Anguyen's Top 50 Albums v. 5. Six O'Clock on a Christmas Morning

[Fluffy Lothario]

It would be an understatement to say that I like this album.

[Dr. DTVT]

Soundgarden was my favorite band when I was in early high school.  I loved this album back in the day.

[Anguyen92]

All right, then.  Here we go.

35. Tremonti - Cauterize (2015)



Heavy metal, Alternative metal, Hard rock

So, we move into Tremonti's Cauterize.  Tremonti is the solo band of Alter Bridge's lead guitarist, Mark Tremonti.  He claims that he decided to do a solo project since he has all sorts of song ideas that did not quite fit the mold of Alter Bridge or Creed.  Felt the song ideas were too heavy for those bands.  Rather let these ideas sit in his vault of numerous riffs and stuff, never to be used, he decided to make a solo album out of it.  After the first solo album got a better reception than Mark thought it would, he decided to now make this project a solo band for when Alter Bridge and Creed is not happening which now leads to the second album, Cauterize.

Joining Mark Tremonti for his solo band is Garrett Whitlock (drums) and Eric Friedman (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), guys that were in this small band called Submersed that Mark helped produced their first album on and had kept touched with.  They did the first album with him and joining them for their 2nd album is Van Halen bassist, Wolfgang Van Halen.  Another friend that Mark had kept in touch with and thus solidify a solid line-up.

The Cauterize album starts off with Radical Change, what a beast of a song and a kick-ass opening. In recent times, Mark's albums starts off with a slow building up intro in opening songs like Slip to the Void, Leave it Alone, and Cry of Achilles.  For Radical Change, they just shooting straight away for the high-energy.  This was a song, I believe, was about Mark reflecting on the break-up from Creed in their first run into an unknown future with a new band. 

Cauterize has a good intro, man.  I can imagine the circle pits just forming in high velocity, pretty fast, with that intro, before they shift towards having these interesting "wanting hope"-vibe verses and choruses. "Take the sun and cauterize. Make us pure again. All the ways we victimize. Time and time again." Good stuff. Interesting ending, though. Simple as Mark and Eric Friedman trading soft sounding licks.

Fall Again has something where the intro sounds like something Metallica utilizes in their intros in songs from Master of Puppets.  This was one of those moments where I felt more of a Creed-style in this song as a oppose to an AB-style song.  I like it though. I also like how the ending is similar to the beginning.

Sympathy had become one of always-listen kind of songs to me.  I don't know why, but I imagine towels being waved around when hearing this song, with the crowd getting amped up in anything (a concert, a sports game, etc.)  A good song to get you ready for something.  The bridge verse was really awesome.  "Grown oh so tired I'll always chase a dream. Pulled by something inside. Led by the light I always fail to reach. How it calls how it pleads, how it shines. Where are you now my friend. Where could you be my friend."

The album closed off with Providence.  I'll say it, in actually, this is pretty much as close to Blackbird 2.0 as it can be, and I'm not sure it is a good thing or not.  The beginning parts plays off like a faster version to Blackbird.  That stated, it has an epic vibe like Blackbird, so I still enjoy it.  The bridge really makes the song different than Blackbird though.  Just slowly building it up while you get like three guys on vocals all layered nicely and all during the bridge verse.  Had the longest solo of the album, I believe.  A worthy enough song to close off a Mark Tremonti album, he's had plenty of those in his career.

The rest of the album is pretty much solid heavy stuff from them, heavier than his other bands, while taking some interesting turns like in songs from Flying Monkeys, Dark Trip, Arm Yourself.

Overall, Cauterize showed to be another great album from Mark Tremonti.  It was enough of a different sounding album to separate from the two bands he is a main songwriter of, Alter Bridge and Creed, while still giving some solid nods in terms of style of those bands in his solo album.  The usual praise for his stuff goes: excellent solos, lyrics that gets you thinking, and his voice is not that bad at all.  More than acceptable enough for a guy that spent the first 15 years of his music career on backing vocals.

Favorites: Radical Change, Cauterize, Fall Again, Sympathy, and Providence

[mikeyd23]

Cauterize is a pretty great straight up metal record! LOVED Mark's vocals and playing on this record, also the drumming from Whitlock is sweet. Good pick.

[Train of Naught]

I never really got into Cauterize as much as All I Was, Cauterize was still one of the highlights of 2015 for me, but that was more about the hype than the actual music.

[Anguyen92]

All right, I took yesterday off due to obvious reasons, let's get this out of the way.

34. Seether - Disclaimer II (2004)



Alternative metal, post-grunge

Ahhh, Seether.  I don't know what happened to me, nowadays, but I just could not get into these guys as I used to, now, than I did back in 2008-2010.  At one point, before finding bands like Dream Theater, Rush, Foo Fighters, etc. Seether used to be my #2 favorite band.  For those that do not know, Seether is a band from South Africa.  They were on the same record label that Creed, Evanescence, etc. was/is (I don't know what the state of the label is nowadays), Wind-Up Records (the label that became a huge bane to Alter Bridge).  Being on the same label means they got exposure through the same media channels.  In this case, I heard of them through WWE.  WWE used so many songs from Seether in the 2000s for their PPV events.  Songs like Remedy, Sold Me, Fake It, etc.  What drew me into these guys was the raw emotion that vocalist, Shaun Morgan, had in their earlier songs that when it calls for a scream or a sense of anger, to me, he unleashed it well that I can get behind.

Which leads to, technically, their second album, Disclaimer II. Disclaimer II was basically Disclaimer (their original album) slightly reworked due to their growing popularity and they added eight new songs for this occasion.  The two main singles from this album that stuck well with me was Fine Again and Broken.  The music video for Fine Again was pretty deep as it had people with signs of why they have a broken heart that they cannot reveal out loud.  The song depicts how one person is wallowing in their own hell thinking that, one day, everything going to be fine. 

For Broken, this was probably the one of the most meaningful Seether song to me.  One day, I was watching the late, great wrestler, Eddie Guerrero's documentary, "Cheating Life, Stealing Death," and there was this song that was played after they highlighted him winning the WWE Championship and I heard the words, "The worst is over now and we can breathe again. I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away," and I thought "wow, what is this song?  I must hear it in full." So thanks to the magic of Google, and the likes, I found the song, but I heard another version of the song.  For Broken, there were two versions in the album.  One version, that was played in the documentary, had a more acoustic, laid-back vibe.  The other version, it was an electric, fuller hard rock track with strings and it had Amy Lee from Evanescence on guest vocals.  She sang the 2nd verse to the song and her and Shaun Morgan's voice molded well with each other, that it was so seamless when they sang together in the chorus.  It felt very real and authentic to me.  It helped the version of the song that they were in a relationship with each other during that time of the song.

The other songs from the album are very good as well.  Pride, at one point, was probably the most angriest song that I have ever heard.  Sympathetic was a really good song in terms of trying to overcome stuff, like addiction, relationship issues, etc.  Made me reflect on my own life and its issues.  The bridge verse was excellent to me, "The same old feelings are taking over and I can’t seem to make them go away And I can’t take all the pressure sober, but I can’t seem to make it go away."  Your Bore for me back in the day, it had a big-time feeling to it, even if it wasn't an epic length song.  It just felt a huge song to me in terms of its sound.  It probably helped that I kept watching this fanmade highlight video of a Wrestlemania that had this song on it and the timing in terms of the action was awesome.

Man, I actually listened to this whole, for the first time ever, a few weeks back and I was already familiar with a good amount of songs on it, but man, Disclaimer II is like nostalgia to me (and I'm not one to usually get nostalgic).  These guys were really good at what they wanted to portray in their sound and vocals and did it great and had some good songs. 

Favorites: Broken featuring Amy Lee, Fine Again, Sympathetic, Cigarettes, and Your Bore

[Train of Naught]

I knew this one from the title 

Don't know a lot about this album honestly, the only one I know in full is Karma & Effect, but Broken is a truly beautiful song, love it.

[Anguyen92]

Onwards!!!!!

#33. California Breed - California Breed (2014)

Hard Rock



Ahhh, here's an interesting case.  Well, I guess California Breed is probably the first band mentioned on this list that I go into through DTF.  I saw a thread here that stated "California Breed (Hughes/Bonham/Watt)" and the names on it intrigued me.  I heard that Glenn Hughes, former Deep Purple member among other things, is a great singer and is really great friends with Myles Kennedy and they really hit it off when a supergroup cover band, Kings of Chaos, which involved Hughes, Myles, Slash, Matt Sorum of GNR, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, Duff McKagan, and a couple of other guys, toured South Africa in June (which took place during Alter Bridge's Fortress album recording, which if I'm honest, I was not really too pleased with Myles touring with those guys during that period when he was suppose to be recording vocals for the Fortress album (he already six songs sung done though and already had ideas for the rest anyway, but still not too pleased)).  I heard about Jason Bonham, of course, due to his Led Zeppelin association, so I thought, "All right, let's see where this goes."

Heard the song, Sweet Tea here, and the first thing that came to my mind was, "Whoa, this has like a Bon Scott-era AC/DC vibe to it," has a very great classic hard rock sound to it.  Heard another song, posted here, Midnight Oil and liked the intro with the duh duh duh duh duh loop and the female backing vocals and thought it sounded cool.  So being convinced that the songs I heard so far were solid enough, I took a listen to the album and quite liked it a good amount.

The album starts off with The Way with an awesome groovy intro and the opening lyrics stood out well to me.  "I shake it ground, take it slow, beside the river, down to Mexicoooooooo."  Chemical Rain had a nice slow broody vibe to it.  The Way was a very good high-energy song with Hughes and guitarist Andrew Watt trading chorus lines well.  Breathe had a solid start with an acoustic vibe and then it kicked into high-gear at one point.

Overall, I think California Breed had a solid classic hard rock vibe to it.  I was very fortunate that I saw them in LA opening for Alter Bridge, which included Glenn Hughes singing Highway Star with AB, and I was pretty blown away during their 45-50 min set.  It's a shame that they broke up since Bonham wanted to play with Sammy Hagar more than these guys and Hughes felt that it was not right to continue on without him.  Oh well, at least, they had a good album and one of the more pleasantly surprised albums I heard in 2014.

Favorites: The Way, Midnight Oil, The Grey, Invisble, and Breathe

[Anguyen92]

Slowly, but surely getting updates in.

32. Tremonti - All I Was (2012)



Heavy metal, Hard rock

So we made it to All I Was, the first solo album by Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti and the first album to primarily have him do lead vocals.  It's a funny thing about perception.  After hearing Starlight from Slash and Myles, I would have thought their album, Apocalyptic Love, would have been my album of the year of 2012, but after hearing it, it just did not wow me though it was still an ok album.  Going into hearing All I Was, I didn't have too much expectations honestly.  Sure, Mark on lead vocals seems intriguing enough, but it is hard to say on whether or not my anticipation was really high for it. 

Heard You Waste Your Time and thought, "All right, still sounds weird to hear Mark on lead vocals, but this was a very heavy high-energy song with yet another well-built bridge and solo from him."  Then I heard Leave It Alone and how he built that intro made it seem like a big-time feel to it, and the lyrics started hitting me well regarding how people want the assurances and signs that if things are not working with something are somewhere, then they will back off and of course, the solo and how he timely built it well.  So You're Afraid was really a speed metal song where Mark just totally let it rip, especially during the bridge, building the suspense before shredding like crazy.  Wish You Well, to me, was certainly the first sign in Mark's solo work where I really noticed a huge shift in direction where this was nothing like AB or Creed sounding and was probably the most thrashiest song that he had ever constructed.  Heck, when he sang the chorus to it, I almost heard hints of Hetfield in his vocals.  The Things I've Seen was probably the most Creed-sounding song that he had ever made that was not in Creed.  Very somber, moody-vibe, depicting the hard turmoil moments going against record labels, the things that made playing music not as fun as it should be for a guy that is insanely passionate about guitar.

New Way Out is another song that I can relate to in terms of lyrical content at the time.  Depicting on how something is golden now and that something golden is gone the next day or something like and you are just trying to find another way to get to the direction you want to go.  Makes sense in these lyrics, "Here today and gone tomorrow. Hope that there's just some other way out. Fighting too long to be the last to know. Hope that there's just some other way."

Proof was one of the more sleeper songs that I enjoyed in that when the closing fading outro hits, you just can't stop headbanging.  All I Was was another track certainly in the realms of the heaviest songs that Mark had ever constructed.  Heck, the intro reminding me of AB's One By One.  Doesn't Matter, to me, was probably the song that best represented the AB sound from Mark's end without it being a carbon copy of an Alter Bridge song (though it is still good, like Providence).  Had, you guessed it, another well-built bridge leading up to another awesome Mark Tremonti solo.  The surprisingly great album ended with Decay and I just love how he built up to the words, "Fading like decay. Fading like decay. Fading like decay. Fading like decay."  Heck, he modifies that build-up to those lyrics well in the live shows to give anticipation and getting the crowd involved.

Well, I think given how the two main albums released in 2012 by AB guys turned out and my expectations, I would like to think this album really made me slightly favor Mark over Myles in terms of top favorite musician (Myles just need to release that solo album and then I can rethink things).  The usual praise for Mark goes, lyrics are awesome, guitar-work is great, solid rhythm section (though he was venturing into working a different rhythm band like Eric Friedman, Garrett Whitlock, Wolfgang Van Halen (he did not partake in the recording, but he did fill in as the touring bassist which eventually lead him to be their main bassist) as oppose to Myles, Flip and Brian).

The surprise here is how good the vocals were and that for a guy that was a rhythm vocalist for two bands, he delivered his end of the bargain for a full album for the first time.  I think Mark didn't really think on how well-received this solo album was going to be, initially, and that the public perception of All I Was gave him the justification that he can turn this into something bigger than expected.  I'm happy about it.

Favorites: Leave it Alone, So You're Afraid, Proof, Doesn't Matter, and Decay

[Accelerando]

Great pick 

What's amazing about the Tremonti solo project is that he originally was just going to put all those songs on the interwebs for people to buy and download. I'm glad he realized this was going to be bigger than that. This band absolutely rocks

[Anguyen92]

Managed to get an album write-up out in daylight for once. Excellent.

31. Foo Fighters - There is Nothing Left to Lose (1999)



Alternative rock, post-grunge

So, on the backs of Foo Fighters', break-through album, The Colour and the Shape, the band had suffered a fair amount of inner turmoil during the time they recorded the album to the time the tour on it ended.  One, their former drummer William Goldsmith left after hearing that Dave Grohl was not satisfied enough with his drum parts and instead Grohl did it without him knowing.  Two, guitarist Pat Smear left because he was just burnt out of touring.  Three, their touring guitarist,  Franz Stahl, was asked to leave as the band felt that he did not gel as well with Dave Grohl, Nate Mandel, and Taylor Hawkins.

Man, when things like that happened, the overall stress and fatigue could have led to the band to break-up, but the three remaining guys felt a sense of calmness and decided to leave the crazy and busy lifestyle of LA and move to a house in Alexandria, Virgina where Grohl grew up and decided to make an album there without any record label interference, and recording without protools and autotune, and other sorts of nonsense and the result came out to be There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

Now that I think about it, I prefer Foo Fighter albums where they do not need a lot of stress in their lives to make a big expensive album and come off short as they did with albums like One By One, Sonic Highways, and, to me, The Colour and the Shape.  I prefer the albums where Dave Grohl has the idea to just get away from standard high-production recording studios and record in an location that he can call his actual house.  I think it captures the direction that he wants Foo Fighters to go in well and it reflects well with There Is Nothing Left to Lose.

The album starts off with Stacked Actors a song that depicts the fakeness and phoniness of the Hollywood celebrity lifestyle that he had witness in his time in LA.  It sounded very low-stereo in the best way possible.  Then we move to Breakout, a very occasional live track, that had a poppy high-energy rock vibe to me.  Learn To Fly was next and, yes, this was a track that is up there in terms of the most recognizable Foo Fighters songs ever and I would like to think that this was the song that legitimately made me a fan.  Generator had a cool vibe to it as they incorporated a talk box in the song.  Aurora had an awesome chill vibe to it.  Live-in Skin had a huge big time feeling to me, very energetic song.  Next Year was an awesome ballad song that depicts the idea of coming home after a long journey.  The album ends with one of my favorite tracks from these guys, M.I.A, the intro and how they built it was cool, "Call and I'll answer at home in the lost and found. You say that I'm much too proud. Someone who's taking pleasure in breaking down."

Overall, yeah, this album did not break any ground or whatnot, but overall it is a fun album to hear, and the idea that Dave Grohl and co. recorded it in a house in somewhere in Virgina makes it more appealing to me.

Favorites: Learn to Fly, Aurora, Next Year, Live-In Skin, and M.I.A

[Anguyen92]

All right, I'm in a good mood.  Let's have another write-up.  This one will probably be something no one expected, but here we go.

30. Dream Theater - Breaking the Fourth Wall (2014)



Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock

Ahhhh, a live DVD, ehhh?  I've asked around, whether or not, live DVDs are allowed and some say that they would not advise it.  However, my ruling regarding live DVD is that if I can find it on Spotify and there is an audio CD version of the release, it's all fair game, imo, and quite frankly, live DVD releases are a good vital part of my personal musical journey so yeah.

So with that stated, the first live show album release I will pick is Dream Theater's Breaking the Fourth Wall.  We all know the story about the tour.  Dream Theater released their self-titled album the previous year and they were going to tour on the backs of it.  The additional kicker, though, is that the year they are touring is the year of the 20th anniversary of their Awake album and the 15th anniversary of Metropolis II: Scenes from a Memory so they decided to give nods to that by incorporating some of those songs in their set.

The show starts off with False Awakening Suite and an awesome playful video giving nods to all of the albums that DT had released at this point before kicking it off with The Enemy Inside.  For me, though, The Shattered Fortress was really the first song that I noted that there was a huge buzz in the air and the crowd felt electrified and amped for the show.  Overall, I really dug the crowd in this release more than all of the crowds from prior DT releases.  The Boston crowd did not sound too obnoxious, reacted with the right oomph, at the right parts of the song, and showed great respect for DT's performance.  I did not get that feeling of excitement and anticipation from the crowd at all in the other DVD releases I watched, so this crowd in BTFW is a huge plus.

The rest of the 1st set includes songs from their last two albums, at the time, and FII's Trial of Tears rounding off a solid 1st hour.  The 2nd hour, though, was glorious stuff with regards to the Awake album.  The one-two punch of The Mirror/Lie set the tone well.  Band sounded great, crowd reacting well to it, it's all good.  Then they dialed it down with Lifting Shadows Off a Dream and brought good emotion in that song.  I, for one, enjoyed Space-Dye Vest and read that some were hesitant about hearing that song on the set, but I thought it turned out well.  The final song of the 2nd set was the piece de resistance of the show, Illumination Theory, completed with the Berklee College of Music orchestra and choir.  It's a good feeling to see students of a music school take part of this show and work with a great band like Dream Theater, and encourages themselves to keep going and pursue what they want to do.  The song was excellent, of course, and the overall aura was a high point of the show indeed.

The show closes off with the songs from SFAM with the choir and orchestra still around and the song that convinced me to buy the DVD was Strange Déjà Vu when I watched that youtube video that DT released, it looked busy, fun to be there, all of that good stuff that makes a great show so that was a good note for me.

Overall, I think the overall presentation of BTFW was really good.  Had a great crowd, band looked and played great, song selection was excellent.  It made me feel like I was there myself in person so that's another positive note.  I was happy with the purchase and I was convinced by the good people of DTF that this was going to be a worthwhile purchase, and it was.

Favorites: The Shattered Fortress, Lifting Shadows Off a Dream, Space-Dye Vest, Illumination Theory, and Strange Déjà Vu.

[mikeyd23]

Loving the Tremonti album of course! And BTFW is a great DT live release! Good picks man!

[Tomislav95]

Wasn't expecting live release but great pick. It is special for me because the only DT live show I attended was on that same tour.

[Train of Naught]

Never thought of picking a live album, but if I did that, BTFW would be very high, favorite DT live DVD right there. Both the setlist and performance are phenomenal.

[Sacul]

I'd argue Score is the best live release of DT

[Elite]

Nah, Live at the Marquee

[Elite]

Or LSFNY

[Anguyen92]

Finally......., Anguyen has come back to doing write-ups!!!!  Let's proceed on.

29.  Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (2007)



Heavy metal, hard rock, symphonic rock.

Ahhh, Avenged Sevenfold.

It seems like A7X, sometimes, gets a lot of flack from various metal communities for whatever reason whether it is due to their image, due to them saying that they are the next generation of metal to hold the crown that Metallica and Iron Maiden has, from people blaming them that the Download Festival in the UK, when they headlined it, did not sell as well as it should on their day, from ripping off Metallica among other stuff. 

Regardless, of that, I always have a good spot for these guys.  For the most part, they seem to have a playful vibe in their music that I thoroughly enjoyed.  I got into them during my radio phase when I heard their main singles at the time, Buried Alive and Welcome to the Family.  When Chris Jericho had a radio show, he would normally plug their stuff and a certain song stood out to me (I'll get to that later) and that song probably made me a fan of theirs which in turn got me into this album.

With that said, the album I pick for them on my list is their 2007 self-titled album.  I'll be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of their earlier screamo, metalcore stuff and their self-titled album really showcased that they can do more than that.  The album kicks off with a staple live track, Critical Acclaim with an awesome intro with an organ that has a vintage A7X sound to me.  It took me a while before realizing that the person singing the verse, "I've had enough.  It's time for something real.  I don't respect the words you're speaking. Gone too far. A clone," was the Rev.  I honestly thought it was a woman that was did that part.  Then, they move into the radio-friendly, in a good sense, track Almost Easy.  I'm sure this got blasted a lot on radio during that time, but I sure enjoy it.

The only track, I do not really dig on the album is Scream.  It just sounds meh to me.  The rest of the album is golden though.  From the symphonic vibe of Afterlife, to the Southern acoustic intro vibe, appropriately named, Gunslinger to the song that captures, to me, the quintessential vibe to an A7X song in the form of Lost (which was the song that Jericho played that got me into these guys).

The last two tracks to the album are tremendous in different ways.  A Little Piece of Heaven could very well be their epitome of their catalog.  It's playful, long and epic, symphonic, pretty visually depicting of an interesting story regarding the relationship of a man and a woman, and it totally fits their vibe.  The album ends with Dear God, a song that is really a huge departure to their heavy sound.  It takes on a country-ish vibe reflecting about the long grinding life on the road and a person thinking and praying to God that their loved ones, maybe a woman, a beloved, is safe and sound.  I've seen this song gets some flack, but screw it, I love this track.  It's always seems to be the songs that makes me reflective of life, especially regarding this relationship, non-romantic, with this certain person, even if it is totally different than what I am accustomed to from a certain band, that gets me.  I'm weak like that, all right.  Dear God is a good song to me, end of story.

Well, to some people, the Hail to the King album may be regarded as their "sellout" album where they took blatant nods of classic bands, incorporate it with their music, and release it to increase their fanbase.  That stated, their Avenged Sevenfold album may very well be the one that got a lot of non-metal listeners into A7X while retaining a relatively original and good sound and had a good range of styles from metal, to radio hard rock, to symphonic, to country and so forth.  With their recent record label issue, hopefully, they can keep going as a band and see what else they can bring to the table.

Favorites: Afterlife, Gunslinger, Lost, A Little Piece of Heaven, and Dear God (yes, seriously).

[Train of Naught]

Eyes over easy, eat it, EAT IT, EAT IT

I like how you describe A Little Piece of Heaven as "an interesting story regarding the relationship of a man and a woman"

This album is hard for me. Lots of killer tunes, and, what most people believe to be, 2 of the very best A7X songs in Critical Acclaim and A Little Piece of Heaven. But a lot of songs are just 'okay' to me, nothing more. Almost Easy, Dear God, Lost fit the bill.

Gotta give you props for listing Gunslinger though, fantastic song that doesn't get enough love. Surprised not to see Unbound and Critical Acclaim on the list, but different strokes I guess.

[Anguyen92]

^^ It's not like I find Unbound and Critical Acclaim to be bad songs.  They are great songs as well.  I just really prefer what I picked as favorites over those songs.

Anywho, carrying on.

28.  Sixx: A.M. - This Is Gonna Hurt (2011)



Hard rock, alternative metal

If there was one band that I literally have never heard of before, but got into them due to my radio phase, this would be the band.  For bands like Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and Breaking Benjamin, I already had an inkling on who they were, but prior to listening to a Sixx: A.M. track, I never heard of these guys before.

For those that do not know, Sixx: A.M. is a band that is, I guess now was, a side project of Motley Crue leader and bassist Nikki Sixx.  I believe he claimed in his book, also called "This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography, And Life Through The Distorted Lens Of Nikki Sixx," that this was one of those bands that was really founded and run through pretty unconventional means.  I don't think Sixx intended this band to be a "legit" band.  It was just him and a bunch of musical friends: producer and lead vocalist James Michael, and guitarist DJ Ashba (yes that Ashba that used to be in GNR, let the jokes commence) just trading ideas together out of the blue.  Then when Sixx wanted to do a soundtrack for another autobiography he wrote, The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, he picked these guys to work with and before you know, they felt this sort of chemistry with each other and found really easy to write songs together and before you know, they decided to be a band.

Sixx: A.M. is one of those bands, to me, where I prefer that band over the more commercially or influential successful bands that the key guy is a part of.  It fits the mold of preferring Stone Sour over Slipknot with regards to Corey Taylor.  Preferring Alter Bridge over Creed and Slash's solo band with regards to Mark and Myles.  I guess, to a lesser extent, preferring Foo Fighters over the very influential Nirvana with regards to Dave Grohl.  Sixx: A.M. is definitely the band that I prefer over Motley Crue where Sixx is the leader of.  They have that alternative metal/modern radio hard rock vibe that I just absolutely dig and prefer over the hair metal style of the Crue.

So we move towards their second album, This is Gonna Hurt.  Whereas their first album, The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack, is a concept album that depicts Sixx's life at the highest point of his heroin use which lead him to actually nearly die, This is Gonna Hurt talks about the strange, the unknown, the weird, the unconventional people, and how it should ok for society to embrace these kinds of people that appears unconventional to the world although that has not always been the case.  I guess this album is like an anthem to these weird people on how they should not be ashamed that they are not like everyone, that they do not look like supermodels or something like that and that they should embrace the weirdness they have which could, in turn, is a beauty in itself.  That's something I can totally get behind.

The album starts off with the title track, This is Gonna Hurt which has like a building techno-like intro.  Oddly enough, I think this is an interesting track to play at a rave or something and it still works out well as a rock track.  Then they kick into their two singles, Lies Of The Beautiful People and Are You with Me Now which goes into the main theme regarding the weird people and going into the notion that we are not alone in our minds.  The chorus to "Are You With Me Now" is really catchy. "Are you with me now. Come back from the dead. You've been inside your head for too long. Are you with me now. Find the places that scare you. Come on I dare you. Are you with me"

Eventually, the album moves into the ballad, Sure Feels Right, reflecting on a person's current scenarios and think, "Yeah, we got a good life going, atm." while throwing references regarding LA.  Another ballad, Smile, talks about that one person that inspires another person to feel good about life.  Help Is On the Way is one of the more poppier songs they have, and I do not think it's a bad thing while Oh My God talks about the immoral flaws that the world has in general.  Goodbye My Friends I think some people described it as a Muse song and it talks about how you ready to go down without any regrets while saying goodbye to those you love, and so forth while Skin closes off the album sending a message to that one person out there to not conceal the real you and that you should be all that you can be inside as oppose to the perception on how people see you.

I guess, on the outside, people may write off Sixx: A.M. as another one of those generic radio hard rock radio bands in the veins of Shinedown, Halestorm, Three Days Grace, etc. and if you can get past the perception that the band has Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and that guitarist that butchers GNR tracks live, you can find that this is a good band.  Good music, solid vocals, good quality guitar work and solos, and lyrics that can grab you deep in places that you did not expect to be grabbed at.  This Is Gonna Hurt is a solid album and I'm glad they decided to now become more of a touring band with Crue retired and DJ Ashba leaving GNR as their touring guitarist to take this chance with Sixx: A.M.

Favorites: Are You With Me Now, Sure Feels Right, Help Is On The Way, Oh My God, and Goodbye My Friends

[Big Hath]

this is the second time Sixx AM has been mentioned in a top 50 list.  CrimsonSunrise had The Heroin Diaries at #33.

[Anguyen92]

On break from school for a week or so, time to get some more write-ups, thankfully!

27.  Rise Against - The Sufferer & the Witness (2006)



Melodic hardcore, punk rock.

So, now we move towards a little different direction, a sort of punk-ish direction when talking about Rise Against and this album.  The similar story goes with a lot of bands on this list.  One of their songs was a theme song for a WWE PPV event and then I somehow stumbled upon a fanmade WWE highlight video with them using a song from that band.  For Rise Against, I heard this song called Drones and it was used for the Royal Rumble event in 2007 and I noted on how it had this big-time feel presence in its intro.  Then I stumble upon this song called, Ready to Fall, and it had an epic feel and I noted how awesome the pre-chorus was when vocalist Tim McIlrath sang, "Wings won't take me. Heights don't phase me. So take a step. But don't look down. Take a step."  That was the song that made me take more notice on these guys.

So eventually, I heard the album, The Sufferer & the Witness, and I liked it.  It starts off with Chamber the Cartridge with its intro having a train station mumbling and one guy saying, "This is noise." and then goes into a building-up intro before they started moving at a frantic pace, but still somehow managed to be melodic.  For the majority of the album, that was basically the premise.  Them going at a fast pace with McIlrath saying lyrics as fast as possible, but still find a way to make it sound coherent and melodic.  The Approaching Curve took a different approach with the verses being in a spoken-word form discussing a car going as fast as possible without turning or stopping at all.  Probably my favorite from the album is Worth Dying For.  I dug the bridge of it.  Behind Closed Doors, to me when I hear, had this image where I just imagine all sorts of things being thrown and everything is flying and it's hard make sense of it all.  We move towards a ballad called Roadside, had a female vocalist in the chorus.  The album closes with Survive and it's a strong closer.

You know something?  For an album that did not have a song that went 4+ min., they sure as hell packed a lot of punch in this 41 min., 13 songs album.  Had a fast pace throughout most of the songs in the album, the vocals were saying lyrics pretty fast, but still maintained good melody that fits the tone.  Rise Against is a solid band and this is a solid album, The Sufferer & the Witness.  Pretty different than what I would usually hear, and that's all right.

Favorites: Ready To Fall, Prayer of the Refugee, Worth Dying For, Behind Closed Doors, and Survive

[Anguyen92]

All right, time for another live DVD/album write-up.

26. Shinedown - Somewhere in the Stratosphere (Disc 2: Live from Kansas City)  (2011)



Alternative metal, Alternative rock, Hard rock, Post-grunge

So now, I'm moving into talking about Shinedown.  Back when I getting into rock music by means of WWE, one of the bands that I've always hear good praise about was Shinedown and WWE used a lot of songs from them for their PPV events.  Songs like I Dare You and Save Me.  However, it was back in 2011 when I heard Diamond Eyes and thought, "all right, that's the song that's going to make me look deeper into them."  That stated, heard the studio albums and thought they were solid stuff which eventually leads to me to talk about their DVD/Live album, Somewhere in the Stratosphere.

For those that are wondering why I had Disc 2: Live from Kansas City in the title, well, Somewhere in the Stratosphere has two shows in the package.  The first disc is an electric arena show when they were headlining the Carnival of Madness tour in 2010.  The second disc, however, was an acoustic theater show when they wanted to do an acoustic tour and named it "Anything and Everything."  I'm mainly going to talk about the acoustic set since I really like that one a lot over their electric set. 

The difference between these two shows is really big and it's more than just switching from electric to acoustic.  Where the Carnival of Madness tour was more of a touring festival which high production values and four bands on the bill, the acoustic tour was more of an intimate show with only one opener, but Shinedown added a few more musicians, some of their touring tech guys, for the show add more ambiance to the acoustic vibe.  Also, how vocalist Brent Smith sang in those two types of shows was different as well.  For electric shows, he gets a fair amount of flack where he has been accused allegedly of either miming, relying on backing track vocals, or just talking too damn much in between songs about nothing but buzzwords to get the crowd hyped as oppose to just playing more songs.  For this acoustic show, however, there was no backing track vocals, just him and the band singing well in an authentic matter.  He still talks a lot in between songs, but at least, this is an intimate show and he adds some good context in terms of the motivation in creating the songs that they were going to play.

The show starts off with guitarist Zach Myers playing a intro before everyone else, Eric Bass (bassist), Barry Kerch (drums), a couple of their touring tech guys, came one at a time and add on to the intro before Brent Smith came out and off they go starting off with a strong performance of Heroes.  They played a relatively mixed bag from their three albums, leaning more towards their latest album at the time, The Sound of Madness.  They also added a few more covers in the set.  Foo Fighters' Times like These where Bass and Myers sang part of the 2nd verse.  The Beatles' With a Little Help from my Friends where their opening act, Will Hoge, joined them in doing some vocals.  Finally, they did Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man, a cover that Shinedown were most known for.

There's nothing more to say about this show other that the acoustic-vibe really added a lot to these songs, which were already great in studio, not so much in live electric though and Brent Smith adding meaning context to these songs enhanced the song as well.  For instance, he stated that one of my favorites, I Dare You was about a firefighter friend of theirs and how they were encouraging that guy to pass the test to become a firefighter.  Makes sense in these lyrics, "I dare you to tell me to walk through the fire. Wear my soul and call me a liar. I dare you to tell me to walk through the fire. I dare you to tell me. I dare you to."  Even their drum tech that was playing xylophone, percussion, etc. got a nice little moment in that song.  Sound of Madness, normally a heavy song, was still a heavy song acoustically and got the crowd going.  The Crow & the Butterfly was really good with the acoustic setting and the ambiance-vibe.  Fly from the Inside made a solid set closer while Second Chance was a great encore ending with Smith stating, "It's never good-bye, it's just till next time."

Overall, this was the CD/DVD that convinced me that these guys are legit even though they had been good speculations with evidence that they were not legit.  The acoustic setting in Midland Theatre in Kansas City was a great atmosphere for a show like this and the crowd really solid and Shinedown have always noted that they always get a good reaction in Kansas City out of all of the places they tour in.  With all the times, where I feel like I'm not as a big fan of Shinedown as I used to, mainly it was just due to their last few albums (Amaryllis and Threat to Survival) being a tad lackluster to me in comparison to their other albums, I'm always reminded of this acoustic show from Somewhere in the Stratosphere where they were really on and as authentic as they could be.

Favorites: Heroes, If You Only Knew, I Dare You, Devour (Long backstory on this one, song starts at 8:15), and Fly From the Inside

[Train of Naught]

Missed the Rise Against update, not actually familiar with the ebtire album as I'm more of a casual fan. Ready to Fall and Prayer of the Refugee are 

Haven't heard this live DVD from Shinedown, Heroes is one of my favorite songs by them, but I know they have an alternate acoustic version of the song that really ruins it for me. Hope this one's the regular version, might just check it out.

[Anguyen92]

Time to talk about a band that I have not really seen anyone talk about here in these parts.

25. Daughtry - Daughtry (2006)



Post-grunge, alternative rock, pop rock, and hard rock.

All right, I'm going to now write about probably the most pop rock band that I have on this list, Daughtry.  For those that do not know, Daughtry is a band fronted by, well, Chris Daughtry.  He was an American Idol contestant in 2006.  The songs he sang in that season had a good amount of commercial modern rock tracks (Fuel's Hemorrhage (In My Hands), Creed's What If, Seether's Broken, Shinedown's I Dare You, etc.).  I like to think that the public consensus was that he was really good and probably should have won the season, but instead, he got eliminated in fourth place.  Still, he manage to get a record label deal with RCA, released an album called Daughtry, and it surprisingly sold really well at the time, making him one of the more accomplished singers in American Idol, even though he did not win the thing.

As per usual, WWE got me into Daughtry when they used the song, There and Back Again, for the PPV, Backlash in 2007.  I noted how it had a such a big-time vibe even though it was a short 3 min. track.  Also, WWE used the song, Feels Like Tonight, as a highlight reel song when they did the Tribute to the Troops show where wrestlers would do a show overseas in front of US troops to give the troops some good entertainment.

Anywho, the album, Daughtry, kicks off with It's Not Over a song that is about a person going through a lot of hard times in life and trying to figure out whether they can make good in their life and try to start over from scratch.  Then comes one of my favorites from the album, Used To, which is a song that describes a healthy solid relationship in the past, but it is not the case anymore and this person wanting this relationship to get back to where it used to be. The song, Home, is next and it is a ballad that talks about heading home after the long grind of work (could be something like the long grind of touring). 

Another one of my favorites is called Over You and it had a good contrast difference between the prior few songs.  Whereas stuff like It's Not Over and Used To could be about not giving up on a relationship and wanting things to be the way it used to be, Over You is about a person finally getting to that part where they can feel good about moving on from a past relationship and can breathe easy.  What I Want is a pretty fast burst of a song that had Slash play rhythm guitar and did a solo on it.  All These Lives is one of those deeper songs that talks about the wrong that is domestic child abuse.  The album ends with What About Now and, yes, it is another moody ballad that talks about a person's relationship and pondering whether or not the person can survive with the presence of a loved one.  I'm a sucker for those kinds of songs, all right, even if it can be sappy and all.

Overall, some people may write this album off as a carbon copy of a Creed or Nickelback album, and I won't blame them if they do, but damn it, this album hits really hard to me.  Chris Daughtry has a great voice and that it was good that that voice was heard in front of millions, and that he and his band was able to construct a solid commercial rock album that sold a lot of copies and had meaningful songs that the general public can relate to.  The Daughtry album was a good debut album to start that road off for Daughtry.

Favorites: Used To, Home, Over You, All These Lives, and What About Now

[Anguyen92]

Time for something a bit more spiritual but still fits with my palette of music preferences.

24. Skillet - Awake (2009)



Christian rock, hard rock, alternative metal

Ahhh, Skillet.  Another one of my current fave five bands is now being mentioned.  Actually, the last of my fave five bands to be mentioned on the list for the 1st time as Alter Bridge, Rush, Foo Fighters, and DT was already mentioned so far in this list.  The first time I heard of Skillet was when, again, WWE used their song, Monster, for one of their PPVs.  When I heard it, I thought, "it's not bad, but it just sounds like something of a standard radio rock track," which is not an issue, because well, I like the genre anyway, but I think it was hard for me to distinguish them at that point from all of the other bands.  Also, it was an issue that Monster sounded like Three Days Grace's Animal I Have Become so yeah.  That stated, my perception of Skillet changed in 2010 when WWE used another song of theirs for another PPV, the Royal Rumble 2010 (which featured two songs, the other I will get to soon on this list).  That song was called Hero and it was probably my first true exposure of hearing male/female vocals utilize so well in a rock track aside from Seether's Broken with Amy Lee.  Eventually, I heard more stuff from them, liked the themes they discuss in the lyrics and the music and so I became a fan of theirs.  Heard the album, Awake, and liked it a good amount.

The album starts off with Hero and as I stated before, had great female/male vocals.  Lead vocalist and bassist, John Cooper, and drummer and backing vocalist Jen Ledger had their vocal timing well in that song.  The song is about needing a hero in people's lives when times get grim.  One could interpret Hero in different forms.  Those that are big fans of Christian Rock/music could obviously think the Hero in the song was Jesus.  Others can interpret the hero as everyday good heroes like good firefighters and policemen among others, as was shown in their music video (which had the weird combo of the band playing in the rain with pyro shooting off in the background).  Then comes their lead single, Monster, and I admit it.  It took a while to get into the song, but as I further got into this manga series called Naruto and relate the monster to this relatively evil beast spirit that the main character has where if this spirit was unleashed, it could cause destruction to the world, the song become much clearer to me and something that I can enjoy.

The album eventually transitions into Awake and Alive which had another strong showing of the Ledger/Cooper vocal duo as they talk about approaching to face the problems of whatever and getting ready to confront it and it's their time to do something about it.  Soon enough, the album hit an interesting three song arc that was going over the same topic.  It's Not Me, It's You is an in-your-face song talks about this person realizing that another person in their life is causing their problems and misery.  Should've When You Could've discusses on how that person that was causing misery could have done something to help fix that relationship between them and the person that is feeling pain.  Believe closes it off with someone thinking that they were at fault and is asking that person to not give up on them and continue to believe and all will end well.

The last two songs on the album ends strongly for them.  Never Surrender is one of my favorite songs from Skillet.  Good sound.  Great inspirational message on if you're down and feel like giving up, you got to keep going.  Got to get back up, put yourself back together, and overcome.  Sounds cliche, but sometimes they are cliches for a reason and getting that pep talk to keep going is always something we need in times like these.  Lucy closes the album with a somber ballad. The general topic of the song is about regret.  The specific title of the song, however, was about a young couple going through an abortion and how they immediately regret the decision and regrets that they took a life away and will never know what that person could become.

Well, in some ways, Stryper and Skillet are very similar in terms of their paths.  For Stryper, they made it big in the glam metal world that bands like Motley Crue and Skid Row were dominating with their album, To Hell With the Devil.  For Skillet, the Awake album was the album that can get them closing in on par with Shinedown, Breaking Benjamin, Three Days Grace, etc. and the alternative metal/post-grunge world.  Both bands had their breakthrough albums in those era and presented a similar style of music that was commonplace, but their Christian tones and inspiring lyrics made them different than their contemporaries and had managed to grab a massive broad audience that likes that sort of stuff.  Skillet presented a solid album with Awake and got people like me to look further back into their stuff and became fans of theirs.

Favorites: Hero, Awake & Alive, Believe, Never Surrender, and Lucy

[Tomislav95]

The album I know I liked them maybe 7 years ago (one of first rock bands I listened to) but it's not my taste anymore

[Anguyen92]

What a difference that 13 years can make.

23. Shinedown - Leave A Whisper (2003)



Alternative metal, hard rock, post-grunge

So I'm going to talk about Shinedown's debut album, Leave A Whisper.  There was a huge difference between when Shinedown started in the early 2000s and where they are to the now.  In the now, they are the guys that sells a lot of albums, have numerous top five hits in active rock radio, and have a solid looking arena show presentation and is a standard bearer of the modern post-grunge music with their arena rock songs.  However, of course, none of that happened when they started it out.  Back then, Shinedown had a different line-up (only vocalist Brent Smith and drummer Barry Kerch are the only guys from the original line-up) and had quite a different sound. Whereas in the now Shinedown had perfected the radio rock sound in their pallet to where thousands of fans at a time can flock to see their shows and their catchy tunes, around the time Leave A Whisper came out, they had more of a rawer and pure sound though it was still an alternative metal/post-grunge sound.

Leave A Whisper starts off with a relatively live staple song, Fly From the Inside.  It is a song about having the weight and the pressure on your shoulders and everything you can triumph against all odds.  Note how the song starts in the opening line, "Is the weight of the world on my shoulders?" and how the chorus began, "Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky."  Left Out to me represents some of the more rawer and, I guess, heavier form of Shinedown that they do not have in the now.  In Memory is one of my favorites of the album and it's a song about not being driven by nostalgic memories and trying to find a way out of a person's destructive habits or relationships.  The chorus line is pretty riveting and it's message is something I want to strive for in life, "Because I can't wait for you to catch up with me. And I can't live in the past and drown myself in memories"  To me, probably the best song of the album was Crying Out.  It had a big-time feeling to it and probably was one of Brent Smith's finer vocal moments.  The album closes off with one of their popular tracks, 45.  Sure, it may have a standard radio song structure, but I like to think this can be considered one of their epics, not in song length, but really in vibe.

The deluxe edition of the album had some good tracks as well.  It had a cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Simple Man, another song that Shinedown is known for.  One of my faves from that version was Start Over.  I note how very heartfelt that song was in their message on trying to overcome problems and starting from square one.

Overall, Leave A Whisper was a solid debut for Shinedown and the difference between this album and their latest album is really noticeable.  It had lots of good things.  It was relatively raw, catchy, and honest, the things that their later albums just do not do for me, sadly.  At least, they start off well with this album and was able to build a fanbase.

Favorites: Fly From the Inside, Left Out, In Memory, Crying Out, and 45

[Anguyen92]

All right, well, here's a metal band that one may not think I would put on this list, but I'm doing it anyway.

22. Fozzy - Chasing the Grail (2010)



Heavy metal

Unless Big Hath wants to correct me, I would like to think that this is the first time a Fozzy album has been mentioned in a DTF Top 50 list.  For those that do not know, Fozzy is a heavy metal band that is fronted by semi-retired WWE superstar Chris Jericho.  One might think, "Ah, a professional wresler singing in a heavy metal band?  They can't be good," and while there are times where Fozzy may have some stinkers for the most part, they have some actually good songs. 

The band started it out around 1999 when Chris Jericho was injured while wrestling for WCW (and was on his way out before heading to WWF at the time) and Jericho got in touch with a band called Stuck Mojo led by lead guitarist Rich Ward.  They were doing some video stuff with Diamond Dallas Page (a WCW star and current yoga miracle worker) and Ward asked Jericho if he was interested in doing a tribute band called Fozzy Osbourne and do a few shows with them and Jericho stated yes without any hesitation as he wanted to do two things in his life be in a band and be a professional wrestler and he is now on the slow path to the other goal of being in a band.  After the shows were done, Fozzy Osbourne felt this good chemistry with each other and with their somewhat name value (Jericho being somewhat of a star in WCW and Stuck Mojo had some decent name value), they got some offers from record labels and off they go into being a band.

Fozzy's first two albums were mainly cover albums, as they were somewhat of a parody band at the time (think Steel Panther without the boobs and the success).  They covered Dio, Ozzy, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Sabbath, etc.  However, at one point, they decided if they were really going to make it as a band, they got to drop the gimmick of a parody band and the covers and go out it by themselves which led to them creating the All That Remains albums, their first album full of original material.  However, they got a lot of guest musicians on this thing to give them some credibility.  They had Marty Friedman of Megadeth on it.  They had Zakk Wylde.  Heck, they even managed to get Alter Bridge's Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy to guest on a song.  The album was a relative success backed with their biggest song, Enemy.

So they move into the Chasing the Grail album which is probably their best album in terms of it being a serious metal album without any covers or any gimmicks or any notions of going grunge (Jericho thought they were going in that direction with All That Remains which makes sense given his hair style compared to when Fozzy started and where they were at in 2005).  The album starts off with a balls-to-the-walls track, Under Blackened Skies.  I initially did not think they had this sort of track in them where the vocals were totally bearable and the guitar work and solo was top-notch.  Then they moved into their first single, Martyr No More, which was the song that got me into Fozzy as it was the other theme song for the Royal Rumble 2010.  It's a solid song that talks about not being anyone's puppet or fall guy and can be much more than that and, during the bridge, it had this seriously random out of nowhere guitar solo by Annihilator's Jeff Waters.  Grail was probably one of their more heavier tracks that was not a fast-paced track.  There were moments where their instruments sounded like barrels of firepower just keep shooting.  I thought it sounded cool.  They did have some catchy songs like Let the Madness Begin and a live staple, God Pounds His Nails.  They did have a bizarre song, though, called New Day's Dawn where Rich Ward decided to take a shot out at some lead vocals.  Nothing wrong with that.  The problem was that he was going for one of those sounding like a woman metal singer kind of vibe which just made the song bizarre.

Then comes one of my favorite songs, Broken Soul.  Jericho, according to his autobiography, when he had the lyrics mapped out, he envisioned it to be a thrash song.  However, Rich Ward had different ideas and turned it into a heartwarming ballad.  I sure love it as it gave the band some more honest depth that I did not think they had without coming off as cheesy or something.  The rest of the album had some solid heavy sounding tracks like Prey For Blood, Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday the 13), and Revival.

The album closed off with Wormwood.  For the longest time before getting into Rush and DT, Wormwood was the longest song I have ever heard clocking at almost 14 min.  I thought at the time, "holy smokes, are you guys insane?  How can one pull off a 14 min. song?"  Well, they did all sorts of weird stuff in that song as they wanted to go into a prog-rock vibe to it talking about something in The Book of Revelations.  I honestly thought that this had one of Jericho's best vocal performance as the long length helps to make his notes count well without trying too much as the vocal work is spaced out appropriately.  Just a magnificent track that certainly shows that Fozzy can have the musical chops to write something pretty daring.

For some, people may write off Fozzy as a crappy band with a professional wrestler as a singer.  That stated, to me, the Chasing the Grail album certainly showed that they have the musical talents to do whatever the f' they want in their music and make some pretty damn compelling songs that are actually really good.

Favorites: Under Blackened Skies, Broken Soul, Watch Me Shine, Paraskavedekatriaphobia (Friday The 13th), and Wormwood

[Crow]

the fun thing about your list is that despite a fair number of well-known bands here i have only even listened to two albums on this list thus far, and own zero of them 

[Big Hath]

Unless Big Hath wants to correct me, I would like to think that this is the first time a Fozzy album has been mentioned in a DTF Top 50 list.

actually GentlemanofDread had Fozzy - Sin and Bones at #45 on his list.

[Train of Naught]

Leave a Whisper is okay, but IMO there's too much of a step down from the good/great songs to the mediocre ones. All the songs in your honorable mentions are amazing though.

[Anguyen92]

Time for what could be another lengthy write-up and for good reason.

21. Alter Bridge - Live From Amsterdam (2009)



Alternative metal, hard rock, post-grunge

The year was 2008 and Alter Bridge was riding relatively hot, despite not having too much record label support to believe in them, again.  They released an album, the previous year, that most claims is their very best album (more on that very later) and they were started to get a good growth in terms of their live show attendance in Europe due to their very loyal fanbase.  For that matter, they wanted to record and release a live DVD to document their success at the time.  Initially, they wanted to film this at the Brixton Academy in London, a show where allegedly Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones was at, but due to logistic issues it did not happen there.  So they decided to move the show to the Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam.  In hindsight, I think it was the better decision as they played a slightly longer set compared to the London show (London show at 16 songs, Amsterdam had 18 songs).

The sad part about all of this was that they were gunning to have this DVD, Live From Amsterdam, out in stores like Best Buy and the likes in 2009, but for some reason it got delayed numerous times to the point where it wasn't in stores until early 2011.  Why for some reason?  Could it be due to record label issues?  Perhaps, AB did not had the greatest record label relationships with Wind-Up and Universal, thank goodness for .  Was it due to their production company that did it, DC3?  Maybe, given what we have experienced in 2014-2015 regarding DC3 (with a subpar boxset that had numerous delays and their Live From Milan DVD not getting released for whatever reasons), it was all one big headache filled with empty promises and high hopes getting shattered.  Hopefully, a company that guitarist Mark Tremonti has an investment stake in, Fret12, can help right some wrongs here in that front in the future. 

It was not all bad things that came out of the delay though.  Due to the loyal support of the AB fans, when Amazon released it in 2009, Amazon had expected to sell only few hundred copies, but thousands of copies were sold where AB hit #1 on Amazon's "Bestsellers in Music Videos & Concerts" chart.  It's achievements like these that I like to see to to prove that AB has validation to keep going as a band where some people feel like, "What's the point of Alter Bridge existing? The big money-winners are Creed and Slash's solo band." and while it could be the case, Alter Bridge are no slouches when it comes to drawing a supporting crowd.  It may not be the biggest support, but it's a very loyal support through all these ups and downs.

Now then, let's get on with the show.  The show opens out of the gate with Come to Life and from there you can sense a big-time vibe where people are jacked and the band is playing at their very best.  Then it comes Find The Real, a strong live track as vocalist Myles Kennedy gets the crowd into it with a call and response during the bridge.  Afterwards, comes Before Tomorrow Comes and Brand New Start.  Now in today's period, we're pretty much tired of hearing these songs in their live sets, but back then, it was relatively fresh and Brand New Start was one of their stronger tracks and you can see how much Mark Tremonti was getting into it with his guitar solo of it.  Another crowd participation song, White Knuckles brings the heaviness and excitement while One Day Remains brings a positive laid-back feeling to it and the crowd was on to the responses when Myles ask for it in certain parts of the song.  Heck, as this is one of the few songs on the show that Myles do not play guitar, they brought their guitar tech, Ian Keith, out there.  Also that song had a cool guitar camera angle where you can see Mark just ripping on it during the solo.

Next comes Watch Over You with just Myles on a stool and an acoustic guitar, and about 5,000 people with their cell phones and lighters in the air as this song always gets one of the greatest receptions of the show.  Then comes their masterpiece, Blackbird, which the Beatles' Blackbird being played a prelude to it, and they played it as masterfully as it is and Myles went a little higher than he would normally do on his notes at the end.  Afterwards comes In Loving Memory.  Now Mark rarely shows in any deep expressions in general, not that he's a emotionless guy as he makes awesome guitar faces, but for that one, you can see him tear up a bit while playing this song, as he was the one that wrote it in memory of his mother and you got the Amsterdam crowd singing like they are in a choir as well which makes another top-notch performance.  The regular set closes it off with Open Your Eyes, another crowd favorite as they sing the bridge that eventually leads to the solo, capping off a solid set.

Now, as much as I think that they do not really surprise us as much in their live sets anymore, for this show, they brought a good treat playing New Way to Live, a great bonus track on the Blackbird album that could be only be obtained if they bought the Blackbird album at Best Buy, and yes, they did a great job of it and bassist Brian Marshall's bass tone was very audible on this one, making it another plus.  The show closes it off with the song that they always close the show off, Rise Today, and while some complain about it being a closing song, it's a good positive song and message to send the crowd happy.

Overall, I think it is safe to say that their first live DVD/album was a good hit for them that cements their reputation as a solid top-notch band for those that have heard of Alter Bridge.  Good setlist for its time, had a great and full crowd in Amsterdam, and the band was playing at its peak.  Sadly, this show was a big indicator that them being a full-time band was coming to an end as afterwards, Creed reunited and Myles was starting to work with Slash.  However, this DVD represented the great magic that is Alter Bridge at a prime.

Favorites: One Day Remains, Blackbird, In Loving Memory, Open Your Eyes, and New Way to Live

[Anguyen92]

And I finally made to the top 20!!!!

20. Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls (2015)



Heavy metal

So, it's clear we all know who Iron Maiden is.  They have their fair shares of ups and downs, mainly ups, in their 35+ years of being in the metal spotlight as one of the most influential metal bands and, currently, one of the biggest ones, headlining major festivals and stadiums all over the world.  Now, to me, I have heard about them, but did not really get into them until the last few years, where I sent a tweet to one of my high school friends asking if I should listen to them and where do I start.  He stated, "You should, and you should start with The Number of the Beast onward into the rest of their 1980s catalogs from there."  Then I stated, "How are their new releases?"  He mentioned that he liked their last four albums, giving the implication that they are the albums from Brave New World onward.  Basically, the albums that they had been released since vocalist Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith had return to the line-up.

So I heard it, and it sounds good, but nothing really too gravitating for me, yet.  Then I saw one of their documentaries and live DVD, Flight 666, and I thought the concept around their Somewhere Back in Time tour was just fantastic.  The idea to rent a plane big enough to carry everyone and everything that is needed to do an Iron Maiden show and tour (band, roadies, Eddie, gear, managers, family, etc.) and have Bruce Dickinson fly the plane was golden.  This idea let Maiden travel in areas in countries that their fans in those countries did not think they could get an Iron Maiden show, but they did, and this documentary showcased how big of a global fanbase Iron Maiden has and how good chaps they are.  Oh, and the live concert footage and performances were top-notch.  From there, I would be a more of a casual fan of theirs which was better than not knowing anything about them.

So, we move into 2015.  With so many albums and great hits, you would think Iron Maiden would take it easy going into their 15th album right?  Wrong!!!  They wanted to go all balls out with everything they got with their latest album, The Book of Souls.  Making it a double-album, clocking at 92 min., with three 10+ songs with a couple of lengthy tracks as well.  The album and cover has a Mayan-inspired flair to it taking about, of course, souls and life and mortality in general. 

The album kicks off with If Eternity Should Fail, with a chilling intro, makes me think I'm like in a desert or something and something is about to go down.  For a track that was 8 min., it just grabbed me the whole time and was compelling making this a very strong intro to the album.  Bonus points also to the spoken word at the end that sounded like an evil spirit or something.  Then we go into Speed of Light, the first single.  Had a cowbell in the intro.  Good solos.  A solid single to reintroduce Iron Maiden back after not hearing a new song in five years.  Eventually, we move into the first 10+ min. song of the album, The Red and The Black.  I liked the intro which reminded me the intro of Metallica's Battery before they kick into a galloping sound, reminded some people of Rime of the Ancient Mariner.  If there was one flaw to this, it probably overstayed its welcome in the instrumental bits.  Maybe it could have been cut down a bit, perhaps, to make it go smoothly.  I also liked how the ending mirrored the opening.  After that long 13 min. song, they move into When the River Runs Deep, I like how the chorus is paced out with the pacing slowed down a bit compared to the pace in the rest of the song.  The first disc closes off with the title track, The Book of Souls.  It just had a bad-ass aura throughout the whole time.  I liked the strings in the background.  I can imagine a festival/stadium crowd, if they have any flags, waving those flags timely with the chorus.  A tremendous closer to the first disc.

The second disc kicks off fast with Death or Glory.  Eventually, we move to Tears of A Clown, a song dedicated to the late Robin Williams.  Honestly, even though from what I've read throughout the forums I've read that talks about this album, not a lot of people like this song.  I like it though.  I like the lyrics discussing on how can one guy can cheer many people up, but cannot cheer himself up and live in despair and so forth.  The strings have been once again used tastefully.  The album moves towards the very somber and moody, The Man of Sorrows.  Appropriate title, fits the song.  The album close off with Iron Maiden's longest song ever, Empire of the Clouds, clocking at 18 min.  The question is that Iron Maiden can do a song with that long length and do it justice like Rush, like DT, etc.?  I think it is safe to say yes.  Bruce on the piano help set the song so that they do not go all balls out and exhaust themselves and trying to come up with filler to fill the time.  The song was paced nicely for the most part.  It may be an 18 min. song, but it's structured in a way where you kinda have to finish listening to the song when it starts, since it's so compelling.  There was good bombastic elements to it at one point like an orchestra sound as oppose to just strings.  It made me think it was like a James Bond track at one point or something. 

Overall, to me, Iron Maiden has really cemented themselves as one of the long-lasting greats in metal, with this album.  Not just because they had so many great albums in their prime, but the fact that they are still able to put a lot of dedication and effort into their latest releases which is not a regurgitation or a generic carbon copy of their past work.  For me, Rush and Iron Maiden are the best long-lasting bands because they care a lot about their albums which is why they do their best to emphasize it in their live shows when touring the album which sets them totally apart to a general older band that only plays the hits and not really put too much care into a new album.  Is The Book of Souls Iron Maiden's best work ever?  Hard to say, as they had a long catalog of top-notch stuff, but for a band going in 35+ year strong, this is a damn good album.

Favorites: If Eternity Should Fail, When The River Run Deeps, The Book of Souls, Tears of a Clown, and Empire of the Clouds.