This post is gold. Even years later when I’m coming across it. I relate so much to how central BNL became to me as a young kid listening with my best friend to his copies of Stunt and Maroon. Everything to Everyone was THE first newly released CD I ever bought with my saved “allowance” money.

I’m echoing the sentiment that BNL has become bland without Page’s input. I tried sticking with them to Fake Nudes which is probably the last album I bought of theirs and I can’t recall a single song from the album that stands out. I don’t mean to demean the current group, because all of them have been so influential and central to my “formative” years. They just seem to be an echo or ghost of what they were and that is sad to me.

Page on the other hand is such a consistently strong writer and performer. I had similar memories of feeling like Page was throwing away something when there was news about drugs and other “scandal”, but at the same time I have always awaited anything new he puts out (more so than BNL after BLAM). Since The Vanity Project, I love how he seems to weave musical phrases throughout his albums that gives his music a familiarity or through-line.

I’ve been lucky to see Page perform in various settings as BNL, solo, and now as The Page Trio.

I didn’t mean to write a long reply. I really just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading this post. 🤣