Now there is this day, a lot of things are changing
Can't just kick it away, got to get things right
Sometimes it happens fast and nothin' seems to last
The thing that I once started isn't mine anymore
I guess now it's my turn
You've got a face like a child, got a mind like a woman
Your smile is warm and tender
I hear the people say that I should stay away
From you and all the problems you might bring
They'll never know--you
Nobody ever knows what to do
They'll never see you cry
They'll never know why
Now it's your turn to break free
When you want it all you've got to see
Now it's your turn to break free
Don't you know when you want the life,
you've got to see what it means
See the little boy holding mama's hand
His eyes can see the things we've long forgotten
The world is easy now--and somehow
He's right
Until there is this day when Mickey Mouse must go away
Now it's your turn to break free
When you want it all you've got to see
Now it's your turn to break free
Don't you know when you want the life,
you've got to see what it means
This world is crying to be free
This world is dying can't you see
We need a turn to do it right
We need a mind-revolution
To get away from this selfishness
Stop playing blind, break free
Now it's your turn to break free
When you want it all you've got to see
Now it's your turn to break free
Don't you know when you want the life,
you've got to see what it means
Nearly 20 years passed from the realese of this album, Kiske left Helloween but recently released a new album with some of his classic songs in acoustic version: Kiske - Your Turn, he surely still knows how to sing.
I stopped play World of Warcraft around April this year but i still use to talk with the core 5/6 elite players my guild had using Skype.
Our guild was heavily fucked up, we had those elite players, an handful of average players and a lot of bads.
Still we managed to clear ICC 10 pretty quickly (downing the Lich King about when the 5% buff activated), get our Frostwyrms and clear the 25 mode up to the Lich King.
We were all officers and we managed to set up a bunch of rules regarding loots and priorities for a a slot in raid meant to advantage us over the others because we felt they were not good enough (call us elitists or whatever, yeah we surely acted as sons of a bitch very often) and also had a private chat channel where rant about the uselessness of some players while saying "it's ok, don't worry it's not your fault" in guild or raid chat.
The fact is we could not start a recruitment because we were an italian-only guild in a server with a very low presence of italian players.
Then most of us just got "bored" i think, the guild master gave its charge to a player i would define everage and some officers did the same, we had no interest in the guild anymore and we slowly became just raiders leaving the guild in the hands of people that (we were sure) could do nothing but slowly kill it.
Then i quit. The only thing i know is with time raids became very few and a lot of people quit. They can not fill a 25 players raid anymore.
The other day the old guild master asked me if i would be able to replace the forum with a blank page containing only a message stating the disband of the guild.
"Yeah i think i can but, what happened?"
"Nothing yet, but a lot of players, including the actual GM and officers, are transfering to a new server soon and i am going to disband the guild when they do so. They will take the blame for the disband and we will move to another server too, bringing with us the good players remaining."
I didn't like the idea of a simple message, so i created an xbox achievement:
"[Censored guild name] disbanded."
He really liked it but i was not satisfied yet.
I remembered a wallpaper i downloaded a copule of days before, a wallpaper with that "shoop da woop" face i put in the achievement and a sick idea crossed my mind.
The blacked part of the image hides the guild's logo and of course the picture is supposed to be a lot bigger than this.
But that's not all, i also plan to add an audio file to the page, a file that will play every time someone loads the page, this:
I would love to see the people reactions to this.
*your guild has been disbanded.*
"Oh wtf happened?!? let me check the forum!"
I'm pretty much in a hurry, i have to go soon but i'll post a song anyway.
/me takes the iPod, puts shuffle on = Tankard - We still drink the old ways.
Back in the old land of beer In 1516 times Univirtuous brewers ruined the business Spoiling and polluting the beer with grubby things Duke of Bavaria Forced laws and guaranteed Needs of the people for healthy protection Oldest consumer rights today
We drink the old ways ! You're asking what, you're asking why We're into "pure stuff" ! Preservatives : we don't comply ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways !
Wise rules, pleasant tradition Make beer fans satisfied Services and handicraft Pure beer means quality It's a commitment, and it's essential Purity of barley, water, hops and yeast Nine hundred breweries are there in this country They care for standarts, masters of enzymes Just girls and wimps drink import-beer.
We drink the old ways ! You're asking what, you're asking why We're into "pure stuff" ! Preservatives : we don't comply ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways !
Your choice to pick a good mass Stay clean and drink with class
We drink the old ways ! You're asking what, you're asking why We're into "pure stuff" ! Preservatives : we don't comply ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways ! Don't comply ! We still drink the old ways !
Tonight i went to bed about at 4:30 am, it's 13:20 here, i woke up from about 1 hour and i still feel like sleeping.
Edit:
Oh and @Naj, who asked about Gunslinger Girl in the previous post: The anime has some action moments but the main focus is on the emotional side of the story. I found it pretty good, not a masterpiece but i'd say it is worth watching. Oh and of course i can't tell why the ending is sad, it would be a spoiler :<
Now i guess i'll just leave this here.
And a cool, cool rain comes down On a world burned by the sun And the moon arises like a child And the moment is undone And the stars never say what they see As the moon flirts with shadows it makes Through the fallen trees Some would wait for the morning light But I fall asleep 'til I'm safe In the arms of night
Let the darkness roll in Let it wipe the light away In the distance Always calling Morpheus He beckons play
Still the morning is pre-ordained But I believe light is the source of all of our pain It reveals our smallest sins But dark covers all and will always take you
Armed and gunning I've been running Always just before the day In the distance Day is dawning But I'm already miles away
In the night there's wonder Always there for you to see In the light of morning Visions fade And dreams can flee
With the darkness the night forgives Covers our scars and lets The lost souls live And the morning's a distant fear But if we move fast they'll never find us
Armed and gunning I've been running Through a world that's in decay Let them thunder stare and wonder Cause I'm already miles away
And the rain comes down
Thursday, September 23, 2010
So... the last episode od Gunslinger Girl made me sad, i'm in need to share something funny!
So the first patch for Starcraft II has finally arrived and i had big expectations for it. Blizzard said it would have been a "balance patch" but really, the only balance-related changes are these:
Balance Changes
PROTOSS
Zealot
Build time increased from 33 to 38.
Warp Gate cooldown increased from 23 to 28.
TERRAN
Battlecruiser
Ground damage decreased from 10 to 8.
Bunker
Build time increased from 30 to 35.
Reaper
Build time increased from 40 to 45.
Siege Tank
Siege mode damage changed from 50 to 35 (+15 armored).
Upgrade damage changed from +5 to +3 (+2 armored).
ZERG
Ultralisk
Ram ability removed. Ultralisk will now use normal attack against buildings.
Damage decreased from 15 (+25 armored) to 15 (+20 armored).
Maps
Desert Oasis
Destructible Rocks have been added to make natural expansions easier to protect.
Center Xel'Naga Tower area has been narrowed.
I was expecting a major revamp of the zergs but all we got is a little nerf to the Ultralisks which are very powerful indeed but also hardly ever used due to being too long to reasearch.
The only other change i 100% agree with is the siege tanks nerf.
So i am pretty much disappointed about this patch which seems nearly useless to me, the main issue in just one: When fighting against a Zerg opponent Protoss and Terrans can just mass units and go with a frontal attack to the Zerg's main base. As a zerg you can have an army of comparable dimension (population-wise) formed by Roaches and Hydralisks, flank them with Zerglings and ambush them with burrowed Banelings but you'll be defeated if you don't have an army at least the double of your enemy's one, and the double won't be enough if it is an MMM (Marauders, Marines and Medivacs) which can stimpack its way to your base killing your units before they can even attack.
One thing i find ridicolous is zergs don't have units that cost only 1 population aside from Zerglings. The zerg race is also referred to as "The Swarm" and they are supposed to...swarm, to have huge armyes, to always outnumber the enemy, to be focussed on quantity more than on quality but it is impossible now having expensive units all with 2+ population cost.
Well, i guess this ends my rant against this patch, i trust Blizzard will set things right with time but i just hope it won't get too much :<
So...at the moment i have no idea what to post about...
Games...meh, at the moment i am stuck playing StarCraft 2, i already talked about it and it's the only thing i play these days...
I think i'll just keep spamming music from youtube until i get a good idea for a "big" post. :P
So here you get Skygazer from an italian band called Klimt 1918
Lyrics:
'Til the colours dissolve a slight difference in the air I feel. Whatever wind says I am that's what I'm not. I don't cry over you.
My hands are so cold, my face is so pale. With more sky than words I live. Season has changed, each loss of my breath I gaze the blue.
I never see stars again, I have them on my knees. Heaven trickles down the drain. Still showing my teeth to the great vast vault, I want to sweat out fears.
I'll cover my shame with salt sky waves bathing all my limbs away. I want the (whole) world to know how I cried how my spirit flew.
'Til the blue sky involves a slight difference in this life I make. Not withstanding the untold, the universe is mine, in this basement I hold (out).
My hands are so cold my face is so pale. With more sky than words I live. Season has changed, each loss of my breath I gaze the blue.
I never see stars again, I have them on my knees. Heaven trickles down the drain. Still showing my teeth to the great vast vault, I want sweat out fears.
I'll cover my shame with salt sky waves bathing all my limbs away. I want the (whole) world to know how my spirit flew how my eyes and skies unite.
This week Devin Townsend will start the mixing phase of his two new albums Deconstruction and Ghost which will be realeased in March/April 2011.
I am fucking looking forward to these new albums, Devin Townsend in absolutely one of my favourite musicians.
For the people who doesn't know who Devin is, he is the sick mind behind one of the most crazy and extreme metal bands, Strapping Young Lad.
Strapping Young Lad released 5 albums ina time of 11 years (1995-2006) and in 2007 the band dissoluted.
The fact that Devin was addicted to various drugs during his time with S.Y.L. was well-known but he started to come off drugs and stopped making music for some time, Townsend found it "disconcerting" that he had difficulty writing music without drugs, and that he had trouble identifying his purpose as a musician.
Then suddenly he started to write songs again, about his own life and personal experience.
He wrote 60 songs in two years and noticed that they would fit four different styles and decided to start a new project: the Devin Townsend Project, composed of four albums.
Two of the four albums came out in 2009, Ki and Addicted, The other two would be Deconstruction and Ghost
that i will be able to listen for my birthday it seems (April) XD
So i'm leaving you two songs, from Ki and Addicted for you to listen. ;)
You know what Quake Live is?
Quake Live is Quake 3 Arena but free and played from the browser.
I didi play it quite a lot in the past and eventually became neraly a decent player then one day i stopped.
But i recorded a lot of matches and when i stopped playing i made a little video with some of my best frags, everytime i watch it i feel like going back to Quake but i know i now would totally suck after all this time. xD
The songs in the video are Hunger for Violence by Vektor and The Endless War by Overkill.
So, everyone is going crazy over Starcraft 2 in these days so i tought i could write a copule of line about it aswell.
First of all i did not play the first game of the Starcraft franchise so i'll not make comparisons between the two games but i'll analyse SC2 the more abjectively i can.
At the beginning i was a little worried about having only one faction in tha campaign, i feared it could have been too short and boring being always Terran but fortunately the game itself proved me wrong.
The campaign has a nice amount of missions (25 + a "secret" mission) and they never bore you thanks to a great variety, ranging from escorts to defence missions, from gathering to the classic "annihilate everyone on your path".
I played the game on "Brutal" difficulty setting from the first time and i found it really challenging and fun, you have to take seriously even the first missions.
One of the interesting things in SC2 is the ability to customize your army.
Right after the first 3-4 missions you unlock three means to upgrade your army: the laboratory, the armory and mercenary units.
Laboratory upgrades interface
The upgrades in the laboratory are unlocked using special "Reserch Points" awarded during the missions for completing secondary objectives, there are two kind of research points: Zerg and Protoss ones.
Everytime you collect 5 points of the same kind you have the chance to choose one of two upgrades so half of them will never be acquired.
Armory upgrades interface
The upgrades of the armory instead are bought with credits awarded for completing missions.
In the armory console you have a list of the units unlocked in the game and each unit has two upgrades, some may have a range increase while others brand new skills.
Mercenaries interface
The third and last way to customize your army are the mercanary units.
I really loved this feature and i made massive use of it, mercenary units are basically more powerful versions of some of your common units like marines or marauders but only a few units have this strengthened version. First of all you have to buy the contract with a mercenary team using credits wile not in a mission, then you can deploy them on the field with instant production but cooldown time and in limited amount (i.e. the war pigs - a team of 4 elite marines - can be summoned every 5 minutes for a max of 3 times).
Achievements deserve a mention.
I know there are people who absolutely dislike achievements in games, well i'm not one of those but kind of the opposite, you can call me an achievement-whore.
There are a lot of achievements for the campaign, well over 100 and trying to unlock them all gives the game a much longer lifespan, as in all games some achievements are cool and fun while others are totally lame and boring (i found pretty bad all the achievements that involved a timer, "finish mission X within 20 minutes" are the worst) but i had fun hunting them all.
I'll not talk too much about the multyplayer part because this post would get enormous, maybe i'll do it in another post one day, now i'll just talk about it very superficially.
There are 3 kinds of matches: League ones, Friendly and Cooperative.
League matches alter your ladder rating, giving you the chance to advance to a more prestigious league or to be demoted to a worse one (the leages are: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond) League matches can be from 1v1 to 4v4.
Friendly games can be very different depending on the map you choose.
Using a Blizzard's map will result in a match identical to a leage one but without changing your rating but using a user-created map can totally change the game making SC2 a GDR, a shooter, a tower defence game or even a card game. Some of these custom maps are made of pure win and genious and are really funny.
There isn't much to say about cooperative games, you just grab a friend (or a random player chosen by the server) and team up against computer opponents, it is much like league matches but "human vs A.I.
Well, i guess that's all, i leave you a cool cinematic of the game and wish you good luck for...just anything xD
I am about to write something I never imagined I'd ever write: After 25 years, I have decided to leave Dream Theater....the band I founded, led and truly loved for a quarter of a century. To many people this will come as a complete shock, and will also likely be misunderstood by some, but please believe me that it is not a hasty decision...it is something I have struggled with for the last year or so....
After having had such amazing experiences playing with Hail, Transatlantic and Avenged Sevenfold this past year, I have sadly come to the conclusion that I have recently had more fun and better personal relations with these other projects than I have for a while now in Dream Theater... Please don't misinterpret me, I love the DT guys dearly and have a long history, friendship and bond that runs incredibly deep with them...it's just that I think we are in serious need of a little break...
Dream Theater was always my baby...and I nurtured that baby every single day and waking moment of my life since 1985...24/7, 365...never taking time off from DT's never-ending responsibilites (even when the band was 'off' between cycles)...working overtime and way beyond the call of duty that most sane people ever would do for a band...
But I've come to the conclusion that the DT machine was starting to burn me out...and I really needed a break from the band in order to save my relationship with the other members and keep my DT spirit hungry and inspired.
"We have been on an endless write/record/tour cycle for almost 20 years now (of which I have overseen EVERY aspect without a break) and while a few months apart from each other here & there over the years has been much needed and helpful, I honestly hoped the band could simply agree with me to taking a bit of a 'hiatus' to recharge our batteries and 'save me from ourselves.'
Sadly, in discussing this with the guys, they determined they do not share my feelings and have decided to continue without me rather than take a breather...I even offered to do some occasional work throughout 2011 against my initial wishes, but it was not to be...
While it truly hurts for me to even think of a Dream Theater without Mike Portnoy (hell, my father named the band!!), I do not want to stand in their way...so I have decided to sacrifice myself and simply leave the band so as to not hold them back against their wishes....
Strangely enough, I just read an interview that I recently did that asked me about the future of DT and I talked about 'always following your heart and being true to yourself'...sadly I must say that at this particular moment, my heart is not with Dream Theater...and I would simply be 'going through the motions,' and would honestly NOT be true to myself if I stayed for the sake of obligation without taking the break I felt I needed.
I wish the guys the best and hope the music and legacy we created together is enjoyed by fans for decades to come...I am proud of every album we made, every song we wrote and every show we played....
"I'm sorry to all the disappointed DT fans around the world...I really tried to salvage the situation and make it work...I honestly just wanted a break (not a split)...but happiness cannot be forced, it needs to come from within....
You DT fans are the greatest fans in the world and as you all know, I have always busted my ass for you guys and I hope that you will stay with me on my future musical journey, wherever it may lead me....(and as you all know my work ethic, there will surely be no shortage of future MP projects!)
"Sadly... Your fearless ex-leader and drummer, MP"
Picture fucking related,
it's me reading this motherfucking shit.
Soooo...it seems like my first post will be about the progressive metal band called Ayreon, and it will be a massive post!
If you never heard about this band you'll probably ask "Why 'A metal saga'?". The answer is pretty simple: because Ayreon is a huge single concept, I mean that every album is like an episode of a great story narrated through music.
The man behind this great projest is a dutch musician called Arjen Anthony Lucassen who also created other projects such as Ambeon, Star One, Stream of Passion and Guilt Machine. In fact it's kind of wrong calling Ayreon a "band" because there are no stable members, the musicians and the singers involved in the project change from album to album and sometimes even from song to song, leaving Lucassen the only stable musician.
Alright! After this small presentation let's talk a little about the albums.
The Final Experiment -1995
This is the first album of the Ayreon project and probably the most underrated.
Lucassen had a pretty bad time searching for a label to release this album and the Ayreon project nearly before it's birth. "There is no market for this kind of music" is what most of the record executives answered him but eventually Arjen succeded realeseing the album.
The story narrated in this album in centered on the character from which the project takes its name, Ayreon.
The year is 2084 and scientists have developeda plan in order to save the world from its downfall. They manage to send signals back in time, which are received by a blind medieval minstrel, who has these visions from the future and takes on a mission to save mankind from its tragic fate.
The music style of this album ranges from Queen's rock to very atmospheric sounds, from ELP's progressive to folk music, all of this is melt in Lucassen's work.
This is absolutely one of the finest progressive debut albums ever.
Into The Electric Castle - 1998
Into The Electric Castle, second chapter of the Ayreon story is an absurdly beautiful album, probably the most beautiful in Ayreon's history.
The musical style is very similar to The Final Experiment but the whole experience is way more polished, mature, involving and epic. I don't really know how to describe this album so i suggest you to just listen to it!
The plot is very different and the story seems totally detached ffrom the one in the previous album.
Eight character are picked from different times of mankind's history and are put together in "a place beyond time and space", their goal is to reach the Electric Castle overcoming all the dangers of that mysterious place.
The eight characters are:
An Highlander (performed by Fish) who thinks to be in hell.
An Indian (performed by Sharon den Adel) who thinks to be on a spiritual journey.
A Knight (performed by Damian Wilson) who thinks to be in Avalon searching for the Holy Grail.
A Roman (performed by Edwin Balogh) who thinks to be in the afterlife.
A Barbarian (performed by Jey van Feggelen) who thinks to be in some cursed, evil palce.
A Hippie (performed bu Lucassen himself) who thinks to be in an allucination caused by the weed he smoked.
An Egiptian (performed by Anneke van Giersbergen) who thinks to be in the hall of Isis and Osiris.
A Futureman (performed by Edward Reekers) who carefully tries to examine the place they are in.
They are guided in their strange journey by a mysterious voice who refers to himself as "Forever fo the stars"
Even the story is so fucking beautiful and i don't even want to spoil it, this is just an album everyone should listen to at least once.
Universal Migrator - 2000
]
The Universal Migrator album is split in two distinct chapters called "The Dream Sequencer" and "Flight of the Migrator".
The first part has a progressive-atmospheric kind of sound while the other is more Heavy Metal oriented.
The Dream Sequencer has been defined by Lucassen himself as "a melodic and atmospheric journey throgh time", the metal sound you could hear in Into The Elecric Castle is put aside and a futuristic rock atmosphere with a lot of electronic takes its place.
As previously stated Flight of the Migrator is way more Metal-oriented with massive use of guitars, everpresent keyboards and killer drumming, there are also some guests from other famous metal bands such as Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden), Andi Derris (Helloween) and Fabio Leone (Rhapsody).
One of the main differences with the previous albums is the role singers have in the album, while in Into The Electric Castle and The Final Experiment each singer is "acting" as a specific character creating opera-like feeling, in this album each singer sings in one single song.
Here the story revolves around a man who is living on Mars, he is the first colonist on the red planet and also the last man alive. Using a machine called The Dream Sequencer he falls asleep and travels through time in his dreams, starting from his time he sees all human history, he sees the first man on Earth and beyond, he withnesses the birth of the whole universe.
The Human Equation - 2004
And here we are, this is absolutely my favourite Ayreon album.
Now the Ayreon project has gathered a lot of fans worldwide and Lucassen can dare inviting a lot of famous musicians and vocalists from other bands to participate in his project.
The plot is about a man who has a car accident and goes into a coma. During the coma he meets several characters in his head each one representing a sentiment, he must find the strength to wake up from the coma and some characters will try to help him wile others try to keep him trapped in the depths of his own mind.
Once again every singer has the role of a character in the story:
James Labrie (Dream Theater) has the role of "Me" who is the man in the coma.
Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth) is the awesome voice of "Fear".
Eric Clayton (Saviour Machine) is the voice of "Reason".
Heather Findlay (Mostly Autumn) is "Love".
Irene Jansen (Karma) is the voice of "Passion".
Magnus Ekwall (The Quill) is "Pride"
Devon Graves (Dead Soul Tribe/ ex-Psychotic Waltz) has the role of "Agony"
Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) is "Rage"
Marcela Bovio (Elfonìa) is "Wife", the wife of "Me" of course ;)
Lucassen has the role of "Best Friend".
Mike Baker (Shadow Gallery) is the voice of "Father".
This album is Progressive Metal, with a shitload of contaminations but still damn great Progressive Metal.
The 20 songs of the album are all beautiful, all the singers did an awesome job and the journey in the mind of "Me" among memories and nightmares is never boring.
Another album i'd really suggest to everyone.
"I am pain / i am real / i'm not a dream / i'm the chain / around your neck / as you scream"
01011001 - 2008
01011001 (which is the ASCII code for the letter "Y") is the final chapter of the Ayreon story.
This time the singers are the voices of some alien people that live in a world with no war nor suffering and achieved eternal life by scientific means, but this led them to lose their emotions, their lives are eternal but meaningless and they are looking for something that will give them back their emotions, something to suffer for, something to be happy for.
The story in this album connects all the other albums in a huge, epic story but i won't tell you why or how, if you're curious you'll have to listen to the album. ;)
Here the singers do not represent a specific character, they don't have a name but talk to eachother in every song. Just like in the previous album there are a lot of famous artist featuring in 01011001.
Tom S. Englund (Evergray)
Steve Lee (Gotthard)
Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation)
Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian)
Floor Jansen (After Forever)
Jonas Renkse (Katatonia)
Anneke van Girsbergen (The Gathering)
Jorn Lande (Masterplan)
Magali Luyten (Virus IV)
Bob Catley (Magnum)
There are also Simone Simons (Epica) and Phidelaux Xavier (Phidelaux) who appear in the song Connect The Dots, Arjen Lucassen and Liselotte Hegt in the song The Truth is Here. These singers are supposed to represent human characters and don't appear in other songs.
The sound of the album is somewhat similar to his predecessor but a little heavier and darker, there is also a lot of Katatonia-feeling in some songs due to the fact that Renkse wanted to write the music of his parts by himself. The album is very enjoyable and even if i prefer The Human Equation songs like Newborn Race, Beneath The Waves and The Sixth Extinction are absolutely masterpieces.
Conclusions
The genius known as Arjen Lucassen managed to create 5 masterpieces of progressive music the kind of which have never been seen before but that's not all, he also created a very entertaining and clever plot (that would make a fucking good movie too) connecting all of these chapters and making the whole work even more epic and involving.
TL;DR
OP is a faggot but if you are a progster you must listen to Ayreon, it will blow your mind. ;-)
I am Kevorkian, avid player and Metal-addicted.
As you may guess this blog will mostly be about these thwo things: Games and Music.
I'll try to suggest the best bands/albums out there and talk about videogames.
So, uhm, i'll start posting something as soon as i manage to figure out what to start with. ;)
If you are planning to follow my blog, then i bid you welcome, my friend!
