Hey all!! S'been quite the 'dog's age' since I've made any sorts of posts around here...apart from time spent working, most of my free time is spent on facebook keeping in touch with family and various friends (made online and otherwise) that way.
Three years gone by...and we've lost Ronnie James Dio, Jeff Hanneman, and recently--Ray Manzarek. Our heros are dropping with seemingly great regularity...  ...I will say this much, however; I'm very glad the Westboro Baptist Chur....um...I mean CULT, neglected to show to protest Hanneman's Memorial service as they'd initially vowed....it could've gotten very ugly (in spite of Slayer's urgings to merely ignore the lot of them and spend time instead queuing up to get inside and celebrate Jeff's life and music). I caught some pictorial and other visual accounts of Hanneman's service...I'd say they did a wonderful job celebrating his legendary career in heavy metal and honoring the very person he was.
It's also been unusual to see our beloved Rob Halford resorting to a wheelchair in recent weeks given his issues with his back, eh?! Thankfully, it doesn't sound like a terribly involved problem, and he's confident once the surgical procedure he needs is completed, he'll be just fine...so...good news there!
I know a lot of people are still up in arms about Bill Ward's absence in Black Sabbath. Admittedly, I too had hoped whatever needed working out or ironing out would've been done in time for his inclusion on their forthcoming album "13," but...as a quip I'd read from Tony Iommi stated, the issue of getting on with things reached rather critical levels--especially once he'd realized what he'd been diagnosed with. Having seen for himself how quickly things deteriorated with Dio, even for as positively Tony's responded to his own spate of treatments; I can't really say I blame him for pressing Bill to shit or get off the pot...if they'd waited, who really knows if we'd be celebrating any opportunity whatsoever to hear the original masters of metal make ANYTHING new ever again? I feel for Bill, and I've read a lot of what he's had to say about the whole affair, but these gentlemen too, are not getting any younger and time seems to be getting shorter and shorter with each passing hour!! In the grand scheme of things, I can only hope "13" will NOT be Tony's 'swan song' as "The Devil You Know" was for Dio (all that's been released since notwithstanding). I've heard "God Is Dead" and "End of the Beginning" from it so far, and I must say I'm very pleased with what I've heard so far!!
There's also a lot to be said regarding the whole "...two Queensryches" issue (you'll all forgive me for possibly recanting things you all may have commiserated about thousands of times over in recent months...like I said, it's been a while for me!!). I'll just say this much about all of that....I've listened to about 7 or 8 tracks from Geoff Tate's 'version' (from "Frequency Unknown")....and...in all honesty, even for all the talent he's got with him this time around...I'm every bit as nonplussed about it as I was with Queensryche's previous album "Dedicated To Chaos," which in my humble opinion--was dreadful...and as a fan, it irks me to say that. Conversely, I've only heard one track so far from the OTHER camp (now featuring Todd LaTorre...a great singer) called "Redemption," and it's got me VERY eager to hear what the rest sounds like! Sure, it could be argued that LaTorre sounds a bit 'too much' like what Tate sounded like from the days of "The Warning" or "Rage For Order," but it's abundantly clear that THIS is the sound much of the remaining long-time members of 'Ryche were looking for and wanting to do for a very long time. Seems Tate had himself too tight a pull on the reins on what was becoming a very worn 'horse,' and it was down to either feed it carrots and let it get lazier and fatter, or give it a royal smack in the ass and get that sumbitch back to running speed! The fans have (largely) responded...the eagerness to see 'Ryche tear it up with LaTorre seems far greater in scope.
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