Ian:

Why I keep "ripping on bands" to use your lingo --- is because if a band like DEF LEPPARD tried to hand a record company an album like their most recent effort entitled "DEF LEPPARD X" they wouldn't have gotten the record deal in the first place.

Their last CD was terrible --- to say the least.

I call things as I see them --- and I make no apologies for NO ONE. Sorry if that offends, but in my house, all half-assed music gets stopped at the door.

As for DEF LEPPARD --- their best album since PYROMANIA and HYSTERIA, was SLANG. It was different -- and it showed they were at least trying something different. The fans and the critics said WE AREN'T GONNA TAKE ANYTHING BUT THE FORMULA --- keep releasing the same fucking album (parts 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.)

Think about it Ian --- why are most of us here in BAERWALD- LAND? Because he does different and exciting stuff, and he isn't singing the same song for thirty years.

Don't get me wrong, I RESPECT the shit out of DEF LEPPARD. I think what they did with RICK ALLEN was magnanimous beyond comprehension. They showed what REAL FRIENDSHIP AND SPIRITUAL FAMILY is all about.

But, their label, management, and MUTT LANGE all have jammed those guys into a format that is so tight that even they cannot hack it anymore --- it's just been the same old shit for too many records now.

What has become of bands like DEF LEPPARD and quite a few others I could name --- is this marketing to narrow demographics that imposes prefabricated likes and dislikes on people. This formating is one of the biggest problems with the industry --- and it is why NAPSTER and P2P took off.

Also . . .

I did not appreciate your comment that insinuated that all I do is sit around and watch DVD's --- well sir, let me tell you a little true story.

In July 1993, while my wife was at work, I took our pet wolf to the beach for a little drink and swim in Lake Erie. On the way back to our beachfront cottage, I was hit by a drunken and speeding asshole. I should have died --- and I was in bed for four months afterward. In that four months, I used THREE YEARS SUPPLY OF COMMERCIAL CLOTTING FACTOR to attempt to control the internal bleeding.

Neither the accident itself nor the internal bleeding killed me, but it should have. The result of this accident was that I now have three damaged vertibrae in my spine, a dislocated hip, and both knees are trashed. My doctor attempted to schedule SIX SEPERATE SURGERIES to attempt to deal with the injuries.

I am on a level of pain killers that is usually reserved for END- STAGE CANCER PATIENTS that have less than six months to live.

Ten years ago, I started travelling by wheelchair because of all this --- I went in one day, from a normally functioning adult male, to a disabled dude in a wheelchair.

Life in a wheelchair is not really 100% groovy 24/7/365 --- there are areas that are hassles --- such as when I had to be hoisted up THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS to go to a Social Security Disability Doctor whose office was in a building on a third floor with no elevator.

In Buffalo, NY the concert scene is nearly dead. The most frequently used place is called SIX FLAGS DARIEN LAKES PAC. They are an outdoor shed facility with lawn seating on a hill behind the reserved seating.

In this place --- the wheelchair section is behind the soundboard and light board and in obstructed seating, especially when everyone stands on their seats.

I am not going to pay $100 a ticket to stare at some ignorant slobs ass all night --- THAT IS WHY I WOULD RATHER STAY HOME.

Also --- since I now have a policy of NO SMOKING ANYWHERE OUTDOORS (I am NOT talking nicotine here, either!) --- I cannot even enjoy myself by relaxing at a good concert with my spinal muscle spasms not freaking out so bad.

So --- the number of reasons to STAY HOME far outweigh those that tell me to go. Besides, I have seen over 600 concerts in the last twenty-five years, and I have pretty much seen everyone worth seeing (and that I had a chance to see).

Besides, I have a $15,000 home theatre in my living room --- I have a very cozy place here --- when I entertain, my guests have a GREAT TIME!

Spend 24 hours in a wheelchair, and tell me what you think.

One clue --- all little children are petrified of wheelchairs and I get dumbfounded stares every time I am out in public.

It is not a lot of fun --- so I just stay home.

However, if there is a favorite of mine or Paula's playing, we go anyway. But, there aren't too many in that category, it is sad to say.

Plus, for six years (1978 to 1984) I ran the ticket lines out here, and I got front row seats for almost every show.

So, what was the reason you had that I should waste my money on bands who are playing on their RETIREMENT FUND ROTH I.R.A. 401K WORLD TOUR?

Why should I?

Please do respond, I am curious as to your answer . . .

Peace and Prayers,

Kent Daniel Bentkowski Buffalo, New York USA