Jingle.boy's Top 50v2 - Stick a fork in this .... It's done!

[jingle.boy]

Chad, I never knew you liked that Magic Pie so much!!  Awesome!

I never heard the other two so I will Spotify them!!

Yeah, they did make the initial cut of this list, but that was in the summer.  Then I discovered a few things that bumped them just out.  That's a solid album.  Can't remember how I scored you.  *goes and checks*  It got a 2 ... losing out to Edguy and Bloodbound.  Funny enough, I never did get the entire album from the latter two.   

[wolfking]

I think we're all on the same page with respect to Eumeria.  Big first impression, but didn't hold on.  Kade, I think you'd reall dig Ocean's of Night. Try https://www.oceansofnight.com/music/domain/dontlooktome.mp3. He streams a lot of his music. https://www.oceansofnight.com/music/domain/instrumentsoffear.mp3 is also really good.

Will definitely check out mate.

[jingle.boy]

50) Amaranthe – Amaranthe (2011)


Tracks to try – Autumatic, Amaranthine, Call Out My Name.

This was the last minute addition to the list, bumping Eumeria.  During Nem’s roulette last spring, she had a ‘video round’, and gave Amaranthe/Hunger as an example of an excellent video.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, but didn’t dig any deeper into the band.  Back in October, I remembered this finally, and started exploring a little more.  Boy am I glad I did remember them.  A great melodic metal album, with three layers of vocals... clean female, clean male, and harsh male.  Shocking, but not only can I tolerate the growlie’s here, I almost (dare I say it) enjoy them.  Kade, pick your jaw up off the floor.  The growls are tasteful, and they complement the music quite nicely.  Only 2 out of the 14 tracks top the four minute mark, so it’s not like you’re gonna be wow’d by their depth.  Their songs are centered around really nice chorus’s, up-tempo, catchy and just plain fun.  They’re pretty big in Europe (damn Europeans... this will be a recurring theme), and have a few really nicely produced YT vids.

49) After Forever – After Forever (2007)


Tracks to try – Energize Me, Equally Destructive, Withering Time

I first discovered Dutch vocal goddess Floor Jansen after falling in love with Star One.  As usually happens with Arjen’s projects, I then started exploring many of the vocalists he uses, which led me to After Forever.  At first, I was mostly underwhelmed with them... their first few albums really utilize the high end of Floor’s operatic range, accompanied by too many growls for my liking.  Their final, self-titled, album however tones down both of those aspects.  After narrowly (by a matter of hours) missing out on Floor fronting Nightwish in San Fran last October (RJ will forever have my envy over that), I went back to this album, and remembered how ideal it was for my musical tastes.  The growls aren’t as over-bearing as on previous albums, and much how Nightwish/Tarja started bringing her voice down a bit on Once, so too did After Forever/Floor on this album.  This would end up being their final album, and in my opinion, their best. 

[wolfking]

*picks jaw off floor*  You are just opening a whole new world right now, glad to see you are enjoying some growls.  Don't be afraid of the growls, embrace them and you will discover some more killer music.  Don't know either band, this list I'm starting just from this thread is already making me facepalm. 

[Elite]

The After Forever album is very good.

[Lowdz]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

[jingle.boy]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

For the most part, I'm right there with ya.  I dunno what it is about Amaranthe, it worked for me.  After Forever... as I said the earlier albums are a chore to get thru, largely because of the growls.  I can't handle truly harsh stuff like Townshend or Akerfeldt or Trivium.  In moderation, it can work.

[silentl]

Great album by After Forever an definitely their best. Too bad they disbanded.

[kirksnosehair]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

Agree 100% about the growls.  I don't like them.   Never have, never will.  And I disagree that it's "your loss" because frankly, I think it's the artists who employ the technique who lose out.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Oh, I don't like that band because of the melodic vocals"   The fact is, bands that use this technique are actively shrinking their fan base by doing so.

[TAC]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

Agree 100% about the growls.  I don't like them.   Never have, never will.  And I disagree that it's "your loss" because frankly, I think it's the artists who employ the technique who lose out.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Oh, I don't like that band because of the melodic vocals"   The fact is, bands that use this technique are actively shrinking their fan base by doing so.

I agree. And it sucks because there are some bands (Opeth, Ensiferum, Darkest Hour) making great music, but they ruin it by having vocals like that.

[Orthogonal]

To each his own. It took me a loooooong time to like growls. I tepidly waded out into Opeth waters 6 years ago and could barely tolerate it, but did so anyway because the music was so good. Then, after listening to it so much I couldn't imagine it without the growls. Eventually, I began to tolerate and even enjoy the growls. It has opened up a huge new vista of music to enjoy.

I don't normally listen to bands that are exclusively growls, but if it's done with balance, it adds new dimensions and contrasts that can't be achieved with just instruments.

[wolfking]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

Agree 100% about the growls.  I don't like them.   Never have, never will.  And I disagree that it's "your loss" because frankly, I think it's the artists who employ the technique who lose out.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Oh, I don't like that band because of the melodic vocals"   The fact is, bands that use this technique are actively shrinking their fan base by doing so.

I don't understand this at all.  Are you speaking about all growls in general?  What about bands like Machine Head, Trivium, Opeth, Sepultura, Pantera, In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork, Lamb of God, Mastodon etc. just to name a few.  A lot of these bands are successful workwide and have about ten times the fans a lot of melodic prog/power metal type stuff with clean vocals do.

[Lowdz]

I do feel I miss out on some great music because I can't get past it. Opeth for instance- I'd enjoy them with melodic vocals, though saying that Heritage was boring. Some other band with "Forest" in the name I think- came across them on YT and loved the music and atmosphere but the vocal killed it and made it unlistenable to me.
And I don't subscribe to the idea that the growls are necessary and that a more melodic vocal wouldn't work.
Each to their own though.

[Dr. DTVT]

List v. Jingle actually likes growlies now

2/2, although Amaranthe is kind of a technicality since you used your request on that album.

[Unlegit]

Gonna have to check these two albums out.

[jingle.boy]

List v. Jingle actually likes growlies now.

In the words of the great Winston Wolf ... "Let's not start suckin each other's dicks just yet."

There's only one more album that employs harsh vocals on this list... And these two are 49 and 50.

Tastes ... Everyone has their own.  I don't feel I'm losing out.  I don't feel those artists are losing any potential fans ... They probably gain more than they lose.

[jjrock88]

Listened to Amaranthe on Youtube.....................no thanks.

[jingle.boy]

Dent think they'd be up your alley. Fear not, there's plenty that will be.

[DebraKadabra]

Listened to Amaranthe on Youtube.....................no thanks.  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

FTFY

[Big Hath]

HA!  YES!!!

[wolfking]

List v. Jingle actually likes growlies now.

In the words of the great Winston Wolf ... "Let's not start suckin each other's docks just yet."

There's only one more album that employs harsh vocals on this list... And these two are 49 and 50.

Tastes ... Everyone has their own.  I don't feel I'm losing out.  I don't feel those artists are losing any potential fans ... They probably gain more than they lose.

I know exactly what that album is.  Gonna be good to see my boys get a mention and hopefully have more DTFers check them out.

[jingle.boy]

List v. Jingle actually likes growlies now.

In the words of the great Winston Wolf ... "Let's not start suckin each other's docks just yet."

There's only one more album that employs harsh vocals on this list... And these two are 49 and 50.

Tastes ... Everyone has their own.  I don't feel I'm losing out.  I don't feel those artists are losing any potential fans ... They probably gain more than they lose.

I know exactly what that album is.  Gonna be good to see my boys get a mention and hopefully have more DTFers check them out.

Oh yeah... right.  I will stand corrected then.  There's probably a few that have SOME level of growls/harsh vocals.  I was just thinking of one more album that used them pretty consistently.

Update later today.

[kirksnosehair]

I won't be shocking anyone by stating my dislike of the growls, and they definitely put me off Amaranthe when I saw them on Youtube. Loved everything else about them except that.

After Forever are another band that never grabbed me in the admittedly limited attempt I made to listen to them.
those damn growls ruining perfectly good music again 

And yes I know it's my loss, I just don't like 'em.

Agree 100% about the growls.  I don't like them.   Never have, never will.  And I disagree that it's "your loss" because frankly, I think it's the artists who employ the technique who lose out.  When was the last time you heard someone say, "Oh, I don't like that band because of the melodic vocals"   The fact is, bands that use this technique are actively shrinking their fan base by doing so.

I don't understand this at all.  Are you speaking about all growls in general?  What about bands like Machine Head, Trivium, Opeth, Sepultura, Pantera, In Flames, Dark Tranquility, Soilwork, Lamb of God, Mastodon etc. just to name a few.  A lot of these bands are successful workwide and have about ten times the fans a lot of melodic prog/power metal type stuff with clean vocals do.

I don't see what's so hard to understand?     When have you EVER seen ANYONE say they don't like _________ band because they use melodic vocals?  It's exceedingly rare.  On the other hand, you have PLENTY of folks right here in this thread agreeing with me that there are bands they simply won't listen to because they don't want to listen to someone who sounds like the cookie monster.   

[jingle.boy]

I'll bet there are plenty (Dark Castle as an example), that aren't even in this thread because they don't like smooth/melodic vocals much.  DTF alone isn't an unbiased simple of the audience that prefers that style of vocal delivery.

There's a market for every taste.

[Scorpion]

It also depends on the music a lot, I think. Trivium, for example, play music that wouldn't sound right without rough vocals. In fact, for The Crusade they actually abandoned growls and a large part of the fanbase considers it to be one of their worst efforts. If Trivium were to do that again, I would definitely say that "I don't enjoy it because of the melodic vocals" - okay, that's not 100% correct, because it's the missing balance, but yeah. My point is that some music is simply not suited for anything else that rough vocals and I could easily imagine people actually using the phrase that the "melodic vocals ruin it for them" in those cases.

[kirksnosehair]

I agree that there's a market for every taste.   I wasn't denying that.  I'm supporting my point, however, that it's rare for anyone to claim they don't like _________ band because of the "melodic vocals" whereas in plenty of threads I've seen right here and on other forums, people will post links to samples on YouTube or whatever and (as seen right here in this thread already) there will be several people stating that the don't like it because of the harsh vocals.  My larger point being that any band that decides to use those harsh vocals is likely reducing the size of their audience and not increasing it.


I have one song with less than one minute of harsh vocals on my band's album and the people at my record label literally FLIPPED OUT because of it.  When I asked "why all the fuss" they confirmed what I am telling you here.  Harsh vocals do not increase market share, they reduce it.


Anyway, I didn't mean to derail your thread.  Sorry 

[jingle.boy]

Hopefully this generates questions, comments, feedback and discussion - that’s the best part about these lists.  And you know me... every thread is a chat thread.  I’m going to try and keep my write-ups crisp and concise (at least until the top 20 or so where I start to get a little verbose), so if I don’t address something you may be interested in knowing, feel free to ask a question.

No derailing has occurred at all.  I suspect for the audience your label/band is attracting, you're absolutely right that harsh vocals would shrink the appeal. I don't think it's fair to make that as an across the board statement though.

[Dr. DTVT]

Talking to yourself on an internet forum?  Stay where you are, I got some friends with a comfy white jacket coming your way...

[jingle.boy]

Self quoting is perfectly acceptable when everything one has to say is covered in awesome-sauce.

Update before the Euro's head to bed, and a breakfast special for the king of wolves.

48) Lord – Set in Stone (2009)

Tracks to try – Be My Guest (instrumental), New Horizons (power ballad), 100 Reasons (melodic)
I came to these Australian rockers through our own resident Australian rocker (not the 80s rocker, the other one).  Not really sure how to classify this one. It starts off with a track that could almost be considered thrashy, but definitely some uber-heavy power metal.  Then it gets more melodic, then the growls come out, throw in an 8-minute prog instrumental, and eventually one of the best power ballads ever.  On first listen, I was like wat-the-fuk??  Subsequent listens really brought me to appreciate the diversity here.  Very solid musicianship across the board.  Probably the album with the widest range on this list.  In the end, I’d call this Melodic Metal... with a very heavy emphasis on the . 

47) Magnitude 9 – Reality in Focus (2000)

Tracks to Try – Afterlife, No Turning Back, Quiet Desparation
Here we have the first album to crack the list as a result of my many discoveries from WPaPU, which I’ve only been listening to for just over a year.  A wonderful blend of keyboard and guitar musicianship, this 5 piece out of Ohio has 3 albums to their credit, with this being the middle release.  Vocally, it’s like Ray Adler meets Bruce Dickinson... and I say that confidently because vocalist Chris Brown filled in to front Redemption at Prog/Power USA in 2003, and they have a very nice cover of Flight of Icarus on this album.  The writing is pretty mature and sophisticated for a band’s second release, combining prog, metal, melodic and (by their own proclamation), “neo-classical overtones”.  They are signed on Limb Music (who also have a ton of household prog, metal and melodic acts – eg, Pagan’s Mind, Rhapsody, Tiles, Vanden Plas), which should give you an indication as to their style, ability and substance.

[Lowdz]

I'm a huge fan of that Mag9 album. Years back when I was searching for a "new" DT they were a band I liked, along with 7 Months. RIF was in the first few drafts of my top 50 but has just slipped to the honourable mentions.

[Elite]

I don't know either of those.

[wolfking]

and a breakfast special for the king of wolves.

48) Lord – Set in Stone (2009)

Tracks to try – Be My Guest (instrumental), New Horizons (power ballad), 100 Reasons (melodic)
I came to these Australian rockers through our own resident Australian rocker (not the 80s rocker, the other one).  Not really sure how to classify this one. It starts off with a track that could almost be considered thrashy, but definitely some uber-heavy power metal.  Then it gets more melodic, then the growls come out, throw in an 8-minute prog instrumental, and eventually one of the best power ballads ever.  On first listen, I was like wat-the-fuk??  Subsequent listens really brought me to appreciate the diversity here.  Very solid musicianship across the board.  Probably the album with the widest range on this list.  In the end, I’d call this Melodic Metal... with a very heavy emphasis on the . 

Breakfast special alright!    Glad to see these guys get a mention.  Set in Stone is a mature, well polished, well written and very diverse album and should appeal to all metal heads.  Lord were originally known as Dungeon and under both names they have quite a few albums under their belt.  So damn underrated all round, I urge everyone to check out some of their work.

Magnitude 9 are great, but I only have Reality in Focus, which is awesome.

[jjrock88]

Alright, I'm back baby (Costanza) with the M9 pick.  Great band!  I remember reading a review before I listened to them that described them as a much heavier Dokken.  That got my interest.  Not sure if that review is entirely accurate, but I liked what I heard. 

[Dr. DTVT]

That Mag9 album is pretty decent.

[Cedar redaC]

I bought the Magnitude 9 album. It's certainly cool, but I just can't get into it.