because they are both rich and rewarding experiences with completely different goals. It is better to just say whether you would recommend it or not. I would love to have a site of my own, for movies and music, just putting my two cents in for anyone who wants to hear it. But I would need more free time and more money to do it the way I would want to.

I used to play violin, but wanted to play saxophone instead. Now I wish I had taken piano and guitar. I would really love to be a singer; my voice is decent but untrained and with limited range.

And I don't care much what color Bush's socks are, so long as he leaves with them, for good, after his 4 years are up; unless the american public chooses to remain blind to his hypocrisy and idiocy.

23.10.2002

1959 Austria, married, 2 kids, Management Trainer (independently), sometimes teacher at university

Hi all at this great site. In the Alps the message of Hippie-Music swept in realtivly late, so it striped mit at the age of 14 in 1974 with full power. From now on I was only interested in a bass guitar.

Now at the age of 44 I can say, that it was the main spiritual input into my life. All my searching for the ways of living in the right way - and I do yet - was grounded in this main impulse into my soul. I discovered a world which helped me to survive and gave me a emotional picture for a possible way of existence. As musician in rock bands I had to learn the main things for life: to love your sister/brother and to fight for the right thing!

After working as a technician I studied comparative literature. In a mind-crisis I was frustrated about the weakness of contemporary art (music, literature,...) and I had to discover my social sense (because suddenly I was father ...). Since that time I try to help people and organisations to develope themselves in their work (I make seminars and consultings for them), and I can earn my money with this job.

In Art an Work the same principles are valid. The difference between Art and Work is, that Work is more necessary, but Art succeeds easier, because its "in a frame". And therefore the task of ART is to express the main things. IN GOOD MUSIC ARE EXPRESSED THE MAIN THINGS. For my life and my job I need music as inspiration to know the main things. Repeatedly I had the opportunity to learn with students at university about the relationship between art and work.

I get angry about Music with no spiritual or soulfull substance!

THE Album of the last century is DARK SIDE OF THE MOON. Pink Floyd, best already at the Live concert in London 1972, expresses - audible for the people - the spirit of the generation born after the last big catastrophe in our hemisphere. The sorrow, the ideals, the danger an the questions of the new mankind are expressed.

Some masterpieces for me: "Echoes" Pink Floyd, "I`m the Witchdoctor" John Mayall, "Summer Rain" Nucleus, "Riders on the Storm" Doors, "Music Makers" Donovan, "Lost Angeles" Colosseum, "Gamma Ray" Birth Control, "Tabula Rasa" Arvo Pärt, "Weeping Song" Nick Cave, "Siren" Madrugada. "There There" Radiohead, "?" Sigur Ros.

11.04.2004

I. Name:Nicolás Perez Santoro

Made-up: 13/8/86<---- on a DD/MM/YY format. But you probably guessed it.

Country: Argentina (Yeah. If you know shit about geography, more likely than not, you'll think we speak portuguese. Have you ever listened to tango? Now, if the vocals are in SPANISH and Tango is an argentinian genre, why the **** do you think we would speak portuguese?)

Website: http://paz-altar.cjb.net/

II. I like watching movies and seeing tv series, but lately, only TWO series have gotten my attention seriously, they are Gilmore Girls and Everwood. My favourite of all time is, though, Picket Fences. I really like japanese fiction, and since it comes mostly on manga/anime packaging, I guess I'm a freaking otaku. I'm a freak, by the way. I don't know EXACTLY why, since lots of people wouldn't say that because of my appeareance. It more an attitude thing. I feel like a weirdo. No wonder then, Radiohead's "Creep" touches my soul so well. I don't think being rare is bad. they say you should eat shit, since millions of flies can't be wrong.

I like reading and writing a lot. Not exactly literature (Kafka must be my favourite writer, but Graham Greene and argentinian Ernesto Sabato really come close, at least in my book), I enjoy reading ... things. Like your fans descriptions, music reviews, I used to read a lot about magic but I don't play anymore. Since I read a lot of english texts in my pc, I have very good comprension of the language, even if I've never studied it ('xcept for school, but that's not a lot). Playing adventures games sure helped, too. But, since I read a lot more than I write, and I don't know a fuck about actual grammar, I don't write as well as I understand. People not pointing out my mistakes doesn't help, either. I've got to understand spoken english thanks to subtitle, though, but since I rarely speak english, my pronounciation sucks. I tried learning japanese on my own, but that hard. I like games. All kind of games. first person shooter, adventure games, computer rpgs, real rpgs, board games, tetris, et cetera. My favourite board game is Go, even if I rarely play it and I suck at it. The rules are SHEER beauty. Really. Much more easier than chess, but the game is way more complex. I really like Lucasart adventure games, not sierra games, and I'm pretty sure I have one of the Gabriel's Knight series somewhere, but I played it just a little. My all-time favourite pc game is Little Big Adventure I & II. Great fusion. I only play nethack now, though. The best rpg ever, and its free. http://www.nethack.org/

Enough about me. This is a bit large.

III. Ahh.. music. Check my comments on Mark Prindle's website about (not really) Beatles' Anthologies III to learn how I got to music, more or less (and read my interesting opinion on the topic "why youth likes this mainstream shit?"). Simplified, I only listened to my father's argentinian music (most notably Fito Paez and Charly García) until I got into Metallica, and I gained interest on music until I found The Beatles and they turned everything I (thought I) knew upside down. Nowadays, my four top artist are

1º Beatles

2º Radiohead

3º Charly García

4º Beck

After that, it becomes blurry, but I guess Pixies comes fifth.

Some are Bjork, Depeche Mode, Metallica, Dream Theater, Rolling Stones, Carole King... I guess I really like the cure too. Then they come the lesser ones, Smashing Pumkins, G'n'R, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Nirvana (even though Smell Like Teen Spirit completely 0wnz U!!) you get the idea, I hope. Probably I'm missing quite a few. Beethoven (and maybe back) is my pick for classical. Mozart is good but is so fucking damned repetitive that it's BORING. YES!! BO-RING! How the guy had the nerve to make 8 minutes "songs" that I only can recall 20 seconds of them (even if the 20 seconds completely rule), man, I don't know

There are some bands that I really like but I haven't got most of their stuff like Rolling Stones or Dream Theater, and a whole lot of musicians that I either know only a few songs or none, but hey, they are impressive songs! I'll get into them!! I hope it's soon! Some examples are Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, The Who, The Cardigans (say what you want, but Carnival is a fucking great song!!!)... well, a whole lot. I'm not that into Pink Floyd, I will pickup some of their records, but what I've heard till know (time, another brick in the wall, run like hell, shine on you crazy diamond, money, etc.) doesn't impress me. I will listen to it, anyway. Since I gave ANOTHER chance to "El Otro Yo" (an awful argentine band which I ended up hating even more, and has written one of the worst songs to ever have been featured on a record, but maybe it isn't that bad, I get a laugh at it, but not in the way they intended), now I feel I need to give everything another chance. I hated radiohead at first!

I only own 147 lps (yes, I count them on a fucking list) in many formats like cd, mp3, ogg, casette and vinyl. I don't count lps I don't feel they're mine (you could say my family owns them), like, the Frank Sinatra lp (Sinatra sucks, I've said it), and 6 ep. And 30, 40 hours of random (or not so random) music, plus 12 hours of anime mp3 I've got recently, and, more likely than not, they suck, most of them, Cowboy Bebop music rules, and Lain opener Duvet is one beautiful pop piece indeed.

But if you want to evaluate my tastes, you'll probably want to know how I analyse music.

First, I care a lot about songwriting, not about technical playing or great harmonies. A great singer or guitarist doesn't make a great song or movement or whatever. I care about composition.

Then, I care about sound. Sound is everything from the singer, from the quality of the guitar, the atmosphere, the gimmicks, the sound effects (delays, reverbs, et cetera)you know. Even if to me, a song has to be a good composition to be a good song, sound is very important, too. But good sound does not equal good composition. Unless is a sound collage or a ambient music, in that case, there is not such a thing as composition. Recently I've listened a song which I really, really like (here they give you by Colophon), but is more about sound than composition. Or, I mean, there is a composition, and a good one (albeit simply), but the sound really is the important thing. You should listen to it, it's free music btw.

Last, lyrics. I don't care too much about them, but I prefer them intentionally dumb than not-intentionally. I hate Rhapsody lyrics, and I guess an otherwise fine song with pro-nazi lyrics will make me hate it. It brings bad songs to an even worse state of badness. I don't have much examples at hand, but remember what I said about the awful "El otro yo" song? aww, forget it.

Genres? I like them all, I think all genres have something to offer. I guess I have an open mind. I don't like the argentinian genre "cumbia villera", but that isn't a genre, is just one song with different lyrics. Maybe two.

What does need a song for me to like it? Simply: to be special (either in sound or composition or melodies) and to be good. I care about emotional resonance, and such, but I think there are songs for emotional resonance, songs for having fun, songs for singin' along, so I don't take that into acount.

My favourite song of all time may well be Golden Slumbers. Or You Never Give Me Your Money. Or Something.

My favourite record of all time may well be.... what? you did you knew it???

That was long, huh? but hey, something else! I make my own music. I play guitar (mostly ritmic or arpeggiated second guitar), either acoustic or electric, I prefer acoustic 'cause I like to use my fingers and not a pick, but when I play ritmic, electric does fine, I guess. I play keyboards (very, very basicly, though), and I like to compose. I think I do cool chord progressions. I like to do complex chord progressions/key changes, like Beatles/Charly García do (of course, I'm not THAT good, but hey, the more songs you write, the better you get, really, today I picked up a unfinished song I had left 6 months ago which I didn't know how to finish, the answer came to me quickly). My music is instrumental, even if some have lyrics, I don't sing well, I just record instrumentals. I'm writing this on 13/2/04 and I plan to end my first lp by the end of february. WTF? I have only 15 days left? I've only finished 2 tracks!! I've been too lazy. Luckly, I've already composed them, and I've got another two almost ready. They're on my website. They're not brilliant. Got it? they're not.

14.02.2004

My name is Pete Schlenker. I was born in Connecticut, and now live in Minnesota. I was educated, of sorts, at the University of Michigan, where I recieved a BA in History. I work, a lot, and when I am not there, I listen to music, read books (I love Russian authors, Dostoevsky in particular) and spend too much time on the internet, as I am right now.

Musical Obessions.

I am an absolute fan of music, in pretty much all shapes and sizes. I am the only person I know to own classical, country, rap, world (for lack of a better term), funk, soul, rock and jazz CDs. I even listen to electronica. As for favorites? Hendrix's Band Of Gypses is my favorite disc, of perhaps all time, but it has it's many competitors. I love the music of the 70s, for the most part, and love the late 60s jazz-funk-rock sounds of Miles and many, many others. Other musical extremes I shall hit on in a very, very brief fashion. If I stacked my CDs ( I have close to 600) on their sides by artists, and compared, the largest piles would be of Zappa, Miles, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Cream, Satana, Matthew Sweet, Stravinsky, Chemical Brothers, Traffic, and have a litter of other piles. As for "dislikes", the current pop american music I find boring and manufactured. Brintey Spears, N Sync, Backstreet Boys, etc, bore me to tears. Metal, for the most part, also bores me. It's just not very interesting, and not very inspiring. While I do own *some* country music, for the most part, I am not overly impressed with the genre, although the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack has grabbed my attention in a very big way, and has opened my mind to bluegrass. I even like disco. I'm a sucker for live music, and I have come to the conclusion that unless something changes very soon in the music industry, rock as we know, is dead. My favorite Bass player? Oh jeez... Bootsy Collins. No, he's not the techincal best player of all time, but it's Boosty, baby!

Everyone else is doing it, so why can't we (er I)?

Dream Band lineup. Guitar- Frank Zappa Guitar- Jimi Hendrix Bass- Bootsy Collins (Ain't it funky now?) Vocals- James Brown (can there be any other?) Drums- Tony Williams (yes, I know he's not a rock drummer, so sue me. I was trying to decide between Neal Peart of Rush and Vinnie Colaiuta of Zappa's band.. I couldn't make up my mind, and went in that direction.) 2nd Drummer- Chester Thompson of Zappa's Mothers, Weather Report, Genesis, etc. His work with FZ's 74 band is reason enough, and his work with Weather Report on Black Market pushes him here. I don't think he's absolutely the best, but he adds a certain funkyness to the music that I love.

So, with the possible exception of Zappa, it's quite a soul-funk-jazz lineup. And yes, this probably displays my prefrences more than anything else.

07.08.2002

Andy Schuster,

andischuster@gmx.net

German, born in 1973, jesus, that´s long ago. Leverkusen, ever heard of that city, the home of Aspirin, yes, that's more familiar..... THE remedy against hangovers. Economist and pretty much a Marketing guy. I used to sit in some local parlament, but that was just to have a say in .... anything.

I had been director of a music label start-up once, but that was all screwed up by.... I don't know, it just didn't work out that well. Besides music, I like sports like jogging, cycling, and some martial arts. I speak Spanish occasionally and a bit Mandarin. And yes, English.

I play some music myself. Electric and accousitc guitar mainly. I sing only, when I want to annoy people. Sometimes I write comments for the Mark Prindle page. Or should I say, "against " the Mark Prindle page?

My favorite bands are: THE FALL and Roxy Music

My favorite singer/songwriter is: Lou Reed

My favorite music chick is: Kate Bush

My favorite live gigs were: Iggy Pop (several times), PJ Harvey and Sonic Youth !!!

My favorite underground band: The Cardiacs

The music I hate most: OASIS, World Party, Steely Dan, Robbie Williams (is that considered music?),

Best song ever: Re-make Re-model (Roxy Music), Kill Your Sons (Lou Reed)

Best song titles ever: "I promise not to come in your mouth", "Don´t you ever wash that thing?" and "Why does hurt when I pee?" (Frank Zappa) Best album: La Folie (The Stranglers), This Nation's Saving Grace (The Fall)

Best Album cover: X-cert (The Stranglers)

25.08.2003

I'm from New England, born in 1986, and currently studying Film and TV at NYU's Tisch School. When I'm not listening to new music I enjoy volunteering, making movies, and mid-90's Sierra adventure games.

I like mysterious lyrics, simple but catchy melodies and inventive musical arrangements. Favorite artists include The Stones, The Beatles, Dylan, Brian Eno, The Flaming Lips, Stevie Wonder and David Bowie. And maybe some Velvet Underground, Cat Stevens and The Who thrown in for good measure.

14.05.2006

I. Personal Data:

Name: Brian Sittinger.

Age: 23

Home: Splitting time between San Jose, California (during the summers with my family) and UC Santa Barbara for graduate studies in Mathematics.

II. Non Music Stuff:

School is a big part of my life, especially math (if you could not figure that out yet), foreign languages, and history. I have taken martial arts since I was 8 years old, and am quite proficient at it. I'm an instructor at that martial arts school. It's fun to do! Occasionally, though less frequently, I like to play video games, especially the Mario games (they're so unviolent!) and puzzle games such as Tetris. I love to hike, travel, go bicycling, and fence, too!

III. Musical Stuff:

Where do I start? Simply stated, my brother and I were raised on The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Who, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, ..., you get the idea. Also, due to my parents, I heard a lot of rock music from the late 60's through the 80's, too. I must say that I enjoy much of the late 60's psychadelic music: Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, , Jimi Hendrix, Cream (especially!!), early Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, Blue Cheer (even them!!), It's A Beautiful Day, to name a few!

Note I said early Zep. The first albums (or should I say tapes, they're cheaper than CD's!) that I bought were Led Zeppelin IV through In Through the Out Door. What a great hard rock (heavy metal?) band. From there...? As Classic Rock was a bit of a new concept (at the time!) for me, I picked up some compilations of Jethro Tull, Boston, Neil Young, Styx to satisfy my curiosity (and to save money!). Then, after a year or so at Santa Clara University (undergrad), I became curious in Yes. (Yes!) This opened the doors to Progressive music for me. (Unless you consider Moody Blues and Pink Floyd prog...) Too bad radio did not play anything beyond the same old three songs from the Bruford lineup. They've made way better stuff than those! Then, a friend hooked me into Genesis (Gabriel/Hackett era), then to a lesser extent, King Crimson. Since then, I've picked up pieces of Jethro Tull (if that's all even prog!) and Gentle Giant. The only downside to my discovery of prog is that my family, especially my brother, thinks my musical tastes went off the deep end!

However, I realize I can't stay immersed in Prog. forever! So, I'm picking up/burning other CD's of interest. For example, I finally picked up the entire Beatles collection (minus the Anthologies), freeing me from my father's LP collection. Finally, I've broken out of my Stones bias to pick up their 'classic era' albums. And these are good as well! Who knows what will happen from here... My collection ain't that big, but if I ever start getting MP3's, look out!

In summary, I listen to most rock music into the early 80's, where things start to go downhill. Dislikes (just to be honest) include BTO, Supertramp, GFR,"Blinded by the Light" (Manfred Mann's Earth Band version especially - the repetitious keyboards!!), much of Phil Collins/ 80's Genesis output, some disco (ex: "Kung Fu Fighting" sends shutters down my spine!), most Adult Contempory music, Rap, 90's pop, hair metal, 90's rock (most alternative, rap-rock, you name it...).

As a guideline, I prefer at least some semblance of intelligence and/or catchiness or inspiration (power?)within a song. Usually, for example, dull/generic pop arrangements with cheesy keyboard effects doing nothing and lame dance beats annoy me to death. I tend to overlook the lyrics, unless they scream at me "banal!" (Hence, I can overlook many Yeslyrics.) I try to keep an open mind on music, although most music since the mid 80's are beyond my realm of forgiving for now. Having studied a little of guitar and piano, I understand basic Music Theory (and hence accounts for my gradual increase of snottiness against genericism!).

Finally, the favorites (though I may be forgetting a few):

Lead Guitar: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, Richie Blackmore

Bass Guitar: John Entwistle, Chris Squire

Drums: Keith Moon, Bill Bruford

Keyboards: Rick Wakeman

Vocals: Peter Gabriel, Roger Daltrey

27.08.2002

my name is lior skuzesky

i'm 24 years old,i was born in Israel(the state that gets most of CNN's attention). the unfortunate thing about my hobbies is that they all have something to do with music. i'm a musician -a singer and guitar player or as i would be described- an "introspective dude".

about my musical taste : i love lots off different kinds of music. the first band that i got into was "the Beatles" and they have been my biggest inspiration ever since. after the Beatles i discovered the following artists in this exact order: john Lennon,bob Dylan,pink floyd,peter Gabriel(1977-1984),Genesis(1970-1976),king crimson(1969-1974) bjork,Joni Mitchell,John Cale,radiohead,yes,camel,nick drake,Jethro Tull,Kate bush,air, the beach boys(pet sounds,smile),Elton john,gentle giant,tom waits,cat Stevens,the who,beck. there's more but i think that this list is sufficient.

04.12.2003

I. Personal data. My name is Caleb Smith and I'm 17. I live in Lake Charles, Louisiana and contrary to what people often think, Louisiana is not all swamps and alligators. Anyway, it's an okay town, not too big, not too smal, a little boring though.

II. Personal non-music related interests: I listen to music a lot, obviously, and do all the other typical crap like watching movies and TV, surfing the web, and occasionally reading. I don't have any all-time favorite movies, but One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, eXistenZ, and Rushmore I've enjoyed quite a bit. Oh yeah, and I'm in school half the day, which is both good and bad. It gives me something to do, but can also grate on the nerves after a while. I have no idea what my future plans are. I'll be going to college, but after that, who knows?

III. Music-related: I love all genres and styles. There are NO bad genres. I certainly have my preferences (Metal and hard rock, prog-rock, punk, classic rock, and anything out of the ordinary), but I refuse to shut out any one genre. This includes country, rap, commercial pop, etc. So you could certainly say I'm an eclecticist. I don't really have any one favorite band, maybe Tool, but they don't have enough music out, and maybe The Who, but I haven't been acquainted with them long enough. My favorite album is probably Tool's Aenima, but that will change. I can play guitar, though not very well. If I was to form a supergroup, it would be:

Adam Jones - Guitar

Les Claypool - Bass

Keith Moon - Drums

Mike Patton - Vocals, Songwriter

Pete Townshend - Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals

Devin Townsend - Songwriter, Guitar, Vocals

Finally, my criteria for reviewing music is fairly simple. I either like it or I don't. The deeper aspects of the music eventually come into play, but it all boils down to the pleasure I receive from listening.

16.04.2001

I. Name – Caroline Erin Smith

Age – 18

Location – Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

II. Well, if I am not the LARGEST Fantastic Four fan on this side of the planet, then I would love to know who is. :) I tell lots of people that there are two main loves in my life, music and Fantastic Four comics, cartoons, novels, etcetera. Currently, I own over five hundred F4 and related comics and a TON of F4 miscellany, most of it I brought, some of it I have created in various art classes. Also, I maintain a F4 website (http://www.missfantastic.com/), and frequent three F4 message boards under the alias of Miss Fantastic. Also, I write F4 fan fiction (My alias actually derives from a character that stars in the majority of my fan fiction. She was based on my most favorite F4 member, the highly intelligent Doctor Reed Richards a.k.a. Mister Fantastic.), and hope to become the F4 comic’s first female writer one day. If I cannot obtain that goal of writing for my most favorite comic/form of entertainment, then I plan to work as a webmistress (A female website designer) for others in the near or distant future.

III. When it comes to music, I have a hard time deciding if I do not have a larger obsession with this or Fantastic Four stuff. When it comes to genres, my favorites very much break down into simple old classic rock, psychedelic, jazz-rock, blues/country rock, hard rock/metal, and progressive/art rock. In that case, my favorite bands are just like my favorite genres, there are too many to list. :) So, I’ll just give a sample of my most favorite bands for each genre...

Simple old classic rock: Beatles (Including solo works), Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, etcetera

Psychedelic: Cream, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Spirit, etc.

Jazz-Rock: Blood, Sweat, and Tears; Steely Dan

Blues/Country Rock: Creedence Clearwater Revival, a little bit of the Allman Brothers, a little bit of Lynyrd Skynyrd, a little bit of the Eagles...as one could tell, this is my least favorite of my favorite genres.

Hard Rock/Metal: Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Budgie, Judas Priest, etc.

Progressive/Art Rock: Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, ELP, Yes, etc.

I also happen to like quite a few bands that are obscure, or hardly heard of in the states, at least in the Raleigh, NC area anyway. These bands I just cannot fit under one genre include...

Amon Duul II Can Budgie (Even though I cited these guys under Hard Rock, they are in a way Folk Rockish too, especially with some of the material on their earlier albums.) Hawkwind Wishbone Ash

And then, I like bands/artists that are well known, but just cannot fit under one genre IMHO...

Electric Light Orchestra David Bowie Queen Velvet Underground The Police

I really could go on all day...that’s how much I love music. :)

09.12.2001

Well, my name is Robert Smith..I am from Fremont, Nebraska. I am 19 and live with my wife and child, who I love more than anything.

Aside from music, there isn't a whole lot that interests me. I like to go out to the pictures every now and then. I like to write a lot, as it is the only true way to express one's feelings without coming off in a way they never intended.

My music tastes are varied. My favorite bands are the Beatles, Radiohead, ELO, The Flaming Lips, The Kinks, and probably the Beach Boys (pre-Brian Wilson's breakdown). My favorite singer-songwriters are Leonard Cohen, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Marvin Gaye. I am not restricted to anything, which is why I have a musical taste that doesn't gel with those I know. I love Brit-pop, reggae, punk, avant garde, Broadway musicals, soul, funk, etc. This might explain my favorite album, The White Album by the Beatles. Such a fascinating melting pot of sounds and styles that will always intrigue me. I review albums based on how I feel they should be represented. I'm not going to sing praise to an artist who I might respect, but who doesn't do a thing for me. I usually rate on a 5 star basis. Anyhow, enough about me. Pleasant reading.

12.03.2003

Personal stuff:

I'm 14 years old at the moment, and I live in st.louis Missouri. My birthday is march the 3rd 1988.

When I'm not listening to music)not often) I'm either in school, eating, caddying(tis my job) or sleeping. Otherwise, I'm either buying or listening to music.

p.s.(My mom says you can walk into a record store without buying anything (Yeah Right)

My fav bands:

1.Ze Beatles

2.Robert Zimmerman

3.The 'OO

4.The Doors(Although they are becoming more and more irritating to me each time I take another listen)

5.The Dead

6.The Kinks

7.the Stones

8.Lennon

9.Townshend

10.The Beach Boys

Fav Albums

10.Workingman's Dead(Dead)

9.Village Green Preservation Society(Kinks)

8.Let It Bleed(stones)

7.Revolver(Beatles)

6.Blood on the tracks (Dylan)

5.The Who Sell Out (guess)

4.Blonde on blonde(dylan)

3.American Beauty(dead)

2.Abbey Road (Beatles)

1. ...........................................That's right folks... Quadrophenia. Wow Wow Wow. breathtaking. name me a better album and ill give you a nickel

06.08.2002

My name is Jur Snijder, I come from The Netherlands, have lived form many years in the UK and am currently based in Australia. I was born in 1954 which puts me squarely on the wrong side of the big five-oh, but equally well on the right side of all those young upstarts who think they know all about the music from the 60's and 70's without actually having lived through it (sorry, George!).

Music has always been there in my life, I tinker on flute, keyboards and drums and have played in a couple of bands when very much younger (although I wouldn't mind picking up the old drumsticks again and have a bash!). I started collecting albums when I was a teenager, and built up a modest collection until the early eighties, when Evil came over the world of popular music and I turned away from it all in disgust. My vinyl collection became obsolete with the advent of the CD and slowly weathered into dust. Instead, I immersed myself in the wonders of classical music and became a bit of a Bach wizard - but that would be off-topic here, wouldn't it?

And then, one day my mid-life crisis hit me hard and I went out and picked up a CD of Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - mainly to show my teenage daughters what popular music really should be like. Of course they couldn't care less, and of course I was instantly hooked again. After the good sergeant came Rubber Soul, and then DSotM, and then... a trickle became a stream, a torrent, I lost all control and now my CD collection of 60's and 70's Rock occupies an entire new wall cabinet, and is still growing.

The first time, fourty years ago, I started where most youngsters start, with the albums from the radio stars. I developed my taste only slowly, but eventually I leaned fairly heavily towards melodic and progressive rock. Genesis was number 1, followed by Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Roxy Music but also lighter stuff such as Supertramp (ahem) and the like. I never bothered buying Beatles, Stones and stuff like that. After all, why spend money on music that all your friends have, if you want to hear it you go over there to drink a few beers and that takes care of that!

This time round I think I am less narrow minded and more understanding of how all those bands fit together to form that wonderful tapestry that was the heyday of Rock. Whereas in the past I would not have been seen dead with a Led Zep record, these days I finally understand that they are just as essential for the full and true Rock experience as the Floyders. So my shelves now range from Abba to the Zombies with most things in between. Sure, I still have to swallow when buying some CD's (like 'Pet Sounds' - I fled the shop red-faced, hiding the offensive material in a brown paper bag under my raincoat), but on the whole I find it much more satisfying to span this frightening wide range of tastes (including some pretty dodgy ones!) than to find false security in unashamed elitism. Of course this leads to some strange pairings on my shelves: Abba next to Alice Cooper; Bob Dylan next to The Eagles; Rick Wakeman next to The Who. But I also noticed that the solo records of John Lennon are paired back to back with those of Paul McCartney. And that is as it should be, after all.

05.06.2006

I. Personal data.

Well,my name Oleg Sobolev,I'm just 13,I'm native Russian,was born in St.Petesburg(not that city in Florida,for dummies),but I live all of my life in city named Murmansk(ask George where it is),I'm just a MAD FAN OF MUSIC and I also learn something(like alphabet) in my school.

II. Personal non-music related interests.

Well,I'm a little bit of everyhting...

III. Music-related questions (the most important part). Your musical tastes: favourite and most despised bands/artists/musical genres.

My favourites are Pink Floyd,Devil Doll,Genesis and Jethro Tul.Prog rules,oh yeah.

Are you more of a branching-out eclecticist or a more restricted fan?

I said it before-I am MAD FAN OF MUSIC..

What are, or would be, your criteria for rating music (if you have them at all, that is?)

I don't have them at all.

What's your attitude about music reviewing?

I am musical reviewer.So...

Would you like to have a site of your own?

Yes,but I can't-I am no designer and I am no writer.

Are you a musician?

Well..no.

What instruments do you play or would like to play?

Keyboards and everything related.

Who's your favourite bass player?

John Entwistle

What colour are the socks of George W. Bush

Red,I think..Maybe yellow,but I don't care anyway.

(oops, sorry, wrong program).

Ah!I have read it TOO LATE!

You get my drift.

No.I even don't understand all those letters on English.

10.12.2001

My name is Ksenia, I'm 21 and I'm crazy 'bout all that rock'n'roll. I spend 5 years of my life at Madagascar. Now I've settled down in Moscow & study journalism in Moscow State University. But let me stop writing all this absolutely unnessesary shit. REAL music means all to me, it is the thing I can't live without, if u know what I mean. By the way my husband is a musicion. He's known by his recent appereance with the Moscow band named THE CRUSHERS.

Personal non-music related interests. First of all I'm writing music & poetry, I communicate with people who don't mind the system. Favourite films: Blow Up, Psych Out Favourite books: The Last Escape to Brookline by Selsby, Junky by Burrouse, On the Road by Keruaque

As for my musical tastes, I'm a fan of Velvet Underground & Joy Division. At the moment my favourite & the best album ever is White LIght/White Heat by VU. I also listen to The Seeds, The 13-th Floor Elevator, Janis Joplin, the Doors, the Jefferson Airplane, The Sonics, The Love, The Strangles, The Kinks, The Easybeats, The Monks, Them, Iggy Pop & the Stooges, Sex Pistols, The Cure & of course The Beatles & The Stones.

My favourite bass player is my husband

13.03.2003

My name is Tony Stewart.

Iam 35 and have been a Stonesfanatic ever since I can remember. I got "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby..." for X-mas about in '70 and went out and "Between The Buttons and then "Exile". After that I was an 8 year old steamroller. I started collecting ANYTHING I could get my hands on, on the Stones. I still have a lot of that. What am I saying? I have all of it still.

Musicwise I have to say I look only for honesty. I listen to the Stones, Ludwig van and Jane's addiction. Also the 70's Glambands like T.Rex. Early Roxy Music. Late Chili Peppers. New band is Supergrass. I do not have a fave Bassplayer. I think Flea is VERY good, because he did not get stuck in the rut of thumbslapping but went back to playing with his fingers. Everyone followed. I also like U2 VERY much. I think The Edge , like Hendrix(Who I also adore) changed guitar playing. And that is a big step. Especially with so many great guitar players out there.

I have an on line Junkshop, which is closed right now. I love James Ellroy, the writer and sell his books. And posters of Crime Noir.

Iam a musician and play a lot. The name of my band is "Scoring Dope For The Ultimate Woman". It is a showband. Dragqueens and chicks etc. we are currently recording our second CD. Sold 9000 of the first one.

I sing, play guitar and Sax.

Love this list.

Tony

16.04.2001

My name is Derrick Stuart. I am from Suffolk, Virginia, USA and I was born on November 3, 1986, that makes me 14. I go to a horrid middle school where I have the arrogance to proclaim I'm mostly the deepest person there. I'm quite tall and thin with long blonde hair, so obvious to say, I look quite different. I am interested in the arts but music is my favourite thing of all. I write poetry and a few of those lucky ones have made it into songs. For a while I thought I had found my kindred spirit in a girl from Texas but our relationship had deteriorated to a mere friendship. I play some keyboard but I have a long way to go. I would like to have a site like this someday but I'm probably too lazy to maintain it. My favourite artists are The Beatles, Todd Rundgren, King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, The Talking Heads, U2. I like some folk, some new-wave, some pop, jazz, classical, avant-garde, eastern, mostly prog, experimental, etc. I want to someday create a musical revoltuion with the shabby 25 songs I'm working on, ah, foolish naivette! My personal hero is John Lennon but my favourite overall musician is Todd Rundgren. I hate the music the "music" scene of today. My favourite bass player is John Entwistle. I love you review site. In the future, I want to be a musician, poet, film director, music producer, artist, and author.

05.12.2000

I'm actually two people (for the most part), Adrian Subrt and Aaron Carpenter. We both were born in Houston, Texas in 1987. We are both "athletes", Adrian plays basketball and Aaron plays tennis. We both are avid readers of classics such as David Copperfield and Candide.

Adrian's musical information:

Favourite bands/artists: The Beatles, David Bowie, The Kinks, The Byrds, Blur, Pixies, Dead Kennedys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and many many others.

Favourite Guitarist: Jimi Hendrix

Favourite Bassist: Bill Wyman

Favourite Drummer: Ringo!

Favourite Vocalist: David Bowie

Favourite Music-Related Movie: Help!

Musical talent: I am a pretty good piano player, having played since Kindergarten. I have also attempted playing the bass guitar (which I have very rudimentary skill at), euphonium, and recorder (of which I am one of the best players in the world).

Aaron's musical information:

Favourite artists/groups: Beatles, Stones, Clash, Kinks, Who, Dylan, Byrds, Bowie, Eno, Fall, Joy Division, Neutral Milk Hotel, Jimmy Buffett, Pixies, Love, VU, White Stripes.

Favourite Guitarist: Hendrix

Favourite Bassist: Peter Hook

Favourite Drummer: Keith Moon (though drummers don't really bother me too much)

Favourite Vocalist: Early Rod Stewart

Favourite Music-Related Movie: 24 Hour Party People

Musical Talent: Some say vocals, but that is quite a stretch.

We have what some people would call a "band", but it consists of us two and a random "guest star" jamming (with no talent whatsoever), into a crappy old tape recorder. However, on occasion we do strike gold, and produce a classic, such as the holy 'Drop And Give Me 20 Ghetto Anthem Remix '02'. It's a dance song trying to start a new fitness craze, the push-up!

Yes, we do dream of having our own review site, but since we have no idea how one would go about making a web site, we simply use George's to write our own mini-reviews in the reader comments.

09.07.2004

Okay, if anybody needs that... Fun to tell about oneself!

Name: Lyolya Svidrigajlova (the name is real, the surname is fake; who cares?)

Date of birth: 25.09.78, age 22 (yuick, I'm already as old! joke :)))

Country: Russia (ah, that's pretty obvious!)

Town: that's an unnecessary information. Well, that's near Moscow, and that's all...

Status: student of MSU (linguistic department of phylological faculty. Hell! a damned nunnery...)

Non music-related interests: Dostoyevsky (pretty obvious), Sologub, Leonid Andreev, Gogol...; on the other hand, Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury. I adore children... well, actually, that's not a point to talk about. Psychology although I'm not good at it (that's something to aspire to...) Life itself. No, I'm serious. Oops...

Music-related interests: First - Russian rock. I'm not going to mention many names, they will hardly tell you much. Okay, that's me, I grew up listening to Bashlachev and Vysotsky... That means - I prefer "wordy" songs. I mean, as for me, good lyrics save poor music, poor vocals, poor guitar playing and so on. Not that I don't listen to the other kind of songs. See below. As for foreign music... my first bands were some garage "punks" of 50s-60s and... Dire Straits. Okay, any could argue, but there's NO ONE like Mark Knopfler! Well, actually, there is no one like Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimmi Hendrix, etc... one might continue... catch my drift? That's the stuff. To be completely honest... yes, I DO like Fogerty brothers (of course, John especially) and Slade (I mean, I don't see a really big difference between them. Actually, I don't understand why one should classify music by styles). Yeeah... I know it's just dumb, stupid, non-thought-provoking pop crap but... I'm just a woman. Nothing else.

I play guitar a little, write songs just for fun. Well, not actually for fun, but this will never be my only occupation... that's just a hobby. Well... I ENVY multi-instrumentalists... gee... how patient they should be! I don't have any criteria in rating music. I either like it or don't like it. That means I either feel like living and breathing after listening to the songs or don't. That's my point of view.

Boom! I hate: female vocals (although I'm a woman myself... gee!), uninspired "well-built" songs (there was a lot of articles in "undergroung" journals about "How to make a 100% pop-hit" or "How to write a good romance for women"... when you take a scheme and just put in chords, notes, words... and here goes a hit... really, this sells but bullshits people's brains)... I think, that's all.

I don't have a reviews page. Actually, I wouldn't really have a lot to say on it. So, let's comment upon others' reviews! That's much simpler! It's so funny to read other people's reviews and completely disagree!!!!

P.S. 1. I didn't know (well, I had to check it before mailing any comments) that you rate artists from 1 to 5, thought it was 1 to 10 at least. Unless, I would never give John Fogerty a 5.

2. Yeah, too many emotions! Never expressed them if my wonderful young daughter didn't scream all the time: "You should visit EVERY music site and tell them <...> John Fogerty is great!!!!!" Those are more HER comments. And she's 3 years old and doesn't have "scientific" approach to the music. In fact, me too... for this particular moment...

3. Sorry for my bad English. In fact, I have a complicated story of learning this language (though I can't say I have learned it up to some decent level). And I always write "somebody is AS old" instead of "THAT old". And I notice that only after mailing the letter.

4. The main thing. As for me, there are two "keys" to my heart for a song, especially not in Russian: Sincerity and Emotion. That's the deal.

My name's Alexis von Sydow, I am born 871010. As it is now, I live in Stockholm, Sweden, and concerning social status, it's pretty much what to expect, but that can't be considered a fault of mine, not even being aged 15 (yet). That's personal data (some of it)

Non-music related interests... That's a hard one. Interests? Oh yes, that's what you do when you're not under the influence of school (yawn) or your obsession with rock music, that's right? eh... well, what do I do else, hmm it's gotta be something. Bah, skip that interest thing. What I do when I'm not under the influence of rock music and/or school: I used to read quite a lot when I was younger, and now I'm trying to sort good writers from bad writers. One good writer is the late great Douglas Adams, author of you-know-what... not? well, it's The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, the pathetic, wonderful, pervapppapap ppp yea that's right "science fiction" series. People at school (teachers) label me a very talented writer myself, and thus I discovered the enjoyment of finding various ways of expressing opinions and other things. This have resulted in that I now and then write something about something that usually consists of sentences about the length of a page and other weird things in the same vein built on a totally meaningless story. And for that teachers call me talented. Guess they don't have a very of conception of the meaning of that word. (But, nonetheless, I once saw a painting that was entirely blue, with some black and red spots here and there, and they called that guy a genius, so I don't know) Enough. We move on to important stuff.

Musical interests then.

A couple of years ago I wasn't very much of a music fanatic, but things have passed since. It started out with a lot of 60's music - Kinks, Hollies, Animals, Beatles and alike. Then I started to enjoy music by Meat Loaf and Bruce Springsteen. As you understand from my tender age most of it came from my parents fairly extensive records collection. The first band I really got to like was Queen, about one and a half years ago. I got myself their discography, but after a while got bored of them and got some Who, Genesis, Police and Deep Purple. My tastes change quickly and thus I am glad to live very close to a record store where they have a huge archive of old LPs which they sell for about 1-2 dollars each. Artists I despise/dislike are in no order: The Monkees, ELO, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Uriah Heep and others. Artists I love/like in no order: Beatles, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Rolling Stones, Who, David Bowie, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, CCR, Doors, Queen of course, Led Zep, Mott The Hoople and others.

I do play the piano and am pretty good, and I am also trying to learn to play guitar and doing rather well in that field too.

Oh, and George, great site, it's unbelievable that someone has spent so much time on such a lot of crappy music. No, more seriously, I really like the site, it's like hmm.. someone said on the web: "We listen to the bad records so that you won't have to" or something. Kinda fits you too I think. Pardon me, all music lovers for boring you this long time, 'twas'nt my intention. Thanks, George for the possibility to share my opinions on music with anyone who bothers to enter this site, so that he may say: "How very uninteresting this guy's thoughts on music are! It's unbelievable".

02.08.2002

I. Personifiable dada:

name: Robert Tally

age: 38

country: San Francisco (hey, it could happen!)

city of birth and residence: same as above

social status: misfit hoping to eventually reach the rank of curmudgeon

etc.: mouse staple hill comma

II. Persons non-musically related interestingnesses:

favorite films: 'Harold And Maude', 'Dr. Strangelove', 'The Wizard Of Oz', 'Life Is Beautiful', 'It's A Wonderful Life', 'Pinocchio', 'To Kill A Mockingbird', 'Shadow Of A Doubt', a bunch of others I can't think of, most Our Gang comedies between 1930 and 1937, most Warners cartoons from the '40s and '50s, most Max Fleischer cartoons, any documentary showing highlights from Marx Bros., W.C. Fields, Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin or Laurel & Hardy films favorite TV shows: 'The Twilight Zone', 'The Simpsons' (before the early writers left), 'All In The Family', 'Leave It To Beaver' (before Beaver got old and dumb - 'gee, Wally, you mean they got creepy girls in college, too?'), 'Seinfeld' (before Larry David left), 'Roseanne' (before Roseanne's sanity left), 'Barney Miller', any of the various shows with Ernie Kovacs, 'The Bullwinkle Show', 'Saturday Night Live' (for the first 2% of its existence), 'The Streets Of San Francisco' (love that scenery!), 'Late Night a.k.a. Late Show with David Letterman', 'The Waltons' (before John Boy left and took his mole with him), 'The Brady Bunch' (okay, so I got hooked when I was eight - one of those shows you laugh at rather than with)

favorite foods: spaghetti, artichokes and vanilla fudge (preferably not all in the same burrito)

pet peeves: pushy people; large dogs owned by pushy people; delivering packages to pushy people with large dogs; running out of dog spray; Jar Jar other interests: science, history and biblical stuff (from an agnostic POV)

III. Musicalosically relaxed queries:

My favorite period in rock music is the late '60s to early '70s, with the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who, Zeppelin, Hendrix, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell all scoring high points for me during that period. I could name many others, though. The British Invasion always interested me. '50s rock is fun, too, with Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis being standouts. As far as punk and new wave go, I like the Clash, X, Elvis Costello, and Talking Heads, and my favorite very recent artist would probably be Beck. My favorite r 'n' b artist is James Brown, but I also like Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations. I like early c&w - not the recent 'L.A.' country perpetuated by the likes of Garth Brooks. In fact, anything like country, jazz, blues, etc., always sounds better to me if it's early, because it's grittier that way. 'Soft jazz' doesn't usually do anything for me, for instance. I love hearing jazz from the '30s, even though I'm a total novice as far as knowing who's who. I have a CD with music by Leroy Shield, who scored a bunch of the old Hal Roach comedies (Laurel & Hardy, Our Gang, etc.), and I just love that stuff. It's the same kind of happy feeling I get listening to late '60s Kinks music. I like classical music from all the various periods - from Bach to Mozart to Tchaikovsky to Stravinsky. I also enjoy Gershwin. I tend to think that there's nothing wrong with any musical style necessarily, just the musicians.

I used to be in a band in the eighties. We just kind of wallowed for eight years and never made it. But I got pretty good at the guitar and bass, and learned some piano, and can even fake it on the drums a little. I mostly sit around writing songs these days. Melody, rhythm and mood are the essential ingredients in music for me, whether it's my own music or anybody else's. Reason for frequenting this site: Mainly as an excuse to go through my CD collection and decide what I like and don't like. I'm starting with the Beatles since they're kind of the kingpins of rock. I'm pretty much going to stick with groups that I've got a complete collection of, so that I can provide George's readers with info on completing their own collections. It's not a purely selfless motive, though, since it prods me into sorting out my own stuff and noticing which tracks I need to get.

Personal info

Name: Fredrik Tydal

Year of birth: 1981

Country: Sweden

08.12.2000

My name is Aleix Vallejo, I am an 18 year-old boy from Barcelona, Spain. Well, I intend to post a good number of posts into your huge page, so I thought it would be a good idea to follow your personal introduction guidelines for you to know a little about me.

As I said, I was born and still live in the beautiful city of Barcelona, with my middle-class family.

My hobbies apart from music include literature (I'm trying to get into the nineteenth century's Romantics at the moment), football (Futbol Club Barcelona is one of my non-musical greatest passions) cinema, going out with friends and this kind of things, you can imagine... If you ask me how would I like to make a living in the future then the answer is quite clear: playing music (I'm learning some guitar on my own). If not that, playing football or writing books. Since I know I'm not very likely to achieve these wild dreams :'( I have to content myself by doing the least annoying (to me) of the "normal" jobs, which is translating; that's why I'm studying Translation and Interpretation (English) at university.

Now, music. Of course, I love Rock beyond reason. Mainly that age generally known as "classic rock", between 1966 and 1980, approximately, in my case. I like Proggressive Rock above all genres, I don't really know why, I guess it's because of the feelings it evokes on me, very deep music. But that's not the only genre I like, indeed. My favourite bands come mainly from England: Genesis (my all-time favourite), Yes (I often feel disappointed at your comments on them, but if you don't like them... the world is a beautiful diverse place, isn't it?), Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Beatles (although I find they're somewhat overrated. I'll explain that properly in a proper post), Jethro Tull, King Crimson etc. In the last months I've discovered a number of American bands (since I've been trying punk rock, but I already knew some, like The Doors or Creedence CR) which have turned up to be more than good: Ramones, The Stooges, New York Dolls, Television... I must say I've enjoyed that "proto-punk" thing more than punk itself. I don't really like any other genres apart from rock (maybe classical, but I still have a lot to listen to). Inside Rock itself I can more or less stand any sub-genre, though I'm a bit sceptical about Heavy Metal. That's a general view, but anyway, I don't want to enlarge much on this subject for I would only mess you up with loads of information you could see appropriately "classified" on future posts, don't you think so?

28.01.2006

I. Hello! My name is Jaime Vargas, born February 1973 in Spain, where I have lived all of my life, even if I have switched cities a couple of times. Basically, I'm an Andalusian - I was born in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz (where sherry wine is made, you know), although I travelled to Valencia, on the East coast, to begin my university studies, and proceeded to Barcelona for work. I'm actually working in Castellón de la Plana, which is north of Valencia.

II. I have a degree in Telecommunications Engineering. I currently work managing the network of a textile company, although I have been a junior programmer before. I love technology. Until I became music-obsessed I developed various other fondnesses: reading (whatever comes into my hands), drawing (I was considered a good artist when in school and I always regret not having got into it seriously), programming (oh, the things I did with my old ZX Spectrum) and I had a movie buff phase too.

III. I didn't care much about music when I was a child, started listening to the Mike Oldfield and Jean-Michel Jarre albums my mother had, went totally downhill from there (because I started listening to European disco crap of the mid Eighties and the most commercial pop-rock the radio was putting: Communards, Level 42 and the like), but my personal epiphany group were the Beatles, which I still love with devotion. From there I proceeded to things like Clapton, Elton John, Dire Straits, Sting... until I had a "second epiphany" via three groups in particular: the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull. Curiosity made me in the end a big eclectic. I have listened to a big chunk of the classic rock artists, from the Who to Zappa, from Dylan to UFO, from Bowie to Hendrix, from the Kinks to Deep Purple... but I also have a decent blues collection, love early rock'n'roll, I like some jazz, adore flamenco and have a fairly good classical collection. I also play - I'm a guitarist / harmonicist / singer / wannabe composer, and lately I have been into the study of classical harmony. In fact one of my favourite books is Arnold Schönberg's "Harmonielehre".

Until now I have writing mostly short tidbit-like comments, but I intend to do some reviews here in the site, as a preparation for my own, which I still I'm wondering how to organize, since I intend it to be very comprehensive (which means that you should find there reviews for George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue or Beethoven's Violin Concerto, if I ever get round to it).

16.05.2002

Greetings all, My name is Mark and as of May 2002 I'm 37 years old. I reside in the great community of Tampa Bay which is on the west coast of Florida for those of you outside the USA who are looking at a map. I am a huge Tampa Bay Buccaneer fan and have been a fan of music since I was old enough to walk. I am married to my wife of six years and have been blessed with the most beautiful daughter anyone could ask for and she is the light of my life. I am a musician myself and can play guitar and piano and sit in regularly with friends who play on the beach.

I am also a professional dj and that is so rewarding as I am able to play my favorite songs for people and get paid for it. I love classic rock and progressive rock in particular. I was raised on all styles of music but the music of Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, YES, and Pink Floyd really stood out for me. One of my favorite bands is Kansas (sorry George) and have seen them several times over the years. From my teen years till the present, they have never ceased to rock my world. I also love southern rock and have seen the Allman Brothers a few times, as well as all the sixties pioneers. One of my best friends is one of the top Elvis impersonators in the country so I didn't have a choice in liking him, and one artist who has been so near to me and I love everything the man does is Dan Fogelberg. The Innocent Age has got to be one of the best albums I've ever heard and has been very therapeautic in helping me deal with the recent loss of my dad. If there's people who don't like Fogelberg, that's fine. That's your God given right, but if there are people like me who like him...talk to me. I am an extremely positive person and love life to the fullest. I believe no matter what country you happen to live in, we all want the same thing for our children...to give them the opportunity to live in peace. I would love for all of us to work towards that common goal. If you want to talk music, you can probably find me cruising the Gulf Of Mexico in the boat sipping on a little Tullamore Dew. Oops! Didn't mean to alert any marine patrol out there. I meant orange juice. Whatever our personal preferences are, the bottom line is we all love classic rock. If anyone wants to talk, I'm listening...for the rest of you.....keep rocking.

Peace and God Bless, Mark

06.05.2002

Jon Walter

Hi y'all, my name's Jon Walter and I'm 16 years old currently, and living in the state of Wisconsin. Yes, sitting around, watching movies and listening to music may seem like a waste of time to some, but it's impressive how I'm able to fashion an almost meaningful existence out of these activities. As for musical tastes, I listen to anything. ANYTHING. Although if you were to ask my favorite musical genre, I'd have to say grunge rock. Here's a little more info about myself:

FAVORITE BOOK: "The Stand" by Stephen King

FAVORITE MOVIE: "JFK"

FAVORITE BANDS: Faith No More, Radiohead, REM

Oh yeah, if you wanna contact me for some odd reason(doubtful) then here's my email: twalterl@charter.net

So when you see that wonderful email address over a reader comment, that's me!

24.06.2002

Now that I know what I feel must be right, I'm here to show everybody the light!

I. Jacob M. Wareham; 20; DuBois, PA, USA; I am a peasant.

II. I'm a college student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Currently I’m majoring in anthropology with a concentration in archaeology. Last year it was chemistry. What's next? Who cares! I plan to be alive in the future, and hopefully be able to maintain some sort of shelter (mobile or non-) with some other human beings whom I love.

III. Ah music. Ah... I love it so. My favorite Beatle is Paul, if that says anything (I don't know). Some bands that I enjoy a whole hell of a goddamn lot that are featured here are Ween, Floyd, Tull, Clapton, Alice Cooper, and The fucking Beatles, whom I love the fucking most. Bands not on here that I like: The Apples In Stereo, The Wallflowers, and Green Day (And it's because of their NEWEST album. Listen to American Idiot-- the whole way through! It's beautiful.). Sometimes I think I'm just too fanatic to be posting comments about music, because, if I try, I can enjoy almost anything. It feels right when something like 'I'm Looking Through You' gets me deep down, but I feel a little off when I find myself overjoyed at "discovering" just how AMAZING some random Weird Al song is, you know what I mean? But we all have that fanatic little id inside us that thinks everything is fantastic. We simply need to learn how to suppress the little bastard so that we can have reasonable opinions! However, I don't think I want to ever suppress mine too much, so I'll probably never do any reviewing myself. I can't play any instruments, but I do enjoy writing very simple, usually comical little songs with my friends who can play and recording them on cassette. It's extremely fun, and if anything else, helps me see music from the musician's perspective, which is tons different from the pure listener's perspective. Favorite bassist? Roger Waters is a cool guy, but not because of the bass...hmmm...Entwhistle? Maybe... Nah. It's got to be Paul. Favorite song: With A Little Help From My Friends

22.12.2005

I Personal Info-Glenn J. Wiener Age 38, Bron 7/21/62 in New York, NY. Resides in White Plains, NY. Single and Looking!

2. Non Music- I am an Accounting Systems Professional. Other non musical interests include Hiking, Sports, Reading, Writing, Museums and enjoying the greater New York City area.

3. Music- I play guitar and have had some piano training. My musical interests include Classic Rock, some new Alternative sounds but not too much of it. Some jazz and classical music is fine as well. Some of my favorite artists include Little Feat, Rolling Stones, Jimmy Buffett, Eric Clapton, Beatles, Elton John, Steely Dan, Sade, Herb Alpert, Spyra Gyra, Allman Brothers, Blues Traveller, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Barenaked Ladies, Stevie Wonder, and Chopin. My link to my Amazon Web Page is http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/cm/member-reviews/-/A2HWD9PTM7RBXN/1/re f=cm_mp_rv/107-2852419-8570165 This page includes my own reveiws on film and books in addition to music.

I welcome any feedback and helpful votes as we all can grow from constructive comments.

26.12.2000

I. Name: Billy Williams

Age: 17

Born in: Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep. (pretty sweet, huh?)

Currently residing in Wilmington, Delaware

Single

II. As for non-music related stuff: sports. I eat, sleep, and breathe the stuff. I'm either playing or watching (Well, what else is there to do.) Favorite sport: football, American that is.

I also, unfortunately, attend at school at Mount Pleasant High School.

III. My favorite musical genre is classic rock, which is why I like coming to this site. I'm also partial to rap music. I do detest bubblegum pop (who doesn't). I wish that the likes of Nsync, Backstreet boys, britney spears, etc. were locked in a room and blown to simtherines (sp?). By classic rock, I mean british classic rock from the 60's and early 70's (yeah, i know that "classic rock" is a pretty broad subject). American rock, save Dylan, the beach boys, and MAYBE the doors, is a whole load of horsecrap. My favorite groups are Cream, The who, and the Beatles. I became interest in these bands last summer when I realized that music nowadays is terrible beyond all comprehension, 'cept some rap artists.

I am currently in the process of making a music review website with my brother, but I don't have nearly enought records to do such a thing. I'm also learning to play the bass.

Favorites:

Best album: Live at Leeds

Best lead guitarist: Eric Clapton

Best rhythm guitarist: Pete Townshend

Best drummer: Keith Moon

Best bassist: John Entwhistle

Best vocalist: Mick Jagger

There you have it. I hope I haven't been rambling.

12.05.2001

My name is David Malone Williams the 3rd. I live in Paris,Ky and am 40 years old, and YES is my very favorite rock group. I have all of their studio albums in form or another[either on vinyl or CD; I have my favorites FRAGILE,CLOSE TO THE EDGE,GOING FOR THE ONE,and 90125 on both], and I have never heard a song from YES I did not like somewhat.I EVEN LIKE AND ENJOY TORMATO AND UNION, YOU ALL OUT THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

10.03.2004

Name: Alexander Zaitsev

City of Residence: Perm, Russia

Age: 18(blush)

Occupation: Studying translation at the Perm State Teachers Training University.

Let me name my favourite\worst things, though I really think it's silly but says much about me.

Aha,so:

Worst Vocalists: Marc Bolan, any growler

Best Vocalists: The Beatles, Robert Plant, Ian Anderson before Under Wraps, Jim Morrison, whole lotta them.

Best Guitars: Dave Gilmour, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Al Di Meola, Eric Clapton, Yuri Naumov(Russian guy), Frank Zappa, Santana(his name is Carlos, remember? :), Steve Hackett, Robert Fripp, B.B. King... too much?

Best Bass: Jaco Pastorius, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle (he's the third,no matter what you say), Chris Squire

Most overrated bass: Paul McCartney, Jeoffrey Hammond - Hammond

Best lyricists: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jim Morrison, Roger Waters, Ian Anderson

Best drummer: I dunno, maybe Bill Bruford, maybe not.

Worst live album heard: King Crimson Earthbound

Most disappointing album(but not the worst): yeah, Under Wraps

Best keyboard player:Eh, J.S. Bach???

Best flute: You know :)

Album I just can't get through: Floyd's Piper

Best pop album: ABBA The Album

Best Rock Album: Doesn't exist

Personal favourite(not the best): Thick as a Brick or All things must pass

Favourite writers: James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, T.S.Eliot, Milorad Pavich.

I-Don't-Get-Why-They-Are-Liked-So-Much Bands: AC/DC, Black Sabbath

Worst thing in the world: Microsoft Windows

Biggest disadvantage: wheelchair(blush)

Well, that's me.

23.05.2003

NAME: Vasiliy ( or Richard - I'm russian only on quarter, I've got yet bloods of finnish, german and jewish).

THE DAY OF MY LIFE'S BEGINNING is the 24th of July (1979).

LIVINGPLACE - Moscow.

SPECIALITY - Chemical Engineer (I work in industrial company - "PIK-Technology").

WITOUT THIS THING I CAN'T IMAGINE MY LIVING: Music.

I prefer intellectual musical styles (I hear it from 1988): art-rock, psychedely, jazz-fusion (since 1999), classics; also I like hard-rock, blues... I'm sick of commercial music (paticularly of russian-pop-scene (it's the SHITEST SHIT!) that I can hear on TV, radio and in the streets); also I hate rap, techno and these primitive alternative bands! Also my little mind can't understand music of bands that play death, black, thrash, hardcore, grindcore, schrindcore, cfrthindcore and these lot of "dcores", I can't find a real difference between these styles. Maybe I'm a little stupid fool...

To my opinion, THE BEATLES is the Greatest Band of all spaces and times. Their SERGEANT PEPPER, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR, WHITE 2LP-ALBUM and ABBEY ROAD are the beginnings of Progressive Rock. Almost all of Progressive Rockers (Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Procol Harum, Manfred Mann, Elton John, even Hammill and Zappa and a lot of others) ever improved ideas of Beatles. Of course, Beatles isn't the most serious, phylosophical band, they weren't instrumental monsters (though McCartney is strong bass-guitarist), but they were the 1st producers of unequal musical spirit.

Last years I listen THE BEATLES more rare, 'cos I know all of their songs by heart. Since 1993 I've had periods of DEEP-PURPLEMANIA, QUEENMANIA, PINK-FLOYDMANIA, ROLLING-STONESMANIA and some other little manias, but some last years are my own Art-rock-years. Now my favorite bands are VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, P.HAMMILL, YES, S.HOWE, CHRIS SQUIRE, RICK WAKEMAN, J.ANDERSON, JETHRO TULL, I.ANDERSON, GENESIS, P.GABRIEL, PINK FLOYD, R.WATERS, KING CRIMSON, R.FRIPP, T.LEVIN, T.GUNN, ROXY MUSIC, B.FERRY, B.ENO, GONG, F.ZAPPA, D.BOWIE, ELTON JOHN, GENTLE GIANT, PROCOL HARUM, SUPERTRAMP, MANFRED MANN, DIRE STRAITS, UK, MARILLION,NICK CAVE, VANGELIS, GREENSLADE, CAMEL, ELP, also non-art-rock bands - ROLLING STONES, JIMY HENDRIX, DEEP PURPLE, QUEEN, CREEDENCE, DOORS, TOM WAITS, GRATEFULL DEAD, CHICAGO, CHICK COREA, URIAH HEEP, J.M.JARRRE, J,McLAUGHLIN, WEATHER REAPORT, BOB DYLAN, JEFF BECK, JANIS JOPLIN, CREAM, BLACK SABBATH, LED ZEPPELIN, WISHBONE ASH, SHOCKING BLUE..........................................................................

I play music too. When I was a student I was playing in bands (lead vocal, guitar, sometimes bass, keyboards).

I can play all songs of BEATLES, STONES and a lot of my favorite bands' songs.

My favorite music-players:

Keyboards - Lord, Wakeman, Banks, Tippett, Corea, Mann.

Drums - Brufford, Mitchell, Paice, Cobham, Bonham,Bozzio, Collins, White, Kretzmann.

Winds - Ian Anderson, Jackson, Pankow, Mell Collins, Loughlane, from ROXY MUSIC ( forgotten his surname).

Bass - Squire, Levin, Waters, Giezer Butler, Glover, Wetton, Thain, Lake.

Guitars: Hendrix, Howe, Fripp, Blackmore, Barre, May, McLaughlin, Beck, Knopfler, Rodgers.

Vocals - J.Anderson, Hammill, Gabriel, Jagger, Mercury, Gillan, Plant.

Except music I like phylosophy, psyhology, history, geography, theatre and other arts, good vines and sport - mountains, tennis and football ( I was the captain of institute's team).

My general damage: I cannot swim.

13.11.2001

I. Personal Data: Raimonds Kazhe (Ainars Zhebeerklis), 19, Riga, Latvia, university student and a wanna-be programmer.

II. Personal non-music related interests. Studying, workin' a bit, since little work gives little money, wanna work more. My future prospects lie somewhere between programmer/web designer/system administrator/journalist. In my free time apart from computers and music I write silly stories and play some sports.

III. Musical interests:

Favorite bands: Pink Floyd, The Who, King Crimson, Magma

Favorite solo performers: Lou Reed, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix

Favorite genres: prog-rock, classic rock

Favorite record: The Wall by Pink Floyd

Worst bands: Bon Jovi, Kiss, Limp Bizkit

Worst genre: 80's Hair Metal

There's one thing I'm completely sure about - I am the first person that has translated into Latvian the full catalog of Pink Floyd lyrics.

06.10.2003

Name: Sergey

Surname (or second name if you want so): Zhilkin or Jilkin.

Country: Russia

Date of birth: 28/05/1985

Age: 15

Residence: Moscow

Status: the last form of school, actually.

I'd like to remark one thing about my second name. Actually, it's Jilkin (that's what my parents insist on) but when I've been registering on damned mail system www.mail.ru (never, I repeat, never use this system - it's having breakdowns every hour) machine translated my surname from Russian to English as Zhilkin (if you really want to know it's transcription, try to pronounce the first letter in name 'Jaine' (pronounce it as David Bowie in this song) ). That's how George write my name near my comments. Then the same situation goes with my first name. Try to pronounce 'Sir gay' to get 'Sergey' (actually, the most hurting joke on my name). That's enough about my names and callsings, I think.

Now some facts about my life. As I've already said, I'm in the last form of school. Well, I don't get tired of it and find it very enjoyable (in my opinion, every person MUST find something good in every situation). My main avocation is reading Russian greatest writers, such as Dostoevskiy, Chehov, Blok, Gogol' and Ahmatova. But six months ago I've started listening to Paul McCartney and liked him very much (oh, I should mention my previous music idols - The Beatles (I've been listening to their music since 13) and Russian group Bravo (pity that they became pop-group now)). I've asked my parents for the whole Paul's catalog for my birthday and then (two months later) begged my parents to buy me Harrison's Cloud nine because of song called 'Got my mind set on you' which I heard many times on radio. Check George Harrison's page on this site to see how I was influenced by him... Then I bought all albums of Ringo (in mp3 format this time - I couldn't afford 7 discs (yeah, yeah, our famous bootlegers managed to put all Ringo's catalog (without throwing out any songs) on seven audio discs) that's why I bought two mp3-discs for about 6 dollars) which I enjoyed but, surely, wasn't influenced by. About a month ago I've started my collection of David Bowie. Now I have almost all albums which are reviewed by George on this great site. Ah, I forgot to mention Queen whose albums I've collected. Actaually, I'm really sorry for this cause I could get all Queen's catalog on one mp3-disc and buy Eric Clapton instead. I don't like Queen, really. Few weeks ago I tried to listen to Janis Joplin but I got a shock instead of pleasure. Though, I'll surely give another listen to her. Maybe then? That's all about my CD's I suppose... Oh, I've just remembered that my brother (Dmitry Jilkin(Zhilkin)) gave me as a gift (actually, he didn't need these discs) four albums of Pink Floyd which I don't like. Whew... That's all I think.

Now about my musical skills. I think that I'm zero-talent here. I know how to play some chords on guitar but my vocal is awful (well, my friendes didn't tell me this one but I was smart enough to realise it by myself...). Pity... Once I tried to compose my own song but this was rather bad attempt (the melody was okay and even my voice wasn't hoarsy but the lyrics were awful...). I gave it to listen to only one person (my friend Tanya, actually). She didn't say it was bad or somethimg like that. Thanks God she's clever enough not to hurt my feelings but still by her reaction I understood that I'm nothing in the music. But does it mean that I can't comment the music of the gods? NO! That's why I'm here...

And to end this letter, I'd like to give my HO (humble opinion) about these gods.

Best vocal: John Lennon or George Harrison (don't laugh, please. PLEASE, I said).

Best bass guitarist: Paul McCartney.

Best drummer: Charlie Watts.

Best flute player: Ian Anderson (Oh, I forgot to mention my Jethro Tull's collection).

Best actor: David Bowie.

The most original vocal: Bob Dylan (I don't have much from his catalog, actually, but I've heard him on The concert for Bangla Desh and on radio, too) or David Bowie.

The best album ever produced: All things must pass or The Beatles.