Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. A New #1 Has Been Crowned

[Zook]

I can't remember anything about MC:2 other than it flies by so fast and doesn't have a single memorable song on it. Such a waste of money, and the kicker is I have two fuzzy memories: either I downloaded it and didn't like it, but bought it anyway or I read reviews saying how terrible it was but bought it anyway. Either way, I must have hit my head because both scenarios are fucking stupid. Of course, back then I was so obsessed with buying CDs I was constantly wasting my money making blind purchases and buying random crap just because. I'm surprised I was able to stop myself from buying Guns N Roses Greatest Hits...

Fuck I was stupid in Florida. It's all Geoff Tate's fault.

[Zook]

Well that was a stupid post.

HOLY SHIT UPDATES!








8. Metallica – Ride The Lightning (1984)



Although Master Of Puppets is a more mature, better sounding album, Ride The Lightning kicks the shit out of it. Sometimes raw angst just does the trick. If someone were to ask me to name them one album that defines “metal”, RtL would be one of the first albums to pop in my head. It captures everything I like about the genre. The music is really intense, and the solos/instrumental sections are awesome, especially the intro to For Who The Bell Tolls. The title track also starts in a pretty epic way. This is an album you can put on when you’re pissed off and it’ll put you in a good mood just by how awesome the music is. I mean, I’m not doing a jig during the depressing ballad, Fade To Black, but the second half which is a lot heavier brings thing back up to headbangery. The solo oozes emotion and still remains heavy. Trapped Under Ice is another fast paced thrasher that gets your blood pumping and the more mid tempo Escape is a nice breather before going into epic overload with Creeping Death. But back to Escape for a minute. I never understood the hate for this song. I can’t find anything wrong with it at all. It has great music, melodies and a great solo section to boot. It’s just a great mid tempo metal tune. I think the fans just hate it because Hetfield does, and the popular belief to why he hates it is because it was pushed to be a single or something to that effect, but really, any of these tracks on RtL could be singles. Anyway, now back to our regularly scheduled Creeping Death. Continuing with the amazing intros, Creeping Death tells the tale of Lars Ulrich and his silent but deadly farts, I think. I never read the lyrics and James is too hard to understand. Anyway, let’s go right to the solo and bridge of the song, which, and I haven’t used this word enough, is epic as fuck. Although I’m not too keen on seeing Metallica live anymore, if I ever got the chance, I hope they play this song as I’d love to be in a crowd of 50 thousand chanting “DIE”. For a long time I didn’t really care for The Call Of Ktulu, but only because Orion is way better and my favorite Metallica instrumental, but as I was making this list and rediscovering old favorites, I had a new appreciation for this one. It’s a very dreary and disturbing piece, but they captured the mood of the subject matter perfectly. I never read anything about Cthulhu, but I know he’s a pretty nasty fucker that’ll be the end of us all. Ride The Lightning is an incredibly fun, ass kicking thrash masterpiece. I wouldn’t say the next two albums were disappointments (I say that like I was alive or coherent back then) but they just can’t match the exciting thrill ride that is Ride The Lightning.

Recommended tracks: Ride The Lightning, For Whom The Bells Tolls, Fade To Black, Trapped Under Ice, Escape, Creeping Death



7. Dream Theater – Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence (2002)



Right off the bat I’m going to say that I don’t have the strongest liking for Misunderstood. It’s OK, but certainly the low point of the album. This is kind of breaking my rule that albums in the top ten have no under par songs, but 6DOIT is a double album featuring a 42 minute suite/song which is one of my all time favorite musical pieces ever. But let’s start from the beginning. The Glass Prison. Holy shit. It took a while to get into this song since I obtained every DT album at once and didn’t know where to start, and also because it was a long fucking song, but once it clicked, fuck me I was deaf from the eargasm. That whole sentence is wrong on so many levels. Anyway, Dream Theater stepped it up in the metal department with this album after the proggier Scenes From A Memory. Not that they haven’t played metal before, but The Glass Prison turns it up to 11 and just beats the fuck out of you for 14 minutes and even though you’re beaten and bloody, you keep asking for more. This is my second favorite DT song, and it never gets old and that 14 minutes go by like nothing. THAT INSTRUMENTAL SECTION   Blind Faith is another favorite that takes things down a notch for the prog lovers. Great song and great CHORUS and another great instrumental section with a beautiful piano break. Misunderstood isn’t a bad song, but it kind of breaks the pace. The ending with the weird shit isn’t something I particularly like either, but it’s not Prophets Of War or anything. Although there’s one sound bite in The Great Debate that pisses me off every time, the rest of the song is gold and I don’t mind the overly influenced Tool sound. Disappear is a haunting, almost disturbing, yet beautifully sad song. The ending really drives home the emotion. Disc 2 contains my third favorite song, the title track, the magnum opus, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence. Overture really isn’t boring, but I can’t wait till it ends just because I want to hear the rest of the song, and I don’t like skipping tracks. I could listen to this piece over and over again and I did that on the plane on my way to Arizona a year before moving out here permanently. Well, I hope it isn’t permanent… Anyway, I love the drumming on The Test That Stumped Them All. The whole song is pretty crazy with Portnoy’s goofy high pitched vocals lightening the mood a bit from the dark subject matter. The ending solo spot is awesome, but that’s one of the many reasons I love DT. The song slows down a bit for Goodnight Kiss, but before you know it, we’re already at Petrucci’s epic solo and into Solitary Shell, my favorite part of the song/suite/whatever. The instrumental section of both Solitary Shell and About To Crash (Reprise) are some of my favorite DT moments. The keyboards especially make these sections sound so good. Losing Time/Grand Finale brings things back down for a beautiful bombastic finish which ends with a sustained note for 2 minutes which is just… It makes me cry every time. No but seriously, this is Dream Theater’s finest achievement and the minor complaints I have about disc one are cancelled out by the sheer brilliance of disc two. Just such an amazing album.

Recommended tracks: The Glass Prison, Blind Faith, The Great Debate, Disappear, Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence

[lonestar]

Two incredible albums.

[Mladen]

Two incredible albums.

[ariich]

Good update! Although RTL is far from my favourites of Metallica's albums.

[Zydar]

Two incredible albums.

Oh yeah

[jjrock88]

Nice!!!!!

[Zook]

Two incredible albums.

  

Good update! Although RTL is far from my favourites of Metallica's albums.

St. Anger is far from my favorites.

[Scorpion]

Two incredible albums.

[Nekov]

Two incredible albums.

[Zook]

6. Symphony X – The Odyssey (2002)



The album which divided a lot of fans, The Odyssey was the beginning of a new era for Symphony X. The era of balls and chunk. Now, this album isn’t as heavy as the next two releases, but I can see why it may have turned fans off from them. They sort of dropped the neo-classical aspect completely and focused more on delivering the heavy metal, which I’m OK with… for this album. I did like Paradise Lost a lot, but it got old rather quickly, and although Iconoclast had its fair share of awesome tunes, there wasn’t enough variety. With The Odyssey, there’s a nice balance. First thing to note: Sir Russell Fucking Allen. I probably sound awful singing in my car, but holy fuck do I love singing to this album. This is the last SX album to feature the ridiculously awesome clean vocals from Russell Allen, and he gives it his all. He has so much power behind his voice, and now that the music got heavier so did his vocals. I like his gruff voice, but his clean melodic singing will always be my favorite. Every song on this album is amazing, even Incantations Of The Apprentice, which did take a while for me to appreciate. Songs like Inferno, King Of Terrors and The Turning are just straight up metal tunes that make you wanna run around scaring old people, while the proggy and melodic Accolade II and Awakenings make you sit back and reflect on all the bullshit I’m typing. If there’s one thing you learned from reading these write ups of mine, it’s that I can’t properly describe a song to save my life. The Odyssey is a mixed bag of goodies that’ll have you singing along like a madman. Also, Wicked is fucking groovy. Now on to the first Symphony X song I ever heard: The Odyssey. Well, it took me several listens to get into, but being a 24 minute song, that’s understandable. I wasn’t used to songs that long, but I would soon seek out longer songs because they offer so much more. The Odyssey is just a perfect song, and although the midi orchestra sounds a little dated, it never takes you out of the song, and you never lose that “movie” feel. During Part VI: Scylla and Charybdis, the orchestration offers amazing suspense and puts you right in the action. Part VII: Champion Of Ithaca’s chorus is overwhelmingly beautiful and just a powerful moment in the song. No one else could carry this song like Russell Allen can. The Odyssey is my favorite Symphony X album and there’s not a single bad moment on it. Fantasy lyrics don’t bother me if they’re written right (something Mystic Prophecy is incapable of) and I never found Symphony X to be all that cheesy anyway. They definitely get a bad rap. The bass could be a little loader in the mix, but otherwise this is a perfect album to me.

Recommended tracks: The Odyssey, Awakenings, Accolade II, King Of Terrors, Wicked


HMs:

Conception - Parallel Minds  (1993)
Their sophomore effort, featuring a heavier sound and ridiculous highs by Roy Khan. Good stuff and more accessible than The Last Sunset.

Nemesea - The Quiet Resistance (2011)
I just discovered this band, but they're pretty awesome. This album draws influences from Evanescence, Linkin Park (ripping them off a couple times but whatever) and Within Temptation. If I ever make another Top 50, this album will most likely be on it.

[wolfking]

That's a damn fine album. 

[Big Hath]

The Odyssey, truly an epic selection.  The title song is in my top 5 songs

[TAC]

Ride The Lightning is probably my least favorite of the first 4 Metallica albums. But it's still a nice pick!

[jjrock88]

The Odyssey is epic in every way!! Awesome pick

[MoraWintersoul]

I prefer The Divine Wings, both the song and the album, but at least it's not V nice album.

[Zook]

V made the list...

Buttmunch.

[BlobVanDam]

Good update! Although RTL is far from my favourites of Metallica's albums.

This. RTL is a good pick, but I'd personally rank it behind KEA, MoP, AJFA, and TBA (haters gonna hate). And SDOIT is possibly my favourite album ever, so that's a great pick.

[MoraWintersoul]

V made the list...

Buttmunch.

Well it would be kinda awkward if you had V at number six.

[black_biff_stadler]

I prefer The Divine Wings, both the song and the album, but at least it's not V nice album.

Same here. Divine Wings was my favorite song ever for quite a few years. It may still be but it's hard to tell since I gave up on narrowing down what my favorite song might be a long time ago. Too many excellent candidates to choose from.

Also, the keyboard extravaganza in the middle of Accolade is breathtaking but I doubt I have to tell you that.

[Elite]

I knew what it was from the thread title. I feel good now.
Nice inclusion!

[jingle.boy]

My fave SX disc too.  Nice writeup.  Oh, and to Nemesea!  Don't see nearly enough chatter about them.  I discovered them on progstreaming.com, and it was an instant purchase after 2 tracks.  Great album!  Their first two... not so much.

[Zook]

My fave SX disc too.  Nice writeup.  Oh, and to Nemesea!  Don't see nearly enough chatter about them.  I discovered them on progstreaming.com, and it was an instant purchase after 2 tracks.  Great album!  Their first two... not so much.

In Control is decent enough. Certainly not as catchy as The Quiet Resistance though. Mana is a little on the boring side. I'm glad they changed their style.

[jingle.boy]

Couldn't get into the uber-operatic style of her vocals, and sticking in the high range.  Musically ok; vocally not so much.

[Lowdz]

Agree with everything you said about SX and SRA's singing. A very good album.

6degrees is top drawer DT- especially the title track.

Metallica, I just didn't get. I like Death Magnetic though, and the odd track here and there.

[Mladen]

That's a damn fine album. 

Yep. I was never really that keen on Awakenings and Accolade II, that's probably why this album is only my 3rd favorite Symphony X album. 

[wolfking]

I just noticed you had a Missy Higgins back there, interesting.  She's quite popular down here as you mentioned and I'm surprised anyone outside of Australia knows her let alone being in a top 50 on a Dream Theater board.    I didn't like her early stuff, but I really like a couple of tracks from that album, Scar is an amazing song, great atmosphere.

[Scorpion]

The Odyssey is my favourite SX album as well, though it's constantly battling with The Damnation Game. Still, great pick!

o/

[Zook]

I just noticed you had a Missy Higgins back there, interesting.  She's quite popular down here as you mentioned and I'm surprised anyone outside of Australia knows her let alone being in a top 50 on a Dream Theater board.    I didn't like her early stuff, but I really like a couple of tracks from that album, Scar is an amazing song, great atmosphere.

Yeah, it took a little while to get into her (hehehe) but The Sound Of White has grown on me tremendously. It'll be much higher next time around. I'm taking my girlfriend to see her next Sunday.

The Odyssey is my favourite SX album as well, though it's constantly battling with The Damnation Game. Still, great pick!

o/

*\o

Aside from a few tracks, I don't really care for Damnation Game. A lot of the tracks are, dare I say, too cheesy and of Witching Hour quality. But the good songs are GOOD.










And now for a much needed update:




5. Circus Maximus – Isolate (2007)



It’s not often that a band completely blows me away on the first listen. Isolate was my introduction to Circus Maximus and I really have no idea how I found out about them. I’m sure it was from DTF, but I can’t really be sure. Anyway, for a short while I thought Roy Khan from Kamelot sang the beginning of album opener, A Darkened Mind, but that’s actually fellow Norwegian Michael Eriksen. Usually when I’m looking for new prog metal, the first thing I find disappointing is the vocals, next being the hookless boring music and melodies. None was the case for this new discovery of mine. Obviously influenced by Dream Theater, Circus Maximus combine technicality with melody to create some really fucking enjoyable tunes. Although Isolate is a darker album, it’s fun as hell to sing along to even with the darker subject matter. The melodies are just that good. Michael Eriksen is a beast on this album (any album he’s been a part of really) hitting ridiculous highs and singing with such emotion that makes you feel for the character of the story. As far as influences on Isolate, Dream Theater, Symphony X, and Queensryche are still the main ones, but they also throw in some 80s influence this time around. Arrival Of Love especially has that 80s hair metal feel to it, which is perfect for Michael Eriksen. The band continues the trend of fourth track crazy ass instrumental with Sane No More, and it’s a fitting title as it isn’t as focused as Biosfear, but of course that was on purpose. Mouth Of Madness, the longest song on the album at almost 13 minutes is truly epic, starting out acoustic and gradually building into a monster song. The instrumental section with the chanting is my favorite part. An addition to Zero, From Childhood’s Hour is an emotional piece dealing with the character’s difficult upbringing (paraphrased from Eriksen) and the second longest song, Ultimate Sacrifice picks up where Mouth Of Madness left off dealing with the fantasy world the main character is trapped in due to his insanity. Although this is a concept album, the story doesn’t go in chronological order, but jumps around like memories, so there’s no need to try and follow a story although the main plot is in Mouth Of Madness and Ultimate Sacrifice. Overall, this album ruled 2007. Systematic Chaos and Paradise Lost didn’t stand a chance. Circus Maximus is a force to be reckoned with (did I say that already? I know I’m a bit of a broken record in these write ups) and Nine has proven that further.

Recommended tracks: Abyss, From Childhood’s Hour, Mouth Of Madness, Ultimate Sacrifice, A Darkened Mind, Wither



4. The Offspring – Ignition (1992)



As I said before, some of the placing of these albums are where they are because of a more nostalgic, sentimental liking, but not the bad nastolgia, like “OMG this show is terrible how did I watch it?” I bought Ignition on my 13th birthday, after playing Smash and Ixnay On The Hombre to death. I can’t remember my initial reaction to the different, rawer sound (damn Microsoft word is awesome, I typed “more raw” and it suggested “rawer”) but I know I loved it. The Offspring’s first two albums have the traditional fast punk sound, but are more melodic me thinks. As with every Offspring album, there’s a nice mix of the silly and the serious, but nothing that goes as far as stuff like Hit That or Pretty Fly For A White Guy. My favorite song on Ignition and favorite Offspring song overall, Dirty Magic shows off their serious side with a more emotional look at what would seem like a bad relationship, but I’ve seen some people interpret it to drugs or drug addiction. Either way, it’s a great and touching song. Hypodermic and Burn It Up lighten the mood afterwards, but then No Hero brings everything back down again as it’s written about a friend who committed suicide. There really isn’t a whole lot of goofiness on this album. It’s more or less a pretty straightforward  punk rock album. If you like punk, but don’t care for The Offspring’s commercial goofy side, check out their first 3 albums, but especially Ignition. I really don’t have a lot to say about this one. I was an Offspring freak in middle school, but ignition (among others) still holds up. It’s definitely their best, most well written album even for being so early in their career. I’m also getting writer’s block…

Recommended tracks: Dirty Magic, Get It Right, Forever And A Day, Nothing From Something, No Hero

[TAC]

Those are some high marks for those two albums.

[Zook]

Do you agree or do you not like them at all?

[TAC]

Do you agree or do you not like them at all?

Well, I'm not into Offspring.

Yes, Isolate is a damn fine album. And it's cool you have it rated so high. Nine has been a grower. I may like it more than Isolate.

[Scorpion]

Isolate is great, but Offspring isn't my cup of tea, even though Ixnay is fucking amazing.

[wolfking]

Ignition is pretty damn killer, good interesting pick.  CM is great.

[Zook]

Coming in at #3:











3. Iced Earth – Night Of The Stormrider (1992)



Like most IE songs, I heard the majority of NOTS first on Alive In Athens. So after hearing amazing renditions of those songs with Barlow first, I was a little underwhelmed when hearing the studio album with a different singer. That all changed pretty quickly though. The 3 opening tracks, Angels Holocaust, Stormrider and The Path I Choose or “The Stormrider Trilogy” as I like to call it is probably the greatest combo I’ve ever heard. Beginning with an apocalyptic orchestra with some Carl Orff thrown in, Angels Holocaust sets the tone of this masterpiece. After the big intro, we’re greeted with some acoustics and then shit gets going! John Greely might not hold a candle to Barlow, but he’s not a bad metal singer. He can hit the highs, the lows, the sweeps, the creeps, and has a little growl here and there. But not a cookie monster growl, like a growl that actually conveys emotion. Angels Holocaust is an excellent opener with one minor flaw, and that flaw is SPLATCH! Oh excuse me. That flaw is SPLATCH! Shit excuse me again. Seriously though, what is SPLATCH and why did Greely say it? The word that’s supposed to be said is “fear” as in “Fear the Angels Holocaust”. I know they had an extremely tight budget for this one, but how could they not fix this?

Anyway, Jon Schaffer takes the lead in Stormrider, demonstrating his thrash vocal excellence. This song is very Slayer-ish, but I think Slayer is just what generic thrash is supposed to sound like. I'm not trashing the song, it’s excellent, but when there’s a song that sounds like this, I instantly think Slayer. One thing I miss from Modern Iced Earth is the instrumental sections, and NOTS delivers in that department. Although I much more enjoy the live version (because it’s faster) I’m still rocking the fuck out, thrashing all around, acting like a maniac… SPLATCH! The Path I Choose continues the madness, with Greely once again on lead, hittin’ dem highs and smackin’ dem lows, but once again, the highlight is the instrumental/solo section. Randy Shawver is greatly missed and it’s good to know from a recent interview that he actually had a big part in writing this album. But then, just look at the writing credits. All the songs with instrumental sections have Shawver as co-writer for the music. Skipping the interludes, Mystical End is very Iron Maiden inspired and is a nice fun song with some wonky lyrics towards the end and a familiar guitar riff, but let’s get back to the thrash. Desert Rain’s intro is really cool, but my favorite part is the verse riffs. Schaffer was the riff lord back in the day, and those riffs are fucking epic. Greely and Schaffer trade vocals during the verses too. Great song, with a catchy sing along chorus.

This one’s called PURE… PURE…… Shitty crowd. This one’s Pure Evil. One of Iced Earth’s most well known songs and a favorite among the whole fan base, Pure Evil is a Power Thrash ass kicker with a very fitting name… And not just because it’s in the chorus. There’s a reason this song is a fan favorite, from the awesome music to the awesome lyrics to the really awesome instrumental section, this song owns. Although the reworked vocal melodies of the Days Of Purgatory version of Travel In Stygian are miles better that the original, that doesn’t mean the original is any less awesome. More amazing riffage from Mr. Schaffer on this one, and some more sinister vocals from Greely. Before the first chorus we get a catchy little acoustic spot, and then after the chorus we get an amazing solo spot and epic bridge section. Schaffer decided to rearrange this part for the remix/remaster, but if you have Days Of Purgatory or Alive In Athens (where this song is fucking godly) you can hear the original arrangement. The song ends with a beautiful piano/acoustic piece that surprisingly the live version doesn’t do justice. It’s really something. Night Of The Stormrider is an amazing piece of work that I think is overshadowed by Iced Earth’s other work with Matt Barlow on vocals. While he is the better singer, and the best versions are with him on vocals, the original is still nothing short of incredible. Jon Schaffer was a beast back in the day, but like I said before, all the credit can’t go to him. Randy Shawver deserve just as much recognition. And those other red shirts too I guess. I love this album so much that I have 5 different versions of it. It’s just a truly wonderful piece of work. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Recommended tracks: “The Stormrider Trilogy”, Desert Rain, Pure Evil, Travel In Stygian