A few thoughts after an exhausting Tuesday: Pale Nostalgia riding a Wavering Radiant.

It's going to be a rough couple of weeks folks. While I'm still trying to find my keyhole into the Western Metropolis of Los Angeles by applying for internships. So while I survived my hardest day of classes. So I had some thoughts that I would like to share with you since I'm exhausted and need to oxidize my brain a bit. With that in mind....Away we go.

So in parts of three.

Part one:

Tuesdays are always really hard for me. I'm in go mode from about 10:00am until 10:00pm. Long days. Usually the days where everything happens. At least there are small times for down times and long limes for music...times.

Usually during my downtime I spend time messing around on the Internet and do nothing. But along with sorting out some production work; I continued my quest for the internship to whisk me away to the deserts of California. Some internships mention places, sections, suburbs of LA that I've never heard before. Honestly, my limited experience in California transpires in the north. It was my first love with a big city. I think I was in the 6th grade. The next time I would reach the foggy bay would be well into High School.

Which brings us to part 2: Beyond the Pale

Richard and I had just turned 16. I had gotten my drivers licence literally the day we flew out there. I had worked all summer at the library to save up and go to the first ever Beyond the Pale festival, hosted by Neurosis.

As many of you may or may not know Richard and I are huge fans of Neurosis. I mean huge with a capital HUE. There will be more on that later on this thing I'm positive.

This was to be our first time ever seeing Neurosis live. I'll never forget how cool meeting them was and how remarkable nice they were. And, seemed impressed that we had flown out to see them. The Beyond the Pale festival had a many number of my favorite bands when I was 16. Isis, Tarentel, Michael Gira, Amber Asylum....the list goes on. After the fourth day of the festival, my god worship of Neurosis had only enhanced and grown to epic proportions.

It was also our first time seeing Isis. At the time Isis had only come out with Celestial, so that's what they were known for. Before Isis played, there was Thrones. Not knowing, or ever hearing of Thrones, you could only assume I had no idea who Joe Preston was. Joe Preston! Former bassist for The Melvins and Earth! I was so close to meeting him and had the chance to, but due to my young ignorance, I had never heard of him. Had I known then what I know now, I would have been a lot more receptive and anxious to see him.

Anyway, Isis was not as well known then. I remember after their set Richard and I wanted to meet them. They were pretty cool and demonstrated the same reverence that we had because.....Neurosis was coming.

After Neurosis, we had to step outside and reflect on the experience. I remember looking over and the whole band of Isis was just leaning up against the wall of the Great American Music Hall. Aaron Turner and I made eye contact and had a "whew" moment.

Now Isis has really come into their own. Touring with Tool and building a nice worship crowd of their own. I feel proud of them as musicians and as a fanboy myself that I remember the Celestial days. It's nice observing the ground floor of a future great band.

Link that to my conclusion.

Part 3: Wavering Radiant

Isis's new album had recently been leaked on the Internet. And before I give my thoughts on the album, I want to state with great confidence that I WILL PURCHASE THE CD WHEN IT COMES OUT! I'm not Roger Freidman or anything and revealing any Wolverine pirates or anything; but thanks to whoever leaked it to confirm what I already knew. I am going to buy and love this album.

Okay, that should cover my ass right?

Anyway, Isis's new albums are always a strange experience for me. I never listen to their albums and click right away. It's a slow process. To give you hint, I've only recently realized how brilliant Oceanic (their previous album) is. I always like it, but it can take months to years to LOVE the album.

It's produced clean and complicated. To any of this albums naysayers; I only have this to say. Listen to Isis from Celestial to In the Absence of Truth and you can hear the evolution. So this album really shouldn't have surprised anyone. Melodically tuned with some deep toned riffs. Like Beyond the Pale, their fandom and companionship with Neurosis teaches this band what other bands should learn. There is a difference between selling out or growing up with experimentation and maturity. I'm not saying Isis has never taken themselves seriously, but I can hear them taking it MORE seriously with every album.

Okay, not really a review. But what do you want?!?! I have no command over the thoughts that come out of my head.

It just needed to happen.


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