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Intro

Well, a few days ago I realised it was my 3rd anniversary. Unfortunately, it was my 3rd birthday back on the 9th October. So, in true Martinesque fashion this journal is well over a month late. So I apologise for this very late journal, hopefully the content is worth the wait.

My 3rd Year

It’s been a bit of a funny old year really. I am sure I haven’t bought as many albums as I had this time last year. Were as last year, I was largely filling in the gaps of my music collection, this year almost all of my purchases have been new artists (except from a few new releases from bands already on my ipod). This seems to have largely been based around my attendance to a few gigs and trying to get as much of the bands back catalogue as possible both before and after the gigs. As well as new artists been added to my charts, there has been some movement in amongst my charts for the more established artists. From about 6 downwards, there has been movement. The top 5 still remains, but below there has been major movement which is an encouraging sign. The top 5 looks like it could finally get broken in the near future too. I feel this is last year’s purchases taking effect which have established some artists into higher positions.

The Gigs

Well since October last year, I have been to some cracking gigs. My first of that period was Priest Feast back in February of this year, were I saw Judas Priest, Megadeth and Testament. Now I had seen Megadeth before and was quite familiar with they’re material (see my charts ;-)) but I hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing Judas Priest or Testament or hearing they’re material. I checked both bands material and frankly both of them were very good. Testament were my favourite of the two though, but I must say that Judas Priest were the best of the bunch live. I have bought almost of each bands material now, which just demonstrates how gigs are a great way of finding great music.

My next gig was in April, with The Prodigy supported by Dizzee Rascal playing at Sheffield. I knew all of The Prodigy material however wasn’t expecting much of Dizzee Rascal and wasn’t intending to check out his material. But despite my low expectations for the bloke, he was brilliant. He had so much energy and he pulled off the beats brilliantly. In fact the whole venue was rocking, including myself! Despite Dizzee Rascal been somewhat of a positive surprise, The Prodigy would truly blow me away. They were absolutely phenomenal and remain the best act I have ever seen. They were so intense and I think I must have lost about a pint in sweat! I came out absolutely fucked and was still fucked in the morning.

The next gig was Progressive Nation in October. This was a good gig, but it wasn’t as good as it could have been. Despite me boning up on some Opeth, the majority of their set was from other albums. The same problem happened with Dream Theater, though this time it was even worse as I actually owned quite a few of their albums, yet they still barely played any material from them! Very disappointing, but just bad luck I suppose.

As a result of these gigs, I have checked out some quality bands who will make an impact on my charts within the next year or two. I am going to see Rammstein next year too, so I am checking out they’re material as we speak :-)

Hip-Hop: A Youtube Phenomenon?

One of the more bizarre events of this last year on Last FM was my “discovery” of Hip Hop via You Tube. Don’t ask me why, but one day I decided I would check out some Hip Hop/Rap on You Tube. I was at work and was a little bored. I decided rather than spend my time browsing the internet; I would design a signature for another site I post on. I started having a go, but couldn’t concentrate. I needed some music, but unfortunately my ITunes library at work was out of action. So I turned to You Tube and sat they’re thinking what I could listen to. I didn’t want to listen to rock/metal, I wanted something different or maybe something I hadn’t heard before. In the end, I thought of what was the opposite of metal. In a split second I thought Rap and decided to check some out. I instantly thought of Wu Tang Clan because I had heard Gravel Pit a few times and kinda liked it. That was the beginning of the end and I started checking out other Wu Tang Clan stuff. In a strange way, it helped me concentrate; I could appreciate the intelligent word play as well as the subtle beats in the background. Amongst my favourites of Wu Tang Clan were Protect Ya Neck, Da Mystery of Chessboxin' and Triumph. I then checked out some N.W.A, BodyCount and some Skee-Lo. So, for a genre I once hated, I discovered stuff I liked within a week. I haven’t bought any Hip Hop stuff, but it’s certainly a genre I would want to check out in future. So, watch this space guys!

Stats

As with the last “Last FM Birthday” journal I will analyse my top 10 and what’s happened well since last October/November within my top 10.

1. Megadeth

Overall Plays – 4,312
Plays Since Last Birthday – 1,193
Summary – Still top by a comfortable margin and frankly not much has changed. A new album gave these guys a boost but I think by and large these guys are living off the sheer amount of material I have of theirs already. They’re large discography allows them to have a heavy presence in the shuffles I play, so it’s certainly going to be a long time before these guys from the top spot. Not saying they are not a great band, but I have been listening to them a while and I am not as much of a fan boy as I used to be.

2. Iron Maiden

Overall Plays – 3,658
Plays Since Last Birthday – 1,078
Summary – Much the same as the Megadeth situation really. No new material for a while now and I say they are less likely to release new material than Megadeth are. Iron Maiden are, unsurprisingly, another non mover.


3. Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Overall Plays – 2,981
Plays Since Last Birthday – 862
Summary – Yet another band who have “stagnated” really. A new album is supposedly on its way. But I can’t see it making enough impact to move the RHCP’s into the top two. The only way is down really, especially as I have been listening to them even longer than I have Iron Maiden or Megadeth.

4. Led Zeppelin

Overall Plays – 2,445
Plays Since Last Birthday – 779
Summary – A band that I hold in higher esteem than RHCP’s but not Iron Maiden or Megadeth. I have by and large got they’re material except the odd live album and session album which I would be interested in. Unfortunately that’s not going to happen, because frankly I want to concentrate on either new bands or artists near the bottom of my charts who have little material. Another band I expect to go downhill in my charts, despite the new material I feel this will be of minimal impact.

5. Thin Lizzy

Overall Plays – 1,984
Plays Since Last Birthday – 586
Summary – Man o man, I cannot remember the last time I bought an album by these guys. A cracking rock band too. Despite been one of the more established artists in my charts, I still have plenty of material to purchase of theirs. I am very surprised they are still in the same place in my charts to be honest, they are obviously still relying by and large on the plays from the double disc greatest hits album I bought ages ago. Expect them to maybe fall before making a rise again once I get more material.

6. Madness

Overall Plays – 1,836
Plays Since Last Birthday – 791
Summary – A great year for these guys, they have moved up three places in my charts. They even have had more plays in the last 12 months than both Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy. Frankly it’s deserved after they have released what must be one of the albums of 2009 in Liberty of Norton Folgate. I still have plenty of material to check out and they are looking increasingly likely to be the first band to break the “big five”.

7. Jimi Hendrix

Overall Plays – 1,832
Plays Since Last Birthday – 741
Summary – Hot on heels of Madness, Jimi Hendrix is another artist that will break into the top five in my opinion. The man is an absolute genius and produces music that is simply out of this world. I still have a few more albums to purchase of his and like Madness, he has had more more plays in the last 12 months than Led Zeppelin and Thin Lizzy.

8. Black Sabbath

Overall Plays – 1,783
Plays Since Last Birthday – 505
Summary – A terrible 12 months for Black Sabbath. They have dropped like a stone by two places and could drop even further. However, like Thin Lizzy, there is hope. I do not own the majority of their albums, so hopefully they guys might “recover” if you like. Black Sabbath are another band who have been riding high on a greatest hits package and a few albums, only for the plays to dry up as other bands have developed and they haven’t. In fact, they are only rated 22nd out of 36 bands with regards to plays for the last 12 months. I think that tells its own story.

9. The Prodigy

Overall Plays– 1,761
Plays Since Last Birthday – 835
Summary – Well, the electro punks have finally gate crashed the party. I can’t think of many bands that I rate higher right now. The wall of noise they produce is downright astonishing and they are certainly trailblazers in my charts. They are the only electronica band in my charts and for them to even reach the top 10 is fantastic. They’re live show is fantastic and they’re new album is a return to form. I must say the amount of brilliant b-sides which I downloaded from ITunes recently won’t exactly have hindered they’re progression. Expect them to overtake Black Sabbath.

10. Electric Light Orchestra

Overall Plays – 1,703
Plays Since Last Birthday - 724
Summary – Certainly the nicest band in my top ten, and I can’t help feeling they’re feeling the benefit of been great revising music. But, let’s not take anything away from them. They make lush, layered, progressive rock music. They are innovators and they’re whole sound fits in well together. It helps having a cracking front man and songwriter in Jeff Lynne too. They have produced classic albums and I have barely scratched the service with these guys really. Potentially another band who could find themselves moving up my charts.

Conclusion

Boy, I never realised what an interesting year on Last FM it has been until I actually sat down and thought about it. It’s been a nice surprise really, rather than simply filling in gaps in my music collection I have found myself integrating new bands into my music library. This is down to the gigs mainly, which have forced me to discover some cracking music. Judas Priest, Testament and Opethall have exciting futures ahead of them in my charts. I am checking out Rammstein as we speak because I am seeing them in February, which should be cool. While I am in the mode of checking out new stuff, I thought I might as well action some recommendations that Stubbsy67 gave me aaaggeesss ago - Machinae Supremacy and Soulcage. So do not despair Shaun, I have been listening ;-) So another exciting year of music beckons and frankly I can’t wait to get my teeth into it. Keep your eyes peeled for my next journal by the way, which will be my top 10 album discoveries of 2009.

Hope you enjoyed reading this journal, your comments would be much appreciated :-)

I like doing these things though, whether I am bored or not ^.^
So put your music player of choice on shuffle, and list the first 40 songs that come up. You can repeat artists, but not songs. Let's see how it's going to turn for me =D

1. Muse - Starlight
2. Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong
3. Lady GaGa - Just Dance
4. Prince - U Got the Look
5. Janet Jackson - Make Me
6. Judas Priest - Breaking The Law
7. Nightwish - Nemo
8. Paramore - We Are Broken
9. Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody
10. Madonna - Vogue
11. Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror <3
12. Green Day - 21 Guns
13. Nirvana - Serve The Servants
14. Within Temptation - The Cross
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.

1. Which song do you prefer, #1 or #40?


2. Have you ever listened to #12 continuously on repeat?


3. What album is #26 from?


4. What do you think about the artist who did #15?


5. Is #19 one of your favorite songs?


6. Who does #38 remind you of?


7. Does #20 have better lyrics or music?


8. Do any of your friends like #3?


9. Is #33 from a movie soundtrack?


10. Is #18 overplayed on the radio?

11. What does #21 remind you of?


12. Which song do you prefer, #5 or #22?

13. What album is #17 from?


14. When did you first hear #39?


15. When did you first hear #7?


16. What genre is #8?


17. Do any of your friends like #14?


18. What color does #4 remind you of?


19. Have you ever blasted #11 on your stereo?


20. What genre is #37?


21. Can you play #13 on any instrument?


22. What is your favorite lyric from #30?


23. What is your favorite lyric from #23?

24. Would you recommend #24 to your friends?


25. Is #2 a good song to dance to?


26. Do you ever hear #16 on the radio?


27. Is #32 more of a “nighttime” or “daytime” song?


28. Does #36 have any special meaning to you?


29. Do any of your friends like #31?


30. Is #25 a fast or slow song?


31. Is #35 a happy or sad song?


32. What is one of your favorite lyrics from #9?


33. Is #34 better to listen to alone or with friends?


34. When did you first hear #27?


35. Name 3 other songs by the artist who did #29


36. Do you know all the words to #6?


37. Does #28 have better lyrics or music?

38. What album is #10 from?

Amon Amarth
Anathema
Apocalyptica
Arch Enemy
Avenged Sevenfold
Before The Torn
Blacksunrise
Bonded By Blood
Comeback Kid
Converge
Devil In Me
Dimmu Borgir
Down
DragonForce
Dream Theater
Echidna x2
Engel
Eternal Bond
Gama Bomb
If Lucy Fell
Iron Maiden x2
Judas Priest
Keep Walking
Lamb of God
Lauren Harris
Lostland
Machine Head x2
Marduk
Mastodon
Megadeth
Metallica x2
MG15
Moonspell x2
Nightwish
Pain
Pendragon
Portishead
Ramp x2
Simbiose
Slayer
Slipknot
Switchtense x2
Sworn Amongst
Testament
The Cure
The SPiTEFUL
We Are The Damned
..and a few more in some pubs but i don't remember their names.

I'm a proud owner of these albums:

Last updated: November 19th, 2009

Aerosmith - Get A Grip
Bloody Six - In The Name Of Blood (LP)
Dream Theater - Images and Words
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From a Memory
Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
Dream Theater - Octavarium
Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
Heathen - Victims Of Deception
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden - Killers
Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Iron Maiden - Powerslave
Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
Iron Maiden - Brave New World
Iron Maiden - Dance of Death
Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death
Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance
Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith
Judas Priest - Painkiller
Judas Priest - Living After Midnight
Kamelot - Karma
Kamelot - Epica
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Kamelot - Ghost Opera (Ltd. Edition)
Kreator - Hordes of Chaos
Machine Head - The Blackening
Megadeth - Endgame
Metallica - Kill 'em All
Metallica - Ride the Lightning
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Metallica - ...And Justice for All
Metallica - Metallica (meh)
Metallica - Load (Yes, I CAN enjoy it)
Metallica - Garage Inc.
Metallica - S&M
Nuclear Assault - Survive (CD, Original '88 pressing!)
Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
Sepultura - Beneath the Remains
Testament - The Formation of Damnation (Ltd. Edition)
The Batallion - The Batallion (EP)
Vio-Lence - Eternal Nightmare (Re-issue with live disc)
Vio-Lence - Oppressing the Masses/Torture Tactics

...

Albums I do own, but are not proud over due the fact that I've lost the interest of them:

Black Tide - Light From Above
Bullet For My Valentine - Scream Aim Fire (Ltd. Edition)
Children of Bodom - Blooddrunk
In Flames - A Sense of Purpose (Ltd. Edition)
Lamb of God - Ashes of the Wake
Metallica - Reload
Metallica - St. Anger
Metallica - Death Magnetic (Ltd. Edition)
Trivium - Ascendancy
Trivium - The Crusade
Trivium - Shogun

Hopefully will JUST the first part of this list grow, and not the second part.

Twisted Sister - 2003
3 Doors Down - 2004
Van Halen - 2004
Korn - 2004
Motley Crue - 2005
Twisted Sister & Ronnie James Dio - 2005
Cinderella, Ratt, Quiet Riot & Firehouse - 2005
Judas Priest - 2005
Megadeth - 2005
The Rolling Stones - 2006
Dream Theater - 2006
Poison & Firehouse - 2006
Guns N' Roses, Sebastian Bach & Papa Roach - 2006
Def Leppard & Journey - 2006
Aerosmith - 2006
Symphony X - 2007
Iron Maiden - 2008
Cyndi Lauper - 2008
Coheed and Cambria - 2009

It occurs to me that I've yet to fill out a "questions about ___" questionnaire. Times are changing.

1. What is your favorite song by 29? (DJ Shadow)
Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt
It was also the first I heard, and I loved it the first time I heard it.

2. What was the first song you ever heard by 22? (Dead Can Dance)
How Fortunate the Man With None, I think.

3. What is your favorite album by 33? (Judas Priest)
Unleashed in the East
It has several of my favorites from the band, Exciter, Diamonds And Rust, and Victim of Changes, plus the energy and production were a lot better than the original studio tracks.

4. What is your favorite album by 49? (High on Fire)
Blessed Black Wings. for merely Devilution and The Face of Oblivion.

5. How many albums by 13 do you own? Waylon Jennings)
Only this one: Nashville Rebel, but it's a four disc box set.

6. What is your favorite song by 50? (Portugal. The Man)
Bellies Are Full

7. Is there a song by 39 that makes you sad? (Buena Vista Social Club)
Not really. They are pretty feel good music.

8. What is your favorite song by 15? (Deep Purple)
When A Blind Man Cries

9. What is your favorite song by 5? (Leonard Cohen)
Avalanche

10. Is there a song by 6 that makes you happy? (Buzzov*en)
fucked up, drugged out, hateful, misanthropic sludge... all of their songs make me happy?

11. What is your favorite album by 40? (Burial)
Burial

12. What is your favorite song by 10? (Evil Army)
Evil Army
Once the irritating intro march is out of the way, that track blazes through, one of the best thrash songs ever written.

13. What is a good memory you have involving 30? (Amorphis)
Listening to them.

14. What is your favorite song by 38? (The Builders and the Butchers)
either Bottom of the Lake or Spanish Death Song
Hard to choose between them. Bottom Of The Lake is usually what I would choose to listen to first, but Spanish Death Song is so frantic and I love the lyrical theme.

15. Is there a song by 19 that makes you sad? (Begushkin)
not really. Some of his songs are pretty gloomy. Stroll With Mine sounds pretty down to me.

16. How many times have you seen 25 live? (Eyehategod)
I haven't.

17. What is the first song you ever heard by 23? (Banco del Mutuo Soccorso)
750.000 Anni Fa... L'amore?

18. What is your favorite album by 11? (Saver Tiger)
None in particular. their only material was live recordings, and the three albums I have had in the past had pretty much the same material. The production was terrible on all of them, and the only reason they're so high in my library is because I was really into them for a while.

19. How did you get into 1? (X JAPAN)
Once upon a time, I started using blogspots to discover new music. I downloaded ART OF LIFE from a blogspot many years ago, after like a ten paragraph description which basically had me at "epic metal from Japan." It got lost in inexplicable circumstances, and a year or two later I ran across it again along with I'll Kill You from another blog, which fortunately re-introduced me to the band.

20. Have you ever seen 14 live? (Dismember)
Unfortunately not.

21. What is a good memory involving 27? (Neil Young)
I got laid off work in 2006 for the first time and drove home at 3 am listening to Down by the River

22. What is your favorite song by 16? (Burzum)
Key To The Gate
I could've went with some I highly enjoy from the self-titled album, but the last half of Key is one of the most perfect songs in the black metal genre.

23. What is the first song you ever heard by 47? (Old Crow Medicine Show)
Wagon Wheel
Isn't that the first song everyone has heard from them? I mean the Bob Dylan connection...

24. What is your favorite album by 18? (Nitzer Ebb)
Body of Work

25. What is your favorite song by 21? (Rage Against the Machine)
Too difficult to choose. Anything from Evil Empire or half the tracks on The Battle of Los Angeles

26. What is the first song you ever heard by 26? (Lightnin' Hopkins)
Big Black Cadillac Blues

27. What's your favorite lyric by 3? (Electric Wizard)
Damn, that's tough. Perhaps the second verse of Return Trip. The whole Cannibal Ferox thing, and the fact that it's so well stated,
"I hope this fuckin' world fuckin' burns away
And I'd kill you all if I had my way
But I'll live forever, questions curse me why
Oh Lord above, why won't you let me die"

28. What is you favorite song by 2? (Led Zeppelin)
Impossible.

29. What was the first song you ever heard by 32? (Django Reinhardt)
Nuages

30. What is you favorite song by 8? (Taken By Cars)
Uh Oh
The mood, the bass, the drum beat, fucking fantastic.

31. How many times have you seen 17 live? (Asin)
haha, I haven't.

32. Is there a song by 44 that makes you happy? (Stereolab)
not really.

33. What is you favorite album by 12? (Church of Misery)
Early Works Compilation (disc 1) because it contains several of my favorites from the band.

34. What is the worst song by 45? (Elliott Smith)
I couldn't pick. As much as I enjoy many of his songs, he does tend to have just as many that annoy or frustrate me to hear.

35. What was the first song you ever heard by 34? (Last Harbour)
Saint Luminous Bride

36. What is your favorite album by 48? (Motörhead)
the two disc, 39 songs Essential. As much as people tend to hate on compilations like that, I'll be honest and straight up say it's my favorite because it really did put most of their strongest songs altogether.

37. How many times have you seen 42 live? (Death in June)
None.

38. What is your favorite song by 36? (Between the Buried and Me)
either More of Myself to Kill or Use of a Weapon
It's a labor picking from them as well. The first album has magic that none of their other albums do. Then again, I was at the cd release show, and that material has sentimental value to me.

39. What was the first song you ever heard by 28? (UFO)
Doctor Doctor

40. What is your favorite album by 7? (Muse)
Black Holes and Revelations although Origin Of Symmetry is right behind it.

41. Is there a song by 31 that makes you happy? (Spiritual Front)
Not in comparison to any others.

42. What is your favorite album by 41? (Johnny Cash)
The box sets that usually have a quarter of everything he ever did.

43. What is your favorite song by 24? (Portishead)
Glory Box
Epitome of chill.

44. What is a good memory you have involving 46? (The Crown)
Angering christians by posting their lyrics on message boards.

45. What is your favorite song by 35? (Grant Green)
Possibly No. 1 Green Street

46. Is there a song by 9 that makes you sad? (Eluveitie)
Not really.

47. What is your favorite album by 4? (His Hero Is Gone
Definitely Monuments to Thieves
Like Weeds is one of the most intense songs in hardcore.

48. Who is a favorite member of 37? (Sielwolf)
...the fuck kind of question. I wouldn't know any of them.

49. What is the first song you ever heard by 43? (Morphine)
Buena

50. How many albums do you own by 20? (Exhumed)
four. Gore Metal, Slaughtercult, Anatomy Is Destiny, and the Platters of Splatter two disc compilation.

15 Miles Sour
Airbourne
Amon Amarth
At the Gates
Bad Religion
Beast (Ger)
Blackwaves
Blizzard (Ger)
Bone Man
Borknagar
Bullet
Caleya
Carcass
Cathedral
Cynic (2x)
David Gogo
DeathRiders
Deep Purple
Dimmu Borgir
Disbelief
Down On Knees
einsatzkommando (Ger)
Enforcer (2x)
Engel
Ensiferum
Enslaved
Excrementory Grindfuckers
Exodus
Flogging Molly
Frankie's Freakshow (2x)
Froschgott
Gotthard
Grave
Gentleman
GWAR
Hans Ehlert
Heaven & Hell
Helge Schneider
Infernäl Death (2x)
Inner Axis
Iron Kobra
Iron Maiden
J.B.O.
Joanne Shaw Taylor
Judas Priest
Julains Wake
Knorkator
Kodiak
Kongh
Kreator
Lobotomia
Mambo Kurt
Manilla Road
Marius Müller Westernhagen
Massacre
Megadeth
Motörhead
Mukra
Municipal Waste
NEUME
NNB
Noise Forest
Obituary
Opeth
Paradox
Pentagram (Chl)
Piledriver
Portrait
Pretty Maids
Q5
Rapalje
Razor
REZET (Ger) (2x)
Saltatio Mortis (2x)
Sarke
SCHNAAK
Slowly Rotten
Smeagol
Sweet Savage
Tank
Tankard
Tarentatec
Ten Years After
Tequila and the Sunrise Gang
Testament
The Haunted
The Keltics
The Ocean
The Rods
The Sweet
Tito & Tarantula
Torfrock (2x)
Über
UFO
Vreid
Warbringer
Whiplash
White Lilium
Wishbone Ash

Take your top 10 artists, add up the number of people listening to each band and divide by 10 for your average band listening.

1 Iron Maiden 61,488,255 plays
2 Megadeth 34,035,044 plays
3 Death 9,778,540 plays
4 Judas Priest 19,214,930 plays
5 AC/DC 47,052,411 plays
6 Pantera 22,747,105 plays
7 Metallica 110,449,367 plays
8 King Diamond 3,569,238 plays
9 Motörhead 17,616,451 plays
10 Rage Against the Machine 39,857,322 plays

Total Score: 348,192,212

:P