Problem: This article: Strapping Young Lad began in 1994 as a solo project of Canadian musician Devin Townsend. Following his work as vocalist on Steve Vai's 1993 album Sex & Religion and its 1994 tour, Townsend believed he had been a "musical whore", spending "the first five years of [his] career working at the behest of other people". During a brief stint as touring guitarist for The Wildhearts, Townsend received a phone call from an A&R representative for Roadrunner Records, expressing an interest in his demos and an intention to sign him. The offer was ultimately rescinded by the head of Roadrunner, who regarded Townsend's recordings as "just noise". He faced further rejection by Relativity Records, the label behind Vai's Sex & Religion, who saw no commercial appeal in his music. Century Media Records subsequently contacted the musician, offering him a contract to "make us some extreme albums". Townsend agreed to a five-album deal with the record label.Following his tour with The Wildhearts, Townsend began recording and producing his debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, under the moniker Strapping Young Lad. According to Townsend, the recording process took "about a week". Embracing The Wildhearts' anarchist approach, "while focusing on dissonance and just being as over-the-top as [he] could", Townsend sang on the record and performed the majority of its instrumental tracks (with the assistance of a drum machine).  A few songs, however, featured local session musicians, including guitarist Jed Simon, Townsend's future bandmate. Released on April 4, 1995, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing was not widely recognized in the metal community. The album sold 143 copies in its first six months, but received favorable reviews from the heavy metal press. Its unusual musical ideas—a synthesis of death, thrash, and industrial metal influences—prompted Andy Stout from Metal Hammer to call it "one of the most disturbing albums you'll hear for a very long time". Nevertheless, Townsend has repeatedly expressed his distaste for the... contains an answer for the question: What is the last name of the person who referred to Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing as "basically a collection," and deemed its production poor?, what is it ?

A: Townsend


Problem: Given the question: This article: In a troop movement that took all night on a makeshift raft, the Texian army crossed Buffalo Bayou at Lynchburg April 19 with 930 soldiers, leaving behind 255 others as guards or for reasons of illness. The idea had been floated of leaving the Twin Sisters behind as protection, but Neill was adamant that the cannons be taken into the battle. In an April 20 skirmish the day before the main battle Neill was severely wounded, and George Hockley took command of the heavy artillery. Estimates of the Mexican army troop strength on the day of the main battle range from 1,250 to 1,500.The Texians attacked in the afternoon of April 21 while Santa Anna was still under the misconception that Houston was actually retreating. He had allowed his army time to relax and feed their horses, while he took a nap. When he was awakened by the attack, he immediately fled on horseback, but was later captured when Sergeant James Austin Sylvester found him hiding in the grass. Houston's own account was that the battle lasted "about eighteen minutes", before apprehending prisoners and confiscating armaments. When the Twin Sisters went up against the Mexican army's Golden Standard cannon, they performed so well that Hockley's unit was able to capture the Mexican cannon.The Yellowstone saw war service for the Republic one more time on May 7, when it transported Houston and his prisoner Santa Anna, along with the government Santa Anna tried to extinguish, to Galveston Island. From there, the government and Santa Anna traveled to Velasco for the signing of the treaties. Houston had suffered a serious wound during the battle, and on May 28 boarded the schooner Flora for medical treatment in New Orleans.Not until news of the victory at San Jacinto spread did the refugees return to their homesteads and businesses, or whatever was left after the destruction caused by both armies. Throughout Texas, possessions had been abandoned and later looted. Businesses, homes and farms were wiped out by the devastation of war. Often there was nothing left... contains an answer for the question: What is the first name of the person whose unit was able to capture the Mexican cannon?, what is it ?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The answer is:
George


[Q]: This article: While Stafford was still working for Dorsey, Johnny Mercer told her, "Some day I'm going to have my own record company, and you're going to record for me." She subsequently became the first solo artist signed to Capitol after leaving the Pied Pipers in 1944. A key figure in helping Stafford to develop her solo career was Mike Nidorf, an agent who first heard her as a member of the Pied Pipers while he was serving as a Captain with the United States Army. Having previously discovered artists such as Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Woody Herman, Nidorf was impressed by Stafford's voice, and contacted her when he was demobilized in 1944. After she agreed to let him represent her, he encouraged her to reduce her weight and arranged a string of engagements that raised her profile, and confidence.The success of Stafford's solo career led to a demand for personal appearances, and from February 1945 she embarked on a six-month residency at New York's La Martinique nightclub. Her performance was well-received—an article in the July 1945 edition of Band Leaders magazine described it as "sensational"—but Stafford did not enjoy singing before live audiences, and it was the only nightclub venue she ever played. Speaking about her discomfort with live performances, Stafford told a 1996 interview with The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin, "I'm basically a singer, period, and I think I'm really lousy up in front of an audience—it's just not me."Stafford's tenure with the United Service Organizations (USO) during World War II—which often saw her perform for soldiers stationed in the U.S.—led to her acquiring the nickname "G.I. Jo". On returning from the Pacific theater, a veteran told Stafford that the Japanese would play her records on loudspeakers in an attempt to make the U.S. troops homesick enough to surrender. She replied personally to all the letters she received from servicemen. Stafford was a favorite of many servicemen during both World War II and the Korean War; her recordings received extensive airplay on the American... contains an answer for the question: Whose records were played by the Japanese over the loudspeakers to make US soldiers homesick?, what is it ?
****
[A]:
Stafford