wolfking's official top 50 album thread v. Over and out

[jingle.boy]

Thankfully, Last Tribe is on Grooveshark.  Will be checking them out with the thousands of other things still pending.

[Mladen]

Powerplant - finally, an album I've heard. I'm not that crazy about it, though...

[Jirpo]

Just checked out a couple of Last Tribes songs - good stuff!

[Nekov]

Powerplant is an awesome album!

[Lowdz]

Big Magnus Karlsson fan here. I got the first Last tribe album when it came out and have enjoyed most of his stuff since, Starbreaker being my favourite I think- (maybe that will feature later in your list?).

Just started listening to GR and not heard this one yet. Will get to it though.

[Zydar]

I've heard a couple of Gamma Ray albums, but not Powerplant. I'll have to check it out tonight.

[jjrock88]

Haven't heard of last tribe

[BanksD]

POWER PLANT 

[wolfking]

To all you guys who haven't heard of last Tribe, do check them out, they're incredible.

Big Magnus Karlsson fan here. I got the first Last tribe album when it came out and have enjoyed most of his stuff since, Starbreaker being my favourite I think- (maybe that will feature later in your list?).

Just started listening to GR and not heard this one yet. Will get to it though.

Fuck yeah man, didn't know you were into Last Tribe, seriously how good is all their albums? 

The first Starbreaker album is absolutely killer.

[wolfking]

34. Iron Maiden - Brave New World (2000)



After two albums with Blaze Bayley, Bruce and Adrian returned to the fold for the release of Brave New World.  The anticipation for this album was very high from Maiden fans worldwide, and thankfully, on a whole, the band didn't disappoint.  Some people do have mixed opinions about this album, but for me, it's pretty much perfect.  During my final years in high school, I remember me and a couple of mates use to do so much drinking to this album, it's just great metal all the way through, and just so much fun to listen to, and had terrific replay value.  You also have a nice variety in the songs and their sounds and themes, which makes the album a pleasure to listen to throughout, and it never becomes boring IMO.  Classic record which put Maiden back on the map and from this point onwards, they have been unstoppable.

Best tracks: Brave New World, Ghost of the Navigator, Wicker Man, Mercenary, Nomad, Thin Line Between Love and hate

Brave New World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Inyg70V-QI
The Nomad - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4t1W8IGU80


33. Death - The Sound of Perseverance (1998)



The final album from death metal legends Death.  This was the swansong of this legendary death metal band featuring the legend Chuck Schuldiner, who was taken far too young.  He did leave an incredible mark with this stunning album.  This album is a perfect mix between death metal and progressive technical metal.  Anyone looking to get into this band, this is the perfect place to start, it's slightly different to their older stuff, but so damn strong where it just slays all the way through.  I love Chuck's vocals here too, they are far away from generic death metal vocals though, even slightly more black metal, but they are raspy, piercing and powerful.  Also featuring Richard Christy on the drums, the rhythm section here is terrific and thundering.  Chuck's solos are of course incredible also.  Stunning album, RIP Chuck.

Best tracks: Scavenger of Human Sorrow, Spirit Crusher, Flesh and the Power It Holds, Voice of the Soul, A Moment of Clarity, Painkiller

Flesh and the Power It Holds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y8jZpQrEgQ
A Moment of Clarity - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uP0PtBurno

[Jirpo]

Two great picks Wolf!

[jingle.boy]

Love Brave New World.  Not my favorite from the Bruce 'reunion' albums, but it's a solid choice.

[wolfking]

Two great picks Wolf!

 

Love Brave New World.  Not my favorite from the Bruce 'reunion' albums, but it's a solid choice.

Cheers bro, I know a lot of guys prefer the later reunion albums, but I always seem to come back to BNW!!

[Mladen]

A damn good Maiden album. 

Also, I've heard Flesh and the Power It Holds from that Death album, and I thought it was pretty sick. 

[TAC]

I actually have that Death album. The vocals still bother me but the music is kiler.

BNW is my least favorite of the reunion albums, but it's easy to see why people hold it in such high regard. Starting with BNW, Maiden has continued to surprise.

[Nekov]

Brave new world is so  . Clear proof that Dickinson should have never left the band.

[Scorpion]

I will echo the sentiments of most of the others, and say that BNW is one of Maiden's worse albums since the reunion, but it is nevertheless a very good record. I'm slightly disappointed that my two favourite songs of this album (The Nomad, Out of the Silent Planet) aren't played live, 'cause I'd love to hear live versions of them.

Death is pretty cool to, though it's as far as I go with death metal, tbh. Still, a fucking killer record. 

[kirksnosehair]

The only problem [We're Blood Brothers] with Brave New World  [We're Blood Brothers] is it suffers from what I call  [We're Blood Brothers] "the formula" just a little [We're Blood Brothers] bit too much.  Don't get me [We're Blood Brothers] wrong, I think it's a fine [We're Blood Brothers] album for the most part, but[We're Blood Brothers] it could have been just [We're Blood Brothers] a tiny bit less repetitive  [We're Blood Brothers] with some of those choruses, if [We're Blood Brothers] you know what I mean. 

[Zydar]

That can be said (no more liiiiies) about pretty much all their (no more liiiiies) post-reunion albums. I (no more liiiiies) definitely prefer the (no more liiiiies) "classic" stuff over the 2000's albums.

[Jirpo]

It seems we have this debate every time Maiden is brought up, haha. Brave New World is my 3rd fave Maiden album, after The Final Frontier and A Matter of Life and Death. Dance of Death is the only 'bad' reunion album IMO, with about half of it being filler. The 'bad' Maiden albums to me are FOTD, DoD, NPFTD and Killers.

[Lowdz]

Bought BNW when it came out but it ever really struck me as being that great. I couldn't even remember any of the tunes tbh. DoD was worse I remember (apart from Paschendale that I liked), but AMOLAD was excellent. And things fell off again with FF. Old school Maiden for me.

I like the Death album. Can't stand other death metal stuff at all but the music here rules enough for me to tolerate the vocals- and they are better than the growling. Chuck was obviously a talented guy. I never gave them a chance back in the day as it was all too extreme for me.

[jingle.boy]

That can be said (no more liiiiies) about pretty much all their (no more liiiiies) post-reunion albums. I (no more liiiiies) definitely prefer the (no more liiiiies) "classic" stuff over the 2000's albums.

It's not like [Fear of the Dark] they never [Fear of the Dark] did that [Fear of the Dark] before though [Fear of the Dark].  Whether it's a bad album [Fear of the Dark] or a good one, no one can ever [Fear of the Dark] accuse them of innovative lyrics [Fear of the Dark] in their choruses [Fear of the Dark].

[Scorpion]

True, but I think I'd prefer

Tell me why I had to be a powerslave
I don't wanna die, I'm a god, why can't I live on?
When the life giver dies, all around is laid to waste.
And in my last hour,
I'm a slave to the power of death.

over

No more liiiieeeess! (repeat 8x)

[Jirpo]

I wouldn't really call the death album an 'unknown'. Its a pretty well-known album on this forum

[Mladen]

I'm always stunned at people saying repetition is a part of the Maiden style in the last 10 years, they've been doing it since ever. Running free? The Evil that men do? Back in the village? Fear of the dark? Man on the edge? Give me a break.

[jingle.boy]

Oh, I know it's been a part of their style forever.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it's painful.

[Ravenheart]

The Sound of Perseverance 

[kirksnosehair]

I'm always stunned at people saying repetition is a part of the Maiden style in the last 10 years, they've been doing it since ever. Running free? The Evil that men do? Back in the village? Fear of the dark? Man on the edge? Give me a break.

I do it as a joke, and I know they've been doing it forever, which is why I call it "the formula" - they've been doing it since the first album and for some reason it seems to work for them. 


I do think it's a bit less prominent in the classic albums, though.

[jjrock88]

Brave New World is awesome.

[adace]

Both those albums are amazing. Nice picks. 

[wolfking]

I wouldn't really call the death album an 'unknown'. Its a pretty well-known album on this forum

That was actually for my last two picks.  I forgot to change the description in the thread when I updated with these two.

[wolfking]

I'd say that it's unfair that BNW always gets slagged for it's repetivite choruses, when it has been a part of the band's sound since the beginning.  It's only been more prominent in the last 12 years.  But really;

Fear of the Dark
Children of the Damned
Caught Somewhere in Time
Deja Vu
Don't Look to the Eyes of A Stranger
Afraid to Shoot Strangers

The list could go on.  I think it's unfair to single BNW out just because it has a larger percentage of songs with this formula.

[jingle.boy]

7th Son would also like to participate.   

I'm not slagging BNW for that formula.  In fact, I don't think I was slagging BNW at all.  I really like the album.

[wolfking]

32. Allen/Lande - The Revenge (2007)



Here's another melodic rock entry in my top 50.  A record produced and written by mastermind Magnus Karlsson with two simply powerhouse vocalists.  Jorn Lande and Russell Allen as normal with all three of these outings, have songs performed on their own as well as some duets.  It's interesting to see both these vocalists in this sort of AOR environment, very different to what they are both use to, especially Allen.  Saying that the writing behind this album from Karlsson fits these guys like a glove, and what we get is 12 fantastic, melodic and catchy songs with great guitar solos and terrific vocals.  That basically sums it up.  I am pretty much a fan of anything Karlsson writes and the thing that drew me to this record was just that, perfect songs.  This ranks so high in my list simply because this was a solid album that in 2007 I could count on and gave me so much listening pleasure, simple.  Anyone interested in a more straightforward, melodic style setting should check it out.

Best tracks - The Revenge, Victory, Will You Follow, Her Spell, Gone Too Far

Her Spell - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYaO64x3xE
Will You Follow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLPAcSr8AiY


31. Black Sabbath - Headless Cross (1989)



Here's another entry that will probably shock people.  I've always made it clear that the Martin era is my fav Sabbath era.  I just think the more 80's style Tony did with Martin was absolutely spectacular and deserved much more appreciation and recognition.  IMO, out of the five albums Tony Martin did with Sabbath this was the best.  Evil lyrics, great melodies and choruses and spectacular guitar work from Tony.  I just love this record and loved jamming along to these songs on the guitar.  Very keyboard focused at times too which made the atmosphere of the whole album incredible.  Tony sings his ass off here too and sounds really great.  Not a dud song of the bunch and each song being as strong as the last.  Terrific 80's heavy metal.

Best tracks - Headless Cross, Devil and Daugher, When Death Calls, Kill in the Spirit World

When Death Calls - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ithIad4MQso
Headless Cross - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90mZThOY_8k

[jjrock88]

All of the Allen-Lande releases are terrific. Amazing to see Headless Cross on the list; this would make my list for sure as well. The Tony Martin era is criminally underated and I would put this one and Eternal Idol at the top. Great picks!