Crystal Mountain

Took a trip up to Crystal Mountain, have never been here in the summer, really great views.The trails arnt all too great, but theres a many deal of them and most of the mountain looked open to hiking. Have been getting into Fates Warning, was listening to Awaken the Guardian a few times, really killer stuff, cant wait to explore more from them, John Arc has some seriously godly vocals!

8/18/13 Granite Mountain

Went to Granite Mountain around Snoqualmi Pass today with a couple of friends. Great views, and a fairly decent hike. Around eight miles all together the begging is a bit rough but evens out quite nicely, and opens up into a beautiful field of wildflowers. It was quite crowded, but this is also probably the best weekend the be up there, the blue berries were ripe and ready to eat by the millions. Was listening to some classic metal for most of the day, with a dab of mercyful fate thrown in there.

Ozzy - Blizzard of Ozz

Ozzy's voice is so much more bland/poppy aside from his regular depressive nature after he departs from Black Sabbath, I am not too sure why I am so into his stuff. Mabye it's the great guitarists that he has backing him, or the occasional glimpse back to a truly doomy emotional feel from songs like Crowly. The album has a really nice pace with the throwaway songs, sandwiched nicely between some great ones. While the album starts out speedy with an epic feel, even after you get done the first two songs "Goodbye to Romance" has a really nice epic progression and feels in place with a really cool lead. I can't stand songs about relationships, and getting over them but this one does it justice, there is true emotion behind all parts of the song, for some reason it really stands out to me. Quickly after you are greeted with a nice classical melody, R.I.P Rhodes, that leads into a powerful mid paced head nodding riff. Get those incredible lyrics going again because; "Wine is fine but whiskey's quicker" is a line ive never forgotten, good ole' depressing lyrics that actually make you think and might send a shiver down your spine if your holding a bottle. It's amazing listening to parts of this song and seeing the reek of influence on bands like Sheavy, especially vocals. Mr.Crowly is a pretty good song, but it is so carried by the guitar, that you are really felt like it needs more after you hear it a few times the leads are not that entertaining, at least it drifts off into the next song quite well. And im allways happy it does because despite being catchy Mr.Crowly is a big disappointment despite a well placed organ intro. "No Bone Movies" however has the same catchiness/simplicity while jesting with manly ideals, and giving the audience a chance to shout out along with the band, wonderful rocking song. I've never liked "Revelation" is another slower depressing song, but it just does not feel right after "No Bone Movies", while having quite a nice progression to it within the song. The bells are great, working to open up a much heavier riff later in the song, the vocal effects are weird, while being a cool song overall it feels super out of place to me. I WANT TO ROCK! NO BONE MOVIES! Steal away the night really refreshes things and is a fine way of ending an album, another great riff, lead and a sing along chorus, what else do you need? While not being the most memorable album, "Diary of a Madman" being my ozzy favorite, it certainly gives a kick back to the early 80s. Nothing is super revolutionary, the guitar being really the carrying point of the whole album, I think the production is well done for this type of music. I have the 1980 jet release on vinyl, although it is a bit beat up, i still try to rotate through it regularly. The album cover is quite lame with photo shoot ozzy, certainly not up to standards of the later covers, and not nearly as memorable.

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Now, I've been writing this review for over two weeks now, having erased tons of my work I figure i might as well just put out what I can. Reviewing has been the hardest thing for me (I believe myself to be a proficient writer), even though all of these songs are ingrained in my head putting those emotions down onto paper for others in a comprehensible manner is really stressing me out. Im just going to have to cut back, develop my critical listening / reviewing skills over time to create more in depth reviews that convey more of my own feelings.

My favorite albums all seem to share a sense of adventure and a elusive journey, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath embodies that feeling with full force, from the begging all the way to the end. Every song seems to grab your attention in its own unique way and grows on you like Sabbath songs tend to do. I've always viewed this album as a progression of Sabbath to more sophisticated levels while sticking to their roots musically and subject matter. While that Sabbath feel is there, the first thing that will throw you off a bit is the album cover, a bit more abstract and unconventional for Black Sabbath, there's so many neat melodies thrown in throughout the album on top of the fat riffs we all love. The more I listen to this album i realize how incredibly varied it is, especially Spiral Architect what a wonderful song with brilliant lyrics, one of the most memorable riffs and a beautiful backing by violin. Ozzy's vocals arnt all so depressing, but instead match the 'hopeful' lyrics focusing on living life for yourself and learning about the world. Hopefully I can really get critical with this album one day, I should probably throw it on the player again, You know that I should, you know that I should.