■ Genre: Heavy/Power Metal
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:46:06
■ Size: 333,34 MB/94,15 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
Partial discography [“Thundersteel” onwards], in memory of Mark Reale.
February’s schedule*, not necessarily in this order:
Riot – “Thundersteel” ✔
Riot – “Nightbreaker” ✔
Riot – “The Brethren of the Long House” [2CD-set; includes “Riot in Japan – Live!!”] ✔
Riot – “Inishmore” ✔
Riot – “Shine on” ✔
Riot – “Sons of society” ✔
Riot – “Through the storm” ✔
Riot – “Immortal soul” [Limited edition digipack inc. 2 bonus tracks] ✔
Note:
Past threads relevant to Riot (e.g. Westworld) will be updated accordingly and, if needed, the respective CDs will be re-ripped.
* Subject to change
Starting with Megaupload, which proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, the hull got breached.
It wasn’t targeted randomly, no sir. You don’t need to be a political analyst to realise it was a tactical hit, a display of power.
What better way to show who’s got the upper hand than to take down the *flagship*? Especially after failing to pass the SOPA/PIPA legislation.
The hearing of the news alone, was enough to intimidate [read: scare shitless] the majority of file hosting services which immediately took measures [read: disabling accounts indiscriminately, deleting any questionable material from their servers etc] in order to comply with the law [read: avoid being prosecuted like the chubby bloke who run MU]
Is it irreversible? Only time will tell.
You know something? I hope they ban everything! Bring the Internet traffic back to dial-up era levels.
Maybe then they’ll realise they were digging their own graves all along.
In nature, when the host dies so do the PARASITES.
I’d very much like to see them getting ridiculed (on second thought, they’re already used to that and probably won’t mind) trying to explain WHY there was no *sales* increase as predicted.
WHY? I’ll tell you why.
Because with or without file-sharing*, it all comes down to how much customers can spend.
*file-sharing ≠ “piracy”
RIAA, DMCA etc have been using the latter term arbitrarily in a rather pitiful attempt to convince the public of alleged crimes while concealing their true intentions:
To perpetuate an unjust system in which middlemen enjoy the “lion’s share” while the artists get peanuts.
Claiming that every *illegally* downloaded album or movie should count as *loss of profit* is laughable.
The vast majority has to deal with a very specific budget, do you honestly think they could afford them all?
Even if the file-sharing magically disappeared, they’d still be in no position to buy more than [pick a number] a month.
I know I wouldn’t. And I’m known to ignore basic necessities in favour of CDs!
Last month alone I purchased… Let me check my records…
Oh, to Hell with it! Here’s a fully detailed list:
■ CDWOW!
Scorpions – “Love at first sting”
Zebra – “Zebra”
Andy Timmons Band plays Sgt. Pepper
■ GROOVES-INC.com
Marty Friedman – “Loudspeaker” €8,29
Martone – “When the aliens come” €10,59
Jorn – “Spirit black” €8,09
Royal Hunt – “Paradox II: Collision course” €6,59
Nouvelle Vague – “3” €6,09
AC/DC – “Blow up your video” €5,49
V/A – “Butchering The Beatles: A headbashing tribute” €9,49
Ekseption – “3 Originals” [4CD-set] €13,69
Danger Danger – “Revolve” €14,39
Glenn Hughes – “First underground nuclear kitchen” €3,09
Scorpions – “Sting in the tail” [CD+DVD] €7,99
Lana Lane – “Project Shangri-La” €2,79
Annihilator – “Never, Neverland” [Reissue] €5,89
Kansas – “Monolith” €6,09
■ Play.com
Fleetwood Mac – “Tango in the night” €4,99
Demon – “The unexpected guest” [Remastered] €7,49
After Forever – “After Forever” €4,99
Nightwish – “Made in Hong Kong (& in various other places)” [CD+DVD] €6,99
Styx – “The grand illusion and Pieces of eight – Live” [2CD-set] €12,49
That’s more than one CD per day on average while at the same time, I still wear the same sneakers I got 3 years ago and only have 2 pairs of (cargo) pants to go around!
[You know, wear one/wash the other/repeat. T-shirts are a different story ;)]
The point is, I’m the exception here, I need music 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Variety too.
If the weather is tolerable, I’d rather walk miles -so to speak- than pay for a bus/subway/taxi fare. In my book these are redundant expenses.
But when a Super Duper Deluxe Edition that comes in embossed digipak, containing signed photos, a guitar pick and God knows what else [the *most original and/or peculiar CD packaging award* belongs to Helloween with the special edition of “Rabbit don’t come easy” which includes -among other things- pumpkin seeds!] is announced, then it’s (pre)Order NOW!
Even worse, it can escalate to “Goddamnit! I can’t risk losing this offer, this edition is limited to xxxx copies [True fact: see Heir Apparent’s “One small voice” 2010 Remaster], will YOU lent ME some money/buy it on my behalf?”
The problem is that not everyone is an avid collector or willing to go THAT far – understandably so.
Can you really blame those who put other, more important needs first?
Well, a native idiom comes to mind:
“Being fortunate in your misfortune”, meaning the situation could have -easily- been worse.
Is it a major setback? YES.
Is everything lost? NO, at least not yet…
That extra time I spent creating *mirrors*, finally pays off.
As most of you know Megaupload was my primary host. All the archives [more than 600 RARs, 2/3 of which were FLAC rips] are now gone. Irretrievably.
The same applies for Fileserve although the number of files stored there was smaller.
The good news is, some of the file hosting services I’ve been also using [mainly FileFactory, iFile.it, Rapidshare] were spared from this witch-hunt.
Which means you can still access (most of) my CD-rips.
Of course the other services are nowhere near as convenient as Megaupload was, but you don’t have much of a choice.
I’ve already begun re-uploading a few of the stuff but haven’t made up my mind as to which will be the new *primary* host.
So, until further notice everything goes to iFile.it.
Feel free to make your suggestions and leave feedback, but bear in mind that, as an uploader, my criteria will probably differ from yours.
Downloaders typically care mainly for speed, wait restrictions, readable CAPTCHA [or ideally, no CAPTCHA at all] and so on.
My main concern however, is expiry due to *inactivity* [the longer, the better], reliability [some hosters disappeared over a night WAY BEFORE Megaupload’s shut-down] etc.
And that’s one of the reasons why I won’t be using Rapishare for obscure (=not so popular) albums.
One month is simply not enough 🙁
How about some tangible evidence?
Just check the screenshot below and you’ll immediately understand what I’m dealing with:
Rapidshare File Expiry
Almost forgot:
A number of threads [Dream Theater – “A dramatic turn of events”, Bob Katsionis – “Imaginary force” and Imaginery – “Long lost pride” to name a few] have been *red-flagged*.
In such cases DL links are being systematically *reported* and, as a consequence, remain valid for a very brief period of time – usually LESS than a week.
Re-uploading the deleted archives is futile. Once a post catches the attention of those SOBs, there’s no escape. It’s only a matter of time before the files are taken down again.
Well, NO MORE! I’m not bloody Sisyphus and this shite is holding everything back, OK?
From now on, whenever something like this happens -and it inevitably will-, the content stays private.
Posting the links publicly will only create a vicious circle and I’ve had my fair share of those “all links are dead, will you re-up please?” comments, alright?
In order to get them, you’ll have to contact me personally via e-mail.
[As a precautionary measure, I might a run a check on your IPs, e-mail addresses etc. to ensure you’re not one of the *bad guys* thus avoiding any nasty surprises]
Alternatively, you can visit RockPlanetArcadiaX.net [registration required] and view the respective thread.
Note: The above doesn’t apply for files that have been removed due to expiry 😉
I mean, seriously! Hasn’t anyone noticed?
Fine, just answer a simple question then:
Do you recognize the following logo? Y/N
What, not even remotely familiar? Haven’t you ever heard about Online Music Databases?
Discogs and RYM (RateYourMusic) are probably the two most popular.
Oddly enough, and despite occasional users’ requests, RYM never had a logo – just a *favicon*
The one you see at the right side of the blog [under Categories/Archives],
is an unofficial attempt and was placed there for a very specific reason:
To be easily distinguishable.
To draw everyone’s attention.
In other words, to urge visitors to click the damn thing!
And yet, no one seems to be the slightest bit curious about what it stands for.
What can I say? Maybe it’s not fancy enough for your taste, you know, an eye candy…
That wouldn’t normally bother me. But then a bunch of e-mails pop up in my inbox.
And guess what.
The senders -who quite often type in CAPITALS as if delivering an ultimatum- are asking me to rip CDs I do NOT have.
Etiquette/good manners aside, it would be wise -and certainly save your time as well as mine- to check my RYM profile first.
Comprende amigos?
RYM‘s database (and any other music dB for that matter) can be extremely useful.
Hardly a day goes by without me visiting to check new releases/recommendations, catalogue my collection [at the rate I’m going, it’ll take years to add* everything :P], submit an issue/correct its details and so on.
A valuable tool for sure, whether you’re a collector or not.
Remember, “God is in the details” – from what I hear, the Devil too 😆
* for various reasons, I’ve only listed 20~25% of the CDs & vinyls I actually own.
Clickety click, clickety click… I’m not done writing this part yet, but here’s a hint or two:
SSD with problematic firmware in conjunction with new Windows 7 installation.
Now throw these in
and you have a rough picture.
“A series of unfortunate events” would be a fitting title…
■ Genre: Melodic Hard Rock
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:46:07
■ Size: 331,15 MB/97,40 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Atmospheric Progressive Rock/Ambient
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Digipack, Booklet, CD
■ Playing Time: [CD1] 01:03:36 | [CD2] 00:53:47
■ Size: [CD1] 414,22 MB/123,98 MB | [CD2] 350,12 MB/105,30 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Celtic
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:53:18
■ Size: 305,70 MB/92,59 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Classic Rock
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:39:56
■ Size: 246,43 MB/77,28 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Melodic Heavy Metal/Power Metal
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Digipack, Booklet, CD
■ Playing Time: 00:47:52
■ Size: 367,11 MB/110,95 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Melodic Hard Rock/AOR
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:54:10
■ Size: 431,94 MB/109,23 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
■ Genre: Heavy Metal
■ Audio Format: FLAC level 8, v1.2.1 / mp3 VBR V0, LAME v3.98.4
■ Included: nfo, log, sfv, m3u, Booklet, CD, Tray card
■ Playing Time: 00:57:42
■ Size: 437,86 MB/125,54 MB
Download links in the comments
[Password: -21grams]
akira
-21gramns
ppstone
John Doe
John Doe
