A while back, I did this as a troll post, where I mercilessly chopped up the excellent Double album into a pretty rubbish single LP version. Well, today, I am going to do it properly. All tracks are from Out of the Blue by ELO. And yes, there are songs missing...

Side A (~16:50)

1. Turn to Stone – 3:47
2. Sweet Talkin' Woman – 3:47
3. Across the Border – 3:52
4. Steppin' Out – 4:38

Side B (~17:36)

1. Believe Me Now – 1:20
2. It's Over – 4:08
3. Night in the City – 4:00
4. Sweet Is the Night – 3:26
5. Wild West Hero – 4:40

Total Length: 25:26

On the 1st November 1982, two men die. Both were loved, and both were influential musicians who had shaped the pop and rock genre through their innate musical talents, and their cult like status. They shaped 60s and 70s American music, toured the world, both were friends, but they impacted music differently. The first man embodied the spirit of America, Surfing, Hot Rods, and had an ear that should go in the Smithsonian. The other man used horror, snakes, and mascara to shock and entertain. Those two men were Brian Wilson and Alice Cooper.

Point of Divergence

In our timeline, Brian Wilson would enter the 'care' of Eugene Landy; a man who ultimately would abuse his position of power over Brian, but did save his life. Alice Cooper, however, would continue through 1982, and into 1983, before reaching a point where his body nearly broke from being abused with alcohol and cocaine. Both men are/were survivors; Cooper still performs live on stage now, while Wilson had a career renaissance, and performed almost to the end of his life.

The point of divergence is that both men's bodies, coincidentally, give up and they both die on the same day, when both were at their worst physically and mentally. Such a tragic event would earn the title 'The Second Day The Music Died'.

1st November 1982

Brian Douglas Wilson, aged 40, dies following years of substance abuse and declining physical and mental health. His death becomes the American equivalent of Elvis Presley's: a hugely talented musician whose health had deteriorated to the point where his death, while shocking, wasn't entirely unforeseeable.

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Then, perhaps only hours later:

Alice Cooper, aged 34, dies from a cocaine overdose.

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Unlike Wilson, Cooper's death is completely sudden. He had been struggling with substance abuse, but nobody expected him to be gone at 34.

The fact that both deaths happen on the same day is what really changes the cultural impact. Suddenly the newspapers aren't reporting two unrelated celebrity deaths. They're reporting the apparent end of an entire generation of rock music. The comparisons to the untimely deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson are talked about in Rolling Stone, in the newspapers, and Time Magazine. Both men's deaths ending their respective eras in music. Wilson once stood vanguard as part of the 60's counterculture movement, while Cooper was a leader in tearing down the 60's peace and love movement. And both are now gone.

What Happens next?

The Beach Boys all knew that Brian was in a bad way, they had agreed that he needed help, and decided to bring in Eugene Landy to help Brian. The fact they were too late stings more harshly, knowing that the plan to bring Landy in was already being finalised. Pet Sounds sees a re-release that sells, and the Boys continue performing live in stage, but with the fact that Brian is never coming back. Instead, they turn their attention to helping Dennis Wilson, who's own death in December of 1983, could have been avoided. Perhaps that loss of Brian shocks Dennis enough to get help, or it makes the other members adamant that he does get help, to avoid the death of another Wilson family member.

Meanwhile, Cooper's death sees something different. His stage persona becomes hugely influential on the emerging goth, punk and metal scene, and his music is reappraised. His last album, Zipper Catches Skin, sees a boost in sales, as does Welcome to my Nightmare, which is venerated as one of the greatest albums of rock and roll in this alternative timeline.

In retrospect, music historians might therefore look back at that day as something much bigger than two deaths. They might call it the Second Day the Music Died. Not because rock music itself died, but because the people who had created its mythology were disappearing. The first Day the Music Died killed three young musicians in a plane crash. The second would be stranger: two completely unrelated deaths, on opposite sides of the American musical spectrum, occurring on the same day and symbolically closing the book on the 1960s and 1970s.

So, I am sure this will be a megathread for your guys eventually, and I say this as someone who isn't a fan of Ariana Grande's music. That's not to say I dislike her stuff, I have a lot of respect for her, what she did for Manchester as someone who lives near there, she will never be someone I hate on. I know a lot of the speculation regarding her recent announcement, the comments on her health, and the theories going around in the pop culture sphere, here's my take: I do think she is ill, and I think its none of our business what's wrong with her, and stepping out of the public eye is the best thing she can do for her own sanity.

Despite her age, this woman has been in the public eye for years. She became famous very early on in her life, she has never really stopped, she has gone through everything that a normal celebrity would go through in a much shorter amount of time than others, and she needs to take some time to just stop. 5 minutes.

I won't speculate on what is wrong with her, as I think speculation is wrong, but I do think she's ill, and I do think she needs to put herself first. So good on her.

1. It's simple, and its short and sweet.

2. It's gentle, it's not hard or off-putting to listen to.

3. The harmonies on that song are probably the best the group ever did. Don't @ me.

4. It should have been the closer to Friends, or at least the penultimate track, if Diamond Head is made the closer (which would have been a great closer)

5. I love the instrumental passage where you can hear faint snoring.

6. I have fallen to sleep while listening to it. It does its job.

So for my holiday this year, I decided to come here to Bristol, and visit Bath for a day as well, And I just want to say how happy I have been since I've been here on Monday. Everyone here has been very friendly and very welcoming, the city is big but it's easy enough to get around, especially with the buses that run throughout the city. The local businesses that I've been to, like the bars and restaurants have been nothing short of excellent. The cathedral was absolutely lovely, and it was really cool to go to the M Shed and actually see the Edward Colston statue, as it was found when it was thrown into the river.

I'll put some photos up on the subreddit later on. If it wasn't for the heat, I'd have probably done a little bit more exploring of Bristol, however, I'm not a pessimistic guy, and I do see myself coming back here in the near future. Heck, I'd even like to live here

So, I am firmly back in the dating game again, and I have been speaking to two women. One of the women [F30] lives quite far from me, but I've been talking to her on/off since March, and I like her as a friend. The other girl [F24] I've only been speaking to more recently, but she does live closer, and I feel like we have more in common. Both of them are very nice, but I don't see a relationship with the first woman, based on the distance, and I want to get to know the second woman a bit more.

If you were me, how would you handle this, gently? First woman I gave my number to a while back as I deleted the app I met her on (Sick of onlyfans and passport mode people)

Queen: A Night at the Races / A Day at the Opera

The Definitive Double Album Running Order

Side A

1. Tie Your Mother Down (4:48)
2. You’re My Best Friend (2:52)
3. Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon (1:07)
4. Long Away (3:33)
5. Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to...) (3:43)

• Side A Total: ~16:03

Side B

1. The Millionaire Waltz (4:54)
2. You Take My Breath Away (5:09)
3. Seaside Rendezvous (2:15)
4. Somebody to Love (4:56)

• Side B Total: ~17:14

Side C:

1. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy (2:54)
2. White Man (4:59)
3. '39 (3:31)
4. Drowse (3:45)
5. I’m In Love With My Car (3:05)

• Side C Total: ~18:14

Side D

1. Bohemian Rhapsody (5:55)
2. Love of My Life (3:39)
3. Good Company (3:23)
4. Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) (5:50)
5. God Save The Queen (1:15)

• Side D Total: ~20:02