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Alright, folks, it’s my turn to do the Top 50 list. I’ve been contemplating to do it for a few months already, maybe even half a year, but every time some excuse popped up in my head, like “wait, I’m still a newcomer here, no one will care about it” or “I have two reviews to write and few projects to think out for my job” or something else, you know how it goes. Then I signed up for hosting a roulette here on DTF, and it helped me to finally stop procrastinating. I’ve looked through all the albums I have either on CDs or on my computer and composed the final list with my 50 favourite albums on it. And so it started; every evening after work I grabbed a cup of tea or coffee, sat in front of my PC with headphones on, put one album from the list in a player and scribbled some notes about it while listening. A great experience, that one was.
What can you expect from this list? Well, some of you might have noticed what bands I mostly like during the year I’ve been posting on DTF, but overall I’m leaning to progressive metal (no shit!), power metal and, I dunno, progressive rock? Some records are just difficult to fit in limits of a certain genre. I’m sure I saw almost all of bands on my list being mentioned and talked about on DTF, but some albums may be more obscure than the others.
Originally I wanted to include only one album per artist, but as I started to make this list, I decided this approach would be, um, untruthful? I found out I love some bands a lot more than others, so leaving out great albums because of this restriction seems a bit dishonest. Overall, I ended with 37 different bands on the list; and at least one band has three albums present here.
I didn’t have any particular way to pick the albums for this list and to rank them. It is all mostly based on the feelings I get when I listen to them, and on the influence they had on my life. I tried to avoid putting the most recent albums on my list; and I failed spectacularly. In fact, I quickly made this diagram showing the albums’ release dates distribution over the decades, to draw your interest, and, well, just for fun:
(https://i.imgur.com/rDw9Uyg.jpg)
As you can see, the albums made in 2000 — 2009 period dominate the list, but not entirely; the records from 80s and 90s put up a good fight, and I’m actually surprised about how many albums from 2010 onwards are on my list. Is it a good or a bad thing? You decide.
The write-ups will be a bit short for the first updates, around 400 words overall, but then they will grow on and on, reaching two thousand words for top five. I hope I’ve managed to find a nice balance here, and if I didn’t, well, too bad, because everything is already written.
Actually, this will help me to keep the updates’ pace steady. I will be posting one update per post and I’m aiming for one or two updates per day depending on my work schedule, so I hope no one gets bored or something like that.
And let’s get down to business. Here’s the way albums will be presented:
Album’s Placement
Album’s Name
Band’s Name
Genre
Year of the release
(https://i.imgur.com/SYsnBF5.jpg)
< Wall of text, basically consists of 1) intro 2) info about the band 3) thoughts about the album 4) closing text >
< Favourite tracks: usually includes up to 30-35 minutes of music >
< There can be a bit of text too where I’m rambling about whatever I want >
[this structure doesn’t apply to top ten]
The last point I really want to address: I encourage and will participate in all the discussion about the albums I’m posting here and also about my writing style. Why do you like the album I wrote about? Why do you dislike or even hate it? What tracks are your favourite ones? What do you agree and disagree with in my write-ups? What are your personal experiences and thoughts about the albums I’m writing about? Every thought is welcome, and everything that will spark the discussion is appreciated. I can’t wait to see and hear your thoughts, but sadly, you will actually have to wait a few hours for my thoughts, because that’s when the first update kicks in.
I know I said it's an evil thing to start a Top 50 thread without the actual update or honourable mentions, but, well, only a few hours of wait and we'll be there. I hope you guys will find something new and interesting to listen and discuss here.
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Here's how the list looks like now:
50. Jethro Tull - Crest Of A Knave (1987) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1906712#msg1906712)
49. Gamma Ray - Land Of The Free (1995) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1906891#msg1906891)
48. Savatage - Edge Of Thorns (1993) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907153#msg1907153)
47. Blackmore's Night - Shadow Of The Moon (1997) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907334#msg1907334)
46. Unisonic - Unisonic (2012) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907410#msg1907410)
45. Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion (2012) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907690#msg1907690)
44. Transatlantic - The Whirlwind (2009) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907813#msg1907813)
43. Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms (1985) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1907978#msg1907978)
42. Sonata Arctica - Unia (2007) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1908120#msg1908120)
41. Kamelot - Karma (2001) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1908299#msg1908299)
40. Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness (2002) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1908517#msg1908517)
39. Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2008) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1909453#msg1909453)
38. Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun (2000) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1909539#msg1909539)
37. Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast (1982) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1909908#msg1909908)
36. Nightwish - Imaginaerum (2011) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1910020#msg1910020)
35. Ayreon - The Dream Sequencer (2000) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1910348#msg1910348)
34. Mark Knopfler - Privateering (2012) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1910532#msg1910532)
33. Opeth - Damnation (2003) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1910797#msg1910797)
32. Avantasia - The Scarecrow (2008) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1910932#msg1910932)
31. Avantasia - The Mystery Of Time (2013) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1911214#msg1911214)
30. Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls (2008) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1911282#msg1911282)
29. Dio - Holy Diver (1983) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1911588#msg1911588)
28. Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories) (2013) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1911772#msg1911772)
27. Kamelot - Epica (2003) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1911966#msg1911966)
26. Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny (1976) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912040#msg1912040)
25. Avantasia - The Metal Opera (2001) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912101#msg1912101)
24. Dream Theater - Images And Words (1992) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912288#msg1912288)
23. Sonata Arctica - Ecliptica (1999) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912355#msg1912355)
22. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II (1988) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912423#msg1912423)
21. Helloween - Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I (1987) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912859#msg1912859)
20. Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force (1984) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1912939#msg1912939)
19. IQ - The Road Of Bones (2014) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1913217#msg1913217)
18. Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1999) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1913526#msg1913526)
17. Nightwish - Century Child (2002) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1913596#msg1913596)
16. Kamelot - The Black Halo (2005) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1913962#msg1913962)
15. Within Temptation - Enter (1997) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1914051#msg1914051)
14. Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane (2002) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1914380#msg1914380)
13. Blind Guardian - Imaginations From The Other Side (1995) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1914573#msg1914573)
12. Marillion - Clutching At Straws (1987) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1914804#msg1914804)
11. Deep Purple - Deep Purple (1969) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1914943#msg1914943)
10. Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick (1972) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1915121#msg1915121)
9. Black Sabbath - Heaven And Hell (1980) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1915257#msg1915257)
8. Beyond The Bridge - The Old Man And The Spirit (2012) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1915593#msg1915593)
7. David Gilmour - On An Island (2006) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1916048#msg1916048)
6. Jon Lord - Sarabande (1976) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1916384#msg1916384)
5. Ayreon - The Theory Of Everything (2013) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1916715#msg1916715)
4. Ayreon - The Human Equation (2004) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1916716#msg1916716)
3. Rainbow - Rising (1976) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1917118#msg1917118)
2. Dire Straits - Love Over Gold (1982) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1917358#msg1917358)
1. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here (1975) (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43039.msg1917705#msg1917705)
Thank you everyone who followed this list!
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This post is reserved for the recap of this list.
Thank you for doing that. Makes it easier to follow. Wish more people would do it.
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I'm prepared to disagree with this list :neverusethis:
And so it started; every evening after work I grabbed a cup of tea or coffee, sat in front of my PC with headphones on, put one album from the list in a player and scribbled some notes about it while listening. A great experience, that one was.
Did the same when doing my list - it actually surprised me how I love some albums more than I am thought while some of my favorite's weren'tthat great after all.
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Thank you for doing that. Makes it easier to follow. Wish more people would do it.
That was one thing that really bothered me reading people's lists, so I decided to definitely implement it in my list.
Did the same when doing my list - it actually surprised me how I love some albums more than I am thought while some of my favorite's weren'tthat great after all.
I know man, I experienced the same thing. A lot of albums moved back and forth in my list, and a few got substituted by the ones I wasn't initially going to include here. All in all, it's impressive how the right mood can change your perception, your view on some albums.
The first update is coming up in an hour.
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expecting to see at least 5 Devil Doll albums on this list
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expecting to see at least 5 Devil Doll albums on this list
In that case this update might appear rather disappointing to you!
#50
Crest Of A Knave
Jethro Tull
Genre: progressive rock
1987
(https://jpg.st.audiko.net/dynamic/albums/500x500/150/150086.jpg)
I imagine the reaction of longtime Jethro Tull fans for this album back in the days was a good laugh and cheering, while hardcore Metallica fans probably went a bit mad and unsatisfied. Or maybe it’s the same now. Alright, I’m probably exaggerating things here, because now that 26 years have passed, this issue looks kind of hilarious, but I can only imagine how this was received back then. Maybe someone will enlighten me on this case. I’m talking, of course, about Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance this album won in 1988 over Metallica’s …And Justice for All. The award was instituted only that year, and the very first pick turned out to be most controversial. More on that below.
Jethro Tull is a well-known British rock group, founded in 1967. Maybe you haven’t heard their material, but I bet you guys surely heard the name. Those were the folks who massively started to incorporate flute in their sound. Led through all these years by their vocalist and flautist (I think that’s how it’s spelled) Ian Anderson, this band inspired a sound of a lot of musical collectives. Other official members listed on Crest Of A Knave booklet are Martin Barre and Dave Pegg, playing guitars and bass respectively. By the way, the band basically doesn’t exist now, as Ian stated he will release further albums under his own name instead of Jethro Tull.
So, this funny and controversial thing about Grammy Award is that Crest Of A Knave definitely can’t be called metal, and it would be a considerable stretch to call it hard rock. There are fast and rocking tunes, of course, like Steel Monkey, which is totally devoid of flute, or Raising Steam, but mostly we have just classic laid back Tull here with occasional bursts here and there and a folk vibe that can be traced throughout the record. There are calm, heartfelt ballads like Said She Was a Dancer, there are adventurous numbers, like Budapest, and during these 50 minutes not even once I found out I was bored with the music. All the tracks naturally unfold and effortlessly go on, inviting the listener to follow on a journey. This album has everything I could expect from the band, and after such a blunder Under Wraps was, this album feels like a blessing.
(Blunder Wraps. Haha. Moving on.)
Crest Of A Knave is one of those albums that don’t try to be anything on purpose, it’s kind of… authentic, or probably eclectic is the right word. It feels genuine, not being pretentious at all; it has a comforting vibe and a welcoming atmosphere, and it’s a great listen if you’re in the mood for a fine blend of progressive and folk rock.
Favourite tracks: Farm on the Freeway (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutx_6oHRQA), Said She Was a Dancer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxNmpMf0Uw4), Budapest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iKuHv0imaI), Mountain Men (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAc0n4jWfAs)
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I do like some Tull, so will give it a listen.
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following
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I've heard a few from this album, but should probably check it out more.
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That win over Metallica has to be one of the most controversial award wins ever. Any award, any award show
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That win over Metallica has to be one of the most controversial award wins ever. Any award, any award show
Imma let you finish, but .... etc. etc. and so on.
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That's a JT album I need to check out.
Will be following.
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I do like some Tull, so will give it a listen.
I know you're a fan of TAAB, so this album should be right up your alley, I suppose, or recommended tracks at the very least. The next update though, it's the whole other story.
I've heard a few from this album, but should probably check it out more.
That's a JT album I need to check out.
Please do :tup Among the extensive Tull discography this one is surely on the better half.
That win over Metallica has to be one of the most controversial award wins ever. Any award, any award show
Yep, it certainly seems so. As I said, it would be actually interesting to hear how it was received back then from the older folks here. I guess JT acquired a fair share of fans because of this, people probably went checking out this album, and no matter how ridiculous the category of award itself was, I think some of them could've got into Tull because of this record. Then of course, I might be dead wrong here. :lol
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#49
Land Of The Free
Gamma Ray
Genre: power metal
1995
(https://i.imgur.com/fUJ7ePv.jpg)
Well, I’ve warned you there will be plenty of power metal on this list, so from the mellow progressive rock to the land of frantic headbanging we go! I mean, these two records are as different as a penguin and a pallas cat (don’t ask). If you’re looking for some epic, cheesy, pompous guitar-driven power metal in style of 80s / 90s, look no further and have no fear: Gamma Ray is here.
Gamma Ray is a German power metal band, founded in 1989 by Kai Hansen, a famous guitarist and vocalist, also a co-founder of another well-known act, Helloween. Due to some unfortunate circumstances, Kai left Helloween for good and decided to start his own project with his friend Ralf Scheepers. The project turned out sounding remarkably close to Kai’s previous band, as expected, but still Gamma Ray has bravely recorded three albums, that turned out to be not incredibly impressive, in my opinion. Then probably the biggest change of line-up in Gamma Ray’s history occurred, as Ralf Scheepers left the band and Hansen, lightly persuaded by his fans and friends, took the vocal duties himself. All these perturbations resulted in the gem called Land of the Free.
I don’t know the public opinion regarding this, but personally I felt Hansen and the band put the whole hundred percent of their soul into this album. Being not a spectacular vocalist himself, Kai manages to kick the greatest amounts of ass right here; he shines so brightly on this record it’s amazing. The rest of the band didn’t disappoint either. The songwriting here is tight and loose at the same time. We’ve got Rebellion in Dreamland, the song which has memorable parts all around during all the nine minutes, packed with intense guitar solos and over-the-top epic vocal sections; but there are also anthemic and simpler numbers like glorious Land of the Free or All of the Damned. The album doesn’t lack in the speed department either, Man on a Mission and Salvation’s Calling are the clear proof of this. Of course, there is obligatory ballad on the album, and also some more weird numbers like Time to Break Free with the guest appearance of Michael Kiske.
I guess you’ve got my point already; this album is quite diverse for your usual power metal record, but at the same time it keeps this overwhelmingly epic mood. You know, there are bands which will sound ridiculous trying to replicate such a record, and not a lot of them can do this idea justice. Gamma Ray, on the other hand, happens to be one of those bands capable of it. They’ve set a milestone in power metal with Land Of The Free, and they’ve also determined their own style, knowingly or not.
Favourite tracks: Rebellion in Dreamland (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kc4-1RV8K0), Man on a Mission (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm8JvqFK_3A), Land of the Free (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoGP812fNWQ)
I also wanted to write a bit more about the band. I’ve recently saw them live (by recently I mean March 2014) and I was immensely pleased to see that after 25 years there guys are still rocking the venues out there. It was an absolute pleasure to see them perform the tunes from both the new album and their previous records. I’m also including this section here because I find Kai to be one of the most charismatic frontman out there. He’s just so adorable and funny, always smiling when he plays; you can clearly see he’s enjoying the hell out of what he’s doing, and I guess that’s the most important thing, isn’t it?
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I'm prepared to disagree with this list :neverusethis:
That's my job on this particular list. The time has come...
FOR VENGEANCE
Jethro Tull are cool though. I checked out Gamma Ray a couple years ago, and I remember that I've liked it, but haven't listened to them since then.
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I'm prepared to disagree with this list :neverusethis:
That's my job on this particular list. The time has come...
FOR VENGEANCE
Jethro Tull are cool though. I checked out Gamma Ray a couple years ago, and I remember that I've liked it, but haven't listened to them since then.
Disagreement is great though, it may lead to some kind of discussion, and that's what I'm aiming for among other things. :biggrin:
Which album have you checked? Gamma Ray albums are a bit same-ish, especially over the last decade. I would say their new efforts like To The Metal! or Empire of the Undead are good, but they have absolutely no lasting power, and it's the same riffs, melodies and ideas rehashed over and over. They've became like those Axel Rudi Pell bands, where if you've heard one or two albums, you've heard like all the band has to offer. However, I don't listen to Gamma Ray for diversity, so I'm usually satisfied with their work; along with constantly evolving and changing bands, sometimes I just need those kind of bands like Gamma Ray releasing solid power metal.
Plus, they are great in a live setting.
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I think it was Somewhere Out In Space, or something like that
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I think it was Somewhere Out In Space, or something like that
Oh, I see then, not the best choice, in my opinion. Land Of The Free is vastly superior, and both No World Order (which features stellar Dethrone Tyranny and title track) and Power Plant (with its ultimate hit Send Me a Sign and daring Anywhere in the Galaxy) are better picks, I think. Since every Gamma Ray album has some mediocre tracks, I advise you to check the recommended ones in my write-up and the ones I've mentioned in this post. I think you won't be disappointed.
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That's a great Gamma ray album. Following. :tup
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Appreciating Gamma Ray, even though I don't have this album.
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Not into Tull, but wouldn't hold it against anybody. Certainly a classic band.
Land Of The Free is fantastic. Last time I saw Kai live, he was still in Helloween! ;D
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Land Of The Free is fantastic. Last time I saw Kai live, he was still in Helloween! ;D
Yeah, now that's what you should call old! :biggrin:
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Land of the Free is incredible.
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Land of the Free is incredible.
It is! But the next one is even more incredible.
#48
Edge Of Thorns
Savatage
Genre: progressive / power metal
1993
(https://sp9.fotolog.com/photo/25/0/109/darthmauritron/1200667132_f.jpg)
First, let me draw your attention to the awesomeness of this glorious cover. Honestly, I find it nothing short of magnificent. All the warm colors, this intimate clearing in the woods, and these branches forming this face with glowing eyes and bared teeth, or are they? As the lyrics say, a man only sees what he wants to see, and here you have probably the most accurate statement about this artwork. I love it.
Back to the band and the album now, Savatage is an American metal band founded in 1978 by Oliva brothers, Jon and Criss. And if you'd think about it, Edge of Thorns is quite significant from this point of view; this album features the last studio appearance of Criss Oliva on Savatage, for he died several months after the release, and what an album these guys managed to put out. This is also the first Savatage record not featuring Jon on vocals, they’re being provided by Zachary Stevens here. Of course Jon’s raw and emotional performance on the albums like Gutter Ballet is incredible, but let’s be fair to Zac, he’s done his job flawlessly and the written material fits his voice like a glove. He has just the perfect amount of aggression and badassery in his delivery, and the low and calm notes are coming seemingly easy to him too.
And right from the first keyboard note you know you’re in for a treat with this album. This repeating melody with powerful guitar chords combined makes a gorgeous intro for the title track, and the rest of this five-minutes-long mid-paced opener doesn’t disappoint either. It’s like a small album itself. But there are much more gems there, of course. The very next song, He Carves His Stone, offers you a hell of a ride, from a peaceful acoustic intro to completely insane ending (which Ville didn’t like in his roulette, haha). The sequence of Labyrinths and Follow Me will lull you at first with those beautiful instrumental parts, and then you probably will find yourself singing along and headbanging fiercely. Those songs are obviously my favourites, but don’t think the rest is pointless filler, for despite a few clunker moments, all the tracks are quite strong here.
Aside from a few songwriting moments (cup of tea, yeah, cup of tea), this album is great. Speaking about that, there are songs that’s not entirely my cup of tea, like, say, Skraggy’s Tomb, but they’re still good enough to let this record stay in my Top 50. Otherwise, the mix is simply incredible, you can hear everything; the instrumental parts are killer, I mean, consider those guitar solos in the songs I’ve mentioned above, so, well, overall, there’s mostly nothing to complain about in Edge Of Thorns.
Favourite tracks: Edge of Thorns (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VOzdcCy1Vg), He Carves His Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOvPBSgrxpU), Labyrinths + Follow Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADVpcveRgw)
Also, if you’re interested in alternative version of Edge of Thorns (the song) with Jorn Lande and Sir Russell Allen, you can go for Allen / Lande — Lady of Winter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3_OvrGEbMvo) from their latest album directed by Timo Tolkki (don’t click the link if you don’t want to be either angered or disappointed), because, seriously, this is almost outrageous.
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Land Of The Free is fantastic. Last time I saw Kai live, he was still in Helloween! ;D
Yeah, now that's what you should call old! :biggrin:
September 24, 1987
The Living Room
Providence
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/Kai1.jpg) (https://s195.photobucket.com/user/TACPics/media/Kai1.jpg.html)
Earlier in the day:
"Hey Kai, the camera is over HERE!"
(https://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z246/TACPics/MK.jpg) (https://s195.photobucket.com/user/TACPics/media/MK.jpg.html)
Michael Kiske :heart
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It is well documented here, but I am not a Savatage fan..
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Land of the Free is incredible.
It is! But the next one is even more incredible.
You are right you son of a bitch, absolute monster album. This list is heading into some killer territory, following big time.
Still can't get over that Tolkki rip off either man.
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Never heard anything Savatage. Checked out the title track, that riff is great. He Carves His Stone tho :metal :metal what a beast.
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Wow, man, now that's indeed awesome. Love those photos.
Earlier in the day:
"Hey Kai, the camera is over HERE!"
:rollin
You are right you son of a bitch, absolute monster album. This list is heading into some killer territory, following big time.
Still can't get over that Tolkki rip off either man.
:tup There might be some albums you don't / won't like, but overall I think the list will be up your alley. Almost nothing new for you of course, but it's always nice to revisit some good old classics, I think.
And about Tolkki, as I said, this is really outrageous. I was pissed when he did this Avalon thing, but then this popped up and, well. Just unbelievable.
Never heard anything Savatage. Checked out the title track, that riff is great. He Carves His Stone tho :metal :metal what a beast.
Oh man, you're in for a huge treat there. This album, Streets, Gutter Ballet, you just can't go wrong with either.
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It is well documented here, but I am not a Savatage fan..
Still surprises me.
Edge of Thorns is incredible. Probably my favorite album from the band and title track would be favorite song from them
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Awesome Savatage album and ,as you noted, one of the all time best examples of cover art. At this very moment I have an Edge of Thorns t-shirt on its way to me - a glaring hole in my collection that needed to be rectified :D
Savatage are a top 10 all time band for me and I'd rate this one up there in their best 4 . Certainly my favourite of the Zak era.
The song Follow Me is one of the best examples of why Criss Oliva was so great - that change of pace/rhythm out of nowhere from a nice melody to a brand new crunchy riff (as also seen out of the final chorus in Hounds etc...) is very cool stuff.
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Awesome Savatage album and ,as you noted, one of the all time best examples of cover art. At this very moment I have an Edge of Thorns t-shirt on its way to me - a glaring hole in my collection that needed to be rectified :D
Savatage are a top 10 all time band for me and I'd rate this one up there in their best 4 . Certainly my favourite of the Zak era.
The song Follow Me is one of the best examples of why Criss Oliva was so great - that change of pace/rhythm out of nowhere from a nice melody to a brand new crunchy riff (as also seen out of the final chorus in Hounds etc...) is very cool stuff.
Where do you buy your stuff from?
And yes, Follow Me is one of my favs in regards to Criss' playing, as is He Carves His Stone, and Miles Away. Actually, the whole album has incredible guitar work.
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I buy my stuff from all over the place but this one actually comes from the band store - I didn't realise until recently that Savatage have a band store with Live Nation like DT do. And when I saw they had an Edge of Thorns shirt it was all over ;D
https://www.store2.livenation.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Store.woa/wa/artist?sourceCode=FANWEB&categoryName=All+Products&artistName=Savatage
I already have Gutter Ballet and HoTMK shirts from back in the day , but Edge of Thorns is shit hot artwork for a shirt and one I've been wanting for ages :metal
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It is really mind boggling how much Lady of Winter sounds like Edge of Thorns. That must be why I like it so much
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It is really mind boggling how much Lady of Winter sounds like Edge of Thorns. That must be why I like it so much
If Allen/Lande made money, I'm sure Savatage would be quick to sue. The rip off is one for the ages.
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I agree with you guys, the guitarwork on Edge of Thorns is excellent.
I already have Gutter Ballet and HoTMK shirts from back in the day , but Edge of Thorns is shit hot artwork for a shirt and one I've been wanting for ages :metal
Yeah, that's one hell of a shirt indeed!
And now, while I still have your attention, folks, here's probably a bit controversial update.
#47
Shadow Of The Moon
Blackmore’s Night
Genre: folk / medieval rock
1997
(https://implayer.img.jugem.jp/20090804_862337.jpg)
I’m not sure this update will be popular enough, and perhaps it’ll get me a fair amount of scolding for its appearance in my Top 50, but, well, can’t be helped. I’ve seen and heard a lot of hatred towards this band (not on DTF, mind you), and while I can admit they’ve got a bit repetitive over the years, especially from Autumn Sky and onwards, I honestly don’t understand all the swearing and dislike towards this album.
Blackmore’s Night is a band formed in 1997 by basically two people, famous guitarist Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple, Rainbow) and multi-instrumentalist and mostly-singer Candice Night. These guys began living together in 1991 and finally got married in 2008, so it’s not exactly your usual musical collaboration. Their musical collaboration started long before this album, for Candice provided her backing vocals and lyrics for Rainbow’s Stranger In Us All (1995), and been present on Deep Purple’s European tour in 1993 too. Specializing mostly in medieval ballads and sometimes rock tunes, this band often includes a number of covers of well-known songs in their albums, including classical tunes, famous folk songs, and tunes from Ritchie’s previous bands.
So, let’s again discuss the love and hate for Blackmore’s Night. I don’t know how it goes around Europe and US, but plenty of people in Russia can’t stand this band because “Blackmore was rocking and making such-a-good-music and then he found himself under the thumb of Candice and now plays this mockery of songs”. And, well, sorry, but this is disrespectful bullshit; if anyone tells me that, I likely will pretend I don’t know the guy. You know, I accept there is a lot of Candice’s influence on their music, but I don’t believe Ritchie would be still doing it after all these years if he didn’t have this medieval spark in him, not in the slightest. On the contrary, I think Ritchie nurtured all these little folk musical ideas during his years in Rainbow, refined them in his free time and that’s why Shadow of the Moon turned out to be so awesome. All the songs sound so fresh and new; there is no filler in here, only the evident celebrating renaissance mood alternating with some brooding, melancholic pieces. The explicit acoustic guitar work and stunning melodies by Blackmore improved by ethereal singing of Candice, all this spiced with a few electric guitar sounds, notable guests appearances like Ian Anderson with his famous flutework; cello, violins; along with the famous traditional songs rearranged splendidly, all this adds up into a stunning album.
While there are a lot of albums known for their somber mood, and also a lot of albums that fill you with energy, I’ve never found any record that affects me like that. I’ve discovered it quite a long time ago; it has left me in awe and never fails to do that ever since. If I need something calm and soothing, something to inspire me to pick my acoustic guitar and play it in the evening or in the night, this album does its job. It sets me in such a peaceful and lyrical attitude. It always does its job.
Favourite tracks: Shadow of the Moon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArOS_WsT1tw), The Clock Ticks On (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE4_Ixg7X_U), Play Minstrel Play (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fomtue_jLNI), No Second Chance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDXFyi1qk9k), Spirit of the Sea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOzzrlJKfno)
If you liked some of the favourite tracks, be sure to check these guys live. “Castles and Dreams” DVD is one of the most awesome and intimate concert videos I’ve seen, highly recommended. And even if you didn’t like any of recommended tracks, check their third album’s title track Fires at Midnight live with acoustic guitar / violin unison (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIQnO5NNZes). From 5:20 and onwards there’s just unspeakable beauty in there.
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Ooh, Blackmore's Night. You know, I just played Greensleeves in my music academy christmas concert thingy, and it's awesome.
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Could never get into BN personally.
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Could never get into BN personally.
Well, this is fine, different tastes and stuff. I bet you didn't visit their live concerts just to ruin them and offend the musicians, like some Russian fans did in, what was it, 2008 or 2010. There were some drunk fans who just kept screaming stuff like "Quit this shit, Blackmore" and "SMOKE ON THE WATER PLEASE" during like, what, the beginning of every song (and as a lot of songs are acoustic, those shouts were very audible). I think the band played seven or eight song until Ritchie officially got pissed off, played Smoke on the Water, Black Night, and then left the venue. I called them "fans", but they obviously weren't, and that's what I was speaking in this write-up. I have no idea why would someone do such thing.
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No, I like Richie and respect the band, but just never was my thing.
Pretty funny he played Smoke and Night and then left. :lol Sucks for the fans that actually went there to see BN.
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No, I like Richie and respect the band, but just never was my thing.
Pretty funny he played Smoke and Night and then left. :lol Sucks for the fans that actually went there to see BN.
Yeah, the official Russian fanclub wrote an apologetic letter to the band later, if I remember correctly. Thankfully it seems the band and Ritchie himself doesn't hold any grudge as of now, their concert in 2014 (opening the tour for Dancer and the Moon album) here was awesome, the band was nice and inspired and the fans were respectful enough.
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Onward!
#46
Unisonic
Unisonic
Genre: hard rock / power metal
2012
(https://www.metaltraveller.com/images/unisonic/Unisonic_Cover.JPG)
This is one of two occasions when the album makes this list not because of its individual strength, but mostly because I want to kind of honor the band for their great work. It doesn’t mean the album isn’t good though; I always enjoy the hell out of it, but it wouldn’t be on my list if this was the only thing these guys released. I wanted to avoid the ties in my Top 50, and I also wanted to avoid putting the extremely recent records here, so that’s why we get Unisonic here, while Light of Dawn (the second Unisonic album) isn’t making its appearance.
Unisonic is a german band mostly known because of two incredible famous persons on metal scene, I’m talking of Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen of course. However, they aren’t the only driving force of the band. A lot of band’s music, along with almost the whole Light of Dawn, is written by their bassist Dennis Ward, who also does the mixing and producing and all this stuff. Of course, there is also Mandy Meyer on guitars and Kosta Zafiriou on drums. As they say, true metal band doesn’t need any keyboards, but as Unisonic is also a rock band, Günter Werno played keys on the both albums as a guest musician.
When I was approaching Unisonic, I was careful and maybe a bit skeptical, thinking «alright, this is another supergroup with big names, it could be either satisfying or awful», and without a doubt it’s the former. The album is an incredibly fine blend of hard rock and power metal, with soaring vocals and strong melodies. Michael’s voice matured over the years, and now his singing of both low and highest notes is convincing and impressive. The songs are well-thought, all clocking around 5 minutes mark; they never overstay their welcome and pretty tightly packed with memorable moments. You’ll be pleasantly surprised humming them just after the first listen, that’s how catchy those choruses are, and not annoying at all.
The album has a few weak spots, for example, I don’t exactly like Never Too Late or Star Rider, if I was writing this list just a few months ago there would be no Unisonic in my Top 50. But in the meantime band released their second output, and from my first impressions it’s brilliant. It still needs to stand the test of time, but even now I can say it’s damn good, and it’s one of the reasons I decided to make a room for Unisonic in this list.
Favourite tracks: Unisonic (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XR65ATnBWI), Over the Rainbow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wygFMyhf9aI), My Sanctuary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_B3TL9L9s), King for a Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSJliUh4kDg)
Also, digipack size doesn’t always matter (https://i.imgur.com/qv8bU1O.jpg), and Light of Dawn could be even stronger than its predecessor.
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Me do like. Wow, you really like power metal don't you :lol
Didn't heard about them, checked them out, hit.
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Me do like. Wow, you really like power metal don't you :lol
Didn't heard about them, checked them out, hit.
Man, it's like half of this list is power metal. Of course I do like it. :lol
Glad you liked it. :metal
edit: Damn, actually, at this rate I will run out of things to send in your upcoming roulette. :lol
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Me do like. Wow, you really like power metal don't you :lol
Didn't heard about them, checked them out, hit.
Man, it's like half of this list is power metal. Of course I do like it. :lol
Glad you liked it. :metal
edit: Damn, actually, at this rate I will run out of things to send in your upcoming roulette. :lol
Well, my roulette is goin' to be a long time from now, so you better start listening to other stuff :biggrin:
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YES for Blackmore's Night. Unisonic is pretty rockin' also.
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Interesting seeing Unisonic in a top 50. That first album was a bit of a grower. I think it's a fine album but it couldn't be helped that expectations were so high. Over time it remains a solid debut with a lot of great songs. Light of Dawn was tremendous.
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YES for Blackmore's Night. Unisonic is pretty rockin' also.
Great to see some plain good old appreciation. :biggrin:
Interesting seeing Unisonic in a top 50. That first album was a bit of a grower. I think it's a fine album but it couldn't be helped that expectations were so high. Over time it remains a solid debut with a lot of great songs. Light of Dawn was tremendous.
It's actually the opposite for me, I had low expectations and the album blew them out of the water for me. Such a rewarding listen. I honestly can't decide if I like Unisonic or Light of Dawn better.
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I'm the biggest Kiske fan around these parts. The first Unisonic was very good. It was so nice to hear Kiske singing this type of music.
I do like Light Of Dawn much better. The band just feels more together on it, which only makes sense. Plus there's none of that Kiske vibrato.
Love the nod to UFO's Lights Out & Rock Bottom during the We Rise solo.
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I'm the biggest Kiske fan around these parts. The first Unisonic was very good. It was so nice to hear Kiske singing this type of music.
I do like Light Of Dawn much better. The band just feels more together on it, which only makes sense. Plus there's none of that Kiske vibrato.
Love the nod to UFO's Lights Out & Rock Bottom during the We Rise solo.
I just don't know, Light of Dawn feels too recent to judge it, but it has some stellar tracks, I'll give you that.
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The first album suffered from not having a couple of really outstanding tracks like LOD had Your Time Has Come, For the Kingdom and Night of the Long Knives. Everything on the first album is just solid.
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Night Of The Long Knives was my 2014 Song Of The Year.
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Night Of The Long Knives was my 2014 Song Of The Year.
That's understandable.
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I especially like how it goes *looking for the booklet - ah, there* "He's got a list on his mind". Epic shit right here. That's where Kiske is irreplaceable.
The first album suffered from not having a couple of really outstanding tracks like LOD had Your Time Has Come, For the Kingdom and Night of the Long Knives. Everything on the first album is just solid.
And yeah, Your Time Has Come. When this track blasted through my headphones right after the short instrumental opener, I think I was in power metal heaven.
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If they could make a full album in the style of Your Time Has Come, we really could have something special.
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Light Of Dawn feels like the band is more comfortable with each other. If they can stay together, it can only get better. And it's been fantastic so far!
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Too much cheese for my taste :neverusethis:
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If they could make a full album in the style of Your Time Has Come, we really could have something special.
Well, the diversity is still needed. I think Light of Dawn did pretty nice in this department.
Too much cheese for my taste :neverusethis:
Yeah, that's about what I expected. :lol
Now, I hope pro-hard rock and power metal folks will excuse me, because here's when after not-so-subtle foreshadowing in a previous post Steven Wilson makes its obligatory appearance (however, not with the album you guys may have expected)
#45
Storm Corrosion
Storm Corrosion
Genre: progressive folk rock / ambient
2012
(https://hellbound.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/1335176804_storm_corrosion_large.jpg)
Here’s the second self-titled album from a supergroup of a well-known musicians in a row, also released in 2012, and the contrast is rather striking. If Unisonic could be described like «everything we do comes down to rock’n’roll», Storm Corrosion is more like «everything we do comes down to whatever our weird musical minds and souls will come up with». And the result is a thrilling experience. I mean, just look at this cover. :lol
For those who are unfamiliar with Storm Corrosion, it was a onetime musical collaboration between Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt, and I guess these guys are widely known around here. Chronologically, this album takes place after Steven and Mikael (with Opeth) released their albums, Grace for Drowning and Heritage respectively. Before the release, musicians noted that stylistically Storm Corrosion is kind of a closing piece to this weird progressive trilogy. And, well, I guess there are certain similarities.
I had my expectations quite elaborate when I put my copy of the album in a player, and the album matched them almost entirely. There's a lot of laid-back, relaxed sections with ambient vibe, a few sung parts with a bit of harmonies here and there, a few mellow, soulful guitar passages too. Of course you will find some awkward and strange transitions between sections, say, I can’t get used to this extremely odd fadeout in the title track at ~8:10. I thought my copy had some kind of glitch. I can imagine Steven and Mikael having fun imagining our faces at that moment. There are maybe two or three intense moments, mostly on Hag and Lock Howl, the latter track even feels maybe a bit out of place. However, all the weirdness and intensiveness is drowned in the serenity and beauty of the rest of material. The crystal clear mix is helping a lot too, though if you’re approaching a record with Steven Wilson on it, you kind of expect it.
I’ve found I’m listening to this album quite a lot, but mostly spin it on a background; but when I put my headphones on and get completely immersed in the music, paying attention to all the details and absorb the whole atmosphere of Storm Corrosion, the listen becomes very rewarding. In moments like these I’m reminded how much I loved this album on the first listen, and I realize I still love it now, probably even more. You know, I’ve met a lot of people across the web saying this album is the most boring shit ever, and well, to each his own, but when I started thinking out my list, I instantly knew this record will make it.
Favourite tracks: Drag Ropes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=manW5v-AR7U), Storm Corrosion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVuSKk_fs1o), Ljudet Innan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Eg2qV1LpCE)
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I love both of these artists but this is one album I actually didn't give much time to. I don't think I was in the mood for it at the time. I need to get the cd out and give it a spin.
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I'm a total noob to all of these albums so far, but I'm following because of human interest - and listening along as I go. Power metal is just not me - but I'm digging this Storm Corrosion thing so far. I'm not a huge fan of Opeth or PT but I like aspects of the band, namely the vocalists, so hearing them together is awesome. Drag Ropes almost reminds me of a less-abrasive version of something off Scott Walker's 'The Drift', which I quite like. :tup
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^ that post is annoying to read. I just meant to say: storm corrosion good.
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^ that post is annoying to read. I just meant to say: storm corrosion good.
I thought it was alright. The post, I mean. :D I realize power metal is a genre not everyone will enjoy (well, just like every genre really), but it just happens I do enjoy it, hence its abundance in the list. But I also like some mellow and atmospheric stuff, so here you go.
I love both of these artists but this is one album I actually didn't give much time to. I don't think I was in the mood for it at the time. I need to get the cd out and give it a spin.
Yeah, this album is eclectic and can definitely fall flat if you're not in the right mood.
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Holy shit. Drag Ropes, that guitar solo with the orchestra underneath and the visuals in that video (7:00) is so goddamn gorgeous! <3
^ that post is annoying to read. I just meant to say: storm corrosion good.
I thought it was alright. The post, I mean. :D I realize power metal is a genre not everyone will enjoy (well, just like every genre really), but it just happens I do enjoy it, hence its abundance in the list. But I also like some mellow and atmospheric stuff, so here you go.
Oh, please don't take my comment as a slight on your personal taste :lol I get how one could enjoy the genre, it was just never something that resonated with me, in fact most metal sorta flies over my head nowadays for better or worse. Meh. It is what it is. Kudos for putting me onto Storm Corrosion tho, I'm definitely going to have to check out the rest of the album. I've always loved Mikael's clean vocals and jazzy guitar work.
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No offense taken, I've probably worded it wrong. It's all fine.
Well, despite the list being mostly metal, there will be a few good non-metal records along the way, so stay tuned, I guess. :biggrin:
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Those last two were two of my favorite albums of 2012, very good stuff. :tup
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I'm not a huge fan of Opeth or PT but I like aspects of the band, namely the vocalists, so hearing them together is awesome.
The vocals are THE reason that I do not listen to Opeth or PT.
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I'm not a huge fan of Opeth or PT but I like aspects of the band, namely the vocalists, so hearing them together is awesome.
The vocals are THE reason that I do not listen to Opeth or PT.
I actually like Mikael's clean vocals a lot, and while I admit Steven isn't a good vocalist, I respect how he writes the songs fit for his voice and manages to sound convincing and natural. And since the vocals on Storm Corrosion only add up to the atmosphere the whole album is building, it's totally not an issue for me. But, then again, I can see how it can be an issue for someone. Can't please everyone, I guess.
Those last two were two of my favorite albums of 2012, very good stuff. :tup
2012 was a great year overall, I've got at least one more album on my list from it. But yeah, those two are indeed very good.
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And have another proggy update now, won't you?
#44
The Whirlwind
Transatlantic
Genre: progressive rock
2009
(https://united-metal.ru/uploads/posts/2011-10/1318327033_1256629985_transatlantic-the-whirlwind-deluxe-edition-2009.jpg)
There’s only so much amount of happy progressive rock I can tolerate in a certain period of time. I usually prefer either more heavy or more sad, somber music, but when I’m looking for something more lighthearted (I know this album isn’t really lighthearted, but I don’t know how to put it, really), The Whirlwind is one of my usual choices. It could be because I’m a sucker for concept albums, or maybe because it perfectly flows together, I’m not sure, but this record is somehow attractive and maybe captivating. And the cover’s color probably also helps, when I look at my shelf and see a flash of bright orange color among the dull wall of grey and blue (well, mostly), I feel the urge to spin it. Maybe.
So, just in case you live in the cave in a deep forest, and I mean no offense to people who live in the caves in various deep forests, Transatlantic is yet another supergroup that consists of four musicians, namely Neal Morse (solo, ex-Spock’s Beard, Flying Colors), Mike Portnoy (yeah), Roine Stolt (TFK) and Pete Trewavas (Marillion), whose surname is damn hard to type, I think I wrote Trewaras and Trevaras few times before I realized what’s wrong. Well, speaking of Transatlantic, the band was formed in 1999 and released two albums, then disbanded in 2002, only to reunite in 2009 and put out this fantastic record.
Let’s start with expressing my opinion about the arguably most controversial thing among the fanbase, the endless debate concisely called “Is The Whirlwind One Song or Not”, where you can actually put any other long song divided in movements instead of The Whirlwind. I view it as one big song. I suppose the band themselves stated it should be considered as a single monster song, so I frankly don’t see why is it even a question, but, eh, whatever (see numerous SDOIT debates on DT side). But then again, this song has the distinct movements, differently paced, with various moods and features, some are better than others, so it makes sense to split it for the release. Speaking about movements and their moods, there are a lot of pieces quite similar to each other in their atmosphere, but there are also a few oddities fitting nicely into the whole picture, like The Wind Blew Them All Away or Lay Down Your Life. The first 57 minutes is mostly a giant, very well thought out buildup to the penultimate movement of this epic, where it comes to its climax in all its eternal glory, and the last track is the aftermath full of reprises. Now that I’ve written all this, I think it’s the structure of the whole thing that makes this album so appealing to me. It’s incredibly neat.
The Whirlwind is quite complex and also the most mature Transatlantic album, in my opinion. It has all this recurring musical themes popping up here and there, while also having enough unique parts that truly stand out on their own, capturing listener’s attention, which is quite a remarkable thing. If only Kaleidoscope was a step up from this, I would be in progressive heaven.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite movements: The Wind Blew Them All Away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILq-zlSzN_I), On The Prowl (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-DdDdLI8pc), A Man Can Feel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLxwTDv4MZQ), Is It Really Happening? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AX3N73pgoM)
And on A Man Can Feel I always can’t help but go
A man can sense the speed of falling down
No feet on solid ground
Still time for change of heart to reap the harvest of souls
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:corn
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Storm Corrosion is lovely. The atmosphere that it's capable to create is something out of this world, plus they're two of my favorites musicians together, so what can I ask more? Drag Ropes is my favorite, it has one of my favorites music videos of all time.
Transatlantic are great, I love their style but haven't actually listened to a whole album except for Kaleidoscope. I think they're gonna be listened soon.
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I'm not a huge fan of Opeth or PT but I like aspects of the band, namely the vocalists, so hearing them together is awesome.
The vocals are THE reason that I do not listen to Opeth or PT.
:lol fair enough. I love the tone of both of their voices, and the way their accents come through. Very.... 'honest' sounding I guess is the word.
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Transatlantic are great, I love their style but haven't actually listened to a whole album except for Kaleidoscope. I think they're gonna be listened soon.
Kaleidoscope for me is considerably less appealing than The Whirlwind. Still a good album, though.
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The Whirlwind was good, but not my favorite TA album. Still, it's pretty enjoyable throughout, and they really nailed it with one of my favorite prog songs ever with Is It Really Happening.
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Tried endless times, but still can't get into SC. It's too experimental and weird, even for Steven and Mikael's standards. But liked Duel with the Devil, which Elite sent me on the roulette, so will check the other Transatlantic albums soon :)
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The Whirlwind was good, but not my favorite TA album. Still, it's pretty enjoyable throughout, and they really nailed it with one of my favorite prog songs ever with Is It Really Happening.
Is It Really Happening's title pretty much explains everything I'm thinking while listening to it.
Tried endless times, but still can't get into SC. It's too experimental and weird, even for Steven and Mikael's standards. But liked Duel with the Devil, which Elite sent me on the roulette, so will check the other Transatlantic albums soon :)
Start with this one, and you won't be disappointed!
And now, well, a wild classic appears!
#43
Brothers In Arms
Dire Straits
Genre: rock
1985
(https://www.audioholics.com/amplifier-reviews/emotiva-xpr1-amplifier/direstraitsbrothersinarms.jpg/image)
Oh, this one. Where to start…
For the whole year and a bit more I’m on DTF I always thought Dire Straits as a band was seriously underrated in this community. True, they don’t have a lot of awesome albums, but on some occasions they’ve just simply hit the nail on the head, like they did with this one. As they were quite successful back in the days, it saddens me when I mention them in conversation with people who kind of shares my views on rock and metal music and they all go «who are these?»
Well, answering the question above, Dire Straits is, or well, was a British rock band, founded back in 1977 by the band’s frontman and lead vocalist Mark Knopfler, bassist John Illsley, who both are present on the album I’m writing about, and also by David Knopfler (Mark’s younger brother) and David “Pick” Withers. Having released only six albums, the band has a few well-known hits and overall was on their peak of popularity in 80s. The band underwent a few lineup changes over the years, and on Brothers In Arms it was Mark and John, Alan Clark on keyboards, Guy Fletcher on synths and back vocals, and Omar Hakim on drums, and a good bunch of guest musicians, such as Tony Levin and Sting.
Even if you don’t actually know about this album, you’ve probably heard a few songs off it. I’m talking mostly about hilarious Money For Nothing and playful Walk Of Life, two straightforward rock tunes which were hella popular back then. It’s interesting how this record starts in a fairly predictable way with energetic songs, but then flows into more thoughtful, melancholic mood. The title track is a great example of this, along with jazzy and saxy Your Latest Trick, but we also get a wistful lullaby called Why Worry, weird Latino-styled Ride Across The River, and other stuff. While feeling pretty tight, concise and focused, this album is actually displays an admirable amount of diversity.
Brothers In Arms was the first album to sell one million copies in the CD format, and the employee of a record label that released this album said that entire worldwide manufacturing capacity was overwhelmed by demand for Brothers In Arms, and that they had a hard time to even get their other CDs manufactured, thanks to Wikipedia for the facts! That was no coincidence, and I bet these thousands of people mostly weren’t disappointed at all. This record shows all the sides of the band, from tragic and touching pieces to reckless rockers. And have I mentioned the sax on Your Latest Trick? Finesse as it is.
Favourite tracks: Walk Of Life (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9_VOy7VipQ), Your Latest Trick (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YTh1Wsqo2c), Why Worry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxAZUg6AW4w), Ride Across The River (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4T1MQGTV9U), Brothers In Arms (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azMRIHIyt1Y)
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Interesting choice.
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Brothers In Arms made up part of my first dozen or so "tapes" and so was quite an influential album for me too. I can't say I've listened to it in ages but I think (need to check) I may have given it an HM in my Top 50.
These days I'd gravitate toward the more serious tracks and skip the stuff like Walk of Life and Money For Nothin'.
PS For anyone who was considering it the sharpness of the artwork on the Sava t-shirt is pretty shite. I probably wouldn't bother.
PPS I actually gave an HM to the self titled Dire Straits
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Brothers In Arms made up part of my first dozen or so "tapes" and so was quite an influential album for me too. I can't say I've listened to it in ages but I think (need to check) I may have given it an HM in my Top 50.
These days I'd gravitate toward the more serious tracks and skip the stuff like Walk of Life and Money For Nothin'.
PS For anyone who was considering it the sharpness of the artwork on the Sava t-shirt is pretty shite. I probably wouldn't bother.
PPS I actually gave an HM to the self titled Dire Straits
Self-titled album isn't my cup of tea really, but anyway, this band is great. Knopfler is one of my favourite musicians ever.
Sucks to hear about the t-shirt. Is it really that awful?
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Good call on the Dire Straits, Knopfler is a great guitarist who has a knack for composing super catchy guitar lines (Down to the Waterline, Money for Nothing, Sultans etc) and I quite like his Dylan-esque vocal style.
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Never listened much to DS but was always of fan of Knofler and all their hits.
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Never listened much to DS but was always of fan of Knofler and all their hits.
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My dad is a huge DS fan, so I know some songs. Cool choice :tup
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Storm Corrosion :tup
I've also heard my dad play some Dire Straits CDs, and I thought they were alright.
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I love Brothers In Arms, it has a really nostalgic thing for me growing up with my dad and me listening to it.
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Good to see a lot of love for Dire Straits. I agree with everything you guys said about Knopfler (except the mistake in his surname, looking at you Kade ;) )
My dad is a huge DS fan, so I know some songs. Cool choice :tup
I thought you were going to disagree with this list. :lol
I love Brothers In Arms, it has a really nostalgic thing for me growing up with my dad and me listening to it.
That's certainly amazing, I wish my dad had similar taste in music.
Storm Corrosion :tup
I've also heard my dad play some Dire Straits CDs, and I thought they were alright.
I thought you will show up in this thread on the next update. ;D Speaking of which...
#42
Unia
Sonata Arctica
Genre: progressive power metal
2007
(https://i15.servimg.com/u/f15/17/03/84/13/unia10.jpg)
It’s no big secret I’m an avid fan of Sonata Arctica, I’ve run their survivor just a few weeks or months ago, I was posting at their thread quite often, and the interesting thing is, before the survivor I was always saying Unia is mediocre. I gave an album a lot of chances and it just didn’t work on me like at all. I don’t know what I was thinking, honestly. When I was spinning it in order to get prepared for survivor, something had just changed. I have no idea what happened, but the whole record clicked with me like never before. It turned out to be an incredibly slow grower, because it actually took me seven years to begin appreciating this album. Seven years I was ignoring and underestimating this hour of awesomeness; not anymore though.
Sonata Arctica is a Finnish progressive melodic power metal band, or at least I think so, as they have quite a distinctive sound and style. Tony Kakko is the band’s charismatic frontman, he also writes all the melodies and lyrics and stuff; the instrumentalists on Unia are Jani Liimatainen on guitars, Henrik Klingenberg on keyboards, Marko Paasikoski on bass and Tommy Portimo on drums. Jani left the band soon after Unia was released, and Elias Viljanen played guitars on the tour promoting the album.
Unia, which apparently means “dreams” in Finnish, is easily the most multifarious and adventurous album the band has ever put out, and it became a significant turning point in Sonata’s style. Previous four records were power metal in their essence, even if sometimes the progressive elements were quite apparent, but Unia is progressive through and through. And I guess that’s the reason it alienated a lot of fans on release. The band stopped writing The Good Old Power Metal and began playing whatever they wanted on Unia and thereafter, sometimes with remarkable results, sometimes with poor ones, but anyway, I think that’s what really important to the musicians and artists, to write and play whatever they want, not what the public wants to hear from them. Why don’t we talk about the album itself though? Oh yeah, it’s great. Admittedly it has a few lows like Good Enough Is Good Enough or For The Sake Of Revenge, but the highs are transcendental and are among the best SA songs ever. This album embraces heaviness and aggression, sadness and depression, awkward transitions and progression. Alright, that was beyond cheesy. :lol
Unia has to be one of the most emotional albums from Sonata Arctica. The whole picture with subtle keyboards and vocal delivery is impeccable, and the complexity and ambition of the entire thing is mindboggling compared to band’s previous records. Tony said it would be better to make a solo album instead of Unia and I agreed with him for all these years, but now I’m wholeheartedly in love with it I think it’s really an essential album in SA discography.
Favourite tracks: In Black And White (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4YnI80ax70), It Won’t Fade (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85k2bbtKOeQ), Caleb (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eob9izeo-CU), The Vice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixsORzbmW5o), My Dream’s But A Drop Of Fuel For A Nightmare (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5P53ozwaec), The Worlds Forgotten, The Words Forbidden (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zxMyR72qQk)
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What an amazing pick. By far SA's best album, and just a unique and magic album from beginning to end, love it.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about the spelling but was too assed to look it up. :lol
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Unia was the first studio album I bought from SA after checking them out with their live album. I could never get into it. Just didn't get it.
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Unia was the first studio album I bought from SA after checking them out with their live album. I could never get into it. Just didn't get it.
Me too. I like their previous albums a lot but when Unia came I really couldn't get into it.
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My dad is a huge DS fan, so I know some songs. Cool choice :tup
I thought you were going to disagree with this list. :lol
Well, that time will come. But keep in mind that I wouldn't put so much, if any, power metal in a list, so that's already something :lol
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I can't say that I've ever rated SA very highly - I do have Unia (unlistened to) somewhere around here , so will grab it for a spin. If memory serves correct I bought Winterheart's Guild , Unia and Ecliptica on the reco of someone or other and by the time I got to the end of WG I'd labelled them as a pretty average band and didn't bother to go much further. I did like a few tracks on it (my fave was a ballad if I recall :-\ ) but there was a huge amount of crap on it and so I consigned them to the also rans list. I've heard a number of random tracks of theirs over the years , none of which have convinced me to give them another chance. Hopefully Unia appeals to me more.
Sucks to hear about the t-shirt. Is it really that awful?
Yeah - it's pretty bad. I've found the Live Nation DT stuff to be a bit hit and miss too. Put it this way - my Gutter Ballet t-shirt , which isn't even official I'm pretty sure , is much nicer. I'll take a photo of them side by side if you're really interested in the shirt and were considering buying.
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Unia was the first studio album I bought from SA after checking them out with their live album. I could never get into it. Just didn't get it.
Me too. I like their previous albums a lot but when Unia came I really couldn't get into it.
As I said, it took me seven years to get into it; I would've pretty much given up on it if it wasn't Sonata Arctica, actually.
I can't say that I've ever rated SA very highly - I do have Unia (unlistened to) somewhere around here , so will grab it for a spin. If memory serves correct I bought Winterheart's Guild , Unia and Ecliptica on the reco of someone or other and by the time I got to the end of WG I'd labelled them as a pretty average band and didn't bother to go much further. I did like a few tracks on it (my fave was a ballad if I recall :-\ ) but there was a huge amount of crap on it and so I consigned them to the also rans list. I've heard a number of random tracks of theirs over the years , none of which have convinced me to give them another chance. Hopefully Unia appeals to me more.
Well, while WHG and Ecliptica were pure, straight-forward power metal, Unia is more intricate and weird. I've read your Top 50 list, and this album probably isn't what I would recommend to you. But seeing how many albums you're spinning a day, you might as well spin Unia too. ;D
And about t-shirt, I'm not considering buying it in the near future, I was just interested to see how shitty it is. So if you actually don't mind and have enough time, yep, a photo would be nice.
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Unia was my first Sonata album, and after 7 years of listening it's stood the test of time well and remains my favorite album by them. :hefdaddy While Reckoning Night shed some of the Stratovarius influence and introduced more prog into SA's music, this was the point where they finally made an album that can be compared to no other band.
Unia, which apparently means “dreams” in Finnish
Correct, more precisely it's the partitive form of the word. (sorry, as a language student I may get geeky with this stuff :lol)
Tony said it would be better to make a solo album instead of Unia
I think he meant that from a commercial point of view or for the power metal fans it would've been better if he'd made a solo album instead, but that's no knock on Unia, because he's often said it's his favorite Sonata record.
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I think he meant that from a commercial point of view or for the power metal fans it would've been better if he'd made a solo album instead, but that's no knock on Unia, because he's often said it's his favorite Sonata record.
That makes sense. I just recall reading that somewhere, they've probably pulled a blabbermouth and took his words out of context.
But keep in mind that I wouldn't put so much, if any, power metal in a list, so that's already something :lol
Right... have another power metal album then.
#41
Karma
Kamelot
Genre: power metal
2001
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/1/1/1/1111.jpg)
Kamelot is one of my favourite modern power metal acts out there. Their works got everything you can wish for this genre, be it catchy vocal melodies, neat guitar solos, keyboard and piano based ballads, perfect album flows, you name it. They tend to release consistently good records with rare exceptions and their run from 1999’s The Fourth Legacy until 2012’s Silverthorn is magnificent, the albums ranging from “that was fine except a few numbers” to “wow, this is some brilliance shining through”. Karma, in my opinion of course, belongs to the latter category.
Kamelot is an American band officially founded in 1991 by Thomas Youngblood (guitars, backing vocals) and Mark Vanderbilt (lead vocals). The latter left the band after the first two albums, and in 1998 the band has hired another vocalist, Roy Khan, who provided vocals for seven Kamelot’s studio albums, became quite an integral part of the band and an important piece in their commercial success. Roy Khan left the band in 2011 and was replaced by Tommy Karevik though, which spawned a lot of pleading comments in the vein of “Roy please come back!!” and also the insulting ones like “The new vocalist is shit and can’t sing, Roy was loads better please come back!”. Oh, well. Anyway, another musician who joined the band with Roy was a drummer, Casey Grillo; bass guitar on Karma was played by Glenn Barry, and there are also keyboards and orchestral arrangements by Miro, additional guitars by Sascha Paeth and the string quartet with two violins, cello and viola present on the album.
Karma consists of a number of concise, short tracks, each is about four or five minutes in length. Driven by guitar riffs and noticeable, powerful and versatile Roy’s voice, the album offers a bunch of impressive tunes, each one is memorable as hell and will probably be stuck in your head, be it the slightly annoying melody of Forever (based on Solveig’s Song by Edward Grieg) or more slow and calm chorus of Temples of Gold. In fact, the fantastic songwriting is the thing which distinguishes the great Kamelot albums from the not-so-great ones (duh, obviously), and loads of it can be seen on Karma, in every song if you ask me. There is even a kind of epic closing the album, called Elizabeth. I wrote “kind of” because it’s actually split in three parts on the CD and the parts are clearly different, but the lyrical themes and few melodies are linked, so whatever.
If you’re looking for a wonderful power metal record with almost no progressive elements, Karma is a worthy pick. The Fourth Legacy, previous Kamelot album, was nice, but Karma is loads better; after it, the band began adding more weird elements, so that’s why I think Karma is an optimal pick for someone who wants to get into power metal driven Kamelot. Progressive Kamelot though, that’s the whole another story here.
Favourite tracks: Forever (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn91tBlnNic), Wings Of Despair (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5kL49e-w_Y), Karma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugSUQPX67u8), Temples Of Gold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z6wOicTQBw), Elizabeth, pt. I, II, III (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2ostjZzPN8)
Now that we're ten albums through, what do you think about the pace? Should I speed the whole thing up, slow it down or it's fine as it's going now?
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You're doing good............obviously pre-prepared a lot (as did I ) which makes a huge difference as far as your ability to keep things humming and maintain interest. You also appear to have good taste in music :D
I enjoy this era of Kamelot along with Black Halo etc...... I followed Khan across (long time Conception fan) and was massively underwhelmed with his new band on Siege Perilous. And so I wrote them off and didn't realise until many years later how good the subsequent material was.
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Yet another winner right here. I'd take Epica over it, but Karma is a fantastic album. I miss this band.
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I miss this band.
I dunno, Silverthorn was pretty damn good. I would take it over The Fourth Legacy, at least. Anyway, on we go!
#40
Light of Day, Day of Darkness
Green Carnation
Genre: progressive death metal
2002
(https://img12.nnm.me/0/c/7/b/b/71304f3da71b9906920aad650b5.jpg)
In moments like these I’m really glad I found out about DTF and started lurking here. I’ve seen you guys praising this album and just went ahead, listened to it and I was completely blown away by its awesomeness. Sadly, I don’t remember whose post made me do this, but still, thanks DTF, I guess. Actually, this is the odd one, because it has growls, and I usually don’t tolerate growls, but for such a quality record I can make an exception. The most tremendous thing about this album is that it’s presented as one long song, and damn, it truly feels like one song.
Green Carnation is a Norwegian metal band created in 1990. They’ve released four full-length studio albums, I’ve checked all of them but only this particular one impressed me, so I actually don’t know much about the band. The booklet lists the main lineup as follows: Terje Vik Schei (Tchort) on guitars, Bjørn Harstad on more guitars, Stein Roger Sordal on bass, Anders Kobro on drums and Kjetil Nordhus on vocals, along with loads of guest musicians, opera choir and children choir. There are quite the unconventional musical instruments used on the album, like sitar and saxophone, and it is also said that 600 different samples were used in the editing of this record. Now, enough with Wikipedia-powered info, let’s get to my personal feelings about the song.
What I really adore in Light of Day, Day of Darkness is its sprawling structure where every section gets the room to breathe and evolve. The gloomy and brooding intro, intense progressive parts, elevated sections with strings, haunting and mystical part with female vocals, all these moments are done in a vast, solemn way, taking seemingly all the time in the world to communicate with the listener. And all these moments that setting up this picture also serve as an immense build-up to that guitar solo. If you’ve heard this album, you know what I’m talking about, if not, think the whole The Whirlwind for “Is It Really Happening?”, but way more grandiloquent and epic. Seriously, this solo is so brilliant. Played over the supporting keyboards and intense drum parts it conjures all the emotions of the record in two minutes and marks the album’s peak right here. Of course, there are 17 minutes of greatness after this solo too, so don’t be so quick to turn the thing off after it.
Light of Day, Day of Darkness, as I said earlier, is one of the few albums with growls on this list. That’s probably because the growls are reduced to a minimum, so check this one out even if you can’t stand them. This record is as good as it gets when it comes to the somber, melancholic music with the enigmatic vibe on it, and its cohesiveness is mindblowing. Sadly, Green Carnation failed to capture my interest with the rest of their output, but this one’s place is definitely well-deserved.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite moment: Light of Day, Day of Darkness 40:14 — 44:00 including the guitar solo (https://youtu.be/Xk7h1FD-D0o?t=40m14s)
If this four minutes segment appeals to you, just go ahead and listen to it in full. Also, I’m hearing to create a perfect world from this cold and perfect world like every time, while the correct lyric is apparently cold imperfect world. Haha.
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Light of Day made number 16 or something on my list, just a perfect song. I'd probably rate it a bit higher these days to be honest. It's incredible.
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This is the second time I see this album in a top 50, might have to check it out.
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You will not regret it
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I couldn't ever be bothered with the Green Carnation - I have it but just never got around to it :-[ The prospect of a one song album was a bit daunting I think - I struggle with most epics.
Re the Savatage t-shirt..............it's not easy to capture as the shirt looks good from afar but far from good (where I have I used that before ? ;D )
Here's two shirts of mine that are really just good in terms of printing clarity - nothing special. Slave To The Grind and a Van Halen parody shirt owned only by moi and Michael Starr of Steel Panther ;D I've never actually worn it but needed one anyway :)
I consider the art on these shirts to be pretty clear but the Sava shirt is very grainy/low res.
(https://s4.postimg.org/87gr73fod/IMG_9103_1.jpg)(https://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/noisecreep.com/files/2011/10/photo---general-publicity-shot-1-f.-scott-schafer.jpg)
(https://s1.postimg.org/da5yu7jlb/IMG_9104_1.jpg)(https://s30.postimg.org/nb24ctk1d/IMG_9105_1.jpg)
I think you can get an idea from those three photos (same light, camera etc....) that the Savatage shirt isn't quite right relative to the others. The photos will enlarge with a click.
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Once I hear the mention of growls, I tune out.
That sucks about the Edge of Thorns shirt. Such an amazing design, but I can imagine there isn't an abundance of different Savatage shirts for purchase out there
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Once I hear the mention of growls, I tune out.
There's that too ;D
That sucks about the Edge of Thorns shirt. Such an amazing design, but I can imagine there isn't an abundance of different Savatage shirts for purchase out there
It especially sucks when your knock off shirts look amazing and you pay up for official merch and get crap.
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Just checked ebay and a seller has an EoT shirt for sale. Obviously a knock off, but looks nicer
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Once I hear the mention of growls, I tune out.
There's only 2 or 3 growls in the whole song. it's 95% clean singing.
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Just listened to this song/album a few days ago, oddly enough.
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I had it in my top 50, so maybe it was me who introduced you to it :neverusethis:. Amazing song, great musicianship and fucking epic solo. Hey, finally something in which we agree on :lol.
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I had it in my top 50, so maybe it was me who introduced you to it :neverusethis:
Definitely no, it was about a year ago.
Sorry guys, I'm not at home now and don't have an access to PC here (and have the images switched off here), so the responses to the other posts and the next (disastrous) update will come tomorrow.
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I had it in my top 50, so maybe it was me who introduced you to it :neverusethis:
Definitely no, it was about a year ago.
Sorry guys, I'm not at home now and don't have an access to PC here (and have the images switched off here), so the responses to the other posts and the next (disastrous) update will come tomorrow.
I think he was responding to my post. But yeah, I've had the album for two or three years now, I just hadn't listened to it in a while.
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Yikes, can't believe I'm seeing Unia on a top 50 list. I'm glad they tried to open up and do new things, but there was a ton of miss and not a whole lot of hit on this album. They've since put out some better ones.
Karma is a great choice, but really, any of the 4 main Kamelot albums is going to be a great choice.
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Yikes, can't believe I'm seeing Unia on a top 50 list. I'm glad they tried to open up and do new things, but there was a ton of miss and not a whole lot of hit on this album. They've since put out some better ones.
Not even close.
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Yes to Unia (Nick fails as usual) and double yes for Light of Day, Day of Darkness. I had it somewhere around #46, but it would definitely be around my Top 25 now as well. Amazing song.
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Alright, after my two days absence the updates are back at full force with two or three posts a day!
About the Savatage t-shirt now that I looked at the pics: yeah, the quality deeply sucks.
About the growls on LoD, DoD: there are truly very little of them.
About the next disastrous update: I'm dreading it a bit, but as I decided to be honest with myself when I was compiling the list, I'll just go ahead with it. Though, if I recall correctly, Scorpion should approve this one. Here goes...
#39
Nostradamus
Judas Priest
Genre: heavy metal
2008
(https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61vQ3yPFsXL.jpg)
Whatever credibility I’ve got in this thread with my previous updates, I’m sure as hell going to lose it now. Well, I guess I will have to build it up again with other 38 updates. I definitely wanted to put a reunion-with-Rob album here, and I feel like it’s the best choice out there, not to mention it immensely grew on me in the last two years or so, and I rank it among the best Priest works to date. Angel of Retribution was strong enough, Redeemer of Souls turned out to be quite weak, in my opinion, but Nostradamus is what reignited my love for Judas Priest lately, and that's the biggest reason why it's even here.
Judas Priest is iconic British heavy metal band formed in 1969 (think about it, 45 years ago!). There were a hell lot of lineup changes and I won’t go through it now, you can read Wikipedia for those. Nostradamus was performed by Rob Halford on vocals, K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton on guitars, Ian Hill on bass and Scott Travis on drums. Don Airey was guesting on keyboards, and Pete Whitfield is credited for strings.
Nostradamus is the band’s attempt to do a concept album, and while almost everyone I’ve met say it’s a travesty and failure (except my best friend who happens to love it too), to me it’s nothing but a success. The record is driving, heavy, filled with strong melodies and epic orchestral arrangements, with atmospheric and emotional slow short pieces in between. If often gets overlooked somehow, but the amount of stunning material on Nostradamus is stupendous, in my opinion. The first disc offers a hell of a ride, while the second one loses the quality a bit in the middle; it gets all the steam back with title track though. I admit, the record is kind of on a simple side regarding musical decisions, but in this case it’s definitely an advantage.
I’ve seen a post on DTF that Nostradamus is a chore to get through, and this is the opposite of how I feel. The album lasts a hundred minutes, and when Future of Mankind ends, I can’t say it was a long ride, it feels like only thirty minutes or so passed. I can name only two tracks that really drag on the record, namely Death and New Beginnings, because the latter is pretty bad. Otherwise, Nostradamus is a fine piece of music, very accessible, powerful and ambitious. This is easily the most listened Priest record for me (but I'm not saying it the best Priest record); I don’t seem to grow tired of it at all.
Favourite tracks: Revelations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2_44QXzGtA), Persecution (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMD2_EROXCs), Alone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkx5xrGynWY), Nostradamus (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TySMK1w-V_E), Future of Mankind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpKk7R73UEc)
And of course Nostradamus exists in a glorious 48-pages hardcover artbook (https://i.imgur.com/FYMw4T4.jpg), and I’m a sucker for this kind of things. Really love the artwork, the way the lyrics are presented and the overall quality of it. Great stuff.
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Honestly, I never gave Nostradamus a chance.
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Yes yes yes yes yes. Have all my yes. All of them. This album is so brilliant. So many good songs. Pestilence and Plague is a Top 5 Judas Priest song for me, no joke.
*puts it on again immediately*
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Yes yes yes yes yes. Have all my yes. All of them. This album is so brilliant. So many good songs. Pestilence and Plague is a Top 5 Judas Priest song for me, no joke.
*puts it on again immediately*
Knew you would like it. I recall it made #6 on your list while everyone was thinking you were trolling after that Lulu post, or something like that. :lol
And while I have all the Scorpion's yes (yesses?), and before we return to metal stuff again, you have another obligatory Steven Wilson appearance, and again, probably not with the album people often see on this kind of lists:
#38
Lightbulb Sun
Porcupine Tree
Genre: progressive rock
2000
(https://dreamsounds.net/uploads/posts/2012-07/1343454150_porcupine-tree-lightbulb-sun.jpg)
When Storm Corrosion appeared in this list, I think it became totally obvious at least one Porcupine Tree album will show up too and here you go. I don’t think Steven Wilson is outright genius and makes the best music in the world, but hey, man’s got talent for sure, and everything he’s doing is really worth checking out, for you will probably find at least one or two tracks appealing to you. Of course, there are highs and lows among his works, and Lightbulb Sun is an indisputable high.
Everyone knows that Porcupine Tree is an English band formed by Steven Wilson in 1987. They released ten studio albums, most of them being incredibly successful and quite unusual for the genre. On Lightbulb Sun the band consisted of four musicians, Steven Wilson himself on vocals, mellotron and other instruments, Richard Barbieri on keys and synths, Chris Maitland on drums, and Colin Edwin on bass. Few guest musicians are present on the record, as well as The Minerva string quartet.
Lightbulb Sun is the album some people consider a forerunner of PT perfect streak of albums from In Absentia to Fear of a Blank Planet. The sound is consequently going from light to more dark and ominous on this run, and this record is still pretty hopeful despite the lyrics themes running through the songs. It’s an interesting contrast, because the title track, Shesmovedon, Feel So Low are sounding quite uplifting to me compared to other Steven’s work, but the lyrics aren’t uplifting at all. Some tracks are genuinely heavy and somber, with pronounced bassline and more metal approach, like Hatesong and the longest track on the record, Russia on Ice (this opening riff!). And of course there are few annoying (in a good way) tunes too, see Four Chords or Last Chance, which has a spoken part that is one of the most irritating things I’ve ever heard on SW/PT records, including On The Sunday of Life, and probably my only complaint about the album, and it’s a shame, because the rest of the song is quite awesome. Human behavior. Human something. Human stuff. I can’t help but scowl at this part. It irritates me.
Nevertheless, Lightbulb Sun is as consistent as it gets. It invokes this strong feeling all the songs definitely belong to one record, despite all the differences. It doesn’t drag and feels quite cinematic, and even thirteen minutes long Russia on Ice doesn’t spoil this experience; enhances it, in fact, and this is truly an achievement. You can listen to this album as a whole or just to a few pieces, your impressions likely won’t differ at all; you’ll either like it or not. This album doesn’t feature any of my top 3 PT songs, but it doesn’t matter; each song is a good representation of Lightbulb Sun, except maybe the third and fifth track, but they’re welcome exceptions in the whole big picture. Try it.
Thanks.
(I know I'm pulling this off every time I speak about Feel So Low or this album in general. Whatever.)
Favourite tracks: Shesmovedon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuUV_R93Gv4), The Rest Will Flow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48WadzV8Vlk), Hatesong (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1D-a-vVYcw), Russia on Ice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nKN9_H1Dks), Feel So Low (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvUBLp2Uy8o)
Also, the acoustic part in Lightbulb Sun (track) from 2:43 to 3:01 totally reminds me of the beginning of Ayreon’s Day Five: Voices. Just thought I mention that.
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Lightbulb Sun is truly one heck of an album, good pick there. I love how it's the predecessor of something as dark as In Absentia, but at the same time is the happiest PT record. One cool thing is the shift of mood that happens in Russia On Ice (which is among my favorites), it sounds like the prelude of what's going to happen in the next few albums. Great stuff.
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:corn
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Difficult to completely get into that Priest album. Some great material on it, but desperately needed to be condensed into 1 disc
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I always hated Nostradamus but revisited it a year or so ago, and if you trim it down, it's actually a pretty decent album. Light years better than the shitty last one.
Lightbulb Sun was my first PT album and I think it's pretty fantastic.
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LBS is alright, but has always been one of my least favorite PT albums.
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Back from work and back to updating this thing.
Lightbulb Sun is truly one heck of an album, good pick there. I love how it's the predecessor of something as dark as In Absentia, but at the same time is the happiest PT record.
Yeah, I think that's why Lightbulb Sun appeals to me. I like Steven's dark, brooding side, but we have plenty of those albums, and Lightbulb Sun is something unique for me.
Difficult to completely get into that Priest album. Some great material on it, but desperately needed to be condensed into 1 disc
I always hated Nostradamus but revisited it a year or so ago, and if you trim it down, it's actually a pretty decent album. Light years better than the shitty last one.
While I definitely can see where you are coming from, and maybe even agree with that a bit, I love it the way it was released.
And the update itself, here it comes.
#37
The Number Of The Beast
Iron Maiden
Genre: heavy metal
1982
(https://www.metalmusicarchives.com/images/covers/iron-maiden-the-number-of-the-beast.jpg)
After a five-albums run of the records released in a new millennium I think the time is ripe for a good old classic heavy metal record by the good old heavy metal band. I mean, even people unfamiliar with the metal scene heard something about Iron Maiden, and I don’t even want to start talking about how influential this album is. There might be lot of debates of which IM’s album is the best and how this one is not the one, but for me the choice is really no brainer.
While I think nearly everyone reading this surely knows who those guys are (you can skip to the next paragraph in this case), let’s go for a little description anyway. Iron Maiden is an English heavy metal band founded 1975 and became successful in 80s. They’ve put out fifteen studio albums, the latest release dated 2010. Among those there are such the famous releases like Powerslave, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Somewhere in Time, and of course The Number Of The Beast. Bruce Dickinson (who has just joined the band at that time) provided the vocals for the record, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith played guitars, Steve Harris did the bass and Clive Burr (who left the band shortly after) played drums here.
I’m pretty sure this album was discussed to death here, so I’ll try to make this as concise as I can and as this album is. That’s one of the advantages of The Number Of The Beast, in my opinion. It lasts less than 40 minutes and there’s so much awesomeness in there it’s astounding. There are flat out rockers (or should I say metallers?), there is wonderful power ballad, there is also one of the most epic and awesome metal songs ever created, yet the album feels like it lasts like five minutes or so. I promised to stay concise, so just a few things more to say and we’ll move on to the next one. First, all songs here are at least good, and some of them are remarkably brilliant. Second, Bruce Dickinson’s voice carries this record to the whole next level. Third, Hallowed Be Thy Name is one of my favourite metal songs. I think that’s it.
I do understand where those «Powerslave / SSoaSS / other album is better» opinions are coming from, because they’re, well, opinions, and of course I can’t call anyone wrong on these, but damn. The Number of the Beast is one of the best things Irons have ever done, and it’s one of the best things in 80s metal overall. I do think there are better pieces of work in the whole metal genre in that decade and they are to appear later in this list; they weren’t made by Iron Maiden though.
Favourite tracks: Children of the Damned (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b91rSw4xuYY), 22 Acacia Avenue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zyUG0KHlKk), The Number of the Beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mHe6FMs46o), Hallowed Be Thy Name (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J51LPlP-s9o)
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Classic
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One of the most important albums ever made.
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Well, can't deny Maiden. Not my favorite, but still awesome :metal
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Well, can't deny Maiden. Not my favorite, but still awesome :metal
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One of the most important albums ever made.
Agreed. It should be on everyone's list!
Was #3 or #2? on mine.
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Another set of replies and another update just before I'll go to sleep. I know only four hours passed since the previous one, but as at working days I'm awake at home for about precisely four hours, that's the schedule, I guess.
Classic
One of the most important albums ever made.
Agreed. It should be on everyone's list!
Hell yeah to all three of you. Thinking about it, maybe I should've swapped it with the one that comes next, but you know, all these #37 and #36 and whatever numbers don't really mean a lot, as I love all the fifty albums I've got here. And besides, the next album is definitely the one I've listened to the most in 2014. I'm not sure how many spins I gave it, but you can be sure it's a lot. It is...
#36
Imaginaerum
Nightwish
Genre: symphonic power metal
2011
(https://www.nuclearblast.de/de/data/bands/nightwish/releases/nightwish-imaginaerum.jpg?x=500)
It’s, eh, time for a story now. I’ve got into Nightwish around or maybe shortly after the release of their sixth studio album, Dark Passion Play. I liked the band for their fine blend of classical operatic vocals and more aggressive and modern approach, obviously was a fan of Tarja voice and all that stuff. Then the band parted ways with Tarja and hired Anette, and DPP was released. I was severely underwhelmed with this new album and kind of gave up on Nightwish since. The news about Imaginaerum sparked my interest back, but after I watched the video for Storytime I was incredibly disappointed. I don’t even remember what irked me so much about the song, but as the result I didn’t explore Imaginaerum further for a long time, missed their concert in Moscow on their recent tour; all in all, did a lot of stupid things. :lol I totally gave up on Nightwish back then.
Speaking of Nightwish, it’s one of the most famous Finnish metal bands. Their style can be described as symphonic power metal with a lot of orchestrations and lots of female lead vocals; male vocals are usually present too, though. Nightwish was created in 1996 by Tuomas Holopainen, their keyboardist and main songwriter, and Emppu Vuorinen, the band’s guitarist. Those two have never left the band. Jukka Nevalainen, drummer, joined the band shortly after its creation; Marco Hietala, current Nightwish bassist and vocalist joined sometime around 2001. The third band’s founder, Tarja Turunen, was replaced with Anette Olzon around 2006 or 2007; Anette was replaced with Floor Jansen in 2012, when the band was touring. The vocals on Imaginaerum are provided by Anette.
So, how did I rediscover Imaginaerum after my initial strong disappointment with the single? In 2013 I was buying some Sonata Arctica stuff in Mad Supply shop, an online music store working with bands like Amorphis, SA, Ensiferum, Nightwish and so on, and since the delivery costs for one item and for two of them were identical I needed to order something else and I went for Imaginaerum digipack. I’ve placed an order, it had arrived and I placed the digipack on my shelf and didn’t listen to the album for six more months for some unfathomable reasons. Then I finally give this album a spin and, guess what, I wasn’t impressed at all again. Ghost River was too random for me with Marco going wild in this pre-chorus, I Want My Tears Back felt too commercial, Scaretale was completely awful, you get it. Apparently, I was just biased in the worst way, and maybe wasn’t in the right mood for this record. I’ve ripped the disc, put the files on my phone and forgot about it.
Then I was going back home from work by train and something made me to put this record on. It was nearly the weekend, exhaustion and tiredness crept on me and I fell asleep just as I found a place in the train. I jerked awake after some time and Turn Loose the Mermaids was playing in my headphones. I was amazed how magnificently simple and beautiful the composition was, how Anette’s voice was so fitting for it, how could I ignore this song for all these years. I started to pay attention and the rest of Imaginaerum blew me away that day. The whole album turned out to be so magical and breathtaking. From the stunning opener Taikatalvi, through jazzy Slow, Love, Slow and purely bombastic Last Ride of the Day to calm, depressing spoken part in Song of Myself, and finally to the orchestral reprise of the record in self-titled instrumental track, this album is marvelous. Even Scaretale went from “awful” to just “not as good as the rest”. I think Scaretale – Arabesque sequence is the only reason this album is here and not in Top 20.
Sorry, this writeup ended up a little long (well, I’ve warned you guys these are going to be longer as the list progresses on), so let’s wrap this up. The whole band obviously did great on the album, but I think Tuomas deserves a special mention for Imaginaerum. This man has a huge talent as a composer; the way he wrote all these songs to fit Anette’s vocal abilities, to make her voice truly shine, it’s remarkable. The bold decision to go with six minutes of spoken text in Song of Myself is polarizing enough, but I think it’s quite a fine way to end a concept album, and the music behind the speech is so glorious and sad. I get chills every time I hear the “It was us, roaming the rainy roads…” passage with violin playing on the background, and another round of chills just before “Beyond all mortality we are...” part. It’s the pinnacle of Imaginaerum for me.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Taikatalvi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TNrEaxVzaU), Storytime (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SknOZR8ctG0), Turn Loose the Mermaids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJS5g4-p3K4), Rest Calm (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1NIbHsXCws), Last Ride of the Day (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukDEYRXoH2g), Song of Myself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eoa1lQmq6lI)
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Never gotten into Nightwish. Not really into female vocals for some reason.
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Heck yes NOTB.
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I love Lightbulb Sun :heart
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Of course I'm going to approve of Beast, classic and very important album.
I have a copy of that Nightwish but I have yet to even listen to it once. :lol I should find the cd and give it a spin. I'm a pretty casual Nightwish fan, nothing hardcore.
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Imaginaerum is awesome, though the horrible spoken bit at the end of Last Ride of the Day kinda lowers the album a bit. Still great, though.
And I love Scaretale, might be my favorite song on the record.
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This is the second time I see this album in a top 50, might have to check it out.
that was the seventh time LOD, DOD has been mentioned in a top 50 list.
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One of the most important albums ever made.
Agreed. It should be on everyone's list!
Was #3 or #2? on mine.
#3
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Never gotten into Nightwish. Not really into female vocals for some reason.
I can't say I'm into female vocals much, unless it's a well-executed concept album or something (or Floor Jansen), but Nightwish is a welcome exception.
I have a copy of that Nightwish but I have yet to even listen to it once. :lol I should find the cd and give it a spin. I'm a pretty casual Nightwish fan, nothing hardcore.
I recall you were saying pretty much the same thing in 2012. :lol
Imaginaerum is awesome, though the horrible spoken bit at the end of Last Ride of the Day kinda lowers the album a bit. Still great, though.
It's in the end of Song of Myself, and I think it becomes irritating when all the music stops and the narration goes into "Ever seen the Lord smile? All the care for the world made beautiful a sad man" part. Before this part, I think it's very good.
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I have a copy of that Nightwish but I have yet to even listen to it once. :lol I should find the cd and give it a spin. I'm a pretty casual Nightwish fan, nothing hardcore.
I recall you were saying pretty much the same thing in 2012. :lol
Yeah, I think I remember saying that too. :lol
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Speaking of well-executed concept albums...
#35
The Dream Sequencer
Ayreon
Genre: progressive rock
2000
(https://img1.nnm.ru/imagez/gallery/a/c/6/e/a/ac6ea604e277e29260eaee0d8b27c7f5_full.jpg)
It’s no secret Arjen Lucassen is one of the musicians whose work I’m incredibly fond of, and of course at least one of his albums will grace this list with its presence. Undoubtedly, Ayreon is the biggest and most famous Arjen’s project, and the one most appealing to me. Every Ayreon album has a few defining features telling you it’s obviously Ayreon, but there are clear-cut distinctions like different mood for each album depending on the concept, handpicked set of guest singers for each record and so on. All Ayreon albums are quite unlike each other, and at the same time they’re all so similar.
So, let’s get into the details. Ayreon, as you’ve probably guessed, is a musical project organized by Dutch musician Arjen Lucassen, specializing mostly in progressive everything genre, with a random addition of folk, ambient and whatever. Ayreon basically consists of two members: Arjen himself and drummer Ed Warby. All other musicians are being invited to perform by various means of communication, and their number usually varies greatly. Let’s see, on latest Ayreon effort, The Theory of Everything there are seven main vocalists, while on 01011001 (I’m very proud I remember how this title goes) there are seventeen of them, and I’m not even talking about instrumentalists here. Every album features a concept, except Actual Fantasy, and these concepts, while sometimes not without some amount of cheese, are usually quite fascinating.
The Dream Sequencer does feature a concept too, being the part of two-album story called Universal Migrator, and this two-album concept is a part of even bigger concept started with The Final Experiment in 1995 and finished with 01011001 (yay) in 2008. So, it’s a concept in a concept in a concept, and I would’ve called it conception, but that’s the band Roy Khan was in before Kamelot. Alright, I’ll start talking sense now. The Dream Sequencer is hugely underrated in my opinion. I admit, the concept is far from my favourite here, but the way it’s executed, the way it’s presented through this soulful music is enough to place it in my list. The tracks are truly evocative, and when the first note of the prelude starts you become deeply immersed in this story, reliving the memories of our fictional protagonist about Mars, first manned lunar landing, creation of Stonehedge and other significant historical moments. The music can be described as exquisite progressive rock with electronic elements, Hammond organ and lots of clean, space-like guitar solos by Arjen. Those solos actually remind me of David Gilmour playing, even though Arjen clearly has his own recognizable style, and the record feels like Pink Floyd to me in several places. The whole album feels solid and has a lot of magnificent tracks, but there are lows that I can’t overlook — namely, Temple of the Cat is pretty boring and The First Man On Earth overstays its welcome for me. The song is alright, but it feels out of place; I think I would’ve preferred Druids flow directly into the last track, the reprise.
There is nearly no dialogue on The Dream Sequencer, every track has one or two vocalists representing the personality of our protagonist in a certain period of time. While the choice of vocalists may seem weird from the first glance, it works excellent. That is quite the opposite for Flight of the Migrator, which has a brilliant selection of singers but fails to reach the same quality this album has (although I know some people think otherwise, again looking at you Kade). And don't get me wrong, I love Arjen's heavy side, and I love metal overall, but something in Flight of the Migrator just isn't working for me. Overall, The Dream Sequencer might be not the best starting point for someone unfamiliar with Ayreon, but it’s a hell of an album, and one of the best Arjen has ever created.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: My House on Mars (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXdK8Sndl5A), 2084 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqBZ87YjEic), One Small Step (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRO8Bd1OnmI), And The Druids Turn to Stone (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL-tLESpL2I)
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Told you I'd find something to disagree on, the tracks you mentioned are my favorites :lol
Great album though.
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Still have to listen to this, but haven't yet because the pre-THE albums aren't my cup of tea.
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Not familiar with any Ayreon.
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Not familiar with any Ayreon.
Yeah, I figured as much. I guess the next few updates won't be your thing until #32 probably (or #31, I don't remember the exact order), but I truly appreciate the fact you're following this thing. :tup
Still have to listen to this, but haven't yet because the pre-THE albums aren't my cup of tea.
Which ones did you listen to? Because TDS is probably the only one I love. ITEC has its moments but I never liked it as much as some people do, and while FotM and TFE are good, they're not good enough for me. TDS has its cheesy moments, but I think you'll enjoy it. Though given my grasp on your tastes, I'm most likely totally wrong.
Anyway. Here's another update, I try to send a song from it in every roulette I'm participating. It's the album of incredible lyrical quality, which every band should take as an example, or, well, something like that. In fact, there are a lot of decent lyrics, so maybe it's not that big sarcasm I'm pulling off there. I've got this subject further covered in the write-up, so here it is:
#34
Privateering
Mark Knopfler
Genre: rock / blues
2012
(https://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/images/album_review/privateering-1347301510.jpeg)
Oh, this is an odd one. I’ve already written about Dire Straits in this thread, and now it’s time to shed some light on their frontman’s solo work. Some of musicians from DS are regularly putting out their solo albums, for example, their bassist John Illsley had recently released his new record called “Testing the Water” and it’s quite a pleasant listen; but this one, this is loads better. I wrote “rock / blues” in the genre for Privateering, but I’m not entirely sure it can be classified as rock. If I had to describe this album in one sentence, I would say something along the lines of “a spectacular set of heartfelt, touching, melancholic ballads diluted with several playful, driving rockers and blues numbers”.
Mark Knopfler is a famous British guitarist and songwriter born in 1949. He was the founder of Dire Straits, and after the band disbanded in 1995 he went on with his solo career, releasing seven solo albums. Among other things, Mark is famous for his style of playing guitar, he doesn’t use pick neither on acoustic nor on electric guitars. On Privateering Mark worked with a lot of musicians, such as Richard Bennett, Guy Fletcher, Ian Thomas and lots of others. Thus, a lot of different musical instruments were used, such as cittern, accordion, uilleann pipes, mandolin, harp, whistles, clarinet, sax, you name it. Such a wide range of instruments allowed Mark to create something really magical.
One of the odd things about Privateering is that I don’t know for certain why I love it to pieces. Well, I’m sucker for ballads alright, and this record has a lot of excellent ones, and that’s probably one of the reasons, but I can’t satisfyingly put it into words. I guess a certain charm for me is this weird feeling Mark was giving precisely zero fucks about what the audience wants from him and the same amount of fucks about lyrics, all this in a warm, cozy, reassuring way. The readers are probably sitting with “what the hell?” expression on their faces now. :lol I mean, I can totally envision how some friend of Mark came to visit him, they sat, talked, drank a shot or two of whiskey, then the friend left and forgot his hat at Mark’s apartment, and Mark was all like «hey, that could be a great idea for the song! I’ll name it “Don’t Forget Your Hat”». Or let’s have this backwards, Mark is visiting his friend, they sit, talk, and it turns out there’s no whiskey in the house, and Mark is all like «this could be a line in my new song! Here, look, it’ll go like “If you ain’t got whiskey, don’t tell me that you ain’t got gin~”». I’m kidding of course, but that’s what I imagine when I hear those blues tunes on Privateering. The ballads are another story, though. I feel Mark was writing the ballads in some kind of insouciant, light-hearted reverie of inspiration. Be that melancholic Dream of the Drowned Submariner and Kingdom of Gold or unconcerned, uplifting Radio City Serenade and Seattle, they all tug on my heartstrings a little because of sheer brilliance. This gush of acoustic sounds with the rare charming passages on electric guitar leaves me no choice but surrender to the music.
What strikes me in Privateering is that the mix is unlike both Kill to Get Crimson and Get Lucky, previous two Mark’s albums. The record sounds warm and muffled a bit, not crystal clear, and this makes me feel like I’m spinning it on some old turntable or something. It really provides that “retro” feel, and the music is so appropriate for it. This double-album has 20 tracks and is nearly two hours long, but you can’t have too much of a great music, and Mark really nails it on this one. I’ve never lived in the UK, but I daresay this record is British to the bone. I would recommend listening to this in the evening with a cup of tea or maybe something stronger.
Favourite tracks: Redbud Tree (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVWQll5rX8), Haul Away (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHJJYfuy4Ec), Privateering (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YDPsHznyRU), Kingdom of Gold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5s2NDV1Nhg), Dream of the Drowned Submariner (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2Jept3BxmA), Blood and Water (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAUtPMgD0OE)
And regarding the lyrics, of course there is this:
It gets dark at night, that's how it goes
It gets cold in winter, don't be surprised if it snows
You wanna play Hold'em with my friend Mr Chan?
If you lose your stack, well, you sure can't blame the man
Hahahahah~
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I really liked the song you sent me from him, although that one felt like a lot country instead of blues :lol
About Ayreon, only listened to ITEC, which was kind of meh to me, and TFE. It was all right, but just gave it one listen and no more, so will check that one soon.
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That is quite the opposite for Flight of the Migrator, which has a brilliant selection of singers but fails to reach the same quality this album has (although I know some people think otherwise, again looking at you Kade).
You got it mate. I do really enjoy both of the albums, but yeah, I can't go past Migrator. Possibly the best cast of metal singers on a single album.
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Again, enjoy Knopfler but don't know this one.
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I really liked the song you sent me from him, although that one felt like a lot country instead of blues :lol
Yeah, there are country influences too, especially on the title track, but there are also a lot of blues tunes on the album. I say check it out, or at least recommended tracks.
Again, enjoy Knopfler but don't know this one.
I think it's the most mature Knopfler's solo record. I realize his solo career doesn't have a lot of hits, but it's just solid laid back stuff all around. My favourites are this one and Kill to Get Crimson, which is great if you get rid of such tracks as Secondary Waltz and The Fizzy And The Still.
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It got an 8 on the roulette, so I'll surely check it. I'm listening to the albums that have songs with that mark or higher :tup.
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I've never heard anything from Ayreon that does much for me - Star One appeals more. Interesting to see Knopfler again , this time solo - being an old DS fan I did buy a couple of them (incl this one I think) but just never got around to listening to them properly. Must remedy that.................think I'll need to be in the mood though.
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Interesting to see Knopfler again , this time solo - being an old DS fan I did buy a couple of them (incl this one I think) but just never got around to listening to them properly. Must remedy that.................think I'll need to be in the mood though.
I think you'll enjoy those "serious numbers" as you put it, bluesy stuff not so much. And yeah, totally need to be in the mood for this album.
Actually, the last sentence applies to the next album too, which Sacul will surely approve of:
#33
Damnation
Opeth
Genre: progressive rock
2003
(https://metalsucks.junipconcepts.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Opeth-Damnation.jpg)
Here’s another album full of ballads and other serene tracks, but the contrast between Privateering and this is so stark it’s dazzling. That Mark Knopfler record was warm and hopeful, and Damnation is the opposite, cold, hopeless. This is Opeth stripped to its very core, devoid of growls, distorted guitars and all the heavy stuff. Of course it would be bleak, chilly and grim, that’s what you naturally expect from Opeth album, and the music impeccably reflects it. I’ve listened to their every album except the debut, but being quite antagonistic about growls I considered three Opeth albums for this list, two latest and this one. Heritage was enjoyable but had a few unmemorable tunes, Pale Communion still grows on me and so far I’m not sure how I feel about it, and Damnation is just perfect.
Opeth is another band everyone on DTF is aware of, but I’ll continue anyway. It’s a Swedish progressive death metal band founded in 1990, even though now it’s more like progressive rock. The band is famous for incorporating death metal sound with the folk music. Their frontman, singer and main songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt (who also participated in Storm Corrosion) is the driving force of the band, providing his clean vocals and relentless growls on the songs, though admittedly growls became weaker over the years. Other musicians on Damnation are Peter Lindgren on guitar, Martin Mendez on bass and Martin Lopez on drums.
Damnation unites all the things I love in Opeth, and excludes all other things I seriously dislike. It’s like this record has been made for me. :lol You’ll find a lot of captivating, beautiful guitar passages here, Mikael puts his soul in those clean vocals, every band’s member sound relaxed on Damnation. This record is remarkably calm and cohesive, it doesn’t strive for being progressive just for the sake of being progressive, and there are no awkward transitions or anything. Every transition feels natural, not forced, and the whole picture is integral, consistent, not being a mish-mash of underdeveloped sections hastily glued together, unlike a few songs on new Opeth records. And the trademark Opeth sound is totally there, you can say it’s definitely Opeth album with your eyes closed. Almost all songs are memorable, and though the mood doesn’t change much for all the forty minutes, the album doesn’t feel like a one monotonous listen without any noticeable details, each song has a personality instead, a defining factor helping to distinguish one from the other. Windowpane is moving even in this setup, featuring a nice guitar and bassline, In My Time of Need is more hopeless and depressing, Hope Leaves has those sincere, emotional vocals from Mikael, you get it. I can’t say how the middle tracks of Heritage go despite liking them on each spin, and I’ve listened to it like twenty times, but I think I memorized the general structure of Damnation from the second or the third listen.
I’m really grateful Opeth had put out those growlless albums, because otherwise I wouldn’t have had a chance to enjoy the brilliant music they’re writing. I know I’m missing a lot, but trust me, I’ve tried Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Deliverance, MAYH, Watershed, tried them all and just couldn’t bring myself to tolerate those growls. The calm parts were godlike though; and on Damnation it’s like the band collected all the unused calm parts and created an album based on them, and this is the best thing they could’ve done in my opinion.
Favourite tracks: Windowpane (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEaf9LqIUZQ), In My Time of Need (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31YqCWEyPsg), Hope Leaves (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anuzo1_KSY8), To Rid the Disease (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rBoBBpFwB8), Ending Credits (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmbursLXzpk)
In fact, there is one album with a fair load of growls I love to pieces, and it will appear later in the list. I don’t know how this happened, but that’s it.
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Damnation is the only Opeth album I've heard that I find consistently listenable ;D Not that I'd call that a huge compliment but it's the closest to my taste.
I haven't given the latest much of a listen , so I might be able to add that. Frederik Akeeson is one of my favourite guitarists too , but it must be a snooze for him after a band like Talisman where he was shredding his ass off throughout. ;D
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My fav Opeth album - it's on my top 15 or so :heart.
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That's one great Opeth album. As for that Knopfler release, I haven't heard it myself, although I saw him on that tour. You don't need to be familiar with all of his music to enjoy the concert, because the moment he plays one note on the guitar, you're in outer space.
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That's one great Opeth album. As for that Knopfler release, I haven't heard it myself, although I saw him on that tour. You don't need to be familiar with all of his music to enjoy the concert, because the moment he plays one note on the guitar, you're in outer space.
Indeed about Opeth.
Mark cancelled both Russian tour dates in Moscow and St. Petersburg for that tour because of some political things happening in the country, I had to return my tickets for front row I've already bought. That was the most disappointing thing related to music happened to me that year, because I really wanted to see it, I fell in love with the album on my first listen. I know it's entirely Mark's decision and I have no right to blame him for it, but hell, I was so upset.
I don't really expect him to return here for 2015 Tracker tour because of more political things that are happening since March (y'all know what I'm talking about), so I guess I'll just buy the new album and listen the hell out of it.
edit: Damnation is the only Opeth album I've heard that I find consistently listenable ;D Not that I'd call that a huge compliment but it's the closest to my taste.
I haven't given the latest much of a listen , so I might be able to add that. Frederik Akeeson is one of my favourite guitarists too , but it must be a snooze for him after a band like Talisman where he was shredding his ass off throughout. ;D
Well, if not for Heritage (which rhymes with average, haha) and their new one, I would say the same thing about Damnation. Pale Communion is actually great, I found I'm spinning it a lot lately. Except for Goblin and River, I like every song. But the songs are a bit more disjointed than on Damnation, so that's a flaw in my opinion.
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GNAAH Damnation is truly a great album. I love the atmosphere.
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My fav Opeth album - it's on my top 15 or so :heart.
GNAAH Damnation is truly a great album. I love the atmosphere.
Knew you guys would approve the Damnation appearance here.
And one more update before I'm off to sleep. Modern hard rock and power metal fans, this famous piece should be (and probably is) right up your alley...
#32
The Scarecrow
Avantasia
Genre: rock / metal
2008
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/7/7f/Avantasia_5.jpg)
Here’s another concept album, and this one can’t be easily categorized. While the first two Avantasia albums were power metal through and through, The Scarecrow is a whole different story, both in concept and in the genre. There are traces of power metal there, but mostly it’s a blend of various rock and metal styles. This change of direction was received well by some fans and severely criticized by others, but as you already know, my position about it is the musician can write whatever he wants. And in this case “whatever he wants” luckily proved to be bloody good.
Avantasia is a musical project created by Tobias Sammet. While Tobias’ main band was Edguy, he wanted to create a concept album with a bunch of guest musicians on it. Thus, Avantasia was formed, and two parts of The Metal Opera were released in 2001 and 2002. The project was finished then, however in retrospect it turned out to be just a pause, not a complete end of Avantasia, for Tobias decided to release another story under the project’s name, a trilogy this time. The Scarecrow is the first album from so-called The Wicked Trilogy, and other than Sammet, it features such famous vocalists as Jørn Lande, Bob Catley, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan, Amanda Somerville and Oliver Hartmann. Guitars on the album were played by Sascha Paeth and Henjo Richter (he’s labeled as “additional lead guitars” in the booklet even though he played like on half of the tracks), and there are also Kai Hansen and Rudolf Schenker guesting on few tracks. Miro plays keyboards and Eric Singer plays drums on this record.
As I’ve already said, The Scarecrow is not a continuation of The Metal Opera in any sense. There are a few power metal tunes, but there are poppy tracks like Carry Me Over or Lost in Space, heavy numbers like The Toy Master and folk elements on the title track and so on. Despite the wide range of styles incorporated in this work, the album flow is alright and the tracks are mostly great. It’s evident that Tobias already had the vocalists he was going to invite in mind when he was writing the material, because it’s obvious how the songs are a perfect fit for everyone’s vocal abilities. Jorn has those aggressive, raspy parts as an evil Mephistopheles-kind-of character (and is a real star of this album); Bob Catley has his elevated, soulful parts, Alice Cooper has this creepy role of the toy factory tycoon, you get it. It allows every singer to shine and boosts the album on a whole other level. Tobias’ voice is matured over the years and it shows too. Henjo Richter’s presence is another highlight, he’s present on nearly all my favourite tracks and his guitar parts are fresh and exciting. Actually, this is something I feel The Wicked Symphony / Angel of Babylon lacks, the strong guitarwork. Not to bash on Sascha, but I would take Henjo’s playing any day.
What’s also interesting, despite the album being concept and despite I said it flows alright, I think the flow could’ve been better. I don’t even think it’s a must-listen-in-full album. There are a few sequences where the flow works amazingly, but sometimes the decisions with the tracklist Tobias made can seem weird; for example, I still don’t think Lost in Space is a decent closer of such an epic record; well, maybe it was intended, because it’s not the end of story, just the end of the first part, but it just doesn’t work for me. Either way, The Scarecrow features some of the best Avantasia material ever, and that’s saying something, because none of the six albums released under this name can be labeled as “bad”.
Favourite tracks: Twisted Mind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cGbawCg4WU), The Scarecrow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-PkfKZAT6E), Shelter from the Rain (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSvikFvKY1I), Another Angel Down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPhGvWURgIA), The Toy Master (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMHdE4a2qIk)
It’s interesting how every Avantasia album starts slow: Prelude, calm parts of The Seven Angels and Stargazers, orchestral parts of The Wicked Symphony and Spectres; and how Twisted Mind throws that riff in your face right away. Very fitting, considering the concept.
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You lost me again :lol .
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Yes. Amazing album. Probably in my top 5 if I ever did such a thing.
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I like The Scarecrow a lot. An album that has both Michael Kiske AND Alice Cooper? All win!
I'm not a huge fan of these multiple vocalists albums, so it took me a while to appreciate Avantasia. I would take Mystery Of Time over this, but enjoy this album very much. I need to go on an Avanatsia tear soon.
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You lost me again :lol .
Yeah, well, I didn't count, but I think that's gonna happen at least fifteen or even twenty more times in this list. :rollin
Yes. Amazing album. Probably in my top 5 if I ever did such a thing.
Top 5 is pushing it for me, because some songs certainly appeal to me much less than others, but amazing album indeed.
I like The Scarecrow a lot. An album that has both Michael Kiske AND Alice Cooper? All win!
And Kai Hansen on guitar, even though he's only a guest here. Pure win.
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I know the title track. It's ok.
TIIIIIIIME WILL COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME
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It's funny, in many of the latest picks, I love the bands, but very much disagree with album choice. PT, Maiden, Nightwish, and Ayreon specifically.
I really don't understand the choice of Imaginerium. There are about 3 tracks that are pretty amazing, and the rest is almost as forgettable as it could possibly be.
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Knew it would be this one from the title. Amazing album. The title track is basically power metal perfection.
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I really am happy to see that Scarecrow or the next two albums made the list, as I think cases could be made for any of them to be included. And that title track is indeed glorious.
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Henjo Richter’s presence is another highlight, he’s present on nearly all my favourite tracks and his guitar parts are fresh and exciting. Actually, this is something I feel The Wicked Symphony / Angel of Babylon lacks, the strong guitarwork. Not to bash on Sascha, but I would take Henjo’s playing any day.
Thank you. I have always said this since TWS and AOB came out. IMO, the band has suffered since in terms of the lead guitar. IMO Henjo was a vital part of the bands sound. I actually am not a big fan of Sascha at all. HIs guitar work really doesn't add anything to the songs and a lot of it is quite meaningless and uncalled for. Henjoy always put melody and most of the time, the leads were a song within a song.
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I know the title track. It's ok.
<snip>
TIIIIIIIME WILL COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME
:lol
I really don't understand the choice of Imaginerium. There are about 3 tracks that are pretty amazing, and the rest is almost as forgettable as it could possibly be.
I dunno, I find the whole album except Scaretale - Arabesque sequence pretty amazing. Dark Passion Play, on the other hand, is exactly what you just wrote, in my opinion.
Knew it would be this one from the title. Amazing album. The title track is basically power metal perfection.
I really am happy to see that Scarecrow or the next two albums made the list, as I think cases could be made for any of them to be included. And that title track is indeed glorious.
Yeah, the title track is my favourite Avantasia song.
Thank you. I have always said this since TWS and AOB came out. IMO, the band has suffered since in terms of the lead guitar. IMO Henjo was a vital part of the bands sound. I actually am not a big fan of Sascha at all. HIs guitar work really doesn't add anything to the songs and a lot of it is quite meaningless and uncalled for. Henjoy always put melody and most of the time, the leads were a song within a song.
Damn right for TWS and AOB. I guess that's one of the reasons I don't revisit those albums often.
I would take Mystery Of Time over this
Oddly enough, me too!
#31
The Mystery Of Time
Avantasia
Genre: rock / metal
2013
(https://www.metaltraveller.com/images/avantasia/the_mystery_of_time.jpg)
And here we have the first artist repeat in this list. A few more are coming soon, but this is in fact quite unusual. I really feel I love these two Avantasia albums almost equally, so that’s why we have those two back to back here, but as of November 2014 I have to give a small nod to The Mystery of Time. It’s a new story again, it has nothing to do with The Scarecrow and The Wicked Trilogy as a whole, but stylistically it’s quite similar to its predecessor in the list. It’s a blend of rock and metal again, and this time it’s even more obvious: clearly, metal songs are present here and the cover says “A Rock Epic”. Funny how a few people whose posts I’ve read over some Russian fan sites wrote something along the lines “oh, it’s a rock epic, probably the same boring shit as The Scarecrow, I’m not gonna bother”, so maybe Tobias deliberately placed this line on the artwork to scare them away. :lol
While the album is indeed similar to The Scarecrow in style, it’s different at the same time. First and foremost, the cast of singers and instrumentalists doesn’t look and sound like TS at all. Look, The Mystery of Time has Joe Lynn Turner, Biff Byford, Cloudy Yang, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin on vocals, all are Avantasia newcomers; but there are some old voices as well, namely the usual collaborator Michael Kiske and ever-hand-waving Bob Catley. Tobias hired a new drummer for this album, Russell Gilbrook; guest musicians are Bruce Kulick, Oliver Hartmann and Arjen Lucassen on guitars (Arjen sent a solo for The Watchmaker’s Dream), and also Ferdy Doernberg on Hammond on the same song. So you see, the cast was pretty different this time. Second, this time Sammet used the German Film Orchestra Babelsberg, the real orchestra to make all these pompous intro and strings and stuff along the songs, and it paid off hugely, in my opinion. The third clear-cut TMOT distinction from TS is the brilliant pace and flow. On The Scarecrow, the flow was just alright, but this album actually feels like a whole concise story, and I feel this is something Tobi was actively struggling with on the previous three albums. He has the talent of writing great songs alright, but they were so unlike each other the concepts weren’t making much sense. On The Mystery of Time there is no such problem.
So how do I feel about all the changes? I can say I was skeptical about the lineup, because I thought Jorn was outstanding on the previous Avantasia efforts, and I was doubtful anyone could fill his place as a main character along with Tobi, yet I had high hopes for Biff Byford as I was familiar with his albums with Saxon. And these hopes were exceeded multiple times over as I think Biff just owns and slays and kicks all kinds of ass on this record; Ronnie and Eric and Bob do a fine job on their respective songs; Kiske is just, well, Kiske, this man is just unstoppable; and finally JLT is alright (though probably my least favourite vocalist here). The cast turned out to be just fantastic and the writing proved to be impeccable. This album is a huge grower, I felt it was fine on first listen, but then I just kept listening to it over and over until I wanted to make babies with it. It has those bombastic Spectres and Black Orchid (where Biff really shines); it has those power metal tunes like Where Clock Hands Freeze and Dweller in a Dream; there are ballads like Sleepwalking and What’s Left of Me; and of course, there is glorious Savior in the Clockwork.
The funny thing is that the story in The Mystery of Time makes absolutely no sense without a booklet, and when you get a booklet it’s damn hard to read those explanation parts because of the awful medieval pseudo-hand-written font used. And even with those parts it’s really difficult to follow, because Tobi went with the imaginary, thought-provoking lyrics this time, and while I applaud his improvement in English skills, I wish it would be a bit clearer. But hell, otherwise the artwork and the digibook is awesome, and the music is fabulous, so I’m really willing to overlook all the issues with the font. This album is worth its price for Savior in the Clockwork alone, and since it has got another nine brilliant songs, well, it was really a no brainer to buy. I’m eagerly waiting for the second part of the story.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Spectres (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZaFsp2jA1o), Black Orchid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3dO678eUYA), Where Clock Hands Freeze (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJmzWla1Ca4), Savior in the Clockwork (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwjxNSkAk1Y)
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Mystery Of Time!!! :metal
This is the album that ultimately cracked the Avantasia code for me.
The vocal performances are incredible. Especially Tobi. I always thought he was such a weak link vocally, but he has really honed his craft. It's on full display here. He did a great job dusting off old Joe Lynn Turner, who fits him in brilliantly here. Same for Biff Byford's performance, which is mind blowing on Savior In The Clockwork, especially on that last chorus. So powerfull, even for Biff.
And Kiske sounds amazing on this. He is used perfectly.
The other star of this album is Russ Gillbrook. The drumming on this is great. So strong.
And Savior In The Clockwork was my Song Of The Year for 2013, and is easily my favorite Avantasia tune.
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The other star of this album is Russ Gillbrook. The drumming on this is great. So strong.
I usually don't pay a lot of attention to the drumming, and if something on the album in drum department attracts my attention, that means the drumming is great. Those drum fills in the beginning of Savior in the Clockwork did just that, on my very first listen.
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And as I don't want to dwell on Avantasia repeat (and neither do you, so it seems), I suggest we move on. So let's enter the Top 30, where playtime's over now. I hope nobody's leaving. Great fun!
(I know, that was awful, but I just had to do it.)
#30
Mercy Falls
Seventh Wonder
Genre: progressive metal
2008
(https://ashladan.be/files/nieuws/seventh.jpg)
I just realized a lot of albums on my list are the concept ones, and Mercy Falls is no exception. I love when the music tells the story, and I love how the stories are always different, some are happy, some are thought provoking, some are downright sad. This one is the latter, and it might be the saddest concept I’ve ever heard in music, though the music itself varies from heartbreaking ballads to energetic metal tunes. The whole album is full of progressive movements and sections reminiscent of Dream Theater; but it’s clear this is another band, both in writing and performing, vocal parts especially. This album is a perfect example of a trademark sound of Seventh Wonder.
Seventh Wonder is a Swedish progressive metal band founded in 2000. They’ve released four studio albums and currently are working on the fifth one. Mercy Falls is arguably their best release so far, though The Great Escape is a worthy rival for this position. Seventh Wonder was formed by bass player Andreas Blomqvist, guitarist Johan Liefvendahl and drummer Johnny Sandin (who will leave the band later in 2010); all three musicians are playing on Mercy Falls, along with Andreas Söderin on keyboards. The lead vocals are provided by Tommy Karevik, who joined the band in 2005; his wife, Jenny Karevik, does female voice acting and sings some parts too.
Mercy Falls can be a little hard to digest on the first few listens. I think the reason for this is mostly the complexity of vocal passages on nearly all songs; I mean, they are very wordy and really unpredictable, like a rough road with a whole load of turns and twists. The way Tommy changes the notes in verses and choruses in the middle of some words from low to soaring high is impressive, yet really unexpected for an inexperienced listener; I don’t think I could sing any chorus in full after my first listen, only the closing lines like “And lets the shadow break the unbreakable!” or “In the black parade”. Oh, maybe One Last Goodbye chorus, but that’s literally all. It gets a lot better with time though. I think the style of singing is one of the things that make Seventh Wonder so unique on the metal scene now. Of course, this album has a lot more great stuff, not only the vocal passages, but the whole band is on fire with these complex instrumental solos, changing time signatures and such things. And the usage of this recurring theme throughout the album is astounding:
Raise my head and stare
Into broken eyes of another
Obviously, I can’t talk about Mercy Falls and not mention this one awful thing that really sours otherwise perfect canvas created by the band. Every fan surely knows what I’m talking about, and sure enough, it’s *drumroll* awful voice acting. Echoing Big Hath’s post from another Top 50 thread, I really don’t know how these parts made it on the actual record, because the acting is just terrible. So how come Mercy Falls is in this list then, if it has nearly unlistenable parts? I’ve come to tolerate them over time, and by “tolerate” I mean “ignore them, because they are only essential to the story, and I know the story full well”. The music is flawless, and that’s enough for me. There are no tracks I dislike, the flow is utterly fantastic and the production is tight. If you’re interested in this album, be sure to follow the story along the listening, as it really enhances the whole experience, allowing to connect the songs’ mood to the events happening. Overall, I tend to think of Mercy Falls as of one of the modern progressive metal masterpieces, and I envy those who got the chance to see it performed in full at the recent ProgPower festival. Lucky bastards!
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Unbreakable (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDKiemSbFhs), Tears for a Father (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pGbRH_1ykU), Break the Silence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVsap6DNtTY), Hide and Seek (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGT98XDZhE8), One Last Goodbye (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEK9-9emkEA)
By the way, “Don’t wanna play another day without you” from Tears for a Father sounds remarkably like “I’m sorry that I can’t stop the bleeding” from a certain song on Silverthorn. Also, both Tears for a Father and last chorus in One Last Goodbye (when Tommy and Jenny sing together) are just so emotionally powerful and sad. Not dark or grim, just purely sad. Awww.
And actually, do you know what? Telling your husband that the child they’ve raised is in fact not his while he is fucking driving is the most stupid thing you can ever imagine. Like you couldn’t wait until you get back home, eh? Where did the man find this dumb wife anyway? Oh well.
When every day hurts and tears keep on falling~
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Putting The Mystery Of Time above The Scarecrow is just so completely bizarre to me.
Mercy Falls is great, and yes, the voice acting is horrendous. I prefer The Great Escape, personally.
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Mercy Falls is fantastic, and The Great Escape is indeed a worthy rival for it, but I find the former to be more consistent overall.
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You know, I may put MOT over TS too.
MOT is simply fantastic. It was actually a real grower for me. I didn't take to it at first but over time it turned into a well written and crafted album. The guitar work is much better this and the songs are amazing. The only thing I will say is that the guest singers weren't utilised as well as previous albums IMO.
Mercy Falls is great, but it's one of those albums that didn't get a whole lot of listens and something I need to revisit.
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Keep trying :hat .
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I have a strange relationship with Seventh Wonder. They're totally not my thing with all those soaring melodies and generic progginess, but I still listen to them, I don't know why :lol
Haven't listened to this particular album yet, but I will soon.
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Putting The Mystery Of Time above The Scarecrow is just so completely bizarre to me.
Well, while highlights on TS are slightly stronger than on TMOT for me, I prefer the latter as a whole album. As I said, the way TMOT flows is probably what makes it a bit better in my book.
Keep trying :hat .
Man, with that next update I'm not even trying. :lol
#29
Holy Diver
Dio
Genre: hard rock / heavy metal
1983
(https://i.imgur.com/nGy2nst.jpg)
And now it’s time for a classic. I have a lot of albums from 2000 and onward in my list, but it really would be incomplete without some tried and true old school rock and metal records. And when I think about old school metal, Dio is the name first coming to mind. This man was the voice of heavy metal back then, and while it seems he is praised more for his contribution for Sabbath and Rainbow, he recorded a few great solo albums too, and here’s one of them. Holy Diver is a total classic in my book, it’s the album where I feel RJD put all his own ideas into music and the result exceeded all expectations.
Of course, it wasn’t only Ronnie James Dio who's in the band. Dio was a band formed in 1982, and it dissolved in 2010 when Ronnie died of cancer. Along with him delivering his trademark vocal lines and ad libs mostly consisting of “alright!”, “no-no!” and other cliché heavy metal stuff (also, there is a fadeout in like every song!), Holy Diver was recorded with Vivian Campbell on guitar, Jimmy Bain on bass and keys, and Vinny Appice on drums. This lineup will undergo some serious changes later, but as Holy Diver was the first Dio album, this was the founding lineup.
How is Holy Diver different from other metal releases of that time? Well, aside that it has this unforgettable Ronnie’s voice, it also features some of the best songs he has ever written. Holy Diver and Rainbow in the Dark became timeless classics in a heavy metal world for their catchiness and epicness and whatever, but the album has a lot more to offer, like a chameleonish Don’t Talk to Strangers, dark and bass-driven Shame on the Night and some straightforward tunes like Stand Up and Shout. Dio and the whole band really did their best on the record, making all the tunes incredibly memorable and intense. While a lot of albums back then were composed like “two or three songs are killer, the rest are filler”, Holy Diver strikes me as an album with absolutely no filler. Now, it’s only my opinion and you guys are free to disagree, perhaps I’m biased on that matter, but hell, I can’t help. It’s rocking my world every time I spin it, and it’s not likely to change.
It’s always so easy to write things about concept albums or such, and it’s damn difficult to write a lot about a good old metal record without analyzing every piece of it, so I think I’m going to just stop there. Dio rocked and remains one of my favourite singers ever, if you’re into 80s metal, totally check his work out; you may as well start with Holy Diver. Even if you don’t feel like listening to all forty minutes, try some of the tracks listed below.
Favourite tracks: Holy Diver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTO1n7GNXyM), Don’t Talk to Strangers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOF0i4I8EcA), Straight Through the Heart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vDjoLOAA6k), Rainbow in the Dark (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL0MbxWD2iI), Shame on the Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pw87BaYLnWU)
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I approve of this.
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If you weren't on TAC's Christmas card list already, you are now ;D I'm a huge fan of 3-4 tracks on this but I do skip a few. The best tracks are brilliant though :tup
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5 stars
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Terrific album!
I love, in the song Invisible, where he sings, "I've just become, obscene." Not quite Ian Gillan level of clever, but I still think it's quite funny.
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If you weren't on TAC's Christmas card list already, you are now ;D
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? :lol
Terrific album!
I love, in the song Invisible, where he sings, "I've just become, obscene." Not quite Ian Gillan level of clever, but I still think it's quite funny.
Unless I'm very much mistaken or didn't get the joke or the pun, I always thought it was "unseen", not "obscene", at least in the studio version. Though perhaps I'm missing something, feel free to correct me then!
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Haven't listened to Dio yet, so don't have any comments on this - OK the cover art is amazing.
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Haven't listened to Dio yet,
WHAT??
If you weren't on TAC's Christmas card list already, you are now ;D
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? :lol
A good thing of course!
Awesome album, Holy Diver. Seriously one of the best albums these ears have ever heard.
I actually have the Seventh Wonder on my iPod, but it has yet to really grab me,.
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Dio \m/
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I had The Scarecrow on my first Top 50 list :) haven't listened to it for quite a while, I'll put it on tomorrow!
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Booooooooooooooooooooooooom...............
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Haven't listened to Dio yet,
WHAT??
Yeah, I agree with TAC. What the hell?
And, well, as they say, third time's a charm, so here's the third and actually the last time (that's right, no In Absentia, Deadwing or FOABP on this list) Steven Wilson makes his another obligatory appearance on my list with what I consider his best album up to date. I even made some of my friends listen to SW because of this, and they were not disappointed, so, well, this album is full of win.
#28
The Raven That Refused To Sing (And Other Stories)
Steven Wilson
Genre: progressive rock
2013
(https://www.kscopemusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MOON-600px.jpg)
It’s fascinating how Porcupine Tree as a band was pretty consistent with nearly all the releases, but Steven Wilson’s solo albums progressively improved in the quality. I mean, Insurgentes was alright, Grace for Drowning was, uhm, graceful, and Raven is just mindblowing. Not an “inventing a lot of new things for the genre” mindblowing, but from the compositional and songwriting standpoint. No filler, not too long, a good portion of wind instruments, every song is focused and at the same time every member of the band gets his moments to shine. The music ranges from complex and fast to simple and evocative, most sections have their purpose and even prolonged instrumental phases are captivating.
Here’s another moment when everyone knows everything about this album and Wilson solo project, but anyway. After Porcupine Tree was put on hiatus in 2011ish, Steven focused on his solo career, releasing Grace for Drowning and touring in support for it, and then writing and releasing Raven in 2013. Along with Steven Wilson providing, as usual, vocals, mellotron, guitars and such stuff, there was Guthrie Govan on lead guitar, Marco Minnemann on drums, Nick Beggs on bass, Adam Holzman on keys including piano and Hammond, and Theo Travis on sax and flute.
While Raven is not a concept album, every track on it is basically a ghost story, dealing with dead people and other otherworldly stuff. Ghosts, alcoholics, watchmakers, all this stuff can be found on Raven, and obviously even from the description one can gather that this album isn’t happy at all. Like every other SW album. Duh. Well, anyway, I like how each song tells its own story and they all are tied together in this ghost concept. Now, the production and mix are of course as pristine as you can expect from Steven, so I won’t even talk about this. The songs are mostly done is 70s progressive style, but with some small modern twist I can’t explain, they just feel fresh and right. While there are rocking, fast-paced tunes like bass-driven Luminol or action-packed The Holy Drinker, there is also Drive Home, a heartfelt ballad filled with stellar guitar-work; diverse The Watchmaker with a total bliss in a form of the first three minutes containing touching Steven’s vocals and amazing duet of flute and acoustic guitar; and of course, don’t forget about the totally stripped down title track which is just an uncontrollable flow of such emotions as grief and sorrow.
While I like some Porcupine Tree work, I can’t help but admit I much rather prefer Steven continuing his own solo career, because if his next album would be even better than Raven, I might pass out because of too much awesomeness coming my way. Right in the post office when I’ll be receiving the record, y’all. Seriously though, I can’t wait what this man will pull out of his sleeve next, because it will be a really tough job topping the Raven in my book.
Favourite tracks: Luminol (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w8SY_9yO8k), Drive Home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR4-zgLIJvI), The Watchmaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx9MbBjpd1U), The Raven that Refused to Sing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4XevlloPY4)
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This album is so awesome. Luminol is such a groovy beast, The Holy Drinker is packed with good riffs and organ goodness and I love The Watchmaker's change of mood towards the end of the song. That's one fucking creepy outro. And the title-track :heart :heart
..Grace For Drowning is better tho :neverusethis:
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..Grace For Drowning is better tho :neverusethis:
I've been considering Grace For Drowning for this list, but on the subsequent listens I've found out I love Raider II and Deform to Form a Star, and the other songs were just, well, alright. I guess the length is too much for me, while I admit the material is strong, I just can't stomach it in one go. That's where Raven tops it.
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..Grace For Drowning is better tho :neverusethis:
I've been considering Grace For Drowning for this list, but on the subsequent listens I've found out I love Raider II and Deform to Form a Star, and the other songs were just, well, alright. I guess the length is too much for me, while I admit the material is strong, I just can't stomach it in one go. That's where Raven tops it.
Yeah, I agree. I'd never listen to GFD in one go, maybe if I'm in the mood yes, but Raven flows really nicely.
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I only just heard my first song from this album the other day (after watching your link to Storm Corrosion actually), the live version of The Raven... it was fantastic. I must check out the rest of this album. Also, what a killer band.
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:corn
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I'm not a big fan of 80's metal, so I know very little, but will surely give that Dio album a spin.
About The Raven... I really like the first two tracks and the closer one. The rest are ok for me, not bad at all, but not that great either.
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Dio :metal
I've really grown distant from a lot of '80's metal, but Dio is among those that I'll probably always love.
And The Raven is an excellent choice, no doubt. :tup
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Now there will be a few repeats in a row (I've warned you guys), but as it's the weekend and I'm at home, we'll make it three updates a day and get to the next exciting stuff in no time. I'm not saying the repeats isn't exciting stuff, by the way, we can compare the albums or something while we're at it.
Dio is among those that I'll probably always love.
That I can agree with.
I'd take Epica over it, but Karma is a fantastic album.
Damn right.
#27
Epica
Kamelot
Genre: power metal
2003
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/3/0/2/13025.jpg)
I said before Karma was kind of a pinnacle for full-blown power metal Kamelot, and I stand by these words, because Epica is where the band pretty much started to add progressive elements into their music with tremendous success. There is plenty of power metal still, but it’s totally not the same. Only two years had passed between those two albums, and the difference is quite visible.
Well, since the band’s lineup stayed the same, let’s discuss the albums’ distinctions instead. First and probably the most important thing, Epica is a concept album (so obviously it’s higher in my list, duh). Epica is the beginning of a two-part story about Ariel, the man who’s seeking for the answers about the meaning of life and other such deep things, based on Goethe’s Faust. Epica is much more ambitious than Karma, and the tracks are mostly more bombastic with certain exceptions, the progressive elements are toned down in favour of power metal things. Epica has those small interludes in between tracks, which provide the atmosphere and set the mood for the songs following them.
What’s really awesome about Epica is that the album flows impeccably and the story actually makes sense and can be followed without any booklet or outside explanation. I’ve always regarded Kamelot as one of the power metal bands that are capable of writing sensible lyrics without any dragons or magic, and in this story it’s obvious. They’ve managed to put this striving for secrets of the human nature, life, death and the whole world into words, and this poetry is incredible. When all the events unfold, the writing gets even tighter. I’m writing this because Silverthorn’s (the latest Kamelot album with Tommy Karevik on vocals) concept actually didn’t make sense at all until I read the whole story in an additional book in a boxset. Not a way to go, guys. Back to Epica, the story is a bit overdramatized I think, especially in a part where Helena kills herself when Ariel tells her love means nothing to him and he wants to pursue his quest further. I mean, well, I get it, it’s love and all that, but to make suicide drowning in the river because of that? And if I recall correctly, she never told him she had a child from him? Well maybe if you told him, he would’ve stayed. Way to go, Helena, just drown yourself and your child in the river. Obviously there wouldn’t be such an emotional tension otherwise and this entire struggle for Ariel in the next part wouldn’t take place, but still, that was stupid in my opinion.
Another thing that bugs me is the whole Mephisto appearance. So he tells Ariel he can provide him with all the answers, whatever he wants, and then Mephisto’s like, hey, let’s organize a feast man! And Ariel is like, alright, yeah, a feast! Always a good thing to do before setting on a journey for my, like, whole life to look for answers I’m not sure where to look. Better do a feast before it. Actually I’m not sure how he even bought this whole thing. I mean, the archangel descends to you from the sky and offers you a deal. I would’ve thought I went nuts because of too much work or too much DTFing. Or maybe this is some kind of prank like your friends or colleagues poured too much whiskey in your drink. Well, anyway, this is me nitpicking on the whole thing, because otherwise I really love this concept, the story and the way it’s conveyed in music. The band did a great job on this record. If you liked Karma, definitely check it out, and if you didn’t check out Karma, better try this, because it’s really more mature and beautiful.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Center of the Universe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRreoNRGwk), Farewell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG1EuTGzmGw), On the Coldest Winter Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhyPmWxAxr4), Lost and Damned (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz81sfmuedc), The Mourning After (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlqUVR41BrQ), III Ways to Epica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0pLiNgijV8)
It’s funny, I’ve just realized I didn’t say anything about music. Well, there are some incredible highlights for me, like the solo in The Mourning After speeding up, or Roy and Mary Youngblood interactions in Center of the Universe and III Ways to Epica; but the best thing is definitely the recurring vocal melody in the beginning and the end of the record:
Why did God make me feel there is more to be answered?
Maybe God cannot remedy our souls if he tried…
Why did God take away the one thing I wanted?
Maybe God is a melody we all serenade…
The way these lines are so different and so alike and the way they reflect Ariel’s point of view in two different moments of the story is so well done.
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Got confused there for a second :lol I was like "wait is this a kamelot album named epica or an epica album named kamelot or a collab or something?" :rollin
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Got confused there for a second :lol I was like "wait is this a kamelot album named epica or an epica album named kamelot or a collab or something?" :rollin
I might very well be mistaken, but I think Epica (the band) actually was named after this album. Becuase this album is just awesome. (I feel I've said this before.)
Anyway, as I promised, onward with the next update! The best Judas Priest album for me right here.
#26
Sad Wings Of Destiny
Judas Priest
Genre: heavy metal
1976
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/4/3/2/432.jpg)
Here comes that section of list when some artist repeats are inevitable, and here goes another one, Judas Priest this time. If my first pick was probably the most controversial thing yet, this is somewhat more of established classic in people’s books, or at least I think so. The musicians were young and bold back then, and Rob Halford’s voice was much more convincing in the high-pitched screams department.
Funny enough, the only difference in the lineup between this album and Nostradamus is the drummer, on Sad Wings of Destiny drums are played by Alan Moore. Also, note that 32 years have passed between the albums. In any other case this would’ve been called something like “incredibly consistent lineup”, but we all know it, in fact, wasn’t. Anyway, Sad Wings of Destiny is musically different too. This album is nearly half as long as Nostradamus, but it defined Priest sound just fine back then. Heavy riffs, daring vocals, all this trademark stuff.
What I really like in Sad Wings of Destiny is that the album is diverse enough to stay interesting, but at the same time it’s really all the same style and sound. Be it the straightforward tracks like a bit funky The Ripper (or, if you like, Jack the Knife) or Genocide, a bit awkward tracks like Epitaph or Tyrant, you can totally tell this is Judas Priest. And of course there are two absolute classics here; one is just freaking awesome and the other is my favourite Priest song. The first is eight minutes long beast called Victim of Changes, featuring pretty standard middle paced verses in the first half followed by staccato driven bridge, flowing through guitar solo into a mellow acoustic section, and then Rob goes wild and insane with this trademark shriek of his. This moment never fails to give me chills. And the best Priest song ever is, in my opinion, Dreamer Deceiver (probably because I love ballads more than anything); it is absolutely gorgeous. The way how it builds up from slow, quiet passages to more strong, confident sections and then into this crazy “We are lost above” moment is magnificent. And don’t even get me started at all this guitar solo in the end. It’s truly brilliant.
Now, while I quite like what the band are doing today (hence Nostradamus in my list), I’m sure the band can’t pull another outstanding classic like Dreamer Deceiver or even Victim of Changes, and frankly, I’m totally fine with that. The guys aren’t that young anymore, Rob can’t do those screams, it’s all fine, I will always have this CD on my shelf to listen to. But I just wanted to say I’m glad that band carries on and releases those albums and does the tours and all that; that means I can see them live again; that means they actually enjoy what they are doing and, I’ll say this once again, that’s what truly important.
Favourite tracks: Victim of Changes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKSU1W0ZUmQ), The Ripper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coLvuP7hQCA), Dreamer Deceiver (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSEwW2GKGiA), Prelude + Tyrant (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFkLedEX6Qc)
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Dreamer Deceiver is my #2 Priest song. It's glorious.
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Dreamer Deceiver is my #2 Priest song. It's glorious.
Amazing album. Major upgrade from Rocka Rolla
I agree that Dreamer Deceiver is a glorious song; might just be Priests most underrated tune.
Victim of Changes is pure epic. I always enjoy the live versions more though.
This is the album that people starting taking notice of the power of Robs vocals
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Great album and choice :tup
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Dreamer Deceiver is my #2 Priest song. It's glorious.
Which one is #1?
Amazing album. Major upgrade from Rocka Rolla
Great album and choice :tup
Thank you guys, great to see some love for this Priest record. I thought it was underrated a bit, but apparently it's not.
As I promised, we keep skimming through the updates right here. Remember how I told you how my kin is different in some ways there will be at least one band with three albums on the list? Well, here it comes, and instead of hard-rockish appearance in #32 and #31, this one is a pure power metal album, sheer brilliance right here. Yes, I'm a big fan of Avantasia. No, Sacul, I don't care they're cheese in a nutshell. Here we go.
#25
The Metal Opera
Avantasia
Genre: power metal
2001
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/2/3/7/1237.jpg)
And yet another repeat comes. This is the third and last time Avantasia appears in the list, for their debut album is an absolute masterpiece and the best thing they’ve ever created, thus it simply can’t be left out of this list. This album is classic conceptual power metal to the bone: fast, driving, epic and pretentious as hell, exactly how I like it. This is nothing like The Scarecrow or The Mystery of Time, even more mindblowing instead. I wonder, could Tobias imagine how great this thing will turn out to be when he started writing it? Because I’m looking at the remaining albums in my list and there are only four or five pure power metal records left higher than this one, so it’s basically a huge, outstanding achievement in the genre.
The lineup for The Metal Opera (note that I’m only talking about Part One here) was drastically different from post-2008 Avantasia albums. The singers cast included Tobias Sammet himself as the main protagonist; Michael Kiske, who was credited as Ernie in the booklet because he claimed he doesn’t sing metal anymore and didn’t want people to know he appears on this album (nice try, Michael); David DeFeis with his very random yet fitting vocal delivery; also there were Kai Hansen, Andre Matos, Oliver Hartmann, Rob Rock, Ralf Zdiarstek and Sharon den Adel. Tobias later admitted he thought he wouldn’t be able to find a capable female singer so he reduced Anna’s (the only female character in the story) parts to a minimum and regretted it immediately when he heard Sharon singing them. Oh, and also there is Timo Tolkki who did a spoken part on the last track, but since he nearly ripped off the name and the logo of the band with his Avalon (the music is total shit, don’t try it), I don’t even know why I mentioned him here. So, those were the singers, and the other cast were Henjo Richter on guitars, Markus Grosskopf on bass, Alex Holzwarth on drums, and a few guest musicians I’m too lazy to look about because this is already taking too long to write.
So well, how does this album sounds? There are quite a few songs with Tobias and Michael, as they are the main characters, so if you ever heard each one of them singing, you probably can imagine; lots of high notes, double bass and wonderful vocal melodies overall, with awesome guitar solos by Henjo. Basically the very start of Reach Out for the Light should give you an idea. It’s fascinating how every time they play it live and Michael appears with this first high note the crowd goes nuts. Well, including me. :lol Also, there is that Michael’s part in the end of Farewell, and there is actually a story behind it; when Tobias asked him to sing on the album, Kiske asked not to make him sing the extreme high-pitched vocal passages in return. So when Tobi was recording the guide vocals for Farewell for him he just shrieked and squealed those last few phrases as high as he could, intending it to be a joke; and he was quite astounded when that was exactly what Michael sung and sent him back. :lol
Alright, now I’m just skimming through all those songs, and I wanted to say that despite two best Avantasia songs aren’t on this album, I’m struggling to find anything that climactic as this epic conclusion in The Tower starting after the spoken part with “I realize…”. No other moment from the whole Avantasia material can compare with that, in my opinion. Wrapping this one up, I would add there are a lot of great albums from Avantasia (the only one I think is average is Angel of Babylon); a few masterpieces even, but if I had to pick one, ultimately best Avantasia album (and I kinda have to do it in this very list), it would be The Metal Opera. It’s a must have for any power metal fan.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Prelude + Reach Out for the Light (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzXx1_Aefyw), Serpents in Paradise (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6xYv7iOpHE), Farewell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nkKGbcsJ3Q), Sign of the Cross (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHjYmyJlSSI), The Tower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR6WYswRVeo)
And if you really like it, you may as well buy the gold edition, a hardback book with both the first and the second part of the opera. There are lyrics in the booklet, Tobias’ thoughts about the songs and the whole plot and interview with Tobi as of 2008 where he talks about all the vocalists participated and other things.
It’s funny how I own all the studio Avantasia albums and they’re all not jewel case packed, haha. And since I’m a fan of digipacks, this (https://i.imgur.com/FwLYSmq.jpg) makes me happy.
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Fuck yes. Awesome album, though I (again :P) definitely wouldn't put it over The Scarecrow. And I actually have the same double-book for The Metal Opera, and it's pretty awesome, despite my general distaste for digipacks/books.
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Dreamer Deceiver is my #2 Priest song. It's glorious.
Which one is #1?
Beyond the Realms of Death. Another ballad, heh.
Also The Metal Opera is good but I wouldn't put it over The Scarecrow.
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Dreamer Deceiver is my #2 Priest song. It's glorious.
Which one is #1?
Beyond the Realms of Death. Another ballad, heh.
Yeah, right, that's the one with the killer solo.
And I actually have the same double-book for The Metal Opera, and it's pretty awesome, despite my general distaste for digipacks/books.
Well, I love digipacks/digibooks, but this one is even more awesome because it actually contains some bonus material, namely interviews and Tobi's thoughts, and I love the design making it look like some old book. Clearly some effort was put into it.
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:corn
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:corn
yup
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This is the third and last time Avantasia appears in the list, for their debut album is an absolute masterpiece and the best thing they’ve ever created
Absolutely agree.
This, please Sad Wings, and Kamelot's best album? You are my hero.
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This, please Sad Wings, and Kamelot's best album? You are my hero.
Well, maybe that's just a bit over the top, don't you think? :lol
Now that we're done with obligatory Steven Wilson's appearances, let's move on to the obligatory Dream Theater appearance(s?), shall we? That won't take long, as we're still at three updates a day schedule, so it should be just fine.
#24
Images And Words
Dream Theater
Genre: progressive metal
1992
(https://ampsandgreenscreens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/DREAM-THEATER-IMAGES-COVER.jpg)
Here comes one of the shortest write-ups in this thread! The next record is a classic too, and perhaps appears in most of those lists here. It’s pretty much expected, after all, we’re on Dream Theater forum (no shit!), so here it comes. While it’s written “progressive metal” in the genre, it has a lot of things quite unusual. Like sax in Another Day. In fact, it’s the warmest and most inviting Dream Theater record, it just has something hopeful, comforting in it, and these attributes, obviously along with high-class musicianship and songwriting, they just force you to listen to Images and Words again and again.
Dream Theater is a progressive metal band, and, well, I’m pretty sure we can skip this part.
Well, what can I say? Except Under the Glass Moon (I’m not fond of this one), this record is perfect. From the famous hit that is Pull Me Under through such contrasting tunes as the ballad with sax appearance, this weird tune with constant tempo changes called Take the Time, and that monumental yet quite short by band’s standards epic without any verses called Metropolis pt. 1, to masterful combination of emotions and progressive goodness offered by the sequence of Wait for Sleep and Learning to Live, this album is gold. Huh, Wikipedia says it’s actually gold in USA. Great!
In fact, I’ve got quite a weird ranking for Images in Words songs in my Top 50 DT songs list; for example, Another Day is my favourite song on I&W with Wait for Sleep coming close second. But either way, Images and Words is a classic. There’s nothing else needs to be said, so now we can discuss how I omitted Take the Time and Surrounded from favourite tracks section.
Favourite tracks: Pull Me Under, Another Day, Metropolis – Part I: The Miracle and the Sleeper, Wait for Sleep, Learning to Live
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to include Youtube links for Dream Theater songs, so I decided I won’t do that. Everyone heard them anyway.
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23 albums better than Images and Words? They better be bloody good ;D Legendary album and by far my favourite from DT and made #2 in my all time list (although that was limited to one album per artist). Still - close enough to my favourite album ever.
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This is one of the best top 50 lists I've seen.
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Wolfie's gunna start sending you love letters soon :heart ;D
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23 albums better than Images and Words? They better be bloody good ;D
Well, in my opinion, they're bloody good, but I can't guarantee you will agree with me. Actually, I can guarantee you won't. :biggrin:
But really, it all comes down to how much I enjoy the albums. It all depends on my mood of course, but in this case, there are 23 albums I probably enjoy more. I don't know, #23 and #24 can (and probably should) be swapped around, but #22 and #21, they are bloody damn good and I definitely would put them above I&W. I guess you'll have to wait and see.
This is one of the best top 50 lists I've seen.
Since our tastes seem quite alike, I hope you'll join my upcoming roulette when it's time then.
Wolfie's gunna start sending you love letters soon :heart
It seems so. :rollin
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Some damn good albums in here. :tup
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[Unia is] by far SA's best album, and just a unique and magic album from beginning to end, love it.
Sorry, don't agree with you this time. Also, this is the end of the repeats streak for now.
#23
Ecliptica
Sonata Arctica
Genre: power metal
1999
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/5/3/6/2536.jpg)
Alright, just a little patience here folks, not a lot of repeats left. Initially I was going to put Ecliptica on my list, planning to include only Unia from all the Sonata Arctica works, but then two things happened. First, there was a Sonata Arctica concert in Moscow where they’ve played quite a lot of songs from the album; second, there was a rerecorded version of Ecliptica release I’ve received in the mail shortly after; both those things rekindled my love for this record and reminded me how fabulous it was. It’s one of those aforementioned perfect power metal records that just blow you away on the first listen. A lot of fans bashing Sonata Arctica for their current sound often refer to Ecliptica as the pinnacle of the band’s work, and this is where I definitely agree with them. That doesn’t mean I agree with the usual second part of their statements that goes like “this trainwreck of an album called (insert any album since Unia here) is a total shit compared to Ecliptica, SA should retire or change their name”, because the concentration of bullshit in those sayings is just over the top.
I don’t even know how can you compare Unia to Ecliptica because these are two completely different kinds of work, the genres are not the same even. It’s like trying to choose between apples and oranges, I don’t get it. Unia is intricate, complex and multilayered while Ecliptica is mostly in your face, sweeping and fervent. The musicians were quite young when they’ve recorded it, so there is that spark on the album you can’t recreate (this is what revisited edition totally lacks). From some fast and demanding guitar and keyboard solos to dubious vocal melody choices by Tony (Blank File at 1:35, anyone?), there are some awkward sections which add a lot of charm to the album, in my opinion.
It’s funny how there are some thoughts by Tony Kakko and Tommy Portimo in the Ecliptica Revisited booklet and Tommy says something along the line “oh, this one is my favourite!” about nearly every song (he did this on pre-Pariah’s Child interviews too :lol ); but I kind of see what his point is. I, too, had a hard time ranking all the tracks in the recent survivor, because the quality is so consistently high here. The classic rapid tracks like 8th Commandment or Kindgom for a Heart are stunning, and songs like sing-along oriented My Land and a constant live setting killer FullMoon add the necessary variety to Ecliptica; while ballads like Replica and Letter to Dana help to diversify the material even more. And of course great power metal album should (not always though) end with epic, so there’s Destruction Preventer to fulfill this requirement.
Releasing the outstanding debut album is a double-edged sword in a way; naturally, you would get a lot of recognition, many fans, a nice contract with label and so on; but from this point onwards you will always be judged by this album and there’s a chance all your works will be overshadowed by your first masterpiece (like with Dio’s Holy Diver). This can be fixed by creating something equally great or even better, and here’s when the people’s opinions come up; I personally think Unia does that job, someone thinks Reckoning Night is the best them, and so on, others may feel like Ecliptica is great and the rest of SA albums are weak; but anyway, the advantages or releasing a masterpiece largely outweigh the disadvantages, mostly because whatever you do next, you have already released something worthy of many listeners’ attention.
I actually have no idea why I’ve just written this last paragraph, so anyway, Ecliptica is awesome. Moving on.
Favourite tracks: My Land (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy_7qbBcg88), 8th Commandment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWQ973Vnmkg), Replica (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4yjpT8dkLw), Kindgom for a Heart (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHaH8wWNfNw), FullMoon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTqX4hY74KA), Destruction Preventer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48-z85QquO8)
If you suddenly decide to buy the album after my ramblings, be sure to buy the original 1999 version, not a re-release or re-recording. The original is much better (seriously!) and you can smirk at Tony’s accent at that time.
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And have another one just before I'm going to sleep.
#22
Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II
Helloween
Genre: power metal
1988
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/1/1a/Helloween_Keeper_Of_The_Seven_Keys_Part_II.jpeg)
Continuing that power metal streak (well, excluding I&W), here‘s the album every fan of this genre should be aware of. I guess I can say Keeper of the Seven Keys defined the very meaning and sounding of power metal for me with those memorable and ambitious melodies, relentless guitar work, epic and sometimes humorous approach, and instantly recognizable voice of Michael Kiske. It’s a pity Kai Hansen left the band after this release and the quality of the few next Helloween albums went considerably lower; well, I doubt they could’ve topped Keeper material anyway, but it’s still a pity.
It’s the first time Helloween appears in this list, so I’ll write a quick introduction for those who are unfamiliar with them. Helloween is a German power metal band formed in 1984. The original band lineup for their first full-length album called Walls of Jericho included four members. Kai Hansen was performing vocal duties and also played guitar along with Michael Weikath, bass and drums were played by Markus Grosskopf and Ingo Schwichtenberg (what a surname!); then the band found Michael Kiske as a singer, who was about 18 years old when they started recording both Keeper parts. The band wanted to do a double album initially, but the label insisted on separate release, so Part I was released in 1987 and Part II in 1988.
Almost all the write-ups for this album I’ve seen on DTF included comparing both parts between each other, so I’ll try not to go there and instead focus on the album’s strong points. It’s an easy job to do because this record just filled with strong points to the brim. Nearly each song is a hit and a definite fan favourite, and while some tracks are a bit weaker than others, You Always Walk Alone being a possible candidate for this statement, the amount of awesomeness here is overwhelming. Kiske does a fantastic job singing all the unbelievably high parts (like on We Got the Right). All the short songs are so catchy they get stuck in your head instantly; while the epic title track of nearly fourteen minutes in length is just that, bombastic epic. Yeah, it’s full of clichés and can be called pretentious, but it doesn’t make it less awesome.
If you’re a fan of power metal and haven’t heard this record, it’s the right time to rectify this now; if you don’t like the genre at all, better don’t try this, because it’s basically one of the most power metal albums I know, and maybe even a bit over the top. That means every element you dislike is definitely there. I don’t dislike anything on this album though, hence why Keeper pt. 2 rests here on the 22nd place in my list.
Favourite tracks: Dr. Stein (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FFTQRmsK0k), We Got the Right (https://=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4PiE6SaFG0), March of Time (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E268jKfnJd8), I Want Out (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjV8SHjHvHk), Keeper of the Seven Keys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blFB0i3xcxA)
As I was listening to the album lately I’ve finally realized what irks me to no end in Nabataea (the song from Helloween latest album, Straight Out of Hell). It’s that part with “Children, children, have no fear” that goes slowly first, then speeds up and intensifies on second passage, ends with high-pitched screamed word “die!”, then the mellow guitar solo follows, and after there’s that intense epic conclusion to the song. Because that’s exactly what happens in Keeper of the Seven Keys the song from “Disease, disease, disease my friend” line onwards. Even the word is the same “die” again, wow. Here are the links for you to make a comparison:
The described passage from Keeper of the Seven Keys (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blFB0i3xcxA&feature=youtu.be&t=7m) (goes approximately until 8:30)
The passage that irks me from Nabataea (https://youtu.be/KblvTl-AH0U?t=4m7s) (goes approximately until 5:30)
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I kind of agree on I&W, great album. But there are like 5 other DT records I like a bit more ;D .
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Ok so
I&W - That's a classic, but I too prefer other albums
Ecliptica - I know FullMoon from that album, nice song
Keeper Of The Seven Keys - the only Halloween songs that I know about are Ride The Sky and Nabataea and I have no idea why :lol
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some outstanding albums on this list
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The last two albums made my Top 5, so I approve immensely. Kiske and Labrie on these two albums turn in the single best vocal performances these ears have ever heard.
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I&W = :hefdaddy
Although Ecliptica isn't my favorite Sonata album, it's one of the best debuts I've heard, and the fact that the band still plays at least 2 songs (usually more) from it at every show speaks for itself. The re-recording gave me a new appreciation for the album, despite the sterile production. I can't fathom how Tony can still pull off the wordy vocal lines in Kingdom for a Heart so effortlessly live :lol
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No problem with Ecliptica at all, great power metal. Keepr 2 is classic, but I have always favoured Part 1.
This is one of the best top 50 lists I've seen.
Since our tastes seem quite alike, I hope you'll join my upcoming roulette when it's time then.
I don't have much time at the moment, but hell, I can't turn that down, count me in.
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Keeper Of The Seven Keys - the only Halloween songs that I know about are Ride The Sky and Nabataea and I have no idea why :lol
I have no idea either. :lol
Kiske and Labrie on these two albums turn in the single best vocal performances these ears have ever heard.
I'm always in awe of Kiske voice on Keepers, it's just something out of this world.
I can't fathom how Tony can still pull off the wordy vocal lines in Kingdom for a Heart so effortlessly live :lol
He generally seems to be alright with all the wordy passages (unlike me; I had a hard time learning and singing along Don't Say A Word chorus. "You have to finish what-you-started-no-matter-what-now sitwatchandlearn" gave me a headache I think :lol)
I don't have much time at the moment, but hell, I can't turn that down, count me in.
Great, sure thing! It would be still at least two weeks until I finish with this thread, and I'm not starting before I do. Also, there's Chad (where is he, by the way? Haven't seen him around here for a while) and Scorp in front of me in the queue, so apparently you have lots of time to think it over and maybe free some of your time for this thing.
Keepr 2 is classic, but I have always favoured Part 1.
I agree. Here you are:
#21
Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I
Helloween
Genre: power metal
1987
(https://www.theprospector.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/keeper-of-the-seven-keys-part-i-50e2526f5fa27.jpg)
I said I won’t be comparing Part I and Part II in my previous write-up, and I didn’t compare them there, so I wasn’t lying! I will do it in this write-up.
Seriously though, when I get the urge to spin these albums, I always spin both of them; but as I decided against any ties in my list, I had to rank them, and after a few thorough listens I found out I love Keeper Part I just a bit more. And since you all know about who Helloween are and what their lineup was at the time, it seems a perfect time and place to discuss the differences between both albums now.
Both Keepers are stylistically and structurally similar in a way. Both albums have a bunch of short concise tracks and a big epic in the end. However, on closer (or even not so closer) inspection there are noticeable differences. First, look at the albums’ length. Part II is pretty long for an old power metal record (54:33) with most songs over five minutes in length, and aside from epic, there are eight full-fledged songs I think; Part I is shorter (37:08), with songs around four minutes in length, and again aside from epic, there are only five true songs, along with two short atmospheric pieces. Second, while Part II had more Weikath-oriented songwriting (he penned five songs there), Part I is more Hansen-centric. I think Kai was much better songwriter back in those days, and it shows on overall songs’ quality; Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I features my two favourite Helloween songs ever, A Tale That Wasn’t Right and Halloween, and of course there is also the biggest Helloween hit ever (in my opinion), called Future World. While the rest of material doesn’t live up to awesomeness of those three, it’s still pretty solid. Just like with Part II, there is not a single bad song on the record.
Despite all the differences, these two albums really could’ve been united to create a double album. Most of the things I wrote for Part II also apply to Part I, be that great soloing or impeccable vocal delivery. However, A Tale That Wasn’t Right is a clearly pronounced ballad on this album while Part II had no ballads; and Halloween as an epic is loads better than Keeper. And I still stand by my words that Keeper is awesome, it’s just Halloween is like ten times greater, and is probably my favourite epic in power metal overall. The other tracks are decent enough and the small piece called Follow the Sign is a nice touch to end this magnificent record.
Helloween released a lot of studio albums over the years, both with Michael Kiske and Andi Deris, and I still check their new records occasionally, but frankly, no record comes close to both Keeper albums. The quality gap between those two records and other Helloween output is outright huge. Even that Keeper of the Seven Keys – The Legacy album they’ve released in 2005 is only a faint echo of the perfection they’ve managed to show in 1987 and 1988, and while the band is clearly fine with how the things are going for Helloween now, their albums have no lasting power. I’ve listened to Gambling With The Devil, 7 Sinners and Straight Out Of Hell a lot when they were released, all the decent albums they were, but after two or three weeks I just left them lying on the shelf and never picked up again. Those two Keepers album though, I just can’t get enough of them; this is one of the best things that ever happened to power metal.
Favourite tracks: Initiation + I’m Alive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwDfmsGIaKc), A Tale That Wasn’t Right (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiAeCCH5Y5o), Future World (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9h3jRaZyB4), Halloween (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtPs1QrMI1I), Follow the Sign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCkUZBCop_A)
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I also prefer part 1 to part 2, although both are power metal classics and two of my all time favorite albums. As for the Halloween versus The Keeper of the seven keys debate, years ago I would have probably chosen the former as a better one, but the title track keeps growing on me even after so many years, it's that good. Probably my dearest Helloween song.
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You're on a roll Evermind. This album is great. One of the most important albums of my musical life. The first time I heard this, I will never forget where I was.
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As for the Halloween versus The Keeper of the seven keys debate, years ago I would have probably chosen the former as a better one, but the title track keeps growing on me even after so many years, it's that good.
Both of them are that good. ;)
You're on a roll Evermind. This album is great. One of the most important albums of my musical life. The first time I heard this, I will never forget where I was.
Well, you just can't go wrong with both those Keeper albums. One of the very best power metal efforts out there for sure.
And now the second and last update for the day; and by the way, we're already cracking the Top 20 here!
#20
Rising Force
Yngwie Malmsteen
Genre: neo-classical metal
1984
(https://www.metalinsider.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Yngwie_Malmsteen_s_Rising_Force-Rising_Force-Frontal.jpg)
Even if a man is a giant douche, he can apparently release great albums. Well, not constantly and not all of them, but damn, were the first three studio works by Yngwie great. That is before he descended to mindless shredding almost everywhere. Being only 39 minutes in length, Rising Force consists of seven full-fledged songs with five beautifully constructed instrumentals among them. Two of them are based on classical works, but the new arrangements make this sort of cover sound incredibly competent and captivating. Yngwie isn’t the best man to write lyrics (seriously, those two songs are outright awful in lyrical department and I had a difficult time finding a line fitting for the thread title), but on this album he’s undoubtedly one of the best men to write music.
Here goes another paragraph of Wikipedia info, because aside from the first three albums, I have absolutely no interest in Yngwie’s work or his biography. Yngwie Malmsteen is a Swedish guitarist and songwriter. He played with the band called Steeler in 1983, then appeared on the debut album by Graham Bonnet’s band Alcatrazz, and also their live album. At first, Rising Force was meant to be an instrumental side-project of Alcatrazz, but since there were vocals (at precisely two songs!), Malmsteen left Alcatrazz shortly after the release of Rising Force. This album brought the considerable amount of fame to the man and even received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in 1986. Aside from Yngwie, there were three more musicians performing on Rising Force. They are Jeff Scott Solo (vocals), Jens Johansson (keys) and Barriemore Barlow (drums).
So yeah, while there is still a lot of shredding on this album, it’s actually arranged and done in a nice way, resulting in splendid compositions. Both Black Star and Far Beyond the Sun are of astounding quality and probably the most popular tunes written by Yngwie; Evil Eye and Little Savage both has their charm too with a few acoustic touches and pace changes; both songs with vocals are great heavy numbers with catchy vocal melodies; and the eight-and-a-half minutes long Icarus’ Dream Suite Op. 4 is as good as it gets regarding Malmsteen instrumentals. It’s based on Remo Giazotto’s Adagio in G minor, and it’s simply fascinating to see the whole composition unfold, especially the ending from 6:40 onward. While this album has this ridiculous amount of instrumentals, they’re all going somewhere; they have purpose while not being plodding or boring or whatever, and that’s why Rising Force stands out both among the Malmsteen works and the whole genre. I guess he actually was a pioneer in this neo-classical shredding land (I’m not sure because I don’t follow this genre enough), and this album is a hell of an achievement.
Well, there isn’t a lot more to write about Rising Force, and I can’t even explain why it truly deserves the 20th place in this list. I guess if you listen to this album for a couple of weeks straight it just grows on you a lot. It’s a wonderful thing I’ve started to compose this list, because I had to run through all my musical library to pick the albums; I completely forgot about this one until the very end when I’ve reached that Y-letter, and only then realized how much I like this disc.
Favourite tracks: Black Star (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blNQZc84Q5c), Far Beyond the Sun (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAsHFSrh0i8), Icarus’ Dream Suite Op. 4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Va1F1dQWo), As Above, So Below (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxmZawYJo74), Little Savage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPwTVsd3Ooo)
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Evermind, you are making my teenage years flash before my eyes! I remember Steeler, have it on vinyl, and remember the Alcatrazz stuff when it came out.
Rising Force is fantastic. I ranked it in my Top 5 of 1984 in Brent's thread.
Far Beyond The Sun is probably my all time favorite instrumental.
You mention his first three albums being great, but I thought Trilogy sucked when it came out. Then I saw the promo shots for Odyssey and basically declared myself done with Yngwie. I basically came back to Yngwie a few years ago, and while Trilogy still sucks, Odyssey is freaking amazing.
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You mention his first three albums being great, but I thought Trilogy sucked when it came out. Then I saw the promo shots for Odyssey and basically declared myself done with Yngwie. I basically came back to Yngwie a few years ago, and while Trilogy still sucks, Odyssey is freaking amazing.
I'm the opposite here. Trilogy is easily the worst of the three, but I still love it; I can't stand Odyssey somehow. Not because of JLT though, he does a fine job, just for some reason the whole album doesn't appeal to me.
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I always play the Keeper albums together; just awesome stuff.
Rising Force is second behind Marching Out for me from Yngwie. Too bad Soto and Yngwie couldn't have stayed together longer
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Neoclassical metal? Didn't know that genre even existed :lol . Haven't listened to this dude - in fact, I'm missing on a lot of classic metal records and aartists, so I should give this a spin at least.
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Probably the only Yngwie album I know and like, Black Star and Far Beyond the Sun <3
Neoclassical metal? Didn't know that genre even existed :lol . Haven't listened to this dude - in fact, I'm missing on a lot of classic metal records and aartists, so I should give this a spin at least.
Sacul, you never fail to amaze me :lol
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Saw them live opening for Metallica circa AJFA. :RJ:
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Saw them live opening for Metallica circa AJFA. :RJ:
Who? Yngwie?
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Can't argue with Rising Force - made my top 10.
I like plenty of Helloween and love Kiske but (aside from a few tracks) the Keepers albums never really did much for me I'm afraid. I tend to find material written by Hansen very hit and miss , so perhaps that has something to do with it.
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I enjoy everything from the Kiske era, even Pink Bubbles and Chameleon. But I could only imagine the outrage when those two were officially released
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I enjoy everything from the Kiske era, even Pink Bubbles and Chameleon. But I could only imagine the outrage when those two were officially released
I actually bought Pink Bubbles on import at this great Import record store in New Jersey called Sound Exchange. Bought Pink Bubbles and Metallica's Black Album at the same time. Still remember driving home to Massachusetts alternating both thinking WTF just happened to two of my favorite bands?
Both Pink Bubbles and TBA have aged remarkably well IMO.
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Part 1 is definitely where its at.
That Malmsteen album is amazing of course too. Looking forward to the rest of this list.
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Neoclassical metal? Didn't know that genre even existed :lol .
That actually made me laugh. :rollin
I enjoy everything from the Kiske era, even Pink Bubbles and Chameleon.
Both Pink Bubbles and TBA have aged remarkably well IMO.
Totally agree with you guys, I quite like those Helloween albums too.
That Malmsteen album is amazing of course too. Looking forward to the rest of this list.
I'm back at one - two albums a day schedule due to work, but I'll try to keep the things moving.
Saw them live opening for Metallica circa AJFA. :RJ:
Who? Yngwie?
Yeah, that's my question too.
And now we're going forward to something more modern. Something very modern, in fact. If I had to make the best albums from the last five years, this one would've been on the 3rd place. I know, new car smell effect and so on, but I described my reasoning in the write-up, and I just can't stop listening to this album.
And a special shoutout to :RJ: of course!
#19
The Road Of Bones
IQ
Genre: progressive rock
2014
(https://www.iq-store.co.uk/shop/images/cover.jpg)
Here’s the second and final occasion when the album makes this list not only because of its individual strength, but also because I want to kind of honor the band for their great work (first one was Unisonic waaaay back at #46, if you remember). Now don’t get me wrong, this album would’ve still made this list even if it was the only thing IQ ever released, because I love it to pieces, but it would be somewhere around the 30th place. I don’t know how it will stand the further tests of time, because it was only released this year, but I already have a feeling it will only get better and better. I’ll keep on talking about this in the third paragraph, but now I feel I should present a little information about the band here.
IQ is a British progressive rock band founded in 1981 by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford. They’ve put quite a lot of studio albums over this time and have been active for more than 30 years as of now, but for some reason they’ve never managed to get a lot of commercial success, despite the utter brilliance of the majority of their material. The lineup for the Road of Bones includes aforementioned Mike Holmes on guitars, Peter Nicholis as a singer, Neil Durant on keyboards, Tim Esau on bass and Paul Cook on drums.
So well, let me explain what I meant in the very first phrase on this write-up. I’ve enjoyed some IQ albums for a few years now, but I always felt there was something missing in each record, or some song or section that left me unimpressed. My three favourite IQ records before this one were Subterranea, Dark Matter and The Seventh House; Subterranea is a nearly flawless concept album with a lot of outstanding material until it comes to the grand twenty minutes epic called The Narrow Margin, which for me is incredibly underwhelming and kills all the excitement that is built up before it. Dark Matter is quite the opposite, the material on it ranges from just alright to good, but the big huge epic called Harvest of Souls is one of the most awesome things IQ ever recorded (I know RJ would totally disagree with this, haha). The Seventh House is just good stuff all around, but not great enough to make the list, even though the title track is unequivocally breathtaking. And all this brings us to The Road of Bones. The band decided to use an interesting approach here, instead of recording another huge double album they’ve put only five songs on the actual album, and labeled the rest as bonus tracks. This does all the wonderful things to the flow, really, and ensures there is no mediocre material on the record. They’ve put all the great songs on one disc, and placed the good stuff on the other, but as the actual album is Disc 1, we’ll be focusing on that. Given that there are only five songs, as I said, for some reason I felt it could’ve been either a disaster or an outstanding achievement, and it’s the latter. The material here might be just the best output from IQ. Shorter tracks like The Road of Bones (well, not really short, but it's prog, you know) and Ocean are full of feelings, slowly laying their impressive range of emotions before the listener; both rockers (proggers?) From the Outside In and Until the End have their kickass parts and totally beautiful, mellow sections; and the album’s epic, Without Walls, might just be the best long song IQ ever created, with a proper balance and sound transitions between all the parts.
Basically, The Road of Bones is IQ in a nutshell, but somehow the record manages to sound remarkably fresh compared to all the albums the band released in this thirty years span. It’s like the band collected all the best parts from their previous material, rehashed them in some hardly recognizable form, added a few brilliant parts here and there, and the output exceeded all expectations I could’ve possibly have. While this record is the most recent on this list, I felt I really have to place it here on #19, because the amount of transcendental songs IQ put out already plus this flawless record equals a high place among my favourite albums. IQ deserves all success and recognition in the world, yet doesn’t have it, so at least I’ll honor the band putting the album pretty damn high in my list.
Favourite tracks: From the Outside In (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hKVARLRvls), The Road of Bones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob0OYmSQukk), Without Walls (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGPd5tm5IC4), Until the End (from 7:42) (https://youtu.be/PjBXmZPeAjA?t=7m42s)
I wasn’t going to include Until the End in my favourite tracks, because the first three are already 35 minutes in length, but I just couldn’t ignore such beautiful ending to this magnificent album.
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Never heard of these guys, but they sound cool
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:justjen
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Seen a lot of people list this album in their Best Of 2014 lists.
Never heard them.
Checking the samples now.
Edit: I can see why someone would like IQ, but they're not really my thing.
All Good!
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Yeah, I can see how IQ can be not someone's cup of tea too.
(And RJ didn't respond. I am mildly surprised.)
Now a few more obligatory (still amazing though) repeats. First, though I&W comes pretty close, here's the best DT album in my opinion:
#18
Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory
Dream Theater
Genre: progressive metal
1999
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/55/Dream_Theater_-_Metropolis_Pt._2-_Scenes_from_a_Memory.jpg)
Here comes another Dream Theater album and another short (not) write-up. Well, who doesn’t like SFAM on this board? Unlike Images and Words, this is effort is heavier and definitely progressive metal to the bone. This album is ambitious; I mean, writing the concept album is always ambitious, and instead of taking a story already fleshed out and written the band went another way and just invented this whole plot with Nicholas, Victoria, The Miracle and the Sleeper, and cleverly tied the loose strings up with their Metropolis Pt. 1 song, which until this album seemed like a nonsensical, meaningless babbling in lyrics department. It sounded cool anyway though.
While Images and Words was warm and inviting, Scenes from a Memory turned out to be more progressive, more quirky and heavier record. I guess it’s fitting considering the whole concept, but it also has its mellow parts, so it’s not like it is heavy all 77 minutes throughout. The musical reprises are here and there, and they work flawlessly, allowing the listener to experience what the words “concept album” truly mean. While there may seem to be a lot of extensive instrumental passages on the first listen, all these parts grow on the subsequent spins immensely, providing the unique experience of a unbelievable journey through the very depths of progressive world; fasten your seat belts and prepare to be blown away.
The album also does an impressive job with closing the whole thing up; I mean, The Spirit Carries On does the job impeccably, shedding the light on the whole transmigration of souls thing, ending with this uplifting, reassuring note, and the album feels to come full circle with Regression reprise in the end of the track; and then the dark, crushing reveal from Finally Free appears, giving us enough information to figure all the rest. I love how it starts with ”Friday evening, the blood’s still on my hands”, and then goes into this happy part beginning with “Feeling good this Friday afternoon”. In fact, these might be my favourite MP lyrics ever.
While there are no songs from Scenes from a Memory in my top ten DT songs, the album is one of my favourites, hence its placement in my list. Despite a few weird plot decisions here and there that can ultimately be explained (or not), I love that the band decided to write their own story and enclose it within those lyrics, which are, let’s be honest here, almost not pretentious at all compared to a lot of other concept albums. This album is quite long, but there is no other way but to listen it in full, and when I do that, I’m always left in awe. How can you even write this whole piece? Wow.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Scene Two: I. Overture 1928, Scene Six: Home, Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On, Scene Nine: Finally Free
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to include Youtube links for Dream Theater songs, so I decided I won’t do that. Everyone heard them anyway.
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While there are no songs from Scenes from a Memory in my top ten DT songs, the album is one of my favorites,
Same here. Great album. Totally restored my faith in DT at the time. My second favorite album from DT.
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The Road of Bones is great and one of my top 5 albums of 2014. Thanks for sending the title-track in my roulette, I might not have checked IQ out otherwise! :tup
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SFAM is #1, so no complaints here at all :metal
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Another great choice
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The Road of Bones is great and one of my top 5 albums of 2014. Thanks for sending the title-track in my roulette, I might not have checked IQ out otherwise! :tup
You're welcome! Amazing album indeed.
And yeah guys, SFAM is just SFAM, great album and I don't think there's anything more to add, so, let's move on to the next obligatory repeat! (Not a lot of them left, hold on.) Well, now it's the best Nightwish album right here:
#17
Century Child
Nightwish
Genre: symphonic power metal
2002
(https://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/119/119345.jpg/1000x1000.jpg)
While Imaginaerum is really beautiful and magical, and truly deserves to be called a great Nightwish record, you can go and ask Chad to be sure that Century Child is the best them. Being more operatic and, I don’t know, more mature somehow, this album has established the standard of Nightwish sound for me. It’s often regarded as the pinnacle of Nightwish career along with Once, but while Once has a few duds like Dead Gardens, Century Child has no bad songs whatsoever. All the material is top notch and has you sitting on the edge for the whole record.
Century Child is not a concept album, unlike Imaginaerum, but I would say it’s even more concise musically. Imaginaerum has those wild dashes into jazz, circus music and movie soundtracks approach, and Century Child… well, it’s just a solid record, so solid, in fact, that I can’t get enough of it. There are basically two big differences between the records, and they’re linked tightly; the second one is a consequence of the first. So, well, the first is obviously the vocals. Anette Olzon sang on Imaginaerum, while Century Child was recorded with Tarja Turunen on vocals, and the distinction is so clear-cut it’s jarring even. Anette is more of a poppy singer, though we saw she does great on jazz-tunes like Slow, Love, Slow; anyway, Tarja is more of an operatic singer. The second difference is the songwriting: Tuomas obviously writes the songs with specific singer in mind, so small wonder the albums turned out to be that different. Otherwise, there are a lot of similarities between them. Both are featuring lead male vocals by Marco Hietala, who joined the band right before Century Child; both are ending with epic; and so on.
The album is diverse enough to please both fans of heavy, powerful Nightwish, and also fans of soft, serene side of the band. Opening with quite slow yet chugging Bless the Child, the record quickly picks up the pace into two more straightforward rockers, and then flows into more levelheaded Ever Dream only to go fully nuts on the heaviest tune on the record, Slaying the Dreamer. I mean, just look at this title, it’s so obvious this song has to have this balls-to-the-wall approach with Marco almost death metal styled screams. This song marks the ending of the album’s first half; it’s not actually divided in half, yet I can’t help but do it: the first one is more speedy, more headbanging worthy, and the second one is way more vivid; thus forming a bit of contrast in my mind which allows the album to sound even better. Both Forever Yours and Ocean Soul are breathtakingly beautiful, Phantom of the Opera is the whole new take on the famous Lloyd-Webber song done much better than his original piece, and Beauty of the Beast would rival Ghost Love Score in the “Best Thing That Nightwish Has Ever Done” competition if such thing existed. Funny, it includes the spoken part too; I guess the only epic from Century Child and onwards without the spoken part is Ghost Love Score, and it’s not like that’s an utterly awful thing, even though I wish for a change in this regard on their new album.
It’s interesting that according to Wikipedia, Tuomas was nearly ready to close this whole Nightwish band before Century Child was recorded. It’s a damn good thing he didn’t, because this album remains as my favourite Nightwish record and one of the best in symphonic power metal overall. There are a lot of bands who sound like their clone, for better or worse, but for me, Nightwish were and still are the leaders on the genre; the appearance of Imaginaerum in this list confirms their appeal to me as of now, and Century Child making it this high definitely speaks for itself about my affection to the previous band’s work. And with Endless Forms Most Beautiful coming our way soon, I’m prepared to be blown away.
Favourite tracks: Ever Dream (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcfyl3dJk5U), Forever Yours (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AOXR5Uj8G8), Ocean Soul (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYu2EnCG2Ww), Phantom of the Opera (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhdGfbE8c_E), Beauty of the Beast (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJEJ6kcyss4)
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Sacul, you never fail to amaze me :lol
My job is done then ;D .
SFAM is unique and fucking awesome. I think it made #4 in my top 50, and it's still there. And will be for a long, long time.
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There are A few albums here I never took the time to explore. But as I like all familiar albums on your list at the least, I will check those out. You have good taste :metal And who cares about artist repeats if it is really good ;D
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There are A few albums here I never took the time to explore. But as I like all familiar albums on your list at the least, I will check those out. You have good taste :metal And who cares about artist repeats if it is really good ;D
Thank you! Hope you'll enjoy those albums.
About repeats, yeah, as I said, I initially wanted to do 1 album per artist, but some of them are too good to left them out. Anyway, this is the last repeat in the streak, and then we move on to the exciting stuff more or less.
I think a year ago this one and #27 (Epica) would be swapped, but as of now, I think this is the best Kamelot work (have you noticed I really love Kamelot? Yes? Alright then.)
#16
The Black Halo
Kamelot
Genre: progressive power metal
2005
(https://www.copertinedvd.org/copertine-cd-file/K/kamelot_-_the_black_halo_-_front_(2-2).jpg)
After Karma and Epica we have finally reached the point when the best Kamelot album makes an appearance. After the immensely strong release Epica was, I guess there were some worries about how the second part of the story will match it in quality. Needless to say, all of them turned out to be unfounded, for The Black Halo raised the quality bar even higher, proceeding with exceptional storytelling, depicting Ariel’s sorrow and regret over his decisions in life, pondering the whole meaning of it; the musicianship stayed top notch too, with more pronounced progressive edge added to the songs.
I guess you can say Epica was more action-packed and thus more in the power metal department, while The Black Halo is mostly filled with the protagonist’s reflections and thoughts, and the music mirrors this, being more progressive, thoughtful and darker as a whole. Being still under Mephisto’s control in the beginning, Ariel slowly gets what is happening as the story goes forward; the grief for his loss and the anger with Mephisto’s blatant lies are skillfully expressed through the aggressive and tragic songs’ sections, one alternating with another; of course, Roy Khan’s singing assists in achieving this a lot.
The album’s structure is curious, it opens up in an energetic way with heavy March of Mephisto when Ariel seems to have no idea what he’s doing; then loses steam a bit with The Haunting as the man starts to realize what the hell is going on and what he has just done; finally, the album reaches its otherworldly beautiful turning point in Abandoned, where the protagonist begs the higher forces for forgiveness, unheard, and understands he will never see his beloved Helena again, as he won’t be able to enter heaven after his inevitable death. After this the record begins to pick up the speed again as the confrontation between the two main characters happens, going from leveled pace of Moonlight to rapid power metal in Nothing Ever Dies. The story is wrapped up in a grand way in Memento Mori, the sprawling epic composition clocking at nine minutes, which does a magnificent job bringing the whole storyline to a satisfying ending. That is, until the cheapest plot device ever comes into play in Serenade, revealing that the whole story was a “play set for a New Year’s Eve festival”, thank you Wikipedia for the explanation, because I really couldn’t wrap my brain around this fact for a while. And it’s not even the song is bad or something, I just hate when such things happen, be it in literature, concept albums or movies.
If you dislike power metal, but still trying to find something from the genre you would like, this is probably your best choice out of the whole Kamelot discography. It’s not the power metal people usually except to hear (see Helloween), and it comes with a beautiful story behind it, and of course I’m biased but damn, it’s a mighty great record. It’s incredible how Kamelot managed to create this spectacular run of albums from The Fourth Legacy to The Black Halo, literally releasing a masterpiece every two years. I guess that shows the amount of talent and incredibly musical ideas these guys had back those days; but I also should say in defence of Silverthorn, this album has grown on me a lot and probably surpasses The Fourth Legacy now. The mighty trio of Karma – Epica – The Black Halo remains untouched though. Who knows, maybe they’ll nail it with their new record in 2015?
Favourite tracks: The Haunting (Somewhere in Time) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE7_Zp0lX1c), Soul Society (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDubchjrz1I), Abandoned (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkNXiC6XwJE), Moonlight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI1_u4Qj8Yc), Nothing Ever Dies (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ncbTAnnUs8), Memento Mori (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kymf6m4sVWM)
Since those write-ups are all written in advance, I don’t know if you will be reading this, Sacul (and apparently you are reading this!), but if you do: Memento Mori has a great flow and isn’t disjointed at all.
By the way, among the remaining 15 albums in this list only three bands appeared in this list before, so it’s going to be (I hope) a bit more interesting.
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I've tried Kamelot a few times. They are a band that I should like, but they just haven't clicked with me.
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I've tried Kamelot a few times. They are a band that I should like, but they just haven't clicked with me.
I totally know this feeling. I feel the same way about quite a few bands, Anathema for example.
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On we go to the Top 15! This is the really odd one, maybe the most odd one in the whole list, seriously.
#15
Enter
Within Temptation
Genre: symphonic gothic metal
1997
(https://metalitalia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Within-Temptation-Enter-1997.jpg)
Growls. This album has them. There are quite a lot of growls.
(Watch TAC, bl5150 and jjrock88 tuning out instantly.) Alright, now onward.
How come there is an album with load of growls sitting comfortably at 15th place? I’m not sure I will be able to provide any satisfactory explanation for this, to be honest. Enter was among the first metal albums I’ve ever heard. I don’t remember exactly how I’ve discovered it though. What I know is that after all these years I still hold it in high regard; for me, Enter was Within Temptation at its finest, with beautiful female lead vocals contrasting with meaty growls among the sea of ringing, mysterious sounding keyboards. It all went sequentially downwards after Enter; while Mother Earth and The Silent Force were still good enough, The Heart of Everything is just average for me, The Unforgiving didn’t impress me at all, and I hadn’t even bothered to check out Hydra, which, come to think of it now, is weird, and I probably should do it someday soon.
Within Temptation is a Dutch band founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt; they are married and have three children, by the way. I don’t know what genre the band is playing now, but it used to be symphonic metal with some rock and pop influences later on. The band had a few lineup changes since Enter, they seem to have problems with drummers, the graph on Wikipedia shows there were eight drummers overall. Both Sharon and Robert were in the band since the beginning, along with bassist Jeroen van Veen, so obviously all three of them are present on Enter; there is also Michael Papenhove on lead guitars (Robert plays rhythm guitars and does those growly parts, by the way), Martjin Westerholt on synths and keys, and Ivar de Graaf on drums.
So what’s the big difference between Enter and other growls-filled albums I can’t stand? As I said, I have no idea; it was the first album with such harsh vocals I discovered, surely this has something to do with it, but other than that, I’m clueless. So I’ll just get down to describing the record instead of comparing it with something else. The “beauty and the beast” vocal approach is hardly anything exciting, and while Sharon is excellent singer, I can’t say the same about Robert, whose growls I would label as average at best. Yet somehow I often find myself thinking how seamlessly they fit into the picture, and wonder how the record would sound with someone else delivering those lines; coming to conclusion I may have not enjoyed it with anyone else. I don’t know, it all comes down how familiar you are with the album; I can’t imagine myself accepting any changes. Even if there were three Mikael Åkerfeldts in their prime offered to sing instead of Robert, I wouldn’t change a single thing about Enter. So, yeah, about the music. It’s kind of pointless to describe every single song, for the album is consistently great in quality and consistently dark in atmosphere, just what you would naturally expect from symphonic gothic metal record. Some song are female-fronted only, like the opener called Restless; some are featuring growls, like Candles, the biggest highlight of this record; there are even guest growls provided by George Oosthoek on Deep Within; and finally, you can even find an instrumental on Enter.
Initially I wanted to write more about the music, but somehow my thoughts drifted away in totally different direction and I ended rambling about almost anything except the music itself. I’m not going to rewrite it though, because, well, sometimes rambling is a good thing! So I guess I’ll just reiterate that Enter is one hell of an album, growls sometimes can be fine with me, everything is great and we’re getting closer and closer to top ten. Whoo!
Favourite tracks: Restless (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUTtr1X1Eb4), Enter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbdlPaaoG_8), Pearls of Light (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73Mw21pLdsw), Grace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGhF_gKYjjQ), Candles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsg3yJ12nEo)
Wow, but this “welcome to my home” line in the title-track is cringeworthy. :lol
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I think I'd have appreciated Memento Mori a bit more in the album context, and knowing about the story of it. But still, the intro and outro have nothing to do with the rest of the song - at least I couldn't find any reprises nor references when I listened to it :P .
And with Anathema, you can try their doom metal albums (Eternity is ccool) or the ones from their depressing, dark period (either Alternative 4 or Judgement). Even their last albums might have enough cheese for your tastes (try the songs Angels Walk Among Us and The Gathering of Clouds). If nothing works, then I can blame your tastes ;D .
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I really only got into WT properly with The Unforgiving - I really like Sharon's "chest voice" but didn't really care for the falsetto /gothic stuff off the earlier albums and so only liked the odd track (eg. Stand My Ground). And that's without the growls ;D
I'll check out the suggested tracks though.
I'm only a 99.9% growl free zone - there is the odd exception. After Forever's s/t album made my top 50 - Floor Jansen (and the songs) were so damn good on that , so the odd growl wasn't enough to put me off. That's a rare thing though.
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Well, WT really moved on from growls on the next few albums. Stand My Ground is actually very nice.
Try Restless, it doesn't have growls and represents Enter atmosphere just alright (but it's actually gothic stuff, so , well :lol )
And yeah, no one can resist Floor's growls, including me. ;D
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Black Halo is epic.
Never checked WT.
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Never checked WT.
Huh, didn't expect that.
Now we're gradually going back in time with the next four or five albums.
#14
Remedy Lane
Pain of Salvation
Genre: progressive metal
2002
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/6/5/3/1653.jpg)
Pain of Salvation is one of those bands that are difficult to get into, but if you do and they click with you, the result will be overwhelmingly rewarding. I’ve heard a lot of opinions about their music, both positive and negative, and also some thoughts about Daniel’s general attitude, mostly negative. I also heard their albums were quite complex and sometimes with unusual quirky elements which can easily turn the listener away. So, naturally, I was approaching them warily. I spent a few days thinking what should I start with, and essentially it came down to only two albums, The Perfect Element pt.1 and Remedy Lane. I picked the latter first, and that is probably the reason it’s in this list, and TPE isn’t.
Pain of Salvation is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band formed in early 90s, though they existed since 1984 under the name Reality, until the band was renamed (duh, obviously). I also feel a need to mention I don’t really like name “Pain of Salvation”. Well, anyway. The band’s founder, songwriter, lyricist, vocalist (huh) and frontman is Daniel Gildenlöw, and it just dawned on me I don’t know the names of other members at all (except Ragnar, but that’s another damnable story). Booklet of Remedy Lane says there was Kristoffer Gildenlöw on bass, Johan Hallgren on guitar, Johan Langell on drums (all three also provided backing vocals), and keys were played by Fredrik Hermansson.
My first listen to Remedy Lane left me in complete awe. The thing that most impressed me, I guess, is how smoothly the whole piece works despite all the weird things, like major awkwardness of Fandango or something suspiciously sounding like rap in Ending Theme. I don’t know what was more surprising to me, the presence of such unfitting elements or the notion I really loved them and was blown away with how naturally they fit in the picture. The second impressive thing, which may rival the first alright, was Daniel’s vocals. The way he delivers them, dramatically different each time depending on situation; sometimes it’s something close to humming and then it’s angry raged person shouting and nearly growling recklessly at the mic. Seriously, he goes high and low, soft and harsh, and this is another big reason why this record is so diverse. Dripping with a solid number of musical reprises scattered along the record, Remedy Lane is a fine example how to write a complex concept album blending a lot of genres and influences from everywhere. Sometimes the band keeps it simple yet effective, like on Undertow, while other, long tracks such as A Trace of Blood and Beyond the Pale are tricky and intricate; and the latter is also nearly godlike; so all tracks has something to like and almost nothing to dislike.
Ain’t that a perfect reason to place a record this high in the list? When the album is over an hour in length but the journey is so enthralling you never notice this; when nearly each song is so complicated it unveils more new elements with each listen, making every listening experience worthwhile; when the album makes you feel such a wide range of emotions; well, I don’t even need to look for some superficial flaws. This record deserves all the praise it gets.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Ending Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYDiW7B65qQ), A Trace of Blood (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpIX0BNt1dQ), Undertow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8ro066KDIM), Second Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1LqrRc32YQ), Beyond the Pale (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EZhRBPE7HI)
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YES. I knew it from the thread title. I'm a huge fan of PoS and this album as many DTF'ers will know probably. My favourite track from the album is Rope Ends, without a doubt. How come that's not in your list? Also, the expanded edition adds the track 'Thorn Clown', which is a gem as well. Amazing album, getting to see it played live in full last October was quite a great experience :)
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:corn
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The only PoS album I really enjoy :tup
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your thread title got me here
TPE1 and Remedy Lane are both legendary though I prefer the former but I certainly won't complain about the latter. Idioglossia in particular is one of my favorite songs, EVER, ever. A Trace of Blood, Undertow, Rope Ends, Beyond the Pale, all absolutely fantastic songs too.
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I enjoy 3 or 4 tracks on this ,with my fave being an instrumental and this album is the best of theirs that I've heard.. And that says it all I suppose..........not a band I've really connected with.
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My favourite track from the album is Rope Ends, without a doubt. How come that's not in your list?
Because it's *drumroll* not my favourite!
Amazing album, getting to see it played live in full last October was quite a great experience :)
What about Ragnar? I've heard he sang a huge chunk of the album (and saw a video of Undertow, where he indeed did that thing). I would've been pretty pissed off if that happened, I'd want to hear Daniel singing the album.
The only PoS album I really enjoy :tup
Well, I enjoy TPE pt. 1 too, but it's nowhere near this one for me now.
your thread title got me here
I was almost counting on it!
I enjoy 3 or 4 tracks on this ,with my fave being an instrumental and this album is the best of theirs that I've heard.. And that says it all I suppose..........not a band I've really connected with.
No surprise here I guess. :biggrin:
Now we're going back for seven years from Remedy Lane to this pinnacle of (more or less modern) power metal music:
#13
Imaginations from the Other Side
Blind Guardian
Genre: power metal
1995
(https://fanart.tv/fanart/music/7fa7fc04-1011-4876-8095-ecd232edea87/albumcover/imaginations-from-the-other-side-51b1785682e4e.jpg)
Blind Guardian always had a bit of detached place on a power metal scene. Maybe that comes from the fact they played speed metal in the beginning, or maybe it’s because they have those very recognizable vocals; anyway, when it comes to power metal talk, somehow it’s always Helloween, Gamma Ray and such stuff most people I know are raving about, and Blind Guardian is always left somewhere aside. That doesn’t change the fact they’ve put out one of the best albums in the genre, a real milestone for the band too. And Imaginations from the Other Side isn’t even that different from previous band’s work, Somewhere Far Beyond, it’s just the songwriting became tighter, melodies grew stronger and Hansi is screaming his lungs out like a madman. All this resulted in nearly every song being a hit and killer live.
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 under the name Lucifer’s Heritage. After releasing a few demos they’ve signed a contract with No Remorse Records and changed their name to what we have now. Going from thrash / speed metal on their first two albums, the band began shaping their current approach with their next records, and in 1995 they’ve released their fifth studio album, Imaginations from the Other Side. Hell, this band was quite prolific back in those days, and now you have to wait like four or five years for their new output. This album features the band’s unchanging frontman and vocalist Hansi Kürsch, who also played bass for this record; double guitars are played by another band’s founder Andre Olbrich and Marcus Siepen, while drums and percussion are provided by Thomas Stauch (who left the band somewhere around 2005 before A Twist in the Myth). Blind Guardian specializes on the epic, bombastic songs about ancient myths and legends, fantasy stories and sagas like A Song of Ice and Fire, Wheel of Time and so on, and even has the whole album devoted to Tolkien’s Silmarillion, so if fantasy is not your thing, either try to not listening to the lyrics too hard, or stay away from this band.
As I said before, what really makes this album special is the unrestrained, crazy vocal delivery by Hansi. The songs like The Script for My Requiem are just insane, there are so much reckless screams my head wants to explode, and in this case, it’s a good thing. Actually, Imaginations from the Other Side has a lot of similar aspects compared to Somewhere Far Beyond and further Blind Guardian work, filled with multi-layered vocals, random verses (it’s quite difficult to find two exactly same verses on Blind Guardian song) where Hansi just screams one line, then shouts the other and here you go, have an epic pre-chorus and chorus now, and here comes the next verse totally unlike the first, enjoy. And the thing is it seems to be done so effortlessly, however it works stunningly, confirming the amazing songwriting talent of the band. Take the title track for example, there are three verses, they are all memorable as hell, you’ll probably will be able to remember them after just two or three listens, but they are completely different in structure. Well, all the heavy numbers except for maybe Another Holy War and I’m Alive (which, by the way, are great too) are simply mindblowing, and the ballads (there is in fact one, but I weirdly consider Mordred’s Song as a ballad too, I don’t know why, it’s totally not) are beautiful as always.
I love Blind Guardian’s work from Somewhere Far Beyond (1992) and onwards, except one average twist they’ve been consistently great with their outputs. There is one thing that pisses me off though, every time they’re playing live Hansi is saying something along the lines “You’re great audience, we’ll see you again really soon! Goodbye!” and then you have to wait for five fucking years before they’re coming to your city again. I guess that’s some kind of joke, like that orchestral album they’re teasing us for what, ten years already? Otherwise, Blind Guardian is a great band (they’re releasing another album in January 2015, color me excited); and Imaginations from the Other Side is an amazing, innovative and kicking-ass-all-around album, and looking in my list now, I guess that’s the last pure power metal album I’ve got. That makes it the best in the genre for me, I think!
Favourite tracks: Imaginations from the Other Side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Cxyd3VxbQ), A Past and Future Secret (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8GIVtCNlCk), The Script for My Requiem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZznRuOKQqQ), Mordred’s Song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0Nvu5j6aU0), Bright Eyes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BP49gxxBCzU), And the Story Ends (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCETXxCkyUk)
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Always wanted to try POV and Blind Guardian are pretty great
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Always wanted to try POV and Blind Guardian are pretty great
Pain of... Valvation? :lol
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Mike..............focus on DTF and not whatever else it is you're downloading ;D
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:corn
:justjen
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Mike..............focus on DTF and not whatever else it is you're downloading ;D
:rollin
:corn
:justjen
You should like the next one. But, well, it's coming tomorrow. :lol
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Mike..............focus on DTF and not whatever else it is you're downloading ;D
whoops :blush ::) :lol :rollin
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That's not what she said.
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I cannot get into Blind Guardian. Honestly, they hurt my ears. Hansi's voice hits a frequency that I cannot handle, and the music is way to dense for me.
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Two more simply brilliant albums.
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I cannot get into Blind Guardian. Honestly, they hurt my ears. Hansi's voice hits a frequency that I cannot handle, and the music is way to dense for me.
Me too
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Yeah, I can see how IQ can be not someone's cup of tea too.
(And RJ didn't respond. I am mildly surprised.)
Give me some time man, I do work.... (Road of Bones fuck yeah :metal :metal :metal )
Saw them live opening for Metallica circa AJFA. :RJ:
Who? Yngwie?
Yup, it was a Day on the Green, the line up being Victory, Rising Force, Metallica, Ratt, Y&T, and Scorpions.
Highlight for me was Metallica and feeling up my first titty during Ratt: Metal, beer and boobs, does it get any better folks?
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I cannot get into Blind Guardian. Honestly, they hurt my ears. Hansi's voice hits a frequency that I cannot handle, and the music is way to dense for me.
Me too
Well, I think sometimes they put too much layers on some songs (for example, I enjoy songs from A Night at the Opera in live rendition more, except And Then There Was Silence of course), but otherwise I obviously can't agree.
Yup, it was a Day on the Green, the line up being Victory, Rising Force, Metallica, Ratt, Y&T, and Scorpions.
Highlight for me was Metallica and feeling up my first titty during Ratt: Metal, beer and boobs, does it get any better folks?
Yeah, that's one hell of lineup right here.
Give me some time man, I do work.... (Road of Bones fuck yeah :metal :metal :metal )
Now we're talking! And speaking of fuck-yeahs, you should appreciate the next one too.
Going back in time to 1987, at #12 we have...
#12
Clutching At Straws
Marillion
Genre: progressive rock
1987
(https://www.houseofrage.com/music/Album%20Covers/Clutching%20at%20Straws.jpg)
No pompous epic stuff that pumps your blood in this update; instead we’re taking the deeply emotional journey into the wrecked life of 29 years old man named Torch, the miserable protagonist of Clutching At Straws. The mostly mellow atmosphere with occasional emotional outbursts backed up with lots of clean guitars, perfect keyboard arrangements and incredibly audible bass helps you imagine a vivid picture of protagonist’s life and supports the spectacular storytelling in the lyrics penned by Fish. If I was ranking the albums solely by the strength of lyrics, this magnificent work would rest on #1 untouched, because the way Fish handled such a poignant theme of consuming all alcohol there is to numb the pain from all the shit happening around, creating quite striking and yet intricate lyrics, that deserves the whole admiration in the world.
Marillion is a British rock band founded back in 1979. They’ve released seventeen studio albums; Clutching At Straws was the last Marillion album with their original vocalist Fish, who was later replaced by Steve Hogarth. The band has quite a stable lineup, so the other four musicians appearing on this album are still in the band as of now. They are Steve Rothery on guitars, Pete Trewavas (who is also playing in Transatlantic) on bass, Mark Kelly on keys and Ian Mosley on drums. There is also a female voice on a few tracks provided by Tessa Niles, and the backing vocals on a track called Incommunicado are performed by Chris Kimsey.
Of course, Clutching At Straws isn’t here only because of outstanding lyrics, but also because it’s simply mindblowing from the compositional standpoint. The whole album feels like a one big scenario, spinning and unfolding the story stepwise; and Fish soft and soulful vocal delivery makes me despise the protagonist mildly, and at the same time I’ve discovered I’m a bit compassionate about this whole situation pictured in the album. I love the amount of versatility Fish shows here also, how his voice grows a bit raw and harsh at the most intense moments of the record. There are not a lot of those moments though, the record is overall calm and serene, with a lot of subtle instrumental touches making you appreciate it more and more with each listen, but when the record hits those energetic sections it becomes even more emotional. This contrast works really well especially within the context.
I think it’s worth repeating: I definitely think this is one of my favourite concept albums from the lyrical and emotional points of view. Probably the only reason it’s not in Top 5 is the fact there’s a few sections I’m not fond enough, the longest of those is the whole Incommunicado, and it’s still very good. But since the rest of the album is bloody brilliant, I’m really willing to let this one pass. The awesomeness of those parts when the music finally breaks free out of this mellow reverie really surpasses and whites out every moment I’m not fond of. It is beyond any description, just listen to “Racing the clouds home” part in White Russian for example (even though I’m not even sure how it’s related to the concept, but anyway!). Marillion created a masterpiece with this record, and I would say it was their creative peak. Yeah, Fish left the band after this album, and the band carries without him just fine; but his (nick)name is forever written in Clutching At Straws booklet, and among all the band’s musicians it’s him I’m giving a lot of credit for this record in my write-up, because I just love those lyrics, and his voice fits the album so much.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Hotel Hobbies + Warm Wet Circles + That Time of the Night (The Short Straw) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQXyRhbwgFc), Just for the Record (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q79xkgIXhmU), White Russian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGkNjO7E5QM), Sugar Mice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIPrJmzG7Ss), The Last Straw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRa83uSPTI)
And the apex of the record in The Last Straw never gets old and blows me away just every time I’m doing the full listen of the album.
If you ever come across us don’t give us your sympathy
You can buy us a drink and just shake our hands
And you’ll recognize by the reflection in our eyes
That deep down inside we’re all one and the same
We’re clutching at straws
We’re still drowning…
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Crazily good album. Yeah, I agree with you that Incommunicade isn't quite as good as the rest, but Torch Song through to The Last Straw is one of my favourite stretches in music by any band, ever.
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Clutching at Straws :hefdaddy
Sugar Mice and Warm Wet Circles are my favorite songs. I also like Incommunicado, although it sticks out like a sore thumb on the album (a bit like Hooks in You on Seasons End).
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Crazily good album. Yeah, I agree with you that Incommunicade isn't quite as good as the rest, but Torch Song through to The Last Straw is one of my favourite stretches in music by any band, ever.
Basically the whole album except Incommunicado is amazing, I had a tough time picking favourite tracks. Torch Song and Slainte Mhath are both brilliant, but I had to omit them just because other songs are so great.
Sugar Mice and Warm Wet Circles are my favorite songs. I also like Incommunicado, although it sticks out like a sore thumb on the album (a bit like Hooks in You on Seasons End).
Love that you picked two most soulful songs as your favourites. I just love Fish performance on these.
Next update in six hours, when I'll get home.
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Not a big Marillion guy but I do have Straws. I highly prefer Script though. By a mile.
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Not a big Marillion guy but I do have Straws. I highly prefer Script though. By a mile.
Oh, man, well, just... no.
Well, let's go to the oldest album in the list, ever.
#11
Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Genre: classic / progressive / hard rock
1969
(https://recensent.ru/covers/disk-50.jpg)
I’ll be honest, I have no idea what kind of rock this record represents, so I just put those different ones in the “genre” field. I’m open to suggestions though!
If you remember that fancy diagram I’ve posted in the opening post, there was that small section for albums from 60s; it was actually 2% or exactly one record. In this regard, Deep Purple is certainly a unique work of art, and not only in this regard. Don’t get me wrong, I love the band and their work, but they tend to have a few tremendous songs on each album, while the rest of CD is filled with mediocre songs. Let’s see, just off the top of my head: Burn has the title track and Mistreated; In Rock has Child in Time and, uhm, what else, Speed King as an opener (I hadn’t listened to that album for years! Wow. I don’t remember any other songs from it. I remember this album was great, that’s all. I need to rectify that as soon as possible); Machine Head is more consistent with all the hits like Pictures of Home, Lazy, Highway Star and come-on-who-doesn’t-know-that-song Smoke on the Water, but still doesn’t quite match the superb quality of their self-titled record.
And now it’s time for obligatory introduction. Deep Purple is an English rock band founded in 1968. The self-titled album is their third studio output, so as you can see, the band was quite prolific in those days, and they kept releasing their albums every year until the band’s split happened in 1976. They’ve had a lot of lineup changes over the years. There may be a lot of arguing which musicians were essential to the band and defined their sound and such stuff, and I don’t want to touch that subject; I’ll just say Deep Purple had two musicians I’m hugely fond of, if I was making my Top 10 Favourite Musicians Ever list, they definitely would’ve been there, maybe even in Top 5. I’m talking about Deep Purple keyboardist and Hammond organ player (you just can’t omit the mighty Hammond when you’re talking about him) Jon Lord, and their guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. I’m not saying any other members weren’t important, I will never say that, but as it happens, they’re just those two guys I’m paying most of my attention when I spin any Deep Purple record. So let’s keep talking about their lineup for the self-titled album. Of course there is Ian Paice, the seemingly irreplaceable DP drummer; there is also Lord’s friend Nick Simpler on bass, and finally there is Rod Evans on vocals. Obviously Ian Gillan is the most known Deep Purple singer, next one would probably be David Coverdale in 73-75, then JLT, and some people tend to have this mildly surprised look when you tell them there is also Rod Evans, who performed on the first three DP records. I’ve got to say, he did a splendid job here on this album.
I wrote a lot in the intro and about the lineup, huh. Alright, let’s talk about the album itself now. Deep Purple clocks at about forty-five minutes; there are eight tracks, which is about the usual amount for the band, most tracks are around five minutes in length except a short instrumental Fault Line, The Painter (though if you combine those two you’ll get slightly more than five minutes), and the possibly longest song in Deep Purple catalogue, classical-Lord-influenced piece called April. The tracks has a diverse attitude to them; Chasing Shadows lets Ian Paice shine, featuring a distinctively pronounced drumming rhythms, Blind is somewhat calmer until the distorted solo by Blackmore comes up, Bird Has Flown has a bit wacky, eccentric feel to it, and so on, you get it. There is also one cover on the record, called Lalena, which is actually a more than decent and successful attempt; it’s a peaceful harbor among the whole bracing, invigorative atmosphere. And I won’t even start talking about April, which must be the best Deep Purple song ever written, you just have to experience it yourself. If you followed this far into the list and still interested, do me a favour and give it a try. It’s a shame this song weren’t played live as far as I know when the guys had the chances, and now it’s too late already. Sigh.
Both Lord and Blackmore decided to walk their own roads after Deep Purple. First, in 1976 Ritchie was already recording stuff with his band Rainbow, Jon went on with his solo career along with Whitesnake; then they’ve reunited in 1984 in Deep Purple again, putting out a successful Perfect Strangers. After a few years in the band, Blackmore left again to perform medieval and folk music with Blackmore’s Night, Jon was pursuing his solo career more and more. The guys had a lot in common, musically, and a lot of differences too, but in the end, I’m forever grateful to both of them, and of course to the rest musicians as well who were at Deep Purple until the first split, for making such a timeless art of music.
Favourite tracks: Blind (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE_hu7_yZ_0), Lalena (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1ZFAM1Yuhc), Bird Has Flown (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPNfp9dhE2k), April (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eRTQnSzoUI)
And now we’re done with 80% of this list, but of course the best is yet to come. That’s it for today updates though, top ten starting tomorrow, where we shall be getting into the undisputable classics territory, along with a few modern masterpieces, and of course there is an odd, unexpected album somewhere in there too which I never saw making an appearance in any list.
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Clutching at Straws..... only no. 1 on my list. Not a mistake on that album, hands down the best lyrics ever written, and so, so personal. Just brilliantly perfect.
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Interesting DP pick.
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Meh for both :biggrin: . Looking forward to the top ten though.
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Meh for both :biggrin: . Looking forward to the top ten though.
I thought you'll like Clutching At Straws, huh. Whatever.
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I once listened to Misplaced Childhood, and it didn't do nothing for me. It's not my cup of tea.
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And the sunlight flares, through a curtain's tear, shuffling its beam as if in nervous anticipation.......of another day.......
Damn man.....
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And the sunlight flares, through a curtain's tear, shuffling its beam as if in nervous anticipation.......of another day.......
Damn man.....
It's just for the record, it's just a passing phase... just for the record, I can stop any day...
Damn poignant, the whole album is.
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And the sunlight flares, through a curtain's tear, shuffling its beam as if in nervous anticipation.......of another day.......
Damn man.....
It's just for the record, it's just a passing phase... just for the record, I can stop any day...
Damn poignant, the whole album is.
And if you want my address, it's number one at the end of the bar, where I sit with the broken angels clutching at straws and nursing our scars.....
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Some interesting choices there ............like a few others I find Blind Guardian just so - so and a bit too much a lot of the time. There are certain tracks where I do enjoy Hansi's voice but it's just here and there - Demons and Wizards' track Love's Tragedy Asunder is a good example.
I'm generally not a fan of old style prog rock so Marillion hasn't really been a big part of my life . However many years ago I did decide to buy one of their albums which seemed to be best - and Clutching At Straws is it. It is still unlistened to however :-[ ..........on my long,long list of stuff to check out.
The Deep Purple I haven't heard - only really familiar with Hush from the Evans era. I struggle with most 70's stuff let alone 60's but I'll check it out :D
Looking forward to the Top 10. Although it's good to be exposed to loads of new artists in a Top 50 , it has been nice to follow a list where I know what the fuck is going on for the most part :)
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And if you want my address, it's number one at the end of the bar, where I sit with the broken angels clutching at straws and nursing our scars.....
Probably the best line of the whole album.
I'm generally not a fan of old style prog rock so Marillion hasn't really been a big part of my life . However many years ago I did decide to buy one of their albums which seemed to be best - and Clutching At Straws is it. It is still unlistened to however :-[ ..........on my long,long list of stuff to check out.
Seems like this list is very long indeed. :D I'm not die hard fan of old prog rock myself, but that album is just fantastic. Ironically, the next album is another old prog rock one. :lol
Let's start the top ten with a quick callback to the very beginning of the list, shall we?
#10
Thick As A Brick
Jethro Tull
Genre: progressive rock
1972
(https://i.imgur.com/OdGWoYa.jpg)
(I know this is the cover of 1997 remaster, but at least it doesn’t have that Compact Disc stamp in the bottom left corner, so give me a break here)
We enter top ten now, folks! Two thoughts appear in my mind immediately as I’m starting to write this post. The first one is that from now on several people on DTF wouldn’t even need to enter this thread to know what albums we’re talking about. If some lyrics from thread titles before weren’t quite transparent, now most of the records I have in my list are so well known the lyrics are instantly recognizable. Like this line from Thick As A Brick, for example. That bring us to my second point, or rather that interesting fact I’ve found out when I outlined my list a few months ago. I’m talking about how Jethro Tull opened both my Top 50 and Top 10, with Crest Of A Knave and TAAB respectively. I wouldn’t say Jethro Tull is one of my favourite bands, although I have huge respect for the guys, but I won’t deny it seems kind of symbolic to me. If I had this one on #1, the list would’ve come full circle, I guess. But anyway, Thick As A Brick is Jethro Tull’s crowning achievement and one of the masterpieces in progressive rock overall. While I definitely like Aqualung and enjoy folkish era of Jethro Tull, while I love Crest Of A Knave enough so it even made this very list, while their Christmas Album is the best Christmas album I know out there, nothing tops Thick As a Brick. Just simply nothing.
If you somehow unaware what kind of record this is, it’s a concept album featuring only one song which is 42 minutes in length. The whole “concept album” is a big joke on the band’s part, though, and here’s why; the band released Aqualung in 1971, which received enough critical acclaim where reviewers stated it was a concept album (which it wasn’t); I guess the natural intricacy and complexity of Ian’s lyrics put them all off. In response to those statements the band decided to write a “real” concept album; Thick As A Brick is basically a satirical musical piece about the whole concept of those pretentious concept albums, being a concept in a concept (I’ve just used the word “concept” five times in a single sentence, sorry). So you can call it a parody of a concept album, I think. While all the lyrics were written by Ian himself, the booklet claims the whole piece is a musical adaptation of a poem penned by Gerald “Little Milton” Bostock and he’s even credited in the booklet along with Ian Anderson. The poem was meant to compete in some sort of literature contest, and even scored the win before it was disqualified; the reason stated that Gerald’s mind “was seriously unbalanced”, and the whole poem a product of his “extremely unwholesome attitude towards life, his God and Country”. It’s all on the cover, in fact. And well, while it’s obviously meant to be a joke, I kind of can imagine this situation in its whole awfulness and awkwardness. And it’s definitely meant to be a joke; the “Society for Literary Advancement and Gestation (SLAG)” and “her wonderful buffet luncheon at the fete last Saturday. Well done, Daphne!” parts alone are worth either a smirk or a few good moments of laugh. I wish I owned the whole newspaper from the original LP cover. According to Ian, the newspaper took longer to produce than the music itself, and I love the guys’ dedication to do such a thing, I always viewed the booklet and the cover art of any album as a very important addition to the music; when it’s done well, the experience can be enhanced a lot, and if it’s total crap I will think again about purchasing the record.
The music itself is intricate too, with a formidable progressive edge to it expressed in numerous time signature changes and shifts in the pace. There are constant callbacks to various movements of the song here and there, blended nicely with the new, exciting and diverse parts; some are loaded with flute melodies, some only have acoustic guitars; some are energetic, while the others are slow and longingly sad. A lot of instruments are used on Thick As A Brick, there are vocals, guitars, piano, flute and drums, as expected, but there are also such wonderful things as lute, violin, saxophone, harpsichord and timpani. Ian’s voice sounds much less irritating than, say, on Aqualung and is quite pleasant to listen to, also thankfully to the solid and compelling vocal melodies. While there are a lot of transitions, most of them are quite natural, resulting in impeccable flow for nearly all 42 minutes of music, the only problematic section I can think of is somewhere around 25 minutes with sudden stoppage of the music (where the spoken parts come in), but that’s about it, the rest of the tune is pure perfection. It’s amazing how the band managed to stay serious and professional musically while making the album based on such pretentious reason, and it’s great how the cover and the lyrics are humorous enough, but evocative and charming at the same time, like in “The poet and the painter casting shadows on the water” part. And of course with all those recurring themes neatly placed and structured in this giant of a song the story ends where it began, returning to the opening melody. Well, it’s not all new now, but I guess for 1972 it was quite a way to wrap-up a concept album.
Thick As A Brick is one of my all-time favourite progressive rock albums and it’s unlikely to change. Everything in this record is just so attractive and wonderful, from the outstanding, bewitching flute-work to the general beastly structure of the song. Ian and the band may have though they are creating a funny witty joke, but with that approach they’ve created a masterpiece. Well, they’ve certainly acknowledged this fact, and Ian even released the follow-up titled “Thick As A Brick 2: Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?” which is good, but not quite to live up to the perfection of its predecessor. Thick As A Brick is just that album that became a real classic, it still stands proud and high in our days, and rightfully so, for except a few tiny moments every second of this record is magnificent. I like some pure progressive rock in moderate doses, and I sometimes enjoy such classics as Selling England By The Pound, Hemispheres or Tales Of Topographic Oceans; but sorry fans of Genesis, Rush and Yes, Thick As A Brick is just on another level for me. It incorporates all elements I adore in progressive rock, twists them in a classic Jethro Tull style and just blows me away.
Do you believe in the day?
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite moment: Thick As A Brick 5:05 — 11:20 (The Poet and The Painter section) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9JEPeeohYs&feature=youtu.be&t=5m5s)
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My uncle has this on vinyl and I was always attracted by the packaging, done in this newspaper-style, haven't listened to it though. I should check it out :tup
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I do like this album, it's lots of fun - although I sometimes feel some parts of the song are a bit unnecessary or take too long. Great album anyways, almost made my top 50 (included it on the honourable mentions though).
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My uncle has this on vinyl and I was always attracted by the packaging, done in this newspaper-style, haven't listened to it though. I should check it out :tup
Your uncle has a good taste indeed. :tup
I do like this album, it's lots of fun - although I sometimes feel some parts of the song are a bit unnecessary or take too long. Great album anyways, almost made my top 50 (included it on the honourable mentions though).
I can see where you're coming from, but I guess it's obvious I don't agree. :lol
Anyway, onward to the next one!
#9
Heaven And Hell
Black Sabbath
Genre: heavy metal
1980
(https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xXZSHS0WSzk/UbCPS0O1goI/AAAAAAAAMbw/AdYAu5CnZao/s1600/Heaven+And+Hell.jpg)
Well, here’s another classic. It’s amusing how Ronnie James Dio participation with his outstanding vocal abilities enhanced nearly any record he was on, Heaven and Hell included. I’m not saying Ozzy was awful or simply not good enough or anything, it’s just Sabbath albums he fronted have never clicked with me, while the very first record Dio was on instantly became one of my favourites. It all comes down to the matter or preference, I admit that, but hell, this album is so classy it outshines everything else Sabbath has ever done by far. And considering they had those serious troubles with the lineup, with Ozzy being fired, Geezer Butler battling the problems on the personal front with that divorce of his (I think Dio ended up playing bass at one point), and Bill Ward suffered a loss of both his parents, followed by his descending into alcoholism at that time. He still performed drums on Heaven and Hell, even though he stated he doesn’t actually remember it because of being drunk all the time, and then he just, well, left the band (and returned in 1983. And left again. And then, apparently, returned again later. This guy is so changeable!). So Ozzy was replaced by Dio, and in fact I think this was the only possible replacement, so they’ve nailed it with this choice, and of course there was Tony Iommi. Can’t imagine Sabbath without Tony Iommi, eh?
Well, whatever, you can read all the fascinating things about the band on Wikipedia, like that Black Sabbath are an English band formed in 1968, and all the perturbations among the band’s lineup. Let’s talk about the music instead. Heaven and Hell clocks just under forty minutes and features eight tracks, four of them are stellar classics, three are great and one is merely good. Thus the structure of the album actually looks thoroughly thought out; the stellar tracks are even-numbered, alternating with odd-numbered solid, satisfying rockers. The first of them, Neon Knights, is a mighty song with memorable vocal melodies, which basically elevates it from being averagely alright to great, especially the chorus with Dio’s smashing delivery. Speaking of, since the song title rhymes with the word, I think everyone totally expected Dio belting out a couple alrights along the way, and he did indeed. This always makes me smile for some strange reason. The energy shifts into a lower gear then with one of the best Sabbath tunes ever and winner of DTF Black Sabbath Survivor (where, as I recall, only four people were participating), Children of the Sea. Starting out serene with acoustic arrangements, it quickly flows to a heavier approach with obligatory oooohs and mmmmhs during the switch. Unfolding further at this leveled pace, this tune fits my definition of power ballad to the bone, offering the opportunity to headbang without getting any kind of headache. The guitar solo, while being quite concise, ranks high in my imaginary Best Guitar Solos list, and the return of the first acoustic section is welcome too, paving the way for that famous climactic outro. It just adds another layer of magnificence and manages to wrap the song up creatively and without any unnecessary fadeouts.
The bassline of Lady Evil enters shortly after the last “Look out!” ceases. The song itself isn’t spectacular or anything, yet it provides the necessary breather between two Sabbath masterpieces. And I meant breather not in the usual way (not like a ballad before an epic), the song is quite driving and playful, but it doesn’t deserve a lot of attention or anything, nice tune for your above-average-relaxed-metal-listen. Also, more alrights from Dio can be heard in the chorus, which this time can come across as surprising, because the title can’t be rhymed to it, but sneaky Dio found the way to insert it anyway. My mild irritation with it vanishes without a trace when the duuuun — dun-dun-dun riff from album’s centerpiece and title track, Heaven and Hell, bursts through the headphones. Now this song is absolutely glorious. Being seven minutes in length, it highlights the band’s songwriting, for the song never gets boring. After two unhurried, bass supported verses and epic choruses, the pace picks up a bit on the next verse, but instead of chorus we get a transition to flawless, thoughtful instrumental section. And I guess most of you know how it goes after that. Bass and drums speed up, the song goes in a fervent state on this final section, the band giving out all they’ve got. This mad part can be compared with the cart rushing down the steep hill at the full speed, and then coming to a stop at its foot, closing the side one with the brief and wonderful acoustic melody.
The opening riff from Wishing Well provides the energetic kick off for the side two. The tune is short yet achieves quite a lot with its fast-paced, lively approach, inviting you to continue the ride on this masterful metal wave and promising more brilliant stuff to come. After Neon Knights and Lady Evil this track feels refreshing with upbeat style and faster rhythms, and it’s my favourite among the odd numbered tunes on the album. Quiet atmospheric intro of Die Young follows, flowing into another upbeat section in a couple of seconds. This one is done even better than Wishing Well, probably owing to splendid vocal melodies. However, the frantic speed doesn’t stay for a long time and soon gives way to another wistful section, only to return later. The amount of changes stuffed into this five minutes song and the way they’re working together pleases me immensely. I’ve warmed up to this tune over the years and now placing it in classic category. It’s just that awesome.
The only tune I’m not too fond of (well, compared to the over-the-moon quality of the rest) is Walk Away. There’s nothing wrong with it and due to listening to the album for quite a long time I’m kind of became accustomed to it, but my attention tends to wander off during it. I guess it’s just a bit generic and unexciting; the instrumental section is enjoyable though and carries the song to the higher level, not much higher though. The last tune on the album, Lonely is the Word is the opposite of generic and unexciting; it’s constantly fighting for the top spot with Children of the Sea and title track. I’m in love with everything this song offers, be that those rational, measured verses or bombastic parts I guess can be called choruses, having only one or two lines. And instrumental sections here not merely “enjoyable”, they are simply fantastic. I love Dio voice as you’ve probably noticed, but he has a lot of time to show his abilities on this album, so this guitar soloing perfection the album’s closer offers was a tremendous choice to include. What a fine choice for the record’s ending.
And I think I’m running out of compliments here, but damn, this album surely deserves this and more. I saw some scolding about the presence of filler in the recent Hard Rock / Heavy Metal thread on this album, and while I can see where this coming from, I can’t agree at all. Alright, maybe (maybe!) Walk Away. That’s as far as it gets regarding filler on Heaven and Hell. But obviously the decisive factor here is the taste, personal preferences in music and musicians both. For example, someone may think Ozzy rules and Dio is awful… and this someone would be wrong. :lol Alright, sorry, I just couldn’t resist.
Favourite tracks: Children of the Sea (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd3ZiAwmLpM), Heaven and Hell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjUIP2ugG4), Wishing Well (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dURyvI87a_A), Die Young (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVg7Fn3WtP0), Lonely is the Word (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MImX27J8wkg)
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Never was attracted by Black Sabbath, buuut Dio's voice is one of my faves. I just prefer him in Rainbow.
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Heaven And Hell is one of my favorite albums of all time. GREAT choice Evermind!
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:metal
I love Ozzy and Paranoid is still my favorite Sabbath album, but Dio really brought something else to a band that were really on the decline. I find it hard to imagine that they would have held stable for much longer had not such a presence joined on board.
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Great album!
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Never gave Sabbath a fair listen. Will fix that, someday soon.
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Heaven And Hell is one of my favorite albums of all time. GREAT choice Evermind!
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Hmm- Black Sabbath ........been meaning to check them out too Evermind ;D
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Hmm- Black Sabbath ........been meaning to check them out too Evermind ;D
Brent you still have 6,000 albums to go through, you don't need any more bands lol
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Sort of lost me a bit with Marillion and Jethro Tull, but Heaven and Hell is classic, amazing pick!
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Hmm- Black Sabbath ........been meaning to check them out too Evermind ;D
That was kind of thick and obvious sarcasm, don't you think? ;D
Anyway, thank you guys! Great to see so much love here for this spectacular Sabbath album.
Now, regarding the schedule, I'll wrap this thing up this week for sure, but for now I've got pretty busy days at work, so for a few days you'll have to do with one update a day. So, now that's out of the way, let's go for somewhat modern #8:
#8
The Old Man And The Spirit
Beyond The Bridge
Genre: progressive metal
2012
(https://f1.bcbits.com/img/a1783022812_10.jpg)
It’s in the moments like this one I’m so inexpressibly grateful I’ve found this whole DTF community and decided to register one day to participate in all kinds of discussions here. All the advantages aside like friendly and intelligent people sharing my interests in music and an opportunity to improve my English, the main thing it provided me is a hell lot of new albums to discover, directly from DTF and indirectly. I mean, it’s through this very forum I was offered a chance to write for a music magazine, and a whole lot of new wonderful records suddenly started appearing from everywhere, mailbox, Facebook, you name it. This particular gem popped up in our magazine Facebook group from RJ (huge thanks for you), so DTF is involved anyway. I’m not sure how I missed this release before, but only one listen to The Difference is Human was sufficient to buy this album in a heartbeat. And this is like the second best investment of my money in music from the last few years (because there is actually an album from 2013 further in this list). I mean, just everything about this album is so magnificent it’s just out of this world. The story, the music and the cover are all impeccable and even more; this is sheer perfection in the progressive metal genre. While I do love the other famous progressive metal acts, at this moment Beyond the Bridge seems simply unbeatable to me with their only one release. Yes, maybe they will fail at consistency later, their second album may turn out to be a travesty, and yet I don’t care at all, because The Old Man and the Spirit is an enormous treat for my ears.
I’ll take a bit of time to write about the musicians, because it’s not a very well-known band, at least in the whole world, on DTF they seem to be quite popular. Or wait, I won’t. I’ll just go the lazy route and quote RJ here, from his review for Lady Obscure Music Magazine:
In 2005, guitarist Peter Degenfeld-Schonburg, with the idea for Old Man and the Spirit, worked with keyboardist Christopher Tarnow to build the basic structure of the album. Best friend and former bandmate bass player Dominik Stoltzim was in, and with the help of producer Simon Oberender they added drummer Fabian Maier and lead vocalist Herbie Langhans. The other lead vocalist, Dilenya Mar finished out the lineup. With the lineup solid, they went to the studio in 2008 to start recording, and after three years, finally released the complete album in early 2012.
So what is the album, the concept all about? (have I mentioned that it’s amazing?) As the title suggests, there are two central characters in the story whose lines may overlay each other in the breathtaking harmonies or alternate in the number of dialogues. The first character is the Old Man, who is on the verge of passing away, having lived a long life and now pondering about the unrevealed mysteries of the world he lived in, about all he hadn’t the chance to see and about higher spheres and the meaning of it all. He views his whole life as meaningless and without any purpose, and overwhelmed with wonder, curiosity, regret, determination and desperation he’s calling to those higher forces up above. His plea is heard by the Spirit. She claims of being “of ancient days”, apparently possessing great wisdom of ages, yet isn’t able to feel anything of resemblance to human emotions. She and offers him to reveal the answers he seek, only if he trusts her blindly and follows all her instructions. After all kinds of admonitions and explanations it becomes clear the deal offered is the Old Man’s memory about the life he lived, his senses and feelings in exchange for eternal wisdom and all the imaginable secrets of the world. The Spirit is actively trying to persuade him into accepting, because this would allow her to feel and live like a human being, but the man is not certain and after struggling between his striving for knowledge and memories of all the time he existed in this world, he decides that all the promised secrets are, in the end, not worthy of forgetting this incredible journey and feelings he felt for all the years, rejecting the deal. The Spirit scolds him angrily, and Old Man realizes he made a right choice, not surrendering the memories of his beloved person, of all his ups and downs in life, of all the glorious and horrible moments he had experienced, because, after all, this is what makes him a man, a human being in the first place. He settles on this thought, being grateful for the years allotted to him, and peacefully passes away.
On the first glance this sounds like happy end of the usual story about a Good Old Man and the villainous Spirit, but I’m not entirely sure this is the case. There are a lot of interpretations possible to draw from the story, and from what I’ve heard, the opinions actually differ. It feels like the man made the right choice, choosing not to get rid of everything he remembers, and it is all fine and a hundred percent right if you consider the Spirit as a fraud, which is exactly what he does. The Man dies shortly after and it’s not exposed further if he goes into some kind of afterlife (I’m immensely glad it’s not explained, by the way), so except of dying peacefully, he has no use for the memories he decided to keep. And there might’ve been really interesting stuff the Spirit could’ve taught him (for example, how to go all “pitiful human, say goodbye”, while having this smug, half indifferent, half contemptuous look of superiority and then just vanish away. I would want this skill to use it in my daily job. Don't look at me like that.) I guess being reasonably young prevents me to levelheadedly claim if Old Man was right or wrong. And anyway, I think there is no objective answer to this. Everyone will find their own reasons to believe in either possible scenario, and that’s why the concept is so appealing.
And there I’ve got a thousand words and even haven’t started talking about the music itself. Let’s amend this! The music is pure progressive metal with outstanding mix; all the instruments are audible and sounding just right. The songs are entwined in the big picture by using a lot of recurrent themes. Look, The Apparition has a chorus from The Call in the end, Triumph of Irreality features intro from The Call during the spoken part and a chorus melody from Doorway to Salvation is also there, World of Wonders offers a callback to The Spring of it All in the outro, The Difference is Human and The Apparition both share a bunch of vocal melodies, the closer refers to the opener both musically and lyrically, and the list can go on and on. Some of those moments are blatantly obvious, while some are quite subtle, so the record is amazingly rewarding on the subsequent listens. Finding yet another reference in the lengthy sequence of great music makes me happy. So, well, it’s not just references put that record on #8. Every musician makes the album special. First of all, vocalists. They are essential, of course, playing their assigned roles and all that; however mediocre Dilenya Mar might be, she’s nailing the Spirit part, picturing this taunting person, annoyed with human stupidity, stubbornness and lack of awareness. Herbie Langhans just slays it as Old Man, especially when he goes into his raspy raging mode on “four cries of a bird” parts in Doorway to Salvation, but also providing a nice warm voice on the ballads. Moving on to the instrumentalists, keyboards are obviously the huge part of the picture, guitar has those so-beautiful-it’s-tearing-your-soul-apart moments (see the solo in Where the Earth and Sky Meet), bass has a satisfying appearance, say, in Doorway to Salvation second verse, while the drums are descending into a complete Finally Free-esque madness on the All a Man Can Do glorious ending. Everyone has the moment to shine, and all these moments are composed into a wonderful story, which just oozes feelings and emotions from every possible crack. It’s pointless talking about each track in details, you just simply have to experience this piece of art yourself.
And just how great is this cover? You know, the funny thing is when some album pops up in my Facebook feed or anywhere, actually, I always look at the cover art. If I like it, I may give it a listen. And that’s why I didn’t hesitate to click on this Beyond the Bridge thing. You know, the whole band strikes me as the pure perfectionists. They’ve made sure everything about this album is as perfect as it gets. This album took seven bloody years to get written and released, and I’m ready to wait another seven or, if needed, twice as much years to get the second album from this band if it’s going to be equally good or even better. Such releases are very rare, and I’m prepared to wait as long as needed.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: The Call (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDPNW8o3WSU), Doorway to Salvation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEeHInxdgWU), The Difference is Human (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLJkyCb0exU), All a Man Can Do (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g79F1WND5AU)
Most of those tracks are like nine minutes long, so I didn’t include Where the Earth and Sky Meet, The Struggle and The Apparition to the list. Well, whatever, the only right way is to listen to the whole album, so don’t blame me.
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Dang, I think that was longer than my review.
Ironically, I had that at no. 8 on my list as well.
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Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
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Although I find the ballads a. Bit cheesy for my taste, it's still an amazing album, and one of my fav releases from 2012. Prog metal as it's ought to be written. Great choice.
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Awesome album, one of the best prog metal albums I've heard in a long time.
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Could never get into this album and I've tried. Never understood the love TBH.
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Always wanted to try this, this is a good incentive to do it :metal
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Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
I agree.
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Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
I agree.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one either.
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Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
I agree.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one either.
I literally haven't listened to it in a year. It's not a bad album by any stretch. It's just another one of those albums that I just get lost in.
I'm sure it'll click for me, but there's just so much else I'd rather listen to.
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#10 - :metal
#8 - :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy
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Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
I agree.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one either.
I literally haven't listened to it in a year. It's not a bad album by any stretch. It's just another one of those albums that I just get lost in.
I'm sure it'll click for me, but there's just so much else I'd rather listen to.
I tried it again a few months ago and it was fine to listen to, but just doesn't really do it for me at all.
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Dang, I think that was longer than my review.
I like to go for some rambling where I can. :D
Always wanted to try this, this is a good incentive to do it :metal
Certainly a good idea. One of the finest prog metal albums out there.
Although I find the ballads a. Bit cheesy for my taste, it's still an amazing album, and one of my fav releases from 2012. Prog metal as it's ought to be written. Great choice.
Awesome album, one of the best prog metal albums I've heard in a long time.
#10 - :metal
#8 - :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy
Definitely amazing album, guys, I'm glad you appreciate it too. Pity it doesn't have a huge artbook or something, I would've bought it in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately I didn't connect with this one like you guys did - based on my song ratings I really enjoyed The Call and Triumph of Irreality but that's about the extent of it. Certainly not a bad album but not something I came back to much.
I agree.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one either.
Well guys, that's the tastes for ya. Can't please everyone, I guess. I just love it and never get tired of it.
Actually, I have a suspicion the next few (three) albums will leave some of following people quite cold, yet I might be wrong, so let's jump up to #7 and see! (At this moment, I'm immensely glad I've done all my writeups in advance, because I've got a hell at work now. Yay.)
#7
On An Island
David Gilmour
Genre: art rock
2006
(https://www.guitars.ru/05/mk/dg2.jpg)
There are different albums out there. See, there are daring, sad, grandiose, energetic, dark, thought-provoking records, a lot of various stuff on the music scene and in my list both, and then there are those breathtakingly beautiful, serene albums, which are just putting your soul into a state of complete tranquility, and your mind in peace. And I can sincerely claim On An Island is the most beautiful album I’ve ever heard. There are six records I enjoy more, but this is the essence of beauty entwined in music; I don’t even care what genre this album represents. I wrote an ambiguous “art rock” there, but there is progressive rock, blues, I don’t know, this genre can’t be described in the usual terms and expressions. I would’ve put “Gilmour rock” here, but it sounds overly pretentious, so we’ll just stick with art rock.
David Gilmour is simply my favourite musician in the world right now, there’s just no contest; but if I had to compare him with someone, it would be Mark Knopfler. The comparison isn’t in the amount of albums or anything, it’s clear Knopfler is much more prolific as of now, but it’s just the attitude the music shows. I can’t help but imagine how David is sitting somewhere on an island, resting on a beach marveling at the sunset, in a natural silence around him only with waves flowing and gushing at the coast, of course with his guitar in his hands, improvising and composing what would become On An Island later. And I know there has to be a lot of other equipment, but let’s just imagine he’s playing acoustic guitar. It’s Gilmour, after all, he can make the crabs and fishes on the shore cry and explode with overwhelming emotions after just a few arpeggios. And about that comparison, it’s just Knopfler’s music strikes me the same way, being oblivious about everything else, putting the very soul in music and getting a splendid result, that’s where both those guys exceed at. I guess it’s clear David isn’t doing the music for business and he certainly doesn’t want to rush things and press those albums every other year; On An Island is his soul speaking to us. Developing all those little ideas and flavouring them with his trademark sound, he managed to create a wondrous record, and he has every right to be proud of it. While some bands have the certain contracts with their labels that oblige them to release a studio album, say, every two years, this is not the case here. I can just imagine Gilmour telling the world “hey guys, I’m about to release my new album, got all the material written and ready, now I just need the label to release it”, and in a few hours there is enormous waiting line featuring every existing music label near his house or his studio or wherever he is.
On An Island is a wonderfully relaxed listen. The music is calm and minimalistic, the lyrics are peaceful and sedative; well, the whole record is just a huge effective demulcent, if you want to look at it that way. There are lots of trademark Gilmour solos where he makes his guitar weep, starting with stunning, sprawling notes in instrumental, guitar-oriented Castellorizon, which begins in rather unimpressive, atmospheric ambient way until that famous black Stratocaster makes its presence known. This short yet deeply impressive solo paves the way for a title composition, On An Island. This track represents the whole album in a classy fashion, featuring David Crosby and Graham Nash on backing vocals. The acoustic light-hearted, longing verses and choruses are setting up those climactic, soulful instrumental parts. The song reminds me of Time from Dark Side of the Moon, or Comfortably Numb for that matter, because despite the singing is quite good, what really make these songs shine are the solos between the vocal parts. The closing one is especially great, and though I’m not a fan of fadeouts, it actually works here. Of course I would rather hear this solo going on and on for another couple of minutes, but you can’t have everything.
The next song in a long string of misfortunes of ballads is The Blue, which for me has a distinctive Marooned vibe. It even has the line “still marooned” in the lyrics, and I think Gilmour used the same pedal effect on the solo as he did in Marooned. I may be wrong on this assumption, because I’m not a musician whatsoever, but it makes sense for me. The song paints a nice, evocative picture of a blend of huge dead calm sea stretching before you and endless starry skies above you, colliding on the horizon. It’s just as peaceful as it gets, before the only rocker of the album, called Take a Breath, makes its entrance. This one has a wary approach, keeping the tension up in the air, being the heckler among the hall of perfectly composed and imperturbable British gentlemen. It really feels like some kind of tumult and panic arises on the smooth surface of this musical pond, and at the first listen I started to think maybe this is some kind of breaking point of the record, and now the mayhem and heaviness along with a huge amounts of groove are coming my way, but hell no, I should’ve known better, for Red Sky at Night sets the things right back where they belong. This magnificent, out of this world piece is only three minutes long, but it doesn’t need to be any longer. The beautiful, wistful saxophone melody played by Gilmour himself, and the subtle, dormant keyboard arrangements together weave a canvas of perfection unlike any other, being a precise representation of sunset in music, with its beauty and glory and sadness of another day in your life passing by. Then This Heaven pulls us out of this dreamy reverie right back to where we were, offering the apparent blues influences in another rather energetic song. It’s nothing special, really, yet solid and a good fit into the record, and there is more great guitar playing by Gilmour, which is always welcome.
And with This Heaven ending we’re approaching the next four tunes which I tend to link together for some reason, probably the main cause for it is their ideas and serenity they provide, being alike in the mood. First of them, Then I Close My Eyes is a marvelous instrumental piece. The best way to listen to it would be follow the title advice and just close your eyes while being somewhere far away from home on vacation, either on a seashore or on some clearing in the woods, huddling with your friends around the campfire in the evening. The experience is beyond any description, as is the splendor of this track. The next one, Smile, wasn’t an all new one for ardent fans of David, because he started performing this one live in 2001 and it appeared on his DVD called David Gilmour In Concert. It’s a simple tune, yet it’s just another one you can’t help but imagine playing it somewhere over the countryside, sitting there with your beloved acoustic guitar. This kind of songs are always helpful to have when you need some form of distraction from all the shit happening with you at work or wherever; it’s just a four minutes of heartfelt singing and playing, but the effect is undeniable for me. Then A Pocketful of Stones follows, combining the same calming, careless attitude of Smile with dramatic, thrilling, darker parts during the “Rivers run dry, but there’s no line on his brow, says he doesn’t care who’s saved” lines. Richard Wright’s work during this track is subtle yet impeccable, and the atmosphere changes mostly because of his choice of notes; keyboard makes this track along with the guitar solo bookending the track, which shares the same tension as that part I’ve mentioned, and I think is a bit different from usual Gilmour spacey playing (it doesn’t make it less lovely, though), and after that the album’s closer, Where We Start, rolls in. It’s yet another wistful track and another great representation of an On An Island album in a nutshell. Depicting the romantic walk of two lovers through the forest, Gilmour makes use of both acoustic, electric guitar touches along with lovely keyboard sounds, and the lyrics he written for this song, combined with the way he sings it, are reaching to my very soul. This is the record’s peak of warmth, tenderness and finesse. Watching Remember That Night DVD and seeing the whole crew performing it along with Richard Wright with this keyboard run during the “We waltz in the moonlight and the embers glow” part tend to bring tears to my eyes sometimes since September 2008.
Since I mentioned Remember This Night, we might as well talk about it too, as it is my favourite concert DVD ever. It just has this spark and this total lack of tension in everyone’s performance. All the guys, Gilmour, Wright, Crosby, Nash, el magnifico Mr. Phil Manzanera and other people, they all look like they’re having the best time in their life. Ever.
Oh, and also, the Robert Wyatt’s appearance. Aw.
While I can’t say I’m having the best time in my life watching the whole performance, it’s pretty damn close, actually. I don’t think I can count how many times I’ve watched this DVD, really. It just speaks directly to my heart, both first and second set. Any time I’m going anywhere on my vacation every year I make sure I take my laptop and this DVD with me, and one evening I will just sit there and watch it, once again, delving into this timeless music and expressing our thoughts about how outstanding this concert is. There’s just no better way to spend an evening.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: On An Island (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2vdvL7dx4), Red Sky at Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bj6W8Xpb5o), Then I Close My Eyes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN8q4Yt9BbU), Smile (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jy-4pGTneWk), A Pocketful of Stones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6f5xUpyUY0), Where We Start (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHRU2UcbgP4)
And I’m not sure I wrote about it before, but Echoes is my all-time favourite song, and as it appears in Remember That Night, with Richard Wright performing on keyboards, well, this fact played a huge role in RTN being my favourite live DVD ever.
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Digesting this album slowly, its starting to reveal itself to me. I love the closer - thanks for recommending it to me. I also love whatever Gilmour does. The man's a god.
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Just finished listening The Old Man And The Spirit.
:omg: :hefdaddy
It needs a couple more spins, but I already can tell that I'll become a fan. Doorway To Salvation :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy and all the other tracks :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy
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Another fantastic album. Not in my top 10, but definitely one of my favourites.
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Your review has inspired me to check out On An Island. Dunno why I never did, I love most of Gilmour's work in Pink Floyd.
Also much love for Beyond the Bridge. Stunning album. Seeing it live in its quasi-entirety (The Primal Demand and All a Man Can Do were sadly skipped) was one of the best experiences in my life. And I agree, the solo on Where the Earth and Sky Meet is stunning. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the guitarist is one of the coolest people to talk to that I've ever met.
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Your review has inspired me to check out On An Island. Dunno why I never did, I love most of Gilmour's work in Pink Floyd.
What do you mean, someone is actually reading these? :lol
Also much love for Beyond the Bridge. Stunning album. Seeing it live in its quasi-entirety (The Primal Demand and All a Man Can Do were sadly skipped) was one of the best experiences in my life. And I agree, the solo on Where the Earth and Sky Meet is stunning. Plus, it doesn't hurt that the guitarist is one of the coolest people to talk to that I've ever met.
Of all the songs they've skipped this one? I would've been pissed off a bit.
Just finished listening The Old Man And The Spirit.
:omg: :hefdaddy
It needs a couple more spins, but I already can tell that I'll become a fan. Doorway To Salvation :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy and all the other tracks :hefdaddy :hefdaddy :hefdaddy
Guess that's another album I can forget about sending in your roulette.
Digesting this album slowly, its starting to reveal itself to me. I love the closer - thanks for recommending it to me. I also love whatever Gilmour does. The man's a god.
Yeah, hoping his next studio album will be as awesome as this one, or maybe even better. Curiously, I used the next album in the list in your roulette too.
Alright, so this is the odd album I was talking about. It's probably not as well known as the others in the list, and it may even not be that exciting, but it earned this spot for personal reasons, and for being just simply mindblowing to watch it being performed live. Here comes...
#6
Sarabande
Jon Lord
Genre: classical music / fusion rock
1976
(https://rarerecordcollector.cfhdesign.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/tpsa7516-front.jpg)
That’s right, an instrumental album.
After my raving about Jon Lord in the write-up for Deep Purple the appearance of this masterpiece of his in my list shouldn’t be surprising. I admire the man’s talents for writing both rock masterpieces and classical pieces for orchestra. Well, Sarabande isn’t classical music in the usual sense, I think, because of course it’s not like what Bach (though with this one it’s kind of close) or Mozart or Tchaikovsky were writing and composing, but it’s as close as it gets to classical of all the albums I heard and own. There are those pompous orchestral parts, performed by The Philharmonia Hungarica Orchestra, directed by Eberhard Schoener, and then there are bass (done by Paul Karass. Hell, what a rhyme! Bass – Paul Karass. Moving on.), drums (Pete York) and percussion (Mark Nauseef), guitars (Andy Summers), and keyboards and piano and Hammond organ, just like in your usual rock band. There are plenty of your usual grandiloquent moments like in classical music, and also plenty of groovy moments, driven by bass or slick keyboard sounds, so this record is quite unique, just like the man himself.
Sarabande clocks at around fifty minutes and consists of eight tracks, two of them are more like prologue and epilogue. Lord named each track after the name of the dance, and tried to come up with the same rhythms and tempos as in the original dances. Describing this kind of music in details is a bit pointless and difficult, so let’s just do a quick overview just that before moving on. Fantasia, the record’s opener, has what is needed to open such a suite like that, feeling a complete track itself and like an appetizer for the things to come at the same time. It starts in a bombastic, incredibly epic way with orchestra firing at all cylinders, then after a minute it breaks down to the peaceful, tranquil section going on for another minute; after that, it regains its former loftiness. The title track, Sarabande, follows next, featuring the moving bassline and smooth synth sounds driving the song forward. This one has Jon Lord’s name written all over it, it’s instantly recognizable with the very first synthesizer’s passage. The group and orchestra are intertwined tightly in patterns here, while the synths are leading the song with bass and drums underneath it, orchestra bursts in every now and then, repeating what Lord is playing. The decent pace, variety and sort-of-predictability in the melodies all make this tune incredibly climactic, and that break with change of rhythm near the track’s end works flawlessly; the piece then returns to its original flow for a bit before the conclusion, and this makes me appreciate it even more.
A small number called Aria enters next. Aria is a piano piece with the nice and subtle atmospheric synth arrangements behind it, staying true to the original tune. When Lord started playing the album live, he rewrote this track to include orchestrations. It’s good to have that sort of breather after the action-packed Sarabande and before the gigantic Gigue, which is the next tune coming in the playlist. This eleven minutes long track is more orchestra-oriented, offering the most classical approach on the record in the beginning. The musical team performs this playful, lively main melody of Gigue, while bass and drums are happily playing along in the background, until the guitar gladly chimes in with Andy Summers extracting a solo from it. Then Lord contributes his famous Hammond organ playing and, uhm, classical approach? What classical approach? Oh, here it comes. Got to give props for the man for combining those two elements so seamlessly. And there is a drum solo on top of that, which makes it great for showcasing drummer’s abilities. Well, anyway, this track feels alive, jumpy and playful, and I obviously love it, but not more than the next one, Bourée, which is another eleven minutes long piece. It has almost nothing to do with Jethro Tull’s song of the same name, by the way. Bourée reminds me of a title track, Sarabande, only more huge and pompous, and driven by drums and percussion instead. And if Sarabande was more smooth and relaxed, this one is intense and more powerful, a real tour de force. The main melody is so catchy it hurts, and the piece has the prominent western vibe to it, featuring a noticeable amount of groove and being more on the rockish edge, especially with another fine guitar solo. This track is a beast in a live setting, extremely awesome.
Pavane is definitely more on a melancholic side, again, staying true to the natural tempo of this dance. This is achieved by quiet and restrained acoustic guitar playing with subtle keyboard addition from the maestro. Overall, it’s a wonderful calm piece, and the second part speeds up the flow for a while, though you can’t compare it to the frantic, cheerful attitude of Caprice, which is easily the fastest track on the suite. Lord provides another Hammond solo which is reminiscent of his Deep Purple usual contributions, and the whole tune has a lot of stuff happening during its three minutes; and its length saddens me a bit, I could’ve used a few more minutes of this melody going on. This song was played without an orchestra on the record, but like Aria, Jon added some parts for the live performance. Finally, Finale finishes (this was awful, I know) the record with quick summary of it, revisiting every song and playing the essential parts from them, which is done in a clunky yet passable way. I think the studio version could’ve used a bit extended final section too, because it just seems to be over in a few seconds; there is no such issue in a 2010 version, where the orchestra has another minute of finesse to conclude the suite in an epic way.
I mentioned the live performance of this album for a couple of times now, and trust me, it’s for a good reason. I always enjoyed The Sarabande Suite, but I felt it was missing something to make it really shine. This thought vanished, just disappeared completely when I saw Jon Lord with the band and the orchestra playing it live in Moscow at April, 2011. The way this whole suite works in a live setting is exceptional and much more graceful and impressive than the studio version. It just seems to bewitch you, making it impossible to turn your eyes away from the scene. The venue was outstanding; they’ve offered only a small hall for just a couple of hundred seats instead of a big one, and even then it was half-filled with people who really appreciated this music and were passionate about it, so there were no unnecessary whistling or shouting or murmuring among the public (which can ruin the experience of such a night for me). Jon Lord enhanced the performance with his undeniable charisma, professionalism, composure and passion; and both the band and the orchestra sounded amazing. It was a surprise to hear Sarabande that night, because Lord released his studio album dedicated to John Mortimer called To Notice Such Things in 2010, and it was written on the advertisements that this will be the played (I think it was “To Notice Such Things + greatest hits of Jon Lord career”; those folks clearly haven’t had any idea about the setlist), and then Jon appeared on scene and announced they’re playing The Sarabande Suite. This turned out to be even more mindblowing than I expected, and this concert remains the best I’ve ever seen.
Jon Lord passed away at 16th of July, 2012. I couldn’t believe it. He looked so fine and healthy just a year ago, full of life and energy on scene. This news seriously took me aback; I was astounded to say the least. I loved his music and was sure he will write many more musical masterpieces. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen. I’m so glad that I was able to witness his insane musical talent, that I was able to see him performing live before this horrible turn of events. And this music, those masterpieces he had already wrote, they can’t be erased and I’m sure they won’t be forgotten by his loyal fans all over the world. The man won’t be forgotten, and his music will live on.
(That was a bit on a dramatic side.)
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Sarabande (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvNv3Lrrkl4), Bourée (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnYMXzgpHn4), Pavane (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq2x_jiPSoU), Caprice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s0-lQ6YjTg)
Note: I couldn’t find studio version of Caprice on Youtube, so I included the live one in favourite tracks. It’s reworked for orchestra, but it might be even better this way. And you can see the 69 years old Jon rocking out during this Hammond solo, so it's a win-win situation.
And on this positive note we are almost done with this list! Only the top five is left to post, and we’ll get to the next two tomorrow.
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Just finished listening The Old Man And The Spirit.
:omg: :hefdaddy
Kind of knew you'd like it :P.
Yeah, I liked the song you sent me of him, so I'll surely check this out.
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Definitely going to check out the Gilmour album. For some reason I've never bothered exploring his solo work. That needs to change.
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I'm getting a bit lost with this list now.
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I'm getting a bit lost with this list now.
This part may be a little bit unexciting, but up ahead there's still stuff you would like. At least I think so.
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I've just only ever been a casual Deep Purple fan, and an even more casual Floyd fan. Looking forward to the top 5.
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:corn
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Have I mentioned I love Ayreon? No? Well, there you have it, the double update before the Top 3.
#5
The Theory Of Everything
Ayreon
Genre: progressive rock / progressive metal
2013
(https://www.arjenlucassen.com/content/wp-content/uploads/toe_cover_2000px.jpg)
Top five opens up with an album released quite recently, in 2013. It surpassed everything released in the last ten years and became one of my most beloved albums ever in such a short time. This record significantly affected my attention to the music scene in general, reigniting my interest after a several months of indifference on my part. I was starting to feel burned out and stopped buying and listening to most of new music; I think it happened in summer after Avantasia and Helloween / Gamma Ray gigs in Moscow. So as of autumn 2013, I was following only a couple of bands with passion, namely enjoying new Avantasia, Steven Wilson’s Raven and trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get into self-titled DT album.
That’s when the new Ayreon album saw the light of day. I was positively sure I have to check it out, but initially I wasn’t going to bother purchasing it (shame on me). But then I thought about how great Ayreon releases usually are, how I wanted to experience to the brand new album of this supergroup with a booklet in my hands (I became a fan in 2010, so I missed 01011001’s release), then I wandered to the preorders page, saw those glorious bundles and, duh, of course I’ve bought it. After a long, dull month of waiting due to exceptional shipping skills of Russian Post Service it arrived; the first listening experience left me in awe, it was beyond my highest expectations. It was something magical. The fact The Theory Of Everything was a completely new story made this experience even better, and as it’s quite a tragic one, it even made me shed a tear or two when that main melody came back in the end.
The Theory Of Everything was so utterly magnificent that my burnout disappeared as if it never existed in the first place, so there’s a bit of personal bias in putting it at #5, yet the brilliant, sky-high quality of the work itself should’ve been enough to warrant it a decent spot somewhere around the 15th place. The music has standard Ayreon’s fare, or maybe even fresher and more enthralling; the story is compelling and captivating, yet quite easy to grasp; the cast of singers and instrumentalists is top notch. Arjen invited a bunch of big names for this one, as always, and at certain moments you can hear Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Jordan Rudess, Steven Hackett and Troy Donockley contributing to this masterpiece. Arjen invited seven singers to represent the seven characters in the story, which is a major change from his previous album; all of them are recognizable enough, yet if you aren’t familiar with their bands and don’t have a booklet around, you might be confused in some passages telling which male voice is which. The album consists of four grand tracks, each is considerably over twenty minutes; those tracks are divided into nine or eleven lesser tracks, making it 42 tracks overall (nugget!). This is alright if your media player is good enough so you won’t notice the breaks between these little pieces, but the default player on my phone sucks, so it’s not exactly a good idea in my book. The music is mostly keyboards-and-synths driven, though obviously there are electric guitars, acoustic guitars, bass, and other semi-standard Ayreon instruments like violin, cello and flute. There are a lot of musical and lyrical reprises throughout the album, as you can expect from deliberate concept work, all nicely tied into a story being told.
Arjen does a clever thing to end the album where it began; he sets the first scene in a present day, showing us the picture of what’s going on at a certain lighthouse, and then we’re going back in time for eleven years to see how happened what has happened. The story revolves around The Prodigy (Tommy Karevik), a main protagonist, who is an exceptional savant (one in a million!) and has a brilliant mind (which is ablaze with distraction! Fine, I’ll stop.), so he suffers from some sort of syndrome I don’t know the exact name of; he isn’t communicating with others and, well, stuff.
I’m awful at recapping stories, am I not? :lol
Prodigy’s Father (Michael Mills) is a mathematician, obsessed with solving The Theory of Everything, spending all of his time on it and neglecting his disabled son, while Prodigy’s Mother (Cristina Scabbia) is disapproving of Father’s actions, loving her son, being very protective of him, yet unable to get any response while trying to reach him. The Prodigy is able to visit school, where he meets The Teacher (JB), who is astounded to see the boy solving the problem he himself was working for years without progress, his classmate The Rival (Marco Hietala), who is a considerable dick (The Rival, not Marco), and The Girl (Sara Squadrani), who grows fond of him over time. After an intimidating Teacher’s visit to the boy’s Father, because, well, JB’s voice is quite intimidating, if you ask me, Father agrees to take the boy to The Psychiatrist (John Wetton). He’s apparently doing it only because Prodigy can help him solve the theory, so, well, I don’t even know who’s more a dick in this story, honestly.
The doctor offers the parents to use the drug he’s currently testing or clearing Prodigy’s mind. Mother vehemently protests against it, and Father defiantly acquiesces before sneaking away from home and visiting Psychiatrist alone to start drugging his son, adding the medicine in his food (what a dick). In the meantime, Teacher and Girl decide they can help the protagonist, both in their own ways, while Rival is sitting here doing nothing, promising to show everyone what a genius he is. The progress Prodigy makes with a drug is instant; Mother is over the moon, while Teacher is torn between being triumphant, inspired and rightly suspicious. After a few more years, the side effects of the drug are confirmed, and Father has to confess to his son about it, which mildly enrages (what?) him, he leaves home and goes to find Teacher, bumping into Girl and Rival instead. Now, instead of waving them goodbye and continue searching, he tells his whole story to both (can’t you see the dude despises you? Just wait for Girl to be alone, goddammit!). She invites him to live in her home, while Rival is beside himself and begins plotting plots. Which is actually something he apparently exceeds at, because the idea to ask the Prodigy to rob the bank in exchange for the drug he so desperately needs is nothing short of brilliant (and, of course, serves his own purpose in the rivalry with the protagonist). Prodigy can’t overwhelm his dependence on the drug and agrees; Girl is devastated he preferred that way over her care and protection, and goes all take-the-road-Jack-and-don’t-you-come-back-no-more on him. The robbery succeeds and Rival is fading into the sunset with his pockets full of money, officially being The Most Successful Character in this particular story.
The female characters are worrying about how Prodigy fares, not knowing where he is; meanwhile, he bought an abandoned lighthouse and works on the Theory there with frequent visits of Teacher. Father tries to talk Mother into allowing him to see Prodigy again (which is a futile effort, seeing how no one except Teacher knows where he is) because he needs another chance to work the Theory out. I actually was so immersed in the story at this moment I’ve become quite pissed off, and Mother apparently too, because at first she is furious, then calls it goodbye and leaves. Father is in grief over that (kinda too late, man, maybe you should’ve used your brains not only to work at the Theory, eh?), and decides to end his life; then Prodigy sees Father in a lighthouse doorstep. Together, they work all night and solve the theory; the protagonist takes a huge dose of the drug and goes catatonic after their success, leaving a note for Teacher to find. In the morning he indeed finds it and calls Girl, who comes there instantly, informing him about Father’s suicide previous evening. (After this, the first scene takes place.) Then Mother bursts into the room, sees her son slumped on the floor and breaks into tears along with Girl. The simple, yet so powerful ”My husband / my love / my son / all lost” exchange gets me every single time. Mother and Girl both take their leave, Teacher lingers in a room a bit, and notices the equations were written in two different styles of handwriting.
What I really love in this story (besides recapping it), the characters’ actions and motivations here are clear and believable. No weird aliens, Forever or other stuff; Mother comes across as a very realistic, and her portrayal by Cristina is awesome, Father is a selfish dick (damn, but he did piss me off in The Argument 2, no kidding) but Mike Mills is such a great singer I’ll give him a pass; Teacher’s reasons to befriend Prodigy is also incredibly natural, and so on. The ambiguity in the end is also a nice touch, and while it doesn’t make much sense, I believe Arjen himself said the magic will be present in the story, so there’s my explanation.
Some random notes before we move on:
- I found the Prodigy’s comeback in confrontation with Rival, namely ”There can only be one! — I’m pretty sure that it’s not you-ouououou!” overly hilarious. I think I’ve even paused the record on the first listen to laugh. I don’t even know what’s so funny in this line;
- While Arjen managed to make guitar solos by Emerson, Wakeman and JR sound fitting, Steve Hackett’s guitar solo feels out of place for me. I even tend to forget it actually exists on the album.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite track: Phase I: Singularity (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnPKmbK8P64)
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#4
The Human Equation
Ayreon
Genre: progressive rock / progressive metal
2004
(https://img12.nnm.me/8/c/3/6/8/8c368d01e4b72025c1b85c7b46c7fd53_full.jpg)
And here comes the reason I omitted all the references and comparisons to The Human Equation in the last write-up. Well, this is hardly a shock or surprise for anyone following; I’ve made it quite clear in a lot of different lists and other threads that I adore this album. That said, both The Theory Of Everything and The Human Equation are very much alike. The music in both is on a mellow side with similar and frequent usage of violins and flute and cello, while some guitar and keyboard solos come dangerously close to being too exact in notes and feeling. Another similarity would be the way the story is executed. Both albums have a standalone concept (except for that plot twist in The Human Equation I tend to disregard) and a considerably small cast of singers, each of them playing their respective roles, representing them with their unique voices. I suspect that after a relatively lukewarm reception to 01011001 (which I still remember how to pronounce, yay), Arjen decided to return to the tried and true recipe of overwhelming success he designed with The Human Equation. Well, of course, that’s not exactly what he has done, for while having a lot in common, these two albums are different after all. The Human Equation features the full-fleshed and rather short songs with pronounced verses and choruses, the tale itself is even more realistic, despite those emotions talking and arguing in the protagonist’s head, and literally every voice is a perfect fit for the role, even Arjen’s. He can continue making those snarky remarks about his total inability to sing for all I care; well, the man ain’t Jorn Lande after all, but since he wrote the material, he of all people should know and realize how to sing it; and he does, putting just the right amount of emotions in his voice, coming off very convincing in album’s context.
The story of The Human Equation is about a man lying in a comatose state in a hospital as a result of a car accident. He is named Me in the booklet and is portrayed by James LaBrie. In the real life, there are his Wife and his Best Friend sitting near his bed for days, voiced by Arjen Lucassen and Marcela Bovio respectively. In his head, there are various emotions trying to either support him or bring him down. The full list features seven of them: Fear (Mikael Akerfeldt), Agony (Devon Graves), Love (Heather Findlay), Passion (Irene Jansen), Pride (Magnus Ekwall), Reason (Eric Clayton) and Rage (Devin Townsend). Also, in one and only instance of the story a wild Father appears, hilariously portrayed by Mike Baker. The artists are picked very thoroughly, their voices correspond to the emotions they are posing as; deep, thoughtful Eric’s voice is perfect for the role of Reason; reckless Magnus’ screams are a good representation of Pride; touching, yet at the same time playful appearance of Heather Findlay fits the part of Love like a glove; while deceptively warm and calm Mikael’s delivery explodes into the growling madness when the protagonist looks into the deepest pits of his heart.
The Human Equation consists of twenty songs, each one equals one day Me spending in coma. He recites the story of his life in order to find out how he ended up in such a miserable state, as he doesn’t remember anything post-accident. He can’t get back to life alone, and both his Wife and Best Friend are trying to reach out to him, but mostly to no avail as both Me and his companions had severely wronged each other in the past; in order to come back Me needs some kind of push, a strong incentive to do it. The story unfolds in a satisfying way, and as I don’t feel like recapping it now, you’ll have to listen and find out what happens if you’re unfamiliar with the plot yet. While the album is lengthy (around 100 minutes), it’s totally worth it.
What exactly strikes me in this album is that its story and events hit me on a personal level. While I’ve never suffered a car accident, haven’t been in coma and haven’t heard the literal emotions in my head, I have a best friend whom I know for more than fifteen years already. Obviously I haven’t cheated him on his wife (and he has no chance of doing it as I don’t have a wife! Suck it, friend. Loser! Oh, wait.), and we didn’t ruin each other careers, but I dread to imagine what mess, what wreckage I would’ve become if I would ever find him in the protagonist position; and I bet this would be the same if you switch the places. This is why this album hits me so hard, especially the tracks where Marcela and Arjen interact with unconscious James, because what Arjen depicts in the story seems awfully realistic to me. Best Friend trying to wake Me with describing all their previous adventures together and prompting him to see there is so much to live for, so many yet undiscovered things and other breathtaking stuff in the world they’ve yet to experience, reciting the hilarious and awkward moments they’ve had together with either him or his Wife (now that came out awkward, knowing where the story brings us), desperately asking him to come back alive and willing to admit and apologize for any situation he wronged the protagonist; and Me has his own sins to repent and confess, and when after a long journey it all comes to light in the last two songs, the payoff is delightful. Best Friend must feel guilty as hell at that moment, because he thinks he was an indirect cause of the accident, and of course when Me half-awakes and the first thing he does is making a confession about how he destroyed Best Friend’s career, of course the latter is willing to forgive. Hell, I would’ve burst into tears if I was in his place. This moment is very touching. However, the whole thing happened with Me is more like a karma biting him in the ass, though you can’t blame the man; well, you can, but not entirely. First, growing up with an asshole instead of a father isn’t the easiest and healthiest thing in the world (why are fathers always such dicks in stories Arjen pens?); then obviously he would be an outcast in school; then his parents go through an apparently unofficial divorce, when the father just leaves the home for bad, and his mother dies the very same day; well, that would be enough to wreck an ordinary person’s life. He has his blessing in having such a great friend, he has his blessing finding a soul loving him, and while he probably was returning the feelings back at first, after a while he just subsided to the darkest corners of his soul, and then rapidly spiraled towards disaster. He undermined his friend’s place at work resulting in friend being fired and him getting the director’s position finally, then because of work (and probably his conscience torturing him somewhere in the back of this mind) he begins ignoring his Wife and this doesn’t help.
I mean, seriously, let’s go through this again: the man had no friends at school, his father hated him and the only person who loved him was his mother. After his mother dies he has exactly two persons who care of him and love him, namely his Best Friend and Wife. What does Me do? He ruins his friend’s career, using the information his friend shared because he had trust and confidence in him (and Best Friend strongly suspects him); then he alienates his Wife just being stuck at work for days and nights, and ignoring her presence at home when he’s there. I realize that how Father treated Me, that probably left some sort of awful print on his perception of the world, but really, man, antagonizing those two and the only people who appreciate and love you in this world is a no go, at all. And it comes as no surprise when those two abandoned people, Wife and Best Friend, start meeting behind Me’s back, because they have the same problem on their shoulders, which adds the last brick to the enormous weight of awful things Me had on him at the moment and results in the accident. Seriously, there are no one to blame but Father and the protagonist, and I love this story so much because in the end Me realizes it, admits his blindness and vanity, and doesn’t even ask about all this Friend – Wife affair; so in the end, the trinity is happily reunited. This means a lot for me, as the people who I’m always hanging with are my best friend and his wife, so I was incredibly joyous when it all ended in a satisfying, happy way. Anything concerning Dream Sequencer and stuff beyond this point just doesn’t exist for me in the album’s context.
Well, alright, since it’s actually there, I’ll just make a short note before we move on to the top three. The phrase “I remember” strikes me as this particular Forever doesn’t remember anything, because it just sounds so dull and emotionless. :lol And there better be an extended James’ scream in The Theater Equation performance. If they cut it again somehow, it’ll be outrageous.
Oh, and another random note, Father’s speech is so ironic and hilarious. ”My ex-wifes all sue me! And with half my kids in jail I still come out laughing, coz me, I never fail!”. Right you are, man, right you are.
Disclaimer: for the most satisfying experience you should listen to the whole album
Favourite tracks: Day Two: Isolation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve6sJTvHyys), Day Seven: Hope (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abmvoj39Fh8), Day Eleven: Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SpclhmwvOE), Day Twelve: Trauma (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TN7earYLig), Day Thirteen: Sign (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlID-9ItHC8), Day Nineteen: Disclosure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTKiyZJan9I), Day Twenty: Confrontation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYwAfCtdGmU)
And, well, any guesses for top three?
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Both albums are great, though Into The Electric Castle is my favorite Ayreon album.
And I have to admit I've only payed passing attention the story in either one. :lol I love Ayreon for the music, lyrics not so much.
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Still can't get into TToE, but you know how much I love THE :heart .
My guesses are PF's Meddle, and Dire Straits' Love Over Gold :hat . I don't know about the other though :lol .
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My guesses are PF's Meddle, and Dire Straits' Love Over Gold :hat . I don't know about the other though :lol .
Based on two of my favourite songs of all time, eh? I guess that's a way to go too. :D
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Hmm, I fall into the camp of people who doesn't get the screaming thigh sweats over Aryeon. It's good stuff and all, but just good.
Don't kill me.
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Hmm, I fall into the camp of people who doesn't get the screaming thigh sweats over Aryeon. It's good stuff and all, but just good.
Don't kill me.
Have you tried telling Nem about it? :lol
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Fuck yeah Ayreon galore :metal
While THE was in my top three, and it's pretty close to your position, TTOE never struck me that much because of its format. I'm too lazy to listen to an album structured like that, sorry :-\ although I'll admit that what I heard was top notch.
I won't take guesses because I would fail so much in this particular list :biggrin:
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man I super wish I could really get into The Theory of Everything at all
but it's more a movie than an album, the music serves the story inside of vice-versa so once you're sick of the story there's no reason to return to it
The Human Equation is fantastic though.
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Hmm, I fall into the camp of people who doesn't get the screaming thigh sweats over Aryeon. It's good stuff and all, but just good.
Don't kill me.
Have you tried telling Nem about it? :lol
Oh hell no. I like my job tyvm....
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Hmm, I fall into the camp of people who doesn't get the screaming thigh sweats over Aryeon. It's good stuff and all, but just good.
Don't kill me.
I agree - never heard an Ayreon song that I couldn't wait to hear again. if I feel like some of his stuff it'd be Star One.
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The Human Equation made my own top 50. Excellent album. :tup
The Theory of Everything might be my favorite he's done aside from THE, and possibly Into the Electric Castle. Definitely in the top 3 regardless. While the story behind the Ayreon albums is usually intriguing, what makes me stay is the music itself. Arjen is a genius in that department.
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Still can't get into TToE
Yeah same here. For me it was a big disappointment.
Can't complain about THE though. :tup
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I couldn't really get into TTOE, but THE is absolutely amazing.
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Alright, I somewhat expected this reaction, though I'm a bit surprised by a lack of positive response to TTOE. I just love it so much.
So it's the weekend, I've got three more days to wrap this up, and I've got precisely three updates left to post, so I guess the schedule is clear enough! When I was contemplating making this list, I was uncertain about almost every position, but the Top 3, I knew what it would be right from the start. It's probably the only portion of this list that stayed unchanged through all the months I was writing the writeups.
So, let's get down to business, shall we?
#3
Rising
Rainbow
Genre: hard rock
1976
(https://www.peondoblado.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Rainbow_Rising_LP.jpg)
Before I start describing this album, let’s just take a few moments to appreciate the thought-provoking, poignant themes illuminated in the lyrics penned by Ronnie James Dio, a wonderful example of which I’ve put in the thread’s title.
After all the records I had in the list, Rising’s appearance was a given. I mean, in this list I had two albums featuring Ritchie Blackmore on them, one of them almost in top ten, and then I had two Dio-fronted records, one of them in top ten. I was properly complimenting both musicians for their spectacular musicianship and unrivaled talent. So, in hindsight it wasn’t really difficult to figure this album would show up, because what happens when those two geniuses with their unique and awesome musical ideas unite in a band? They get into a conflict after a few years and one of them leaves, and as it’s Blackmore’s band, you guessed it, it’s not Ritchie (well, to be honest, this guy fired a lot of people during Rainbow existence, so there’s that); but not before they record some amazing glorious masterpiece, Rising.
While Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow (band’s debut record) has a few marvelous songs, it also features a good load of filler, which absolutely isn’t the case for Rising. This is Blackmore and Dio on their creative peak. While Ritchie and Ronnie are obviously the driving force here with their signature guitar sounds and vocal melodies, let’s not overlook the other members, especially the drummer Cozy Powell (who, sadly, died in a car accident in 1998) and keyboardist Tony Carey, who was fired from Rainbow in 1977 as their relations with Blackmore grew worse and worse, and (I’ve read this story somewhere and I’m inclined to believe it’s true, but if it’s not, I guess the Rainbow geeks will correct me in no time, we’re at DTF after all) one day he entered the studio carrying a glass of whiskey and a synth under his arm, slipped on the floor and spilled the whiskey on the equipment, which have seriously pissed off Ritchie, and Carey was kicked out of the band. I actually think a lot of that stuff happening in Rainbow was fit for a good laugh, or sometimes not exactly, for example when Blackmore broke the jaw of some security guy on the gig in Vienna, and was arrested (not before trying to leave the venue in a large trunk, which unfortunately didn’t work). Or when they were kicked out from the hotel because Cozy emptied the whole fire extinguisher into the room of some German guest of theirs while climbing the hotel’s outside wall, apparently because he had mistaken the floor he was, ehm, on. At least that’s what Jimmy Bain, who played bass on Rising, claims in his interview. By the way, he was later fired in the very beginning of 1977 for appearing on scene being under the drugs several times. Rainbow was a great fun, it seems.
So yeah, I haven’t checked but I’m fairly sure it’s the shortest album on this list. It features only six songs and lasts only 33 minutes, but it’s all golden from start to finish, and that’s why it’s here in top three. Rising opens with a lengthy synthesizer solo on Tarot Woman, which is actually a mellow, leveled, atmospheric start of something beautiful. The electric guitars and bass start building tension then, with synths helping, and when the drums come in, Rainbow is at full force. Dio doesn’t make you wait much longer, entering the song up with his fabulous vocal abilities, and the melodies here are among the strongest on the record. The same can’t be said about lyrics, for the very first line goes like “I don’t wanna go, something tells me no, no, no, no”. Really. Whatever. The melodies do shine though, especially on “A smile on a bright shining face” part, and Blackmore provides a compelling guitar solo right on the first track. Tarot Woman clocks at six minutes, which allows the instrumentalists to shine: both elaborate guitar solo and keyboard solo is what ups this song from good to perfect. Run With the Wolf is a worthy successor, slowing the pace for a bit but still rocking hard. Once again, this song is enhanced greatly by the vocal melodies, the most climactic part being “What’s to come — when the siren calls, you go” in the chorus, and of course the final ad libs part is impressive too. And of course both those songs are ending with the fadeout. I realize it was the usual thing to do, and it works alright and well, but not as well as in the track that I’ll be writing about a bit lower in this post. Suspense! (Seeing as there’s only one song with a fadeout left on Rising, eh, calling it suspense is pushing it quite far.)
The next song, Starstruck, is a faster number, and I’m again struggling to describe it justice. It just has that Rainbow spirit and sounding, which makes it a splendid song, despite not being too innovative or diverse. I love, however, how Dio mixes up the pre-chorus words, going for all kinds of various stuff instead of “She’s creeping like a hungry cat” (which is also a great imagery); I think I’ve heard “sleeping like a hungry cat” or even “creeping like a sleeping cat” on various bootlegs, and I can’t quite make out what he goes for in On Stage medley, but it suspiciously sounds like “sleeping like a sleeping cat”, which is incredibly cute. I love cats, if you haven’t noticed. The fourth track, Do You Close Your Eyes is yet another rocker and perhaps the weakest song on the album, which in that case means it’s still damn good. Except the hilarious lyrics I’ve quoted already in the title and this anti-climactic bit with “Oooh na na na na!” (Ronnie, you definitely should’ve put a few alrights there somewhere), and its appearance in the encore of live shows, it doesn’t stand out much.
Stargazer, being the band’s arguably most famous song, stands out like a tallest tower of stone that took nine years of unbearable, back-breaking work to build, piercing the sky and outshining and overshadowing everything else around it, maybe except the face of a wizard, judging by awed, soared, inspired and frenetic reaction of the narrator when he sees it (both when the wizard is alive and not). As far as I’m concerned and as far as Rainbow’s studio works go, this is the representative Rainbow song, without any contest. Of course I enjoy Catch the Rainbow, Temple of the King, Gates of Babylon, LLRR, Rainbow Eyes (this one is the second best Rainbow song, and seeing how they went from this magnificent piece of music to a lame commercial approach saddens me to no end), or, you know, half of the material from Stranger in Us All, aka the terribly underappreciated album, none of it can beat Stargazer, just none. This song is the epicness in a nutshell, the glory in all its glory (awful, I know); bombast just so heavily spread over it it’s mindblowing, starting from this inciting drum intro and ending with neverending Dio singsong lines; there is also the best Blackmore’s solo ever written in my opinion, and to add to the whole grandiloquence, there is Munich Philharmonic Orchestra performing on Stargazer. This eight minutes long piece is a pinnacle of Rainbow career, and no cover I’ve heard can make the original version justice (including Dream Theater, which is, despite my huge love for the band, is below average and makes me turn it off pretty soon), there is just some kind of essential, primal magic captured in this song, yet to be reproduced. Because, actually, it’s impossible, I think. As I mentioned the fadeouts thing before, I must say, Stargazer is one the best examples how to do the fadeouts right (the next best example coming up in #2. Turn the speculation mode on!), because it’s just glorious. You can picture that slave worker standing amidst the desert, staring at the motionless, ruined figure of a wizard and howling, wondering what to do now. This lyrical theme is seemingly continued in Light in the Black, a nice lengthy closer for an album, with appealing vocal melodies and a meandering (in a good way) instrumental section. The band takes the all time they need to make this track work, and it really feels quite short despite all these eight minutes, before the brief conclusion puts an end to the record.
Now, I know this next paragraph won’t make a lot of sense, but I have to tell you guys about this (if you are still reading this monster of a post). Don’t get me wrong, Rising is a masterpiece and an amazing, truly brilliant album, totally deserving its place here in top three; but I feel it won’t be there if not for one thing. This thing is, I always somehow subconsciously combine Rising and On Stage (live Rainbow album released in 1977). On Stage is a fine illustration and guide how you can play an hour-length gig with six songs lasting five minutes each. Rainbow exceeded at that things, truly. On Stage features a whole load of great performances by the band, namely Catch the Rainbow, Mistreated, and Still I’m Sad. What’s funny about that, is that On Stage doesn’t have any song from Rising on it, but for some weird reason I’m thinking about those tours in support of Rising and imagining their awesomeness. That said, I don’t think Stargazer translates greatly on scene, mostly because of Ritchie’s habit of playing everything faster than in the studio. On Live in Germany 1976, there is a version of Stargazer played in Cologne, 25th September 1976, and for its seventeen minutes it’s way more awful than the studio. So I have no idea why On Stage associates with Rising in my mind, but if I would list live albums here and allowed myself to do the ties in the list, On Stage would’ve definitely been here.
Also, about things being in the list, if Stranger in Us All hadn’t have a half album of filler, it would’ve been in my top twenty, I guess, because Wolf to the Moon, Hunting Humans, Ariel and Black Masquerade are all top notch Rainbow songs. And as it seems I have no more to say about Rising, it’s time for favourite tracks.
Favourite tracks: Tarot Woman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5m6fSlaXhY), Run With the Wolf (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STQuHx2YUxs), Stargazer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVXy1OhaERY), Light in the Black (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYrW3yONR44)
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awesome choice!!
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This album is great, I love the songs on this one, especially Stargazer. I also like how short it is, concise and straight to the point. Cool pick :tup
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I'm a big fan of Stargazer - the rest not so much and therefore find it hard to rate the album too high despite it having one of my favourite songs.
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Old guy moment..... I remember this being the last album I listened to on 8-track.
Worthy addition to any list.
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Good to see Rising, though I would've, and DID, list On Stage.
After Stargazer and Light In The Black, I don't really listen to anything else on it though.
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I prefer DT's cover to the original :blush .
*hides quickly*
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Yeah buddy! Amazing, classic album right there.
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Just chiming in to say that I fully agree on both THE and tToE. The structure of the latter took some time for me, but I think it is really, really close to THE in terms of brilliance.
Never heard Rainbow in my life (at least I do not recall doing so). I guess I will check that out some time.
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Old guy moment..... I remember this being the last album I listened to on 8-track.
Now that's really cool.
Good to see Rising, though I would've, and DID, list On Stage.
After Stargazer and Light In The Black, I don't really listen to anything else on it though.
I love On Stage, but I didn't want to include live albums, so there you go.
Just chiming in to say that I fully agree on both THE and tToE. The structure of the latter took some time for me, but I think it is really, really close to THE in terms of brilliance.
At least someone agrees with me on that matter. :tup
I prefer DT's cover to the original :blush .
*hides quickly*
Oh, man, just get out.
Though wait, you guessed one album right. You can stay. :lol
#2
Love Over Gold
Dire Straits
Genre: progressive rock
1982
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/Dslogr.jpg)
Following my fascination with work of such musicians as Blackmore and Lord, here’s another pick that may be as predictable as Rising, yet glorious nonetheless. Mark Knopfler is another favourite of mine, and while Brothers in Arms was appealing, nice and interesting, Privateering was mellow and great; Love Over Gold is wistful and unbelievable. This is the terribly underrated album full of classics, and I don’t even know where to start talking about it, again. Everything is of highest quality here, from Knopfler’s guitars and Alan Clark’s keyboard and piano performance to stellar production and sprawling songwriting.
Love Over Gold yet again proves the album doesn’t need to be long and complex to sway the listener, being only a bit longer than forty minutes and featuring even less songs than Rising (five). This album has its outstanding, very Dire Straits-ish atmosphere, offering a set of eclectic, mellow tracks with occasional tremendously intense sections, and it also has something for fans of more straightforward rock. Love Over Gold seems like an attempt to please everyone among the band’s fans, and while I’m not sure if it worked for everyone, it definitely hit home on my part.
So let’s get to the songs, shall we? This album blows me away at every listen with its very first song, fourteen minutes long piece titled Telegraph Road, which is also my second favourite song by any artist of all time. The song tells a story about a literal telegraph road in Detroit, providing a view on how everything around it was changing during a decades of years; Knopfler wrote the song being inspired by taking a trip down this very road. Mark himself says: “I was driving down this Telegraph Road... and it just went on and on and on forever, it's like what they call linear development. And I just started to think, I wondered how that road must have been when it started, what it must have first been.” As the song’s story covers a lot of years, it’s only natural the tune itself will be huge in length, and this piece is long indeed by Dire Straits standards, but those fourteen minutes fly by, just like the hours, days, weeks and years fly by in real life when you get older. Being written around one beautiful main theme and melody, Telegraph Road takes every opportunity to go off the beam and evolve into something even better, always finding the way back to its musical home. This complex, intricate weaving of song’s structure allows it to shine. It’s not your usual progressive epic, this band does it totally the opposite way; I think it’ll be sufficient to say the moment I love the most comes around 5:10 mark; but actually, picking the best moment here is like choosing your favourite child: while it may be not impossible in some cases, it’s just plain wrong. But, well, what can I do? This section gives me goosebumps every time. If you heard the song, just remember how it goes:
And my radio says tonight it’s gonna freeze
People driving home from the factories
There’s six lanes of traffic
Three lanes moving slow…
And then that heartbreaking piano solo begins, with the electric guitar entering a bit later. You know, this is almost as magnificent as music ever gets. Moreover, it’s not even the half of the song right here. It’s interesting how a lot of singers are straining their throats and lungs, making those screams or growls or anything, but Mark with his almost not singing, but reading lyrics style instead manages to evoke all kinds of emotions, just by those climactic moments where all the instrumentation and his lines become one, greater piece together. That’s exactly what I would call genius songwriting. After this moment, the story goes on from the perspective on unemployed man who lost his work after the town built around the road became uninhabited, driving us to yet another beautiful climax in this song, here:
Cause I’ve run every red light on memory lane
I’ve seen desperation explode into flames
And I don’t want to see it again…
From all of these signs saying “Sorry, but we’re closed”
All the way…
Down the telegraph road
This piano and bass moment between “All the way… and “Down the telegraph road” is nonchalantly simple, but damn, it’s one of the most touching moments in music ever, at least for me. After this, the song mostly turns into the guitar goodness by Mark, who’s playing his jazzy heart and his rocking soul out of the instrument. Remember my imaginary Best Guitar Solos list? This one would’ve been in the top three. Remember my discontent with the songs ending with fadeouts? This one does end with it, but I couldn’t care less. I’m that biased.
But, you know what, I could just ramble on about Telegraph Road forever, but there are four more songs on Love Over Gold, so onward we go to the second tune, which may be even more famous than first. I’m talking, of course, about Private Investigations, which is a weird ballad and an absolute hit of Dire Straits. Now, this song is absolutely splendid, and it becomes even better in live rendition. A mysterious, haunting atmosphere intervenes nicely with the tired Mark’s voice, narrating a day from the private detective life, using that sad and moderately hopeless lyrics, going through the man’s work’s routine. The breathtaking acoustic guitar work goes along well with subtle keyboard playing; but in the end, it’s the guitar doing all the job in the first part. During “And what have you got at the end of the day? What have you got to take away?”, this acoustic guitar ascends from great to amazing beyond anyone’s imagination, and it’s not even difficult passage or anything, even I can play it. But the soulfulness of the moment along with those superb lyrics is outstanding. Again, it sends the chills down my spine every time. And the narration is done so well, you actually pity the man, and the regret both in the voice and in the music is so perceptible. The second part of the tune is instrumental, and it comes off as some detective movie soundtrack, which I’m pretty sure was the exact intention of the band, so in conclusion, Dire Straits really know how to envelop the emotions in music.
But sometimes you need a break after those two meaningful, emotional and still fairly complex songs, so there’s a track called Industrial Disease. Despite admittedly being the weakest tune among the perfection this album offers, and while I don’t listen to Dire Straits to hear these kind of rockers, I grew to love it immensely over the years, and it’s actually pretty great, playful and light tune. I like the keyboards usage during the tune, and I love how Mark rolls those words from his tongue. There is no heavy meaning in the song; Wikipedia says that “the song takes a look at decline of the British manufacturing industry in the early 1980s, focusing on strikes and depression. For example, the absurdity of media-driven maladies is laid out in a segment of the song describing the narrator's visit to a doctor's office for treatment of his "Industrial Disease"”. Which is alright with me, I’ve always viewed this song as a break, a rocking intermission between the imaginary first act, consisting of Telegraph Road and Private Investigations, and, again, the fictitious second act…
…which starts with the title track, Love Over Gold. This song reminds me of Why Worry (or, actually, I have it backwards, Why Worry reminds me of Love Over Gold) for the same wistfulness and lightheartedness. In the very beginning there is that keyboard passage which can be a distant reference to the main melody of Telegraph Road, and oh, I adore this kind of subtle things in the music. The title track represents Dire Straits music for me as a whole, I can’t find more suitable song for it. I always liked to see Dire Straits as the unusual, rare case of a rock band, where there were no drugs or heavy alcoholism or whatever attributes were attached to any generic rock bands on that time, and, you know, this song is the image of Dire Straits for me; the peaceful people who love the nature, love their lives enough to not ruin it with anything, with their creative and emotional approach in their music; being light-minded enough and yet caring enough in every aspect of their work and hobbies. I don’t know if that makes sense, but that’s what Love Over Gold makes me to think and imagine.
And that brings us to It Never Rains, the final track of this masterpiece of an album. This tune has its similarity with Love Over Gold, but it’s a bit faster and less sad, but again, it’s the essence of Dire Straits showing in this song. It’s like they’re trying to finish the album on a high emotional note, but not with something like Industrial Disease, but with more serious stuff, and succeeding greatly. You know, again, for its eight minutes it feels incredibly short and sweet; the whole album is like that. It’s like you’ve only sat here for five minutes, but it’s already dark outside and you become aware of that only when the last song ends; and then you have to fight the urge to spin it again. And if you’re unable to do it, unable to resist the temptation, well, we’re much alike.
And you, you’re always the same, you persevere
On the same old pleasure ground
Oh, and it never rains around here
It just comes pouring down…
Favourite tracks: Telegraph Road (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd3btVhwr48), Private Investigations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxS-ICzjO6I), Love Over Gold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyEEOxDTCRM), It Never Rains (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4owvyAwUVl8)
And that was quite a long ride, you folks, but it comes to an end real soon now. Or, if you want me to be more specific, tomorrow, when #1 will be revealed. I won’t be doing any honourable mentions of any sort, Top 50 is a Top 50, so tomorrow it will all come to a close with my favourite album of all time.
So, see you all here tomorrow, and while we’re at it, what do you think #1 will be?
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Ooooh, man, my dad would like you. His favorite band is Dire Straits, and I think this might be his favorite album too. Me, not so much - once again, I like some songs, but they're not really my thing.
Although Private Investigations is great.
PRIVATE
...
INVESTIGATION
dun. dun. dun. dun.
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I don't post very often, but I must say your #2 choice is very worthy of the spot. I loved your write-up of the songs. :tup
If I could add one thing: This album is incredibly well mixed and produced! It would definitely make my top 100 if I ever did a ranking.
Kudos!
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Giving this some spins and I'm really liking the atmosphere and the mood of this. Thanks for showing me these guys :tup . And I'd say your fav album is Meddle. OR, TDSotM - but I'm not that sure.
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Brilliant album! I grew up with Dire Straits, and this is one of their very best - I only rank Brothers In Arms above it :tup
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Ooooh, man, my dad would like you. His favorite band is Dire Straits, and I think this might be his favorite album too. Me, not so much - once again, I like some songs, but they're not really my thing.
As I said, your relatives seem to have good tastes all around. :D
I don't post very often, but I must say your #2 choice is very worthy of the spot. I loved your write-up of the songs. :tup
If I could add one thing: This album is incredibly well mixed and produced! It would definitely make my top 100 if I ever did a ranking.
Great to see you in this thread! I agree about mix, somehow I forgot to mention it in the write-up, but yeah, it's totally amazing. I love how this album sounds.
Brilliant album! I grew up with Dire Straits, and this is one of their very best - I only rank Brothers In Arms above it :tup
Brothers in Arms made my list too, but for me Love Over Gold is far superior.
Giving this some spins and I'm really liking the atmosphere and the mood of this. Thanks for showing me these guys :tup . And I'd say your fav album is Meddle. OR, TDSotM - but I'm not that sure.
Nice to hear that. And, well, you were quite close with your guess... here comes the absolute masterpiece and the best thing happened to music, in my opinion.
#1
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd
Genre: progressive rock
1975
(https://chesapeakecentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/LP-Cover-Pink-Floyd-Wish-You-Were-Here.jpg)
Everyone knows this one. I realize this choice is predictable as hell. Still, I can’t help it.
I don’t even know where to start, again, and what to write, because I doubt any words can adequately measure and encapsulate all my thoughts, feelings and emotions when I listen to this album. I doubt even I can grasp what happens with my mind and soul when I’m spinning Wish You Were Here, because for me, it’s the musical heaven right there. You know, if I would really try, I can find a number of flaws in any record from this list, while this is the one and the only exception. Wish You Were Here is a one-of-a-kind album; Pink Floyd never recorded anything better before or after it; then again, Pink Floyd is a legendary, one-of-a-kind band, so I guess it’s only fair. I’m immensely glad I lived to see and buy a new Pink Floyd album, which I never thought I would (even though after two months it still hasn’t arrived, I’m gonna write to Amazon in early 2015, heh - update: I wrote to them and they've sent me another one, and this one has arrived a few days ago. I'm happy.); and I know it’s a tribute to Richard Wright and it’s mostly instrumental, but I’m gonna take what I can and while I can; I’ve never expected it to reach the godlike quality of Wish You Were Here anyway.
So, what was I talking about? You know, I never was a fan of Roger Waters, but I have to give him a lot of credit for that perfect, glorious four Pink Floyd albums run. The Wall missed this list very narrowly and, in my opinion, is the second best album from the band; I’m not a big fan of Animals and Dark Side of the Moon, though I acknowledge and respect their greatness, in fact, the third place is firmly held by The Division Bell in my book; I guess that has something to do with that the two PF members I admire the most are David Gilmour and Richard Wright. And, quite fittingly, they both named Wish You Were Here as their favourite Pink Floyd album. Seriously, I just couldn’t agree more. I love The Wall, but it doesn’t come close at all.
Everyone has those moments in their lives when he or she just stumbles upon this kind of music, the one that affects you, changes you forever; and usually it just, well, happens, all of a sudden. And you don’t know when it would happen, you don’t know this kind of music even exists, or maybe you’re hoping for it, but don’t know where to look, what to seek. And then someone just sets you on the right path, or you find it yourself by sheer luck and chance, and all your perception on music, all you knew and loved, is changed forever. I remember this moment quite well, I was quite young, I was spending the night at my best friend’s parents’ flat, and in the morning his father just turned, no, cranked Wish You Were Here on his sound system. While at that moment I was only aware of such bands like Helloween and something like that (nothing against Helloween, folks, they’ve made my list too, as you remember), to say I was blown away is to make an understatement of the year. Waking up to the soothing, mellow start of Shine On You Crazy Diamond; I don’t know, just nothing can beat it. And when at the beginning of the day you’re finally awake and ready to go on and live, Shine On kicks off in full force too. How can a mostly instrumental song be that awesome, that breathtaking? I don’t even know.
And what can be said what you haven’t already heard about such underappreciated masterpieces like desperate and brooding Welcome to the Machine or a bit more upbeat Have a Cigar, both written by Roger? The band only wrote four songs for the whole record, ending up splitting Shine On in two halves (well, nearly halves), and they just didn’t need anything else, eh? This is the pronounced trait in my top three, the works are concise and to the point, and this is just enough to make my soul weep or celebrate or rock. I don’t want to reiterate all the songs structure and moods, because again, everyone is aware of Wish You Were Here, so I’m not going to describe Shine On both parts in details or make clever puns and jokes about “Oh, by the way, which one’s Pink?”, but I can’t just leave out the title track out of this write up. For a simple acoustic tune (though it’s not so simple as I recall Gilmour played it on the twelve-string acoustic guitar, or the intro at least), this song is just so longing, wistful and just too beautiful for this world.
You know, I was talking about those albums that change you and your live forever when you hear them. I think most of us here already had those moments, found this record among all the brilliant stuff that got and still gets released around the scene, and that’s perfectly fine and expected… But you never know, and we may all doubt it, and we actually do, but there might be another album here somewhere in someone’s mind or in production that will yet again change a lot of human lives and views on music. And forgive me for making a such reaching assumptions about you guys, and rock and metal fans in general, because I might be dead wrong here, but that’s just what I like to think, and what I actually do think myself; that despite all our expectations from the music we’re listening to these days, weeks, months and years, despite that we probably don’t expect another record that will provide us an unforgettable, rich experience beyond any description, that will dethrone all the records we have on top of our nerdy lists, somewhere inward, in our very hearts, we have this highborn hope that there will be such an album released, no matter the time and cost, that we’ll live to see it. And it’s the different album for everyone reading this, I bet anything on it, because it’s just our tastes can’t be identical, but the fact itself is important, at least for me. The golden era of rock might be over as some musicians and people say, but the rock and metal scene is growing as fast as ever, and with those little stars, those little magnificent bands popping up every now and then, who can confidently say another Pink Floyd-level of band isn’t awaiting us in some near or not-so-near future?
And that’s the thing, maybe some pragmatists will jump on this thread now and say exactly this thing, but for me, this kind of future is uncertain; and that’s what keeps me checking my Facebook feed and this very forum every day, that’s what makes me discover more and more bands, albums and songs, relentlessly spinning one after another in hopes I will find at least something worthy, and at best, well, something outstandingly splendid and tremendously wonderful.
Seeing how many albums from this decade made my list, and four of them even breached my top ten, well, I can conclude this approach is definitely working for me.
Favourite tracks: Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I-V (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJf5ZbumlgY), Welcome to the Machine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt-udg9zQSE), Have a Cigar (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sVShT6nVTA), Wish You Were Here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NavVfpp-1L4), Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts VI-IX (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ5Mt4aiGSE)
Now, I hope you will excuse me while I’m going to quote and sing those famous lyrics known probably by every person reading this, but it’s just impossible to resist:
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears…
Wish you were here…
And on this emotional, heart-wrenching moment, which is also probably the most uplifting and saddest moment in music I ever know, this list is, sadly, comes to an end. I had a blast listening to all these albums and gathering, assembling them all into a kind of list, and I had good time writing about them, and of course, it was a great fun posting them all here, seeing your reactions and interacting with you here. I would like to mention and thank everyone who helped me discover this music, be that my best friend, his father, or some of you guys here from DTF; my musical taste wouldn’t be quite the same without you. I also want to thank everyone who was following and responding in this thread, namely TAC, Sacul, Shadow Ninja, jjrock88, Tom Bombadil, mikemangioy, Kade, Brent, ThatOneGuy, sneakyblueberry, Mladen, Ville, Zydar, Scorp, Nick, RJ, other Rich, ErHaO, and everyone who responded not that regularly, but still contributed to our discussion. I was doing this list more of less for myself, to see what will come out of my attempt to group those albums into some order, but I hope you’ve enjoyed it too, and maybe discovered something new and awesome too!
I don’t want to make it much longer than it already is, so, well, thank you everyone again! See you in my upcoming roulette if you want to participate, I'm creating the thread for it right now and it will be up in just a few hours, so feel free to join if you feel like it.
And, well, on this uplifting note, this list is over and I'm out!
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Great #1! :tup I enjoyed following this list, although I didn't post that often.
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I approve of this, definitely worthy of being #1.
Wow, man, you were fast :lol - and yeah, my purpose has been halfly fulfilled, I disagreed with all the power metal, but man, so many good albums in this list too. And you made me discover Beyond The Bridge, which is a band that I'm now really digging. The fun isn't over I see, I'll head to the roulette thread right now! :metal
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One of the best Top lists I've followed here, and I like the fast tempo you kept. Many lists here are sloooow moving.
And yeah, that album is brilliant. It was the first PF album I bought, and it started my interest in them. I'd only rank Animals and DSOTM above it, but SOYCD is my favourite PF song ever (lots of acronyms there :lol )
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Great Pink Floyd album!
Excellent job with the list!!
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Solid list bro, and an excellent no. 1.
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Great #1! :tup I enjoyed following this list, although I didn't post that often.
Solid list bro, and an excellent no. 1.
Great Pink Floyd album!
Excellent job with the list!!
Thank you guys! It really means a lot.
One of the best Top lists I've followed here, and I like the fast tempo you kept. Many lists here are sloooow moving.
Wow, that's a hell of a compliment right there, thank you, man.
The fun isn't over I see, I'll head to the roulette thread right now! :metal
Compiling the banned artists list now man, the thread itself is coming up in an hour. See you there!
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Good job Evermind - surprised me how fogey friendly it was :hat Quite possibly the second best Top 50 I've been involved with ;D
Good to see Knopfler get a prominent mention too.
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Nice list. :tup You really grabbed me with your top 10. I'm not much of a fan for power metal, but many of your top picks were great.
As others have pointed out, you were hella quick. I can't even imagine how, I myself move at the pace of a slug. :lol Between being busy and being a slow writer, that's to be expected, but you didn't bullshit around. Props for that. :hat
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Good job Evermind - surprised me how fogey friendly it was :hat Quite possibly the second best Top 50 I've been involved with ;D
Good to see Knopfler get a prominent mention too.
Well obviously, I'm a big fan of Knopfler, so yeah. And, well, glad you had fun!
Nice list. :tup You really grabbed me with your top 10. I'm not much of a fan for power metal, but many of your top picks were great.
As others have pointed out, you were hella quick. I can't even imagine how, I myself move at the pace of a slug. :lol Between being busy and being a slow writer, that's to be expected, but you didn't bullshit around. Props for that. :hat
Well, I've prepared all the write-ups in advance. And yep, you're really slow. :lol
The roulette thread is up (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=43194.0), guys, feel free to join up if you want.
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yeah this is not an album I will complain about
at all
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Great album, although DSotM is my fav by miles away ;D.
Quite interesting list. If I just took the top ten, I'd hardly imagine you liked all that power metal though. Anyways, it was fun to disagree with it :lol.
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Anyways, it was fun to disagree with it :lol.
High five dude :lol
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WYWH is a solid #1 album. I don't consider myself a big Pink Floyd fan, but I LOVE WYWH.
Enjoyed following the list, Evermind. I usually don't follow all these Top 50 lists, especially from people I don't know well, and although we haven't had much back and forth on the forum, it seems like every thread I go into on the GMD side, I look up and see you are in the same thread. I figured you must have good taste in music too! ;D I was right.
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Definitely can't complain with that No. 1. Excellent, timeless album. Great list! Thanks for introducing me to some new jams :tup
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Didn't comment much, but enjoyed reading. :tup