Best New Music of 2018

Threshold can do one as far as I’m concerned. After the two dictators Karl Groom and Richard West sacked the best vocalist the band has ever had, Damien Wilson, I’m done with them.

Threshold are a decent band but the constant merry-go-round of vocalists they have had has ruined any chance that the band could achieve bigger and better things. It’s well known that Karl and Richard are a couple of dictators that see everyone else in the band as nothing more than hired hands which is why they sacked off Damien as quite rightly he wanted everyone in the band treated like equals.

Despite the band politics I did check out a couple of tracks that the band released thinking if the music is good maybe I can look past everything else but I just don’t like the vocals. Damien has an amazing voice and was perfect for the last couple of albums and it just seems a massive down step listening to Glynn.
 
Wanted to give folks a heads-up about the release I am most anticipating this year. Not exactly "new music" but it is a new release (not a reissue), unearthed from the vaults and previously unreleased: For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986, by The Replacements -- who I think are one of the very best American rock groups of all time. Maybe THE best. Here are a couple tracks currently available for streaming. The full album is being released next week. I'm VERY excited about this.

More here: http://www.brooklynvegan.com/pics-the-replacements-maxwells-in-1986/
 
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Also, I've read some sceptical opinions beforehand on this very forum, but I've only last week bought this beauty

blindguardianlivebeyondthespherescd_0.jpg


and I've been spinning it in my car since and I'm completely crazy about it. It's not perfect (there's way too much fucking audience participation in And Then There Was Silence, of all places), but definitely my best buy this year, at least for me. I'm more than happy.

:edmetal:
 
Wayne Bond said:
Threshold can do one as far as I’m concerned. After the two dictators Karl Groom and Richard West sacked the best vocalist the band has ever had, Damien Wilson, I’m done with them.

Threshold are a decent band but the constant merry-go-round of vocalists they have had has ruined any chance that the band could achieve bigger and better things. It’s well known that Karl and Richard are a couple of dictators that see everyone else in the band as nothing more than hired hands which is why they sacked off Damien as quite rightly he wanted everyone in the band treated like equals.

Despite the band politics I did check out a couple of tracks that the band released thinking if the music is good maybe I can look past everything else but I just don’t like the vocals. Damien has an amazing voice and was perfect for the last couple of albums and it just seems a massive down step listening to Glynn.
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Very successful album though, in the reviews that is. I hear you, but I might still check it out.
 
Just listened to Stars & Satellites by Threshold. Definitely the first time I've heard a rock song deal with the topics of art appreciation and the purchasing of yachts.
 
The Replacements live album is awesome, as expected. See a few posts above. You could put that in a time capsule and convey a pretty good idea of what 20th-century rock music was all about.

I also liked the live Blind Guardian album, but I'm not sure it added much (other than a few new songs) as compared to "Live," which I prefer.

Also recently dropped: Wolf Alice's new album, Visions of a Life. I recommend it. Not metal at all, more punk/indie, but they are good, melodic songwriters. These two videos show their range:
 
So, two reviews.

The Darkness - Pinewood Smile

Their last album, Last of our Kind (2015) I count as their best, and would probably put in my top 10 of all time of most important albums for me personally (yes, that list). This... Not so much. It's decent, and might well grow on me - but I don't feel the need to listen to it again at the moment. Production isn't as sharp, songs are all over the place - a few more jokes than good music. Just like their comeback album Hot Cakes. 6/10.

Europe - Walk the Earth

Their wannabe-Maiden first two offerings are okay but also poorly produced, and then they made The Final Countdown and you probably know the rest. Unlike many fans I do however enjoy their post-reunion experiments on Start from the Dark (2004) and the brilliant and very modern Secret Society (2006) the most. Good songwriting and very well produced. But then they decided to reach for a 70's vibe instead of progressing, starting with the weird mix of modern downtuned guitars, 80's keyboards and Led Zeppelin that was Last Look at Eden (2009). Now we're here in 2017 and they've transformed into Deep Purple. I don't mean this in a good way. 5/10.
 
So with Spotify in the office, I finally got around to listening to some of the releases of 2017. Not claiming I listened to them all, and I still have a backlog. I scribbled my thoughts on a piece of paper I kept on my desk, here's what it says:

Night - Raft of the World
Starts out as cool, old-fashioned (rather than old-school) heavy rock, but drifts off a bit too much into 70's prog/psychedelia towards the end.

Panzer - Fatal Command
Did a good job at a W.A.S.P. tribute song, but why put it on an album ten times?

Occvlta - Night Without End
Good old-school black metal, but nothing special upon first listen.

Hällas - Excerpts from a Future Past
Retro 70's hard/prog rock - good but really not original and just retro.

RAM -Rod
Excellent traditional heavy metal, clearly nothing original or creative, but it rocks.

Night Viper - Exterminator
Good, but I seriously had to double-check if this was a recent release and not something obscure from the 80's.

Horisont - About Time
Yet another 70's throwback, I'm bored. Feels a lot longer than it is.

Grave Pleasures - Motherblood
Yet another prog throwback, although it sounds more modern in parts. But a song about Charles Manson? You really think that's original and cool?

Legend - Midnight Champion
WTF?

Cyhra - Dead to Me
Catchy and melodic but also quite angsty modern hard rock. Enjoyable, but feels like I've heard it before.

Enslaved - E
Think I need another listen.

Arch Enemy - Will to Power
Certainly not reinventing the wheel, but very enjoyable.

Black Star Rider - Heavy Fire
Pretty cool record that basically sounds like a 21st century Thin Lizzy.

Bottom line: Not really blown away by anything so far.
 
I forgot about the Arch Enemy album. It was better than the preview track/single with radio friendly chorus suggested.
 
Is Scott playing with them on that tour?
I thought they only worked with him when they were doing the Lizzy thing.
 
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