jcarey

I just purchased Opeth's Watershed today. It's a different direction for them, but on first listen I already think it's one of the finest records of their career. They also played magnificently in the Progressive Nation concert that in Boston, though Dream Theater was probably my favorite act of the night. People often quickly dismiss things that they have no familiarity with. Many people I know have done that with Ayn Rand, quickly describing her philosophy as "trash" or what have you, having never read a page of her writings. The same applies to metal. Practically everyone I've known who has ever criticized my taste in music after hearing I was a fan of metal music merely hadn't been exposed to the good stuff, or had been given a bad introduction to it. Most of these people completely change their opinion when they're introduced to good bands in an intelligent manner. To those who still can't appreciate it, that's your prerogative. I'm just happy to know that I enjoy it, because I'd be missing out on a lot of outstanding music if I didn't.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1W56jrTF98 Octavarium, by Dream Theater. I challenge anyone to tell me that's a bad piece of music. Metal happens to be one of my favorite genres, and I came from an almost entirely classical background (as one can see by listening to my musical compositions; I've posted a topic about my Symphony No. 2 here a while back). It was mainly the classical influences, incredible virtuosity and epic song structures that attracted me to metal in the first place. Regardless of the conflicts one may find between much of metal's lyrics and one's philosophical beliefs, there is some great music to be found in this incredibly diverse genre.

I would love to know about this too. I've been on the IMDB page for Atlas Shrugged every day, hoping for further updates. Anything you could tell us would certainly be appreciated.

Thank you everyone! I'm glad you all enjoyed it. Fratelli is a musical I'm writing that I've been working on for about a year now. It's a work in progress. When it's completed and I have a cast together, I'll record it and upload it to my website.

Hi everyone, I thought I'd introduce myself here with a piece of music I wrote. This is a symphony I composed. I hope you enjoy it. Movement 1 Movement 2 Movement 3 Movement 4 Any comments on the piece are appreciated, from musicians and non-musicians alike.

I'm open to everything really. I am an avid listener of all music and my (rather large) collection of music reflects that. To elaborate on my favorite composers/musicians/bands, I would probably say that they would be: Classical: Franz Liszt Gustav Mahler Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji Ludwig Van Beethoven Maurice Ravel Nikolai Kapustin Richard Wagner Sergei Rachmaninoff Jazz: Art Tatum Count Basie Dave Brubeck Gordon Goodwin John Coltrane John Zorn Miles Davis Thelonious Monk Rock/Metal: Brand New Dream Theater Iron Maiden Meat Loaf Metallica Opeth Pink Floyd Queen Rush System of a Down The Who These are some of my favorites but there are a myriad of others whose music I enjoy. I also compose music myself, focusing most specifically on Neoromantic classical music. I was once told that I should change my name to Richard Halley and compose the Concerto of Deliverance.

I was rather annoyed at the fact that they completely removed the part of the ensemble. OK -- I can think of ample justification for the removal of The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, because it probably wouldn't seem very important within the format of a movie. But honestly, was I the only one who thought "God That's Good" (one of the best numbers in the entire musical in my opinion) was terribly done? Aside from the fact that more than half of the number was cut, one never even hears the words "God That's Good" because it's the ensemble that sings it! I don't believe that one has to completely change a musical in order for it to translate well to the big screen. Take Phantom of the Opera for instance. That was an outstanding movie. In fact, I saw it on Broadway just a few months after the movie came out, and in all honesty, I preferred the movie!