Rain

In a sense, this one belongs on my list precisely because it is such an brilliant mishmash of so many of the things that I love - going from traditional eastern music bits to surf to metal - and yet it remains coherent. It gave me a sense of freedom in the way I think about the music I write.

You're amongst friends. 😁 I'm also a huge fan. Well, maybe not quite as much as yourself. A 7 hours drive, man...

Well, you're at least 5 days ahead of me. I too seem to remember a time when I was up to date on almost everything, constantly looking for new plugins and new gear. Nowadays, once I'm setup, I don't want to mess up with a working configuration or to try things. I went against my better judgement last fall and upgraded Logic to try the new Quantec reverb - hosed my DAW and it took me several days to get it back up and running. And it's still nowhere near as solid as it was because I had to upgrade to an OS that sucks.

A study in contrasts. Glad to see a fellow Venom fan in the old CH.

The lists of artists who’ve inspired me is too long to even start, but in terms of specific albums that were corner stones, it’s a surprisingly short list. The Beatles are arguably my biggest influence in many ways but I could not pick one album. Same for The Cure or Depeche Mode… If there had to be just one album on which everything hinges, it would be KISS Creatures of the Night. I grew up in a very peculiar environment and it wasn’t until 6th grade that I realized that there was a world of music out there besides Elvis Presley. Then one afternoon after school, a friend brought his older brother's copy of Creatures of the Night... In many ways, it set the blueprint for everything I’ve ever done musically, even if one would have a hard time guessing. It’s dark, heavy, focused, coherent and with drums as loud AF. It also spoiled me a little for a bit because I was expecting all heavy metal to sound like this, with ridiculously huge drums. It was kind of a let down when I borrowed a friend’s copy of Love Gun. 🤣

I totally agree. I'm a huge fan of his. In fact, even if my own music has practically nothing to do with KISS, I have this little Spaceman plush an ex gave me that's always around when I record guitar, to remind me of what really matters. I had the chance to play with a few guys from his bands here for KISS Night - guys who'd been on the Bad Boys tour with him and Peter in the mid 90's and his current drummer. Heard some pretty cool stories. The last year I went, Bob Kulick was there too, and I happened to be on the rehearsal call sheet the night he came in. It was pretty awesome to watch him play All American Man live in the rehearsal studio with just 5 or 6 of us. Las Vegas has been synonymous with KISS from the day I landed here and I got to meet and play some pretty cool cats and old heroes because of them. I even got to hang out with Peter Criss' first wife. Her book is a must-read for any KISS fan.

I guess it's kind of subjective where we draw the line - but ultimately it's got to do with the musician's ability vs efficiency. Kind of like Michelangelo who had students handle some less important parts of his paintings. There is no question that he had the talent. Same with Gilmour. Personally though, I would feel uncomfortable if I was credited for someone else's performance. I've no problem with Bob Kulick or Dick Wagner subbing for Ace Frehley on this or that solo on a KISS album, and it's been made public since, but I prefer when bands are more upfront about it and list who played what on each song. As for I, I tend to be a lot more scrupulous. To this day, I never could bring myself to punch in or even to do comps. I feel I should be able to at least get through an entire section in one take, whether it's a verse or a chorus or a solo. Reminds me... My band had booked some time in the studio. My first time in a studio. When the time came for me to record my parts, everything went fine except for one lead that I just could not cut. It was the simplest thing, just a few bars of the most basic pentatonic lead you can imagine but I could not nail it. Take after take after take. The engineer/producer said he wanted to try something. He had me plug my guitar into the other guitarist's rig - a MesaBoogie - which had tons more gain than my own rig which consisted of a tube overdrive into a 59 Fender Bassman. And with a classic single coil Strat. I immediately nailed it. One take's all it took. Only, to this day I cringe whenever I hear it and feel like I cheated, because of all that gain. And it's not MY sound. From a producer's perspective though, I totally get it. Knowing me, we'd still be at it 28 years later...

My Leafs jersey's the only one left out. Go Leafs!

Found this photo, dating from 1986 - the year Les Canadiens won their second to last cup. They were still "Les Glorieux" back then. With my mother, brother and grandfather (who visibly didn't care for photos) - grandma was taking the picture. I would have been 13 or 14, sporting what looks like some kind of mullet, and my precious Guy Carbonneau jersey (my hockey hero at the time). I wore number 21 for several years because of him. From memory, my mother was 5'7", so judging by that pic, I was somewhere close to 6'. I always had good shoulders, but I was very skinny...

Indeed, fantastic game tonight. TBH, I have more hope for the Leafs than I have for the Habs this year, but as you say, they have a pretty good core of young players and a lot of potential for the future.

And on the topic of hockey... How cool is that? I'm a big fan of both guys.

Living in the desert has done wonders for my knees and joints in general, but at my age, it's better that I forget about ever putting the skates on again. The Hammer, man! That must have been something! lol All the best for the playoffs, brother. I'll be rooting for the Leafs and the Habs from Vegas. My US team (Boston) has a few tough years ahead I expect. But it's great to see the Leafs come out on top of the Atlantic Division. And the Habs somehow manage to make it into the playoffs.

This popped up in my memories. 1982, division finals – Boston Bruins vs Québec Nordiques. A young Rain on the edge of his seat, furiously biting what’s left of his nails. At least for the playoffs, I was allowed to stay up late even on school days. Because, Canada… It was a tight series but Québec ultimately won the best of 7 before being beaten by the NY Islanders. I finally got my Boston jersey the following year - my first jersey. So many shades of brown and orange... 😆

I could never break through that 160 lbs ceiling even as an adult. Then we moved to the US. The portions down here, man... That was probably the biggest shock. lol I also quit smoking and reached 40 around that time. I try to maintain a weight under 215 (for almost 6'3") - which became a little tougher when I started dating a Mexican girl, because, well, Mexican food isn't exactly lean and healthy. When I workout a lot, it's usually between 200-205.

We've lost a fantastic drummer today. Binks died at the age of 74. He contributed to 3 of my favorite Judas Priest albums and to one of my favorite songs of theirs (Beyond the Realms of Death). I'll be blasting those classics tonight.