Author Topic: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. A New #1 Has Been Crowned  (Read 34508 times)

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Offline FlyingBIZKIT

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #70 on: July 28, 2012, 09:40:21 PM »
I do like your pace  :tup

Offline Lowdz

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #71 on: July 29, 2012, 01:58:16 PM »
Not heard that Pathos Ray, just Sunless Skies, which I really like.

The Blind Guardian is really good but I'm a new convert so only got this and ANATO. CRY FOR TANNELORN!!!  :metal :hefdaddy

Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #72 on: July 29, 2012, 09:32:25 PM »
I'm having trouble putting my thoughts together, plus Batman Begins and some extracurricular activities distracted me. Tomorrow I'm hanging out with my brother and visiting my mom, but I will try to resume my Top 50 ASAP. I know, you guys are thinking "oh no not another one", but, well... DEAL WITH IT. Just kidding. Like I said, ASAP!

HINT:

32. M_--E

Offline Nick

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #73 on: July 30, 2012, 11:50:22 AM »
Coming in late to just say it's great to see love for The Better Life. One of my guilty pleasure albums, absolutely fantastic.
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Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #74 on: July 30, 2012, 11:51:54 AM »
Guilty pleasure? It's not like they're Britney Spears.

Offline Nick

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #75 on: July 30, 2012, 11:53:21 AM »
Where do you stand on the rest of their stuff? I thought Away From the Sun was more refined but a minor step down, and after that they just seemed to lose everything that made them special.
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Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #76 on: July 30, 2012, 12:29:16 PM »
Where do you stand on the rest of their stuff? I thought Away From the Sun was more refined but a minor step down, and after that they just seemed to lose everything that made them special.

I feel exactly the same way actually.

Offline Nick

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #77 on: July 30, 2012, 01:27:09 PM »
o/
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Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #78 on: July 30, 2012, 04:26:51 PM »
*\o

Offline wolfking

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #79 on: July 31, 2012, 04:26:16 AM »
I have to check out that Pathosray album, I only have Sunless Skies
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #35-33
« Reply #80 on: July 31, 2012, 07:33:50 PM »
I have to check out that Pathosray album, I only have Sunless Skies

DO IT.

UPDATES!


32. Megadeth – Countdown To Extinction (1992)



Megadeth’s best album, and my favorite by them. Yep. I was never a big fan of the speed thrash days, but Megadeth’s 90’s output was right up my alley. Skin O’ My Teeth is a fun sing along song where you can even sing the guitar solo. Symphony Of Destruction I had heard a gazillion times on the radio already and knew the words by heart, but still great single. Things get heavier with Architecture Of Aggression and is one of the best on the album. I couldn’t tell you why I like Mustaine’s voice. It is pretty awful, but I grew up with Megadeth so that might be why. I think his voice fits the music well, and he knows how to write good melodies along with dem geetar solos. Even songs like Psychotron about a marvel character manage to be pretty metal, and I think he was trying to break his record of most solos in one song. My favorite on this album is Ashes In Your Mouth and it’s also my all time favorite Megadeth song. I think if I was asked to sum up Megadeth with song, it would be this one. It’s just METAL. Go listen to it. NAO! Anyway, Countdown To Extinction is Megadeth’s crowning achievement, not Rust In Peace. In fact, Ashes In Your Mouth is better than Rust in Peace in its entirety, so there.

Recommended tracks: Ashes In Your Mouth, Architecture Of Aggression, Skin O’ My Teeth, Symphony Of Destruction



31. Iron Maiden – Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988)



My second favorite Maiden album. As the 80s were coming to a close, Iron Maiden squeezed out one more classic before turning to shit for a decade. Moonchild is a monster opener, but it’s overshadowed by second track, Infinite Dreams which has one of Maiden’s best instrumental sections. I mean, it’s simple, but it sounds awesome. Can I Play With Madness reminds us that they can still make songs like Quest for Fire. No, I’m kidding, it’s not that bad, but certainly the worst song on the album. The Evil That Men Do brings things back to focus and is certainly worthy of being a single. The title track is epic and has one hell of an ending solo section. I like The Prophecy. I don’t understand the dislike for it. The Clairvoyant and Only The Good Die Young are great closing tracks. I like the one with the galloping… Seventh Son is a great way to end a decade. Unfortunately it took another decade to get back on track.

Recommended tracks, Moonchild, Infinite Dreams, The Evil That Men Do, title track



30. Star One – Space Metal (2002)



I couldn’t really get through most of Ayreon’s albums, but not because they were too cheesy or anything like that, it’s just a lot of the songs were just uninteresting. Star One however is a nice change from Ayreon and as intended is a lot heavier. Arjen knows how to write good metal tunes, and if you slap on some of metals greatest vocalists, it’s like putting salt and pepper on cucumbers… or something… Singers include: Russell Allen, Damian Wilson, Floor Jansen, Dan Sawno, Robert Soeterboek, and Dave Brock. Russell Allen and Damian Wilson steal the show for me especially in their duet battle, Intergalactic Space Crusaders. Yes, I do realize that’s one of the cheesiest names for a song ever. I don’t care. All the songs are about space movies and I think they’re handled pretty well. My favorite on Space Metal is Starchild, a nine minute progressive journey about 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’ve never seen the movie and probably never will, but this song is awesome, even if I don’t know what it's about exactly. If you’re not a fan of Ayreon, check out Space Metal. It’s heavier and slightly less cheesy, but there’s nothing wrong with cheese.

Recommended tracks: Starchild, Intergalactic Space Crusaders, The Eye Of Ra, Master Of Darkness


Honorable Mentions:

The Offspring - Smash (1994)
their breakthrough album and the highest selling independent album for a long time. There's really only one bad song here, and also has one of their best in the title track.

Iced Earth - Horror Show (2002)
Iced Earth's last truly great album, but not without its flaws. Dracula is a masterpiece of a song, and Damien is heavy as fuck.

Conception - The Last Sunset (1993)
Roy Khan's first band. Conception is a prog band from Norway that should have been more popular. Khan hits some serious hits here, and overly the album has a bit of a spanish influence. The itle track and Among The Gods are my favorite.

Offline Mosh

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #81 on: July 31, 2012, 07:38:34 PM »
SSOASS is a great album, I don't mind CIPWM but that song sucks so bad live, I wish they'd stop playing it.

Also Horror Show is awesome!  :metal My favorite IE album.
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Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #82 on: July 31, 2012, 07:40:17 PM »
 :heart :heart   :metal :metal for Space Metal.

Love 7th Son too.  Agree completely that they sucked monkey balls for a decade after that one.  And I too like Can I Play With Madness... a nice fun and short poppy tune.  You don't get that many from Maiden.

Never really got int Megadeath though.

Good update.   :tup
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Offline jjrock88

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #83 on: July 31, 2012, 07:40:25 PM »
My favorite Maiden disc!! Seeing a lot of these songs live last week was amazing. Gotta check out Star One, I remember Chad spoke highly of this disc too.

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #84 on: July 31, 2012, 08:14:03 PM »
Three solid choices there.  :tup
     

Offline Nick

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #85 on: July 31, 2012, 08:15:09 PM »
Your fail on Seventh Son is forgiven for your inclusion of Star One.
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Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #86 on: July 31, 2012, 08:36:18 PM »
You probably like The X Factor so shut yer trap, failface.

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #87 on: July 31, 2012, 08:54:06 PM »
I do not.
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Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #88 on: July 31, 2012, 09:04:13 PM »
Well that's good, but why don't you like SSOASS?

Offline Zook

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #89 on: July 31, 2012, 09:35:08 PM »
29. Blind Guardian –Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)



My first introduction to this and most Blind Guardian was on their Live album simply entitled “Live”. The more you know. Anyway, after some battle noises and a spoken word section, Into The Storm explodes into your ears… … … Anyway, this is probably my favorite BG song, I love singing along, tapping along with the drums and doing it at the same time. There aren’t many songs where I can tap along to the drums and not lose my concentration when singing along. I’m proud of myself. OK, that’s lame, but anyway, in The Curse Of Feanor, drummer Thoumen Stauch puts on a clinic and unfortunately because of that, they never play it live because he kind of can’t… I really don’t know what’s going on in the story, but the music and melodies keep me interested. There are several rather pointless interludes on the album, but they don’t take away from the enjoyment. Hansi sounds great as usual and not as raspy as on Imaginations From The Other side. There’s a reason this is a fan favorite. For being a power metal album about The Lord Of The Rings lore, it’s far from cheesy and will have you singing along.

Recommended tracks: Into The Storm, The Curse Of Feanor, Blood Tears, Time Stands Still (At The Iron Hill), Thorn, When Sorrow Sang



28. The Offspring – Ixnay On The Hombre (1997)



Gone Away. That is all. OK, I guess I have to write a little more than that. After the hugely successful Smash, The Offspring came back 3 years later with another monster of an album on a new label, with a slightly different attitude. Ixnay was the start of the more zany Offspring songs, but it didn’t have anything embarrassing just yet. They still rocked, and like I said, Gone Away. My second favorite Offspring song. Album opener, Meaning Of Life is a fast paced rocker about not letting anyone run your life and afterwards MOTA tells of a pothead whose life is completely run by weed. The album has a good balance of serious and goofy songs, and all of them usually have a positive message, even Don’t Pick It Up :D. You might recognize the riff in Change The World. That’s because it was used in Genocide from Smash... I mean, it was used at the end of Smash after the title track ended. It’s cool that they went back to this riff and expanded on it… But seriously, Change The World is awesome and so is the album.

Recommended tracks: Gone Away, Meaning Of Life, All I Want, Amazed, Change The World



27. Pyramaze – Immortal (2008)



Matt Barlow quit Iced Earth in 2003 to become a police officer. Reasons being he wasn’t making enough to comfortably support his family and the events of 9-11 affected him emotionally. So he joined his force’s band that sing to kids about not doing drugs and stuff. That was way too much metal for him to handle, so he accepted vocal duties on a small time power metal band called Pyramaze whose previous two albums had Lance King on vocals. But enough background. Simply put, this is one of the best power metal albums I’ve ever heard. It’s nice to hear Barlow on something that isn’t Iced Earth, and he sings his ass off. He also wrote all the vocal melodies too so that’s cool. Oh, and this album is way better than Iced Earth’s Crucible Of Man that came out the same year with Barlow on vocals after Jon stole him back. Even if you aren’t a big fan of Power metal, I think you can find something to like on Immortal.

Recommended tracks: Year Of The Phoenix, Ghost Light, Touched By The Mara, A Beautiful Death, Caramon’s Poem

Offline Nick

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #90 on: July 31, 2012, 09:35:45 PM »
Pyramaze was better before Barlow joined. That's right, BOOM.

Also, Seventh Son is quite overrated, has a few good tracks and some really good ones, but Maiden has done so much better.
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Offline Nekov

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #91 on: July 31, 2012, 09:49:32 PM »
SSOASS and Nightfall in middle earth are awesome albums.  :metal
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Offline Mladen

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #92 on: August 01, 2012, 03:02:26 AM »
Countdown and Seventh son  :tup

Offline wolfking

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. SSS SSS SSSIN!
« Reply #93 on: August 01, 2012, 04:10:32 AM »
Pyramaze was better before Barlow joined. That's right, BOOM.

Totally agree.

The last 6 albums have been amazing though.
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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #94 on: August 01, 2012, 05:00:26 AM »
SSOASS, Space Metal and Nightfall in Middle-Earth, NICE! :tup
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #95 on: August 01, 2012, 05:50:06 AM »
Everytime I hear BG, I think 'man, need to give these guys more attention'.  I think Mason said something like this on another thread.  I have their entire discog (sans the last one), and usually enjoy it, but never seem to give them much time.  I really love Hansi's vocals.

Never heard of Pyramaze, but I'm intrigued.
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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #96 on: August 01, 2012, 08:48:54 AM »
Nightfall would be a serious contender for my favorite Blind Guardian album.

j.b - the last BG album is very good, get it.  Twist was just a hiccup, not the start of a decline.
     

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #97 on: August 01, 2012, 09:09:23 AM »
pretty good couple of updates there.   :metal

Offline Lowdz

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #98 on: August 01, 2012, 09:53:48 AM »
I not a huge fan of SSOASS. There are some good songs there, but Mindcrime came out around the same time and blows this album out of the water, through the sky and somewhere into space. Better than Somewhere In Time though.

I like Space Metal, certainly better than Aeryon stuff. the live dvd is excellent. I prefer Iced Earth's Horror show to SM though.

The Megadeth gets a  :tup from me too.

Pyramaze are ok, though not heard anything particularly special by them. Not heard this album though.

Slowly getting into Blind Guardian as I've said in others' Top 50s. Not heard this one yet. I do have an issue when htings go a bit twee and folky though (as recent Maiden tend too do). I'm imagining an album about LOTR may bring out the inner Morris Dancer in Hansi, but this is next on my list to try out.

The Offspring isn't my thing at all.

Great updates though.

Offline pain of occupation

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread!
« Reply #99 on: August 01, 2012, 01:57:48 PM »

37. Metallica - …And Justice For all (1988)



Metallica’s most progressive album, and containing Lars’ best and craziest drumming... and as I said, Lars puts on a clinic...Now I’ve read that the drum parts may have some studio trickery, and that’s probably true...

something. doesn't. quite. add. up.

sorry, it was just kinda bugging me. anywayz, cool list. been enjoying.

Offline wolfking

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #100 on: August 02, 2012, 03:12:48 AM »
Never heard of Pyramaze, but I'm intrigued.

Check Legend of the Bone Carver, that's my fav.
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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #101 on: August 02, 2012, 07:25:25 AM »
Never heard of Pyramaze, but I'm intrigued.

Check Legend of the Bone Carver, that's my fav.

Mine too, and with that in mind I'll have a treat for you in this week's podcast.
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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #102 on: August 02, 2012, 08:37:01 AM »
Great stuff you have there, Zook. Will now be following.
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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #103 on: August 02, 2012, 07:08:27 PM »
26. Circus Maximus – The 1st Chapter (2005)



It took a while for me to get into this album. My introduction to CM was Isolate and well, more on that later. People rag on CM for being Dream Theater clones, and they are heavily influenced, but I wouldn’t call them clones. DT aren’t the only ones allowed to make catchy prog metal. The album starts with Sin, a heavy as fuck metal tune about that darn devil taking a poor fellows’ soul. Singer Michael Eriksen shows you what he’ll be doing for the rest of the album, putting every other metal vocalist to shame. Caught In A Web, um I mean Alive… But seriously, the intro keys barely sound like CIAW so that’s a huge stretch. Anyway, Alive is more of a love song about rainbows and shit. Totally gay am I right? No, I’m wrong. Shut up. Glory Of The Empire, a song about Gladiator is a 10 minute mini epic full of catchy melodies. The Dance of… Biosfear is a crazy instrumental with some killer shredding going on. Really cool stuff. Why Am I Here is another heavy as fuck song, The Prophecy is more prog, and the 19 minute title track is a big Symphony X rip off. Ok ok, it’s not. Some of the keys are. Does this bother me? Nope. Circus Maximus mixes styles from DT, Queensryche and Symphony X to make one hell of a good prog metal album and The 1st Chapter is an exceptional debut from the guys. Oh, I almost forgot Imperial Destruction, the last song. It’s cool too.

Recommended tracks: Sin, Alive, Biosfear, Glory Of The Empire, Why Am I Here



25. Iron Maiden – Somewhere In Time (1986)



This is the first Maiden album I fell in love with. It’s heavy, fast paced, gallopy, melodic, heavy, intense, metal and heavy. It’s even heavy. Powerslave was decent but had a few too many songs I didn’t care for, so it was nice that they came back with a better album. Sorry Mr. Nosehair. The addition of synth doesn’t bother me as it gives the usual Maiden a different sound. Caught Somewhere In Time starts off slow, but then catches you off guard with their trademark galloping that Mr. Pears likes so much. The chorus may not be on the original side, but it’s still catchy and singalongable. New word right thurr. I love the riff in Wasted Years. One of the first things that wowed me when discovering Maiden. Great song. More brutalness in Sea Of Madness. This is a serious headbanger. Heaven Can Wait is alright. I never had a problem with it. That middle section with the “oh Oh Ohhs” is pretty epic. Loneliness Of The Longest Song Title Ever is my least favorite on the album, but it’s still good song. If you sped it up, there would be serious blast beats going on. Stranger In A Strange Land is a great rocker, I love Déjà vu, and Alexander The Great is awesome. I love the instrumental section here. All in All, this is my favorite Iron Maiden album, and I’m glad Steve Harris rejected Bruce’s ballads he was pushing cause then we wouldn’t get this great album the way it is.

Recommended tracks: Caught Somewhere In Time, Wasted Years, Sea Of Madness, Déjà vu, Alexander The Great… Whoa, I typed in Déjà vu, and it put those little dash things there for me… Moving on.



24. Into Eternity – The Scattering of Ashes (2006)



The real life KrotchRaut. Or what KrotchRaut should sound like if we were any good. But seriously, I discovered Into Eternity in 2008, but thought they sounded like shit. It wasn’t until Stu Block joined Iced Earth that I decided to check them out again, and when someone posted the video to Timeless Winter, I honestly didn’t know what to think. I liked it, but yet it had those awful death growls and stuff. But they weren’t awful! They sounded good. So did the black metal vocals! There was finally a band out there that did growls that I actually like. I didn’t think it was possible. I mean, after KrotchRaut, I learned to tolerate growls more, but still thought they sounded like shit. Into Eternity just does it right. Maybe because of the use of melody, or the music, but they do it right. Stu handles the majority of vocals on this album and holy shit does he have range, being able to switch from clean singing into growls into shrieks flawlessly. Stu’s highs are insane and supposedly he’s self trained so that just makes him more badass. The production on this album is a bit on the shitty side, but Stu told me the band likes the way it sounds so I guess we’ll never get a remix, but oh well. The songs are still great, and metal as fuck.

Recommended tracks: Timeless Winter, Out, Surrounded By Night, Pain Through Breathing


HMs:

Evanescence - Fallen (2003)
As I said earlier, Fallen isn't very creative guitar-wise. The riffs are all very similar, but still a great album. Amy lee sounds amazing, and the songs rock.

Queensryche - Empire (1990)
This was in my top 50, but I took it off at the last minute. Plenty of great songs, but some aren't up to par. Silent Lucidity is far from overrated.

Into Eternity - Buried In Oblivion (2004)
This was my favorite from IE, but there are a few songs where the melodies kind of annoy me now. After listening to TSOA again, it became my favorite. Stu sounds better, and there are better melodies overall. BiO is still badass. 3 Dimensional Aperture is my favorite song on the album.

Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Zook’s Top 50 Albums Thread! v. #29-27
« Reply #104 on: August 02, 2012, 07:11:36 PM »
You had me right up until Into Eternity.  Well, I won't be sad, cuz 2 outta three ain't bad.
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