RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE

35 minutes ago, Cato said:

My 2 favourites of the 'Big 4' were Megadeth and Anthrax.

 

They were sort of opposites in the Megadeth were complex whereas Anthrax were more like a punch in the face, almost like a punk band but with an opera singer on lead vocals.

 

I only saw them live once, on that Maidwn tour and they were absolutely superb.

 

I think career wise they took a wong turn when Belladonna left and they went grunge on 'The Sound of White Noise' even though I actually really liked that album.

 

They alienated the metal fans and I'm not sure they picked up many new ones from the alternative/grunge scene because they already had a huge reputation as one of the 'Big Four' thrash bands.

 

I stopped listening to metal not long after that but while occaisionally I'd hear people talk about Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer I didn't hear much about Anthrax after that album.

Yeah, I think there was a punky and very energetic vibe with anthrax . Always good . I like all their stuff .. was lucky to see them play the Camden underworld with John bush . Great gig also. Slayer never disappoint imho ..what you see is what you get .

i alway found megadeth patchy , and mustaine unpredictable . Having said that, I think mustaine is/ was the one of best guitarist in thrash and one of the best in metal in general just behind Alex skolnick . His vocals can be ok , but so many times he spoils a really good song by sounding like dick dastardly 😂

1 minute ago, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Yep. That's the one. 

 

As for peak thrash, I see your early Anthrax in a good venue and raise you;

 

Clash of the Titans (1990)

 

It wasn't the big 4. More like 2 of 4 with excellent support.  All fielding their classic line-ups.

 

Slayer- Araya, King, Hanneman, Lombardo

 

Megadeth- Mustaine, Friedman, Menza, Ellerton

 

Testament- Billy, Peterstone, Skolnick, Christian, Clemente

 

Suicidal Tendencies- Muir, Trujillo, George, Clark, Herrera.

 

Best of the night? Controversially, Testament. But no-one sucked. Particularly Slayer. They were superb.

Mmm....😹. I wanted to go to that , but nobody else did . Not a happy bunny at the time . However in my defence ( and to make myself feel better ) , I went off megadeth after the imho dreadful peace sells gig at hammy o . Plus , I wasn't a fan of suicidal tendencies at the time .  Alway, always love slayer and saw them reign in blood / south of heaven and later tours . Testament great live band .

saw them supporting anthrax and ar Astoria . Great band . When megadeth had to drop out of the monsters of rock gig in cologne , testament were the replacements and were 2 nd best band of the day imho ( maiden healining 7th son ) . I saw suicidal at Wembley headlining and that was a good gig .

Just now, Lfalex v1.1 said:

Anthrax were better than Iron Maiden when I saw them play together.

 

That said,  Maiden had just lost Adrian and replaced him with Janick. They were touring "No Prayer for the Dying". Hardly their strongest album. 

Anthrax were mostly covering "Persistence of Time" with bits of "Among the Living" and "Euphoria" thrown in.

Line up? Belladonna, Benante, Bello, Ian and Spitz. That's as good as it gets. 

Yes ! The Wembley gig I was at . Anthrax looked slightly more serious and determined from their previous shows imho

I never thought we'd end up at the bar after 4 or 5 songs for maiden . In them days pre internet, news about internal problems at the  time were  not as instant as these days 

2 minutes ago, Bolo said:

One of the best gigs I've seen the past decade too!

Yes ! Metal at its finest . I was lucky to see anthrax at the Clarendon when they first played here on the spreading the disease tour .

This was their next London gig . Then they came back for the Amomg the living tour , was very lucky to see thrash at its peak 🙂

20 hours ago, Doctor J said:

Possibly the finest recording of a Metallica gig, from early December 86. Newsted was bang on.
 

 

That's very impressive , getting back on track so quickly after the various incidents on earlier parts of the tour . 
I was at the hammy o gig . Believe it or not , anthrax were the better band that night . 

..and another 

16 minutes ago, TimR said:

Only at the weekends. 

Or possibly a hoodie . Grey tracksuit ?

9 hours ago, TimR said:

What have I started...

 

I saw Metallica and Anthrax at Donington in 1987. The mosh was crazy. It was raining, clouds of steam were rising from the crowd and the smell of damp leather and p... filled the air. 

 

I think I may have a Panterra and a Dokken vinyl LP somewhere. 

I was there also. Great gig . 
As for pantera, I was a fan initially . It took me a while to get used to the drop tuning at the time. 
I saw them at the Kentish Town forum ( town and country ) . It was one of those rare gigs that wasn't really memorable .Not a bad gig as such . 

TBH, all I can remember was them playing Walk and Phil shouting f##ing hostile a few times . 

2 hours ago, TimR said:

 

They're playing Donnington in June. 

The beard twitchers would say in name only . No dimbag, and no vinnie . A lot of bad blood towards mr.. anselmo for sometime from the Abbott families apparently . But that's possibly for another thread 🤔

19 minutes ago, TimR said:

Most of these heavy music musicians are well past retirement age and spend more time on the golf course complaining about the kids driving the golf carts into the water hazards. A far cry from when they were driving their Rolls Royces into swimming pools. 

 

At some point it doesn't make sense to do the things we used to do as teenagers any more. But what do you do if that's all you have ever done?

True . Plus of course they have their  agents  and advisers who keep planning etc 

On 29/01/2024 at 11:34, Lfalex v1.1 said:

 

As requested! 

ZoomB3 doing Tremelo, Chorus and Reverb duties to good effect.

Great stuff! I have the Zoom as well 

13 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

I love some of the early Metallica stuff but Black onwards is all bad. On the odd occasion they wrote good music, they ruined it with dreadful production. I honestly don't understand why they're still huge when there's so many other bands making much better metal music. It's about time Mastadon or Baroness too their place as hard rock/metal giants

Must admit , I'm a little embarrassed 😬to admit that I carried on seeing them and buying their stuff right up to the present album .

Having said that , I did enjoy both of the Death magnetic gigs at London's o2 ( one of those was £5 ticket which my friend managed to get and give me . No stageshow .) The last time I saw them was at the 02 on the hard wired tour . In all honesty , it was a really good gig .

That's the last time though . 
Regarding their releases ( black album onwards ) , they just got really patchy . They always preferred gigs than recording new stuff.

Incredibly lazy really ,and it shows. I only played the latest release once ., hard wired a couple of times . Did like death magnetic mostly. 
They'll always be huge , as they're the led zep of metal imho. I don't think that there are any bands in metal that have the continuity that they have . Maybe anthrax , but even they are not releasing  as much as they should be . 
I miss slayer , but even their later albums were patchy. A shame about the way they had to stop. Then again I'm not over obsessed about metal anymore . I prefer watching live gigs on you tube of obituary , kreator , testament etc . 
Prefer the comfort of my home these days 🙂

2 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

Possibly a bit controversial but Jason Newstead was the best Metallica bassist.

Cliff was an amazing bassist possibly better than Jason but I think Jason suited Metallica better

Interesting take . 
Cliff had a dirtier sound , while Jason's is much more clearer .  It was a  great move to allow Jason to sing on a couple of songs also .

It is said that Cliff was more into skynyrd etc . The flares are a clue 🙂. 
They relied heavily on cliff , who was said to be more in charge of their direction . I think you're right , and that Jason  was the best Metallica bassist .  I did wonder if  Cliff would fit in with the makeup and ' friends haircuts'  around the Load era.  😂
 

Not keen on the look ( onky my opinion though 😋) , but it does seem like it might be similar to the moog guitar which never really took off . Wonder if there'll be a bass version 🤔

Nice one ! 
You should upload a picture of it . 
I have just has a look on you tube , and it looks great . Built in looper too ! 
The red looks cool also 

12 minutes ago, SteveXFR said:

Some kind of monster is just car crash viewing. It was commissioned by the band and I don't understand how they watched the finished product  and thought "yeah we come across well, let's release it"

I 'd say it was a ' bucket list ' moment . ( I hate that term ) .

They did the deep purple thing with the orchestra, then Monster , then ...lulu 🤐

Not that they care , but it's a shame the way they evolved imho .

A great enthusiastic bunch , and real underdogs back in the day . They got very lucky with their Bass players  of true talent .

As said above , it does seem true that they took way too many liberties with Jason and admitted doing so . 
It is said also, that they were going to kick lars out of the band  when cliff was still alive . 

That gig at download when Dave Lombardo and joey jordison showed how much better they could have been ..

I have the monster dvd , watched it a couple of times and it is heavy going , bordering on embarrassing imho.

couldn't stomach it now . 

They went from alcoholic a  to bud light . " The Metallica family " etc .  
Even though I'm bored of them now and despite anyone's opinions of Lars , they did write some killer material  at a young age .

As for James , I don't understand why he appears to be fragile even now . Has the drink still affected him ? 
Does he still shoot bears ?  

I had one of these , wish I kept it . Glwts 

My first couple of gigs were birthday gigs , so private but held in a pub .

The first walk on track we used was Testament Hypnosis ( instrumental ) from the new order album.

The second one was Traditional Greek wedding music which we found on some Carlin/ De Wolff CDs Advertising companies use.

Love the suggestions of others , but I've played various tv themes in band rehearsals which raised frowns or belly laughs .

The professionals , Steptoe and son , High chaparral , the big country were received well .

When I first got my Boss ME8-b , I managed to get a nice Roobarb and custard sound  which surprisingly had no les Dawson connotations. 
 

I'd say if you're gonna do it in the dog and duck etc , then maybe do it on the opening of set 2 . 
Magic Roundabout , or Roobarb and custard would be my tuppence worth ..

35 minutes ago, Bolo said:

We used this a few times. 

 

 

We're four big longhaired Dutchmen playing thrash metal ofcourse.

This is great ! 😹

It does seam that their are a lot more Americanisations taking over on this side of the pond . Neighbor , mom etc

I try not too get to angry tho. Looks like you payed a lot for that nice base though 😬

Could be wrong  but I'd say for the player ,when you get to a certain age ,  a " heavy " type of bass can get a bit much .

Imho , in your younger years you could handle most basses with ease  but joints / bones/ tendons deteriorate as we get older.

There are many designs now made with basswood for example , which is a lot lighter imho.

I have a Washburn status headless which looks light and lovely , but if someone else picks it up they'll also say " that's heavy " 

Its made of ash/ walnut . 
 

The best bass I have in terms of feel , is my Vester Custom fretless which is great . I haven't weighed it , but it's sooo heavy. 
It's a copy of a Warwick which I have . The Warwick is the lightest bass I own ..or is it the Jack Daniels bass? 🤔

I agree , and say if it's not a problem playing it then keep it . 

I used to get withdrawal symptoms if on holiday etc back in the day . 
These days now that my gear is home use only , I spend more time on my synths ( with the odd bass line here and there ).

Not every day , but am working on it .   
If I was spending time away for more than a couple of days , I'd be taking the iPad mini which has many musical apps 

Very handy ! 

Great stuff ! Love the old Fate and early king Diamond material . 
For some reason I lost interest over later part of their careers . Shame Michael Denner isn't with them . 
Their musicianship is some of the best in metal , despite the Marmite opinions of King Diamond . 
I can't / won't open Facebook link unfortunately , but will have to check her stuff out . She must be a hell of a player to fit n with them.

Timmy Grabber RIP 

3 hours ago, BigRedX said:

 

 

Joe Dart plays in a band called Vulfpeck whose most interesting album is "Sleepify"....

I was for a brief moment thinking of the tall guy with the checked blazers. That is Den Hegarty of ..the darts 😬