Semi-Sweet Sixteen: 16 Years of BB Chronicles

 

A Semi-Sweet 16 Years

Well, here we are, it's April once again, which means it's another anniversary for the blog. That's right, it was 16 years ago this week that I started this fateful internet outpost, and throughout its ups and downs, highs and lows, I am still here sporadically putting out my musical musings and commentary, and trying to help make some great lesser known music heard by more people. And hey, there's been quite a bit of great stuff posted here over the years, if I do say so myself. Hopefully, there have been things of interest for you to read and listen to here. But yes, the commentary is all my own opinions on music, so take note that your mileage may very much vary. But I always try to present positive info and commentary and really only present and talk about artists I really love and hope others will enjoy as well, without trashing other artists that I may not be such a big fan of, as I know that others may very well be big fans of them (and all music has value). I try to present a variety of music that may be hard to find or not readily available elsewhere. I also try to provide some background and context to the music and artists, as well as my own commentary, reviews and rankings, to give those new to these artists some perspective and history, to explore the music further. Previously, I've been able to say that most everything I posted here was still available, but unfortunately, that is no longer the case, as with the demise of various filesharing services, a large proportion of my music posts are not currently available. All the Ulozto.net links (which are most of the FLAC files) are dead now, since ULOZto stopped allowing any sharing, and I have yet to find a reliable replacement for those larger than 200MB files. And there are still quite few of the old solidfiles links that have not been updated and replaced (although there are quite alot that have been fixed!). And even those that were fixed by using upload.eea have some problems, since that file service has now started putting in misleading and deceptive ads when the download link is clicked [Note:be sure to only click on the original green download button at the uploa.ee site and not any subsequent links or pages that may pop up. The download should start right away. If you get some other page come up that asks you to click on another button or anything else, delete that page, go back to the original dowmnload page and try again. It may take 2 or 3 tries to get it to download, but just don't click on any of the other pages or sites that come up. The lnks work, they just are a bit of pain now (which is a change from when I first started using the site). Anyway, we've weathered the demise or closure of several other filesharing sites previously, and we'll survive this one as well. It just may take awhile to get everything up and running again. But if you have a pressing need for something that is not currently available, let me know and I'll see what I can do about re-upping it.

Anyway, once again, as I have each year at this time, I also want to take this time to thank and celebrate all the others out there who have made so much of this great music, and those that have made it freely available for others. I am only able to offer these downloads because others before me have made them available. So, to all the other bloggers, tapers, forum posters, and music fans that have collected these recordings and made them available over the internet, and most importantly, to all the great artists and musicians out there that have created and performed this wonderful music and allow these recordings to be freely exchanged, I offer a huge and heartfelt Thank You. And again, I implore everyone to purchase all the official releases of your favorite artists, as well as, wherever possible, go see them live in concert. The music and commentary here serves to supplement, not replace, all of their officially released music. They are supported by fans like us. 

As for the blog itself, I have enjoyed varying the types of posts I've made, doing more of the album reviews, rankings and ratings, and special features, and I hope to do more of those in the coming months. Next up, I will be doing a ranking of the albums by the great classic progressive rock pioneers, The Moody Blues, as well as a few other special posts, and I hope to be doing more regular reviews of new albums, as well as older and classic albums, and then we'll see where it goes from there.

So, I will continue to carry on here, pretty much as I have, and I hope there are things here that are of interest that will keep you coming back for more, and to always be excited about all the great music all around us. As always, thanks for your interest and support. Take care.