Oh you don’t need to explain it! Thanks for the release btw, Summit has very quickly become my daily driver.

Fix bullshit. Released as v1.72.6.

Half my git commit messages look like this 😂

That’s a very interesting point. I didn’t interpret the album in this way, but even doing so I’m still put off. That’s purely a personal thing, and I’m in not suggesting this is a bad album because the sentiment in it (whether personally felt by the lyricist or just an invention from the perspective of a flawed character) is something I don’t share.

My reaction to lyrics has become uncomfortable to the point where I no longer enjoy the album, and so I guess I’m grieving the loss of my love for this album.

Thanks for this response, it was thought-provoking and I wanted to take the time to reply to you properly.

First, I’m glad The Outsider holds meaning for you. My discomfort with the song, and the album in general, is down to the way those words resonate with me, and that’s based on my experiences. If you’ve been in a place where you’ve experienced someone you care about self-destructing, then I’m sorry you went through that. It’s horrible. Processing that is very personal and there isn’t a wrong way to do it.

I picked The Outsider as an example in my original post because it’s a clear representation of the theme of disdain I feel is present in the entire album. Again, I understand this is a concept album and I shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that this represents Maynard’s real opinions, but I have a hard time separating him as a person from the narrator in this album because this isn’t the only place Maynard has expressed such opinions. I remember interviews he gave around the time Thirteenth Step came out where he went into the meaning behind some of the songs, and he was very direct about them being about his disappointment in other people. Whether the subjects of these songs are real or imagined, I don’t know, but either way it doesn’t sit right with me.

It’s not just on this album: a lot of Maynard’s lyrics have similar themes. For example, I love the music in Passive, but the lyrics again are written from the perspective of someone angry and frustrated that other people don’t meet up to their standards. Aenema is pretty misanthropic in general. In Hooker With a Penis he pushes back against his critics with “all you know about me is what I sold you”, but all he’s selling me is a contrarian provocateur. Whether there’s a deeper self-reflection hidden between the lines of his words almost feels irrelevant: I’m believing who he’s showing me, and it puts me off.

Definitely. And I’ll always love the music.

Yeah. Remember when he found out his wine was vegan, so he posted a picture of himself dangling bacon over one of the wine vats?

It’s like he never grew out of being an edgy teenager.

A lot of the lyrics on Thirteenth Step feel like they come from a place of judgement and cynicism at an addict’s recovery. I get it’s a concept album, and this is Maynard’s take on the issue as he experiences it. But the more I listen to it the more I realise I don’t relate to it at all. So I feel like I’m saying goodbye to an album that I used to enjoy musically.

Yeah this feels very much like he’s grudgingly accepted this after the backlash against his years of bad takes.

Wow that MTV2 watermark brought back intense memories.

What if Iron Maiden sounded like Pink Floyd?

Then wouldn’t it just sound like Pink Floyd?

I’m sorry you experienced this. My assessment had the same outcome.

I find it helpful to remember that diagnostic assessments are set somewhat arbitrarily and are more concerned with the question “do these symptoms negatively affect your life to the extent they need intervention?”. That question is purely subjective and isn’t reflective of you.

No I don’t think they’re full of shit. The picture likely came from this Instagram video. It might have been upscaled or filtered but it’s not AI generated.

Ah I found what looks like the original Instagram video this came from.

I’m sorry I accused you of using AI for it.

Nah it’s these things that are throwing me off:

• the break in the chocolate coating doesn’t align
• the berries look like whirlpools
• photo shows both hands from the perspective of the person with those hands: how was the photo taken?

This picture looks odd. Did you use some sort of generative AI for it?

Thank you for this video! that was so much fun to watch (and I want to try it out too!)

Brutus are one of my favourite bands out of the past decade. They’re outstanding musicians and their songwriting is incredible.

I didn’t know about Sandrider before this compilation was announced, but I’m definitely gonna check out their discography now. The March of the Pigs cover goes hard.