Austin7

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1329941018' post='1550179'] Let me have your address & I'll send you an as-new copy of their "Black Holes & Revelations" CD if you want it. I bought it because everyone was saying how great they were & I think it's f***ing terrible. [/quote] That's one of their weakest albums, too. For somebody listening to Muse for the first time, I'd recommend "Absolution." a far superior album to "Black Holes."

[quote name='Cairobill' timestamp='1329679526' post='1545832'] Yes, there were particular characters on talkbass mouthing off about the moral/legal intricacies of the situation that would easily qualify for the appellation 'cockmaster'. Quite amusing... [/quote] The topic was deleted before I could read it. I can only imagine what was being said. You can always find unsolicited BS lectures at TalkBass, though.

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1328977921' post='1535581'] Basically you plod along playing a walking bassline whilst a load of guitarists w*** on endlessly over the top of it, pausing occasionally to sing some bollocks about how tough their life is before playing another solo on their £5000 private stock PRS or similar. [/quote] LMAO

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1329647878' post='1545192'] I wasn't going to say anything but, yeah. I mean she might as well be a solo artist. [/quote] I agree. But it was never the same after Ben Moody left. Then when Will Boyd, Rocky Gray, and John LeCompt left, the band was decimated beyond repair, IMO.

[quote name='Immo' timestamp='1328441325' post='1526849'] I was regenerating my right arm those days; after they found me playing slot machines in Vegas while being two weeks before 21st birthday, they decided to punish me with making me similar to the slot machine itself - and so I became the [i]one-armed bandit[/i]. [/quote] All of this has a Richard Kimble/the Fugitive flair to it. Harrison Ford chasing the one-armed man who killed his wife. Very dramatic.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1329330562' post='1540830'] I'll take your word for it. In all honesty I am pretty much sick to death of them after one of my friends in school who used to be completely OBSESSED with them. I was just like, give it a rest already. [/quote] It was a waste of money. I have to say I am astonished that it could be so bad. I suppose going through so many band changes finally took its toll.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1329330269' post='1540820'] I wasn't so keen on the 2006 affair either to be honest. That's just my opinion though. [/quote] I see what you mean now about the debut album. I might also agree that it is the best. I know a lot of people didn't like "The Open Door," but I liked it better than I was expecting. My point, though, is the new album is pretty horrendous.

[quote name='EdwardHimself' timestamp='1329330080' post='1540815'] fixed [/quote] Are you serious? That latest album sucks beyond belief.

Getting a bass stolen is no fun; that's obvious. However, if I were a member of Evanescence, I'd be way more concerned that their latest album is a major disappointment and can't even begin to compare to the two which preceded it. I'd be way more worried about the band losing its mojo than a lost bass.

The best moment of the Grammys was when Nicki Minaj's performance from hell ended. If you don't know what I'm talking about, consider yourself lucky.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329245066' post='1539554'] This is the country where anyone can become President? Scary. However, young master discreet knows who Hitler is, because he was recently involved in a rap battle with Darth Vader. [/quote] The state of American education today is abysmal. Especially at the secondary level, discipline has broken down and teachers are little more than babysitters. To make matters worse, the morale of teachers is very low. Much of this has to do with conservatives at the state level trying to slice away pay and benefits for teachers. The poster boy for this sort of thing is Scott Walker, the moronic governor of Wisconsin. Unfortunately, there are many others just like him. The point of saying this, of course, is that when I see a video of young people not even knowing the most basic facts of history, I'm not surprised at all. Add to that, that there really is a "coolness" factor on the part of students themselves to not bother learning about the past.

[quote name='flyfisher' timestamp='1329245665' post='1539565'] Don't bring Herman's Hermits into it. [/quote] LOL!

[quote name='goingdownslow' timestamp='1329243761' post='1539525'] I'm in that minority too. Still have my battered 64 EB3, but like to use my Epiphone Elite (with original humbucker fitted for nostalgia) nowadays. The minority is growing. [/quote] I have a 1964 Gibson EB-O, but hope to add a Gibson EB-3 and Epi like yours some day.

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1329236824' post='1539338'] Agreed. It's the no-frills (no choice back then)EB-3 approach, like my all time favourite, Andy Fraser, though 'honky' instead of 'muddy'. [/quote] Yes, it's probably true "muddy" is used too much, often in a negative way, when it's debatable how accurate the term is anyway. Andy Fraser is a great example. I was also thinking of him when I was thinking of how to describe how I liked a bass to sound.

[quote name='leftyhook' timestamp='1329236156' post='1539323'] I believe his singing outweighs his bass playing, well his fretless work anyway . Love the man's voice. Thanks for the link. looking forward to it tonight with a Warwick in my hands [/quote] An argument could be made for that, although I've encountered people who also didn't like his voice. As is the case with many people, what I like best is what he did with Cream playing the EB-3. I'm in the minority in that I actually like the loud, growling, muddy 60s TONE of that, though.

[quote name='brensabre79' timestamp='1329234962' post='1539275'] Who is Jack Bruce [/quote] Very funny. Seriously, though, I bought my first "Bass Player" magazine around 2001 and Jack Bruce was on the cover. The magazine received several letters from younger bassists complaining that an unknown bassist was on the cover.

[quote name='thepurpleblob' timestamp='1329224778' post='1539029'] I'm not surprised that these kids don't know Paul McCartney. What ired me more was the "I live in the now" attitude shown a number of times. As if "modern" music just appeared out of nowhere. From nothing. With no history. Arses [/quote] For lack of a better term, this is what might best be called "presentism." There seems to be a deliberate attempt to ignore the past, to be willfully unaware of history itself. The idea is that if it's from the past, it couldn't possibly be important. The only thing relevant is what is happening NOW. No one from the past could possibly be relevant, important or cool. Certainly, in the most general sense it's a good idea to live in the present and not dwell too much on the past. But that's different from being completely ignorant of history itself. In the U.S. at least, part of this happened because there has been such a lax attitude toward the study of history in schools. However, I think the phenomenon of "presentism" must be everywhere. Certainly, the Internet itself must have played some role in this. If George Santayana was correct when he said "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," then we are in deep trouble. Even now, there are plenty of people out there who seem to have very little idea, for instance, what the Cold War was really about. Many other examples could be given.

I'm very impressed with Jack Bruce and always have been. His singing is as good as his bass playing, too.

[quote name='Russ' timestamp='1328893435' post='1534542'] Thank you. It works both ways - many people in Britain have no idea how the healthcare system in the US really works. If they did, there'd be a hell of a lot less moaning about the NHS and there would be full-on riots happening over Lansley's reforms (although, with the amount of people who are against it now, seriously, this could end up being Cambot's poll tax). Also, hardly anybody I've ever spoken to here in the US has any idea about how medical systems work elsewhere. The range of reactions I've seen from Americans when I tell them about how the NHS works (no bills, no insurance payments, no co-pays, all prescriptions cost the same, subsidised dentistry and optometry, etc) range from disbelief and suspicion to outright hostility. So many people have been brainwashed about the so-called evils of "socialised medicine" through the likes of Fox News, even many of the more left-leaning of the people I know. [/quote] Those who are interested in maintaining the status quo have tried very hard to keep Americans from understanding how the European health care system really works. "Brainwashed" is not too strong of a word. It's hard for me to understand how people can say this is the greatest health care system on earth when 50 million people have no health insurance at all. I think it's an abomination. Oh, wait, Fox News was just on. Those 50 million are lazy and unmotivated. They don't deserve a health care system. Never mind. This is the way it should be. I love Big Brother.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1328612740' post='1529863'] I'm guilty of this I'm afraid... only the other day I was talking to our sax player and one of the backing vocalists about amp and speaker impedance matching etc and finally realised I had mistaken them for people who give a f*ck! [/quote] LMAO

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr52zTBp3oo[/media] That's her most recent performance. I'm not a fan and won't likely become one. But if people are judging her solely on her "Saturday Night Live" performance, I'd say that's being a bit unfair.

Being quite a Jack Bruce fan, this is definitely of interest to me.

I'm more inclined to listen to Hendrix than Lana Del Rey. But I've had a chance to listen to her music some more the past few days. I think this is all a tempest in a teapot. She looked really nervous on her "Saturday Night Live" performance. That's obvious. But the backlash is all out of proportion. Lana Del Rey's recent performance on David Letterman a few days ago was much better. Her genre isn't what I normally listen to, but it's better than much of the pop music that's out there, IMO. When you take into consideration that there are people out there actually taking Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, and Justin Timberlake seriously, then Lana Del Rey doesn't seem so bad.

[quote name='Russ' timestamp='1327983595' post='1519881'] It sickens me to my stomach that people in the US have to resort to this sort of thing to pay medical bills. We might bitch about it a lot, but the UK is so lucky to have something like the NHS. What's more, nobody in the UK really understands quite how f**ked the American system is. As a Brit in the US, let me spell it out for you. In the US, even if you're pension age, like Chuck Rainey, you still have to have medical insurance. There is a government-administered scheme for OAPs called Medicare, but it doesn't cover much in the way of treatment, has very limited coverage for prescriptions (only the basic generic stuff that comes under what's called "Medicare Part D") and practically no coverage for what the Americans call "major medical" - ie, hospital visits and treatment for chronic conditions. What's more, if you've been ill before, there's a very good chance the insurance company will rack up your premiums to eyewatering levels, and, even then, there's the possibility that they'll deny your insurance claim, at which point you're responsible for the entire cost. Many, many people go bankrupt in the US from not being able to pay medical bills. The cost of insurance is also outrageous - in the UK, for those of us who are lucky enough to get private health insurance like BUPA as a job perk, it might cost you maybe £200 a month to cover your family. In the US, if you want to cover your family (say, two adults and two kids), you could be talking up to $2000 a month (or even more if you or any member of your family has a pre-existing condition). And then you still have to pay a "co-pay" to go to the doctor (anything from $25 to $100). If you get your insurance through your employer, it's not quite as expensive as the employer pays towards it, and the employer gets a discount for having multiple people on their policy. However, if you're self-employed (as most professional musicians are), you don't get to take advantage of these group discounts and you have to pay the full whack. Most people in the UK can't even begin to comprehend these sorts of numbers when it comes to healthcare - we're all used to just going to the doctor. I'd never seen a medical bill in my life until I moved to the US. I broke my ankle about a year ago, and, despite having health insurance, I couldn't get it fixed thanks to a loophole that meant that the insurance company didn't have to pay for the operation. So now I have a misaligned ankle joint that causes me a fair amount of discomfort. Andrew Lansley and David Cameron want a system like this for the UK. Be very, very afraid. [/quote] Your posts such as this one and the one that follows it are excellent. Anyone who wants to know what is really going on in the U.S. would do well to read carefully and consider what you've stated.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1328135326' post='1522618'] it's all over when Angelina Jolie finds out who stole her lips and takes them back. To be fair, Lana's hardly moving them when she 'sings', so there'll be very little wear and tear... [/quote] Actually, I kind of like her, but this is totally hilarious.