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Re: Allan Holdsworth album edits

Hi! I see your point. I'd personally prefer digitally generated cover arts since they're of higher quality than those derived from scans, and they're used quite often throughout music articles. I delinked Holdsworth's name in the "Producer" field because it is already linked in the "Artist" field, so it'd be redundant to link it again in any other field. As for the nationality, it's not used often in film articles, but it is in music articles; it's not a guideline or anything, I just think it's interesting to add the artist's nationality. Funk Junkie (talk) 00:25, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

I see your point, too. There's far too much disparity between album articles right now, because a lot of folks either choose to follow WP:albums to the tee, whilst others see room for creativity. I try to do a bit of both, but generally if the guidelines stipulate that something is done a certain way (such as linking to the producer, even though it is indeed already linked at the top), then I dislike straying too far from that unless an official change in style is brought about (i.e. years not being linked anymore). Regarding the scans, the reason I prefer to do them myself is because mine are usually of slightly higher resolution and clarity than the overly smudged and compressed versions one can find from Amazon, etc. (whilst still somewhat in keeping with WP:low resolution) Though obviously, if I don't happen to own the physical CD booklet (in the case of I.O.U.'s original cover, Hard Hat Area [of which I have the booklet, but it has Holdsworth's autograph over it!] and the alternative cover for Heavy Machinery), then I'd be happy to resort to Amazon. Finally, about the nationalities—I can live with it. No worries at all! Mac dreamstate (talk) 02:44, 7 December 2008 (UTC)

Re: Apologies for the orphaning!

No problem at all. :) I was kind of considering suggesting you that, but then I hesitated. Speaking of, I'm no fan of Allan Holdsworth, but I think that this is the original cover of Heavy Machinery, while the one you uploaded is an alternate cover, or maybe the other way round. Funk Junkie (talk) 21:49, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I've noticed that there does indeed seem to be two covers for it (much like Hard Hat Area, for which I'm trying to find a decent quality version of the alternative cover [the one which I have, but has Holdsworth's autograph on it]). I know that one of them is that of the Japanese edition, which featured a bonus track called "The Moose Are Marching". I'll add it back to the infobox a bit later. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 23:17, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

I've found a good-quality version of the alternate cover of Hard Hat Area at Amazon.co.uk; apparently it's the album's UK cover. As for Heavy Machinery, I did a search at Amazon.co.jp and learned that the cover I uploaded is indeed that of the Japanese edition. I've added it back to the infobox before it's deleted, so I hope it's okay for you. Funk Junkie (talk) 17:03, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Re:Non-free image resolution issues

I'm working from the resolutions reccomended by WikiProject Albums. 200 by 200 is the minimum, as this is the infobox size, but 300 by 300 is the max that will be needed in the majority of cases. I appreciate that there are many images of a higher resolution than that, but these are guidelines that are widely ignored through ignorance or apathy. Articles on albums with resolutions higher than this will not stand up to much scrutiny (say, the scrutiny offered by a peer review, good article nomination process, or featured article candidacy) nor, in theory, will they remain like that forever. J Milburn (talk) 16:52, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Might it be a good idea for me to reduce their size, just in case? I don't want to go around flaunting the rules, but at the same time some of the Amazon-based covers that I've seen uploaded are truly horrendous to look at—almost to the point of tarnishing their original visual effect. Mac dreamstate (talk) 16:59, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Re: Flag Icons

Well, overall there has been a great deal of talk on this somewhere (I have been looking all day for it and it might just be on bands and not albums) but flagicons are generally looked at as cruft and relatively needless for the many reasons (which I do not dare to list now) that are mentioned at WP:MOSFLAG. I meant to use that instead of WP:FLAG (which was just a disambiguation page and not what I assumed it was) for my reverts. The discussion could be anywhere from manual of style-related guideline articles to music and album-related and to merely flag and icon-related so it would take a very long time to find out where the main consensus is.

You can get an idea of what people think of flags overall (mostly their use in infoboxes or tables) here. There are some more ideas here that are based on bands. I know there is currently no policy on it within WP:MOSFLAG but there has been consensus for bands pretty much so their album release dates have been lumped together with them. There was only one mention of some contention from an editor for use of flags in an album infobox but I have forgotten where that was. That's not important though. I hope this solves part of the problem at least (with the other not having a clear discussion on its use in albums). You can try to start a topic somewhere about it (not sure where the best place would be) but I think you would get a lot of the same answers within those two discussions above or redirected to the original discussion about it. FireCrystal (talk) 00:12, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Re: American Matador

Sorry, I just figured out how to access a discussion page (and will use them in the future) although I'm still figuring out how they work. I also didn't realize that this was the second time I edited that point. Being a Ronnie Montrose completist, when I read, "Ronnie Montrose – slide guitar," I get the impression that he's playing on every track. I know from the CD insert that he's only on Track 12 thus the need for clarification. Also the same thing applies to Bonilla's EE Ticket. Ronnie only plays on "Razorback" Track 10. I won't re-edit that one but again the appearance is that Ronnie plays on the entire album. Bobglickman (talk) 22:38, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Hyperacuity

Dear Mac: You undid the rather modest addition of the scientific meaning of the term hyperacuity to the wikipedia page you are monitoring; but it does have a place. Because the word has been used, I can't start a new page. How do I get this in? Regards, Gwestheimer (talk) 03:37, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

Dear Mac: Thanks for your message and the helpful move. I will try to take it from there, though I am new to the Wiki world. Best regards,Gwestheimer (talk) 16:06, 30 September 2010 (UTC)

Dear Mac: I am working on improving the page, as you requested, and have started on the lede. As the changes satisfy your objections, please remove the strictures you have imposed. Gwestheimer 17:50, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

Dear Mac: A version has been posted on the hyperacuity:talk page that, hopefully, is more generally accessible. If you agree, please help lift the sanctions, else hints for further improvements would be welcome.Gwestheimer 17:27, 11 February 2012 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Gwestheimer (talk • contribs)

Holdsworth Equipment

Thanks Mac. I think there is probably enough to write about as to justify a whole separate article on his gear! I will add some info on amps and effects. Thank you for all your ongoing work on this article. Regards Nostalgic34 (talk) 17:42, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Genres, genres, genres

Dude, sorry, whatever! I didn't know you were keeping an eye on that album. I had no clue that that was one of the ones that you "took care" of. Sorry. I could really care less about this album. Pretty much what I do is I go around wikipidia and explore many different articles. I edit many different articles; some are music related and some are sports related. It's not my fault if I edited an article that you "were taking care of". I honestly didn't know. 95% of the time I can edit an article and nobody will re-edit what I changed because nobody else is an article "watchdog" such as yourself. I edit many articles ranging from Frank Gambale to Hiromi Uehara to Chick Corea. Like I said, I could really care less about this album. Sorry —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sprecher (talk • contribs) 06:04, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

I too like the term watchdog; namely because that's what you and I both are. That's why I called you a "watchdog". Once again though, you pull up sources that do not even say "instrumental rock" in them or even just plain "rock". The sources say "jazz funk, jazz fusion, jazz rock, crossover jazz"; yet where is the instrumental rock? Also, I do not believe that you should get the info of genres from a bloggers post. Basically, sombody can just put down whatever the heck they want. In reality the Lenny White album is a mixture of jazz-funk with jazz fusion. Lucky for you though, I could care less about this album. Lenny White is one of the main forces in jazz, fusion, & jazz-funk; but instrumental rock? I don't think so. I just don't like to see albums labeled with extremely b.s., extremely subjective crap. Thanks.

P.S. The reason why I edited this article is because I thought it would be a good change since I was not able to find any sources saying it was instrumental rock. Also, had I known you babysit that article, I probably would have left it alone. Like I said: I look through many articles on wikipidia. I don't always write down why I changed something; namely because a lot of times the articles seem like ghost towns where nobody really maintains them or checks them. I was thinking this article was the same way. Sorry. I mean seriously, how was I supposed to know that you where maintianing/checking that article?

Jazz rock article

Hi, do you think we should make an article for jazz rock? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sprecher (talk • contribs) 07:44, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Jazz pop article

Hi, do you think you can create a jazz-pop article? It seems that there are a lot of jazz-pop artists out there (ex: Earl Klugh, Pat Metheny, Miles Davis), yet there is no jazz-pop article. Do you think you could create one? Thanks. Sprecher (talk) 02:52, December 10, 2010 (UTC)

Frank Gambale bootlegs

Hi. Why are some of Frank's albums referred to as "bootlegs"? I think I know what a bootleg is, but why do a few of his albums get called "bootlegs"?: such as the Resident Alien album. Sprecher (talk) 04:31, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

"Under Flaming Skies" image hoax

I found this image on google images.

But my question is: When Elysium will be availanle worldwide. I'm going to the shops but there isn't, so Elysium was released on 14th or will be released after? Thanks in advance.Please answer me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Metallusitalianus (talk • contribs) 18:14, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Request for comments on new article on Jimmy Earl

Dear Mac, I have nearly finished with an article User:Deer*lake/Jimmy Earl (musician). Because of your involvement with Centrifugal Funk, with which he was heavily involved, I would love to see any comments you might care to make about the new article. I am not asking any other editor for comments.

Thanks Deer*lake (talk) 20:37, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Mac; Thanks for your kind words. Since I am still making minor changes to the article, it would probably be better not to edit it until it gets accepted by AfC. If you see anything substantive that needs to be changed, please let me know. I'm sure there will be no problem agreeing on the exact wording that either one of us could add. One thing you could do is to change the existing text in your articles on Centrifugal Funk and Truth in Shredding to a link to Jimmy Earl, which I hope will become an active link in the near future. Deer*lake (talk) 18:21, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

I saw the red links to Jimmy Earl on the two MVP articles. Thanks for your prompt response to my suggestion. Deer*lake (talk) 02:26, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

The article Jimmy Earl has been created. Including your two from MVP articles, there are already four newly blue links from existing articles. Over the next few days, I plan to increase this count by changing existing text into links. If you have time, you might take a look at the new drastically revised version and let me know what you think. Once again, thanks for your help. - - Deer*lake (talk) 16:59, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Dear Mac; After extensive editing, the article is in a more or less final state. I still need to do more on the one sentence paragraph on Robben Ford. You might be interested in references {17} and {18}, which go to a Japanese website that gives better summaries of the MVP albums than Allmusic. (In my opinion) Too bad this site seems to have gone out of business some time in the 1990s. Thanks again. Deer*lake (talk) 19:39, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Is Allmusic a reliable source?

Mac; The reviewing editor for Jimmy Earl, User:Chzz, stated that Allmusic is not a reliable source. You can see his comments on his talk page. I can't imagine writing an article about music without using Allmusic, and nearly every such article I have read has multiple links to it. What is your take on this? - - Deer*lake (talk) 17:11, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Mac; Thanks for your input. - - Deer*lake (talk) 19:58, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

Autopatrolled

Hello, this is just to let you know that I have granted you the "autopatrolled" permission. This won't affect your editing, it just automatically marks any page you create as patrolled, benefiting new page patrollers. Please remember:

• This permission does not give you any special status or authority
• Submission of inappropriate material may lead to its removal
• You may wish to display the {{Autopatrolled}} top icon and/or the {{User wikipedia/autopatrolled}} userbox on your user page
• If, for any reason, you decide you do not want the permission, let me know and I can remove it

If you have any questions about the permission, don't hesitate to ask. Otherwise, happy editing! Acalamari 21:34, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

RE Koji Kondo's last score

You need to understand that it's his very last score when working ALONE and not getting helped out by OTHER composers. Every title he scored until mario sunshine he took the lead but other composers helped out, after that he only contributes one to five songs... it's because he became Nintendo's music supervisor, where he doesn't have the time to take the lead in scores anymore. I don't need to provide a source for his last score because all you need to do is to simply look at the discography page on his profile page, or have you not bothered? It's also completely obvious that since the zelda score he also hired another composer to add music. — Preceding unsigned comment added by SimpsonsMan1234 (talk • contribs) 02:08, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

More genres

Hello. I would like to see how/why you label certain things the way you do. Here are a few songs from youtube that I think qualify as straight ahead jazz fusion. I would like to hear your take on them so I can understand your opinion a bit better. I'd like to see what you label them as. (Label them as if you were labeling them for wikipidia). Thanks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6pgM-NVfWg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMxh0T4dQRo&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gEcTvoqQYM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0LJ2GlziJk&feature=related Sprecher (talk) 21:34, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for listening to the songs. I hope you enjoyed them especially since I know you like fusion. I was a bit surprised in how you labeled them though. What really ticks me off is how a lot of people in the comments on youtube say stupid stuff like "oh Hiromi is a prog-rock goddess", or "wow, this song is so prog-rock". In my mind I'm thinking "wow you guys are a bunch of idiots! Hiromi's XYZ song is pure instrumental jazz/fusion"! I don't know if you read some of their comments, but they were saying a lot of b.s. like that. I was actually thinking that you were going to label Hiromi's song as fusion/instrumental rock (since it seems like you are so rock sensitive like a lot of the people who commented on that song).

Charged Particles, to me does seem to have a bit more rock moments; but it also has it's post-bop moments. From the beginning of the song the drums seem to be kind of punchy/rocky (yet not enough to label it as rock/fusion). I don't know if you notice, but around 2:34 of the song it seems to me that they start playing post-bop. Tell me what you think, but personally I think the song takes a "jazzy (post-bop)" turn right there that lasts from 2:34 to 3:22. Basically, I believe certain parts of Charged Particles draws from both rock and post-bop. Yet labeling the song as fusion/post-bop/rock would be way overkill. Unless at least 50% of the song was rock, then it would be acceptable to label it as fusion/instrumental rock. To me it is a straight ahead fusion tune that kind of reminds me of Gambale's "High 5".

Steps Ahead kind of surprised me. I really thought you would label that as fusion/instrumental rock. The guitar seems really rocky and the drums seem especially punchy. What do you think about the drums? But of course I would label this as only fusion and nothing else (punchy drums does not always have to mean that the song is fusion/rock).

Return to Forever I was expecting you to also put rock/fusion. I was thinking this due to how there are actual sources that state Return to Forever played progressive rock (which I think is utter b.s.). I personally believe that all of their stuff is either latin jazz/fusion, or more of "hard fusion". Something else that struck me was how a couple months ago you made mention to how progressive rock always had vocals; yet here you state that this instrumental song sounds progressive rockish. How so?

Well here are two more songs that I'm curious to how you'd label:

I'm thinking you'll label the Pat Metheny song as fusion/instrumental rock; especially since that song won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1999.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeEUWo__-ys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbbzwJllWJA Sprecher (talk) 21:33, January 28, 2011 (UTC)

Hi, thanks for reviewing the songs. I'm kind of surprised how I agree with you on most of these songs. I guess one of the main things I don't agree with you on is when you state "Immediately after 3:22 [in Charged Particles], however, Gambale switches back to doing the standard 'screaming' rock bends". I personally think that at that time of the song he is playing fusion. I mean it kind of just sounds like his normal fusion stuff, maybe just played a little bit harder. I've listened to instrumental rock guitar and it does not sound much like what Gambale plays in Charged Particles. I mean if I could label what Gambale plays after 3:22 I'd probably say its 90% fusion/10% rock.

Another thing is in when you state that in "[Upside Downside] at 2:29, it becomes pretty much a straight-ahead instrumental rock fest with a few passing tones that manage to keep it within the realms of jazz fusion". To me, Mike Sterns solo sounds very jazz fusionish. I have yet to hear/see an rock guitarist solo like that. Rock solos use less notes/tons of distortion/much more predictability. Sterns solo contained numerous notes and sounded fusion-like in how it was fast/hard/complex/melodic/and used a ton of notes. What does a jazz fusion guitar solo sound like to you? You can't get any more fusion than Stern's guitar solo. If you have proof of a rock guitarist soloing like that, I'd be more than happy to see it.

My last question for you is something that I hope you will be able to really help me out with. My question is: how do I tell my metal/screamo loving cousin that his music is technically inferior to the jazz fusion we know and love? All the time my cousin is saying "oh yeah my metal is way too advanced for your jazz and fusion. My musicians could totally play your music and my musicians play more faster and more crazier. Your musicians could never play the metal I listen to." I just don't know how to explain to him how jazz and fusion are more advanced then his crappy metal music. I'm trying to find legit terms to describe my music and it's complexities. The only instrument I ever played was the flute and that was a while ago. So I am not too good with musical terminology in explaining to him how his music sucks and mine doesn't.

P.S. Why don't you listen to post-bop? There a lot of great guitarists that play that genre. Heck, there are a lot of fusion guitarists who even drift into it such as Metheny, Mclaughlin, Stern, etc. Even Gambale's newer stuff is mainstream jazz which sounds a lot like post-bop.

P.P.S When would it be ok for me to get you to review some more songs? For some reason I want to be able to hear another person's input on a few of the songs I listen to. Sprecher (talk) 06:11, January 30, 2011 (UTC)

Yo, thanks for reviewing those songs for me. I have one question. Have you ever listened or do you have the album from which this song came from? I'd pay anything just to own this album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFJPh9io7kk Sprecher (talk) 07:56, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

Vocals on Road Games

Hey, you stated that Holdworth's "Road Games" wasn't really rock oriented. Well, what would you consider the vocals on that album? Were they not rock vocals? I've never heard of fusion vocals. On a different note, I actually do agree with you on Pat Metheny's "Roots Of Coincidence". I'd even label that song as jazz fusion/instrumental rock; especially since it won the Grammy for that category. Heck, Metheny should win "Best Rock Instrumental" every year. Sprecher (talk) 22:07, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Yeah, you're right about the vocals being downright wierd. I feel almost embarrased just listening to his music. Yet, the vocals are wierd and kind of neat at the same time. All I know is that for the "Wardenclyffe Tower" album he used a jazz vocalist.

According to allmusic, the "Roadgames" album used "a unique mix of great vocals with a more rocking, bluesy, and jazzy quasi-mainstream song-themed balladic thrust". I mean, what the heck are the vocals? For the past year I have been searching for a jazz fusion vocalist. The only ones that I could find were Sandhya Sanjana and Pauline Wilson. And this is very controversial considering I'm not even totally sure if they are legit jazz fusion or not. Sprecher (talk) 07:16, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Passages

Yo, I thought we had an agreement that Passages would remain as: Jazz, jazz fusion, smooth jazz, instrumental rock? You are the one who changed it. On second thought I am with you on how we should remove normal "jazz". Passages should look like this: contemporary/smooth jazz, jazz fusion, instrumental rock. Contemporary/smooth jazz is at the forefront considering most of the album is done in that style. Jazz fusion is next since it is the second most prevalent. Instrumental rock is third considering it is the least most prevalent. I don't see what's wrong with this. Sprecher (talk) 04:12, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

First off, you are the one who first took off "jazz". Regardless of whether "jazz" was worthy of Passages or not, you were the one who breached the agreement. You also removed "jazz" off of Note Worker, yet lucky for you I am able to cope with that. I don't see why you are so pissed off. It's not like I'm removing your ever so important "instrumental rock".

To clarify on Passages, you stated that I stated that this album was more on the rock side of fusion. If that really was me then I must have been meaning to comment on "The Great Explorers" page. Because, there is no way that Passages is predominantly rock-fusion. I must have been referring to how the fusion songs in Passages are rock-fusion songs. The album as a whole is most definitely more of a contemporary/smooth jazz album.

Honestly, I am not sure why we cannot agree for Passages to be: "smooth/contemporary jazz, jazz fusion, instrumental rock"? You get your instrumental rock in there which is all that I thought you cared about. The reason why Passages should be labeled with contemporary/smooth jazz is because this album is contemporary/smooth jazz. Unlike you who is not so sure on what the differences between genres of jazz are; I am pretty keen on a certain number of jazz genres. I know what smooth jazz sounds like. I also know what contemporary jazz sounds like. The last six songs are contemporary/smooth jazz songs. Also, I think you are forgetting about what Kudpung stated. He stated, "[...] that Wikipedia does not apply its own interpretations to music. Genres are based upon on the ones under which the pieces of music (and/or the musicians) are recorded, published, distributed, and catalogued by the mainstream music press and quality web sites". So according to sources, this album qualifies as contemporary/smooth jazz; regardless of what Wikipedia categorizes these genres as. Hopefully, the time will come when me or someone else will make a Wikipedia page for contemporary jazz, differentiating it from smooth jazz. I for one know that contemporary jazz and smooth jazz are different.

You also state that it's more logical to put instrumental rock and fusion ahead of contemporary/smooth jazz. It's actually not more logical. Whenever a person looks at the genre box of an album, the first genre they see is going to point out that that is the most prevalent genre. Common now, if you go to any Wikipedia page you'll always see the first genre representing what the most prevalent style is. You did this for "The Great Explorers", so I don't know how come you are preaching something different now. Obviously, this album is mostly contemporary/smooth jazz. All one has to do is listen to it in order to see which genre is more prevalent. Technically, this album is 50% contemporary/smooth jazz, 25% jazz fusion, and 25% instrumental rock. Think of it this way: If you were going to show someone sources on how this album qualified as instrumental rock, how would you do so? You have absolutely no source that states that Passages is instrumental rock. I however have 2 that state that Passages is contemporary/smooth jazz/fusion. I also have a weaker source that proves that it qualifies for contemporary/smooth jazz (it's the equivalent to your sources).

Here are my sources: http://www.allmusic.com/album/passages-r203663 http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/FrankGambale6 http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/FrankGambale14 Sprecher (talk) 04:35, 16 March 2011 (UTC)

Contemporary/smooth jazz

Ok Ok now it's my turn to give some imput: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI3C2HS1vZM - Lee Ritenour/contemporary jazz: I label this as contemporary jazz. Through my experience contemporary jazz, modern jazz, and progressive jazz are the same thing. They all aren't really pure jazz (like post-bop) yet they are probably 75-95% jazz oriented while smooth jazz is like 45-65% jazz oriented. By the way smooth jazz is a sub-genre of contemporary jazz and they are usually listed together. In my "professional" opinion one of the main things that will really distinguish contemporary jazz from smooth jazz is the drums. If you listen to smooth jazz the drums are always this dull/boring/simple pop/r&B type of drumming. On the other hand, contemporary jazz has jazzier sounding drums as well as just much more jazzier sounding all together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtDHPZfwds0 - Lee Ritenour/contemporary/smooth jazz: Smooth jazz always has that smooth/commercial feel to it. In this song the drums do seem really simple like smooth jazz drums, yet they are a bit on the jazz side. This song doesn't seem all smooth jazzed out yet it does seem all commercialized.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgSc1xq01SA&feature=related - Now here's an emotional type of sounding song that comes from an album that I've been listening to for a while. While at Knotts Berry Farm shops I was astonished to hear a song off this same album being played. They probably played it due to the contemporary feel it has. This song also would probably be classified as smooth/contemporary jazz. Notice how the drums are very simple "poppy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g3ks_SDQEQ - Now here is something that I would like to hear your input on. Personally, I believe this to be mostly fusion. The drums sound like pure rock. Yet at times Franks guitar tone seems to dwell into post-bop/fusion licks, especially around :45-1:06.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoZK-Fhm4_A&feature=related - Now here's something I feel I could safely call 100% pure contemporary jazz. It's based off of a Wayne Shorter song, so it's going to be jazzy yet not post-bopsy. It sounds like something you could hear on the radio. It's not so poppy/smooth like smooth jazz. It sounds like Gambale is a George Benson wannabe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XciJEIa8KIE - Siskel & Ebert - Oh, here's just some random review that I thought was pretty cool. Siskel and Ebert seriously discussing something not so serious. It's quiet funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOg17QnLGVs&feature=related - David Benoit/Smooth jazz/contemporary jazz - considering this is at a Smooth jazz concert I think they really made this sound more produced. Such as all smooth jazz music that sounds way over produced. It does sounds very jazzy though; more so than typical pure smooth jazz. So I'd label this as smooth jazz firs and contemporary jazz second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cBcL0iaW04 - David Benoit/ Contemporary jazz - I'd label this as pure contemporary jazz. I could not imagine Kenny G fitting into this scenario; it's far too jazzy. I guess technically many people would call this smooth/contemporary jazz, yet I think it'd be a safe bet just to call it contemporary jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm_h5xjEY5c&feature=relmfu - Dave Koz/ Pure 100% smooth jazz - For one of my birthdays my aunt made the horrible mistake in buying me a Dave Koz CD. Of course I wasn't very satisfied with the album. #1, most smooth jazz is very boring. #2, most smooth jazz is low on musicianship. It's very commercialized. It's what I like to call "Politically Correct Music". Politically Correct Music is music that can be played anywhere, anytime, and everybody will like it. In other words, it's music that sucks. If you were to play this Dave Koz crap at a supermarket, then everybody would be having a great time. If you were to play Allan Holdsworth at a supermarket, then everybody would be saying "what the heck is this, oh why do I feel so uncomfortable and awkward"? I too feel awkward listening to fusion, and at times feel as though as I'm some sort of nerd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQElCOUqz84 - Norman Brown/ Smooth Jazz - I feel pretty safe labeling this as 100% smooth jazz. It has that typical R&B feel that smooth jazz has. The song is pretty simple to play (not saying that all smooth jazz is easy to play). The drums are poppy and the guitar sounds very smooth jazzish. This song doesn't sound very jazzy either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGHnB8epj54&feature=relmfu - Kenny G/1000% pure unadulterated smooth jazz - Well here's Kenny G. He's what me and my father like to call the pied piper. His sound is so gay. Even the great fusion guitarist Pat Metheny hated Kenny G for a while (until they recorded a cd together). He's the epitome of smooth jazz. You cannot get more smooth jazz than Kenny G. He's just got that classic commercialized feel. He's also a great definition of Politically Correct Music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Eb1JKpGovw - Lee Ritenour/ Contemporary jazz - Here's something that I'm pretty sure is predominantly contemporary jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7Nqq8n9-IA&feature=related - Grusin Brothers/Contemporary jazz - Here's a crazy little nerdy song. On my ipod I think I actually labeled this song as fusion, yet I think this is more like contemporary jazz meets fusion; more on the contemporary jazz side. It's pretty jazzy. Not smooth jazzy due to the lack of any Kenny G influence. This most definitely is not smooth jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msw2TdJoaX8&feature=related - Chick Corea/post-bop/jazz-rock - This song really gets me going. It's described on another youtube video as being acoustic jazz-rock. On other sites this album is firmly in the post-bop arena. Yet, I'd say this song could be 50/50 split between post-bop/fusion. It's one heck of a song. They should play this song at supermarkets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObXJhkKMwM4 - Chick Corea Akoustic Band/ pure Post-bop - Now here is something that I don't listen to very often: boring post-bop. A lot of people call this elevator music; I call this boring music. I have an appreciation for this music, knowing that most of the performers are virtuosos. Yet, I too describe this music as being "Politically Correct Music". It's something that doesn't offend people. If you played this, people would be like "oh this is great". Yet if you played some Holdsworth/Elektric Band/Gambale, then people will freak out. My own mom has made fun of me when listeing to the Chick Corea Elektric Band. She states it sounded like some weird Chinese music and that I should stop listening to it. In other words, post-bop is 100% pure jazz. It's the typical stuff that defines pure jazz best. When people think of jazz they think of post-bop. Recently I have been trying to explore post-bop and the differences between bebop, neo-bop, mainstream jazz, and hard bop. It's something that I'm working on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NnYBvV6jU8 - Here's another one that would qualify as post-bop. Pretty much for your most part, post-bop is your standard, default, meat & potatoes jazz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZaB9urlkgA - Hiromi Uehara/Contemporary jazz/fusion - This is something to me that sounds very like contemporary jazzish yet with good amounts of fusion. To me contemporary jazz is like post-bop, yet more with a story line. You kind of know what is going to happen and it is predictable. Post-bop is just like all over the place, and it sounds 100% jazzy because it is pure jazz. Contemporary jazz may have more electronics, be something that you can actually hum to yourself, and have different influences of other genres.

Honestly, when it comes to differentiating between smooth and contemporary jazz I believe it is something that is more of an acquired skill. All of this is just my own personal beliefs. Sprecher (talk) 09:29, 17 March 2011 (UTC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=714lHLXx5ts&feature=related - Chick Corea - Post-bop - Here's something that I would identify as post-bop. Any traces of anything else would be at a minimal. Most music nowadays is fused with other different types of music, so it is kind of had to get something so pure. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sprecher (talk • contribs) 08:35, 19 March 2011 (UTC) Sprecher (talk) 08:38, 19 March 2011 (UTC)

Kane and the big show

Hi. I've taken your csd tag off because the article is too coherent for that one. It's actually (I've just this moment found) a copy&paste from Kane (wrestler) so I'm going to delete it as a duplication. Wikipedia nonsense really means stuff that wouldn't even pass as surreal poetry. Keep up the good work... Peridon (talk) 17:10, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

No problems. Some of the tags are confusing but they are really supposed to be clearcut. I still have to think carefully about content and context. What gave that one away was the reference numbers in the text. If you find [44] and such in text and no apparent relevance, it's come from another Wikipedia article. A quick Google for an interesting bit (in double quotes) gives the other article. Usually... Peridon (talk) 17:22, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

Propensity Album

Hi, I would like to create an article for the Propensity album that Holdsworth did back in 1978. Do you think you could help me create it? Sprecher (talk) 23:09, 31 March 2011 (UTC)

Hello, recently I have been trying to better the fusion lists on Digital Dream Door. The moderator seems to be the exact opposite of what you view fusion as. For instance, he is stating that Zoot Allures by Frank Zappa is a fusion album. I have listened to it and researched it, and in no way is it a fusion album. Tell me does this sound like fusion to you?!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj6qDIfq0xw

What do you think of the fusion list?: http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_fusion_songs.html

In your opinion, aren't there too many instrumental rock/progressive rock songs on this so called fusion list? You'd seem to know since you have a good ear for picking up rock. The moderator has a good ear for picking up fusion, so if he listens to a pop song and senses jazz he all of a sudden calls it fusion. This was seen in how 3 songs done by Sting are on this fusion list. It's just really frustrating!!!

Crap

This edit Includes some good stuff (like putting dashes into lists) and some stupid errors (ruining file names.) I will now go back over my edits. Thanks. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 20:32, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Okay That should do it. If you want to do me a favor and take a look at a few edits of mine to see if I've done something stupid, that would be nice. Otherwise, I think it's fixed and I'll tweak my AWB settings for a different run. Thanks. —Justin (koavf)❤T☮C☺M☯ 21:15, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

rollback

You have been granted with the rollback permission on the basis of your recent effort on dealing with vandalism. The rollback is a revert tool which can lessen the strains that normal javascripts such as Twinkle put on the Wikipedia servers. You will find that you will revert faster through the rollback than through the normal reversion tools such as javascripts and the undo feature, because the rollback feature does not require fetching the data from the page history and then sending article data back to the Wikipedia server as the javascript requires, therefore you could save time especially when reverting very large articles such as the George W. Bush page. To use it, simply click the link which should look like [rollback] (which should appear unbolded if you have twinkle installed) on the latest diff page. The rollback link will also appear on the history page beside the edit summary of the last edit. For more information, you may refer to this page, alternatively, you may also find this tutorial on rollback helpful.tedder (talk) 03:30, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

That's what happens when admins see your edit summaries . I recommend Twinkle for anti-vandalism, which makes rollback moot. tedder (talk) 03:29, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Jazz Fusion Genre Discussion

Hey Mac,

It seems that my efforts to start a discussion on whether we should disambiguate the jazz fusion page into jazz-rock fusion (for the Miles guys) and jazz rock seems to be slowly bearing fruit, as you and I discussed on the Allan Holdsworth talk page.

If you could jump in and add your proverbial .02, that'd be most welcome. Snardbafulator (talk) 19:40, 27 August 2011 (UTC)

Thanks

Hey thanks for showing me that. I'm kind of borderline on the whole jazz-rock / jazz fusion article thing. I talked to the original creator of the jazz fusion article, and he stated, "The new sections that attempt to split out jazz rock as something somehow different I think are a mistake. Allmusic is quoted, but it's not gospel by any means, and I find the sections claiming that Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago weren't excellent players, or that only two records of Zappa's were fusion, as a joke. Those guys were all great players." So yeah, I'm not really too sure what kind of input I could provide; but I am thinking about it! Sprecher (talk) 06:11, 30 August 2011 (UTC)

John Petrucci

My only concern regarding John Petrucci and jazz fusion is that if you're going to label him as "fusion" just for participating in the Liquid Tension Experiment, then wouldn't you have to label Mike Portnoy as jazz fusion? Because as of right now, Mike Portnoy is not labeled with jazz fusion even though he was part of the Liquid Tension Experiment.Sprecher (talk) 06:21, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Gambale and Post-bop

Hello, recently you showed me how Petrucci has played jazz fusion. Now, I have no problem labeling him as jazz fusion since according to your sources he supposedly has done it. My only question is if we would have to label Frank Gambale as post-bop? Since Petrucci has partaken in albums that are a blend of "progressive metal/instrumental rock/jazz fusion" with Liquid Tension, this has enabled you to label Petrucci as jazz fusion. Now Gambale on the other hand has played with the Chick Corea Elektric Band. The Chick Corea Electric band has ventured into post-bop/fusion territory on a few albums with Gambale on guitar. So, would this qualify Gambale as post-bop? If Petrucci was labeled with fusion since he played on metal/rock/fusion albums, then why is Gambale not labeled with post-bop since he has played on fusion/post-bop albums?Sprecher (talk) 01:25, 7 September 2011 (UTC)

noprose

Hi there. It may have not been your intention, but in this edit you removed a noprose tag. Just in case you were not aware of this, these tags are there for a reason. According to the album article guidelines reviews should be in prose. Best regards. --Muhandes (talk) 14:22, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

I wasn't aware of their necessity. Now that I know, I won't be removing any others. Thanks for informing me about this. Mac Dreamstate (talk) 14:35, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

Jennifer Batten

Hi Mac Dreamstate. I wanted to let you know that I changed some edits that you made to Jennifer Batten's entry. Basically, I took out the "keyboards," "vocals," and "talk box" on the instrument section of her info box. Batten does not play keyboards at all, and she has said in several interviews that she cannot sing. She tried singing on her first CD because Michael Sembello wanted her to, but she gave up on it. So she doesn't do vocals. She does some spoken word on her latest CD, but I wouldn't really count that. In fact, she doesn't do most of the spoken words stuff. As well, I have never known her to use a talk box. She has an effect on her floor processor that sounds sort of like a talk box, but it's a guitar effect, not a real talk box. I actually remember her saying in an interview that she wanted to get more into learning about using one of those. At any rate, I took that information out of the info box because it's not really accurate.

By the way, I am continuing to work on the major revision for that article. There is a lot of research to deal with, and if you want to see what I'm working with, feel free to have a look at my user page. Most of the references are already in there. As well, this is major restructuring, so I can't do it piecemeal. I have to write the whole thing and then put it up. But just so you know, I haven't abandoned that project. It's just taking a while to work through. Thanks, Retroversion (talk) 11:08, 25 September 2011 (UTC)Retroversion

Thanks for the reply. By the way, you said that you had just listed instruments she had been credited with playing in liner notes. Just out of curiosity, where was she credited with having played keyboards? She doesn't even usually play the bass guitar parts on her albums, so I'm really curious to know where she is listed as having played keyboards. There is a lot of misinformation about her out there, so I wonder if this is a case of that. That's been a bit of a problem with the Wikipedia entry revision, actually. I've been finding articles from time to time with minor factual errors in them, but luckily, Batten has been really good about answering e-mails and setting the record straight for me. It's kind of surprising, though, how sloppy some journalists are. Anyway, thanks again for your reply. Retroversion (talk) 19:09, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

I just got your reply on my talk page. I don't know what "keys" means on the Momentum liner notes. I've only ever seen the credits as listed on her label (Lion) website, and they don't list any keyboards at all. Anyway, I just sent Batten an e-mail and asked her to clarify this stuff. You know, it's completely possible that "keys" means actual keys (i.e. car keys). She has some crazy credits on some of the work she's done, and she also has a very good sense of humor. Anyway, I'll let you know what I hear from her. Thanks as always. Retroversion (talk) 20:25, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Hi Mac Dreamstate. I wanted to give you an update on the email I sent to Jennifer Batten. Basically, I didn't hear back from her on the question of whether she played keyboards on Momentum or not. I'm a bit surprised not to have heard from her since she usually answers and has replied to emails from me since then. But she misses one every now and then. At any rate, I concur that you should just leave things as they are based on what's on the liner notes until we know otherwise. I also wanted to let you know that I'm slowly writing the text for the major revision to the main article on her and am doing it on my user page. As I understand it, that's what I'm supposed to do. Anyway, I'm going to try various things in terms of organization and presentation, so if you want to pop in from time to time, have a look, and give me some feedback, that would be great. Thanks! Retroversion (talk) 00:07, 8 October 2011 (UTC)

Hey, thanks so much for the link to the UG interview with Batten. It is all stuff that I knew, but some of it is stuff that I knew from having exchanged e-mails with Batten, so I couldn't use it. This will give me a way to use a lot of the details that I knew but couldn't link to a source that Wikipedia would like. So, thank you so much! I'm working on the article slowly but surely and am hoping to have a chance to finish it during my holiday break (I'm a college English teacher, so I get about a month in between semesters). Thanks again!! Retroversion (talk) 22:41, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the Edits

Just a quick note to say thanks for the edits on the Jennifer Batten article. I tried to get the line breaks to go on the Notable Instruments part, and I couldn't figure out how to do it. I also wasn't aware that a link that redirects to a different page needed to go in in a special way. Anyway, thanks for fixing that stuff. I looked at how you did it, so now I know how to do it. Anyway, I'm continuing to work on the Batten article and am hoping to have the major revision done after Christmas. There is a lot of info to work with for her!

One other quick question--Batten has been very good about answering questions for me via e-mail, and every now and then, I get some info from her that I wouldn't necessarily find in a published article. For example, she inherited the Parker Bronze Fly from her father, which I knew from an article, but she also mentioned in an e-mail that inheriting the guitar from her dad had sparked a renewed interest for her in acoustic guitar. So, can I use info I get directly from her in the article? If so, how do I cite it? Thanks for any direction you can give me on this. Retroversion (talk) 04:50, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Post-Bop Question

Hello, I really am not the most knowledgeable when coming to post-bop, yet I am ok at differentiating it with other jazz genres. I listen to a lot of different genres of jazz such as acid jazz, jazz-funk, contemporary/modern jazz, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, and recently I've been diving into a little more post-bop which is considered "pure jazz". I listened to all the samples on allmusic. I personally do not think that you should put down post-bop unless the article explicitly states how "this album is so post-bop oriented" or "Stern really combines post-bop with fusion". I looked on google, and I could not find any sources that explicitly mention how the album is post-bop. Allmusic probably just crufted post-bop in there because a few of Stern's other albums do have a post-bop influence. It's kind of like how allmusic crufts "art-rock" on practically all of Holdsworth's albums. You'd think they'd do a better job. I even emailed them about labeling Holdsworth with art-rock, but I never got a response. It's kind of funny, but a while ago I remember asking your opinion on the song "upside downside". We both agree that that song in particular is fusion (except for Stern's supposed rock solo). I'd say that this whole album is pure fusion, and a very good one at that. Even if I believed that this album had a significant post-bop influence, I'm not too sure if I'd still have the right to label this album as "post-bop" on wikipedia. One measly little source that shoves post-bop in the corner and makes no reference to how this album is post-bop really does not give me the impression that it would even be ok to put "post-bop" in the info box. So yeah, I'd say it'd be best to just leave it as "fusion".Sprecher (talk) 05:39, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Re

This boxer is rated in top 10 pound for pound best boxer in the world by BoxRec. Check, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2011_in_boxing, we also have other champions fighting against challengers. Mendy was challenger and undefeated. Or the Klitschko fighting even poorer opponents. The fight was on Showtime. But I'll leave the decision to you! Best regards, sorry if I redited. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Razvan.mitrea (talk • contribs) 14:44, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

Re: Grande Rock

Hi Mac... We have talked about this issue a long time ago with other Users from Wiki. Grande Rock is being run by fully professional editors/musicians who use to be in big printed magazines in the past. They are over than 30 years old... and the Editor in Chief has a previous experience in 3 printed magazines. In the end, Grande Rock is a pro ezine that has more than 10 years life... and all the known bands that have been interviewed all these years are making it what it is... as well as the visitors' love.(Hard Rocker 13 18:27, 14 June 2012 (UTC))

OK dude no problem at all.. Can I ask you as also why my article is not getting an approval? Here it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Articles_for_creation/Stakkattakktwo. It's way better than 90% of other music articles but I had not luck till now. If you can check it out... and finally get it work... it will be great! (Hard Rocker 13 23:24, 14 June 2012 (UTC))

Vinnie Moore - Maze

Hi Mac, I have just seen your note about Maze song list edit. It is a problem with album printing. Some people have the wrong one and for them In the Healing Garden is Fear Trepidation and vice versa. I can send a copy of back cover if you like. There is also much discussion going on under Youtube videos of both Healing Garden and Fear&Trepidation.Serkanurun (talk) 12:08, 9 July 2012 (UTC)

Hi Mac, you can have a look at the album cover in http://imgur.com/KkIM6

Thanks.Serkanurun (talk) 05:46, 11 July 2012 (UTC)

Some baklava for you!

Thanks for the edit. Hope you enjoy baklava from Turkey! Serkanurun (talk) 07:47, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

Brush with Greatness

See WP:V and WP:RS. It doesn't matter how obvious you, or I, or anyone else finds something to be. This is especially the case with things like cultural references, because there is a lot of dispute or potential disagreement about what many of them are referencing. Yes, this case may be clear cut, but without a reliable source it cannot be included. Otherwise it becomes a slippery slope. Gran² 10:39, 26 August 2012 (UTC)

Allan Holdsworth Discography

Mac Dreamstate,

I like the Allan Holdsworth discography better now that I have spent all that time editing it. Without the discography the way it is written now, it is very hard to follow Allan's career (especially in the 1970's) from the article itself. The way I have filled out his 1970's discography now it is much easier to follow, and makes sense because he changed bands so frequently during this period. I am sure others will appreciate it too. Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wickkey (talk • contribs) 15:43, 8 October 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, Mac Dreamstate. You have new messages at Wikipedia:Reliable sources/Noticeboard.
Message added 15:52, 9 November 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

You have discussed this source at User talk:AORmaniac13 in the past. Feel free to weigh-in at this discussion. Walter Görlitz (talk) 15:52, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Allan Holdsworth

Per WP:LEAD, the lead is supposed to effectively summarize the article. It has nothing on his actual career, and nothing on his playing style now that you've reverted. Also you don't actually need to source leads. You should work on the lead. With some work it would be good to get it up to GA. Not Holdsworth's greatest fan, I find a lot of his work too abstract with too many off scales but I respect his technical knowledge. I can see you are also an accomplished guitarist judging by the guitarists you've edited on you user page, those guitarists also include those I rate highly.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 15:59, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

LOL the '75 photo of Holdsworth looks more like Keith Urban than Allan!♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 17:19, 8 December 2012 (UTC)

What would you rate as the finest guitar performance of all time? This is the finest I've ever seen, not only sheer mastery but emotionally rich, takes you back to Moorish Spain. Just stunning. Let me know what you think.♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 21:58, 10 December 2012 (UTC)

I didn't used to be previously either, but I admire flamenco, classical and jazz players more than rock players nowadays. To shred clean with altered tones and such I think is pretty impressive. Have you heard Andreas Oberg play? Scary. I have a Pat Martino tab book and its the most demanding stuff I've ever tried to play, and I can a lot of Satriani and Vai stuff too! I'd love to get hold of some Holdsworth tablature books but it sadly doesn't seem available. I had a feeling that link would point to Shawn Lane, what an incredible player. I've watched some of his lessons and he really makes you think differently! Actually his rendition of Once Upon a Time in the West is one of my favourites of all time too. It makes me angry I guess that players like Shawn Lane, Larry Carlton and Paco de Lucia don't even make the top 100 on the Rolling Stone lists!! They're easily in the top 5! They confuse blues rock guitarists with "greatest" players. I mean how can Kurt Cobain and Jack White reach the top 20 and the list not even have Joe Satriani. Cobain and White would be a complete beginner student under Satriani!! I think most decent guitarists consider the Rolling Stone lists a joke. ♦ Dr. ☠ Blofeld 12:42, 12 December 2012 (UTC)

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