Oh RockLegend...what are you doing...

I hadn't made my way over to RockLegend (http://www.thin-lizzy.info/) in awhile, but today I was winding down after work and wanted to check out their news page. I was aware of their stance on "Still Dangerous", which is one I actually agree with. I suspect that they have taken some flack for it based on what I saw on a cached page that once appeared on the forums at Roisin Dubh Trust. I don't even have an account at the Trust, and to be honest, I try to avoid forums because it seems like I get too sucked into them and the "politics" that seem to surround them. Very rarely have I encountered any type of forum where there wasn't some sort of bias or favoritism contained within. Keep in mind that I don't have anything against forums or people that use them, but I have trouble "towing the party line" because I have in my head a set of standards that I follow regardless of what's popular. Eventually something I think is right contradicts these "politics" that run a particular forum, and that leads to problems.

The post at The Trust is made by a guy I don't even know. If he sees this, I would like him to come forward and introduce himself via email or at YouTube. Maybe he has and I just haven't put two and two together. I get messages all the time, and I try and keep up but sometimes I read one, meaning full well to get back to it later and sometimes I just don't. So if this happened, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional.

I just copied parts of two of the posts. The thread no longer exists. Obviously there was some other points of contention that aren't really revelent to the subject at hand, and I removed those. I left in the parts about "Still Dangerous" and my other main point, which I will make in a minute.

Youknowwho Junior Member
Posts: 9Joined: Nov 2007 Reputation: 0
RE: Rock legend forum boycott

"I was just pointing out your shortcomings,and Your lack of judgement by cottling RL. Blacksabfan on youtube has done more for Lizzy getting the word out than the pirate crue at The Masonic Temple of RL. You should have took my advice.. "They make good points"??? The point is they have no say or everwill regarding releases;just there own bootlegs..And you know they'll always complain no matter what.You are responsible for endorsing a boycott of the new release.You live with it!So long Che', good day.............MichaelM"

and this one...

"I KNOW myself and at LEAST 6 other people have been turned on an open flame at RL ...I believe you were one once.But I'm not bitter about that;it's just the fact that their "Debate" is by invitation only. You have to have more than one view to have a debate..They had to put out a news flash to get the word out. Leave the door open I say, You do..Thank you Roddie.I respect that. There was no debate here, any outsiders/non RL and NEW people(most importantly) are just seeing negative with the "News" To me the only "News" is that it's being released."

I smiled a little bit when I read this. Not so much because I got name-dropped, but because that there are finally people catching on to what I've been saying for 6 months now. This should further prove my point...it's the entrance page to the forums at Rock Legend:

"The Rock Legend Forum is a meeting place for people with a passion for the life and music of Philip Lynott and his band Thin Lizzy

It is a friendly and good-humoured International Community

Now in our seventh year we have inevitably attracted malcontents who would like you to believe otherwise [I'd be a malcontent...]

Our biggest critics are those whose behaviour has been intolerable [Go back to my early January posts and read my experience with RL, and then you make the decision about whose behavior is intolerable.]

We ask that you do not deliberately agitate and that you avoid personal attacks [I still LOL at this, considering RL's main gang has not only personally attacked me on their own site, but have come to Guitars101, DIME, and YouTube, and attacked me there, because I use the same name everywhere and refuse to use aliases...unlike some of them.]

Automated registration via the forum is no longer available. To register please email rocklegend@thin-lizzy.info with a modicum of information about yourself and a desired username. We will set up your account and email you a password. Registration is entirely manual so please do not expect an instant response.

Disclaimer: The Forum is a place for individuals to express their views. Any views expressed are solely those of the the individuals who post them and do not necessarily reflect those of the domain name owners or administrators of the web site Thin Lizzy - A Rock Legend

So this is what it has come to? RockLegend's entry now comes by invite only. The guy at the Trust had it right. How the hell can you have a discussion worth a damn if you can only have one viewpoint? I suppose "malcontents" are people that disagree with trivial matters and say the "wrong" things. Or in my case, you post a song or two they don't want posted, despite the fact they don't own them, and get bitched at for weeks on end until I had enough sense to just leave.

I'm not like this. Yes, I do ban people and argue with people. I've removed comments before. Do I play favorites...perhaps...I know I'm hard on a lot of anti-Dio/pro-Ozzy fans, but that's only because I'm trying to right 25+ years of misconception and inaccuracy. But do I go as far as to pre-judge people before they even subscribe to my YouTube account? Hell no. Do I request a person's life story to be able to view my videos? Of course not. Have I banned a person simply because they disagreed. No. I've only barred people that pick fights, type run-on sentences, and senselessly argue with me. RockLegend is trying to spin it so it appears that they've had to do it this way because of malcontents....because of people like me...and like some others I know. That's horseshit. They are doing it because they want complete control of who gets into their "debate". I remember telling some of the RLers that they ran the place like a dictatorship (and I probably called them nazis) and it was comments like these that got me booted out. Well, it sure as hell doesn't look like a democracy...even more so now.

I don't know if RL actually wanted people to boycott "Still Dangerous". I'm not going to really get into that. I went out and bought it, despite knowing its "problems". It's not a bad album at all; just not one that I had expected or hoped for, and I hope next time around, these issues will be considered (and I have a feeling they will be.)

I guess my only wish is that RL would step back and start blaming themselves for their issues instead of pointing fingers at anyone that has even had a qualm with them. The way they have treated people in the past is what has forced them to become isolated. They claim that they are independent and critical and that's why they are unpopular. No it's not. I'll just say it plain: You're unpopular because you treat people like shit. I'm very independent and critical too, and I haven't had to go to the same extremes. It's amazing how far a little niceness and generousity can go.

I'm sure I'll get a few emails from some for this rant. I don't really give a shit.