Genius is very very rarely a term used by myself within the musical world and he is far from it for sure.

Maybe not a genius, but immensely talented, listen to this guitar playing:


He had perfect pitch as well and just listen to that voice, what more do you want?

Ska is not about musical talent. It's a vibe and that vid is skanking by numbers and can be heard ten-a-penny across the board.

Just a small band that are rough as hell but have tons more attitude and chops:

I think many people were exposed to Sublime before reggae ('cept for Bob Marley of course). But once you realize how many of their songs (mostly from 40oz which I actually like quite a bit) are basically covers of older reggae/ska songs, you lose a bit of that admiration. I liked them quite a bit during college because I really had minimal exposure to reggae and ska at the time. Still don't have too much really, but I recognize where several of the songs are from now. I still like the album but I definitely wouldn't call him a genius.

I thoroughly enjoyed that and I'm definitely going to look into those guys but Sublime and those guys definitely have some similarities but I don't think Sublime were really going for that sound, I know what you mean by the vibe some bands can set off and others just don't have but tome Sublime has that vibe.

Sublime weren't extremely revolutionary but they are definitely one of my favorite bands and I still fail to see whats not to like.

Ignore me. I'm in a bad mood tonight but I get so pissed off that certain bands are continually heralded as great bands in this genre when they rarely have any relevance to the genres they take influence from.

Damn straight sublime wasn't going for that sound. That sound is abrasive, refreshing, and anything but the poppy skank laced lameness that is Sublime.

I'm gonna agree with Rickenbacker on this one, I see sublime going for this approach:



and I see Capdown more like this:


Even though Sublime can be put into the same genre at times (Ska-Punk) Sublime has more reggae in them and Capdown as more Punk in them.

See, Capdown had those political lyrics when all Sublime really had were those carefree lyrics about getting laid and getting smashed all the time.

But hey, we all have different tastes and opinions and were not always going to agree. Maybe you dislike Sublime because they are overrated and in your opinion have been doing stuff that's been done a thousand times before.

I freely admit that Sublime, mainly 40 oz. to Freedom, is a guilty pleasure of mine, but all the wannabe Long Beach reggae that came after them is abhorrent,

I'm not sure how useful this will be to most people, but I had this idea and decided to do it anyways. Worst case I just spent an hour doing this that I would have wasted anyways:)

The Beginner's Guide to Maynard James Keenan
http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/imgx/2...ig-2593601.jpg

If Maynard James Keenan has not had the greatest musical impact on my fairly young life so far, he would at the very least be in the top three. Tool is one of the few bands that I can say actually prompted me to change major things around in my life and attempt things I might not have attempted before. I can still identify with the ideas and emotions MJK put forth, from the pissed-off disillusionment of Opiate to the self-discovery of Aenima to the bitterness toward the ****ed-up world of 10,000 Days. One of the reasons I love MJK is that he seems to be able to convey whatever emotion he needs to in his vocals, so these feelings of rage and self-doubt and grief come pouring through even more powerfully. Tool seems to be one of those bands that you either love or hate, I guess it's fairly obvious which side of that fence I am on.

But Maynard's two side projects also deserve more recognition than they usually get. A Perfect Circle gets compared to Maynard's main project far too much. IMO, it should be thought of less as Tool's little brother and more of Tool's third cousin twice removed. There are glimmers of similarity, but nothing you should ever attribute to anything more than having the same frontman. APC is not Tool 2.0, but it has still produced two fine albums. Mer de Noms is a dark and depressing album, but its the selective anger that allows it to lash out in just the right places that makes it a great album IMO. Thirteenth Step is a solid album that I didn't enjoy as much as their debut, but does have a very interesting concept and some great tracks.

If APC is Tool's third cousin twice removed, then Puscifer, Maynard's most recent side project, would be like the creepy cousin that nobody wants to invite to the family reunion. Obviously it's not to be taken nearly as seriously as either of the two bands listed above, but that doesn't mean that the music isn't kickass. Maynard's had a lot of help with this group, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it takes someone seriously creative and talented to transition completely away from what he's been doing, to this.

This comp is in two parts for a few reasons. One, my Tool bitrates are higher than the others, so when I tried to make one file I found myself having to cut too much of one group for all the songs I wanted to include. Two, a lot of people have heard Tool but maybe haven't given a serious listen to either APC or Puscifer, so no sense wasting bandwidth if that's the case. So, without further ado.

The Introduction to MJK Part One
1. Tool-Part Of Me (Opiate, 1992)
2. Tool-Flood (Undertow, 1993)
3. Tool-Eulogy (Ænima, 1996)
4. Tool-Forty Six & 2 (Ænima, 1996)
5. Tool-Ænema (Ænima, 1996)
6. Tool-The Grudge (Lateralus, 2001)
7. Tool-Lateralus (Lateralus, 2001)
8. Tool-Reflection (Lateralus, 2001)
9. Tool-10,000 Days (Wings, Part 2) (10,000 Days, 2006)
10. Tool-Right In Two (10,000 Days, 2006)
Bonus track: Tool-Pu**** (Live) (Salival, 2000)
MJK Part One

The Introduction to MJK Part Two
1. A Perfect Circle-The Hollow (Mer De Noms, 2000)
2. A Perfect Circle-Judith (Mer De Noms, 2000)
3. A Perfect Circle-3 Libras (Mer De Noms, 2000)
4. A Perfect Circle-The Package (Thirteenth Step, 2003)
5. A Perfect Circle-Weak And Powerless (Thirteenth Step, 2003)
6. A Perfect Circle-Pet (Thirteenth Step, 2003)
7. A Perfect Circle-Imagine (eMOTIVe, 2004)
8. A Perfect Circle-Passive (eMOTIVe, 2004)
9. Puscifer-REV 22:20 (Don't Shoot The Messenger EP, 2007)
10. Puscifer-****ry Boner (****ry Boner single, 2007)
11. Puscifer-Queen B. ("V" Is For Vagina, 2007)
12. Puscifer-Vagina Mine ("V" Is For Vagina, 2007)
13. Puscifer-Trekka ("V" Is For Vagina, 2007)
14. Puscifer-Indigo Children (JLE Dub Mix) ("V" Is For Viagra, 2008)
15. Puscifer-Drunk With Power (Hungover And Hostile In Hannover Mix) ("V" Is For Viagra, 2008)
16. Puscifer-Queen B. (Glitched And Bent Mix) ("V" Is For Viagra, 2008)
Bonus track: Puscifer-****ry Boner (Disco Viagra Mix) ("V" Is For Viagra, 2008)
MJK Part Two

Comments welcome, like I said this was mostly just a way to kill time.