In the 80s there was only one channel in my country. Whether or not they would even air something as unwholesome as an American soap was a national debate in itself back then. When the dust settled they ended up going for "Dynasty". And people ate it up like crack fiends at 9 o'clock. Literally half the country was tuning in every weekend.

When commercial broadcasters were allowed in in the late 80s there would soon be "Dallas" as well, but that early "Dynasty" craze had created such a total impression that it never really took off. In the end there was no replacement for Joan Collins.

Though I've heard Dallas is a lot better I don't know if I got another soap in me. You can't not get addicted and suddenly you're looking at weeks and months of viewing.

I'm born on Remembrance Day so I get reminded of it every year. In many ways a peculiar war. Always took a liking to it.

The original Great War. Though in terms of conflict scale it's not really the first world war. Napoleons Wars were fought between basically the same powers, but unprecedented advances in military technology would make WW1 far, far bloodier. Because of a huge advantage in defensive capabilities the war soon turned into its familiar characteristic, trench warfare. Essentially creating a meat grinder the size of the Great Wall in China swallowing the young men of Europe for 4 long years, until the blood of 10 million was left soaking the soil.

It's often deemed the unnecessary war because of the immense loss of life without really achieving anything. Though not having a clear winner has become a staple in warfare since certain bankers started financing them. Bleed em dry as they say.
Another reason is the spurious cause for the war. After centuries of almost continual warfare the powers of Europe was as usual connected in a complex and shifting system of alliances. When the heir to the Austro Hungarian throne was assassinated by a radical in Yugoslavia, an event ordinarily brushed over with some diplomacy and a little bit of gold, instead escalated into a full blown war among all the claimants to the Roman Empire and their colonies. The whole of the civilized world at the time, more or less.

Of course, the real reason for the war wasn't quite so "romantic". The real reason was the reunification of Germany coupled with the peak of the second industrial revolution. War back then was as normal and expected as the NHL playoffs are today. When the German people could finally put the brunt of their industrial capacity under a centralized system it wasn't a question of "if" there would be war, it was "when".

There might also have been another reason, the real "real" reason, and that was the creation of supranational entities such as the UN and NATO, and a military industrial complex in America. Wilson won the election by promising to stay out of the war, which goes to show how much foreign policy has changed in America, but of course the only reason Hearst & Co gave him the support was so that he could do the opposite. A world war was simply too lucrative of an opportunity to pass up, and with the help of some domestic terrorism (Lusotania) to garner support it wouldn't be long before the US joined the party. According to Wilson's autobiography, with the express orders "don't make it end too soon".

Though, unfortunately for some, it did end not long after. Russia had already collapsed to an internal revolution (by the virtue of Vladimir Lenin and the german paid train ticket in his pocket) and the French and British armies were literally days away from total mutiny when a coup de tat in Berlin put an abrupt end to the conflict. Along with the Versailles treaty this is what Hitler used to gain power. A german army, undefeated and on enemy soil had been stabbed in the back by bureaucrats back home. When Hitler called on the army once again 20 years later they were almost bending backwards in an effort to comply. The nation had been dishonored as they saw it and they would almost do anything and follow anyone in an attempt to rectify it.

Hitler himself served in the war as a runner, distinguishing himself by attaining the german cross for bravery. Berating his comrades for caring about trivial stuff like drink and women when there was a glorious war going on, he would feel the betrayal stronger than anyone and it didn't take long before he was in the political arena, working on the sequel.

Not a chance. Even if you swap AFD for BMF there's no way SU + whatever else beats UYI. King Animal is alright but so is CD. Lies rival their debut easily.

64 to 81 songs isn't that much of a difference anyway. Throw in TSI and they're about equal.
But you're right, it's not fair to compare one of the all time greats to an arena band. No doubt Soundgarden have a lot of fans and Cornell is certainly among the greats, but he's no Axl Rose. They were Alice In Chains/Rage Against The Machine level. For a time there GN'R reached Stones/Zeppelin levels of stardom.

They'll always be in another league than bands such as Soundgarden, no matter how many good albums they make. Axl and Slash are icons, SG is just Cornell and some other dudes that made Black Hole Sun and maybe Jesus Christ Pose.

A spot on the tour of the year is a guaranteed extra amount of units no matter how good your album is. Either way it's an acknowledgment and a nice gesture. Should at least buy you enough goodwill to not be labeled a high maintenance freak 20 years later. Even if that's what you are.

Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about. No nonsense just straight storytelling.

Obviously Nucky would get out of this but having Richard join the party was a great twist. Looks like they're having Capone make the move for boss as well. Should be a great finale.