Shot is a perfectly good rock album but there is a chasm between that album and Down, IMO.


No way, Down isn't in the same league as what came before. It has a broader range, but is a bit muddled and occasionally dull. Total "great band makes a good album" territory. The highlights on Shot are ...

FWIW if we were including Dio's work with Rainbow and Sabbath then he'd get my vote over Priest.

When Dio ran as a functional band (the first 2 albums), they yielded triumphant results. When money pressures made Ronnie revert to the Ozzy business model, the albums suffered big time (though I do still like albums 4 and 6).

Priest had a lot of strong albums over multiple strong, influential eras ...

I like to have the bathroom to myself when I'm getting ready; I try to extend this courtesy to my wife and give her some uninterrupted space.

That said, in the rare occassion when unfortunate circumstances arise, is this really *that* big a deal? I mean, y'all are fucking, right?

My tolerance for tales of drug fueled self-destruction is a bit lower after reading Jack Grisham from TSOL's insane ass book recently.

That's a corrosive book. Closest thing I've read that comes to Hubert Selby Jr territory (a honour only previously bestowed on Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl ...

but I've always considered 3rd to be a self-indulgent, whinging slog.


Right after Cropper dies you spout this nonsense too. :)


I have been the target audience for 3rd at many points in my life and can tolerate maudlin to very intense degrees; but I just don't think many of the songs are ...

First 2 Big Star records are great. Very high quality.

Call me uncouth - unsophisticated, brutish, even - but I've always considered 3rd to be a self-indulgent, whinging slog. Didn't like it as a sensitive young man (though I pretended otherwise), but now I think it's a real dud.

Solo stuff is meh ...

The legend was that the main G.I.S.M. guy turned a makeshift flamethrower on a salaryman who looked at him funny on a train, leading to the main G.I.S.M. guy's subsequent arrest.

IMO the debut is basically a mess (though a very interesting, entertaining mess) and the 2nd album has a few too many ...

They hold the distinction for being the only band that were so bad live that I walked out early. Something about those droney, doomy, shoegazy bands of that mid-00s era (see also; Jesu, Pelican) never translating well in a live setting.

Most records are ok, Radiance of Shadows was a stronger one ...

I'd still NC 'em confidently (despite not being a fan), but You Fail Me is the tipping point where they start making 'proper music, yeah? I don't even listen to metal these days, yeah?" albums and I get little to no enjoyment out of them. The early, pre- Jane Doe stuff is kinda underrated though ...