365 Albums In One Year

Good choice, buddy. Blind Guardian made some of the seminal Power Metal songs up to 1998. If you want to hear more seminal Power Metal then go for Helloween's 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums.
 
Number 6 said:
Regarding the ending, there's actually a bonus instrumental track called "Gandalf's Rebirth" that, in my opinion, ends the album on a much higher note.
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Ah, I saw that but didn't feel like including it in the listen. I'll check it out either in the next listen or by itself something in future.

Black Wizard said:
If you want to hear more seminal Power Metal then go for Helloween's 'Keeper of the Seven Keys' albums.
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I've heard some of the "important" songs from them and I used to quite like them, but they don't really jive with me anymore. I'll mark them down but it'll be a while before I get to them. Right now my plan is to do a revolving discography listen of Iced Earth - Savatage - Bolt Thrower - Blind Guardian. Fun in store? Maybe.
 
Since I've gone through 20 albums now, I thought I'd throw them into a Topsters chart. This is how they're currently ranked for me:

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We come from the earth of the ice and snow, back in the night with the stormridah.

ICED EARTH - NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER
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Album 21/365

Tracks:
  1. "Angels Holocaust" - Has an cool opening and some cool moments (Greely's screams, that choir that pops up a couple times). Greely sounds better with high notes than soft ones, and this song doesn't do a whole lot overall, but it's a big step up over every song from the debut. Solid but not outstanding. 8/10
  2. "Stormrider" - This is Schaffer on vocals? Interesting. This isn't a bad song but it also doesn't knock it out of the park at the same time. It's just typical heavy metal stuff. 7/10
  3. "The Path I Choose" - Again, solid but not outstanding. Has a nice section of instrumental change-ups, and Greely has some good moments here, but at other times he's also kinda annoying. Decent, doesn't blow my mind, could've been a little better. 7/10
  4. "Before The Vision" - Decent interlude. Kinda cool but let's see how the story turns out. 7/10
  5. "Mystical End" - Solid song but I wish there was actually singing in the verses instead of... faux singing that's more like narration than anything else. Besides that I like a lot of this, pretty good. Ending may be a little weak though. It's definitely on-par with "Angels Holocaust", I'd say. 8/10
  6. "Desert Rain" - Ooh, I'm liking this opening a lot. Not a fan of the verses here again. The music here is pretty strong; the chorus is okay but could've been better. Instrumental section is pretty great. The quieter bit is kinda cool, and yeah that chorus could've been better. If this song had been done a little differently in the verses and chorus I'd have given it a higher score, but overall it's probably the strongest song so far, though still nothing mind-blowing. 8/10
  7. "Pure Evil" - Okay, this song was great. Not quite perfect, but close enough. Awesome verses, weird change-up but it ends up working anyway. I like it! Best Iced Earth song yet. 9/10
  8. "Reaching The End" - Better interlude than the first. 8/10
  9. "Travel In Stygian" - Opening with standard IE riffing that goes on for a bit too long, "Travel In Stygian" then moves into some kinda cool verses before we return to standard riffing and then come into a really cool acoustic based quiet piece before returning to heavy territory again. There's some pretty cool stuff going on there and since I lost track if Schaffer or Greely's singing... the vocalist hits a nice note and holds it well. The instrumental has some cool soloing going on before it ends and we get to some rocky riffing that feel quite reminiscent of a trip through Hades and stuff. Some cool vocals before a nice high scream and we return to the verses which this time end with an even better scream. The riffs keep moving until we change-up again into... oh, so that's the actual chorus. It's decent, like it was the first time. Piano starts up. Some acoustic stuff comes up too and we exit the album on that note. It's quite a nice ending. Overall, this is a pretty solid epic that doesn't feel like the 9 minutes it is, and I dunno if I prefer it or "Pure Evil". Maybe the riffs are a bit too standard, some of the change-ups could have been better effected, and the opening could've been more interesting, but besides that, this is pretty great. I hear it's considered one of IE's best songs? In that case I'm worried about how the rest of the albums are gonna go, but this is pretty great for now. 9/10
Way better than that debut, though it doesn't quite blow me out of the water again. It's got two pretty great tracks, two decent interludes, and five other songs that range from good to... good but a little better. It's not the best thing I've ever heard, but I like it enough and it's definitely a good sophomore release.

Rating: 79%
 
Stygian is probably the best IE song other than A Question of Heaven. It's deserving of a 10 IMO. I will admit I don't understand the love of Angels Holocaust. It's one of my least favorite IE songs.
 
Returning to the Saboteurs of Savatage. Ye.

SAVATAGE - POWER OF THE NIGHT
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Album 22/365

Tracks:
  1. "Power of the Night" - Some cool build-up that lasts for about a minute before we launch into a really cool riff. Man, this song sounds good. Big step up in production. The lyrics are kinda stupid ("children of the metal movement"... wtf?) but man besides that, this is really great. If they just were a little more interesting with the lyricism here this song could've gotten a higher score, but as it is it's better than everything on the previous album besides the title track itself. 9/10
  2. "Unusual" - A pretty great opening moves into kind of a standard riff but they use it really well. That pre-chorus is awesome, and the real thing is pretty strong too. That scream before the solo is great, and so is the solo itself mind you. Lyrics are still not the best thing ever, but man this is a really strong song. I quite like it and I'd say it's on-par with the opener. 9/10
  3. "Warriors" - Oliva's raspy vocals kinda fluctuate between great and eh depending on the song and this is an eh song, definitely with the verses. The chorus is kinda dumb too. It's not bad though, has some good moments. Decent but not as great as the first two. 7/10
  4. "Necrophilia" - Yeah, this is way better, right back in the vein of the first two songs. Such a fun metallic romp. It's a "bop". 9/10
  5. "Washed Out" - Fast and aggressive and still fun as fuck. 9/10
  6. "Hard For Love" - Yeah I really didn't know what I was expecting with this song. It's just stupid sex shit and Oliva sounds like he's either orgasming in the worst way possible or just straight-up having an aneurysm... or both. Not exactly the worst thing I've heard but it's a really average song. 5/10
  7. "Fountain of Youth" - Decent verse but the rest of the song (outside of the solos and that slower piece) is kinda bland. Chorus is just dumb. 6/10
  8. "Skull Session" - Tied-up virgins, more orgasm / aneurysm vocals and lyrics like "skull session, x-rated lesson"... whew. You might as well just stop watching porn 'cuz this song is basically just that and you're parents aren't gonna be shocked if they don't see nudity. Whew. Actually this is better than "Hard For Love" but it's still stupid. 6/10
  9. "Stuck On You" - A little better than those last two (chorus is decent) but it's still really bland. 6/10
  10. "In The Dream" - Fairly good ballady track and it's a decent way to close with, but it doesn't rival those four greats from the first side. 8/10
Going in I wasn't sure of what to expect with this album, but Side 1 left me pleasantly surprised as, despite some bland lyrics, all of the songs were great, outside of "Warriors", and even it wasn't too bad. However, Side 2 really took a dive and only picked up again with the final track, which wasn't nearly enough to save it. Kinda disappointing, because this could've been a great record, something cool to throw on now and then, but instead, only the first side is really memorable. Better than the debut for sure, but nothing tops "Sirens" for me yet. Oh well, let's see how well the third album goes.

Rating: 74%
 
Alright guys.... it's gamer time. :ok:

BOLT THROWER - REALM OF CHAOS
Slaves To Darkness
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Album 23/365

Tracks:
  1. "Intro" - Pretty cool opening, very big.
  2. "Eternal War" - Great first track.
  3. "Through the Eye of Terror" - Pretty good second track.
  4. "Dark Millennium" - Pretty strong song with a good batch of variation here.
  5. "All That Remains" - A slower song but with a lot of punch and bite.
  6. "Lost Souls Domain" - That was groovy, man.
  7. "Plague Bearer" - Nail 'em down, men!
  8. "World Eater" - Fun romp, good riffs.
  9. "Drowned in Torment" - Beat down, crack down.
  10. "Realm of Chaos" - Smashing stuff.
  11. "Prophet of Hatred" - Roar.
  12. "Outro" - Good exit.
Yeah, I mean this was another really strong album. I think it's a step up from the debut in terms of song and construction, it feels like a tank running over opposition. That said, I'd think I liked the debut a tad better overall, kept the attention a little better and stuff, but this is basically on the same level as that album was. Good stuff.

Rating: 90%
 
Diesel 11 said:
ICED EARTH - NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER
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"Pure Evil" is pure fuckin' awesomeness. In fact, the three song-run of "Mystical End", "Desert Rain" and "Pure Evil" might count as my single favourite Iced Earth-moment. If you plan on listening to Alive in Athens, you're in for a treat. Greely does a respectable job on the studio album, but these songs in a live setting with all the energy + Barlow elevates them beyond epic.
 
LooseCannon said:
I'd recommend Alive in Athens over the first three albums, anyway. All the essential tracks are on AIA and they are significantly better. Dark Saga and Something Wicked are fantastic. Horror Show remains my favourite IE album.
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Listen to this wise man.

The Flash said:
Hiphop

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
GZA - Liquid Swords
Method Man - Tical
A Tribe Called Quest - People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
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No love for West Coast? Dr. DRE's "2001" maybe?

Anyway, if you're still taking suggestions, here's a couple of albums I don't think anybody else here will recommend you:

Electric Six - Fire
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Pearl Jam - Ten Just listen to it. You must.
Dethklok - Dethalbum Same as previous one. Start to finish.
Van Halen - Van Halen I or 1984
Tenacious D - Tenacious D
The Answer - Everyday Demons

That's it for now.

EDIT: I've tried to put some samples, but it always shows Youtube links as videos and it derails thread a bit.
 
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