Nick's Top 50 Thread v. Ending Themes

[Nick]

Everything about this thread is so 2004-dt.net/bb

No doubt. A lot of bands I love now I first heard about at DT.net between 2004-2005 especially. That really shaped what music I listen to now.

[Zook]

Yeah, what's wrong with you Nick? You were supposed to grow out of Prog 8 years ago.

[Dr. DTVT]

This, except I think Ayreon gets old very quickly.  They're great to revisit, but I find them tough to listen to on any sort of regular basis.

This.  It's why I consider the Ayreon projects good and not great.  Something about the albums just has a low replay quality for me.

[Nick]

21. Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Grey


Parallels is my suggested starting point for any potential Fates Warning fan. But while it may be an amazing quick fix, A Pleasant Shade of Grey is the album that sticks over time, a savory treat for any fan of the band. It's certainly not for every fan of the band though. If you had been following the band from a more metal background until that point I can understand some mega-frustration with this album and everything since. But as someone who loves me some metal and some prog this album hits home. I don't even bother trying to distinguish the parts of this album, which is why I won't be listing any favorite tracks. I never put this album in without the aim of hearing it till the end.

Honorable mention: Muse - Black Holes and Revelations

[yorost]

Actually, that's the album that got me into Fates Warning.  Still my favourite.

[TAC]

I find APSOG overrated and overblown.

[wolfking]

I actually never really got into this one that much.  I love basically everything else Fates have done, but I never really got hooked on this one.  I need to give it another try.

[jingle.boy]

This was the first FW album I tried, and left me with an overwhelming sense of 'meh'.  Now, that was over 10 years ago, before I was really expanding my musical tastes.  Guess I have to give it another go.

[Dr. DTVT]

I listen to Parallels and Perfect Symmetry much more than APSoG.

[jjrock88]

This was the first FW album I tried, and left me with an overwhelming sense of 'meh'.  Now, that was over 10 years ago, before I was really expanding my musical tastes.  Guess I have to give it another go.

APSOG will hit you if you give it a few tries.

[Cyclopssss]

Actually, that's the album that got me into Fates Warning.  Still my favourite.

This. 

[kirksnosehair]

I absolutely adore APSoG and consider it the band's high water mark.   

[Nick]

The reactions here are an awesome micro-sampling out what I've generally seen from FW fans at large. Always seemed like a love/hate album.

[TAC]

The playing is good and all, but I only really like 3 or 4 "songs" off of it. I just find it a bit self indulgent.

[Nick]

The Story So Far:
21. Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Grey
22. Ayreon - Into the Electric Castle
23. Pink Floyd - Animals
24. Supertramp - Crime of the Century
25. Queensrche - Rage for Order
26. Yes - The Yes Album
27. Iron Maiden - Somewhere in Time
28. Enchant - A Blueprint of the World
29. Kansas - Leftoverture
30. Psycho Motel - Welcome to the World
31. Pink Floyd - The Division Bell
32. Dream Theater - Train of Thought
33. John Petrucci - Suspended Animation
34. Fates Warning - Parallels
35. The Flower Kings - Paradox Hotel
36. Dredg - Catch Without Arms
37. Genesis - The Selling England By the Pound
38. Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy
39. Planet P Project - Go Out Dancing Part One: 1931
40. Coheed & Cambria - Good Apollo 2
41. Bruce Dickinson - Accident of Birth
42. Pendragon - The Window of Life
43. Marillion - Misplaced Childhood
44. Pain of Salvation - Scarsick
45. Spock's Beard - Octane
46. Amorphis - Am Universum
47. Evergrey - Recreation Day
48. Boston - Boston
49. Redemption - Snowfall on Judgement Day
50. Symphony X - Paradise Lost

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetically)
Beardfish - Mammoth
Demians - Building an Empire
Devin Townsend – Terria
Dominici - 03, A Trilogy: Part Two
Evergrey – Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
Kamelot - The Black Halo
Labyrinth – Freeman
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Neal Morse – One
Pain of Salvation - Remedy Lane
Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element Pt. 1
Pendragon - The World
Porcupine Tree - Stupid Dream
Queensryche - The Warning
Redemption - The Fullness of Time
Redemption - The Origins of Ruin
Rush - Permanent Waves
Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
Sonata Arctica – Ecliptica
Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness
Spock's Beard - The Kindness of Strangers
Star One - Victims of the Modern Age
Symphony X - V
Tesla – Mechanical Resonance
Tesla - Into the Now
The Flower Kings - Stardust We Are
Vanden Plas - The God Thing
Vanden Plas - Beyond Daylight
Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge

[Elite]

Terria out of your top 50 is a disgrace. Animals, on the other hand, makes me happy.

[Nick]

20. Metallica - Master of Puppets


Far and away the premier Metallica album in my mind. I am not joking when I say I think this 8 track album probably contains 8 of Metallica's 20 best songs. The song-writing is generally a bit more refined than what came before it, but obviously the rawness of Metallica's sound was still intact. As is the case with many Metallica albums the quality of the sound holds the album back a bit, but at least the style of the album plays into the poorer quality more than most. As someone who generally isn't into thrash, this is the major exception for me. I've always loved this album and have always enjoyed Metallica.

Favorite tracks: Master of Puppets, Orion, Battery

Honorable mention: Fish - 13th Star

[Jirpo]

Cool pick! But I prefer Justice and Ride the Lightning.

[Nekov]

 

[TAC]

20. Metallica - Master of Puppets

Far and away the premier Metallica album in my mind. I am not joking when I say I think this 8 track album probably contains 8 of Metallica's 20 best songs. The song-writing is generally a bit more refined than what came before it, but obviously the rawness of Metallica's sound was still intact. As is the case with many Metallica albums the quality of the sound holds the album back a bit, but at least the style of the album plays into the poorer quality more than most. As someone who generally isn't into thrash, this is the major exception for me. I've always loved this album and have always enjoyed Metallica.

Very nice write up on this, Nick.

[Elite]

5 years ago, Puppets would have been in my top 10, without a doubt. Now, it's not even in my top 50 anymore, because I barely listen to Metallica nowadays. I've always like Damage Inc. though, as far as saying I think it's the best song on the album. Like Dyer's Eve, Metallica chose the most aggressive song for last here, and it suits the album. That, and the song is awesome.

[Mladen]

A legendary album, deserving such a spot. 

[Rick]

Everything about this thread is so 2004-dt.net/bb

No doubt. A lot of bands I love now I first heard about at DT.net between 2004-2005 especially. That really shaped what music I listen to now.

That era of dt.net shaped me a helluva lot too. Although I was much more influenced by the sorta stuff that mulletguy/vintageeyes/kbrooks than the general prog stuff that most other people posted at the same time

[Nick]

19. Bruce Dickinson - The Chemical Wedding


Not only is The Chemical Wedding the best solo work from Bruce Dickinson, but it's the best Maiden related work to date. It's quite amazing how silly Bruce was making Maiden look at this point in time. He was writing interesting and dynamic music that showed him to be much more than the voice of Maiden, and meanwhile Steve Harris was writing some of the most boring and uninspired material he possibly could. Let's put it this way; would you rather be rocking out to The Book of Thel, or singing the chorus lines from The Angel and the Gambler for the 6 billionth time in the song?

Favorite tracks: Book of Thel, Trumpets of Jericho, King in Crimson

Honorable mention: Haken - Aquarius

[yorost]

I'd rather be rocking out to the better songs from the Blaze era.  It's always a fair comparison when you take someone's best against someone else's worst.

[TAC]

I remember first hearing Balls To Picasso and I thought, Holy shit! Bruce is awesome! It took him leaving for ME to really appreciate him. His solo work is outstanding. I prefer Accident At Birth to Chemical Wedding, but it's a small margin. Both are outstanding albums.
Chemical Wedding has a great quality to it. It's metal that is fresh, but not sounding like nu metal.

[Nick]

I'd rather be rocking out to the better songs from the Blaze era.  It's always a fair comparison when you take someone's best against someone else's worst.

Fair enough. But the better songs from TCW are better than the best songs from the Blaze era, and what is really telling is that the worst songs on TCW absolutely slaughter the alright and bad songs from the Blaze era.

[wolfking]

I don't think the Maiden slagging in your description was necessary.  Maiden was under pressure and going through a rough patch.  Bruce was doing his own thing with no expectations or pressure from anyone, they were both in different situations.

Saying that, This is by far one of the 10 greatest metal albums of all time.  I still remember the first time I listened to it, and just being floored.  I knew my life was much more positive since finding this brilliant album.

[Nick]

I love Maiden, but I'm not going to make any excuses for Steve in those years. Bruce bailed at the right time, because he would have never been able to have enough influence to salvage what Harris was doing in those years, and it allowed two amazing albums. Different situations for sure, but it's not like I was comparing completely unrelated artists for no reason. Bruce showed what Maiden *should* have been doing during those years.

[Jirpo]

I don't think the Maiden slagging in your description was necessary.  Maiden was under pressure and going through a rough patch.  Bruce was doing his own thing with no expectations or pressure from anyone, they were both in different situations.

Saying that, This is by far one of the 10 greatest metal albums of all time.  I still remember the first time I listened to it, and just being floored.  I knew my life was much more positive since finding this brilliant album.

Great description Wolf!

[Nick]

18. Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume 1: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness


Coheed's most complete album, no question. Even the shorter tracks and the lesser talked about tracks are amazing. And it's one thing to have an album with little to no low points, but it's made all the more amazing when it has fantastic highs as this one does. The album goes 6 tracks before even taking a slight lull. After two rawer albums this saw Coheed refining their songs and their sound and the results were astoundingly positive.

Favorite tracks: Apollo II: The Telling Truth, Ten Speed (Of God's Blood & Burial), Apollo I: The Writing Writer

Honorable mention: Threshold - Dead Reckoning

[Dr. DTVT]

Your honorable mention is infinately better than anything Coheed could possibly do.

[wolfking]

Your honorable mention is infinately better than anything Coheed could possibly do.

This, x 1000000000000000000000000000000000000000.

[jingle.boy]

I've never given C&C a go, but I'll pile on anyway.  Threshold

[wolfking]

Dead Reckoning is just such a solid album.  Nothing I'd really call filler, just great progressive metal.  Still a shame about Mac, but really can't wait for the new album with Damian this year.