The Admiral

I've been looking at buying this, and potentailly on vinyl - which is £25.00 - BUT - I've seen a number of well written reviews which suggest that the production and mastering are very poor : another one of the 'Boom and Tizz' offerings, squarely aimed at MP3 and ear bud listeners. I don't have a million pound HiFi, but if, as is suggested, this sounds awful on even a reasonably good system, I'm disincilned to spend more than double the price of the deluxe CD for the triple vinyl. Anyone got it on vinyl? How does it sound?

I'm a fan, and I've yet to see this, but I've found the last couple of times I've seen them on TV its been a let down : they seem to be drifting into that 'heritage' act world, where the set list is in danger of staying the same for years, and you turn over after 3 songs. That said, you are damned if you do, and damned if you dont : no-one wants to hear the new stuff that much, and people have paid to hear the hits. But how many times can you hear Sandman and still be thrilled? I saw them a few years ago on a stadium tour - promoting Death Magnetic, and they were well up for it, and full of energy. All the recent gimmicky stuff like fans on stage I find off putting and its all beginning to look a bit too obviously rehearsed and choreographed (and a chore). I'd love to see them make an album with someone like Kevin Shirley, who has done great stuff for Iron Maiden : making them record backing tracks live, playing as a band, for example, as opposed to pro toolsing the arse out of every last snare hit. I get the impression he doesn't give a sh*t about reputations, and a bit less fawning in front of Hetfield and Ulrich might generate some friction, which in turn could lead to something great. Telling them straight that they are passed it, and inviting them to prove otherwise would be very interesting!

[quote name='lee4' timestamp='1441478512' post='2859169'] Thank you for clarify that! My sound is resolutely hetro,bearded and drinks pints of beer,not glasses of wine. [/quote] And in a proper glass - with dimples, and a handle, not one of those Yankee style overgrown straight sided milkshake glasses!

This is a genuine working bit of kit - specially built for a trade show. 2 x SVT heads wired together in one cabinet, and a fully functional 36 x 10 cab!

[quote name='jezzaboy' timestamp='1441449196' post='2858955'] Good program on the whole but the picture quality and the quality of the clips they show, leave a lot to be desired in this HD picture age. [/quote] Agreed. It's a bit pants in terms of quality, and it does have the look of something that is run from a room over a garage in Hull, but it's trying - which is more than can be said for other music tv providers. Does MTV actually have any music on it these days?

Don't know if anyone has found this up the dusty end on Sky : Channel 369, but a series of interviews by music journo Neil McCormick with various musos. Taped the episode with Mark King last night and it was pretty good - good conversation about his background and technique, with MK demonstrating on a remarkably bling Status. Also in the series : Suzi Quattro and Nile Rogers. http://www.locatetv.com/tv/neil-mccormicks-needle-time/8073060/episode-guide

[quote name='Highfox' timestamp='1441359196' post='2858189'] Adam Clayton [/quote] I'm amazed it took so long.....! :-)

Looks a great band! http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-09-04/pink-floyd-david-gilmour-names-touring-band-rattle-that-lock

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1441355789' post='2858146'] I saw Motorhead in 1981 at Port Vale's Heavy metal Holocaust festival (Motorhead, Ozzy Osbourne with Randy Rhodes, Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush, Triumph and Vardis - what a line up!!. I think I remember the Bomber lighting rig but that might be a false memory. I remeber Marino as I was massive fan but I have no recollection whatsoever of Triumph. [/quote] I was there too! Ears were ringing for days. Definitely had the bomber rig. Pictures here : http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/heavy-metal-holocaust.html Fascinating memoir from one of the local crew : http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/heavy-metal-holocaust-2.html

The tour has now been cancelled. Saxon stepped into to headline at short notice on the most recent gig. It would seem everything is on hold until Lemmy is significantly more well. http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-09-03/motorhead-cancel-live-shows-until-further-notice

Anyone who is an admirer of Lemmy's work, or even just his persona as indestructible rock and roll icon will be concerned about this. Another walk off three songs in. I hope he makes the right choice about whether to continue the tour, and while there is the obvious option of keeping going until he falls off the perch, I would imagine he will have a better future if he slows down a bit. Not in his nature though I suspect. I'm sure I'm not alone in hoping his health improves. http://classicrock.teamrock.com/news/2015-09-02/motorhead-lemmy-stop-show-texas-cant-do-it

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1440759833' post='2853560'] I'd be very wary of tools that are that cheap. 1000v VDE. You're trusting your life on a set of £2.99 screwdrivers. They may well be genuine and sourced properly but I'd want to have a good look at where they're made. There have been a spate of fires and people dying from fake iPhone charges from EBay - manufactured in China. [/quote] Completely agree, and I would only use them for work which was suitable for a standard screwdriver, and not rely at all on the insulation. I'm thinking more of handles off cabs and reluctant battery covers on pedals etc.

Picked up in Aldi for £2.99, which given the quality, is ridiculous. Clearly, they are not for pros, but certainly good enough to get you out of a hole, and let's face it, it's usually the bass player who does the boring stuff like think about what might go wrong, and having the kit to fix it. Includes a small 'tester' screwdriver too. Very handy.

I don't recollect ever finding myself often agreeing with Ian McNabb, but there has been some pretty vile stuff on Facebook tonight about the funeral of Cilla Black, and he posted what I thought was a good response. Shared here [b]NB - language is a bit fruity!![/b]!! : [i]"[color=#141823][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Some of the posts I've seen on here that are hateful in the extreme from Scousers about Cilla Black on the day of her funeral have been shocking. Who cares if she was a Tory? It's a personal choice. Most people vote for their money. You don't know how you'd feel about that until you have it. Most lottery winners f*** off to the warmer climes and never return. Would you stay on Scotty Road if you had a million quid? I doubt it. Shameful of you really to say such things when the woman is dead. Paul O' Grady, a man who I have met and respect greatly would not suffer a fool or a **** and he was her friend for twenty years. I hope you don't have such nasty things written about you when you die. Peace and love, I x"[/font][/color][/i]

[quote name='Bassjon' timestamp='1439463679' post='2843026'] Nice bass. Shame its wasted on Nate Mendel - a guy who plays 8th note roots whilst uncharismatically staring at the floor. Its not like he's got a hard job is it? Terrible bass player! [/quote] Which he freely and openly admits, and - to paraphrase McCartney, (or was it Lennon?), he's not even the best bass player in the Foo Fighters, as both Dave Grohl and Chris Shiflett are very handy. That said, he's good enough for what they do, and he's clearly a nice guy, who the rest of the band like to have around : points on which many better players would fall down, I have no doubt. He gets a great tone from his P bass with a pick and the Ashdown rig too. I'd take the gig in a heartbeat!

[quote name='Biglump' timestamp='1438803801' post='2837594'] So, if one happened to be in NY in September anyway, where would one go to scratch the GAS itch. Sadly I'm already booked for flying... [/quote] http://www.umanovguitars.com http://www.rudysmusic.com http://www.chelseaguitars.com/guitars/ http://ludlow-guitars.myshopify.com/collections/electric-guitars/Electric

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1438769613' post='2837013'] Never sign away any rights on a guess or supposition!That is a supid hing to do. Only sign a contract when you know [u]exactly[/u] what it all means. [/quote] Very wise words. +1

As part of their programme, Cunard book artists for their week long Transatlantic sailings, and in September they have C,S & N doing concerts and Q and A. The ship isn't full and they are offering balcony cabins at £899 per person. Now that's a lot of cash - but, that includes a flight to New York, where you pick up the ship at Brooklyn, and all your meals throughout the trip. Just got to pay for your drinks. Also, there is no baggage limit, so you can buy what you want and import it at Southampton. As long as you can get it home frm there, and pay any duty, you are ok. So, you could go out a few days early, stay in NY at your own expense for a couple of days, buy a cracking bass, and bring it back as cabin luggage - having it in your room all the way home, plus you get amazing food and the old hippies playing live. If I had the time and the money I'd be all over this! You can't fly to NY for £700 these days. Anybody retiring or having a big birthday around September??!! http://www.crosbystillsnash.com/csn-queen-mary-sept.html

[quote name='4-string-thing' timestamp='1438599008' post='2835632'] Actually Cheddatom, that thought had crossed my mind... I would probably be happy to fund a small, cheap kit and store it at my place for him. He is loaded though, and he has a much bigger house than me! [/quote] I managed to find a Yamaha DT kit off eBay for £80 recently, with Tama stands and a good Pearl pedal. No snare, but picked up a black Maple Mapex for £50, so a full kit for £130. The cymbals could be better, but it's certainly giggable and a drummer mate of mine pronounced it "a cracking little kit". Bought from a guy who plays drums himself, but this was his daughters kit - and she was upgrading. If it doesn't work out, you'd get your money back on something like that easily I would think, although our drumming members would know best. Dad3353 was a font of advice when I was looking, and gave me some great pointers. The amount of kits which have been bought as presents for kids by wealthier parents in the £499 and up bracket, which you see on eBay, amazed me. They just get bored, and mum wants it out of the way, so it goes on eBay for peanuts. Lots of bargains to be had if you are careful, and it's not all Chinese starter stuff.

[quote name='kodiakblair' timestamp='1438390732' post='2834252'] Or maybe the bands were just crap? Age ain't got much to do with it,there are a lot of us older folk enjoy going to Rebellion every year. Just don't pogo too much. [/quote] +1

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1438385642' post='2834234'] Maybe you're too old? When was the last time you went to a festival? [/quote] Thanks for that! I actually go to festivals every year, but not of the size of Latitude - not least because the time and money involved is a lot to lay out if you are uncertain of the worth. That was one of the reasons for looking into the Latitude line up - to establish whether I might be missing out on some great stuff, but I just found it massively uninspiring. I've got pretty broad taste - rap, americana, metal, blues, funk, soul, folk ....... So I'd like to think I could find something. I suspect there was plenty of great stuff going on, but it wasn't the televised bit, but rather the smaller stages.

[quote name='bassjim' timestamp='1438342672' post='2833706'] i agree with all that everyone says about set lists but here is some more problems that i find when wanting to go somewhere interesting. i play in a disco funk covers band and the set list consists of mostly the easy stuff to play because..... 1st problem is the singers range. some things sound f***ing awful when you change he key dramatically so snookered here but the main problem i have is... the rest of the band either idividually or collectivley just dont have the musicianship required. as most of the music is bass led the guitarist is the usually the first to come out with "that wont work cause..." followed by the keys player. IMO its because they find it as boring to play a "supportive " roll to me as I find it boring to be playing a "G" note for the next 5 mins whilst the guitarist goes off on yet another face pulling oddysey in a rock band. they are in it more for the cash than the music so its a case of accepting at least its regular gigging till the right people come along. In past bands with better players doing a mixture of everything we did something we liked every 4-5 tunes and it worked well on a regular crowd but i think playing covers has to be looked at like doing an adult nursery school sing a long..........if its too obscure or complicated they dont know whats going on and lose interest. bunch of muppets!!! (them ,not us ) [/quote] Interesting point about funk and the bass role. Nile Rodgers was on Sky a few months ago talking about the fact that he's never seen anyone play his Chic guitar parts correctly, as it's actually very hard to do, and most guitarists just thrash it out, whereas he's playing a lot of inversions, muting and picking out notes amongst the strumming. He is of course a jazzer by background and consequently knows his way around the neck properly, unlike a lot of guitarists with a rock background who have never gone beyond a pentatonic scale structure. I'll see if I can find the Youtube and come back and put it up.

[quote name='CamdenRob' timestamp='1438373802' post='2834137'] I was there and your assessment is bang on... It was crap... [/quote] Glad it wasn't just me then. The bands featured by Sky were : James Blake Alt J The Vaccines Catfish and the Bottlemen Wolf Alice Caribou Of the old stagers - The Boomtown Rats were shocking, and Geldof looked and sounded like a homeless person with a substance abuse problem, howling at the moon. Badly Drawn Boy did his one song, to mass apathy, and The Manics did what they do, which I've never found very engaging, but they did it well. The Prodigy were as bonkers as ever, but great energy, and Noel Gallagher and his band were very good. Its become known as Latte-tude and I wonder if that is perhaps part of the problem, its become too hipster and a bit too 'cool London' in it's line up. I just wanted someone to come out and deliver something with passion, rather than poncing about with various keyboards and drum pads, whilst looking earnest and hoping the punters could see how artistic and tortured they were.

I'd have to say, I cant think of a really good band with a poor drummer. And before anyone's jumps in with Ringo - he's a very good drummer IMHO and certainly contributed massively to the sound of The Beatles!

I have been thinking for some time that it would be good to catch up on some new bands, and given that Latitude was on download from Sky Arts, I thought I would see what I've been missing. The answer seems to be 'nothing'. I'm staggered at how insipid and uninspiring the bands were. Plenty of names I had heard about, and I certainly came at it with an open mind, but there was absolutely nothing that resonated with me at all, with Noel Gallagher being the only artist to fill the stage with any personality or musicality. I'm probably opening myself up to accusations of boring old fart-dom, but tell me what I'm missing and I'd be delighted to be enlightened as to what I've missed!