Now, I genuinely like AC/DC with Scott and
Highway is my second favourite album by them (right behind
Let There Be Rock). Somebody already wrote here - and I wholeheartedly agree - that it's an album full of colour, very diverse and even - for them - kinda ambitious. But I still have to go with
DOD, not because of Maiden bias (I believe I lack that one), but because this time around I want to stress the higher highs of one over the consistency of another. 'Cause DOD has Rainmaker, Montségur (okay, a bit by-the-numbers, but still has its moments),
the title track, which is to these days the epitome of Maiden - I dare you to deny that - and Paschendale, which I don't love as much as everybody here, but it's a killer track and a rather unique one at that. Add No More Lies (yes, the chorus is a tad annoying, but the melody within the intro riff and verse/prechorus is great, the emotions are genuine and if we were to hate on every Maiden song with repetitive chorus...), the absolutely out-of-the-left field Journeyman (brutally overlong, but as a last track it can always be ended prematurely, at the right time) and the weird, AMOLAD-foreshadowing Face in the Sand and the album's not even that iffy in general.
Yes, Wildest Dreams is one of the most banal, melodyless songs they possibly ever did and Gates and New Frontier are absolutely uninventive, unimaginative, "basic" Maiden, but that's not such a terrible ratio. Plus the production/mixing, okay, I admit, my ears hurt a lot (especially in headphones) and Mutt Lange is the winner there. But no Maiden bias, I insist.
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The next one is absolutely no contest and I wonder if so many people are intrinsically turned against any type of extreme metal, because
Still Life should be winning by a long shot.
Mikael Akerfeldt is the truest follower of Tony Iommi ever. There are riffs that you won't get anywhere else, like
at cca 1:42 onwards or the final part of Face of Melinda
(also, a totally non-extreme track! Hear hear, y'all!)
I was never too crazy about the concept, not because of the (anti-?)religious themes, but because it felt a bit too melodramatic and somewhat stretched over the whole album (a common problem with concept albums, I admit), but although I
have some qualms with the album in general (too oppressive, not enough breathing space, some of the really nice melodies - the guitar harmonies in the aforementioned Lament - get drowned a tad by the production - I kinda wish they already knew Wilson at this time + some of the tracks do not thrill me as much - Moonlapse and Serenity in particular + Melinda was a bit easy to overplay) it's still one of the all-time greats.
Discovering Opeth changed my life for the better, really.
Now sure, I am all for every type of boomer music and I genuinely love UFO and I admit that
Lights Out is a very, very great album. But holds no candle to the intriguing, unique approach, atmoshpere, riffs, general swagger of the Opeth's Red Album. A band that makes it worth it your while to learn how to listen to extreme metal, indeed.
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I have said many times over I'm not all that crazy about IE and I don't particularly get their appeal... but
Burnt Offerings are certainly one of their albums that piqued my interest, if at least a little bit. I can't even put my finger on it - what is it that sets it apart from both
Stormrider and
The Dark Saga (which both absolutely miss their mark with me)? Still not my cup of tea, but so are Motorhead, in general. I like them from time to time and I would possibly even vote for
Another Perfect Day or even
Orgasmatron or Sacrifice over IE. But out of these two, both not being really my thing, I think I'll go with
IE's ambition than with Motorhead's lack thereof.
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#noRush
(I first wanted to leave it that way, as a punchline, but I decided to behave) - I mean... were it
Clockwork Angels or
A Farewell to Kings (or maybe even
Moving Pictures), I would even be tempted to vote for it, heck, even 'spheres is a somewhat nice album (sorta). But the unbridled adoration they get just irritates me to no end. I admit, my voting is political in this regard - I don't dislike Rush as much as it might seem, or at least as much as the overall devotion to them made me express around here. But man... this cult of personality...
Also, they're one of the bands that I got sick of the fastest - They shot high as one of my favourite bands at first - as evidenced even on this very forum - and then fell down really hard. Don't like the attitude, the lyrics (and the philosophy and politics behind them), the way they're using their talents and some of their stuff is downright
boring.
Stratovarius are not particularly high on my list of the best power metal bands ever, but I'll take the approach and liveliness and sense of wonder they can supply over the three Canadian boys any time.
