Daz39

Now that's a story!

My brain is over-sensitive just reading all this! I, and many players, would probably just want to listen to a couple of cabs through the same amp to hear the difference in volume and tone at the range of volumes you're likely to use. (boring answer!) I think the marketing and design is often the biggest factor in swaying preference on how 'good' a cab is: e.g. (3 random brands at 3 price ranges) - Vanderkley, Markbass, Bugera. - even though if you can bear it long enough, a detailed look at what specs are decipherable would probably leave them in that order of 'good' anyway.

At least she found more freedom in her work away from TH. It's an argument to be sure: whether the creative leadership (dictatorship) of one person in a band - e.g. Mr Byrne, is to the overall detriment of the 'supporting' players to the benefit of the band's output.

Yeah - The Patient is better than The Grudge any day! I tend to agree - it's why many bands take longer between albums as they reach their 40s and beyond: they have families, and hobbies, and money to indulge both. It's like GRR Martin and the ASOIAF books - he owes his readers nothing and will publish what he wants, when he wants. You can choose to be disappointed but there it is. I have only listened to the album once - it's far better than Dream Theater's latest release, that's for sure. Ah the Klon pedal - and all the many super-expensive boutique Tubescreamer and 'legendary RAT' versions out there - just get a Source Audio OFD and have them all there in one box

Wait for @Dood to do a review; half a dozen people to buy one and then 2 to come up in the for sale section...

Fishman fission; I knew i wasn’t totally senile!

Transatlantic was musically mixed: from quality prog noodling to wishy washy preachy nonsense.

Fission pedal by erm erm. That does a fifth and octave and distortion.

Relayer, everytime. It's 3 songs of perfection.

I have. I also have most of his other work which touches on this (if written after) but also on wider themes of humanity. Bereft is not even close to how Ghost Rider left me feeling.

I like Accelerate, some of UP is ok too. Monster was their peak for me, early albums excellent until the radio-friendly dross of Automatic and Out of TIme.

"I'll just visit this Ye Olde Sweetshop, Lego Emporium and Biscuit Outlet but won't leave my wallet at home..."

Just read the Beeb story - what a genuinely useful and inspired idea for an app. Good to see the emergency services all over it too - there are so many places that aren't thousands of acres of wilderness that are difficult to explain a location for - you could be 400yds from safety and not know how to give directions.

I think it's more likely that TE's measurement of watts is actually more accurate than other manufacturers, some of whom have been caught being creative. So a 250W TE head is as loud as one by someone else that claims to be 300W or even more. My AH250 was so heavy I used it to hold the shower tray down when I resealed it. It was so loud it only went past 1 in the house once, I got to about 4 before my Wife understood what 'window-rattling' meant.

Have you ribbed him about it being all well and good having a #1 and worldwide acclaim,. but it's not *real* music, not like in your day....

Awesome stuff!

No - CoT is brilliant! Although you have to turn the volume up to INSANE to hear the talky bits on The Necromancer. My current least favourite would be Fly By Night - mishmash of blues rock and prog with a lot of screeching. Guitar work is good though. Hang on, it's not that bad I guess...

My favourite album changes depending on mood and listens. I think all of them have been my favourite at one point or another. I am enjoying the various re-releases and expanded 40th anniversary discs on Spotify, although most of their Live 70s stuff is broadly the same clangy drums in a box and Geddy shrieking, with Alex playing Guitar Hero. I agree that the last 3 albums have been very dense (loudness wars, yuck), and that Geddy's playing, while still brilliant, got quite chuggy and over-indulgent with the flamenco-flapping on Vapor Trails. I do think your personal favourite partly depends on what came out when you discovered them, or perhaps what you listened to first. In my case the first New album was Test for Echo, and I must have listened to it a thousand times at Uni while struggling with depression. The first album I bought was Exit.. Stage Left and it's the reason I bought a bass (I was a guitarist at the time. I'm sorry, we all have to start somewhere). The first album I listened to was Hold Your Fire - a writer friend of mine was a big fan and said 'You like Prog. Listen to this...' 'Chords, on a Bass! Bass I can hear properly!' It was an epiphany, and I still get goosebumps listening to Force Ten and Time Stand Still when played loud. I have various musical and lyrical reasons for loving every album. I agree that the odd song got too indulgent: Tai Shan, or Resist, anyone? but I admire Neil's approach to writing (I have most of his books too), and the fact that they are truly progressive. Every album is different enough to the last that most bands would not have written them within 10 years of each other. Edit for post I saw later: I've seen them twice: Snakes and Arrows, which was really good, and R30, which was mind-blowingly good. Until you've watched Neil's drum solo on his 2 1/2 kits projected on the giant screen above stage, and loud across the arena, I don't think you can appreciate his mastery, over regular car or home speakers (audiophiles with fancy systems notwithstanding)

Gah - the knobs are not equidistant. *twitch*

*next door reports missing flowers* Although - if Andyjr purchased a nice bunch of flowers, by the time he got them home he'd have repurposed some twigs into a tree sculpture featuring volute to display the flowers on - and hand trimmed the petals into swifts. You've done this before for your lovely Wife, right?

A Paul Gilbert masterclass would be a blast: he's charismatic and funny, he's not a bad noodler with those enormous fingers either! *swoon* Above: that's a great offer by @chownybass btw - hope someone can take him up on it.

oh gosh yes. 'Do you need a stepladder to play it?' These are the people that think a Bass is the bottom 4 strings of a guitar and you use it for doubling the main riff and 3TSB is as radical as you're allowed to get. Ok dudes. Have you seen the video clips of either elegantly coiffed European dude playing Bach or Paganini on guitar, or a woman playing (well, anything?) ''No feeling man.' 'Too many notes.' 'She's only got attention because she's pretty. etc.' *shameful*

On the one hand - why does it take Tool so long to write their albums!! On the other hand - if they put out one album every 3 years say (let's be kind) - would the quality be as good? JC makes some very lovely noise, I do like the hypnotic weave of Lateralus - and as someone posted further up, Danny Carey is an amazing drummer. I agree that, like most bands I really like, there are some songs that are meh, or noise (literally noise!), but there are plenty of Wow tracks. I tend to have playlists of my favourite bands on Spotify anyway: my Rush list is 100 songs, Iron Maiden about 70... so now I can halve the Tool albums and make a decent playlist.

This escalated quickly! I think TB is very helpful if you know what you're looking for and can avoid getting into long conversations about the best way to sell a bass or the relative merits of craigslist or the more exacting threads where the precise angle of a decal screams Fake because only you know how to spot one etc. Obvs there is a large quota of privileged young men who happen to play bass, and an even smaller subset of incels who are just there to cause trouble but also like a good P Bass. If you can hop through several dozen threads without reading: 'Jaco only needed 4!' or 'there's no money above the 5th fret!' unironically - then you aren't actually on TB and it's all a fever dream.