Swingin' Ryan

I would but they're pretty hard to track down, their always out spreading AIDS and stealing our jobs. .......dear God.

Probably going to get abused for this, but I'd put GT and GATS above the Holy Bible. Musically, artistically and in every respect that matters to music journalists the Holy Bible is a far superior album, I only started really listening to it again recently and it does have some jaw-dropping tracks like Ifwhiteamerica..., Revol and Faster and lyrically it's absolutely genius, but it doesn't have that cocky swagger that I really love about the Manics, GT is the kind of "we've come to take over the world", GATS is "we didn't really take over the whole world so we'll write ten big ballsy stadium rock songs so we do". The Holy Bible is artistically their best and I couldn't possibly argue that the other two are in any way better, but I prefer them. Their just unescapably in your face, even if you hate the band the songs are so catchy you can't help but listen, their the kind of albums that win people over, the Holy Bible's so brash that many people would be liable to just turn it off, but the first two you just can't turn them off. Also, I'm a bit of a sucker for leopard print and guitar solos, so that might have something to do with it. Gold Against the Soul is worth buying for the four "hit" tracks, Roses in the Hospital, La Tristessa Durrera, Life Becoming a Landslide and From Despair to Where. I think the difference is, GT and GATS spit in your face, where as The Holy Bible just tears it right off. I haven't heard enough of Life Blood to comment on it so here's my list. GT>GATS>THB>TIMT>EMG>KYE

I like these, they have a nice retro look to them. I also like the Backyard Babies signature Epiphone's with the skull & crossbones decals etc, can't be bothered hunting down a photo.

I can play some basic stuff, mine cost about 20-25 smackers from Bruce Millers, they have a pretty big selection. Make sure you get one tuned to "C", they have stickers on them witht the different tunings, you can get loads of fancy Blue's harps etc, but a basic C tuned harp is best for learning. A Hohner would be a pretty good place to start. You can get tabs and things for them that are pretty easy to read, the only difficult part is all the mouthing techniques and stuff.

Surely the best reason to like them.

not always. I haven't heard all of the new album, but it sounds passable. I've never really listened to the 1994 onwards stuff in much depth, but it's a pretty big swing in sound, what with all the synths and stuff. I've decided to go see them in December, they still pulled off a pretty good live performance of one of the new songs (Song for Departure) on Jool's Holland,(Nicky Wire's still doing that weird leg-stomp thing he's been doing since 1993) and they still do a few old tunes so it should be enjoyable. You have to give them credit for making it to number 1/2 in the top ten after a four year break and a relavtively bland come-back single.

The Stones has balls. The Beatles wrote a few catchy pop songs and then let themselves be homogonised into teen icons. They didn't make fucking lunch-boxes with the Stones on the side. ...waits for some joker to find a Stones lunch box on Ebay.

Top rock and roll stuff. Especially Smoking Cigarette's in Hell. Every time I try and see you live the God's intervene, am I correct in thinking there's a Drake's date in December?

That's the toughest decade in my opinion. I love the Stone's, Dylan and the Supreme's so it's pretty neck and neck to me. Dylan's done more for actual music and is by far the best songwriter, but I'd vote in the Stone's for the fact they pretty much pioneered rock band rebellion, everybody was pretty straight-laced before they came about. Plus they were way better than the Beatles ever were.

The so-called "alternative" community are becoming more prejudiced than "ned's", this thread is increasing proof. Let me relate a little story..... I am a person who loves clothes. I wear things I like and take pride in my appearance and I actively dislike the scourge of emo (and the majority of modern) music. Whilst in town last week I had the misfortune of having to cross through the top of the St Nicholas centre, when some totally hardcore alternative kids with wild pink hair and a host of crazy piercings designed to offend and alarm their totally out of date parents who just "don't get them", started spewing a stream of obscenities featuring the phrase "emo" repeatedly. After a pretty difficult conversation littered with 00's alt-culture slang and poorly formed words, I managed to work out I was being called "emo" because I was wearing a scarf and black jeans. I pointed out it was the middle of winter in Aberdeen, the most northernly major city in Britian and I was liable to freeze to death without appropriate winter accesories. They were having none of it though, I was Emo and that was it. As a guy who couldn't name three "Emo" bands and listens to pretty much exclusively 60's Swing music, Elvis and the Cramps, I found this a bit alarming and it left me wondering, are we all going to catch Flu this Winter for fear of being labeled Emo because some filth-bag from (Insert popular Emo band currently doing the rounds on Scuzz) wears a scarf. Anyway, the moral of my fable is, alternative/rock fans are just as discriminitave as the Ned's your so quick to chastise, remove the moat from your own eye's before you start slagging off other people's clothes. And also, they're probably getting laid more than you.

It's pretty belated but Happy Birthday! Remind me to buy you some Internacionale couture next time I see you.

I'm a smoker and although I have a lot of issues with how the Governement obtains and presents it's "Facts" and research on the effects of smoking and find the proposed ban totally un-thought through, I still think it's ridiculous to smoke around kids, and no-one should be eating with their kids in a smoking area. I think you should be able to relax in a bar or pub and have a cigarette, but smoking in a restaurant is pretty unecessary if you have children, just go outside, nobody needs to smoke that constantly.

First celebrity death I've been properly shocked by for ages, totally out of the blue. In general, I don't really like the radio, and the fact that John Peel actually played music that made real music fans want to listen to it is a testament to his greatness. Almost every time I've gone onto a website for some band I've heard or seen to check them out there's always some endorsement from John Peel leaving me thinking "Is there any good band on this planet that John Peel hasn't gone out of his way to endorse or promote". I listened to some of the tribute stuff on Radio 1 today and Colin Murray and Edith were speaking about how they'd come into the studio with a bottle of wine to watch Steve Lamacq do the tribute show only to realise there wasn't a bottle opener in the whole place. They searched for ages until someone suggested looking in John's desk and sure enough, a bottle opener was there. That's Rock and Roll.

Yeh that's what I suspected, I'm studying Joyce at the moment (Portrait and Dubliners), it's good stuff.

I've always wondered if the name Dedalus was a refrence to the Greek mythology guy, or the James Joyce character Steven Dedalus, if it's the Jame's Joyce character it's a very clever name (with the singer having the name Steven etc).

I think she looks much better now, she looked a little bit too unkept before, but now she looks very pretty. As cool as the big mohican looked, it didn't do her any favours looks-wise but now she's just got some nice choppy locks and now she's ditched the inch-thick make-up she looks beautifully gaunt.

1 - Frank Sinatra Live at the Sands with the Count Basie Orchestra (I know it's not the norm for a live album to be your favourite album, but you need the between song banter from Sinatra including a 25 minute review of his life in the middle where he sits on a stool and has a cup of tea) 2 - The Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists (I think it's got more 'tude than the Holy Bible) 3 - Aerosmith - Nine Lives (First real rock and roll album I ever bought) 4 - Weezer - The Blue Album (Pop-Rock perfection) 5 - Sublime - 40 OZ to Freedom (Sunshine on CD)

Whilst browsing a few music sites recently I came across this little beauty, it's a press release from the Manic Street Preachers that they mailed to the music press across the country in 1991. "In mundane 1991 we look like nothing else on Earth. A car bomb kiss-off to The Face. Politics and adolescent cheap sex. Fuck the rotten edifice of Manchester. Too safe in dressing like a bricklayer. Too boring. Too macho, males afraid of themselves. That's why we look up to the images of Kylie and The Supremes and not bald-fat-ugly-glutton-filth Inspiral Carpets... They make us vomit.' It's over the top and slightly hypocritical since they've given a good few interviews to The Face, but it's got big dangling balls. What are your favourite quotes from the realms of music?

The Murderdolls are a bit mince, but they dig old Glam stuff. I'm up for seeing an interesting looking touring band in Aberdeen for once so that could be good, AntiProduct are ace though, it would be good if they're supporting.

Haha, priceless. "I heart your car"

Depp, Bloom, Aidan from SATC and maybe Pete Burns for a laugh.

One of my favourites, it's really good for finding similar sounding bands to ones you already like.