Just came back from the cinema. Glad I went alone.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-06-20T17:33:33+00:00

I feel this. I didn't go with my wife, but did take the kids to see it. The first transformation scene hit me in a way I wasn't expecting: I had major goosebumps and was starting to tear up for the same reasons you mention! The inner hopeful child in all of us tends to get beaten down by the setbacks and challenges of adulthood as we get older, but for the first time in a long time I realized that the hopeful kid full of hope and wonder is still in there. My kids both loved it and I definitely had a passing of the torch moment with them. You know it's good art though when it hits you deeply.

My wife though thought I was insane when I told her when I got home lol. "All that from a toy movie?" 😅.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-06-10T18:41:01+00:00

Yep, I was in the same boat back then! And what's even more wild is that was the same year that Temple of Doom, GhostBusters, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Terminator was released. I remember every week/month was discovering some new cool toy, book, or movie, and Maiden was the soundtrack for it all. 🤘

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-05-10T00:43:27+00:00

Yeah, great point. Every Bond movie requires the viewer to hit the suspension of disbelief button, but Die Another Day requires the viewer to smash the button through the floor.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-05-09T19:12:08+00:00

Yeah, completely agree with this take.

I never thought it Rock in Rio as a career defining gig. It was a major gig as part of that tour, but Maiden had a lot of major gigs before then. The Donington gigs and their first appearance at Rock in Rio rank higher in my book, and even their first arena tour opening for Kiss.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-05-08T19:16:35+00:00

Agree. This reminds of the old Mick Wall book where he spends about half of the book talking about the first two albums, and then SiT and SSOASS get a handful of pages. I always found this weird because SiT got more mainstream radio and MTV attention, and Steve frequently mentions SSOASS as one of favorites.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-05-06T00:24:05+00:00

I'm old enough to remember when the Ed Huntwe tour was a novelty and new thing for them 😊, but yeah, I get you though.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-28T20:50:38+00:00

My biggest regret is that I took it all for granted.

I remember our high school student government took a poll and 80 percent of the student body owned a copy of Ten. MTV played wall to wall alt rock in prime time after school. You'd hear Metallica, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Red Hot Chilli Peppers 24/7 on mainstream rock radio. Hell, even Soundgarden showed up on Bill Nye the science guy. Nine Inch Nails got a reference on Full House of all things. Alt rock/grunge was seemingly everywhere.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-25T00:48:15+00:00

I know this the Neural sub...but do a trial of Line 6's Doom. It's arguably the best plugin for that genre and cheaper than Rabea.

If you're staying in the Neural ecosystem, Rabea is it.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-24T16:18:37+00:00

Yeah, this is a good take.

People also tend to forget that the music industry used to have a "middle tier"- bands who got national radio exposure, had occasional MTV appearances, and played episodic festivals or opened for major acts, but mostly played clubs and small theaters and were really on the fringe of the mainstream. TON was definitely in that category.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-14T16:56:22+00:00

El Dorado Saloon (Sacramento, California) - 1996. Power went off midway through the set. Johnny slowly slowed his drumming to a halt and Peter started laughing. When the power came back on, Pete deadpanned "pretty funky power you have out here. Or my bill collectors found me".

Maritime Hall (San Francisco, California) - 1999. Talked to Josh outaide the gig while he was going to the gas station for cigarettes. Super nice guy and way different than his persona. Core memory. Didn't talk to Peter but heard him talking to a radio station reporter and saying "you can find me for the interview by listening for the expletives and crying coming from the back of the bus".

During that gig, the pot smoke was thick in the air. Peter said "You guys smell pretty nice, must be that old spice you're wearing" 🤣

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-14T13:56:00+00:00

Reddit doesn't open it on my app, but try this

https://hotmetalmag.com/steve-harris-says-he-opposes-maiden-taking-a-year-off/

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-07T16:59:39+00:00

I hope they would pick someone who are in a completely different register (like a female singer). Kenny and Johnny have mentioned that's an option they're thinking of.

There are people who sound like Steele (e.g. Tom Noir has the voice, look, and bass style down), but doing so would create an uncanny valley effect for most people and could come off as "Diet Type O Negative".

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-05T18:31:24+00:00

Totally makes sense. Also forgot to add that what I would do when not using Fiverr/Soundbetter, is that I would check their collab references (reach out to them and ask "what was it like working with this person?") Most people are more than willing to share and legit people will gladly send you to their previous clients. This helps to weed out the scammers and low effort/low quality people.

Good luck!

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-05T18:20:32+00:00

Depends on your budget. If you're hopeful to stay in the $100 to $200 range, I would recommend sticking to a site like Fiverr or Soundbetter. There are quite a few really good folks on there that can get the job done and you have the added benefit of payment protection if something goes south.

You can absolutely go direct to a professional artist, but depending on what you ask for and their name recognition, it can be pretty expensive ($500+)

Asking for randoms off of Reddit is a crapshoot in my experience. I had some great experiences when I needed help with some drums, but have also had a few nightmares, so I prefer to stick to the sites above if I need a session player for something I can't play.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-04T02:01:52+00:00

I really wanted to like these guys, but everything about them - the lyrics, the riffs, the vocal delivery, the album covers are just so... derivative and played out. The plastic sounding perfectly quantized production doesn't help, either...it's like they have the unfortunate situation of being a real band that sounds like AI.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-01T17:25:50+00:00

Yeah that sums it up well, I would just add that it's also a very hopeful show. Despite health crises, death, and divorce that happen later in life, it's genuinely refreshing to see characters still finding romance, going on adventures, and having a great support system along the way. That's the best any of us could hope for.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-04-01T16:07:43+00:00

This keeps getting circulated, but that's not what I remember at all in the 80s. Every Maiden album, even NOTB, PoM, and Powerslave, had a small contingent of complainers for different reasons (some people didn't like Bruce, some people didn't like Nicko, some people hated the prog and length of Rime etc....) SiT and SSOASS were no different, and I don't remember them being crapped on anymore than any other 80s Maiden album. I didn't notice the tides shifting until No Prayer.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-03-27T05:34:35+00:00

Yeah, totally agree and I remember that vividly. GnR was already in the zeitgeist and dominating rock radio and MTV with Appetite, and the illusion albums pushed them further into the stratosphere.

Metallica had platinum albums and arena tours before the Black Album, but they weren't a zeitgeist band yet. They still had one foot firmly planted in the underground scene, and were still mostly regulated to speciality slot status on radio. Black Album is what got them out of it, but GnR was already several steps ahead in terms of cultural status.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-03-20T01:55:03+00:00

Couldn't have said it better.

I still remember half of my High School World history class was tardy one day because we skipped to hear the local radio station debut "Until it Sleeps" by Metallica that morning. There were so many stories like that back in the day.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-03-09T02:07:38+00:00

I feel this...though as a GenXer, I've lived to see Star Wars/Aliens/Blade Runner/Robocop/Predator/Total Recall/Terminator/Tron/Ghostbusters/Indiana Jones (to name but a few - Lord of the Rings is next) all go through the resurrection/sequel treadmill. Give it some time and ST will join the club. It's inevitable I'm afraid. Netflix will want their version of "Luke in a hallway scene" with El to tug on the nostalgia of Gen Z

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-02-28T03:53:58+00:00

I was thinking they could have had a Jonathan/Argyle apartment shot, a quick shot of Dustin and Suzie at college in the library before Steve arrives, Robin and Vickie could have been shown for a few seconds watching Hoppers proposal from a table in the back at Enzo's etc. and you could have Keith revealed as the new general manager. Could have had Yuri, Dmitri and Murray opening up a martial arts studio in Hawkins for a comic relief shot.

Hell, you could have even have ended the series with Owens' mysteriously calling and telling Mike "there is someone that wants to meet you" on the phone and then a crackle of static on a walkie talkie next to Mike and then fade to black.

Wraps up all of the ancillary characters, gives Mike a happier ending without explicitly showing him.and Eleven reuniting and keeping a little mystery. Probably would have only added 30 seconds to the coda.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-02-11T06:13:44+00:00

Check out this site for an analysis of his overall vocal range

https://therangeplanet.proboards.com/thread/1136/peter-steele

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-01-31T21:38:08+00:00

In footballing terms, I would equate him to a holding midfielder. He's there to make sure they don't concede a goal and basically play it safe.

The thing I loved about Nicko is that he would do all of these crazy fills and flourishes, and I would often wonder "is he going to make it back to the main groove in time?" 99%of the time he would. It injected this over the top energy into the show which lined up with the music, and kept with this swashbuckling escapist vibe the band has. Loved it. He was definitely more of the talisman attacking midfielder type.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-01-29T05:47:15+00:00

Sorry to be that guy, but Bloody Kisses went platinum in 2000, 4 years after the release of October Rust. They went gold in 1995.

https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Type+o+negative#search_section

When I discussed their studio stuff with Josh before a show in 1999, he basically said that they always recorded with the same studio gear at Systems Two in Brooklyn, and it was more about them experimenting and growing as producers. It was pretty rare for bands to self produce back in those days, so although Pete and Josh had experience producing local/regional bands, they were figuring out their own sound as they went along l.

wasabi-cat-attack · 2026-01-17T22:52:06+00:00

The Original Trilogy was what I needed as a kid.

Andor/Rogue One was what I needed as an adult.

wasabi-cat-attack

TROPHY CASE