Theo Moore

I've been a metal fan for years. I've seen Priest a few times in the 80s, and those were some fantastic shows. I'll be a fan, I suspect, forever. I've waited eagerly for the the follow-up to the very good, solid Angel of Retribution CD. Nostradamus came out and I got it. I mean I actually went to BestBuy and bought it rather than waited for the release on Napster. I listened to it intently, and surged with joy....

Until the music actually started.

This is possibly the worst Priest CD ever. It is the most over the top, self-indulgent tripe I've heard in a long time. During the first tune ("Nostradamus"), the band breaks into singing the name ad infinitum. I immediately thought of the 3 foot tall druids from Spinal Tap, with the small Stonehenge. I still can't shake that image. Believe me, it is that bad. If that were the only track like that, well, that would acceptable. However, it is two CDs full of the same boring, arrogant stuff.

I mean, Manowar has some seriously over the top, airy stuff (still heavy of course), but that stuff is great.

And this new Priest CD is not. :-(

I've already written some commentary on SlickEdit. Basically, to recap, it's pretty good. It has its uses and can make some development shop's work much easier. Overall, I like it.

I also mentioned in my previous review that I hadn't had much chance to review the VS version. I have had a chance to do so since my review.

Again, overall it's ok, but I find myself turning to the VS tools more often than not, and I find myself not really aggressively learning the tool. It seems to be good, but it also seems to be, well, unnecessary for me day to day. Not beating on the tool; just pointing out that it does not appear to fit my use of VS.

And there is on thing that is absolutely driving me nuts: the SlickEdit Assistant window. I've tried to get it "out of the way" but no matter what I do, I can't get it to be anywhere but right underneath my Solution Explorer when I use the AutoHide (which I almost always do).


It is like a thumb with dead nerves; it's there and it's alive, but it keeps getting in the way at the most annoying times. As a result, I most often close it so which defeats the purpose of having it there. I've tried all kinds of things to get it to move, and I can move the native VS windows around just great. I know, I know...I could adapt and grow more accustomed to it, but that's sort of the point. I don't have time to just "deal with it" until I can get "used to it". Again, this might not bother most people, but now it's like the cut on the roof of your mouth that would get better if you could just quit tounging it.

I am Jack's sense of annoyance.....