BLAZE: The Rankings (Completed... At Last)

[Number 6]

I've listened to this song more than a few times by now, and I actually think I could have given it a 10/10.

 

[Diesel 11]

I've listened to this song more than a few times by now, and I actually think I could have given it a 10/10.

This is the sad jam.

Spoiler

 

[Jer]

And @Jer called it - "Difficult" is the winning song from the doomed King Of Metal album.

Schwing!

We've gone through a mere 15 songs and an entire album already made its exit. Just let that sink in. People really don't like this release.

Yeah, that steaming turd got exactly what it deserved. Glad to see it gone.

 

[Diesel 11]

86. Crack In The System
Average Score: 5.70/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 2/12

After the mess that is "The Path & The Way", this is the worst Blaze song, in my opinion, which makes it all the more interesting to see my two least favorites back-to-back. "Crack In The System" is all about politics and the economy and what have you, and Blaze just makes it sound worse than it is. A terrible vocal performance heightens it all, and the way it drags on - nope, this is not what I like at all. Which reminds me, we actually had a three way tie here at the 5.7/10 mark, and this one won out with a single 10 vote - proving that some do after all like this steaming pile of trash. Whelp, that's opinions for you.

Comments:

I don't really like the song.

Aaaaaaand we're back to the bleh factor. "Crack In The System" is just a pointless song that tries so hard to be good but fails miserably on every front. Blaze's vocals aren't great and neither are the lyrics or music. The ending also goes on far too long and the sound bits are mixed in terribly. The only redeemable aspect of this song is the final spoken thing - "Come here illegally - goin' to jail" - and that's just because I find hilarious in this otherwise mess of a song. Well... I don't think mess is the right word. This song is obviously written like a normal song, it just bombs so bad. Ugh.

The main, harmonic minor riff is pretty interesting, but the rest of the song "just" good. It drags on too long in places and could've been shorter, I think.

WTF is this? Uninspiring guitars, directionless vocal melodies, weak vocal performance, terrible phrasing ("a CATCH twen-TY-two SYS-tem"), too much repetition. OK, the bridge and the solo are pretty strong. This outro really overstays its welcome, though. Blecch.

Meh.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 1
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 1
6 - 2
5 - 1
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 1

Overall:

Spoiler

86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 2/12
Infinite Entanglement 1/12
Bonus tracks 3/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Confeos]

Well, that was a crash and a half for The King of Metal. Harsh, but I guess it was inevitable.
Looking forward to the rest of the countdown - surely it should be less predictable now

 

[Kalata]

I expect that the song which will win this ranking to be Stare At The Sun.

My other candidates are: A Thousand Years, Eagle Spirit, Escape Velocity, Born As A Stranger...

 

[Lampwick 43]

I'd be fine with either Stare at the Sun, Meant to Be, or Eagle Spirit.

 

[Jer]

“While You Were Gone” ought to win, but it won’t. “Meant To Be” would also be a great choice, but it probably won’t win either.

I suspect it will be something from Silicon Messiah, because that appears to have nostalgic pull for folks who listened to it at the time. I agree with @Kalata that “Stare At The Sun” is probably a good guess.

 

[Diesel 11]

I suspect it will be something from Silicon Messiah, because that appears to have nostalgic pull for folks who listened to it at the time.

I never listened to it at the time and I think it’s a great album. Maybe you’re the one who’s biased here, only against it. Hmmmm....

 

[Jer]

I never listened to it at the time and I think it’s a great album. Maybe you’re the one who’s biased here, only against it. Hmmmm....

I don’t see how calling out self-plagiarism and mediocrity makes me biased, but you can believe what you like.

 

[Confeos]

"Stare at the Sun" is probably the safest bet for the highest ranked song, kinda like "Hallowed" is (or used to be) for Maiden. I have a few I'd rather see end up at first place, like "Tenth Dimension", "City of Bones" or "Ghost in the Machine", but we'll see how it goes.

 

[Diesel 11]

I don’t see how calling out self-plagiarism and mediocrity makes me biased, but you can believe what you like.

Self-plagiarism isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it can be done in interesting ways. I prefer both “Born as a Stranger” and “The Launch” to “Man On the Edge” despite the obvious reconstruction of it in both songs. To me, they sound much more epic and detail something more interesting than Falling Down.

Also, mediocrity is determined by the listener. The way you instantly nullify any arguments for SM by saying that people are biased because of some nostalgia is completely unfair. I think it’s a great album with good guitar, production, vocals, etc. You don’t. That’s fine. But don’t go saying there are other forces at work here than us just appreciating what we think is good music.

And yes, this is coming from “The Apparition” fan, so we got that right outta the way and can move on with the discussion.

 

[Diesel 11]

85. Russian Holiday
Average Score: 5.86/10
Bonus tracks 4/6

Over half of the bonus tracks are already gone, with "Russian Holiday" appearing in the upper echelon. An acoustic track with Thomas Zwijsen, this falls in the upper realms of the "average tracks", with some finding it meh, others great, but most merely average. It's certainly far from outstanding but many would agree that it's better than anything on The King Of Metal.

Comments:

Lyrics sucks on this one! Just listend to the album & like on his last full album Blaze sings out of key several times. Also his voice is too loud in the mix

Russian Holiday would be great without voice (I think the weird lyrics really kill that one).

I think that his vocals aren't all that bad [but] how dramatic can you be, about a tour in St. Petersburg?

Damn good.

Going by the title, I never really expected something as emotional as this is. Pretty great song, but the ending isn't quite as good as the beginning.

This is a pretty heartfelt song. I'm still not a fan of "this happened, then that happened"-type of lyrics, but they work well here as Blaze describes life on the road, and how he misses the people he has at home. The faster part is pretty good, too. Actually, I think this tune is better than most of the songs on The King of Metal.

Nice acoustic intro. Blaze sounds pretty good on the verse. The lyrics are pretty on the nose, which isn't great. More bad phrasing. I like the rhythmic change-up in the clapping section. The trade-off section isn't as successful. Blaze whiffs a couple of major notes toward the end. Nice, but flawed.

Russian Holiday was rather clumsy song, to be fair, though full of emotion.

Wow! This is better than everything on the actual album.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 1
7 - 1
6 - 0
5 - 2
4 - 1
3 - 1
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 2/12
Infinite Entanglement 1/12
Bonus tracks 4/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

84. Blackmailer
Average Score: 5.89/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12

Yet another average affair from The Man Who Would Not Die bites the dust. "Blackmailer" was the second track on the album, but the third worst on the list. Personally, I think it's a bit of a mess, with a riff that goes nowhere and a meh vocal performance (though there's a tad bit decency nonetheless). Others thought differently, which brought it to #84 on the list. The number of detractors helped keep it there and no farther. This is the final song in the 5/10 range, as we're heading into the 6's next. We'll stay there for a little over thirty songs.

Comments:

Some songs I currently dont like that much (Blackmailer, a couple of parts of others), although I do see them becoming enjoyable later or live.

Same issues with the production, still not sold on the singing, and this time the lyrics aren't great either. Unmemorable song, with the exception of a piece of the instrumental. Otherwise I'm really just not a fan.

Blackmailer is fine. The instrumental part lifts the song up and the rest ranges from decent to fairly good.

I'm a fan of the harmonies on this one. I also dig the rhythm guitars in most parts, though at times they feel a bit out of sync - maybe that's just because of the production.

Cool, aggressive melodic lead. Blaze is still missing notes here, but he sounds a lot better than on the previous song. The pre-chorus has a strong Megadeth feel, but the vocals are still weak. The chorus is questionable, bordering on "WTF?", since the start of each vocal is all over the place before he regains control. Nice harmonized break! Love the neoclassical harmonized solo afterward! The "whoah-ohs" are pretty decent here. Quick, strong ending. The music here is great, but the vocals have some serious issues.

The instrumental/solo part is pretty cool. That's about the only thing this song has going for it. The chorus is especially irritating.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 3
6 - 1
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 1
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12
Infinite Entanglement 1/12
Bonus tracks 4/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Jer]

The way you instantly nullify any arguments for SM by saying that people are biased because of some nostalgia is completely unfair.

Except that I never said that anywhere, ever. That’s some exaggerated construct that only exists in your head.

I said that the album “appears to have nostalgic pull for folks who listened to it at the time”, and that’s why something from that album would likely win. I never said anything about bias — that was you. I never said anything about people who didn’t listen to the album at its time of release. I implied that enough respondents might be pulled in that direction to swing the final result. That’s all.

 

[Diesel 11]

I see. The wording bugged me, is all.

 

[Diesel 11]

83. The Dreams Of William Black
Average Score: 6.00/10
Infinite Entanglement 2/12

The second non-song from Infinite Entanglement makes its appearance on our list as the first above average track. The voting here was consolidated around 5 and 7, which I find interesting because it pretty much means that most people thought it was effective enough as a track. It's triumphed above an entire album of actual songs, so there's that. Overall, it's a fairly good part of the album, but given that it isn't a true song, it isn't too surprising that it hasn't made the Top 80.

Comments:

An interesting fact about the track "The Dreams of William Black" on the new album [from Blabbermouth]:

Bayley also talked about how he is getting his hardcore fans involved in the making of his new album. He said: "I had an idea for a song. Because it's a concept, there's a certain part of the story where my central character is in a dream, and he doesn't quite know what he's hearing. And it's messages from his past, and it's people saying, 'Where are you?' And so, I thought, well, what I wanted was, not just in English, but in different languages, I wanted this phrase: 'Where are you?' And I thought it might be something that I could involve my fans in, 'cause I need about a hundred people saying 'Where are you?' at different times to create this kind of dream, almost nightmare, and it's an intro to one of the songs on the album. So what I've asked people to do is say the phrase, and I've put a demo of the phrase and a couple of different people saying it, so they know the kind of cadence to use. And they say it in their own language, and then they send me the sample. And the best ones then I'll use in the song on the album. Someone would have to do it, so I thought, 'Well, why not get my fans who actually support me to do it?'"

A fantastic supplement to the album, but it isn't really a song

Not a song, but a story interlude with musical accompaniment. The "where are you?" repetition gets a bit old, but this track accomplishes what it sets out to do.

I really like this, even if it's just an interlude. It's incredibly atmospheric, and the idea is executed very well.

It works nicely in the context of the album, but since it's an interlude, it can't really do anything when it's isolated.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 0
7 - 3
6 - 1
5 - 3
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
Bonus tracks 4/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

82. Living Someone Else's Life
Average Score: 6.00/10
Bonus tracks 5/6

The second highest ranked bonus track on our countdown and probably my personal favorite, this one tied with "The Dreams Of William Black" but beat it based on the 9's. I think this is a good song with some cool music and pretty great vocals from Blaze, but obviously other people thought differently, bringing this one just to the above average mark.

Comments:

I'm quite surprised by the strength of this bonus track. I think Blaze repeats some of the words too much but it is very strong on its own. I like it.

An odd opening breaks into a simple but appealing riff. Weird verse vocal whose melody doesn't fit the riff, and Blaze doesn't sound very good here. The chorus is noticeably better, though still merely good. Great solos. Weird bridge.

Solid track. Nothing remarkable.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 1
8 - 1
7 - 1
6 - 1
5 - 2
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 1
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
Bonus tracks 5/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

81. Are You Here
Average Score: 6.17/10
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11

The weakest song from Blaze's last album (and the entire trilogy, discounting the non-songs), "Are You Here" is a decidedly simple affair that people consider above average but not a standout. It closes out its stint in our countdown just outside the Top 80. Voting was rather similar as everything was centered around six. Not a song anyone should be heartbroken to see leave.

Comments:

A good second song, but the chorus does seem to repeat "A Thousand Years" from Part I.

A simple but appealing guitar lead gives way to a pretty good a capella verse that picks up backing guitar before a chorus tease. The full chorus on the next round starts off promisingly, but doesn't go anywhere. Pretty good solo section. Bad phrasing around the Higgs boson lyrics. "Meh" variations on the final chorus.

Pretty boring song, to be honest. Seems like they tried to repeat the formula from "A Thousand Years" and "Escape Velocity" yet again, but this time with mediocre results.

Decent, fast-paced song. Not bad, not great.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 0
7 - 2
6 - 3
5 - 1
4 - 0
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 1/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 5/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)

 

[Diesel 11]

80. Stealing Time
Average Score: 6.22/10
Tenth Dimension 2/12

The lowest-ranked actual song from Tenth Dimension kicks off our Top 80. "Stealing Time" is a song I actually like quite a bit, particularly the chorus, which has some cool stuff going on. Not everyone seems to agree, however, though no one voted below 4 (and no one voted above 8). Thus it remains an above average track from the album. It tied with song #79 but lost because of a lower 7 count.

Comments:

"Stealing Time" begins in a less-than-outstanding kinda way, but by the end it's more than proven its worth. A good performance by all involved, but the chorus is where the song really shines. It's not your typical chorus, but I love the way Blaze's voice is arranged in the mix.

This tune is a bit strange. Nothing too memorable about it, but nothing particular bad either.

Cool piercing lead that harmonizes nicely later on. Weaker semi-spoken part, poorly controlled singing on the verse and pre-chorus. Weird, spacey chorus, but I kind of like it. Weird bridge with interesting harmonies. Good interlude and a strong solo. Finishes on a chorus reprise. This is kind of an oddball.

The weakest actual song of the album. I don't hate it or anything, but still ... meh.

Votes:

Spoiler

10 - 0
9 - 0
8 - 2
7 - 2
6 - 2
5 - 2
4 - 1
3 - 0
2 - 0
1 - 0

Overall:

Spoiler

80. Stealing Time
81. Are You Here
82. Living Someone Else's Life
83. The Dreams Of William Black
84. Blackmailer
85. Russian Holiday
86. Crack In The System
87. The Path & The Way
88. Hollow Head
89. Difficult
90. The Rainbow Fades To Black
91. Motherfuckers R Us
92. Beginning
93. Hatred
94. Dimebag
95. Fate
96. The Truth Is One
97. Forgotten Future
98. Eating Children
99. Fighter
100. Shall We Begin
101. One More Step
102. Judge Me
103. The Black Country
104. The King Of Metal

Albums:

Spoiler

Tenth Dimension 2/12
Blood & Belief 2/10
The Man Who Would Not Die 3/12
Infinite Entanglement 2/12
The Redemption Of William Black 1/11
Bonus tracks 5/6
#9: The King of Metal 10/10 (4.91/10 avg.)