The Official Hard Rock / Classic Metal Music Discussion and Memorabilia Thread!

[bl5150]

Wow..............biggest music news of 2016 right before Christmas.









































































NITRO are back together for a new album    

Too bad it'll be too late for the Best of 2016.


Speaking of which........if you guys have any albums you want featured in the next podcast (Best of 2016)- only a thought bubble at this point - then now's the time to PM me or post here.  Any albums from 2016 that you love that aren't likely to be obvious to me would be awesome.   I am flying through my 2016 releases as best I can but there is so much music out there that it makes the 1988 task pale in comparison.

And yes.............Flotsam & Jestsam will be included whether we like it or not

[TAC]

  And yes.............Flotsam & Jestsam will be included whether we like it or not

[jjrock88]

Nitro is the ultimate in helium metal!

Brent, I can only request you play "Light and Shade of Things" by Fates.  That song will not only be the top of 2016 for me, but will rank quite nicely all time as well.

[bl5150]

Nitro is the ultimate in helium metal!

Those guys are hilarious ( even if they're not in on it )    I never knew what O.F.R. stood for until many years later (didn't get into it enough to hear the lyrics obviously) .  Out-fucking-rageous 

Brent, I can only request you play "Light and Shade of Things" by Fates. 

Done.

Well there goes the first hour - anyone want something for the second ? 

[jjrock88]

wasn't Lita Ford married to the singer of Nitro at some point?.  Or maybe they still are

[TAC]

F&J. Anthrax. You're probably not an Avantasia guy but the Ghostlights title track is awesome and should help you reach the Kiske quota.

Megadeth, Testament, Innerwish, Lords Of Black, Monument, Sinbreed, Metallica, Mystic Prophecy, Enbound,  Plus live albums from Rainbow and Saxon. The Schenker live album blew though.

And don't forget The Astonishing!!!!

[bl5150]

F&J. Anthrax. You're probably not an Avantasia guy but the Ghostlights title track is awesome and should help you reach the Kiske quota.

Megadeth, Testament, Innerwish, Lords Of Black, Monument, Sinbreed, Metallica, Mystic Prophecy, Enbound,  Plus live albums from Rainbow and Saxon. The Schenker live album blew though.

And don't forget The Astonishing!!!!

I like most of those incl. Ghostlights .     I was trying to forget The Astonishing and now you've reminded me

wasn't Lita Ford married to the singer of Nitro at some point?.  Or maybe they still are

Extremely messy split.   He's a few sandwiches short of a cut lunch (to say the least) and he was awarded custody of their kids so I hate to think what Lita Ford's like these days.

[jjrock88]

Brent, you only have 68 songs from The Astonishing to choose from.

[TAC]

I really liked the Sinbreed, Innerwish, and Lords Of Black. They were pretty much under the radar, but all very enjoyable.

Oh, and can't forget Metal Church either. And Redemption. And Dream Theater.

[bl5150]

Brent, you only have 68 songs from The Astonishing to choose from.

Tim wins - I will play The Hovering Sojourn at the end of the Fates track and that will even out to two regular songs in length.

[jjrock88]

Breathing Lightning by Anthrax should be included too!

[TAC]

Breathing Lightning by Anthrax should be included too!

Awesome tune. My fave on the album is Monster In The End. Love the Slayer style beginning.

Tim wins - I will play The Hovering Sojourn at the end of the Fates track and that will even out to two regular songs in length.

[wolfking]

Some of my picks from this year;

Megadeth
Fates Warning
Primal Fear
Avantasia
Redemption
Be'lakor (hahaha, like that will be getting played)
Solution .45 (again hahahahaha)
Evergrey
Testament
Sunstorm

[TAC]

Oh, and Theocracy!!!

[Big Hath]

so the Armored Saint/Queensryche concert was last night and it was awesome.

Was that Dallas? If so, it is up on Dime. Sounds pretty good too!

yes indeed!

[Big Hath]

Solution .45 (again hahahahaha)

I've only listened through once so far, but I seem to recall a track or two that didn't have any growls.  Maybe I'm misremembering?

[TAC]

Solution .45 (again hahahahaha)

I've only listened through once so far, but I seem to recall a track or two that didn't have any growls.  Maybe I'm misremembering?

Solution .25!

[bl5150]

Everyone here except me seems to love the Anthrax (only had one listen) , so will revisit.   I thought it was okay but that's about it after that initial listen.  I think for bands like Anthrax and Metallica I would play a track whether I like them or not - releases from those bands are an event regardless.

[TAC]

Everyone here except me seems to love the Anthrax (only had one listen) , so will revisit.   I think for bands like Anthrax and Metallica I would play a track whether I like them or not - releases from those bands are an event regardless.

The Anthrax is really good, as was Worship Music. The worst song on For All Kings was the first one, so if you started there (naturally), it doesn't properly represent the awesomeness of the whole album.

And the Metallica is just fine.

Brent, I can only request you play "Light and Shade of Things" by Fates.  That song will not only be the top of 2016 for me, but will rank quite nicely all time as well.

Just spun this track. So awesome!!

[bl5150]

I also need to revisit Metallica (still their best since TBA for mine) and check the rating but any album like this where there is 3-4 "meh" songs makes it hard for me to rate it highly , even though I may love half the album. 

Consistency is the key and that's where (IMHO) bands like Megadeth and Fates have it over Anthrax and Metallica in terms of their most recent efforts.

And when I said I would "play a track" I meant in the podcast , not that I stopped listening after one track

[jjrock88]

I should also try and give the Metallica a good shot, but I just haven't been able to get into anything Metallica related since TBA.  I thought Death Magnetic was pretty good, but it wasn't something that I went out of my way to listen to. 

The Ronnie James Medley is probably my favorite thing Metallica has done since TBA.

[BlobVanDam]

I was over the Metallica album almost instantly. It has very little to offer worth a relisten. Even DM was sadly much better overall, and it doesn't come close to anything else (except maybe St Anger, but I'm honestly undecided on that).

[bl5150]

I was over the Metallica album almost instantly. It has very little to offer worth a relisten. Even DM was sadly much better overall, and it doesn't come close to anything else (except maybe St Anger, but I'm honestly undecided on that).

Yeah..........I liked parts of the Metallica but certainly wasn't in a rush to replay.   Having said that I didn't piss myself laughing like I did the first time I heard the sound of St Anger 

[jjrock88]

I've never actually listened to St Anger in its entirety, but all the songs I've heard didn't do much for me.

Do you think the new one would have benefited from being condensed into one disc?

[bl5150]

If I could drop the 3 tracks that I rate lowest then it would make a big difference , so yeah I suppose so.


There were some cool funnies doing the rounds about St Anger.   

[BlobVanDam]

I was over the Metallica album almost instantly. It has very little to offer worth a relisten. Even DM was sadly much better overall, and it doesn't come close to anything else (except maybe St Anger, but I'm honestly undecided on that).

Yeah..........I liked parts of the Metallica but certainly wasn't in a rush to replay.   Having said that I didn't piss myself laughing like I did the first time I heard the sound of St Anger 

Your avatar sums up my reaction to St Anger quite well.
I was still in the denial phase when St Anger came out. First was the lead single, and I was like "well maybe the rest of the album will be better". Then they played half of the album on the radio and I still thought "maybe they're saving the best tracks". Then I heard the album and thought " but maybe they sound better on the live disc with better sound". Eventually reality sunk in.

[Big Hath]

a few of the better 2016 albums for me that I don't think were mentioned were Sunburst, Death Angel, Almanac, Witherscape (heh), Omnium Gatherum (HA!), and Myrath.

Brent, go back to those first two Eternal Champion songs if you haven't already and see if one of them warrants a spot.

[Kwyjibo]

Brent, listen to Anthrax again, my first reaction was very meh but it grew mightily over time, one of the top ten records in 2016, maybe even top 3.

The new Metallica would vastly improve if it was shorter, ditch some songs and on others cut out a verse and/or a chorus repeat and it would be more concise. And one thing that St. Anger has in its favor, it has no Kirk Hammett faking to play lead guitar. I'm probably unfair and biased but I find his playing on Hardwired just atrocious. Normally I don't care for uninteresting guitar solos, but for whatever reason those really annoy me.

[Lowdz]

a few of the better 2016 albums for me that I don't think were mentioned were Sunburst, Death Angel, Almanac, Witherscape (heh), Omnium Gatherum (HA!), and Myrath.

Brent, go back to those first two Eternal Champion songs if you haven't already and see if one of them warrants a spot.

I've tried the Eternal Champion and found it bland and dated, and not in a good way 

[bl5150]

What's an example of something that is bland and dated in a good way Paul? 

[BlobVanDam]

Things can be dated in the good way, but bland is timeless.

[wolfking]

Still haven't listened to the Metallica.  Heard a couple of songs and not in any rush but will get around to it.  I think I'll lean towards Blob's opinion though, doesn't seem like there is much to offer.

I really like St Anger too......

[bl5150]

I think I have identified one thing that likely turned me off the Anthrax a bit .   Listening to Monster At The End right now - good song (if a little "modern metal") and the vocals and lead guitar sound great in the mix but the rhythm guitar (a signature of classic Anthrax) is buried and missing their classic "crunch".   

On to the title track now and the pre-chorus and chorus feels real flat to me.

Breathing Lightning is a bit more like it - and my favourite track first time around - but again the rhythm guitar sound is pissweak (in parts at least) compared to what I associate with Anthrax.

Blood Eagle Wings is another good song with the rhythm guitar buried - geez.

Decent album for sure but I think I'll be sticking with my rating around high 70's  (EDIT - call it 83% after my second listen)  but for me it's not in the same ballpark as Dystopia.  Feels a bit lifeless/"unheavy" to me too which may be more to do with the production than the songs in the end.  Will keep listening though and see how we go.


I still need to give the Bush era a proper go too.   Massive Armored Saint fan but I never really felt the need to explore his Anthrax work based on the few songs I heard.   Spreading The Disease is where Anthrax connected with me - and huge - but they never managed to repeat that for me.

[Lowdz]

What's an example of something that is bland and dated in a good way Paul? 

That Palace album recently, maybe the Cruzh and High Spirits?

Nothing outstanding, could have come out in the 80s but not terrible. 

[bl5150]

Just being tongue in cheek - like Blob said I can understand something being good and dated - but bland and good ?

FWIW I thought the Palace was very good and the Cruzh was shite.