taro_twist

Wow, I hadn't been here in a while, and this is such a sad, terrible shock to come back to. ;) Rest in peace, Geoff. Thanks for the awesome songs and for being so great to your fans.

I hope you have a wonderful time, Jane! And this is so thoughtful of you to see if anyone has questions for MG. ;) I second the question about how album art gets picked, but can't think of anything else. Enjoy yourself!

Has Matt ever played Man of Action in concert? I also really wish I could see it (and all of Audio of Being, for that matter) live. My favorite parts are the intro and from around 4:45 until the end--specifically where Matt sings the second "if this is us in control of ourselves" before it launches into the guitar outro ... such an explosive moment!

Man, I wish I had snagged a set list from back in those days. Can you remember any of the other "altered" titles you guys had on them? Those are hilarious ... (Also, just wanted to say I've really enjoyed reading this thread! You seem like a really cool, upstanding guy, Geoff. ;) )

I ... didn't realize you could download videos off of YouTube. Damn my complete lack of technological savviness. D: ...... *did* someone download them (and if so, would they be willing to share them? ;) )

Thanks for the rec! I'm working my way through his Failure stuff now. I can't believe I'd never heard of this guy before.

I first found a link to the biography in the info section of thevoid999's vids, so I don't think it's such crazy speculation. It does seem like they could at least be connected to the person who wrote it. Whatever the case, it totally sucks that all those vids are gone. Thanks, mystery person, way to deprive the MG fan community of awesomeness. I'm sad now. ;)

Thanks for the link to Massacre in Disguise. I'd never seen that site before. That guy's front page would be fun as an album cover (Mattzilla strolls/rampages through Vancouver!) And hum-an-ole, I like your tweaked design! The Helvetica and the night scene add just the right amount of edge to it.

The Vancouver cover is very pretty, but it does seem too brochure like. I feel like Matt would want something showing the darker side of the city, unless he was trying to be ironic.

Thanks so much for sharing these! I've been dying to see some vids of MGB live (aside from the Load Me Up MMVA one). These are awesome. And look at that crowd (and Matt's hair =P). *is in heaven*

Just downloaded God Is an Astronaut. I'm only on the third song, but I'm already loving it. Thanks so much for sharing this! Very Explosions In the Sky-like.

From a critical standpoint, I recognize the album has a lot of problems. As a casual listener, I still like it. I was trying to reconcile those two viewpoints in my comments, and clearly it didn't work. =) And I actually traveled here from 1996, not '97. Not a bad guess, though, only one year off. Now where'd I park that damn time machine ....

I'm kind of relieved they seem to be doing a shot for shot version of the comic. If they did make changes to the film version that were in keeping with the original's spirit or that improved on it (the way Nolan improved the Batman universe) I'd be happy, but I'm still pretty wary about any "interpretations" Hollywood does. For every Dark Knight there's a Fantastic Four. I'd rather they play it safe, especially since I don't think there's much that could improve The Watchmen (aside from cutting out a lot of that stuff with the newspaper vendor and that pirate ship comic that I've forgotten the name of ...). Also, I get the impression the director is under a lot of pressure to prove that Alan Moore was wrong to be pissed off about this film adaptation ... if that makes any sense. Anyway, maybe this adaptation is unimaginative, but I'm still excited. ;)

I definitely agree with the terrible lyrics bit--they're pretty cringe worthy at times, and I've mostly been ignoring them. After several listens, my super quick track-by-track review goes something like this: 1. "Chinese Democracy" - Terrible. 2. "Shackler's Revenge" - Terrible. 3. "Better" - Awesome. I think this song is a nice mix of catchy hooks and rocking out. 4. "Street of Dreams" - Cheesy piano ballad, but it's growing on me. Some nice guitar work. 5. "If the World" - Unmemorable. 6. "There Was a Time" - Awesome. This one builds and builds and builds until unleashing a great guitar solo at the end. 7. "Catcher in the Rye" - Okay. Also growing on me. Some nice melodic stuff in the middle. 8. "Scraped" - Sounds like a rehash of "Welcome to the Jungle." 9. "Riad n' the Bedouins" - Good. Reminds me of Led Zeppelin for some reason. 10. "Sorry" - Good. Kind of Pink Floyd-ish. 11. "I.R.S." - Fun. 12. "Madagascar" - Really overproduced, but still listenable. 13. "This I Love" - Soooo cheesy. Sounds like it belongs in a Broadway musical. 14. "Prostitute" - Starts off weak, but thankfully pulls out of it and ends up being a solid closer. I'd say give the album at least one full listen before giving up on it. For me at least, it didn't hit its stride until the middle. Or maybe it just took that many songs to get over the trauma of the truly god awful opening. Also, I could just be crazy. It's bombastic, melodramatic, overproduced, overstuffed, and yet I can't seem to stop playing the damn thing. Hmmm ....

I'm with IamNick ... I hated the single, but I actually like the album. Not what I would have expected after 17 yrs (although I don't think anything could live up to that kind of wait), and a couple of the ballads remind me of Bon Jovi, but overall, I'm enjoying it. I was never a big GnR fan, though, so maybe it seems okay to me because of my complete lack of expectations.

I feel like I should be apologizing for even finding this, but I guess it's better that it was brought to light? I hope you get this straightened out, Matt!

Thanks for the link, Juanpe. That's a really good quality bootleg!

Looks like I will not be touching that book with a ten foot pole then. ;)

Exactlyyyy. At least I've gotten pretty good at spotting the gypsy cabs. And I might just have to storm their office for my CD, although if it's "out for delivery" I wonder if they even know where it is anymore. O_o

Just found this interview from the Avalanche days on YouTube. I don't remember a link to it being posted here before. Matt goes off on a tangent about Mr. Rogers and also tells the story about his first meeting with Pete Townshend: Also, apparently someone wrote a Matthew Good biography? http://www.lulu.com/content/4934559 mod note: i don't think this is an authorized bio so i wouldn't buy it It looks like a self-published book. Has anyone read this? (Or did someone on here write it? =P) Edit: I just found another vid posted by the same person. This one is of Matt and Rich promoting Loser Anthems and "trying to break into Japan." It's hilarious ...

Still haven't gotten mine, and apparently it was received by the delivery office at my zip code over 10 days ago. :/ So Canada Post did their job getting it here at least. Now what the heck is going on with the USPS? (Haha, and no, I don't live on Staten Island Gomo, but I do live in a part of Manhattan that yellow cabs don't even go to, so maybe it's just as bad =P)

Sigh ... still haven't gotten mine yet even though it is "out for delivery" according to the tracking site. Am I in an area of NYC that's harder to ship to than where Gomo is? (glad you got yours at least!) Or did my roommate get the CD when he checked the mail today and put it in a place I would never look ... *goes to search the apartment*

I am with Jane. I would kill to see NF live. Are you amenable to sharing your awesome copy? ;)

Noooooo. Can we all go to sleep and wake up when the new album is released? I wonder why the recording start date was moved back. It definitely doesn't sound like it was Matt's choice.

Hehe, love this line from the second review: "Matthew Good Live at Massey Hall is the methadone for my live concert habit." And I liked the Ottawa Sun's "Welcome back, Matt" (aww) even though it is just a blurb. Did anyone read the favorable Vancouver Sun review Matt mentioned? I looked for it on their website and couldn't find it. (Or when Matt said The Sun did he actually mean The Ottawa Sun?)