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My top 10 albums of 2017 and the year in music

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A great year for music, and personally for me a sad year losing two of my musical heroes Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell, but more on that later.  First my top 10: 10. Nothing More - The Stories We Tell Ourselves A major step up for the band, in a few years I could see them filling arenas.  9. Asking Alexandria - Asking Alexandria  Danny Warsnop is back and the band are on top form.  Can't wait to catch them at Download in 2018. 8. Enter Shikari - The Spark Great unique sound with a spot on political message. 7. Prophets of Rage - Prophets of Rage Featuring members of Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill it punches a strong political message to some excellent music. 6. Lana Del Rey - Lust for Life A beautiful ethereal sounds to poetic lyrics. 5. Stone Sour - Hydrograd  A great return for Corey Taylor’s softer alternative to Slipknot. 4. Creeper - Eternity In Your Arms A unique blend of rock, punk, goth a
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My top 12 Linkin Park songs

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It's one week since we lost Chester Bennington and three weeks ago since I saw their last concert in Birmingham.  It is weird to feel the loss of someone I never met, and couldn't understand it when people got upset when celebrities died, but with Chester it is different.  He bared so much of his soul in his music, his fans felt like they knew him. There is not a Linkin Park song I don't like, but here are my top 12. 1. Iridescent (A Thousand Suns) I discovered Linkin Park through this song, and the lyrics really mean a lot to me. 2. Heavy (ft. Kiiara) (One More Light) This song divided fans, but I love it.  Classic Linkin Park lyrics which I completely relate to. 3. Papercut (Hybrid Theory) Great lyrics, and excellent harmonies between Chester and Mike. 4. Numb (Meteora) Lyrics which I'm sure hit anyone who has ever experienced depression. 5. One More Light (One More Light) Sends shivers down your spine seeing Cheste
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How Linkin Park gave me strength

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Like millions of others I saw deeply shocked and saddened by the recent death of Chester Bennington from Linkin Park.  I must admit I was late to the party, but when I had a particularly bad phase of depression in 2012 I found Linkin Park's music.  Unlike anything I have heard from any other band I found their lyrics spoke directly to me, it felt they were expressing exactly what I was feeling. If I were to pick the song which most resonated with me it would be Iridescent from A Thousand Suns.  I even ended up getting the lyrics tattooed on my arm: I was luck enough to see Linkin Park live twice.  In 2014 I caught them at Download Festival performing Hybrid Theory in full.  This remains my all time favourite concert. I got to see them again this month at Birmingham Arena, which would end up being their final concert with Chester.  Again a brilliant performance which I'm glad I made the effort to get to after the date I booked for in Manchester was cancell
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My top 10 albums of 2016

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2016 has been a great year for music.  It has been difficult narrowing my list down to my favourite 10, but here they are in no particular order: Lacuna Coil - Delirium Lacuna Coil remain on top form with their most recent release.   LOLO - In Loving Memory of When I Gave a Shit A unique voice and great lyrics.  The song above Shine is my favourite track, a go to track when I'm feeling low. Skillet - Unleashed IMHO Skillet's best album to date.  Proving you can sing about God and still rock hard.  The song above Stars is my favourite song of the year. Green Day - Revolution Radio I wasn't a huge fan of Uno, Dos, Tres but this is a great return to form for the trio.  Above is my favourite track Still Breathing.  Can't wait to see them on tour in February. Asking Alexandria - The Black After the  departure of Danny Worsnop the band were joined albeit briefly by Denis Stoff to create what I feel is their best album t
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Progressing well

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Been a while since I last posted, but happy to say that physically I am progressing well.  My increase in activity has really helped with the weight loss, now at my lowest weight this century!  I'm no longer classed as obese, although obviously a long way to go. I've also started attending gigs again, one of my favourite past times which I hadn't been able to do since early this year.  This month I have seen Brian Fallon, Lacuna Coil and Bring Me The Horizon.  Many more gigs planned over the coming months.
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Week 6 - Going well

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6 weeks since the 2nd part of my surgery.  I'm doing well, most days managing 10,000 steps a day.  I would have never have thought I would get my mobility back so quickly.  I am still in some discomfort particularly when sitting down, but am doing well and have started phasing my return to work.
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Making good progress

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Yesterday for the first time in well over a year I achieved 10,000 steps.  I never thought this would have been possible 6 months ago.  I had started looking at mobility devices as it was getting so difficult walking any distance. I still have some pain, especially after sleeping, but can now walk and no longer feel pain. I know there is a long way to go, with lots of physiotherapy, but I am feeling very optimistic about my recovery.
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