Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
For anyone who liked the Symphony X song, below is the version from their only live album (which in my opinion is stronger than the studio version).
The Greatest Metal Song Cup - Part II, Round 2, Matches 112-117
- Thread starter LooseCannon
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DJ James
A coma stole my name.
Arch in his prime (mid to late 80’s) was one of the greatest singers in power metal. His vocals on The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian simply kill. I dont how else to put it, his range and control is just absurd.
In Rush-off Part Three: Revenge of Ayn Rand, Spirit of Radio fades away when exposed to the Limelight. Michael Schenker shreds well, but The Darkness believes in a thing called narrow victories. Meanwhile, the rocket skates do exactly what you think they'd do (explode) as the Deftones are wiped away by Evanescence. It seems that a space lord falters when exposed to atmosphere, as System of a Down beats Monster Magnet handily. Manowar's warlord fails in his mighty return as Stratovarius's eternal dream lives on. And all of our prayers are answered as the apparition is finally destroyed by Symphony X.
Part I, Round 20, Matches 115-120
| Play In Round |
| Beast Over Hammersmith Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ozzy Osbourne - You Can't Kill Rock and Roll | vs. | Queensrÿche - Deliverance | |
| Popoff 500 | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Afraid to Shoot Strangers Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity | vs. | Scorpions - In Trance | |
| @DJMayes | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Afraid to Shoot Strangers Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overkill - The Years of Decay | vs. | Testament - Low | |
| Popoff 500 | Nominators | Popoff 500 | |
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Afraid to Shoot Strangers Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| WASP - The Headless Children | vs. | Iced Earth - A Question of Heaven | |
| @The Dissident | Nominators | Popoff 500 | |
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
| Play In Round |
| Edward the Great Division | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerosmith - Toys in the Attic | vs. | Meat Loaf - Life is a Lemon and I Want My Money Back | |
| Popoff 500 | Nominators | ||
| Youtube | Spotify | Amazon | Links |
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
took a minute to get the poll done - work interrupted.
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
"You Can't Kill Rock And Roll" has a nice feel in its acoustic parts with a good vocal melody, but the pre-chorus vocals and guitar feel disconnected from each other and the chorus doesn't really hold together. I like the different feel in the interludes before and after the solo, but the solo itself isn't great. The lyrics don't really seem to fit the tone of the music, either. "Deliverance" has pep, but the rhythmic awkwardness feels forced and the melodic lines don't really land effectively. Some of the vocals seem out of sync with the guitars, too -- you can see the seams all over the place with this track. I was never really able to get into The Warning, and this song highlights a lot of the reasons why. Not a fan of either track, but sorry @Mosh, I think the list nominee is preferable here. Winner: Ozzy Osbourne - "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll"
"Silent Lucidity" is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Tate's performance itself is great, and the whole thing is executed well, but it's ultimately just derivative Pink Floyd worship with cheesy Michael Kamen orchestration and a cringey spoken word section. Horribly overplayed in its day, too -- I've already heard this song way more times than I would ever actually want to hear it in a single lifetime. "In Trance" has an OK verse and chorus, nothing particularly memorable. The harmonized solo sounds a little sickly and offputting for some reason, but I like the instrumental outro. This one didn't leave much of an impression on me either way. So, sorry @srfc, as much as I dislike the idea of voting this way, I think @DJMayes's nominee is superior on the merits. Winner: Queensrÿche - "Silent Lucidity"
"The Years Of Decay" has a nice acoustic intro that runs a bit too long, then slips into a midtempo Megadethy groove that goes through some permutations. The singer gets more shrill than I'd like in the heavier parts, and the soloing sounds like a B-list version of 80s Kirk Hammett. This song really doesn't earn its runtime, unfortunately -- it just keeps plodding on and on, never fully grabbing me. "Low" is punchier, but the riffs aren't very memorable, and Chuck Billy is flirting with extreme vocals in places here, which I can't endorse. The solo is OK, but unfocused. Ugh, another pair of songs I can't really get behind; but if forced to choose, I guess the Testament track felt like it wasted my time a little less. Winner: Testament - "Low"
"The Headless Children" has a creepy synth vocal opener followed by a solid groove that wears out its welcome a bit before kicking into the meat of the song. Blackie's vocals are super-overwrought as usual, and while the pre-chorus is pretty solid, the chorus is a bit of a dud. The extended outro picks up the pace substantially and is pretty appealing, but the soloing on top of it is hit and miss. An OK song overall. "A Question Of Heaven" features nice acoustic guitar with a pretty solid and memorable vocal from Barlow on top of it. The heavier groove with harmonized leads works well, but then we get more of a machine gun rhythm with lame half-shouted vocals and a really out-of-place small female choir. The choir bit gets moderately more interesting when the male vocals join in, but that doesn't last long. I like the melodic solo, but then we get sucky "heavy Barlow" vocals and the weird choir again, but at least the choir doesn't sound quite as out of place this time. Ew, Barlow's high shrieks toward the end sound terrible. Well, that was a little more coherent than your typical Iseditionist Earth song, and it certainly had some strong sections to it, but it had some really bad parts, too. Once again I'm not really a fan of either track, and I was actually leaning in the direction of Bear Spray Boy for a while there, but Barlow completely shit the bed at the end of the song, and that was enough to tip it to @The Dissident's nominee instead. Winner: W.A.S.P. - "The Headless Children"
"Toys In The Attic" has a simple, peppy groove, but the vocal lines are pretty bad and the chorus is completely anemic. The solo's pretty good, though. "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back" almost sounds like a parody of a Def Leppard song at the beginning, but it finds its own identity soon enough. The vocal melodies aren't that great, and the "it's defective!" part goes on waaaaaaaay too long, as does the song in general. The extended synth & solo section is enjoyable, though. This match is a lemon and I want my money back, but forced to choose between these two songs it's still an easy call for @Diesel 11's nominee. Winner: Meat Loaf - "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back"
"The Great Misconceptions Of Me" is so much better than @The Dissident's other W.A.S.P. track in this round. Blackie's voice isn't quite so distractingly overwrought here, almost all the vocal melodies are memorable, and the songwriting itself is vastly superior. The softer and heavier parts both work really well, and there's great build-up and release between the different sections of the song. Great solo, too. "Satan's Fall" has a cool opening riff (albeit heavily inspired by Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song") and it's got a lot of interesting interior riffs as well. Unfortunately, King Diamond sounds like Mr. Hankey a bit too often here, and most of the vocal lines are pretty forgettable. The song also feels like a patchwork rather than having a cohesive through line, though it does have good solos. OK, I'm finally checking the clock at the 6 minute mark and I'm only about half done! Yeesh. Well, the back half was about the same as the front half, but with some interesting vocal harmonies in one spot as well as the best solo of the song. Lots of good raw materials there, but the total is less than the sum of its parts. An easy call for @The Dissident's nominee here. Winner: W.A.S.P. - "The Great Misconceptions Of Me"
"Silent Lucidity" is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. Tate's performance itself is great, and the whole thing is executed well, but it's ultimately just derivative Pink Floyd worship with cheesy Michael Kamen orchestration and a cringey spoken word section. Horribly overplayed in its day, too -- I've already heard this song way more times than I would ever actually want to hear it in a single lifetime. "In Trance" has an OK verse and chorus, nothing particularly memorable. The harmonized solo sounds a little sickly and offputting for some reason, but I like the instrumental outro. This one didn't leave much of an impression on me either way. So, sorry @srfc, as much as I dislike the idea of voting this way, I think @DJMayes's nominee is superior on the merits. Winner: Queensrÿche - "Silent Lucidity"
"The Years Of Decay" has a nice acoustic intro that runs a bit too long, then slips into a midtempo Megadethy groove that goes through some permutations. The singer gets more shrill than I'd like in the heavier parts, and the soloing sounds like a B-list version of 80s Kirk Hammett. This song really doesn't earn its runtime, unfortunately -- it just keeps plodding on and on, never fully grabbing me. "Low" is punchier, but the riffs aren't very memorable, and Chuck Billy is flirting with extreme vocals in places here, which I can't endorse. The solo is OK, but unfocused. Ugh, another pair of songs I can't really get behind; but if forced to choose, I guess the Testament track felt like it wasted my time a little less. Winner: Testament - "Low"
"The Headless Children" has a creepy synth vocal opener followed by a solid groove that wears out its welcome a bit before kicking into the meat of the song. Blackie's vocals are super-overwrought as usual, and while the pre-chorus is pretty solid, the chorus is a bit of a dud. The extended outro picks up the pace substantially and is pretty appealing, but the soloing on top of it is hit and miss. An OK song overall. "A Question Of Heaven" features nice acoustic guitar with a pretty solid and memorable vocal from Barlow on top of it. The heavier groove with harmonized leads works well, but then we get more of a machine gun rhythm with lame half-shouted vocals and a really out-of-place small female choir. The choir bit gets moderately more interesting when the male vocals join in, but that doesn't last long. I like the melodic solo, but then we get sucky "heavy Barlow" vocals and the weird choir again, but at least the choir doesn't sound quite as out of place this time. Ew, Barlow's high shrieks toward the end sound terrible. Well, that was a little more coherent than your typical Iseditionist Earth song, and it certainly had some strong sections to it, but it had some really bad parts, too. Once again I'm not really a fan of either track, and I was actually leaning in the direction of Bear Spray Boy for a while there, but Barlow completely shit the bed at the end of the song, and that was enough to tip it to @The Dissident's nominee instead. Winner: W.A.S.P. - "The Headless Children"
"Toys In The Attic" has a simple, peppy groove, but the vocal lines are pretty bad and the chorus is completely anemic. The solo's pretty good, though. "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back" almost sounds like a parody of a Def Leppard song at the beginning, but it finds its own identity soon enough. The vocal melodies aren't that great, and the "it's defective!" part goes on waaaaaaaay too long, as does the song in general. The extended synth & solo section is enjoyable, though. This match is a lemon and I want my money back, but forced to choose between these two songs it's still an easy call for @Diesel 11's nominee. Winner: Meat Loaf - "Life Is A Lemon And I Want My Money Back"
"The Great Misconceptions Of Me" is so much better than @The Dissident's other W.A.S.P. track in this round. Blackie's voice isn't quite so distractingly overwrought here, almost all the vocal melodies are memorable, and the songwriting itself is vastly superior. The softer and heavier parts both work really well, and there's great build-up and release between the different sections of the song. Great solo, too. "Satan's Fall" has a cool opening riff (albeit heavily inspired by Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song") and it's got a lot of interesting interior riffs as well. Unfortunately, King Diamond sounds like Mr. Hankey a bit too often here, and most of the vocal lines are pretty forgettable. The song also feels like a patchwork rather than having a cohesive through line, though it does have good solos. OK, I'm finally checking the clock at the 6 minute mark and I'm only about half done! Yeesh. Well, the back half was about the same as the front half, but with some interesting vocal harmonies in one spot as well as the best solo of the song. Lots of good raw materials there, but the total is less than the sum of its parts. An easy call for @The Dissident's nominee here. Winner: W.A.S.P. - "The Great Misconceptions Of Me"
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
Nope, I double-checked and they still sound terrible.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Jer
A window to the west, a blazing star above
He’s pushing himself past his range, so it sounds like he’s just wailing instead of singing. The husky nature of his voice already doesn’t work on the high end when he does keep it under control, so when he goes off the rails like that it’s just nails on a chalkboard to me.
Barlow sounds fine when he sings lower and calmer. When he tries to project force or go higher, that’s when he starts sounding like complete ass to me.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
How do you get MrK to vote for Ozzy? By having him compete with Geoff Tate.
In Trance is a whole vibe. I dig it. Also I’ll take literally any Scorpions song over Geoff Tate.
The first half of Overkill is seriously overwrought and sounds like a Metallica song I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s not terrible. The second half……..wooooooof! Low is not one of the best Testament albums, but this song is solid and far, far, far, far, far, far, far better than whatever Overkill was striving for. Innocent people suffer the loss! Chuck Billy rules.
Everything about The Headless Children is insufferable, except the last minute or so. An incredibly easy vote for Matt Barlow’s god-tier performance on the melodic masterpiece that is A Question of Heaven.
Toys in the Attic is a fine rock n roll song, I guess, though it’s not very catchy. Bass player is the MVP. The ominous keyboards, guitar riffs and overall tone of Meatloaf’s entry are far more metallic than Aerosmith here. Also it’s way more fun.
Blackie Lawless redeems himself with a pretty solid, if repetitive, epic that ticks a lot of boxes. I don’t have anything bad to say here. It’s a decent long song. And then there’s Mercyful Fate with some of the most evil, most downright fucking metal riffs and concepts ever…but, sorry, those Mickey Mouse vocals, I just can’t. I hate it so much. Giving this one to WASP, even though Mercyful Fate have 15 better riffs in their song.
In Trance is a whole vibe. I dig it. Also I’ll take literally any Scorpions song over Geoff Tate.
The first half of Overkill is seriously overwrought and sounds like a Metallica song I can’t quite put my finger on, but it’s not terrible. The second half……..wooooooof! Low is not one of the best Testament albums, but this song is solid and far, far, far, far, far, far, far better than whatever Overkill was striving for. Innocent people suffer the loss! Chuck Billy rules.
Everything about The Headless Children is insufferable, except the last minute or so. An incredibly easy vote for Matt Barlow’s god-tier performance on the melodic masterpiece that is A Question of Heaven.
Toys in the Attic is a fine rock n roll song, I guess, though it’s not very catchy. Bass player is the MVP. The ominous keyboards, guitar riffs and overall tone of Meatloaf’s entry are far more metallic than Aerosmith here. Also it’s way more fun.
Blackie Lawless redeems himself with a pretty solid, if repetitive, epic that ticks a lot of boxes. I don’t have anything bad to say here. It’s a decent long song. And then there’s Mercyful Fate with some of the most evil, most downright fucking metal riffs and concepts ever…but, sorry, those Mickey Mouse vocals, I just can’t. I hate it so much. Giving this one to WASP, even though Mercyful Fate have 15 better riffs in their song.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Ozzy's song has great acoustic parts, but Queensrÿche's song at least has a good chorus and riffs.
Queensrÿche's 2nd song this round is nice, but the vibe of Scorpions song is just so good.
Overkill's song has interesting parts, so it wins it for me.
Not one of my favorite W.A.S.P. songs, while A Question Of Heaven has really cool calm vocals and riffs.
The Great Misconceptions Of Me, no contest. That chorus!
Queensrÿche's 2nd song this round is nice, but the vibe of Scorpions song is just so good.
Overkill's song has interesting parts, so it wins it for me.
Not one of my favorite W.A.S.P. songs, while A Question Of Heaven has really cool calm vocals and riffs.
The Great Misconceptions Of Me, no contest. That chorus!
JudasMyGuide
The resident reactionary recalcitrant
No time for write-ups, lately, just
Ozzy
Scorpions
Overkill
Iced Earth
Aerosmith
WASP
A very easy round all around.
Ozzy
Scorpions
Overkill
Iced Earth
Aerosmith
WASP
A very easy round all around.
JudasMyGuide
The resident reactionary recalcitrant
Sorry, Diz, I've always had trouble with appreciating Bat out of Hell II. The original was this kinda lightning in a bottle that combined the gauche RockyHorrorPictureShowisms with epic songwriting and Springsteen touches and the sequel felt like it tried to do the same, but the 90s were not as the 70s in that regard. It's the "bigger, longer, everythinger" sequel... in that regard it reminds me of Cameron's sequels and I've always preferred the original Alien to Aliens or Terminator to Judgement Day. In some ways, it tries too hard and this particular song... dunno, the original album had this charm of overwrought teenage sentimentalism captured really well, between "would you offer your throat to a wolf with the red roses?" and the baseball metaphors commentary to "can't you see my faded Levi's bursting apart?" (man, what imagery with someone like Meat Loaf singing that), but Life Is a Lemon is ... a way too much. Too self-aware, too meta, too much of a self-parody. The song is mostly solid, despite the fact I could swear I've heard this exact melody, rhythm and altogether atmosphere somewhere else - and honestly, I like even most of the rest of the album pretty much, although it tends to tire even me out near the end - and I'm the bloke who likes overindulgent, overlong excesses and lapses of taste, but still.
On the contrary, the first 7 or so Aerosmith albums are pretty much untouchable. I don't care how much worse they could do even after I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, but their reputation has already been built long, long time ago. The breakneck bass-heavy romp is incredibly catchy and gets under my skin. The Rocks album is better - though it has fewer hits - but my pick here was more or less easy.
On the contrary, the first 7 or so Aerosmith albums are pretty much untouchable. I don't care how much worse they could do even after I Don't Want to Miss a Thing, but their reputation has already been built long, long time ago. The breakneck bass-heavy romp is incredibly catchy and gets under my skin. The Rocks album is better - though it has fewer hits - but my pick here was more or less easy.