highvoltage

Track record on policy means fuck all in this country. Personality and public perception win presidential elections.

I'm in a very liberal part of Colorado (Denver area) and the voters here I talk to seem to have a hard time giving the Biden administration credit for literally anything that they have done. 
The perception (as inaccurate as it may be) is that the economy was better under Trump. They don't seem to want to acknowledge gains in the labor or stock markets. They don't acknowledge how much got done before the Dems lost the house. 
The hightened cost of living seems to support the view that Biden has mishandled things overall. Gas and grocery prices are what's in people's faces every single day. 

Trump has the bigger cult of personality and authoritarian charisma is still charisma at the end of the day. If I were putting money on it, it would be that he wins it. 

6 hours ago, username said:

If I'd really have to list all the people that I've met here over the past 20 years that have gone AWOL, the list would be very long and I'd still forget quite a few. I'm still in touch with a few who've stopped posting years ago though. We should all do a reunion some day. 

I was surprised to see your thread in D&N yesterday. How you doing dude?

1 hour ago, downzy said:

The story and the missions are the best part of the game.  Causing mayhem was never really my thing.  

I'll say $99 USD for the base game.  It wasn't too long ago most new AAA games were selling for $60-$70 at launch.  More than double seems a bit out of reach. 

Also consider that the more people who own the game the more money they'll likely make from GTA Online sales.  I think it's in their long term interest to grow the user base as much as possible to get more people buying stuff online.  

The story is good but I found the mission quality pretty variable to the point of misery.

I don't want to drive to point X to get a mission to go to point Y and pick up person A to then go to point Z to get the story. Just have me pick the dude up and send me on my way. 

I would also add (and admit that very few narrative-heavy games pull this off), there is only one way to play each mission. For a game that is so open, I hope they figure out how to take advantage of that in the next one, and actually offer a player some choice as to how they go about each heist, mission, etc. 

1 hour ago, downzy said:

That's pretty common amongst owners/admins/mods.  Once you've had the job long enough, you don't want anything to do with the place once you're done.  I can't think of a former mod/admin who still posts regularly.  

Uhhhhh.... you can't think of a single one? 

Any time I play GTA, all I ever seem to do is drive around aimlessly and pick up stars.

I'll play it if they ever port it to PC, but also I know I will never bother to finish it. The style of mission in these games just aren't that entertaining for me.

Nonetheless quite disappointing to not release on PC in this day and age when consoles are shrunken PCs with Zen2 processors. 

Any price predictions? I'm going with $150+ for the base game.

Pretty excited to spin this. It's a 12 LP box I ordered a year ago. KGLW's 3 x 3 hour Red Rocks shows from 2022. 

1 hour ago, Mansin Humanity said:

wow man i remember a long time ago (prob almost 10 years?) i gave you recommendations for your first time going over there - that's awesome you made the move. how you liking it so far? made it to red rocks?

Wow your memory is great. It was almost exactly 10 years ago that I came over the first time. 

Yeah I love it here! We picked a good spot just slightly west of Denver. I'm less than 10 mins away from RR so I'm there somewhat frequently. Plenty of gigs but also it's a fun / easy spot to walk our dog.

1 hour ago, ZoSoRose said:

Pretty wild that once he stepped down, @UK SUBS was basically never heard from again

He always had an alt and I wouldn't be surprised if he still drops in from time to time. He had a lot going on but man I do not look back on those times fondly at all.

I miss @Forsaken, I was still in occasional contact with him until a few years ago. We both ended up Gizzheads!

27 minutes ago, Rovim said:

tell me why I had to be a power slave

I just wanna buy, pay me more
Why can't I live laaaaarge?

In a new interview with Brazil's 92.5 Kiss FM radio station, Bruce Dickinson reflected on IRON MAIDEN's appearance at the Power Trip festival in Indio, California this past October. Dickinson and his bandmates kicked off the event on October 6 by playing the same 15-song set they had been performing throughout their "The Future Past Tour", featuring previously unperformed songs from the band's most recent studio album, "Senjutsu", along with a focus on 1986's "Somewhere In Time" LP, plus other classic cuts.

Bruce said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Power Trip was a slightly strange experience for us. And we did a good show, and actually at Power Trip, we did a MAIDEN show. We didn't do the, 'Oh, 'cause it's Power Trip, we have to suddenly do greatest hits.' No — we did the MAIDEN show with all the stuff we're doing on the 'Somewhere Back In Time' tour; 'Death Of The Celts', everything else like that. And it was a little bit strange because people had been standing out in the heat all day. There was no support band. Completely cold, go on stage. Well, cold as in no warm-up. But, no, I think we sounded pretty good. But it was an unusual situation.'

He continued: "I think what was a little bit strange for us was that the people who should be down the front of the stage, because the tickets for the festival were so expensive, they were at the back, and the people who were at the front were just like rich people that wanted to film everything on their phone. But the kids who you wanted to play to were at the back. And that sucks, actually. It wasn't our festival; it wasn't our organization. We're going into America next year and we're doing our own tour. And the people who are down the front are gonna be the people who deserve to be down the front. They're gonna be the real fans, which is gonna be great."

Asked if that's why he mentioned Brazilian audiences and other South American fans from the stage at Power Trip, Dickinson said: "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's, like, yeah. Go take a look at some real rock and roll fans — not a bunch of posers who wanna go down the front. 'I paid 3,000 dollars for my ticket. Look at me.' Fuck off."

GUNS N' ROSES was the closing band at the three-day Power Trip on October 6. AC/DC and JUDAS PRIEST played on October 7; TOOL and METALLICA closed the event on October 8.

As previously reported, IRON MAIDEN will return to the United States and Canada with "The Future Past Tour" next year. Tickets can be purchased now at IronMaiden.com.

"The Future Past Tour" played to over 750,000 fans at more than 30 sold-out shows across Europe in the summer of 2023. The band also performed in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver alongside their highly praised appearance at Power Trip which had Consequence stating: "IRON MAIDEN set the bar high at Power Trip" and The Desert Sun saying "IRON MAIDEN didn't disappoint and delivered a hard-hitting performance to open the festival on a high note." Featuring one of the most spectacular stage productions of the band's career, it has received rave reviews in every city and country that IRON MAIDEN visited.

"Senjutsu" came out in September 2021. It marked MAIDEN's second consecutive double album behind 2015's "The Book Of Souls" which is the longest MAIDEN album, with a running time of 92 minutes.

IRON MAIDEN's first album in six years, "Senjutsu" was recorded in 2019 in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. It features three tracks whose running time exceeds 10 minutes each.

For "Senjutsu" — loosely translated as "tactics and strategy" — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.

"Senjutsu" bowed at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart, charting higher than even the band's early classics like "Powerslave" and "The Number Of The Beast". Nearly 90 percent of the LP's 64,000 equivalent album units earned came from pure album sales. The critically acclaimed double album debuted one place higher than 2015's "The Book Of Souls" and 2010's "The Final Frontier", which both peaked at No. 4.

"Senjutsu" was MAIDEN's 13th album to top in the Top 40 in the U.S.

https://blabbermouth.net/news/iron-maidens-bruce-dickinson-on-power-trip-festival-people-who-were-at-the-front-were-rich-people-that-wanted-to-film-everything-on-their-phone

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I completely agree. But hey, you still took the payday, didn't you Bruce? 

The way they laid out the seats/pit was the most egregious, classist bullshit I have ever seen pulled at a rock concert. Just look at all the empty space and seating up the front. 

Pretty sad to see Kiko exit. I really liked the phrasing and personality he added to Marty's stuff particularly. 

Teemu seems an absolute monster player. Very faithful to the source material, he's obviously done his homework. I just don't hear a lot of his own personality coming through like I did with Kiko.

3 hours ago, Stay.Of.Execution said:

I think You're underestimating how crazy Brazilian fans are. 

They had far bigger things to worry about with this show.

If a lie is more entertaining than the truth, people will go with the lie

Don't get me wrong, I'm not on some anti-BBF crusade (I love the dude, his music, most of what he did in GN'R).

I'm sure he got a lot of nasty messages after the solo, and I'm sure some people wished death upon him. All I'm saying is hundreds of death threats (really, even one) is probably bullshit or some heavy exaggeration. 

Well. It's on brand, isn't it?

Zero. He gave everything he had in 2016 and permanently destroyed what was left of his voice trying to sing the songs like they were recorded. I don't believe he could do it again even if he wanted to.

I don't know how I feel about it. 

I would go, but after seeing the Power Trip footage, I'm not sure a tour is the best idea, or even a good idea at all.

They just don't sound good - both Brian and Angus barely holding it together, Stevie isn't suddenly going to become Malcolm, Cliff already wanted to go out and we don't know if Phil would be part of it or not. 

P.S. - Donnington is great, but honestly folks... Largo is where it's at:

https://youtu.be/ZsWoxDvSJJ8?si=MfcAFkAgMQTZ_stz

Yuck. What a grub. And a pretty lame response (canned or otherwise) to boot.

Unsubscribe.

Perhaps really had me scratching my head with Axl's vocal choices. The whole thing sounded so "cut and paste" to me. First impressions of these two are much better. 

Monsters easily the catchier of the two. Somehow gives me both a hip-hop and old school rock vibe? Sounds pretty fresh nonetheless.
Awesome breakdown in the bridge, fairly safe work from Slash (as usual). I think Axl kills it - really dynamic lead and his layering / backing vocals I thought were really enjoyable to listen to. No weird "hay haaaaayy" bullshit which drove me nuts with Perhaps. 

The General is probably not what many of us expected. It's not what I expected. I like it, but I also see why it was relegated to a B-side. It's an interesting song; does sound weirdly dated. Don't know that it would make it into a regular rotation, but I'll definitely come back to Monsters.

tl;dr/10
Monsters - somewhere between a 7 and an 8
The General - it's a 5.5 from me dawg

_{*Perhaps: 3.5, Hard Stool: 6.5, AbsuRd: 0}

I watched as much of the AC/DC set as I could bear. Loved seeing how much fun Brian was having. Did not love the sounds coming out of his mouth.

It would be better if he didn't try to hit the top of every single note - adjust the melodies a bit to fit your age and save what's left for the big ones. He could absolutely carry a tour but not a chance if he attempts to sing the songs the way he always has. 

Angry is such a banger. Instantly classic Stones. So happy the Stones are back!

On 9/22/2023 at 5:14 PM, Zint said:

Angry defo best track since Start Me Up.

Fancy seeing you here! Agreed.

2 hours ago, ZoSoRose said:

I thought the name was dumb but I just listened and these guys are awesome. 

The name is dumb. But they go hard so it makes sense.

I want to make an Idles thread too but I'll hijack this one instead.

https://youtu.be/dEe4i2osF5A?si=jZnWMC5k70zHaiUj

Anyone else? These guys fuck pretty hard.

https://youtu.be/iW4Gdsnr2Bg?si=mlvdt3r6mz-QWLh8