Ok, this is both funny, sick, and sad in equal parts: the Sun reports that some bloke in Hull got busted for buggering a goat. The guy is HIV postive and was surprised when he was sent down for 6 months. I just feel sorry for the poor goat; after all it is not like it could give consent. Why the poor animal may well get AIDS thanks to this bastard! I suppose it might be a good way of examining the AIDS animal-human link.
This is yet another case where the libertarian/Crowlian "do what thou wilt" gets difficult, especially since the guy in question did not even bother to do at night, so it was witnessed by several people, including the child. By not doing this act in secret he has affected other people and thus is in violation of a basic tenet of libertanism. By doing this act in public he has affected those who were watching his action, violating their rights not to see a goat get buggered in broad daylight!
Thanks to the ever impressive Public Interest for pointing this gem out to me.
A guarantee: This site will never resort to NAKED ambition and post NUDE or SEMI-NUDE
men and women in order to get a FIRM increase in the SIZE of our hit number. We at Dodgeblog will never post anything mentioning BRITNEY SPEARS or JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE or J-LO clothed or NAKED.
Speaking of spamming, those pond suckers of the internet, are beginning to use ICQ in a big way. Not a day goes by where some bimbo who can't even write, ICQs me to "chat" or tell me about her "naked webcam" or "pics". * Well at least I should be thankfully they claim to be female. Wonder when someone is going to come up with a filter for ICQ to keep out this new form of nuisance.
This is not a shocking development, here in the UK cretinous marketers have begun to send spam txt messages to mobile phones. If this has not begun in the US yet, no doubt it will soon come.
* My libertarian attitude of "do what thou whilt" was stretched to the limit last night when attending a London Vampyre Group booze-up. I write for this lot's magazine called Chronicles. A marketing bloke calling himself "Mark the Cat", not attending the LVG, joined our group and proceeded to try to shove his tounge down my throat. It seems the Ben Crouch Pub is a bit of a gay bar as well. I thanked the bloke, told him I was flattered and tried desperately not to laugh. The assembled throng of black scary looking vamp officianados (replete with fangs and contact lenses in some cases) just looked stunned. Just went you thought your life was surreal enough...along comes something and smacks you right in the kisser!
Dream Theater
Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Elektra
What the hell? Two CDs and one track that takes a whole CD! Are DT being a bunch of pretentious arses or arrogant musos, or both? Normally, this sort of self-gratification would be reviled by the critics and attractive to only the most dedicated of fans. But for this. This IS Dream Theater and they have the chops to pull it off...and pull it off well. Six Degrees takes a lot to get into and is not for the neophyte to prog rock or the band. In a bright move, the first CD is the more accessible
of the two, with 5 more normal tracks. The second CD is divided into 8 parts, listed separately on the CD so you can come back to where you left off in this 42 minute song. This whole album is definitely a grower and needs a few listens to get going even for the most dedicated and tolerant prog fan. It is a work of genius or pants? Well, it is certainly not the best thing DT has ever done, but since their last studio album ranks up there with Operation: Mindcrime & Dark Side of the Moon, it would be pretty hard not to be less than perfection. Saying that, I do hope that DT have fullfilled their need to produce an epic and will now return to writing music just a tad more accesible.
Jeff Austin Project
Go Big or Stay Home
(Now & Then/Frontiers)
One of the best bands you never heard of, this lot have produced an album that is a must for fans of Open Skyz. Open Skyz released one album before Hugo, their lead singer, went off and became a Steve Perry clone (a damn good one). I honestly kept wondering what album I had placed on my deck of tunes. This sucker starts with a brilliant and obscenely catchy 'Lisa.' This is the song that got them a record contract. This great music just keeps going until the album ends with a track written by none other than Barry Goudreau of Boston fame. “I'm a Fighter” was penned by Jimi Jamison of Survivor and Mandy Meyer of Asia fame. These two covers are not the most obvious of choices to say the least. Now & Then have discovered a gem with this lot, and if there is any justice in the world, they will be huge. Let's just hope that these boys can do a big tour very soon. A highly recommended collection of quality melodic rock.
Marty: 10
Two Fires
Ignition
(Now & Then/Frontiers)
Kevin Chalfant and Josh Ramos have teamed up to form band Two Fires; this is the band's second effort. As you can expect it is a melodic tour de force. Ignition despite its raucous name is a fairly mellow affair. Nowhere near as pleasurable as the two The Storm outings which featured
both men. A bit too ballad heavy, one finds oneself wishing for the band to kick out the jams at times. There is songwriting from Jim Peterik, with musicians from Foreigner (Jeff Jacobs) and Vicious Rumours/Steve Perry (Atma Anur). Despite my misgivings about the album, it is a pleasant listen, but just not one to put on while driving. There is competent impressive melodic AOR that puts a smile on your face and a flutter in your heart. I just wish they could occasionally rock out a bit more.
Whitesnake without Coverdale have finally come of age and produced an extremely good hard-blues rock album. The great thing about this 15 track affair is that you aren't left yearning for the ole' Cov. Since all the songs are new, there is no prejudice in the listening, Cov has never sung the stuff so you never miss his voice. In fact, CoS is Snakes in Paradise (John Stefan Berggren's previous band) with classic Whitesnake as a backing band. Really CoS needs two lead singers, Jorn for the Whitesnake stuff and John for the new tunes. On to the music. While there is a strong Whitesnake influence on the band, the album actually sounds more like Bad Company, Deep Purple and er, Thunder. Almost everything on here is catchy as stink. “Hurricane” is a great power ballad, while “She” is a Thunder-like rocker. Like any good album, Burst just gets better with each listen. I can't wait to see the band live in London next month. Company of Snakes have truely come out of Whitesnake's shadow and come into their own. Essential for any blues rock fan.
Blaze's second is a futuristic concept album about technological angst. Not exactly the most original of themes for a concept album, but there you go. This is by far Blaze's best post-Iron Maiden output. While Silicon Messiah was just a bit blah, Tenth Dimension shows some promise. The production is excellent. It even manages to give Blaze some kind of range! There are definite Iron Maiden influences here, and this album should go down well with the European power metal crowd. The best track on this CD is the last and also the longest. “Stranger to the Light” is a great power metal track with key changes, rifting, and varying vocal styles. On first play, it was this track that saved the album for me. The rest of it takes some investment to get into, but there is something there. At times a bit too nu-metally for my taste, the songs do tend to stick to the power metal format pretty well. Blaze seems to have found a formula that works for him, so his next release could be a real corker.
Reformed and better than they have been in a long time, Magnum have released a great album. After a prolonged absence when band members formed their own somewhat successful projects, Magnum have become whole again. Not just an excuse to do a reunion tour, this is a great hard rock album. Naturally a must for any Magnum fan, Breath could also attract an audience too young to remember them in their hey-day. Songs range from proggy outings to the ubiquitous power ballad. In other words, the band have stuck to what they do best. Catley's singing is top notch, as is Clarkin's guitar playing. Song writing is pretty good as well. A great return to form from a quintessentially British hard rock band.
Savatage played the Highbury (London) Garage last night, and put on a stunning, 120 minute show. The extended set was thanks to Vicious Rumours getting kick off the tour for being way too rock & roll and pissing off their hosts. It was a win/win really, although I would have liked to have seen VR. Blaze put in a competent if, pedestrian set, as he is wont to do. Why does this man persist in putting out decent albums and then putting on lame live shows? The sound mix for Blaze wasn't terrific either, making both the bass and Blaze's voice seem even flatter than usual. He belted out, as best he could, tracks from both of his albums, Silicon Messiah and the newie, Tenth Dimension. It was bit sad to the former Maiden singer drinking his pint alone at the end of the bar during the Savatage set. The lad is much better on record than in concert, nuff said. Savatage, on the other hand, put on an incredibly good show, as close to perfection as possible. The sound was tremendous, the band were on brilliant form and the crowd, clearly almost all there to see them, were entralled. Having such a long time to play, the band managed to play something for all periods of the career and threw in two short meddlies for good measure. Both new boys, Jack Frost (guitars) who replaced Al Pitrelli who sodded off to Megadeth and Damond Jiniya, the new vocalist with a 4.5 octave range, performed brilliantly. In fact, the band was so tight it would be hard to fit a penny between them. Despite the tiny stage at the Garage the band performed a great set. Best quote of the night was down to Chris Caffery guitarist who said: " I have been playing with this band for 14 years and still haven't got out of the fucking garage!" To cap the night off Savatage played two of their best tracks, the haunting "When the Crowds are Gone" and the ott spectacle of "Hall of the Mountain King" as encores. During both songs, there were times when both Jon Olivia (vocals/keys/piano) and Damond Jiniya, both powerful voices, were drowned out by the crowd. All in all the crowd, which included several well known musos, left well satisfied as they wandered home on a crisp February night.
Jorn (ex-Company of Snakes, Ark, Millenium) is fast becoming the Scandinavian Jeff Scott Soto. Alas, like Jeff, he has stretched himself a bit too thin. Like Soto's Love Parade, Jorn has released a solo album that is not up to the standard of his most recent releases, either solo or in bands. That is not to say that this album is a load of rubbish, far from it. It does seem a bit strained at times and there is nothing here that is outstanding, just decent. Jorn, only has himself to blame, he has set such a high standard with his output. The songs, with the exception of the title track and 'Bridges will Burn', do not have the same catchiness to them that can be found in the originals on Starfire. Jorn mimics Ronnie James Dio, Jeff Scott Soto and David Coverdale, sometimes in the same song. At nine tracks, the release is a tad short as well. The harder stuff on here just does not work well. One for the fan rather than the uninitiated. Even for the fan its a grower.
Marty : 6.5
Backyard Babies
Independent Days
(MVG)
As the name suggests, this is a compilation release of Backyard Babies stuff before they signed their major deal with RCA. The two CD set includes a Greatest Hits CD, which seems a bit presumptuous for this group, and a live and rare track compilation. To add to the pleasure CD 2 comes with 2 video tracks, “Look at You'” and “Highlights.” Considering you get 28 audio tracks and 2 videos, this is damn good value for money and shows the evolution of the band. There are guest appearances by Ginger and Michael Monroe. Tracks range from glam to punk and 80s Sunset Strip rock. One of the most amusing tracks is the mini ode to LA trash. Babylon, which features not only the Faster Pussycat named track but even a bit of “Fight for Your Right to Party” by the Beasties. “Independent Days” is a hell of a lot of fun. It is great to witness the progression of one of the best bands to come out of Sweden in a long time. Sad really to see a Swedish band doing glam-trash better than current LA purveryors such as Beautiful Creatures (who just got dropped) and the over-rated Buckcherry (who have just broken up/lost all but two of their members).
Marty: 8
Apocalyptica
Cult
(Mercury)
The heavy metal cellists are back with another great album. For the first time, Cult is made if all but 3 original tracks. The band have taken what they learned from covering metal classics and added their own touch. They cover Greig's “Hall of the Mountain King,” Metallica's “Until it Sleeps” and "Fight Fire with Fire'.” This nod to their roots, gives someone new to the band a quick band history lesson. It is unfortunate they chose to end the disc with a throwaway sung piece featuring Sandra Nasic of Guano Apes. One can only hope that is not a new direction for the band. The rest of the CD is a stunning collection of metal tinged classical played only on the cello. The music is dark, dense and menacing, everything you have come to expect from this lot. I cannot recommend this album enough, the perfect album with which to brood over your troubles. Let us hope that Max's recent departure will not affect the band too badly. A must have for any fan of goth, symphonic power metal or, of course, Wagner & Greig .
Marty: 10
Gilby Clarke
Swag
(Spitfire)
Well the good news is that Gilby has a new release. The bad news is he sings on it. The songs and the guitars are decent like, the Kiss-esque 'Diamond Jacks', though most tracks lack a hook. What ruins it for the listener is Gilby's rubbish voice. Listening to it is almost painful. Gilby is not a total waste of time. His Pawnshop Guitars album from '94 was a corker. Gilby needs to admit he can't sing and get someone decent in. He should ask his buddy Slash to recommend someone. In short, this is a pretty dire disc that I cannot recommend to anyone.
Pulse, a new band feauturing members of Bob Catley's touring band, Hard Rain and No Sweat, are said to be the great new hope for British melodic rock. Pulse are a competent bunch of guys who produce decent AOR, alas that is the problem. Not many of the twelve tracks have anything like that "hook" you look for a rock song. Most of the stuff on here pleasantly washes over you like a fresh breeze. There is, however, a great deal of promise on the self-titled debut. Both the opening and closing tracks ('Talk about Love' & the sparse acoustic track 'Without You') show some great potential. 'Inspiration' has that catchiness that is so lacking in many of the rest of the tracks here. Pulse needs to work on their songwriting, now that they have the muscianship down pat. Melodic fans everywhere will be waiting to see what they do with album number two.
Welcome to Darker than Dark®, the home of the darker side of all of us. Expect the the unexpected, a bit of fiction, the reviews and rants of Marty and anyone else we plan to add to this place. So take a trip to the place where dark sides come to play, a den for the ominous meanderings of the multitudes.
"When it comes to Cthulhu, I am all out to sea..."
MommaBear April 2002
