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General => Archive => General Music Archives => Topic started by: Mister Gold on May 01, 2014, 01:09:23 PM
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Hey everyone! Looks like I'll finally be starting my Top 50 Albums thread! :metal I limited myself to only allowing two albums per band on the list, so that way the list wouldn't just be full of the same few bands. I'll try to get through this quickly so others can go ahead after I'm done. :tup
That being said, here we go! :metal
Mister Gold's Top Fifty Albums
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50. DragonForce – The Power Within (2012)
I wasn’t actually very surprised when I heard about ZP leaving the band, as an argument between him and Herman and Sam was documented in an article I had read in Guitar World magazine. I had a fair bit of fun watching the online auditions that popped up afterwards. Quite a few of them were hilariously bad; one example included an eight year old boy who could only hit the high notes because he hadn’t hit puberty yet. There were also plenty of female singers who tried out who could hit the notes, but were clearly non-professional singers and sounded awful otherwise. But the funniest example was definitely this pair of Russian twins who dressed up in tuxedos and sang “Through the Fire and Flames” in deep bass voices, polka-style.
That said, there were a few decent auditions out there. The first guy I saw that I thought had a chance at getting the gig was this blonde-haired dude named Marc Hudson. I remember thinking of Michael Kiske when I saw his audition videos for the first time, though that’s probably because Marc was wearing a Helloween t-shirt in those videos. I won’t say that I knew that Marc was going to get the gig, as there were several other really great auditions, but he was immediately my top candidate and the guy I figured the band would pick. I actually had a couple of brief exchanges with him via YouTube comments during those audition periods and he came across as a really nice guy. So I was very happy to see that he had indeed gotten the gig a year or two later.
Now for the album itself… well, The Power Within is hardly a groundbreaking album. It’s pretty standard as far as DragonForce goes. But I rank it as my favorite of theirs for a few reasons. Obviously I connected with it because of Marc, who I feel ended up becoming an improvement over ZP Theart, but I also loved that the band finally made an effort to cut back on all of the pointless, wanky instrumental sections and focused on the quality of the songs. Heck, I liked that they made sure not to use the phrase “So far away” at any point in the album too.
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49. Opeth – Still Life (1999)
I’m a casual Opeth fan. I like them, but they’ve never really made the album that I personally want out of them. I normally prefer clean vocals over screams or growls, but unfortunately the only two Opeth albums to only have clean vocals are their most mellow and non-metal albums. I don’t mind that, but I think Opeth is at their best when they’re heavy. It says a lot that my favorite song by them is their cover of “Remember Tomorrow” by Iron Maiden.
Still Life is the band’s best work, bar none. It’s heavy as hell, it’s inspired and energetic and you can feel the passion that Mikael injected into it. While growls aren’t normally my thing, Mikael does them rather well on this album. There's a palpable energy that accompanies the album. I'd probably rank it higher if I listened to it more often. We'll see where it ends up next time around. :hat
(https://www.chellesrockblog.com/uploads/8/2/8/4/8284961/8132255_orig.jpg?0)
48. Black Country Communion – Afterglow (2012)
I think many of us will agree that it was a damn shame that this band didn’t last very long. I enjoyed all three albums and I always wanted to see them live, but alas, the band imploded just as this album came out. That said, the friction that led to the band’s destruction also resulted in their best album.
Afterglow is a darker and heavier affair than the preceding BCC albums. You can feel the frustrations that went on between Glenn Hughes and Joe Bonamassa in the music. It’s rather explosive. I also like Derek Sherinian's work on the album. :tup
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47. Dio – Dream Evil (1987)
I think Holy Diver is overrated. There, I said it. It was between Dream Evil and The Last in Line for me, but while the latter album had its title track, I feel that Dream Evil had more highlights for me. Its title track echoes back to Dio’s days in Rainbow with Ritchie Blackmore and while Sunset Superman has a pretty dumb chorus, I love the verses and the guitar work on that song. Of course there’s also the album’s highlight, All the Fools Sailed Away, which rivals The Last in Line as my favorite Dio song.
(https://www.futuroprimitivo.cl/532-thickbox_default/slayer-hell-awaits-1985-180-grs.jpg)
46. Slayer - Hell Awaits (1985)
I’m not a Slayer fan by any means, but I am quite fond of this album. It’s a lot smarter than I think one would expect a Slayer album to be. I still remember listening to this album for the first time while Skyping with a friend of mine and then suddenly flipping out on him when Crypts of Eternity came on. It’s easily the best song the band has ever done. I’m also sure that my friend was probably laughing his ass off at my reaction to the album. It’s great.
While I like that the band has the likes of Gary Holt in their band now, I sincerely doubt that they will ever come close to making another album as good as this. To put it simply, Hell Awaits is Slayer's masterpiece.
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Woah. As I opened up this thread, I was listening to Still Life. :lol Not my favorite Opeth album, but a hella good one. :metal
I've only heard the first BCC album once and liked it a lot from what I remember, but found it a shame that they had split. :'( Still gotta get more into them.
which rivals The Last in Line as my favorite Dio song.
:hifive:
Dio was/is such an impact on me and my musical taste while first getting into metal. Dream Evil is fantastic.
Stellar picks overall, and I enjoyed the write-ups too. :tup Will be following obviously.
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Still Life :metal
Great start, MG! Going forward would you mind adding the release year of the albums in the post?
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Still Life :metal
Great start, MG! Going forward would you mind adding the release year of the albums in the post?
Sure thing! I just went back and added the release years for the albums I've already posted. :tup
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Well, I'm 1 from 5 there. Dream Evil is a great album - as good as the first 3 DIO albums for me and none have bettered it since.
I've heard all the others so far but not a fan. I did however enjoy ZP's I Am I album after he left Dragonforce. BCC were a big let down. I expected so much more, but like Chickenfoot the sum wasn't greater than the parts. And I hate Glenn Hughes voice.
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Dream Evil is a great album - as good as the first 3 DIO albums for me and none have bettered it since
What about Lock Up the Wolves? That, to me, was the last great Dio album. It has really aged well.
M-Gold, Holy Diver is NOT overrated. I'm fine if you prefer Dream Evil. It a solid album that I feel is fairly underrated, but C'mon Man!
I like Hell Awaits too. THAT INTRO!! :metal
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5 from 5 for me. Great start.
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Respect for including DragonForce.
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Like Lowdz I'm one from five here (Dio) but I like the look of where this is going.
And like TAC I really rate the under appreciated Lock Up The Wolves - not for the plodding Sabbath style tracks but the more upbeat and melodic stuff like Hey Angel, Walk On Water, Wild One, Why Are They Watching Me ..........and Rowan slays on it. Shame about all the filler - like most of his albums. In terms of the full album rating I'd probably next go with Sacred Heart to be honest - another low rated album by most it seems. It doesn't contain a whole lot of favourites but less filler.
Having said that :neverusethis: .............I agree that Holy Diver is over rated. I love Stand Up & Shout, Don't Talk To Strangers and Rainbow In The Dark ( 3 classics) but I find the rest is meh!! If I saw it in a store I'd only pay a holy fiver. ;D
Actually I'm 2 of 5 .................I have a few BCC albums but never got around to listening to them , so a "maybe" there. Opeth , Slayer and DF don't do much for me .
Good start :tup
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I actually might put up Lock Up The Wolves on the list next time around. I like what I've heard off of it, but I haven't listened to it in its entirety. I do remember hearing in an old Dio interview that he considered Rowan to be the absolute best guitarist to have ever been in his solo band (and this was after the 1992 Black Sabbath reunion, so Rowan wasn't in his band anymore).
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Huge props for The Power Within. I love how much more diverse their songs on that album are - sure, you have the insane speediness of songs like Fallen World, but you also have mit-tempo numbers like Cry Thunder, or the instrumental break in Die By the Sword - heck, you even have some thrashy qualities in Give Me the Night! Yeah, it's not groundbreaking, but it's a huge step-up from their last few albums with ZP - it might even be better than Valley of the Damned, though they're both very good.
Good call on the others. For some reason, I have never really gotten into Dio, but the rest are stellar. Props for including Hell Awaits, which I feel is quite overlooked, and unjustly so, among the behemoths that are Reign in Blood, South of Heaven and Seasons in the Abyss.
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(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/4/49/King_Diamond_Abigail.jpeg)
45. King Diamond – Abigail (1987)
What can I say? It’s King Diamond. His voice is definitely an acquired taste, but once you get used to it, you love it. His theatricality is wonderful and the band accompanying him is no slouch either. In particular, Andy LaRocque is an insane guitarist. Not to mention that terrific Romantic-period horror story that makes up the album!
I've always been a fan of that type of old school gothic horror story, and as you'll see with future albums in the list, I'm also a big fan of good concept albums. When done right, I think there's a special sort of cohesiveness that comes with great concept albums. Whether that's because they tell an ongoing story or not, I'm not entirely sure, but it adds a nice touch to an album.
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44. Anthrax – Spreading the Disease (1985)
I’m pretty new to Anthrax, so I didn’t want to rank them too highly just yet. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if this album or another one of their albums were put in a much higher position the next time I do a Top 50 Albums list. I’m actually a little surprised that I picked this album as my representative of the band in the list. I was initially more impressed with The Persistence of Time, but Spreading the Disease seems to have more staying power with me right now. Perhaps it's because of Belladonna's performance on the album? I dunno, but it gets my pick for this go-around at least. :tup
(https://metalassault.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Kreator_-_Pleasure_to_Kill.jpeg)
43. Kreator – Pleasure to Kill (1986)
Kreator is another band that I’m relatively new to and I will probably rank this album higher in future lists, as I've very much enjoyed what I've heard off of it. I had heard a couple of tracks off of their most recent album a couple years ago and had been meaning to check out their previous works for some time, but had never gotten around to doing so.
What set me over the edge? The series finale for How I Met Your Mother.
I was so pissed after I had read what had happened in the ending of that show that I immediately went over to YouTube and randomly picked out a Kreator album. As I told a friend of mine the following day, I was so angry that I needed to listen to "an obscure German thrash metal band to properly vent out my rage." Sure enough, Pleasure to Kill did the trick.
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42. Helloween – The Dark Ride (2000)
I’ve said it elsewhere not too long ago, but The Dark Ride is Helloween’s greatest album. Forget Walls of Jericho and forget the Keeper albums, this is where it’s at for Helloween. The run of albums from Master of the Rings to The Dark Ride is perhaps the most underrated and greatest period in Helloween’s career. It’s certainly the band’s best lineup. Thankfully it went out on a high note with this album.
What Andi Deris lacks in comparison to Michael Kiske's incredible vocal prowess, he makes up for with incredible songwriting. That isn't to say that he's a slouch vocally either. As others can testify, Deris can usually do justice to Kiske's songs and he's generally on fire whenever it's his own music that he sings over. Unsurprisingly, I think his best performance is on this album. :metal
(https://www.on-parole.com/shop/14657-35717-thickbox/control-denied-the-fragile-art-of-existence-re-release-digi-cd.jpg)
41. Control Denied – The Fragile Art of Existence (1999)
As you’ll see later on in this list, I love Death. Chuck Schuldiner is possibly my all-time favorite metal guitarist and songwriter. The way I see it, he was to heavy metal what Stanley Kubrick was to filmmaking. This is hardly the best album Chuck ever worked on, but it has plenty of great material. While Chuck lived long enough to record all of his parts for the yet-to-be-released follow-up Control Denied album, I find it eerily fitting that the last song fans heard from him in his lifetime was the title track off this album. It almost feels as if he had come full circle.
Speaking of that second Control Denied album, I'm really hopeful that the surviving band members will eventually get the opportunity to finish it and release it. You can actually listen to four unfinished tracks off the album on YouTube, due to a pretty nasty legal issue that the band had to struggle with over the course of the previous decade. The sound quality is awful and the titles deserve more original names than just "Tracks 1 - 4," but it's worth checking out. If they ever finish and release it, I think that album could potentially go on to be recognized as Chuck's masterpiece.
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Nice update - I rate the Anthrax, Helloween, King Diamond ...............I've heard a bit of Kreator over the years but can't remember what I thought tbh. Control Denied I haven't heard and will check out.
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Pretty interesting picks so far. Following. :tup
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God damn you have some awesome tastes! :tup I love all of those albums, and yay for Pleasure to Kill! I'm not sure what would be my favourite Kreator album, but Pleasure to Kill is definitely up there, along with Coma of Souls and Enemy of God, probably.
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God damn you have some awesome tastes! :tup I love all of those albums, and yay for Pleasure to Kill! I'm not sure what would be my favourite Kreator album, but Pleasure to Kill is definitely up there, along with Coma of Souls and Enemy of God, probably.
Thanks man! :tup And yeah, Pleasure to Kill is awesome! I'll definitely be checking out more of Kreator's albums over the summer, but I'd be really impressed if I found another album of theirs that impresses me as much as PtK has. :metal
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Enemy of God was the first album I heard, so I kinda have a soft spot for that, and Coma of Souls has two of my favourite Kreator tracks ever in When the Sun Burns Red and Terror Zone, but yeah, in terms of consistency, I think I have to give that one to PtK as well. :metal
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4 out of 5 in the 2nd batch. Some great stuff there. Abigail, Spreading The Disease, Control Denied and Dark ride are all top notch.
Well played sir.
And TAC, I don't like Lock Up The Wolves at all. Wasn't a fan of the guitarist but mainly the songs were shit. Revisited it a while ago and it was still shit.
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Spreading the Disease :metal :metal :metal A.I.R. :tup
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Abigail :metal
Dark Ride is classic, Kreator are killer, and that Control Denied is amazing.
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Wow, that was a LOUD update!
My favorite of the bunch would be Spreading The Disease.
Control Denied is very good too.
I was NOT a fan of King Diamond back in the day. In fact, I went to two of his club shows back in the late 80's only to leave before he came on. I had gone solely for the opening bands each time ( Armored Saint and Flotsam & Jetsam. About 5 years ago, I finally dived in with both feet on King Diamond. I really wasn't into his shtick back in the day. I like Abigail well enough. It's a good metal album.
I've also warmed up to Deris era Helloween in the last couple of years. Yes, the Dark Ride is a great album, but I am most definitely a Keepers guy.
And TAC, I don't like Lock Up The Wolves at all. Wasn't a fan of the guitarist but mainly the songs were shit. Revisited it a while ago and it was still shit.
:lol
That's cool.
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very cool picks! Dio, Anthrax, and Helloween are the standouts from the list for me.
No way is Holy Diver overated!!
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40. Iced Earth – Night of the Stormrider (1992)
I’m sure Zook could probably do a better job in describing this album’s greatness, but this is my list. John Greely is terrific on this album and Jon Schaffer never sounded more inspired than he did on this album. Despite the great talents Schaffer would enlist on future albums in singers such as Matt Barlow or Tim Owens, or even former Death members such as drummer Richard Christy and bassist Steve DiGiorgio, Iced Earth has never topped this album.
As I mentioned in the previous entry with King Diamond's Abigail, I feel that well-done concept albums have a tendency to have a wonderful cohesiveness that regular albums don't have. While Stormrider has a relatively simple story, it is an effective one: a mighty warrior becomes disillusioned with the religious people of the world and becomes seduced by the dark powers of the world, which results in him bringing about the end of the world and he marches right on into his doomed fate of perdition. This straight-forward plot results in the album sounding and, more importantly, feeling like an old apocalyptic fable.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3d/Dream_Theater_-_Six_Degrees_of_Inner_Turbulence.jpg)
39. Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002)
Dream Theater is not my favorite band, nor are they close to being my favorite. That being said, I do like a great deal of their work and recognize the band’s talents. No other album in the band’s discography shows that talent off as much, or as well, as Six Degrees. In many ways, this album is the band’s magnum opus. It's an incredibly ambitious album.
I usually list it as my favorite by the band, but lately I have found myself more drawn to another one of their albums...
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/b/bf/Dream_Theater_Awake.jpeg)
38. Dream Theater – Awake (1994)
Awake is not as technically challenging or complex as Six Degrees is, but it is definitely the band’s best album. It’s rife with atmosphere and interesting songs. The band isn’t showing off here, but instead are playing some really complex and yet tasty music. This is also easily the best performance James LaBrie ever gave with the band. But I think a big part of why I now rank this as my favorite Dream Theater album is because of the finale; Space-Dye Vest. It’s so unlike the band and yet it’s my favorite song of theirs.
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37. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
This album is tied with Animals as my favorite Floyd album. I decided to go with Dark Side though, because of how well it all flows together. It is really a perfect musical journey from start-to-finish and transitions from song-to-song seamlessly. I feel like I should rank it much higher, due to its icon status, but I'm still in the process of really digesting this album. After all, while I love prog, I am definitely more of a metalhead at heart. So we'll see how Dark Side (and maybe even Animals) turns out in future lists...
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36. Muse – Black Holes and Revelations (2006)
I love Muse. I was tempted to put Absolution in here instead, but Black Holes is definitely the superior album. It just flows together so well. I'm sure others have said it before, but Muse really come off as a modern blend of Queen and Pink Floyd. They have this great talent for writing really catchy, memorable quality songs that have more going on than you might realize.
While I know a lot of people aren't fond of Starlight, it's a personal favorite of mine. For starters, it got me into the band. But on another level, it speaks to me more than your average love song. I've always had a bit of a talent for thinking up various different stories and worlds, which is part of why I'm hoping to get a career in either creative writing or filmmaking. Starlight always makes me think of a personal favorite story of mine when I listen to it. So yeah, I'm a sucker for the song. :biggrin:
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Dude, our musical tastes are so similar it's scary! Are you sure you aren't my long-lost brother? :P
Yeah, two of my DT Top 3, Night of the Stormrider, BH&R... all great stuff. You fail for not mentioning Take a Bow, though, easily the best song on BH&R... though Starlight is pretty rad as well.
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Dude, our musical tastes are so similar it's scary! Are you sure you aren't my long-lost brother? :P
Br-brother? :justjen Is that you?! :biggrin:
Yeah, two of my DT Top 3, Night of the Stormrider, BH&R... all great stuff. You fail for not mentioning Take a Bow, though, easily the best song on BH&R... though Starlight is pretty rad as well.
Dude, Take a Bow IS awesome. I just wanted to give Starlight some credit, since it speaks to my inner muse, no pun intended. :tup
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Nice update.................I'll admit Muse do zero for me based on what I've heard but apart from that - I love Awake and DSOTM , SDOIT is a bit of a mixed bag for me (I like Disc 2 a lot more than Disc 1) and I got Night of the Stormrider based on Zook's review and haven't got around to listening to it properly yet. Seems I need to get onto it.
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Not really big on Muse, but the others are pure classic all around.
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35. Tool - Lateralus (2001)
Like several other albums on this list, I only heard Lateralus for the first time a few months ago. However I've really come to love it more and more with each repeated listen in that short amount of time. This album isn’t just an album; it’s an experience. The artwork and the packaging is truly an accompaniment of the music inside.
It’s the Dark Side of the Moon of metal albums.
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34. Crimson Glory - Transcendence (1988)
While I often say that I prefer Midnight over Geoff Tate, I’ll admit that Queensryche is the superior band to Crimson Glory. That being said, Transcendence is a terrific album. There’s excellent musicianship and songwriting all the way through, but let’s face it: the star of this album is undoubtedly Midnight. He gives one of the absolute greatest vocal performances in metal history on this album. His silky smooth pipes shriek and slither all around the music and truly allow the album to ‘transcend’ into being something very special.
While I've included Transcendence on this list, I feel that the self-titled debut is very good too and has some of the band's best moments.
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33. Kamelot – Karma (2001)
I’m a big fan of Roy Khan. His voice is gold. In my opinion, Karma was the first real classic album to come from Kamelot. While The Fourth Legacy has some great moments on it, I think Karma was really the album where Kamelot became Kamelot. It’s quite consistent and has some terrific highlights. The title track, Forever and the Elizabeth Bathory trilogy are all some of the best power metal songs ever.
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32. King Crimson – Red (1974)
I was rather surprised when I found out that the singer from Asia did the lead vocals on this album. Wetton sounds very different here than on “Heat of the Moment,” to say the least. That said, I love the music off this album. If you ask me, Robert Fripp is an incredibly underrated guitarist. His work on this album is positively chaotic. Not to mention the sublime work done by drummer Bill Bruford. I'm not entirely sure if this is his best album or not, as I am also quite partial to his work on Yes's Fragile and Close to the Edge, but he certainly does a great job here.
(https://musictrajectory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/rainbox-rainbow-rising-album-cover.jpg)
31. Rainbow - Rising (1976)
This album, along with a few other albums, has drastically swayed back and forth in its ranking in my various drafts for this list over the past year. It’s a classic, there’s no denying that. It’s also Rainbow’s finest album, though my favorite song of theirs is Gates of Babylon. I think my trouble with ranking Rising stems from the fact that most of my favorite work from Ronnie James Dio stems from his Black Sabbath albums. On the one hand, this lineup of Rainbow is certainly a more technically talented band than either of the two incarnations of Sabbath that Dio fronted. But on the other, the songs that came out of the Dio-era of Sabbath are positively classic.
Who knows where this album will be on future lists from me? I certainly enjoy it a great deal and I'd wager that it'd probably move up the list with more time.
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Plenty to like there once again - for me Crimson Glory and Kamleot mostly. I love stargazer but the rest of Rising doesn't do much for me. Tool and King Crimson ain't really to my taste .
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Rising was top 5 for me so :tup. Where Power metal was invented. I agree on Gates Of Babylon too, but not on your opinion of Dio's Sabbath albums. For me if you join the best songs from both on one album it would be a top 10 for me, but both have plenty of filler.
Transcendence is a great Queensryche-esque album. :tup :tup. I'd take 80s/early 90s Tate over Midnight as I really only like two of their albums (the other being Strange & Beautiful) and he always seemed to be "full on". And Queensryche were my favourite band at that time.
And Karma is my favourite Kamelot album so :tup :tup :tup
Just can't get into Tool or King Crimson.
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Let me pick up on that slack. Those Tool and King Crimson albums are fantastic. Excellent choices. :tup
Rainbow as well :metal
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4 out of 5 for me. I could never really get into King Crimson either.
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When I saw the new thread title, I instantly knew that it was something I was familiar with - heck, I was even singing the phrase in my head! - but I didn't remember until I finished reading your update that it was from Stargazer. Which is an awesome track with a godlike solo.
The rest are pretty cool, though I'd say this is the weakest update for me. I like Red, but for various reasons, I have never really gotten around to checking out Crimson Glory and Kamelot (I know, I know!), and Tool STILL haven't clicked with me. I hear lots of things I like, but I never really feel the urge to revisit their stuff all that much.
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I like Rising, but really, there's only two great songs on it.
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Not really into Crimson Glory, but the other four are fantastic.
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Rising was top 5 for me so :tup. Where Power metal was invented. I agree on Gates Of Babylon too, but not on your opinion of Dio's Sabbath albums. For me if you join the best songs from both on one album it would be a top 10 for me, but both have plenty of filler.
You do realize Dio had three Sabbath albums, right? :lol But, I guess it comes down to differences of opinions. I'm biased as hell on the matter, considering it was the Dio-era of Sabbath that got me into metal in the first place. :metal
Transcendence is a great Queensryche-esque album. :tup :tup. I'd take 80s/early 90s Tate over Midnight as I really only like two of their albums (the other being Strange & Beautiful) and he always seemed to be "full on". And Queensryche were my favourite band at that time.
And Karma is my favourite Kamelot album so :tup :tup :tup
Just can't get into Tool or King Crimson.
I think what gave Queensryche the edge was their "greater than the sum of its parts" element. Tate has always been a bit of an iffy singer for me. But the band as a whole is killer. :tup
Karma is terrific! :tup
Let me pick up on that slack. Those Tool and King Crimson albums are fantastic. Excellent choices. :tup
Rainbow as well :metal
Thanks man! :tup
When I saw the new thread title, I instantly knew that it was something I was familiar with - heck, I was even singing the phrase in my head! - but I didn't remember until I finished reading your update that it was from Stargazer. Which is an awesome track with a godlike solo.
The rest are pretty cool, though I'd say this is the weakest update for me. I like Red, but for various reasons, I have never really gotten around to checking out Crimson Glory and Kamelot (I know, I know!), and Tool STILL haven't clicked with me. I hear lots of things I like, but I never really feel the urge to revisit their stuff all that much.
I had a feeling people would recognize it, in some form or fashion. It's definitely one of Dio's most memorable moments, imo. :metal
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Rising was top 5 for me
Liar!
it was #6
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I think the first two Crimson Glory albums are two of the best from the 80's
Rising is fantastic. Cool picks.
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Rising was top 5 for me
Liar!
it was #6
Was it? Ahh well, I just wrote it, I didn't read it. Glad you were paying attention! :biggrin:
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(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/3/8/6/386.jpg)
30. Iron Maiden – The X Factor (1995)
This album has a ton of flaws. I won’t argue that. The production is really unusual, the lyrics and music are incredibly repetitive and Blaze is nowhere near as good of a singer as Bruce is. I recognize that. And yet, I feel that this is one of the best albums Iron Maiden has ever done, if not their best. What Blaze lacks in vocal prowess, he makes up for in sheer emotion. The production, while being incredibly unusual, definitely sets a special mood on the album and while the lyrics and music are incredibly repetitive, you can feel the intense emotions behind them. It took me over five years to get this album. If you ask me, this album is the textbook definition of a “flawed masterpiece.” Everything is both a flaw and yet results in something incredible.
However I think it would probably take the average listener quite awhile to 'get' this album. It took me five years to 'get' it.
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_QNq0NdpCuCQ/SdTFnKmT_jI/AAAAAAAAExM/xSximK2l8BY/s1600/Queensryche+-+Promised+Land+(1994).jpg)
29. Queensryche – Promised Land (1994)
I figured I would give you guys a fair warning: you won’t see Operation: Mindcrime on this list. There are at least three other albums by the band that I rank above it, including this album. Promised Land is terrific. As I have seen others describe it before, Promised Land showcases the band's Pink Floyd influences more than any of their other albums... and until last year's album with Todd La Torre, it was also the last album the band had put out that was anywhere near decent.
The production on this album is sublime. It sounds enormous without hurting your ears and it travels across plenty of soundscapes. While most of the songs themselves aren't necessarily the most classic material the band ever wrote, they create an overall unit that transcends most of the band's other work.
(https://www.clemsmusicreviews.com/forunlawfulcarnalknowledge.jpg)
28. Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991)
As far as I can tell, this was probably my very first “favorite” album ever. I fell in love with Van Halen during middle school and I always had an appreciation for the Sammy Hagar material. This album is my favorite of theirs as I feel that it’s the “best of both worlds.” Pun intended. It has Sammy on vocals, but it also harkens back to the classic Roth era musically and lyrically. It’s a traditional Van Halen album with the band’s best singer.
Sure, the music off of the original DLR albums was more 'groundbreaking' and perhaps had better lyrics, but there's just something about F.U.C.K. that really stands out for me. When I think about the course of the band's career, I see this particular era of the band as being a sort of renaissance moment for the band. They were going back to their roots, but they were approaching it a bit differently.
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I'm no fan of Van Halen, but the other two are stellar.
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I'm no fan of Van Halen, but the other two are stellar.
Fair enough. :) Van Halen isn't for everyone and if I hadn't gotten into them when I did, I doubt I'd be anywhere nearly as attached to the album as I am now. There's definitely a certain amount of nostalgia that goes into my love for the album. :tup
I have a feeling that my inclusion of TXF might be a tad controversial! :lol
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Great to see QR and VH get a mention , even if they are two of my lower ranked albums from each of them . I'm not including the post-Promised Land shite in that statement - they don't count ;D
Iron Maiden- I've never connected with them like I should on paper so I'll leave that one to others to digest :)
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Great description and write up for X factor!!
Promised land is a masterpiece.
Im a big fan of VH DLR era, but only a casual fan of Sammy.
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Three great bands, three curious choices.
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Three great bands, three curious choices.
I have a feeling folks might think the same thing with some of my other choices on the list. :lol
Great description and write up for X factor!!
Promised land is a masterpiece.
Im a big fan of VH DLR era, but only a casual fan of Sammy.
Thanks! :tup
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I figured I would give you guys a fair warning: you won’t see Operation: Mindcrime on this list.
:'(
But Promised Land is terrific so you at least redeemed yourself a bit. :lol :tup
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Three great bands, three curious choices.
I have a feeling folks might think the same thing with some of my other choices on the list. :lol
So you're going to have Caress Of Steel, Technical Ecstasy, and Coda? :metal
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Promised land is a masterpiece.
We don't disagree on much, brother, but PL is an unmitigated DISASTER! :)
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Three great bands, three curious choices.
I have a feeling folks might think the same thing with some of my other choices on the list. :lol
So you're going to have Caress Of Steel, Technical Ecstasy, and Coda? :metal
While I actually am quite fond of CoS, none of those albums are the list. Nice guesses though! :tup
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2/3 aint bad. X Factor is all kinds of awful. The other two albums are fine, but I prefer others by the same bands. FUCK may be my favourite Sammy era VH, up there with Balance.
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Fuck yeah on TXF. A lot of people know how I feel about that album so well done on it making your top 30.
X Factor is all kinds of awful.
Bah!!
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You are right Promised Land is one of the best sounding albums ever. I love it. Too bad the middle of the album sags so much, preventing it from reaching higher on my list. If there were a list made up of "albums with the best group of 4 songs on it" I think it would be there though :P
And FUCK is a great listen as well. Not quite classic VH, but I think my favorite of the Hagar albums. I think the guitar sound is sort of weird actually, but Hagar's singing is great, and Alex gives a great performance as well.
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Alex was an excellent drummer
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Fuck yeah on TXF. A lot of people know how I feel about that album so well done on it making your top 30.
:tup
You are right Promised Land is one of the best sounding albums ever. I love it. Too bad the middle of the album sags so much, preventing it from reaching higher on my list. If there were a list made up of "albums with the best group of 4 songs on it" I think it would be there though :P
And FUCK is a great listen as well. Not quite classic VH, but I think my favorite of the Hagar albums. I think the guitar sound is sort of weird actually, but Hagar's singing is great, and Alex gives a great performance as well.
Eh, I dunno. I love PL as a whole. :justjen
The guitar sound is a little different, but I actually really like it. :metal
Alex was an excellent drummer
Definitely.
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(https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51b0JLLjxyL.jpg)
27. Yes – Fragile (1971)
This is the greatest bass guitar album that I have ever heard. As I mentioned in another thread, I just started learning how to play the bass and I’m hoping to somehow learn how to play Roundabout on the bass within a year’s time. I absolutely adore Chris Squire’s work on this album. His bass guitar snarls and roars with his terrific shredding. This isn't to say that Fragile's only plus is Squire's performance; the whole band is in top form. As I mentioned earlier, this album is also a strong contender for Bill Bruford's best performance ever too.
More importantly though, I feel that this is the album where Yes really became Yes. It's the introduction to what most fans consider to be their classic lineup, and it's also the start of Roger Dean's many stunning and colorful album covers for the band. While they may have been more artistically creative presented higher peaks on some of the albums that soon followed, only one of them really tops Fragile for me.
(https://www.metalmusicarchives.com/images/covers/queensryche-rage-for-order-20111127062543.jpg)
26. Queensryche – Rage for Order (1986)
This is Queensryche’s masterpiece. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; Queensryche is normally at their best when writing short, concise songs that are packed with progressive tendencies. No album demonstrates that quite as well as Rage for Order does. Neil Kernon’s production is unusual and atmospheric. It brings films such as Blade Runner to mind, while the music and lyrics themselves project a strange blend of vampires, cyber-stuff and political issues. It’s modern, yet gothic.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Relayer_front_cover.jpg)
25. Yes – Relayer (1974)
While I love Fragile for its bass work and shorter epics, there’s just something about Relayer that makes it stand out for me. It’s just so different from the rest of the band’s classic work, yet it’s still inherently Yes. Patrick Moraz’s work on this album is absolutely sublime, Alan White gives the best performance in his career with Yes and Steve Howe changes things up a little by switching to a modded Telecaster for a twangy tone.
The music frequently swings back and forth between chaos and serenity and it becomes more than the sum of its parts. For example, consider "Soon," the final section of The Gates of Delirium, which is quite possibly the most beautiful piece of music Yes ever recorded: while it's certainly a fine listen on its own, it is made far more powerful by its two preceding parts, which are more chaotic and rocking. Then of course, my personal highlight of the album, Sound Chaser is Yes's little tribute or take on the Mahavishnu Orchestra. It's sporadic, manic and absolutely bonkers. I love it. The "Cha Cha Cha!" may be annoying to some, but there's something about it that just gives me a huge smile whenever I listen to it. :hefdaddy
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Not a Yes fan. I still remember the shock when RFO came out, and I'm not just talking about the band photo.
That album has really aged well, though, and it is really quite visionary.
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Neither are my favorite Yes album, but both are still stunningly amazing. Can't go wrong with this update. :tup
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I still remember the shock when RFO came out, and I'm not just talking about the band photo.
:lol I wonder what the band thinks when they look at that photo now.
RFO is a great album, and I don't think it really sounds like any other band. great choice.
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I still remember the shock when RFO came out, and I'm not just talking about the band photo.
:lol I wonder what the band thinks when they look at that photo now.
RFO is a great album, and I don't think it really sounds like any other band. great choice.
It's a very special album, no question about that! :metal For the record, the third QR album I rank over O:M is The Warning. It's right in the same general area of my rankings for PL and RfO; my preference order generally shifts around over the course of the year, with RfO generally being my definite favorite.
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RFO is one of the coolest albums Ive ever heard- I like the Blade Runner analogy.
Very little interest in Yes.
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I still remember the shock when RFO came out, and I'm not just talking about the band photo.
:lol I wonder what the band thinks when they look at that photo now.
RFO is a great album, and I don't think it really sounds like any other band. great choice.
It's a very special album, no question about that! :metal For the record, the third QR album I rank over O:M is The Warning. It's right in the same general area of my rankings for PL and RfO; my preference order generally shifts around over the course of the year, with RfO generally being my definite favorite.
I love Warning!! I posted Warning and O:M in the same spot on my Top 50.
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I'm no great Yes fan.
But RFO - now we're talking. Made my top 5 (I think? :biggrin:). Just an awesome prog metal album. I love all the atmospheric stuff. A weird, cold album. Took me a ood while to appreciate it. I talked my mate into buying it one day as I'd loved The Warning and he had some cash to spare on release date. He absolutely hated it and I felt so Bad I bought it off him , even though I didn't like it either initially. Once I got used to it though, wow, just a genre classic.
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Youre right Lowdz, RFO is a pretty weird cold album. Like PL, it seems to be an album you have to listen to a few times to get it. But it is awesome.
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I still don't get PL! :)
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I still don't get PL! :)
I know its been 20 years, but give it one more shot :)
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I know its been 20 years, but give it one more shot :)
Holy crap, you're right! hard to believe it's been 20 years.
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(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mlzO31T32ts/UAq8zCIPOVI/AAAAAAAAAoc/4X5wIoJGpOo/s1600/The+Black+Halo+-+Kamelot.jpg)
24. Kamelot – The Black Halo (2005)
This is one of those rare instances where I wholeheartedly agree with the general opinion; this album is undoubtedly Kamelot’s greatest work. Roy Khan gives one of his absolute best performances ever as a vocalist, his lyrics recreate a haunting version of the story of Faust and make it resonate with the listener.
As someone who struggles frequently with religious beliefs and the meaning of life, I really wish there were more albums like The Black Halo out there. It's easy to poke fun at how bad a lot of Christian music is these days, but I also get frustrated with songs that are on the other end of the spectrum too. To have songs like "Soul Society" or especially "Abandoned" communicate a desire to want to know God or find purpose and also recognize and bring to life the struggle that comes with faith. More songs should talk about that middle ground between religion and atheism, as I really think a lot of people out there today would identify with it.
(https://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/3253/cover_1035162272009.jpg) (https://www.metal-archives.com/images/5/2/9/529.jpg)
23. Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)/Dehumanizer (1992)
a. While I appreciate the Ozzy era, I do prefer the Dio era by a large margin. After all, that’s the band that got me into heavy metal to begin with. That being said, I felt that I needed to represent both eras of the band in this list, so they each get one album from me. Coincidentally, I also felt that this album in particular is the one Ozzy album that rivals the quality of the Dio albums for me.
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is the creative masterpiece of the original lineup. Ozzy is actually a pretty solid vocalist here and the rest of the band is on fire. The latter portion of the opening title track is easily the best thing to ever come from the Ozzy era. That sludgy riff is absolutely incredible. "WHEEERRRE CAN YOU RUN TO?!" always has a habit of sending chills down my spine. Definitely Ozzy's finest hour.
b. On a personal level, this is my favorite Black Sabbath album. As I said before, I got into the band because of the Dio lineup. I initially picked up a greatest hits album of the Dio material and eventually decided to pick up Dehumanizer, since it wasn’t as properly represented on the album as the other two Dio albums were. I was quite surprised when I heard the whole thing. Musically, the band definitely sounds more like the original lineup, albeit with a more modern production, more contemporary influences and Dio on vocals. This is probably my favorite performance from the man; he just sounds so incredibly pissed off and heavy on this album. His lyrical style was also updated and it fit the music like a glove.
The album also took on a more personal relevance to me earlier this year. Over the course of the past winter, my family and I slowly noticed that our beloved nine year old Golden Retriever, Scout, was acting more and more odd. She wouldn't eat her food, she wasn't nearly as active physically as she normally was (she was so energetic that most people often guessed she was still a puppy). Then we found out that Scout had cancer and likely would have to put her down the next morning. I spent some time with her, to say my good byes and what-not, but I also spent a fair amount of time that night and the following days listening to Dehumanizer to vent out my frustrations and pain.
(https://thatdoesntsoundright.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/metallica-and-justice-for-all.jpg)
22. Metallica - … And Justice For All (1988)
While the production on this album sucks, I think that more and more people these days are recognizing that this album is Metallica’s high water mark. This album definitely showcases the emotional backlash the band had in reaction to Cliff Burton’s tragic death. The band manages to sound both incredibly pissed off and incredibly cold. Whether that's because of the production, or because of the grandiose riffs or because of the dark subjects discussed on this album, I'm not sure.
It is a shame though that the band took out their frustrations and pain on Jason by cutting him out of the production of this album. He does some pretty sweet stuff on this album; I recently listened to some fan-edited versions of the songs off this album with an improved bass sound. While it was a rough edit and hardly perfect, it did show some great work by Jason. A personal favorite moment of mine is this little thing he does during the chorus on the title track. While the rest of the band does a basic riff, Jason mimics James's vocal melody on the bass, adding this really sweet "creeping" effect to the song. This album happens to be my best friend's all-time favorite album, so when I showed him that video, he freaked out and told me the experience was like hearing the song for the very first time all over again. The band would be very wise to go back and release a better quality remix of the album.
As for the actual songs on the album, Blackened is one of my all-time favorite songs ever and is to me, the greatest Metallica song ever. It's the perfect opener. :metal Dark as hell and incredibly apocalyptic.
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That's a hell of an update.
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That's a hell of an update.
Thanks! :tup :metal There's some classic albums coming up in some of the next updates and the trend of odd picks will continue. :biggrin:
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Black Halo is probably second best Kamelot for me, Epica just beats it.
Interesting pick with SBS, great album. Dehumanizer is of course classic.
And great 'Tallica pick.
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Black Halo is probably second best Kamelot for me, Epica just beats it.
Interesting pick with SBS, great album. Dehumanizer is of course classic.
And great 'Tallica pick.
I like Epica, but I prefer the darker mood of TBH myself. But that trinity of Karma, Epica and The Black Halo is some of the absolute best power metal ever. :metal
I almost didn't put SBS on the list, since I love the Dio era so much. But I figured Ozzy deserved some respect and I am a very big fan of that album. :tup As I mentioned in the update, Dehumanizer is pretty personal for me. :)
Thanks! :metal
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Definitely OK to put two albums in one spot! I did it a few times.
Great picks, though I'm not into Kamelot.
Off Dehumanizer I love Buried Alive! So Killer and THAT chorus!!
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Nice picks though I haven't gotten into Dehumanizer nearly as much as H&H or Mob Rules.
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Definitely OK to put two albums in one spot! I did it a few times.
Great picks, though I'm not into Kamelot.
Off Dehumanizer I love Buried Alive! So Killer and THAT chorus!!
YES. I absolutely adore Buried Alive! Incredibly underrated Sabbath song right there! :metal
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Of the first 5 Ozzy Sabbath albums, I feel that SBS is one of the weaker ones out of the bunch, but they're all classics so it's still great. :tup I find MoR and Vol. 4 constantly fighting over the spot of my favorite Sabbath album though.
AJFA is all sorts of kick ass. One of their finest, and it's got hell of an atmosphere. :metal
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The last four tracks on Dehumanizer are absolutely great.
Also much :metal :metal for Black Halo and AJFA.
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That's a hell of an update.
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The last four tracks on Dehumanizer are absolutely great.
"I" is brilliant in it's attitude and delivery. Great album! SBS also changed my attitude toward heavy metal back in the day for exactly the part Mister Gold mentions in his write-up.
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Nice picks though I haven't gotten into Dehumanizer nearly as much as H&H or Mob Rules.
I only know a couple of songs on Dehumanizer. Will have to revisit as I've never heard the whole thing. Not sure why because I love DIO era Sabbath. I had gone off DIO at the time too though, so maybe that's why.
I'm not the biggest Ozzy-Sabs fan and I'm not that familiar with SBS (except the title track) though I did hear it in my formative years along with all the other albums as a mate was a huge fan.
Black Halo is great.
AJFA - I'm not the biggest Metallica fan either. I know there is some great stuff here but sound-wise its so shit and I found them to be such arseholes that I just didn't bother listening to them. They would slag off the music I liked which I always thought was short sighted because there was plenty of crossover between the "hair" bands and other metal. Not that Metallica suffered much :biggrin:
I'm not saying that people have to be angels for me to like them, and I listen to bands where this is definitely not the case, but sometimes it just puts me off.
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Lot's of great stuff on the last update! Black Halo made my list, and Dehumanizer seriously kicks ass.
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(https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410jplpqVoL.jpg)
21. Rush - Clockwork Angels (2012)
I think many of us would agree that Clockwork Angels surprised a lot of Rush fans. Very few fans could have possibly thought that the band still had an album of this sort of quality still in them. It's incredibly consistent in its high quality, with several highlights that immediately shot straight up into my personal Top 10 Rush Songs ever. Surprisingly this is the band's first actual concept album and it's a great one.
The story seems to act as a metaphor for the struggles that drummer Neil Peart has gone through over the years, most notably the deaths of his first wife and his daughter in the late 1990's. I think that uphill struggle is probably what gave songs such as The Garden such an emotional potency. I often get teary eyed when I listen to that beautiful song.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/65/Bruce_Dickinson_-_Accident_of_Birth_-_2005.jpg)
20. Bruce Dickinson – Accident of Birth (1997)
Here’s another controversial opinion for the peanut gallery: Bruce Dickinson’s solo band in the mid-to-late Nineties was a better band than Iron Maiden ever was. Boom, I said it. :yarr There are only one or two Iron Maiden albums that I rank as high as or higher than this album and The Chemical Wedding tops them all. But that chat will come later…
Accident of Birth revived Bruce’s career and it is undoubtedly one of the best albums he’s ever performed on. It’s melodic, it’s heavy and it is a lot of fun. Songs like the title track, Road to Hell and Darkside of Aquarius take the classic Maiden sound and update them with modern sensibilities, while also injecting them with some of Bruce's smartest lyrics ever. It's very akin to what Judas Priest did a few years prior with Painkiller and it works here almost as well as it did on Painkiller.
(https://www.chimesdesign.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Rust+In+Peace+Remaster+Megadeth++Rust+in+peace.jpeg)
19. Megadeth – Rust in Peace (1990)
I’m really tempted just to say “No comment” on this album. I see it on almost every single Top 50 Albums list that I have ever followed or gone through on this forum and we all know why: It’s Rust in Peace, for God’s sake. So yeah… No comment. :biggrin:
Edit: Fixed it into the right order.
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I'd given up on Rush tbh. Everything after Counterparts was awful to me, but CA was fantastic. Rush being Rush again. Some vocal hooks that didn't just sound like Geddy came up with them whilst yodeling along to the lyrics on the first read-through.
Rust In Peace is half an awesome album but several songs that don't hit the mark the same way.
I'm a late convert to AoB. Its ok but I'm not the biggest fan of Bruce solo. By the time he went solo I'd fallen out of love with what IM were doing too.
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I think Geddy's vocal work (his style?) has gone way downhill since Counterparts. I just don't like most of the way he sings now. It's no different on CA. But Clockwork Angels is a great album. There are some flaws, for example I love most of The Garden, but the end refrain doesn't do it for me. Glad to see it on this list.
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Wasn't a big fan of CA, but the other two are classic, especially AOB.
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Clockwork Angels is a good album, but Rush had set the bar so low, I wonder what effect that had on everyone's enjoyment. That said, it is quite solid.
What else to say about AoB and RiP. Two ESSENTIAL metal albums.
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excellent update!!
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Yes, FUCK YES, meh.
Never got into Rush. That album was the closest, but I still don't get why everyone smilees over them so much. Bruce Dickinson and Megadeth, on the other hand, now that's what I call an update! :tup
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It actually just occurred to me that I put CA in the wrong spot. It's supposed to go: 21. CA, 20. AoB and 19. RiP. My bad! *will fix momentarily* I think I put there because I knew going in that I was quoting The Garden for this update.
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Yes, FUCK YES, meh.
Never got into Rush. That album was the closest, but I still don't get why everyone smilees over them so much. Bruce Dickinson and Megadeth, on the other hand, now that's what I call an update! :tup
I guess you just had to be there at the time when there was little else like it. They blazed the trail.
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Nice update. :tup
CW was a pleasant surprise. The Garden and BU2B might be two of my favorite Rush songs now. The whole album is indeed pretty consistent and it blows my mind how these guys are still capable of pumping out something like this.
Good call on the Dickinson album. :metal Though I agree that TCW is his best solo album, I still say at least two Maiden records beat it out quite easily.
Yes, FUCK YES, meh.
Never got into Rush. That album was the closest, but I still don't get why everyone smilees over them so much.
Well, 2112 and A Farewell to Kings do exist. :P
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Clockwork Angels :tup
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(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/2/8/3/7/283700.jpg)
18. Seventh Wonder – The Great Escape (2010)
It’s funny how both of Kamelot’s modern singers have released better albums in other bands than they have with Kamelot. For Tommy Karevik, it’s The Great Escape and for Roy Khan, it’s… well, you’ll see. Anyway, let’s talk about The Great Escape: I normally don’t care much about Dream Theater rip-offs. Bands like Circus Maximus are fine, but since I’m not a real big Dream Theater fan to begin with, there’s not much staying power in bands that are clearly overly influenced by them.
So what makes Seventh Wonder stand out? Well, it’s the level of restraint that I hear from them. You can tell that these guys could easily show off their technical prowess as musicians, but they hold back for the songs and play only what is absolutely necessary to make the songs great. On top of that is Tommy Karevik, one of the best modern progressive metal vocalists out there today. His vocal melodies are absolutely sublime.
Not to mention the incredible title track. As far as 20+ minute long epics go, The Great Escape takes the cake for me. It's a half-hour of non-stop prog metal glory.
(https://www.on-parole.com/shop/31813-36463-thickbox/savatage-hall-of-the-mountain-king-2011-edition-re-release-digi-cd.jpg)
17. Savatage – Hall of the Mountain King (1987)
Almost two years ago, I went on a summer trip down to my birthplace in Pensacola, Florida for the first time since I was one year old. Needless to say, I had a blast there. While it was far too hot for my liking, there was a lot more there for me to like about the place. Towards the end of my visit, I got to go to the mall and went to the record store there. I ended up making two blind purchases, which would go on to introduce me to two of my favorite bands ever. This was one of those albums.
Ever since I've discovered Savatage, they've gone on to become one of my absolute favorite metal bands ever. Both eras with either Jon Oliva or Zak Stevens is fantastic and Criss Oliva was one of the most underrated guitarists of his time. There's a good reason that Dave Mustaine supposedly wanted Criss to join him in Megadeth right around the time he made Rust in Peace.
(https://www.metal-archives.com/images/4/4/0/440.jpg)
16. Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith (1984)
While I’m not normally a big fan of Priest’s material from the 80’s, there’s no denying the greatness that is Defenders of the Faith. It’s one of the band’s finest albums, period. It’s dark, it’s heavy and it’s flat-out awesome. The first half, or even the first three-quarters of the album, is incredibly consistent. It’s just a series of classic song after classic song.
It's listening to albums like Defenders or Painkiller that show how great a band Judas Priest used to be and how much the latest material from their forthcoming album pales in comparison. There's an attitude and mood on these sorts of albums that the band just doesn't seem to capture anymore, which is a damn shame.
In any event, I'm grateful for the absolute classic material that this band did bring us all back in the day. It's absolutely magical stuff.
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Great Escape = :tup
Hall of the Mountain King = :metal
Defenders of the Faith = :letam: :2metal: :metal
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I dont know seventh wonder, but Savatage and Priest are classics
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I dont know seventh wonder, but Savatage and Priest are classics
Do yourself a favor and check this song out ASAP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6WLAckjO0M
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That Seventh Wonder is pretty good, but I prefer Mercy Falls. Hall of the Mountain King is a stomping metal classic and DOTF would be top 3 JP for me.
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Definitely prefer Mercy Falls over TGE, but they're both great. Excellent choice. :tup
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Agreed with those who enjoy Mercy Falls more than TGE. Although, at least for me, that's more to do with the soft spot I have for intricate concept albums. Still, the first 6 tracks on TGE are my go-to fix when I'm in need of some Seventh Wonder but don't have enough time for a full album. While admittedly really bad on my part, SW is probably my favorite singalong music in the genre. Can't wait to see what they put out next.
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That Seventh Wonder is pretty good, but I prefer Mercy Falls. Hall of the Mountain King is a stomping metal classic and DOTF would be top 3 JP for me.
Definitely prefer Mercy Falls over TGE, but they're both great. Excellent choice. :tup
Agreed with those who enjoy Mercy Falls more than TGE. Although, at least for me, that's more to do with the soft spot I have for intricate concept albums. Still, the first 6 tracks on TGE are my go-to fix when I'm in need of some Seventh Wonder but don't have enough time for a full album. While admittedly really bad on my part, SW is probably my favorite singalong music in the genre. Can't wait to see what they put out next.
I actually love Mercy Falls a lot too. I would have included it on the list, but I never stopped to think of where it'd fit in exactly and what other album it'd tie with. I haven't heard it in quite awhile actually, so maybe it'd even tie with TGE. It's definitely pretty close between both albums though. :metal
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Great update :metal
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I bought the digital versions of TGE and Mercy Falls but they are both in iPod limbo land.
I should revisit.
I am not a Savatage fan at all but I love Defenders. It's a great album.
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Great update :metal
Thanks, man! :tup
I bought the digital versions of TGE and Mercy Falls but they are both in iPod limbo land.
I should revisit.
I am not a Savatage fan at all but I love Defenders. It's a great album.
Definitely revisit both TGE and Mercy Falls. I ended up checking out the latter for the first time in quite awhile and fell in love with it all over again. I think we might even see it on this list yet! :biggrin: If not, definitely expect it to be on my next version of the list in a year or two from now.
Shame about Savatage, I love 'em! But yeah, Defenders is an incredible album! :hefdaddy
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Great Escape = :tup
Hall of the Mountain King = :metal
Defenders of the Faith = :letam: :2metal: :metal
This.
3 great albums right there.
DotF might be my favourite studio Priest album (not counting Unleashed In The East as its at least supposed to be live).
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anyone think Defenders of the Faith's album cover is reminiscent of ELP's Tarkus? Weird animals with tank treads? Am I missing some established subculture or something? anyway, that Priest pick is solid.
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15. Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984)
This is where it's at. This is Rush's creative masterpiece. While I absolutely adore their work through out the Seventies, as well as most of their other albums from the Eighties, Rush has never put out a better album than Grace Under Pressure. The band manages to seamlessly blend together Alex's lush guitarwork with Geddy's textured and haunting keyboards to create a collection of sounds that is both beautiful and eerie. I get chills listening to this album. Unsurprisingly, some of Neil's best lyrics are on this album too.
While we all love to give Hugh Syme a lot of flack for how lazy and uninspired his album covers generally are these days, it's nice to go back sometimes and see covers where he did put in a lot of work. This is probably my favorite of his covers. It's so bright and colorful, but you can still sense that foreboding quality lurking within the music.
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Not among my absolute favorite Rush albums, but probably my favorite synth era release - I like the dark vibe of the songs and the balance between guitars and keyboards is perfect.
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this definitely has some of Alex's greatest solos. Afterimage and Between the Wheels come to mind immediately. I'm surprised since I can't remember anyone else listing this as their favorite Rush album. But there's nothing wrong with that! I also agree that the lyrics are often great. I think it was a step up from Signals in music and lyrics for sure.
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fantastic Rush album!
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this definitely has some of Alex's greatest solos. Afterimage and Between the Wheels come to mind immediately. I'm surprised since I can't remember anyone else listing this as their favorite Rush album. But there's nothing wrong with that! I also agree that the lyrics are often great. I think it was a step up from Signals in music and lyrics for sure.
Agreed. The whole package was great - one of my favourite album covers too. I was close to including this or Power Windows in my top 50 but I had a 2 album per band limit and 2112 and AFTK exist. I wore the vinyl out in the 80s though.
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Probably my favourite Rush album, amazing.
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Probably my favourite Rush album, amazing.
Nice pick, then! :metal :tup :hefdaddy
this definitely has some of Alex's greatest solos. Afterimage and Between the Wheels come to mind immediately. I'm surprised since I can't remember anyone else listing this as their favorite Rush album. But there's nothing wrong with that! I also agree that the lyrics are often great. I think it was a step up from Signals in music and lyrics for sure.
Between the Wheels is sooo good. :biggrin: I love that song to death!
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Between the Wheels is sooo good. :biggrin: I love that song to death!
agreed. probably my fave, I look forward to it at the end of the album.
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14. Conception - Flow (1997)
I mentioned earlier that both Tommy Karevik and Roy Khan have made better albums outside of their work in Kamelot. I made the mistake of forgetting to include Seventh Wonder's exquisite concept album, Mercy Falls, on this list, but I thankfully didn't make that mistake with Flow. This isn't Roy's masterpiece, in my opinion, but it's not far behind that album.
Conception's previous albums were all more musically complex and closer to the typical vision of what progressive metal is. Furthermore, Roy previously utilized a lot more of his upper vocal range on the previous albums and would even utilize it some more on his first two albums with Kamelot. Here he sounds eerily similar to how he sounded on The Black Halo. Flow is a smoother album and one of its strongest suits is how well it... err... flows. The songs are a little shorter than normal and more simplistic, but I wouldn't call this album a sell-out.
Why?
This album is incredibly atmospheric. In a way, this album is Conception's Rage for Order. It sounds and feels like an album that was way ahead of its time. In fact, I almost feel like modern music is just now starting to catch up with Flow.
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Looks like no one has any comments on this most recent update, so I'll just move along then. :yarr
(https://api.ning.com/files/uLYKT0O-VDxhWVVGN3pXdyVbX7si5IACGvJG9dgC65b6Us9g3NxVFgEL2PqclmERCCDdmWl2x*aOH-GMH1HVfQ__/peace_sells___megadeth_by_metalmalishad3e616i.jpg)
13. Megadeth – Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? (1986)
Forget about Rust in Peace, this is Megadeth’s best album. While the former lineup might have been a more technically proficient unit, the original Megadeth lineup had something special. They had that illustrious “feeling” that people talk about all the time. They could play their asses off, but there was also an emotive quality to their music. My guess is that probably stems from the presence of Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland.
Speaking of Mr. Poland, he is my personal favorite of any guitarist to ever play in Megadeth. His work on the first two albums was terrific and it was hardly surprising that Dave Mustaine tried to coax him to rejoin the band twice (once while making Rust in Peace and then again with The System Has Failed Us). While Poland hasn't had a very successful career post-Deth, he has put out some quality instrumental work.
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Yes yes yes yes yes! It's not my favourite Deth album, but it's up there. Poland is an incredible guitarist - Good Mourning/Black Friday would like to have word with anyone who disagrees. I do find the title track ever so slightly overrated - it's good, sure, but half the album is better, and it seems it's the only song that anyone ever talks about on this album. My favourites would be GM/BF, Devil's Island, Wake Up Dead and My Last Words. The cover is pretty bad, but the rest is amazing.
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Yes yes yes yes yes! It's not my favourite Deth album, but it's up there. Poland is an incredible guitarist - Good Mourning/Black Friday would like to have word with anyone who disagrees. I do find the title track ever so slightly overrated - it's good, sure, but half the album is better, and it seems it's the only song that anyone ever talks about on this album. My favourites would be GM/BF, Devil's Island, Wake Up Dead and My Last Words. The cover is pretty bad, but the rest is amazing.
YES. I absolutely love GM/BF! :metal :hefdaddy It seems we have similar opinions on the album, aside from rankings in the Deth albums and the cover. :tup
Have you ever listened to Conception? Great band! :tup
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Nope! I love Roy Khan's voice though, and the fact that you place it higher than The Black Halo is intriguing. Put it down on mah "list of stuff to check out".
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Nope! I love Roy Khan's voice though, and the fact that you place it higher than The Black Halo is intriguing. Put it down on mah "list of stuff to check out".
As I mentioned, there's another album yet that I think is Roy Khan's masterpiece. Flow is definitely worth checking out though! :tup
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Forget about Rust in Peace, this is Megadeth’s best album.
Nooooo way. Peace Sells is amazing but RIP is Megadeth at their absolute peak. Still, not gonna complain too much about it being here--not a bad song on it.
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you know I love Conception man..............just haven't been about.
I love about half of Flow but prefer the previous album.
Megadeth........like that too but much prefer RIP too.
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Top 3 Deth album.
Man, I gotta check Conception. A lot of you guys have bugged me time and time again to check them, but man, I gotta do it.
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you know I love Conception man..............just haven't been about.
I love about half of Flow but prefer the previous album.
Megadeth........like that too but much prefer RIP too.
Shh... don't ruin the surprise! :tup That being said, I love the whole album of Flow. But that's just me, I guess!
Top 3 Deth album.
Man, I gotta check Conception. A lot of you guys have bugged me time and time again to check them, but man, I gotta do it.
Dude, definitely check 'em out. :biggrin:
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I'm going to have to check Flow out. I recently just discovered Kamelot, and Kahn. He has an incredible voice.
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I'm going to have to check Flow out. I recently just discovered Kamelot, and Kahn. He has an incredible voice.
Also check out Parallel Minds and In Your Multitude. :tup :metal
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Also check out Parallel Minds and In Your Multitude. :tup :metal
Will do! Thanks man! It's funny, my wife put's up with most of my music. But she genuinly loves Kahn's voice on Black Halo. So hopefully your recommendations will give us some more common music. :tup
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Also check out Parallel Minds and In Your Multitude. :tup :metal
Will do! Thanks man! It's funny, my wife put's up with most of my music. But she genuinly loves Kahn's voice on Black Halo. So hopefully your recommendations will give us some more common music. :tup
Hopefully! But I should warn you that Conception is a bit different from Kamelot musically (they're like a heavier, proggier Queensryche) and Khan sings a little differently on most of their albums than how he usually did with Kamelot, as he uses more of his higher vocal register. If you want to get your wife into them, I'd probably start her off with Flow, as that's the album where he sounds closest to how he did on Black Halo.
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I definitely agree that Peace Sells... is the best 'Deth album. RiP may be the flashier, more famous album, but there is something very timeless about Peace Sells... If it wasn't for the presence of "I Ain't Superstitious," (which sucks something fierce) Peace Sells... would be the perfect thrash album.
Edit: Also props for having the best of Rush's 80's output on the list too. :)
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I saw Megadeth on the Peace Sells tour. Was awesome to see Gar live! :metal
A great album, for sure!!
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I saw Megadeth on the Peace Sells tour. Was awesome to see Gar live! :metal
A great album, for sure!!
All of my envy and respect, TAC! :censored :millahhhh :hefdaddy
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(https://www.metalblade.com/us/covers/ArchMatheos-SympatheticResonance.jpg)
12. Arch/Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance (2011)
This album was the other blind purchase I made in Pensacola and it was the album that led to my discovery of Fates Warning. While John Arch’s voice certainly takes some getting used to, I consider him to be one of the greatest vocalists in metal history. Yes, his tone is incredibly nasally and bizarre, he makes up for it with his positively brilliant vocal melodies. Arch’s voice slithers and coils around the music, accenting it perfectly. It’s like listening to Bruce Dickinson with a cold while he's trying to charm a cobra with only his voice.
The music itself is superb. It's like a modern day Rust in Peace, only more proggy.
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I have this (based on some very positive reviews at the time) but never got around to giving it a listen ::)
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I have this (based on some very positive reviews at the time) but never got around to giving it a listen ::)
LISTEN TO THIS ALBUM! ASAP. :lol :justjen :tup
It's absolutely glorious. :hefdaddy
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a little late, but thanks for putting Conception:Flow on your list, I hadn't heard of that. listening on youtube and it sounds great.
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The vocals kill Arch/Mattheos for me. And it felt one dimensional. Just didn't do it for me.
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Incense and Myrrh is absolutely my favorite track on the album too! Such a good disc.
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A/M is an incredible album. One of the best albums released in the last 5-10 years IMO.
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I definitely see some parallels between Ride The Lightning-Master of Puppets and Peace Sells-Rust in Peace. In both cases, I like the earlier one a lot, but I like the later one more. I just feel like it's a little more polished and the songwriting is better.
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11. Fates Warning – A Pleasant Shade of Gray (1997)
I love Fates Warning. They’re one of the greatest progressive metal bands ever. As far as the classic bands go (i.e. Queensryche, Dream Theater, Crimson Glory), these guys are my favorite. They have never really put out a bad album in their whole career. As far as the Ray Alder era goes, this is their masterpiece. Ray gives an incredible performance while at the absolute height of his vocal capabilities, Jim Matheos’ playing makes up for the lack of Frank Aresti and Kevin Moore’s contributions set up a special atmosphere. A special sentence is reserved for drum extraordinaire, Mark Zonder, who is one of my absolute favorite drummers ever. The man is wildly creative with his drumwork, especially with his appearances on his FW albums.
The idea of an album that is one massive song is not a new one. Nor is the idea of a song split up into multiple different pieces. But I don't really know if I can think of any other album where both ideas were implemented together as one; a whole album-sized song that is split up into a bunch of different parts. In more ways than one, this entire album is Jim Matheos' creative masterwork.
But the title of my favorite Fates Warning album belongs to another album...
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I agree with what you say, but to me, I feel APSOG is a bit overblown. That recurring theme drives me insane. And Jim Matheos has to be the most depressing guy on earth.
I will say that three songs on this are among my FW Top 10.
Part 6 We're Not Children Anymore
Part 9 Where You Are (I Am)
Part 11 Do You Think That I
Those are the titles I gave them on my iPod. ;D
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Awaken The Guardian?
I must admit I've only listened to APSOG a couple of times..............liked it ,didn't love it , certainly didn't dislike it. It's one of the few albums where I just gave up on rating the individual tracks and just did an album rating (around 75- 80% which for me is very good).
Funny you should mention Zonder. I'm not normally a big one for finding that drummers really "speak" to me during the listening experience but the one thing that stands out for me now is how impressed I was with Zonder's creative drumming on this disc.
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Dayum... how was I not following this Top 50? Some great albums fired off, some I never got into, and some that are kinda 'meh' in my books (Arch-Matheos), but no time to read through 5 pages of comments. Nice to see the Rush love for CA... that's a Top 5 Rush album, which is impressive given it's like their 400th album. I too prefer Mercy Falls, and JJ... go listen to some Seventh Wonder ffs!
Scrop, you're dead to me for not smileing all over Rush.
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Dayum... how was I not following this Top 50? Some great albums fired off, some I never got into, and some that are kinda 'meh' in my books (Arch-Matheos), but no time to read through 5 pages of comments. Nice to see the Rush love for CA... that's a Top 5 Rush album, which is impressive given it's like their 400th album. I too prefer Mercy Falls, and JJ... go listen to some Seventh Wonder ffs!
Scrop, you're dead to me for not smileing all over Rush.
Glad to see you here, jingle! :tup
Awaken The Guardian?
Perhaps. Perhaps not. It could be any of the three John Arch-era FW albums, after all. They all have their strengths! ;)
I must admit I've only listened to APSOG a couple of times..............liked it ,didn't love it , certainly didn't dislike it. It's one of the few albums where I just gave up on rating the individual tracks and just did an album rating (around 75- 80% which for me is very good).
Funny you should mention Zonder. I'm not normally a big one for finding that drummers really "speak" to me during the listening experience but the one thing that stands out for me now is how impressed I was with Zonder's creative drumming on this disc.
Keep listening to it! It's a grower if there ever was one! :tup
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Awesome Fates Warning pick!!
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Never really got into FW - I got an album of their's free when I joined a legit downloading site many years ago (the one with the yellow tinged cover with a gas mask wearing bloke on the front ) I thought it was awful at the time. Admittedly it was years ago and my taste has altered a little over that time. Will give it another go.
I have listened to and enjoyed Parallels though.
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Never really got into FW - I got an album of their's free when I joined a legit downloading site many years ago (the one with the yellow tinged cover with a gas mask wearing bloke on the front ) I thought it was awful at the time. Admittedly it was years ago and my taste has altered a little over that time. Will give it another go.
I have listened to and enjoyed Parallels though.
Disconnected. A great album, imo. But yeah, I'd definitely give FW another go. However if you dig Parallels, check that and Perfect Symmetry out first. :tup
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Never really got into FW - I got an album of their's free when I joined a legit downloading site many years ago (the one with the yellow tinged cover with a gas mask wearing bloke on the front ) I thought it was awful at the time. Admittedly it was years ago and my taste has altered a little over that time. Will give it another go.
I have listened to and enjoyed Parallels though.
Disconnected. A great album, imo. But yeah, I'd definitely give FW another go. However if you dig Parallels, check that and Perfect Symmetry out first. :tup
When I saw the edited thread title I thuoght it was going to be the Phineas and Ferb soundtrack. My kids have brainwashed me with it!
"Hey Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today".
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Never really got into FW - I got an album of their's free when I joined a legit downloading site many years ago (the one with the yellow tinged cover with a gas mask wearing bloke on the front ) I thought it was awful at the time. Admittedly it was years ago and my taste has altered a little over that time. Will give it another go.
I have listened to and enjoyed Parallels though.
Disconnected. A great album, imo. But yeah, I'd definitely give FW another go. However if you dig Parallels, check that and Perfect Symmetry out first. :tup
Perfect Symmetry is more progressive. I'd direct Lowdz from Parallels right into Inside Out. It's much easier on the ears and way more accessible.
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Never really got into FW - I got an album of their's free when I joined a legit downloading site many years ago (the one with the yellow tinged cover with a gas mask wearing bloke on the front ) I thought it was awful at the time. Admittedly it was years ago and my taste has altered a little over that time. Will give it another go.
I have listened to and enjoyed Parallels though.
Disconnected. A great album, imo. But yeah, I'd definitely give FW another go. However if you dig Parallels, check that and Perfect Symmetry out first. :tup
Perfect Symmetry is more progressive. I'd direct Lowdz from Parallels right into Inside Out. It's much easier on the ears and way more accessible.
I dunno. Inside Out is more melodic, but it's also pretty moody imo. P.S. is like a precursor to Images and Words imo, so I think the more progressive aspects of that album wouldn't be very jarring.
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I don't know if I'd characterize Inside Out as moody. APSOG is MOODY.
I think the one two punch of Parallels and Inside Out was FW's sweet spot.
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I don't know if I'd characterize Inside Out as moody. APSOG is MOODY.
I think the one two punch of Parallels and Inside Out was FW's sweet spot.
APSoG is definitely moody.
See, that's where I have to disagree. I like Parallels fine enough, but I never really got the hype behind that album. Quite a few FW albums I like better personally.
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Love both those updates.
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I don't know if I'd characterize Inside Out as moody. APSOG is MOODY.
I think the one two punch of Parallels and Inside Out was FW's sweet spot.
APSoG is definitely moody.
See, that's where I have to disagree. I like Parallels fine enough, but I never really got the hype behind that album. Quite a few FW albums I like better personally.
For me, I have always found FW maddeningly inconsistent. I mean, they are all over the place musically. Some actually see it as their strength, which is probably how you view it. I just find Parallels a very focused and complete album. I feel like FW have stumbled their way through most of their albums, but with Parallels, it fires on all cylinders.
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Parallels is by far their best album.
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10. Iron Maiden - A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
Here it is, folks. My favorite Iron Maiden album. While Seventh Son of a Seventh Son isn't far behind, I have always had a deep love for this album. It's dark, it's complex, it's loud and it's raw. This album is one of the few times I actually really liked the production that Kevin Shirley provided for an Iron Maiden album. There are so many songs on this album that I love; Different Worlds, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, For the Greater Good of God, Lord of Light and The Legacy all rank as some of my absolute favorite Maiden songs.
But more importantly though, I think what gives AMoLaD an edge is the memories I hold with this album. I have always had a passion and desire for writing. I like to tell stories and I like to picture them in my head too. The most productive point in my life thus far as a writer was the summer of 2009, when my family and I did a massive cross-country trip from Kansas to South Dakota and back, and then from Kansas to Indiana to North Carolina, before finally returning back to Kansas. I picked up this album right during the middle of this extensive trip and listened to it over and over again as I wrote my stories and gazed at the passing scenery I saw.
The album ended up being the perfect soundtrack to accompany me on that journey and definitely acted as the mental soundtrack to the scenes I pictured in my head.
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AMOLAD is a masterpiece. Cool story too, bro.
As a lifelong Maiden fan, I am still amazed at how incredible this album is.
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It is indeed a masetrpiece, and probably the Maiden album that took the longest to grow on me.
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Excellent album. Not a bad track in the entire listing.
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It is indeed a masetrpiece, and probably the Maiden album that took the longest to grow on me.
Funnily enough, that album clicked with me pretty easily. Yet it took me five years to really understand and appreciate The X Factor. Kinda ironic, considering how similar they are to each other.
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It is indeed a masetrpiece, and probably the Maiden album that took the longest to grow on me.
Funnily enough, that album clicked with me pretty easily. Yet it took me five years to really understand and appreciate The X Factor. Kinda ironic, considering how similar they are to each other.
OK..you just opened a can of worms. :lol
The X Factor is obviously the most polarizing Maiden album. You either love it or you hate it. I have my views which fall in the middle I guess, but your post really gave it some clarity for me.
I have always maintained that the X Factor had the impetus of being an absolute monster of an an album. But I find it has a Demo quality, not just the sound, but in the writing. Awkward transitions, unseasoned verses and choruses.
But after reading your post, it sums up what I've been trying to say about The X Factor, and it is this; AMOLAD is what The X Factor could have been.
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It is indeed a masetrpiece, and probably the Maiden album that took the longest to grow on me.
Funnily enough, that album clicked with me pretty easily. Yet it took me five years to really understand and appreciate The X Factor. Kinda ironic, considering how similar they are to each other.
And yet I liked TXF from the start. :lol
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Parallels is by far their best album.
My fave too but it's the one I grew up with which tends to add a lot of bias. I do need to give some of their other stuff a lot more time. FW are a band that I have struggled to place (in or out) of my top 50 as they are great in many ways but , even on great discs like Parallels I feel there's something missing. It's all a bit sterile/mechanical.......hard to describe. Anyway - the fact that they are even considered for my Top 50 says enough - I certainly rate them.
Maiden have never connected to me to anywhere near the extent of most here - I'll give this album a shot though.
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It is indeed a masetrpiece, and probably the Maiden album that took the longest to grow on me.
Funnily enough, that album clicked with me pretty easily. Yet it took me five years to really understand and appreciate The X Factor. Kinda ironic, considering how similar they are to each other.
And yet I liked TXF from the start. :lol
I think this only adds further evidence to TAC's hypothesis!
OK..you just opened a can of worms. :lol
The X Factor is obviously the most polarizing Maiden album. You either love it or you hate it. I have my views which fall in the middle I guess, but your post really gave it some clarity for me.
I have always maintained that the X Factor had the impetus of being an absolute monster of an an album. But I find it has a Demo quality, not just the sound, but in the writing. Awkward transitions, unseasoned verses and choruses.
But after reading your post, it sums up what I've been trying to say about The X Factor, and it is this; AMOLAD is what The X Factor could have been.
I can definitely see your point there! However I do like TXF a lot too, as we all already know. :lol I find it to be a flawed masterpiece. :tup
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For me, its a toss up betweeen AMOLAD and BNW for my favorite reunion Maiden disc. Fantastic album.
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A little late but: APSOG :hefdaddy
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AMOLAD is the only Maiden album since SSoaSS that I ever go back to. The rest were just... boring.
I never got into XF - mainly due to BB being an awful singer. *ducks and hides* I actually prefer VXI to it.
Anyway, AMOLAD is a great album though the production leaves alot to be desired - though that's often the case with Maiden and there's really no justification for that other than SH writes a great tune but must be stone deaf.
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AMOLAD is the only Maiden album since SSoaSS that I ever go back to. The rest were just... boring.
I never got into XF - mainly due to BB being an awful singer. *ducks and hides* I actually prefer VXI to it.
Anyway, AMOLAD is a great album though the production leaves alot to be desired - though that's often the case with Maiden and there's really no justification for that other than SH writes a great tune but must be stone deaf.
Blaze certainly isn't a great singer in technical terms, but by god, he was soulful. His dark voice really complimented the dark music on TXF, imo. :tup
Yeah, Harris really should step away from being so heavily involved in the production of Maiden albums. The production on The Final Frontier really takes away from that album, imo. However, I think that the production on AMoLaD works really well for the album.
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9. Conception - In Your Multitude (1995)
Here it is, folks: Roy Khan's masterpiece. I only recently got into Conception, but I can't seem to really stop coming back to their albums. This band is just so addictive! That statement is especially true for In Your Multitude. Not only is Roy Khan at a peak vocally and lyrically on this album, but the band around him is incredible.
Especially guitarist Tore Ostby. This guy is a stunner if I've ever heard one: Imagine a heavier, slightly more complex Chris DeGarmo. Now imagine him with a heavy Latin and Jazz influence. That should give you an idea of how mindblowingly awesome Ostby is a guitarist. His work in his latter band (Ark) is also phenomenal and I hope to hear more from this guy at some point in the near future. The metal world is a much better place with him around.
The rhythm work on this album is also terrific; I love how the bass slithers and coils around the rest of the band on songs like "Solar Serpent" or "Carnal Comprehension" and the drum work on the whole album is great too!
As I said before, I personally feel that this is Khan's lyrical peak. While this album doesn't tell any singular story, like his Epica and Black Halo albums with Kamelot, I feel that Khan's work in Conception reveals a very interesting aspect about him; his lyrics in each of his albums appear to act as a medium to where exactly he was in his spiritual life. This carries over into Kamelot too; the story of Ariel really seems to come off more as Khan's personal search for God and an understanding of divinity. This is Roy at a darker point in his life, a younger man. I guess I like this set of lyrics the best because I think it's probably the closest to where I am in my own struggle right now.
In many ways, I think Roy Khan was the man that many prog metal fans always pictured Geoff Tate to be. A true artist. Sure, Tate certainly influenced Khan as a vocalist, but I've heard so many times about how fans from Queensryche's hey-day always saw Tate as a class act and an absolute genius. Maybe I had to have been there to get that, as my vision of the man is incredibly tainted by the man we all know him as today. On the other hand, Khan was always a man chronicling his personal journey and left the metal scene once he'd come to the end of that journey.
While it's heartbreaking for me and other fans of him, if this means that Roy Khan is in a better and happier place in his life now than when he wrote these terrific albums, then I wish him nothing but the best.
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You know how highly I rate this one :tup Ostby also does some nice playing on the old solo album from D C Cooper - one track in particular which unfortunately isn't on Youtube.
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You know how highly I rate this one :tup Ostby also does some nice playing on the old solo album from D C Cooper - one track in particular which unfortunately isn't on Youtube.
I would not be surprised at all if this album ends up even higher on the next list I do. I just love it more and more with each repeated listen! :tup
I'll need to check out his work with DC Cooper then! :metal
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I just don't get AMOLAD - the worst guitar solos of any of their albums, and songs like TLD and FTGGOG have choruses and pre-choruses that repeat way too much - even for Maiden. Certainly some good stuff, but not a classic for me. No offense.
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another conception album for me to listen to. good!
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another conception album for me to listen to. good!
It's a terrific album! :tup Be sure to also check out Parallel Minds too! :metal
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Fuck, another Conception!
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Goddammit am I behind on this. That Arch/Matheos release is great, I love love love APSOG and AMOLAD, and that Conception album will be checked out, mainly because the description of the guitarist instantly gave me a boner.
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Fuck, another Conception!
Yup! And if I could let myself do three albums or more for this list ( :biggrin: ), there'd be at least one other Conception album somewhere on this list too (Parallel Minds).
If you like Kamelot and Ark, you need to check this band out! :hefdaddy
Goddammit am I behind on this. That Arch/Matheos release is great, I love love love APSOG and AMOLAD, and that Conception album will be checked out, mainly because the description of the guitarist instantly gave me a boner.
Been wondering where you were, man! :tup And yeah, Ostby has become one of my personal favorite guitarists ever. Love his work. :metal :hefdaddy
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(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6tJHBv82MIM/TRqM5QdzLgI/AAAAAAAABLc/6Nf3euJx-BU/s1600/Judas_Priest_Painkiller.jpg)
8. Judas Priest - Painkiller (1990)
What can I say? It’s Painkiller.
This album is one of the absolute best albums in metal history. Right when it seemed like Judas Priest was out for the count, they released this jewel of an album. This isn't just the sound of a band updating themselves to match their younger, more youthful rival bands. This is the sound of a band on the precipice of self-destruction. This is the sound of a band that's at their wits' end and they're going the road of Mad Max, snapping loose and giving a great big "F*** OFF" to the rest of the world.
As most of us already know, the band was in the process of a nasty legal debacle while they made this album. On top of that, their past two albums had not been nearly as well-received by their fans as they'd hoped them to be and they'd lost their decade-long drummer. All the while, bands such as Metallica and King Diamond were pummeling the scene like there was no tomorrow, making Priest seem like a rather outdated band.
And then, like a miracle, this album happened. Something in the whole band snapped. They hired a new drummer, one who was capable of playing far more technical and complex stuff than his predecessor ever was capable of. A drummer whose talents echoed back to Priest's previous drummers in the 70's.
The whole band is in top shape. KK and Glenn are in incredible form, Ian is doing his usual thing and Rob gives the performance of his entire career.
While I think there may be another album or two that I would rank as the quintessential metal album, Painkiller is certainly a valid candidate for the rank and its title track is undoubtedly the quintessential metal song.
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FASTER THAN A BULLET
TERRYFING SCREAM
ENRAGED AND FULL OF ANGER
HE'S HALF MAN AND HALF MACHINE
While I love this album, the lyrics always make me chuckle. Priest have never been one for great lyrics (though they have certainly had their moments - Beyond the Realms of Death comes to mind), the ones of this album are really cheese topped with extra cheesy cheese. Luckily the rest of the album is so good that I don't care. Some of the best guitar playing in metal, that's for sure.
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:metal :metal :tup
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Amazing album. I greatly approve of this choice.
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:metal :metal :tup
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Painkiller blew me away when it came out. Priest needed to come out swinging with this album and they surely did. They first leg of that your was great. Had Megadeth (RiP tour) and Testament open.
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Whilst not my favourite JP album (that would probably be Defenders), its a great album. It's metal alright.
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FASTER THAN A BULLET
TERRYFING SCREAM
ENRAGED AND FULL OF ANGER
HE'S HALF MAN AND HALF MACHINE
While I love this album, the lyrics always make me chuckle. Priest have never been one for great lyrics (though they have certainly had their moments - Beyond the Realms of Death comes to mind), the ones of this album are really cheese topped with extra cheesy cheese. Luckily the rest of the album is so good that I don't care. Some of the best guitar playing in metal, that's for sure.
Yeah, that's definitely true. I think the 70's albums generally had the best lyrics from the band and the stuff on Painkiller is cheesier than most pizzas I've eaten. It's for that reason that the album isn't ranked even higher than it is.
Painkiller blew me away when it came out. Priest needed to come out swinging with this album and they surely did. They first leg of that your was great. Had Megadeth (RiP tour) and Testament open.
Holy shit. TAC, I continue to envy your incredible luck.
Whilst not my favourite JP album (that would probably be Defenders), its a great album. It's metal alright.
It's definitely pretty close between Defenders and Painkiller for me. Both are great albums! :metal
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(https://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/119/119080.jpg/1000x1000.jpg)
7. Savatage - Edge of Thorns (1993)
Two years ago, I went back to my hometown of Pensacola, Florida for the first time since I was a baby. As I've already detailed in this countdown, I ended up making two blind purchases during that visit that led me to discovering two bands who would go on to become two of my personal favorite bands ever; Savatage's Hall of the Mountain King and Arch/Matheos' Sympathetic Resonance (which led me to discovering Fates Warning).
After falling in love with both albums, I ended up checking out other works by those bands. I really came to like Savatage right away. They were heavy and technical, while also being incredibly melodic and symphonic. There was an intelligence to them that wasn't quite present in some of their modern successors, such as Nightwish or Kamelot.
I still remember hearing Edge of Thorns for the first time. To be blunt, I despised it. :lol For some reason, Zak Stevens sounded incredibly dull and generic on the opening title track and I mentally shut out the rest of the album as I groaned and waited to go back to listening to Gutter Ballet. I decided then that I just wasn't as interested in latter Savatage as I was in the earlier band. Jon Oliva was the voice of the band and that was that.
A year later, I ended up checking out some of the other Stevens albums and found myself really enjoying them. But I told myself that I still hated Edge of Thorns and that I would just avoid that album at all costs.
Shortly after that, right around the time Queensryche's debut album with Todd La Torre came out, a fellow member here (I think it was jjrock88? Either him or jammindude) posted a live video either here or at the Breakdown Room of Todd making a guest appearance at a Jon Oliva's Pain concert in honor of his deceased friend, Matt La Porte. Sure enough, the song Todd sang was Edge of Thorns. For whatever reason, the song finally clicked with me. I must have watched and rewatched that video so many times.
Finally, I decided to give Edge of Thorns another try. This time, it all clicked. Savatage was in top form, with Criss giving a final performance so incredible that it alone made his death all the more tragic. Zak Stevens blows down the gates with his pipes on this album and sealed his spot in my mind as Savatage's vocalist.
But was it my favorite Savatage album?
At first, the answer was a definite "No." I finally loved the album, but I found myself often wishing that it was a tad heavier, like A Handful of Rain or Hall of the Mountain King. Or perhaps more complex like Streets. At that stage, I simply could not decide on a favorite album. All of them had something great to give.
Over the past winter though, I suddenly got nostalgic. I kept thinking back to my trip to Pensacola and how it felt like home to me, even though I had no memories of actually living there. Then I remembered my years living in and many trips back to Charleston, South Carolina. The Spanish moss, the swamps, so on and so forth. All of that led my mind to dwell back to Edge of Thorns... and I gave it a listen for the first time in awhile. Then I listened to it again and again and again.
Edge of Thorns fits my memories of those places so perfectly that it has come to resonate with me as the childhood album I never actually heard. As a result, while it isn't the most complex or the heaviest album Savatage ever did, it resonates with me the most.
The final reason I award this album the seventh spot on my Top 50 Albums list... My grandfather passed away on the exact same day that Criss Oliva did: October 17th, 1993. After finally fulfilling his dream of learning how to fly by piloting for what would be his first and last time, my grandfather dropped dead in a hanger from a heart attack.
I never knew him. I was less than a year old at that point, having only been born that Feburary, but apparently my grandfather became an incredibly different man in the final months of his life after I was born. I've heard plenty of stories from my dad about this. He'd gone from being a cold man and father to a bright and energetic grandfather full of optimism and sought to redeem himself in the eyes of his son.
I find it incredibly eerie that one of my all-time favorite guitarists not only came from my home state, but also that he died the exact same day as my grandfather.
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Holy shit - now you really are on my wavelength. Great to see this album get a mention. :metal
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I'm a little like you were, I think. I'm still in the phase that I don't like Zak's work in Savatage all that much - my favourite Savatage releases are Gutter Ballet and Poets and Madmen. Not giving up on the Zak phase though, as there is a lot of stuff there that I dig musically... I just don't dig his vox AT ALL. Edge of Thorns (the track) is great though.
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Great pick again.
My 1st Sava-album was Gutter Ballet when it came out. 'd never heard anything by them but was drawn in by the cover. I loved the album but wasn't that enamoured with Jon's voice. That was the weak link for me. Still, it didn't put me off as the songs and the atmosphere were strong. Streets cam along and that was an even better album, even Jon sounded great.
When I heard Jon wasn't the singer anymore I was hoping they traded up, and they did. WHilst not the greatest vocalist either Zac was good enough.
This is a very good Savatage album - everything from HotMK has been at least good though.
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Read the thread title and nearly shit myself as I knew it was EOT. Such an incredible album, with simply some of the greatest guitar playing I have ever heard. He Carves His Stone is one of my fav songs of all time. So underrated.
Painkiller of course, is perfect.
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He Carves His Stone is one of my fav songs of all time. So underrated.
Same.......if I was naming the thread for this album it would've been "well a man's gotta do what a man must do" ;D
Another little highlight for me of Criss's playing was his propensity to throw in a sudden change of pace and for that reason another fave for me is the solo section in Follow Me and how that moves the song in a different direction.
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Follow Me is probably second best for me. The way his playing just builds and builds in that song is incredible. Another one is the melodic and perfectly phrased solo in Miles Away.
Also, Degrees of Sanity with it's key change from F# to the wonderful A minor tapping. Also, the twists and turns of the solo in the title track. Fuck, the whole thing is filled with guitar beauty.
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Follow Me is probably second best for me. The way his playing just builds and builds in that song is incredible. Another one is the melodic and perfectly phrased solo in Miles Away.
Also, Degrees of Sanity with it's key change from F# to the wonderful A minor tapping. Also, the twists and turns of the solo in the title track. Fuck, the whole thing is filled with guitar beauty.
My favorite song on the album is definitely He Carves His Stone. Follow Me is a close second though. :tup :metal
Criss definitely went out on a high note. Probably his best playing on any 'Tage album.
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Hell yeah!!
My favorite from Savatage. The whole disc kicks ass, especially the title track. Awesome pick
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Hell yeah!!
My favorite from Savatage. The whole disc kicks ass, especially the title track. Awesome pick
Thanks man! As I mentioned in the article, I'm pretty sure you had a role in my loving this disk! So thanks for that as well! :metal :tup
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(https://www.thegauntlet.com/pix/nevermore-dreaming_neon_black.jpg)
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1f/Dead_Heart_in_a_Dead_World_album_cover.jpg)
6. Nevermore - Dreaming Neon Black (1999), Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)
a. Nevermore was one of the very first metal bands I ever got into, along with Black Sabbath, Megadeth and Metallica. In fact, I'm pretty sure Nevermore was the first progressive metal band I ever got into too. Not only was I blown away by Jeff Loomis's incredible skills as a guitarist, but I loved how song-oriented the band was too. It was all very technical, yet also very tasteful. Like probably a lot of other people, it was This Godless Endeavor that got me into the band, but it soon dropped to around third place in my personal ranking of Nevermore's albums as I explored their work.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Nevermore's absolute best album is Dreaming Neon Black. Bar none. It is quite possibly the most 'dense' album I have ever listened to. Whenever I give it a whirl, I immediately get a physical reaction listening to it. I feel like I'm drowning in the music, be it because of the album's haunting conceptual story or because of the avant garde style production by Neil Kernon. There are only a select few albums out there in the world that are better than this album.
b. While Dreaming Neon Black is my favorite of Nevermore's works, it is admittedly not an album that I can just listen to at any given time. I really have to be in the mood to listen to it. While this somewhat applies to Nevermore as a whole, due to their incredibly nihilistic nature, it is especially true for Dreaming Neon Black.
When I'm in the mood for Nevermore, but not Dreaming Neon Black, I go for Dead Heart in a Dead World. There are so many awesome songs on that album, including what is probably my favorite Nevermore song, The River Dragon Has Come.
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I may be on my own here but I've never understood the fuss about Nevermore. They're good at what they do , quite listenable metal but that's about it for me. I find it all rather cold and am yet to hear a Nevermore song that really draws me in.
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I may be on my own here but I've never understood the fuss about Nevermore. They're good at what they do , quite listenable metal but that's about it for me. I find it all rather cold and am yet to hear a Nevermore song that really draws me in.
There is definitely a coldness to Nevermore. I think that's probably why I can only listen to them from time to time and not as often as I can listen to my other favorite bands. But when I am in the mood? Nevermore is the shit.
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Funny how neither of those two albums would even be in consideration for my favourite Nevermore release (ever-lasting battle between TGE and TPOE), I find it very very hard to care about that, simply due to the fact that both of them are so ridiculously awesome anyway. No album with The Heart Collector, The River Dragon Has Come and Engines of Hate or I Am the Dog, Dreaming Neon Black and Deconstruction could ever be anything less than a stellar release.
NEVERMORE TO FEEL THE PAIN
THE HEART COLLECTOR SANG
AND I WON'T BE FEELING HOLLOW
FOR SO LONG
:metal :metal :metal + dem feelz
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Funny how neither of those two albums would even be in consideration for my favourite Nevermore release (ever-lasting battle between TGE and TPOE), I find it very very hard to care about that, simply due to the fact that both of them are so ridiculously awesome anyway. No album with The Heart Collector, The River Dragon Has Come and Engines of Hate or I Am the Dog, Dreaming Neon Black and Deconstruction could ever be anything less than a stellar release.
NEVERMORE TO FEEL THE PAIN
THE HEART COLLECTOR SANG
AND I WON'T BE FEELING HOLLOW
FOR SO LONG
:metal :metal :metal + dem feelz
I really need to listen to TPoE more often. I've heard it a few times before and I've always liked it, but I've never paid much attention to it for some reason. But yeah, just about any Nevermore album is awesome. To quote an old friend of mine, "A bad Nevermore album is still far better an album than most bands will ever put out anyway."
Out of curiosity, what do you guys think my Top 5 is going to look like? :biggrin: :lol
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The only one that I feel comfortable on being there is Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian (or Spectre... dammit, just remembered that that one exists as well among the Arch-era albums... well that and Night on Brocken, but I sincerely hope it's NOT that one) and The Sound of Perseverance... if that hasn't been on the list already, too lazy to go back and check. Would have thought that Dreaming Neon Black would be in the Top 5, but obviously it isn't. I'd also normally think of a DT record, but I think you told me once you're not that big a DT fan, so I wouldn't hold out for that either.
EDIT: By the way, I'm listening to Edge of Thorns again, and I'm finding it a lot better than I remember it being. The guitar playing is definitely awesome, and I'm liking Zak much more this time around. I doubt it will beat Poets and Madmen for me, though, there's just something magical about that album. :heart
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There's already been 2 DT albums which is the limit.
I have no idea - every time you're spot on my taste the next one disturbs the equilibrium ;D
Perhaps Awaken The Guardian and some Symphony X?
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The only one that I feel comfortable on being there is Fates Warning's Awaken the Guardian (or Spectre... dammit, just remembered that that one exists as well among the Arch-era albums... well that and Night on Brocken, but I sincerely hope it's NOT that one) and The Sound of Perseverance... if that hasn't been on the list already, too lazy to go back and check. Would have thought that Dreaming Neon Black would be in the Top 5, but obviously it isn't. I'd also normally think of a DT record, but I think you told me once you're not that big a DT fan, so I wouldn't hold out for that either.
EDIT: By the way, I'm listening to Edge of Thorns again, and I'm finding it a lot better than I remember it being. The guitar playing is definitely awesome, and I'm liking Zak much more this time around. I doubt it will beat Poets and Madmen for me, though, there's just something magical about that album. :heart
There's already been 2 DT albums which is the limit.
I have no idea - every time you're spot on my taste the next one disturbs the equilibrium ;D
Perhaps Awaken The Guardian and some Symphony X?
I already put up my two favorite DT albums on the list, Awaken and Six Degrees. They were pretty early on in the list. :lol
I can also confirm that Night on Brocken is not in this list. :tup :lol I actually have a tie in my spirit for what my favorite Fates Warning album is (one is Awaken the Guardian, the other is another Alder album), so I've had a bit of a struggle deciding which one would be up here. But in spirit, they're both there in their spot, since I already included A Pleasant Shade of Gray (which I see as being Jim Matheos' creative masterpiece and the most ambitious Alder album).
Glad to hear you're enjoying Edge! And yeah, P&M is a great album. I need to listen to it again. Haven't dug it up in awhile.
Here's a hint for tomorrow's update... :biggrin:
(https://www.picturesnew.com/media/images/aliens-meme-image.jpeg)
I'll be very surprised and impressed if anyone guesses what's next. :biggrin:
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:omg: :omg: I knew I wasn't the only one that loved Charlie Dominici's O3 trilogy!!! :omg: :omg:
In all seriousness, the only one related with aliens that would fit your taste, though I don't know if you listen to the band is Evergrey's In Search for Truth.
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:omg: :omg: I knew I wasn't the only one that loved Charlie Dominici's O3 trilogy!!! :omg: :omg:
:lol I actually like what little I've heard from Dominici... which is only from When Dream and Day Unite. :lol
In all seriousness, the only one related with aliens that would fit your taste, though I don't know if you listen to the band is Evergrey's In Search for Truth.
I actually haven't listened to Evergrey. I'd been meaning to check 'em out though. I think I'll check 'em out after I finish the list. :tup
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Definitely do so! They're prog metal, but not your typical prog metal stuff, and I think you'd really dig their stuff. I'd recommed starting one of the following three: In Search of Truth, The Inner Circle or Recreation Day.
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Star One - Space Metal :huh:
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Definitely do so! They're prog metal, but not your typical prog metal stuff, and I think you'd really dig their stuff. I'd recommed starting one of the following three: In Search of Truth, The Inner Circle or Recreation Day.
I'm intrigued and excited already! :tup
I'll say that the band/album that I'm referring to in my hint is a band I've actually been very quiet about liking. In fact, I don't think I've actually said anything here about them. I really got into them awhile back and decided to keep 'em as a bit of a surprise for this list. :lol :metal
Star One - Space Metal :huh:
Nope. :lol Haven't listened to them either.
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2 great Nevermore albums there.
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2 great Nevermore albums there.
Thanks man! :tup
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Have never been able to get into Nevermore. Something grating to me. It's decent enough metal, but I've never found them to be very dynamic.
Just listened to some of Edge Of Thorns. Zac era Savatage just feels slightly generic to me. But I'll say this, he's a much better singer than the Possessed Barny.
(https://drunkard.com/images/barney-satan-color.jpg)
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2 great Nevermore albums there.
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Have never been able to get into Nevermore. Something grating to me. It's decent enough metal, but I've never found them to be very dynamic.
Just listened to some of Edge Of Thorns. Zac era Savatage just feels slightly generic to me. But I'll say this, he's a much better singer than the Possessed Barny.
(https://drunkard.com/images/barney-satan-color.jpg)
Nevermore is definitely not for everyone. :tup
:rollin :rollin I laughed way harder than I probably should have.
2 great Nevermore albums there.
:tup
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I figure I might as well be a bit more creative with these last five update subtitles. :biggrin:
(https://friedchickenandmetal.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/voivod-the-outer-limits.jpg)
(https://c376026.r26.cf1.rackcdn.com/781676662227.jpg)
5. Voivod - The Outer Limit (1993), Mastodon - Leviathan (2004)
a. As I mentioned last night, I had a feeling that no one would be able to correctly guess this pick. I only got into Voivod a couple of months ago, but I quickly fell in love with these guys. I was about to post a thread for them here, since they don't seem to have any official thread here (yet), when I realized that I could use this as an opportunity to sort of "introduce" them to folks here as a surprise entry in my Top 50 list. That they managed to crack my Top 5 so quickly speaks of their quality. :metal
A very interesting and incredibly awesome aspect about Voivod is that just about all of their album artwork is down by their drummer, "Away." His sketches on albums such as Killing Technology, Dimension Hatross and Nothingface is incredibly demented and eerie, like a nightmarish blend of Frank Miller and Tim Burton.
Here, on The Outer Limit, Away cleans up his art style to channel out the old school 1950's sci-fi comics/movie posters of old with a cartoony image of a mysterious Martian invader. While it isn't my personal favorite cover from Away (that'd be Nothingface), The Outer Limit has a cover that stands out even from the rest of the band's works, which is a pretty accomplishment in and of itself. From what I hear, there was a limited edition that was released back in 1993 where the album came with 3-D glasses and the cover and entire artwork in the album was redone in 3-D. That is pretty cool. :hefdaddy
But of course, an album is only as strong as the music it contains inside, and the music in The Outer Limit is superb. This album was the first album the band ever did without their "blower bassist," "Blacky," which would prove to be a bit of a detriment on following Voivod albums. But here, the band's musical ambitions are so grand and top-notch that very little quality is lost from the lack of Blacky. The rest of the band is in top form, with lead vocalist "Snake" giving his most melodic performance ever on a Voivod album, lead guitarist "Piggy" (RIP) continues to be one of the most underrated geniuses in metal history and Away plays some downright complex shit on the drums (or at least, it sounds like it to me).
This album is Voivod at their absolute proggiest. If you need any further convincing, just spare seventeen and a half minutes of your time to go listen "Jack Luminous." While I don't think that The Outer Limit is the band's best album, "Jack Luminous" is definitely the band's best song and the rest of the album is a close second place in the band's discography.
Favorite Track: Jack Luminous
b. While I was expecting no one to guess the inclusion of Voivod on this list, I was actually very surprised that no one guessed that Mastodon would be in the Top 5. :lol
Anywho... Leviathan.
I remember when I heard this album for the first time. I listened to Leviathan for the first time at around 5 am on a late October morning in my bedroom. While I had to get used to the more fierce vocals that Troy Sanders utilized on this album, I was in love with the music right away. It all just screamed "CLASSIC" to me. As soon as the album ended, I immediately clicked the replay button and listened to it again. Then, after I got to campus a couple of hours later, I listened to the album several more times in the Student Center while I waited for my classes to start.
Whenever I listen to Leviathan, I get flashbacks to my earliest days as a metalhead, listening to Metallica and Black Sabbath. Only there's something about Mastodon (and Leviathan especially) that I just love a hell of a lot more than either of those bands now. Their music is complex and heavy as hell, but there's a lot of soul and mood to it too. Furthermore, there is a special chemistry between those four guys that I think escalates all of their music to something almost supernatural in quality.
Favorite Track: Hearts Alive
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OK, I am ready for #4. :corn
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Never could get into Voivod but Leviathan is just fantastic. It's one of my favorite albums as well. :tup
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Leviathan :metal That was like number 16 or something on my list.
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OK, I am ready for #4. :corn
:tup :lol
Never could get into Voivod but Leviathan is just fantastic. It's one of my favorite albums as well. :tup
Voivod is fantastic! I absolutely love those guys... :hefdaddy :metal And yeah, Leviathan is great. :tup
Leviathan :metal That was like number 16 or something on my list.
:tup :hefdaddy :metal
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I heard enough Voivod in the late 80's to know they weren't for me.
And I tried Zlevisthan shortly after its release but I seem to remember the vocals killing it for me.
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I heard enough Voivod in the late 80's to know they weren't for me.
And I tried Zlevisthan shortly after its release but I seem to remember the vocals killing it for me.
What albums did you hear from Voivod?
You'd probably want to check out either Crack the Skye or The Hunter, as far as Mastodon goes then, TAC. The vocals are clean there.
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I actually have Crack The Skye. I was in Newbury Comics (local record store chain around here) on my birthday picking up a haul a few years back. They had some real cool music playing. I thought it was great. When I got to the counter, I asked the guy what it was, and he pointed to Crack The Skye. I was like, throw THAT in the bag! For some reason I don't listen to it. I'm picky when it comes to vocals and Mastodon's clean vocals I find quite boring. I have the same problem with Opeth. Obviously the growls are not for me, but Akerfeldt's clean vocals are so wimpy. I can't win!
I did not pick up The Hunter. I haven't ruled it out in any way, but I would probably have to deplete "the list" and have money to burn before I get it. :D
I graduated college in 1990. My roommate was into Voivod. I lived with him for two plus years, so whatever they had out at that time would've been what I heard. I remember they had funny names. Piggy, Muddy, Donkey.. :lol
Was Piggy the one that passed away?
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Mr. G, speaking of clean vocals Mastodon, did you try Pyramid Theorem? I always compared them and their vocals to Mastodon. They're a great young band.
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I actually have Crack The Skye. I was in Newbury Comics (local record store chain around here) on my birthday picking up a haul. They had some real cool music playing. I thought it was great. When I got to the counter, I asked the guy what it was, and he pointed to Crack The Skye. I was like, throw THAT in the bag! For some reason I don't listen to it. I'm picky when it comes to vocals and Mastodon's clean vocals I find quite boring. I have the same problem with Opeth. Obviously the growls are not for me, but Akerfeldt's clean vocals are so wimpy. I can't win!
I did not pick up The Hunter. I haven't ruled it out in any way, but I would probably have to deplete "the list" and have money to burn before I get it. :D
I graduated college in 1990. My roommate was into Voivod. I lived with him for two plus years, so whatever they had out at that time would've been what I heard. I remember they had funny names. Piggy, Muddy, Donkey.. :lol
Was Piggy the one that passed away?
They're about to release another new album that's supposed have more clean vocals in a couple of weeks called Once More 'Round the Sun. Maybe you should check that out when it comes out? :metal :tup
:lol Piggy, Away, Blacky, Snake were the classic lineup. Piggy was indeed the one of who passed away and has since been succeeded by Chewy. And no, we have no idea if he got a medal this time either. :biggrin:
Mr. G, speaking of clean vocals Mastodon, did you try Pyramid Theorem? I always compared them and their vocals to Mastodon. They're a great young band.
I haven't! I'll have to check 'em out then! Thanks for the suggestion, TAC! :tup :metal
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Pyramid Theorem;
Primitive Design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM6zWx3_BGA
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=33005.0
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Pyramid Theorem;
Primitive Design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM6zWx3_BGA
https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=33005.0
Already posted this in the Pyramid Theorem thread, but thanks for the recommendation, TAC! I'm really digging the sound of this! :tup :metal :hefdaddy
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OK, I am ready for #4. :corn
:D
If I were to choose between the two it would be Voivod but I haven't heard anything by either band that grabs me as yet.
The Pyramid Theorem is quite good.
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OK, I am ready for #4. :corn
:D
If I were to choose between the two it would be Voivod but I haven't heard anything by either band that grabs me as yet.
The Pyramid Theorem is quite good.
What have you heard from Voivod, bl5150?
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The only album I remember distinctly is Nothingface but this is a band I grew up with and so I'm basing my statement on the fact that I heard a fair bit of them on metal radio (from whatever album ............late 80's, early 90's) and never felt compelled to buy an album.
I used to (only half seriously) say Voivod + comedy = Scatterbrain and I used to really enjoy them though.............dude ;D
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The only album I remember distinctly is Nothingface but this is a band I grew up with and so I'm basing my statement on the fact that I heard a fair bit of them on metal radio (from whatever album ............late 80's, early 90's) and never felt compelled to buy an album.
I used to (only half seriously) say Voivod + comedy = Scatterbrain and I used to really enjoy them though.............dude ;D
Ah. I'm kinda surprised you heard them relatively often on metal radio! :lol The channels around where I live don't usually play anything particularly good.
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(https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000009709661-0ukr5e-original.jpg?30a2558)
4. King Diamond - "Them" (1988)
I have really come to love King Diamond over the past year or so. The guy’s voice is definitely something that takes getting used to, but once you do, it’s hard not to love it. He covers an incredible palette from falsetto shrieks, raspy black metal-ish growls and the stuff in-between. It’s not hard for me to enjoy listening to him at any given mood, because chances are I’ll like at least one or more of his voices, no matter how I’m feeling at that moment.
Furthermore, the King has a gift for knowing how to make a great band. There is a good reason that the quality and difficulty of Death’s guitarwork shot up into the stratosphere after Individual Thought Patterns came out and that reason is the King’s long-time friend and musical soul mate, Andy LaRocque. The more I listen to Andy, the more I absolutely love his playing. He’s right up there with Chuck Schuldiner, Alex Lifeson, Jim Matheos, Frank Aresti and "Piggy" as one of my all-time favorite guitarists.
But this album isn’t just about LaRocque or the King; the rest of the band is phenomenal. “Them” is undoubtedly the best performance I have ever heard from drummer Mickey Dee, and the new co-guitarist and new bassist are definite improvements from their Mercyful Fate counterparts that were on the previous two King Diamond albums. Pete Blakk’s guitar playing is a better match to LaRocque’s and both play with a much greater intensity than was present on the previous album.
As I mentioned way back when in my write-up for Abigail, I love great concept albums. I also love a great horror story. King Diamond is a master at both and his two-part tale of the House of Amon (“Them,” Conspiracy) is his magnum opus. While Abigail is groundbreaking for being the first horror concept album in metal history and appeals to my long love for gothic horror, “Them” is truly a superior story, even without its second half told on Conspiracy.
“Them” has King Diamond going into Alfred Hitchcock territory. This is a story that could be happening now. It is just as much a psychological horror story as it is a supernatural horror. While there is definitely a spiritual presence on this album, I can’t help but wonder how much of it are the ghosts and how much of it actually stems from the young King and his Grandma. After all, what is it that keeps bringing the both of them back to that attic and enjoying a cup of tea with "them?"
Favorite Track: The Invisible Guests
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Will check this one out - I'm a bit of a casual KD fan and I need to be in the mood for his vocal style. I like Abigail and also have Conspiracy but I don't recall hearing this one.
Concepts really mean zilch to me unless the music grabs me and the songs stand up individually (then it can add something) - it really annoys me when the lyric feels shoe horned into the music which is the effect SFAM has on me (never rated it near as high as most).
Will track it down today and have a listen.
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Will check this one out - I'm a bit of a casual KD fan and I need to be in the mood for his vocal style. I like Abigail and also have Conspiracy but I don't recall hearing this one.
Concepts really mean zilch to me unless the music grabs me and the songs stand up individually (then it can add something) - it really annoys me when the lyric feels shoe horned into the music which is the effect SFAM has on me (never rated it near as high as most).
Will track it down today and have a listen.
"Them" was a grower for me. I definitely preferred Abigail when I first got into KD, but the more I got used to him and liked his style, the more I came to prefer "Them." It's still really melodic and hooky, like Abigail, but I think he and the rest of the band turned things up a few notches on this album. KD utilizes a lot more of his range and his different vocal styles on "Them" than he does on Abigail.
I will say though that the three-punch succession of Welcome Home, The Invisible Guests and Tea is probably the best three song run on any KD album ever. The rest of the album is great too, but those three make for one hell of an opening! :metal
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I don't think I'd put Them in my top 5 KD, or maybe just number 5. I think the production let it down a lot, but Conspiracy solved that problem. That's actually one I should revisit as I haven't listened to that one in a while. The story and performances are absolutely incredible. Andy is one of my favs too man, so underrated.
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I don't think I'd put Them in my top 5 KD, or maybe just number 5. I think the production let it down a lot, but Conspiracy solved that problem. That's actually one I should revisit as I haven't listened to that one in a while. The story and performances are absolutely incredible. Andy is one of my favs too man, so underrated.
Huh. I guess that's where we'll have to disagree, because I think the production was a step up from Abigail. Much more pristine and intense, imo. I need to listen to Conspiracy more; I always enjoy listening to it, but I haven't spent nearly as much time digesting it and analyzing it as I have for "Them" or Abigail.
Andy deserves his own fanclub or something. :metal :hefdaddy If memory serves me right, isn't he working on a side-project with Tony Martin and some other guys? I'd love to hear that. :metal
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The Tony Martin side project has been spoken about for a couple of years now, but I haven't read any updates.
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The Tony Martin side project has been spoken about for a couple of years now, but I haven't read any updates.
Damn. I'd really love something come out of that. Who else was supposed to be involved in that project? I can't remember.
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I think the old bass player from Hammerfall, Magnus Rosen......I think?
Speaking of Andy side projects, I was excited by XWorld-5 when it was announced but the album was pretty disappointing.
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Andy Laroque= Metal's most underrated guitarist.
And I so love the Schenker influence in his playing.
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Andy Laroque= Metal's most underrated guitarist.
And I so love the Schenker influence in his playing.
Completely agreed! :tup :hefdaddy :metal :hat
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(https://f0.bcbits.com/img/a2710635792_10.jpg)
(https://www.nuclearblast.de/static/articles/104/104274.jpg/1000x1000.jpg)
3. Death - Human (1991), Symbolic (1995)
As I said much earlier in this countdown, Chuck Schuldiner is one of my all-time favorite musicians and by extension, Death is one of my all-time favorite bands. In fact, were it not for Death, I probably would not have ever gotten into death metal. But through Chuck and his incredible music, I've slowly grown more accustomed to death metal and other heavier forms of metal. That being said, there are very few musicians in any genre that have spoken to me the way that Chuck has.
Now with Death, you could really pick any of their seven albums as your favorite. They're all masterpieces with their own unique highlights. Death was truly a band that evolved with each album. For quite some time, my favorite by Death was The Sound of Perseverance, however I came to love Symbolic as time passed. The complex melodies and sheer emotion in that album is absolutely incredible. As I mentioned in my previous article, you can see how Andy LaRocque's presence on Individual Thought Patterns (the previous album) impacted Symbolic and the final two albums that Chuck released in his lifetime.
But a few months ago, I fell absolutely in love with Human as well. While it is certainly not as complex or technical as Symbolic is, there is an intensity and passion on Human that no other Death album has. I wouldn't say that Human is the album where Death became Death, as the band (and Chuck) was constantly evolving, but I would say that Human was the album where Chuck Schuldiner decided to go beyond the distance for the first time.
It's rather strange... both Human and Symbolic are of equal quality and genius, but they are two very different albums. One is a blitzkrieg, while the other is a juggernaut. I simply cannot pick between these two albums. They are both the quintessential Death albums.
Favorite Track: Cosmic Sea (Human), Perennial Quest (Symbolic)
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FUCK YES!! :metal
Out of the two, I like Symbolic just a little more, but both are just perfect.
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FUCK YES!! :metal
Out of the two, I like Symbolic just a little more, but both are just perfect.
It depends on the mood I'm in for me. But yes, both are downright perfect albums. :hefdaddy
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Death metal really ain't ma' thang usually but Death is one of the few I didn't mind listening to ...........so I suppose that's something :D I think across my childhood and early 20's Symbolic would be one of the very few discs classed as "death metal" that I actually bought.
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For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
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For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
hehe.
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Death metal really ain't ma' thang usually but Death is one of the few I didn't mind listening to ...........so I suppose that's something :D I think across my childhood and early 20's Symbolic would be one of the very few discs classed as "death metal" that I actually bought.
:tup
For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
hehe.
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For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
sadly, this is almost true for me too. it's only rare cases where I can deal with it.
I sorta wished I liked it because I think there's a lot of great music out there that it's hard for me to enjoy.
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For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
sadly, this is almost true for me too. it's only rare cases where I can deal with it.
I sorta wished I liked it because I think there's a lot of great music out there that it's hard for me to enjoy.
I can be like that too, but as I've said, Death was the band that started getting me to be more open to listening to that type of vocal style. :tup
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Ahh, Death. Another band I really need to get into. I've heard nothing but praise for Symbolic and TSOP. Will check out Symbolic shortly thanks to this. :tup
For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
I used to absolutely loathe any and all growls/screams. It might have been Opeth and Agalloch at the same time that really warmed me up to them and now I tolerate them much more, and even love it if done right.
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The Sound of Perseverance is the best them, but pretty much every other Death album occupies #2 simultaneously, so it's hard to argue with that selection.
Well, except for Scream Bloody Gore. Never really got into that one - it's good, but nowhere near the brilliance of the rest of Death's discography.
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Ahh, Death. Another band I really need to get into. I've heard nothing but praise for Symbolic and TSOP. Will check out Symbolic shortly thanks to this. :tup
The Sound of Perseverance is the best them, but pretty much every other Death album occupies #2 simultaneously, so it's hard to argue with that selection.
Well, except for Scream Bloody Gore. Never really got into that one - it's good, but nowhere near the brilliance of the rest of Death's discography.
I absolutely love TSoP too. But lately I've just fallen for Human and Symbolic just a tad bit more. :metal :hefdaddy
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Thanks to _floyd, I heard Symbolic for the first time a few days ago. Spectacular stuff! :metal
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For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
Yup. I have tried Death. Have a couple of Discs, too. I can't get past a song or too. Too bad, because the music is KILLER.
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Who woulda thunk ? - Death kills :metal
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4. King Diamond - "Them" (1988)
I also prefer this to Abigail. His falsettos don't hurt my ears. They are unbearable on Abigail. And I agree with what Mr G. said about the band. Them is filled with incredible music.
To think I walked out of a KD show on this tour before he took the stage! :facepalm:
I'm a bit of a casual KD fan and I need to be in the mood for his vocal style.
I'm in the same boat. Didn't jump into KD till about 4-5 years ago. I find his last two releases (The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul...Please) much more enjoyable. They are primarily sung in his lower register and the falsettos are kept to a minimum.
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. I find his last two releases (The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul...Please) much more enjoyable. They are primarily sung in his lower register and the falsettos are kept to a minimum.
Thanks - will check them out.
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. I find his last two releases (The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul...Please) much more enjoyable. They are primarily sung in his lower register and the falsettos are kept to a minimum.
Thanks - will check them out.
This is the song that ultimately made me go back and really check out King Diamond.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tl-N9FJMpY
I avoided him like the plague from the mid 80's on.
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I would also like to say that Them has the music Savatage seemed to be shooting for, but just didn't have the chops to pull off.
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Haha .........you've said something like that to me before about Savatage not having the chops and I think my response was something like :censored
:P
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Haha .........you've said something like that to me before about Savatage not having the chops and I think my response was something like :censored
:P
Hall Of The Mountain King is just OK, but like with Streets and Guitter Ballet, I admire the concepts and effort and all, but I come away from those albums feeling like they could be soooo much better. Savatage was visionary, I'll give them that. I just don't think they were very good.
Literally the most disappointing band I've seen live, hence my Possessed Barny comment.
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I can't comment on the live angle (although I've heard plenty say they were amazing live..........I can imagine Jon could be hit and miss) but the concept of them being no good during the HoTMK to Streets era and not up to playing King Diamond is not computing with me ;D We agree on most things so I'll put this down to a disturbance in the force.
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;D We agree on most things so I'll put this down to a disturbance in the force.
Apparently someone fucked with the flux capacitor 30 years ago! :D
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I would also like to say that Them has the music Savatage seemed to be shooting for, but just didn't have the chops to pull off.
While I disagree that Savatage didn't have the chops to pull that sort of music off, I will agree that "Them" is pretty close to my ideal Savatage album.
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Haha .........you've said something like that to me before about Savatage not having the chops and I think my response was something like :censored
:P
Hall Of The Mountain King is just OK, but like with Streets and Guitter Ballet, I admire the concepts and effort and all, but I come away from those albums feeling like they could be soooo much better. Savatage was visionary, I'll give them that. I just don't think they were very good.
Literally the most disappointing band I've seen live, hence my Possessed Barny comment.
I guess I felt the same when I bought GB, my first Savatage album. I felt the songs were there, the players were excellent but Jon's vocals weren't up to the job of the songs he was writing. Criss could easily play KD stuff.
Them is a great album, probably my favourite KD album with Abigail - my first KD album.
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Haha .........you've said something like that to me before about Savatage not having the chops and I think my response was something like :censored
:P
Hall Of The Mountain King is just OK, but like with Streets and Guitter Ballet, I admire the concepts and effort and all, but I come away from those albums feeling like they could be soooo much better. Savatage was visionary, I'll give them that. I just don't think they were very good.
Literally the most disappointing band I've seen live, hence my Possessed Barny comment.
I guess I felt the same when I bought GB, my first Savatage album. I felt the songs were there, the players were excellent but Jon's vocals weren't up to the job of the songs he was writing. Criss could easily play KD stuff.
Them is a great album, probably my favourite KD album with Abigail - my first KD album.
The two are definitely my favorite KD albums. :tup :metal
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(https://vol3.music-bazaar.com/album-images/vol3/202/202472/1313922-big/The-Chemical-Wedding-cover.jpg)
2. Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding (1998)
I am amazed that no one guessed that this album was going to be in my Top 5. This album is the greatest album Iron Maiden never made. If you were to replace Bruce’s name with the Iron Maiden logo, this album would be to Maiden what Painkiller was to Judas Priest. It is the quintessential metal album. It is incredibly heavy, yet it’s also incredibly melodic. It’s also very dense in conceptual meaning, having been inspired by the works of William Blake.
I could write a very big essay about why I love this album. In fact, I probably should.
But I won't, or at least, not today. Because right now, more people need to check this album out and listen to its splendor. If you've never had the chance to listen to this album or put it off because of the notion that a Bruce solo album is inferior to Iron Maiden, prepare yourselves for a rude awakening and go listen to this album right now.
The Book of Thel is opening...
Favorite Track: The whole thing, but The Book of Thel, The Alchemist, Jerusalem and Gates of Urizen are particular highlights.
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My number 1!!
It's perfect, absolutely perfect. Fucking blew my mind the first time I heard it. I still remember that evening.
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I'd still say I prefer Powerslave, but this one comes very close behind. A stellar choice. :metal
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My number 1!!
It's perfect, absolutely perfect. Fucking blew my mind the first time I heard it. I still remember that evening.
In many ways, this is still my number 1 too. But considering my number 1 already consists of 2 Fates Warning albums (one of which will be excluded from the official list), 1 Mastodon album and 1 Voivod album, I felt it'd be best to lighten the load a wee bit. It was nigh impossible to bring myself to do it to TCW though. It knows where it is in spirit though. :tup :lol
I'd still say I prefer Powerslave, but this one comes very close behind. A stellar choice. :metal
Thanks! :metal
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I tried this album when it topped Kade's list. It was ok, but I certainly wasn't wow'd by it.
For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
sadly, this is almost true for me too. it's only rare cases where I can deal with it.
I sorta wished I liked it because I think there's a lot of great music out there that it's hard for me to enjoy.
Ditto.
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I tried this album when it topped Kade's list. It was ok, but I certainly wasn't wow'd by it.
For me, the moment I hear a growl, the song is officially over.
sadly, this is almost true for me too. it's only rare cases where I can deal with it.
I sorta wished I liked it because I think there's a lot of great music out there that it's hard for me to enjoy.
Ditto.
I still say to all you guys, give it time and take small doses at a time. I remember I was in the same boat as you guys when it came to growls. I seemed to listen to small pieces at different times until I realised that the growls were fucking awesome. I think Soilwork were the band that made me fall in love with that type of vocal delivery.
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^ I dunno man. There's enough awesome non-growl stuff I'm still discovering, I'm not inclined to 'give it time'. The same could be said of other genres. I know whats I like, and I'm happy to stay in my lane.
:-\
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I wasn't too fussed over The Chemical Wedding .........preferred Accident......
Book of Thel, Gates of Urizen (in your faves) and Return Of The King were tracks I enjoyed but I found the rest a bit average. But I'm just a casual Maiden fan too so I don't count ;D
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^ I dunno man. There's enough awesome non-growl stuff I'm still discovering, I'm not inclined to 'give it time'. The same could be said of other genres. I know whats I like, and I'm happy to stay in my lane.
:-\
Me too. I'm stuck in my lane too.
Outstanding choice with Chemical Wedding. Do you guys have the re-released version of it? I think that version just takes a perfect metal album to the next level. "Real World" was a great bonus track.
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^ I dunno man. There's enough awesome non-growl stuff I'm still discovering, I'm not inclined to 'give it time'. The same could be said of other genres. I know whats I like, and I'm happy to stay in my lane.
:-\
Me too. I'm stuck in my lane too.
Outstanding choice with Chemical Wedding. Do you guys have the re-released version of it? I think that version just takes a perfect metal album to the next level. "Real World" was a great bonus track.
I do! Completely agreed about Real World, though Return of the King is also brilliant too. :metal :hefdaddy Hell, I even enjoy Confeos too. :lol
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Chemical Wedding = Great Album
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^ I dunno man. There's enough awesome non-growl stuff I'm still discovering, I'm not inclined to 'give it time'. The same could be said of other genres. I know whats I like, and I'm happy to stay in my lane.
:-\
Me too. I'm stuck in my lane too.
Outstanding choice with Chemical Wedding. Do you guys have the re-released version of it? I think that version just takes a perfect metal album to the next level. "Real World" was a great bonus track.
I have to say I've enjoyed some music recently with some growls (Persefone, Insomnium, JLB, Death's Sound Of Perseverence - though that's not exactly growling). Its really not my thing and if the same music had a typically metal vocal I would enjoy it even more, and I don't see that I'll ever be "into" that style.
Chemical Wedding, like most of bruce's solo stuff, passed me by in the day. I loved early Maiden but had fallen out of love with them before Bruce left so had no real interest in pursuing Bruce's stuff. At Wolfie's recommendation I have listened to CW and it was decent. I'd take Balls to Picasso and Tyranny Of Souls ove rit, and maybe AoB too. Have't been back to it though since that first listen.
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Lowdz, only one listen to Chemical Wedding? You need to go back for a few more for sure.
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^ I dunno man. There's enough awesome non-growl stuff I'm still discovering, I'm not inclined to 'give it time'. The same could be said of other genres. I know whats I like, and I'm happy to stay in my lane.
:-\
so you would say that learning to like growling vocals is not inevitabre? :biggrin:
EDIT: I know I'm goin' back several pages, but I'm really digging Painkiller. thanks for putting that one on your list.
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^ no, definitely not inevitabre. Like Lowdz, I can take appropriate doses of them, but I'm not apt to dive head first into a band/album that's littered with them.
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Chemical Wedding is the tits :metal :metal :metal
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(https://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/418Q4K1A1XL.jpg)
1. The Wiggles - Let's Wiggle! (2000)
They say that everything must come to an end, including this list. This is my final solution. I am amazed that no one has ever mentioned this album in any of their countdowns, as it's really a masterpiece of fine music. This album is Number One in my book. I don't get why people assume that the Wiggles are a children's band; will a kid get in a mosh pit at a Wiggles concert? I think not. Come take a look at this picture below. Tomorrow will come and so to will the Wiggles.
(https://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9sb0viaPf1qasthro1_500.jpg)
This album has changed me. The tale of Dorothy the Dinosaur... it just brings me to tears. Ingmar Bergman could learn a few tricks from her about existentialism. What does it mean to 'wiggle?' The Wiggles ask us this. It is love. It is life.
*bows*
Favorite Tracks: :biggrin:
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Masterpiece. :hefdaddy
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Masterpiece. :hefdaddy
I knew I couldn't be the only one to understand their genius! :biggrin:
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I always cite my first hearing of In the Name of God as the moment when my music taste changed irrevocably, but honestly, I so often leave out the influence that the Wiggles had on my listening.
Dream Theatre who?
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Great album, but I still think nobody has surpassed this musicianship level:
(https://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3882/spongebobr.png)
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Great album, but I still think nobody has surpassed this musicianship level:
(https://img338.imageshack.us/img338/3882/spongebobr.png)
I dunno, I think those guys kinda peaked when they did this:
(https://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130806200024/spongebob/images/f/f1/Band_Geeks_SpongeBob.jpg)
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Not quite as good a troll post for #1 as Rich naming the True Symphonic Rockestra as his #1, but The Wiggles hold a special place for me. My kids grew up on them ... Saw them in concert three times. True story. Met Murray backstage too!
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(https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000013545101-tza2jy-original.jpg?30a2558)
(https://img.cdandlp.com/2012/08/imgL/115522163.jpg)
(https://www.media.wmg-is.com/media/portal/media/cms/images/201106/crack-the-skye-extralarge_1309308518953.jpg)
1. Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry (1989), Voivod - Nothingface (1989), Mastodon - Crack the Skye (2009)
We've come to it at last: my Number One album(s) of all time. As I mentioned the other day, this spot is a rather big tie between three incredible bands and three incredible albums. Picking a single one from these three would be a Herculean task and I think they all deserve the spot. So screw it; these guys all win. :metal
a. I can imagine quite a few of you are probably surprised to not see Awaken the Guardian here. For the vast majority of the past year, as I wrote and rewrote quite a few different drafts of this list, I can confirm that it was here. In spirit, it still is. But that's the thing; you guys all already know how much I love that album. I don't need to talk about it, because you guys all already know what I'd probably say about the album.
Furthermore, I don't think Perfect Symmetry has ever really gotten the proper credit it deserves. When it comes to Fates Warning, I usually hear people talk about Parallels, Awaken the Guardian or A Pleasant Shade of Gray. Hell, I even have heard a fair amount of praise go towards No Exit too. All of which are incredible albums and deserve a fair amount of respect. But the way I see it, Perfect Symmetry was a game changer in the progressive metal scene.
Back in the late 80's, prog metal basically fell into one of two camps: either you were incredibly melodic (Queensryche) or you were incredibly technical (Watchtower). Fates Warning took both and combined them into one. This was done on Perfect Symmetry by both the hiring of drummer extraordinaire Mark Zonder and the complete reinvention of how both Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti both wrote their music. The guitar duo cast aside the pummeling Sabbath and Thrash riffs of the past, replacing them with more unusual, angular chords, harmonics and celestial solos.
Another aspect that Perfect Symmetry has to its advantage over the latter Fates albums (this also applies to Awaken the Guardian and No Exit) is the inclusion of Frank Aresti as a songwriter. I love Jim Matheos's work as a songwriter, don't get me wrong, but I think even his mind has its creative limits. Aresti shares the workload here, writing three terrific songs completely on his own (A World Apart, The Arena, Static Acts) and co-writing perhaps the band's greatest songwriting achievement ever with Matheos and former bassist Joe DiBiase: At Fates Hand.
At Fates Hand is one of the most breathtaking songs I have ever had the pleasure of listening to and one of my all-time favorites too. The melancholic sound of the strings and piano open the song and lead it into the eerie dirge where Ray Alder softly sings of an apocalyptic sea. Alder, who improved by leaps and bounds from his preceding album, does everything right. He doesn't oversell the song, only singing from his heart. His performance, while hardly anything technical, is truly haunting. The song then builds into a prog frenzy between Matheos, Aresti, DiBiase, Zonder and features a terrific guest appearance from keyboardist Kevin Moore. Aside from his terrific solo, Moore does a brilliant job at setting the perfect musical backdrop to add to the mood for the rest of the band's work.
I often like to compare bands to film directors (i.e. Chuck Schuldiner to Stanley Kubrick): Fates Warning is the Ingmar Bergman of Metal.
Favorite Tracks: The whole damn thing, but Part of the Machine, Nothing Left to Say, A World Apart and At Fates Hand are all particular highlights.
b. Around the same time Perfect Symmetry came out, Voivod released their own masterpiece: Nothingface. Last night, Scorpion jokingly mentioned how his first listen to In the Name of God changed the way he looked at music. The same can be said for me, in regards to this album. I have always been a fan of atypical metal bands. Bands that are smarter and find ways to naturally stand out from the crowd musically and bring out top quality music. It was what led me to discovering progressive metal to begin with. It was what led me to discovering bands such as Mastodon or Conception.
But I still wasn't prepared for Nothingface when I heard it for the first time.
This album is incredibly chaotic. Snake's punk vocals over Piggy's King Crimson-esque riffs and solos, Blacky's thick blower bass and Away's impeccable drumwork? It's all just an absolute mess and yet somehow it works. The madness all adds up to a strange musical vision that could have only either come from a genius or a madman.
This album combined Punk with Black Sabbath, King Crimson and Pink Floyd to create a dark and psychedelic album that was incredibly ahead of its time. While I absolutely adore their cover of Pink Floyd's Astronomy Domine, I still wish Nothingface had gotten more success in its time for the band's own musical accomplishments on the album, such as Pre-Ignition.
Favorite Tracks: The whole thing, but Missing Sequences, Pre-Ignition and Sub-Effect are all personal highlights.
c. I did not see this one coming. When I first got into Mastodon a few months back, I initially thought that I would love this album right away and that it had to be the band’s masterwork. But I was left rather disappointed and confused when I finished listening to it for the first several times, while repeated listens to Blood Mountain and Leviathan only made me love those albums more and more. I finally got Crack the Skye back in January, but I still thought that Leviathan was better.
But about two months ago, I was up in Fayetteville to attend one of my friend’s gigs. While that night turned out to be a disaster, due to a long number of reasons, I think that was the night where I started to really appreciate Crack the Skye. While we all waited for the bands to start playing, the DJ played all sorts of different metal classics, such as Black Sabbath, Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead.
Then all of a sudden, Oblivion came on and I flipped my shit in excitement. My friend had a good laugh at my reaction and I’m sure that a few others there probably wondered what the heck was wrong with me, but I didn’t really care. I was listening to Mastodon, for God’s sake. On top of that, Oblivion was finally making some sense to me.
Since then, I have been listening to the album more and more frequently, with each new listen offering more rewards and a better appreciation for the album.
Favorite Tracks: Again, the whole thing, but I think the title track is the quintessential Mastodon song.
Full List of Mister Gold's Top Fifty Albums
50. DragonForce – The Power Within
49. Opeth – Still Life
48. Black Country Communion – Afterglow
47. Dio – Dream Evil
46. Slayer – Hell Awaits
45. King Diamond – Abigail
44. Anthrax – Spreading the Disease
43. Kreator – Pleasure to Kill
42. Helloween – The Dark Ride
41. Control Denied – The Fragile Art of Existence
40. Iced Earth – Night of the Stormrider
39. Dream Theater – Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence
38. Dream Theater – Awake
37. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
36. Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
35. Tool –Lateralus
34. Crimson Glory – Transcendence
33. Kamelot – Karma
32. King Crimson – Red
31. Rainbow – Rising
30. Iron Maiden – The X Factor
29. Queensryche – Promised Land
28. Van Halen – For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
27. Yes – Fragile
26. Queensryche – Rage for Order
25. Yes – Relayer
24. Kamelot – The Black Halo
23. Black Sabbath – Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Dehumanizer
22. Metallica - … And Justice For All
21. Rush – Clockwork Angels
20. Bruce Dickinson – Accident of Birth
19. Megadeth – Rust in Peace
18. Seventh Wonder – The Great Escape
17. Savatage – Hall of the Mountain King
16. Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith
15. Rush – Grace Under Pressure
14. Conception – Flow
13. Megadeth – Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?
12. Arch/Matheos – Sympathetic Resonance
11. Fates Warning – A Pleasant Shade of Gray
10. Iron Maiden – A Matter of Life and Death
9. Conception – In Your Multitude
8. Judas Priest – Painkiller
7. Savatage – Edge of Thorns
6. Nevermore – Dreaming Neon Black, Dead Heart in a Dead World
5. Voivod – The Outer Limit, Mastodon – Leviathan
4. King Diamond – “Them”
3. Death – Human, Symbolic
2. Bruce Dickinson – The Chemical Wedding
1. Fates Warning – Perfect Symmetry, Voivod – Nothingface, Mastodon – Crack the Skye
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I've been loosely following this list and totally missed Night of The Stormrider. :metal
Even though I finally got my answer from Greely himself, It'll always be SPLATCH AN ANGEL'S HOLOCAUST to me.
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I've been loosely following this list and totally missed Night of The Stormrider. :metal
Even though I finally got my answer from Greely himself, It'll always be SPLATCH AN ANGEL'S HOLOCAUST to me.
Yeah, I was surprised you never commented on the inclusion of NotS! :metal It's a terrific album and definitely Iced Earth's best album. :tup
I always focus on the part that comes right after that: "THEY'RE SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMIIIINNNNGGGG!" :hefdaddy
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Perfect Symmetry is a good album, but Ray's screeching kind of ruins the songs for me. Through Different Eyes and Nothing Left to Say are terrific, though.
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Perfect Symmetry is a good album, but Ray's screeching kind of ruins the songs for me. Through Different Eyes and Nothing Left to Say are terrific, though.
I disagree about Ray. I really think he improved dramatically as a singer on that album, in comparison to his performance on No Exit. But then, I still like his performance on that album too, so there you go. :lol
Nothing Left to Say is definitely a masterpiece, but as I said in my article, I think the best song is probably At Fates Hand. I'm also rather fond of Part of the Machine.
It's interesting though. Perfect Symmetry wasn't as heavy as the previous Fates Warning albums, but it was definitely a lot darker. It's an incredibly bleak album and it's still pretty heavy too.
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
:lol Thanks for the compliment, bl5150!
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Perfect Symmetry is awesome! Cool list and great job
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
Yeah, this. I accidentally hit your profile and was shocked to learn your age. Figured you were twice as old!
I'm actually 22! :lol
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
Yeah, this. I accidentally hit your profile and was shocked to learn your age. Figured you were twice as old!
I'm actually 22! x 2 plus ..... :lol
FTFY
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:metal
:lol
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:biggrin:
Empire would be in my top 50. I played that while dressing up, falling asleep, brushing my teeth, chillin' out, gettin my mac daddy on with down celler with my parents upstairs and my sweats around my ankles.......
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
Yeah, this. I accidentally hit your profile and was shocked to learn your age. Figured you were twice as old!
I'm actually 22! :lol
Thanks! :lol
My folks raised me on a lot of music ranging from the 50's to the 70's, such as Elvis, the Beatles, Elton John, a LOT of classic rock bands and disco. So I'm sure that plays into it, since I've never really cared much about most modern music. And as I've mentioned before, I got into metal via classic bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica and Megadeth. So I always had that "80's = Golden Years of Metal" mindset from the start. :metal
Perfect Symmetry is awesome! Cool list and great job
Thanks man! Glad to see some love for the album! :tup
Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
Yeah, this. I accidentally hit your profile and was shocked to learn your age. Figured you were twice as old!
I'm actually 22! x 2 plus ..... :lol
FTFY
:metal
:lol
:lol
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:biggrin:
Empire would be in my top 50. I played that while dressing up, falling asleep, brushing my teeth, chillin' out, gettin my mac daddy on with down celler with my parents upstairs and my sweats around my ankles.......
Empire has its moments, but I don't think it's all that great an album myself. That said, Anybody Listening? is a masterpiece.
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Well don't worry about me since I meant to post that in another thread?! :facepalm: :lol
total Sunday fail. :rollin
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Well don't worry about me since I meant to post that in another thread?! :facepalm: :lol
:rofl Alrighty then! :tup
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
He's NOT a fogey?? *checks profile* Well suck me sideways. Never would've guessed. Nice list... but having a 3-way tie at #1 is a cop out. This is your Top 53 album list. :biggrin:
King, I think you had a cross-thread reply with respect to Empire?
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Well done Mister Gold - you've shown yourself to be very adept at identifying when (and in what style) the best music was made , especially for a non-fogey ;D
He's NOT a fogey?? *checks profile* Well suck me sideways. Never would've guessed. Nice list... but having a 3-way tie at #1 is a cop out. This is your Top 53 album list. :biggrin:
King, I think you had a cross-thread reply with respect to Empire?
Sure, it's a cop-out. But it's a pretty badass one at that! :biggrin: :tup And nope, I'm not a fogey! :lol
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Nice list... but having a 3-way tie at #1 is a cop out. This is your Top 53 album list.
He actually had other ties and ended up with a top 56.
That's ok. TAC ended up with 59! :rollin
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Nice list... but having a 3-way tie at #1 is a cop out. This is your Top 53 album list.
He actually had other ties and ended up with a top 56.
That's ok. TAC ended up with 59! :rollin
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-paBindzN0f8/T2x1mfkuP4I/AAAAAAAAE7M/PP_pUsG4gbE/s1600/bugs_bunny1.gif)
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Come on, 3 albums at number 1? :lol
Nevertheless, good to see love for Perfect Symmetry, I've always really enjoyed that one.
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Come on, 3 albums at number 1? :lol
Nevertheless, good to see love for Perfect Symmetry, I've always really enjoyed that one.
I couldn't pick, man! :lol :( :hefdaddy