I would love Shadows Fall and Trivium were it not for their singers.  Brian Fair of Shadow's Fall has a voice that's too "hardcore" for my tastes.  Matt Heafy of Trivium's clean vocals are wussy and his dirty vocals are of the metalcore/emocore variety.  

There are many songs that I thought were/would be awesome, were it not for the horrendous vocals, whether it be needless shrieking, monotonality, or just general crappiness.  There are also many bands in the past I've said would be better off instrumental without the insipid vocalists and their insipid lyrics.  

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but rest assured I'll have more for you.

EDIT: Mastodon comes to mind.  Their music is so dynamic with such killer riffing that Troy Sanders completely kills it with his crappy ass vocals.  His growling is monotone & boring and his clean vocals (which he attempted on Leviathan were godawful) and isn't dynamic enough to complement Mastodon's music.  Their lyrics are so sparse anyway that they don't even need a vocalist.  Either they get a more dynamic vocalist or go full on instrumental (I'd prefer the latter.)  If it weren't for the horrendous vocals, I'd totally love Mastodon too.

EDIT 2:  I absolutely hate the voice of Justin Hawkins of The Darkness with a seething passion.  The band are great musicians whose music is fun, but the vocals are so annoying and atrocious that I hate the band.  If the band were instrumental or had a singer who could actually sing and didn't write insipid drivel for lyrics, the band would actually be good.

EC- don't forget also, new Dysrhythmia album comes out in May also.  I can't wait.  I love Dysrhythmia.

You know...  as I was writing my review for Exodus Guilty vol. 1, this was the first thread that came to mind.  I don't want to give anything away since, well, I want people to actually read my review when it's posted, but it's one of those games where the story/gameplay balance is almost 100% skewed in one direction and despite that, I still loved the game immensely.

Deg, there are 3 Ozric Tentacles tracks on the site.  One is very fantasy oriented, one has a very eastern/Chinese sound, and the other is the space one I heard.  All are rather good.

Song of the moment is a very interesting piece of psychadelic/space rock style prog I discovered on http://www.progarchives.com

The band is Ozric Tentacles.  The song is "Chewier."  The album is "Spirals in Hyperspace."  There's killer synth work and some searing lead guitars in there too.  It's all instrumental so no lyrics.  

Losfer- I know you're into spacey prog rock with cool synths and great guitars.  If you haven't heard this song yet, I recommend it.  

(honorable mention for song of the moment is "Interlude in Milan" by Planet X.  I found it in the Jazz-rock section of ProgArchives and it's awesome.)

Eusis- As I said before, it really depends on the genre.  And I figure since this is RPGfan, the responses here are pretty much about RPGs.  

With genres like digital novel or love adventure, story is everything for me because those genres have next to no gameplay per se.

Dade, in this thread: http://www.rpgfan.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=141&start=0 I talk about where the Devil Summoner series fits in the Megami Tensei mythos and the gameplay differences that it used.  

As for Devil Summoner in the US- sexy.

Question for anyone who might know better.  Aren't some 911 call centers in certain areas specially trained to ask certain questions and such to truly determine whether or not a call is a prank call?  I can understand if prank calling is a problem in an area because a dispatch to a prank call takes away help from someone who could really be in trouble at that moment.  

It sounds as if, in these cases people mention, that the person receiving the call more or less used gut instinct to determine whether or not the call was fake, but since I don't have transcriptions of these conversations and don't know the "prank alert" questions that call centers ask to determine whether a call is legit or not, I can only speculate so much.  Perhaps the whole "prank screening" process is so arduous and time consuming that people just go "eh, fuck it" and assume the false-negative.

Robert- the original Megami Tensei game was based on the novel "Digital Devil Story" which I believe was later adapted into a movie.  It wasn't an anime, though.  

However, there was an anime TV series based on Devil Children Red + Black books games for Game Boy.

Eh, I'll go for a Fat Sandwich at one of the famous Rutgers U grease trucks instead if I want an artery clogger featuring 2 days' worth of calories in one meal.

Damien, Rob, you guys are Rutgers alums.  Back me up here on the greatness of the grease trucks:P

Well, you all know what to do here, right?  Post your progress in games you're playing.  

As for me, I played the first 3 chapters in Exodus Guilty vol. 1.  So far the game's really good.  The story is killer.

24 pages?  Methinks it's time for a game journal renew.

Here's an appropo song for this thread and I'm sure it sums up most of our feelings.  It's called "911 is a Joke" by Public Enemy off their album "Fear of a Black Planet."  

Public Enemy's fucking awesome.  Chuck D= the preacher!

911 is a Joke

Hit me
Going, going, gone
Now I dialed 911 a long time ago
Don't you see how late they're reactin'
They only come and they come when they wanna
So get the morgue embalm the goner
They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway
They teach ya like an ace they can't be betrayed
I know you stumble with no use people
If your life is on the line they you're dead today
Late comings with the late comin' stretcher
That's a body bag in disguise y'all betcha
I call 'em body snatchers quick they come to fetch ya?
With an autopsy ambulance just to dissect ya
They are the kings 'cause they swing amputation
Lose your arms, your legs to them it's compilation
I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

911 is a joke

Everyday they don't never come correct
You can ask my man right here with the broken neck
He's a witness to the job never bein' done
He would've been in full in 8 9-11
Was a joke 'cause they always jokin'
They the token to your life when it's croakin'
They need to be in a pawn shop on a
911 is a joke we don't want 'em
I call a cab 'cause a cab will come quicker
The doctors huddle up and call a flea flicker
The reason that I say that 'cause they
Flick you off like fleas
They be laughin' at ya while you're crawlin' on your knees
And to the strength so go the length
Thinkin' you are first when you really are tenth
You better wake up and smell the real flavor
Cause 911 is a fake life saver

So get up, get, get get down
911 is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Late 911 wears the late crown

Ow, ow 911 is a joke

I'm on such a Divinity Destroyed kick that it's sickening.  So song of the moment is "Threnody" by them.  It's a fantastic song with some interesting time changes, cool drum beats, and some very cool syncopated vocal lines.  

Fantastic song.  Possibly my favorite song by the band.  EDIT:  And what the heck, I'll say it.  Frontman Mark Ward is a sexy beast.  If I were a girl, he's totally the kind of guy I'd go for.  

I shall never surrender
How could I cease to recall?
I am the only one left to be this alone
As each day passes by
I celebrate one less to live on this way without you

Mirror breaks, but who's in there
And I can't look long
I won't find you there
Because

She calls to me in my...

Broken dreams are the way we shall live
And through darkened hallways, I pass all I've lived for

Paintings line the walls and
Take me back to the times when lucidity reigned
But how do I return?
Blind to everything here
I lose vision of all that remains all around
As I lose that as well

Innocence captured here in time
Echoes of the past
Pleading me to stop
And yet...

She calls to me in my...

Broken dreams are the way we shall live
And through darkened hallways, I pass all I've lived for
Alone in this world as I stand in the night falling
Deeper from where I thought that I had hit bottom

Plead on my knees so I may breathe my last breath which sets me free
Scream to the seas so that I may drown deep within their depths and cease to be

With your untimely end, I am reborn
In this world of hate for those who have what they love
How long must I remain with this corrupted soul
Crying tears of blood
Until empty, I fall

Long hallways keep them from my mind
Hidden
No one sees through the barriers
Only

She calls to me in my…

Broken dreams are the way we shall live
And through darkened hallways, I pass all I’ve lived for
Alone in this world as I stand in the night falling
Deeper from where I thought that I had hit bottom
Return to me, my strength
My soul still perseveres onward
You reach for my hand
And then pull me away from this

The sun feels as I remembered that day
As the light healed this withering canvas
Yearning to be free
But not to be lost
I came here reluctantly
But knew I belonged
How had I fallen so far?

She should be fired.  This is a case of one strike you're out.  Every 911 call should be taken seriously.  Better the police and all show up for a false alarm than not show up when it's the real McCoy.  

What a fucking cold-hearted bitch who wouldn't even take the pleas of help from a child seriously.