Anyway, on to business. Albums of the year, Gigs of the year, films, and Games of the year. half way through the year I remember thinking its been a bit naff for music. but I think it picked up a bit. gigs, Ive done less gigs this year than I have ever done before. I think im getting to the point where ive literally seen all the bands I listen to and like, and so bands Id have gone to see before, I just dont bother anymore. and Gigs tend to be an excuse to get really hammered, because again, ive likely seen the band before. Its a slightly worrying trend Ive gotten into, but I feel it will all level itself out in the future. Music wise for me, its been the year of Bruce Springsteen. I got into him late last year, and pretty much explored his discography throughout this entire year.
Albums of 2012 - All albums in bold are my favourites
Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball
Rush - Clockwork Angels
Katatonia - Dead End Kings
Witchcraft - Legend
JK Flesh - Posthuman
The Gathering - Disclosure
Enslaved - Rittir
Gojira - L'enfant Sauvage
Killing Joke - MMXII
Bat for Lashes - The haunted Man
Crippled Black Phoenix - Mankind the crafty ape
Black Shape of Nexus - negative black
Pallbearer - sorrow and extinction
Witchsorrow - god curse us
Deftones - Ko yo yokun or whatever its called
Neurosis - Honor in decay
Like I said, Its been an ok year for music. Biggest disappointment for me would be the new Anathema album. I felt like it was a step too far into wishwashy territory. There was no bite or edge to the album, bar one song. it lacked guitar riffs, and for me It felt like they were trying too hard and pushing the positivity down your throat. I feel like they know their fans like doom metal, so went out of their way to write lyrics to try and tell them to cheer up. Personally, I found it a patronizing and well...Shit album.
Gigs of 2012
This year, I went to very few gigs but some very poignant and memorable ones..well, two of them. every other gig was a drunken blur. Again,
Black Sabbath in birmingham - Cost me £100, but worth every penny. It was sublime and heavy as hell.
Bruce Springsteen - Hard rock Calling. Again, cost a bit, but it was fantastic. A Great day out and great show.
Anthrax - Oxford - Took Jamie and his son. Very good show!
Edguy - I dont remember this gig much. Think it wasnt much cop.
Destroyers of the faith - birmingham - Enslaved kicked ass. The rest were very Meh. All I remember is some silly disagreement with Gaz.
Big Business - birmingham - Really good.
Saint vitus - Twice, Bristol and Manchester. This was bloody awesome. we took a roadtrip and did both shows back to back.
Neurosis and Godflesh - Godflesh were decent and Neurosis were Neurosis. Think this will be last gig to see them...Im done with them.
Katatonia - Manchester - Excellent show, great setlist, good company.
Festival Wise
Bloodstock - I literally cannot remember ANY show except for Orange Goblin and Corrosion of conformity. Which is fine by me, because they were probably the best things there.
Roadburn - Necros Christos, 40 Watt sun, Leafhound, The Obsessed, Solstafir, JKFlesh, Saw some Great shows. Actually wrote a blog on here about this so I didnt forget. The Obsessed were awesome!! and Necros Christos blew my tits off.
Missed out on seeing The Rolling Stones this year. Maybe next year. They are the last one on the list of bands I want to see....save a Free reunion lol
Films of 2012
This year I got the Cineworld unlimited card, so ive seen quite a lot of films. What strikes me the most, is how poor most of them were. I feel that out of all the films Ive seen in 2012, the best was DREDD 3D. and to be honest, save the odd kids cartoon, Like Paranorman, most of the films ive seen have been absolute trash. The Dark Knight Rises, I felt was slightly dissapointing. Over long, and possibly after a second watch it will prove better. my main issue with films these days is the amount of CGI. Too much CGI, not enough old school effects. Thats why Dredd 3D stood out for me, it was seamless with its visual effects, to the point with its plot and generally had me come out of the cinema thinking Woah, that was Really Great.
Games of 2012
Been quite a lot of very good games out this year. In fact, for me, its been a personal highlight of the last couple of years. Saying that, it could be the highlight because ive puchased a lot of Megadrive games, and played a lot of older games on arcade, HD remakes etc
Transformers Fall of Cybertron. - Kicked my ass. It was perfect.
Hitman Absolution - Longest hitman yet, some odd choices with the disguise mechanic, but overall excellent.
Dishonored - Really enjoyed this. Looking forward to another playthrough.
Doom 3 BFG edition - Really enjoyed this too. Great to relive and replay this game.
Rayman Origins - charming platformer, Hard in places, was a pleasure to play.
Metal Gear solid HD collection - Some great games I never played before, Snake eater was great.
Stacking - Great neat little game, with some fun ideas.
Silent Hill Downpour - A lot better than people gave it credit for.
Rayman 3 HD - Another HD remake, but this is still an excellent game.
The Witcher 2 - This was ok. I didnt like it enough to keep it though, or to play it through again.
Max Payne 3 - See my blog about this abomination.
Spelunky - Hated this game, and loved it in equal measure. Played it too much and nearly did myself in with frustration at the fact it beat me, repeatedly haha!
Jet Set Radio HD - Didnt really stand up to scrutiny. Not as good as I remembered at all.
Sonic Adventure 2 HD - Again, Really dont think it stands test of time.
There you have it! My review of 2012. heres to another year!!
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