Gazinwales Top 50 Albums - v. #26 bitter metallic side...

[jingle.boy]

I gave Sabaton a go a few years back when they were touring with IE and ReVamp.  I was there for the ReVamp mostly, but dug Sabaton (saw them again a couple years later opening for Nightwish).  Didn't know that Floor was marrying one of the band members there.  Anywhoo... I think Katt nailed it - they're a one-trick pony to me.  Enjoyable enough, but it gets tired pretty quick.  CR was the active album at the time, and I liked it well enough, and as you said - man do they put on a high-energy show on stage.  Fun as hell live, but not something I'd ever proactively turn to on my own.

[The Walrus]

Ohhh so that's how Civil War came to be! I only know of them because of Kelly Carpenter, but I haven't checked them out.

[gazinwales]

All three Civil War full albums are pretty strong, but Nils Patrick Johansson vocals are not for everyone.

[Lethean]

  The Netherworld albums were both top 2 of the year when they were released.

Not busting balls Chad, so please don't take it that way. Not directing this at you....just discussing about the band..

I just put myself through the torture listening to those a few weeks ago. I think they are terrible. I hate that guy's voice.

Those albums are all I know of Vanden Plas.



But I'm willing to check this one out for sure. Is it the same singer?

I get ya... he does have a very distinctive voice, and I can understand it being a love it or hate it proposition.  I'm in the former camp.  And yeah, Andy is the vocalist across the discography.  If his voice rubs you the wrong way, you probably shouldn't bother.

I know we're on #46 now, but I love that Vanden Plas is on this list.  My pick would probably be Beyond Daylight or Far Off Grace, but I'm glad to see them here.  I too love Andy's voice.

[gazinwales]

Ciivl war official video's;
Braveheart https://youtu.be/EtF9korJodM
Bay Of Pigs https://youtu.be/lXAvNLTWNMM
Tombstone https://youtu.be/yFFZPOWeOdE
Road To Victory https://youtu.be/uLTUQsI7O9M

[The Walrus]

All three Civil War full albums are pretty strong, but Nils Patrick Johansson vocals are not for everyone.

Nah, but they should be. He's the best part of Wuthering Heights. Now I have Civil War AND Sabaton for tomorrow. Lots of listening to do

[wolfking]

I'm a very casual Sabaton fan and only know a couple of their later albums.  They didn't hook me enough to explore everything but they are good listens.  I'll have to check this one out and dig out the cd's I have.

I think I have Heroes and the last one.

[bl5150]

I have the album but never got around to giving it a proper listen.  I do remember reading that many prefer the Swedish version as it's "as originally written."

[Puppies_On_Acid]

I gave Sabaton a go a few years back when they were touring with IE and ReVamp.  I was there for the ReVamp mostly, but dug Sabaton (saw them again a couple years later opening for Nightwish).  Didn't know that Floor was marrying one of the band members there.  Anywhoo... I think Katt nailed it - they're a one-trick pony to me.  Enjoyable enough, but it gets tired pretty quick.  CR was the active album at the time, and I liked it well enough, and as you said - man do they put on a high-energy show on stage.  Fun as hell live, but not something I'd ever proactively turn to on my own.

This is pretty much exactly how I feel about Sabaton. I can't listen to more than a couple songs and then I'm bored of it.

[The Walrus]

Holy hell. What have I been missing out on? This Carolus Rex album is the bee's knees. Absolutely blows away The Last Stand which didn't have any standout songs imo. But on this, almost every song is a banger. Might actually put this on the purchase list. I am impressed!

[gazinwales]

For me it was their last truely great and also unique sounding album.
I think it's mainly down to the strong songwriting of course, but also the chemistry within the band.
Once the four members left leaving only Joakim and Par, I think they really lost something that has never been replaced.
Plus the loss of the keyboard player, live with all the keyboard sounds, looks a little odd with no keyboardist up onstage.

Can highly recommned getting this version
https://www.discogs.com/Sabaton-Carolus-Rex-Platinum-Edition/release/12874923
2018 re-issue has all the bonus tracks and the Swedish version.

[The Walrus]

Thanks gaz. I'm definitely putting that on the list. I'll cop to having an unfair bias against them for a long time based on what little I knew and unfortunate album choices, but this is just a damn good metal record.

[gazinwales]

Mate it's happened to me so many times with different bands, glad you liked it 

[jingle.boy]

I'll cop to having an unfair bias against them for a long time based on what little I knew and unfortunate album choices,/quote]

That is probably a substantial list for me as well.  We all have lots of bands / albums we can call out like this.

[The Walrus]

Checked out a few Civil War songs. Not really feeling it the way Carolus Rex did. Not bad, but not really begging me to come back. Haven't written them off though, I'll just come back to them later. But I've already found two awesome records from this list in ELP and Sabaton, so that's cool!

I couldn't find The Colour Temple on Spotify for some reason, but then I realized 'The Epic Works' is on Spotify, and the first disc is The Colour Temple (without bonus tracks). So I'm playing it now. Let's see #45, gaz! 

EDIT: Just finished The Colour Temple. Not bad, but nothing really stuck.

[Evermind]

Kinda forgot about this thread.

I saw Sabaton live once, they were entertaining as hell, but the music itself isn't quite for me. It's alright, but I'm not a big fan.

The instrumental orchestral version of the new album makes a fantastic soundtrack though.

[gazinwales]

45.
I
Between Two Worlds
Black'n'Roll

Released by Nuclear Blast in 2006





1.   "The Storm I Ride" . 3:27
2.   "Warriors"   5:53
3.   "Between Two Worlds" . 5:52
4.   "Battalions" . 4:46
5.   "Mountains" . 6:05
6.   "Days of North Winds" . 4:04
7.   "Far Beyond the Quiet" . 7:13
8.   "Cursed We Are" . 5:14
Bonus Tracks
9.   "Bridges of Fire" . 7:36
10.   "Shadowed Realms (Intro)" . 1:31
11.   "Shadowed Realms" . 5:44


Band line up

Abbath – vocals, guitars
T.C. King – bass
Ice Dale – guitars
Armagedda – drums
Demonaz – lyrics


In my introduction post I mentioned some 'odd ball' inclusions on this list and this is one of them.
'I' so far have only released this one album, were sometimes referred as a black metal supergroup, with a line up being who's who of the BM genre.
But the music and lyrics couldn't be farther from that often perplexing brand of metal.
In fact this album is one of the hardest albums in my collection to categorise, so I just went with black'n'roll.
Black for Abbath's vocals, because of his very distintive voice and roll for that the guitars often remind me of a slightly more metallic Motorhead.
Even more so that throughout 'Between Two Worlds',  Abbath's voice every now and then has a distinct Lemmy accent to it.

What makes this album so special to me is the songs themselves, the riffs, and once again an immaculate production and mix from Peter Tägtgren.
Did I mention the riffs? Wow there are just so many good ones here, almost spoilt for choice, Abbath really did throw everything into this.
Demonaz lyrics fit in perfectly, with themes of nature and and the bleak forests delivered by a slightly less extreme Abbath.

Sadly this very talented line up to date have only made this album, it's one of the few band's that I really wish to make another album.
The album has been out of print for a few years now, of course it can be found on ebay and discogs.

Even if you can't stand Abbath's voice or anything black metal associated, his guitar playing, tone and riffs are worth the price alone of this great album.
For me this is the best album the man has ever made.

I couldn't find anything official on You Tube, but it's all there to be found!

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/6ijplltR1r4fCjYvcriRFP

[TAC]

I have never heard of this before. I'll check it out.

[wolfking]

I have never heard of this before. I'll check it out.

Yeah, sounds interesting.

[Puppies_On_Acid]

Ah, yes. Abbath's other band. This is a good album. I never expected it to be in your top 50 though.


And yeah, Black n Roll works for this. 
Have you ever listened to Kvelertak?

[The Walrus]

Wow, this one seems like a hard left turn. I'll give this an attempt, although black metal is more or less my musical kryptonite. We'll have to see how this compares to the other black metal I know.

[Lowdz]

I've sampled Sabaton but didn't find anything there to get them excited about. Civil War fared a little better but not something I go back to much. It's a bit too much of 5hat standard power metal drums going 100mph all the time.

[gazinwales]

Wow, this one seems like a hard left turn. I'll give this an attempt, although black metal is more or less my musical kryptonite. We'll have to see how this compares to the other black metal I know.

I is NOT a black metal album in any way, even Abbath's vocals are more restrained and the music as I described as a slightly more metal version of Motorhead.

[Elite]

Interesting. Maybe I'll check this out.

[TAC]

I just checked this out. Very cool.

Holy Motorhead, Batman!

[gazinwales]

44.
Damn The Machine
Damn The Machine
Progressive Metal

Released by A&M in 1993





1.   "The Mission"   4:19
2.   "Fall of Order"   3:45
3.   "Corporate Reign"   3:30
4.   "Honor"   3:51
5.   "Lonesome God"   3:26
6.   "On with the Dream"   4:31
7.   "Patriot"   2:47
8.   "I Will"   2:49
9.   "Silence"   4:58
10.   "Russians"   5:40
11.   "Countryside"   3:20
12.   "Humans"   4:23

Band line up

David Judson Clemmons – lead vocals, guitar
Chris Poland – guitar, background vocals
Mark Poland – drums, background vocals
Dave Randi – bass, background vocals

Not sure what genre this actually is, it's definitely prog metal, but has no long songs, not much in terms of shredding or widdly diddly prog oddities.
But it has clean guitars, a little bit of jazz, odd time signatures and most importantly great songs.

This is one of those albums that I always loved, but after a break of a few years this has simply gotten better with age.
It's memorable for the songs, the hooks and just giving you a great feeling every time you listen.

Chris Poland is of course well know of Megadeth fame, he is joined by his brother Mark on drums and s couple of unknown's on vocals and bass.

Given that the big prog metal guns of this era had pretty big fat sounds, a la Dream Theater, Queensryche and Fates Warning, DTM manage some quite
sparse organic sounds, and no keyboards.
Besides the great music, the lyrics are equally good, all of them tell their own individual story, as well as leaving nothing to the imagination.
With the likes of Russians, Patriot and Corporate reign as prime examples.

Sadly this is yet another one off album that made my top 50, although DTM did attempt to make a second album, there are demo's around that hinted of a follow up, but was never realised.
This album has never been re-issued or remastered, and frankly it does not need to be brickwalled, it sounds as good as it did 26 years ago.

The Mission https://youtu.be/qN0kgclk4ik
Countryside https://youtu.be/r66lM-PrdDY
Humans https://youtu.be/jQnWl7UwYII
I Will https://youtu.be/FqO1qjU6s84

This album is not on Spotify, long out of print, but fairly easy to track down on CD for a decent price.

[bl5150]

This is one that I got into my collection because it was rare (it's what I do  ) but never really listened to.  Will remedy that with thanks to gazza.

[wolfking]

Heard of it but never heard it.  Will add to the list.  Chris Poland is an amazing guitarist.

[jingle.boy]

Never heard of it, but added it to the Top-50 listen to list... which will fire up in 10-ish days after ProgPower USA.  This one really intrigues me.

[v_clortho]

Love this album. Wish they had made more.

[cramx3]

I gave Sabaton a go a few years back when they were touring with IE and ReVamp.  I was there for the ReVamp mostly, but dug Sabaton (saw them again a couple years later opening for Nightwish).  Didn't know that Floor was marrying one of the band members there.  Anywhoo... I think Katt nailed it - they're a one-trick pony to me.  Enjoyable enough, but it gets tired pretty quick.  CR was the active album at the time, and I liked it well enough, and as you said - man do they put on a high-energy show on stage.  Fun as hell live, but not something I'd ever proactively turn to on my own.

Holy hell. What have I been missing out on? This Carolus Rex album is the bee's knees. Absolutely blows away The Last Stand which didn't have any standout songs imo. But on this, almost every song is a banger. Might actually put this on the purchase list. I am impressed!

I saw and first listened to Sabaton when they opened for Nightwish and thought they were really good.  Got CR shortly after, I think it was their latest then.  I enjoyed it, but as you others said, they are a one trick pony.  It's good enough though to really enjoy but not enough to ever be my favorite band.  They are fantastic live, I'm sure many here have seen the row pit from the show I went to in Boston last year, my best concert moment of 2018  but if you haven't... https://youtu.be/dpV6bJqf8Wg?t=1088

also, now following but I think this is all I have to comment on, not familiar with the rest of this list so far

[The Walrus]

Omg  The only times I've seen that happen were at Amon Amarth and Tyr shows! Metalheads are hilarious.

gaz... still following the thread but with PP next week, gonna be a while before I catch up.

[cramx3]

There was a row pit for Alestorm at PP last year, but it was very small compared to this.  I love it, I had never heard that song (Swedish Pagans) or been to a Sabaton headline show or been to that venue and travelled for this show but when that happened, I just couldn't stop smiling and laughing at the awesomeness.  So epic, and that is why I love music and concerts. That moment alone made everything worth it in terms of making it to that show, also King taking me out for beers earlier helped 

[TAC]

Marc, that is an all time great video.
Oh, and Boston 

[gazinwales]

43.
Virtuocity
Secret Visions
Power Metal

Released by Spinefarm/King Records 2002





1   Eye For An Eye 4:25
2   Rise & Rule 4:23
3   Pharaoh's Dream 5:01
4   Crucified 5:30
5   Speed Of Light 4:36
6   No Destination 5:23
7   Without You 4:39
8   Tears Of Babylo   5:19
9   Raging Destiny 7:55
10   Secret Visions 6:17
Japan Bonus Tracks
11   New Empire 6:11
12   Ruins Of Love 5:11   
13   Time Passing By 4:55
Band line up

Drums – Jaska Raatikainen
Guitar, Bass – Jaron Sebastian Raven
Keyboards – Janne Tolsa
Vocals – Peter James Goodman

Virtuocity was what we used to call a 'super group' from Finland with the Children of Bodom drummer Tarot keyboardist and Kenziner guitarist.
Add to that the golden voice of Peter James Goodman, plus Marco Hietala on guest lead and backing vocals.
Yet this album is pretty much unknown to even the most hardcore power metal fan.

Despite all the 'big' names on this release, it works, with the power of well written songs and great performances from everyone involved.
Add to this the album sounds great, the production, mix and mastering from Anssi Kippo, Karmila and Jussila all nothing short of spectacular.
White I cannot find out any information on how this 'project' came together, the results have stood the test of time.
This album stands tall with any release from that era, I'd refer to this as a 'cult classic'.

Although Marco Hietala is only credited for lead vocals on two songs, I can pick his voice on a number of other songs, his voice as we all know is quite distinctive.
That's not to say that it takes away anything from Peter James Goodman, as he has a very powerful voice and again relatively unknown outside of Finland.
To be honest I haven't listened to this release for a few years, while looking at Discogs I discovered a Japan version with three exclusive bonus tracks.
Of course I had to track down a copy, I scored a almost mint condition used copy, btw all Japan sellers seem to keep their CD's in near perfect condition.

So the music while very power metal, there is also a number of different flavours here to enhance core sounds of fast guitars and double bass drums.
The guitars of Raven (also known as Jarno Keskinen) are very tastefully done, while he is renown as a shredder, he knows when it's required and when to hold back.
The music varies between the fast and furious standard power metal anthems (Eye For An Eye) to the symphonic fury of 'No Destination', to the handful of neo-classical influences songs.
There's even a quite restrained instrumental title track that threatens to be a shred fest, but just manages to keep itself in check.

Virtuocity would go on to record a second album in 'Northern Twilight Symphony', but that release does not hold a candle to this.
That was it, nothing was ever heard of this excellent band again.

Once again I picked an album that is not on Spotify (Australia) and is out of print.
Cheap copies are available on Discogs and Ebay and any self respecting power metal fan should have this in their collection!

Not surprisingly I couldn't find anything official on You Tube, but the album is there in full to check out.