bl5150's Top 50.........TOP TEN ...#1

[jingle.boy]

IIRC, I have Jay to thank for introducing me to CG.  Guess I should check out the s/t debut as well?

Von Groove s/t is on Grooveshark, and unfortunately nothing else on Spotify.

[jjrock88]

IIRC, I have Jay to thank for introducing me to CG.  Guess I should check out the s/t debut as well?

Von Groove s/t is on Grooveshark, and unfortunately nothing else on Spotify.

Yeah I sent you "Painted Skies" in one of your roulettes...........one of my favorite power ballads ever.

Check out "Heart of Steel" or "Valhalla" from the s/t.  All of it is awesome though.

[Lowdz]

Easily Crimson Glory's greatest album, pure metal perfection.

Gotta check Von Groove.  As you mentioned Brent, I only know the name from LRS.

Von Groove's first 3 are worth a look -  the debut had a couple of ripper tracks (House of Dreams for one) but was way too long and full of filler and the third (Test of Faith) almost sounds like a different band (think John Farnham Whispering Jack style AOR) but is very good.  Their later albums I find rather uninspired.

That Crimson Glory is killer. Got that on vinyl back in the day, as much for the cover as  anything  Midnight had an awesome voice. I like Strange & Beautiful too but its a very different album to this one.

I only have Von Groove's 1st - listened to it a couple of days ago, its on the "what album are you listening to" page. I like it and it helped that it was a sunny day.

[wolfking]

IIRC, I have Jay to thank for introducing me to CG.  Guess I should check out the s/t debut as well?

Von Groove s/t is on Grooveshark, and unfortunately nothing else on Spotify.

Fuck yeah you should!

[jingle.boy]

IIRC, I have Jay to thank for introducing me to CG.  Guess I should check out the s/t debut as well?

Von Groove s/t is on Grooveshark, and unfortunately nothing else on Spotify.

Fuck yeah you should!

Yeah, so I did that today.  F'n killer.

[wolfking]

IIRC, I have Jay to thank for introducing me to CG.  Guess I should check out the s/t debut as well?

Von Groove s/t is on Grooveshark, and unfortunately nothing else on Spotify.

Fuck yeah you should!

Yeah, so I did that today.  F'n killer.

Fuck yeah!

[bl5150]

My first thought for thread title was huffdaddy42 but I restrained myself 




#29 Giant: Last of the Runaways
Released 1989
Tracks
1.     I'm a Believer     5:44
2.     Innocent Days     5:16
3.     I Can't Get Close Enough     6:06
4.     I'll See You in my Dreams     4:46
5.     No Way Out     4:03
6.     Shake Me Up     4:16
7.     It Takes Two     4:58
8.     Stranger to Me     5:57
9.     Hold Back the Night     4:11
10.     Love Welcome Home     4:51
11.     The Big Pitch     5:07

This is among best AOR release of the late 80's/early 90's and close enough to the consummate album in that style.  I can’t recommend this more highly if you like melodic rock played to perfection- this is seriously a guitar and songwriting clinic this thing.    Essentially a supergroup of session musos led by Dann Huff on guitar and vocals (great vocalist and amazing guitarist) the album didn’t chart its socks off but did manage a top 20 hit with the mega-ballad I’ll See You In My Dreams.

There are 2 or 3 tracks here that I consider weaker than the rest , but “the rest” are amazingly good , so don’t worry too much .  As far as the guitaring goes – I rate other players higher but when I was playing , if I’d been asked who I want to play/write like , the answer would be Dann Huff.   He has amazing chops , amazing writing skills – he can shred with the best of them but always knows how to craft a tasty solo that does just enough to leave you itching for more ,which is a real art. He's no dud as a vocalist either.   They actually tried out numerous vocalists for the gig (including Mark Spiro I believe who had some co-writes on the album) but in the end Dann reluctantly took on that job as well .

As always I’ve recommended a few tracks via link – the shredding intro to I’m A Believer should shine a light on how this differs in scope from most music of its kind. Awesome songs, playing and crystal clear production.  This quality of songwriting in melodic rock is pretty much a thing of the past – if the world was fair these guys would have been HUGE  .  It’s a tragedy (for us ) that Dann has spent the best part of the last 15 years in a producer’s chair in Nashville.

BTW the follow up Time To Burn is a bit more hard rock and a touch less consistent but still a fantastic album.

Favourite Tracks:  I'm A Believer, Innocent Days, It Takes Two, Hold Back The Night, I'll See You In My Dreams


Honourable Mention:  Treat-Organized Crime :   I'd rate Coup De Grace (their last album) a bit higher  as this album is half killer, half filler but in terms of the crtieria I set out for this list , Organized Crime gets the nod.  And the killer is just that if you're into Scandi hair metal.

[Sacul]

I've to admit I thought this when saw the title

[bl5150]

[King Postwhore]

I just played this disk at work this week.

[Big Hath]

phenomenal album.  It's been in heavy, heavy rotation since you mentioned it in the AOR thread.

[jingle.boy]

I randomly listened to a couple of Giant albums a while back, Promise Land, and of course this.  When I looked to see more about them, I was floored that they only have four albums to their name.  Man, I need to take another crack at them, because it was absolutely genius.

As for the thread title... I knew it wouldn't be this, but the first thing that came to my mind was ...

[Big Hath]

As for the thread title... I knew it wouldn't be this, but the first thing that came to my mind was ...

same here 

[bl5150]

I randomly listened to a couple of Giant albums a while back, Promise Land, and of course this.  When I looked to see more about them, I was floored that they only have four albums to their name.  Man, I need to take another crack at them, because it was absolutely genius.

As for the thread title... I knew it wouldn't be this, but the first thing that came to my mind was ...

You'll be floored by the next album too 

[jjrock88]

I like what I've heard from Giant

[wolfking]

I knew it was going to be this album from the thread title right away.  I think it was either you Brent, or it may have been Paul that pimped this in the melodic rock thread that made me check out Giant's earlier work.  This is definitely their best album, amazing melodic rock with of course incredible guitar work.

The only Treat I have was Coup and the best of.  From what is on the best of, I'd take the last one, but great band.  I hope they do manage to put out another album.

[FreezingPoint]

Great pick on the Giant. I really like Time To Burn as well, and there is that one song on their third album I enjoy a lot, Don't Leave Me In Love.

I discovered Treat somewhere on here and really liked Coup De Grace. It wasn't until about a month ago I found out that they released albums in the 80s as well. What do you think their album "Dreamhunter"? I've listened to that one a bunch and even learned a couple of things off of it. I haven't gotten around to listening to Organized Crime yet.

[bl5150]

Great pick on the Giant. I really like Time To Burn as well, and there is that one song on their third album I enjoy a lot, Don't Leave Me In Love.

I discovered Treat somewhere on here and really liked Coup De Grace. It wasn't until about a month ago I found out that they released albums in the 80s as well. What do you think their album "Dreamhunter"? I've listened to that one a bunch and even learned a couple of things off of it. I haven't gotten around to listening to Organized Crime yet.

Don't Leave Me In Love is a great song and was a reject from Last of the Runaways..............just goes to show how on fire they were 

Dreamhunter was highly regarded back in the day but , to be honest , I thought it was over rated.  Personally I stick to Organised Crime and Coup De Grace.

Note that the 2nd half of Organised Crime is much stronger than the first and features a great remake of a track off their debut (Get You On The Run)  The track I linked above was a firm favourite too - Conspiracy.

[bl5150]

#28 After Forever: s/t
Released: April 2007
Tracks
"Discord" – 4:36
"Evoke" – 4:23
"Transitory" – 3:28
"Energize Me" – 3:09
"Equally Destructive" – 3:31
"Withering Time" – 4:31
"De-Energized" – 5:09
"Cry with a Smile" – 4:25
"Envision" – 3:56
"Who I Am" – 4:35
"Dreamflight" – 11:08
"Empty Memories" – 4:55
"Lonely" 5.03

This is a rare one for this list on a number of fronts - the only female fronted band , one of the few released in the 2000's and about the only album in my life where I have tolerated growls    I can’t say they add a great deal from my point of view but they’re used relatively sparingly and basically I’ll put up with a bit to hear Floor  .  It’s  also an album that really has something for all tastes -  Floor’s flexibility means that vocally there’s everything from operatic to ballsy metal (often in the same song) , there’s brutally heavy songs, beautiful ballads and the catchy , more commercial flavour of the single Energize Me.   

I’d been following After Forever for a while when this came out but certainly not since the beginning (they were actually formed at about the same time, possibly a bit before, Nightwish) – but long enough for Floor to be my favourite metal diva by some distance.  Having said that I felt that until this album they’d never managed to put together a disc that’s solid from start to finish.   And so , in the same vein as Armored Saint , I was very disappointed to hear that they’d called it quits after releasing their crowning achievement.  Years later and now that disappointment has been replaced with excitement .  I always said I’d be far more interested in Nightwish if they got Floor Jansen and being smart operators they took my advice.    I’m drooling with anticipation at what Floor will do with some good Nightwish songs.


Favourite Songs:  Evoke, Energize Me, Cry With A Smile, Envision, Equally Destructive


Honourable Mention:  Crown of Thorns- s/t .........not your usual melodic rock band.  All black guys and Jean Beauvoir (who goes all the way back to the Plasmatics) out front with his blond mane/mohawk.  The debut and Lost Cathedral are worth a listen for some good poppy melodic rock.  This debut album features a co-write with Paul Stanley

[wolfking]

Never checked out AF, but just listened to that first track you put and it was pretty good, worth checking out.

I have one Crown of Thorns album, can't remember which one, it's alright, nothing special IMO.

[bl5150]

Never checked out AF, but just listened to that first track you put and it was pretty good, worth checking out.

I have one Crown of Thorns album, can't remember which one, it's alright, nothing special IMO.

Crown of Thorns had a habit of releasing alternating good/crap albums , so check which one you have     Some of the best songs they did were actually on their Raw Thorns (Unreleased Demo) disk and also the Voodoo X album.    From the CoT - just the debut (one track linked above) and Lost Cathedral. 

I'm nowhere near as into them now as I was back in the day but they were different and had some really good songs.

[CrimsonSunrise]

Gonna check out some After Forever...but right now I'm rocking out to Showtime, Storytime.....   complete Floorgasm!

[wolfking]

Never checked out AF, but just listened to that first track you put and it was pretty good, worth checking out.

I have one Crown of Thorns album, can't remember which one, it's alright, nothing special IMO.

Crown of Thorns had a habit of releasing alternating good/crap albums , so check which one you have     Some of the best songs they did were actually on their Raw Thorns (Unreleased Demo) disk and also the Voodoo X album.    From the CoT - just the debut (one track linked above) and Lost Cathedral. 

I'm nowhere near as into them now as I was back in the day but they were different and had some really good songs.

I have Karma.

[bl5150]

OK.....not the worst but nowhere near their best.  See what you think of the linked sample in the original post plus  maybe Winterland (the Stanley write) and The Healer , also from the debut

From Lost Cathedral - Live and Die - interesting art on the vid , Greed of Love.

If you don't like that group- don't bother .

[wolfking]

They were a hell of a lot better than what I remember hearing on Karma.

[jingle.boy]

For those that want to check out After Forever, be forewarned... the albums prior to the the s/t are very inconsistent, and filled with much more growlies/grunts from Mark Jansen - they were originally a death metal cover band - so probably right up Kade's alley at least.  They've had a lot of nice female guests as well - Sharon, Simone, Amanda... all the top female voices.  The s/t is the most balanced, and the best display of Floor's range and diversity - most of the previous albums had her pretty much just doing operatic vocals - and combined with the male vocals being exclusively grunts on the first few albums, it just wasn't a good combination for my tastes.

You definitely highlighted the best album Brent.  Though, I will say I'm pleasantly surprised this is even on your list, let alone so high.

Greg... if you want to check out more Floor, definitely go the Star One route, and perhaps ReVamp's latest album, Wild Card (it's better than their debut).  I'll PM you.

Sorry for the derail.  Back to the regularly scheduled programming.

[wolfking]

Does sound good, cause I liked that track Brent previewed, might be another one to check out. 

[bl5150]

Remagine is reasonably conistent too Chad - and doesn't have Mark Janssen -  maybe 2/3rds quality.   Boundaries Are Open, Being Everyone and Face Your Demons are rippers.  But yeah - you can make a great compilation of the other albums and that's about it.

[TAC]

 

[jjrock88]

I've never heard of After Forever, but the moment you mentioned the word growls, I tuned out

[bl5150]

I've never heard of After Forever, but the moment you mentioned the word growls, I tuned out

I don't think there's a single growl on any of my suggested tracks. It's just a few tracks and nothing of any great significance.  If a few growls is enough to write off the whole album then I get it - but I'm pretty much the same as you when it comes to growls and it doesn't affect me here.  At worst , skip a few of 13 tracks.  I should've mentioned there's a duet with Doro on one too.

[jingle.boy]

I've never heard of After Forever, but the moment you mentioned the word growls, I tuned out

I don't think AF is up your alley Jay, but Energize Me is a pretty quick (3 mins) and rockin melodic metal tune - with no growls.  Equally Destructive is my second fav from the album.

[bl5150]

#27: Lillian Axe: Psychoschizophrenia/Poetic Justice (TIE)
Released 1993/1992

Lillian Axe often had a level of sophistication to their songwriting that put them a cut above the majority of their peers.  The two albums listed here are very different to each other though and I couldn't split them in the end.   Poetic Justice I love because it just rocks and also has beautiful ballads such as See You Someday -  but Psychoschizophrenia is a different kettle of fish altogether.  I'll focus on that one here as it's quite a unique album and an under appreciated gem.
        
Here we have the only album ever where a band quite dramatically changed their sound to fit with the times and did such an amazing job on it that it became my (equal) favourite release of theirs.  As a rule those sort of albums are a disaster. 

Now they certainly didn’t “go grunge” but they did create a real dark, brooding atmosphere and write lyrics and music with much more depth and content  (there are some explanatory notes included on what each song is about – it’s all a bit abstract , but many relate to mental illness) .They also add some mildly progressive elements to what fans had come to expect.  You could never mistake the great voice of Ron Taylor but other than that you might think it’s a totally different band , such was the change.  This is “thinking man’s rock/metal” and I obviously think they did a wonderful job in updating /maturing their sound.  It's certainly not something to listen to for brightening up your day , but an extremely well written album that you may need to be in the mood for and/or might take time to work its magic on you..

I loved it from the minute I heard it.

For something more immediate and rocking , get out Poetic Justice – even just for the cover. 



Favourite Tracks (Poetic Justice): Mercy , Living In The Grey,  See You Someday , Dyin' To Live, The Promised Land

Favourite Tracks(Psycho):Deepfreeze, Stop The Hate , Voices In My Walls,     Those Who Prey , Deep Blue Shadows , The Day I Met You


Honourable Mention: Waysted- Save Your Prayers - Danny Vaughn pre-Tyketto with the UFO boyz.  Great melodic rock and cost me a small fortune back in the day .

[jingle.boy]

Don't know Lilian Axe at all.  Must.  Check.  Out.

Waysted... someone gave me a song of theirs in my last Roulette (Lowdz?) - How the West Was Won.  Loved it.  Can't remember if I checked out the whole album, but I guess I know what's on the listening docket this afternoon.

Fuck, do some more albums I already know, will ya???  You're killing us with this "Top 125" shit.   

[bl5150]

I'm killing me too  - but I thought many of the best finds for you guys might be just outside the top 50 and so ,seeing as there definitely won't be a v.2, I thought I'd go for it and send you all broke in one go 

Once we get to Top 20 you'll know most of em for sure.

The track I linked above for Waysted is a ripper too.