The final debate has just finished. It was a good debate at the start and then after immigration was brought up (followed by jobs and taxes), so was the temperature. It became very heated with all parties making their views more transparent, agreeing and disagreeing with each other. Much was repeated from the two previous debates but it's all about making sure the people know what you're policies are. If you've seen all three debates and don't know what each party is offering, you probably shouldn't be voting next week... assuming you've not made the decision to vote away from the three main parties.

Nick Clegg cemented my support of the Liberal Democrats with his strong defence of his policies after Cameron's and (less so) Brown's direct attacks. Clegg's performance wasn't his best, due to the pressure from Cameron, but still strong. Clegg really made a point to Cameron when he said "every time you talk about our polices you're wrong" and Clegg was so right their. Much of Cameron's arguments against Clegg were based on not really knowing the Lib Dems' policies.

David Cameron failed to convince me in anyway that Conservatives would be a good thing for the country. Cameron actually made my dislike for him and the Conservatives even stronger. He kept refusing to answer direct questions from both Clegg and Brown. He also kept completely dismissing Brown. I can see why. Labour seemingly don't stand a chance (based on polls and the bookies) but Brown's points weren't as bad as Cameron made out.

Lastly, Gordon Brown come across in a way I can't really sum up in a few words. Most of his policies are better than the Conservatives' but not convincing or as good as the Liberal Democrats. Brown acted like the captain of a sinking ship and who knows it's going down but is trying his hardest to keep a brave face. Much of his arguments where based around fear, trying to scare the public that Clegg and Cameron are not prepared to lead the country and that they'd damage the economy if elected. Part of his final statement Brown even conceded he might not be in power and commented that it would be Clegg and Cameron running the country together. Backing up the sinking ship analogy.

This debate was focused around the economy and the real key issues that came up were immigration, jobs and taxes.

Immigration

As I mentioned early immigration got the debate really going. Clegg's main policy is to get people who have been in the county for 10 years, who speak English, want to work and pay taxes into the system and putting something into this country. This is an amnesty and what both Brown and Cameron were arguing is that it would give the wrong message to people wanting to come to the UK illegally, that they'll be let off. It's definitely a valid point but not how I see it. If you get these illegal immigrants (the figure 600,000 people was used) paying taxes it's definitely a good thing. Then you've got to stop the illegal immigrants coming into the country. So long as that is done and done well the amnesty would be good. I'm not sure how the Lib Dems do plan to do this but one aspect is to gain control of people leaving the county, making sure the people who have been told to go actually go.

David Cameron was all talk about caps and easing. He wants to cap immigration but would not give a figure even after much pressure from both Clegg and Brown. The caps seem like a case of a good idea but with nothing backing it up. Cameron also wants an gradual easing of immigration when new countries enter the EU. A good idea and it would be something that, if he wins, would have to be decided after getting into power. Easing isn't just a case of giving one figure.

Again, I come to Brown last. The reason being I cannot remember any actual plan for immigration. And while writing the post I had Sky News on TV (they are definitely pro Conservatives) and Brown said he still doesn't know what the Lib Dems' polices are and that's not just on immigration. Seriously? He cannot be paying much attention to these debate and hasn't bothered reading their manifesto.

Jobs and Welfare

All three were really similar on what they want for jobs and getting people working. They all want high tech industry and to try to help small business. They all want to stop people who can but don't work. But that's were the similarities end.

Clegg will remove income tax on the first £10,000 you earn. Straight away the majority of the population will be about £1,000 better off. That will provide people who feel they are better off not working much more of an incentive as it should make then see the benefit of working. To create jobs he's really pushing tech. One such area is to make the UK the world leader in manufacturing for green power, such as wind turbines. Also, Clegg really wants to push education and showed this very well when the audience member asked about it. Cameron had a very good idea of committing that a quarter of government spending to be spent with smaller businesses and make it easier for them to get government contracts. That would put a lot of money back into the country's economy and provide jobs. Much of what Brown was saying about getting people off the dole I couldn't take too seriously. One of his lines was "no life on the dole". While he's been in power more and more people are on the dole.

Taxes

Keeping with what he's being saying all along, Clegg will remove income tax on the first £10,000 you earn and put a 10% on banks. That's been a high priority of the Lib Dems consistently and I fully support. He also wants to bring back income related pensions so if you work all you're life you'll be better off that people who didn't. Brown wants to raise national insurance for people earning over £20,000. He already got rid of the 10% tax rate which hurts the poorest and it seems like he's now targeting people on more average incomes. How Brown wants to balance that tax increase is with tax credits. Clegg is also for keeping tax credits but reducing who can claim them, using himself as a example of someone who shouldn't be able to get them so people earning less can benefit more. Again, Cameron didn't mention figures. He kept arguing Brown is targeting the wrong people but not saying who he'll tax. Like Clegg, Banks were a target for Cameron but he gave no figures. It also seems as though Cameron is suggesting more taxes for rich people but never actually says it. Conservatives' old ways of benefiting the rich are definitely not changing.

The next 7 days will be very interesting. Labour seem to be out of the running to win. It looks to me like the Conservatives will get the most seats with Labour and Liberal Democrats very close to each in 2nd and 3rd place. A hung Parliament is highly probable.

The general election is just round the corner and it's chance for the British public to cast their votes to decide who will be the next Prime Minister. Only a few weeks ago I was thinking I wasn't going to bother to vote but now I'll be voting Liberal Democrats and this post will explain why. If you're going to vote Lib Dems then great. If you're reading this and are undecided, hopefully I might convince you to vote Lib Dems. If you're going to vote for another party or independent then fair enough but why not keep reading?...

In the past I've always thought I liked the Lib Dems although, not being able to vote, I never really paid too much attention to politics. This time round I can vote but was thinking about not bothering. The UK has been a two party country for decades, Labour and Conservatives.

Gordon Brown - Labour

I wasn't going to vote because I cannot stand Gordon (Gormless as my Dad always calls him) Brown. Gordon Brown is an unelected Prime Minister who isn't a leader. He doesn't have the presence of someone who should be leading the country. If you've ever seen him talk you'll know he doesn't keep you listening. Nothing like Obama unfortunately. That aside I think he is one of the major factors to why the UK has been affect by this recession harder than other countries. Previously as the Chancellor of the Exchequer he should really have seen this coming. Some say he allowed the banks to keep borrowing. The Labour party do have good policies and ideas but Brown isn't the one to make them a reality. He has been in power for a few years now, he's had his chance to prove himself but hasn't.

David Cameron - Conservatives

Gordon Brown's opposition in the Conservative party is David Cameron. He's worse than Brown! There's something about him I cannot abid. He's such a pompous arse. Really, he grinds my gears. As a comedian said (I can't for the life of my remember who), something along the lines of "the confidence of someone who's never been punched". He's never lived in the real world, privileged from the start. Unfortunately, a lot of politicians are like this which is a shame. He feels he can communicate with us by saying "I met a... " followed by a minority group. That's just Cameron. The Conservatives, while they might use the slogan "Vote For Change", they themselves never change. They always favour the rich few and that doesn't suit me. I'm not one of those, and if I was I still wouldn't vote for them because it isn't right.

Other Options...

There are other parties and independents to vote for but in my area the only other two parties that field candidates are the Lib Dems and the BNP. I am definitely not going to vote BNP. They might want to put British people first which is how it should be in Britain but it's a party that clearly insights racism. The leader of the BNP, Nick Griffin, is far worse then all of Brown's and Cameron's bad qualities (yeah they do have some good qualities) put together. 

Nick Clegg - Liberal Democrats

The options I am left with are a no vote or Liberal Democrats. Every election people claim a vote for Lib Dems is a wasted vote and it seemingly has been. However, I don't believe this. Every vote counts... well in regional representation it might not work exactly that way but it still counts. Politics is a slow process but if you vote for what you believe in you'll be sending a message to everyone and in particular those who thought like you but didn't vote because they thought it was a wasted vote. If the party you supports gets a increase in votes then people might be encouraged to follow.

So the Liberal Democrats. Why am I going to put my X in their box? Simply I agree with them and their policies. And, I like Nick Clegg. He is one of the few likeable characters in politics. In the first ever televised pre-election debate between the to three parties he came out of the starting blocks and showed the country Labour and Conservatives aren't the only options. To me he looks like he will, if elected, get right in there on the world stage to stick up for the UK. Nick Clegg, like Cameron, is someone who has been privileged too. With Clegg I feel he actually wants to change things and not just be a career politician. If that was the case I don't think he'd have joined the third party. It seems as though he really wants to make a change for the better and that's why I like him. 

Liberal Democrats' Policies

It's not really just the person I'm voting for. The policies are the most important part. I'm going to outline some of the Lib Dems' policies and why I agree with them.

Europe

The Lib Dems are pro-europe. They want to be apart of Europe and possibly the Euro (but they promise there will be a referendum). So many British people don't like the idea of being part of Europe or the Euro. I don't particularly want to have the Euro myself. However, we are part of Europe and that really cannot be changed without completely detaching ourselves. That way will be nothing but bad for the UK as most of our trade is with the Euro zone and we'll lose so much of that. We are part of it and we should make the most of it. We should be in there at the deep end making sure we get what the country wants instead of being on the sidelines and being bossed around. This is something Nick Clegg argued in the first leaders debate and I totally agree with it. We should be getting all we can out of Europe and that's not going to happen without being actively involved.

Trident

Trident is the British nuclear deterrent. It's a system that was made for post-cold war era. Since then the world has changed. It is coming time for trident to be renewed or replaced. Today, the biggest threat to the UK is from terrorist groups. Would these be deterred by a trident? I don't think so. How could the UK fired nuclear missiles at a threat that has no one home or base? It wouldn't be able to. To that affect trident isn't what's needed these days. The Lib Dems oppose commiting to renew trident now when the world is ever changing and there's still life in the system. This life gives time to decide on the best alternative. Maybe there isn't a valid alternative but it still needs discussing before committing to anything.

Economy and Environment

The Lib Dems policies around the economy and environment overlap somewhat so I've put them together too.

The UK, like much of the Western world, is in a recession. People say that it we're coming out of it but it'll be a long process. The cause of the recession were "The Banks" who did much foolish lending and made billions of Pounds. They made money, then lost the money of others and the UK tax payer has to foot the bill. The Lib Dems propose to tax the banks more so that they pay back the tax payer and as insurance in case they mess up again. Banks do generate much wealth for the UK but really that wealth is kept within a very small group of people. All that wealth is created from the people of the UK (and the rest of the world since banks are so multi-national) so it's only fair, in a society such as ours, that some of that money goes back into the country to make it better and at the moment not enough does. So the Lib Dems' tax would help put more money into the economy to help it grow.

The Lib Dems also want to invest in green industry. Not only will this help the economy but hopefully target climate change. Their plans include harnessing wind, wave and solar power to decentralise the power grid which is great for jobs around the country. Also, not to scaremonger, a decentralised grid would make a terrorist attack on the UK's infrastructure much less damaging if one was to happen. They do not support nuclear power stations. Nuclear does seem like a good answer to our rising power consumption but there are many down sides to nuclear, so if viable alternatives (they do exist) then that's the way to go. Something else they want to do is try to reduce the power we use in our homes (with proper insulation as an example) which would reduce the need for more power plants.

Another up side to decentralising and using our own natural energy is that we as a nation we become less reliant on power coming from other countries. And, moreover should prevent dramatic price fluctuation due to global demand.

So to sum up why I'll be voting Liberal Democrats. I like Nick. I cannot stand Gordon or Cameron. I agree with more of their policies than the other parties. It's simple really. Oh, and I placed a £10 bet at 100 to 1 that they'll get most seats. Fingers crossed.

YES!!! Alter Bridge are going to be doing several shows in the UK this October. It was only September last year (2009) I really listen to them. I was defending my love of Creed to a friend and as so often happens Alter Bridge was brought up. After listening to Broken Winds, In Loving Memory and Down To My Last I was hooked. These three songs come in that order on One Day Remains and just complimented each other perfectly.

Alter Bridge have got everything a rock bands needs. Strong vocals, talented musicians, heavier songs, softer songs and the hard hitting ballads that you want to sing along with but can't keep that note long enough. They are fantastic and almost instantly made it on to my must see list.

The tour announcement made my day and to top it off Creed's twitter posted "2010 Tour - http://ow.ly/1yoGe  - See you there?". What a tease! Creed are on that must see list of mine, only second to Pearl Jam. There aren't any details of a UK tour but there's got to be one. It'll probably be late 2010 or more likely early 2011. It was a good day for music.

There's an announcement for Download 2010 coming any minute now. I'm just about to leave work any minute. I'll check the announcement before I leave and then think about it on the way home before I blog about my thoughts. I plan to do the same as I did for the last Sonisphere announcement and listen to any bands I don't know of tomorrow and review.

I set myself up a playlist on Spotify with the top 3-5 tracks from each of bands announced and pressed play. I couldn't be bothered to write as much as I did for each band as I did last time so each review is pretty short.

Slash - Some nice guitaring obviously but I don't know about the music. Will be interesting to see how the set it done though.

The Used - Dare I say they are OK but not too bothered about them.

The Damned Things - Not on Spotify.

Atreyu - I quite liked Atreyu. Was expecting them to be a screaming type of band, not sure why, but I'll definitely have more of a listen.

Cancer Bats - Meh. Another band that doesn't really impress me in anyway but can say I hate. Their cover of Sabotage isn't band.

BREED 77 - (again) Meh. Seemed OK. The cover of the Cranberries's Zombie was pretty good.

Sweethead - Spotify only had one song by Sweethead and they didn't appeal to me.

Porcupine Tree - My first thought was these are quite pleasant... but a bit too slow for Download really. When I got to a rock / metal festival festival I really want to be blown away with loud rock, not an acoustic guitar. However, that's not saying I dislike the acoustic guitar because I love it but not what I'll be after at Download.

No Americana - Not on Spotify.

Senser - These were pretty cool. Some cool beats. Listened to a few more tracks from Sensor and they're a slight bit samey but will check them out if they don't clash.

Halestorm - Liked these. The female singer sounded good with lots of attitude. At points a little like Shakira.

Nonpoint - Quite liked these too. The singer has a very clear and strong voice. Will definitely listen to some more of these.

As I Lay Dying - I'm undecided on As I Lay Dying and will listen to more of them.

Flyleaf - Flyleaf were one of the first bands I know I like. I first heard these on Die Hard 4.0 and enjoyed the first album but the follow up was ok. The leader singers definitely has a weird voice. She pronounces some words really weirdly.

White Wizzard - These are a more an old school heavy metal style band. Think along the lines of Iron Maiden. Will check these out as a warm up to Maiden at Sonisphere.

Overall?
Well once again not knowing most of the bands made it look poor but in reality it's stronger than I originally thought. There's plenty of range and several bands I'll be listening to some more.

I didn't get to listen to these bands. I didn't get chance to listen to all the bands but when I can chance I shall have a listen to the rest.

Zebrahead, Rock Sugar, Michael Monroe, Holy Grail, Straight Lines, Tiger Please, Revoker, Young Guns, Tyketto, Year Long Disaster, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Enuff Z’Nuff, Panic Cell, Glamour Of , The Kill and Sybreed

It's time for another Sonisphere announcement. It promises to be a good one. Why? Because I was told two bands about a month ago and having seen them both before I can say they are great.  @Sonisphere said that the special guest will be announced along with 10+ other bands and one possible curve ball (here's the tweet).

The announcement is at 9am. I'll be up and will post my first impressions.... with my completely unbiased opinion (haha!). I WILL be totally honest about what I think.

Update: The announcement consisted of:

• Pendulum
• Alice In Chains
• europe
• Dir En Grey
• Lacuna Coil
• Renegades
• Sick of it All
• Therapy?
• Terrorvision
• Municipal Waste
• Rise to Remain

The announcement has come and gone. Pendulum who I was told are in but the other band wasn't. They might come later as they hadn't been officially signed up at the time. Hopefully they will.

As for the rest of the announcement I've heard of half the bands but never really listen to. I've heard of Alice In Chains, Europe, Dir End Grey and Lacuna Coil. I think I'm slightly out of touch with the current rock/metal scene right now. So day I'll be checking these bands out on Spotify and no doubt I'll have heard songs by most of them, just without knowning who they were by.

I'll report back again later.

Update: So today I went on Spotify, banged the top 5 songs from each of the artists announced today into a playlist and pressed play. Couldn't find Renegades on there so all of the others I listened to. I listen each song Here's what I thought.

Well firstly I should do this more often. Normally I just dismiss bands I don't know unless recommended by a good friend. Today was quite enlightening.

Pendulum: I've been a Pendulum fan for a few years now and have seen them live three times. Once at Leicester University, at Projekt Revolution and last year at Download. So I didn't actually listen to these. Definitely looking forward to seeing these again, hopefully that'll be on the Saturn stage as last year that had some pretty good bass.

Alice In Chains: These guys played Sonisphere last year but I didn't get to see them. They sound alright but doesn't seem to be my kind of thing. Maybe a grower but at the moment not my cup-of-tea.

Europe: How did I forget Europe did The Final Countdown? Seriously! Of course these will be good. The Final Countdown will go down a treat. The other songs I heard all sounded good to.

Dir En Grey: Not sure on these. Might help if they spoke English or were pyrotechnicians (ala Rammstein).

Lacuna Coil: I'm undecided on Lacuna Coil. I'll have a bit more of a listen another time. First thing I noticed is the female vocalist sounds like Shakira at times.

Sick Of It All: I quite liked Sick of it All. They are a heavy sounding punk band, "hardcore" so I'm told. Made me think of Black Flag and Henry Rollins, who is doing spoken word at Sonisphere and would highly recommend listening to.  I think they'll be a pretty decent crowd for Sick of it All and knowing the words, or at least the main parts, would be an advantage.

Therapy?: Diane... where have I heard that before? This was the first song I heard and I know it but I really don't know where from. I really liked what I heard here and after finishing the playlist I then went on to listen to Troublegum in full as I hear they'll be playing this in full at Sonisphere. Again I really liked.

Terrorvision: Tequila it makes me happy... oh yeah what a sound. Terrorvision were quite enjoyable and I'll check them out at Sonisphere.

Municipal Waste: My first thought was "they sound like a heavy Sum 41". I do like Sum 41 and Municipal Waste seem all right, a little samey but I only listened to a few songs so shouldn't judge yet. Another one for the listen to more of list.

Rise to Remain: The final band I listened to was Rise to Remain. Their vocal are a mix of singing and growling/screaming. Screaming puts me off bands normally but I gave them a chance and it was worth it. They've got some really good sounds going on and the screaming was excessive. I away like Killswitch Engage in respect to the good sound and not screaming all the time. I'll be checking these out some more.

Now I've listened to the announced bands I can appreciate it much more and will definitely listen to more bands I don't know.