Shawn

CAT-itude! Great picture!

wow. won't forget that one anytime soon...

Looks like Josh Brolin and Heino are "a number". Wonder which is warm and ...... That looks like a really badly staged "Presidential Family Portrait" photo.

...what he's going to do with it now that he has it? That's what makes me say....uhhh?

Exact same thought I had when I saw it! I was thinking "cliff", but hotel window works just as well...and is more colorful storytelling.

Thanks for the info. I searched around for awhile online and couldn't find an actual release date for Charisma, just a recording session date.

It sounded from his response like Duke did the charts for the entire record. I also think it's interesting that Duke re-recorded this song for the Sweet Honey Bee album 4 months later. Was Charisma released before or after Sweet Honey Bee? Based on the cover art, I would assume later?

How true and well said.You are right on it stating Duke Pearson isnt listed on Lee Morgans Carisma.He was all over it and in the mix.Altough he never got the credit for it.I have read original liner notes Pearson had written just fot that date that was never listed.Pearson had wonderful words to say about Morgan.He admired Morgan for his talent as well as the way he could focus when he arrived in the studio.So many more stories about Duke Pearson and Morgan to tell. It's pretty nice to know that my ears were good enough to pick that up! Suspecting something is the case is great, finding out it WAS the case is even better, Man, I would love to read those original liner notes. WOW. Thanks again for sharing!

Wow. That is "hands down" the winner.

They've been moving in that direction for awhile. I noticed when they upped the wait time to 60 minutes after downloading 1 file. I switched to using Megaupload about 2 years ago.

Yeah, that's pretty bad. So is this:

I'll send you a PM.

Listening to Watershed, which is just about as "heavy" as you can get in a few different ways...God I love this album. Heir Apparent is one of the most badass tunes I have in my collection. As long as the "heavy as fuck" guitars stay in place, I'm a happy camper. Here is my list of favorite Opeth records in order of preference (today at least). 1. Ghost Reveries 2. Deliverance 3. Watershed 4. Still Life 5. Damnation 6. My Arms, Your Hearse 7. Blackwater Park (I much prefer the live version of this album on the RAH concert, so the studio release dropped a notch or two) 8. Orchid 9, Morningrise

With Time Warner's cable service and a 6 month old computer, I can play youtube videos, upload or download about 20 files simultaneously, have 15 tabs open on my browser and never even feel a slowdown. and that's on the lowest tier of service. The computer is what's left in your equation, so start with Jim's browser suggestion. But , if your computer is over 5 years old it's obsolete...do yourself a favor and recycle it at your nearest depot that takes computers...and got get yourself a decent new computer that fits your budget. No matter how cheap it is, it will be an upgrade to what you have now. You'll never be happier. Having out of date tools is the most frustrating thing on the planet if you're in any way creatively inclined.

Never did get into baseball, my Stepfather was a football guy, so that's what I grew up with. Even though I lived in Virginia at the time, it was around 1976 that I started watching, so of course my favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys, because the hype was so large it made it everywhere.

Orchid and Morningrise were both very cheap digital recordings, mastered onto regular VHS tape because that's what the studio had to use. I've created EQ curves for both of those albums, so I just listen via iTunes and the EQ settings are already applied via file tags. I could burn them again, but I don't really play any physical CDs anymore. They all go into the computer and are then accessed there. It would be very cool to see the modern day version of the band, go back and maybe play the entire Orchid album in a set or something. But I don't think Mikeal bothers to check the review mirror very often, he's all about forward progression. That "one song off each album" set from the RAH date is probably as close to that as we'll get. He's thrown curveballs before...just bring up the Damnation album with some of the more "death metal leaning" side of their audience and you'll find a lot of "sell out" being yelled. Totally illogical for a band this complex to be called a "sell out", but that section of the audience has a much narrower view generally. The funny thing, is that those guys can never decide "which album" was the sellout, some say My Arms...some say Blackwater...some Damnation...some waited until Watershed. There are some very entertaining tunnel vision viewpoints to be found floating around the net when Opeth is mentioned. I'd rather he keep trying new stuff and if he falls flat on his face at some point....I'm cool with that, because I'd rather see a band continue to progress and evolve and remain natural to themselves and explore those risky moves, because that's where the best albums usually spring from. Playing it safe don't lead anywhere except obsolescence. I'd buy a damn polka album if Mikael decided to perform and record it.

Some items here of interest I believe (although Jay may not be happy by this news) Heritage will signal a departure for Opeth from the musical style of their past albums; most notably, there will be no death growls, which have been present on every album except Damnation. Unlike Damnation, however, the music will have a prominent fusion influence. I'm not surprised by them jettisoning the death metal vocal sections at this juncture, they've been moving progressively in that direction over several albums. I grew to enjoy the mixture of the light and dark, so it doesn't really change my enjoyment at all....but it could remove the the final sticking point for those that have issues with it. The best news to me...the words "fusion influence" and the knowledge that Steven Wilson mixed the album, kind of tips the scales into the HOLY SHIT category as far as I'm concerned. (sshhhh, don't tell anyone, but I actually like Opeth a "tad" better than Porcupine Tree, so this excites me to no end) From the press release: The album will be released as a standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set exclusive to the Roadrunner and the band's own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP. Commented Åkerfeldt, "It will be our 10th album/observation. I dig it; we all do. In fact, it feels like I've been building up to write for and participate on an album like this since I was 19." Åkerfeldt went a little deeper and described the music contained within"Heritage", saying, "It's quite intense at times in some 'old' murky way, and quite beautiful and stark at times, if I may say so myself. "It's obvious I'm going to say nice things about it since I wrote, basically, the whole piece, but I guess it will raise a few eyebrows and it certainly is an acquired taste. "I think you'll need a slightly deeper understanding of our music as a whole to be able to appreciate this record. "I've realized my influences for this album are so diverse that I can't really say what it sounds like. "If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be OPETH, but it's different from the stuff we've done before. Full press release here: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=158656

The Shawn train pulls out of the Austin station tomorrow evening...as soon as the "Texas death ray" goes down. I should be there sometime late Friday night or early Saturday morning. I'll be hustling around scaring up a room over the weekend, then hitting the pavement first thing next week to find some freelance audio gigs. I'll probably be focusing primarily on the North Hollywood area for lodging. Have gotten a few responses to my ad on craigslist, so hopefully I can schedule time to go see these places on Saturday. If anyone knows some good resources (or temp agencies) that handle live sound reinforcement, AV tech work, etc, please let me know. This is a "skin of my teeth" type move, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Would love to meet some of the "LA branch", give me a holler if you want to get together for coffee or something. I can't wait. I'll go ahead and give you guys my number: 228-282-0810.

With this post, I close the chapter on this section of my life and begin anew. In the end, it was roughly a 2 month process from the first medication removed, to the final one. My tale is complete and I can move on without revisiting further, I hope it helps explain some of my erratic behavior here over the years. I would like to apologize to anyone I have ever offended here by my comments, they were not done out of malice, but out of illness. If anyone out there can be helped by my story, please share it, it's all here in this one thread. I'm going to request this thread be locked so it can remain as it stands for anyone that needs it, but it has served it's purpose to me. Thanks to each and every member of this board for the kind thoughts, words and encouragement. I can now go to bed and sleep peacefully.

Welcome! I also have only used the "view new content" link for years, unless I'm starting a post.

I completely understand the need for medication and there are definitely people that need it, and there have been sections in my life when I have needed it myself. I was trying to stay as unbiased as possible with the telling of my tale. (though, I don't think anyone that's gone through my particular hell can be 100% comfortable with the current layout of the industry as it stands). I actually assign no blame to anyone. There were about 7 different people trying to figure out what was going on with me...and I definitely had no idea. But when you don't stay in one place very long, and have to continually find new Doctor's, it makes it very hard for anybody to dig down deep enough to actually find the knot. I also didn't help the process much, especially over the past 4 years, which was just a long extended Pot haze on top of all that shit. So it was a hard coated candy shell. And I was smothering somewhere underneath all that pile for a really long time. But, having come out the other side, I realized that the issues I "thought" were bothering me, were actually just reflected mirages of past troubles, amplified by the medication and made real by my distorted perception of reality. All those issues were real issues at one point or another in my life. Somewhere underneath that pile, I still managed to keep sifting and sorting and working on those issues...though I wasn't consciously aware of it. So, when I arrived to the light of day, I fully expected to find a dude that still needed some kind of medication. I had no illusions about my past experience with mental health issues, I'm prone to it and I totally understand the need for it...and if the need arises at some point in the future, I have problem with seeking help and guidance. But here are a few pointers, just small observances of my experience and how not to repeat it. 1. Never trust any Doctor 100%, they be humans too and they see a LOT of people, so mistakes can happen. Be vigilant and aware and question everything, just like you would if you were prodding a salesperson about buying a used car. Don't let them "hustle you out of the office quickly", make them earn the money they make. 2. Never go to a general practitioner for mental health problems, they don't have enough experience, those are the guys doling out the pills to everyone on the planet...without really having the specialized experience to be doing that. The problem could be solved by simply only allowing Psychiatrists to prescribe mind altering medications. More jobs for Psychiatrists, less flow through the regular doctor's office, less zombies (like yours truly) walking the streets. 3. The minute that anything recreational in life (pot, pills, buying CDs, buying expensive gadgets, whatever) becomes a "need". SLAM ON THE BRAKES. There's trouble brewing. 4. If at all possible, see if there is "1" medication that helps the issue. Take 1 pill, then seek counseling immediately. No cocktails of multiple anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, tranquilizers, etc. Because they all mask each other...and once you fire up more than 1 pill...you have lost the ability to tell where your problems start and the phantoms of side effects begin. These medications take SO long to start working (usually 4-6 weeks) and take so long to work out of your system later (usually about 2 weeks longer than starting them)....give yourself as much time as you can, to see if that 1 pill will work...and if your Doctor wants to start up a second medicine on top...find out if detoxing off the current medication before starting the next is an option. 5. If you ever feel like you either "don't care" about life or you think about ending it..Please, do seek medical help, just do it intelligently and take daily journal notes, to ensure that you have a written record of your thoughts and feelings so you can see trends form. No hate towards anyone, no blame placed, no real anger at all over my experience (just a little frustrated, but that's natural)...just glad to be out the other side, alive and wanting to march on. Peace and health, Shawn

Thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement!

I used to own that record. I think Tower Of Power played the horn charts (yes, I said horn charts and I mean horn charts).